Butterfly Birthday Card

Hello to all our crafting friends, Antony here. This post follows what I thought
was going to be a simple birthday card, but what turned out to be an experiment
with plenty of embossing folders and loads of cutting dies and my very first play
at using Distressing inks!
I hadn't really used dies and embossing folders before, but since my blog partner
Samantha gave me her old e-bosser die cutting machine it's got me... well hooked!
You can really let your imagination flow and the great thing about embossing folders
and dies is that they can be used for all types of crafting projects such as mixed media
canvas work, scrapbooking and even home decor. So whenever I now go out to buy a
die, I always think what I can use it for beyond my card making!  

For this card I used the following materials, Kraft card, Tim Holtz distessing
inks, embossing folders from Creative Expressions and Crafts Companion,
Pinflair Buff-it craft polish and Pearl Wand and cutting dies from Pinflair and
Crafters Companion. I also used some backing papers and some ribbon.
For glues I used Pinflair Glue it Bookbinding Glue.

Step 1 I firstly embossed a large square of kraft card using a
Crafters Companion embossing folder and went round the edge of the card
with some distressing inks using a sponge to apply it.
Once dry I used Pinflair's Gold Buff-it craft polish to add a
little shine to the very edge of the card. Again I used a sponge to apply this.

Then using an extra long decorative die from Crafters Companion I cut both
side of a rectangular piece of kraft card, stuck a length of pink ribbon
round it and stuck it towards the bottom of the card.

Step 2 Using another sheet of kraft card and a decorative arch shaped die
from Crafters Companion, I cut out the main focal point of the card, a sort of
shield shape.

Then using a butterfly die (my favourite one) also from Crafters Companion, I cut
out a solid butterfly from the middle section. Then using a Creative Expressions
swirly embossing folder, I ran the shield shape through the cutting machine.
I used some distressing ink to add a little colour to the outer edge of the shield
shape and around the area I had die cut with the butterfly die.

Behind the decorative arch and butterfly I glued in place a backing paper 
using Pinflair's Glue it glue.

Step 3 Using a "Happy Birthday" die from Crafters Companion, I cut it out using
kraft card and coloured it using some distress ink. Using Pinflair Glue it glue I stuck
the greeting over the butterfly die cut area in the centre of the shield shape.

Step 4 Once the shield shape was fully decorated, I scored a line down either
flat edge about 5mm in. This gave me a gluing flap either side of the shield shape. 
Using Pinflair's Glue it glue I firstly stuck down one flap, waited until the
glue had dried and then arched the shield shape so it stood proud of the card.
I then glued the other flap to the card .

Step 5 Using some flower shape dies from Pinflair, I cut some more kraft
card and then embossed it using the same embossing folder I used on the
shield shape.
Using distressing inks and Pinflair Buff-it craft polish I decorated the flowers.
I used a rounded pencil to roll the flower die cuts over to give them extra shape
before using Pinflair Glue it glue to finally layer them and stick them in place on the card.
I positioned the flowers so that they covered the flaps from the
shield shape that I had stuck down earlier.

Step 6 Using Pinflair Pearl Wands, I added extra detail and dimension to the centre
of all the flowers. The Pearl Wands take about 10-15 minutes to dry.

Step 7 For one of the butterflies I used what was cut out from the shield shape.
I used distress inks round the outer edge of the butterfly before sticking some
pink backing paper behind it. I used scissors to cut away the backing paper that
hung out from behind the butterfly shape. Using a round pencil, I shaped the
butterflies wings before sticking them onto the card. I positioned one at the
bottom and one at the top to balance out the card decoration.

Step 8 For a little extra detail I cut out some ivy leaves using a die and coloured
them using distress inks before glueing them into place on the card.

Well from a Birthday card to a Birthday wish.

 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
I'd just like to wish my Blog partner

Samantha Thompson a very Happy Birthday and to thank her for a year
of inspiring crafting tips and her amazing generosity! 

Hope you have a wonderful day filled with lots of surprises!

