Project: Wallpaper Panel Art

UPDATE: Amended post

Well I've finally completed all the wallpaper panel art projects.

Picture left: These are in the family room and had been waiting for the painting to be finished. The wall is in 'Moss' from Porters Paints. The panels feature Florence Broadhurst 'Egrets' on silver milar.

This photo was taken quite late at night, after I'd finished placing all the objects and filling the shelves with soooo many books. I'm really pleased with the results.

While I was doing these for the house, I thought it would be nice to complete some more, a matching set for a wedding present. Kylie, from My Flying Ducks has already featured them on her blog. These are the ones I used for the DIY instructions below.

I have quite a collection of wallpaper pieces, large and small. The smaller ones are about A4 size and I'm using them for another type of wallpaper project at the moment. It will feature on Project: Bathroom Renovation Rescue.

The first panels I made were in....you guessed it, another Florence Broadhurst print. The recognisable 'Cranes' on matt gold milar. They were originally for my room, but I've decided to hang them in the vestibule/entry to the villa.
I also made a smaller one of the 'Cranes' for Brendon to hang in his home in Brisbane.Did you pick that I had photographed the right one upside down!!
Below I've completed the DIY instructions. Remember these can be made in any size, cost will escalate obviously, but even when you make small ones, the cost could depend on the quality of the wallpaper.
The 'Egrets' in the family room ended up costing about $250 for the two, without labour of course. I think the larger ones from Signature Prints are around $400 each. I do have a helping hand for the heavy stuff, cutting the mitred corners with a drop saw. If you have a handyman around, it will help with the cost.
Places like Bunnings and Mr Ply & Wood will cut to size for you.
A big warning for this project - the measurements should be on the mark and the panel should be square, so use mitred corners and clamps to make sure it's square.
You'll need: masonite, pine, spray glue, liquid nails (clear), staple gun, wood glue, sandpaper, cutting mat, cutting knife and ruler, wallpaper offcut, framing tape (to finish), hanging extras, soft cloth like an old nappy or an old toweling type teatowel.
Use a very flat surface and some old towels to work on when you are gluing the wallpaper to the frame.

