filthy hutch...

Hey Ya'll... I've been promising to post pictures of old completed projects for a while now. Here's one of my favorites.

As far as I know, this hutch is at least 75 years old. My mom remembers it being at my Grandparents house in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood and knows it was there when they moved in around 1934.

In my lifetime, it was a permanent fixture at my Gramma's summer house north of Chicago.

For as long as I can remember it was always in the same spot... on the "back porch" across from the washer and dryer. It was always filled with junk. My grandma was a true pack rat, she never threw anything away. I remember scavenging through it, past the old mixers she stored in it, to poke through the rusty coffee cans full of miscellaneous doohickeys and thingamabobs. For some reason, I would always get into trouble for exploring the filthy little mint green cabinet. I always liked it. I always wanted to clean it up.

When my Gramma passed away in 2003, I saved it from the house. I put alot of work into cleaning it up. Lots of time and money was spent on supplies. In the end I was completely satisfied with how it turned out. Here are my "BEFORE" pictures. I am so happy I was smart enough to actually snap a few. (You'll see in the future... that's rare for me.)

This sucker had layers and layers of paint...

"BEFORE"... Dirty, dirty paint...
I tried to use a chemical paint stripper... It was working, but it was really sloppy and took forever.

I ended up buying a heat gun and rocked a gas mask and work gloves. Years and layers of lead paint bubbled up and I was able to scrap it off... and almost see wood. (Seriously... it may not look like progress, but it really was. There had to be at least 10 layers of thick paint on this piece.)

"DURING"...

I pryed the random piece of wood off the side. I'm not sure what that was doing there. There was a pinkish paint under it, so that was a pretty good clue that it was added at some point. So I just left it off.

The more I worked on this, the more I realized that this piece was not complete. I'm pretty sure it was just the top half to a much larger piece. After scrapping as much paint off as I could, I sanded off whatever was left with a rotary sander, oiled up the wood to look healthy, changed the hinges, changed the knob, painted the interior, panted the insets on the doors.

"AFTER"...
This is what I ended up with...Regardless of what it is... I love it. And it holds my DVDs perfectly.

Glittery bottlecap resin magnets...

Here are a few of my bottle cap magnets... The pictures are pretty bad, but you get the idea, right?

To make these, I held the bottle caps over a flame for about 5 seconds (just long enough to melt the plastic seal). Then I pulled the seal out with a pair of needle nose pliers. I then washed the bottle caps to get rid of that delicious beer scent and any soot left over from melting the plastic. Then I painted the inside surface and "walls" with mod podge and sprinkled on my glitter. Once the glitter dried I applied a thin coat of mod podge over the glitter to seal it. Once completely dry, I placed my buttons in place (only after snipping off the shank), and poured resin to the rim and placed on a flat surface to dry overnight. When dry, I super glued magnets in place.

This pic came out really dark... I need to find a better lit place to take pictures without a flash.

The dollar signs are my favorite, so far...

The glitter on these is very fine. I skipped sealing the glitter and none floated to the surface.
These aces would have turned out a lot better if I sealed the glitter. I didn't and some of the glitter didn't float to the surface... I guess that's what I get for not sealing them. Trial and error, they are stilll kinda cool looking.Orange skull stickers on copper glitter background... pretty cute.

HobLob

As expected, I just thought of a really cool idea and now I need to go to Hobby Lobby and pick up some resin dye!

Speaking of Hobby Lobby...

I only discovered the greatness that is Hobby Lobby a couple years ago, before then I was strictly a Michael's girl.
It all started with a search for an arts and craft store that I could run to during a lunch break. With no Michael's anywhere close, I attempted to find the Jo-anne Fabrics that the internet swore was just down the road. No dice... didn't exist.
Feeling defeated, I conjured up the courage to venture further into the Chicago suburbs than I felt comfortable with and took my chances on a oddly named little store... Hobby Lobby.

I thought I'd weigh the pros and cons of, what has now become, one of my favorite stores.

PRO: Online coupons. The kind folks at Hobby Lobby have really won me over with this one. Unlike some other Arts & Craft supply stores, (you know who you are, Michael's) Hobby Lobby post's their weekly coupons online for the world to print. You can print as many as you like and go every day or drag some friends and have them make your purchases for you. I like to wait for the 40% off coupons to pick up bigger ticket items, like resin or fabric. Oh you read that right, you can even use your coupons toward fabric!

You can find this weeks coupon here...
http://www.hobbylobby.com/site3/weekly/coupon.cfm

If you've ever coveted a coupon you cut out of a Michael's weekly circular or were dissapointed when you noticed that the flyer you picked up at the front door had a big rectangle ripped out of it, you know how fantastic this is!

