Make This Journey Your Own

 Hello friends,

Things have been very busy around here getting ready for the Create Event in Ohio this weekend. Stacy and I will be doing idea-ology make and takes for the 2 day event, which we are very excited for! We love Heidi at Simon Says Stamp and she runs a wonderful show. We are both looking forward to being there again!

I created this project for a display we are doing at the event. I didn't have anything really grunge amongst the samples I was bringing, so I decided to make something. I love how it turned out! I used a small Vignette tray and two Vignette Boxes as my structure.

I painted the Pocket Watch black and added the Mini Gears and the Gauge Dial. I also added the Hook Clasp (a very under utilized idea-ology product) to hang the watch from the tray.

You might notice I purposefully cracked the glass of my pocket watch. I just tapped on the glass with a small hammer right where I wanted it to shatter out from.

The metal pieces are the most important when it comes to a grunge piece. I have a very easy method to creating a Grunge finish. Let me show you how I did it:

1. Cover metal with white acrylic paint (I used acrylic because it is thicker than Distress Paint so it gives you a better build up). Let dry completely.

2. Once dry, pounce Mushroom Alcohol Ink over the metal. I did at least two rounds. with about a minute drying time in between. Do not cover all the white paint!

The Mushroom Alcohol Ink, over white paint, turns a green patina. The second layer will add brown on top of the green...you want that.

3. Once dry, cover the entire piece with Ground Espresso Distress Paint. Quickly move to a paper towel...

4. Spray metal with water.

5. Take a wet wipe a POUNCE (not wipe) over the metal to remove some of the paint, revealing the colors underneath.

You can decide how much paint leave on the surface.

Here is how my three pieces turned out. I think I got better at knowing how much white paint needs to be left, to make it show in the end result. Honestly, the photos do not do it justice.

Here are some closeups of the final Vignette tray with the metal pieces in place.

The long word band was done using the exact same grunge technique, EXCEPT for one added step. After I added the Mushroom alcohol ink, I squirted the band with 97% Isopropyl Alcohol, which makes the Alcohol Ink fluid. Tip the band up and let some of the ink run into a paper towel, thereby exposing the white paint underneath. Once this is dry, go back to the step where you add Ground Espresso Distress Paint. This extra step allowed the Alcohol Ink to slip away around the letters leaving them more readable.

Salvaged Tags make a big statement by using a strong red tag (dipped and crushed into Walnut Stain ink). 

The piece with the eyelet was cut from another Salvaged Tag, eyelet added, then glued in place.

I used an eye screw from the idea-ology Hardware pack to hang the Pocket Watch.

Thank you for stopping by!
Now carry on,
paula

Lucky Day Panel

 Hello Friends,

Five new Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous stamp sets have just been released this week. Along with stamps, there are 9 new stencils and 3 mini stencil sets (sets 58, 59, 60). Thats a lot to work with! 

I have use the regular sized stencil called "Stencil Wheel" to create a colorful background for my Etcetera Panel. I also used the stamp set Curiosity Shop.

I used Collage Medium to add a piece of neutral Backdrop paper to the small rectangular panel. I did not add Collage Medium over the top of the surface so I could add Oxide Ink through the stencil. If I had, the Ink would just sit on the Collage Medium and never dry.

I used Oxide Ink pad and a Blending Tool to add each of the 6 ink colors. These are the colors I used (but any color combination will work).  Mustard Seed, Saltwater Taffy, Kitsch Flamingo, Crackling Campfire, Mermaid Lagoon, then Dusty Concord. 

Once I was done, I dried the ink with a heat tool then moved on to working with the stamp, adding the number strip on the right and stamping a few clovers on watercolor paper with Archival Ink Black Soot. I sprayed the clovers with Mowed Lawn Distress Spray, dried with my heat tool, then fussy cut the shape. That clover is such a great image!

At this point it had been about an hour since I added the Oxide ink to the paper. I made the decision to add a thin layer of Collage Medium over the entire surface before I added anything else. I wanted to do this so I could use my Walnut Stain Distress Crayon to age the surface. I picked a soft brush and slowly added the the Collage Medium till I could tell how much the CM would move the water-reactive Oxide Ink. I think because I had dried the ink with the heat tool, the surface was porous (not sealed), and the fact that I left it to dry even more on its own, made all the difference.  The ink stayed put and I had no problem keeping the colors separated.

I added the Photomatic image + clovers with foam squares. I also added a piece of fabric that was sitting on my desk, a yellow label from Snippets Curator and the Clipping Sticker, "something good is about to happen".

Once everything was in place, I watered down some white paint and flicked it over the surface (I did put a piece of a post-it note over her face before flicking the paint.)

