Mom's Birthday Card

I made this card for my Mom’s birthday – she turned 81 yesterday.  My Mom is sight impaired due to untreated glaucoma and I am always looking for ways she can use her other senses when I make her something. So, this card has a bunch of things she can feel as well as see.  Sadly, this also my last post with the Design Team for Globecraft & Piccolo.  I have had a marvelous time and I wish them continued success!  Thanks to my awesome teammates and to Stacey & Sandy for making the experience so incredibly fun!

What I Used to Make this Card:

F100 French Oval Single Frame

LA107 Large Stemmed Rose Accents

3D Gel in Rose Pearl & Leafy Green

Embossing Enamel in Cranberry Wine

Embossing Fluid

Crafter's Pick Glue

DCWV Chalk Art Stack – card base 5 ¼ x 5 ¼

Silhouette Cameo letter cutouts

Ranger Embossing Powder in Rich Red

White Cardstock

Mom loves roses 

I confess I had covered the rose long before I made the card.  I knew the 3D gels would be beautiful on the chipboard and I made a few of them.  I tried to trace around the rose as carefully as I could (I can’t find my metal tip. I suspect one of the cats has taken it.  Actually, I am positive one of the cats took it) but I actually ended up covering the rose sort of like when you grout tile.  Because I didn’t need it to be absolutely perfect, I just filled in spots with more 3D gel after it dried.  Since the gel is amazing, you can’t even tell and I was open to some more texture anyway.  So, cover your rose and let it dry overnight if you can.

One of the roses

Then I discovered how brilliantly the rose fit into the French Oval Frame.  Now, the cardstock is also very bright, not neon bright, but bright. 

Close up of the French

I had no Embossing Enamel that matched, so I took some red embossing powder and covered the frame with that first.  Then I pounced my Embossing Fluid around the frame and covered that with Cranberry Ice Embossing Enamel – I love the way it came out!

I cut my card base out of the DCWV Chalk Art Stack – that paper is thick!! I made a square card since I had so much to put on it and I wanted Mom to be able to touch the cardstock; it has a texture to it so it can be used like a chalkboard (you can even wipe the chalk off). So cool! 

It's STUNNING in real life!!

To keep the theme going, I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out Happy Birthday (I also discovered a neat trick – when your letters are still on the cutting mat, before you remove them, use a bit of washi tape that is long enough to grab all the letters, then gently use your tool to remove them.  Now, when you go to place them, they are all straight!)

Next I just traced the inner circle of the French Frame and cut it outside the trace line so there would be a little bit of paper to use to attach the it to the frame. Positioned my rose in the center of the white cardstock, and then glued the whole shebang to the front of the card.  Lastly, I put the Happy Birthday on the inside of the card since I didn’t have enough room on the outside. 

So there you have it!! Mom and I met yesterday to celebrate our birthdays over lunch & she LOVED the card (of course)! Sorry no other view of the card! I hope you have enjoyed my birthday card – I still have one more birthday to celebrate, so keep your eyes peeled! Thank you & have a lovely day! Christi

Embellishment Redo

I have many embellishments that just don’t work for me.  The main reason I don’t use them is the color.  If I don’t like the color it will never get used, no matter how nice it is.  So I decided to “fix” some embellishments that I didn’t like.  This started out as an experiment, so I was thrilled to see that it actually worked!

I have acquired quite a mix of acrylic cabochons from when I belonged to a kit club.  Every month I received a package with items pertaining to a certain theme and, although the company that put out the kits is no longer in business, I have a large stockpile of stuff.  

What I Used for my Embellishment Redo:

Acrylic Cabochons 

Embossing Fluid

Mermaid Tears, Cranberry Wine and Vintage Gold Embossing Enamel

Vintage Gold - a bit melted :)

I wanted to try to “fix” some of these embellies so I would use them.  I took an empty medicine bottle, popped the top of the Embossing Fluid and poured some in the bottle.  Then I brushed the Embossing Fluid on the cabochon (the brushing worked better - you can work the fluid into the little nooks & crannies), poured whatever color of Embossing Enamel I wanted (after pouring the extra off) and heated it.  The first one I did melted a bit, but then I got the hang of it.  

