Ryan Galiotto

Posts Tagged ‘contemporary artist’

Suncatchers and windchimes, I think, are always an effective item. Generally they can be produced quite easily from items that you already own. So what I am about to suggest making, is done using old compact discs.

How can you do this and what will you need? Not too much, some scissors, glue, bells, old CD’s and something to hang your items on. You have choices for this, narrow ribbon, string, twine, cord etc. in any colour you like to choose.

So, now you are feeling a bit more adventurous, let’s forge ahead! After all, you are not going to need much to complete this project. You have your CD’s, so what you now need to do, is to pick the first two up and put the labels face to face. Using your glue, simply stick these together like this, then do exactly the same with the remaining two.

Bear in mind, this idea can be adjusted to suit where you want to actually hang this. First of all, you will need to cut about 36 inches of fine ribbon. You then need half of this on each side of the first two CD’s, so go straight through the middle of these and do a tight knot on the edge which will be on the outside.

Your second CD now needs to be added to this so that it will end up on top of the first one. To do this, one string has to go through the middle of the CD and be joined with the other string and knotted at the outside edge again and then knot again.

Now we can add some bells. As you, in this case, have used colourful CDs, I think that it would be quite nice to spray or paint your bells on the outside with coloured metallic paints. With both strings together, attach a bell just above your CD, then move about two inches up and add another.

In this manner you could end up with three or four, but do leave enough cord to be able to hang your catcher at the top. I leave the choice of how you hang your bells to you. You can knot them with space above and below, or you could fix them on to the two separate strings at alternate type of spacings.

It is still possible to hang smaller bells, or whatever you like, from the base of the bottom CD. So, if you were to hang two or three strings, they would all jangle, and you could not only use bells, it would look good with some coloured beads or use some of both. You can buy plastic crystal beads in handicraft stores now which would catch the light well.

This would work similarly with silver CD’s, but there is nothing to stop you spraying these with other colours. Crystal beads would work well with silver CD’s.

Try hanging this in the garden, it might keep the birds off your seeds!

One way or another it is always a pleasure to receive cards. So I got around to thinking of all the types of cards there actually are. Why not try doing cards for different occasions? Particularly when we often have items lying around at home we could use for this!

To give you an example, fancy paper, tissue, string, ribbons, stones, sequins, scraps of materials, why not incorporate them.

As a change, I am about to explain how to do a menu card. This could be a very useful addition for a special bash like a wedding, dinner party, golden wedding anniversary or for any big party. You will require some thin card, about 24 x 21cm. Choose one that has a nice texture. Then you need to fold this in half.

Make a line for the fold with probably a craft knife. Now you could do with a line at the top and the bottom of your card. This could be made with a couple of strips of ribbon, braid or coloured paper, about 12 x 2cm ,which can be glued to the card. Of course, you will need the correct glue for this.

These strips can be the same shade, toning or very different colours, depending on the occasion. At this stage you could add a narrow strip of gold paint just above the edge of your strips.

Supposing this is for a silver wedding, I would most likely use a picture of the couple involved. Add it to the centre and then highlight this by adding a silver circle around it. Underneath my bottom trip I would put an item which, in fact, denotes each five years up to their silver wedding.

Then, on the top line, you could have your wording. On the other hand if, say it was a young couple, you could basically take the same idea, but enclose the photo in a heart shape and along the bottom of your card affix little jewels, which are heart shaped. Sticking a few bits of confetti around the outside of the big heart.

You will need your menu now on a thin piece of paper. This can be hand written with a gel pen or printed, you have the choice. This needs attaching to the card, or, you could just write on the inside of the card.

However, it might be you just want to make place cards, and really, the cost of these soon adds up if you buy these in the shops. I would attempt this in the same way. Using roughly 8cm of card, score it lightly down the centre and then fold it.

Take a narrow ribbon across the width of your card, allow extra on the sides, about 1 cm from the top of the card. Now glue it in place and chop the ends off when this is dry.

You will need some heads of little flower buds to stick in the centre of your ribbon. Cut off any stems, or you could make your own from tissue paper and add a small bead to the centre. To finish it, write the name on with a gel pen.