Well that's it for this post, hope you enjoyed it. My next post is something big!

Well in fact I'll be showing you how I decorated this!

This creation is for a workshop I am holding in September. I have 20 ladies who
will be coming along, so with a bit of luck there will be plenty of their creations on
here too!

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

 
 Antony

Decorating Glass Objects

Hello there to all our crafting friends. Antony here for this blog post! This post is all about decorating glass, now I know there are glass paints out there and they can give beautiful, Colorful results but I have found two products from the Pinflair range that work really nicely, but are just a little different. One of them is Pinflairs Rust-it paint that I featured in my last blog post and the other is Pinflair Gellitex paste. Both give very different looks, but are equally nice in their own right. For this post I have used two Douwe Egbert coffee jars, but any glass object can be transformed really easily using either of these products.

So the materials and products I have used in this post are:- Douwe Egberts coffee jars, Pinflair Rust-it paint (2 different colours), Pinflair Iridescent Gellitex, Viva Decor Pardo clay, Viva Decor Leaf and Flower moulds, Pinflair Pearl Wands, Pinflair Glue Gel, a few different Colours of Pinflair's Glitter Pastes (Aqua and Copper), Pinflair Red Liquid Buff-it, a few stencils, Pinflair's Metal FX Paste, string and decorative rustic ribbon, Match-it Peel off Butterfly stickers.

I'm not going to explain the process of applying the Rust-it paint too much. For full instructions please check my previous post Decorating a Scrapbook. There is only one difference in application and that is you must dab the paint onto glass or acrylic object using a sponge.

Step 1 The more you dab the paint on, the more texture you will achieve. The paint will dry within 45 minutes, but you can force dry it using a craft heat gun. Just be sure not to apply too much heat to crack the glass.

When dry use your finger to apply Pinflair's Aqua Glitter Paste and then the Copper colour glitter paste. Only have a very small amount on your finger and gently rub it over the Rust-it painted surface. The glitter paste will mostly stick to the high points of the textured finish.

Step 2 I used Pinflair's Metal FX Paste through a stencil onto some card to create some tags. Again check my last blog for instructions on using the Metal FX Paste.

Step 3 Once the main decorating was done I wrapped some Rustic Ribbon round the jar and glued it in place using Pinflair Glue Gel. Then using some leaf and flower moulds I made some embellishments using Viva Decor's Pardo Clay. With the Ivy leaves in this project I lightly went over the surface with some glitter paste on the tip of my finger just to highlight the raised areas of the surface. I placed the leaves on the jar and stuck them in place with the glue gel.

Step 4 Using a Pinflair Pearl Wand, I added a few pearls to the jar for some extra interest. the drying time for these is about 15 minutes.

Step 5 I also decorated the lid of the coffee jar and added some thick string around the neck of the jar to continue the rustic look.

Step 6 Finally I cut myself a large flower shape out of some cardboard, decorated it using Rust-it paint and stuck it in place using glue gel and finished it off with a flower I made from a Viva Decor flower mould and Pardo clay.

Gellitex Project

Step 1 The second decorating medium I used was Pinflair's Gellitex. This comes in transparent or iridescent, in this post I have used Pinflair's Iridescent Gellitex. The really great thing about the Gellitex is that you can't go wrong when using it!

Step 2 To apply the Gellitex to the glass first ensure the glass is clean and dry. Using a sponge dab it into the Gellitex pot and then dab a fair amount onto the glass and just randomly dab.... simple as that! To give a more frosted effect on the glass apply a smaller amount of the Gellitex and dab really quickly. Go over the entire jar and allow to dry overnight. It is best not to try and force dry it using a heat tool.

Step 3 For further decoration I made some flowers and leaves using Viva Decor Pardo clay and moulds. I used some glitter paste on my finger again and gently wiped it over the clay embellishments to highlight the raised surfaces. When the glitter paste is dry I then played with positioning on the jars surface. When happy I used some Pinflair Glue Gel to stick it to the jars surface. If you need to remould some leaves or flowers, use a heat tool on the clay embellishments to soften them. Then remould and hold in place until they go cold and hard again, or hold their position and place in cold water for a few seconds.

