Wednesday, February 9, 2011

GC90 Charms + Wednesday Stamper + a Tutorial!

This piece was originally inspired by the supply challenge over at the Gingersnaps Creations blog. We're supposed to pull out those charms that we've been hoarding and put them to good use! Since the ongoing monthly theme is 'Royalty', I thought a crown would be appropriate. Amazing that such a tiny thing could inspire a whole piece! In addition, the romantic feel fits perfectly with today's Wednesday Stamper theme: Expressions of Love.

My flower above was inspired by two artists: Penny Bennington, who did a fantastic tutorial on color-washed coffee filters, and Angie Hall Haviland, who makes the prettiest coffee filter flowers. I am now hooked on combining these two techniques!

If you are ever unsure of what color Distress Crackle Paint to buy - get Picket Fence! After it dries, you can use your Distress inks to make it any color you want. My bird was cut from chipboard using Tim Holtz's Caged Bird die. I painted it with Picket Fence Crackle Paint (didn't the crackle come out great?!). When it was dry, I inked it with Chipped Sapphire Distress ink.  If you check out the picture above this one, you can see that I also used PF over the Lettuce paint on the edge of the piece - I love the peeled, vintage-looking paint effect.

Ok, this is my favorite part of all - Faux Enamel Number Tag!! If you read my last post, you'll remember that I stumbled upon a fantastic blog - Can't Stop Making Things - where I found a very cool technique for creating French enamel tags. I didn't have most of what she used, so I decided to adapt it to what I had on hand. With many thanks to the originator of this technique, here is my version (apologies for the pic quality, this was a quickie iPhone shoot!):

Step one: cut out tag from chipboard. If you don't have a die, you could also use a circle punch (or whatever you desire) and add a hole with a smaller punch. Note:  Do you ever buy something because it's a great deal, even though you have no idea what you're going to do with it (I know you're all saying, "YES!")? Well, that's where this little die came from. Our local scrapbook/stamp store was getting rid of a lot of items and I snagged this tag die and a round one (used on yesterday's tag) for only $1 each! My good friend Cyndi assured me that they would work in my Cuttlebug and they do.

Step two: Paint piece using white acrylic paint. You may need several coats. Let dry completely.

Step three: When completely dry, stamp your numbers or letters using permanent black ink. The original tut called for Stazon. I tried it and mine ended up bleeding after I started embossing (this might have been because the original tech didn't use Versamark). I used Memories, which worked perfectly.

Step four: Coat entire piece with Versamark and cover with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE). Emboss using your heat gun. Repeat this process about three times. You want a nice thick coating, to give it the look of enamel.

Here you have it! Your own French enamel tag - and it probably didn't cost you a dime! As you can see, mine's a bit dirty looking. I grabbed the wrong Versamark pad and it had all kinds of goobers on it. I didn't realize that until my piece was already embossed the first time. I actually think it adds to the look of it! If you want, you can ink around the edges with black or brown ink to give it more of a grungy look.

Thanks so much for stopping by - I hope you're inspired by all of these artists as I was. Make sure you visit their blogs and give them some love. :-)

Supplies used: Lettuce Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber, Picket Fence Distress Crackle Paint, Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink, Worn Lipstick Distress Ink, Pumice Stone Distress Ink, Tim Holtz Caged Bird Die, Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die, Tim Holtz Styled Labels Die, Tim Holtz Paper - Lost and Found, Tim Holtz Stamps - Reindeer Flight, Idea-ology Philosophy Tags, Idea-ology Swivel Clasp, Idea-ology Hitch Fasteners.

36 comments:

  1. Thanks for the tute, the project looks fabulous!

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  2. Its gorgeous, love the different elements

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  3. Thankyou for the wonderfull tutorial,
    your piece is lovely, and I love the dangles.
    xo Dorthe

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  4. Thanks a heap Shelly for the tutorial, I will have a go at this, and your Project is very pretty.
    Smiles:)

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  5. wow simply stunning !! fabulous attention to detail too.
    Hope your week is going well.
    take care for now
    Hugs June

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  6. Gorgeous! Can't wait to try the faux enameled numbers. Your friend Cyndi sounds like a very wise woman.