1. Cut to size, pine pieces for frame and masonite for the panel (or have it cut at your hardware store) - actual size is up to you. These instructions are for the 300mm x 600mm size. Be careful with larger measurements, you may need a brace so it doesn't bow.
2. Glue and staple mitred joints to make the frame - ensure the whole thing is completely square. Wait for the glue to dry.
3. With the liquid nails, sqeeze a line all the way around the pine frame, fit your masonite panel, smooth side out. This is the side you'll glue the wallpaper to. Doesn't matter if the masonite is a little oversize, in fact it's probably better, because you can get a nice sanded edge when you're done. Just don't have too much of an overhang, it will be more difficult to get a good finish. Turn upside down on flat covered surface and weigh down until glue/liquid nails dry.
4. When all glues are dry, trim any dried liquid nails with a cutting knife, sand all the edges to make sure there are no overhangs and everything is smooth and straight. Pictures 2 & 3 first row. The edges need to be smooth so you won't see any joins through the paper when finished.
5. Cut wallpaper to size. Don't forget you have the frame to cover also, so make sure you add that measurement PLUS a bit extra. You can trim it up later. The panel width measurement for this set was 300mm + 45mm frame + 20mm frame edge + about 15mm overhang. Do the same for the length - 600mm + 45 + 20 + 15. Pictures 4 & 5 first row.
6. Place the finished frame, masonite side down, on the wrong side of the paper and make a fold line around it. Don't press too much, you could rip the paper. Avoid the corners, you'll do that next.
7. Use a metal ruler to make the folds more defined, including the corners. Place the ruler on the folded line, fold the paper over the ruler to make a more defined line. Picture 6 first row. Spray the outlined area with glue on the back of the paper and then the frame. Picture 7 first row and Picture 1 second row. Don't spray the sides yet, although they will get some overspray. Carefully fit the frame to the folded edges (these are a guide). Turn the frame over and rub gently with the soft cloth to make sure the paper is adhering. Be careful of air bubbles. Don't press down on the sides of the frame yet. Leave to dry for a bit making sure the edges that may have some overspray, aren't touching anything.
NOTE: BE CAREFUL WHEN USING SPRAY GLUE. Read and use according to the instructions.
8. When dry, turn the frame over. Using the cutting knife and metal ruler, align the metal ruler with the longest side of the frame - this will give you a straight line to cut the paper. Refer to pictures 3 & 4 second row of collage above. If you are making a square, the side you cut doesn't matter. If it's rectangle, do the longest sides first.
9. With the frame still paper side down, spray one long side. Lift the frame and 'roll' it onto the paper, don't lift it completely off the flat surface. All you are really doing is standing it on it's edge. Rub edge with soft cloth. Refer pictures 4 & 5 second row. Repeat for the other long side.
10. Because you've already cut the line along the length of the paper, you can now glue the wallpaper along the end/edge of the frame and cut. Refer pictures 6 & 7 second row. Glue paper over frame edge then trim. Refer picture 1 third row.
11. Now glue the ends using the same technique of 'rolling' the frame onto the paper. Pictures 2 & 3 third row. Trim any paper so you have a clean edge when the paper is folded and glued over the end of the frame. Picture 3 third row.
12. Trim all edges. Pictures 4, 5, 6 & 7 third row.
13. Cover all raw edges of paper with framing tape. You can get this from picture framing businesses. I bought mine from an art supply and framing store, in Taree of all places. It's usually a brown paper bag colour and is sometimes a paper texture.
14. To complete the second and subsequent panels, repeat as above. If you have a patterned paper, make sure you match the pattern when you cut the second and subsequent pieces. Picture 1 forth row.
15. Attach a hanging system you are used to.
Hope that all made sense. It's always hard to 'describe' in your own words so other people know what you are taking about.
TIPS:
They need to be completely square and when you glue and fold the paper over, the edges are crisp and sharp lines.
Watch out for air bubbles. You can't get them out once they are there, so be careful when gluing.
Go slow and use the soft cloth to rub the paper while the glue is still wet.
A tip for ALWAYS, use sharp cutters/knives. These will give you clean cut edges, otherwise the paper will rip and tear.
Good luck if you are going to give it a go.
If you are having trouble at all, on any of the projects, email me on designed.to.a.t@optusnet.com.au and I will email you the larger photos.

Project: Ikea Draws

I finished this project quite a while ago, but it's taken me all this time to finish the post.

Would you believe it was March, a whole 4 months ago.

There are about another 3 Project posts to do. I lose track of time these days and try to fit in what I can. Holidays are coming up soon, so I'll hopefully be blogging my little heart out.

This weekend is a 4 day weekend for me, very unusual to get the time off. Hooray from 'Travel Days'.

This project isn't hard. Follow the instructions from the Ikea kit to build it. But I thought it needed a bit of a face lift, so before I built it, my trusty helpful tools, paint, and wallpaper off cuts came out.

The wallpaper off cut is, you guessed it, Florence Broadhurst. It's featured in a recent post, Florence Fanatic with a photo of these draws and an assignment for my Certificate IV in Colour & Design in 2007.

Instructions:
You'll need:
1 pack of Ikea 'FIRA'
Craft cutting knife and/or scalpel
Spray glue
Wallpaper off cuts
Sandpaper
Paint Pot or leftover paint (acrylic) and brush (You can now get packs of 2 paint pot brushes from hardware stores - only around $5.00)
Hammer and electric drill with Phillips head attachment

Picture 1: Photo of the pack for the draw set - Ikea product 'FIRA'.

Picture 2, 3 &4: Identify the pieces for the draw fronts. Have ready your spray glue, wallpaper off cut and a cutting tool.

Either have a piece of wallpaper big enough to lay all the draw fronts down, OR cut each individual piece of wallpaper for each the draw front. You will need to make sure there is a little bit of overhang, you can trim this off to a perfect fit when the glue is dry. A regular craft cutting knife is suitable for this.

When the glue has dried trim around the curve at the front of each draw (the finger 'hole'). I used a scalpel for this, as the fine blade helped cut around the curve easier. You can get these at craft stores like Eckersley's.

Picture 5 & 6: While you are waiting for the glue to dry on the fronts, identify the pieces for the top and 2 sides of the casing. Sand back a bit. The ply it's made out of is quite rough and because they make them so cheaply, the finish isn't great.

