Friday, September 30, 2016

Duct Tape Your Heart Out! Book review


Duct tape, especially Duck Brand, is one of my favourite DIY, How To, and Crafting supply ever!  In my mind, it is one of the best tools ever invented.  Yes, I call it a tool as well as a supply because it works hard to keep things together.

**This post is not sponsored, and I am genuinely a fan of these products.

Leisure Arts is another company I love to talk about because they make such nice crafting books and tools.  I have reviewed other products by Leisure Arts before and it is always my pleasure to do so.  I specifically asked for this book to review as I am such a fan of the product.

The book is 48 pages, and came out a few years ago, but is still available.  I read the entire book and found it to be well written, and explained as are all the books I have reviewed for Leisure Arts so far. It is a pleasant and easy read with a lot of colourful pictures, and instructions to make over 21 categories of projects.  There are 44 fun and easy projects to make for Fashion, Decor, and gifts.

                                      Samples of gorgeous Duck Brand Duct Tape sent to me!


I love to buy, hoard, and craft with so many of the beautifully patterned Duct Tapes.  I also love all the colour choices available to me so I can repair a multitude of things in and around my home.  I have repaired laundry baskets, garbage bins, my car (temporarily), suitcase, shoes, binders, bags, toys, and so much more.  I always travel with a roll in my car and I also pack some in my suitcase.  Full disclosure, I carry a mini sized one in my carry-on when I fly.  Hey,  ever had a bag tear in between flights?  Been there, done that!

                               I had fun making these Duck Brand Duct Tape pieces of jewellery!

For those of you who are subscribed to my YouTube channel, you may have noticed my affection for Duct Tape in my shopping hauls.

I do recommend this book for inspiration and fun projects to make by you,  and for kids, and teens.

Thank you so much for reading this post.***You just might want to check out the Duck Brand site for all their Halloween ideas! Click here. Also, Leisure Arts' Fabulous Fall items on sale, click here.

Link to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/annstreckokoemanannmakes33


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Thursday, September 29, 2016

The Art of Well Being

Art has always been necessary for my survival and well-being.  I am very serious about the survival part.  For since childhood, I needed art as a way to escape from some of the harsh realities of life.  Making things with my hands kept my mind from dwelling on what scared me.  I was a very sensitive child, I was told, I could play alone for days and hours.  My solitude was not self-imposed but more of a reality of my circumstances.  Whenever I had the opportunity to share with others in any social situation I was at ease too.  I loved being creative and sought to share that with anyone who was interested.  throughout my postgraduate studies, I turned to my love of sewing to relax. Not only did I have a nice wardrobe to go to the University and to work, but I also designed and made my wedding dress for our wedding following graduation.  Art making whether With paints or threads continued to be my salvation through life's challenges.  My love of crafting branched out into some business, writing, and teaching opportunities. Over the years my hobbies evolved into my present profession, and I am very pleased.

Today I want to share my latest project that I created with the Gel Press® reusable gel printing plate, Stencil Girl stencils, and some acrylic paints by Deco Art®. My project is one of the many shared by the Gel Press® Design Team.  Links to other pages are below.




Materials used:  
6" x 6" Reusable gel plate by Gel Press®
6" x 6" StencilGirl Products Stencil S110 Stegmiller
8" Round canvas board
Coffee Filter
Acrylic craft paints by DecoArt®
Decou-Page™ by decoArt®
Rubber stamps and Ink
Variety of embellishments (EK Success™)
Trim (my stash)
Hot glue gun and glue (AdTech™)

To make this project I made several different prints using the materials mentioned.  I applied acrylic paints to the Gel plate and pulled prints.  I covered the Gel plate with the stencil, added some paint and laid the dried print over to pull another print.


I chose to use this print as my focal point.  


I added some green paint at the bottom.
I chose to use the round canvas board as it matched the coffee filter.  I used some of the same paint used in the print to paint the round canvas while leaving the centre white.



Once all the paint had dried I adhered the coffee filter print using Decou-Page™ medium, to the canvas.
I decorated the picture with some scrapbook dimensional embellishments using a hot glue gun by
 Ad Tech™.  


To finish off the piece I attached some jute string to make a hanger.  I covered the edges with more jute string and made a bow with the same string to add to the top.



To see what the other Designers of the Gel Press Team have made click on the following links:

**Below are links to similar products I used in the above project.  Note, if you purchase through these links I am an Amazon affiliate and will receive compensation.  Thank you for your support.
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Thursday, September 22, 2016

Ghosts, Goblins, Goodies and a Gel Press®

Hello.  Today I am sharing with you a sweet Halloween shadow box I designed for this month's Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop, in collaboration with Gel Press®.



Here is my project:



To make this project I used:

                                              Gel Press® reusable printing plate (available here)
                                              Re-purposed tissue paper
                                              Re-purposed cardboard sticker box (Dollarama)
                                              Masking tape
                                              DecoArt™ Gesso (black), Acrylic Craft paints, and DecouPage
                                              Ad tech™ Hot Glue Gun, and Glue sticks
                                              K&Company (EKSuccess) Halloween Embellishments
                                              Stickers (Dollar Tree)
                                              Cotton swabs (Dollarama)

I used the Gel Press® reusable gel printing plate to create the print I used in the background of the box.

To see how I made the project you can view the video by following this link:

                                                 (https://youtu.be/vs3UxIOD5_8)

Visit the Gel Press® blog here:
  http://www.gelpressblog.com to see other great projects made by the Design Team, including Me!


Thank you for stopping by, and please check out all the other wonderful projects made by the other participating Designers this month.



Ann Strecko Koeman **You are here









For even more ideas and links, check out the Gel Press Facebook page!  Enjoy!



**I am an Amazon Associate, and will receive monetary compensation for purchases made through the links on  this page.