Easter Cards and a Gelli Plate Printing Adventure

Love that time of the year when my garden decides to produce some flowers!

So it is Easter again and I have been busily making cards. The difference for this one is a Gelli plate. I bought one and gingerly put it aside (as you do) imagining that it would be quite difficult to use.

Just perfect

Well once again, I have been proven wrong. It was easy and it was fun. I used DecoArt acrylic paints in a few Easter pastel colours and set to work making backgrounds for some seasonal cards.

I wish this stuff lasted longer inside!

Please forgive me that I have lost my step by step photos! I have safely tucked them into a digital file SOMEWHERE. I will make it up to you with a new tutorial after Easter with some proper photos - honestly, the ones that I had were not brilliant.

So, rather than me making excuses, let me show you the cards and talk about them a little bit....

Don't just plonk the hat on the bird's head! I use a surgical scalpel to cut the hat and wrap it around the head so that it looks like it is actually being worn.

I have drawn heavily on my Tim Holtz favourite crazy birds and dies for this one. Basically, I gelli printed some random card with acrylic paints and then cut a piece for the background and some more with my Sizzix Big Shot and alphabet dies indifferent fonts. I cut a Christmas bow too.
Lots of layers and then sewn on with my sewing machine (honestly, there is little that it cannot do!).

Butterflies are ALWAYS a great Easter option!

The next one was an egg cut using my oval stitched die and some greenery. I suspect that this was also a Christmas one. I used Tim Holtz Kraft core paper and sanded it (of course). The butterfly was the big star here. I stamped it onto some gelli printed card and it emerged, as butterflies do, with the most gorgeously surprising colours!

The pink splatters on the card add a new dimension.

Birds in bonnets again! This bird is coloured with Distress inks but the rest is gelli printed and of course the font cut from my Sizzix alphabet dies. The butterfly is another one stamped onto acrylic printed card.

Love the effect that the printed card has when making letters

I love my postage stamp die and it made a perfect border for the gelli printed background. Sewing appears in most of my cards. Honestly, it really gives a card a finishing touch! If you are not a sewist, it is worth finding a cheap sewing machine just to do this.

So much going on in this one!

Finally a touch of whimsy with a thoroughly bemused cat! This one has a conglomeration of all sorts including gelli printed, stamped, water coloured with distress inks and die cut.
Once again, be sure not to just glue things like hats over the animal or bird. I always cut the hat strategically so that I can put it ON the subject. Otherwise it just doesn't look realistic - too perched.

Well that is it for now. Have a happy and safe Easter everyone and I promise (in fact I am already planning it) to make a proper Gelli Plate tutorial in a very short while.

Love and hugs
Debbie
xx

Faux Pottery Planters

Definitely something that it is not! #upcycling

I don't know about you but I am always rather intrigued by things that are not quite what they seem - things which started life as something else (and far less) and have been raised by upcycling.

Looove that cactus vase in the background that my son gave me for Mother's day too :-)

You would have to live under a fairly well sealed rock not to know that we produce a lot of rubbish in our world and upcycling is a great way to reuse things and to try to do our bit to reduce the burgeoning problem.

To fool the eye, pay attention to the details - the edges can give the game away.

This week's offering is a jam jar. Just a common, garden variety glass jar now living its new life as a pottery planter!

The glazes maketh the pot.

See what I mean!? I am counting this one for the win. What was destined for the rubbish heap, is now living a bright new existence as a little pottery planter.

Dem textures!

And of course, it is super easy to do. Start with a nice clean jar....

Start with a nice clean jar and turn it into something else!

What else do we need.....
-Air dry clay. I am using DAS brand in white.
-DecoArt Acrylic, water based paint. Mine is flesh tone, and terra coral
-DecoArt Texture Sand
-DecoArt Triple Thick Brilliant Brush On Glaze
-DecoArt DuraClear Matte varnish
-1" flat paintbrush (you don't need any particular skill though)

-Your usual painting needs

-Oh and a little plant and some potting mix

Begin by cleaning your jar so that it is near enough completely clean. If there is a little bit of label and glue on it, that doesn't actually matter. You won't see it and it can help the clay to stick.

