Lost Shadow Art Panel

Hello friends,

Just popping in with a quick post about my small art panel made with Lost Shadow! I love his little project! The layered details are what make it special...layering of Distress color, layering of paper pieces, and the layering of metals...they all work together to create an interesting piece with both color and texture!

1.  I started with a piece of Watercolor cardstock - I like that it's thick paper that will hold up to ink, water, and texture paste.  I used the Burlap Stencil to add the texture with Opaque Grit-Paste.  

2.  Once the Grit-Paste was dry, I sprayed three Distress Ink color on my mat: Lost Shadow, Peeled Paint and Uncharted Mariner. I spritzed a bit of water directly onto the paper, then pressed it into the ink.  Because the Grit-Paste is raised, you sometimes have to push into the ink or add mores water to make the ink run so all the spaces get filled in.

3.  Once the ink is dry, I mounted the paper on a small Vignette Tray with Collage Medium.

4.  Once the paper is secure to the tray, I squeezed out a dime size portion of Silver Foundry Wax on my mat.  I used my finger tip to pick up the wax and wipe it randomly over the raised surface. Then heated it till it turned silver with my embossing gun.

NOTE: It is very hard to even spot here because the camera does not pick up silver very well, but rest assured it is there and gives another layer of great dimension. 

Adding the layers in the most fun because anything goes.  

The big shipping tag at the back is from my favorite Urban Layers Ephemera pack (unfortunately, recently retired).  I inked it and broke the edges down to create some age.  

I also sprinkle Embossing Glaze randomly over the tag and it melted right on the tag WITHOUT using Embossing Ink...crazy, right? 

I added the tag to the tray with foam tape and an idea-ology Tack Nail that I purposely bent.

The Curio Frame which comes in gold, was also transformed with Silver Foundry Wax. I love the look!

Now for the fun part...adding all the layers of paper and metals.  

I will mention how I colored all the metals.

I first painted them Lost Shadow Distress Paint, then when the paint was still tacky, I sprinkled Lost Shadow Distress Embossing Glaze over the paint (randomly) and heated it till it turned into a shiny glaze.  One some pieces, I did this multiple times.  I also added Uncharted Mariner Distress Crayon (set 14) on the wheel shaped metal (from the Odds and Ends pack) to get the blue highlights.

The resin flowers are of course my favorite Heirloom Florals...this time transformed with Mushroom Alcohol Ink instead of Foundry Wax (like my last post).  You can see they have been layered over another gear, a bent nail and some string died with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.

You can better see how the Embossing Glaze adds to the Lost Shadow Paint underneath on the gear.  This is just paint and glaze...no embossing ink was used.  A Hardware Head was used in the center to make it appear as if the gear is really screwed into the substrate.

I also added Remnant Rubs (Specimen) to a few spots on the surface, layering the bugs over numbers and text.

The last step was to add white paint splatters over the surface.  I used Distress Paint in Picket Fence and a Distress Splatter Brush.  The small white splatters really pop against the background and give yet another layer to the metal pieces.

This is an easy one so I hope you give it a go!  So many colors go with Lost Shadow, this could come out 50 different ways and with any theme imaginable!

Now cary on,
paula

Collector Divided Drawer

Hello Friends,

I am sharing my last project from the Uncharted mariner release.  This is a Divided Drawer that is filled with lots of idea-ology bits and bobs.  You can really add anything you want into the compartments so look for small things, leftover from previous projects.  I started with the box itself and then made the two domes.  That set the course for the rest of the box.  One thing to note is that that box can be use different ways because the shelves are removable.  I used both in this project, but I did make sure that the largest compartment was at the bottom so the Display Dome Small would fit into the box.  It does not fit into the other two compartments.  

Follow along and I'll show you how I put it together.

Embossing Glaze

I decided to paint the outside of the Divided Drawer with Weather wood Distress Paint.  I painted it on and wiped it off so you could see the wood grain under the paint.  Once dry, I moved on to the stamp/embossing.

You will need some supplies:  

Stampers Anonymous Eccentric + Stone (from the Slate & Stone set CMS299). Really, any stamp set could be used.

Embossing Ink

Uncharted Mariner Distress Embossing Glaze

Embossing gun

I stamped on the box with embossing ink and added Embossing Glaze.  I embossed the stone first, then went back and added in the numbers from the Eccentric Stamp Set and embossed those small areas again.  Embossing Glaze melts very fast so keep watch and as soon as it is melted, turn off the embossing gun.

