Golden Sunflower

The new challenge at Frilly and Funkie starts today and Georgie is hostess for this one.  She is calling it A Touch of Gold and describes it this way:

"Metal elements, glitter, embossing powder, paint, ribbon, whatever it is lets see a splash of gold in your vintage or shabby chic projects!!" 

When I was trying to think of what I was going to make I knew from the start that I was going to incorporate some of the Wendy Vecchi Metallic Gold Embossing Paste.  This embossing paste looks like butterscotch pudding in the jar but as it dries it turns a very orange-toned metallic gold so that dictated everything that followed.

I started with some Tim Holtz Color Core card stock for my blank and then used a piece of paper from Maja Designs Coffee in the Arbor paper pad for my background.  I used some Vintage Photo Distress Ink with the Wendy Vecchi Three Flourishes to stencil random flourishes first and then used the embossing paste through Wendy's Checkmate stencil in a couple of corners.

I also used the embossing paste through a Heidi Swapp butterfly stencil on a scrap piece of card stock and once it was dry I fussy cut it and added polka dots with some Tree Branch Archival Ink and a stamp from the Tim Holtz Ultimate Grunge set.  I distressed a mini clothes pin with the Tree Branch and added it as the body.

Next I made the sunflower by cutting four petals from crinoline using the Tattered Florals die by Tim Holtz.  The petals were dyed with Wild Honey Distress Stain and they curled on their own as they dried, which was a good thing because that flower shape has a weak spot and it isn't a great idea to handle it a lot.  Once all the petals were dry I glued them in a stack and added a button (upside down) along with a bow made from burlap string.  I also cut a leaf from the Tattered Leaves die and dyed it with some Peeled Paint Distress Stain.  The petals and the leaf were inked on the edges with the corresponding Distress Inks. 

The two banners on the left are from the Graphic 45 Time to Flourish pad (August) and the right one is just a scrap piece of card stock that I ran through the Tim Holtz Honeycomb Texture Fade.  Everything has been distressed and inked with Vintage Photo DI.  The sentiment is from the G45 pad and I just dyed a little piece of seam binding with Wild Honey for the top and added a tiny Making Memories brad to secure it.  The final touch was some pearl stickers that I got from the dollar store.

I am going to enter this card in the following challenges:

Try it on Tuesday  - Sending You Flowers
Crafty Boots - Fair and Square
The Shabby Tea Room - ABC-123 (Photo Inspiration)
Crafting-with-Dragonflies - Make it Floral
CAS-ual Chic - Pretty Patterns

The following products used to create my card came from The Funkie Junkie Boutique, which is a super place to shop and has new products arriving all the time.

Gilded Lily

It is time for a new challenge at Frilly and Funkie and this time Sue is our hostess and is calling it Stitch in Time.  Here is how she describes the challenge:

"What I love to do is incorporate sewing into projects, this could be real of faux, it adds an extra dimension to your artwork. So, for this challenge we want to see stitching somewhere on your projects, real or faux will do! BUT I would also like to see a timepiece too!"

I decided to use my newest Graphic 45 paper pad called Gilded Lily and make a card.  I thought I would try to make a paper lily and once it was complete it was larger than I expected and with the other elements I planned to use, I knew the card needed to be BIG so this one is 8" square.  Now I will have to make a box for it.  I think this elegant and very vintage couple looks like they are celebrating their anniversary, or maybe their wedding.

I started with some Recollections card stock for the blank and started adding patterned paper, two of which were hand stitched.  Everything was distressed and inked with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink.  I tucked one panel that was cut with a Spellbinders Fleur de Lis die in between bottom two layers along with some chevron strips.

Next I cut three images and popped them up with foam dots and added a strip of lace that I dyed with a combination of Tea Dye, Frayed Burlap and Antique Linen DI.  I added a Jolee's Boutique timepiece that has been in my stash for eons, a filigree corner and a crown headed key that I picked up in the clearance section at Michaels.  Both metal pieces were rubbed with some Rose Quartz and Classic Treasure Gold wax paste.