CON: Hobby Lobbys are no where near my apartment. This is a huge inconvenience and I have to really put some thought into planning out my trips. There is a location closer to the office, but it's still a hike and a lunch run to Hobby Lobby is definitely a 'get in and get out' event. This blows, because they have a ton of cool stuff to browse. I'm often easily distracted and end up coming back late from my lunch run still hungry and having spent twice what I estimated.

PRO: They have everything... it's your one stop arts and craft store... I can pick up fabric, paint, and resin all in one trip.

CON: They are closed on Sundays so their employees can worship God... or something.

PRO: Skate shoes are NOT allowed in the store. Holl lay loo yah! Now here's a reason to praise God or something! More stores need to start this ban!

CON: I bought Easy Craft resin at Hoby Lobby and it was $12.99 (before coupon *wink*), I bought the same resin at Michael's for $10.95. Resin gouging!

PRO: They alway have a huge clearance section. And although their clearance items aren't always priced to move, once in a while you can find a really good deal. Especially on their custom frames. I'm not sure what other custom frame shops do with the frames that are rejected or not picked up, but Hobby Lobby prices those bad boys to sell.

Thats all for now... Happy discounting!

nerd style...

I decided to start a blog. I’m quite sure my Myspace friends are no where near as enthralled with my Artsy Crafty comings and goings as I’d like them to be… At least here people can choose to read my blog if they are at all interested. I start so many projects; I thought it’d be nice to have a place to archive them all.

Its Art and Craft fair season again. And I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m pretty damn excited. With no ridiculous boy drama to distract me this year, I’m on full steam ahead. All last week I’ve been clipping vintage ads and painting craft wood. After experimenting with a few different techniques, I’ve finally found the perfect decoupage combination. Glue sticks + Golden Matte Medium. It blows Mod Podge out of the water. No more shiny, wrinkly disappointments for me! Now I have to go back and try to salvage some of my old pieces. I’ll probably end up stripping them and starting over. I’ve made about 20 new plaques in the last week and I’m running out of old magazines. It’s time for a road trip to an antique mall.

The other day I made my first attempt at resin(ing). I mixed about 4 tablespoons worth. Poured a couple different designs into my mold and then quickly botched my work with a mess of glitter. Yes, I definitely need some sort of teeny tiny spoon so that I can evenly distribute the glitter and not end up with mounds of glitter atop my resin-y goodness. I popped all kinds of little trinkets into my resin molds. Unfortunately not all of them turned out as expected. I was over anxious and blew my (glitter) load too soon. It’s a good idea to let resin gel before adding glitter. I know that now. That invisible barrier really does a world of difference.

I made my first bottle cap magnet out of some left over resin, a little glitter, and a skull and crossbones sticker. I was extremely impressed with the result. I seriously put no effort into it at all. I picked a bottle cap out of the box, flipped it over, shook some dusty glitter into it, popped a sticker in, and filled it with resin and presto. Since it came out much better than the molds, I’m considering scrapping that idea all together and focusing on the bottle caps. I took a crack at a few new designs and I'll find out tonight if they're a success.

So the rumors are true, I can’t stick to one project… It’s definitly A.D.D. I can’t focus on one project without my mind skipping around to 40 different prospective ideas. Last night I kept picking up bags of beads and inching towards the oven. The memory of the awful fumes I encountered on my last plastic melting experiment quickly made me turn on my heel. Of course, it’s only a matter of time before I start melting plastic again. I think I'll hold off until Fall; it's far too hot now to work in a well ventilated space.

I pulled my craft bag out of the closet last week and completely cleaned it out and reorganized it. I put all my paints, glitter, stencils, and glues in individual ziplock storage bags. It really makes it a million times easier to access everything now. But how I wish I had a workshop. My living room closet is stuffed full of plastic totes, bins, toolboxes… and I’m running out of room to store the stuff that should actually occupy that space. I need more room.

I’m currently looking into applying for a table at several different Art & Craft fairs. I’m so disappointed that a party I am really looking forward to attending has been moved to the weekend of the Portage Park fair. I still plan to attend the fair, but I will not have a booth. The party is going to be up North in Lake County somewhere and there is no way I can participate in the fair and make the party. My main option right now is the DIY Trunk show in November. Hopefully I’ll have my logo so I can get some cards and stickers made before I apply.

I'm going to run for now.

Ayms

Stay tuned…I’ll post my current projects as well as some finished projects later on tonight.

Wanted, ASAP!
Buddy to take Daytrip to Antique malls.
Someone to draw/design Kitschy Bitsch logo.

Supply Wish list:
Tiny spoon
Squeeze bottle for resin distribution
Old Comic books
Pinup art
Woman’s magazines circa 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s
Mat board
Paper cutter
Tiny trinkets