Wednesday, September 5, 2012

That was a mistake...

Last Saturday I was cutting sticker sheets into individual pieces.  I decided it would go much quicker if I cut 2 pages at a time.  Brilliant, right?

"So how did that go for you paula?" 
"not so good", she said.
"Stickers should all be facing the same direction when cutting in a stack", she said.

But you know me. 
I figured I could use them for something...I mean, they are my very favorite Vial labels!  I can't just throw them away! 
...and that's exactly how today's project was born.  
What to do with the cut up Vial labels sitting on my desk?

I decided to make a new insert for the 7gypsies Vintage Book Stand.  If you remember, I made one back in February (you can see it here at the bottom of the post)......but it's time for a change.  To do that you need start with a piece of book board, mat board or cardboard, really anything that will keep your artwork upright.  I cut a piece of book board 5 x 8.5" and a matching piece of manila paper.  I was actually surprised how thick the manila paper is.  Love that because it can withstand a lot of layers of paint, sprays, and stain.
To start the background I squeezed out three Distress Stains onto the craft mat, Weathered Wood, Pumice Stone, and the new Metallic Brushed Pewter.
I sprayed the manila card with water...
Then ran the paper over the Distress Stains until I almost covered the card.  You can go back into the Distress stains as many times as you want, just dry with a Heat Tool in between.  You can also move the paint on your surface by spraying a bit of water.
The new metallic stain looks so good mixed with the other colors of the stain.  The metallic shines just a bit here and there like veining in stone.  Very cool.
the finished background.
I added a bit of washi tape and tissue tape
then the chopped up stickers
I took the sanding grip and sanded the stickers as well as the tissue tape.  Love how the tissue tape will tear away in bits just like I wanted it to.  Not so much with the Washi tape but I can live with that.
Then I went back to add some Broken China
and Vintage Photo Distress Ink for yet another layer.
Stamping is next -
Coffee Archival Ink, Warehouse District stamp with a bit of numbers from the School Desk set.

At this point I adhered the background paper to the bookboard I cut earlier. I sanded the edges a bit, rounding the corners with the sanding grip and then inking the edges.

TYPE
I need a good saying for my stand so I decided to use the Sizzix Alterations Alphabetical die to cut all this tiny type.  The die is long and skinny so I cut two strips of paper and ran one through the Vagabond with the print side up and one with the print side down so I could mix up the letters in the phrase.
I added the paper type to my surface with a Collage Glue stick.  I also used Alpha Parts: Typeset to emphasize certain words in the phrase.
I shaded in each of the paper letters with a Faber-Castell colored pencil to give them more depth and weight.
 
I decided I needed some dimension so I cut flowers using the Sizzix Alterations Tattered Flower Garland die.  Love that you get so many flowers in just one pass through the Vagabond machine.
I colored the flowers with Broken China and Frayed Burlap.
I crumpled each flower then layered them together till I had three separate flowers held together by a long fastener brad.  I also sprayed each with Perfect Pearls Mist in Heirloom Gold to give them a bit of a shine.
 
Here is the final result in the 7gypsies stand.
I added a lock at the top with the tiny little brads that come in the package as well as the key hanging from one of the flower brads.  I did add a bit of cheescloth that I colored with Frayed Burlap Distress stain to the back of the flowers.  And a little phrase with the Chitchat stickers at the bottom right.
click on picture for larger view

Well, kinda simple and basic today, but that me.  I do love how it turned out though and I think I was successful using the cut up stickers.  I guess can rest easy now since they were put to good use! or at least until the next time I accidentally chop something up (seems to happen quite often around here).

Cheers for a great day!
paula


22 comments:

  1. love love love love love this!!!! I actually cut up more stickers than I use whole. this is so cool!
    and I really need those 2 tapes.... sigh.... very wonderful! as if I didn't already have a few more than several. grins!

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  2. This is beautiful! I love the little pop of color from your label stickers!

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  3. This is gorgeous and great recovery on your faux pas! Love it!

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  4. Wowy! I love your "mistakes"! Thanks for posting that you make mistakes and that you are able to turn them in to something this gorgeous! Love your art!

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  5. I really love how this turned out! It looks amazing! Thank you of sharing, Greetz Dee

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  6. Thank you for your mistake! That is amazing!

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  7. Beautiful project and you did a great job! Amazing how little errors become wonderful art!

    Mary

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  8. hahaha. You are certainly the girl to turn lemons into gourmet lemonade! When I saw this post I had to say..."Geez, she's a stinkin' genius!"

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  9. Paula, it turned out very pretty. I loved it !

    cathy thompson

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  10. I love the look of the cut up labels ... you rocked this sudden challenge!!!

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  11. Wonderful stand insert piece! What a great way to salvage and put to good use, your mistakenly cut labels. :)

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  12. absolutely love this....what a good use of those stickers:)

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  13. Simply beautiful - love how the flowers came out!

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  14. love love love this..... how you have used something which would have been thrown away (the number of times something I've cut which has been wrong and has ended up in the filing folder called 'The Bin' is countless for me...). Loving the book stand too so I will have to see if I can get in the UK... have a couple of the metallic stains on order so waiting to have a play...thanks for sharing...

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  15. Mistake? what mistake. Fantastic project. I also have a drawer that is way to full of (mistakes). Wish my projects would end up looking like yours.

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  16. What a wonderful project - I just love it! Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful talent!

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  17. Did you say "simple?" This is a wonderful project. I just love it and never would have been able to think it up. As you know I am good at copying! Thanks Paula.

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  18. This is sooooo pretty! I love that background and you are so good at using everything in such an original and fresh way. And I would have totally thought you meant to use those labels like that! :)

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