Next roll out the clay so that it is reasonably thin and use your hands to mould it around the jar, gently persuading it into nooks and crannies (like the thread around the top) and also slightly over the rim.

Perfectly smooth is actually not needed!

As you can see from mine, it is quite artisan looking and a bit on the rough side. That is absolutely fine. Pottery comes in all sorts of styles and right now, the trend is for a slightly rough hewn style. Lucky too because it is easier to do!

If you don't want it so rough, wet the clay or your hands with a spray bottle and smooth it gently.

Trim the inside and underneath. The base is important so that the pot sits flat. Mine will be getting a little more neatening later on....

Tidying needed.

By extending the clay over the top and into the jar, when it is filled, it will look more like the real thing. The glass however will mean that watering it possible because it is glazed inside.

Allow the pot to sit somewhere and dry slowly and naturally for about a day. The slower the drying, the less likely to end up with cracks. If it does crack, either love them and incorporate them into the design or mix some clay with water to make a loose sludge and fill them in.

When the pot is dry, it is time to decorate!
Take the textured paint and paint the top two thirds only.

Keep the brushstrokes horizontal for this make.

This is a wonderful painted finish which gives real pottery texture (and fills in some of the pot holes too). I see that it is a bit harder to find now and if you do have trouble, recreate the look with some real sand mixed with white acrylic paint or another texture medium.

Don't use your most precious brush!

The clay is looking a bit smoother now. You can fill in as little or as much as you like.

Don't forget to extend the texture paint over the rim and inside too. basically, wherever there is clay, there needs to be paint!

Allow this coat to dry and then paint the whole pot with flesh tone acrylic paint. Just cover the top two thirds.....

LOOOOVE that perfect boho peach shade!

Don't worry if the edge is not perfect. This bit is supposed to mimic a pottery glaze.

Now come back in with terra coral and paint a band of that colour on the bottom 1/3.....

Don't  worry about the half smooth/half textured edge.

As you can see, the line between the two is not perfect. I have dry brushed it with what was left on my paintbrush to get a sort of 'desert sunset' vibe going.

The dry brush effect is really pretty.

Allow these to dry (trust me it is worth making a few of these and drying them all together). 

Seal the top with matte varnish. That bit is actually finished now. To add contrast, we need a shiny base like a glaze. The colour is already there. The next step is to coat this with a very glossy varnish. I am using a triple thick one and allowing it to dry between coats. I  gave it only one coat to get the look that I want.

The next shot will show how glossy this is - and how like a glaze!

Seriously, to a casual observer.....

This varnish is lovely and thick and it runs in a way that looks just like a glaze. 

One of its great properties is that it is self levelling. Like an epoxy but without the fuss.

I put it into my kiln airing cupboard and turned it every ten minutes until it was set a bit to stop it from dripping off the bottom or going too far up. Then it was left to dry properly.

One more!

Let this dry and cure - I like to let things cure in a warm dry place for about 10 days but it is up to you. You can carefully plant straight away and then it will cure as it sits on the shelf!

Um....I might not have mentioned it but the plant is not real either! Trust no one!

By the way, 'curing' means to allow the paint and varnish to reach its maximum hardness.
And that is all there is to it! Fill it with your potting medium next and then add a little plant. I guarantee that once the bug is biting you, you will not let any containers into the rubbish again!

I am going to do HEAPS more of these!

By the way, this works on bottles and tins too....
Happy painting and thanks for dropping by!
Debs
xx

Oooh! Warm hugs!

Did you know that most aches and pains are better treated with a warm rice pack? Better than reaching for the tablets although they too have their place.

A real pain to photograph but you will see it better as we go along!

And rice packs are easy to make, take next to no materials and they are great gifts and craft fair sellers too. All good!

