12 Tags of 2016-April-Technique Remix-Faux Mosaic-Paint Resist

Hello crafty friends! Here it is almost the end of the month, and until yesterday, I still had no idea on how I was going to create Tim's April Remix tag, other than I knew I wanted the mosaic portion to look like the blue Transferware I collect. I had none of the products listed on hand or in the local craft stores, as usual, but out of necessity comes creativity!

I used Tim's old Motif paper stash for the background, and followed his instructions here to the letter.  Love those flicks and splatters! Here's Tim's inspirational tag. I've got to get my hands on that Distress Woodgrain Cardstock, because it sure looks like REAL wood on Tim's tag!

While I have plenty of BIGZ dies I could choose from to make the mosaic portion, I wanted to use the new-to-my-local craft store Detailed Butterflies Thinlits die. I found this while I was out looking for the woodgrain cardstock the other day.  Still a productive craft store shopping trip! To do the mosaic technique you need a sturdy surface to apply the grout to. Thinlits do not cut heavy chipboard, so I found a tissue box in my trash, and used that.  I cut two of each of the "background" butterflies that come in the 4 die set, and glued the die cut pieces together for a sturdy surface.

I had to make my own grout, but I won't spoil the fun for Tim, and tell you what I used.  Let's just say if you are into baking, you probably have this ingredient. That and two craft room staples, and you have grout! Judging from Tim's wonderful video, I think I will invest in some of his grout--it would be much neater and easier to use!

To make my Transferware pattern, I used a stamp from Tim's Flights of Fancy set and inked in Cobalt Archival ink. I stamped on gesso coated card-- first and second generations so I could get 2 shades of the blue you see on the Transferware. I used Archival ink, because I wanted to use Distress Crazing to give it that aged look.  Unfortunately, even though I dried my ink, the Crazing brought out a little pink tones from the Archival. I tested using Distress Blueprint ink first and even more pink tones came out. After drying the Crazing medium, I swiped on Antique Linen Distress Crayon with my finger. Note to self:  "take your time-spread like peanut butter, and you will get nice fine cracks". I spread mine too thin, but didn't have time to re-do. Still, I think having the extra body made it easier to cut the little shapes.  You can see my experiment with Blueprint Sketch Distress ink and Vintage Photo crayon n the left corner of the paper in photo below. I have enough stamped paper left to try another project!

I followed the rest of Tim's instructions to make my mosaic butterflies. I'm still happy with the end result, but this stuff about it being "therapeutic" gluing on those tiny scraps is certainly not my point of view! I'm a glue phobe to start with, and half blind, so this was not FUN for me, but the end product is certainly worth every second spent! Maybe it's time for readers!

I stamped another image from the same set in Jet Black Archival on the background, added a few Remnant Rubs and a Vial Label blended with Antique Linen ink. A word token was colored with Picket Fence Distress Crayons. I love these crayons, and now have all the colors! More colors please, Tim! I attached the token to my old stash of Tim trimmings using a Loopy pin.  The trimming was colored using the same colors as the background.

Great techniques, and a real treasure of a tag! Can't wait to see what Tim has in store for us next month!

I would like to enter my tag into the following inspiring challenges:

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2016-April

-Emerald Creek Dares It's A Charmed Life

Stamps and Stencils April Challenge-Trash to Treasure I used a tissue box to make my butterflies.

-Southern Ridge Trading Company Anything Spring My colors and butterflies are inspired by spring!

-Country View Challenges April challenge-Spring

A Vintage Journey #40 Spring Is In the Air Blue and Butterflies say spring to me!

Frilly and Funkie It's Not Easy Being Green I used a tissue box to make my butterflies.

Happy Little Stampers April Mixed Media Challenge Wings

-Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge Show Us Your Metal

-Mixed Media Place April Challnege Creative Gym # 18 Be Patient. The Best Things Come Unexpectedly I was impatient with the mosaic technique, but Wow! I was rewarded in the end!

Thank you for stopping by today, and for all your lovely comments! I read and appreciate each and every one of them!

Hugs and Blessings!

Sara Emily

Sneak Peek--Anything But Cute Tutorial

Hello crafty friends!  Here's a sneak peek of a tutorial posted at Anything But Cute today.  I'll be tempting you with texture, so be sure to pop over to see a few ideas for creating visual and tactile texture on your Mixed Media projects.

If you want to learn how you can get this great rusty patina in just 3 easy steps, why not head on over now? I have even more texture on my previous post here.

Hugs and Blessings!

Sara Emily

Recycled 100 Percent

Hello everyone! I apologize for the false start earlier! I was posting away, and my Internet was not saving my work. I accidentally hit the publish button WAY before my post was ready to be published. Onto my project, a wall hanging made completely out of trash!

