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

A Midsummer Night's Dream

When I first started rubber stamping Shakespeare was all the rage. A few movies had just come out and everyone was obsessed with William (honestly, I have never read a thing he’s written), but I did like the costume and pageantry of the time period.   When I saw this new Piccolo the first thing that came to my mind was “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. So as to not disappoint my muse, this is the creation that was born.

Shows some bling

What I Used:
A 5x7 Canvas

Gesso

Embossing Fluid

Embossing Enamel in Starry Star and Siam Silver

A126, Flourish Accents

W015, Dream Word Accent 

Female Stamp from The Stampsmith

Distress Markers in Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn, Worn Lipstick and Tumbled Glass

Distress Paints in Seedless Preserves, Milled Lavender & Chipped Sapphire

Silhouette Machine (to make the letters)

Silver Paper (for the letters)

Crafters Pick Adhesive

First, let me preface with I am not used to using canvas.  I prefer boards, but I have some canvas that needs to be used.  So after I made my first background, or, tried to make it, I realized I needed to gesso my canvas if I wanted a smoother background.  So after the gesso dried, I used Distress Paints to make a purple and blue summery night sky. 

Then, I swooshed my Embossing Fluid and embossed the swoosh with Starry Sky. 

I had stamped the Stampsmith stamp on glossy paper & colored her with the Distress Markers. I fussy cut her out and glued her to the canvas.  I then embossed the word accent and the flourishes with Siam Silver.  I used my Silhouette machine to cut out the words “A Midsummer Night’s”, I added some bling to the D and to each “i”.  I added the silver embellishment and I put it all together and created my Midsummer Night’s Dream.

  

This picture shows a little less bling

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial. Thank you! Christi  

I was late posting this today, and I didn't get a chance to enter in any challenges - so I am doing it now :) I am entering my "A Midsummer Night's Dream" into the following challenges:

Bastel-Traum - Summer
Crafting at the Weekend - #2, Anything Goes
The Cheerful Stamp Pad - #87, Use a Sentiment
Crafty Creations Challenges - It's all about "S" (Summer & Shakespeare) 
Rhedd & Rosies Challenge - #34, Back in Time/Vintage Style

Love Candle Holder for Anything But a Card

Love Candle Holder for Anything But a Card Tic Tac Toe Challenge #32

When one of my teamies came up with the idea of doing a Tic Tac Toe challenge I was all for it! I volunteer on a blog that lists challenges and I have seen quite of few of then & I think its fun to make things guided by a few rules.  Not too many rules, just a few.  Here is the Tic Tac Toe board we used:

**Disclaimer - I had pictures of the whole process for this post but they have magically disappeared! So what you are actually seeing are pictures after the project was done. 

While thinking of what I wanted to create and how I wanted to incorporate the challenge into my project , I was actually leaning toward an “un valentine” theme of some sort – like maybe a wall hanging to celebrate someone’s divorce, but the closer it got to Valentine’s Day the more I wanted to stretch myself and make something happy.  While digging through my stash I spied my glass square candle holder the idea just clicked in place!  I used the middle line, vertical, for this; Recycled the tin can, my faux velvet heart and the black is the ink. 

What I used to make my LOVE candle holder:

• 1 clear glass square candle holder (2 ½” all around)
• Alcohol Inks in shades of red (I used Ranger & TRIA refills)
• Ranger Alcohol Ink Blending Solution
• Ranger Blending Tool with felt
• Scrap from one soda can (I have a bunch of cans all cut up and ready to use)
• LOVE word stamp, manufacturer unknown
• Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black
• Globecraft & Piccolo 3D Enamel Gel in Mars Black
• Scrap of waxed paper or non-stick craft sheet
• Faux velvet ribbon
• Silhouette CAMEO
• E6000 or industrial strength glue
• Crafter's Pick The Ultimate Glue

First, I washed the candle holder with rubbing alcohol to remove any residue on the glass.  Then I just began adding splotches of alcohol ink (using my blending tool and blending solution.  I love that alcohol ink dries so fast because that lessens a chance of me making the colors muddy.  So I colored my holder and set it aside to dry (overnight – I let lots of things dry overnight).

Then I needed to see if my Silhouette CAMEO would be able to cut the faux velvet ribbon.  I cut a few lengths off the roll (yes, I have a roll of it), went into my designing software & re-sized a heart to the size I wanted, stuck the ribbon on the mat and ran it through.  It took some tweaking with the blade, but finally I got all my hearts cut out.  Since these were to be put on last I put them aside.

This is the Faux Velvet Ribbon

Stamping on metal can be tricky because the metal is so smooth; it’s definitely easier than glass, but you still need to beware of possible slippage.  I took my scrap soda can and carefully stamped LOVE about 5 times using the Jet Black ink.  I let that dry.

