AIM DIY: Watercolor & Wax Paper Jewelry

August 2, 2016October 28, 2020 | Alison - Adventures-in-Making

From 2014-2016 I chronicled my crafty endeavors on the site Adventures-in-Making. I’ve selected a few of those DIY’s, Recipes, and other posts to share on the site.

Sometimes I come up with a project that I enjoy so much that it’s hard to stop to write a post. This, my friends, is one of those.

It’s a simple combination of watercolor, melting wax, and punching shapes- but it’s oh so satisfying.

SUPPLIES

Thick paper for Watercolor
Watercolor paints and brushes
Pencil
Straight Edge
Paraffin Wax
Scraping Tool, like a vegetable peeler.
Iron, ironing board, towel or other surface to catch wiley bits of wax
Parchment Paper
Scissors
Large Thick Material Punches (optional but recommended) I used circle punches in 2″ diameter, 1.5″ diameter, and 1″ diameter
Small hole punch
Thin cord or ribbon
Jump Rings (optional)

Step One: Paint it

Gather your paper, pencil, straight edge, paints and brushes.

Draw several parallel lines with your pencil to create stripes of varying widths.

Begin filling in each stripe with a color in the order of the rainbow. (ROY G BIV – Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet).

If you fill a small stripe, use a similar color next to it (Orange red and Red for instance.) It’s okay if your paint is a little irregular, or you have small white spaces.

Now it’s time to paint the back of your pendant. Draw some non-parallel lines on a new piece of paper, and fill them in with some of the same colors you used on the other side. Leave a little white space as well. Set your paintings aside to dry.

Step Two: Wax it

Now you will need your ironing setup, parchment paper, and wax. You might have a little wax escape during the ironing process, so it’s a good idea to have a scrap towel or cotton fabric to protect your ironing board. Remember to keep an eye on your ironing so you don’t singe anything!

Sandwich one of your dry watercolor sheets inside a piece of parchment paper. Shred a pile of wax on top. (You can always add more wax, so this is a good time to play!)

Turn your iron to it’s lowest setting, and gently melt the wax between the sheets of parchment paper. You will see the paper start to look wet. Continue working the liquid wax into the paper until it starts to be consistently translucent. You may want to add more wax.

Flip your paper over, and add a pile of wax to the other side. This will be the “glue” that holds your two sides together.

Lay the other piece of paper on top of that pile…

shred some more wax on that, and iron again following the earlier instructions.

Continue to add wax until the papers are translucent and consistently wet looking. When you’re happy with the look, put a little bit of weight on the stack, and let it cool for a couple of minutes.

When it is still warm, but safe to touch, uncover the paper, and use your finger or a tool to smooth any puddles of wax. (Playing in wax is one of my favorite things!) Now let it cool completely (a few minutes.)

Step Three: Punch it

I am loving these thick material punches from Fiskars. I have long abused normal paper punches, and they have a habit of breaking at the worst possible moment. These punches go through everything like butter.

Use a punch (or scissors) to take shapes out of your waxed paper…

until you have a nice little pile of shapes to work with. To turn solid shapes into pendants, punch small holes on one or two sides. You can run cord through these holes (or attach jump rings.)

After you have everything cut out, polish the shapes by using your fingers to rub excess wax off the surface and edges.

Feed thin ribbon, cord, or chain through the holes in your pendants. You can feed your cord through, wrap it several times, or tie a lark’s head knot. Anything goes! Leave enough room to slip the necklace over your head, and you’re set.

Double sided rainbow pendants!

Now I want to wax all the paper. Someone stop me before I go too far!

AIM TOOLBOX: Water Color Masking Fluid

April 22, 2015October 28, 2020 | Alison - Adventures-in-Making

From 2014-2016 I chronicled my crafty endeavors on the site Adventures-in-Making. I’ve selected a few of those DIY’s, Recipes, and other posts to share on the site.

I love playing with watercolors, I’m going to admit that right now. I love the way the colors run together, the little blotches of pigment, and basically everything else about it. I’m not a watercolor expert, which means that whenever the paint does something unexpected I have the giddy feeling that I just discovered something amazing. (What did I tell you? I love the process.)

My philosophy teacher in high school used to amazing things with watercolor, and I would always try to sneak a look at his paintings before and after class. One day I noticed him using something to cover up portions of the paper while he was working– cut to 15 years later and I finally decide to buy myself a little bottle of masking fluid to play around with. (I bought Winsor & Newton Colorless Art Masking Fluid.)

Still a little overwhelmed to jump in, I watched this introductory video, decided on a test project; and gathered my brushes, paints, and spirit of exploration.

A note: the first time I used the fluid, I ruined my brush. It was a cheap brush, granted, but after that I sharpened up and coated the next brush in dish soap before dipping it in the masking fluid. I coated the whole thing in the dish soap, then squeezed the excess out. (This video shows you how.) Trust me. It’s better that way.

