Hobby Shop Blog

Arts and crafts is a tool that provides you with unlimited creativity, patience, skill sets and a whole lot of fun. Many times, people don’t know or they feel ignorant as how to make something decorative, creative and beautiful and as such there are different craft books available to guide you for making a particular craft.

If it is the much awaited Christmas time and you want to send some beautiful Christmas cards to your friends and relatives then why to purchase an expensive card from the market instead you can paint a Christmas card at your home that shall have a personal touch too.

To craft a painted Christmas card, you need to have a white blank card, green acrylic paint, gold liquid marker, gold glitter paint, silver glitter paint, calligraphy pen, black calligraphy ink, red calligraphy ink, water, paper towel, yellow marker, grey marker, red glitter paint, green glitter paint.

Steps to create a painted Christmas card:

1. First mix enough water with small amount of green acrylic paint to create a thin wash and thoroughly mix it.

2. Dip your brush in the wash and paint the front of the card in straight brush strokes. You have to cover the card with the wash as quickly as possible as so the stokes of your paint brush won’t show and the card has a nice even coat of the wash being created. After you finish the wash you need to blot up the excess wash from the front of your card completely. Let your card dry and then place a new piece of paper towel over the card and place a heavy book on top of the card so that it dries flat. This is necessary so that it is flat before you draw on your design.

3. Draw your design on the front of the card lightly with a pencil and then draw a faint line where you could writer your own words.

4. Once you are satisfied with the design, assign colors to each part and trace over these parts with the help of markers of the chosen colors. These colors should correspond with the paint colors that you shall use on the parts of the design later.

5. Trace over the thin lines that you drew for the words with the liquid gold marker. Let it dry and then test it by pressing a paper on the line and lift it carefully to check whether it had dried.

6. With the help of the red calligraphy pen write the words “Merry Christmas” on the gold line you have created. Practice on another sheet of paper if you feel necessary. You can also cover your words with a small piece of paper to blot it while you continue to decorate your card.

7. You can trace the design with glitter paint and then using the fine tip of the bottle or pen trace around the parts of the design in their respective colors such as yellow-gold, silver-silver, red-red, green-green. To spread the paint around the thinner than the lines created by the tips of the bottles or pens you are using just smear it with the help of a toothpick.

8. Next change the color of the calligraphy pen to black and write a message inside the card as well. Practice it on a separate piece of paper and then place a paper towel over the ink to blot so that it does not bleed to other side of the card before it dries. You can also let it dry standing up and open.

One of the biggest challenges beginners face with any type of art, is the ability to really connect with the creativity that is inside of them. It’s difficult in the beginning to just let go and paint from your heart and soul. Your mind is being filled with techniques and systems for approaching painting, which in my opinion, tends to drown out your inner creativity. Learning techniques is essential, but there should be a point where you begin to draw from your own creative imagination.

When painting a subject, whether it is a person or a landscape, it is important to first observe your subject. You have to get close and personal to what you are painting. If you want to learn how to paint great landscapes, then you should spend time near the area that inspires you to paint in the first place. Only then can you really understand how to transfer what it is you see to canvas.

Take a ride out to the area you wish to paint. Bring along some pencils and paper. The best way to become really intimate with the scene is to just spend time there doing some sketches. This will really force you to observe what you see and burn the image and the environment into your senses.

Painting with watercolor on location is quite challenging, especially if you are a beginner. The scene is constantly changing. There are certain techniques in watercolor that require the paper to be at certain angles, or the paper needs to be saturated to a certain degree, etc. To get everything right within such a short time span is quite difficult, which is why you should bring a camera in the event you are not able to capture the scene. Once you find a composition that you like, take a bunch of shots at different distances and angles. When you get back to your studio, you will now have a few reference sketches as well as a bunch of great photos to work with. In the beginning, while painting on location, try to choose compositions that are not overly detailed or complex.

One of the best ways to immerse your self in watercolor landscape painting is to find people with the same passion. Search online for any groups or websites for landscape painters in your area. Start chatting and get to know everyone. Many of the artists in these groups love to connect with other artists and plan painting trips. This is a really great way to gain experience.

