Crafty Friday: Stained Glass Silhouette Collages

Are you ready for some good ol' down home craftin'? I thought so. This craft, though pretty, probably isn't good for the real littles, or cranky 6 year olds, or impatient people. It can probably be easily modified for the littles, or cranky 6 year olds, or impatient people, but as I was impatient dealing with my cranky 6 year old, I didn't figure out an alternative for the littles.

Here's what you need:  

-paper

-magazines

-scissors

-glue

-a simple silhouette to trace

-patience, lots of patience

The first step in this craft is figuring out what silhouette you'd like to use; The simpler, the better. I picked a whale from an old pattern I created for my artwork. Audrie picked an owl sitting on a moon from a silhouette we found online. Once you find your shape, cut it out and lay it on your paper to be traced, like so: 

Then, trace the picture:

The silhouette will be created by filling in the space around the traced picture.

The next step is to pick one color, and start cutting out pieces from magazines in that color family.  For example, I picked orange, so I cut out every shade of orange I could find.  The idea is to get a variety of shades and textures for your picture. 

Once you get your pieces cut out, go ahead and cut out more. Then, when you're done cutting out more pieces, go ahead and cut out even more. It takes a lot.

Then, when you're finished destroying your magazines, you can start gluing. Cover every bit of exposed paper surrounding your traced shape, leaving the silhouette itself white.

Here's where you'll be thanking the stars that you chose a simple silhouette, or, if you decided to add details like water droplets spraying up from a whale, here's the point where you start cursing.

After several days, with magazine pieces glued to your hands, face, and clothes, having lost all sanity, you'll glue the final few pieces on and then break down and cry out of sheer joy and exhaustion. And you'll end up with a pretty picture.

[I went ahead and added some blue so the whale could have an ocean to swim on.]

Now, Audrie took a slightly different approach to her silhouette which can be more time consuming and require more patience, hence why I didn't attempt this method. She made her picture look more like a stained glass window by leaving white space between each magazine piece, like so:

And here's her finished piece:

She got really fancy and used trees and clouds with her picture. I don't know why she always has to upstage me and do something infinitely cooler. Show-off.

I'm thinking if I ever muster up the patience again [which I probably won't], I want to create a set of these pictures and frame them. I love how they look.

Happy Crafting!

xo

nessa dee

IF: Space

xo

nessa dee

Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na

BATMAN!

Finn came in the studio the other day, donning his Batman pj's and a knit cap pulled over his eyes. He asked if I can help him cut holes for his eyes and attach his spiky ears. I happily obliged. Poor child...not only does he look like a bandit, but his pj's are about three years too small.

Thankfully, he's a child, and he can see beyond the superficial and look deep into his imagination to see that he is transformed. He is the Dark Knight.

xo

nessa dee

Hello, Monday!

Well, last Monday to be exact. We spent the day with a bunch of dinosaurs at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. I think the adults were just as giddy as the kids when we faced these prehistoric beasts. They were incredible!

They were huge! 

They were terrifying!

And some were just downright strange!

In addition to the dinosaurs, we also saw some of the Terra Cotta Warriors who guarded China's first emperor in the afterlife.

These were fascinating, although, one of the warriors seemed to be a little inept. 

And finally, we visited the butterfly exhibit, where we got attacked by killer butterflies with long tongues...

and pointy teeth!

It wasn't until the butterfly whisperer came along and calmed the masses that we were able to escape  unscathed, though psychologically scarred for the rest of our lives.

And that was our day at the museum. This Monday probably won't be as exciting, but who knows what the afternoon might bring. So far, the plan is to clean out closets, prep for baby, craft, and do a little schooling, but you never know when an army of angry butterflies, or just a scary pregnant lady might show up. We'll be prepared.

Happy Monday!

xo

nessa dee

Trip # 2

Our second little trip took us to Houston to visit the other side of our family, and there was no shortage of adventures. There's always some little surprise waiting for us when we get there. Usually it's a homemade cake, or some little gadget to keep us occupied for the weekend. This time, it was a pool...

complete with diving board.

I sure do love this family. There's never a dull moment when we're there.

We spent a morning watching toad tadpoles at the pond.

 

We also watched the baby ducks feed.

The boys had fun riding a dirt bike at a whopping speed of about 5 mph.

But mostly, Finn had fun wearing the helmet.

We visited the farm...

had a water balloon fight...

and relaxed on the porch.

But mostly, we laughed.

We also went to the Natural History Museum in Houston to see some dinosaurs and terra cotta warriors, but as usual, we took a million pictures, so I'll save those for another post.


xo


nessa dee

And we're back!

At least Jonathan, the dog, and I are back. The kids stayed with their grandparents for a few extra days of fun while Mom gets a few extra days of uninterrupted prep time for Baby Boy. I'm also going to try to get a few personal illustration projects done in this free time.

Oh, who am I kidding, I'm going to sit around the house and sulk because I don't know what to do without my children. At least I have the dog here with me to keep me company and give me someone to dote on. She's hiding from me at the moment because I've been smothering her with love.

I bet you're dying to know of our exciting adventures. Beautiful white sandy beaches? No. Breathtaking mountain views? Not hardly. 100+ degree weather, red dirt, and run-ins with poisonous arachnids? Now you're talking!

The first leg of trip took us to my hometown to give the kids some PaPa Jack time before we are thrust into the sleepless nights of new babyhood. We were actually fortunate in that the temperature stayed in the low 100's while we were there..it had been up to 107 the week before. I tried to keep my big, pregnant self indoors as much as possible, but when you're surrounded by animals, and barns, and giant machinery, the pull to go outside and play is just too much. [Not to mention the fact that I had to kill a scorpion in the living room an hour after we arrived.]

I was eager to put my new camera + lens to work down there...

These pictures were from the afternoon that we arrived. Unfortunately for me [fortunately for you], my camera battery died, and I forgot to bring the charger. The rest of our trip involved a cattle auction, a visit to the ranch, an up-close look at all of the oil activity going on around there, more hay jumping, new boots for the kids, shooting BB guns at cans, feeding the cows and another scorpion plus a black widow. Finn wore his camouflage shirt every day while we were there. Both kids were covered in dirt from head to toe by evening, and they loved every minute of it.

xo

nessa dee