I wanted something to look like the metal pieces were attached on to the glass holder, my first thought was to take the folding “legs” off some brads and just glue the tops on.  But the heads of the only black brads I had were too small.  So I made my own.  I took my 3D Enamel Gel and just made rows of little dots on my wax paper.  Some of them came out too thin and looked grey, but the more I tried, the easier it became to make them the size I wanted.  Again, these dried overnight.

Then I cut my metal can where the LOVE was stamped.  I used my paper cutter for this but I don’t think all paper cutters are strong enough to handle the metal.  I have a Genesis Trimmer, I have had this thing for at least 16 years and I haven’t even had to change the blade on it.  Yes, it was costly, but I feel the investment was a good one and it has paid for itself over & over again.  If you are interested in more information about them I highly suggest you go to Bonnie’s Best page HERE .  

Once I had all my metal trimmed around my LOVE sentiment and the gel drops were dry I glued the dots to the metal. To me, they look just like if I had used a real brad!  Gluing the metal onto the glass was the hardest thing for me because I have a love/hate relationship with E6000 glue.  I love the way it really makes things stick to each other but I hate the way it seems to get everywhere!  But I had to use it, so I smeared some on the back of the metal panels and stuck them onto the glass, one on each side.  I wrapped rubber bands around the panels to lessen the chance of them bending up and leaving sharp corners (remember, soda cans spend their life in a can position and I was essentially causing the metal to bend the other way). 

I still have some corners and if I had to worry about anyone getting hurt I would have glossed the whole candle holder, with the metal attached, really thickly – like using a resin – but I don’t have any little hands looking to get cut and if I am careful I should be OK.  The elastics did help bond the metal to the glass so that worked well.  Lastly I attached my faux velvet hearts to each side, under the LOVE.  Done!!

I tried a battery operated tea light and it didn’t give off enough light so for this I think I’ll use a regular votive candle until I can get a battery operated one – can I just say I had NO IDEA that there were SO many battery operated candles!! And some of them even have scent! Ah-Maz-Zing!  

I took a bunch of pictures & it is REALLY hard to get one of something that is lit!

I hope you have enjoyed what the Design Team at Anything But a Card has created using the Tic Tac Toe challenge.  There is still time to enter so go ahead get inspired, then create and ENTER!

Thanks!
Christi

I would like to enter this glass candle holder in the following challenges:
Cut It Up - #38, Valentine's Day
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Goes 
2 Creative Chicks - Re-Purpose Glass
Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything Goes
Craft My Life (All Crafts Challenge) - Feb/March Anything Goes

Time Flies

I have loved the color blue ever since I was a child.  To me it always feels so cool and calm.  Since flying time (not airplanes, literally time that flies by) makes me a bit nervous – it is SO easy to get caught up in all the things that have to be done, things you want to get done and the things that won’t get done – I decided to use my calm, cool and collected blues for this project.

I recycled a Priority Mail box panel for this project (and you know I have a ton of these boxes because I love getting mail & ordering stuff online).  It worked well but it warped a bit and I couldn’t think of a way to fix it (of course, all the embellishments and what not were already on the panel) and I had already left it under a heavy weight after I painted it because it was warping.  I think what I am going to do is once I can spray it with a clear coat I will somehow affix it to a strong wooden board and while it dries from the coating hopefully it won’t be warped.  BUT I am out of clear coat, so it will have to wait. But I didn’t want to wait to share this because I think it’s beautiful and hopefully you will, too.

I used a TON of blue inks, sprays and paints to make this, but of course, you can use any colors you choose.  I think the best part of this project are the LuminArte products because they leave a shimmer and shine like nothing else I have used (of course this is just my opinion.  However, I have used ALL kinds of shimmery products.  The only ones that come close are the Tattered Angels sprays).  I have a bunch of the H20’s and the Radiant Rain daubers (they used to come in daubers, they now come in spray. I just transfer my Radiant Rain to a little spray bottle – you can either use it full strength or dilute it) and I enjoy playing with them so much.  Anyway, I highly recommend their products.  You should see what the artists with the real talent can do to with them <grin>.  Here is the LuminArte Blog if you are interested.

Now this is an unusually long list of products but don’t let that intimidate you.  It’s only long because of the many different colors of blue I used.