Using Uncharted Mariner Distress Ink, LIGHTLY wipe the pad over the surface.  It does not take much ink for next step.  You can see here how lightly the ink has been added to the surface.  Just skimming the surface.

Working very quickly, lightly brush the surface with Collage Medium.  This wet medium will make the ink bloom to add a bit of blue to the surface.

NOTE: only work one side at a time so the collage medium does not dry on you.

BEFORE the Collage Medium dries, spritz sparingly over the wet surface with Oxide.  

Spritz with a LIGHT mist of water and dry with a heat tool.  The Oxide and the Distress Ink need to imbed in the Collage Medium for this technique to work.  If the Collage Medium is dry when you spray the Oxide, it will never dry on the surface and will always come off on your hands.

Here is what it looks like when dry. You can see how subtle the Distress Ink background is.

You can see here that I used one of the new Design Tape Trims that is sized to work with all Vignette boxes and Trays.  I love this one that has a repeated phrase going around the box.

The handle has been painted with Uncharted Mariner.  I have found that if you wipe any metal with Isopropyl Alcohol (before you paint), the paint will not bead up on the surface.  That is a good trick to hold in your memory because it makes it so much easier to paint metal pieces.

I did not put the handle/Hardware Heads on till I was done with the entire box so it could just sit cure over night.

TOP COMPARTMENT:

Curio Frame with ephemera from Field Notes ephemera pack.  It is very had to tell but there is a piece of Mica under the butterfly.

The small metal Thimble is the perfect size next to the Corked Dome.

The Corked Dome with the Toadstool inside is 2 1/4" tall.  There are two sizes of Corked Domes in the pack - I used the largest of the two (more about those later).  I did need to cut off the medium Toadstool to make it fit in the dome.  Yes, there is a smaller Toadstool in the pack, but the medium size looked better + gave me more area to paint.

BTW: Coked Domes are being retired and I am sad about that.

The Optical Lens is also a favorite.  I added a Remnant Rub and a little bit of white paint to the lens.  

TIP: when using Remnant Rubs, once it is adhered to the glass, rub Pumice Stone distress ink over the top and the halo around the word or image will disappear.

The Optical Lens is held on to the box with a small nail and some good wire.

CENTER COMPARTMENT

I painted an idea-ology Matchbox with Uncharted Mariner. The brown is watered down Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.  I just pressed the label into the ink once the paint was dry, then added the label to the box. I added a number strip from the Snippets pack and tied it with a string. 

I wanted to make the Matchbox look like the bird on the Mini Fair has made a nest inside, so I filled it with shredded cheesecloth, the Mini Flair button and Bouquet Flowers that I sprayed with Uncharted Mariner and Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain.

The Thought Token was added to the center with a foam square.  Then I pushed a VERY small gold straight pin into the circle.  I think the pin is called a "sequin pin".  So, so small!

There are a couple other things in the center box that are significant.  The Mini Paper Dolls are so fun to to use because they are so small.   I have them sitting on a piece of ephemera - but how did I make them sit up? the answer is always a wood block.  So look closely here, then scroll to the next photo to see how I did it.

I made two of this same project and the other has a man sitting, but the couple has been done just the same.  I buy small wood blocks in bulk so I always have a variety of sizes in a container close by.  The wood blocks give stability to many things in any Vignette project.  There is a wood block holding up and supporting the Curio Frame with the butterfly and another hidden behind the Matchbox.  They each give stability to the item they are supporting and are glued directly to the structure.

Love the mini size people!

You can't even tell they are glued to the black wood block.

This is what the Toadstools look like before going under the glass.  I painted with Uncharted Mariner, then added white dots with the wood end of a paintbrush.  I had to dig out a hole in the cork base so the Toadstool could be added with Collage Medium.  Once stable, I added moss and tiny rocks (that I got at Michaels a few years back in the "fairy garden" section).

Large Toadstool is in the Display Dome Small (3" tall).

Medium Toadstool is in the largest of the Corked Domes (2 1/4" tall). This pack comes with two different sizes.

BOTTOM COMPARTMENT

You can see how the Display Dome Small looks in the bottom compartment.  It fills almost the entire space top to bottom.  I added tiny labels from a Snippets pack to the dome and the books.  The stick is from my yard.  The gold Stencil Chip really brightens up the background.  The Stencil Chip has foam squares on the back to push it out from the back of the box.