Cranberry Wine

 As I said, this began as an experiment and I am so happy it worked! Now I can “fix” my cabochons to match my projects!

I hope this inspires you to think a bit out of the box and find ways to “fix” items that you aren’t thrilled with.  And, since I had all the items on hand already, the new cabochons are essentially free!

My Favorite One - Mermaids Tears

Thank you SO much for stopping by today! I appreciate your support ~ Christi

A Thank You Card

I am finally feeling better and my creative muse is returning. I wish I knew where my muse goes when it disappears. I’m thinking one of my cats got to it and it took off for parts unknown.  I don’t know, and it’s not talking.  Anyway, I have some thank you cards overdue, so today is a break from the birthday card rush.  Here is my card:

No matter HOW many times I tried, I couldn't get the THANK YOU to show up in the pics!

And here is what I used to make it:

LA106 Stacey’s Stacking Flowers 

Cranberry Wine and Girls Night Out Embossing Enamel

Embossing Fluid

Pink Cardstock Base

Decorative Paper (mine came from Somerset Studio)

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You Stamp from Catslife Press

Crafters Pick Glue

It’s a simple card – I wanted the “Thank You” and the flowers to be the focus. 

The Flowers

I used 3 of Stacey’s Flowers, sized so they could be stacked.  I embossed the largest and the smallest with Cranberry Wine Embossing Enamel (I am in LOVE with this color! It has little teeny mirror-like bits in it!) and the middle one with Girls Night Out.  I stacked them and glued them together.  I then took a piece of the decorative paper and embossed the sentiment, using the Cranberry Wine Embossing Enamel as well. 

The Thank You

Cut another square out of the decorative paper, adhered the sentiment to that just to give it a little “pop”.  The hardest part of this card for me was trying to figure out where I wanted to place my flowers.  Once that was sorted, I glued them on and I am good to go!

Please, take a look at the Blog at Globecraft & Piccolo– my wonderful teammates post cool stuff every day! 

And another view

Thanks SO much for stopping by! ~ Christi

A Spring Scene. . .

I am longing for spring, and I thought if I made a spring scene, it might help me forget the fact that winter is still here in my part of Colorado - in fact, as I write this post it is snowing right now!  So, I offer this tiny scene as homage to spring, knowing it is right around the corner. 

 

I wouldn't mind being there right now!

I made this using one of Globecraft & Piccolo’s NEW French Oval Classic Bubble Frame kits – they are awesome size, bigger than the Bubble Ornaments, and can fit a 4” x 6” photograph inside.  Everything marked NEW can be seen HERE and is part of the Spring Release.

To make this cute little wall hanging, I used:

• NEW F100KIT French Oval Classic Bubble Frame kit
• NEW A153 Butterfly & Flowers Accents  (flowers)
• NEW A147 Spring Accents (1/2 sun)
• NEW Rose Pearl 3D Enamel Gel
• A140 Cats Love Birds (birds & heart)
• The following Embossing Enamels: Vintage Gold, Cranberry Wine, Ruby Red Slippers and Girls Night Out.
• Embossing Fluid
• Kraft cardstock (for the branch, which was cut with my Silhouette Cameo)
• Green cardstock (for the leaves, which I punched out using an EK Success leaf punch and trimmed)
• Distress Paints in Chipped Sapphire & Stormy Sky
• Distress Markers in Broken China, Dusty Concord, Salty Ocean, Shaded Lilac & Tumbled Glass
• White Gesso
• Craft Sheet
• Kaleidoscope embossing powder (iridescent)
• White cardstock

Here is the French Oval kit - you even get a wall hanger!

The first thing I did was make the background for the piece.  I used white cardstock and the Distress Paints, as well as all the blue Distress Markers (Broken China, Salty Ocean & Tumbled Glass).  I used the paints first, daubing them on my craft sheet and spritzing them with water.  I used a whole 8 ½” x 11” sheet of white cardstock to soak up the color as I never know what part of the paper is going to work for what I want, and I can always use the leftover paper.  Once the paints had dried, I scribbled the blue markers on the sheet, using the brush tip, and used them just like the paint (I don’t have these colors in the paint, yet, and found that the markers work almost as well).  Once I felt I had a good background, I set the paper aside to dry thoroughly.

