This blog is about empowering everyone who has a talent for making pretty things, be it a latent or developed one. I bring you practical tips and tricks to make and do the things you've always wanted to.
Believe it or not, I have never done embossed stamping. I figured it was high time I tried my hand at this ages old craft and bought myself some embossing powder, as well as white stamp ink. I then experimented with the technique and decided to turn the experiment into a very simple card. I share the two methods I used, with you in today's blog.
We need an A4 sheet of cardboard to use as a card.
Fold this sheet of cardboard in half to form a card.
I then measured the stamp I wished to use and cut a piece of plain printer paper to the same size.
I mounted the stamp I wished to use and rubbed it with the white ink.
I stamped the image on the white paper, but it was not visible, as both the paper and the ink was white. The embossing powder would assist in making the image visible.
I generously coated the image in embossing powder. Then I shook the powder off onto a clean paper sheet, which I used as a funnel to return the powder to the container. I do not own a heat gun, so I went to the bedroom, where I blasted the image with warm air from my hairdryer. That melted the glue in the powder and gave the image a slightly silvery shimmer.
When I rubbed Tim Holtz Distress Ink over the image, it finally became visisble.
I glued this piece of paper to the bottom of the card.
I then mounted a number of stamps, rubbed them with the same green distress ink that I used at the bottom, and stamped the images onto the top of the card.
I generously strew embossing powder over the stamped images. The leftover powder was once again funneled back into the container, using a paper funnel. I then returned to the hairdryer in the room, and melted the powder onto the paper.
The result was a more glossy, slightly embossed stamp, rather than merely a green one, as would be the case otherwise. This then are the two ways in which to do embossed stamping.
Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.
Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
You can follow Miekie's daily Bible Study blog, Bybel Legkaart, here in English & Afrikaans.
You may prefer to follow the traveling blog, A Pretty Tourist.
For more crafty ideas and great product reviews, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
If you are in a literary mood, follow Miekie's musings, stories and poetry on A Pretty Author - Miekie.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making life PRETTY.
You can subscribe to any of these blogs and receive regular updates by email. Simply register your email address at the top of the applicable blog.
I was recently given a set of stickers by a friend, who also generously gave me a set for each of my smaller nieces and nephew, when she learned that I was going to visit for a while. When I was with them, I suggested we use these stickers to make a couple of bookmarks for our Bibles, as the stickers all had a religious theme. The project is an easy one, but there are some things to look out for when working with youngsters. I point these out in today's blog.
The stickers we used needed to cut apart, as they were printed on request by my friend, for a specific purpose.
We allowed the width of the stickers to determine the width of the bookmark. Help the kids to understand the importance of leaving a small margin around the stickers. Smaller children may also require assistance with ruling a line, and even cutting out. Do not be too particular about getting it perfect, though. It is important that they do this themselves and develop pride in their own efforts, rather than being left with a bookmark that they had started, but that was corrected by an adult every step of the way.
We then selected the wording that we wished to include on the bookmarks. You may have to read this for smaller kids, but again, allow them to select the words they like, without unnecessarily forcing your own will upon them. I always suggest to parents, that if they feel the need to take over a child's project, that they rather start one of their own to do along.
After selecting the pictures we like, we arranged the stickers on the card and stuck them down when we were satisfied with the layout. Encourage children to try different layouts before sticking their stickers down. You may also need to help those clumsy little fingers to pull the stickers away from the backing paper. Only start the corners of the stickers and allow the child to remove the backing altogether. It is empowering for a child to be able and allowed to do things by themselves. Encourage a clean work space by keeping a small container on the craft table that can serve as a rubbish bin. Children should discard papers and off-cuts in the bin on the table and one of the children should empty this container in the real bin afterwards. This is how a child learns disciplined habits. Lead by example!
If the child is old enough, encourage them to rule a simple border around the card. This will be an introductory lesson to putting finishing touches on a project - a lesson that will be invaluable in later years, if developed over time.
I would have loved to have laminated the bookmarks at this stage, but I did not have a laminator at hand. We skipped this step and simply punched a hole in the centre of the bookmark.
Strengthen the hole with something. Even a piece of sellotape will do. This will prevent the hole from tearing when a ribbon is threaded through it. We did not have any narrow ribbons at hand and had to settle for using a wider ribbon. Cut the ribbon to length.
Fold the ribbon in half and push it through the hole, from the back of the bookmark. Those little fingers will struggle with this task, but be patient and allow them to do this by themselves, even if it means having to endure a couple of failed attempts.
Make a large loop and pull both ends of the ribbon through the loop. Remember that little fingers need larger loops than large ones.
