Winged Birthday Wishes

Hey there!! Today I thought I would share the second card I made using the same background technique I shared in my last post  but in a different way.  If you followed the link to the video of the technique  you will recall that it was recommended to use water color paper for the background. Call me a rebel a curious soul, but I wanted to see how the technique looked on different papers.  I used a heavier paper, (sorry, I think it was from Walmart.  I no longer have the info on it as it was a NEED STURDY PAPER NOW purchase and I was willy nilly in throwing away the information), along with the water color paper to compare the outcomes.

Recommendations are a good thing.  I liked the outcome of the technique better on the water color paper.  Much crisper image, but if you are looking for a more "water colored" or slightly more imperfect image, try it on card stock.  I'd be interested to see how the images compare from heavier weight to lighter weight card stock too.

Anyhoos!! I decided to use the results from the card stock paper with some punches.

I wanted a very light background paper as the butterflies added quite a bit of pattern on their own.  Again, the card size is a bit larger, 5x5.5" (?).  And I have NO IDEA what retired paper pack I used from my stash on this card as I had pulled out just about every pad I own trying to find a subtle background that wouldn't  distract from the butterflies.  Geesh.  I'm really slipping.  Obviously I'm not pushing any specific products, LOL!! I'm quickly becoming the antithesis of a design team member!!  I DO know that the punches are a combination of Tim Holtz, Martha Stewart and retired Spellbinders.  And the sentiment is retired SU.  Inks are the same as the last card: 

Distress Paints in Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade and Wild Honey.  A mixture of Glimmer Mist Pearl and Luminarte Radiant Rain Pearl Blue. Embossing folder Sizzix Tropical Paisley.

I tried to get a photo of the shimmer on these winged wishes, but I couldn't capture the subtle shimmer. 

More shimmer to come!!

'Till next time.........................I hope you have a fabulous and creative week!! 

Using my Inspiration Boards

How many of you utilize Pinterest?  I LOVE, love, LOVE Pinterest! It is a smorgasbord of unending inspiration and ideas.

And, believe it or not, I actually make recipes from ideas pinned and use my inspiration boards for ideas when creating.  Now if I would actually use the organization and cleaning pins!! snort!!

This past week, I have had to make a total of FOUR  cards in a span of a couple of days.

Four cards.  In a span of a couple of days.  People, I haven't created four cards in a MONTH in a very, veryveryvery long time!!

I needed two cards for office birthdays that we were celebrating the same day at an office lunch.  And, I got asked to make the cards the day before the lunch.   Of course, my creative mojo decided it wanted a vacation.  My Pinterest Inspiration board to the rescue!!

Basically, I took the easy way out and CASEd (copy and stole shared everything) of this fabulous card by beesmom on Splitcoaststampers. , but I had to do it with a twist as I couldn't find a die large enough to cut a frame to fit the  enlarged card size needed for all the office to sign and hold the gift certificates.

And I had a slight problem cutting down on the background!! I REALLY liked it! LOL!!

I wish you could see the shimmer on the background.  Very slight, but eye catching in person! I popped up the main images with dimensional tape to add an extra pop.

Details:  Cards size.  I honestly don't remember. I believe the base was 5"x 5.5".  Distress Paints in Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade and Wild Honey.  A mixture of Glimmer Mist Pearl and Luminarte Radiant Rain Pearl Blue. Embossing folder Sizzix Tropical Paisley.  Dies: Tim Holtz's Garden Greens, Sizzix Bird w/Leaves and Flower.

The technique video that I used for the background can be found here.

I will share the second card I made using this same technique but in a totally different way in a few days! 

Until then................use those inspiration pictures and create!

Epic Failures

This past week creative endeavors were all epic FAILURES.  Not the "I don't like how this turned out" failure. I mean, all out FAIL, as in DID NOT WORK AT ALL FAILURE.

I believe I have mentioned that I was lucky to win a spot in Claudine Hellmuth's Technique Toolbox Class from Big Picture Classes.  Now, even though I have not actually created any projects with the techniques I have learned, I have enjoyed the class immensely! Well, I decided that I wanted to try a couple of the transfer techniques that Claudine shared.

EPIC FAILURE.

Before I explain the EPIC FAILURE let me be perfectly clear that the failure is completely on my end.

I didn't follow the most important step in the directions.

All the transfer techniques require a laser print copy of a picture.  I own an ink jet printer.  And while it has been said again and again that laser prints are easily obtained by visiting your local Kinko's, post office, even grocery store copy machine, the extra steps it would require me to make such copy just did not appeal (or fit into my schedule).

