Gingersnap Creations Challenge - Sapphire Frame

Today's challenge launch on Gingersnap Creations is to use Jewel Colours in your crafting. I adore jewel colours, and today I have chosen Sapphire. I actually made the papier mache frame a few months ago, but I liked the colour and texture so much I didn't want to add anything, so it has sat there for a while. I had painted it with a sapphire blue Precious Metal paint, and then used Bronze Croco Crackling Colour over the top, to allow the sapphire to show through the cracks. Whilst it was wet I applied some torn pieces of sapphire Angelina film and then heat gunned it.

The beautiful blue glass perfume bottle, with a silver filigree flower and cap was a gift many, many years ago from my sister in law, but has been too beautiful to use, So I made a mould of it before I used it, so I can re-create it:-


The butterfly was made from this roll of butterfly packing tape which I bought for a £1 in my local Tiger. There must be hundreds of butterflies on the roll, in about five different designs. I popped one on acetate and one on grunge, cut them out and layered them and curled the petals.

 
Here's a closer shot of the background. It looks quite turquoise here, but it really is sapphire blue. I decided the perfume was going to be 'Violette Flor', so I popped this rub-on perfume label behind it.

I made some more moulds from the jewellery I bought the other day in Primark, to make two copper friendly plastic roses for the bottom corners, and added some of the chain and pearls.

Happy Valentine's Day! A Card for Col

This is the card I have made for Col for Valentine's Day today:-

I used a piece of red heart tape across the middle of a white A6 card blank in a landscape orientation, and then added various different kinds of hearts, at different heights. There is a shrink plastic one saying 'To the One I love', and art moulds made up in friendly plastic, together with some wooden hearts and heart gems and padded hearts. The one third from the left is a Tim charm made into a mould with Siligum, then made up in clay with a dusting of mica powder. I added a bit of dangling chain to grunge it up a bit. It is really a bit girly for Col overall, but he wouldn't want to have an un-girly wife, would he?!

And a sneak peek ........

What could this be? 

 I am posting this today as a sneak peek, for the sole reason that it has a Valentine theme, but it isn't finished yet! So I am wondering if you know what it is going to be? If you can't guess, I might post a clue!

Charming - Gingersnaps Charms Challenge

Today's challenge on Gingersnaps is to use charms in your creation. The charm at the top is an Art Mould, made up in gold friendly plastic.

I used the Baroque Sizzix die to cut two pieces of mountboard and two pieces of Vintage Shabby paper to give strength to the hanging and so I could sandwich the dangling charms in place, and neatly finish off the back. I used a selection of charming Art Journey children stamps, some of which I borrowed from Alison when she was here last week (thanks Alison!). I used some of the words on the background, then the images for the inside of the container, which was from Crafty Individuals.

I finished it off with some german scrap, again from Crafty Individuals, and an ABC charm.

The baby themed charms are hanging from a clothing tag, sandwiched between the layers of mountboard

A close up showing the Crown mould

Christmas Gift Boxes

Col asked me just before we went away for Christmas if I would make a couple of little gift boxes as we were giving his Mum and Sister Pandora charms for their bracelets. The first one is a papier mache box which I painted with pink Viva Precious Metal Colour, and then added some bronze Viva Croco to the top. Whilst it was wet I 'stuck' a few tiny pieces of left over friendly plastic onto it and melted it in with the heat gun. I then made a grungepaper rose using Hels' Stitchels stamps from the Artistic Stamper, coloured with Distress Inks.

A side view to show the little pieces of Friendly Plastic

This one was a wooden magnetic clasp box and I painted it with a cheap shimmery blue/green paint and blasted it with the heat gun to make it blister, in the same way I did the notebooks recently. I added some Angelina fibres around the edge and some tiny blue beads. I then made a friendly plastic frame from my new Krafty Lady art mould, which I love. I added a Crafty Individuals Father Christmas image to the centre and filled it with Glossy Accents. I was quite surprised that my MIL and SIL liked the boxes as I thought they would just look at the gift inside, but they seemed to, which was nice. Although they don't do the same sort of crafting as we do, they are both very crafty and they take an interest in the things I make, which is lovely.

