Long overdue post

I haven't updated this blog in a while.  I have been on journey of rediscovery and part of the reason that I have been scarce with crafty updates is that I have been focusing my creative energy on re-cultivating stronger social bonds.  So I have been entertaining and I have been entertained and my weekends and free time have been pleasantly filled up.

  This has been a wonderful turning point in my life – I should rather say “returning point”.  Every day has been a gift of familiarity and remembrance of what and who I am before I lost my ground and tried to shift my direct experience of me into something that was not me.  I have lost a few years of my life to the dark shell of who I let myself become - I almost started to forget what it was like to be me.  But I am finding my feet again and I am so blessed to have reconnected with people who bring out the best in me.

A student of mine was going through a hard time recently.  As I listened to her disillusionment,I recognised myself (as I was at the beginning of the year).  Once I did get back on track I wished I could have avoided that path of self-inflicted misery and thought had I only had the insight that I do now, I could've been much happier earlier. So having been in a similar existential predicament and that my role as defacto guidance counselor demanded that I offer some kind of advice I was trying to find a way to describe how to get to the liberating route that I eventually allowed myself to take – without her having to spend as much time, effort and heartache as I did.   

During my inward journey over the last 6 months - I have been able to come fully into a few simple things – No one could ever have the power to turn off your own light.  Sometimes though, someone could blow at it really hard because your light is too bright for the darkness that they choose to hide themselves in.  They can try to put out the light that is in you, but they will never be able to if you don’t let them.  Sometimes it takes a harsh gust of reality to make you realise that your light will never be able to bring light or light up something that is in self-contained darkness.  In that case you should not blame yourself for not being able to light up the dark.  Like belongs with like. Lights belong with other lights.You just have to get up and go shine with like light kind.  

When your light is recharged by another equal light, you will shine much brighter there.  It will feel different, you will feel yourself shining, you will never have to dim your light- you will just shine – you will feel the warm, giddy glow from within immediately and you will know that you are where you are meant to beam.  

Anyway, I felt a little moved to share that.  I believe that when I have the urge to share as such, that it is a direct prompt from whatever it is that connects our souls and that it is speaking to me to share so that it can be seen, felt or heard, by the right person at the right time.  The way things I see or read are the right things at the right time for me.

Since I have been focussing my energy on reflection – I have also redirected my creative urges in written musings as opposed to ink, paint and crayons – so I thought that I might share this short rambling that I wrote in lieu of something to look at – just to keep something of continuity going on and to let your imagination gift you with your own imagery.

 Gift of the Crucible
Now that I have found my way
I am coming home speedily
To who I am in all my divinity
without hearing that I ought not to see
that I am the potter,
the sculptor of me
I am the best judge of what it means to be
and find myself grateful
for that crucible
that now yields
my glittering metal.
I sparkle survive
Emerging more alive

Shoppe Window Cardie for Mum!

     

Just a quick post today to show you this card that I had so much fun making.  For Mother's day (you will remember if you read this blog) that I made the dresser card (here is the backlink to that posthttp://tincanhandmade.blogspot.com/2013/05/cards-cuts-and-amazing-things-you-can.html).  So I thought it would be kinda fun to keep that brickwall theme.  I am envisioning that eventually mum will have a collection of  brickwall room cards, for every room in a fantasy house.

A week or so ago Redanne posted this awesome card that she came up with that I so loved. (Check out Anne's Chemist here ttp://bollyanne.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-chemist.html).  This is how the inspiration for this birthday card began.    I really loved Anne's idea of a window that you looked through - my mind immediately started seeing a fun idea. 

I wanted the card to look like a cheery shop window with a flower box, and a message- complete with a stripy awning.  I mean who doesn't like a stripy awning.

So here is what I did.  I embossed the card with a die-cut window with the brick texture folder from Spellbinders, I then cut a rectangular frame to make the window frame and used one of the Tim Holtz pediments dies to do the flowerbox. 

