Through the Porthole by Jennie

Hello and welcome to a "through the porthole" post!

By the time you read this I should be coming to the end of my cruising holiday on the west coast of Scotland in our yacht Mrs Muir. And hopefully there have been some fabulous views through the portholes .... blue skies, hot sunshine, calm seas ....... But just in case I thought I would make my own porthole using some fabulous Calico Craft Parts and some amazing DecoArt rusting techniques.

I should add here in case my husband reads this that NONE of our portholes are rusty ......... !

So here was the start of my porthole - covered first in DecoArt Texture Sand Paste and then painted with a mix of DecoArt Paynes Grey. I added Tinting Base for the inner to get a lighter colour and on its own for the outer.

Next came a splodging of DecoArt Quinacridone Gold - I say splodging as you need to allow some of the under grey coat to show through.  The little hinge at the side I painted in gold paint and then added a little Turquoise Hue paint to look like a Verdigris stain.

I spent a very lovely evening watching Andy Skinner's rusting videos and I do recommend having a look at them as they are extremely good in getting you started on rusting techniques. They are short - 5 minutes or so - so hold your attention! well mine anyway! I will post a link to the series of videos at the bottom of the post.

I used a different technique on the wheels, anchor and cog wheels, this time trying to get a more Verdigris hue. The eagle eyed of you will notice that the smaller wheel has been painted on the underside. Although it didn't really matter, I did turn it over and paint it again!

And then I layered my embellishments onto the porthole, using some metal stars and a great vintage photograph.

Even this little plaque got a rusty make-over!

I really love this rusting technique it looks so authentic!

It is the skipper's (aka my husband's) birthday while we are at sea and birthday cards are not that easy to keep or hang on board. But I think this would look good hanging from one of the inside portholes. Or for a masculine card the porthole would fit perfectly on a 6" x 6" card.

Safe travels wherever you may be heading and thank you for joining me.

Happy crafting!

Jennie x

Live the Dream

Calico Craft Parts Used:

Ships Porthole Large

Ships Wheel Style 2 (Small and Medium)

Mini Wood Cogs Style 2

Rectangle Mini Plaques

Mini Nautical Motifs Shape 2

Andy Skinner Rusting Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCzrOY_WZW8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWe6a-MZ8hY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxPGY-8fdwo

Nautical Treasures - by Claudia

I can't get enough of ocean themed projects at the moment! This time I am sharing one of Calico Craft Parts' lovely "Trinket Boxes" in nautical style.

I was mainly inspired by the designer paper I found in my stash and the beautiful Galleon Boat - the first was a find from rummaging through my stash (in search for something else of course) and the latter had been sitting on my table for the last weeks....so when I saw them both on my desk side by side they suddenly formed the idea for this trinket box to keep my treasures in.

Calico Craft Parts used:

- MDF Trinket Box Kit - Style 2
- Galleon Boat MDF Wood Shape - Style 7
- Word Elements - Summer & Seaside
- Ships Wheel MDF Wood Shape - Style 1
- Sheet of Mini MDF Nautical Motifs - Style 6

The designer paper's colours were my lead, so I aimed for browns, yellowed whites and coral pink mainly.

I measured the bottom and top panels of the trinket box so I could cut two sheets of designer paper to size and glue them to the box lid and inner bottom. 

I used matte Decou-Page (as always) and once that was dry I grabbed a sanding block to sand the excess off. I sealed the designer paper with a layer of matte Decou-Page. 

The box was assembled and set aside to dry. 

The Trinket Box Kit comes with shapes for feet and handles, but I had this lovely ships wheel in my Calico Craft Parts "treasure chest" that I wanted to use, so I combined parts of the box kit with that to form the handle. 

I also glued four little feet to the bottom of the dry box after I had painted the outside with DecoArt Americana Coral Blush acrylic paint (I forgot to take a picture of that I'm afraid).  

The little shell shapes had been sealed with matte Decou-Page too before I applied a thin layer of white DecoArt media Crackle Paint to them with a palette knife. I also scraped some onto the box lid here and there. 

While the shells and box lid were set aside to dry I dry brushed some white DecoArt Acrylic Gesso to the Word Element and the Galleon Boat. 

Once the crackling process was finished I added washes of DecoArt media Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide to the shells, the box lid and the dry brushed Craft Parts. 

I used DecoArt media Liquid Glass as a glue to add a rough cord border to the box lid. 

The back of the Galleon Boat got a coat of Coral Blush paint as well. The insides of the box were left untreated. 

I also partially scraped on some white Gesso to the glued on cord and toned that down with another wash of Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide. A little glued on half pearl was added to finish everything off. My Galleon Boat was ready to set sail! Yay! 

Some detail shots:

and once more the finished trinket box:

Hm......I think I might keep this one ;) 

Hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia

xxx

a land far, far away... lived flowers with eyes... by Lesley

Hey people. well......August is upon us, i hope you're enjoying good weather?
The summer holidays are in full swing for me.....crazy, busy and fun for me and the kids! I find myself creating about 11 at night........only time the house is quiet!
This week, i have altered a printers tray.

The usual start off for me is panting the entire thing with gesso. I then added layers of paint, crackle glaze, more paint and silver wax to the edges. At this point i was going with a sea theme.....hence the colours! But twin number 2 insisted i used these flowers.

I snipped off a few flowers and then used waxes to give them colour.
A layer of hessian was added to the base.....forgot how much i like hessian!

I twisted silver wire to act as stems for the flowers i snipped off, so i could have them popping out of the frame.