You do not need to bring your entire studio with you when painting on location. Many beginners will bring far too many supplies, which becomes more of a nuisance than help. Only bring the colors and supplies that you really need to work on a particular scene.

Remember, things change very quickly outdoors. Lighting conditions and weather can change in a matter of minutes. You must be able to paint quickly without being too sloppy. Block in all of your large areas first then go back and start adding your details.

Many landscape artists usually block in the sky area first. The sky is generally paler than the rest of the painting, which enables you to work from light to dark. The sky area also influences the way you paint the rest of the objects in your painting.

When painting objects in the foreground that require great detail, do not try and paint every single leaf or blade of grass that you see. This will usually create too much detail that will draw focus away from the center of interest in your painting. It is also far too time consuming if you plan on painting on location. Besides, a painting is not meant to be an exact replica of what you see, rather your unique impression of the scene. If you want exact details, you are better off taking a photograph.

Don’t be afraid to use your imagination. If you are painting a scene and feel that you should add a few trees here, or a bush there, or a bird on a branch, then by all means go for it.

If you find one particular location appealing, and have already painted there once before, don’t hesitate to go back and paint it again, only this time go out on a cloudy day instead. You will be surprised how different a scene can look when the weather changes.

I hope these watercolor painting tips have helped. If you ever find yourself getting discouraged or frustrated by your progress, don’t give up. Instead, welcome and learn from your mistakes. It will make you a much better painter.

Lavish crochet emerged alongside other forms of elaborate needlework in the nineteenth century. When printed materials began to be mass-produced in the mid-nineteenth century, the popularity of crochet increased vastly.

Patterns for silk thread purses were the first to have been published, from about 1824 in Holland. Prior to this date, crochet was passed to future generations without written patterns but rather duplicated from small crocheted samples.

Victorian crochet hooks were made of materials such as ivory, brass, various woods, and other bone material. They were often ornately carved, the most impressive often being given as wedding gifts. Crocheted bags, clothing and décor were all popular. Crochet was considered a suitable activity for wealthy women, along with other forms of needlework. Bead crochet began to appear on the market in the 1830s. Knitting with beads was already in fashion at this time.

Crochet became a cottage industry in Ireland with a lace called Irish crochet or guipure lace. In the mid-nineteenth century, it became a large industry owing to a need for people to supplement their income due to the great potato famine of that time. It is still a cottage industry in some countries such as India, Greece, Italy, and some Asian countries.

Crochet samplers dating from the nineteenth century are shown in many museums. A variety of crochet and knitting books were published from the mid-nineteenth century through the 1920s. Filet crochet became very popular from the 1850s.

Crochet continued to be popular into the early twentieth century. The 1920s brought a flood of bead crocheted bags with piles of bead loops to complete the flapper look. From 1937 through 1940’s there were crochet contests for workmanship design and speed. The onset of World War II saw the craft halt, owing to shortages in available materials. Bead crochet bags were popular throughout the 1950’s. Crochet became an accepted art form in the 1960s and more experimentation in textile art took place including international fiber shows. Crochet began to regain its popularity in the 1970s, when it became popular to wear crocheted items.

The 1980s and 1990s brought a renaissance of bead and thread crochet. In the early 1990s bead knitted bags gained popularity, which increased the demand for bead crocheted bags.

In 1994 thirty four million American women crocheted or knitted, in 2002 this figure had increased to thirty eight million.

Crochet today is mainly created by using soft yarns to produce garments and blankets. Although the crochet stitch can be made by machine, it continues to be a home craft.

Copyright, http://www.officialguidetocrochet.com

When I found an adorable Barbie poster for my daughter’s bedroom, I thought it would be easy to find the perfect poster frame for it. Once I started looking, however, I could not find one to suit my requirements. First of all, it had to be cute and colorful. A basic black poster frame just would not be satisfactory. Second, it had to be safe for young children. If the frame were to fall, it could not be heavy or breakable. Third, the poster frame needed to be inexpensive.

