Home Sweet Home Recycled Wall Hanging

 I had been perusing Pinterest to find something to do with all these friggin' buttons I had left over from when it was a big thing to put buttons on your cards {something I never really got into, but HAD to have all the stuff in case the moment grabbed me and I felt the urge to make hundreds of cards with buttons on them} and I found all these Christmas wall hangings with button trees on them So I actually made the Christmas wall hanging during the season this past year and decided I needed to make one that could be used all year long.  I came up with the Home Sweet Home wall hanging that I am using for this month's recycle challenge at River of Creativity {remember we are an Anything But a Card challenge!!}:

I started with an 8" x 10" wooden shadow box frame {no covering on this frame} that I had painted with white gesso and rubbed some gesso on the actual frame part to soften the darkness of the wood.  I took some Scrabble tiles I had {I have SO many of these tiles I am sure I could cover an entire wall

Making the Heart

with them} and spelled out Home Sweet Home to make sure the sentient would fit.  Then I cut out the largest heart using Tutti Nesting Stitched Hearts, #TUTTI-216, and covered it with the buttons.  I could NOT get the shape of a heart to work when trying to do it by hand, so I used the die cut as a template.  Since the background of the shadow box is white it is really difficult to see the white paper heart beneath the buttons.  Once I had finished the heart and glued it to the center of the shadow box, I glued down the Scrabble tiles.  I am really pleased how this came out! I think I could almost actually sell them if I could find a cheap source for the shadow frames; I have sourced a few and they are just too pricey right now - at least if I wanted to make a marginal profit and I can't see having to spend more money to use up the stash I already have.  But, I do have a project I made for my sister for Christmas that I was SURE I posted but can find no record of it, so more button projects on the way!

Getting back to the challenge on River of Creativity, this months theme is RECYCLE so if you'd like to use the theme make sure your entry has some sort of recycle, or upcycle in it.  We can't wait to see all the gorgeous entries! I am personally so pleased at how you all have embraced the changes we made to this challenge and it's a testament to how people are still creating other things besides cards! Thanks SO much and I hope to see you at the challenge ~ Fondly, Christi

I am entering my Home Sweet Home Wall Hanging in the following challenges:
Mix it Up Challenge, #59 - Anything 3D Goes
Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge, #82 - Anything Mixed Media Goes
A Perfect Time to Craft, #5 - Anything Goes
Mixed Media Lovers, #13 - Anything Goes
The Creative Crafters, #51 - Anything Goes
We Love to Create, #5 - Anything Goes

Laminate Chip Ornaments ~ Oldies but Goodies

I was looking at some of my older {these are at least 8 years old - some of them even older than that} creations today and I came across a bunch of these Formica™ and/or Laminate Chip Sample Ornaments.  Back when using these chips was all the rage, I emailed one of the companies and somehow ended up with a huge box of discontinued samples, all different colors and sizes.  I remember feeling like I hit the jackpot!  In fact, I still have a bunch of them somewhere - I should dig them out and figure out another project for them.  

Years back I used to make a small ornament every year and I've gotten out of the habit.  However, I've just ordered a bunch of teeny little embroidery hoops and I hope to create something festive out of those for this year.  My sister has a tiny little Christmas tree that she puts up and she has all the little ornaments that I've made over the years decorating it.  I think it's time to make her a new one.

There really is no "how to" on these; just use whatever you have on hand.

Take a look at these oldies but goodies:

I used Dresden trim, buttons, and an old pin on these.

This one was made with a sequin tree and a bunch of iridescent little circles.  I remember making the sentiments using Publisher - I obviously hand cut this one!

Another button, sequin, and hand made sentiment ornament.  I think I still have some of that background paper somewhere.

This one is using ribbon and Dresden trim - the snowflake and gold lines are the ribbon.  I just ripped a hole in it to accommodate the string. 

