Sunshine Smile for Happy Daze

I have had my eye on THIS gorgeous Paperbag Studios stamp for some time and when I was browsing them AGAIN this project jumped in to my mind :D

This months theme over on the Happy Daze blog challenge is a little twist on the usual valentines LOVE theme and is techniques you love to use.

I decided to show you my fave technique with one of my fave products Viva Decor Croco which I kind of invented (well I think I did anyway LOL)

I started by by stamping the image in black archival ink on to a piece of white tissue paper and ripped out the image so it had a nice random torn edge. I glued it in place on my canvas with Claudines matte medium.
I painted on some detail to the image with a little bit of wild honey distress stain.

I made myself a shimmer mist by mixing Wild Honey distress reinker and Perfect Pearls in Sunflower Sparkles in a mini mister and spritzed it over a Prima mask
I coloured these lovely Pink Paislee chipboard alphas, which have a fabby resist pattern on them, with Wild Honey distress stain and glued to the top of the canvas with the matte medium.

I tied a piece of white ribbon along the botom edge and knotted it.

I die cut my flowers from chipboard using Tims tattered floral die and coated them with the platinum croco.
When dry I dotted on alcohol inks in shades of yellow and left to dry again, this is important as we want the alcohol to evaporate before we heat them ;-)
When completely dry and alcohol free I squished them on to a versamark inkpad and made sure they were nice and sticky, then sprinkled on UTEE.
The daisy one is coated with pearl (which was a happy accident LOL) for one coat and then clear was sprinkled in while still hot and heated again - it gave it a nice mottled effect.
The other flowers were coated with three layers of clear with a little bit of glitter sprinkled in.

When cool I glued them on to the canvas and added buttons for the centres, then added three little buttons under the word Smile.

To finished it off I added distress stickles randomly in scattered straw to add a lovely subtle sparkle.
I think she is so pretty and definitely makes me want to smile :D
If you would like more inspiration and a tute on my Croco faux dichroic technique please visit THIS BLOG POST.

Hugs'n'smiley snogs :D
Julie xx

Dragonfly duet altered pocket watch :D

Well, this turned in to quite a labour of love - in other words a chore!!! LOL :D

I treated myself to some resin a while ago and I was a little bit scared of it!!!
I made some little embellies to start with but it wasn't right and I started this project and couldn't get it to dry :(
I realised I wasn't getting the mix right!!

Luckily you can layer up resin and can't see where its layered so I finally got the mix right today to finish off this piece :D

I used my dichroic technique with croco to start with.
I coated my piece of lace with matte medium on both sides because resin soaks in to the fibres and it would become invisible with the resin - the same happens to paper!!

I stuck my embellies down with glossy accents then layered in the resin.

I finished it off by colouring the embellies with inka gold and adding a little bit of distress stickles on the resin to hide my pokeyisitdryyet finger prints :D

I'm so disappointed that you can't see the depth in the photo :( and blogger won't let me add anymore for some reason :(

yeyyyy I can now :D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

Steampunk style grungeboard choker

Well what a busy week last week was, but I nearly got this choker finished for you LOL :D

I haven't added the findings yet as I'm waiting for some ribbon to arrive.

I started with a strip of plain GRUNGEBOARD and painted on slighlty watered down VIVA DECOR INKA GOLD in graphite - I mix it on the lid with a water brush until its a nice creamy consistancy and paint on a few layers.

When its dry buff with a soft cloth or tissue.

Next I stamped my ScrollsWork gears stamps inversamark ink randomly all over the grunge and embossed with Tim Holtz DISTRESS EMBOSSING POWDER.You have to be patient with the distress powder and wait until it cools or it will all brush off.

I repeated the same on a grungeboard disc - when I heated it it curled on the edges turning it in to a dish shape, so I took advantage and added melted clear utee to make a pendant and added some watchparts and a metal flower.

I punched holes in the choker section to add the chains and rings which the ribbon will be attatched to, and added some flowers made using my DICHROIC TECHNIQUE, prima say it in studs centres and a metal dragonfly.