With no luck in finding a suitable poster frame, I decided to look into making one myself. Off to the craft store I went, where I soon noticed that foam board is a popular material. The product is very lightweight, colorful, and affordable. Foam board was the perfect choice. I let my creative spirit take over, and I was very impressed with the final product. It’s cute, colorful, safe, and inexpensive, just like I was hoping. The total cost of the materials was about $10, not including the poster. Here’s how you can make one, too:

Materials:

1. Poster
2. One sheet yellow foam board, 20 inches x 30 inches
3. Two sheets standard white poster board, 22 inches x 28 inches each
4. Foam sparkle flower stickers
5. Two ribbons, each 28 inches long
6. X-Acto knife
7. Tape measure
8. Tape

Directions:

1. Tape the 2 sheets of white poster board together, creating a larger, single poster board that is 28 inches x 44 inches.
2. Tape your poster of choice onto the poster board that has been taped together. Try to center it evenly in the middle, equidistant from all 4 sides. The Barbie poster I used for this project measures 22 inches x 34 inches, but you can always adapt the size of your frame to accommodate a poster with different dimensions.
3. Cut the yellow foam board into pieces to fit the size needed to frame your poster. Suggestion: Add an extra ½ inch to the top and bottom pieces and ¼ inch to the width of each side piece to avoid unwanted space between the poster and the frame. Because of the dimensions of the yellow foam board, I had to piece together the sides of my frame. The actual dimensions of the pieces I cut for the frame were:

   2 sections of yellow foam board: 28 inches x 5 inches

   2 sections of yellow foam board: 30 inches x 3 ¼ inches

   2 sections of yellow foam board: 4 inches x 3 ¼ inches

4. Tape the yellow foam board frame pieces together.
5. Using tape between the two, attach the frame to the poster board, showcasing your poster.
6. Tape ribbons to the reverse side of the frame. Try to center them about 8 inches apart equidistant from the center point at the top.
7. Tie the ribbons into a bow.
8. Embellish the frame using the foam sparkle flower stickers. Find the perfect place on the wall and hang it up!

Summary:

At first, I was discouraged because I could not find a suitable frame for my daughter’s poster. Using foam board and a little creativity, I made a lightweight, colorful, and inexpensive poster frame that she will enjoy.

Diy Teens Wall Art Decor Project, decorating projects ideas for teens.

Article by: Madeleine M Langlois

Miy Project: Teen wall art decor “Graffiti Paris Canvas Art”

My teenage son’s graffitilike text on paper and book covers gave me the idea of asking him to make an artwork peice for a decor exhibit I took part in. His contribution was the word Paris in graffitilike text done in pastels on a box-style canvas.

I wanted to share with other teens and mom with teens to encourage their teens in their art form, and that it can be acheive on many other surfaces besides walls.

Hands-on time: An hour or more, depending on detail.

Total time:Plus drying time for varnish.

Skill: this miy teen wall art decor project idea is of easy to moderate skill depending on the details.

Materials & Tools:

•Artist canvas (17.8 x 17.8 centimetres) 3D box-style

•Oil pastels in assorted colours (many brands available, try a few samples)

•Pencil

•Drawing paper and graphite paper

•Graffiti design

•Masking tape

•Permapaque artist markers by Sakura

•Grey and white eraser

•Cloth

•Workable fixative by Krylon

MATERIALS ARE AVAILABLE AT ARTS AND CRAFTS STORES or on line.

MIY INSTRUCTIONS:Art is a great way to interact with teens and encourage self-expression and creativity.

Using a style they’re familiar with is even better. What’s essential with this project is that it is done in the same spirit as graffiti — free-flowing expression captured on canvas.

Art is a great way to interact with teens and encourage self-expression and creativity. Using a style they’re familiar with is even better. What’s essential with this project is that it is done in the same spirit as graffiti –free-flowing expression captured on canvas.

Preprimed canvas is ideal for graffitilike art. On paper, draw or write words (in our case it was the word Paris) to use as a template. With a pencil, draw the text on the canvas or transfer it onto the canvas using graphite paper. Cut out the word from the sheet of paper. Cut a piece of graphite paper in the same size. Put graphite paper under the cutout word and secure with masking tape. Use a pencil or pen to trace the design onto the canvas.