I drew a basic outline of the words I wanted to mask out with pencil. After coating the brush in soap, and gently rolling the bottle of masking fluid to mix it up, I dipped my brush in and saturated it.

Bit by bit, I covered the words with the masking fluid.

All the lines are covered in the fluid now. I’ll be able to erase the pencil lines once everything is done.

I let the masking fluid dry COMPLETELY before I began to paint with my watercolor. (The dry masking compound feels like rubber cement. You’ll know it’s dry when it is only slightly shiny, and your finger does not stick to it.) The watercolor will not stick to the mask, so you will be able to see what you’re working with.

When I had finished my first layer of paint, I let it dry COMPLETELY, then added a little more masking to what would be the little abstract windows in the buildings.

Then I let those dry COMPLETELY (do you see a theme here?) before I went in and darkened all the fields of color.

When I was done working around my masked areas, and everything was dry, I lightly rubbed the masking agent off with the tips of my fingers. (This alone is worth the trouble. I love pulling glue off of things.)

Once the mask was off, and I did a little erasing, I had crisp white lines to work with.

The masked areas were pale enough to let me add a little light yellow watercolor. I love the way the white letters stand out.

Tips to remember

• Test out the water color paper you’re going to be using before you start your artwork. Some of the papers I tried stuck to the masking fluid terribly, and I had to tear the paper to get the dried mask off.
• Coat your brush in soap, or you will ruin a brush, and most likely the piece of paper you’re working on. The first brush started to pull the drying mask fluid back off the paper, and it totally ruined one of my projects.
• Let everything dry COMPLETELY before moving from fluid to paint, or paint to fluid. The fluid will cling to wet paper, or your wet paint and make a wet mess.
• Remember to have fun! Let that childish sense of wonder take over for an afternoon… and when you’re done experimenting, send us the outcome! April’s DIY Challenge is Watercolor, after all.

AIM Toolbox: Drawing with Gouache and a Nib

April 8, 2015October 28, 2020 | Alison - Adventures-in-Making

From 2014-2016 I chronicled my crafty endeavors on the site Adventures-in-Making. I’ve selected a few of those DIY’s, Recipes, and other posts to share on the site.

A while back I took a calligraphy class from Tara Bliven, and it opened up a whole new world of drawing tools. Not only did I get to try out new tools and techniques, it was the first time a pen and nib really worked for me. (Sometime I’ll give my whole “It’s tough being a lefty” rant.) As a lefty I need to use a special Oblique Pen Point Holder to write left to right– but with a little practice I learned to use a plain pen and nib to draw with gouache.

All the dark blue lines on this piece were done with a pointed pen, the rest is watercolor.

What’s so great about drawing with gouache?

• You can draw any color you can mix, for cheap. Instead of buying half a million different markers, buy a primary set of gouache and mix the colors you love.
• Gouache colors are opaque, which means you can do light lines on a dark background.
• Skinny paintbrushes are a pain. Although some people *ahem, Rachel* seem to be able to make magic with a brush, I have no luck doing fine lines with a paintbrush. A pen works much better.
• Gouache mixes wonderfully with your watercolor projects (#diycraftchallenge)
• The quality of line you get with a pointed pen is awesome.
• You look like a total bada** when you’re using a pointed pen. Trust me.

For this piece, I put down a dark blue background in watercolor, then used gouache to add the white words and flourishes.

There is a little learning curve when you’re working with a pen and ink, and practice makes perfect. I like to do little doodles on scrap paper to practice my lines, play with color, and generally mess around.

Supplies

• Gouache– like this Winsor & Newton set.
• A pen holder– like this one from Speedball
• A pointed pen nib– I used a Nikko G pen for this project, but Tara also recommends the Brause EF 66 which is better if you’re not as heavy handed as I am.
• A dropper of distilled water.
• A couple of ratty paintbrushes for “ink” application, mixing, and cleaning.
• The rest of your usual painting tools– a paint tray or plate, a jar of water, paper towels, paper, pencil, etc.

To start, I put a drop little bit of gouache into my paint tray…

and add a couple of drops of distilled water. I add just a little bit of water to start, because it’s easier to add more water to make the consistency I want.

I mix my water with my paint until it’s consistent (using a cheap kids paintbrush). I like to play with different degrees of “wateriness,” more water means that the “ink” will be thinner and less opaque. Typically I used a mixture that’s about 3 parts paint, 1 part water.

To apply the paint/ink to the pen, I saturate a paintbrush, and slowly slide it against the backside (concave side) of the nib. The ink will cling to the nib and seem to fill it partially. When it seems full (this part takes some practice) I will gently point and shake the pen downward towards the tray to get any extra blobs of ink out before I start drawing. In some cases (like today), I will actually drop the extra bits of paint onto my paper, for fun.