Step 4 For the lid I used Pinflair's Red Liquid Buff-it paint. I dabbed it onto the lid using a sponge. Once dry I applied a second coat of paint. For a finishing touch I made a button using the Viva Decor Pardo clay and a mould and threaded some string through it and then stuck it to the lid using glue gel.

Step 5 I wrapped some string round the top of the jar and stuck a butterfly peel off sticker using glue gel.

I plan to put a battery operated tea light in this jar and use it for summer parties outside. The Gellitex will diffuse the glow from the tea light really nicely.

Hope you enjoyed this post and that it has inspired you to try something new. As I mentioned the Gellitex is such an easy product to use and it really does go a long way. You should have enough for quite a few different projects. You can also colour it when dry by using such paints as Pinflair's Liquid Buff-it. When still wet you can also push small embellishments into it so you don't have to use a glue to stick them later, or simply sprinkle glitters on top for your own unique finish.

Whichever way you play with the Rust-it paint or Gellitex I know you will have plenty of fun!

If you have any questions on this project please let us know, we are always more than pleased to help out a fellow crafter!

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Samantha and Antony

Decorating a Scrapbook Cover

Hi, Antony here. If like me you love photography you will no doubt know how difficult it is to

find a nice album that reflects the photographs that will go in it. So what better way than to decorate your very own. As well as photograph albums you could of course be decorating a scrapbook front cover or even a notebook or diary.

As I have many photographs of past holidays I thought it would be nice for that to be the over all

theme for the cover (hence the travel theme) I also wanted to give the cover an old feel about it... and that's what the main part to this post will explain, the application of the Rust-it paint from Pinflair.

So for this project you will need the following products and materials:- A scrapbook, diary or photograph album, Pinflair Rust-it paint (both colours), Pinflair Metal FX paste, Pinflair Copper and Aqua colour Glitter Pastes, Pinflair Glue Gel, Pinflair Stencil Glue, Pinflair Liquid Buff-it Midnight (black), Pinflair Pearl Pen Brass colour, Viva Decor leaf mould and button moulds, Stencils, Viva Decor Pardo clay, a sheet of 2mm thick cardboard, some string and finally some thick cord.

Step 1 I decided to decorate an old 8 x 8inch scrapbook, so first I opened it up and removed the 2 screw type fixings so that I could remove both the inside pages and front and back covers.

This made decorating all the surfaces a lot easier.

Step 2 I then hunted through my vast collect of stencils and selected ones with tickets, a brick wall and some text. I applied Pinflair's stencil glue to the back of them all using a sponge and left the glue to dry for 10 minutes before using them.

 I placed the brick wall stencil onto the front cover of the scrapbook and pressed it down so that the stencil glue came into contact with the cover and helped hold it in place.

Using Pinflair's Metal FX paste I applied it through the brick wall stencil using a metal palette knife. It may help to dip the palette knife into some water and then applying the paste, that way you tend to get a smoother finish on the Metal FX paste.

Before you do anything else clean the stencil you have just used in water. The Metal FX paste will dry within about 20-30 minutes... but don't be tempted to blast is with a heat gun to speed the drying process because the paste will inflate. Although this gives a different finish it wasn't the one I wanted for this project.... but it still looks great!

Step 3 Using the other stencils I used the Metal FX paste again, but this time applied it onto a sheet of 2mm thick cardboard. Again I left this to dry naturally.

Step 4 Whilst the Metal FX paste was drying I took the back cover of the scrapbook and coated it using the darker of the 2 Rust-it paints. I dabbed it on using a sponge to add a little texture to it.

 Depending on the thickness of the application, the Rust-it paint should dry with 30 minutes. You can however force dry the paint using a heat gun. Just be sure to move the gun round quite a lot, not leaving it in one place for too long and not hold it to close to the painted surface.