Suzz at Frilly and Funkie  and Autumn at Stamps and Stencils would like us to use recycled materials to make an art project to celebrate Earth Day or to just see what we can create  giving materials a second life.  I took them literally for their challenges and made my wall hanging entirely out of things headed for the trash, and some I actually pulled out of the trash can!  I will have a few process shots at the end of this post if you are interested in seeing how I took this trash to treasure! I challenged myself to use only what I had in my pile of trash, but in the end, I had to use some other trash-worthy flowers, because the ones in my pile were too large.

 

I have lots of photos to share, because this is a fairly large piece--10 inches

    in diameter--with lots of details.

If you remember my trip to my neighbor- Hilda's- house last month, you'll recall I picked up a few crafting goodies that were getting ready for a heave hoe into a giant dumpster, as the junk men came to clear out her house. I picked up a box of keys and a few metal pieces--one looks like a drawer pull back plate and another is a charm with a gold colored "gem" in the center. I thought these would add interest to my piece.

The crusty, well-loved paint brushes were some I found in a can of paints and related materials given to me by a friend a few weeks ago. The caked on paint and the black handles were what inspired my color scheme.The rusted lid of that can, by the way, is my "canvas". I thought the brushes were just so pretty just as they were, so I didn't do anything but wrap them up with that piece of stray raffia, bound first by the wire "vein" of one of those lacy green leaves you see in my pile of trash. The gaskets came from my friend's dearly departed father's tool shed. I purchased one of his tool boxes from his estate sale last fall to remember him by. There's lots more where they came from...seems he liked to save trash, too! You never know when you might need just the right sized do-hickey!

Those girls are just adorable, aren't they? This is a photo from a Jones soda carton like the one pictured above--my son's beverage of choice. I just found 3 empty 4 packs in my secret stash! Hmmmm....I wonder if he's on to my hiding spot? Since he's the only soda drinker in the house, I think it's safe to point the finger at him!

Of course, I had to add some RUST! I found this piece of very badly rusted metal in our driveway.  I think it fell off the trailer my husband borrowed from a friend. I hope he doesn't want it back; the rust, I mean.

I painted a little Bubblegum Pink Dylusions spray on the originally gold colored gem to balance the pink flower petal pieces I added from my stash  trashcan (not in the original pile of junk).  I was actually going through my stash the other day looking for things to THROW OUT and had tossed these and those blue ones! (Believe it or not!)

The following shot shows stenciling done with texture paste and a TCW stencil, followed by black gesso and DecoArt Weathered Wood, and a final coat of white gesso.

 And to provide balance and add contrast, a Tim Holtz Mixed Media die cut from my "maybe I'll use it later" box placed on the opposite side. In the recesses I added white paint, Weathered Wood and then Black Soot Distress paint, drying between layers. I love how the Harlequin echos the diamond cut of the piece of ribbon I adhered nearby. More stencil work and Crackle paste with another TCW stencil--"Art Is" and a Tim Holtz Speckles Layering Stencil.

 Here's that metal drawer pull backer--(quite coincidentally)--with more of that diamond pattern at the center! Lucky me! I found three of these!

Some stamping on the key--appropriate words from the Stampers Anonymous Classics #12 set. I had to do some finagling to get it to fit right on the key.

And now for the ugly technicals:

All that great rust on the lid! I sealed it with a yard sale bottle of Folk Art Outdoor sealer. My initial thought was to save the rust to be a part of my design, but that didn't work as planned. I sealed the rusted metal piece, too.

 

I can't believe I had the foresight to add a hanger on the back before starting! This was a piece from that pile of junk adhered with 527.

After adding the hanger and sealing my lid and rust piece, I gave it a coat of black gesso, dried, adhered some background trash, and added stenciling. My background pieces: at the top a leftover piece of card which I had embossed with an embossing folder, fussy cut and tested embossing powders on (reverse side)   a piece of burlap I was testing paints on, and a piece of mesh ribbon. Front and center- a negative from the Postage Stamp die cut, a ring from a mayonnaise jar, and two pieces of corrugate board--the one of the left a test piece and the tiny square on the right from one of my latest projects. Down the left that metal piece from Hilda's and a piece of a lacy leaf from a yard sale  flower stem (I cut off the flowers, and threw the leaf in the trash can.) Behind it all a strip from the top of a spiral bound watercolor page. Thanks to my blog friend Autumn of Sew Paper Paint for that little tip!  You should make time to visit her blog for some awesome inspiration! More lacy leaf cuts and my special charm I found at Hilda's house adorn the bottom.  This looks horrible here, and I really started questioning my sanity at this point in the process, and gave up taking photos.

I gave it a coat of white gesso, after laying down some Weathered Wood on the diamonds and within the mayo ring, and it looked much better. I spritzed with Dylusions Vibrant Turquoise and water to blend and push around the color I splattered more Turquoise straight off the hose removed from the bottle and flicked on watered down Black Soot Distress paint. Some stamping and Remnant Rubs finish the background. Those grunge board flower petals were colored with gesso and Turquiose spray and adhered. I thought it best to quite there and call it found art.

