Altered Art: Palette & Brushes with Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

Hi everyone!  Barbara here on the GSL Blog with a mixed media, altered project using the Palette & Brushes shape set, along with the Flourishes 1 shapes.  Here is my finished project, but scroll down for the complete step-by-step tutorial.

These are the chipboard pieces I used for this project.

Cover palette with tissue wrap (music notes).

Remove excess paper and glue two flourishes onto palette, as shown.

Paint all chipboard pieces with white gesso.  Wipe some of the gesso off of the tissue wrap to reveal the design.

Spread modeling paste through a speckle stencil over the palette.  Let dry.

Paint palette with all four colors from the Lightening Bug set, blending and layering until you like the results.  Highlight stenciled speckles with a white colored metallic paste.

Paint handles of brushes and palette knife with brown watercolor crayon and blend with a damp brush.  Paint ferrules and knife portion with silver leafing pen.  Paint brush tips with Nutty Oak.

Glue colored gems to the palette to resemble water colors.

Add brushes and palette knife (see finished photo above.)

Supplies used:

GSL Palette & Brushes
GSL Flourishes 1
ColourArte Primary Elements: France Papillon Lightening Bug Set (Go Navy, Autumn Skies, Dragonfly Wing, Blue Pearl), Nutty Oak
Tissue paper (music notes)
Speckle stencil (Tim Holtz)
White gesso
Modeling Paste
White metallic paste
Colored gems

I hope you enjoyed my project today.  I expect this piece will find its way into an art journal, or perhaps it will be added to a box top as a beautiful embellishment.  What will you do with your?  

Gypsy Soul has lots more fabulous laser cut chipboard for you to choose from.  Stop by their shop and check it out!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend!

Barbara

Upcycled Marker Container with Craftwell USA eBrush

Hi everyone!  Today I have another up cycled project on the Craftwell Blog using my Craftwell eBrush.  August 17th was National Thrift Shop Day, so to honor this quirky holiday, the Craftwell design team has been given a challenge to upcycle a thrift store item or something around the house.  

If you've been following my posts lately, then you may be aware that I save all kinds of bottles and jars.  And it just so happens that I am in need of a container to store my newly purchased set of 25 Sharpie markers.  Here's where the up cycling comes in!

First, you need to remove any stickers or labels from both the jar and the lid.  

Measure the height and circumference of the jar and lid and cut pieces of inexpensive watercolor paper or card stock accordingly.  I am using a piece of 9x12 piece of 90lb watercolor paper as my base.  

For this particular jar, the 12" length wrapped around it with just a bit of overlap, and the height measures just about 5" tall.  Any excess can be trimmed away.  (NOTE:  I ended up trimming another 1/4" off of the long strip to accommodate the curve of the jar along the bottom.)

Spread texture paste through a stencil with a spatula.  The paste is actually white but is picking up residual color left on the stencil.  Let the paste dry.

When applying the paste, move the stencil and realign the design, as shown.

To ensure a good white base for your marker colors, coat paper with white gesso and let dry.

eBrush the background with the hot pink marker.

eBrush the background with the bright yellow marker.  I love how the eBrush layers the colors on so beautifully and with a transparency that allows you to see all the colors shine through.

eBrush the background with the orange marker.

For my next and final color, I used a dark purple marker and eBrushed it all over the background, giving it a speckled effect. 

I figured I would need a circle measuring close to 3-3/8" across.  Either trace the top and cut inside the pencil lines, or use a circle die, as I have done.  This die measures just a bit smaller, but the goal is to get close.  

I used my Craftwell Cut n' boss machine to cut the circle die as well as a corresponding scalloped circle from white card stock.

For the circle, just color the inside lightly with the hot pink marker, then darken the outer edges with both the dark pink and bright yellow., as shown.

Cut a 1/2" x 12" border strip and repeat the steps above using the same four markers colors for the scalloped circle and border strip.  Measurements may vary according to sizes of lids and jars you may be using.

 I painted the edges of the plastic (red) lid with a gold leafing pen.

Adhere the papers to both the lid and around the jar, as shown.

I used my Cut n' boss machine to emboss a scrap of white card stock with the Teresa Collins Beautiful Words A6 embossing folder.

Cut out the words "HAPPY" and "STUFF".  eBrush both words with the hot pink, dark pink and bright yellow markers to match the top circle.  Highlight the embossed letters with a gold ink pad.  You may need to heat set the ink with a heat tool. 

Then I adhered each word to a piece of chipboard and then to the top of the lid.  Isn't this a fabulous embossing folder?  Just think of the possibilities with all those fun words.

Next, I molded an embellishment from paper clay and eBrushed it with the dark pink, hot pink, and bright yellow to match the lid colors.

I then highlighted the piece with the gold leaving pen.

Then, I adhered lace to the top, bottom, and center areas of the jar, as shown.  I was careful not to add any bulk to the center piece where the embellishment would be glued, as shown below.\

I also used my electronic die cutting machine to cut out the words "Sharpie Markers" onto a scrap to the same white card stock and again colored them with the same three markers as before to match the lid colors.

I adhered both the clay embellishment and the cut out words "Sharpie Markers" to the front of my lid.

And a view from the top, with those fun embossed words.

And was I happy when my set of 25 Sharpie Markers had finally found a home.

Supplies Used:

Craftwell USA eBrush

Craft well Cut n' Boss

Teresa Collins Beautiful Words and Stars A6 Embossing Folder
Sharpie Markers

Spellbinders dies:  S4-114-Standard Circles LG, S4-124-Classic Scalloped Circles LG 
Empty Jar
9x12 90lb Watercolor paper or white card stock
Stencil
Texture Paste
Clay Mold 
Paper clay
Gold ink pad
Gold leafing pen
Lace

There will be more fun projects featuring up cycled projects, so make sure to check out the Craftwell Blog all month long for more inspiration from the team. 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a crafty day!

