Art studio on the cheap.....vol.1

one my my many glass palettes.


Well, now we should all be in the swing of 2011 and I am at it as well, cleaning and reorganizing the studio and office (and the house!). After several long car rides and an impromptu trip to the ER (herrroooo kidney stone, where did you come from???) I am in full swing and ready to meet 2011 head on.

I have a love/hate relationship with the craft store. While there are sooooo many awesome things to behold, I get aggravated by the ploys to cash in on an ordinary thing.

So, I'm going to try and post some cool projects along the way to help you get some useful tools in your studio on the cheap.

Project #1: the studio palette

Mission: This palette is a great tool for the crafty maven to have around the studio. If you're an all around crafty person, you will find multiple ways to use this. Painting, polymer clay, etc. Customize the size for your own purposes or make several for different uses.

Supplies:
glass, cut to the size you want (I use old glass from picture frames scavenged from dollar stores, garage sales, and curb side)

foam board (I get nice sheets at the dollar store!)

wide tape (duct, masking, artist, even packing tape will work in a pinch)

paint scraper & razor blades (usually available in the same pkg. at the hardware store for $1/$2


Instructions:

1) measure your glass.

2) cut your foam board approx 3/8" larger on the length and width than the size of your glass. i.e. if your glass is 9" x 12" cut your foam board 9 3/8" x 12 3/8". This will give your glass a slight cushion to prevent it from cracking if dropped or bumped.

3) Center your glass on top of the foam board and use wide tape to wrap the edges.

4) Voila! A reusable palette. Squirt paint on it and go to town! Use your paint scraper to clean the palette when it gets dirty!

Works great with glue, hot glue, paint, or as a surface/palette for polymer clay as well!