Life's Beauty is Hidden in the Everyday!

 

 

It's something I remind myself of all the time...I just finished a cool project to help me remember it.  This altered metal frame project stands over 13" tall and is really fun to make, in fact, I'll be teaching this class this fall at... 

 

Scrapbook Generation in Springfield Missouri and at Art at the Edge in Newburgh Indiana.  It's loaded with beautiful floral embellishments from Stationer's Desk by Prima Marketing Inc.  

 

 

In the class we'll use Prima's new Color Blooms sprays to create a unique patina finish on the metal frame.

 



 

I love the simple look of this little project...and I can't wait to teach this in class! 

 

I hope to see you in one of those classes this fall!

 

Ken 

 

 

 

 

Embossed Copper Collage Classes

Last week, I had the opportunity to teach a couple classes in St. Louis Missouri and in Evansville Indiana...I am always amazed with the creativity my friends and students share when we're creating together.  

I feel extremely blessed to get to teach techniques that inspire others to make art.  

I wanted to share just a few of the photos from each class. I loved seeing the finished projects, and I think you will love them too.  

At the base of this project is embossed copper...we use embossing folders, copper sheets, and patina solution to create stunning backgrounds for our collage pieces.  

It's an easy technique that gives amazing results.  

Often, students bring family photos, my friend Ann commented that she had relatively few photos of her parents together in the same photo...she pieced a couple photos together to create this tribute to them.  

 I love how this project below has a family photograph incorporated into the collage.

  

Thank you again For Keeps Sake in St. Louis, Missouri, and Mary's Scrap Den in Evansville, Indiana for letting me share some art and some new techniques with everyone at your shops. 

'til next time,

Ken 

It's Craft Day with Spellbinders Paper Arts and The Craft and Hobby Association

Hey there, this past week I had the amazing opportunity to visit with everyone at The Craft and Hobby Association  in Elmwood Park, New Jersey...we had Spellbinders' Craft Day for everyone at the office.  

We had a really fun crafty time.  The idea was simple...let's let everyone in the office have hands on crafting experience using Spellbinders and Spellbinders Media Mixage.  I was there to demonstrate and facilitate the creative process.  So, we set up a few cutting stations, provided lots of goodies to play with and then, we let the art begin!  

We had a blast.  It was awesome to see the creative wheels spinning in everyone's heads.  And since it was Easter break, some of the staffers brought their kids to join in the fun.  

Trade Show Producer Anthony Licata explains the finer points of creating bezels.  

We had so much fun creating handmade cards. 

It's really fun to watch how everyone puts their own creative spin on everything they create.  Beautiful spring colors and patterns on the card in progress.  

We learned all kinds of techniques together, diecutting, embossing, stenciling, inking, and discussed the finer points of layering die cuts to create beautiful cards.  

Glitter makes a perfect embellishment inside a heart bezel. 

Everybody got in on the action too.  

Craft and Hobby Association CEO Andrej Suskavcevic inspects the finely cut details of Spellbinders die cuts before creating his handmade card.  

The thing that really impressed me...

everybody loved what we were doing.  The card above, in progress, was created by the Information Technology Director at CHA.  He had never created a card before...but he was a natural!  And at the end of the day, he was formulating a process that the association could use to create handmade cards to use for their office correspondence.  

Anthony Licata created a French Country bezel. 

The more we created the messier it got, which is all good.  When it gets really messy, you know you are having fun.  

The handmade cards turned out beautifully. I got to teach bow tying methods.  

Susan Turchick, Vice President of Membership uses the Spellbinders Artisan X-Plorer to create die cut paper to fit perfectly inside a bezel.  

I got to hang out with my friend Laurie Pietruszka while we created...

Wow, we made a mess...you should have seen the paper chips all over the floor...

And each card was simply beautiful.  

Sue Turchick shows off her handmade card...it turned out so cute.  

And, Andrej, as it turns out is a blossom pro with Spellbinders die cuts.  

We came, we created, and we all left with beautiful projects at the end of the day...it was great!  

Thank you again Sue, Andrej, and everyone at The Craft and Hobby Association for letting Spellbinders host a craft day at your offices.  

I hope everybody had as much fun as I did..and judging from the comments at the end of the day, they did.

