Marvelous Metals at Twofers ~ Challenge #12

Hello crafters! Welcome to my post featuring the new challenge at Twofers, challenge #12, Metal, chosen by Zoe. This time I took the theme literal and made an embellishment out of metal! Here is my project, which could be hung on a wall, stood on an easel or framed:

What I Used to Make my Project:
White Card
Fredrix 4" x 6" Canvas Panel, painted prior
Tin (I used a soda can)
Copics: G17, V09, RV04, R29
Tria Marker in V564 (pantone purple)
Spellbinders Inspire Die Plum Blossom, IN-046
DieNamics MFT Pierced Oval Stax, MFT-521
Sentiment from Hero Arts, C2768 Moments (disc.)
Thin Gold Decorative Paper
Embossing Fluid
Embossing Powder in Gold

The first step in making this project is getting the tin can ready.  I rinsed the

The die taped to the tin, & the tin taped to the metal
adapter.  You'll have to tape the tin down because it
will keep rolling up on you.

can out thoroughly, set it out to dry overnight and then cut the can with tin snips (wearing gloves AND goggles!), removing the top and bottom.  That leaves you with a nice piece of tin to work with.  I have cut tin with dies before and the only thing that is different is you have to use a metal plate adapter when you are using low profile dies.  I have found that the "regular" dies from Tim Holtz will cut the tin without a plate but the low profile dies seem to need that extra push.  I bought mine at a stamp convention from Tesslar Stamps/Scrapbook USA, but I imagine you can get them from other sources as well.  

The die cut with one coat of green alcohol ink

Next you want to paint your 4" x 6" canvas panel.  Mine was already painted; I used acrylic paint, I think it was called Champagne Gold, but it was months ago. If you have to paint your panel, set it aside to dry and start coloring your tin die cut.

I wasn't sure that the Copics and Tria markers would work on the tin, but I was pleasantly surprised at how cool the

Close up of the flowers

colors blended together.  Be very careful holding the die cut, it is VERY sharp and while it appears harmless, it isn't.  I held mine down while coloring it, and I started with the branches, which I colored green.  I then colored the rest of the die, using pinks for the flower buds, pinks & purples for the flowers and red for the bird (I do love Cardinals!).

I found that the ink would sort of swirl together, giving the appearance of texture.  I let the ink dry a bit, but I did go over the die quite a few times to get the dept of color I wanted.  While I was coloring the die I moved on to getting the rest of the piece ready.

I cut the oval die cut out and the metallic gold paper. Then I embossed the sentiment using gold embossing powder.  While the stamp isn't manufactured any more, you can find it online.  I trimmed the sentiment, placed everything where I thought I wanted it to go and glued the gold background paper onto the panel, then the sentiment. 

Once I thought the tin die cut was colored enough, I glued it onto the oval and set it under the floor tiles I have on my desk.  The tin really didn't want to stay

Shiny!

straight, having been curled when it was a can, so I needed the weight of the tile to hold it flush with the paper and to ensure the whole die stuck.  I let it sit overnight.

The next day I attached the oval to the panel and I was done.  I love reusing items that would just be thrown out, and since we don't have bottle or can returns here in Colorado, I saved this can from the landfill.  Even if you do have can returns, it's worth the few cents to have a little crafty fun.  I'll be coloring with alcohol inks on tin more now that I saw how the inks reacted with each other.  I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and got some inspiration to join our Metal theme at Twofers.  You have TWO WEEKS to enter your project, just make sure you follow the rules, and you could win a $20 gift certificate to Alleystamps - yes, you can even pre-order all the new goodies coming out at CHA right now!!   

If you do have a moment, please stop by and marvel at the creations my wonderful teammates have made; you can visit Jane here and Zoe here.  Thanks so much for visiting and I'd love to hear what you think so please leave me a comment - Fondly ~ Christi 

I am entering my Marvelous Metals project in the following Challenges:
C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - #346 Not a Card
Addicted to Stamps - #176, Anything Goes
Scrappy Land - #33, Anything Goes (you carry Spellbinders)
Die Cuttin Diva's - #248, Tweet, Tweet Use a Bird
Stamping Sensations (M) - Anything Goes with a die(s)
Create And Inspire -#37, Anything Goes

Hosting My First Challenge at Craft-Room Challenges!