I filled the flower box with handrolled flowers and the greenery is Gold Christmas tinsel that I painted with Mowed Lawn distress paint and Forrest moss Distress Ink.  The flowers were tiny and painful to work clunky fingers around but they were surprisingly easy to do. 

I used a scalloped edged scissors to cut one end of the awning and a corner punch for the top of the awning.  I folded that into shape.  I saw a more complicated version of this on youtube a while back but I cant remember where so I cant give credit to whom it is due.

I faux-glassed the window with acetate and wrote "Happy Birthday" on the shop window with a popart marker.  I love these markers - too bad I cant find them in my town mall anymore.

I wanted the closed card to look as if there was a window blind hanging on the inside of the window.

When you open up the card - I wanted the inside to look as if you were looking at a wall with drawn blind. 

I cut out little frames and drew tiny "wall art" that I framed in the gilded metal effect (you can find the backlink to that tutorial herehttp://tincanhandmade.blogspot.com/2013/08/distress-paint-alchemy-turning.html).  

I also stuck on a few charms to look like wall hangings. 

The blind functions as a message and gift card holder.

Anyway - like I said - quick post today.

Tim Holtz Challenge August – wipeout, redraw and computer woes!

I held out for the longest time this month hoping that all the new dies and stamps would reach South Africa long before deadline week for August challenge.  In my head I already had an idea of what I was going to do for my tag with all the chemistry stamps.  But things didn’t work out the way I wanted it to so I decided to come up with a new plan. 

 I have been having computer issues.  The deal is that my laptop is old, old,old – it still runs XP and is completely overworked.  This puppy runs everything in my household – I work on it, I watch TV on it, I use it as a hi-fi (do people still say hi-fi – what do they say now …..Entertainment Centre???), I design on it, I even control certain systems in my house on it.  So it was inevitable that a day would come when it would start a global rebellion. 

It started gremlin-ing all the video file, then it moved onto the picture files, then it picked up speed and staged one of those sit-in type of protests where whichever programme you ran – it would work for about a few minutes and then BAM it would give you the pc equivalent of a bad swear word – total freeze.  Now even the on and off button is going nuts – and it wont shut off by “shut down” command.  Right now I am trying to speak very loving words of encouragement to it – the only thing that works on it is the internet browser.  So I am grateful that it still feels some kind of sorry for me and lets me keeps that.

Anyhow, back to the TH tag story.  So last week I learned that the new stamps and stuff wouldn’t be available for another week or so, and I began to formulate a new idea in my head for a tag, just in case there were other hold-ups and I wouldn’t make it in time, I figured I would try and make something else.  When I looked through my stamp collection - I thought I hit on a great plan.  In fact I thought this new vision was far better than the old one and I got really excited about making it. 
The poem “A Dry White Season For Don M – Banned” – has always had a moving and profound effect on me.  Within the last couple of weeks I found my mind returning to its aphorismic truth, like a chant.  There was no real trying circumstance that I can hold accountable for the return.  It was as if the poem itself was manifesting its way into my consciousness and reaching out to me to remind me of its message, just because of its message. 

It’s a poem written by a South African poet Mongane Wally Serote while he was in exile, to another banned South African poet and writer Don Materra, whom at the time was under house arrest.  It describes a dry white season that is painful and harsh, where leaves fall bitterly to the ground, but reminds the reader that even the harshest winter will eventually come to pass.  Even though the context of the poem is political, I have always interpreted it in a broader context of hope.  The message for me is universal – that life has its seasons, some of them may be harsh, brittle periods of pain and trying circumstance, but we can always take assurance that as natural as the seasons do change, grim, winter seasons of circumstance shall too come to pass: 

A Dry White Season

For Don M Banned

It is a dry white season
dark leaves don’t last, their brief lives dry out
and with a broken heart they
dive down gently headed for the earth
not even bleeding.
it is a dry white season brother, only the trees know the pain as they still stand erect
dry like steel, their branches dry like wire,
indeed, it is a dry white season but seasons come to pass

Mongane Wally Serote

So naturally with those powerful images playing in my head I had reached for the Stamper’s Anonymous Falling Leaves (CMS097) collection of TH stamps.  I knew that my heart was asking me to highlight the idea:  “Seasons come to pass”.  My mind’s eye saw the artistic connection between falling leaves and turning gears – seasons come to pass.

