Friday, January 27, 2012

CHA!!

Hey People!  Things have been rather crazy around here (as usual!).  I'm just dropping in real quick to say that I'm running around like a chicken with her head cut off getting ready to hit the road to CHA (craft and hobby trade show, for those of you who may not know)!!  Daisy is hosting Sherry, Linda L, Linda D and myself for a wonderful weekend of walking around Newport Beach, Disneyland and of course a in person view of all the new craft and hobby goodies that are coming out in a few weeks!!

I'm hoping to post a few pics along the way, but we'll have to see if I can figure out my new camera, the borrowed notebook from my kid first! hehe!!  Technology and I have a love/hate relationship!

'Till then....

Friday, January 20, 2012

Getting the Faux on..........

Hey People!  The E-Team is starting the New Year with a New Series:  Getting Your Faux On!! 



Of course, it wouldn't be an E-Team hop with out some goodies!!  All you have to do is leave a comment on each Team member's blog for a chance to win one of  THREE $25 eP gift vouchers!  You will have from today, Friday, January 20 until Sunday, January 22 to leave a comment.  Winners will be announced late Monday, January 23 on the eP blog.

E-Team Members
Me!

The lovely Wendy Vecchi posted a fabulous faux technique, Faux Crazed Porcelain, on her blog a while back, using Glue n Seal and Rock Candy Crackle Paint.  Our fearless leader, Daisy, challenged the E-Team to use this technique and see what we could come up with to inspire you to give it a try!!   

I did a lot of experimenting with this technique.  Let me first share my project, then I'll share some tips on what I discovered.

Let's just ignore the fact that I put my cage on base at an angle.  Yes, it really bothers me, as I was wanting it to be straight!  The bent "bars" would be my failed attempt trying to correct the angle of placement after the fact.  Obviously, sometimes you just have to let those little mishaps go. sigh.

I decided to make a decor item or wall hanging.  The base is a piece of foam board that was cut to 6x6".  Two layers of Pure Luxury Ivory card stock the bottom layer is slightly larger than 6x6") were distressed and form the base.  All the decorative papers come from My Mind's Eye 6x6 pad Madison Avenue.  The fall seasonal Distress Ink Gathered Twigs was used to add distressing along the edges of the papers.  The cage was die cut from Ten Second Studios Dark Chocolate metal. It's difficult to tell from the picture, but the cage was bent to form a 3D effect off the base.   The butterflies were punched using a MS butterfly punch and Alterations  movers and shakers  Mini Butterflies. The Clearly for Art modeling film was used to add dimension to the butterflies. 



Other accessories used were Old Lace Glimmer Mist (on the base design paper and the Fleur de Lis "lace", made with the Spellbinder's die), 1/2 back self adhesive pearls (from my stash) and the decorative pearl swirls, also from my stash.  The sentiment tag is just a scrap of Ivory card stock, distressed with Gathered Twigs ink that I wrote the saying on. 

NOW for the faux porcelain!!  One of the surfaces for this technique that I tested was the Clearly for Art modeling film.  I brushed a thin coat of Glue n Seal onto the film and after that had dried, I coated again with the Rock Candy Crackle Paint. I die cut the flower pieces with the Tattered Floral die and then used the reinker for Distress Ink Spun Sugar to color the  flower.  I just dropped several pools of ink onto the film and used a paper towel to rub it into the cracks and wipe off the excess.  The color and technique seemed to hold well, even with the heating of the film to mold the flower petals. 

The center of the flower was made with a Viva Pearl Pen in Cream.  I colored it with Copic markers to match the flower. 

The leaves were done the same way, only I used a transparency sheet from Office Depot for my base. 



Let me share some tips/tricks with you that I learned while exploring this technique.