Apply the darker colour Rust-it over the stenciled tag design using a dabbing action as before to add texture to the paint. Be sure that when dabbing the paint on areas that have been  stenciled the areas don't fill in and lose too much detail.

Step 5 Back to the front cover.... now that the Metal FX paste is dry, I dabbed on the darker Rust-it paint with a sponge and then let it dry. If you are going to force dry the paint with a craft heat gun be sure to be extra careful over the areas that you have used the Metal FX paste. If you put the heat tool over for it for 2 long it may bubble up.

Once the paint is dry it's time to dab on some of the lighter colour Rust-it paint. Dab it on in a random fashion applying little pressure so that some of the dark paint shows through. Then before the lighter colour is totally dry go back over randomly using a sponge with the dark Rust-it paint. Again don't apply to much pressure to your dabbing action.

Apply this same paint treatment to all the other elements that you wish to decorate in the same fashion and then leave to dry.

Step 6 Once all the Rust-it paint has dried it's now time to add the glitter pastes. To do this take some of the glitter paste out of the pot and place it on a non-stick craft mat. Then using a metal palette knife, dab it into the glitter paste (Copper colour first) Ensure you only have a little of the glitter paste on the knife then scrap it over the dry Rust-it painted area as if putting butter onto bread. Apply it in a random fashion to achieve a more realistic effect.

Now using the Aqua colour glitter paste apply this onto your project in the same way as you did the Copper colour glitter paste.

Step 7 For the areas I stenciled I felt as though the detail wasn't showing through enough, so taking the same stencils I had used to apply the Metal FX paste, I positioned the stencil back over the raised areas and then using my finger, I dabbed it into the glitter then applied it through the stencil. I used the Aqua colour glitter paste so that there was more contrast with the brown colours of the Rust-it paint. As before with Metal FX paste ensure you clean the stencil straight after using water.

Once all of the elements were dry I played round with where to position them. When I was totally happy I used Pinflair Glue Gel to permanently stick them down.

  

Step 8 Next I used a few silicone moulds (button and leaves) and Viva Decor Pardo clay to make some extra embellishments for the project. I baked the Pardo clay in the oven for about 5 minutes at 110 degrees and then allowed them to cool down.

Step 9 Next I painted the moudled clay shapes with Pinflair Liquid Buff-it Midnight (black) Once the paint had dried, I then dabbed a sponge into the glitter pastes and lightly went over the moulded clay leaves so that is just highlighted the raised areas. I applied the Copper colour first then the Aqua colour glitter paste. For the moulded clay buttons with the holes in, I simply painted the glitter paste on. I used a soft wide paint brush, but made a point of not pushing the paint into the wells of the texture. The other buttons I painted with the Copper glitter paste.

Step 10 For the two ticket type tags I punched a hole through and then coloured some thick cord with the dark Rust-it paint and once it was dry wiped some of the 2 glitter pastes randomly over it.

I threaded some string through the buttons with holes and tied a knot for extra interest. I then stuck all the embellishments into place using Pinflair Glue Gel. I used a Pinflair Pearl Wand (Brass colour) to add some extra detail, giving the illusion of brass tacks holding some of the stenciled detailed embellishments in place.

Step 11 Finally I decorated the rest of the back cover of the scrapbook and when every thing was dry I put the pages back into the book and put the whole scrapbook back together again.

For full step by step instructions for  the application of Rust-it paint please take a look at this short video I made for Pinflair. Although at the time I videoed this, Pinflair only had one colour of the Rust-it paint, I still think it explains the application well enough for you to understand.

I hope you enjoyed this post and will give the Rust-it paint effect a go on your next project. The effect would look really at home on projects using cogs and machine shaped embellishments.

As well as cardboard, the Rust-it paint will also work on wood, MDF, acrylic, polystyrene, metal and even glass.

If you have any questions on this project please let us know, we are always more than pleased to help out a fellow crafter!

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Samantha and Antony