WOYWW 595 - Craft Studio Re-org 'Hau'l with Paints and Glazes Galore!

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes

Howdy and Welcome!

This week's WOYWW was the perfect impetus for me to re-org some supplies. 

I decided to consolidate ALL of my acrylic paints. So I went 'shopping' in my craft studio, my basement studio, and my travel art kits. It's amazing what kind of 'haul' resulted just from my own paint supplies!

I did not count the paints yet, but there were a lot!

The 'Haul' of acrylic paints - all 4 containers together.

Although I'm not yet done with testing the bottles to weed out the dried up paints, and adding Retarder to the wet bottles, I did manage to sort what I found into basic categories. There were plenty of containers and bins to group my 'haul' into logical categories. That's how I think - in categories -  and how I work in my studio.

Two shoeboxes of tube acrylics - with Arteza metallics separate

   

There are 2 shoeboxes for the basement paints. These are the tube acrylics that I use in gelli plate printing in the basement at my mini' wet studio. But now that winter is approaching, it's too cold to work in the basement. So these 2 boxes are stored upstairs until warmer weather in the Spring/Summer. Then I'll take them to print downstairs again.

The remainder of this haul is bottled paints. These are stored in a large white basket that I fit into a shallow wheeled tray. This 'tray' is one of 3 tiers of the 'Busy Box' from The Container Store. I actually put casters on all 3 tiers so that I can roll supplies around instead of carrying them (I'm a weakling). The basket JUST fits in the Busy Box tray with enough empty space around the perimeter to store the Neutrals (gray, black, white, cream).

Inside the large basket, I grouped the paints into 4 categories. There are 2 levels with 2 categories on each level. On the top level are my most often used paints - these are my homemade glazes/washes with Cools in Left basket and Warms in the Right basket.

Underneath the glazes are the unaltered paint bottles. These I also grouped into Cools and Warms. They are all brands of cheap and expensive bottles of acrylics. Some bought at craft stores, some bought at hardware stores. After the testing is complete, I'll put the rolling tray back on the floor to roll the paints near my table whenever I get the urge to paint. 

Meanwhile, my fave paints, Golds, are all together in a drawer on top of my table within arm's reach. I tend to use gold paints most often.

DO YOU BELIEVE WHAT I DISCOVERED?

Something I found interesting when testing the bottled paints was that most of the dried up paint bottles were the expensive paints!  I was surprised. The cheap paints from the hardware store are still nice and fluid. Nevertheless, for ALL the bottled still wet paints, I'm adding Retarder and a few drops of distilled water to keep them juicy. I'm also adding a square of GLAD Press 'n Seal wrap under the cap of each bottle. This trick  works great to keep all my mediums moist and wet glues from drying out. So now it's time to retrofit my paint bottle lids. Fyi, I keep my glue sticks in ziploc baggies - all except the one glue stick that I'm using for the 'current' project.

P.S. Not included in this 'haul' are my Ranger Distress inks, paints, stains, re-inkers, stamp pads, handles. I have already re-organized them. I moved them out of a drawer (that kept falling and spilling contents on the floor). I  now keep Distress brand separate on top of my large rolling Ikea Alex unit (I scored three - already assembled with wheels - SUPER cheap at a going out of business sale) behind my chair. They're in easy reach OFF, not on, my table, that I'm trying to keep clear for working on the 'current' project only. Ha! Wish me luck!

YOUR TURN

Do you ever paint with fluid acrylic paints? Have you tried gelli/monoprinting? If, so what are some of your fave tube acrylic paint brands? What other colorants do you use in your monoprinting adventures?

Check out the other craft tables here at WOYWW from What's On Your Workstation Wednesday to see more of what we're doing!

Thanks for stopping by. Please comment - and don't forget to check out / enter my current Giveaway!

Peace,

LuLu

'...and she Scores!'

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes

Howdy and welcome,

Over the weekend I scored 3 of these Ikea 'Alex' carts at a local art studio's going out of business sale. Got them for $25 each. Normally one cart is $120! I can't believe I now own Ikea furniture. They roll as smooth as butter. Can't wait to load 'em up with supplies.

 

These are just a few items I got in a GI-nor-MOUS haul that day for my new studio. Still have a LOT of work to do before I post studio tour pix. So stay tuned.

 

FREEBIES AND TUTORIALS

While you're here, don't forget to grab a freebie or check out one of my tutorials!

