Alice In Wonderland Secret Book by Mark

Morning all Mark here and I am finishing of my Guest Designer spot this month with an Alice in Wonderland secret book using the MDF Plain Cover Book Kit-Style 1.

I would like to say a great big thanks to Calico Craft Parts and The Ladies on the DT for having me along this month, I have thoroughly enjoyed my month playing with all the goodies I was sent. x

I have used the small ATC sized book, Ok confession time, I was working on the medium sized book but num nuts here, after gluing and base coating the book I managed to knock it of my craft table and it of course had to land on the corner and broke my cover off :-(.

Anyway,  grabbing the smaller box I just down sized my idea and made the better half a little secret valentines card, I got her tickets to see a modern version of Alice In Wonderland and they fit perfectly inside.

The book has been decorated with the Decoart Media Fluids and a little bit of their crackle paste.

The cover of the book was given a couple of base coats with Decoart's Media Tinting base and the Image was stamped. Using a small Shabby Diamonds stencil the crackle paste was applied using a pallet knife.

After being allowed to dry naturally, the crackle paste can not be forced as you will interfere with the cracking process.

A lot of the colours in the media line are transparent or if watered down a little can become so. This means you dont have to worry about covering the lines of the stamped image.

The media fluids go a long way when painting like this o I used a fine detail brush and just dipped the tip into the unscrewed cap to pick up paint, even one drop of paint on the craft mat ill be to much.

To give an aged look to the book I blended dark to light starting with raw umber followed by some Quinacridone gold and finished with a little transparent yellow oxide. Using a stiffer paint brush I really worked/scrubbed the paint into the surface leaving a nicely blended finish.

To paint the crackled diamonds I placed the stencil back over the diamonds and stippled the paint using a stencil brush. This helped keep the paint of the main part of the book and also left a nice shabby look where the white can still show through in places.

A little bit of washi tape fit perfectly round the box part of the book, I didnt distress this down as I quite liked the contrast and the subtle colours of the tickets.

The inside of the box and inside cover have been given a dirty stamping of a couple more Alice images.

To get a toned distressed look to the image start by inking the stamp with a Sepia archival ink colour then lightly swipe a little Black archival ink across the stamp in places.

Using a safety pin as a clasp to hold the book closed a little clock charm was also added.

Luckily I survived Valentines Day so I guess she liked it ;-).

Thank you all for stopping by and joining me this month as I have shared my little makes. Keep checking back to see what the ubber talented Dt come up with next.

And again a big thanks to Calico Craft Parts and the Dt for having me. xxx

Longing for summer.... by Astrid

Hello all, Astrid here with a project for you today.

I know, winter is still in full swing (at least in the parts where I live), but I cannot help but long for Summer.....

This started out as an experimental piece, playing with backgrounds and texture and might have become part of a journal, until I decided to use it for showcasing some of the amazing craft parts.

Here is how it started out:

Using various sprays over a background of texture and crackle paste with some gesso thrown into the mix.

The texture was achieved by pouncing into the wet paste with a scrunched up bit of aluminium foil.

My main embellishment was this lovely corner piece, it's the Lily MDF Wood Corner Embellishment - Style 38, size large,  you can find it HERE. First I just coloured it dark brown with some ink.

Next I adhered the piece to my background and with some Decoart Media Acrylic paints and a small brush I coloured the flowers inside the openings.

When the paint had dried I filled the openings with Glossy Accents and let it dry for several hours, the flowers (they look much nicer in real life than in the photo) now looked like glass.

The main focal point became a stamped and layered sunflower, I stamped it several times, fussy cut the individual flowers, coloured them with Distress Inks and then layered them up together.

Next I took a Curled Vine Fancy Flourish MDF Wood Shape - Style 3, coloured it in matching colours to my background, broke it apart in places and arranged them around my sun flower.

A bit of stencilling in one corner, to fill in a rather empty space

A sentiment and some background stamping

And with that my project was complete...