Quick to make and great for gifts.

You can fill them with things other than rice but rice is cheap and easily found. It heats in the microwave in 1-2 minutes too and provides the bearer of the aches and pains a wonderfully soothing warm hug. 

REALLY addicted to putting text on things using die cuts.

Wheat is popular and some people like to use dried beans - I favour a smaller particle though because it moulds to your body a bit better and the more of this wonderful warmth in contact with the afflicted part, the better.

I work on my own so I don't have a model but you can see how this is just full enough to curve nicely.

Now I wanted to de-medicalise this make as much as possible! It is supposed to be a bit more fun so make sure you choose some pretty fabrics and then, for the piece de resistance....a bit of fanfare please...we are going to add die cut words to make you smile every time you use it! That last bit is also important because a smile starts the flow of endorphins (feel good chemicals) and they are pain relieving too.

Just what is needed

So what do we need this time?
-30cm strip (12") pretty and light coloured fabric. I am using a gorgeous mustard yellow (the current favourite colour) fabric from the Essentials II collection by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics (Hantex)
-F8th H630 iron on wadding (Vlieseline)
-black iron on fabric or plain black solid fabric and a good quality fabric glue*
-10cm black and white ribbon (Berisfords)
-uncooked rice
-Sizzix Big Shot manual die cutting machine
-Sizzix Bigz XL alphabet die #662707A Cutout by Tim Holtz
- your usual sewing needs.

* make sure that whatever product you choose, it is microwave safe! To use something like an iron on foil could damage your microwave. If in doubt, choose the fabric and glue option. 

Not much needed and no template either!

Right! To business then....
Begin by cutting two rectangles from your fabric 12cm wide x 60cm long (4 3/4" x 23 5/8") and fuse the H630 wadding to the wrong side of each.

This wadding is just enough to make the pad feel luxe and help it to keep its heat too.

Using a round object, round the corners....

The larger your round object, the gentler the curve to sew around!

Now cut out your letters. These can spell anything at all but I have decided on 'ooh Warm hugs!'.

A good die cutting machine is a real must have tool. Put it on your birthday list :-) 

Lay the letters onto one of the interfaced rectangles next so that they are well centred and make sense.

To get the placement right, find the centre of the rectangle and then the centre of the centre word and build from there. If you are not good at getting things straight, go deliberately wonky.

There wasn't actually an exclamation mark in the set so I die cut the I and then just snipped the end off.

When you are happy with the layout, iron or glue the letters on.

Once you have peeled the protective film off the letters, they will be soft and flexible.

Take the little piece of ribbon and fold it in half to make a loop tab and attach it to one end.....

Adore black and white with mustard!

Now with the right sides together, pin and sew the two rectangles, leaving a turning gap on one long side. Clip the edge curves to reduce bulk there...

Careful not to cut the stitches!

Turn out through the gap. Fill 2/3 full with rice and then close the gap.

Don't over fill with rice because ideally for the beneficial effects to be felt, this has to have a lot of contact and if it is too full, it will be a bit too rigid to cover properly.

Don't fill so much that it cannot fit around a curve like a neck or over a knee.

And that's it! I did say simple and fast!

Would make a nice draft excluder too :-)

Thank you for stopping by and I will have something else for you very soon! I am working on some faux pottery effects on upcycled jam jars so that could be the next thing....

I used a few things in this make that are quite special and to find them, here are a few useful addresses...

Vlieseline from  Six Penny Memories - http://www.six-penny.com/ Tel: 01207-565728 and  Lady Sew and Sew, 0162 8890532, info@ladysewandsew.co.uk , www.ladysewandsew.co.uk

Hantex: For further details & stockists information please visit www.hantex.co.uk/mystockist

Berisfords@stockistenquiries.co.uk or telephone: 01453 883581.

Or visit www.berisfords-ribbons.co.uk.

Sizzix from www.sizzix.co.uk   0844 499 8181 or 44 (0) 845 345 2277 outside UK