Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Frilly and Funkie - Things With Wings

Hello Everyone!

It's time for another wonderful challenge over at Frilly and Funkie! This time the very wonderful and talented Cec is our hostess and she has chosen the theme THINGS WITH WINGS. She would like you to use anything with wings as the focal point on your vintage or shabby chic projects this time. Be it of the animal, fantasy or mechanical variety we want your creativity to take flight! One lucky winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to Linda's shop The Funkie Junkie Boutique!

I decided to put together a card that could be used for a thank you, birthday or even a baby boy. I used lots of frilly embellishments that Linda included in my last package, so it's extra dressed up, just the way I like!!




The beautiful pearl spray is from Prima. The butterflies were stamped with Archival inks Cornflower Blue and Fern Green using the Papillon stamp set. The top butterflies were cut from Frosted Film using the French Flight Thinlits die set from Sizzix. The filigree corner piece is from Linda's shop, it was originally bronze and I painted it with Picket Fence paint.



The flowers are cut from the Tattered Florals die set and coloured with Tumbled Glass. The stamens were dipped in Picket Fence paint to make them a little bigger and then I dipped them in Tumbled Glass distress ink spray to match the colour to the petals.

The fountain was made from hot glue. I coated it with Crackle Paste for an antique look. The little ivory roses tucked in the arrangement are the Heirloom Roses from Tim Holtz.


The very back layer was coloured with Old Paper and stamped with Fabulous Flourishes from Tim Holtz. I edged it a bit with some Gathered Twigs. The middle layer I did an emboss resist using Wendy Vecchi's Vintage Lace stamp and Tumbled Glass. The top layer was cut from Spellbinders Radiant Rectangles and emboss resist again with Tim Holtz Distress Damask stamp and distress ink Old Paper.

The lace is from Linda's shop, the pearls are from Kaisercraft. The leaves were cut from Frosted Film using the Garden Greens die set. I dabbed a little Picket Fence on them so they would show up a bit more. The sentiment is from Tim Holtz Chit Chat sticker book, I edged it with Gathered Twigs.




I would like to send out a special thank you to KAREN of Kaleidoscope Sparkles. She is such a talented and sweet lady and I always get so much inspiration from her work. This card was inspired by one she made earlier this month, which you can find HERE. If you haven't visited Karen, I highly recommend you go get a dose of the shabby goodness she always serves up! Thanks Karen!



UPDATE:
My butterfly card won an award in the following wonderful challenge:



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All of the following products that I used can be purchased at The Funkie Junkie Boutique


That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. I read and appreciate every single one! If you have any questions, please let me know.


Monday, July 27, 2015

Crafty Cardmakers #144 - Anything But a Card

Hello Everyone!


It's time for another challenge over at Crafty Cardmakers and More! This time around our lovely hostess Carole has chosen the theme ANYTHING BUT A CARD, so she wants to see your tags, canvasses, 3D projects, whatever you can think of...as long as it's NOT a card.

I had this photo printout of my two precious little girls leftover from another project, so I decided to get a head start on Christmas and put together a new ornament. Lots of ribbon, glitter and bling to catch the twinkly lights as they dance on my tree.




DECOART ORNAMENT TUTORIAL:

- I painted the frame with DecoArt Dazzling Metallics Rich Espresso, the I applied a thin layer of DecoArt Crackle Glaze. I wasn't looking for a lot of crackle here, my intent was a more distressed look, which I achieved by taking my heat gun to the glaze before it was dry and overheating it to create bumps and bubbles.

- I took a sponge and dabbed some Dazzling Metallics Champagne Gold here and there and then highlighted some areas with Metallic Lustre Gold Rush. All the different shades of gold will work really well for catching the light from the twinkling lights on my tree.


 - the sprigs on the top were painted with DecoArt Decou-Page Matte and then I coated some of them with DecoArt Glamour Dust Sprinkle-On Glitter - Crystal and some of them with some coarse glitter that I had on hand.




UPDATE:
My ornament won awards from the following wonderful challenges:

(I was inspired by Kathy's black, white and gold project, so beautiful)




That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. I read and appreciate every single one! If you have any questions, please let me know.



