Art and Jewelry Building

A few years ago my art room was turned into a music room for my husband and my art area moved into the dining room.  After my second child was born I decided to pack my art stuff up and put it in the laundry room and made a small sewing space in my bedroom.  I miss my art space, and now with my kiln I really need a space dedicated just for art and jewelry making.  So when hubby's friend offered his building for sale we jumped at the opportunity.  It's a tiny 8x8 building, but it is wired and has an ac unit.  It should be just what I need for making my jewelry and storing most of my supplies (except for my paint, Sculpey, and other items that might be damaged by the temperature variance).  Here it is in our friend's yard, ready to be moved to my place.

She'll have to be moved and painted.  I'm thinking off white with a red door to match the house, then I can do whatever I want inside (which will mean lots of teal, turquoise, hot pink, and citron).  The building is set to be moved Tuesday, and I will keep you guys posted on how the move goes.

Update - GreenCraft and Art Space!!!!

This month I have an article featured in GreenCraft magazine Summer 2014!  It's all about how to make hanging file folders from old book covers.  

Here's a shot I took on my own of these folders.

I also have a wonderful surprise coming my way - an 8' x 8' wooden shed all for my art!  I'll be moving some of my furniture in there and a lot of art and decor, like the pieces you see below.  See that little teal owl with citron eyes?  I found that little guy in a thrift store several years ago and he has been responsible for the crazy color combination you see here.  Thanks little owl!  I can't wait to spread my wings in this little room.  

When the ground dries a bit we will have it moved out.  Then I want to paint it white on the inside like the following rooms.

And I am thinking about doing the floors gray with a white stencil on top.  I can't wait for my building, my art is scattered around the house and I makes my brain feel so scattered!  Maybe I can get it together if I get my art in one place!

Gelatin Printing Bug

Hubby picked these up for me while out thrifting and estate sale hopping.  The black shelf will go in my art building when I finally get it here.  The weird metal box makes a really cool photo prop, and I can use it to hold magnets too!

So the other day I happened across a video called Glycerin 101 for Crafters! by The Frugal Crafter.  It's a really useful video that give crafters a list of uses for glycerin.  In the video she mentioned a permanent gelatin plate made with glycerin, so I just went completely nuts!  You can watch the video here.  Sunday night I went out and bought some glycerin and Knox gelatin and some new paints, and made one right away.  By Monday I was printing and having a blast.  Here's my plate.  I had to tear it up and remelt it once already because my marks were too hard and scratched the surface.  But it can easily be remolded.  It's on aluminum foil because I ran out of wax paper.

I used a spray bottle of glycerin water to increase the working time with my craft paints, and I just rolled out backgrounds.  I do not have good stencils to use right now, so I just used a couple of old ones with a brush for the second layer, and finger painted a bit too.  I had a blast, and ended up printing 20 of these sheets.  

It wasn't as expensive as a Gelli plate (I still plan on purchasing one soon), but it was not exactly cheap.  The two bottles of glycerine cost me $8, the about $2 for the gelatin.  You would need some sugar and water too if you wanted to make your own.  If you get bit by the bug, this is a good alternative if you are on a tight budget.  If your budget is even tighter, check out my free page here and download a free PDF of five of my prints.  Use it in your art and for submissions, just don't resale the file.  Any questions just contact me (ispywithmycraftyeyes@live.com).

 I cut the paper into 2" x 11" strips with my paper cutter and used the to wrap around my boxes for my jewelry pieces.  Then I used my PhotoEZ screen to print out my logo on them.

I love how these turned out!  Check out my Printing, Stamps, and Stencils Pinterest Board to see more lovely examples of gelatin prints and monoprint art.