Hi, everyone! I'm so sorry it's been such a long time since my last blog post. My priorities shifted last year after my mom passed away. Beginning in February, I'll have a new blog post for you each week to keep you
Crafting a themed paperweight for a holiday or special occasion can be simple and easy with ready-to-use embellishments available at your local craft store.
With all the Halloween decorations lining the store shelves this time of year, it's the perfect opportunity to design spooktacular paperweights that are sure to grab some attention and second looks.
If you're not into spiders or disembodied fingers under glass, think of fall, jack o' lanterns, candy corn, and other things that are a little less creepy.
Last spring I purchased a shabby, antique button with two Scottie
dogs in the design. (Yes, I'm a Scottie dog lover.) My plan at the
time was to paint the button a single color, red, and place it against a
tartan, paper background. I now concede this plan was far too simple
and unimaginative. Instead, I thought I should step outside my comfort
zone and try my hand at giving the button a proper refresh with a few
different paint colors.
Not only has the button been transformed, it's found new purpose in a glass, dome paperweight.
Over the summer I purchased a fabulous piece of vintage Murano glass that was made in Italy. The design featured glittery, gold swirls in a sea of deep blue. It made me curious if I could somehow mimic this look with glitter and glass paint using one of our paperweights. After a little experimentation, I'm in love with the results!
As someone who absolutely loves going to antique shops and flea markets,
I'm always on the hunt for small trinkets I can work into my
paperweight designs. When I came across a few Monopoly game pieces in a
box of old costume jewelry, I immediately pictured them in an Heirloom Dome with the infamous Monopoly board in the background. I hope you like the end result as much as I do.
My favorite paperweight designs tend to be simple and usually
involve placing a small object against a background. Even though there
are only two elements involved, there's virtually no limit to the number
of unique styles you can create.
During
the month of June the Design Blog will focus on backgrounds paired with
small trinkets and findings to show you all the incredible things you
can achieve with items you may already have around your home or studio,
or items you've never thought of using in the past. We'll start with
something very basic, a button...
If your design involves displaying one or more objects in a paperweight,
you'll need a background to place these items on. Backgrounds can be
made from a variety of materials such as paper, fabric, leather, metal,
and thin sheets of wood veneer. They can involve complex layers or they
can be as simple as printing a photo, as I did for this owl and branch...
Over the years I've created so many paperweights with vintage and
antique costume jewelry. I look for broken pieces, especially brooches
with missing or badly bent pins. These can often be purchased at flea
markets and antique sales for just a few dollars. You can also find
beautiful reproductions at most major craft stores.
The collage for this paperweight was made with reproduction milk caps.
You can use vintage pieces if you wish. Just check to make sure they're
not rare and valuable before you start cutting and applying glue.
(You'd be surprised how much an old milk cap can be worth for its
artwork or the particular town it's from.)
A swatch of glitter-lined paper and a gemstone sticker are all it took
to transform this plain, glass paperweight into something fabulous and
sparkly. It's quickly become one of my favorites because it catches
light from every angle. You have to admit it's pretty cute, too!
I've wanted to create a succulent paperweight for the longest time. The
problem I constantly ran into was finding an artificial succulent small
enough to fit into one of our domes. Fortunately, I found a nice alternative to the real thing...
or at least an alternative to the artificial version of the real thing.
As a Southern California girl who grew up just outside Los Angeles, I
was always within a mile or two of a fabulous craft store where I could
get at least 2,000 steps in by walking up and down the aisles in search
of materials to use in my paperweight designs. Now that I live in a
very rural part of South Dakota, enjoying the pleasures of small town
life, the nearest craft store is about 45-minutes away. (Insert sound
of record needle scratch here.) There are days I honestly miss the
craft stores more than I miss the sun, beaches, and warm weather.
A few months ago I purchased a few small, round mirrors to use in future
projects. I thought I'd frame one of the mirrors with some thick twine
and see where things led. I hope you like the results.
An easy step to achieving more professional looking paperweight designs
is to apply paint to the bottom surface of the glass that comes into
contact with your paperweight kit's adhesive pad. This will conceal the
adhesive side of the pad that's often visible through the glass. In
its place you'll see a color or metallic.
When it comes to personalizing PhotoWeights, there's no rule book that limits you to displaying items from within your paperweight. There's a lot of real estate on the exterior of our flat paperweights, enough space for small charm, a metal finding, or a few rhinestones.
If you're looking for a creative way to frame a photo within a
paperweight, this design is a excellent starting point. You can alter
the materials and embellishments in so many different ways. For
instance, instead of scrapbook paper you can use fabric or a thin, wood
veneer. You can also frame the photo opening with shells, beads, dried
flowers, and an array of different baubles.
If you have any broken pieces of costume jewelry laying around, this
project is for you. Even if you don't, it's easy to find beautiful,
affordable pieces of jewelry on clearance at boutiques and department
stores. Many craft stores also sell a large selection of jewelry that
includes earrings, pins, and pendants.
I've used antique sewing notions in many of my paperweight designs
over the years. From buttons and snaps sewn onto cards, to cardboard
spools of thread and small tools, these things tend to fit very well in
our paperweight kits because they're small, flat and fairly thin.
The
next time you find yourself in an antique shop, keep an eye out for
these items. They're usually very affordable. For instance, the needle
packs I used in this project were in a plastic bag of other sewing
items I purchased for just $5.00.
When summer is just a memory, and the snow starts to fly, this sand dollar paperweight will add a touch of warmth to you desk. This is such an easy design to create. All you'll need is a
sand dollar, a scrap of sandpaper, a glue gun, and a pair of scissors.
Everything else is included in the paperweight kit (mounting board and
bottom pad).