So, I attempted the techniques with ink jet copies that I had sealed with a workable fixative.

Have I mentioned EPIC FAILURE?

I am also apparently a slow learner because I tried not once, but SEVERAL times to get a decent transfer.

Ink jet copy sprayed with fixative and adhered to sticky back canvas.

I actually LOVED this look!!  After peeling off the paper, I left the soaked canvas to dry 

sob, sob!  This is what I came back to a while later!  The wet inks continued to spread and diffuse.  My once cool image was no longer so cool!!

So, I tried this same method AGAIN with the thought that I'd immediately dry the canvas.

Like the picture?!  Uh, the cool thing about transfers is, no two are exactly the same.  And the second transfer totally hit the completely smeared ink level immediately.  

And it went immediately in the trash.

The next transfer technique I tried was into wet gesso.  I heard that sometimes the chalky texture of gesso will allow ink jet copies adhere and work with the transfer.  

Not so much for me!

My next attempt I used a charcoal pencil to outline the darker lines of the image.  I then had a major brain freeze.  I first spread out some distress inks on my surface covered with gesso, BUT didn't think what type of medium I was going to try to have the image transfer into. I placed my copy paper into the wet ink and gave it a rub.  The inks transferred to the paper and this was the result.  Not a transfer, but kind of a cool look!!

So, why did I decide to share all my EPIC FAILURES?

We all know that not every project or idea is a zinger, but yet, all we share are the projects that we deem "presentable" or blog worthy. I decided that I was going to share these EPIC FAILURES because it was time learning.  How can one succeed without the willingness to fail? 

I'm trying to learn to embrace my creative failures.  They might not be blog worthy or "presentable", but they are stepping stones to letting creative ideas flow.  And ideas will eventually lead to success.  It might take several attempts or it might take thousands of attempts, but as long as the ideas keep flowing, one will see creative success.

'Till next time.........don't be afraid to fail!!

Tinting Black and White Photos

Hello People!

I had originally planned on getting this post completed before we left on vacation last week.  Well, it would seem that getting all those little "before you leave on vacation" chores done and trying to get last minute laundry done without a working dryer took up all my time!

Do you have any idea how long it takes to dry a full load of laundry with only air and no heat?!!  I was wishing for a laundry line in the backyard so I could hang up all the clothes!  I'm sure it would have sped that chore up considerably!!!

As I'm sure you didn't drop by to hear my laundry woes, I thought I'd finally share the attempt at tinting the black and white photos I took a couple of weeks ago with acrylic paint.

I'm taking Claudine Hellmuth's Technique Toolbox online class from Big Picture Classes. This particular class may be closed to registration now.  One of the techniques that was taught is to tint black and white photos using acrylic paints and Claudine's Extra Time, slow dry medium.   I don't have this particular medium and as I am really trying to use all the goodies I have accumulated over the years so I tried this technique first with some glaze used for faux painting techniques and with a floating medium from Plaid/FolkArt.

Don't try the glaze. Just sayin'.  The glaze pulled up the ink from my photos rendering a blackish puddle of ick.

The floating medium was more successful as long as I had a light hand applying the paint.  It also pulled up some of the ink from the photos, but I rather liked the effect it created.  I found that the thinner consistency I mixed the paint and floating medium, the better.  If I worked the area too much, I started pulling the ink off the photo.

If you look closely, you can see the petals where the floating medium pulled off some of the ink off the petals.  They would be the ones that have a more blueish tint.  While the faux painting glaze just made a bluish octopus ink smear, I thought the floating medium pulling the ink slightly gave the petals a bit more dimension and shaded look.

This flower I added a bit of a brown tint near the bottom of the petals and along the center. Very faint, but again, adds a bit more dimension and shading.

Oh my!  This is not a success in my book, LOL!!  The streaks that you see on the petals is where the paint and medium just pulled up the print.  I also managed to get a nice black ink smear on one of the petals. By letting the paint dry some, I was able to carefully work out the smudge, but at the expense of pulling up more of the photo base.  This one is NOT a favorite of mine!  Not sure if it is the color, the lack of skill in application or a combination of both!! LOL!

 I am thinking about trying to seal the photos prior to applying the paint and see if I can keep the ink from bleeding. 

Or, I could just take a deep breath and order some of Claudine's Extra Time and see if it makes a difference with my ink jet printer!! HA!

Now to figure out how to use these photos in a project. Or maybe, they will just go in my "possibility" file for a while!

********

Vacation was spent at Flagstaff, AZ and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  I will save all those details for another post! I have decreased the 400+ pictures I took down to 300+, but need to weed out more before posting.  You're welcome! LOL!

