Decoupage on Coasters using Leather Sheets

Good Afternoon, 

I am back today to share something absolutely new. Its a new product called leather paper. It's new for me, though some of you may have used it earlier. And this again is part of my experimentation with new products as a part of the DT for Nagashri Arts. 

When Nagashri sent a whole bunch of leather paper sheets to me I was quite unsure what to do with it.

I had never worked with these before. But on first look, I was an impressed with these, especially with the texture. It not only has a textured look but you can also feel the texture. 

So the first project I have done with these are a set of decoupaged coasters using leather sheets.  And I was super impressed with this paper.  It's is super easy to work without any tearing or bubbling or wrinkling.  

The inspiration for this project is a lot of leather work that I had seen when I had gone for a holiday to Rajasthan. There I had seen coasters with stonework and leather/wood holders.  Taking the same concept I have tried to give the holder a leather look with rims of gold.  

Here are some pics of the completed project.

Supplies used 

Leather sheets 
Coasters
German Napkin
Modpodge 
Acrylic paint 
Archival ink for distressing 
Metallic paint
Varnish 

Hope you have enjoyed this project. 

Decoupage on Candle

Good Evening, 

I am here today with a technique. For those who don't know me, I started my crafting journey with candle making and till date do make candles, especially during the festive season.

Also in the last few years, I have been bitten by the decoupage bug.  The reason being that it is the one art form which is very very versatile.

And today my project is a combination for my love for candle making and a passion for decoupage. So here we go...

I am sure you may have seen a lot of videos and projects on decoupage on candles.  Most of the videos follow the following technique.

1. Cut the tissue to the required size and place it on the candle.

2. Put a wax paper on the image and hold the wax paper and the image in place with your hand.

3. Using an iron/heat tool,  melt the image on to the candle.

And you have a beautifully decorated candle.

I did try this technique a few times but somehow this never worked for me.  Mainly because of even a slight shift the napkin gets wrinkled and the image is not crisp. Also as at times working with small candles, there is a chance of accidents, especially with the heat tool.

So to ensure that my image is absolutely smooth and there are no wrinkles, this is what I came up with

1. Cut the tissue to the size and the motif you want it put on the candle.  Ensure that the image is not cut with a scissors, and is torn with hand.  This ensures that the image blends well.

2. Place the tissue on the candle and have the image perfectly aligned as you want it.

3. Taking modpodge,  glue the tissue to the napkin.  Ensure that the glue is very thin coat and is below the tissue.  Do not put the glue on top of the tissue because it may bubble with heat.  (Also follow the motto of - The lesser  the better(for glue)).

4. Stick the tissue in parts especially if it's a large image. Gently smoothen the tissue on to the candle.

5. Once the tissue is stuck leave it to dry. You need to ensure that the glue is completely dry before you go to the next step.

6. Taking a heat tool, slowly run over the image. Do not stay on a particular area for too long -  as it could lead to the candle melting more on that particular area.

7. Smoothen the hot wax with your hand as it embeds to get a smooth even surface.

8. Wait for the candle to cool and check if the entire napkin is blended on to the candle.

And voila your decoupage candle is ready.

Here are some candles done using this technique

Here are some more examples of the same

I do hope you like this alternative technique. Do give it a try and let me know if it works for you too. 

Supplies used are:

Decoupage Napkins
Candle
Modpodge 
Heat Tool
Wishing you a wonderful day !!

Wooden T Light Holders

A very good evening to all of you.

I recently bought some pine wood T light Holders for the festive season. These are cute little blocks of wood about 2 inches all the way around. Thus they are small but cute.

Initially I thought of decoupaging all of them with scrap of tissues that I had in my stash. On second thought I decided to experiment with them.Considering that the base is square of 2 inches by 2 inches I selected some small stamps and stencils and tissues.

And here is what I came up with....

Though they have a very small surface they are ideal for being stenciled with small motifs and designs. Using traditional Indian motifs I did these two sets. I also added a bit of bling on one of the sets.

I had a few small stamps in my stash. So the next attempt was to stamp them. And I was surprised and pleased at the final effect. 

Lastly I did decide to decoupage two sets of the holders. One in floral pattern and the next set in my favorite butterfly pattern.  And I loved them. And I added a bit of stamping to create more interest and continuity in the pattern. 

