Inspired By Cazz -#3UP newbie

I failed to make the cut for #3UP this time, loved every minute of it last year and aim to try again later in the year, my heartiest congratulations go to those that did get through and for the tremendous makes you all made. For one in particular, my best mate Cazz, whom I  met on twitter about 4 years ago.  We chat on BBM mainly now, and we craft along at opposite ends of the country via BBM.  The marvels of modern technology.

For this make I used a Tando Creatives Stationery chest, and following construction (not the easiest thing to build) I based the exterior in  Do Craft white acrylic, and the interior in pale blue.  I then covered the exterior in Do Craft Lilac acrylic and got out some stencils and got busy with Grunge Paste.

I then walked away as I had no idea where it was going, the only thing I was sure of was the stamp I wanted to use.

Following a trip to B&Q to purchase door knobs, I set about painting in.  The sides were covered in a mash up of Chutney, Seaweed, Chartreuse and Limelight Frescos.  The birds I painted in Space Cadet.  The top was a mash up of Space Cadet, Beach Hut, and Chartreuse.  The fronts of the drawers were lilac, Chartreuse and limelight.

I then covered the dragonfly and the flower seed heads in Green Amethyst TG and the birds in Sapphire. and stamped the sentiment from ELB05

Thanks again to all the #3UPers for their fab makes this week.  Here's to the next round

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Emergency Crafters 999 Challenge DT Piece - Shabby Chic Plaque

For this month's challenge I decided to go non card and did a hanging plaque made of papier mache.

I coated it with a spare dollop of a colour mix OH had from doing a base for his models.  I then used PaperArtsy crackle glaze followed by Sage Fresco Finish and left it to do it's stuff whilst deciding on stamps.
I used the trellis work from JoFYo10 in Olive Versa (the pearly dew drop shaped inks).  Added some Burlap and crocheted lace, a few flowers and stamped the sentiment from HPX04 onto a Kraft Card Tag cut with Quick Cutz nesting tags die.  I used Black Versafine for this with frayed burlap DI around the edge.

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Altered Eclectics DT Piece - Borg pencil pot

For this I used a blank MDF man pencil pot - below

and based it in Chalk Fresco Finish with washes of Seaweed, Limelight and Chartreuse to get this finish.

I then used a Crafters Workshop subway stencil with Grunge Paste to get a circuit board feel.

Then I went a bit mental with the following frescos Inky Pool,Beach Hut, Seaweed and  Chartreuse.  Then traced a track all the way round the pot, to look like the hive mind communication system with Crawford and Black metallic Copper paint.

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Dragon's Dream TIO - DT piece B and a flower

For this theme it's Gabrielle's turn to pick and she has chosen B and a flower, so I have gone with Bee and a flower, mainly because I really like my Thistle Stencil from Imagination Crafts, and not for the thistle, but for the bees as the corner flourish on the same stencil.  But more of that later.

I started with a wooden tag I got from my first visit to the MDF man - I will say on record now it will not be my last!  I based it with Rose Fresco Finish from Papertartsy, then with Blood Orange and London Bus swept over the whole thing to deepen the colour to more red than pink.  I did the same with the wooden rose which came from the sale bin at B&Q and was a twin pack for less than a pound.  I added pewter Treasured Gold to hit the highpoints and give a worn look.

I coloured some Grunge Paste with Chutney Fresco finish and used this through the Bees on the stencil.  I used Zesty Zing through a crafters workshop stencil to get the honeycomb effect and to make the stripes on the bees. I again used the pewter TG on the wings to make them shimmer like bumble bee wings.

I then decided that one tag wasn't enough so I decided to double it with one I cut using Quick Cutz nesting die set and some cream card, I continued the honeycomb onto the card and using ELB05 from PaperArtsy, stamped the phrase in Fuschia pink Stazon.  I used a combination of worn lipstick and Forest Moss on the edges of the wooden tag to highlight them, then rubbed in some pewter TG.  On the card tag I went over it with spun sugar distress ink.  finished off with a rose brad, picked out in TG and a bright co-ordinating ribbon.

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New Challenge on Dragon's Dream TIO - S and blue

I started this with no idea where it was going, I had based my tag with Guacamole Fresco Finish acrylic paint, and was also halfway through altering another piece at the same time and had some Antartic Fresco Finish left over from the top coat of crackling it so I splodged it on top of the green and that is where my sea started.

It's May's turn for the theme this time on Dragon's Dream and she has chosen S and blue, and that's where the inspiration hit with the sea, one of my favourite (but lesser known or played) Beatles songs is "An Octopus's Garden".

I continued the sea theme by creating seaweed courtesy of the Ltd Edition Fresco Finish paints from Lin Brown and by using a semi opaque colour (Seaweed oddly enough) through a splodge away stencil followed by a translucent colour (chartreuse) through an Imagination Crafts Stencil over and then washed with another translucent shade (Beach Hut) I got the layered  underwater look I was after.

I then used my Viva Las Vegas Stamp of Otto and bathing beauty (minus the bathing beauty) and coloured him in with Distress Markers and cam up with this.

Fished it off with a rose brad to look a little more garden like

I am entering this into the following challenges:
Scrap it Girl - Tags and Bags
Stampotique - Paint or Pen
Our daily Bread Designs - Rain or Water
Sunday Stampers - Nature
Squirrel and the Fox - All Creatures Great and Small

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Emergency Crafters DT Piece - Polkadot

For this month's challenge I have used a Polkadot C5 card blank from Kan Ban.  I used a strip of matching ribbon from Dovecraft and a Topper and Sentiment from Hunky Dory.

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Altered Ecelectics DT Piece - Altered Letter Rack

This particular beauty has caused me lots of problems, when I bought it, it was a hideous orange colour which refused to be covered, so eventually I got there and this is the result.

I acheived this (finally) by gessoing the whole thing three times before using my PaperArtsy Fresco Finish paints on, I started with Little Black Dress, followed by crackle glaze, then this was topped with Antarctic and left to work.  Once dry I washed Bora Bora over the top and finally coloured  Maimeri artist medium with Dusty Teal and used this through the Imagination Crafts Stencil Tropical Leaf.

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