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  7. HOW BEAUTIFUL!! Great piece Shelly!! Vic S. told me to RUN over and see your post....WOW was I SHOCKED to see my name LOL Yes, I am guilty...I am such a coffee filter flower addict!! :)They are just soooo FUN to make! Thanks so much for your sweet compliment!

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  8. What a gorgeous work of art! I can't wait to look at the tutorial--thank you for sharing! Smiles, Jann

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  9. Beautiful work Shelly, love it. Annette x

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  10. Hi there again Shelly, you're my kind of crafty friend. I like how you use what you have on hand.
    Thanks for a great tut.
    Must give this a go.
    Lesley xo

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  11. Love the enameling! I have those same dies too! I would try this, but I don't have any Utee. I know, shame on me! But will def try this when I do. Thanks for sharing with us!
    Pam

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  12. just gorgeous!!! great tutorial too!!! thank you for the inspiration!!!
    chelle

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  13. This is wonderful Shelly, that flower is gorgeous! And a wonderful tute on the enameled piece, what a great faux finish!

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  14. Your piece is lovely, Shelly. I really like the soft spring colors and all the crackle paint. Your French enamel tag is wonderful. Thanks so much for the tutorial. I am really on a roll with enamel this week and can't wait to try it!

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  15. your faux enamel tag tutorial is super coooooool !!!!!!!!!!!
    thank you so much!

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  16. Great work!Thanks for the tutorials!
    LG Anke

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  17. Wow,this is a great an faboulus,i lobe the colors and all elements,its very beautifull,i love it.


    Hugs and smile Jeannette

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  18. A simply ADORABLE tag, Shelly! Love the little flecks (you didn't notice at first) as it makes it really look enamel! Terrific job and thanks for the tutorial. Will have to try it sometime. Have a wonderful weekend and hope it involves some crafting time:)
    - Debbie Kaste

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  19. I'm back! I wanted to read the tutorial on the faux enameling, and it's just fantastic! I would love to know how to make the coffee filter flowers, also--I did visit both of the blogs your mentioned, and Penny's had the instructions on how she colored her filters, but I can't figure out how the flowers are actually made. Your flower is gorgeous, and if you have time, could you share how you made it? All of your art is just beautiful!

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  20. Thanks for sharing the technique! I can't wait to try it. :-)

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  21. Fantastic work, thanks for the great tutorial.

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  22. I went and looked at the original post for the tag. I would be a bit scared to do it with the electric fry pan. I like how you did it and this is the way I would choose to do them. thank you for coming up with a different way-and a bit more friendly for us. KSH

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  23. Shelly - thanks for the tutorial! Love that enamel heart!

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  24. WOW what a gorgeous creation! Thanks for sharing the tutorial.
    Have a nice weekend,
    Anja

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  25. Oh how cool!!! Most of my dies are packed but I'll have to see what I can come up with. I just love how you experiment and come up with you own techniques - and then share them with us!!! :D

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  26. Shelley it's been too long!! I love this - a grteat combination of soft and metllic! Brilliant! =)

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  27. I love this too! Am going to have to read through your whole blog!

    Lucy x

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  28. I love this technique, I can't wait to give it a try. Who makes the number stamps? I love them!

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  29. Your charm is PERFECT! I thought it was a real vintage enamel charm when I saw it on the GC blog - leave it to you to come up with a great idea to share :-) So sweet of you to mention me in your post - glad we can inspire each other.

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  30. I know this comment is in tghe wrong place, but wanted you to know that your Ginger Tut was great andd so is the flower one above.

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  31. I LOVE how you adapted my tutorial. It warms my heart to know that I have inspired people because so many have inspired me.

    Gail ( Can't Stop Making Things)

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  32. Beautiful project!! Thanks for the tutorial! I made some charms for a bracelet I made today!
    Jen :)

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  33. Thank you so much for this tutorial. Even though it's the day before Thanksgiving and I should be cleaning house, I had to go to Michael's to buy some UTEE, number stamps and stazon to make one. Like yours, though, the ink bled. What did you do differently to make it work out? Thanks ... and Happy Thanksgiving!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts. I appreciate your comments so much!