About Water-slide Decals

Last fall I started working with water slide decals. I experimented with a garden sign and then went on to make some Christmas plates and candles.  I put it away for a while but started up again last week and  since then, I've made several minis that turned out really well, others that turned out so-so and still others that I was very disappointed with.

 I know that many of you have used decals for a long time so most of this you probably already know about, but first time users may find this helpful.

Decals worked great on painted wood and fairly good on plates.  But when you put decals on plates, you have to remember that you're putting a flat object, the decal, on an object that has a shape or contour to it, like a raised rim of a plate.  This will cause a little tuck at the edge of the plate.  I was able to work it out and think it folded back over onto itself.  If it did, I can't find the tuck anywhere.

Decals also worked very well on unpainted and un-sanded wood.  Here are the decals as they came off the computer and onto the decal paper. I will be putting these in my nautical shop.

And here's how they turned out on bare wood.  They were very faint but once on the wood, the grain showed through.  The blue one is questionable but over all I was happy.  Gave the appearance of rustic, worn wood.

While trying to make stained glass, the decals were very faint.  The second picture shows how it looked when put on clear plastic. I had to take picture on a blue background just so it would show up.

This next picture didn't turn out very well but I was able to fix this by gluing 2 layers of tissue paper behind it.  Looks a lot better "in person".

I was very disappointed with the candles. When I put a white poinsettia on a red and green candles, the decals disappeared.  Then I put a red poinsettia on a white candle and it turned out good. Until I find out what went wrong with the white poinsettias, it looks like I stick to red.

By the way,  I used Testors decal paper and bonder (I think the bonder is the same thing as a sealer or fixative but not sure.)  It does come as a kit but for some reason, I purchase the paper and bonder separately.

Now for a few tips.

I printed the pictures I wanted on a "hard copy" using regular computer paper and a  word processor. That allowed me to resize, copy, and delete.  I know full size decal paper is available but this particular paper only came in 8 1/2" wide and 5  1/2" long.  Only 1/2 of your hard copy will print.

 Reduce your margins.  My default setting for margins is 1".  I was able to change this temporarily to 1/2".  Saving that 1" allowed me to add one more print at the end of each row.

When you think it's dry, it probably not. Except for the wood, I was able to move the decals around nearly 10 minutes after I thought they were dry.

Well, I hope this post may have helped someone.  I still have a few things I want to experiment with

but for now, I'm going on to some other things.  Not done with decals yet, just taking a break. 

Before I go, I wanted to let you about 2 blogs I came across a few days ago and began following. Stop by and take a look.  I think you'll like what you see.

charminis.blogspot.com/
uschispuppenhauswelt.blogspot.com/

Till next time, take care!

Diane

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Fairy Garden

Hello everyone! I hope all is well. Now that I'm back to minis after taking nearly a month off, all is well for me.

I was cleaning up my craft room a few days ago and came across a terrarium that I bought at a garage sale last fall. I decided it was about time to display all my fairy furniture that I have collected throughout the years.

The base is made out of wood and the acrylic panels are removable but the top is made out of a very heavy metal, almost like cast iron, It is painted a greenish color and highlighted in gold. 

        And these are the things I put in it.:

                                 

These next pictures aren't the best (we all know I'm not a very good photographer) but they will give you an idea on how things turned out.

I was very pleased with it and consider this project done.

And now, may I introduce you to Packie?  She is a mini Alpaca, my newest acquisition and only the second mini animal I have. She is about 3 1/2" tall, very close to scale and made out of alpaca fur.

When my sister came for Christmas this year, one of the places we visited was an  Alpaca Ranch.  They look like a small version of llamas but much cuter.  

This ranch is owned by a husband a wife team and they breed alpacas to sell and show.  We were allowed into the maternity ward that had 5 moms, 5 babies and 2 mothers-to be.                                                                                                                                                               

These alpacas didn't spit but would not allow themselves to be petted.  They have no natural defense against predators so whenever they see something ( like a friendly human hand) coming towards their head or neck, they jump away. But as you can see from the next photo, they like bright and shinny things like the zipper on my sister's purse and right in the mouth it goes.

                                   

Afterward we went into the gift shop and the woman gave me a demonstration on how she spun their hair into skeins and how she uses the fur for felting. All in all, a very fun trip.

So, what is everyone else working on?  Feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you're up to.  As for myself, I will be working on my nautical shop.  This will probably take a long time because I'll have to make just about everything I want to put in it.

So til next time, take care!

Diane

My Husband's Christmas Minis

The most wonderful day of the year is finally here and I'm stopping by to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

But before I go, I wanted to show you my husband's minis. The truck is from a co-work friend of his and he got it many years ago. I don't know what scale it is but I thought it  would look nice with a wreath in front or maybe a garland along the sides. I looked at it once and then saw a look on my husband's face that said "don't touch" so I left it alone.

But the other 2 Christmas minis are a different story.  They both were ornaments I hung on the tree.
One year as I was putting my Christmas decorations away, I noticed they were missing but wasn't to worried about it-they'd show up somewhere. Sure enough they did and this is where I found them.

The Santa was here.

And the sleigh

They disappear each each year only to re-appear the next.  I think my husband now has permanent custodianship and that's find with me.

From our house to yours

Merry Christmas!

Beaded Angel

Hello everyone! I hope you are beginning to enjoy the holiday season.  I am really surprised that for 2 years in a row, I am ready. That is quite an accomplishment for me!

I decided to make angels using straight pin type jewelry findings instead of beading wire.  They may take a little longer because of the drying time but I really enjoyed this method.

