A New Gourd Project

Currently I'm in Tokyo, Japan and this is where I went today: The Museum of Natural History and Science to see this exhibition:

But before I left, I created several gourds using Tiny Tools from Proxxon. Actually the one that I used the most was the Proxxon Jigsaw STS 12E with the Foot Switch FS.

The Supplies Used in this project were:

1 Medium/Large Gourd Cleaned Gourd (outside)

1 Bundle of Dyed Pine Needles

1 Spool of Waxed Cord

1 Bottle of Leather Dye

Latex gloves

Small piece of cloth for applying dye

Throw away paintbrush (small)

Embellishments 

Kamar Varnish

Drill

Proxxon Jig Saw STS 12/E

Foot Switch FS

The gourd that I used is called a Warty Gourd because I wanted something different with a lot of texture:

Isn't this unique? And they actually grow this way. They are very hard to clean however because of the warts being so close together in some areas.

 This is a picture of the gourd with the top cut and the insides cleaned out. The Proxxon Jig Saw STS 12/E is an excellent saw for making quick work of cutting a gourd and using the Foot Switch is an absolute lifesaver, since it frees both of your hands to hold the gourd and also the jigsaw without having to let the gourd go to turn off the saw.

 I next used the leather dye to color the gourd. I used a mahogany color on a soft cloth to color it with and I let the dye run in many places and used the paint brush to get into and under the "warts" on the gourd. Please make sure you have your gloves on! If you don't be prepared to wait for the dye to wear off your hands!

Once the dye is dry, seal the gourd with the Kamar Varnish.

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 After the dye is sealed I used my drill to make holes 1/4" from the top of the gourd and spaced evenly around. I then wove four rows of the dyed pine needles around the gourd and finished it off with a couple of beads and a slice of black walnut.

I think I ended up with a very pretty and unique piece of Art don't you? All made easier by using Proxxon Tiny Tools!!!

Barbara

"Find Your Happy Place" Vintage Wooden Houses~ Proxxon Design Team Project

"Find Your Happy Place"

Creating with PROXXON Tools

I Love to work with wood and making little Vintage houses is so much fun! For this project I used the PROXXON Scroll saw and Delta Sander to create these lovely little houses. The supplies I used are listed below

Supplies

 5 Random sizes of 2 x4 

(the sizes I used were from 6" to 12" tall- 4 houses and the base)

Crackle Paint ( I used Tim Holtz Distressed Crackle Paint)

Antique Glaze

Glue Gun

Glossy Accents

Assorted pieces of metal and paper ephemera,trinkets, charms and small doorknobs, anything that you feel would be a fun addition to your houses!

Acrylic paint

Gold Gel Pen

4 large Screws

Cooper wire for beading on the roof

1) I began with finding some random sizes of lumber.. 2x4s and some small scraps of thinner wood for the roofs. I cut the 2x4s

 ( with the scroll saw) into misc heights and sanded ( using the Delta sander)  the rough edges.. but still left some rough patches  to to give the appearance of weathered wood. I then cut the smaller pieces of wood into several triangular pieces for the roofs.

2)I wanted the look of old worn wood so I then painted the 2 x 4s that would be the houses with the crackle paint.

3)Here you can see the pieces all painted with an antiquing medium finish.

4)I set all the pieces in front of me with all the fun items to get an idea of how I wanted to design the houses.I used the glue gun to adhere most of the items to the houses.

5)I used the glossy accents to fill in some of the metal trinkets after adding vintage papers. I also used the gold gel pen to add doodles.

6)The final step is to screw the 4 houses to the bottom base piece.

 I had so much fun decorating these sweet little houses with all sorts of metal trinkets,paper ephemera and inspirational words!

Here you can see why it is called "Find Your Happy Place"

Here I thought it would be fun to use a funky wine cork for the chimney!

  Here I added some copper wire and beads on top to add an interesting element and bring your eye upwards.

I love this little bird in flight and adding that fun whimsy!

PROXXON makes creating these interesting and fun creations so much easier with their wonderful tools! 

Happy Creating!

Sherri

Thanksgiving Decorations

Good morning everyone, Steph Ackerman here with another project for the Proxxon Tiny Tool Design Team.  Thanksgiving is next week so you still have time to create some decorations.