SaveSaveSaveSave

Desk Calendar with Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts and Graphic 45

Hello everyone.  Barbara here today with a pretty cool flip album with stand from Gypsy Soul.  This kit comes with six chipboard pages, each with a different decorative bottom edge.  I decided to turn this into a calendar, beginning with August 2016, and carrying on through July 2017.  You can google calendars and find lots of different styles to print and cut apart for this project.  I found that the Graphic 45 paper, Time to Flourish, was a perfect complement for my flip calendar.  

This is the way the album will attach to the stand.  Simple!  I removed the rings and the chipboard pages and first glued the stand together.

Next, I painted the stand with a coat of white gesso, just to give it a good base for paints to adhere.

I wasn't sure where I was going with this, so my first coat of paint was an olive green chalk paint. I knew I wanted a dark color for the base to show beneath the crackle paint I wanted to apply.

I spread a medium thick coat of white crackle paint over the stand and allowed it to dry naturally for best crackling results.

Next, I began adding ColourArte Silks in Peridot, mixing a little Sky Blue into the still wet paint.  I felt this color was not going to work well with my chosen papers, so I tried adding Emperor's Gold Silks.  

I still was not happy, so I added Chestnut Roan chalk ink from a re-inker bottle and applying the color with a piece of cut n' dry foam.  

I was beginning to like it, but it needed some red tones, so I added Transparent Red Oxide with a damp baby wipe.  In the photo above, you can see where I started adding the red on the base, and I completed adding the red in the photo below.

I decided to make the wood look aged, like it had been sitting in a barn somewhere for quite awhile.  So, I added Carbon Black antiquing cream with a damp baby wipe.  

Let the antiquing cream dry, then using a damp baby wipe, remove as little or as much of the antiquing cream as you like.  Allow the piece to dry, then apply a coat of gloss varnish over the piece to protect it.

You may be wondering why I used so many layers of colors when my final layer looks like aged wood.  Well, that is the funny thing about mixed media.  It is all about layers, and to be honest, even though I was not sure about where I was going, those layers are showing through and adding to the aged look.    

Now it is time to decorate the pages.  I added dry adhesive to each of my chipboard pages and covered them accordingly.  Below, you can see that I have laid the first piece down onto the back of the January paper, then I used a craft knife to cut around it and re-punch the holes.  (Note:  Be careful as you work.  The opposite side of my January page will be covered with the July page, February will be covered with August, and so on, so that it will be easy to flip the set of pages at the middle of the year.)

Here are the first six months of the year on the first side of the six pages.  

Here are the second six months of the year on the opposite side of each of those pages.  

Now it is time to decorate each page with images that were fussy cut from the paper collection, and then embellished with appropriate chipboard from Gypsy Soul.

January = Snowflakes Shape Set (Brilliance Galaxy Gold and Platinum Planet)

February = Border Sticks Lattice Hearts (Pink Pastel, Rose Coral, Tangerine Chalk ink pads)

March = 4 Leaf Clover Set (Olive Pastel, Lime Pastel chalk ink, Firefly glitter glue)

April = Collage Border Splash (Inktense Blocks, Star Dust glitter glue)

May = Dressforms 2 Miniature Shape Set (Inktense Blocks)

Miniature Shapes Set - Ladies Choice (Inktense Blocks)

June = Butterflies & Dragonflies (Inktense Blocks + Star Dust Glitter)

July = Seaside Decor (Umbrella and water) (Inktense Blocks + white pen)

Beach Shape Set (chair) (Inktense Blocks + black pen)

August = Butterflies & Dragonflies (Inktense Blocks + Hologram glitter glue)

September = Vintage School Shape Set (Pen, ink bottle, book) (Inktense Blocks, black pen)

October = String Alongs Gothic (Raven) (Inktense Blocks, black, white pens)

Spiders & Webs (Inktense Blocks, Star Dust glitter glue)

November - Fall Shape Set (Inktense Blocks, charcoal pencil, black pen)

December - Light String Border (Inktense Blocks, Star Dust glitter glue)

Christmas Stocking Border (Stocking = Inktense Blocks, Gold Flower Soft)

(Ornament = Inktense Blocks, Diamond glitter glue)

And here it is again, all finished and ready for August!

Supplies used:

GSL Standing Flip Book  

GSL Snowflakes Shape Set

GSL Border Sticks Lattice Hearts

GSL 4 Leaf Clover Set (coming soon)

GSL Collage Border Splash

GSL Dressforms 2 Miniature Shape Set

GSL Miniature Shapes Set - Ladies Choice

GSL Butterflies & Dragonflies 

GSL Seaside Decor (coming soon)

GSL Beach Shape Set

GSL Vintage School Shape Set (coming soon)

GSL String Alongs Gothic

GSL Spiders & Webs (coming soon)

GSL Fall Shape Set

GSL Light String Border 

GSL Christmas Stocking Border

Graphic 45 Time to Flourish 8x8 paper collection 

ColourArte Silks Acrylic Glaze

  Peridot

  Sky Blue

  Emperor's Gold

Fluid Acrylics 

Chalk Ink Pads & Reinkers

I hope you enjoyed my project and have been inspired to make one of these super fun Standing Flip Books for yourself, or with Christmas coming up, this would make a fabulous gift for someone special.  And think about using it to display your favorite photos on your desk.  

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a wonderful and crafty day!

Barbara