Thursday 22 October 2015

10 Things to Consider when creating Home Decor Projects!
Otherwise known as OTPs which stands for Off-the-Page!





Hello all! 
 I'm back again with a new article, all about Home Decor Projects!

***Please note this is the personal intellectual property of Helen Tilbury - 
sharing is caring but please credit me & link back to my blog if you do ***

To be entirely honest, they are not really my "go to" projects & I've heard
many others say the same thing, but then again, there are PLENTY of people
who absolutely LOVE them, so a few years ago I came to terms with the fact
that, like them or not, they would simply have to be a part of my creative repertoire!


See all details HERE.

If you want to get started on some Home Decor Pieces or OTP's
 {Off-the-Page Projects} yourself then this is my advice & I'm here 
to share all I have learned about them & what you can expect!


See details HERE

1.  Absolutely ANYTHING can be altered.  There are also PLENTY
of things that can be UPCYCLED so start looking at EVERYTHING
with that in mind, even your trash!  Anything that comes into or is
destined to leave your home could be a likely candidate!!  For
example, my upcycled MOBILE PHONE BOX PRINTER'S TRAY here.  


2.  Although it's tricky to find the space at times do your best to
have an OTP cupboard or shelf/shelves/drawers where you
store anything interesting looking.  Of course, go through 
this every so often to remember what you have & feel free
to chuck out anything that has been sitting too long!


See all details HERE.

3.  Start an OTP board on Pinterest where you PIN any
inspiring projects too that spark the old imagination!


See all details HERE.

4.  Know your basic options.  1) Canvases. 
2) Other flat items like wooden boards, trays, lids, etc.
3)  Circular flat items such as plates, paper plates & round canvases.  
4) Wreaths.  
5) Household items you can decorate such as clocks, birdcages & cloches. 

 6) Mini-albums/Tag albums
 (although these are really a separate category unto themselves
7) Cards & Tags (again - another category although I've included
 these here as they ARE essentialy Off-the-Page!).
8)  Shadow boxes or projects containing shadow boxes.
9)  Notebooks where you alter the cover.  
10)  Printed Books  (where you cut through the pages using 
an NT cutter to create a shadow box effect, then decorate the space inside).  
Having some basic/general items/ideas in mind will help you spot alterable things!


See all details HERE

5.  Start a blog list for some OTP artists.  Most papercrafters have this skill
in their repertoire these days but some are more skilled & prolific than others.

OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS I AM GOING TO BE INTRODUCING
YOU TO 3 VERY TALENTED OTP ARTISTS VIA A SERIES OF INFORMATIVE
ARTICLES, TO GET YOUR LIST STARTED, SO KEEP A LOOK OUT!


See details HERE

6.  Of course Youtube is another great resource for crafts
videos although I recommend checking out the person's
blog first & the final project as I find Youtube can
be a big time waster too!


See all details HERE

7.  Start flat - as you can see from most of my samples above, they are created on flat
boards or canvases, so essentially it's much like creating a page, only there are no
3D restrictions, unless you want to place your work under glass with a regular
frame {you can get shadow box frames with about an inch between the
backboard & glass so that you can use it to display 3 dimensional items}.

As you progress you can think more creatively with canvases,
 creating pairs, triptychs & layered canvases or an entire series!


8.  Use HOT GLUE & a GLUE GUN to adhere your elements.
Papers work fine with a lesser glue such as Prima Soft Gloss Gel
{brilliant for collage projects} but dimensional elements like flowers
& metals need something really strong & HOT GLUE IS IT.

Be careful when working with hot glue - it gets INCREDIBLY hot & I have 
burnt myself MANY times!  Use a small heat-resistant mat to lay your
gun down on (I find the little wire stands attached to them are very
 unstable) & use a metal palette knife or old gift card to press down
the item you've just glued to avoid finger pad burns!

Avoid cordless guns.  They chew through batteries & don't heat up enough.
A small Stanley glue gun from the hardware store is all you need & should
last you many, many years.  If possible extend the cord to 2 or 3 metres
as this makes it far easier to manipulate than the short cord it comes with.


See details HERE

9.  Protect your work with a varnish.  Use Prima Soft Gloss Gel, or a clear
(non-polyurethane - as this yellows over time) varnish (spray or brush-on) to
"double-glue"& protect all your hard work as these elements are going
to be out & about & exposed to cleaning & dusting, unlike album pages.  


See details HERE

10.  OTPs make great personalised gifts!  If you're like me & a Clutter Buster
 then make OTP projects as gifts.  Keep a list of who needs a Christmas gift
 from you & your family & make sure to take photos at family gatherings
 so that you have them on hand to whip up a canvas for your loved ones 
or present them with a notebook featuring their favourite quote.  


See details HERE

If you enjoy reading my articles I would really appreciate you helping me reach
my goal of 1 000 Followers by the end of this year by checking that you are
a follower via Google Friend Connect in my top right side bar HERE. 


You can find my Facebook Artist Page HERE (where have a GIVEAWAY 
going on RIGHT NOW!! {it's easy to find as it's pinned to the top of my 
page but you can also read about it HERE} & I'm on Instagram HERE.  

So what do you think?  What are your favourite OTP projects
 to make or what would you like to try your hand at?!



9 comments:

Lizzy Hill said...

Great ideas here, Helen - I do a few OTP.....but not a heap. I'm a bit like you. Not my 'go to' things....BUT every now and then it's FUN!!!

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

Great tips!!!! Can't wait to see who you picked for OTP experts!!! Exciting!

Val-Belle said...

Great projects and sound advice. I am not an OTP girl ... In fact I don't like to do anything that cant go into an album... they are dust collectors. I have made them all... otp's, mini albums, tag books and on and on the list goes... but they just freak me out sitting around doing nothing :P Great tips though for those that do love them and there are plenty of them too. <3

Helen Wallace said...

Some useful tips here Helen and what an amazing collection of OTP pieces. Like Val, OTP is not my go to option; I like things in albums, but I have done a few OTP to give as gifts and they were received with great joy. I like the idea of stash busting through this method.

Lynette Jacobs said...

I am not an OTP girl either....but your projects are gorgeous and one of a kind unique.

purple_pea_fran said...

Great tips and lots of informative ideas Helen! I love a bit of altered art, I find I can let my creative juices just roll! xx

Margaret Mifsud said...

Fabulous post with some great tips and awesome projects. Like you, I don't do OTP a lot and when I do I like to make sure it is something I can use. I do love to make Mini Albums though, although I guess they are not really OTP. This was a great read Helen and I can't wait to see your special Guests!! xx

Kathy Bradley said...

First of all - each of your OTPs shown in this article are beautiful! I always enjoy your articles and always learn something new and helpful. I do enjoy doing OTPs - but often just stare at them trying to decide what I want to do. Thank you for an awesome article and look forward to more artists and articles on this subject.

Denise van Deventer said...

A super post and the projects amazing! Your work is always TOP NOTCH! ;-)