I'm happy with my cute little panel with a good message. You know I'll be using that "Lucky Day" stamp a lot (like someone made it just for me...).

now carry on,
paula

ps) Simon Says Stamp has created wafer dies to match the stamp sets. I have added the image/link below so you could see the set that matches Curiosity Shop. The dies are on pre-order, so I did not have a set to use for this project (hence the fussy cutting). But I sure can see how these dies would be very useful!

Wonder

 Hello Friends,

Just a quick post today on a project I created this week. I wanted something for spring and this was just the ticket. Follow along and I will show you how I created it.

Cover the back of a small Etcetera tag with Collage Strips, adding a layer over the top as well.

I need to change one of the sentiments because when I cut the paper, it left a word that wasn't too nice. Clipping stickers to the rescue!

Once dry, add Walnut Stain Distress Crayon to the surface.

Cover a Facade with Backdrop paper and cut away the excess with a cutting knife.

Splatter with paint (Faded Jeans).

Add a round Transparency with tape and a two stack of the little sticks (risers) that come in the Facades pack. Set aside to dry.

I added vintage lace to a Portrait + some very small pearls (cut from a vintage necklace).

Add the Portrait to the center of the tag.

Then add the Facade over the top.

I also added a Quote Chip Label.

To add more interest, I painted two metal pieces with Faded Jeans paint.

I let them set for a couple minutes, then rubbed off much of the paint.

I highlighted with a Distress Crayon.

Then splattered both with white paint.

Once dry, I added shredded cheesecloth and the metal elements to the Facade with Collage Medium.

I followed that with more pearls.

And a butterfly from the Field Notes Snippets pack.

And there you have it! This one is a quick make that anyone could do!

Now carry on!

paula

As if I had Wings...

Hello Friends,

I've been working away at some behind the scenes project that I cannot share quite yet but I still got in a little time to create this Etcetera Tag using one of my favorite Paper Dolls and a few other embellishments. I actually created it over the course of a week, working on it between other projects.  I actually like creating that way because I love having time to think about a project between layers. Okay, so let me stop rambling so we can get onto the project itself.

*Please excuse the changes in color from photo to photo...whenever you photograph anything with metallic, it throws off the color balance!

This is a Mini Etcetera Tag (about 8" tall) that I have covered with paper from Backdrops Vol 5. 

*I also added a layer of Collage Medium over the surface.

I added Texture Paste Opaque through the Thatched stencil and set that aside to dry for about 30 minutes.

Once dry, I used my fingertip to add Foundry Wax Statue over the raised surface of the Texture Paste.

Once heated with an embossing gun, the Foundry Wax turns metallic. You can add Foundry Wax as many times as you wish.  The first time I didn't think I added enough, so I just added more and embossed it again. Just remember, Foundry Wax changes to a metallic finish very quickly, so watch carefully as you move across the surface with the embossing tool.

Next, I built a layered focal point using a Stencil Card with some inked paper underneath.  The Stencil Card was added to the tag with foam squares, then a transparent layer was added to the top. I used wide Scor-Tape behind the butterfly so no adhesive is showing.

If you look close, you can also see I added an eyelet on the left side for the 1/4" ribbon I dyed with Crackling Campfire and Scorched Timber Distress Ink.

Here is the Paper Doll that I was coloring last week. I started her a couple of times trying to get the color right against the butterfly background. In person, she has more color compared to the photo.  I added the Uncharted Mariner with a cotton swab so it would not be as bold as direct to surface. 

I added metallic cardstock to the back of a Deco Frame to create the halo. Admittedly, this covered up the orange in the stencil card that I loved (guess I could have added more orange on the right but I didn't). The Paper Doll was added with foam squares.

I also added a few more things. A bit of lace in her hair and some roses from the Field Notes Ephemera pack. I cut the transparency so the roses could slip behind the words at the top. 

I also added a Quote Chip Label so she had something for her hand to rest on.

The little bird was added (Field Notes ephemera) at the bottom, under the transparency. I wiped Collage Medium over the ephemera and dried it.  Then I colored the image with Distress Crayons (scribbled onto the glass mat, then picked up with a damp water brush). I stitched across the top, then added it to the tag with 2 foam squares.

I also tested out adding some lace to the top under the Vintage Clip. I decided to go with it (more is more), cutting the lace to three scallops for the final use.

A little white paint splatter and then I was done.

Well, now I need to go back to the other projects I'm working on but I'm secretly hoping to work in another project this week. We shall see how it goes and if I can make that happen! Cheers for a great week!

Now carry on,

paula