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.