Choose an acrylic paint to colour the top and sides. I chose a Dulux paint pot in 'Self Destruct'. The colour is all down to personal preference and the decor of where you are going to put the piece.

Picture 6,7 & 8: When all paint and glue is dry, assemble as per the Ikea instructions.

Picture 9 & below: VOILA!! All done. I use mine to house all my acrylic paints, some brushes, my pastels and one draw has pens, pencils, rubber, ruler, etc, etc.

Project: Canvas Art

It took a while to decide what to do for this blank space in the lounge room. I'd always thought I would do some sort of 'artwork'.

Now I'm definitely not an artist, so I tried to play with paints and textures.

All I did here was buy a couple of canvases, large enough to cover the area. It needed to be about 1 mtr - 1.5 mtr wide and about 1 mtr deep.

My collection of paints (see 'Helpful Tools') includes a box full of sample pots from the times I've tested possible colours for various projects over the last 6 years. Some are quite bright, so I've used them in another canvas art project I'll feature soon.

For this project, I found a sample pot of a fairly neutral background colour. This is Dulux 'Espirit', a light green grey colour.

Next, rummaged through my artist's acrylic paint to find a suitable red - Vermilion Red, the brown is Burnt Ochre, and I mixed the green using Matisse Flow 'Australian Yellow Green' as the base.

The technique - acrylic paints are 'wiped' or 'scraped' on using a wide plastic scraper (see 'Helpful Tools').

The tubes of paint were easy to work with. I squeezed a line of paint along the canvas where I wanted the block of colour, then scraped the paint down as far as I thought looked OK. I kept doing this until I had a reasonably thick layer of paint, leaving ridges where the scraper had run over the wet paint, to give some depth to the 'artwork'. In some lights this effect also throws shadows along the ridges of paint.

I repeated this with the other two colours, and painted the sides of the canvases where the green match up.

This was great fun and hardly took me any time at all.

Helpful Tools

Here is a whole range of tools and accessories I've collected over the years when doing all my DIY projects.

Hope it helps.

But don't go out and buy everything at once. Each time I post a Project, I will try to make sure all the tools you need for the job are listed under a photograph before we move into the instructions.

I have some POWER tools - love POWER tools! Sometimes I think I can be a bit of a boy.

Anyway, shown here is a Hot Glue Gun (middle)- about $16 from Bunnings, has a stand and you can use it either plugged in or not - very handy, and if it breaks, reasonably cheap to replace.

Next is a Staple Gun (back). This one was a Christmas present would you believe! Ask and ye shall receive. It's a good one, has a separate rechargeable battery and several pressure settings for the staple impact.

Lastly, a handy little rechargeable Cordless Screwdriver (front) with many attachments. Fits in the palm of your hand. Pretty good for most things. Doesn't really like putting IKEA flatpacks together though, not enough POWER!

Adhesives - so many on the market. Here is just a few I had handy to take a photo of. Notice the Hot Glue gun making another appearance.

Spray Glue - 3M Multipurpose (back) is the best on the market, in my opinion. The Bostik one pictured was an emergency purchase and is OK for paper and lighter things, but I use the 3M for Wallpaper Art and heavier materials. You have to be extremely careful with this glue! Once it sticks, IT STICKS!! You can end up with a tragedy and have to start all over again.

Tapes - Double sided tapes (front right) are great and come in different widths and there is a new 'heavy duty' one. There are masking tapes and other types of tapes at places like Bunnings, but for artwork/craftwork I prefer to buy from a specialist store like Eckersleys.

Packing tape, clear (front left) or brown is good to seal off Screens when screenprinting. Clear is better I find. If you use the brown shiny packing tape, and leave it on too long, the adhesive will stay.

Magic Tape is a removable tape, great for setting out pieces for collages before you glue them down, or anything else you need to put in place before it's afixed. Eventhough it's magic tape, still be careful when removing it, and if you leave it for too long, it will leave a sticky residue on some surfaces.

Glues (middle) - Aquadhere (timber), Tacky Glue (craft), Stick Glue (papers) - best to read what they are good for when purchasing to see if you can use them for a few different projects. Some of them aren't cheap.

I've added Decoupage Finish (middle) as it is also a type of glue - glues and seals cutouts on to objects. I have an old foot last I am going to cover with some decorative paper using this. Hope to feature it in a while as a little project.