'Till next time..............

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

Daisy

Broni

Linda L

Micki

Sherry

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!!

 

Sounds of Distress

The E-Team is bringing you another episode in the Get Distressed series!  Today the focus is on different ways to use the Distress Reinkers and the Distressed Stains.  Of course, Daisy is offering lots of goodies to make getting Distressed so easy!! hehe

2 fun prizes for this blog hop! 2 Distress Stains, 2 Re-inkers, 3 yards each of Maya Road lace trims plus 6 inches of Maya Road Large Organza Rose;

To be eligible to win, visit and comment on each E-Team member blog post;

Broni Holcombe

Latrice Murphy

Linda Duke
( Linda is sitting out this hop!)

Linda Ledbetter

Micki Harper

Sherry Cheever

and

Starla Nelson (that's me!)

You will have from Tuesday-Thurs to leave a comment; Winners will be posted on eP blog Friday, April 8th.

HOLD ON! THERE'S MORE!!

Daisy is offering some wonderful savings at eclecticPaperie!

Re-Inkers - 10% off

Perfect Pearls - 20%(includes kits & individual colors)

Distressed Bundle (won't probably ship until next week)

eP Bundle - This is a special bundle for this blog hop: 2 Distress Stains, 2 matching Re-inkers, a mini mister, 2 yds of seam binding and some lace trims, too.

Now that we've got all the yummy goodies out of the way, LET'S GET DISTRESSED!

I was blog cruising one day and came across Lin's idea to combine the Distress Stains and some paints (I don't have the specific paint she was using, but I DO have lots of acrylic paints!).  So, here is my version of her technique:

Supplies:  Tag, acrylic paint (in a light color), 2-3 Distress Stains.

Grab a tag and apply a somewhat dry coat of acrylic paint.  I used Folk Art's Spring White.  Don't completely cover the tag.

Next, apply your lightest color of Distress Stain in some random streaks along your tag.  Here I used Antique Linen.  Take a paper towel while the ink is still wet and "blend" it into the tag.

 Apply your next color the same way.  This time I used Distress Stain in Weathered Wood

Again, use a paper towel to blend the Stain into the tag. 

Your tag is then ready to use as your background!!  WARNING:  THE PICTURES YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE DOES not UTILIZE THE ABOVE TAG.  While playing around with different color combinations, inspiration was struck to use a different tag.  But I didn't have photos.  And, I KNEW you'd want photos.   

The tag background was created using a combination of Distress Stains in Wild Honey and Fired Brick.  Instead of making my streaks vertical, I went horizontal.  I then spritzed the tag heavily with Glimmer Mist Tuscan Sun.  In real life, there is a pink/orange shimmer to the tag that I could not capture in my photo.  After the tag had dried, I stamped one of the flourishes from Marah Johnson's Art & Soul with Distress Walnut Stain.  The sentiment is from TenSecond Studio's Life, and was stamped with Archival Jet Black ink. 

Then I made another wonderful discovery using the Distress Stains.  I pulled out Wendy's Art Part frames and painted a coat of Claudine Hellmuth's Sable Brown acrylic paint onto the frame (have I ever mentioned how wonderfully silky this paint is?!! Lovely stuff!).  I felt the frame was just a little too "brown" and grabbed the Fired Brick Distress Stain and applied it over the dried paint.  Perfect for adding that bit of red tint!!



FYI:  The Distress Stains also work great applied directly to the Art Parts!  Yes, there is now another red frame just waiting to be made into another project!

Finally, I had to add some metal! If you don't have a piece of metal the color that matches your project, just make your own!  I started out with TenSecond Studio's Kiss Me Pink metal that was die cut using the Tattered Florals die.  Then, after scribbling on them with my pointy refiner, I applied two coats of Mountain Rose alcohol ink (allow the ink to dry between coats or you will just pull off the color).

I layered the Daisy pieces, curling the petals to my liking.  I then cut tiny strips to the middle of the six petaled flower, which makes the strips curl up. A large pearl was colored with my black copic for the center.  E-6000 glue holds everything together.  The leaves were die cut with Sizzix's Branch w/leaves out of Poison Ivy metal.  I used the small butterfly punch from MS on Rock Star black metal and scribbled some lines that were lightly sanded.  The butterfly was suspended by cutting a thin strip of Wendy's Clearly for Art Modeling film and winding it around a pen to make my spring.  Here are a couple of close up pictures:

Finally, the butterfly at the top of the frame was cut with SU's Beautiful Butterflies die out of Rock Star Black metal.  The metal was embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder (swiss dots) and lightly sanded.  I then die cut another butterfly the same size out of  the clear Clearly for Art modeling film.  I stamped it with Archival Jet Black ink with a Stampendous music stamp.  I attached only the bodies of the two butterflies with some Hummungo tape and heated the modeling film so that I could bend the wings over the metal.  Half back pearls were colored with a copic marker for both butterflies.

