Anything Goes!

Monday morning, and another new challenge over at Use Your Craft Stash on FB! We've gone for and Anything Goes theme this week - so..... Anything Goes. Whatever crafty project you are making with your old stash, join us and enter the challenge- just remember to add your photo to the album and tell us what stash you've used. Here's my inspiration for the week.

At first, I was thinking "We don't have a theme! I don't know what to do!", but then though, what do I really want to play with from my stash? Two things came to mind - rice papers and my melt pot. So

I used them to create the canvas.

The rice paper is an A4 one from Stamperia called Rose Garden with Fence, and I've used a 10x12 canvas.

As the canvas is larger than the paper, I used a palette knife to splodge white gesso and Imagination Crafts Menthol Starlight paint, onto the canvas. Then, rather than using a brush, I used the knife to spread it across the canvas. The paper was then stuck down with IC Satin Decoupage Plus.

The next step was to make some embellishments using the Melt Pot. I found the receipt in with the instruction book, telling me I bought this back in 2013, and I bought all the stuff to go with it - I have loads of large tubs of UTEE and some small ones too. I have the large tub of clear. I have the beeswax with a separate pan, the texture treads, inks designed to colour UTEE and a few moulds. But I am obviously out of practice as I managed to get the stuff on me twice - and that is very painful.

I never throw the unused UTEE out - and consequently I have a collection of things I never used, or ends of batches that I pour into little silicone moulds to set and keep for later. I wanted green leaves for the canvas, so gathered all the green and light coloured pieces from my scraps boxes, chucked them in the pot, and poured it into the moulds. There was a lot left over, so that has been saved for another day.

   

I didn't have much pink, so used the little bit I had, and mixed it with white, blue raspberry and clear UTEE. The little balls are UTEE Flex. The UTEE can be quite brittle when set, so this helps to stop it shattering if dropped.

Once made, the top can become matt from being in the mould. You can heat with a heat gun which slightly melts it and makes it glossy, but I decided to drag something else out the cupboard - my Cosmic Shimmer Mica Powders - which I dusted over the top. I used Golden Pear and Pearlescent.

 

And then, as always happens with me and mixed media, I forgot to take any more photos. But the next steps were stencilling the corner details on using Sheena Create a Flower A Leaf of Graph Paper stencil and IC Shabby Chic Relief Paste in Sage and Ashy Rose. I dusted these with Mica Powder too.  A little bit of stamping with an IC art stamp and Distress Oxides in Bundled Sage and Worn Lipstick added a little more to the background (but would have been better if done before the stencilling. And then I attached the embellishments with Finnabair Art Basics Heavy Body Gel, as they are quite heavy in relation to the canvas.

And there you have it. We hope to see all your amazing creations this week. 

Cxxx

I have entered this into: 

Mix It Up Challenge Blog #37

Love to Craft Challenge Blog #46

A little something to pass the time.

Today being Sunday, I decided to do something just for me and because I can. Back at Christmas time, I was buying a few bits and pieces and picked this up this little MDF Craft Room Door Hanger from The Wooden Shape Company. It measures roughly 19cm by 8.5cm. It's one of those things that has been rattling around in my stash, just waiting for me to have some time. I have done a step by step for anyone who is interested or really has nothing better to do - but feel free to skip it. This is the finished product:

This is how it came - the hanger and all the pieces. As you can see, I didn't use all the embellishments.

I then had a trawl around to see what I could decorate it with, and decided to go with some Imagination Crafts Rice Paper, left over from another project, and some Starlight Paints.

First step was to gesso both sides of the hanger before applying the rice paper using Imagination Crafts Decoupage Plus Satin.

    

  

I used lots of little scraps of leftover rice paper to cover the back in a similar way.

   

It took me ages to find a layout I liked - and even then didn't follow it completely when I assembled it. And I only used some of the colours of paint that I got out - and a couple of the Imagination Crafts Art Stamps.

   

I used the stamps with Distress Oxide, building up some layers with Antique Linen, Tea Dye and Vintage Photo.

    

More texture was added using Imagination Crafts Baby Bubbles Stencil and Shabby Chic Texture Paste in Linen. When this was dry, I went over with more Vintage Photo Distress Oxide.

       

The MDF embellishments were painted with Topaz, Antique Gold, Clotted Cream and Salmon Starlight paints and attached with hot glue. I finished it off - as I always seem to do - with some flat backed pearls and ribbon.

Stay safe and take care,

Cxxx