One other GREAT product is JAC Paper which I didn't have available to put in the picture, sorry. You can get it in large pieces and small, I usually buy the A3 size. Again I go to Eckersleys to get this.

It's double sided PAPER and you use it like double sided tape, but you can do big areas. Be careful with it though when you are using it, as it can get stuck fast and you have to start again, a bit like Spray Glue. I've recently had what we'll call 'an incident' with both of these. Not funny!!

JAC paper is costly when you have to replace it AND what you were sticking.

JAC paper ranges in price depending on what size you buy. Eckersleys sells it in A4, A3 and A1 (I think). Also try not to fold it, keep it flat or rolled (for the larger pieces) when storing it.

Cutting Tools - I always live by the rule that you should have good cutting tools. Actually REALLY GOOD cutting tools. They are the one thing that can make or break your project from the start.

Pictured are a few types of cutting blades. I use Celco, you can get them from any Art/Craft store. I've recently found some Stanley versions that look really robust. They are next on my Christmas wish list!!

Stanley Knives are great to have in your kit. Remember with all of these types of cutting implements, you MUST keep a sharp blade in them. The Celco ones snap off using the tool attached to the end. Stanley knives have double ended replaceable blades. If the blade isn't cutting smoothly or it takes a couple of times to cut through - change your blade.

Scissors - having a sewing background, I have always had a solid and sharp pair of scissors. Klasse is the brand of the silver dressmaking scissors pictured. I have shears and pinking shears in this brand also - you know, pinking shears are the ones that give you the zig-zag edge!

The last 3 items are FISKARS - a small pair of pointy nosed scissors (left), a small pair of embroidery scissors and a shape cutter.

Rulers - metal rulers are a must also. They give a sharp straight edge and your sharp cutting blades won't cut into the edge like they will with a plastic ruler. Plastic rulers are good for pencils and pens etc, but if you are cutting a straight edge, use a metal one.

Pictured are 15 cm, 30 cm and 1 mtr rulers.

There is a metal square rule and a smaller version with a moveable attachment, this is from a COMBINATION SET. Tradies have these! Told you I was a bit of a boy!

Sewing Basics - Lots of things to keep in a sewing kit, but as a start:

Zippers, Glass headed pins (these are easy to put in and take out, especially if you are a sewing 'apprentice'), Tailors Chalk (in pencils) - great for marking on fabric, Needles (different sizes for different requirements), Tape Measure, Tracing Carbon (waxy type of carbon that will wash out easily) and an Unpicker.

You could go as far to include:

Elastic, Threads (you'll end up with heaps anyway), Tracing Wheel, Rotary Cutter, Cutting Board (large cardboard cutting base, marked with rulers/measurements, folds away). I could go on and on. If you go to the quilting area at a Spotlight Store, you could go crazy.

Miscellaneous - Here's some extras you might consider.

A definite, you have to have a good range of pencils and pens. HB, 2B, Artline pens (have different width tips), Staedtler plastic rubber, a good sharpener - preferably the one for 2 sizes of pencils.

Shape cutters/templates, the orange one is a FISKARS product, the blue one is from a newsagent. A single whole punch is good when you need to make tiny dots for card making for example.

The last 3 things in this photo are a Matt Cutter (photo board/matt), Spray Clear Varnish and stackable/sealable clear plastic containers. You can find these containers in all the craft stores. Handy to store small things, including pins and needles.

Paintbrushes - try to gather a good range of brushes. It'll take a while, and if you buy the Taklon fibre brushes, they last. Some of them aren't cheap though.

Pictured:
A set of Chinese Paint brushes with a guide to using them, techniques and pictures to paint with step by step instructions.

Gesso brushes, these are great for painting background colours on canvas and applying Gesso - Gesso is a canvas primer but you can use it to build structure on a canvas and then paint.

Foam brushes, Sample Pot brushes (pack of 2 for about $5 from Bristol Paint stores, Bunnings and probably just about anywhere), and Stenciling Brushes.

Painting Accessories and Paints - Mixing Palettes, Gesso, Additives (pictured Flow Medium and Structure Gel from the Winsor & Newton 'Galeria' range), Plastics scrapers, Paint Palette knives (plastic - not pictured), Canson card (to test mixed colours).

Acrylic Paints, Water colours, even Dulux Colour Sample Pots. Some brands I use, Matisse Acrylic - 'Structure' and 'Flow' formulas, Reeves Acrylic and Water Colour - you can find these anywhere, Jo Sonja's Acrylic, Mont Marte - Acrylic and Water Colour, Winsor & Newton - Gouache, and Designer's Gouache. Gouache is a type of Water Colour, designers in a lot of industries use this paint for rendered drawings - Fashion Designers, Architects, etc etc.

Handy other things to have in your kit.

Going back to the cutting utensils, a good cutting board is also a must. This one is A3. I have a couple of others, 2 x A4 and one that is about A3 long but only about 20 cm wide.

Old glass jars or empty vitamin containers to wash your brushes.

Bit of a hint, don't leave your brushes to soak overnight, some types of bristles and handles don't like it.

I've had the paint coating on the handles come off because the water has soaked into the wood under the coating. I learnt that one the hard way and haven't done it again. Try to clean them thoroughly as soon as you have finished, they'll last longer.

I've got a box of those disposable gloves in my kit. They usually get a workout when I'm screenprinting. Not a necessity, in fact I don't use them that much. Depends on how much of a neat freak you are!

Screenprinting - You can buy screenprinting sets from good art stores.

One of the art supplies I frequent is 'Art on King' in Newtown. Small and cluttered but they have most things you need and they know what they are talking about. In Brisbane, I go to Art Shed in West End.

Papers - Canson Papers and Cards, Tracing Papers (quickest, cheapest and easiest - Baking Paper!!), Graph Paper, Scrapbooking Papers, Photocopying Paper (cheap way to make screenprinting templates). Visual Diary for ideas, drawings and magazine cuttings.

A great way to make carbon/tracing paper - cut a length of Baking Paper and colour one side using a Graphite Pencil. It needs to be a Graphite Pencil as this will give the 'Carbon' effect and isn't as messy as using a standard Art Pencil like a 4B.

Graphite Pencils can be purchased at specialty Art Stores - I use a 'Progresso' brand.

Magazines - A girl has to dream! Here are only a few. I cut them up and add pictures to A4 visual diaries. These are my 'Inspirations' books!

Books - Another form of Inspiration.

From my collection - Vintage T-Shirts, Kevin McLeod's Colour Now, Amy Butler's Midwest Modern, the Golden Age of Couture, Ikebana.

Some others are Designer's Guild, a couple of Fashion Design Illustration guides, Drawing and Rendering books, Pattern/Design books - one I bought in Japan in 2008. On my wishlist, V & A Pattern - a set of 4 books with CD's of fabric patterns from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

That should do for now, don't you think ???

Project: Paris - Picture this!

My cousin Leanne and I, are planning a trip together for one of our significant birthdays. Yes!! one of the 'Big O' birthdays is on it's way. It's a few years away yet, plenty of time!

We were born only a few months apart, so we have to decide what time of the year to go.

The PLAN - New York, London and Paris - with maybe a few other cities thrown in.

I'm making over my study/workroom in a Paris theme, probably for a bit of motivation to save for the trip!

Years ago I started scrapbooking and have heaps of papers in stock. I remembered I had one that was printed with old postcards and post marks when I came across these beautiful ceramic tags at Domain about 18 months ago.

Making yet another trip to IKEA to purchase a load of their picture frames, Paris - Picture this! happened.

Using the backing board of the photo frame, I cut the scrapbooking paper stock to fit. You'll also need a bit of card stock to stiffen the paper, as the weight of any embelishment, such as the tags, will cause the paper to buckle.

If you are using card stock for the background, you should be OK.

Card stock comes in different weights, this is noted as 'gsm'. About 200 gsm is a good weight to help as a backing for paper like I used.


Adhesives: See 'Helpful Tools' - This will depend on what you are using in the frame. Double sided tape was sufficient to attach the ceramic tags for this project. I could have used hot glue, but was concerned about it buckling the paper. Use what you think is appropriate depending on what backing you are using.

I'm pretty happy with the result. The frame colour, the paper and tags match the Eiffel Tower I recently purchased from a great homewares store in Port Macquarie.

When I decide on the colour to paint the room, buy the IKEA shelves, they'll be one of the first things you see when you walk in the room.