I made the lily out of scraps of white card stock, coloured it with Prismacolors and then sprayed it with Perfect Pearl Perfect Pearls,  The small roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the large flowers  came from Excelsior Warehouse in England but I removed the centre bud-like portion to make them look like wild roses and then coloured them with Tea Dye DI.  The centres are gumdrops coloured with Terracotta Alcohol Ink.  The greenery (brown in this case) was cut on my Cameo and inked with Frayed Burlap DI.  Finally I dyed some seam binding with Tea Dye DI to make the crinkly bow.

I am going to enter this in the following challenges:

Graphic 45 - August Challenge
Card Mania - Anniversary
Through The Purple Haze - Flowers
Glitter n Sparkle - Add Some Flowers
Scrap & Craft - Wedding

The following items used to create this project came from The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Making Magic

The August challenge starts today at Anything But Cute and Georgie, our hostess this month and is calling it Making Magic.  She describes the challenge this way:

"Most of us are drawn to the magic of fairy tales and fantasy. The colours are often hypnotic and your mind is free to explore outside the limits of reality. For this challenge, I would like you to create a magical mixed media project strongly inspired by the moodboard. Be inspired by the theme, the colours, the textures or all three. Lets bring a little magic back!"

I decided to try to channel my inner Finnabair or at least to see if her inspiring talent could rub off on me just a little so I made this canvas in her style.  She posted a canvas with a paint brush recently and I used that as my jumping off point but the rest of the layout is mine.  You can click on the image to get a larger view.

I started with a 9" x 12" canvas from the dollar store and covered it with Liquitex Gesso.  Next I added some texture with Golden Molding Paste through a stencil from TCW called Mini Hexagons and a few randomly placed pieces of mesh drywall tape.  I also dabbed some of the paste on for more texture.

Next I raided my sewing stash and added some strips of denim and lace along with a long piece of cheesecloth from my kitchen supplies.  The paint brush that I picked up for a dollar at Wal Mart came next and then I started to add all sorts of bits and pieces from my craft room and my husband's tool shelves - screws, gears, washers, metal medallion, buttons, flowers, beads mini clothes pin, can pull top, wooden shapes, electronic bits, etc.  I used Liquitex Matte Super Heavy Gel Medium to attach everything and found once it was dry, it really kept everything in place.

Originally I had decided on a different way of doing the text but didn't like it and changed my mind after everything was done so in this case the letters, which were cut from wood on our new laser cutting machine were altered after the fact ( what a pain that was since they are tiny).  Normally they would have been added along with all the other bits.

The next step was to give everything a couple coats of Gesso and then a coat of Leaf Green acrylic paint from Delta Ceramcoat.  Once that was dry I went over it with some Hey Pesto Fresco Finish paint.

The next step was to add lots of inks, sprays and more paints.  I used Burnt Sienna Liquitex Ink, Antelope Brown and Silver Moss FW (Dalex Rowney) Ink.  The sprays I used were Lindy's Glitz Spritz Blazing Sun and Lindy's Starburst Jack in the Pulpit Teal.  I mixed some Lindy's Magicals My Mojito Green with water and used my natural sea sponge to dab it on as well as some Folk Art Peridot Metallic and Deco Art Champagne Gold acrylic paints.

Here are a couple of close-up views:

I had a blast making this and hope that I did Finnabair proud.  I also hope that you will join us in Georgie's challenge and make something magical.

I am going  to enter this project in the following challenges:

That Craft Place - Mixed Media Anything Goes
Simply Create Too - Anything Goes
A Sprinkle of Imagination - Anything Goes
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Goes (must be mixed media or altered items)
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes (must be mixed media or altered items)
Mixed Media Mojo  - Anything Goes (must be mixed media or journaling)
Mixed Media World - Stencils
We Love 2 Create - Anything Mixed Media/Creative/Inky Goes