You will need:

2 larger gold sequins
gold glitter- very fine
14 small beads for the dress
1 larger bead for the head
4 rice beads
6 straight pin findings
wire cutters
tweezers
craft glue for glitter
superglue (you could probably use craft glue but that takes longer to dry and not quite as sturdy)

String beads on wires as shown below and secure in place with super glue.

Once the glue dries, trim off the excess wire as close as you can to the beads. Then, carefully using superglue, glue together as shown.

While that's drying take one sequin and cut in half. Apply craft glue to both halves then glitter and let dry. Leaving the other sequin whole, apply glue and glitter.

Now comes the fun part. Using craft glue, glue the whole sequin to the back head of the angel (for the halo)

Then add the halves as wings. I had to do this as a two step process because it helps to have the halo dry.  I also decided to use craft glue because I wasn't too sure how superglue would stick to glitter. 

Final step is to superglue the rice beads to the back of the angel at the base.  Be sure to tilt the angel very slightly backwards,

You should end up with something like this:

I have made 2 of these so far and  have no plans to make more (for this year at least) In fact, this will probably be the last mini I make before Christmas. I will be spending the rest of the time putting together little scenarios on  how I want to display the minis in my Christmas shop.  Hopefully, I'll have some pics soon.

Hope you enjoyed thus tutorial. So, til next time, have a wonderful day.

Diane

Halloween and other stuff

Hello, hello, hello! I hope everyone is doing well. We just got back from a much needed vacation, visiting the kids, grandkids and family up north ( Chicago area) so I'm in a very good mood. It was actually nice to dress in a sweatshirt ,levis, socks and shoes and sit around a campfire. But because we were gone for nearly a month, I'm afraid my Halloween offering is a little slim this year.

This picture is a little scene I put together last year and was able to fit in most of my Halloween minis.

But there are two other minis that didn't fit so here they are.

 I really enjoy this spooky tree because the eyes and mouth are wired to light up.  And the smile on the pumpkin is really cute.  I have them setting in my den as a display for anyone who comes by to see.  Unfortunately, I don't thinks anyone will come by-at least not trick or treaters.  We live in a somewhat isolated area in ours subdivision with 4 other neighbors and there are simply no kids close enough who want to come out our way. So no more pumpkin carving or outdoor displays. But at least I can enjoy Halloween indoors with my minis.

After Halloween, this tree and pumpkin will go into a different scenario. Along with some other things that I have no immediate plans for, I have been toying with an idea of making an outdoor scene that I'm calling the... Yard Art Emporium!

 Yard art is very popular in my area probably because the weather is so nice year round. Most of these minis are to scale, just large objects. Now all I have to do is make an awning, figure what type of base to put it on and whether or not to add some concrete statues and fountains.  Needless to say, this isn't going to be done anytime soon.

.I know I said I'd have some tuts ready for this post, french hook earrings and a beaded angel, but the pictures didn't turn out very well.  So I'll be retaking them tomorrow and will post again as soon as I can. Sorry about that.

Please have a great Halloween and be safe!

Diane

About Christmas

While some of my UFOs are drying, I decided to put together a Christmas display using one of my few remaining Michael's hutches.  This display is not permanent, just a dry run.

So far, I really like it except for the angel on the glass tray.  It sticks over the edge a little bit so I might replace it.  Have to think about it for a while.

Then I got together all my perfume trays.  I have about 3 more that I haven't taken a pictures of yet. Most of these will go on a table display (which is still drying.)

The one on the left is one I made using a unique tray I received in a swap.  It;s supposed to be mens cologne display. The one on the right is also from a swap. I did fancy it up a little using these:

I found them at a dollar store (Dollar General, I think).  These are actually fingernail decals and come with an adhesive backing. They can be a little frustrating to work with because they stick to everything...including fingers and tweezers.  But it was worth the effort.  This strip was wide enough to cover the edge of the glass and added a little pizzazz.

Well, I don't mean to post and run but we're leaving for vacation in a day or so and I still have lots to do.  When I get back, I hope to have a tutorial on a different way to make french hook earrings and my way of making a beaded angel.

Take care!

I really wanted to post long before this but about 2 weeks ago, I had a nasty visitor...the toothache from Hell!  It laid me low for about 10 days even tho I was taking antibiotics and pain pills. Finally got the ok to have my tooth pulled and now I'm recovering... slowly.

During that time, I pulled out all my UFOs of which I have 12 (that I need for Katelyn's Crossing) and was able to finish up quite a few. First came the necklace displays that will going into the gift section of my Christmas shop. The first two are from gifts I received from two wonderful ladies from one of my Yahoo groups.  The displays are made out of left over craft foam (from when I made a bunch of flip-flops)  Easy to cut and inexpensive.

These two minis below are what I came up with and am happy at how well they turned out.

Here is the template I used with some changes.  I did elongate this to make it taller and cut off the side flaps. I used a piece of  folded 

cardboard to prop it up with. 

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Just for the heck of it, some of you may find the guide below interesting.

                                        

While I had all my jewelry findings out, I made some candle sticks.

I really like the tarnished look and as an extra bonus, they don't tip over!

Finally, I painted some bead caps to look like fancy bowls.  The blue one looks like sterling silver with turquoise inlays.

Most of these minis went real fast.  I had already put all the beads and supplies I needed in individual boxes so it was just a matter of some cutting, assembly and maybe a little paint.  But the 

Christmas ornaments I'm making now will take a little longer.

Well, that's about all for now.  I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable weekend!

Diane