Colour the word or text in three or four colours of pastels, shading in areas around the edges of the letters. Use scrap pieces of paper to practice shading first, if preferred. Glide pastels smoothly onto the canvas and lift the tips as soon as the lines are finished. You can use a cloth or your fingers to blend the colours. Use a wide marker for the outlines. Add a colour border around the letters.

The background is left white. Use the grey part of eraser to remove pencil, graphite lines or pastel smudges.To protect the artwork from dust and smudges, spray on fixative in a side-to-side motion. It fixes the pastels without leaving a glossy finish. Several coats can be applied. Let dry between each coat.

Variations: Use different sizes of canvases to let your teen create his or her mini art gallery. Larger canvases placed side by side have impact. Smaller canvases are perfect for personalized tags. For younger children, create a montage to add colour to a bare wall. Paint several canvases, each in a different solid colour: yellow, blue, green, etc. Then let children doodle on them, using pastels in assorted bright colours. Thick wax crayons or washable markers can also be used. This is a great activity for a birthday party.If your teen wants to do larger frames with spray paints, be sure they work in a well-ventilated area and wear a protective mask. Spray paint fumes are toxic.

Copyright Miy Decorations © 2006

For more Miy decor projects visit www.maddylane-decor.com

Start your oil paintings with an acrylic underpainting - When you start an oil painting using oils, it can take some time for that initial layer to dry. Starting your painting with an acrylic underpainting however is a wonderful time saver as acrylic paint dries quickly and oil paint can be applied over the acrylic.

Make certain you have good lighting - I didn’t realize how important good lighting was until I painted outdoors for the first time. Good lighting brings out the color and also lessens the strain on your eyes. If you can, paint in a place that gets plenty of natural sunlight. If you cannot afford this luxury, purchase a good indoor light. Check out http://www.ottlite.com/ for a great selection of lighting products.

Make sure you have good ventilation - If you are using materials like oil painting thinners and cleaners in your studio; make sure you have good ventilation. Some of these chemicals can be quite toxic so use caution when working with these products. Consider using a water miscible paint like Grumbacher Max Oil Paints. Max Oils can be diluted with water thereby eliminating the need for solvents.

Fat over lean - Follow this rule and you will reduce the chance of your paint cracking. Each layer of your oil painting should have a higher oil content then the ones below it.

To create the illusion of distance in your paintings paint receding objects with cooler less intense color. Objects that advance are warmer and more intense.

If you are feeling uninspired don’t get discouraged. Try taking a walk outside, breath in the air, look around at the beautiful earth God created. Try playing music while you are painting. You will be surprised how music can affect your painting. Visit a museum or local gallery. Viewing other works of art can really get your creative juices flowing.

When holding your brush avoid holding your brush like a pencil too close to the bristles. Oil brushes are made long for a reason so that you can paint further away from the canvas. Practice holding the brush toward the middle and end of the handle.

Maintain a clean organized working environment - Get yourself into the habit of keeping your work area clean and organized. Have an abundant supply of rags or paper towels nearby. Get a few glass jars for storing mediums, solvents and your used brushes while painting.

Brush Selection and Care - You should probably invest in a good set of brushes. Cheap brushes are not recommended as they shed their bristles quite easily while painting. I prefer working with Hog Hair brushes, but oil painters also use sable and synthetic sable. Avoid nylon brushes, as these are better suited for acrylic paint. My brushes include a variety of flats sizes #3, #6, #8, #12, a #4 fan, and a few small rounds for detail work. Selections vary from artist to artist, depending on painting style usually, but the above mentioned work fine for me. Take excellent care of your brushes. This is very important, especially if you have an expensive set of brushes. You may want to do a search online for more in depth brush care instructions. If you do not clean and store your brushes properly, you will ruin them, simple as that. Use a quality brush cleaner and preserver that you can purchase online or at your local art store.

I hope these oil painting tips have helped. Oil paint is not the easiest medium to work with. I recall the first panting I ever completed. It was a complete nightmare, and I almost threw in the towel. I have been painting for over 5 years now and I am still learning and improving every time I pick up the brush. Don’t give up. With time and practice it will become easier and more rewarding.