Knowing that the 3D Enamel Gel needs to set, I used the Rose Pearl 3D Enamel Gel straight from the bottle to “paint” my two flowers.  I wish I could show you how shimmery the gel is, the pictures do not do it justice! Sorry, I thought I took a picture of the flowers! I put one of the bubbles from a Bubble Ornament I have over the flowers so no cat hair (or curious cats) could get in the gel.  I let them set overnight.

Then I set about embossing my pieces.  First, I cut the sun in half, after measuring it to fit where I wanted it to in the scene.  I wanted the sun to be brilliant, so I used the Vintage Gold Embossing Enamel and I mixed in a no-name iridescent-like powder I had in a small baggie (I have had this powder for years and I have no idea who makes it).  I think it came out wonderful! 

I use a small scoop when mixing my powder because that way I have more control over the amount of powder and I don’t end up wasting it by mixing up a lot that I can’t reuse. I mix my powders on a coffee filter because the powder barely sticks.  I embossed the sun 2 or 3 times, using the Embossing Fluid between each coat of powder.  Here is the scoop I used in case you want to copy my recipes.

I then set about the birds.  I had wanted them to really stick out and be colorful so I mixed Ruby Red Slippers with Girls Night Out Embossing Enamel,  one scoop of each.  Again, I am very pleased with my results, they certainly are pretty!  I embossed the birds 2 or 3 times as well, following each coat of powder with more Embossing Fluid.  

 

The heart is straight up Cranberry Wine and was embossed a few times as well.

Here are all the accents embossed and ready to go!

The branch was cut from a file I found in the Silhouette Store, called Branch 

& Flowers, and I cut it out of kraft cardstock.  I used a leaf punch, with a light green cardstock, to punch out my leaves and I trimmed most of the leaves off and only used the top one.

The leaf punch I used

Once all the prep work was done, I got to put my scene together.  I first traced the back piece of the kit over the portion of the paper that I made earlier, picking out what part I wanted to use for my sky. You don’t have to be perfect cutting it out because the frame will cover the paper. Then I placed everything were I wanted it, left it for a bit, came back, rearranged it, asked opinions, rearranged it again and ended up moving the sun from one side to the other, and then glued everything down.  While I waited for the glue to dry, I painted the two parts of the frame with very light coat of white gesso and let them dry.  While they were drying, I got ready to paint the wider frame with my craft sheet and the Distress Paints.

The frames, painted.

I used the same water spritz/smoosh technique on the wide frame, and the gesso made the paint creamier looking.  For the decorative frame, I used Distress Markers in Dusty Concord and Shaded Lilac to give it a very faint tinge of purple.  The photos didn’t pick up the subtle color variations but it is there.  I glued the frame and the bubble together, and then glued that to the scene, finishing with the decorative frame.  

Almost done!
 

Showing the dimension

 

And another view of the final result

I had a blast using this kit and you will be seeing more of these in my art! 

Thank you for stopping by & I certainly hope spring has visited you! 

Christi

My hope is found.....

Good morning peeps --- Teresa here with a tribute to many many people. Meet HOPE. I have known I wanted to make her, and the new Aged Pink Powder gave me the very last item I needed.

She looks a lot more complicated to assemble than she actually is. So let's jump on in. Shopping first.

from the New Release Items.

- Aged Pink Enamel powders
- Aged White Enamel powder

Other Globecraft Piccolo products.
- Cranberry Wine Enamel Powder
- Poodle Skirt Enamel Powder
- Enamel Adhesive
- UV Resin
- Matte Glastique Finishing Glaze
- Snowflake Accents 
- Bejeweled Snowflake Accents


Miscellaneous Supplies
- Cross Stitch Fabric (I used a 32 Count Linen in Ivory)
- Sparkly Floss in pink
- small bit of ivory cardstock
- glitter paper for wings
- silver stamp ink (the London Fog from Sweet Stamps is really pretty)
- a tiny lace medallion for her halo (I made my own.)
- buttons to use as spacers.
- silver sewing thread
- a mounting board
- a tiny bit of gesso
- tiny bit of pink glitter

Now here we go.


I stitched the word HOPE at the center bottom of my fabric using the pink floss. (Link to a free PDF of the font)

I covered all of my Piccolos with a bit of gesso. The sides will show and I carefully made sure to cover them. Wait patiently for this to dry.

Then I embossed all of my shapes in assorted Pinks.

The ones above are Cranberry Wine (this is my current favorite)

The ones above are Poodle Skirt

The top one above is Aged Pink and the smaller one is Aged White.

I stamped my pretty angel's face and then added a bit of the Aged White Powder to her hair. I even used a paintbrush and flecked a little into areas in her hair. I cut her out to fit my medallion.

After embossing her accents - I covered her with UV Resin and set it outside in the sun to cure. In sunshine it takes about 3 minutes. 

I added a medallion behind her pretty face. I made my own to give her a halo effect. I simply glued the resin piece to this.

I cut wings from some glitter paper.  Then (using my finger) smeared the Glastique on them waited just a moment and sprinkled with some pink glitter.

The Glastique is a fabulous adhesive for the glitter. See the detail below. By waiting just a moment before I added the glitter, some of the Glastique dried and the remaining areas held the glitter.

Now all of our components are ready.

I sat down and stitched her bits and pieces to the fabric.

Stacked some, using buttons for spacers. I gasped when I started the stacking. It gave great dimension to the artwork.

After I stitched everything down, I added her face. I simply glued it on with E6000.

Then I wrapped her around an 8x10 board. I have her in a shadow box now - but she could be framed or mounted on canvas.

I love the various ways you can combine the Piccolo shapes.

A similar angel could be made from flowers, from flourishes, even from the various gears.

I do hope you will try your hand at some of these ideas son.

Vintage Dress Form Home Decor

Hello my darlings!

Today my shabby chic/vintage loving self came out and I have something

pretty different from what I've shared with ya so far.

I sure hope you like it!

Remember you could create this with the colors that suit you best.

I didn't take many in progress photos of this one,

but it's pretty easy.

Want to make it?

Woohoo! Let's go!!

What you need:

Vintage Dress Forms

Daisy Floral Accents

Heart that you saved from the Vintage Bird Cage last week

E600 glue

Enamel Adhesive Fluid

Enamel Powders: Vintage Black, Aged White, Turquoise Lagoon, Cranberry Wine

Fancy Napkin naked wood plaque, small wood block, gesso, Mod Podge, black pigment ink (I used Mixed Media ink), white paper flowers, fancy flowers, rhinestone chain (or bling), alcohol inks (Ranger), piece of Stampboard or something similar, scrap of card stock, tooth picks, sanding file or sand paper.

What to do:

1. Paint the plaque with a coat of gesso and let dry. Then Mod Podge a fancy napkin onto it. be sure to separate the layers of the napkin and only use the top, pretty layer. Once it's dry, sand around the edges.

2. Get your piece of stamp board (or whatever white, shiny thing you're gonna use. You could sub a piece of chip board with some glossy card stock stuck to it) and coat with the alcohol inks. I used Silver & Aqua with a little bit of Rust.



3. Now, coat one edge of the inked piece with enamel adhesive fluid and coat with the Vintage Black enamel powder. Heat. Continue all the way around, and then do a second coat.

*pretty, isn't it?*

4. Now gather your darling Piccolo pieces. Punch the bits out of the dress form. Coat the dress form with enamel adhesive fluid and Vintage Black powder. Heat well an add a second coat if desired. The swirl was done with Aged White. Two of the flowers are White Micro powder, and the rest of the flowers are Cranberry Wine.



5. Dot the alcohol inked piece with enamel adhesive fluid and sprinkle on some powders. I used a little bit of each color listed in the supplies. Heat it up, baby. Do the same with the white paper flowers.

6. Flip the dress form over and use a toothpick to coat with E600. Stick to a piece of card stock and trim. Add more glue and adhere to the inked/embossed piece.

7. Coat the edges of the plaque with pigment ink and roll in Vintage Black powder. Heat to melt. 

 8. Now time to start assembling. I used the E600 glue to adhere everything!! Place the dress form on first, centered on the plaque, then build up your flowers around it. Add the rhinestone trim (or bling) around the edge. Don't forget to add the heart! :)

9. Your final step: flip the plaque over and use the E600 to glue the wooden block to the back. This will act as a little stand and make your piece stand on its own, no easel required.