Oh it was beautiful – I cut masks, I stamped, I layered mask upon mask, I stained, I spattered. I glossy accented, I “geared” up for the art that was unfolding directly from my heart.  Seriously I was having a really great time with my tag – I have had romances that I haven’t had as much fun with and paid so much attention to!  I had not managed to fix my pc issues and couldn’t upload my project to the TH blog.  I wasn’t too fussed though because I thought I would just upload the pics onto my work pc in the office and go from there.

The next morning I got my coffee and began my daily ritual of reading through the blogposts of the bloggers I follow – and then I saw Alison’s post and her entry ( See Alison's amazing project by clicking on this )for the Tim Holtz challenge.  It was so beautiful, I loved it but more importantly – we had both chosen the same stamps (apart from Skelly), DOH!!!!! DOH!!!! DOH!!!! Even the texted background and colour scheme was eerily similar. WIPEOUT!!!!!

  So then I thought that I wouldn’t post my tag because it was so similar in concept to hers, and this little virtual community is dedicated to sharing diversity of interpretation, I felt like I should do something different to hold that tradition.  Alas – I got so busy with stuff that I had to do for work etc – I didnt get around to doing another project. Today I finally gave up the dream of trying to make another tag.  The truth is – I just cant imagine what else I would want to do for this challenge.  I really have to have something move in my heart in order for it to be translated into mini pieces of art, and my heart I think was just so filled with this particular message that there was no room for much else.  I don’t know – perhaps the Universe is trying to reach someone and give them the message that seasons come to pass and it needs me to post this tag. 

So I am going to have to post the original tag that I came up with as I neither have the inspiration or time to come up with a new concept and make it before the Tim Holtz deadline.  Also, I really loved the tag when I made it and I wanted to share it, especially because of its meaning to me. 

But yes,  I am aware that it does look very similar to Alison’s – that was completely unintentional but I am also secretly pleased cos I hold her artistic talent in such high regard so the fact that we both independently of each other halfway across the world, thought up the same concept was totally cool for me.  I feel like I have broken into the Holy room of Inspiration or something.  Alison is so amazing at whatever she does – I’m in total awe of her.

My personal stamp on the Tim Holtz technique was to colour the masked bits (all the big leaves),  I used distress markers otherwise I kept to all the original technique instructions.

I also used the smaller stamps to create a sorta watercolour transparent leaf background under the text background.

If you’re wondering how I managed to get the smaller leaves all seperated like on there – I’ll tell you a horrible secret – I cut the long strip (rubber stamp) of small leaves  into pieces – but I confess that I like having the smaller individual ones and if I want them in a strip again – all I have to do is just line them up like that!

The supplies I used for this tag were:

#10 sized tag (though I just cut a #10 sized tag out of Ranger Specialty stamping paper)

Stampers Anonymous Falling Leaves CMS097 Tim Holtz Collection

Stampers Anonymous Curiosity small text stamp CMS124 Warehouse District

Stampers Anonymous “Horlogerie” typography stamp  CMS123 Attic Treasures

Ranger Archival ink:  Plum, Olive, Monarch Orange, Cobalt, Sienna, Vermillion

Ranger Distress Markers

Ranger Distress Stain Gathered Twigs

Stazon Timber Brown

Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations:  

656917 Sizzix Sizzlits Decorative Strip Alphabet Die - Chip Block

657482 Sizzix Sizzlits Decorative Strip Alphabet Die – Alphabetical

Ranger Glossy Accents

Ranger Ideo-ology mini gears and regular gears

Thin Popsicle stick

Anyway – I hope that if there is indeed a hurting soul somewhere who is feeling overrun and overwhelmed – I hope that this tag brings you the comfort and hope that seasons do indeed come to pass, take heart – I have felt this for myself as well.

