Stained Glass Heart © Becky Tomren, 1978

Years later, when we purchased our own home, I wanted to create beautiful stained glass pieces in my own home. Unfortunately, I was still afraid of the glass cutting so I went to the hobby store and found “stained glass window paint”.

That evening, I created an abstract design on my kitchen window.

The next day, I looked at that window and the memories of the day I spent with my Aunt Becky came flooding back—good memories, indeed.

Last year, I bought some more window paint but instead of designing a window, I designed a blue and brown candle holder.

Stained Glass Candle Holder © Alyice Edrich, 2010

Then one day, as I was browsing the Internet, I read that food coloring can be mixed with Mod Podge to create a lovely stained glass look. And my brain began churning…

The one problem I had is that Mod Podge has a tendency to peel off glass, and so I tried to put the idea out of my head. Still, I couldn’t help but be intrigued with the idea so last night I decided to cave.

I pulled out my glossy Mod Podge, yellow food coloring, Fabric-Tac, paint brush, an old food jar, my hand painted paper, and some twine. And I came up with this simple yet stunning folk art-style jar.

Mod Podge Stained Glass Jar © Alyice Edrich, 2010

It was so easy to create, too!

Mod Podge Stained Glass Jar © Alyice Edrich, 2010

How To Create A Stained Glass Folk Art Jar

Clean the glass so that no fingerprints remain. Mix a few drops of food coloring into the Mod Podge, then paint strokes (from top to bottom) onto the jar. Let dry.

Next, cut out a heart from your scrapbooking paper (I used hand painted paper.) and cover the back with Mod Podge. Adhere the heart to the front of the jar, hold it into place with your fingers until it sticks nicely. Let dry.

Once dried, apply a top coat of clear Mod Podge to the heart. Let dry.

If you like streaks, you’re good to go.

I, however, wasn’t too fond of them so once dried, I dipped my brush back into the colored Mod Podge, then gently dabbed the Mod Podge over the entire jar and let it dry. (I just love the texture!)

But wouldn’t you know it, as I applied the Fabric-Tac to the top of the jar and began winding the twine, the Mod Podge began to lift and peel. It was so disheartening! (I heard there is an “Outdoor” Mod Podge, I am going to try that next.)

I stopped dead in my tracks, grabbed my DecoArt Triple-Thick Brush-On Glaze and a sponge paintbrush and dabbed it onto the jar. Once dried, I returned to wrapping the twine around the top.

Keep Creating

Hand Stitched Accents © Alyice Edrich, 2010

First, I created abstract art on a 9×12 sheet of watercolor paper. Then I scanned the image into my computer.

Next, I opened up my Paint Shop Pro X2 software program and digitally altered the image.

To digitally alter the image, I went to the Kaleidoscope feature and put the settings to:

• Horizontal – Offset 39
• Vertical Offset- 59
• Flotatin Angle – 108
• Scale Factor – 33
• Number of Petals – 3
• Number of Orbist – 0
• Radial Suction – .68
• and Warp

Once I got the look I liked, I sent the digital file to a printer and had 4×6 photos created.

Plain © Alyice Edrich, 2010

I then adhered the photos to a blank 5×7 greeting card.

I liked the look, but felt something missing so I grabbed my embroidery thread and hand stitched the outlines of the image, as well as the outline of the photo itself.

Close Up Of Stitchwork © Alyice Edrich, 2010

And I liked what I created.

The close-up kind of reminds me of outer space. How about you?

Keep Creating

Disclosure: Craft Thread was provided, free of charge, by Consumer Crafts and is Item 1170093. Check out the review I did on the thread over at the Crafts Unleashed blog.

Every once in awhile I like to pick up wood frames from Dollar General. The frames usually run anywhere from $2 to $4 a piece and are perfect for my folk art style.

Unfortunately, I sometimes walk away with a lemon. The frame in this tutorial is the perfect example.

On the surface it looked perfect, no scratches, no dings, no broken glass. But when I took out the backing to input a miniature painting the backing wouldn’t go back in. At first I thought the painting was too thick so I removed it and tried to put the backing on without it. Nope. It wouldn’t go back into its slot.. I removed the glass and put in the painting and the backing fit back into its slot without a single problem.

However, that wasn’t a painting I wanted without a glass. So I set the frame aside until I could figure out what to do with it.

That was lemon number 1.

Lemon number 2 came when I tried to bake polymer clay in my oven. I had been wanting to purchase a polymer clay oven for months but one car repair after another has prevented me from splurging on anymore artsy goodness so I decided to go against my better judgment and use the regular oven.

The tulips looked perfect until I put them in the oven. For whatever reason they just wouldn’t harden. Frustrated, I left them in the oven and went to work out with the family. An hour later I went back to the oven and discovered that the polymer clay had changed colors and grown brown spots.

“Surely I must have over-baked the clay,” I told myself. Throwing my hands up in the air, I pulled the clay out of the oven and set it aside to cool.

As I stared at lemon number 2, I realized that the tulips were salvageable.

All I had to do was paint them white with gesso, then paint them with Liquitex acrylic paints.

How To Create A Tulip In A Frame

As I painted the tulips, I had an idea. I could adhere the tulips to cardstock and create simple, yet cute 3-D greeting cards. All I had to do was cut a 2″x5″ strip of decorative scrapbook paper, glue it to the bottom of the card, then adhere the tulip with E-6000.

After creating my third card, I decided the cards looked a little too plain so I pulled out my acrylic paints, added a little water to make the paint more fluid and painted around the tulips.

Now I was getting somewhere.

By my fourth card, I had another idea. Take the best card of the lot and put it in the glassless picture frame!

So I trimmed off the blank half of the card, then trimmed 1/8 of an inch (or so) around the painted tulip side so that it will fit though the frame’s opening, allowing the backing to attach to the frame without a problem.

I attached black foam risers to the back of the card (tulip side) and attached it to the frame’s backing.

Next I sprayed the card with spray adhesive and while the adhesive was still wet, I sprayed an acrylic matte sealer over the card. (I love doing this because it adds texture.)

Next, I grabbed a little copper paint and went over the wood frame. Then I sprayed the frame with the acrylic matte sealer.

When everything was dry, I inserted the card/backing into the frame and stood back to observe my salvation.

“Not bad,” I thought to myself. “I think this will make a nice little tutorial.” What do you think? A lemon or lemonade?

Keep Creating