Decoupaged Glass Plates tutorial

Hello all,
Well, today I am going to jump in and try my hand at showing a tutorial. The project is super simple with the right tools and product.
Don't even talk to me about doing a video!

Decoupaged Glass Plate Tutorial:
you will need:
   clear glass plate clean, oil free (fingerprints, etc.)
   ModPodge matte, gloss or glitter!
   sponge brush
   glass of water for glue brushes
   plastic lid or plate to pour glue into
   damp rag/paper towel for finger clean up during project
   newspapers to cover your craft surface
   craft mat or placemat size rectangle of waxed paper
   pretty napkins
   sharp scissors

Step 1
  Spread newspapers, wax paper etc. to cover work surface
  Get damp rag and place in a bowl or on plastic plate/lid
  Prepare napkins:
      remove extra plies so you have only one ply of decorated napkin. You can use the leftover white napkin plies in later steps and also use them as napkins!

Step 2

   Cut motifs from napkins. Cut many more than you think you will need!

Very Important: lay out your napkin cuttings frequently so you have an idea for placement. Continue to do this as you cut.



Do your final placement layout.



Now is the time to trace and cut out a background sheet of tissue paper or napkin. This is when the other napkin plain plies will work well.

Set aside.

Step 3
   Pour a glob of ModPodge onto plastic lid.
   Place clear glass plate FACE DOWN.
   Spread a little glue to cover where you want to put your first napkin cutting.
   Place napkin cutting FACE DOWN, and dab more glue on with brush.

tip: remember that you will be placing your motifs down from the front to the back.
Example - if you are gluing down a watering can full of flowers, you will first place the watering can down. Then you will place flowers on top of that, so when finished the flowesr will be inside (or behind) the can. Then you will place any clouds/sky on top of the flowers, so the finished scene will look like clouds in the back, flowers in vase.

   Continue spreading a little glue, placing napkin motifs and dabbing with more glue until all your first pieces are in place.



Problem?  It is very easy to tear the thin napkin pieces. You can smoosh some of them together with the wet glue. Hate it? Remove it quickly and do another piece instead. Or, make the tears part of your overall look, and be sure to do more of them. Think crackled Venetian vases or old paintings.

tip: make sure all the napkin pieces are covered with glue.

Step 4

Set aside on wax paper. Let dry.

Now is the perfect time to start on another glass plate or bowl, while your first is drying a bit.

Here, my lovely assistant Pam is starting on a small bowl. She has cut out a few pansy motifs from one napkin, then has taken another blue striped napkin and torn it into small strips.

Remember! You are gluing napkin pieces face down onto the bottom outside of the bowl.

Pam has glued a few pansy motifs first, and is then applying blue strips on top of them.

Step 5

Pick up your dry/wet glass plate carefully.

Get the set aside one large piece of tissue paper/napkin that you have cut out.

You can now apply the covering "back" layer. This usually goes on top of all your glued pieces, but doesn't have to. Play around with looks, but do this BEFORE you start gluing things down! It is very difficult if not impossible to remove motifs once the glue has started to set (which is within seconds sometimes!)

Remember your steps: Put down a layer of ModPodge first, being careful not to tear or smoosh the already glued down motifs. Then place tissue paper/napkin on top and dab glue to cover it all. If you don't get glue everywhere on this step, it will leave a dry spot that is okay but doesn't look great!

This plate is drying. After first layer of napkins, I am now adding a layer of yellow behind the lion, and torn strips of light blue and white napkins around the edge.

Step 6
Set aside to dry thoroughly.
Go back to your second bowl, plate or whatever, and apply finishing touches.
Here is a Happy Birthday bowl that I made.
Here it is done, but drying:

Here it is dry, and shows you the unfinished edges where the tissue paper is sticking up. I actually did this on purpose, to give a finished edge when I am done .

 

Here I am holding the bowl up to the light so you can see it at a different angle.

I used a mixture of matte ModPodge, and glitter ModPodge.



Step 7

Finish up any decoupaged pieces you have more steps to do.

If you want to do a small piece now you can decoupage small candle cups, or in this case, we used mini clay pots:

Here are the finished products:

In the above 2 photos you can see the mini bowl and the bunny plate still need their edges finished.

Step 8 Final
Take an old emery board or file. File off the tissue edges that are sticking up away from the rims. Smooth the edges with the file, as needed.

Well, just hmmmm. I have no idea why this particular picture is tipped wrong. It isn't in my saved files that way! Sorry, guess you will just have to turn your head or hold your monitor up sideways!

Here are our finished samples:

 Oh just ick. Guess that is what learning new things is all about! I will have to play with this photo issue, but I do want to get this wonderful and easy craft to you, so please just bear with me, and do that crooky neck thing!

This is the plate I did years ago:

front:

back:

 laid down on  white napkings to show detail:

Yes! Those pansies and leaves are from a napkin!!

Here are some last minute finishing tips:

These are decorative plates and not meant to be washed. If needed, you can wipe the glass surface with a damp cloth, and dry immediately.

