• About

Caffeine for the Creative Soul

~ Daily journal about art, writing, and creating

Caffeine for the Creative Soul

Category Archives: Craft Project

Christmas Card Houses

05 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by timcoffeyart in Craft Project

≈ 6 Comments

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. I have a video up on the C. R. Gibson blog showing how I made these Holiday Card Houses. Battery operated tea lights really bring them to life.

Here’s a link to the How To Video—

http://blog.crgibson.com/

Christmas Card Houses

How to Make a Monoprint

20 Tuesday Mar 2012

Posted by timcoffeyart in Art, Craft Project

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Art, crafts

When I created the mold and deckle for my paper making project, I was left with the glass panels from the frames. I thought this would be a good opportunity to prepare one of those panels for making monoprints.

I simply taped the sharp edges of the glass with masking tape to protect my fingers.

Making a monoprint is simple. Paint the glass with watered down paint, and press a sheet of paper onto the glass to transfer the image. You can use any type of water based paint or ink. For these monoprints I used acrylic paint mixed with water, and I transferred the images onto my hand made paper. Eventually, I plan to make a short video showing the monoprinting process on my Youtube channel.

Monoprints are fun to make because they are very fast to create, and you never know what the results will be. Once they dry, you can draw and paint on top of the prints if you wish.

Paper Making Project – Day 4

19 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by timcoffeyart in Craft Project, How to Make Paper, Scrapbooking, Up-cycling Projects

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

crafts, How to Make Paper, Up-cycling

I allowed the paper to dry completely while still on the sheets of interfacing.

Since the paper curled so dramatically, I sprayed them lightly with water and ironed them. Overall, I’m very pleased with the results. The color is almost white, with a very pale tint of pink and flecks of lime green and hot pink.

Paper Making Project – Day 3

18 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by timcoffeyart in Craft Project, How to Make Paper, Scrapbooking, Up-cycling Projects

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

How to Make Paper, Scrapbooking, Up-cycling

After the paper had been pressed for about 36 hours, I removed the stack of books and lifted off the top board. I wasn’t able to find information about how long the paper should be pressed, so 36 hours is not an official rule or guideline.

I carefully began peeling away the interfacing sheets and clipped them to wire hangers for drying. You can see that the paper is thicker in the center due to the sagging of the netting that I used to make the mold. I definitely recommend using wire mesh rather than fabric tulle for that reason.

I’ll post a photo of the dry paper tomorrow.

Paper Making Project – Day 2

17 Saturday Mar 2012

Posted by timcoffeyart in Craft Project, How to Make Paper, Scrapbooking, Uncategorized, Up-cycling Projects

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

crafts, How to Make Paper

In day 2 of the paper making process, I learned a few things. The tulle (fabric netting material) I used to make the mold was stretchy, and it sagged every time I made a sheet of paper. The sagging may cause the paper to be thicker in the center, because more pulp will tend to concentrate there as the water is draining. I recommend metal mesh for making the mold rather than the tulle. I plan to look for suitable metal mesh, and I’ll share what I find when I make the video.

After soaking the paper overnight, I filled the electric blender half way with water and added just a few pieces of the paper. I found it helps to break up any long strips of paper (if you used a paper shredder) into smaller pieces. The long strips were getting caught in the blades. You don’t want to strain the blender’s motor. (Yesterday, Susan commented that she found an old blender for $5 at a thrift shop – you don’t want to use a blender for food after this!)

The pulp is ready when there are no large pieces of paper remaining. However, over-blending should be avoided, because if the pulp is too fine, the paper will be weaker due to the shorter fibers.

I continued to add more paper in small amounts until the pulp was about the consistency of a thick milkshake. I poured the pulp into the bin and repeated the process until all of the soaked paper had been turned into pulp. I spent more than an hour just blending batches of pulp!

At this point, the pulp is too thick for paper making, so I removed a large amount of the pulp before I added more water to the bin to thin the pulp out. By keeping a lot of the pulp separate, it allowed me to replenish the pulp occasionally during the paper making process. What happens is that each time you form a sheet of paper, some pulp is removed from the bin, making the pulp mixture thinner. The thinner the mixture, the thinner the sheets of paper will be. If you want thick paper, use thick pulp.