Ken   

Creating Beautiful Bezels with Spellbinders Media Mixage

Hey everybody, I am blogging from the U.K. this week.  I am little excited to be attending the NEC Stitches Trade Show in Birmingham.  While at the show, I'm teaching techniques using Spellbinders newest line, Media Mixage.  

I love working with Media Mixage. It's a very versatile line of items that are especially designed for mixed media use. Spellbinders, Stacey Caron,teamed up with internationally known designer Susan Lenart Kasmer to develop a very cool line that includes bezels, and dies to match, blanks, with dies to match, texturing plates, emphemera papers, foils, even metal sheets.  And we've introduced a hip little machine called the Artisan X-Plorer.  The Artisan X-Plorer is a high pressure roller press that die cuts, texturizes metal and even presses. So, it's fun stuff to use, and I love that I've gotten try it out and work with it long before it hit the market. Our world launch has been a whirlwind...first at the Craft Association Show in Anaheim, than at Creative World in Frankfurt Germany, and now at the NEC Stitches trad show in Birmingham England.  And, I gotta tell you...folks are loving it!  

We've been teaching bezel techniques at the show.  This is a set of 3 bezels that is so fun and so easy to make because Spellbinders has taken all the guess work out of creating the elements you use to inside the bezel.  Along with the bezels designed by Susan Lenart Kazmer, Spellbinders created dies to match each of the bezel shapes.  

The die cuts our ephemera papers, that fit perfectly into the bezels.

Then it's as easy as selecting some finding and pieces to include inside your bezel.  I picked from a big lot of antique watch parts I'd bought in Germany.

Next collect all the pieces and other elements you'd like to include in your bezel.  I added rhinestone chain, gems, a flower, some jewelry  findings, antique glass glitter, and a vintage family photo. 

Create mini collages inside each bezel.  I glued the pieces down inside the bezel using 3-N-1 Adhesive, then after the collages were dry, filled them with ICE Resin by SLK.  

I used some of the most fabulous antique glass glitter in these bezels...it's sterling silver and very reflective. You can actually "float" glitter on top of the resin. 

And really, the next step is very easy...just wait....the resin takes about 6-8 hours to cure.  If you're impatient like me, it seems an eternity.  

Once the resin is cured, your mini collages are encapsulated in a crystal clear glass like bezel and they're so beautiful. 

To finish them off, add a bead to the jump ring on the bottom and some ribbon or chain to the jump ring on the top.  I used antique silk sari ribbon from Nepal.  The wonderful thing about Media Mixage is that you can use just about anything you want to create these bezels...you can personalize in so many ways. And the bezels are great for all kinds of projects. 

A tiny bezel added to the front of an handmade card becomes an instant keepsake.  You can fill them with family photos, a button, an a scrap of fabric to create beautiful embellishments for scrapbook layouts.  The possibilities with Media Mixage are endless...the new product line really lets you Explore Beyond the boundaries of your normal crafting world and I know you are going to love it. 

Teaching at Stitches in Birmingham has been really fun this week...getting to show crafters new ways they can create is really rewarding...when you see the light bulb, that "flash" of idea light up in their heads...it's magical!  Even the President of The Craft and Hobby Association loves to create with Spellbinders Media Mixage. Andrej Suskavcevic stopped by for some one on one instruction for creating bezels and working with ICE Resin.  

It's been a real joy this week in the U.K. getting to work with, and teach so many creative folks about using Media Mixage.  It's really so fulfilling to see the creative process inside each person come alive when they realize the beautiful little works of art they can create with the new Spellbinders product...it's like a spark ignites in their imaginations...you can really feel the creative energy when they get their hands on the new products....I love it!    

Thank you for stopping by today...I hope you'll be inspired to create something beautiful today!

Cheerio!

Ken

October 1, 2014

Here's a little update to let you see what I've been up to with ICE Resin

Creating Beautiful Bezels with ICE Resin  

Over the past couple years, I've been asked to teach ICE Resin workshops around the world...I absolutely love sharing the techniques with students...in fact, I am hosting an ICE Resin event on Friday October 24, 2014 in Newburgh Indiana...the event is called ICE at the Edge...it's going to be an awesome event...and I hope you can come.  Learn how you can enroll by clicking the link or the ICE at the Edge banner at the side of this page.