Surfaces:  This technique works on a variety of "slick" surfaces.  I tested it on glass, transparency and Clearly for Art modeling film.  You MUST use the Glue n Seal (or perhaps Elmer's Glue) for a base for the crackle paint to adhere too.  Otherwise, the crackle paint will rub off!!  A thicker layer of crackle paint will yield larger cracks, but I have found it takes a VERY thick layer to get large cracks.  You can speed up the drying process with your heat gun once you notice the cracks appearing.  Just beware that if you happen to hit a thicker pocket of paint, it may bubble with the heat gun.  It can sometimes result in a different texture than the rest of the cracks.  I'm not sure if that is from the paint or perhaps the glue bubbling. 

I also tried this technique on Ten Second Studio's metal, using the same methodology. While the technique works on the metal, I found that the cracks were sooo fine, that they were difficult to see with the shine of the metal. And I'm still experimenting as to what type of inks I could use to highlight the cracks more. I really wanted LARGE cracking on the metal versus the fine cracking that I was getting more often than not. So far, I have found that it takes a VERY, VERY thick coat to crack large on the metal, but that is not consistent. I also tried to speed up the drying process of the paint, once cracking was noticed, with my heat gun, but it seems to have a reaction with the glue/paint/metal and results in a change in color of the metal. I will be experimenting more with this technique and metal and will let you know what I come up with at a later date!!

Coloring:  Surprisingly, Distress Stains and the Distress ReInkers seem to color the faux porcelain without rubbing off.  I found that I could get a second layer of color on if I allowed the first layer of color to dry.  I still need to test permanent inks to see how those will color.  The mottling effect of darker Alcohol inks tended to obscure the detail of the cracks since the ink will adhere to the smooth surface under the cracks.  The lighter color of inks look FAB!

Other:  I also tried using the glue as a base for other crackle paint on these same surfaces.  Worked well, but you obviously don't get the transparency as you do with the Rock Candy crackle paint. 

 Tip:  If you by chance find that your crackle paint has dried up, mix in some water.  It doesn't seem to affect the crackling compound of the paint.  DO NOT  use a glaze to thin the paint.  That, DOES seem to affect the crackling!!  Also, Linda L, had a great suggestion to store your paints and Distress Stains upside down to help prevent air from getting into the jars and bottles.   Just tip the paint jars upright for a minute or so, before using them, and the paint will drip off the brush back into the jar.

I hope that you found this technique inspiring and will give it a try! 

'Till next time.................explore a new technique or experiment, with a twist, using an old favorite technique!!
 

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Inspired for a Simple Embossed Thanks

Hey People!  I'm still having a hard time finding my mojo.  Yesterday, I spent the ENTIRE day trying to get a couple of technique ideas to work for the next E-Team hop, to no avail.  Frustrated does not begin to express my creative mind right now! haha!!

I decided to step away from that project today and focus on getting some very belated Christmas thank you's done.  Since I need to mass produce a few and considering the fact that they are to be from my kiddos (no girly girl stuff allowed by my boys!), I went with a CAS (clean and simple) layout.  I really liked the CAS Challenge for this week on SCS and used that as my starting point.  I was also inspired by Joan's Tone on Tone Dimension card and added my own twist. 


I spent more time trying to decide on what sized circles I wanted than I did die cutting and embossing the elements for 5 cards! HA! Go figure!! 

Deets:  Card base is Pure Luxury Ivory.  Circles are from scap PL Ivory and were die cut using Spellbinders Circle Nestabilities. Embossed with a Cuttlebug folder Diamonds.  The sentiment was die cut using Cuttlebug Olivia alphabet (this is a bonus die with the set). from SU's Taken with Teal card stock. 

EASY! 

I'm going to go finish assembling the rest of the cards.  Then take a deeeeep breath and go back to work on another technique idea. Make sure and check back on Friday to see if I got anything to work! haha!

'Till then................remember that not all ideas are destined to work.  Failure is the stepping stones to success.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

S...T...R....E....T...C...H...I...N....G...

Hey Peoples!  Did you give up on me ever posting again?  I was beginning to wonder!  It is just rather weird.  I have ideas that I really want to try, but just lack the motivation to sit down and actually work on them.  Maybe I'm still burnt out from the mad rush of the holidays.  Maybe it's the fact that I still haven't finished getting my creative area back up to a level of where I have space to work.  I don't know.  Maybe it is just plain and simple laziness!!