Those are the only pictures I have left of the many ornaments I made.  I didn't think the same way I do today; I never thought I'd have a blog or ever show these publicly.  Thinking back on what my life was like when I was making these was a fun little visit back in time.  I hope you enjoyed visiting with me and if you have any chip ideas, please share them with me!  ~Fondly, Christi

I'd like to enter my Laminate Chip Sample Ornaments in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything But a Card {entry #3}
The Happy Craft Challenge - M, Anything Goes
Creative Artiste - M, #43, Anything Mixed Media Goes
Crafter's Castle - M, #10, Anything Goes OPTION:Winter
An Inky Mess - M, #23, Anything Mixed Media Goes
Altered Eclectics - M, Anything Mixed Media Goes 
The Cat's Pajamas - M, #351, Holiday

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

Anything But a Card ~ Keys Shadow Box

ARGH! I hate it when my scheduled post doesn't post!! 

The challenge this month at Anything But A Card Challenge is one of my favorite themes, Anything Goes (#37).  I love Anything Goes challenges as they give me free reign to use some of the items I have hoarded over the years, like the shadow box I used in this project.  Well, honestly, most of what I used has been in my stash for years.  It was fairly simple to make and since I had everything on hand, it was free!

Sorry for the glare - glass!!

What I Used to Make This Project:

Shadow Box, mine was about 13” x 10” (the frame was darker, so I sanded it)

Background paper from KaiserCraft, Art of Life Collection, P1399, Always (2 pieces) 12" x 12"

8 Skeleton Keys

Washi Tape from Tim Holtz

Brown Velvet Leaves (I can’t recall where I got them, but if you search you can find plenty of options)

Small Bulb from Tim Holtz

Other Embellishments from stash & around the house

Crafters Pick The Ultimate Glue

I began with the background paper.  Since my shadow box is 13” long, I needed a bit of something to fill in where the 12” x 12” paper fell short. 

 

You can see the sides of the board - this was before I put the scalloped pieces on

The Keys

I happened to turn the paper over and found the scallop border design on the other side, so I just cut those out of the paper and used those to make up the difference.  Once I got the background settled, the placement of the keys was next. I wanted them to be the focus of the piece so in the middle they went.  I honestly am not on to measure and be precise, I always do it by eye when I make cards, but I actually measured the area around the keys so they could be placed as close to the middle as possible (as possible for me anyway).  Once I was happy with the keys, I glued them to the board and put it aside for overnight drying. 

I had already begun gathering some prospective embellishments before I began making the shadow box.  I am always thinking (obsessing?) about upcoming projects and I think a lot before I actually begin one. Of course I have those days where I just want to play, but if I have a theme, I often think for days prior to beginning the piece.  I tried doing the sketchbook thing, can’t do it, can’t draw what I want to and this frustrates me to NO end.  I will occasionally make notes if something strikes me that I fear I might forget.  And, since I started blogging as a part of teams, I do make a list of the items I use to make something so when it comes time to do this part I can be sure of what I used and if I can, I like to supply manufactures (I hate seeing something really cool and not having any idea what people used in making it).  Sorry for the detour into my creative process! I had gathered some stuff that had been hanging around; one item is particularly special for me is the pen nib.  When my Dad passed away, I found this pen nib in a drawer along with some other art materials and have squirreled it away – I think this was the perfect use for it!  Everything is real, except for the bulb and the keyhole – the keyhole was a brad and I just removed the “legs”.  The snippet of letter on the bottom right is from a real letter, the typewriter key (or is it an old adding machine key?) is real, the clock dial is real and the optic piece is from a real optometrist kit.  Flea markets & eBay are wonderful!

Playing with Placement

Playing with Placement

After I fiddled with the placement of the embellishments, and fiddled some more, I finally felt the piece was done and glued everything down.  After allowing it to dry overnight (and I am SO proud to say I didn’t get spare glue anywhere!) I placed the board in the back of the box.  Now, originally, there was a piece of cardboard as the backing, but I knew that would never work, so I asked if I could get a piece of wood cut to size.  My SO used an old cabinet that was left here when the previous owners moved out.  Love to recycle that kinda stuff! The wood fit the back so perfectly I didn’t even need to glue it to the box – I just folded the little holders and I was done!  The only thing missing is a hanging mechanism, which I will rectify on my next trip to the wonderful Dollar Tree.