Supplies:
Proxxon Tools:  Hotwire Cutter
Smoothfoam
Earth Safe Finishes Licorice Chalk It Up Paint
May Arts ribbon
So Suzy Stamp
Christmas Picks

I drew a Pilgrim hat on a sheet of Smoothfoam, then usually the Hotwire Cutter, I carefully cut it out.

 

Because I am still learning how to use the cutter properly, I cut away sections of the design as I worked. 

 

 

 

And the final result looks pretty good.  Using the Hotwire Cutter, I was able to cut the hat in less than 15 minutes.

 

Next, I painted the hat with Earth Safe Finishes Chalk It Up Paint in Licorice, leaving spots of white showing.  A black ribbon and a silver belt buckle finished the hat.  Since it needed a little "something", I added some seasonal flora for a fun touch.

 

 

Next I made some place settings.  Since I needed a circular base for my place settings I cut them from Smoothfoam using the Hotwire Cutter.  I also cut a Smoothfoam ball in half using the Hotwire Cutter. 

  

 

Each piece was painted with Licorice Chalk It Up Paint, then assembled and decorated with cardstock and ribbon.   I added some coordinating flora around the edges to coordinate with the Pilgrim hat.  Happy Thanksgiving was stamped and added to each.

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving.

 

Thanks for stopping by today.

 

Steph

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Ribbon Wreath

 

Hi everyone, Tammy here from the Proxxon Tiny Tool Design Team with a tutorial on how to use the Proxxon Hot Wire Cutter to cut and heat seal ribbon.

 I made this cute Harvest Ribbon Wreath using just a few supplies:

Proxxon Thermocut Hot Wire Cutter

Wire wreath form

Ribbon

Fall decorations from the Dollar Store 

LED light strand from the dollar Store

  

 First I cut the ribbon into 8 inch pieces using the Proxxon Thermocut Hot Wire Cutter, and then I tied each piece to the wreath form as shown in this short video...

 

I used a LED strand of lights to make a lighted garland by tying the additional ribbon pieces to the strand of lights as shown in this short video.

 

I added some Fall decorations to the wreath for additional interest.

 

I love how the wreath and garland turned out, I think it looks cute with some of the other projects I've created this month. Cutting and heat sealing the ribbon was so easy with the Proxxon Hot Wire Cutter.

I love to see your projects! Tag me on Instagram @TammySmithSantana

xoxo Tammy

Plate Stand Made with Proxxon Scroll Saw

I have a passion for lovely china, and enjoy displaying unique pieces. So, I decided to make a wooden plate stand using my Proxxon scroll saw.

I prepared my pattern as detailed in my business card holder post. Here are the two pattern pieces, ready to cut.

I can't tell you how much I love this Proxxon scroll saw!! It makes creating ever so much fun—and it's easy!!

When the pieces where cut, I removed the patterns, and used my Proxxon Delta sander to sand the pieces to a smooth finish.

Cut pieces ready to be sanded

The next step was staining and adding a finish coat to the pieces. I used a blend of raw umber and black-green acrylic paints that I rubbed on with a soft cloth. After those paints dried, I added highlights with golden rub-and-buff. The last step was sealing the pieces with matte PPA.

Here is the plate stand pattern in SVG and PDF formats.

Carole

Hangers for Doll Clothes

My six year old grand-daughter loves playing with Kit, her American Girl doll. It seems that Kit has as many clothes as I do !! :) And they all need hangers so they will go in Kit's special closet. Perfect project for my Proxxon scroll saw!!

I prepared my pattern as detailed in my business card holder post.

As I was getting the scroll saw set up, my son came into the room, and he had to cut a hanger. Hence the man-hands you see in this pic.

After the hangers were cut, I gave them each a quick sanding using the Proxxon Delta Sander and a fine grit sandpaper. 

I gave each hanger a base coat of acrylic paint. Here they are "hanging" to dry.

When that coat was dry, I added the white polka dots by dipped a pencil eraser in the white paint and stamping onto the hanger. They now live in Kit's armoire, just waiting for clothes.

SVG pattern for the hangers

PDF pattern for the hangers

Carole