Hey everyone!

Well, half-way through February, and I'm starting to think that spring may be here soon.... please??  To encourage Mother Nature to get a move on, I've made a little card - maybe she'll get the hint...

It's a fun project using Tyvek, which is a polymer type paper; basically it's plastic, and very strong, so brilliant for all kinds of mixed media adventures. It's great for stitching on, as well as using with acrylic paint, which is what we will be doing. Once you've painted the Tyvek, you get some lovely effects by ironing it - it bubbles and shrinks in quite unpredictable ways, with different textures depending on whether you iron it on the front or back. It's important to let the Tyvek dry completely naturally - you can't speed up the process with a heat gun as it will curl and shrink, and if there are any wet patches of paint when you start ironing it, you end up with huge holes! The other thing is to make sure you do the ironing in a well-ventilated room, and ALWAYS put the Tyvek between two pieces of baking parchment, or your iron will get ruined (you might quite like that, but I don't want to be responsible for its demise!)

Materials Used:
Tyvek
That's Crafty! Turquoise Shimmer Paint
That's Crafty! Yellow Shimmer Paint
That's Crafty! Antique Gold Metallic Paint
Aged Brass Metallique Wax
Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits Die 661190: Wildflowers
5" square Kraft Card
Cardstock in gold and green-blue

Cut a piece of Tyvek to measure approximately 7" square. Lightly wet the surface with water, and using a soft brush, add little blobs of Yellow Shimmer Paint, then add some Turquoise Shimmer Paint and mix gently - aim for disinctive areas of yellow and turquoise, as well as the inevitable (but lovely!) green. Dip a splatter brush in the Metallic Gold paint, and flick randomly all over the surface. Leave to dry thoroughly - if there are any wet patches, these will disintegrate once you start ironing the piece, which is not the effect we're after on this occasion.


Place the painted Tyvek between two pieces of baking parchment, and then with the iron on around a number 2 setting, glide it all over the surface. The Tyvek will start to shrink and bubble - keep moving the iron around to try and get an even effect. When the Tyvek is about 2/3 of its original size, carefully remove from ironing board and let cool.


Cut the Tyvek to measure 4.5" square, then layer onto some green-blue card, leaving 1/16" edge, before sticking to the front of the Kraft greetings card. Attach die cuts - I just used little dots of glue, and didn't try and stick the entire die cut down.


I didn't have a sticker that said 'spring', so made my own - there are lots of sites where you can get free fonts - this one is called Hermes 1943 and I printed it out in 16pt bold. While you're at it, make a whole sheet full of words, leaving enough space between lines to comfortably cut, and you have your very own, personalised sticker sheet!