I would like to enter my junk wall hanging into the following inspiring challenges:

Frilly and Funkie It's Not Easy Being Green

Stamps and Stencils April Challenge Trash to Treasure "Found Object" stamp, TCW and Tim Holtz stencils

Emerald Creek Dares It's a Charmed Life!

Our Creative Corner Gypsy Fayre colors: turquiose and pink and purple, yellow, and green ( on brushes) I was also inspired by the large amount of goodies the Gypsies carried aboard their caravan.

Creative Artiste Challenge #13 Anything Goes Option of Chipboard, Stencils or Flowers I used chipboard (the girl's image is chipboard), stencils and flowers.

Paperminutes #431 Pastel Colors

Mixed Media Place April Challenge Creative Gym #18 Be Patient. The Best Things Happen Unexpectedly. I was regretting making this before the final coat of gesso and sprays went on. Then, it turned into one of my favorite mixed media pieces!

Southern Ridge Trading Company Anything Spring (I think my colors are spring-like, and the girls look like they are enjoying a beautiful spring day outdoors!

Country View April Challenge Spring (Same as above)

Creative Inspirations Challenge 249 Your Favorite Things RUST, gesso, texture are three of my favorite things.

Thank you for stopping by today and for all your amazing comments! I read and appreciate each and every one of them! If you have any questions, please just ask.

Hugs and Blessings!

Sara Emily

Scrapy Land Guest Designer--Oh, Happy Spring!

Hello, crafty friends!  I'm back today as Guest Designer at Scrapy Land where the theme is "Oh, Happy Spring!" using any brand of dies that Scrapy Land sells in their shop. I chose to make a Mother's Day card for my Mom.

Dies used (all brands that Scrapy Land sells):

Impression Obsession Foliage

Poppystamps Theo Butterfly

Prima Forest Leaves

Sizzix Tattered Florals

Sizzix Weathered Clock

Sizzix Tag and Bookplates

Sizzix Tattered Flower Garland

Tattered Lace Ornate Leaves

I chose the beautiful papers by Graphic 45 "A Time to Flourish" inspired by the gorgeous makes by my friend Kathy Clement of Kathy By Design. Kathy does amazing things with the many Graphic 45 collections, so be sure to pay her a visit. I stamped the base card around the edge with an image from Graphic 45's A Time to Flourish set in Wilted Violet Distress ink and blended the edges with Frayed Burlap Distress ink. I added two heat embossed butterflies to the background panel using a TCW stencil and white embossing powder. Additional papers were distressed and layered over corrugated card board which I painted with gesso.

At the center of my card is the beautiful and versatile Weathered Clock by Tim Holtz for Sizzix.  This is my go-to die, and this time I gave it a simple treatment of Rock Candy Distress Glitter and Stampin' Up Dazzling Diamonds Glitter. I used a piece of waste packaging for the clock hands as well as the sentiment's frame and swiped on Distress inks in Mowed Lawn and Forest Moss. This card has a glossy finish to it, so the ink went on with an old worn wood grain texture. That's why I save my trash! The pearl brad and string are from my stash.

I layered up the Theo butterfly and gave him a dusting of Dazzling Diamonds. The bottom butterfly is colored with Wilted Violet Distress ink.

My handmade flowers and buds were colored with Wilted Violet Distress Spray Stain and the leaves of the buds, Mowed Lawn Distress Stain. I tucked in a bit of Queen Anne's Lace from my stash. As a child I remember my Mom teaching us how to die the flower by putting a little food coloring in the water, and the Queen Anne's Lace will drink it up. I kept my foliage white to show off the flowers.

I would like to add my card to the following inspiring challenges:
A Vintage Journey #40 Spring is in the Air
Country View April Challenge-Spring
Happy Little Stampers April Mixed Media Challenge Wings

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Butterfly Beauty
Southern Ridge Trading Company Anything Spring
Emerald Creek Dares Anything Goes
Our Creative Corner-Gypsy Fayre I chose green, pink, purple and was inspired by the change and adventure of the gypsy soul.  Frilly is not my usual style but I needed change and adventure!
Word Art Wednesday Challenge #226-227 Anything Goes
Creative Inspirations Challenge #249-Your Favorite Things The color purple, flowers, my Weathered Clock die cut, and butterflies!
Craft Rocket Challenge #13 Favorite Color Combo Purple and White
Scraps and Pieces Emporium- April Challenge-Be Romantic I used lace and flowers.

I hope you like my card...I know my Mom will! She loves purple! 

Thank you for stopping by today and for all your wonderful comments!  I read and appreciate each and every one of them.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

 Hugs and Blessings!

Sara Emily