I 

Post Script on Mould N Pour

Before I do a new blog posting, I just wanted to come back about Mould N Pour as one or two people have said they were considering getting some. Don't take my comments as gospel because my experiments are limited, but with my second batch of the stuff I was really pleased, and am now on my third and will blog the results soon (haven't actually made the items into anything yet!). The first time I used it was to wrap around the heads of some children's toy animals and I wasted the whole pack. Eventually my tiger was ok, but more like a wolf, and used up too much product! The second time I made 12 moulds I was very happy with, so about £1 for a mould which is exclusive to you, and also means you can use found items, or something where you want to replicate the original so you don't have to part with it. I have found fairly shallow items work best. UTEE and the melt pot work very well as your medium, and also Friendly Plastic, which you can get from the Altered Element.

I am normally a huge fan of Fimo but it doesn't work so well in the Mould N Pour moulds as it has to be oven-dried, so you have to squidge it out of the mould first which results in spoiling the shape. Oven-dry clay might be better. But I have been amazed at the intricate detail I have achieved with Friendly Plastic. You can enhance it with Rub N Buff, etc.

I will always love my Krafty Lady art moulds from the Stamp Bug as it wouldn't be possible to make these myself, but you can create something unique with the Mould N Pour.

So I am a convert. Watch this space for some more moulded items! You can get the Mould N Pour from the Altered Element or from the Artistic Stamper.

Slide Mailers

Have any of you ever been asked to demonstrate something without preparing for it, and made a start thinking, 'I don't know where this is going'? Well, this happened to me with these slide mailers. I had my class on Tuesday and had planned on doing something else, but one of my students had brought along some slide mailers and asked if I would show them how I would approach them. So I made this single mailer, but had no idea what colours I was going to go for, stamps, etc:-

I slapped on acrylic paint in two shades of pink, then some smears of gold, and gold crackle paint on all the corners. I added Crafty Individuals crackle stamp all over, front and back, in Brushed Corduroy and Victorian Velvet, then the same with their flourish in Sepia Archival. I used a large tag shaped Hero Arts stamp which has a clock and the Eiffel tower and the word Time, but just pressed the microscope glass into the piece of the image I wanted, and adhered it in the aperture with a little bit of French book text. I had intended to use accent beads to fill in the little space above the slide aperture but I couldn't lay my hands on it quickly enough so I used Heather Mix Flower Soft as it was on my workdesk. I then added a Pewter Friendly Plastic Eiffel Tower art mould to the front (you can get Friendly Plastic from the Altered Element). I thought I would use a bit of artistic licence and used more Flower Soft at its base, as a sort of jardin des Tuileries effect!

This double one was made in a similar way, but colouring the mailer with Distress Inks instead of acrylic paint, and using some image transfers I had prepared, on the front and inside the mailer.

I did Slide Mailers a while ago for a magazine article but it was fun just to have a little play this time!

Friendly Plastic Tutorial - Part 2

This is Part 2 of my Friendly Plastic Tutorial for the Altered Element DT. I do hope you will have fun making some art moulds and jewellery.

Beaded Dragonfly Art Mould

1. You will need Friendly Plastic Sticks in a selection of colours, from the Altered Element, a selection of beads, some stamens or wire for antennae, and Krafty Lady Dragonfly Art Mould AM 308 from the Stamp Bug, www.thestampbug.co.uk. Have a bowl of cold water ready.

2. Cut a piece of Friendly Plastic roughly the size of the body of the dragonfly, and two pieces for the wings.

3. Place the beads in position and then place the body piece of fp over them and melt to soften.

4. Start to melt the first piece with your heat gun about 15 cms away. This is just so it is sticky so the wing pieces will stick to it in a moment without blowing out of position.

5. It will start to look shiny and you will see the shape of the beads appearing.

6. Place the wing pieces in position, coloured side down and start to melt them.



7. You will see them become shiny and more metallic and they will sink down into the wings, taking on the shape.



8. Dip your fingers into the water and start to press the molten friendly plastic into the shape of the mould, and continue to dip your fingers. If you have long finger nails you can use your knuckles.

9. Pop the whole mould into the bowl of water. After about one minute it will be cool and you can very easily pop the dragonfly out.




10. The beads will probably pop out. This is ok as the main thing is you are left with the impression so that you can now glue them in with Glossy Accents.

11. You will probably have some rough edges to tidy up. You can snip these off with scissors, or use a craft knife and cutting mat. Any decent size scraps can be saved and reused.

12. It is possible to neatly push in all the pieces sometimes, whilst it is molten, so you don't have to do any trimming, as in this picture - it is easier when there aren't any beads.

13. Turn the piece over and soften the top of the body very gently with the heat gun. Either use stamens, or curl a piece of wire to form atennae, and press them into position in the softened plastic.