I love this grungey but pretty look and the mix of textures and metals.

Hugs'n'snogs,

Julie xx

2010 favourites award ceremony starts here ...........NOW!!!

I got to thinking about my crafting year and what teh highlights have been - fave products I have discovered , events, etc...........

So for anybody who is interested this is my top ten of my 2010 crafting journey :D

At Ten...........
discovering utee and all the things you can do with it thanks to Suze Weinberg :D
I have enjoyed experimenting and even the singed fingers when I just 'forget' how hot it is again LOL

At Nine...........
rediscovering my love of stamps thanks to the girlies over at Zuzus and Moiras amazing selection of stamps (which seem to be sneaking in to my home LOL :D )

At Eight...........
Meeting Claudine and falling in love with Sticky backed canvas!!!
Such a cool product if you haven't got around to using it yet!! Check out my post HERE :D
My fave technique has to be the image transfer which works fabby with scrapbook papers :D

At Seven............
Rebekah asking me to design aproject for her Birthday blog hop and having so much fun with everyone :D
HERES my project if anybody wants to see it

At Six.....................
Discovering altered art thanks to Moira, Ginger, Zuzu and Gillian!!!
The car boots and charity shops are my new fave haunts and I love finding unusual things to alter like my alarm clock, pocket watch and bottle - check out my ALTERED ART BLOG TAB to see them and other projects :D

At Five...........
taking part in the Tims 12 tags of Christmas for the first time ever, and learning some fabby new techniques along the way.
CLICK THIS BLOG TAB if you would like to share my journey

At Four...........
Being asked to be a guest designer at the PINK BOOBY 5 CROP and getting to teach and meet lots of amazing crafters.
I had so much fun and can't wait until next year :D
I even had fun when I was thrown in at the deep end to take over Cals class - thanks guys LOL
Lots of money was raised and lots of money spent with worthy causes supported :D (scuse the pun LOL)

At Three...........
Being part of three amazing design teams!!!

Happy Daze
Bubbly Scrumptious
Scrolls Works stamps

All of the teams are amazingly talented and I get the chance to work with fabby new products.
I feel so honoured to be part of them all and would like to say a HUGE thank you for making me part of them :D

At Two............
Meeting Tim Holtz, the lord of all that is grungey and distressed!!!
Huge thanks to Moira for inviting me to Stitches in February :D I had a bit of a trial getting there but it was so worth it!!!
I got to meet lots of fellow crafters in real life, flesh and blood, the works LOL :D
But I also met Tim!!!
I don't think Moira realised what a profound affect it would have on my crafting (and my bank balance to be honest LOL) !!!

I never really 'got' the whole Tim Holtz craziness until I watched him demo - poor Moira couldn't drag me away LOL

So heres the BLOG POSTS which cover the visit to snowy Birmingham and the NEC.

And in First place..........
Creating my own technique :D
I was in love with Viva Decor Croco from the moment I tried it and couldn't help experimenting to see what it could do :D
I was amazed and in love when I realised I could make a piece of chipboard look like dichroic glass :D
I searched the internet for any techniques and couldn't find anything that uses the same technique as mine :D
SO HERE IT IS if you aren't bored of seeing it already LOL :D
and a few projects I have made using it HERE :D

So what have you all been up to in 2010???
Why not share your top ten with us all :D

I wonder what 2011 will bring to my crafting life????

Hugs'n'festive Boxing Day+1 snogs,
Julie xx

TH12TOC - day eleven ....

I can't believe there is only one day left!!!!
Well todays tag involved making your own stamps from TH alterations sizzix dies.
I don't have any of the on the edge dies and already have stamps of the ones I have LOL
I didn't want to use my Snowman die again as it was just going to look too samey as yesterdays.

So I remembered about my Christmas set of Fancy Pants stamps which hardly ever get used appart from the occassional snowflake!!!

So I stamped on to a piece of Websters pages paper with a snowflake border and versamark ink and embossed with clear fine detail embossing powder.
I then inked over it with bundled sage and broken china DI, distressed my edges and inked them lightly with walnut stain.