They are NOT food safe unless you spray with food safe finish.

The back side can often feel 'sticky', even after it is dry. Use a clear acrylic spray to eliminate this. I like Kryon.

Check and see, I believe there are food-safe sprays that you can use! After spraying with this kind of spray, you can put food on the plate, but still only hand wash with very mild soap and rinse with a damp rag.

If you can't find the food safe spray, or just want to use the clear acrylic spray, that's fine. You can put wrapped candy on you plate if you wish. You could use it as a serving plate for pre-wrapped tea bags, or 3 little tea cups. How about a creamer/sugar set?

I think the birthday bowl would be a great place to anchor some birthday balloons!

I hope you have enjoyed my first tutorial.

Print these out on sticker paper, and have fun decorating cards, lunch boxes or Easter eggs!

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

dominoes@myinkspired.com





Day 4 countdown St. Patrick's Day +

Good morning!

An Irish Friendship Wish

"May there always be work

For your hands to do;

May your purse always hold

A coin or two;

May the sun always shine

On your window pane;

May a rainbow be certain

To follow each rain;

May the hand of a friend

Always be near you;

May God fill your heart

With gladness to cheer you."

RUBBER STAMPING

Today I thought we could explore the wonderful world of rubber stamping together. I am still amazed when someone says to me "Rubber stamping? What is that?". I have been rubber stamping since 1983 or so, starting out self-taught as there really wasn't that much information out there about it. I have been teaching rubber stamping classes for a couple of decades! Wow.

In the back of a craft magazine I found an ad for a company named "Bizarro", that had rubber stamps. I saved up my money and sent off for the catalog. I think I may even still have it! The pages became very dog-eared and worn what with me reading and re-reading every page of quirky images.

To illustrate how much rubber stamping can be economical, I still have that original bottle of copper embossing powder I purchased for my first batch of home-made-rubber-stamped Christmas cards. I also still have the stamp I used. Both are still quite usable!

To illustrate how much rubber stamping can be outrageously expensive, I now have an entire room dedicated to my hundreds of stamps, thousands of sheets of paper and cardstock, and dozens of bottles of embossing powders, fun flocking, pearl ex, embellishments....well, the list could go on for quite a while!

How sweet it is!

hand stamped and colored domino magnet by inkspired

"The person born with a talent they are meant to use

will find the greatest happiness in using it."

- Goethe

Let's start with a fun rubber stamping project for any level stamper!

St. Patrick's Day Party Cupcakes

The fun baking part-

To do ahead:

Make a batch of cupcakes, let cool.

Frost with green frosting. If you can't find any pre-made, simply use a can of prepared white frosting, and drop in JUST A COUPLE OF DROPS of green food coloring. Really, just a couple. Mix well. You can always add more food coloring a drop at a time.

Sprinkle frosting with green tinted coconut to simulate grass.

How to tint coconut:

Add a few drops of food color to coconut in a jar; shake until evenly tinted.

The fun rubber stamping part-

Find a simple rubber stamp with an Irish theme - shamrocks are great. The image should be no larger than 1 1/2".

Purchase a good ink pad. Go ahead and invest $7 and get a green one. I like Stayz-on, Brilliance or Marvy Matchables.

You will need a pack or so of lollipop sticks. You can find these anywhere they sell Wilton cake decorating supplies (I get mine at JoAnn's Fabrics).

Now you want circles or squares or ovals of plain cardstock.

You will also need the same amount of green cardstock cut into shapes. 

There are many hand held punches in these shapes.

For more addicted stampers, there are the cuttlebug or cricut machines, etc.

Or you could do the old fashioned but really cheap way, and trace around a bottle or jar for a round circle, and cut out.

Ink your stamp lightly. No grinding, pounding or smacking.

Stamp your simple image onto scratch paper first to practice, then stamp onto the shaped plain cardstock.

Pretty!

Let dry or help it along with an embossing gun to set ink.

No, a hair dryer won't work.

Now make a sandwich:

Shaped and stamped plain cardstock circle face down +

    blob o' glue, with lollipop stick in the center +

        shaped green cardstock.

Press to secure lollipop stick. Let dry.

alternate - you can tape the lollipop stick in place and then glue the green card onto the back.

Or, you can put a dab of frosting on back side of stamped circle, and push lollipop stick into that, then a dab more frosting and squish the green cardstock in place on top.

Go clean your stamp. Using an old washcloth or tube sock, dampen the cloth. Dab your stamp repeatedly onto it and slightly scrub until no more green comes off. Then stamp several times onto scratch paper to make sure there is no more ink leftover. Your stamp should not be wet.



For extra pretty, tie a thin ribbon bow at the base of each stamped circle, around the lollipop stick.

Push one decorated lollipop stick into each cupcake.

Ready to go!



Fun extra - if this is for a school party, you can write the name of each student on the back, plain green cardstock side to personalize!

"If you're lucky enough to be Irish,

then you're lucky enough."

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

dominoes@myinkspired.com