glitter portraits

I love glitter. With glitter painting the possibilities are endless for gifts, cards, or to add sparkle to your home. I have made a couple of images following Martha Stewart's glitter painting tutorial, and for the large image I incorporated the free poster printing software PosteRazor that I found through Apartment Therapy (disclaimer: I can not speak to the integrity of this software and in general I do not endorse downloading free software from the Internet).

 54" x 14" from a photo of my son at the zoo aquarium

4" x 4" from a beautiful illustration of Snow White created by a dear friend

Supplies

• An image to paint (photo, illustration, full-color, black and white, anything)
• Mount, I used stretched canvases with a 1 1/2 inch profile
• Glitter
• Glue, Martha Stewart has the best consistence (Elmer's is too thin and can make the glitter run, Aleene's Tacky Glue is too think, does not dry quickly, and does not always fully flatten when dry) 
• Canned air
• Copy paper - to print image on and to wrangle glitter
• Bowl for mixing glitter colors
• Spoon
• Pin
• Wine cork
• Containers if you wish to save your mixed colors, I used a stackable beading containers
• Paint for the outside of the frame if you like
• Forgiving housemates who do not care if everything is covered with glitter, forever

A pin can be very useful to push glue into a thin line. My husband pushed the pin through a wine cork for better gripping. You can also use a paint brush (I personally hate cleaning glue out of brushes).

Steps
1. Prepare your image by uploading it to Martha Stewart's photo conversion tool.  Your photo will go from this

to a PDF that looks like this.  You will also get a list of glitter color approximations for your image.

If you are creating a large image, at this point you will want to make your image poster sized with PosteRazor.

For the large image, I printed the photo on 8.5" x 11" letter sized copy paper at home, pieced them together, and glued the pages on three 18" x 14" panels. You will have to play with PosteRazor a bit to get the hang of it. Remember that most printers will not print to the very edge of your paper and you will likely have at least a quarter inch margin.

(From here you can watch the video instructions at Martha Stewart.)

2. Glue the copy paper directly onto the canvas (or whatever you are using). Make the paper as smooth as possible. Let the glue dry.

3. You are now ready to apply glue. Place your piece onto a piece of copy paper, this will help you to capture unused glitter.  You will paint one color at a time.  Use your glue bottle to neatly apply a layer of glue within the lines of one section, do this by squeezing some glue out and then push it around with the bottle tip. 

4. Now apply the glitter by shaking it onto the glue. Pick up your image and gently move move it from side to side to make certain that every part of the exposed glue has been covered with glitter. Gently tap the image on its side to get all of the extra glitter off of the image and onto the copy paper on your table.  You can then return the glitter to its container. Amazingly you can start another color next to the part you just worked on (unless you are using thin glue).

You can mix glitters to make shades or new colors. The same principles apply to mixing glitter that do to mixing paint, white make the shade lighter and black makes it darker etc. Making custom mixes can be great fun. If you are covering a large area, mix a lot at first, it is hard to match your mix if you run out of a custom color.

5. Finishing touches. Once you have finished all of your glitter painting let the image dry over night. You can now gently spray the entire piece with caned air to get rid of loose glitter (GENTLY). I suggest doing this outside. Now you can paint the outside frame of your canvas if you like.
 

I was on a wintery walk with a friend recently and as we admired sunlight on ice in the Mississippi River I realize that glitter is one of man's attempts to replicate the beauty of nature. My mother says that this obsession is a reversion to my childhood.

marimekkoesque animal rug

I found this great large graphic fabric at Ikea. The "Inger" line seems to be Marimekko inspired. I knew that I wanted to make a rug for my son's room, but a square or rectangular shape seemed too simple. While reading "Good Night Moon" it hit me - animal skin rug. The species is unclear - the final shape was inspired by the fabric's print more than an animal.














I folded the fabric in half (wrong sides together), and with a fabric pen outlined the shape of an animal. After I cut the print piece, I kept it folded in half, and laid it on top of the canvas backing also folded in half. I cut around the print animal as a pattern. Then I sewed the front to the back, right sides together, leaving a section open for turning. After pressing the seams, I top-stitched around the edge, closing the final bit with the top-stitch. It was a simple project that only took a couple of hours. I love the rug.

kicky curtains III

My third and final post about funky drapes - tradition with a twist. These shantung curtains were much cheaper than they appear. I got the primary green fabric at Hancock on sale, and the lining is an inexpensive cotton. It is another example of mixing fabrics, textures, color, and pushing scale. What really amps up the luxury of these drapes is the way that they are hung.

I originally made these drapes for a dining room filled with windows. The wall paint almost matched the green fabric exactly, so I chose the mustard lining as a bold accent color. The shantung is woven from green and yellow fibers, so the mustard is a great compliment. I especially love the way the curtains look when sunshine makes the mustard color glow through the green.

From the front these drapes look like your grandma's drapes complete with traverse rod and hooks, but the application is much easier. I got the idea from a set of drapes we purchased from Pottery Barn. On the back of the drapes, a couple of inches from the top, I have applied wide tabs a few inches apart. This creates more dramatic pleats than you get from a rod pocket. I stabilized the top with some heavy canvas, both inside the curtain and inside the tabs. Enjoy!

kicky curtains II

As I promised some more of my funky drapes - tradition with a twist. I have moved a lot in recent years. Each time we sell a house, I do not include the curtains! It is not always readily apparent how I might use them again, but curtains are easily manipulated to suit a new space. These brown velvet curtains have lived a single foyer window, a double bedroom window, and now a double dining room window. These were the first curtains I made with a grand, heavy theatre curtain in mind. It is another example of mixing fabrics, textures, color, and pushing scale.