Then it’s time to draw. I place the nib gently again the paper, concave side down, at an angle. Then I slowly pull the nib along, rather than pushing like a lefty with a ballpoint. (If you’re having trouble, check out one of the amazing tutorial videos on youtube- like this one.)

Unlike a normal pen or marker, a nib like this will need to be refilled rather frequently (using the brush method above.) I try to keep an eye on how much ink/paint I have in my nib so that I don’t run out in the middle of a line. When you’re using the nib, you’ll notice that the tip is made up of two pointed pieces. When there is enough ink, it looks like one point on the end, but when they start separating, I probably need more ink.

Periodically, I stop to rinse and scrub my pen. I dip it in my jar of water, and use a clean brush to scrub any dried bits of ink/paint off of it. Then I dry it gently with a rag or paper towel, reink, and go back to work.

For this doodle, I had both white gouache and blue gouache in my paint tray, and I went between the two when I was reinking.

Can you see why I like drawing with gouache? The possibilities!

I was inspired to pull out my gouache today by the April DIY Challenge: Watercolor. We’d love to see what the theme inspires in you, so pull out your favorite medium and tools and share with us!

AIM DIY: Appearing Leaf Drop-Dyed Tissue

October 24, 2014October 28, 2020 | Alison - Adventures-in-Making

From 2014-2016 I chronicled my crafty endeavors on the site Adventures-in-Making. I’ve selected a few of those DIY’s, Recipes, and other posts to share on the site.

If you’ve tried out our Paper Flower or Tie-Dye Tissue Paper DIYs you know how much fun it is to dye paper with liquid watercolor. There’s something so magical about the way the colors mix and flow through the paper fibers.

I was thinking about fall leaves, and of course paper dyeing seemed like the perfect way to capture the fiery colors of the season. After a little experimentation, I came up with a dyeing variation where leaves mysteriously appear on a gorgeous field of color.

Supplies You’ll Need

• White tissue paper
• A Pigment Based White Stamp Pad, like this Craftsmart Pigment Ink Pad from Michaels. Other stamp pads, or inks, should work too, just test them out on a piece of scrap tissue.
• Stamps, made or bought. I made my own in a method similar to the one Rachel used for her Stamped Scarf project. I carved my stamps from cheap erasers.
• Blick Liquid Watercolors
• Liquid Droppers and/or absorbent foam paint brushes.

Here’s a sneak peek at the leafy magic…

To get started- decide how you are going to use your tissue, and where the leaf design should be. If you are using it in a bag, I would suggest decorating the corners; if you’re going to wrap with it you will want to decorate from the center out.

Ink up your stamp, and press it firmly on your tissue. (You know- stamp it!)

Repeat with your stamps in a random pattern until you are happy with the design. It may be difficult to see the white ink on white tissue- but that’s what makes the next part so fun!

Let the stamped tissue dry for a few minutes, then fold the tissue several times and place on a plate or other protective surface. With your dropper or brush begin applying dabs, drops, and lines of liquid watercolor to the tissue.

The leaves should start to appear in white on your tissue. (The watercolor won’t soak into the area that you have covered with the stamp ink.) If you end up with excess dye puddling up on your design, simply dab with your brush or a paper towel.

Keep dropping and dabbing until you’ve covered the area with color.

Flip the tissue over and add color there as well. (It should soak through all the layers.) After you are done, let the sheets dry completely (at least overnight) before unfolding and using them.

Tada! Customized tissue that will make all your gifts pop.

Other things to try

• More color combinations
• Different stamps – maybe stars, initials, polkadots…
• Other types of ink – colored or metallic ink pads, block printing inks and more
• Drawing with metallic Sharpies or paint pens
• Drawing with dry watercolor pencils before dyeing
• Experimenting with other papers

AIM DIY: Watercolored Business Cards

August 13, 2014October 28, 2020 | Alison - Adventures-in-Making

From 2014-2016 I chronicled my crafty endeavors on the site Adventures-in-Making. I’ve selected a few of those DIY’s, Recipes, and other posts to share on the site.

Last week I combined a few of my favorite things and letterpress printed A-i-M cards on scraps of cotton paper. I wanted to make them super special (and representative of our creative spirit) so I pulled out my handy-dandy liquid watercolors and went to town. I tried a few different methods, and wanted to show how they turned out.

I really like working with Blick Liquid Watercolor. I use it for my paper flowers, and pretty much everything else. I can water it down as much or as little as I want, and it washes out of everything I accidentally spill it on. (Very important. I’m a little messy.) I keep several plastic containers around to mix colors in.

The paper scraps were Crane Lettra 110# Cover, and I used a rubber based letterpress ink on them.

