Chunky Art!!

Today is eclecticPaperie's 4th Anniversary and the E-Team is throwing a blog hop party that you will NOT believe!! We are going out of the box and straight to the wall studs on this one!! Are you ready for it?!  Chunky Tags!!



Now for those of you who have never heard of Chunky tags, think 2 x 4's.  Yep!!  Those scraps of wood are being transformed into works of art!!  To add to the celebration, Daisy is offering something new on the store site, CHUNKY KITS!! 

Look at all those wonderful goodies!! Each full kit will retail for $25.  WARNING!  There are only 25 kits available, so if you want one, grab it early!!

Also available will be a "Just the Wood, please" kit.  It will retail for $5. 

It gets even better! Daisy is also offering not ONE, but TWO $25 gift certificates to a couple of lucky winners!!  All you have to do is make sure you drop by each of the design team blogs within the next 48 hours and leave a comment.  Daisy will choose the winners from all the comments left and post the winner name's Friday, January 21, on the eP blog.

Broni Holcombe
Latrice Murphy

Linda Duke

Linda Ledbetter

Micki Harper

Sherry Cheever

and

ME!  Starla Nelson

I have been wanting to do one of these tags ever since I first saw them on Sherry's blog several months ago. 
 And let me tell you~~this will not be the last of these you will see from me!!  I had soooo much fun creating this:

The "Wanted" photo is one from a stack of  pictures on tin plates the Toad's father found in his parent's belongings when he was helping them move to a nursing home.  No one has any idea (or has the memory of) who the people are.  This particular photo was just perfect for my "Wanted" poster!



and this:

along with this

and lastly, but not least, this

Here's a couple of close up shots of the flowers.  I wish  the photographer (ahem) had the skills to show how the light catches the different embossing lines on the petals.  In real life, the light reflecting off the metal just adds another element to these embellishments!!

 this next flower is probably my favorite!!

The Toad didn't quite get the connection between the western theme of "Wanted" and all the flowers. My way of thinking was this:  Outlaw Art.  It's creating something that is different, but appeals to ME.  These metal flowers appealed to me!  Aaaannd.....the story in my head was that the "Wanted" poster had been up on the post for a long time.  It is frayed and weather worn.  The wild flowers have grown up and around the post in the years that it has been up.  Adding a soft touch to the rebel outlaw(s). 

Now, I'm all for giving credit where credit is due and these metal flowers were totally inspired by Lin of Yoursartfully!! She has the most wonderful tutorials on the right side of her blog for making different flowers out of metal. Of course, I added my own little twist here and there! 

Rather than spend all day giving step by step on the making of this tag, here are several helpful hints or insights:

A)  I did not do any special preparation to the wood to prepare it for altering.  I painted (no primer) the sides and edges just enough to give me coverage just in case my paper or metal did not completely cover.

B)  I used Claudine Hellmuth's matte multi medium to glue my paper to the chunky tag. 

C)  To change the tone of the Barn Red metal and to add color to the plain aluminum, I used alcohol inks. 

      To make a darker shade, just let the first application dry and apply some more ink until it is the color you

      like. The TenSecond Studio colored metal is colored on one side and plain aluminum on the   other side.  If you run out of a color, or, if you are like me, lacked the color you wanted to use, grab another sheet of metal, flip it to the aluminum side and  just make your own custom color!                                            

                                                                           

                                                       Before the ink is applied

and after

yes, after this photo was taken, I realized that I had missed a spot on the "daisy".  Which worked out fine, since I wanted the color to be more intense and added another layer of ink!!



D) Do any metal embossing BEFORE you alter with alcohol ink, otherwise you may rub off the ink with the pressure of the tools

E)  I adhered my flowers together with E6000.  You can use a hot glue gun also, but remember!!  You are  

      working with metal, and metal can become VERY hot!  I did use a hot glue gun to adhere the completed

     flowers to the chunky tag.  I was just too impatient to allow the E6000 to dry. 

F)  The sides of the tag were done using a mold.  I used a paper stump to bring out the image, then a refiner

      for the details.  I then applied acrylic paint and let it try about 30 seconds before wiping off with a paper

      towel.

G)  I used Hummungo sticky tape to adhere the metal to the wood.  It will NOT move, trust me!! Tombow liquid metal glue was used to adhere the "Wanted" and "Rebel" lettering to the metal. 



H)  I'm a computer dunce and could NOT figure out how to download a font that matched the Vintage Market strip die.  So I enlarged the letters by 200% on my copier/printer.  pfffffllllltttttt.  Whatever it takes to make it work!! LOL!

Supplies:  Stamps:  SU's Wanted. 

                 Inks:  Distress Ink in Vintage photo, Old Paper, Antique Linen, Walnut Stain.  Alcohol inks in Espresso and Latte.

                 Paper:  Como Cricket's Wanted, TenSecond Studio metal sheets in Barn Red, Gina K's Vanilla Pure Luxury. 

                 Accessories: 2 x 4 block of wood,  TenSecond Studio metal tools and Kubuka mold #13, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Old Lace, Alterations dies Vintage Market and Elegant Flourishes, and Tattered Florals.   Claudine Hellmuth's matte multi medium and Sable Brown paint, Folk Art Licorice acrylic paint, Vintage Photo Distress embossing powder.  Paper "barbed wire" from personal stash.  Hot glue gun, E6000 glue, Scor-tape, Tomobow liquid metal glue and  Hummungo Sticky tape. 

I just have to say that this piece of art churned my MoJo into high gear!!  I seriously cannot wait to make more of these chunky tags!! 

Till then....................make outlaw art!!