Saturday, February 23, 2013

Playing with Metal - Tattered Flowers


Today was a good day to just play in my craftroom and try something new. I had been wanting to try making flowers from old soda pop cans.  Tim Holtz recent post is about using the Tattered flowers die and creating all kinds of flowers using different materials.  He used burlap and tissue paper glued on grunge paper for some great creations and is launching a contest.  It is worth checking out here

Here's my finished flower



I started off by cutting the top and bottom off of the soda can.  I used a combination of can opener and the Tim Holtz scissors.  Once done, I simply washed the metal, dried it off and began the project.  I used the Tattered Flowers die with my Big Shot and it cut so easily - only need to pass it through once.

I had LuminArte Silks Acrylic Glaze paints on hand but I wasn't sure if they would adhere to the metal.  I decided to apply a thin coat of gesso and then add my glaze paints.  I used a combination of teal, ginger peach and nutmeg.  Once the paint dried, I used the Tim Holtz textured fade embossing folder on the three flower petals.  Curled the flowers using a small wooden stick and hot glued them together.  A simple, off-white button for the centre.

Having been inspired by Tim Holtz and his spring flowers, i decided to make a Spring-themed card. 
Papers:  K&Company, DCWV
Doily - Tim Holtz die
Cricut - Frames and Birdcage
Pearl embellishment, brad, Stickles in silver and gold
 
The doily was also cut from the soda pop can and painted with Solar Gold and Nutmeg Luminarte glaze.  The frames were cut with my Cricut Expression using Elegant Edges cart and the the birdcage from Straight From the Nest cart.  I simply added a few pearl embellishments, stamped Spring using Ranger archival ink.  Added a bit of Stickles to the birdcage and "Spring"
 
I will be trying some new techniques soon!
 
 

Monday, February 18, 2013

Feeling Like Spring!

It was a cold day today -17 degrees Celsius but with the sun it started to feel like Spring.  I'm looking forward to having the snow melt away and putting away my winter clothes!

During my free time on the weekend,  I experimented with watercolouring with Tim Holtz distress markers and also played with alcohol inks.  I will start today by showing a simple image that was watercoloured. 


Papers: Cold pressed watercolour paper 140 lb 
DCWV Green Stack
K & Company 
 

I used cold pressed watercolouring paper  and cut the basic flower shape using a Spellbinder die.  The image is from an inexpensive stamp from Michaels ($1.50 Cdn).  I coloured the butterfly with Broken China, Faded Jeans and Peeled Paint markers and then added some Stickles to the wing.  The "Spring" frame was coloured in Mustard Seed and I then added a few pearls to the flourish. I then applied Scattered Straw distress ink being careful around the image.  As I was working with the markers, I used a simple round paint brush with a bit of water to blend the colours. It seems to have worked well although I know I can improve with the shading.

I still love my Cricut Expression and the Gypsy for cutting the shapes .  The brown frame was cut using the Elegant Edges cartridge and the green base of the flower is from the Forever Young cartridge. I inked the edges with Vintage Photo.

I added the brads and glued a blue gem on a basic paper clip to add a bit more dimension.

Thanks for dropping by!