Distress Paint: Alchemy – turning cardstock into Vintage Gold

I have been busy in my apothecary creating a fast and dirty formula to create a vintage forged gold effect.  I am going to share that with you today.

Now you can watch me perform alchemy in the lightning speed video below,  however in solidarity with my people (since South Africans generally are inflicted with the curse of slow, expensive, data-capped internet) – I am also going to share my magical formula in the step by step picture tutorial underneath it.

(edited to add – something went wrong when I tried saving the video – it is cutting all the video frames in half – don't know why – you’re stuck with the pic tutorial then! 
2nd Edit - apparently this is a bug well common to Movie Maker 2.6 devotees like myself who try to run it on newer Operating Systems - boo - I think I have lost my favourite editing tool but more importantly I am going to have to reshoot this whole video)

STEP ONE

Cut out your pieces – I have used the Tim Holtz Alterations Clock Key and Pocket Watch die and a circle die from Spellbinders to cut out the window face with the intention of turning it into a pocket locket. 

 

STEP TWO

Create the background Patina by covering the whole die-cut with an opaque coat of Black Soot Distress Paint (DP – from now on) – this is very important in crating that vintage feel - so don't skip it. 

STEP THREE

Choose the embossing folder pattern - I like to use something with a highly detailed pattern as it gives me more texture, and more texture makes the piece look more vintagey. So I chose the Sizzix Alterations Damask Folder.  Run it through your Embosser.

 

STEP FOUR

Dab a glob of Tarnished Brass DP on your work surface or craft sheet and using the blending tool with the the foam applicator, gently begin burnish the embossed bits.  The trick here is to apply very light pressure in a staccato or brisk up and down motion.  Keep building up layers .  I prefer to highlight the embossed bits heavily in the Tarnished Brass DP but leave the debossed bits, slightly less covered in paint so some of the Black soot shows through.  This is what is going to achieve the vintage patina effect.

  

STEP FIVE

The next step is optional.  To create the gleaming glint of vintage gold – over the Tarnished Brass DP rub on some Gilder’s Paste or Perfect Pearls. This has a two-fold effect – it blends and evens out the sponged on paint and the gold particles settle into the debossed areas such that it matts everything out but at the same time adds more gleam to the “precious metal”

 

STEP SIX

To finish it off or seal it – there are three things that you could do.

You can coat in Ranger’s Glossy Accents – this looks super shiny and slick.

Or you can heat emboss it with CLEAR embossing powder. Don't use gold embossing powder because you will lose all the cool dry embossed detail.

Or you might just want to take the fast and dirty way out and either spray clear lacquer varnish or paint high-gloss varnish onto it.  Which is what I did for the pocket locket – The heat gun was a little too fiddly for me and I didn't want to leave my chair – and that is the primary reason why I chose this method over the other.

And there you have it – You’ll be turning pieces of paper into gold in no time at all.

A few other details about this project – the stamp is from a South African company called Heritage Stamps, though I have to admit that I did tweak her eyelashes and put on more eyeliner for her..  I stamped on Ranger’s Specialty Stamping paper and I coloured the image with Ranger Distress Markers.  To create the vintage glass feel – I gave the face window a generous coat of Glossy Accents.  Once that dried – I decided it would look cooler with deep cracks in the glass, so I overcoated that with crackle accents.

I still haven't decided what I am going to do with my paper gold pocket locket.  Maybe I could swing it off of the top of a tag and turn it into a bookmark.

In the end after all the tweaks this is what it turned out like.

  

12 Tags of 2013 – July Tag – 67 minutes

  I didn’t think I was going to enter the challenge this month.   I was really stuck for inspiration – we don’t celebrate the 4th of July (being South African and all) and I have been saving all my tags with the intention of eventually installing them onto a collage of sorts to hang on my bedroom wall.  So I reckoned a “ US Independence Day/freedom” type tag would be a little lame and weird if its going to hang on the wall of this  “makhoti”  in Kwazulu right?  

