Christmas Panel

Hello friends,

I'm happy to be here today sharing a make I created using the Simon Says Stamp Christmas kit. You may have even seen yesterday's live with Tim and Heidi where this project was shared. As was mentioned in the Live class on YouTube, I created a tutorial for this Christmas Panel project that is being shared on the Simon Says Stamp blog today. 

If you are saying, well I didn't buy the Christmas kit...not to worry. Simon Says Stamp still has many of the components you might need. Or maybe you are just someone that has lots of Tim Holtz Christmas products waiting to be used! You might have them on hand! Either way, I hope you will stop by the Simon Says Stamp blog to see the easy tutorial and make your own Christmas Display Panel!

You know it's great to have some Christmas makes started in July! Now is your chance!

LINK to tutorial in case you missed it above!

Carry on,

paula

Forget-me-not

Hello friends,

Today, I'm excited to share a project featuring Tim Holtz Palette Teal fabric from FreeSpirit. Teal is a personal favorite, and this collection did not disappoint — each fabric is absolutely gorgeous. The majority of the 10 Palette Teal designs exude a serene tranquility, but then you have 'Palette Teal Butterflies,' 'Tiles,' and 'Marble' which introduce more saturated tones. I blended both the calm and bold, incorporating pops of color from idea-ology ephemera to tie everything together. You might not immediately think orange pairs with teal, but it works perfectly here, right down to the vintage button stitched with red/orange thread. So enough talking, lets get started making!

I used 5 of the 10 Palette Teal fabrics for this project. 

Teal Collage

Teal Tiny Print

Teal Stamps

Teal Tiles

Teal Butterflies

Teal Wallpaper

Teal Marble

Teal Ephemera

Teal Tickets

Teal Map

Paint the 9 x 9 Display Panel with Evergreen Bough Distress Paint. I wanted a more sheer coverage so I painted it on, then wiped off some of the paint. When the paint was dry, I sanded it with a large sanding block to reveal more of the wood. 

While the paint was drying (before sanding), I set work on the fabric background. I chose Teal Tiny Print for the background since it's subtle and it will work perfectly with all the other fabrics and ephemera. I cut a 9 x 9" square of both the Tiny Print and cotton batting.

Then stitched them together with a random pattern of straight stitches. Once the sewing was done, I cut the piece to fit the inside of the Display Panel.

So the panel and the fabric backing are ready to go!

I just added Collage Medium to the back of the Display Panel, then added the fabric into the back. 

TIP: cover the entire back of the tray with Collage Medium so the quilted fabric will be completely secured to the panel. You will be adding metals to the fabric and you do not want the backing to flop forward once the metal is glued in place (that would not be easy to fix).

Cut a piece of the Tiles fabric large enough so you can fold the sides under and iron flat. I colored a Photobooth image for the top and added it once I cut a "frame" into the fabric. Meaning, I cut a hole in the top tile so you could see the image like a frame. At first I didn't color the image, but I took it out and colored it with Distress Crayons to reinforce the teal and orange color scheme and it was so much better. Distress Crayons are magic!

I took the whole piece to the sewing machine and stitched around the outside. To get the clump of messy thread, I pull some thread from the machine, wad it up and stitch over it a few times. I use my fingertip to add watered down brown ink to color the thread before drying iwth my heat tool.

Next up is the metals. Each of these pieces was painted with white paint (either Distress or acrylic will work), then wiped away. Once dry, I added either more paint (like the blue on the key and blue and yellow on the flower). 

I also added Walnut Stain Distress Crayon to the Sweetheart Adornment and the flower (also from the Sweetheart pack).

For the Quote Token, I chose to keep it simple and just added Picket Fence Distress Crayon.

Add the Sweetheart adornment to the tile with Collage Medium. The Quote Token has two THIN 3D Foam Squares on the back. These will keep the Quote Token in place until it can be nailed to the wood panel.

Next up is the stamps. I stitched cotton batting and a block of stamps together. The fabric has a white background so I spritzed it with Antique Linen Spray Stain to give it an aged feel. I just spritzed and dried it with my heat tool.

Each of the three stamps were cut from the block, leaving the stitching only at the top. 

I spotted this piece of ephemera from the Keepsakes Ephemera pack that worked perfectly with the color scheme. I trimmed off the edges since there is a lot going on, I didn't need more distraction. I added a scene from the Collage Fabric to a piece of Watercolor Cardstock (because it's sturdy), then added it to the frame with Scor-tape.

For the ephemera on the bottom left, I created another stitched fabric piece with the Teal Collage fabric and cotton batting. I added more Watercolor Cardstock to the back of the ephemera piece (Keepsakes) then added it to the fabric with Collage Medium. This piece is long, so it's best to put something heavy on top while it dries so the ends don't turn up like a potato chip. Just saying...

Our last piece is the Optical Lens. I used the lens as a pattern to cut the circle of fabric from the fabulous Butterflies fabric. This was easy to do because I had painted the area I wanted to cut out with Collage Medium and let it dry before cutting. It makes the fabric just stiff enough to make the cutting easier.

I added a layer of Collage Medium over the top of the fabric and added it to the glass of the Optical Lens. 

Then I adhered the painted flower to the Lens with Collage Medium. Add enough glue to let the flower sit in it. Once dry, it will be super secure and ready to add to the Display Panel.

Putting it together -

After deciding on the placement, adhere each piece with Collage Medium.

I used the Texture Hammer to add a Tack Nail to the top of the Quote Token.

Once one side is complete, add the pieces to the right side. You can choose to use 3D foam Squares behind the Souvenir Views ephemera if you want it to be raised from the background like I did. The card with the bird is from the Layers Organic ephemera pack. I glued it with Collage Medium then added Cello Tape to the edges. The small key was added with Collage Medium. If you wish, you can choose to add another Tack Nail at the top of the key.