To form the paper, the mold (the piece containing the mesh) goes underneath the deckle, with the mesh facing up. Line up both frames perfectly with each other. Agitate the pulp mixture, and dunk the mold and deckle into the pulp (starting out vertically, because you want to scoop the pulp into the deckle). Lift up the mold and deckle and let the water drain back into the bin. Try to hold it parallel to the floor so that the pulp settles evenly on the mesh. If it’s at an angle, the paper might end up thicker on one side.

Once the water has drained, carefully lift the deckle off the mold. If the mesh is very fine, you may be able to turn the mold over and place the pulp face down on the interfacing sheet on the plywood board. This is the method I used. The mesh sagged quite a bit, but the pulp stayed in place. I used a sponge and pressed the back side of the mesh to remove the excess water. I was amazed at how much water came out of the pulp. Once I had sponged the entire surface, I was able to remove the mold. If the pulp is too wet, it has a tendency to stick to the mold.

On a piece of plywood (covered in plastic), I stacked one sheet of paper on top of another with a sheet of interfacing between each one. I was able to form 14 sheets of paper with the pulp made from about 20 sheets of paper. You always get a little less paper out than what you put into it.

When I was finished stacking the sheets, I covered it with another piece of plywood (covered in plastic to keep the plywood dry). I stacked heavy books on top to create a makeshift paper press.

I strained the remaining pulp and squeezed out as much water as possible to dry it and save the pulp for the next time.

The entire process for Day 2 took about 4 to 5 hours.

Paper Making Project Begins – Day 1

16 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by timcoffeyart in Craft Project, How to Make Paper, Scrapbooking, Up-cycling Projects

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

crafts, How to Make Paper

A few months ago, I had mentioned the idea of creating a video showing how to make paper. Making paper is a great opportunity to up-cycle small pieces of waste paper or scrapbooking paper that would normally be thrown out. I think it’s my most ambitious Youtube project yet, and it could require a few videos to go through the whole process. It’s been many years since the last time I made paper, so I’m relearning the process. I’ll post photos each day of my progress.

This is a photo of the first step. I tore up scrapbooking paper scraps and some used inkjet paper into small pieces. You can run sheets of paper through a paper shredder – this really speeds up the process.

I soaked the shredded paper overnight in a pan of cold water. This softens the paper for blending in an electric blender. I bought one at Walmart for $15. I don’t recommend using the blender for food after using it to blend paper pulp.

I made a mold and deckle from two document frames from a dollar store. The frames must be very flat, because they need to fit together tightly when forming the paper. Plus, they need to be solid, not hollow sheets of molded plastic – so look carefully at the construction to be sure they will be suitable for a mold and deckle.

To make the mold, I stretched a piece of nylon tulle onto one of the frames and hot glued it on the sides. The frame for the deckle is left “as is”.

When the video is complete, it will be uploaded to my Youtube channel, probably in a few weeks. It’s an ambitious project, so it will take some time to complete the video editing and voiceover. I’ll be sure to place a link on the blog once it’s uploaded to Youtube.

Zentangles

20 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by timcoffeyart in Art, Art Supplies, Craft Project, Creating Equals Playing

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

Art, Books, Creating Equals Playing, daily drawing exercises, Inspiration

Today’s post comes from Joanne Fink. I know a few of you who have subscribed to this blog have an interest in Zentangles. Yesterday, I received information about this book by Joanne Fink, featuring her drawing and patterning techniques.

The following letter is from Joanne Fink. She gave me permission to post this:

“Dear Friends & Family,

Three years ago, I began a new stage of my creative journey when I was introduced to the wonderful world of Zentangle®. I enjoyed ‘tangling’ for a couple of weeks, then returned to my calligraphic roots and started incorporating patterns into my letterforms and designs. Since I was inspired by Zentangle, I called my new style “Zenspirations™”, and began teaching others how to enhance their work with simple patterns. I had never worked with a mono-line pen before, but quickly became so enamored with all of Sakura’s wonderful pens that I became a ‘Sakura Fanatic’, and filmed a series of videos showing how I use their tools to create my Zenspirations art. You can find them on Sakura’s website, or by clicking on the links below.
In addition to the videos, I’ve designed and licensed lots of Zenspirations products for the craft market, and Inspired Journey items for the stationery and gift market. My new book, Zenspirations Letters & Patterning, was introduced by Design Originals at the Craft & Hobby Show in July. My publisher is offering a “Friends & Family” 20% discount to anyone who wants to order the book between now and January 2, 2012. Just click this link:
BUY NOW    and put in the promo code “zensp” at checkout.
And for those of you who are looking for last minute holiday gifts, please check out my new magnetic jewelry design inserts for Magnabilities at http://www.magnabilities.com/store/design-inserts-licensed-c-3_1213_1109.html. The Christmas designs (see samples below) are available now, and my monogram inserts will be available soon.
Thanks for helping me get the word out about the book, jewelry and videos… I really appreciate it.
Happy Holidays!
Joanne”
ZENSPIRATIONS™ VIDEO LINKS:
 
