not all my 'art' has to do with bones 'n wings!

it seems like i'm always promoting my ForestWalk etsy site...
and not my FIRST shop, 'samura' !!

why??  WELL,  i guess i started to get more involved with BoNES...collecting and decorating...

but samura is where it all began...for me!
when i started getting alot of BoNE art on samura,
 i created the ForestWalk shop and moved all the 'nature/bone art' over there.

so today i thought i'd  'highlight'  a few of my  'creations'  at samura!

this one is a 4X4" sandblasted mirror, mounted on painted wood plaque.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/27235147/sandblasted-peace-mirror

here's another sandblasted mirror...SMILE...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/27235526/sanblasted-smile-mirror

i have a few more sandblasted mirrors at etsy...KARMA...PEACE...

spread kindness...Live, Love, Laugh set!

(((i had a post on here a few weeks back where i showed the step by step 

process of sandblasting. you can check it out here: 

http://forestwalkart.blogspot.com/2010/06/sandblasted-tree-mirror-from-start-to.html )))

at my samura shop, i also have some (recycled) champagne glass tea light candle holders...

decorated with pressed flowers!  you can check out my candle holders here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/samura?section_id=6377924

...with lights out...candle lit...

and sandblasted window hangers...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/samura?section_id=6377923

at samura, you can also find a few vintage and  whimsical jewelry items. all my art is original...one of a kind!

Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.  ~Twyla Tharp

Imagination is more important than knowledge. ~ Albert Einstein

It takes alot of courage to show your dreams to someone else. ~Erma Bombeck

stay cool...

pax   pace  amani   peace   shalom   eace-pay   vrede   paz   paix

sandblasted tree mirror- from start to finish!

the Tree Mirror is finished!

to make things a little easier...so you don't have to go back through my posts...i'll put a few pic's here, going back through the process of getting to THIS!

it all started with a freehand sketch of a tree...i then used graphite transfer paper to copy the tree from paper to the 'contact paper' covered mirror. the design is then cut with x-acto knife and peeled away to make a stencil on the back of the mirror. i want the stencil on the back because that's where the silver coating will be etched out during the sandblasting...making the mirror 'see-through' where the tree is.

(am i confusing you yet?? i hope not!!)

then comes the sandblasting...sam takes care of this part...

after this step...the stencil is peeled...mirror is rinsed. then i paint the wood plaque, giving it a white base coat first, then whatever color i decide. i spray an acrylic coating on the painted plaque before the mirror is mounted (masking off the area where the mirror will be glued). let it cure overnight. meanwhile i paint the tree on the back of the mirror so the colors can be seen through the front of the mirror.  

mirror is glued to the plaque...i added some glass paint & wrapped suede lace around...

hmmm, now to come up with a name...

The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.-  Ralph Waldo Emerson

butterflies and trees

i slept in today!! well, i did wake up at 3:30, but when i saw what time it was...i told myself to TRY and get back to sleep. i didn't think i could. but i did. and woke this morn at 5:30! for me, that's sleeping in!!
yesterday i was working on the sandblasted mirror trees...painting them...getting the wood ready to mount the mirrors. i realized that since the 'etched' area of this tree design is so much more intricate than the 'words' i've sandblasted on mirrors...painting the wood plaque won't work! the colors don't show through the frosted tree! so i painted the back side of the mirror...over the etched design/frosted glass.

this is the back side/etched side of the mirrors:

this picture shows back side and front side. you can see the colors through the etched design.

i've painted the wood plaques...one a light blue, the other cobalt. today i'll clear coat the plaques, then after drying, will mount the mirrors!

here's something else i was playing around with while working on the trees. (sorry for the flash glare!) - beveled glass with butterfly & dragonfly wings & pressed flowers. i'll probably put some type of border on it and make it into a window hanger.  

front

back

It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world. ~Butterfly Effect

sandblasting (part 2)

in the previous post i showed how to get the mirrors ready for sandblasting. ok...now we're ready...cause Sam's ready!!  :)  he does the sandblasting...so when he's ready...i'm ready!!  :)

here's the sandblasting cabinet.