The buttons are all vintage. I collect buttons that have the thread left in, so all I had to do was glue these down with Collage Medium. Obviously, any buttons could be used and you could either stitch them right to the fabric backing or add faux stitching and glue them on like I did.

Once that section is complete, add the stitched piece to the left side. Again, I placed something heavy on top to make sure I got complete connection to the fabric below. Once secure, I added the vintage piece of ribbon and a tiny vintage button at the top. 

Finish off with more Cello Tape. That looks so good to me!

And the last piece is the Optical Lens. Again, use Collage Medium to secure it to the background.

I decided to add a handle to the top of the Display Panel. So I added a couple Screw Heads I had previously painted with white paint to the holes at each end of the handle. Once the glue had dried I just dripped one drop of Mushroom Alcohol Ink over the top. I also used a Walnut Stain Distress Crayon over the handle itself to add some aging.

I used Collage Medium to add the handle to the top of the Panel (of course I did that with the panel standing up).

And there you go. Done deal!

I couldn't be happier with this project. I love things collected - especially things that you might not think go together. I also know you could make this with with any of the Palette colors, but Teal just has a soft spot in my heart and maybe that's why this is so special to me.

Now carry on,

paula

Palette Yellow

Hello friends,

I an so excited to share my Display Panel project using Freespirit Palette Yellow fabric. I like yellow, but I LOVE this fabric! It is just so beautiful! The yellow tones are so pleasing and work so well together! 

I decided to use the Yellow Map fabric for the background, along with paper from Vault Memoranda in 12 x 12" for the sides of the Display Panel (one can never go wrong with ticking).

Of course there are 10 Yellow Palette fabrics-

Yellow Botanical

Yellow Collage

Yellow Map

Yellow Numbers (lotto cards)

Yellow Specimen (butterflies)

Yellow Stamps

Yellow Tickets

Yellow Tiny

Yellow Vintage

Yellow Wallpaper

Let's get started on the Display Panel project!

I added the Memoranda Paper to the sides of the panel with Collage Medium. I also added a bit of white paint to the top of the panel in case the wood showed. 

Another idea is to cut your fabric panel smaller, say 8 1/2 x 8 1/2" and paper the top of the Display Panel so the ticking shows on the front, not just the sides.

Cut both the Yellow Map fabric and a piece of cotton batting about 10 x 10". The Display Panel is 9 x 9", but I want some leeway so I can square up my fabric after I sew these two together.

I'm going to quilt these two piece together so I am making lines with a FriXion Erasable Pen (I bought mine at Target in the office supplies section). I just used my clear quilting ruler to make the lines 1" apart.

Turn the fabric and make lines across the ones you just made (again, 1" apart).

Go to your machine and stitch following the lines.

Then to the ironing board so you can use the heat of the iron to make all the pen lines disappear. It's like magic - I swear it never gets old!

Now to the self-healing mat to square up the panel to 9 x 9".

So I want to add some patches of three other fabrics - Yellow Botanical, Yellow Stamps, and Yellow Tickets.  I found that Collage Medium is perfect to add stability to the fabric. You just paint some on the back. You don't have to over do it, just a nice even layer will do. You can either let it dry naturally or use a heat tool. I used the heat tool because I'm impatient.

Once dry, you will easily be able to cut the pieces apart (with fabric scissors or a rotary cutter).

I began by sewing patches on the left side of the panel. I knew I wanted the nails on the right, so it made sense to have the collage on the left. 

One trick Richele taught me is to use a glue stick to stick things down (like patches) before you go to the sewing machine. She uses it when she sews the first line on a zipper, so why not a patch? Well it works like a charm. 

You can see I have a empty area for my Photomatic image. We'll work on that next.

I chose one of my favorites - the lady with the hat and polka dot veil. She looked to me like someone who is on her way to the big city! I used three Distress Crayons and a few cotton swabs to tint the photo. The blue and green background was added directly then smoothed out with the cotton swab. For her cheeks, I always add Aged Mahogany to the Studio Mat, then pick it up with the cotton swab, tapping over the cheeks. I can "smooth" put the color with the clean end of the swab.

To make it look like she is riveted to the the panel, I added Mini Fasteners to each corner. Set the photo aside while we finish a few more things.

Like this long Word Plaque. I colored in the Word Plaque with Picket Fence Distress Crayon then sewed it to the quilted panel with heavy string.

I added the Photomatic with Scor-Tape. You could use the Mini fasteners or Collage Medium to add the image but I went with Scor-tape.

Now this one might be hard to see, but I added french knots to the center of the flower with dark brown embroidery floss. I love making french knots, but if that is not your jam you can skip it.

Using the same embroidery floss, I added a small clover from the LUCKY Adornments pack. I did paint it green using Rustic Wilderness Distress Paint before adding it to the panel.

Use Collage Medium to add the quilted fabric to the wood Display Panel.

Use a Picket Fence Distress Crayon to fill in a Word Tag. I used the word Found to add to the nail that will be hammered into London on the map.

I used two idea-ology Tack Nails to hold the string that represents travel from the far reaches of the world all converging on the international city of London.

I used blue sewing thread to hold the strings on the edges, rather than nails. Almost like the string can slip through the thread at any moment and that line of travel being extingushed.

I'm loving this piece. I also think it could be personalized with so many symbolic references particular to the person it was being made for. The Yellow fabric really works, but it could be done in many colors! When we get into the blue's during summer, a much more masculine one could be made with a whole different feel.

Now carry on,

paula