This is a handprint craft with a difference! You need only a few inexpensive supplies which you will probably have lying around the house. It is an easy craft to do with a crowd of children and the results are great for decorating the house or classroom. Best of all, you will end up with a fun memento to keep and look back on as the children grow.

You will need:

Green card or paper

Scraps of black, red or purple card, paper, felt, tissue paper etc

Pencils and pens

White glue

Instructions:

Draw around the children’s hands onto the green card. Older children can pair up and draw round each other’s hands. Cut out carefully.

Use the scraps of paper or card to cut pointed oval shapes for long, spiky finger nails and stick them on - embellishing, if you like, with glitter or stickers.

Draw some spidery veins onto the hands, using your own hands as inspiration.

Why not add a wart or two? Make them by scrunching tissue paper into a tiny ball and sticking onto the hands with white glue.

Use the hands to decorate a notice-board, the fridge, or the Halloween table (place them on either side of a plate for a humorous effect). If you attach them to the edge of doors with sticky-tack it looks as if someone spooky could be hiding on the other side!

Alternatively, attach plain white paper to the back of the hands and use them as invitations!

Variations:

Older children could create monster hands. Use cream or brown card and square off the fingers of their handprint before cutting out. Fingernails should be black or perhaps silver, and also square in shape. Use black pen to draw veins and lots of spiky black hair in the center of the hand and knuckles!

Ghostly hands can be made out of white card. Stretch your handprints out a little to give particularly long, thin fingers. Make fingernails out of grey or silver scraps and decorate with silver glitter. Use pencil or grey pen to draw on veins.

One of the greatest joys of model railroading is creating a scenic display that represents nature as its own creative art work somewhere in the World.

The variables that one encounters are endless in the imagination of what he or she wants a layout to look like around the track work which includes bridges, buildings, mills, coal mines, etc. You may duplicate some scene from nature or you may decide to create a scenic landscape that is all your own.

What are the various products available to build a scenic landscape for your railroad? There are several means in which you can build such a scene.

The easiest way to build a scenic railroad is to build an open frame layout which gives you height and contour so you have pre-made elevations to work with. Your choice of size or area to develop a layout is based on the area that you have to work with. You may even build your layout on a sheet of plywood or the like. I wouldn’t recommend it because you will get frustrated after a while and want to have something a bit more realistic for your layout.

Before beginning the scenic part of the layout, you must plan out your trackage. The main routes, yards, single and duel trackage, by passes, along with station points and possibly a roundhouse. The best procedure is to build all the trackage first, with your elevations, tunnel portal locations, bridge locations and your predetermined ruling grade.

Once this is accomplished you may begin to build mountains, hills, streams, canyons, gorges where bridges would go, rivers and other unique characteristics that will provide scenic beauty through the layout. The tools required are putty knives, water, Hot Gun for gluing, scissors, plastic bucket or large plastic bowel, wood stirring device like used for paint, possibly an electric stapler, masking tape and paper towels.

The types of products available are numerous. Much of it is general household material that you would normally through away. For example, cut up cardboard strips one inch wide from boxes to what ever length you need. If the card board isn’t quiet long enough splice together a strip using a Hot Glue Gun. The card board is the means to build a general frame of mountain or mountain ranges, small hills, track sidings, etc.

You may want to use chicken wire and bend it to your liking and staple the edges to the appropriate mounting points to create what you want. You will still need some type of supporting material to hold the chicken wire in place such as heavy card board or prices of wood. I don’t recommend it for it is expensive, heavy and difficult to handle.

The other form of contour making is to use Styrofoam. It can be cut/shaved to the height and depth you want. Once the basic mountain is formed it can be covered with different kinds of media to create a mountain of your choice.

Basically you have to have some kind of format that creates a skeleton for other materials to be added to form a realistic mountain, etc.

The material used to cover your skeletal frame may very depending on usage.

1. Portland cements contoured onto the surface of the projected mountain with a paper or cloth medium that will allow the adherence of the cement.

2. The aforementioned material may be covered over Styrofoam and let to dry.

Once this process is accomplished you need to seal and contour your mountains or what ever scene you are creating.