Hi all, this is Christi and I am thrilled to bring you my very first challenge for Craft-Room Challenges! Some of you may know I am crazy cat woman. I might not qualify just yet, but with five furry felines, I am definitely on my way. The last cat we acquired was brought home when my significant other went to Petco (a large pet store chain) to get some more cat litter and food.  Petco will often show some cats from our local shelter in order to help them get adopted, especially during the summer months when people want kittens and cats older than one year often get over looked.  Well, when I got the phone call the he was bringing home a surprise for "me & the cats" I figured it wasn't food or any crafty goodies - sure enough, it was Sylvester who was our surprise.  How could I stay mad? So, Sylvester joined our happy family of other felines, Monster, Mew, Bud and Junior.  Sorry for the ramble, but when I start talking about my children cats, I find it hard to stop!  Anyway, I decided to honor my growing brood , I choose CATS as my challenge theme for challenge #83 at Craft-Room Challenges.  I can't wait to see the projects you come up with, and keep in mind you can create anything as long as you follow the theme. 

Now, I present my project. I love making wall hangings and I love quotes, so I incorporated three of my favorite things and came up with this canvas.

What I Used to Make my Project:

11 x 14 canvas

Memory Makers Paper, Pets, 12 x 12 "Cat Words" and 2 strips of "Cat Paws" (discontinued)

Coordinating Piece of 12 x 12 Paper

12 x 12 White Cardstock

Various Cat Cut Files (free)

Lobster 2 Font (free)

Silhouette CAMEO

Washi or Removable Tape

Regular Tape

Crafters Pick The Ultimate Glue

Toothpicks

I have tons of cat and pet papers and embellishments that I have been saving for years.  My goal is to some day make a scrapbook of all my furbabies, both past & present.  My major problem is I am not a scrapbooker and I find it very difficult to make myself sit down and create a layout.  I am confident that someday I will do it - well, let's say it is on my list.  So first thing I did was go through my cat papers and I chose to use a paper from Pets by Memory Makers called "Cat Words" as my focal paper.  Since the 14" canvas is too wide for the 12 x 12 paper to fit, I cut off 2 strips from another paper in the same collection called "Cat Paws".  I attached the strips to the main page using tape on the backside.  

Paper with the added sides

Close Up

Next I set about finding a font I wanted to work with.  Since the quote is fairly long I wanted the words to weld together and be easier to work with.  I have hundreds of fonts I have collected and after trying a few out I settled on using Lobster 2 (which is a great font to use with any electronic cut machine - I have to thank Clever Someday for compiling list after list of good fonts as well as being an invaluable resource).  When my words were cut out, I used washi tape to keep the letters that were not welded with the words they belonged to.  I also use the tape to keep the letters and punctuation properly spaced so when I attach them to the canvas they are evenly spaced (mostly).

I found a plethora of cat cut files, as well as some I made into cut files and chose the ones I felt wouldn't be too complicated to scale down.  I am terrible at measuring and often just use my eye so I wasn't sure how big my vats were going to turn out - I figured the simpler the better.  After I had a page full of my cats all ready to be cut out, I decided to use white card for them.  I had originally had thoughts of making them all kinds of cat colors, but, knowing myself I would have taken that even further and had to make calico's, tabby's, etc., which would of caused me a whole 'nother level of stress over my inability to make them as good as I saw them in my minds eye.  Again, I am learning that, at least for now, simpler is better.  So we have white cats.

Fiddling with the Layout - placing words & cats

After putting on the lettering (with removable tape) I set about fiddling with the cats, after finally cutting out a size I felt fit the project.  I have enough white cat cut outs to serve my white cat cut out needs for quite a while.  Maybe I'll practice making them cat colors?  Anyway, with a little help from a good friend (who I can trust will put a bit more into her thoughts about a project than saying "Oh, yeah. That's cool.") I was able to finalize the design and glue it all down.  This is where the toothpicks become indispensable.  I use them for spreading glue, for getting glue on those teeny tiny areas and for getting glue out of those other teeny tiny areas.  I can't live without them!

So there you have it - "Cats are like potato chips, you can't have just one". A quote that I am living proof of.  I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and get inspired to join us at Craft-Room Challenges with your own cat inspired project! Remember, our challenge is on for two weeks - plenty of time to join. Thanks! Christi

Another look

I would like to enter my project in the following challenges:

Through the Craft Room Door - 8/19 to 8/25 - Anything Goes

{PIN}spirational - #121, see image

Crafty Calendar Challenge - August, Anything Goes

Amusing Challenges - Use Die Cuts

Inky Impressions - #172,  Animal Friends

Going Grey with Scrap Creations - Animals

Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Goes (altered canvas)

Altered Eclectics - August Challenge, Anything Goes (altered canvas)

{PIN}spirational Challenge