OK – here is what I used:

Panel from Priority Mail box (cut to a size I thought I could work with)

LuminArte RADIANT RAIN:
Majestic Blue, Rich Cobalt, Wine & Roses and Stargazer

INKS:

Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Faded Jeans, Weathered Wood, Stormy Sky & Tumbled Glass

Adirondack Denim. Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black, Versa Magic Night Sky, Memento Paris Dusk & Danube Blue and Brilliance Ink in Mediterranean Blue & Top Boss Embossing Ink

PAINTS:

White Gesso (Liquitex), White Acrylic Paint from Golden, Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Chipped Sapphire

RUBBER STAMPS:

Tim Holtz Playful Journey & Life’s Possibilities (clocks), A Stamp in The Hand, F1846, Clock Face w/ Wings and a huge bunch of various clocks, sayings, etc. from companies that I didn’t mark down on the wooden blocks (if you recognize any of these & know who made them please send me an email!)

EMBOSSING POWDERS:

- The Powder Keg Merlot & Not Quite Rusted Penny

- Personal Stamp Exchange Cobalt Tapestry

- Moon Glow Two Toned Lapis Lazuli Blue Gold

EMBELLISHMENTS:

- Small Wooden Letters (mine are about ¾” high)

- Tin Can

- Tim Holtz Sizzix Movers & Shakers Mini Gears

- Miscellaneous small watch parts

- Wooden Gear from PorkChop Show (on eBay & Esty - he sells the gears with a cutout on them but I asked for plain ones & he accommodated me with no issue.  He also makes typewriter keys, mermaids, bottles & much more - you have to go shop & see what he is offering)

- Round Numbers Stencil from Coffee Break Designs (not sure if this is still available)

Whew – I am sure I forgot something!  

First, I gessoed my panel & the wooden letters.  The letters dried quickly and I began painting them with the Radiant Rain in Majestic Blue, Rich Cobalt, Wine & Roses – I unscrewed the cap and just dipped my paint brush right into the paint.  I wanted the letters to have an ombre look, but they had other plans.  I am still really happy with how they came out.  Once the panel was dry, I painted over the gesso with white acrylic paint; I debated about leaving it just gessoed, but I wanted the shine from the acrylic paint.  Once the panel was fully dry, I used the Distress Paint in Chipped Sapphire to give the whirly background. 

My whirly background

I literally pounced the paint, spritzed it with water and used my fingers to swirl it around.  My fingers are still stained!  While that was drying, I kept painting the wooden letters and started to choose the rubber stamps I was going to use.  I have lots of clock stamps but I had already had a few in mind.  So I gathered my stamps and my ink pads and just randomly stamped around the panel.  I also used the Radiant Rain in Stargazer to highlight the letters a bit and I swirled some on the panel itself.  It is a beautiful iridescent color that reminds me of prisms the way the color changes depending how you look at it.

 

I then took a tin can that was already cut and used that to die cut the mini gears.  I knew I wanted to emboss them and I felt it was important to use the “bubble” side (when cutting tin there is one side of the die cut that has a little wall around it; the other side is puffy so I call it the "bubble" side. When coloring die cut tin with alcohol inks you want to use the side with the wall because the inks are so thin & they will run terribly if you use the bubble side.  Trust me) so I was careful to cut the die cuts so I would be embossing the plain tin and not trying to hide the label on the can. One thing to keep in mind when embossing tin like this is that the tin heats up FAST! I mean fast – I think it took less than 30 seconds to emboss each gear – and DON’T touch the tin for a while after you emboss it – it is HOT and worst case the embossing powder will come off and stick to your finger which can seriously burn you!  I embossed each gear with a different color embossing powder and they came out wonderful. I actually could of done a project with just these! (making a note of that idea <grin>)

My tin can gears

Real watch gears and the wooden gear from Pork Chop

Once all the ink from the stamping was dry, I started fiddling with all the goodies I had picked out to embellish the project.  That took me the longest because I’d set it up, then leave it for a while, come back, move this over here, leave it – well, you get the drill.  I could do that forever so I finally buckled myself down and glued everything in place.  I plan on using a spray clear coat in glossy to further protect the panel but I am totally out of clear coat.  I don’t want to use gel medium because I fear it may smear some of the inks I’ve used.  I took some pictures to try to capture the beauty of the embossing and the sparkle but nothing compares to real life.

The finished product minus the clear coat

 I hope you enjoyed by tutorial.  I hope this inspires you to use some of your favorite colors in different shades & to recycle those boxes!

I’d like to enter my Time Flies project in the following challenges:

Unruly Paper Arts – Take a Powder

Divas by Design – Favorite Color Challenge 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – Anything Goes!

I am also entering this in the monthly challenge at Altered Electics (Thanks for the heads up Bev!) Altered Art
Another monthly challenge I have found is Our Creative Corner, and the theme is "Words, words, words!" - I would like to enter this piece :)

NOTE: I received no compensation for this post.  Any information about products is purely my opinion.