1.       Zenspirations Patterning Techniques with Joanne Fink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhXb6my65fw&hd=1
2.       Zenspirations Shape & Edge Patterning with Joanne Fink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cuekq4lFUo&hd=1
3.       Zenspirations Patterned Monograms with Joanne Fink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC-JULE4T8A&hd=1
4.       Zenspirations Borders & Frames with Joanne Fink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZJ9SpSukeQ&hd=1
5.       Sakura Fanatic with Joanne Fink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBlVBnVHHuE&hd=1
6.       Zenspirations Koi Watercolor Painting with Samantha Trattner (Joanne’s daughter)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KczCST5FGnw&hd=1
Hope you enjoy the videos… you can see other great videos on Sakura’s website: www.sakuraofamerica.com.
________________

Gingerbread Men Ornament

19 Monday Dec 2011

Posted by timcoffeyart in Art Supplies, Craft Project, Creating Equals Playing, Scrapbooking

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Christmas Ornament, Gingerbread men

I made a gingerbread men ornament video for my youtube channel. I hope everyone is having a great holiday season!

Here’s the link to the video for anyone who wants the details.

 

 

RSS Feed RSS - Posts

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 446 other subscribers

Follow Me on Twitter

Follow TimCoffeyArt on Twitter

Follow Me on Youtube

Visit My Website

What’s Fresh

  • Always My Good Friend #8
  • Always My Good Friend #7
  • Always My Good Friend #6
  • Always My Good Friend #5
  • Always My Good Friend #4
  • Always My Good Friend #3
  • Always My Good Friend – First Lyrics
  • Always My Good Friend

Filters

911 Always My good Friend American Flag Art Black Lives Matter blog Blogging Books celebration Cereal Box Art Christmas Ornament COVID 19 crafts Creating a Character Creating Equals Playing Daily doodle daily drawing exercises deadline Design Digging Deep Dreams Eiffel Tower Fabric Finny and Wood Flowers four months Friendship Gingerbread men Giveaway Goals good habit Healing How to Make Paper If Flowers Could Talk Important Things Inspiration Inspirational Instant Gratification Journal key word density Kreativ Blogger Award Letter to a friend Love and Kindness Lyrics mind stream Music NaNoWriMo New Song New Year's Resolution Observing Personal Letter Politics Quarantine Song random words Remembering Rough Sketch Scrapbooking Song Song Lyrics SOPA PIPA Protest Spiral stream of consciousness Sunshine Award The Versatile Blogger Award Time Twitter United We Will Climb Unity Up-cycling Valentine's Day Wipeout Writing writing a novel writing exercise zebra

Categories

  • Art (114)
  • Art Supplies (5)
  • Awards (2)
  • Blogging (39)
  • Craft Project (8)
  • Creating a Character (23)
  • Creating Equals Playing (11)
  • Creating Leads to Healing (1)
  • Creative Doldrums (1)
  • daily doodle (86)
  • Etegami (5)
  • Fabric Collections (1)
  • Finny and Wood (23)
  • Giveaway (9)
  • How to Make Paper (5)
  • If Flowers Could Talk (17)
  • Inspirational Doodles (70)
  • Journal (79)
  • Music (14)
  • Nature Photos (1)
  • Scrapbooking (10)
  • Scrapbooking Layouts (1)
  • Self Doubt (1)
  • Setting the Bar High (1)
  • Thinking Outside the Box (3)
  • Uncategorized (17)
  • Up-cycling Projects (13)
  • Writing (95)

Follow me on Youtube

Blogroll

  • Personalized Gifts
  • The Wild Pomegranate
  • Valita's Designs & Fresh Folds
  • zendictive
  • {bliss}

TimCoffeyArt Website

  • Tim Coffey Art

Fresh Brew

February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Jul    

Flavor of the Month

  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • December 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • April 2013
  • December 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011

Free Online Games

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Caffeine for the Creative Soul
    • Join 300 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Caffeine for the Creative Soul
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...