Thursday, November 7, 2013

My first time published!

I squealed like a little kid. And it was a huge push to do other things.
 Dec./Jan 2011
Page 52.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

4th Annual Trick Your Pumpkin "Vintage Pumpkin" entry mini tutorial.


This was one of my entries for the 4th Annual Trick Your Pumpkin Contest sponsored by Plaid Enterprises.

I started with a regular Dollar Tree carve-able Pumpkin. 
I gessoed it so there was no orange showing.
I then raided my stamp collection. That alone took about an hour, "OOOh I forgot I had that stamp!"
I went with the StazOn ink because it had a better color and saturation when I stamped with it.
I die cut flowers out of an old vintage book (an OLD shorthand book). I used Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms die and chalk pastels to color them.
Working for Hobby Lobby, I had access to unprinted clothes pattern tissue, (McCall's and Simplicity use it as packing) So the tissue is recycled. You can use white tissue paper but it won't have the vintage look. You can even use old patterns for a totally different look. Hey, look, it's a bottle of Mod Podge. I cannot tell you how long I resisted using Mod Podge, but I DO use it because it has a nice finish to it. I just can't stand the smell of it.
I rubber stamped a few selected images on the tissue with the StazOn ink. I stamped A LOT of images.
I started by decoupaging a few layers of the torn tissue onto the pumpkin, until there was no gesso showing through. I wasn't too concerned about the wrinkles, because I wanted the pumpkin to have texture. 
The reason I stamped so many images was so I could do mirror images. The saturation of the ink onto the tissue is what makes this possible. That way I could a pattern to the pumpkin. I used 4 different stamps. All the stamps are Inkadinkado stamps.
 A clean craft table is a rarity for me!
I made the curly vine by taking Mod Podge soaked tissue and twisting it around wire.
If you have any other questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. 









Thank for stopping by!

Adventures in Jewelry, Steampunk, Recycling, paper art, and just plain goofiness. And maybe a tutorial to boot.

Hi! I'm Wendy. I've been crafting since the age of 6. I've done a lot of crafting on the way, some good, some...epic fails.

Some great things have happened over the past month which has prompted me to create this blog. 

First was winning Plaid Enterprises 4th annual "Trick Your Pumpkin" Contest.

I entered 3 pumpkins.



 The "Steampunk-in" Won!





And then I was picked to be on the Lisa Kettell Designs Design team. I hope I can live up to her expectations. I will do my best!

Right now I'll be posting some of my better stuff from the past. But just for giggles, and for face palm sake I'll post my fails too.

I'll hopefully be posting some tutorials, and maybe some videos too!