A 'Faith' brooch at The Craftypad

Hello. I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. I'm still not here so if you are reading this...delayed posting works. I've made this brooch for the latest challenge over at the Craftypad. This week you have to add some bling to your creation.

A few years ago when I lived in Gibraltar I got into the awful habit of destroying my hubbies CD's to make jewellery...so when Tina sent me a link recently on this subject it gave me the perfect excuse to start destroying again.

Debbie has asked for a tutorial and I know there are tutorials out there showing how to make them but this is how I do it...

*Colour your image in using Distress inks and then put a very thin layer of crackle glaze over the top and allow to dry.

*Cut a CD (needs to be cut at a 45 degree angle or it snaps) into the shape you roughly need. Sand it on the shiny side. Paint a layer of Acrylic paint and once dry stamp all over with alcohol inks finishing with a touch of gold.

* Edge in Walnut brown Distress ink and then decide where to punch your holes. I used my Big bite for this. Then just thread lots of gold wire in and out and add beads.

* The crown was originally silver so I used espresso and gold alcohol inks to give it a distressed look. Then very carefully glue gems onto it and attach to your image with silicone glue. DO NOT attach to your brooch just yet.

* On the back of the brooch adhere twisted and beaded wire in a position you like. Once they are stuck in place and completely dry turn over and glue down your image. Once the whole brooch is dry attach strong card to the back and then used silicone glue to add a brooch attachment.

* Spray with varnish and allow to dry.

Voila one unique brooch!

Ribbon Christmas Tree tutorial...

Hello. I've been meaning to make one of these Trees for ages but finally got round to it last night. If you would like to make one you will need a large Polystyrene cone, lots of ribbon (most of mine was from Poppicrafts!) which you will need to cut into 4 inch strips (approx 200 of these!) and some sequin pins.

I painted the tree with a bright green acrylic paint first and allowed it to dry. I started at the bottom of the tree and just folded the ribbon in half and attached to the tree with one pin. Make sure your ribbons slightly goes over the bottom of the tree to so that it lays nicely. Just work your way up the tree, overlapping each layer.

I topped my tree with two wooden snowflakes that I had painted white, glued a needle in between them with about half an inch sticking out so that they could be stuck into the tree.

And there you have one tree to sit in the middle of your table on Christmas day!

I'm going to use this for the Artygirlz challenge this week which is to use your favourite colours and the Secretcrafter challenge which was to use layers.

Hugs,
Em.x

Crayon resist tutorial

Hi. On one of the forums I stalk we were asked to share a tip or technique. This was my contribution so thought I would share it on here as well. I have only used very basic colours but you can use any colours you like and it looks great if you mix your Distress Inks.

First of all you will need some white card, a stamp, a white crayon, a Stazon (for this example I am using black but you can use whatever colour you like but please make sure its a Stazon!), a mister and a Distress Ink of your choice.
Stamp your image and then using your crayon highlight the areas you wish to remain white. On this example I highlighted the paler stalks and heads.
Then the fun begins! I soak up some ink on a sponge and rub it all over the image. This is where you can mix colours for more interest if you want to.
Once dry gently wipe over with a wet wipe to remove the ink from the top of the crayon. You can then spray Glimmer Mist or perfect pearls over it at this stage or just use water (as I have) for a more distressed look.
Your image is then ready to be used....
Have fun!
If you have done this technique before please let me know as I would love to see some other examples.
Hugs,
Em.x