Jewels - by Claudia

Hi, servus and thanks for stopping by!
I hope you're already enjoying summertime and all the lovely things you can do at that time of the year!

Today's project is once more inspired by my love for insects. I think they are one of the most amazing species...there's so much beauty and fascinating structure in such a small creature!

An ATC (Artist Trading Card) is really small too and yet you can still put so much media and detail on it ;) . I am still always fascinated by how much texture and goodness can be created on a substrate of barely 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches.

And as I love to work on this teeny tiny format quite often it makes me especially happy that there are so many gorgeous and different Mini Craft Shapes to find in the Calico Craft Parts range!!!!
As these are so detailed and delicate they still make an ATC look quite huge....if you didn't know this is an ATC, you couldn't tell just by looking at this picture, right?

Could be a 6 x 4 '' panel as well... ;) But it isn't. Cool, huh?
I just loooove creating ATCs (and ATC swaps too, because I find it really fascinating to see what other people create on this small format...little arty universes)!


Calico Craft Parts used: 

- Plain ATC Wood Blank
- Sheet of Mini MDF Tags - Pointed Top
- Sheet of Mini MDF Tags - Rounded Rectangles
- Sheet of Mini Butterfly Wood Shapes - Style 6
- Sheet of Mini Insects MDF Wood Shapes - Style 3
- Sheet of Mini MDF Bees & Beehives
- Sheet of Mini MDF Label Holders Wood Shapes


I didn't take steps images this time, but I took one where I was quite in the middle of the process, showing almost all the products and paints I have used this time. And I can of course talk you through the process and add according close ups. ;)

I primed my ATC blank with a coat of DecoArt Raw Umber Student Acrylic paint and once that was dry I brushed on a thin layer of DecoArt Americana Weathered Wood and let that dry to the touch. In the meantime I primed my Mini Tags by dry brushing them with DecoArt "lace" Chalky Finish paint.

Once that had dried I loosely scraped on some DecoArt media clear Crackle Glaze here and there with the very tip of my palette knife and let that air dry before I added DecoArt Vintage Effect Washes Beige, Patina, Turquoise and Brown. The Vintage Effect Wash paints soaked in where no Crackle Glaze had been applied and I wiped it off those areas that had been "sealed" with it. This way I got some lovely crackle and a resist technique effect in one go.

It is best visible with the turquoise background mini tag, but the other two tags turned out beautifully too due to the Vintage Effect Wash paints - the resist effect is just more subtle on these.

I also used the Vintage Effect Wash paints on the insects, applying it with a brush and wiping back the raised areas. This way the Wash paints rather tinted the engraved areas while the raised areas remained brighter.

I used Walnut Stain Distress Crayon to darken the edges of the Mini Tags and also the ATC's edges once I had finished the crackled background by painting DecoArt Americana Reindeer Moss Green on top of the dry Weathered Wood. The crackling started immediately and once the ATC had thoroughly dried I blended these edges too.

Before I glued everything in place I added some sprinkles of DecoArt Americana Bahama Beach and DecoArt media fluid acrylic Metallic Gold to the background. I also painted some details on the insects and the label holder in Metallic Gold. On top of that I added a wash of Raw Umber DecoArt media fluid acrylic after I had painted in some darker details with my size zero detail brush. 

To glue all the small pieces in place I used DecoArt matte Decou-Page. I found the word "jewel" in one of my vintage dictionaries from the flea market, cut it out and glued that in place too.

Done!

I hope you like my little jewels! See you in two weeks! 

Hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia

xxx