Hello

This week, once again, playing with the fabulous Teabag Paper from the Surfaces Mixed Media Paper/Card Kit but also available to buy outwith the kit which is perfect for Teabag Paper Junkies, like myself!

Supplies

That's Crafty! Surfaces Mixed Media Paper/Card Kit (Teabag Paper, Calico, Rice Paper)
That's Crafty! Surfaces MDF Heart #5
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set Textures Collection Set 3 (button stamp)
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set Textures Collection Set 2 (Numbers)
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set Lynne's Affirmations Set 10
That's Crafty! Lustre Spray Gold
That's Crafty! Surfaces MDF Panel (Cut to size 
That's Crafty! Multi-Surface Paint Metallic Antique Gold
Memento Ink Tuxedo Black
Archival Ink Designer Series Potting Soil
Gel Medium
Sewing Machine
Sewing Needle
Brown Cotton Thread
Vintage Button
Burlap
Coffee/Tea Bath (Instant Coffee Granules/Teabags container of  hot water)

Instructions

Stain teabag paper, rice paper and calico in bath of instant coffee granules or teabags. Remove and allow to dry thoroughly.

You can either tear the pieces prior to staining or once dry.

I already had a MDF heart prepared, all I needed to do was apply Metallic Antique Gold with my fingertips to highlight texture. Seek beauty was stamped onto found paper (piece of brown packaging), layered with a piece of stained teabag paper and frayed burlap, topping with vintage button.

Hand-stitch onto the calico panel.

Machine stitch various layers, creating texture with the overlap of papers.
The button stamp from Textures Collection was stamped three times onto more found paper, hand-stitch them onto the panel.

I often chat about the fact I never set-out with a specific end result in mind and that is the case with this project.  On completion I decided this collage needed support. Only by chance, I happened to have a MDF panel to the size of this paper/fabric collage.

Stamp 721, from Textures Collection onto fragment of stained teabag paper, attaching to collage.

Add any final touches of papers to create more texture and balance.

Now, mist the panel with the stunning Lustre Spray Gold. Also, dab some spots of the Lustre onto the panel to add a different detail to the collage.

Until next week,

Wishes
Lynne

Hello! I have a simple card to share this week as I've been a bit short on crafting time due to various issues and a piece of my stash of spray overflow paper came in very handy to create something fairly quickly - very unusual for me I can tell you!

Step by Step

I've recently been using spray inks a lot more than I used to largely due to That's Crafty! having a range of luscious flat matte sprays and lustre sprays which are perfect to make backgrounds but if you pop what you're spraying on a larger sheet (in my case A3 card, rice paper is also fab), you can catch the overflow to use later, either as a background or to stamp on.

My overflow card used here has Aqua Flat Matte Spray together with Lilac, Lime and Aqua Lustre Sprays. It also contains an experiment with a stencil which didn't quite work but it does add some lovely texture.

I decided to stay with the blues, stamping my chosen flower on mixed media paper twice with black ink. I coloured one with diluted Teal Multi Surface Paint and the other in part with Metallic Blue Multi Surface Paint.

Once the flowers were dry, I cut out the whole teal flower and just the 2 sets of lower petals on the metallic blue one. I layered these up with dimensional glue.


I added my background to a mat of black card to make it pop and attached it to a pre-made 7 inch card blank. I stamped the floral quote directly on the card surface with black ink to finish.


Supplies

That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set - Fanciful Flowers Set 1
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set - Fanciful Flowers Set 2
That's Crafty! Multi Surface Paints - Teal, Metallic Blue
That's Crafty! Flat Matte Spray - Aqua
That's Crafty! Lustre Sprays - Aqua, Lilac, Lime
Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink
White Mixed Media Paper
Black Cardstock
Extras - 7 inch square card blank, dimensional glue

Hello, Sam here, hope you are having a good week so far? This week I'm sharing with you a MDF round featuring the now famous Fred. I'm not sure if Fred is terrorising the butterflies or if the butterflies are terrorising Fred given his facial expression lol.

What I did

I began by giving a MDF round a few coats of white gesso, and when dry sprinkling on some Lindy's Magical Shaker for the background. Fred and the flower were then stamped on white card and coloured using Prismacolour pencils and watercolours.

I painted the greyboard butterflies with interference paint. A really quick make and my daughter loved it as a birthday gift.

To finish I used a die from my stash to give Fred something to sit on, some stars add a little details and some sparkle on the biggest butterflies wings using some glitter glue.

