Graduation Time!

I have a niece that is graduating from High School in a few weeks.  We are having a family party for her and I thought it might be fun to make a decoration for each of the place settings at the table.

The idea-ology Trophy Cups are the perfect foundation for this project.  There are 3 in a package for only $2.99 so the price is right!

The Trophy Cups come in a shiny silver but her school colors are purple and gold so I decided to change it up.  I'm using gold and mushroom alcohol ink to color the cups.  If you needed these in bulk for a larger party I would just use spray paint.  Why make it harder than it needs to be?

Next, I used a hot glue gun to add a 1" Styrofoam ball to the cup.

Using Glossy Accents, I added some reindeer moss (it never turns brown).  You can find this in the floral section of any craft store.

Since the school color is purple, I choose a couple different shades of Core'dinations Kraft Core to cut Sizzix Tiny Tattered Florals.  The quilling tool comes in the package so its super easy to roll them up to create the flowers.

Next, I thought I need something that looks like graduation!  There just happens to be a graduation hat as part of the Crazy Things stamp set.  I used Archival ink to stamp the image onto Distress Watercolor cardstock.  Again, sticking with the purple theme I grabbed a couple Distress Markers to color the images.  I colored each hat with two colors, meeting in the middle.  Then I used the Ranger Water Brush to blend the two colors together.  My tip for blending is to make sure the colors meet (don't leave white space) and then blend.  One color will flow onto the next and it will look marvelous.  Kinda magic really.

I cut out the hats and glued them to a Memo Pin.

Then I stamped the word Congratulations from the Crazy Talk stamp set onto a piece of Mixed Media cardstock.

The Memo pin was stuck into the foam ball and then I slipped the Congratulation in between. The moss and the bottom of the cap hold it in place quite securely.

Here is what the back looks like.  Just couldn't be simpler!

I needed a bow so I thought I would grab some thin gold ribbon, my favorite from the Metallic Trimmings pack to create one.

Stick the wire into the foam ball and add the Tiny Tattered Florals with hot glue.  I did add a Mirrored Star to the top just to give it a little shine!

And there you go!  One down, 9 more the go!  Of course if you were making as may as I am (or even more) it would be faster to do each step in the quantity needed and then assemble. 

I love that the idea can be adapted for any school color...because really, cardstock and Distress Markers come in A LOT of colors!

Hope the rest of your week is great!  We are off to the 2016 Quilt Market Trade Show today to show off our new Eclectic Elements Fabric line - "Correspondence".  I will be posting on Facebook and Instagram from the show (you can find me on Instagram under the name "luckyday") .  Hope you can join me!

now carry on,
paula

InLinkz.com

Creativity Takes Courage

For the project today I wanted to experiment a little with Distress Spray Stain.  Yes, I've used it many times but I have never really been a "spray" girl because (to be honest), it's just too messy.  My desk always seems to have multiple projects going on which makes it very plausible that over-spray could go right onto whole different project.  Anyway, today I decided to see if I could create a background and keep it all on the craft mat.  Let me show you how it went...

I started by cutting a piece of chipboard  5 x 6 1/2" for a foundation.  I also cut a few pieces of my FAVORITE Ranger Mixed Media paper 5 1/2 x 4 1/4".  I only need one good one so I thought I better cut at least 2 to have something to choose from (keeping fingers crossed).

I placed the cardstock on the center of the craft mat and sprayed a few colors of Spray Stain: Shaded Lilac, Twisted Citron, Worn Lipstick, and Squeezed Lemonade to be exact.  To be quite honest, the sprays look just like spray on paper (duh).  The only reason the yellow is more liquid is that my nozzle was a bit clogged so it came out in a stream.  That look is another reason I have stuck with the Distress Stain with the dapper top.  I feel like I have more control and I can get an all over color rather that this sprayed look.
Okay, how can I make this work...?

I decided that adding more water may be the key so I used the Distress Sprayer and slowly pulled back on the trigger to allow the water to dribble out onto the cardstock.

Now I like where this is going.  I started drying it (but not all the way).

While it was still wet I sprayed a bit more stain/color on the card (especially at the edges), adding worn lipstick over worn lipstick or twisted citron over twisted citron, thus keeping the colors "true".  Of course there is overspray onto other colors which worked out great.  I then dried it with the Heat It tool.  I do think that drying between layers was important to the overall outcome.

Once I was satisfied with the experiment, I choose a card for the project.  I stamped it with an image from the Sideshow stamp set in Archival Ink.  I also added random numbers using another image from the same stamp set.

I drew a box with my go to black marker.

Then colored it in with the Picket Fence Distress Crayon.

Small Talk stickers make an easy sentiment.

To create the foundation, I used the chambray from the Textile Surfaces pack (it also comes with 2 colors of linen - 6 sheets total).  The Textile Surface are self adhesive, just peel away the backing paper and add it to the chipboard.

Cut away any excess.

I stitched around the cardstock (the stitching seemed like it went with the chambray background) and then added it to the foundation chipboard with Scotch Brand foam tape.

I chose three idea-ology Nailheads and rubbed them with Distress Paint Pumice Stone to take away the "new" shine.  They are glued in place with just a small dot of Glossy Accents.

This is a quirky stamp set so I felt I needed to add something odd to go along with it.  I chose a line cut from a notebook.

This is my first time using a new Display Hanger (you get two in a pack).  It also comes with the epoxy piece that fits into the metal label.

Again, I cut a line from a book for the label space.  You might think I am spending a lot of time looking though books for words, but more often than not I have one page of a book on my desk and I have a little challenge with myself to find the words I need from that page.  I have been cutting words from the same page for a couple months now.  No digging or searching...just the one page that has good color, good font and a small text size.

So here is the finished panel. 
I love how the background worked out.  Yes, I think I need more practice to really get the technique down.  For the most part, I just needed the water to create the puddle like background instead of the "spray" look (I personally like just hints of the spray look).

remember...

maybe today's post should have been called #keepingitreal...
Now carry on,
paula

InLinkz.com