And the final outcome again:



I hope you enjoyed yet another week of being Distressed!  'Till next time.................

Cheeep!

 

 

Wrinkle Free and Distressed!



Welcome to Part 2 of the Get Distressed series the E-Team is presenting!  Today, the Team is showcasing the Wrinkle Free Distress Technique (tutorial courtesy of our own team member Sherry!)

Of course, Daisy has some great wrinkle free goodies to share with two lucky people!!  All you have to do is leave a comment on each team member's blog for the random chance to win some new goodies that are just hitting the store!    You will have the weekend to leave a comment and the winners will be chosen Sunday night!

Broni H

Latrice M

Linda D

Linda L

Micki H

Sherry C

and

ME!

In all honesty, this has to be just about my FAVORITE technique!  It is perfect for making custom background papers, adding a grunge look to a project or just an excuse to mix and match!!

For the LIFE OF ME, I could NOT get the "blues" to photograph with the actual "sea green" tone that the paper has in real life versus this turquoise color that is invading my photo!  You will just have to take my word on the fact that the "blues" are more green and that the ribbon matches much better in person!!

Quick Tip:  this technique does work best with Distress Inks.  Distress inks maintain their true colors when mixed with water, versus other water based inks, which become diluted. 



Of course, I have my own little twist to this technique.  Instead of swiping my ink across my craft mat in a nice row, I swipe in splotches. I start with my lightest color and then randomly smoosh the ink on my craft mat.

Yes, these are different colors than what I ended up using. This would be step one of a failed attempt at an experiment.  But it illustrates my method just the same!

Then I spritz the inks with Glimmer Mist.  You could easily use Perfect Pearl mists too.  I just happen to have more GM then PP!!



Then I smoosh my paper ( I used a 5 x 5 vanilla tag for my project today) in the beaded up ink.  I usually dry my paper and repeat the steps until I get the look I like. Using a glimmer mist or the like, gives a soft  shimmer to your project adding that little extra punch!



Then comes the fun part!! You can use the paper as it is, or make a custom design paper to match your project (and at 1/2 the cost of regular design paper!!)

I first stamped the Aged Music Sheet from Cornish Heritage farms (no longer available...sorry!) with Distress Tea Dye.  Then I overstamped the Fabulous Flourishes Distress Sage Shadow.  The edges were sponged with Vintage Photo. 

The cage is from the Alterations Die Caged Bird.  It was die cut from TenSecond Studios Dark Chocolate metal, that I "distressed" by wrinkling the metal, then lightly sanding the bumps before smoothing it out with the roller tool in the finishing set.  I cut two frames and attached them only at the top and bottom, rounding out the front frame to give it a more realistic dimension.

The bird (from the same die) and the sentiment frame were cut from Graphic 45's Steampunk Debutante paper line.  I cut the bird out twice.  By chance, the paper pattern lent itself to being the birds legs perfectly!  I cut out the branch from the bird and layered it over the second die cut.  The Spellbinders Label Eleven frame is raised over the sentiment (Flights of Fancy) with dimensional tape. 

The ribbon was from idea-ology findings  Trimmings that I sponged Sage Shadow, a bit of Broken China and Vintage Photo onto.  I FINALLY got it to fray and crinkle by pulling threads (why is it, that ribbon always frays when you don't want it too, but won't do it when you need it too?!!)

The tassel was made with some fine chain that I had in my stash.  It started out silver, but I used some Alcohol Ink in Espresso to darken.  The chain and the beads (again, from my stash) were attached to the cage with  idea-ology jump rings.  The whole sha-bang was adhered to a piece of presentation foam board  with Scor Tape to give it some stability.

I hope you found the E-Team's Distress ideas inspiring and Wrinkle Free! 



Let's Get CRRRAAACCKKIN'!



Hey People!!  The E-Team has another fabulous blog hop for you today!!  Daisy challenged us to pull out some of those goodies that we all have stashed away and GET CRACKIN' for the New Year.

Of course, Daisy also has some wonderful goodies for two lucky blog hoppers!! How's this:

TWO winners will receive a BOX FULL of Paper, a sampling of Distress Stickles & Rock Candy Crackle Paint!