I think this would also work on other papers, including watercolor paper and uncoated card stock. You could also try adding your print with a stamp (like this tutorial from Akula Kreative) or use a non-watersoluble printing method (like a laser printer, or copier.)

Dipped and Dry Brushed

My first instinct was to take each card individually and dip it into a few colors. Some of them I then tapped on the table, to distribute drops, and some I used a dry brush to sweep through watercolor puddles.

Edge Painting

I discovered a really wonderful thing while I was dipping small stacks in the watercolor. The color would soak into the edges, but not into the face of the pieces in the middle of the stack. I started dipping each side of the stack into a different color, and ended up with these lovely ombre edges. There is a little bleed onto the face of the cards, but it’s very subtle.

A Happy Splatter Accident

Remember what I said earlier about being a messy experimenter? Well, this time it worked out for me! I was partially working on a glass palate, which eventually was covered with lots of little drop of watercolor. I pressed one of the cards against the splatters, and ended up with these lovely color patterns.

I had a great time playing with the liquid watercolor (again) and love how easy it is to introduce color and pattern on a simple card.

The splatter was definitely my favorite. What do you think?

AIM DIY: Hand-Dyed Paper Flowers

July 23, 2014October 28, 2020 | Alison - Adventures-in-Making

From 2014-2016 I chronicled my crafty endeavors on the site Adventures-in-Making. I’ve selected a few of those DIY’s, Recipes, and other posts to share on the site.

***

We’re not happy unless we’re making things- which means we have a whole slew of projects from the time before A-i-M. We thought we take time now-and-again to share some of these projects from the DIY vault. We’ve touched them up a little, so they should still be new to you, even if you’ve been following us forever.

A couple of years ago, after taking the Crafting for Kittens class (where the lovely Laurie taught us to make crepe paper flowers), I decided I wanted to put together my own paper flower project using easy-to-find materials, and a little inspiration from tie-dyeing tissue. Since then I’ve been teaching them as a class at the store, and I thought I would share them with those of you who aren’t close enough to join us for a class or party.

They are made with a bunch of inexpensive supplies- I’ve linked to some of my favorites below*
• A package of white coffee filters
• Scissors
• Liquid Water Colors – I now use Blick Liquid Watercolor
• A few bowls to dip into (they won’t get ruined, no worries.)
• Floral Wire like this.
• Wire cutters
• Floral Tape – Floratape is the best.

Take a few coffee filters (1-6) and fold them in half over and over again, till you have a triangle.

Then trim the outside part of the triangle in curves, points, or anything you’d like. (The fun is in the ‘sperimenting.)

Pour the liquid watercolors into small dishes. Add water if you would like (not too much though, if you want rich colors.)

Dip one end into one color and let it slowly wick up the dye, then flip the folded filter and repeat in another color. I would recommend doing the lighter color first. You can also squeeze extra moisture out gently.

Unfold the stack or leave the pieces folded up, and allow to dry overnight. Make sure to leave airspace between your petal sets- they will transfer color if you aren’t careful.

After dried, and opened, it should look something like this. Play with the number of filters you use- this one has 6, but I have even done a tiny single filter flower.

Measure out a double length of floral wire, folded at the end.

I have done some of these with button centers, and some without. If you are using a button, feed the wire through two of the holes, and leave the button at the doubled end.

Piece by piece, feed the filters onto the wires and bunch them up at the end.

After all your pieces are wired and bunched, start wrapping floral tape at the top. I usually do a couple of runs of tape directly under the petals, pushing them up as I go, then continue to wrap the stem all the way down. (Remember to stretch the tape to activate the adhesive.) Often you’ll find you need to tighten up the petals by adding more tape near the top.

It may take a little trial and error to make a perfect bouquet, but even the work is fun!

If you’re local and want a hands-on class that includes all the supplies you need, make sure to swing by the So, There store in Issaquah.

I’d love to meet ya!

*If you’d like to try this project yourself, check out the supplies at the Adventures in Making Amazon Store . If you buy through our store you’ll pay the usual Amazon price, but we’ll get a small percentage to help us power our creative adventures. You’re great!

So, There.

So There Letterpress and Stationery Studio in Issaquah

watercolor

AIM DIY: Watercolor & Wax Paper Jewelry

SUPPLIES

Step One: Paint it

Step Two: Wax it

Step Three: Punch it

AIM TOOLBOX: Water Color Masking Fluid

Tips to remember

AIM Toolbox: Drawing with Gouache and a Nib

What’s so great about drawing with gouache?

Supplies

AIM DIY: Appearing Leaf Drop-Dyed Tissue

Supplies You’ll Need

Other things to try

AIM DIY: Watercolored Business Cards

Dipped and Dry Brushed

Edge Painting

A Happy Splatter Accident

AIM DIY: Hand-Dyed Paper Flowers