Friday, July 24, 2015

Home Sweet Home - DecoArt Birdhouse

Hello Everybody!

I'm very excited to share with you today, my first full on DecoArt project since being accepted into the DecoArt Blogger Outreach Program. DecoArt was so generous with their box of goodies and I had a lot of fun putting them to good use on my birdhouse. This will be going to my wonderful Mom for her to display in her garden porch. She has lots antique elements in her porch and I think this will blend in perfectly, plus it has pictures of my little ones when they were just tots and she just loves them to bits!


I would like to send out a couple of special thank you messages today to some wonderful and talented ladies. First of all to Tracy - Craft Addicts, who so is so kind and generous. She sent me some rolls of rusted wire, which you can see wrapped around my birdhouse. How sweet is that!  Secondly to Niki - Pawsitively Creative Crafts, my team member and friend who turned me on to Rusting Powder, which I used to antique the brooch on the frame. You can find her spotlight HERE. Thanks ladies, big hugs to you both!



THE FRAME AND 'FAMILY':

- I applied a coat of Americana Desert Turquoise which is such a gorgeous colour, and then I applied some DecoArt Media Crackle Glaze. Once it was dry, I rubbed some Antiquing Cream English Red Oxide into the cracks. These creams are wonderful, they go on so smoothly and are super easy to work with. I lightly rubbed a bit of Metallic Lustre Brilliant Turquoise on the top for a beautiful shimmer. I wish it showed better in the photographs, in real life it's so sparkly and what a great way to showcase my two darling little girls!





THE BIRDHOUSE:

- I applied a coat of DecoArt Fluid Acrylics Cobalt Teal Blue. It's good and thick so I only needed one layer. Then I rubbed a little Vaseline here and there to act as a resist. I applied a coat of Fluid Acrylics Raw Sienna and let it dry. With a soft cloth wipe the paint off the areas where the Vaseline was.


- Next I took a little Fluid Acrylics Transparent Red Iron Oxide and mixed it with a little water. I flicked it in splashes and splotches using a paint brush. For the final step I used Andy Skinner's Mega Crackle technique with DecoArt Weathered Wood and Crackle Glaze to create some texture. I rubbed a little Quinacridone Gold into the cracks and touched up with Antiquing Cream Patina Green and Cobalt Teal Blue.




THE BUTTERFLIES:

- I dribbled a little DecoArt Americana Acrylics Peony Pink, Saffron Yellow and Desert Turquoise onto my craft mat and then smooshed a piece of paper into it I cut out the butterflies and covered them with a layer of DecoArt Crackle Glaze. Once dry, I rubbed some Fluid Acrylics Burnt Umber into the cracks. The great thing about using DecoArt paints for this technique is that when you apply your glaze or varnish, the colours don't bleed or blend together, your patterns stay crisp and vibrant!





THE BASE AND THE STAIRS:

- the stairs started as popsicle sticks. I coated them with some DecoArt Texture Sand Paste and the painted them with Fluid Acrylics Carbon Black paint. Once dry I rubbed on some Metallic Lustre Copper Kettle for a nice antiqued look.


- the base is an old wooden paper towel holder, which I covered with Modeling Paste and then painted with Crafter's Acrylics Hunter Green and Americana Acrylics Light Avocado and then lightly rubbed with some Metallic Lustre Gold Rush.







FAUX TREE BARK:

- I started with an empty Christmas gift wrap roll and covered it with bunched up masking tape. (the idea for this came from a wonderful tutorial by the very talented Claudia, also a DecoArt designer - thanks Claudia!) Then I painted the roll with Fluid Acrylics Burnt Umber and then applied random spots of Crackle Paste. Once it was dry I diluted some of the Burnt Umber and gave it another coat to colour the paste without filling in the cracks.


- I diluted some Americana Titanium Snow White and put it in a spray mister, a few squirts here and there. Once dry, I applied a coat of DecoArt Medium Ultra-Matte Varnish to seal the bark and leave a completely natural look.





I am entering my DecoArt birdhouse into the following wonderful challenges:

  


That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. I read and appreciate every single one! If you have any questions, please let me know.