What I used

That's Crafty! Surfaces MDF Rounds
That's Crafty! clear stamp set, The Freddy and Friends Collection
That's Crafty! clear stamp set, Boho Vibes, set 2
That's Crafty! Surfaces Greyboard, Large Butterflies
That's Crafty! White Gesso
Lindy's Stamp Gang, magical shaker, Black Forest Black
Ranger Stickles Glitter Glue, Diamond
Prima Watercolours, Tropicals
That's Crafty! Interference Paint, Gold

I do hope you like Fred and thanks for looking, Sam xx

Hello

This week I have one of the large MDF Rounds to share, where I layered the beautiful leaf stamp from a That's Crafty! Textures Collection stamp set, to create a focal.

Supplies

That's Crafty! Surfaces MDF Round 8"
That's Crafty! Flat Matte Spray: Basil, Bluebell, Aqua
That's Crafty! Surfaces Mixed Media Paper/Card Kit (Rice Paper)
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set Textures Collection Set 3
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set Lynne's Affirmations Set 10
Memento Ink Tuxedo Black 
Gel Medium
Extras
Sewing Machine
Handmade Paper
Twig

Instructions

Spray Rice Paper with the Flat Matte Sprays (the paper I used was previously under-paper when using the sprays on another project) allowing to dry completely. Try not to move the Rice Paper when it is wet as it is very fragile in this state, allowing to dry makes it easier to work with. Apply Gel Medium to the MDF Round, taking the Medium to the very edges. Place the stained Rice Paper onto the panel, gently smoothing to ensure good adhesion. Leave to dry.

Stain enough Rice Paper to cover the MDF surface and allow for extra, for the focal image. Also staining pieces of handmade paper, book text and found paper (piece torn from cardboard box packaging).

The paper in my project has a mottled brown area, this is a result of previously having laid rusted items to dry on the paper.

Stamp leaf onto stained Rice Paper, tearing around image. Continue to stamp the same leaf onto other pieces of the stained Rice Paper. Layer them and machine stitch down centre of leaf. Machine stitch piece of stained handmade paper and other pieces of stained papers. Adhere those pieces to the panel.

Ruffle the edges of the stamped focal.

Leave tail ends of thread to hang loose.

Stamp Affirmation onto stained handmade paper, discarding the word "secrets".

Until next time,

Wishes
Lynne

Firstly I drew a grid of 6 squares, 7cms x 7cms in greyboard. I then cut the board into 3 pieces and scored on the middle line.

I made a cube from the 3 pieces of board.

Using Washi tape, I stuck the cube together (leave one face open, this will be the lid)

I then cut an additional piece of greyboard for the shaped lid, this sticks directly onto the first lid. Having 2 lids weighs down the top helping to keep it closed.

The second lid I shaped as below.

I stuck the shaped lid onto the box with double sided tape and then covered the hinge with Washi tape. The Washi tape adds extra strength and is easily covered with paint or card.

Using a paper pad I covered the box, if you are using a patterned paper try and match up patterns if necessary.

I used a small magnet and covered it with a leftover piece of paper to help hold the lid closed.

For the rest of the box I covered each face with a different page from the pad. Using a pad rather than loose papers means all the papers will go with each other easily.

Once the box was covered I used some texture paste and a stencil and randomly added a bit to each face of the cube.

Once the paste was dry I used the Gelatos to colour it. When I use Gelatos (or paint) I start with 3 colours & the determination that I will only use those chosen 3. Unfortunately that never quite happens and I end up with 7 or 8 colours out and this is exactly what happened this time too.

Gelatos work best if they are damp (or over dry gesso), so I have a wet cloth nearby and dampen my finger before rubbing the Gelato stick with my finger. I then rub over the place I want it to go. The lovely thing about Gelatos is that it is easy to build up the colour gradually.

If you find you have added too much colour you can simply wipe it off with a damp cloth and start again.

To pull the look together I edged the box with dark blue.

To decorate the lid, I used chipboard that I painted and then attacked with shiny powders. As with Gelatos and paint I cannot stick to one pot and the finished colour above is a combination of several pots.

I backed the chipboard heart with some black card to make it stand out, used a sticky pad to give some height, added some micro beads and left it all to dry.

Onto the Coins!

Each coin is 2 1/2" in diameter. Although they can be made of any material, most swapping groups prefer MDF circles as they are sturdy and so tend not to get damaged when posted.

The photograph above and below show the steps I took to achieve the finished result. In the picture below I used a heart stencil and a baby wipe to remove the stamped script. I then finished off by adding some stencilled dots with paint.

It is useful to use a spray fixative once you have finished using the Gelatos.

In the coins below I used all sorts of bits and pieces. The leaves and ribbon were coloured using Distress Ink Pads, the trees were coloured using pencils and on the flowers I used pens.