Mosaic/Stained Glass/Glass Art: Glass Art & Mosaic Supplies

I am really into scrap-booking and have the spend a lot of my time making handmade craft items, so I am quite aware of the high prices that the retail art supply stores can charge for supplies. You can save money on supplies, create unique projects by using the same methods which I have collected together.

1. If you have a large collection of periodicals that have been piling up around your house, there are a variety of different ways to put them to good use. Try creating your favorite quotations from assorted sizes and colors of letters you have cut out: one of my favorite tricks! To get a cool retro feel, you can cut out letters from the cover page, different ads, and article titles and combine them all .

For incorporating into collages, scrapbooks, or any other visual project using cute pictures and graphic designs you can also look through old magazines. For my scrapbook background pages, I like to look for graphics in the fashion magazines. These universally possess strong themes, with hardly any (or no) writing. Cut out a figure from a magazine and use it to hide any writing that shows.

2. A really good idea when scrap-booking is to use Search Engines to find graphics. For example, when I started my daughter’s scrapbook, I searched Google images for terms like "baby girl", "it’s a girl", and etc. I was able to locate so many great things, and I really saved as well.

If you take the time to do different searches on your search engine you can find some designs or ideas for your project. Plenty of results which you can print out and use in your projects will be found by you. I’d suggest you only use these graphics for personal purposes though, since some may have copyrights on them. If it is for your own personal use it should not be an issue.

If you don’t have a printer, you can print them out at your local library or school if you attend for a couple cents a sheet. Finding graphics by using alternative sources is much less expensive than getting decals and stickers from hobby shops or art supply stores.

C: If you are running a bit low on glue, it’s a little-known fact that you can make some yourself! While working on your project, decide how much glue is necessary and mix flour and water in equal measures. Once you’ve reached the consistency of a paste, you can quit mixing it up.

This type of glue will go moldy if let out and unused and so you should be used right after you make it. It is nice for paper projects but you should leave it out so it can dry totally following its use.

For a nice touch, add glitter to your glue and use it as paint for decorating items in your scrapbook.

• There are a lot of cool crafts out there which call for some type of modeling clay. Rather than spending a lot of money for store supplies, you probably already have the ingredients in your kitchen that you can make stuff with. The ingredients include: 1 cup flour; 1 tablespoon oil; 2 tablespoons cream of tartar; 1/2 cup salt; 1 cup water. Cook all of the ingredients for approximately three minutes after mixing them together in a big pan. Once it is cooled off you can store it in an airtight contained until you are ready to use it. Make sure the container is air tight or the clay will dry up!

Look Around! There are supplies all around you! Masks can be made from paper plates using scissors and markers, a large wall collage can be made from a cut up pizza box or a decoration can be created from dry pasta that has been painted various colors.

When you’re crafting, look around the house using not only your eyes, but your imagination. The options are endless!

You will find the collection of nice specials on barely used Mosaic/Stained Glass/Glass Art: Glass Art & Mosaic Supplies: