Thursday 12 September 2013

Amaze Yourself!

Hello all, Alison (butterfly) here to share a hanging icon.  I had so much fun playing with this, building up the layers.  And I ended up with a background I liked so much that I had to come up with a creative way of not covering it up too much!


I started with the large size icon and gave it a coat of white acrylic paint.


Then I spritzed some Dylusions sprays through the Crafter's Workshop Flower Piecing stencil.


I used the same stencil with some texture paste to add a bit of extra interest.  The colours slightly soaked into the paste, which I rather liked.


 Next step was some stamping... I used The Artistic Stamper's fabulous Mini Polka Dots and Sequin Waste background stamps to continue building my layers.


Of course, all of this is also trailing over the edges of the icon too...


And for some extra texture and definition on the edges, I used Faded Jeans Distress embossing powder... yummy colour!


So now I had this background which I really liked... and I had to find a way to keep as much of it visible as possible.  Bring on the recycled acetate packaging!


I used Staz-On black to stamp the brilliant sentiment from Tim Holtz's Way With Words set onto the acetate.  You can use it whole, like this, or stamp individual phrases... so it's like having loads of stamps in one.  


I edged the acetate panel with some more of the Faded Jeans Distress embossing powder, applied over Versamark embossing ink that I simply swiped onto the edges.  You have to heat it with care, so that the acetate doesn't end up all curly!


To mount the panel, I butchered some hanging decorations that I got for peanuts in the Czech Republic... just in order to get the pearls out, you understand.


I used Glossy Accents to glue the pearls to the corners of the acetate, and then once that was firmly dry, I glued the whole thing to the decorated icon.


Very happy with the dimensional look, as well as the fact that you still get to see all those lovely background layers behind the words!

Thanks so much for dropping in today.  Oh, and don't forget to come and play in our September challenge here at The Artistic Stamper.  The theme is Autumn, so there are loads of possibilities.  Hope to see you there!

Ingredients used:
Artistic Stamper stamps: Mini Polka Dots and Sequin Waste Open Size
Stampers Anonymous: Way With Words
Dylusions Sprays: Calypso Teal, London Blue, Fresh Lime, Vibrant Turquoise, Cut Grass
Distress Embossing Powder: Faded Jeans
White acrylic paint
Large Hanging Icon Board
Staz-On: Black
Ranger Archival: Cobalt, Viridian
Versamark embossing ink
Texture Paste
Pearls from stash, acetate packaging

28 comments:

massofhair said...

This is an awesome project from the colour combinations to the way you chose to add dimension.

Stunning:-)

Terry said...

Absolute gorgeousness, Alison! Love it!

Helen said...

Brilliant use of the acetate to keep the background visible, it looks fabulous! Love the blue edges to the acetate panel, full of texture.

ElizabethR said...

Gorgeous Alison love all the layers and the colour is just beautiful. Elizabeth xxx

Sid said...

Lovely design and I agree that background is lush !

Astrid Maclean said...

The background is wonderful and clever how you finished it!

sally said...

Wow, that background is terrific! It's way too good to hide so I understand the logic of the acetate panel but it still seems to hide it too much :-(

Sally

Anonymous said...

Genius idea to use the acetate & the pearls to hold it away from the background - which is gorgeous.

Maggie said...

Fabulous textures love how you attached the acetate brilliant!

MaggieH

Cocofolies said...

That's a really beautiful hanging icon, and I love the colours !! Coco x

cathylynn said...

Brilliant mind you have and so much creativity! This is another fabulous piece of art! Great colors and textures. Love how you stamped the acetate and popped it up.
Hugs, Cathy-Lynn

Nan G said...

Cool background! Great way to use the acetate too!

Cinderella Moments said...

The detail is awesome. I love all the dimension in this one. Super job!
hugs♥,
Caroline

Rita said...

Wow, what a piece of art Alison. The colours are just stunning and I love the stamped acetate. Hugs Rita xxx

Redanne said...

Such a clever idea to use the acetate and I love those pearls! Hugs, Anne x

Hettie said...

This is a great project Alison and love the colours and layers. Your word piece is a stroke of genius too! brilliant use of acetate and pearls.
Hugs
xx

Candy C said...

Love what you are doing with acetate! This piece is also really cool! Love the textured background and the colors you've used. So pretty. That Faded Jeans Embossing Powder really looks fantastic on the edges. Really pretty piece! <3 Candy

Anonymous said...

Beautiful project Alison ! Love the way you've mounted the centre piece on the pearls and your background is gorgeous ! Sue C x

Anonymous said...

Lovely use of the acetate to bring another dimension to this pretty hanging.
Wishes
Lynne

Gerrie Johnnic said...

Love the bg, fabulous! The finished piece is sweet, you are so smart to use the acetate GF!

Brenda Brown said...

Superb Alison, beautifully layered, coloured, textured and with clever stamping.
hugs {brenda} x0x

Paper Profusion said...

Brilliant background and acetate Alison - most of all though I love the pearl 'mounting'. Fabulous idea! Hope you can take it easy over the weekend. Nicola x

Tracy said...

Truly stunning Alison..your waork always leaves mestunned and swooning!!
Love the pearl mounting..going to use that idea if you don`t mind.
Big hugs
Tracy
xoxox

Jenny Marples said...

Love that stencilled background and what a great idea to use the acetate for your sentiment. Hugs, Jenny x

Deborah said...

Not surprised you wanted to let that background shine - it's lovely.

Alexa said...

Another lovely project Alison - the little pearls are a brilliant way of solving the dimensional problem when the method will show! (Taken a mental note of that idea!!). xx

Bonnie Irvine said...

Clever you using pearls to prop up the acetate. It looks wonderful and does the trick. The background of this is stunning with the stamping, embossing paste and stencilling. I definitely have to check out those stamps you used. Love the sentiment stamp on the acetate with the Faded Jeans powder around the edge. You have such awesome ideas, Alison.

Kezzy said...

Wow wow wow absolutely gorgeous, and what a super fantastic idea to use pearls for depth, they certainly look better then a blob of glue. Kezzy :-) xxx