hands go inside by way of HEAVY gloves...one to hold whatever you're sandblasting...the other gloved hand holds onto the spray gun.

cover's closed (fumes!!) and Sam blasts away. the sand grinds into the back surface of the mirror...etching in the design to the open areas of the stencil

open cabinet (vaccuming out the dust) to make sure the design is sandblasted into the mirror enough!

nope!!  it needs a little more...needs to be etched a  little deeper...

it's finished!!  now it's on to peeling away the stencil (contact paper) from the back of the mirror

((while Sam has one more mirror to sandblast))          

peeled, rinsed off and drying...showing the front and back sides of the 2 mirrors. the sandblasting gives the glass a frosted look where the silver coating was etched away...

i gave a white base coat to the wood plaque

and now i start to paint the wood...eyeballing where the tree will be positioned when the mirror gets glued to the wood!!  i'll paint, let it dry...repaint, again and again...adding different shades...until i see that the colors are just how i want them to be when they show through the frosted glass of the mirror!!

SEE???  sometimes i get the urge to do something other than BoNES! ha!  

((i'll post the finished piece when completed!!))

before the sandblasting (part 1)

so i started preparing the mirrors for sam's expert sandblasting :)

drawing a tree 

wrapping the mirror with 'contact paper'

transferring the drawing using graphite paper 

cutting the design with x-acto knife

since the design gets stenciled on the back of the mirror (because that's where the silver mirror finish is), you have to remember that the stencil has to be applied backwards...which doesn't really matter with a TREE, but if you're doing a WORD...it matters! :)

i did 2 mirrors. on the mirror to the right  i just  freehanded the tree, cutting out the graphite transfer step.

i'll post again as i paint the wood plaques and after the mirrors have been sandblasted!  >:)

a slow work day - may do some stencil cutting...

today is another slow work day (only ONE massage scheduled for later this afternoon!!) so  i thought i might do some stencil cutting for sandblasting...on mirrors. i've done these TREES on clear glass window hangers and then added pressed flower petals as the tree leaves.

but now i might try to do the same sandblasted tree...but on a mirror...and then glue it to the 4X4" wood plaque after i paint it...so you can see the colors through the tree.  kind of like what i did here...with the butterfly...

wow...i sure need to try and get better pictures of my mirrors and clear glass art...got any suggestions??

((i do the artwork & stencil cutting...sam does the actual sandblasting!))

a few posts ago...the one with the dreamcatchers...i said i'd look up the place where i bought the turtle shells. here it is...and they have some really cool stuff there...crazy crow 

here's another site where i've gone to look up Native American totems & the meanings of different animals & symbols (and more!)  -  legends of america . 

that's it for now...

some of my 'older' art

i went through some of my art...some old pic's of my art...that i 'created' and sold in a small shop in High Springs, FL...about 2 yrs ago.  i thought i'd post them here. they reminded me how much i like to do the artwork/design and stencil cutting...for the sandblasted glass and mirrors!  at that time i was also trying to do a little wood burning. i think the mix of paint & wood burning looks pretty cool. maybe i'll try that again too...

wood burn outline & paint ^^

this was a practice sandblasting! on clear pane of glass

                                                    sandblasted flower on wood plaque      

                                   wood burned outline and filled with acrylic paint on wood plaque

   ^^ a couple of experiments with pressed flowers and wood burning... ^^

sandblasted on purple glass...it was actually a candle stand from the dollar store...

                                                                                                           

   these mirrors and glass pieces pictured above were my first sandblast pieces...i was experimenting. well...both my husband Sam and i were teaching ourselves.  i did the artwork & stencil cutting, he did the actual blasting.  THEN i tried my hand at wood burning...some of the same or similar designs i did for the sandblasted pieces. i started to incorporate the pressed flowers...and VOILA!! then came the recycled-upcycled-thrift shop bought champagne glass tea-light holders. after i saw how BEAUTY-FUL the flowers look on glass, i started to decorate bottles.  THEN i got the bright idea to use the pressed flowers to decorate BONES!!  what a nice Homage to Mother Nature!!  

anyway...that's all i have time for right now...we're getting ready to go fishing...  :)  Happy Day!!