The board, before I put it in the frame

I hope you enjoyed my creation, and my detour into my creative process! There is plenty of time to enter the Challenge at Anything But a Card and I do hope you will pop over to the blog and get some inspiration.  Thank you so much for stopping by! Have a marvelous week ~ Christi

PS: If you'd like to see a photo in more detail, please click it. This is true on all of my posts :)

Another view of the final product

I am entering my Keys Shadow Box in the following Challenges:
Crafting at the Weekend - Challenge 3, Anything Goes

Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes
Just for Fun Challenge Blog - #1, Anything Goes
Mixed Media Monthly Challenge - July Challenge (Around the House)
Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
The Sailing Pineapple - #11,  Anything But a Card

Never Dull Your Sparkle ~ Anything But a Card Challege 33

The past two weeks were a huge upheaval in my life  – my studio was getting a shelf (finally trying again after the first one literally fell out of the wall) so that entailed cleaning off one of my tables and helping design where things were going to get moved to.  On top of that, my desktop computer was dying a slow death, and of course, that is the computer I have all my art stuff on.  So I spent entirely too much time backing up what I needed to save on my old computer and trying to get another old (but not as old) computer up to date to accept all my saved stuff.  And then get the printer to print and all the files & folders in the correct spots so I had a chance to find them again.  Funny, during all this upset I was thinking about the challenge at Anything But a Card. This month the challenge is SPARKLE and it led me to so many possibilities that I had ideas flowing like crazy.  But given the situation I decided to keep it simple and that helped me narrow it down.   After much deliberation I decided to make a sign that I can hang up in my studio and since I adore quotes it seemed to be a perfect idea to use one for this challenge. That is how this sign was born.

 

My plain board

Since the sign is fairly self-explanatory I didn’t think I needed a list of the items I used.  This is truly a project where you use what you have on hand. It began as an extra piece of foam board, about 8” x 5”.  Then the ideas began percolating.  Looking through all the decorative papers I have acquired I came across this perfect navy-ish blue with embossed silver stars; blue and silver are one of my favorite color combinations as you may have noticed. 

 

Beautiful paper!!

I wanted to keep the quote the focus of the sign so I kept it simple.  After using my Silhouette CAMEO to cut out the word sparkle (I used Core’dinations Glitter Paper) I searched for an alphabet.  I have a huge assortment of sticker alphabets and I knew I’d be able to find one I liked in my stash. Since I wouldn’t be able to use a sticker alphabet directly on the decorative paper because of the bumps caused by the stars, I found a piece of blue cardstock that I felt complimented the color scheme.  As I was rummaging through my alphabets I came across one that I had completely forgotten I even had; it wasn’t my first choice, but I really like how the cork circles look (from a very old set of cork stickers manufactured by Creative Imaginations).  I felt pop-dots were in order for the words on the cardstock.  Lastly I glued the word sparkle in a whimsical way and now I have this adorable sign. Granted, it isn’t hung up yet as another shelf is in the works, but I have it ready to go!

 

The finished product

Thank you for stopping by for my interpretation of Anything But a Cards monthly challenge! There is still time for you to enter YOUR interpretation and we’d love to see it!  Remember, NEVER DULL YOUR SPARKLE!   

I am entering my "Never Dull Your Sparkle" sign in the following challenges:

Pumpkin Spice - #63 Anything Goes

That's Crafty! - Anything Goes

Addicted to Stamps and More - #86, Anything Goes

Creative Inspirations - #256, Favorite Colour Combination (Silver & Blue)

Altered Eclectics - March Anything Goes

Crafts & Me Challenge & Inspiration - March Anything Goes

Rhedd's Creative Spirit - March Anything Goes

Blessings!
Christi

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

Happy Winter Card and a G&P GIVEAWAY!!