I had to handcut a tree out of a piece of chipboard, then inked it with my bundled sage.
I used my pearl paint dabber to create a snow effect on it then gave it a quick spritz with white mica mist.
I used a piece of twine from a clothing tag I had saved and tied it around the base of the tree.

When I placed my tree on my tag I realised that it was a bit small and looked lost on my tag so I added the word stamp (again from the FP set) in olive archival ink and added buttons with glossy accents.

I added some fibres and a tag I had already made with my dichroic glass technique, then pinned on a snowflake charm.

I kinda like it and it goes really well with the other websters page tag I made :D

So I decided to link this to the Simon says stamp and show blog challenge this week which is .............show a holiday greeting :D and what a cute greeting it is :D

So what will T!m, Lord of the Tags have in store for us tomorrow???
I have a feeling it might be a alcohol ink technique as we haven't used them much so far............whats your guess???

Wow, its nearly over :(
Hope you all stay in touch :D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

Icy Madonna

Thsis has to be my fave xmas Scrolls Work stamp as its just so beautiful and crisp.
If you want to get your hands on one its called Madonna & child (#8052)

I created the tile and then was stuck at first as to what I was going to mount it on to - its too heavy for a card and needed to be a piece of art.
It was at on my acrylic mounting block while I did something else and it hit me that a block was perfect.
I had a brand new block so attached it with The Ultimate glue and put some heavy items on top to make sure it stuck fast while it dried :D

Ok, so do you want to know how I made the plaque??
Heres a close up first :D
I started by stamping the image in black Stazon on to a piece of acetate a little bit larger than the image and put to one side to dry.
Next I cut a piece of chipboard (greyboard) to the same size as the stamped image.
I treated it with my faux dichroic glass technique as described HERE with platinum Viva decor croco and alcohol inks in shades of blue green and purple.

When dry and cool I covered the glazed chipboard in a thin layer of glossy accents just squiggled on, then took my acetate image and placed it over the top wiggling it gently and pressing down gently so that the glossy accents was sandwiched evenly. I then put my stamp block on top and weighted it to make sure it dried flat.

When the glue was dry I trimmed away the excess acetate with my TH tonice studios scissors, which are nice and sharp and non-stick so any wet glue just wipes off cleanly.

I sealed the edges with silver coloured Ranger memory foil tape using THIS TECHNIQUE :D

It was curling up at the corners a little which is why I weighted it when I stuck it to the block but dried perfectly :D

Wouldn't it make a lovely inexpensive gift? I love how its freestanding and quite modern looking :D
The pics really don't do the technique justice as its so sparkly and pretty in real life.

Hope you like it :D
Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie

Well the birdie is out of the cage....

....LOL it makes more sense with my badge than cats and bags LOL!!! :D

Thank you for the congrats all ready peeps - I'm so proud AND now I'm an international designer LOL - look out world here I come :D

Jacque is lovely, and her stamp company is just divine - I fell in love with them as soon as Moira at Happy Daze started stocking them!!!
And as they are unmounted they are an incredibly reasonable and affordable price!
Pop over to the BLOG and meet all of the lovely talented new design team :D

AND to celebrate the new design team Terry is offering a fabby blog candy HERE :D


I have had a few peeps posting about my Faux dichroic glass technique who haven't spotted my tutorial - if you go back a post HERE I show you how to do it step by step :D

Oh and another little bit of news, I sent a link to my blog post for the afore mentioned technique to Vive Decor and got an e-mail from the MD for the UK section of the company himself who loved my work :D

heres a snippet :D

"I am the MD for Creativ Company UK and we are the distributors for Viva Decor in the UK and Ireland.

My German collogue just emailed me the link to your blog where you have created the most amazing finishes using our Croco Crackling Colour. I just wanted to say a big thank you for sharing your fantastic techniques with us."

Hugs'n'snotty snogs everyone (i'm battling a cold!!! and its winning :-( !!! )

Julie xx

Dichroic flowers....

Ok, so did you have a go at my technique last week??