Here is the final look at all the T Light Holders together

Do let me know what you think

Hexagon Coaster

Good Evening,

I have done a lot of projects on coasters. And I have done various art forms and techniques on them. Starting  from Warli and Madhubani I have come a long way to Decoupage.

Coasters are a perfect way to test new products and papers. But I have done a lot of projects in both square and round shaped coasters.

But recently I managed to pick up a set of Hexagon shaped coasters. And I was super excited to try out some new papers on these. And having collected a large collection of papers from various places I set about trying to find a suitable print for the coasters.

And I found this beautiful English shabby chic pattern paper. Its soft green with yellow daffodils all over and it was perfect. Being a decoupage speciality paper it was super easy to work with this paper and here is what was the final outcome.

Using brown as the base colour for the coasters I completed with a distressed look at the edges using brown and rust coloured inks.  

Hope you like these... 

Daisy Tissue Box Holder

Good Evening,

I recently got a request to do a tissue box holder. And I was super excited to do that as it’s been a while since I did a tissue box holder.

The print selected was a beautiful napkin with daisies on it. I especially like this tissue as it’s soft and vibrant at the same time. And considering that it is going to be a functional object the client did not want too much texturing, on the box.

It seemed to be a simple project at the start. But what I had not expected was that the pattern would not fit on the box if used in the original form. Either it would end up on the corner or would be cut in strategic places and thus lost it beauty.

Thus to ensure that the main motifs are visible and the pattern covered the entire tissue box I decided to cut out the motifs and place them at the places where I wanted them.  Thus in this way the entire project was created.

To create the vintage effect without overpowering the design, I  have used a combination of antique gold and brown to create a distressed look. This ensures that there is enough hint of gold to give sheen over the project yet it antiques the project to give it a vintage look.... The edges have been highlighted in brown and gold.

Here are some pictures. The gold effect is not visible too much but I can assure you the project looks very beautiful in reality.

Hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did making it

Do leave your comments below

Peacock Tray

Good evening,

On the onset wishing you a very Happy Diwali...

If you have been following my facebook page then you would already know that I have been fascinated with decoupage for sometime now.

For the festive season I decided to experiment with colours which I usually don’t play with. Thus for a big rectangle tray I chose a beautiful paper from Bob and Betty featuring the peacock.

With blue as the base colour I have added acrylic colours in silver, emerald green and pearl dark blue as accents for the stenciling on the back of the tray.

And to add to the to the look of the peacock I have added Prima waxes on the inside and edges of the tray.

And here is how the final the final project turned out....

Here is the back of the tray....

Close up of the stenciling - hope you are able to see the different shades of the blue, green and silver

Do let me know what you think

Nameplate

Good morning!!

I have finally finished the nameplate for my front door. 

I have been married for more than four years. Ever since we married my husband has been urging me to make a nameplate for our front door. In the first year of marriage we visited many shops and exhibitions in the quest of finding a perfect nameplate. But with no luck. Everything we saw and found was something we had seen on someone's door. And I did not want something that was common. 

I wanted something in earth tones, with a vintage look and at the same time I wanted a floral element. At the same time I wanted something simple, nothing too fancy. Tough.... you would say.

Well at some point I decided that I would make us a nameplate. So I kept trying things and art forms but nothing seemed to click. Every couple of months my husband would bring up the topic of the nameplate and I would look sheepishly and tell him "its work in progress". 

But between my other projects and commitments, I never got around to getting it started. A few months back I had ordered a few printed tissues for decoupaging. And there was this beautiful tissue which had a perfect vintage look and it was vibrant at the same time. It was perfect.

I found a piece of wood at home and guess what it was the perfect size, primed it and put base coat. I tried to get the exact shade of the tissue but couldn't but I was still happy with the colour. Once the tissue had been decoupaged to the wood, I added a darker shade on the side for the names. Once the tissue and the painted area was perfectly blended in I stamped a script stamp in the background in places to create a texture. Finally added some gold antique and bronze antique paint in places with a sponge. 

This is how it finally looked 

All that needed to be done was to paint our names.

And voila my nameplate is ready. Ready to be hanged. 

Do let me know what do you think about it