Hi all you Happy Crafters!  It’s Christi again with another fun card using products from Globecraft & Piccolo. Before I get into my newest creation, I want to let you all know that this is the LAST day to enter for a $10 gift certificate to Globecraft & Piccolo.  How do you enter? 

• Leave a comment on daily posts Sunday, February 2nd through Saturday, February 8th, 2014
• You must be a Follower of the Globecraft Piccolo blog
• You must like us on Facebook (click on the Facebook tab at the top of the blog)
• Only 1 comment per day per person
• If you refer a friend and your name is mentioned in their comment, you will get a second entry to the drawing for that day
• Winners will be chosen by Random.org and announced on Sunday February 9th, 2014

You can win on multiple days so be sure to visit each day - I hope you all have been commenting & I wish you luck!
OK on with the show! 
Here is my finished card.  Read on and you will learn how to make this cute card.

My finished card

This is the second project I have made using just one set of Bejeweled Snowflakes Accents!! After I had removed all the beautiful snowflakes from the board I noticed that there was a stencil possibility hiding within the “scrap” (really, is anything ever scrap to a crafter?) or the negative left after removing the snowflakes.  I carefully cut off the parts I didn’t want and was thrilled to see a snowflake stencil ready for me to use.

The chipboard is very sturdy & flexible

I decided I wanted to make a card. I love shades of blue with silver.  Especially brilliant blues.  And what goes better for a shivery winter card than blue and silver?  I had already made the background paper using Distress Paints for another project (I used Distress Paints in Chipped Sapphire, Stormy Sky & Brushed Pewter and a piece of watercolor paper – the paints were pounced on the craft mat, sprayed with water and the paper was smooshed into the paper), so I just built off of that.

 

Items I used:

3D EnamelGel in Satin Silver  

Stencil Imade from Bejewled Snowflakes  
Crafters Pick Adhesive (I use this glue ALL the time!)

Stampin’ Up! Everyday Flexible Phrases Rubber Stamp set

Base card in Cream

Piece of Background Paper, already prepared (see description above)

Piece of Gray cardstock

Piece of gray/blue cardstock

Dylusions Spray Ink in London Blue

Krylon Leafing Pen in Silver

Robin’s Nest Drops

Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black
Removable Tape (to hold the stencil down. I used blue painters tape)

First step in making this card was I took my background paper, laid the stencil over it and spritzed it with Dylusions in London Blue.  Lifted off the stencil and chose where I was going to trim the paper down. 

You can see the tape marks

Once it was dry, I trimmed it and in the middle of the full snowflakes I added a wee dot of 3D Enamel Gel in Satin Silver. The gel looks blue in some pictures and I am not sure if it picked up some of the spray ink or it is the reflection of the blue in the metallic – makes no difference to me either way – I set the panel aside so I would not smoosh the dots as they dried (and yes, I have smooshed many a drying dot!). 

I took a spare piece of cream cardstock and stamped my little sentiment, Happy Winter, with the Jet Black ink – this was a test since the stamps I used are the old fashioned, can’t see through the wooden block type of stamps, which I had hand mounted.  After a bazillion tries, I think I got it straight enough.  Or, let’s just say it IS straight enough. I mounted that on a piece of grayish blue cardstock & then again on a piece of cream because at this point I was vacillating between a cream or blue card base. 

Back to the panel where I used the snowflake stencil.  I swiped my Krylon Leafing Pen in Silver around the sides of the paper and mounted it on a gray piece of cardstock.  Then I mounted the whole shebang on the card base, which as you can see was decided to be cream and added the three little dots.

The 3DEnamel Gel also works when you want a cute little dot on your card or project, but I haven’t gotten the hang of making them even remotely the same size, so I cheated and used pre-made dots.  I am practicing though & hope my dots will debut soon.