It's easy peasy to get your name in the drawing!  Just visit each of the gals listed below for some wonderful eye candy and leave a comment!! Daisy will visit each blog and winners will be chosen from all the comments. 

 

Latrice Murphy

Linda Duke

Linda Ledbetter

Micki Harper

Sherry Cheever

Starla Nelson  *me!

 

You will have all weekend, though Sunday, to visit and leave your comments on each team member's blog and Daisy will chose the winners and announce them on the eP blog on Monday, January 10th.  

 

Today I'm sharing a an oldie, but goodie technique.  Cracked glass.  BUT!! With a little different spin on it!!

 

You can find a wonderfully written tutorial on Cracked Glass on my favorite resource site, SCS.  But, I thought I'd share my twist on today.  Disclaimer (you knew that was coming, right?  The author (aka ME) takes no responsibility for the blurry pictures of the following abbreviated tutorial. It would seem that SOMEONE was more interested in doing the actual project than worrying about how the photos might look!!)

 

I began with a piece of transparency (I used Office Depot's Write On Transparency) and covered it with Versamark ink.  You could also use embossing ink....this is just what I had on hand.  Cover with Ultra Thick Embossing Powder. 

 

Carefully melt the UTEE with your heat gun.  I kept my heat gun close enough to melt the powder, but not too close as to melt the transparency.  Repeat the above steps 3-5 times (I believe I actually repeated 4 times).  Your transparency now has a thick coating on it.  ETA:  I had a comment stating that the transparency would curl when heating.  Yes, it does a bit, especially the first layer.  But, for me, the added layers of UTEE provided a coating and made the transparency thicker and decreased the curling. 



Then stick the coated transparency in your freezer for 3-5 minutes.  Don't panic if the transparency "curls".  Trust me that it WILL flatten out again!! 

 

Immediately after removing the transparency from the freezer, carefully place it in Tim Holtz's Cracked embossing folder and run it through your Big Shot or Cuttlebug or what ever die cutting machine you use.  Don't worry about any cracking that happens to the frozen transparency while trying to put it in the folder.  It will just add to the cracked look.  The result is a clear cracked window!! 

 

How about a close up of that cracked "window"?!

Just ignore that glare off that "glass", haha

 

You would not have to run the transparency through the embossing folder if you didn't have it.  You could carefully crack the frozen UTEE with your hands.  But those "cracks" will tend to be finer cracks and I was wanting a more dramatic look......as if the winged heart had broken the glass. 

*****

 

Now for the details on the rest of the project.  I started with Wendy Vecchi's Art Parts rectangle frames and randomly applied acrylic paint in black and "maple syrup" brown.  I did this in a more haphazard fashion, not smooth lines.  After a couple of minutes of letting the paint dry, I stamped the smaller of Tim's Fabulous Flourishes with Versamark ink onto the frame and sprinkled Ranger's clear embossing powder over it and heated with my heat gun.   Hindsight:  I should have stamped in black and embossed in black so that the flourishes would show up more!

 

I then used my rinsed out paint brush (bristles still wet) to apply a light wash randomly over the embossed frame with "butter pecan" (tan) acrylic paint.  I immediately wiped off areas with a wet paper towel, so it wasn't so bold. 

The heart and wings were a discarded element for another project. I do know that they were cut using Tim's Winged Heart Alterations die.  The required (haha) metal piece is TenSecond Studios Spiced Rum that was die cut then embossed with Tim's Patchwork embossing folder and lightly sanded.  The heart was attached to the frame with a double layer of dimensionals under the wings. 

The sentiment, from Tim's Just Thoughts stamp set, was stamped with SU's white craft ink and embossed with Ranger's Clear embossing powder.  I added the Locket and Key with Claudine's Multi Matte Medium.

Have I mentioned that the Multi Matte Medium is becoming my favorite go to glue?  OH MY.  It takes a bit to dry, but when it does, NOTHING is going to move.  Just sayin'. 

I used my cropadile to punch a hole for the hitch fastener and wrapped some craft wire around it to hold the key.

The two panels were connected to each other with strips of grunge paper that have some Distress Vintage embossing powder and Distress Vintage ink and Black Soot ink rubbed onto it.  I used a stapler to attached them to the back of the panels.  

And the final project once again

I love the sentiment on this project!! I think I'll clear a space off my work area so that it can be a visual reminder to me to LEAP.

I hope you pull out some of those forgotten supplies and get CRACKIN' on some of these techniques the

E-Team has shared today!! 

'Till then....................remember to LEAP into some creativity!!