Anyway I went about my business, messing around with all kinds of other projects, but I think if I don’t do something Holtzy I get a bit anxious and fidgety.  I swear I think I’m Holtz junkie. 

So then the 13th of July rolled around which is my birthday and I got a sweet horde of Holtz-aphenalia….which I generously gave myself as a birthday present,everybody should save up all year to do one big bank-busting Tim Holtz buy for their birthdays right?  In addition to that – I received an order from Inspiration Emporium.  And you know how that goes – once you get your stash, it takes an extreme amount of self-control and pleasure delaying to stop yourself from wanting to play with your goodies….


Inspite of the haul and the intense desire to cut, copy the July theme, and paste ideology charms and adornments I was still stuck for an idea that would fit somewhat with the theme. 

Then the 18th rolled around which in my country is celebrated as Mandela Day as it is his birthday.  This year he turned 95.  The celebrations were less pomp and festive than usual as he currently lays gravely ill in hospital.  As we collectively held our breath for news of his wellbeing, an idea started forming in my head.  Yes we don’t celebrate American Independence Day but we do have a new and very worthy July tradition  - the 67 MINUTES tradition.  The concept of 67 MINUTES is a pay-it-forward sort of deal.  

In recognition and honour of the 67 years that Nelson Mandela (known affectionately in my country as Tata or by his clan name Madiba) selflessly served in the aim of greater good, we give 67 minutes of our own time to do something good, charitable, courageous or gracious.  Madiba being such a genuine example of humility, benevolence and grace – asks that the day be marked not by some kind of reverent worship or adoration of him, but instead be marked by your own 67 minutes of good deeds on this day.  I think this is an awesome way to honour a man that I have utmost respect and gratitude for.  And that is what jump-started my idea for the July entry into 12 Tags of 2013 challenge.

The concept was “freedom” in a sense.  The idea is that doing something good frees your soul.  I also wanted to share the idea of the 67 minutes challenge.  One of the other great gifts I received this yeas for my birthday (from someone else this time) was a copy of a book called “The Secret”.  The ideas contained in this book speaks to the power you have within you to attract that which you desire if you are in alignment with the Universe (It is lot less hocus-pocus-chant-Aum-gaze-into-my-crystal-ball-New-Age-magic-sparkle-unicorny than I am making it sound).  

The basic premise of the movement is that within the universe there exists a law of attraction – like attracts like.  It espouses that the Law of attraction enables you to call goodness into your life by just focussing on it, wanting it and envisioning it.  

If you persist in negative thought patterns, you by default invite negativity, if you dwell on positivity you by default attract positivity.  Your thoughts are your intentions.  You cannot change the outlook of others but you can change your outlook.  

I thought about what I most wanted in my life (I always thought it would be unlimited credit at Ranger)  but it turns out that what I want more than anything else is to love unreservedly, be good and be surrounded by love and goodness.  I want to challenge myself to spend at least 67 minutes of each week doing something constructive, positive and benevolent.  

The book offers a tip on how to bring this into conscious awareness and thereby into conscious manifestation by advising that that you should try putting visible reminders of what you want up where you can see them.  What better visible representation of what I want and hope to be than a pretty tag that reminds me of the 67 MINUTES challenge?

If you know my style at all – you will see that I have deviated from my usual style which is often dark, moody colours with jarring eye-poking contrast.  This month’s tag is a little lighter and softer – I worked a colour palette that I have never felt at home with before – a kind of sorbet,pastel palette.  This already might be the effect of the law of attraction in operation.  I am starting to feel lighter, my heart is starting to feel softer, less anxious and not so at odds with the world and I think it is starting to reflect in my every day life, including my choice of colour palette.

Back to the tag - as always – here’s a blow by blow photo show of my whole process – even though it is not as super detailed as I usually do it. 