Stay tuned for my third project still using only one set of the Bejeweled Snowflakes set – if that isn’t a good deal, I don’t know what is!  I hope your weather is settling down a bit and that you & yours have a wonderful week!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Frosted Designs - Winter Blues
Craft Hoarders Anonymous - Challenge 1, Your Signature Style (I love using Distress paints & using products in an unconventional way, ex: the "stencil")
Addicted to Stamps & More - Challenge 81, Anything Goes

Crafting by Design - February Anything Goes

Rhedd & Rosies Challenge Blog - Challenge 25, Anything Goes

Next week is my finale using the same set of Bejeweled Snowflakes - woo hoo!

The Courage Board

Getting started on this was actually the hardest part of the whole thing for me.  This was another case of researching a project so much that I actually became fearful of trying it.  I seem to do this a lot – I look at other people’s creations, research how they put it together, what items they used, what adhesive, etcetera until I literally have so much information I scare myself into never trying it. I sort of stun myself into inactivity (I need to think of a catchy name for this “disorder” so when it becomes the syndrome du jour it’ll be easy to say & maybe I can brand it - tee hee).

It was one blog post that finally gave me the push I needed to go ahead (I wish I could remember who’s blog it was, but I was participating in a blog hop and it was about 2 months ago – from now on I’ll write this stuff down!).  The woman on the blog had made a beautiful frame for a picture of her and her husband.  I recall that she used a lot of sprays but I don’t remember what brand she used.  I do remember being impressed at how cool everything looked, even the every day items like a paper clip, once it was all gussied up. 

So, I am going to finally play with some of my stash. Let me tell you, I have been collecting, and hoarding, these objects for years.  I used to buy game pieces and the like off eBay back when you could get good deals on other people’s junk, the stuff no one wanted but figured they’d try and sell.  Now everyone is trying to get $90 for a set of Scrabble letters.  Once I bought 15 pounds of game pieces from a guy for $18.  I had planned on making a 3d mixed media piece at some point so all my goodies sat in their drawer, waiting for me to occasionally come and check them out to see if I could use anything on something I was working on.  As soon as I got the game board, (I love FreeCycle!) I knew that is was time to just do it.

I Used:

• “Courage” rubber stamp is from Wendy Vecchi’s set called Heirloom Art,  LCS103
• Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink
• Golden gesso
• 1 quarter piece from a game board (amazingly strong!)
• The embellishments were a lot of stuff I have just collected.  I used dice, dominoes, some funky game pieces that I don’t even know what game they came from, small plastic bowling pins, plastic bone, various wooden chockies, a little paper umbrella, beads, a few pieces of Grunge Shapes, shoe erasers, plastic flower, the little things that hang off key chains, various wooden pieces, some small filler beads and more.  You need to FILL the frame – you want is as chunky and full as possible.
• Distress Paints in Fired Brick, Mowed Lawn, Chipped Sapphire & Mustard Seed
• Golden Acrylic Paints in Titanium White, Quinacridone Red, Phthalo Blue, Hansa Yellow Medium & Phthalo Green
• Fireworks Ink Sprays in matching colors
• Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Iridescent Gold
• Krylon Spray Gesso

close up of the goodies

I began with the quarter game board. I gessoed it and while it was drying I started to go through my stash & pit out items I knew I wanted to use.  Then I started to glue – I use Crafters’ Pick glue and I love it – it is the best white glue I have ever used.  So I glue and glue and glue.  

view from the top (there was much more added as the project progressed)

  

Then I started to gesso over the objects.  This was a LOT harder than I thought it would be. I figured I could just use my paint brushes to get into all the nooks & crannies but some spots were very hard to reach. Plus at one point I got paintbrush fibers all over everything & I mean it looked like a paintbrush exploded.  Well I didn't want to use a good paintbrush with all the smooshing and jamming it into the underbelly of the embellishments, so I used a cheap one (and I hate those sponge brushes - they seem to soak up more paint than they actually leave on the surface).  I couldn't get the "hairs" off so I resorted to just putting the whole thing in the kitchen sink and rinsing - lightly - I didn't want all the embellishments falling off, just the paintbrush hairs. After complaining, my honey remarked that he had some stuff in the garage that they use on cars in a spray can – grey primer.  COOL I thought since they paint cars after they primer them this would work out fabulously.  