Faux Riveted Patchwork

I had every intention of posting this a few days ago but we were hit with a one day heat wave & I was just too hot to do anything.  Then I forgot all about it,  got all tangled up with some other stuff I am working on and my space is way messier than usual since we have finally begun to put shelves up in my room.  Yippee for the shelves, bummer for the mess, but anyway. . . 

I finally got my hands on A Compendium of Curiosities, Volume 2 by Tim Holtz – I love the first book, so I was ready to love this book, too, and I did.  I find lots of inspiration from Tim Holtz’s creations and I love finding new ways to use the stuff I already have as well as adding more stuff I absolutely need to my huge list of needs (notice I didn’t say want).  One of my favorite techniques in Volume 2 is what is called “Riveted Patchwork” using Inkssentials™ Metal Foil Tape and Adirondack Alcohol Inks.  The only problem was I didn’t have any Metal Foil Tape, and I really wanted to make something that looked as cool as what Tim did, so I did what every good crafter (artist?) does, I improvised.  This is what you’ll need to make the cute little box that I made:

• Metal Foil Tape (I used 3M Metal Repair Tape that we got a Lowe’s for about $8)
• Adirondack Alcohol Ink (I used Eggplant)
• Alcohol Ink Blender tool (which I never thought I needed but am now SO glad I got it)
• Alcohol Ink Blender Solution
• Small Box (I used plastic, but I imagine this Metal Foil Tape will stick to almost anything)
• Wooden Feet (buttons, whatever you’d like to use)
• Krylon Silver Metal Pen to color your feet (if you want to)

Make sure your box is dry & clean.  The box I used is a plastic box with a partial lid on it, that held cosmetic applicators that look like pointy cotton swabs, and measured 3 ½” x 3 ½” .  I chose this box because I liked that the lid had a portion that stayed on the box completely rather than a paper mache box where you just lift off the whole top (this a bit clearer when you look at the picture of the box).

I covered the box with the Metal Repair Tape.  I took the top completely off the box for this step and started at the edges of the box.  I figured this way I could get the tape right up to where the top went back on without too much hassle.  Once both pieces, the top & bottom, were covered with the tape I burnished the spots that needed it (like the bottom.  This box had little tiny plastic feet that I didn’t even know was there until I went to cover them.  So I fit the tape the best I could around the little feet & decided I was going to use something else for the feet that would fit right over the plastic bumps).  If I had wanted to make the tape look riveted this is where I would have used whatever tools I had to make little circles with the dot (rivet) in the center, but I decided that for this box, the rivets weren’t necessary (plus, I didn’t really feel like drawing all those little dotted circles).

After letting the box sit overnight (thought I doubt you’d have to) I used the Alcohol Ink Applicator and started to sponge the eggplant alcohol ink around the box & top, taking care to try to keep the pattern somewhat consistent.  When the ink color got soft, I put some Blending Solution on the pad & smooshed it around again.  This is where I also inked another small piece of the metal tape to use for the hinges of the top (I have many pieces of cardboard that I got in packages, you know the kind you get to keep sheets from getting crinkled when they are mailed or filler cardboard used in bigger boxes, not corrugated because that will bend.  I took some waxed paper and covered the cardboard & I use these to put my stuff on to dry.  It’s awesome because you can paint on them, glue like a mad woman, make a huge mess and it doesn’t go anywhere but on the cardboard.  When it’s too inky or messy, I just either rip the waxed paper off of it, or put another piece on top.  These work great if you are like me and make a few different things at once – the whole reason I am even telling you this is because I used one of my waxed paper boards to put the small piece of tape on and set it aside to dry).

Once everything was dry & I liked the pattern of the ink, I attached the top of the box with the tape hinges and used my Krylon Silver Leafing pen to cover some wooden pieces I had for the feet.  Then I attached the feet with some glue & sprayed it with some acrylic sealer. 

The sealer didn’t make it as shiny as I like, so I am debating if I am going to try some Inkssentials Glossy Accents or maybe some Modge Podge on it, (and I just got my order from Amazing Crafting Products (you HAVE to go see what people do with this stuff!)– the resin & the putty – so I might get crazy and mix up a batch of resin for the top, but here it is for now.  And, no, I have no idea what I am going to use it for. . .maybe a gift? 

Here it is all done! This view is from the front.

This is from the side - see what I mean about part of the cover staying on?

The cover is open and you can see the shine from the Metal Tape through the plastic.

A really good view of the hinges, kind of taken under the top.

And finally the bottom with the pretty silver feet.

I should have taken a before picture.  I'm still new at this!  Hope you like it and I would LOVE your comments!