Well, hope you like my it and thank you for your visit. The shop is full with all sorts of new Spring and Summer craft parts, - do check them out!

Let Yourself Grow by Lesley

I've stepped right out of my comfort zone this week, and used COLOUR!! A lot of colour!!

I started off with the of the largest of the cubes and gave it a coat of gesso. Then i dry brushed orange and turquiose paint over it. Next, i added a few layers of different stamps.

The wildflowers were painted and glaze added to bits of it.

All four sides of the cube were decorated with flowers.

On the front of the cube......i added some wording. Quite apt i thought.........giving what is growing out of the top of her head!

The head was given two coats of gesso, and then bits of paint were added here and there.

Using the most super fine nibbed pen........i doodled all over the head.

And also added some doodle flowers.........

Finally, i added some words.

I filled her head with different coloured moss, pulling out some in her eye gaps!

Cool hair!!

And thats my funky moss-dolls-head-on-a-cube!

Thanks for reading!

L.xx

Ingredients used.
Large ATC cube
Wild flowers and butterflies
Poppy flower.
Knapweed flower

Flourishing Florals - by Alison

Hello all, Alison here from Words and Pictures with a very extravagant card for you today.  There are so many decorative elements to choose from in the Calico Craft Parts Corners, Flourishes & Ornaments section that you are really spoilt for choice when it comes to ornamentation.  Plenty of influences at work here (a glance at my "cards I love" Pinterest board will give you some of the main ones), but also a determination to use some of my long-hoarded "pretty things" in my craft stash.  I've got plenty of photos for you, so grab a coffee, sit back and enjoy the ride!

It started with some very basic layered panels and one of the wonderful new Corner Wood Shapes in two different sizes.  I definitely took some photos at this earliest stage but, again, my camera seems to have been playing up and they haven't materialised.

Basically, it's a square kraft card, with a couple of layers of patterned paper shabbily die-cut, and finally another kraft panel on the top for the sentiment.  The large Leafy Vine Wood Corner was the perfect size for the main card background, and the smaller one was just right for the sentiment panel.

I applied rough coats of gesso to all the layers, and applied some embossing powders to the Leafy Vine Wood Corners.  It's mainly white embossing powder, but I added some sprinkles of blue and green too.  This is the earliest process photo I've got, and here I've already started adding extra goodies and a touch of paint for colour.

Once I started adding more stuff, I couldn't stop!

A couple more Flourish pieces made their way on - these are all fragments from larger pieces - perfect for tucking in between layers...

... or for adding just a little more ornamental detail in places.

The main corner flourishes have benefitted from some of the spritzing and spraying that I did over the basic gesso and paint layers.

I love how the inks have pooled on the embossed curlicues and ornamentation.

... and the contrast with the rougher painted layers on the other flourishes.

The metal flower has also had a coating of gesso and then paint and ink-spritzed added over the top.

Mostly, I managed to keep my paper flowers nice and white to provide some contrast.

I love the extra fun of the curly wires from the flowers coming out in all directions.

The berries had their stems cut off because they were a bit too thick and unwieldy...

... but I love the touch of glittery sparkle which they bring to the card.  When I go full on, I go full on!

You may well recognise the delicate flower sprays which are dotted here and there.

They were on my recent Imagine Simplicity tag - I said it was ironic that that tag grew from such an extravagant creation as this!

There are also some filigree metal pieces layered between the panels.  I think they provide a good contrast to the organic flow of the flowers and flourishes by echoing the more formal decorative style of the corner pieces.

And I love all the inky painty layers and edging to make the panels pop.

A few words in the centre of things, surrounded by inky scribbles, and we're pretty much there.

I hope you like this excursion into flourishing florals.  Alongside my exploration of simplicity, I have a feeling there might be more explosions into full on extravaganzas like this on the side.  When the sun comes out, this just makes me really happy.

Don't forget, you can click on any of the links in the text to go shopping at Calico. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I'll see you again at the very end of the month here at Calico Craft Parts.

See you again soon!

Alison x
Words and Pictures