House of Cards March 2015 Challenge - Enamel Dots

Hello everyone, and welcome back to a new monthly challenge here at House of Cards.  I so enjoy seeing all the creations each month, not only from the design team, but also from you, the challenge participants.

This month's challenge is ...

There are many videos out there showing how to make your own enamel dots using pony and perler beads.  Here is a youtube video by Brittany H showing just how to do this.  I made a bunch of different sizes and colors to have on hand using Brittany's directions.  And check out how my fellow design team member, Lillian, shows you another way to make your own enamel dots. The fun just doesn't end.

And here is my inspiration card for this month's challenge.

Fold Kraft card stock in half to make 5" x7" card.  Trim blue print layer to 4-1/2" x 6-1/2".  Distress edges.  I used my Distress-It-All tool, but use whatever tool you have to do this.  Apply Mowed Lawn DS around edges, then blend with blending tool and adhere to card front.

Trim Music print layer to 1-1/2" by 6-1/2".  Dry emboss with chain embossing folder.  Distress edges.  Apply Gathered Twigs DS around edges, blend with blending tool and adhere to left side of card front.

Color seam binding with Mowed Lawn and water.  Adhere strip around top edge of print layer.  Make a single loop bow from a second piece and adhere to card, as shown, adding paper butterfly over bow center.

Cut out sentiment from paper pad, edge with Gathered Twigs DS and adhere to upper right of card front.

Die cut large medallion from a piece of pink print paper, and the small medallion from the green print paper. Add a bit of the Mowed Lawn DS over the small medallion. Adhere small medallion to center of large medallion, adhere to lower half of card front.

Cover the chipboard dress form with Tarnished Brass DP, add the Verdigris embossing powder to it while still wet.  Heat the embossing powder.  I liked that some of the brass color showed through, so I left it with the one coat of embossing powder.  Adhere to lower right with foam dots.  Add cream colored enamel dots along bottom edge.

Add a spray of various flowers to the left side, adding a large pink enamel dot in the center of the largest flower.

For more bling, I added light blue enamel dots at the four corners of the large medallion, and tan enamel dots at the corners of the sentiment.  How fun is this?

Supplies:

Kraft card stock (7" x 10")

Kaisercraft Kaleidoscope 6-1/2" paper pad

Spellbinders Victorian Medallion Two

Lifestyle Crafts GooseBumpz Chain embossing folder

Perler and Pony (5mm and 9mm) beads (various colors)

Chipboard dress form (Gina's Designs)

Ranger Antiquities Verdigris embossing powder

Distress Stain (DS): Gathered Twigs, Mowed Lawn

Distress Paint DP): Tarnished Brass

Ranger blending tool

Zutter Distress-it-All

Webster's Pages lace
5/8" seam binding ribbon
Paper flowers and butterfly (Petaloo and Recollections)

I would also like to share my card with Imagination Crafts Challenge Blog-Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by, and please come back on Monday for MORE inspiration from this very talented Design Team!  We hope you join in the fun, too--please check out our House Rules HERE before linking up!  I can't wait to see your creations!

Barbara xo

Mixed Media Vintage Tag with Altered Pages and Pan Pastels

Hey there my fellow crafters!  I hope your week has started off well.  This month, the Altered Pages Design Team has had the great pleasure of working with PanPastels, and we hope you have been following along and are enjoying the projects we have been creating for you.  PanPastels are now available AlteredPages.com, too!

I have for you today a vintage mixed media tag  that I think you will like.  There are a lot of steps, so I have included a lot of pictures. But rest assured, it is so easy to do and lots of fun.  So I hope you will follow along and make it all the way to the bottom.  

I chose one of the manila tags from the tag assortment and adhered a vintage text page over the entire tag.

 Trim excess and repunch hole through tag.

Pounce white pigment ink through stencil.

Add Bright Yellow Green and Turquoise Pan Pastels with Softt sponge over the tag. Spray tag with a workable fixative.

Print mirror image from Simple Science collage sheet, cut in half and adhere to tag with gel medium, as shown.  Burnish paper well and allow to dry.

 Mist paper image with water and use your finger to begin removing as much paper as possible. The gel medium transfers the ink from the printed image, so continue to mist with water and rub the paper off until the area is clear, not cloudy.  You should see your image transferred to the tag. Because I sprayed with a fixative, the water is not hurting the background paper at all.

 If you look closely, you can see the design beneath the transfer still showing through ... a very nice effect, don't you think?

 Edge tag with black gelato.  

 Use a baby wipe or slightly wet finger to blend.

 Trim beautiful flower lady from Les Fleurs collage sheet and adhere to tag.  Outline edge of image with charcoal pencil and blend with blending stump to make it look more dimensional.

Cut a key hole escutcheon from chipboard or grunge board.  Coat with white pigment ink.

 Sponge Copper Pan Pastel over escutcheon.

Dip key hole into melted UTEE.  Remove from UTEE with tweezers and lay onto craft sheet.  Be very careful with this step.  The UTEE is extremely hot and will stick to your fingers and burn you.  

 A funny thing happened during this step.  The pigment ink and Pan Pastel caused the UTEE to bubble, so I reheated it on my craft sheet with my heat gun, and then the pigment ink and the Pan Pastel began to move, allowing the white ink to show through again.  I love the effect I got from this, and can only imagine the color combinations I could achieve just by changing the pigment ink and Pan Pastel colors. 

These next three pieces were inked with the white pigment ink and colored with the Pan Pastel metallic colors using Bronze and Rich Gold, but I left it to dry overnight.  When I came back, I dipped them in the hot UTEE and there was no bubbling, and you can see I am still going to need to clean them up a bit by hitting them with my heat gun to level out the UTEE.  

 And here are all four pieces coated completely and looking fabulous, don't you think?  I ended up using only two of these pieces for my tag today, but I am definitely saving the other two for another project.  

Shape a variety of flowers, adding stamen where needed, and adhere to tag, as shown.

Cup two daisies with large ball stylus on piece of foam and layer.

Cut two petals away from six petal flower.

Glue two outer petals together and pinch at bottom.

Glue to center of layered daisy.

Fold pointed six petal flower (yellow) in half and squish each individual flower towards the center, similar to the green flower.  It is 

Fold the top three petals down, as shown.

Add a few stamen to the center and pinch the bottom while carefully arranging the petals to your liking, then glue all in place in the center.

 To make some leaves, cut petals from large daisy.  Add Permanent Green Pan Pastel to leaves and adhere beneath flowers.

Here are a few more closeups for you.  Here, I simply added a couple of metal stickers to the escutcheon, but you could also use brads.

 Add some beautiful silk ribbons through the tag hole for that extra UMPH!

Supplies:

Altered Pages:  Manila tag; Vintage Text Pages; Simple Science Collage Sheet; Les Fleurs Collage Sheet; Gel Medium; Gesso; Triangle Plaid stencil; Gelato Black; Petaloo Flowers; Ribbons and Trims

Pan Pastel: Turquoise, Bright Yellow Green, Permanent Green, Copper, Rich Gold, Bronze, Softt Sponges

Other:  White pigment ink, Clear UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel), Hot Pot or Heat Gun; Tweezers; charcoal pencil

I hope you enjoyed my project today, and I always hope that I have been able to inspire you to try new things like Pan Pastels.  Be sure to comment each day on the Altered Pages blog for a chance to win a set of your very own PanPastels.  A random drawing will take place at the end of the month, and for each comment you leave, your name gets entered again!  More comments, more chances of winning! (one comment per day please).

Have a wonderful, creative week, and be sure to make time to play!

Barbara