3. You may hand plaster the mountain using different size putty knives.

4. With Hydracal, you must work fast or make up small batches as it will get hard very fast.

5. Coating of chicken wire will take some kind of semi-porous medium that will soak up plaster such as paper towels or the like.

6. Use Hydracal or Portland cements with cover materials that will not allow the material to drip through the chicken wire.

7. With any of these methods, you may use vermiculite as a rock looking cover while the choice of media is still wet.

8. Small pebbles or rough sand will also act as a good covering simulating open ground slides or patches of rocks.

My choice of materials that best suits my needs seems the quickest and cheapest way to create what ever scene desired. I use material that I mentioned before. The cardboard strips and the Woodland Scenics plaster cloth. Included with this product is a product called Sculptamold which comes in a semi-powder form with fine shredded paper like paper Mache. You add water to it until it has a semi-loose consistence. Using a putty knife you mold the Sculptamold onto the dry plaster cloth completely covering the surface. Different shapes and contours can be produced that look like most rock formations found. You can work with the Sculptamold while wet to create a ridge, canyon walls, over hangs, etc. Do not over do it when making up the Sculptamold for it will harden on you within about a half an hour. The temperature of the room has an effect on the water evaporation rate. Just work in away that will cover the surface in a timely manner. Don’t get into a hurry.

In the Part II article we will discuss the painting of the mountains and other formations, addition of various grasses, plants, shrubs and trees along with artificial water. Learn to build culverts for the water to flow; addition of real rocks and other materials including bridges, tunnels and walls to create realistic scenes.

Do you like collect something? What kind of collecting behavior when you get collectable premiums? In Taiwan, the seven-11 chain introduced a series of magnet printed Hello Kitty as the premium. A battery magnet includes thirty one patterns. You will get one when expend over NTD 77. This promotion was very successful. Everyone was crazy to collect the Hello Kitty magnet. Why they can’t resist this charming hook? We generalize the symbolic meaning of collecting premiums and customer value to find out the factors that attract consumer to collect.

This study adopts questionnaire as the study method. We use SPPS software to access factor analysis and Two-way ANOVA to get the data of the symbolic meaning and the customer value. Then we use One-way ANOVA to examine the influence between the demography and collecting behavior. By the factor analysis, it identifies four common factors from the symbolic meaning of collectable premiums and three common factors from the customer value.

In this survey, we find out an interesting thing. Although this kind of premium usually attracts female population, in order to get more magnets, they tend to seek males’ assist. Females collect Hello Kitty for themselves, but males collect Hello Kitty for females. So, this feminize premium can round up all customers.

The 2004 Perennial Plant of the Year was Athyrium niponicum ‘Pictum’ or Japanese Painted Fern and this plant deserves to be in all shade gardens.

This hardy fern grows twelve to eighteen inches tall and slowly multiplies to form a large clump twenty four inches across. The fronds are approximately eighteen inches long and are a soft-grey metallic colour with hints of red and blue. The centre stem is red so the contrast is excellent. It is a lovely plant preferring partial shade rather than deep shade. It does best with regular watering rather than dry soils. The Japanese painted fern is native to Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan and once you see it unfurling its metallic grey frond in early spring, you’ll be a convert and want a bit of the oriental influence in your garden. This fern colouring lends itself to being an excellent contrast plant to other shade perennials such as Hosta and the new gold coloured Carex ‘Lemon Zest’. Mature plants can be divided every three to four years to provide extra plants for zealous gardeners.

There are several new varieties of Japanese painted fern that you might want to search for at your favourite garden centre. ‘Pewter Lace’ has metallic pewter to mint-green fronds (two toned) with red stems and extremely lacy foliage. I saw this plant last year and I can tell you it will wind up in one of my garden containers this spring to fill a contrast plant role. The second new introduction is ‘Ursula’s Red’ and this variety has large silver leaves but the centre of each leaf is flushed with wine-red colour in the spring. It is a gorgeous fern.

When you add the award-winning ‘Pictum’ to the garden mix, you have an difficult choice to make. Which one to grow?