Pull the ribbon tight. Do not pull too hard, or you will break the hole in the cardboard backing.
My niece could not be convinced that a thinner bookmark would be a better idea. I let her have her way. Experience with using bookmarks in later years, will bring this lesson home. There is no reason to have an argument over this at this early age.
Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.
Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
You can follow Miekie's daily Bible Study blog, Bybel Legkaart, here in English & Afrikaans.
You may prefer to follow the traveling blog, A Pretty Tourist.
For more crafty ideas and great product reviews, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
If you are in a literary mood, follow Miekie's musings, stories and poetry on A Pretty Author - Miekie.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making life PRETTY.
You can subscribe to any of these blogs and receive regular updates by email. Simply register your email address at the top of the applicable blog.
I have been looking for cheap and affordable brushes to use in art classes. I still wanted it to be really good quality brushes, though. I never expected to find brushes quite as cheaply as I did. I was very skeptical about how good these brushes could be, but decided to put them to the test. I share the results in today's blog. I also found some better quality brushes that were quite reasonably priced, in my search. I share the results of the tests I conducted on these brushes, as well.
The first brushes I tested, was purchased from a store in Benoni. I was a packet of five flat brushes of the same size that cost only R25 for all five brushes. When I opened the packet, I found the bristles to feel way too much like nylon for my liking. The handles were also extremely short, about 3/4 of the length of a normal length brush.
I tested the brushes on acrylic ink. I was certain that the brushes would not be able to pick up enough paint. I was pleasantly surprised when they did. The also painted it quite nicely on a page. Then I drew a flower with a pen to see if I could accurately fill the flower, or if the bristles would all go in their own direction. I was pretty impressed with the accuracy I managed to get from the brushes without much effort.
From another store in Benoni, I bought even cheaper brushes. These were six almost similarly sized brushes with random lengths of bristles. The packet cost only R14. These were once again flat brushes. I once again thought the bristles felt too much like nylon/plastic.
Yet again, I was surprised by how much paint I could pick up with the brush and how well it spread on the page. It was also very accurate when I used it to fill a flower with paint.
I found similar round brushes at the same store. This time they were of varying sizes. I did not like how the bristles all seemed bent at the tops.
I had similar results as with the flat brushes, but this time I had to compensate for the bend in the bristles, making it slightly more tricky to fill the flower accurately.
The brushes grouped together. Here you can see how short the first brushes are by comparison to the others.
I then turned my attention to a range of specialty brushes brought out by Pro Art. These are much more expensive than the previously tested brushes, but very reasonable when compared to similar specialty brushes from other brands.
I used the Rigger to write my name and found it worked a charm.
After that, I tested the Dragger. Fabulous!
The Angle Brush also impressed.
I bought two Rake brushes of different sizes. I liked the 1/2.
The 3/4 left me with no complains.
I then wondered how these brushes would fair with watercolours. The R25 brushes impressed me even more than with the acrylics.
The R14 flats were equally impressive.
Again my only complaint with the round R14 brushes, was the fact that there was a kink in the bristles that had to be compensated for.
An overview of the cheap brushes on watercolours.
Then I tested the Rigger on Watercolours as well. Lovely, as the first time.
I loved the Dragger with watercolours!
The Angle had no issues with the watercolours.
The 1/2 Rake was charming.
I am convinced that I will in future always use the rake brushes to pant grasses, hair and similar shapes and lines.
A view of the tests on watercolours.
An overview of all the tests conducted with these brushes. After testing the cheaper brushes reviewed in this blog, I was very impressed with their performance. However, when a couple of weeks later, I had two friends who knew nothing of art over for a painting lesson, they promptly pulled the hair from the brushes and proved themselves utterly unable to work with the brushes. They only achieved success once I gave them some of my more expensive bushes to work with. I do add this note here in the end as a warning. It also leaves me rather baffled. No professional artist will be willing to work with these cheap brushes, yet novices seem incapable of doing so. Perhaps they should then rather be avoided? Please take note: this comment does not apply to the white Pro Art brushes tested in this blog. These are simply brilliant!
Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.
Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
You can follow Miekie's daily Bible Study blog, Bybel Legkaart, here in English & Afrikaans.
You may prefer to follow the traveling blog, A Pretty Tourist.
For more crafty ideas and great product reviews, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
If you are in a literary mood, follow Miekie's musings, stories and poetry on A Pretty Author - Miekie.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making life PRETTY.
You can subscribe to any of these blogs and receive regular updates by email. Simply register your email address at the top of the applicable blog.