Background
I brayered on Distress Stain – in various colours and then over that in the opposite direction I brayered on White Picket Fence Distress Stain, Loved how it it toned down the eye-pokey.  Following Tim’s instructions, I random stamped incomplete images all over to make a pretty collaged background.

I used a couple of Alterations dies for this tag – Fanciful Flight, Sewing Room and the leaves were from the Tattered Florals Strip die.  I crackle-painted and baked in the Walnut Distress Stain on the wings – loved that porcelain look.  I also put some glow in the dark paint on the outer wings – this is both cool and a little creepy when you turn the lights off. 

The flower on the bottom left is a tissue tape flower. I used a variety of different tissue tape on this tag.  

The quote comes from one of the Visual Artistry Clear Stamp sets.  I thought it was perfect – Madiba himself achieved the somewhat impossible by his dream of being more.  I stamped on Vellum, heat embossed and then used Distress Ink and Stain to colour the vellum.  I Distress Stained the little strips behind the sentiment.  Those cool strips are so awesome, they used to be a window blind, I cut it up, cos I am a rebel like that.

 

I attached the wings to the dress-form with brads, added the INSPIRE token – I kinda wanted it to look like a medal as if  your 67 minutes that you give frees your soul, you “win” by inspiring kindness in others as well.  



When I was little we got “stars” if we did something right or good, they represent the same concept – I crackle-painted and glossy accented those.  They were so tiny though, your fingers get a little crampy, and you get a headache from trying to get your aging eyes to focus so while the awesome grungy end might justify the physical trauma of method - I am going to have to admit that it took effort and supreme determination to stay committed to that effect. 

 

I ought really to go to bed now cos it is 3am and I have two classes to teach tomorrow.  I hope that you were inspired to act on your 67 MINUTES as well.  I love this quote by Marianne Williamson (often erroneously attributed to Nelson Mandela’s Inaugral Address btw) – I am going to end this post with it.

"...Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
- Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love -1992

Distress Paint Rust Effects - First Technique – TRUSTY RUSTY

  For the last month or so I have been trawling through all the “Rust” pins on Pinterest.  It makes me feel good that other people also think Rust is beautiful.  I love how rust looks and when I started expressing this little fetish publically – I always got skewed looks.  So finding rust-loving pinners made me feel wonderfully accepted. 

  Of course for a paper-crafter – if something is beautiful, you have to find a way to emulate that on paper.  That is what I am attempting here to show today.  I have experimented with a variety of techniques, but this technique that I am sharing today is my favourite.  I will be sharing the others at later dates on different posts.

  If you have Distress Paint, glue and some grit – it is almost too easy to do this effect as shown on the frame, accents and hinges card on the right. 

Today you have two options of getting the handle on this technique.  You can just click on the video below the text-tutorial and watch me demonstrate the process - or you can skip the video and just read the shortened cheat-sheet post right here with bonus pics and talk-throughs after it!

 Step one
Figure out what you want to “rust”. 
Even though I had that nice picture of a rusty pediment on the top there to show you how cool the rust effect is - for the purposes of this tutorial I am going to “rust” the posts from TIM HOLTZ ALTERATION’s Hardware Findings Die. 


Step two
If you want to – you can sponge on Rusty Hinge Distress Ink to create a rusty colour

Step  three
When tin or iron corrodes its starts to flake and bubble and get real gritty. 

To create the uneven surface of rusty metal - I put some glue down on the item – in the video the tube says Paint Appeal – but I just recycled the tube cos it has a nice pointy tip, and I have filled it heavy duty cold wood-glue. 

Now you’re going to need grit.  I bet you can use anything gritty – art sand, regular fine sand, even glitter flakes.  I took some fine table salt – blasted it in a coffee grinder to make it finer and then added Rusty Hinge Distress Ink (the refill ink not the stamp-pad if anyone is wondering how to do that).  I blended that in until I got a nice orangey hue.  This is optional because you will be painting over it anyway, but it is kinda fun to dye the salt.

The next step is to rub that on the piece that you have covered in glue. It doesn't have to be uniform and you dont even need to cover the whole piece in a layer of grit.  You just need enough to create some corrosion texture.