Nope.  Nothing, and I mean NOTHING stuck to this grey stuff.  Not acrylic paint, not sprays, nothing.  So, now that it is all grey and unpaintable I sigh, deeply (so I don’t throw the whole thing out the window) and get my gesso out again.  I have already used a TON of gesso and now I had to try to cover all the grey.  After a few days of gessoing, drying and gessoing again I still had the same problem – I couldn’t get into the hard spots.  I started researching – there HAD to be spray gesso! And there was!! I wasn’t too thrilled with the reviews I read about the performance of the product, but I felt since I really just needed the board sprayed a few times it would be OK.  Then I tried to find it.  Michaels™ didn’t have it, I found it online, but I wanted it NOW.  Since my other half was going to Wal-Mart I figured I’d give him the info and see if it was there. . . . .(hear that Jeopardy theme? That's me waiting for him to come home) . . . . .

YIPPEEE!! They had it!! He also bought me 2 spray glosses in matte, which I totally appreciate, but I need one in glossy.  But, hey, I got the gesso!  Since he has more experience with spray paint than I do – ahem – I asked him to do my board.  It came out FABULOUS!!!I didn't take a picture of the board happily gessoed because I figured you all know what white paint looks like.

Now I can color!! I had originally wanted to use sprays on the project, but I don’t have any Dylusions sprays yet (they are on their way as I post this) and the sparkly sprays I do have just didn’t cover enough fast enough.  So I broke out my acrylics.  The colors are very vivid, too vivid for this project, so I just added Titanium White and toned down the paint until I liked the color.  Then, as I was painting, I occasionally dipped my brush into some clean water and made the paint thinner so it would drip into the hard to reach places.  I did one color a day so I could get a little mix of the colors but not a whole lot.  I also added some Fireworks Spray mists, with a paint brush, to each color once it dried – I used whatever color mist I had that closely matched the color I painted in acrylic. Once the painting was done, I took a piece of white card stock and stamped my “Courage” stamp on it in the Jet Black Ink (I actually put a lot of thought into what quote I was going to use.  Since this quote really speaks to me and I had found the courage to finally do this project, it was a perfect fit!) I took my Distress Paints and smooshed a color (use one color at a time since you don’t want your final color to be muddy brown) onto my mat, spritzed with water and put the stamped paper in the paint making sure I had the correct color in the correct space.  After I was done, I spritzed the whole quote with water again and let it dry.  I cut the quote down to size, clipped the corners with my corner rounder and attached it to my piece with gel.  I then lightly spritzed the whole thing with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Iridescent Gold.  

 These two pictures are actually just 2 different ones I took - I think one is with the flash & one is without just to try to give you an idea how sparkly this is.  I really like how the paint looks worn in places (the blue domino at the top is a good example).
 

As you can see I did add some "filler" beads to the board as I went along but all of the big pieces are in the same places as they are in the first pictures so you can compare

and get a good idea of what items will look like, depending on how you color them of course.  I think it is so cool how some of the texture really held up considering how many coats of primer and gesso there is on it.  If you look close you can still see the diamond pattern in the Grunge key & between that & the heart you can see a bit of mesh I put on.  I had put these number beads I had, where the number is raised from the bead base, and I can actually still count them from 1 to 9 - not so much in the pictures, so don't strain your eyes, but in real life.

A close up of the quote

I wish you could see how shimmery it is in person – it’s so hard to get pictures of shimmer.  I think this baby is going up in my art room!  It was well worth the effort and I can’t wait to start making another one. . .hmmmm. . .I wonder how much spray gesso I have left. . .

I am happily entering this piece into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, the theme is anything goes :) as well as

Crafts - Too Challenge You, where the September theme is texture (I think I got that - LOL)