Button necklace

The challenge for July over on Tando Creative Challenges is to use texture of some sort on your project. Lots of samples have already been posted this month - I'm part of the rear guard action!

I used a big chipboard button from the grab bag, coloured it black with a Copic marker and created texture with an embossing folder for this pendant.

After embossing, the surface is dabbed with Versamark and I've added Perfect Pearls in three colours (Gold, Copper and Bronze - all from the Metallics kit) and used a length snipped from a bamboo skewer to secure a chain through the button's holes. It's simple to do - just thread the chain from the back of the button through the first hole, wrap round the skewer (I went round twice) and back down through the hole. Come up through the second hole, wrap round the skewer and go back down through the hole. Juggle the two ends as necessary by easing through the holes and round the skewer so you get even lengths of chain each side.

Supplies:
Chipboard button grab bag (Tando Creative)
So Trendy M-Bossabilites folder (Spellbinder)
Black Copic marker
Versamark (Tsukineko)
Gold, Copper and Bronze Perfect Pearls (Ranger)
Bamboo skewer
Chain

I've made my first ever tutorial video to demonstrate the process - constructve criticism very welcome! If you'd like go through to YouTube instead of watching it embedded here, the description area has a "checklist" of the steps involved that you can copy and print if you want to have a go yourself and would like a reference on hand.

There's still time to join in the challenge and be in with a chance of your name being pulled out of the hat to win a great prize at the end of the month - check out the blog and add your link if you'd like to play along!

Thanks for stopping by!

Steampunk circles

We're going round and round at Tando Creative this week,  taking our design inspiration from"circles". Lots of possibilities with this one! I've used one of the jewellery shapes that's based around fused circles and gone a bit steampunk with it, adding cogs that are circular too!


I started by colouring the frame (including the edges) black with a Copic marker and then gave it a couple of coats of silver UTEE, leaving that "orange peel" effect you get when you don't aim for full coverage. I used a bit of black acrylic paint to further highlight that texture.

I added text papers from an old book to the base piece and knocked them back a bit with a smudge of gesso. A stamped clockface stuck to a glass pebble fills the largest circle and I added a stamped swirl plus some holeless beads with some silver paint (to mimic ball bearings) to the one above. I punched a hole through the top circle for a pendant cord and added a few more fake bearings.

The teardrop shape is fill with Glossy Accents and has some tiny cogs embedded in there. They were mostly black plastic so they've been treated with silver acrylic paint. The one that hangs over the edge of the frame has a watch winder with a tiny blue gemstone stuck in the centre.

Supplies:
Jewellery Circle Pendant Straight (Tando Creative)
Silver UTEE
Black and silver acrylic paints
Old book
Gesso
Stamps from Inchie Style (CHF, retired)
Tiny cogs
2mm holeless beads
Glossy Accents
Glass pebble

If you're looking for Tando stockists you can find a list here.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Childhood memories

The theme for this month's postcard swap on UK Stampers is "childhood".

If anybody picked a random day in my childhood and took a peek, they'd probably see a little girl with slightly red hair, pale skin and her nose in a book. I'd be surprised if there were many days that didn't involve reading somewhere along the line.

So I picked one of my favourite Crafty Secrets stamps and, inspired by a memory of a make-over by Sophie LaFontaine, I turned the little boy into a little girl!

I started with a page from a story book stuck to some card and lightly covered with gesso. There's a local business that sells packs of paper ephemera, mostly pages resuced from books that are not fit to be sold on in their entirety - this is a page from one of those packs.

The wording and swirls are stamped directly onto the page, the little reader was stamped, coloured, cut out and stuck on. I used watercolour crayons to add some background colour in the doodled circle - I thought the colour could represent the colourful world of the imagination bringing the words to life.

Stamps:
Story of Me (Clear Art Stamps by Crafty Secrets)
Big Inspiration and Storybook (both CHF, retired)
Paper: Book page and smooth white
Ink: Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Other:
Copic markers
Gesso
Neocolour II watersoluble pastels
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Big Buttons

In keeping with the haberdashery theme I mentioned last time, I decorated some chipboard buttons from the grab bag. The large buttons are a good size and I think they'd make lovely one-off embellies on scrapbook pages, frames, memory boxes etc - you could knot a ribbon through and add a stick pin and charm for a unique embellie cluster!

I embossed the square ones with a Cuttlebug folder (Textile Texture is good for this because of the small scale pattern) having coloured them red, white and blue first. I then used a tiny amount of gold acrylic paint on my finger tip to highlight the textured pattern before triple embossing with UTEE.  

Supplies:

Tando Creative chipboard button

Distress Fired Brick, Adirondack Stonewashed and Versamark inks

Cuttlebug Textile Texture embossing folder

Gold acylic paint

Clear UTEE

I think the white round button is my favourite of all of these! For this set, I stamped the swirl and embossed with white powder and then used Distress ink to colour the buttons (using the embossed pattern as a resist). Again, they're finished with three coats of UTEE - the original embossed pattern gets encapsulated in the thick clear coating.

Supplies:

Tando Creative chipboard button

Distress Fired Brick and Antique Linen, Adirondack Stonewashed and Versamark inks

Ornamental Beauty stamp set (CHF)
Detail white embossing powder
 Clear UTEE

Thanks for stopping by!

Heritage Haberdashery

Ooops - haven't blogged for ages! Off on holiday and then just not getting back into the swing of things, I'm afraid.

Today's project is something I made for the Tando Creative demo table at this weekend's Extravaganza at the Craft Barn. As it's the Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, we played with a red, white and blue colour scheme and a haberdashery theme for some samples. I used one of the printer's trays as the base and stamped and embellished at will!

I gave the frame the sort of "tarnished enamel" look you sometimes see on old sewing machines by painting with gold acrylic and then sprinkling lightly with black embossing powder.

Except for the two 1920s ladies, all the stamps are from the Darkroom Door Dressmaker set - a lovely set of vintage style images.

I cut the little bunting flags freehand and triple embossed the die cut lettering for a glossy, raised effect. All the images are coloured with Copics and the tiny buttons are ones I've had in my stash for years that were just the right scale for this.

I cut out the thread spools and used an embossing stylus to raise the top and bottom of each one. The scisssors are gold embossed, cut out and raised up on foam pads with some pins and a stamped thimble tucked in behind - you can probably see both those things more clearly if you click through to the bigger version of this detail shot.

This was my first go with a printer'stray - it's fun to collect lots of things together for all the apertures!

Stamps:
Dressmaker (Darkroom Door)
1920s ladies are from Haute Couture (Cornish Heritage Farms)

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Adirondack by Ranger (Stonewashed)

Other:
Printer's Tray by Tando Creative
Copic markers
Embossing powder (detail black, detail gold, clear)
Mini buttons
Pearls
Tim Holtz Typeset alphabet die

If you had chance to get along to the Extravaganza for yourself I hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks for stopping by!