Well here's another project I created for Bubbly Scrumptious to try and tempt you

Sometimes I think its hard when you see a technique to picture how you could use it in your crafting so I do like to play and see what I can come up with :D

And yes Katy, I love getting messy LOL :D

So,I started with a letter O chippie which I covered in the faux dichroic glass and was going to make it in to a mini frame. Then I spotted my Tim Holtz tattered florals die and it went in a whole new direction LOL!!!!

I chopped the O in half to give me a crescent shape and rounded the edges I had cut with scissors.

I punched a hole with my big bite at either end and one at the bottom centre and attached my dangley :D ( a chandelier drop)

I cut out the flowers from chipboard and bent them in to shape to create some dimension. I coloured the reverse with inka gold

I did the faux dichroic glass using salmon pink, wild plum and cranberry alcohol inks and sprinkled in some gold utee.

I stuck them on to the crescent with glossy accents and added prima say it with crystal centres

I painted the back of the large chandelier drop with the croco, and inks and uteed it to seal.

Then added the jewellery findings which came from a cheap necklace from Primark :D

Here's a few more pics to give you an idea of the depth of colour :D

I hope this helps you see how it can fit in to your crafting :D

Hugs'n'snogs,

Julie xx

at last my Faux Dichroic Glass technique :D

Ok I have teased you long enough so here it is :D

I am so excited to share this with you all :D

I have been experimenting over the weekend and I genuinely "think" I have invented a new technique to make faux dichroic glass. I apologise if anybody has beaten me to this but didn't we do well LOL :D

I love the lustre of the real thing and the colour changes in the depth.

You can use a melt pot for this technique but I have used my heat gun as most people have them.

Most of the supplies are available from Bubbly Funk

Supplies needed

Viva decor croco paint in platinum or gold

Ranger alcohol inks (2 to 3 colours work well)

heat gun

versamark inkpad

clear utee

glitter if desired

heat proof mat

I used Viva decor croco in platinum and gold as they are nice light colours and take the colours well.

I have used this on different surfaces such as chipboard, a resin domino and a Tim Holtz fragment so far.

Technique

spread your chosen colour of croco paint on to your surface thickly with a palette and either leave to dry naturally or give it a hand with your heat gun. in my examples below the heart is fried with my heat gun and the oval dried naturally - you can see there is a huge difference in the result so it depends what look you want (and how patient you are LOL :D ).

next drop your chosen alcohol inks randomly over the shapes - as mentioned two to three colours gives a lovely effect and it looks nice if you don't colour completely.

When its dry squish it down in your versamark pad until its completely coated

completely cover in the utee (ultra thick embossing enamel)

Shake off the excess, being careful not to remove any from the surface and place on your heatproof mat

Heat with your gun until completely melted

While its hot sprinkle in more utee, but don't overload as it will just blow away when you put your heat gun on to it.

Keep adding more until you have a lovely thick domed effect. you can add glitter or metal flakes in as you go if you wish.

Don't use stickles in between layers as the glue reacts with the utee and bubbles like mad!!!

You can use utee coloured with alcohol inks as I describe on my blog HERE to add more depth to your piece.

leave to cool then oohhh and aahhhhh at the pretty effect :D

You can punch it with a cropadile, and if your not happy with it you can keep melting the utee - it will eventually slide off to a thin layer LOL :D

At the end scrape all your melted excess off and keep in a pot for using again :D

Here's some of my results :D

This so effective and addictive please give it a try :D

Please link back if you do because I would love to see what you create :D

Just picture it on larger projects, or altered art..........mmmmm

Perhaps a mermaids tail? or a title or embelly for a scrapbook page :D

Hugs'n'snogs,

Julie xx

I have been experimenting

..........and I think I may have created a new technique for creating faux Dichoric glass :D

I have to say its incredibly hard to photgraph and get a good shot of the gorgeous lustre that shines through!!!
Check back later in the week and I will tell you exactly how I did this and you can all shout at me that you have heard it all before LOL :D
I have seen it made with polymer clay and fusible film,but not my method so far ;-)

Hugs'n'snogs,
J xx