Despite all of the above  (or none of the above, as the case may be) I got hit with bug to actually create last night.  I was cruising the various challenges on SCS and the sketch challenge sparked an idea.  In the flow of creativity, my third panel may be a bit of a stretch, but! I can see it clearly! haha


Deets:  card base is 5.5 square Pure Luxury white.  Red card stock was found in my scrap pile.  Design paper is BoBunny Timepiece.  Vintage Photo ink was used to distress all the edges.  Idea-ology Findings Timepieces and  Sprocket Gears were added with glue dots and dimensionals (under the clock).  

Somewhere I got the notion that I wanted to use the old style of label makers for my sentiment, which was going to require me to make a run to an office supply store to buy one. 

First:  Did you know that electronic label makers are now the norm?  I had to call the Toad at work to see if he would run to the office supply store by his office after my search failed.  He did find one, but called me back to say that for a little bit more, I could have a nice electronic one

Uhhh.  Thanks for thinking of me, but I, uhhh, already bought one of  those!  I just want the old fashioned one for a card.

  Silence.  "So, I'm spending $13 so you can make ONE  card? 

No.  You are spending $13 so that I will have it to make other projects in the future. 

And being the prince that the Toad is, he came home with my old fashioned label maker!

Second:  This is where the s...t...r...e...t...c..h...i...n...g  comes in.  I just happened to check out the Ways to Use It challenge on SCS this morning.

STICKERS. 

I decided that since I had to peel off the backing for my labels, and stick it to my card, that counts as stickers. 

Yes?! 

I'm sticking with the theory that they count!  BWHHAAAAA!!

I think that this will be the Toad's Valentine's card. I think it is only fitting, since he spent the $$ to make it! hehe.  Plus, I really do think it is perfect for a guy card!


Alrighty then!!  'Till next time............strrrreeeetttcccchhh  yourself creatively!!


Sunday, January 8, 2012

And 2012 is off to a Roaring Start

Hey Peoples!  The first week of January is done.  Have you found your groove yet?!  This  past week has been spent getting back into the schedule of school, sport practices and games and deal with  a stomach bug that hit the household.  Well, actually, it just hit me.  But! When mom is down, it affects everyone!!  The bummer part of this particular bug was, I wasn't sick sick to my stomach.  Just had  pain and slight nausea everytime I ate.  So, I didn't eat. 

Now, that sounds like an ideal way to quickly drop a few of those extra holiday pounds. But let me tell you, this is NOT the way to do it. 

Food = Calories = Energy.

No food = No Calories = NO ENERGY at all. I, sadly, am not one of those who can function on a piece of peanut butter toast for the day. 

I also came to the conclusion that the reason those waif thin models lounge in all the photo layouts is because they don't have the energy to stand up.  I am no where near 5'10" and if I can't move on eating nothing, it's no wonder they can't hold themselves upright under all those hot lights.

I may be stretching this comparison a bit between myself and tall, waif thin models.  It is possible that I was starting to hallucinate due to lack of food.  But, I do think it is a plausible theory!!

ANYHOOS!  My lack of energy  was absolutely pathetic.  I'd get up, get the kids to school and go back to bed for a couple of hours.  Then, try to get something small done, such as, unload the dishwasher, and have to rest again.  I didn't even have the energy to spend time looking at Pinterest on the computer. 

I'm telling you, it was BAD!!

But as quickly as it hit me, it went away.  Yesterday I even went hiking for a couple of hours.  AND FELT FINE. 

Go figure. 

So my first week of January was rather a bust.  But I have high hopes for the next 3 weeks. The first step will be to clean off my desk.  While in my energy deprived stupor, I actually came up with a couple of new ideas that I'd like to try.  Exploring something new. 

So, on with my supermom cape (no outfit.  I didn't lose that much weight!) to tackle the laundry and my desk.

'Till next time...............think about exploring something new!!