Step Four
Gather up all the Distress Paints you have with the colours that you want in your rust.  Usually rust has patches of ochre and red, orange and browns, sometimes a little blue-grey, sometimes even green.

For my piece I gathered up Barn Door, Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Walnut Stain  and Tarnished Bronze.  I also got out the Weathered Wood for the oxidising finish.  I think Bundled Sage Distress Paint would be better but I dont have that yet.

Using your finger or cottonbud (Q-tip) or the “Tincan Tool” start creating your patches of corrosion by dotting/spotting/tapping the paint on and lightly blending it together.  Do this until you are happy with your rust pattern.

Step Five
The last step is giving it an oxidised look.  Rust that is outside in the elements sometimes develop a chalky blue-grey or green-grey oxidation, like how patina forms on brass statues or figures.  

To do that you just need a tiny amount of Weathered wood mixed with a bit Peeled Paint Distress Stain (If you dont have Bundled Sage Distress Paint like me)  or Bundled Sage Distress Paint.  Use your finger again to just dab on the tiniest amount here and there.  This step is optional but I really like how that constrasts with orange and ochre.

Step Six
This is another optional Step – but to keep the grit from eventually falling off etc, you might want to hit it with a blast of matt finish fixing spray.  I dont think its too big a deal though and you can skip this step.

So that concludes the technique bits – now let me show you the other cool bits of the card.



To get the metalworked Rusty effect –as in on the frame of the card – I ran Rusty Hinge Distress Ink all over a piece of cardstock and then embossed it with the sizzix alterations Regal Flourishes texture fade.  I applied a “rooibos” rust to the frame. Rooibos (literally translates into “Red Bush” in English) is a type of tea in South Africa that brews to a gorgeous red colour, I cut open a teabag, poured the contents into a coffee-grinder and mixed some of it into clear matt glaze medium.  The dye in the tea starts to migrate a little and this I thought creates a pretty cool effect.  I think you could use ground up Hibiscus Tea for this as well – it might yield a very pinky-red stain though.

The next cool thing I loved doing was faux pyrography.

If you dont know what pyrogaphy is – it is the art of burning designs into wood with a heating unit.  I tried to do this with that soldering iron I spoke about in my last post but I couldnt steady my hand enough to write legibly on the popsicle stick so I did the next best thing.  First I stained the popsicle stick with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink.  I wrote on it with an embossing stylus using as much pressure as I could to create an indentation without actually breaking the stylus.  Then I traced in the indentations with the fine tip of the Walnut Stain Distress Marker, I might hace also gone over with Black soot – I cant really remember – but defo on the Walnut Stain.
  
This card is for a sweet old guy who had an accident on his farm while working and he was beat up pretty painfully, so he was in need of a get well card. I loved the idea of a fuse to fire up recovery. I go around looking for all kinds of things that people usually throw away.  This fuse came from the rubbish bin of a mechanic, one of my best random-scavenger-days ever. The Heart was originally a pastel pink button that I painted with Fired Brick, Barn Door and I crackled that and then rubbed Tarnished Brass Distress Paint all over it.  I painted White Picket Fence on the glass bit of the burnt out fuse and then tried to write:  “Love is the best medicine” on it – that was hard cos I had to write so microscopically – I am going to have to practise my fairy-sized writing skills.

I was really looking forward to using the map stamps that I have – they are pieces from a bunch of different sets.  I gave them the ol’ Distress Marker and waterbrush blending treatment.  So loved how it turned out. 

Alright, time to wrap up this post.  Like I mentioned earlier – I have experimented with other techniques to create rust, I will be posting other rust effect tutorials on these techniques as well.  I am also super keen on following through with my promise to deliver the forged-gold tutorial and the Stone-texture tutorial – all totally possible with just a few colours of incredible Distress Paint – bookmark this blog, follow by email or through an RSS feedburner to make sure that you get in on it first.

Thanks for checking this out.