Excitement!

For the last wee while we have been planning our trip to Paris in November.. I have been collecting images on Pinterest. Oh Pinterest. You are awesome.

Today we booked a day trip to London and a day trip to Geneva. I am so excited! I can't wait to have some mementos for my European travel memory box!

I remember learning about the TGV in French in high school, now I get to actually take a ride on one.. The photos from Geneva all look so pretty, I can't wait to see the Lake.

And London was Rob's choice, he has always wanted to explore.

So we are pretty excited we poppets this evening. Hope y'all are having a nice night too!

DIY wall art with Mod Podge

I have been planning this project for awhile.. I have done a lot of googling for "paint chip art" and loved some of the things people were creating with different colours.


I have a friend's birthday coming up, and I have been wanting to make her something. But not sure what to make.

This is what I ended up doing!


This is what I used...

Some of my planning.

Shopping list. Plus a cup of tea. You can always use a cup of tea.

 This is how I went about it...

I used a canvas that I bought from Hobby Lobby, and I left the surface plain. I tossed back and forward about whether to paint it white or not, but I liked the slightly rough texture, so left it as is.

I used 6 A4 pieces of coloured paper. You could use any colour or pattern, I just think of her as a blue and white kind of girl (much like myself). So I went with 6 shades of blue, ranging from dark to light. 

I bought a small craft hole punch from Hobby Lobby and spent an evening cutting out snowflakes from the blue paper. I threw them all together in  a zip lock bag. Tip - leave them separate, it will make the next step easier.


On the canvas I marked the centre point at the top and bottom of the canvas, and I marked the two quarter points on the top third of the canvas. I used pencil, and covered these up afterwards. 

Measuring up the canvas, in draft stage.

Initially, I laid all my snowflakes out on the table and roughly laid them into colour sections on the canvas to plan the overall shape of my heart image.

The lightest blue formed the base of the heart.

Using a small sponge brush, I applied a thin layer of mod podge to the bottom end of the canvas where I wanted the image to start. I used the lightest colour at the bottom. I initially laid down several snowflakes flat, and then folded a couple so that the icicle branches would stick out from the canvas, making the image 3D. The snow flakes that were 3D had a thin layer of mod podge on the straight branch, and a little applied to the centre when I stuck it down. 

Given that the icicle cut outs were quite delicate, I worked with the small sponge brush in one hand, and a pair of tweezers in the other to help position the flakes on the canvas.

After I had a base layer of snowflakes and then a second sporadic layer of folded flakes, i used the sponge brush to spread the next layer of mod podge for the next colour. I then did the same thing as before, where I put the initial layer of flat flakes and a second layer of folded flakes.

I added darker shades as the heart progressed.

I did this successively up the canvas until I got to the last two colours. I laid the edge of the next colour out and then used the brush to smear mod podge in two semi circles to make the top of the heart. I used the pencil points that were in the middle and two quarter sections, to guide where the podge should go.

Then I laid down the edge of the last colour to fit the top of the heart, and filled in the rest of the space with the two darkest colours. 

After the mod podge had dried, I went back and added more folded flakes to each colour, and filled in any gaps that had been left.


I am sooo happy with how this turned out. It is definitely a fiddly project, but it looks so great, and I love the colour shading. I am glad I spent the time planning how to carry it out. The mod podge was the best option, as it dries clear. The small sponge with the thin edge was really useful because of the thin snow flake "branches".

_____________________________________________________________________

What do you think?
I can't wait to start the next one.. I have the coloured paper and just need a spare afternoon!

xx

I love the result.. I hope she does too!

DIY travel memory boxes

We are starting to accumulate so many wonderful photos and postcards and magnets and brochures and all sorts of other mementos in our travels. But where to put them? 

I brainstormed all sorts of different ways to display or store these beauties. But ended up deciding to try and mod podge some boxes for them all to sit in. I would like these to last well, and also be a fun and decorative item for a shelf. Most of all I want a fun box that our future kids will love opening, and seeing all the adventures that Mum and Dad had when they were younger.

So here is how I made them:

Shopping list:

-mod podge by Plaid. I used the matte finish.

-vintage maps. I bought mine off Etsy.

-vintage postcards. I bought mine from random souvenir shops.

-sponge paint brush. I bought mine from Hobby Lobby.

How it all came together

I laid out the images on the lid to see the layout that I wanted. A tip would be to then lay them out beside your work space in the same way, or take a pic on your phone so you can refer to it.

The Americas travel box lid, with the stamps laid in place, waiting to have mod podge applied. The maps were done first, and then dried and had one more layer of podge before I glued the stamps on to it.

This is the top of a box with a picture laid over the top, waiting to be podged!

I applied a layer of mod podge to the lid surface and then laid out the maps on top. Then I painted the mod podge over, as you can see in the image below, there is a pretty thick layer of podge on it.

This is the top of our European travel box. Note that there is alot of white over the top. That is the mod podge. Don't worry - it dries clear. This was my first attempt so it is a little messy looking.

Lesson learned: Apply a thin layer over the the top of the box and do one image at a time. Apply a thin layer over each map, so you can de-bubble as you go. Make sure the surface has a thin layer of mod podge on it before you place the image down. You want enough to make it stick but you done want it gloopy!!

Our American travel box on its side, in the middle of applying a second layer of mod podge. As you can see I was getting better and there is less gloop!

The stamp layer being applied, one stamp at a time.

Tips:

-Lay down some thing on your surface so you don't get mod podge on your table.

-Take things slowly. Modpodge one image at a time, so that if it wrinkles you can squeeze out the air bubbles. 

-Brush the mod podge in one direction.

-If you get blobs, don't panic. Firstly, mod podge will dry clear. Secondly, take a scraper and wipe it off.

-Some materials will bubble up, be patient and experiment with different techniques. I find a plastic scraper from an art store helped heaps to get out the bubbles.

-If you get blobs and runs off the side of your box, or whatever you are covering, wipe them off, or, if they dry, they can be sand papered off. 

Here are some photos of the final boxes.. I couldn't be happier!!

The top of the European travel box, all finished.

This is the final look of the side of our European box. As you can see the mod podge goo dried clear!

The final product.. complete with some postcards and photos in it already!

Side view of the finished box.

The side of our Americas box, with vintage post cards from the US.