 

Thanks for visiting - and come back often. More SUPER exciting news is just around the corner!

 

Peace,

LuLu

 

 

 

'WOYWW 2014/01/15 - Happy New Year Giveaway, Haul, Commission, Tutorial & Giveaway!

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes

Happy New Year to all,

I'm back with a lot of news.

HAUL
Here's my recent haul from a local Archivers scrapbooking store that, I'm sad to say, is closing next month.

Haul from Archivers store closing

 (ink pads, ink sprays, Distress stains,

SNAP & Brag Book photo albums,

 SNAP page protectors) - yeehaw!

COMMISSION
I just got a rush commission late  last week for a set of invitations - carte blanche to design, print and assemble, stuff envelopes, address and mail. When I get a rush job like this, I charge the client a 'rush' fee in addition to the project fee...

In progress assembly for 2 components of invitation commission.

I stamped and signed the back cover first.

 

 

Over the holidays, hubby and I went on a road trip to Paducah KY. We wanted to visit the National Quilt Museum (awesome and overwhelming) and also research real estate in conjunction with the artist relocation program Paducah offers to artists. Before we left I cobbled together a collection of custom Travel Valet Trays. Did not have time or money to buy valet trays - plus, store bought trays are all too heavy for my 'travel light' experiment. (I wanted to practice 'packing light' in anticipation of our trip to Paris - someday).

 

The first picture shows the Travel Valet trays I made from Duck tape and/or Shelf Liner Paper. They are connected using (scrapbooking) brads. (In the top left corner of the scoring board are box lids I made from folding squares of paper origami style  - as experiment samples. I decided to use duck tape instead of folded paper because of durability.

 

This tutorial is for the trays I created when we returned from KY after testing the duck tape trays.  The duck tape trays with brads took too long to assemble when we got to our hotel suite in KY. So upon our return to Chicago, I developed trays using inexpensive chopping mats (dollar store) which are flexible - attached with rubber bands that stretch. These trays can be opened flat for packing and setup quickly with a rubber band upon arrival at my destination. Eventually, I plan to adhere the PARIS pattern duck tape to the chopping mat trays!

 



Purpose of trays: corral chargers, jewelry, lozenges, hair pins/barrettes...

 

TUTORIAL - Travel Valet Trays



Paper (unused) and Duck Tape (used) trays -

 Prototypes

 

Chopping mat package (from DOLLARTREE - 2 for $1 USD) + 

completed Travel Valet trays

 

Top - Travel Valet tray (assembled)

Bottom - Rubber band +

 inside of Travel Valet tray (unfolded, disassembled)

 

Top - Travel Valet tray (assembled),

Bottom - Rubber band + outside/bottom of 

Travel valet tray (unfolded, disassembled)

 

Supplies:

1. Chopping mat (dollar store 'DOLLAR TREE' - set of 2 in package)
2. Scoring Board (I used Martha Stewart)
3. Bone Folder (included with M.S. Scoring Board)
4. Craft knife (I used Exacto)
5. Cutting mat (I used Fiskars Rotary Cutting mat)
6. Ruler (prefer metal edge)
7. Rubber bands - thin (office supply)
8. Scissors (I used Tim Holtz Tonic scissors)

Directions:

 

1. Place chopping mat, frosted/matte side up (that is, shiny side down), on cutting mat.
2. Using craft knife and ruler, cut a square or rectangle 2" larger than the size tray you want (most of mine were cut 5" square for final size of 3" square).
3. Place square or rectangle on scoring board, and using bone folder, score 1" on each of the four sides.
4. Using Tonic scissors, cut a 45degree angle into each corner from outside edge to scored edge.
5. Using Bone Folder, lightly fold and burnish lightly each side towards center.
6. Using Bone Folder, heavily fold and burnish each angle cut towards it's corner.
7. Cut a small triangle into the center of each of the folded cut 45degree angle corners. (This is the notch where the rubber band will secure the closed tray)
8. Attach the rubber band, starting from  from any corner, sequentially around the outside of  tray by sliding rubber band into each notch. (I also tried an experiment with elastics (from a scrapbooking website) but the elastics were too 'fiddly'. The rubber bands worked quicker to setup the trays)

Let me know if you try these Travel Valet Trays. They can be used at home, in studio too of course!

 

GIVEAWAY

Ends January 20, 2014. Please enter on Giveaway post with a comment - and spread the word!

 

Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment.

 

You can visit more artists ateliers at Julia's WOYWW site - click here.