Little eyes were then glued to the centre of each flower.

To finish, i added one of the word elements, using wire to attach it.

Not quite the sea theme i was going for.......more certainly Lesley styley! :)

Thanks for reading.
L.xx

Ingredients used

Word elements travel and explorer
Printers tray style 4
Primrose flower patch style 2

The Road Less Travelled - Mini Canvases by Julie Ann

I can't believe we're already at the end of July! Here in the UK we've had some glorious summer weather with moonlit nights so warm it's been best to be out in the cool of the night.

 And it's the world of Nature after dark that has inspired my project for Calico Craft Parts today.

Have you ever bought the little wooden easels on sale in discount craft stores? They come with mini canvases that I have always put to one side, never quite sure how I might use them. I have been moving a pile of them from place to place in my craft room for some time now, so I decided to create a miniature mixed-media project with a couple of them and some tiny Calico Craft Parts.

I planned to use every surface of these miniature substrates. They measure only 4.5 cm x 7.00 cm, but I wanted to include lots of detail. If you are going to work on any reverse canvas, it's important to remember that this side of the canvas is not primed. I painted the entire reverse side with Gesso and allowed it to dry before making a start.

Working from the inside out, I created little worlds using muslin; heavy gel medium to fix it down and create depth and texture; bead gel; garden twigs and moss.

Building up the layers took several days. I liked to allow each layer to dry before adding the next and then finally painting with layers of acrylic paint; a pearl glaze and some gilding.

As you can see, once I was happy with the reverse side of the canvases, I flipped them over and built up the layers on the outside.

Once I was happy with my layers, it was time to use the exquisite little Calico Craft Parts to bring the tiny world of my canvases to life. Although it is miniature, this owl looks truly dramatic and the tiny hare running to safety looks so full of life.

I added one of my own MDF houses with a mini Calico door all ready to open and allow the hare to escape the hungry owl.

Scraps of napkin tissue; a bottle top; a hand-drawn face under a layer of ice-resin and some beautifully detailed Calico Craft Parts suggest we take the road less travelled. If we do we can expect the unexpected - twists and turns; a glimpse of fairy folk; danger when we least expect it, but help in the unlikeliest of places too!

A Dolls' House hinge kept the two canvases joined to form a miniature diptych.

The moon is a circle of MDF left behind when one of the windows from the sheet of windows was pushed out. Its light turns the owl and the hare into silhouettes as the hare scampers to the safety of the kindly haven up ahead.
Thank You so much for stopping by and looking at these adventures on a summer night. I'm really looking forward to sharing with you again in a fortnight's time.
Calico Craft Parts Used on this project
Word Elements - Travel and Explorer
Sheet of mini MDF Wood Crowns, Style 3
Sheet of mini MDF Wood Wings Style 3
Sheet of mini MDF Acorns and Oak Leaves
Sheet of mini MDF Window Wood shapes
Sheet of tiny MDF window and door Wood shapes
Sheet of mini MDF Bird Shapes (Owls)
Sheet of mini MDF Hares

Art Deco Door Hanger by Jennie

Hello Everyone! and welcome to my mixed media Door Hanger which layers a number of Calico Craft Parts pieces to get this sumptuous effect.

As some of you will know I recently attended a wonderful mixed media weekend workshop with Anna Dabrowska, France Papillon and Marta Lapowska and over the weekend we layered a lot of wooden and metal parts in our pieces. I came home fired with enthusiasm to try the same effect with some of the wonderful Calico Craft Parts I seem to have collected over the last year being on the DT.

I decided to use a Door Hanger as my base as I do love the way I can use these around the house without having to sort out nails for hanging!

Once the Hanger had been given a couple of coats of gesso I started my layering:  some texture paste through a stencil, then a layer of builders mesh and finally some bits of lace which had been cut up for another project but not used.

I then went through my little box of Calico Craft Parts Pieces - hearts, keys, ironmongery, little plaques and started layering these over the Hanger. Finally I added this wonderful Art Deco Ornament Shape as my final layer.

Then everything got coated with gesso. It needs a couple of coats and you need to get your paintbrush into all the nooks and crannies. In fact I was wishing that I had done my gesso coats before adding the final ornament! But that's the artistic flow for you ..... well for me anyway! After this photograph was taken I decided to add a few flowers which also got coated in gesso.

And then I started spraying with some water soluble pigments and LOTs of water, mopping up here and there until I was happy with the colour.

Text stamping filled in the white gaps and I did edge the Hanger with some brown ink to give it a bit of definition.

And finally, the addition of some micro beads - I really really love these, but I still don't have the hang of getting them necessarily where I want them!

I really enjoyed this project and am thrilled with my door hanger which is hanging on my craft room door at the moment. I was so pleased that the Art Deco Ornament with its wonderful etching pattern has taken the water dye pigment just so beautifully - I wasn't too sure whether I would lose the etched pattern but the combination of gesso and water based pigment has resulted in a light covering.

Thank you so much for joining me today. This is actually a scheduled post as by now I will be sailing around the West Coast of Scotland (hopefully!) in our lovely boat. These colours remind me of the wonderful turquoise seas and sandy beaches we encounter most of the time. We always feel very lucky.

Happy crafting!

Jennie x

Live The Dream

Calico Craft Parts Used:

Art Deco & Nouveau Style Ornament 14

MDF Door Hanger Style 03

Heart Birch Plywood Plaques

Mini Fancy Plaque 3

Mini Keys and Keyholes MDF Wood Shapes

Mini Hinges MDF Wood Shapes