14. You will get used to the art moulds and how much friendly plastic you need to cut to fit them. Generally if they are deep moulds, you will need more as they will sink down and you will need more up the sides of the mould. You can easily add more as you go along if you have misjudged it. If you don't use too much, it is easier to poke all the bits into the mould so you have no overhang to trim away.

The unbeaded dragonfly:-

The final beaded dragonfly:-

Microscope Frame Friendly Plastic Karantha Pendant

You will need friendly plastic sticks, microscope sized memory frame, and Karantha Blossom and Leaves stamp, all from the Altered Element. You will also need necklace findings and small beads and trimmings to finish off the piece, and Metallic Rub Ons, or Rub N Buff from the Altered Element.

1. Cut a piece of friendly plastic to fit the frame.

2. Soften the plastic with your heat gun until the edges begin to soften and the surface takes on a crazed appearance.

3. Arrange a flower and sprig of leaves from the Karantha set on an acrylic block, and 'ink up' with Versamark.

4. Stamp into the softened plastic and allow to cool before removing.

5. Rub with Metallic Rub Ons or Rub N Buff to highlight the stamped image.

6. Trim off any edges that have frilled and fit it inside the frame.

7. Cut a tiny circle from a contrasting colour using a Crop-o-dile or similar. Soften the top left of the piece where the centre of the flower is, place the 'dot' in position and heat for a moment until it sinks into the background piece, but avoid overheating it as you will lessen the embossed design.



8. Thread some co-ordinating beads and a wire embellishment (I didn't make this, it was from a chutney jar!), using bead filament, and attach to the back of the friendly plastic piece with strong double sided tape such as Red Line.



9. Tidy the back by covering with co-ordinating paper.

10. Thread onto a suitable chain.

 

Square Memory Frame Pendant

You will need a Square Memory Frame and Friendly Plastic from the Altered Element, and Crafty Individuals stamp CI 252, and Krafty Lady Art Mould AM 263 from the Stamp Bug. Suitable chain and findings.

1. Cut a piece of Friendly Plastic (Blue Swirl) to fit your square Memory Frame.

 

2. Ink up Crafty Individuals CI 252 with Versamark.

3. Heat the friendly plastic until crazed then stamp, and leave to cool.

4. Rub the piece with Metallic Rub Ons or Rub N Buff.

5. Make up a Small Floral Heart art mould AM 263 using Gold/Black Friendly Plastic. You will only need about a centimetre for this little mould. Adhere to the centre of the piece with Glossy Accents.

6. Add a suitable chain to make a necklace.

Friendly Plastic Cuff

You will need Pewter/Black friendly plastic stick, Karantha Blossom and Leaves, Accent Beads, Rub N Buff or Metallic Rub ons, Bracelet Clasp

1. Soften a whole piece of Pewter/Black friendly plastic until it is crazed and softened at the edges.

2. Arrange all 4 of the Karantha stamps on a long acrylic block as shown and ink up with Versamark.

3. Stamp into the softened friendly plastic and leave to cool.

4. Turn over and heat the reverse until shiny and bend into a cuff shape - you can use your non-stick craft sheet to hold it as you bend it.

5. Rub with Green Metallic Rub On.

6. Use the small hole of your Crop O Dile or similar to make a hole either side of the back of the cuff, and set with eyelets.

7. Add jump rings and a bracelet clasp.

8. Cut 2 more pieces of the Pewter friendly plastic so that when placed together, they are large enough for the Karantha flower. Soften with the heat gun, press the stamp into the pieces, and leave to cool.

 

9. Cut out with sharp scissors.

10. Add green rub on.

 

11. Soften slightly with the heat gun and curl the petals upwards.

 

12. Add co-ordinating beads to the centre with Glossy Accents.

 

13. Adhere the flower to the cuff, in the centre but slightly offset, using strong glue. This is the final cuff.

More Ideas

CD and Friendly Plastic Brooches

These are just CDs cut into wedges and coloured with Wild Plum, Denim, and Eggplant Alcohol Inks. I've them added accent beads, friendly plastic art moulds, an image transferred vintage lady, some cogs, a button, and a rose made from a roasting tin. I have stamped the backgrounds with a Crafty Individuals Flourish using black Archival ink, and then wiped it straight off to lift some of the alcohol ink in a swirl. I then coloured some glossy card with the same alcohol inks to go on the reverse, and added brooch backs. 

 

Another Option

This pendant was made with a Tim Holtz Ornate Frame, simply cutting a piece of friendly plastic to fit the oval aperture, softening it with the heat gun, then adding a friendly plastic small dragonfly art mould, and some beads.