 

Peace,

LuLu

 

'WOYWW - 09/19/2012 - Haul and Wow-ee Zow-ee News Flash!'

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes

Howdy and Welcome,

Yes - I have been MIA. A lot of scrapbooking crops and the annual Scrap-A-Thon 6 retreat in Wisconsin!

For WOYWW this week, check out my 'haul' from the dollar store. I was on the hunt for spray bottles to concoct my version of Glimmer/Shimmer Mist. I want to start making some faux prima flowers for scrapbook/brag book covers, and I like the sparkly effect. I watched a slew of youtube videos on how to make faux mists and I watched another slew of videos about DIY faux prima flowers. Some of the scrapbook covers with the flowers are SO-O-O-O gorgeous. Almost delectable -  they are so pretty!

Anyway, for $1 each, I bought 11 packages of spray bottles (all that the store had on the racks). Each package includes:

1. spray bottle (2 oz)
2. regular bottle (2 oz)
3. cream pot (.5 oz)
4. funnel

Wearing my 'chemist cap' again, I'm having a blast measuring and combining components for my DIY mists.

LuLu's 2012 DIY Mist Project

Re-inkers: Stampin' Up re-inkers that I bought way back in 2001!

Storage: Hubby's used cardboard tote from a 6-pack of bottled beer. He doesn't buy beer often, but I asked him not to recycle the totes. I'm keeping them for storing supplies. They're ugly, but handy because of the 6 divided sections. They also work great in my cavernous tote bags keeping gear organized when I head out for a crop...

Haul: The purple plastic tote I found at JoAnns this weekend for $10. It has 2 large sections and 2 small sections on top - PLUS there is a divided drawer on the bottom! This tote also stacks on other totes - but I bought just the one tote this time. (Using a 40% off coupon, I also scored a small rolling plastic cart with 4 assorted drawers that I'm using to store components for a fabric project.)

In the purple plastic tote, I have baggies and other project supplies. Each baggie contains a bottle filled with these wet ingredients:

• distilled water - less than 2 oz,
• 20 drops re-inker - or a few drops acrylic paint,
• 4 drops acrylic glazing medium (as a binder - I could have used white glue),
• 2 glass beads

Each baggie has an asortment of one or more of the following sparkly dry ingredients (PearlEx, Perfect Pearls, and/or Twinkling H2Os).

My plan is to add the sparkly ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine by shaking. The glass beads are to help combine wet and dry ingredients when shaking. Next step is to spray scrapbook paper with my sparkly mist, let air dry and die cut paper into flowers. I broke down and bought Tim Holtz dies at Archivers - again using discount coupons!

The reason I bagged up the components was because I had started mixing the wet ingredients on our dining room table and selected the matching dry ingredients but soon I needed to clear off the table for other uses. It was easy to move the project into my craft room after I bagged stuff up and put them in the purple project tote. Don't you just LOVE how useful those baggies are?!

Fyi, I do have a small supply of Ranger Mini-misters but I only made my mists in a few of those vials before I quickly abandoned that product because:

• volume of vial is too small - I use multiple layers of spray to get the effect I want, and had to re-fill the Mini-misters too often.
• spray pump on a mini-mister was defective
• bottles from dollar store are more affordable than mini-misters. Duh!

Wow-ee Zow-ee NEWS FLASH!

The owner of a golf resort emailed me out of the blue (from a meetup.com Scrap-A-Holics group). She reached out because she wants help on developing her golf resort as a scrapbooking retreat!!!! 

One of the first things I told her (after reading all the pages on her website) was that I would need to inspect her resort (lodging/cabins, restaurant, golf course) before I could recommend it to my scrapping contacts. And would it be possible for me and hubby to get 1 or 2 nights complimentary lodging to inspect it, since we’ll both be on vacation? She said ‘sure’, and she booked us for 2 nights! I’m SO-O-O-O excited!

 

 

YOUR TURN
Do you use any sparkly mists in your artwork? Have you tried Glimmer Mist? What's your fave store bought mist? Have you tried to concoct your own sparkly spray? If so, what ingredients did you like best? Least?

Finally, have you attended any scrapbook or quilting or craft retreats? What are the 3 things you liked best about your retreat experience? 3 things you liked least?

Thanks for stopping by. Come back soon - my Giveaway for Followers will be here before you know it!

For more WOYWW ateliers, click here.

Peace,
LuLu