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Showing posts from April, 2008

Making an assemblage with resin wells

Now is the time to do things: To make art, to fall in love, to be the person you want to be. There is no "later". Waiting until "later" to do things becomes "never". It took several days to make Now, Not Later . First, there were a couple of steps that needed time to dry overnight before moving on, and second, it just took me awhile to figure out what all I wanted to include in the assemblage. I tend to pull out all my possible materials that might work and leave them sitting around until something gels. In this case, it took a bit longer than maybe is usual for me. Anyway, the first step was to go to Home Depot and buy a new tool…always a good start! I got a forstner bit for my drill press. It cuts a hole with a fairly flat bottom to it; only the little guide hole mars the flat surface. 1. I used a wood heart, but you can use any shape you want. Cut holes where you’d like to place a picture embedded in resin. Gesso the entire piece and let it dry. 2. Pai

Making a CD clock

Every now and again, I feel the urge to pull out an old favorite and mix it up again. That was the case the day I made this CD clock. My daughter and I made quite a few of them when she was still in high school. It was a quick and easy project that we could bang out fast, and the clocks made dynamite handmade gifts! I started by buying a pre-made clock works with a swinging pendulum. This one was ready to hang on the wall just as is. The other main thing you will need is an old CD. I used one of the vast collection of AOL CDs that I still have hanging around the studio. One down, 99 more to go! Materials and tools: CD Clock works and battery Gesso Acrylic paints (crimson, burgundy, citrine, purple/gold halo) Printouts on vellum Acrylic medium or glue Sponges Small brushes Heat gun Scissors Waxed paper 1. Sponge gesso all over the front of the CD. Dry thoroughly, and use additional coats of gesso until it’s completely covered. 2. Sponge on the acrylic paints of your choice. I listed

Making a paper weaving

This is one of those really fun little projects that you can do in practically no time, or that you can spend a lot of effort and thought on to make it *really* spectacular! I opted for easy and fun, using strips from CD covers and inserts, and mounting them on 140 lb watercolor paper. 1. Slice up strips of paper, both solids and patterns (or with words like mine), and feel free to add non-paper stuff like ribbons and other fibers. 2. Chose which will be your vertical "warp" pieces and which you will weave through as a "weft". 3. Line up the warp pieces and attach them to your table with a piece of low-tack masking tape. 4. Weave the weft pieces alternately under and over the warp. You are free to do this unevenly if you desire, skipping warp pieces, adding short weft strips, etc. For an example of a woven paper piece which uses pieces cut into wavy shapes rather than straight, see this post on making woven paper pieces . Copyright 2008 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be re