Helmar Creative Team

Baby Boy Acrylic Album

Hi everyone, Steph Ackerman here today with an acrylic album to share.

I love acrylic albums, but have found that glues tend to show on the acrylic and that really ruins the look of the album.  But I am thrilled to share that Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive is perfect for use on acrylic.

After cutting the papers to fit, I used Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to adhere the papers to the album. 

The beauty of acrylic is that papers can be adhered to one side and show through to the other side.  Additional elements can then be placed on top of the acrylic to add more visual interest. 

Add chipboard elements, rub-ons and stickers about the pages.  Now it's ready to add photos!

Thanks for stopping by today.

 

Assemblage Art Doll Wall Hanging.

Hi its Vicki-Ann here today for the Helmar Creative Team.

I have been using more of my scrap wood pieces and have made another Mixed Media wall hanging or alternatively this one could be called an assemblage art doll.  

First I sanded my wood pieces then painted them with DecoArt Gesso then a layer of  Deep Burgundy acrylic paint.  The music paper was applied using Helmar Decoupage and Craft Paste. I also enjoyed using my typewriter to type up a quote where I added it to the sides just to add a bit of interest. The way I like to attach this is to glue both the paper and the surface that I am gluing it onto, that way you get a great seal. Then I use the paint and glue spreader to get any air bubbles and excess glue out. I then covered this using a thick layer of DecoArt Crackle Glaze to get some lovely cracks and texture and accentuated the cracks with some interference paint in white. 

 While the crackle was doing its thing I assembled the pieces that were going on top. So I used the Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to attach all my gears, hessian, gauze with the added Gesso, word band and paper. Layers; I just love collaging bits together. 

Using some Helmar Tacky Craft Glue I made some paper beads to use for my arms and legs. I wired them together using craft wire and a pair of long nose pliers. I added a coloured bead to add interest and it kind of looks like an elbow joint. To finish the arm off, I used a cute, little hand-shaped trinket with hand made imprinted on it. The legs have little trinkets of artist palettes for feet and I added some beads with pearls for the knees as my interpretation of knees and feet. 

I added a little pawn chess piece to the top for a hat and put some pearls around it just to add some more bling.

I am really enjoying using the scrap wood pieces,  I just never know what they are going to turn into.

What can you do with some paper and scrap wood? 

 

Moon Phases Mobile

Hello fellow night owls (and early birds, too)! Jenn, here, with a project that started with just a little bit of wordplay.

We've all heard of sun catchers and dream catchers, right? But how many of us have ever heard of a moon catcher? I hadn't, and I decided that was a sad thing indeed. After all, I do my best work once the sun goes down and the moon rises high, so let's indulge in a bit of lunacy, shall we?

To make your own moon mobile (or any other theme--these steps will work for the motif of your choice), you only need a few things:

• Lightweight Paper Board
• Printed Images in 2 sizes
• String or fiber (~3 yards, divided)
• Ribbon
• Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive

Plus scissors and, if you want, some beads.

Now, I'm using my own paintings for this project, photographed and resized for printing, but there are plenty of clip art options out there if you don't have moon paintings laying around. You could also collage or paper piece your images--really, get creative with it. That's part of the fun! You're going to want 2 images (these don't have to match) printed as 8" circles, and 3 (or more) copies of each of 3 smaller images, about 3" or so.

Trace one of your larger images onto the paper board and cut to size. Attach the paper board to the back of one image with a thin line of Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. The nature of this glue will keep this project trucking right along, leaving plenty of the night left to work on other projects!

Set the large images aside for now and fold each of the smaller images in half, right sides together.

Run a line of Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive down the center fold of the back of one of your smaller images. Lay the fiber or string along the adhesive with a few inches hanging free at the bottom.

Attach two of the folded circles together, with a thin line of Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive, backs together. As in the picture, you only want to put half of the two circles together, leaving the other two halves open. Make sure your images are all pointing the same direction, too.

Glue the third circle onto the two open sides of the construct so far, enclosing the string or fiber where the folds all meet. Repeat with your other two sets of small images.

On the back of the reinforced larger image, at the top center of the image, use the Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to attach a loop of ribbon to serve as a hanger.

Space out the long lead strings of the "satellites" along the back of the larger image. Let the center image hang lower than the ones on either side, and secure the strings with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. Trim the excess fiber just inside the top edge of your larger circle.

Sandwich the strings and ribbon under your last large circle, making sure to secure not just the perimeter but also the tops of the strings with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. You may want to weigh this layer down with something heavy for a few hours just to make sure everything is connecting just right and that the ridges from the strings flatten out a bit.

Knot and trim the tail ends of the smaller moons. Slipping on a large, but lightweight bead is a nice touch that also helps the small moons hang correctly. And just to make sure your knots stay put, dot them with a bit more Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive for safekeeping.

Now you're biggest challenge is deciding where to hang it!

Wishing you creative days,

Wall Hanging.

Hi Vicki-Ann here today and today I am making a wall hanging. Had some scrap pieces of wood given to us to burn in our wood fire. As soon as I saw them though I thought, I can make some wall hangings with those. So grabbed a pile of them and they are all on my desk, the perfect little size for all sorts of projects that will come over the next few months. 

First I sanded all the edges and painted with Gesso.  Then painted with DecoArt paint in a lovely Ultramarine blue. Of course it had to be blue my favourite colour. I then used the Helmar Decoupage and Craft Paste and added some book paper.

 Had to add some crackle, so on with the crackle paste and let that dry. Then used some antiquing cream and rubbed it all in the cracks to make them stand out.

I painted the heart and wings in True Red and gave them the crackle and antiquing cream treatment at the same time. While that was drying I started on my other elements. I added some Gesso to some hessian to give it some texture for under the heart. 

 Time to roll some beads for hanging off the bottom. I just love to roll paper beads and the perfect glue for them is Helmar Tacky Craft Glue. Just a little line along the last part of the rolled up bead and rub the excess over the bead to seal it all and they come out great every time. 

I used Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots under the metal word band as it was over the top of the gear that gave it just the right height. I attached the gear with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. 

I used the Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to attach the hessian and the heart. Under the wings, off the heart, I added more of the Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots as they were over the top of the hessian, so a fair way off the wooden backing.

I also added a quote on the side that I typed out on my typewriter just to add another little element to it. 

I really enjoyed doing this project today lots of techniques but just on a small scale. Got to love crackle texture and that Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots  is the just the ticket for getting things to sit up with dimension and in the right spot.  I used the Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots under the bird too, as it was hollow underneath. So it was  fabulous solution to what could have been a bit tricky to add on here otherwise.