I found both of these great fabrics on sale. The front is a heavy brown velvet and the lining is a beautiful silk shantung. The shantung fabric is woven from blue and green-yellow fibers. I love to use this kind of fabric as color inspiration for the entire room.


























The unique feature of these curtains is an alternative tie-back. By adding a large fabric-covered button to the back side of the curtains at the point of tie-back, the drapes can be hung with the lining exposed (see image below). I made a very small fabric loop to catch the button and hang it over the metal hook. This is a dramatic way to hang the curtains and a great shot of color. I also made more traditional tie-backs from the brown velvet so that depending on the application, I have a choice in hanging them.

I generally hang curtains above the window to help accentuate a high ceiling, or to make a low ceiling feel higher. Regardless, these curtains are long enough to pool at the hemline.
































I originally made the curtains for the foyer of a house we remodeled in Salt Lake City. The window was a southern exposure, so these heavy drapes helped to diffuse the harsh, hot sun. I found a beautiful silk sheer to hang with the drapes (10% of original cost at Anthropologie). The ivory and brown sheer had a great single-image print of some birds in tress. Unfortunately, a couple of years in this window damaged the fabric to the point that it was brittle, and our cat shredded the sheers in pursuit of an Anole Texas lizard.














Next the curtains hung in our guest bedroom.




















Now the drapes have made it to our dining room.

Buying nice fabric can be expensive. These curtains have stood up well for five years, and I expect I will have them hanging somewhere in the house until they fall apart. So buy some fabric and have some fun!

kicky curtains I

I love to make funky drapes - tradition with a twist. Curtains can make a big impact in any space. For boldness, I like to mix fabrics, textures, color, and push scale. The first time I attended the opera, I was as mesmerized by the curtains that bejeweled the theatre as the performers on stage.

Over the next few posts I will share a couple of ideas with you. First, our bedroom curtains.

Our bedroom is in the upper half story. The attic ceiling shape has more corners, angles, and hard lines than most rooms, so I wanted something to soften the space. I was imaging a plush quilt. I had to come up with a way to hang the thick curtains over the rod. At the time we were remodeling, and shopping daily for supplies and decorating inspiration. I fell in love with some green glass knobs that I just had to incorporate somewhere. Now they hold up the curtains and add a touch of glamour. (We also used a larger version for our closet doors.)

I constructed the curtains from a heavy linen with a lining of quilted fabric. For extra volume I added a layer of canvas and a layer of batting just at the top. I continued the quilted fabric on the bottom of the front to echo the room's baseboards. We matched our paint color, including floor, to the curtain fabrics. The thick, heavy curtains do a great job of keeping out light. When they are open, full sheers gently defuse the light.












































Note the great curtain rod I found at Restoration Hardware. Unfortunately it has been discontinued, and although I have hunted I have not come across anything similar.




















The backside of a glass knobs - it is threaded through two grommets several inches apart. Before you go to all the work of putting your grommets on, make certain that the knob will fit through your grommet and the screw head will not come back through.

I bought a tool to cut circles in felt and it works magnificently to make holes for grommets - eliminating the raggedy, uneven edges from trying to use scissors.














Note that when you are working with prints, your finished project will look much better if the print matches from one piece to the next. This is true for fashion sewing as well. You will have to purchase extra fabric to do this.
































I love to find great treasures like these lily tiebacks.

tree

Our son has a small dormer room. The colors were inspired by an alphabet poster - blue, orange, and gray. We found some funky vinyl wall art on Etsy and put it up today. It was pretty easy. Thankfully the design we chose was forgiving - not all cubes are straight, but the curved corners make this less noticeable.

Tree is from
bubbaanddoodle.etsy.com

The owl and bees (caterpillar and bird are going on our cars :)
elephanie.com

Here are a few pics -

mossy tied quilt

I had been wanting to make a quilt for our bedroom, but with a toddler in the house it seemed like a desire for another day. Purl Soho and the Purl Bee to the rescue with a simple and beautiful pattern. Toddler or not, you have to love a big project simplified.

My inspiration
Molly's Sketchbook: Sunny Tied Quilt




















My mossy homage














I used mostly prints from Amy Butler and found some other great items at Purl Soho and QuiltHome.com. (QuiltHome.com has an amazing "design cart" feature that makes online shopping easy.)

I have been sewing for several decades now, and found one of the best bits of advice in the Purl Bee instructions - I have included it here (visit the site for more info)

Since none of these strips have to fit together in an precise way (except of course that they must lay flat) you don't need to use pins for this part... it's one of the reasons this this such a quick project!

To sew, lightly pinch the fabric together before it goes under the needle as shown above. Keep the bottom fabric peeking out from behind the top fabric to ensure that you are sewing through both layers. Sew with a 1/4-inch seam allowance (from the top fabric). The strips should stay together without much coaxing, but go slowly at first until you get the hang of it.
Cheers and happy (easy) quilting!!!