I’m excited to finally share with you a brand new creative and crafty resource that just launched TODAY: HP Create. Together with several other creative bloggers, I designed some printable projects with in-depth how-to information and photos. Though I have moved on from the team you will still see many of my projects in the weeks to come, so be sure to bookmark the site and visit it often!The first HP Create project being shared is my custom leather key fobs that you can make yourself. They’re not as hard as you think to make, and I’ve included lots of ideas for designs and uses. Head over and check out all the new projects by the fabulous HP Create Inspiration Crew!
Disclosure: I am a compensated blogger for HP Create
A while back I created a series of round rubber stamps to use in craft workshops and my own projects. I ordered my designs in full, uncut clear stamp sheets, then trim and adhered them to the ends of wooden spools. I stamped each design onto label stock, used a one-inch punch to cut each out and placed on the top of the spools, then finished with a clear adhesive epoxy circles, commonly used in bottle cap crafting.I also had a sheet of miscellaneous art and type made. I organized my designs onto a 8″x10″ digital artboard, working in Adobe Illustrator, careful to leave enough space between designs for trimming out with a craft knife. My original file had my signature and logo placed about in various sizes and versions. Saving the file as a PDF, I emailed the file to our local rubber stamp shop, who then reversed the artwork and created a full sheet of embossed acrylic.I carefully trimmed out each design with a craft knife and mounted them onto different wooden items. Here are some mounted to vintage wooden rubber stamp handles of which I’d removed the original rubber.Some I mounted to pre-cut wooden shapes found at the craft store after first stamping the design onto the top side.Others were mounted to strips of balsa wood trimmed with a craft knife, again stamping the design first before mounting.Tip: If you choose to design your own stamps, it is easiest if you find your wooden stamp handles first and size the artwork to fit the attached block.BONUS: Custom acrylic stamp designs are also excellent for creating faux-engraved jewelry. Click here for Faux-Engraved Jewelry instructions.
I was recently given a Walmart gift card by HP to try out some of their same-day creative photo offerings to share with you, as well as the opportunity for three of my blog readers to each win a $50 Walmart gift card to do the same! I went to my local Walmart Photo Center and checked out the products first hand, realizing how wonderful most of them would be for creating creative wall art with a mix of digital images and studio craft supplies. There’s so many products to choose from including:
Multi-Panel Canvas or Multi-Panel Mounted Photos (New from HP, only available in stores right now): The Multi-Panel Photo Canvas and Mounted Photos, where one photo is split across 2 and 4 panels and hung closely together, is a great way to showcase pictures of summer landscapes, unique architecture, summer wedding photos and large group family photos. Multi-Image Canvas or Multi-Image Mounted Photos (New from HP, only available in stores right now): Another new photo wall décor option, the Multi-Image Photo Canvas or Mounted Photo, features a “hero” image as the background and has small insets where you can display other photos on top of the hero image.
HP Mounted Photos: A unique offering from HP, Mounted Photos feature a silver-look edge. It comes ready to hang and also has a back stand so you can place it on a table or shelf. Mounted Photos come in a variety of sizes.
HP Premium Canvas: Made with high-quality canvas material with a gallery-wrapped look, the HP Premium Canvas is an affordable wall décor solution that’s so beautiful it can be displayed in an art gallery!
Other wall décor options include HP Faux Canvas, Posters and collage posters, and Prints
For my projects I chose the 16″ x 20″ Faux Canvas, because it was the choice with the most dimension- a gallery wrap of the image around a 1.5″ deep cardboard structure. So at my computer, I designed two different image. One to support my upcoming workshop classes, and another (that when finished reads: Craft Like Nobody’s Watching) to remind myself and others to just stop worrying about what others are thinking and enjoy the process of crafting. I designed them to the dimensions of 19″ x 23″ to allow for the 1.5″ side wraps. Here is what each looks like once loaded onto the Walmart Photo site where it indicates how your image will place with the dark areas representing the side wraps.For my first piece, I used one vintage group photo divided into three rounds, a tartan print, an image from a vintage chocolate covered cherries label, and a cigar box tax stamp. I also included some line art of a decorative border I designed to run vertically behind the round group shots. My other piece has a scan of one of my favorite vintage paint-by-number paintings, a digital cigar box tax label and a scanned vintage image of an audience watching a sport. I pieced all together with type in Photoshop. I uploaded the images to the Walmart Photo website and was in store picking them up that afternoon! Here is the lovely Favi from the Walmart Photo Center with my finished faux canvas wall art!Here is what the back looks like.Once back in the studio the real fun began. I used acrylic gesso to beef up and add texture to the lettering by painting it on in glops and mounds. Once dry it has a nice, lumpy, chalky look. I hot glued some long paintbrushes on and tied up with a ribbon.I adhered some thick baker’s twine along the graphic border.I glued a pair of small, vintage scissors in the “dead space” between the first two words.Then to frame the people shots, I used three 3-inch wooden embroidery hoops that I embellished with washi tape and rubber stamps that read Friends, Vintage, and Handmade.I finished this piece by distressing the edges and corners with coarse steel wool for a bit of a worn look.Here is my first finished faux canvas embellished wall art:For my second piece, I pulled out some metal letters I’ve had tucked away for years and roughly went over some with a white paint marker. I adhered them onto a piece of grosgrain ribbon tucked below a vintage cloth measuring tape, with a bit of vintage wallpaper peeking out from below.Instead of using the metal letters for the word LIKE as I’d originally planned, I came across that word in my stack of vintage flash card and clipped it to the measuring tape to complete the message.I used a glue pen and white glitter to enhance the word Craft.I added a little craft-store picket fence to the bottom to keep the crowd back.I tucked in a few vintage millinary branches and my piece was complete!So as you see, your options for altered art, digital collage, traditional collage, and mixed media just got a whole lot more exciting! For more information on these wall art products, visit HP/Wake Up Your Walls.
THE GIVEAWAY
HP is giving away $50 Walmart gift cards to THREE lucky JSIM readers to wake up their walls!
TO ENTER: Leave a nice, relevant comment below. One comment/entry per person, please.
DEADLINE: Entry closes Thursday, September 5, 2013 at noon (PST). The winner will be randomly chosen, notified, and posted here shortly thereafter. Good Luck!
Together with several other creative bloggers, I designed some printable projects with in-depth how-to information and photos. Though I have moved on from the team you will still see many of my projects in the weeks to come, so be sure to bookmark the site and visit it often!