The books were made with covers found in the ephemera pack - Memoir.  I just filled them with cut and folded cardstock.  They are messy to make with all that glue, but they are so cute when done!  Again, the tiny labels on the front and spine of each book are from the Snippets pack (your gonna need tweezers).

I put a big dollop of Collage Medium at the base of the stick, so I hid that with a tiny bit of moss and string.  Then just left it alone till is was stable.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial.  I loved making the box (like I said I had to make it twice so I guess I better love it).  Hope you get the idea of using little bits and bobs on hand to make it special and tell a story.

now carry on,

paula

Choose to Shine - Uncharted Mariner

Hello friends,

I have a tutorial featuring the new Distress Color, Uncharted Mariner, over on the Ranger Projects Page.  I hope you will stop by to see all the details to this colorful wood panel!  It's the perfect size for a work desk or a small space. Really, anywhere you need a little encouragement reminder!

now carry on,

paula

Make Today Count

 Hello Friends,

I'm here today to share another Uncharted Mariner project!  This one showed up so much better in the Live.  Probably because it is so hard to photograph projects with metallic shine.  No matter, I'm here to show the step-outs to how I created the background for the Etcetera Tag.  So lets get started!

Use Collage Medium to adhere Entomology Collage Paper to a small Etcetera Tag (5.5 x 10"). With clean hands, press paper down to secure the paper to the surface. Add another layer of Collage Medium over the surface to seal. hen set aside to dry completely.

Once the Collage paper is dry, sand away excess paper.

Paint over the Collage Paper with Antique Linen Distress Paint.  Use a wet wipe to remove enough paint to see the images.  Let dry.

Use a small palette knife to spread Distress Crackle Opaque over the Burlap Layering Stencil.  This stencil is an oldie but a goodie!  Once the paste is dry, the cracks will appear in the pattern and give a great surface to work with for the next step.

Squeeze the eye-dropper of the Uncharted Mariner re-inker at the top of the crackle paste.  Stand tag up and spritz with water to let the ink run down the surface and into all the cracks.  Dry with a heat tool, while pouncing over the surface to remove any excess ink.  You can add more ink, then repeat the spray, dry, ink, spray, dry until you are satisfied.  I worked on the right side and then the left, then repeated the steps again.

Once the ink was dry, I added Walnut Stain Distress Crayon around the edges and rubbed it in with my finger.  Pounce over the top of the crayon to muddle the color and make it look more organic.

So that is how I created the surface to build on.  Any color or stencil will work but I highly recommend the Crackle Paste Opaque.  Ranger has made an exceptional product that just works beautifully every single time.

So lets talk about what I did with the die-cuts and embellishments.

1. Die cut the Leafy Thinlit out of Mixed Media cardstock.

2. Clip the Leafy die cut at the 5 cut lines (show here) to easily separate the panel into two distinct sides. Super easy to do and it gives a great effect.  They can both be used as I did or use just one!

3. Randomly add Uncharted Mariner Distress Embossing ink (using the Dabber) to the larger side of the Leafy die-cut, then heat emboss with Uncharted Mariner Embossing Glaze (the piece was added to the top of the tag using Collage Medium).

For the focal point, I used a Paper Doll from the Solos pack, 2 Baseboard pieces from Junk Drawer, flowers from Layers Botanical, and small toadstools and a red label from Field Notes Snippets.

Vintage lace and a button were added to her skirt.

4. Fussy-cut small flowers - glue one directly to her dress and layer the second on top using THIN 3D foam squares by Scrapbook Adhesives.

5. Add shredded Mummy Cloth behind the Paper Doll.

6. Add toadstools to the end of the Baseboard piece for balance.

7. Adhere red label and stamp with date (Stampers Anonymous Eccentric stamp) in Ground Espresso Archival Ink (I masked off the rest of the stamp to only get May).

8. Emboss the second part of the Leafy die-cut with two layers of Embossing Glaze to give it a rich feeling.

9. Die-cut Sizzix Bold Text with Metallic Gold paper. 

NOTE: I cut two sets of letters with Sizzix Permanent Adhesive on the back, so I could combine to make thicker letters.   Also, remember to save the leftover die-cut negative to use for letter spacing.

10.  Use Collage medium to add a sentiment from the Clippings Sticker book.

I sure am happy with this new color. It is a color I have wanted for a long time!  I love how this turned out with Uncharted Mariner and the gold metallic words.   

I still have a few projects coming this week using the new color.  I'll be on the Ranger Projects page on Thursday the 23rd. That will be followed by the idea-ology Divided Drawer back here on my blog.
now carry on,
paula