I wanted to make an special card for a friend’s birthday. When I saw the challenge at Linda Ledbetter blog it was my inspiration. I love the faux glass technique created by Tim Holtz in his book, The Compendium Of Curiosities 3. There are some amazing prizes from Tim and Mario plus Funkie Junkie are the sponsors this month.

I decided to have a message in a bottle at the bottom of the sea. (Now I have the Police song going round in my head!)

I used some canvas paper and used crackle paste with my new favourite stencil, flourishes. It didn’t look much until I used different Distress Stains and inks and then the crackles really showed up. Brenda Brown used this technique on a canvas I and I loved it so thought I would incorporate the idea. I die cut a tag and scuffed the edges of the canvas.

I used Tim’s technique to create the faux glass effect on my bottle. You will need your own copy of his book to find the instructions. I used various colours of alcohol ink and then dripped blending solution on top to drive colours into the cracks. I was pleased with how it turned out because I wanted it to look as if algae was growing around the bottle.

The message to go inside was a TH stamp, I used Black Archival ink and then tore it out, scrumpled it up then inked with DI Vintage and Pumice Stone. The note went into the bottle and got corked inside.

I wanted some sea creatures and tried various options of embossing, inking the stamps but nothing looked right! So decided to use Shrink Plastic. I stamped with archival onto white, then coloured with aqua pencil crayons before heating. You can see how much they changed size as the sea horse has yet to be shrunk.

I clipped them onto a swivel chain at different heights, don’t forget to punch a hole before you shrink!
I added some seaweed, die cut using Tattered Pinecone leaves from coordinations paper which I sanded.

The ribbon was the finishing touch. I used Distress markers to colour stripes, sprayed water then dried with a heat gun. I think I saw Tammy Tutterow use this technique on her blog.

I tied some twine around the bottle neck, glued on some shells and added a Big Chat sticker. I hope my friend with enjoy finding the message!

I am also entering the tag into the Celebrations challenge at A Vintage Journey blog. I was inspired by the faux glass technique and have used mainly Tim Holtz products, stamps, inks, stains and embellishments.

Wish me luck!

Hugs
Jan x

Welcome to our June Challenge at The Mirror Crack’d.

Our theme for this month is to create a Shadow Box.

Our host is the talented Shilpa, and she will be choosing our Winner and Top 5.

We are thrilled to be sponsored by………

With a prize of £12.00 to spend at your favourite Woodware Stockist, either in store or on line.

Woodware are a Yorkshire based family owned business, as well as distributing Dreamweaver Stencils and Stampendous Stamps we have a wonderful range of stamps designed for us by Francoise Read and Jane Gill. They also scour the world for new and innovative products for the crafty card maker, and have a great range of punches and tools of the trade, to find stockists in your area or to see the range visit the website www.woodware.co.uk.

I began the shadow box with a reversed canvas which I painted black.

Then the fun began! I used Grunge Paste, Deco art Textured sand paste and embedded all sorts of collected bits and pieces. I had some Tim Holltz cogs, Prima Mechanicals, bottle tops and bits from my friends garage floor. I also glued on tiny glass beads.

The metal was dabbed with white and green paint and distressed or painted black. Then the Treasure Gold gilding wax came out, it highlighted all the different textures.

I cut a piece of smooth card to fit the recess then randomly stamped Tim Holtz Steampunk set in black archival ink and clear heat embossed over the top before the ink dried. I stamped the men on a separate sheet and fussy cut them out. The background was Distress Inked using Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean and Mustard Seed. I added torn tissue tape to create some more texture on the background. The men were distressed with Vintage Photoand raised on foam squares. The die cut cogs were embossed with Vintage Photo Distress embossing powder and then tucked under the frame. I added some metal cogs to enhance the industrial feel.

I really enjoy making shadow boxes and love the 3D effects using texture pastes and embellishments. I hope you have been inspired to have a go, I am looking forward to seeing your entry!

I am entering the Ravages of Time challenge over at SanDee and Amelie’s blog, some luscious prizes to be won!
Hugs

Jan x

Our theme for this month is to create and use a Masterboard. A masterboard is a large background piece designed to be cut up and used in smaller projects, such as journals, postcards, cards, ATC’s etc. It can be created with any combination of collage, paint, inks, sprays, rubber stamps, stencils.

Our host is Angela, and she will be choosing our Winner and Top 5.

We are thrilled to be sponsored by

WOODWARE CRAFT COLLECTION
With a prize of £12.00 to spend at your favourite Woodware Stockist, either in store or on line.

Wow this is my second DT project for The Mirror Crack’d! So exciting, I had a great welcome from the team. I was a bit nervous because previous master boards had ended up a muddy mess. However, I took some tips from Leandra at Paperartsy and used waxed tissue with Paperartsy paints. I am so pleased with the result.  The masterboard I created I used to cover a cheap notebook.

I started with with paint and brayered on shades of colours, opaque then translucent paints.

I brayered dark, medium and light shades of the same colour to create layers and depth. Then I used TH stamps with the same colour paints on top.

I used blues, greens  and yellow paint.

I used all the stamps in the set but finished with the white script over the whole sheet to unify the page.

The wax paper felt substantial with the layers of paint and could be sewn.

I die cut an Apothocary bottle and embossed the stamp over it then inked with blues. The splat was made with blue alcohol inks on shiny card then the shape cut from the TH new thinlets. I thought it was an amusing embellishment! I heat embossed a title with black embossing powder to complete the front.

I was pleased with the final board and that I had managed to get some depth and visible layers.

I hope you are inspired to join us The Mirror Crack’d for this challenge. Check out the amazing projects the DT created with their master boards.

Jan x

This was such a lovely challenge from Laurie! Spring is such a hopeful time, the colours are bright and fresh but there is still a hint of Winter in the air.

She said:

Here in the United States we are coming into spring – the season when nature comes forth with new life.

Soft green grasses grow in the fields and the trees bloom in glorious colors with the promise of fruit.

Tulips and daffodils emerge from the soil after a long winters nap.

The colors of spring, the sights and sounds of nature at this time of the year renews my soul.

In the spring time the colors of nature are different around the world.

For my challenge this month I want you to

Color Your World

For this challenge create a project with the colors of spring time where you live.

Show us what colors renew your soul, post your creation at Our Creative Corner, I am looking forward to see what you make.

Creative Embellishments are offering a $25 gift certificate to our randomly drawn winner!

I started by creating textures for a bright sparkling sky. I used Texture and Crackle pastes.

The ground had pastes and embossing powders mixed and heated to create soil.

I used Dylusions sprays when the paste was dry. I love the bright sky colours they created.

The layers were ripped and torn from TH Wallflower papers. I used Kraft core to die cut the leaves. Inked muslin and scrap papers from my stash were tucked in the layers and I used one of my new thinlets dies to create the swirl. I used snowflake lace for the hint of Winter.

This was the base for the layers.

The title was created with Fragment, I stamped some wallflower paper with the words and stuck them on with glossy accents.
I really enjoyed this challenge! Please leave me a comment.
Jan x