Paisley Pendant on the Hop!

I've said it before and no doubt I'll say it again - I do love the versatility of backgrounders! So I'm delighted that CHF's range of background stamps are the featured line for this first week of the 12 Weeks of Summer Fling! Welcome if you are following the blog hop and looking for a little backgrounder inspiration.

What's the 12 Weeks of Summer Fling? Each week will feature one of the rubber stamp lines at CHF with a blog hop and special gallery showing new samples using stamps from that line. The featured line will also be on sale for the week so definitely the time to add to your collection:) Two Gift Certificates will be awarded to 2 lucky winners who successfully follow the blog hop & comment as they go in the time allotted. This is not a race. All Blog Hops will start from the Be Creative Blog on a Monday, comments must be made before midnight EST on the Thursday of that week & winners will be announced on the Friday. 1st prize is a $20 CHF Gift Certificate, 2nd Prize is a $10 Gift Certificate which will be emailed to the winning participants. The Gift Certificates will be valid for 6 mths from date of issue. PLEASE NOTE that if you have a Club CHF award awaiting you on your next order, you will need to wait for the following order to use your Gift Certificate as the store only allows one discount per order. If you upload a qualifying card (using the featured week's stamp line) to the CHF special gallery for that week you will be eligible for the Design Team's Favorite prize which will be a rubber stamp/stamp set of your choice up to the value of $16.99 Looking forward to having you play along with us for the summer.

So... on with the backgrounder show!

Paisley was one of my first background stamps and it's such a timeless and classic pattern that I can't see me getting tired of this one. Like many of the BG stamps, the scale of the pattern lends itself very nicely to jewelry so I've made a pendant to share with you today.

I started with a 2 ¼" square of heavy chipboard and punched a hole in one corner with a Crop-0-Dile. Then I dusted two colours of Perfect Pearls onto a sheet of paper and pressed the stamp into them and set it to one side, ready for action after the next step.

I added two layers of UTEE crystals (melt the first layer, add another on top and melt that) and then quickly pressed the stamp onto the piece while the UTEE was molten. Give it a few seconds to set and then peel the stamp away. If you find the UTEE has oozed over the edge, just trim it off with sharp scissors while it is still slightly warm and soft (I love my Tonic studio scissors for this). Same with the hole at the top, just repunch with your Crop-o-Dile if necessary. Doing it before the UTEE is fully cold means that it won't crack or shatter.

Some of my high spots were just a bit too high so I carefully shaved off just a tiny bit with a blade and then rubbed over the whole thing lightly with fine sandpaper.

I finished by swiping Precious Metal paint over the whole piece, using Cut n Dry foam and being careful to keep it flat so the paint wasn't pressed down into the recesses of the piece. A wooden bead that was coated in black embossing powder and then painted with the same copper paint makes a finishing touch as the pendant threads onto a leather thong.

Stamps:
Paisley backgrounder (Cornish Heritage Farms)

Other:
Heavy chipboard
UTEE by Ranger (Black)
Perfect Pearls by Ranger (Patina Green and Patina Blue)
Crop-o-Dile
Wooden bead
Leather thong
Precious Metal paint by Viva Decor (Copper)
Sandpaper

Next stop along the hop today is Tracy who has been stamping up a backgrounder storm recently so I'm sure she'll have something special to share with you! Don't forget to leave a comment here before you go to increase your chances of winning and if you have CHF backgrounders, why not create something with them this week and upload to the special gallery for your chance at the Design Team's Favorite prize?

Comments for this week's hop need to be left by midnight EST on Thursday June 10, 2010 to be eligible for the draw.

Thanks for hopping by!