2017 #14 Glitter: Midnight Fairy Garden with EDY {by Dounia Large}

2017 Topic 14: Glitter

So here are 2 words you don't expect to see in the same sentence: Grunge-Paste and Glitter! Enter Dounia stage right, a very creative crafter...if anyone can combine these two ingredients - she can!

Bonjour, it's Dounia from France here, joining you with a project all about the whimsical and invasive fairy dust known as glitter, and particularly how to trap it!

As the saying goes, between glitter and me, it's complicated... I greatly admire crafters who can create beautiful projects where glitter is fun and cute while staying tasteful but I am incapable of emulating them. I don't know how or when to stop and it generally ends in a eye-watering explosion of colors. I'm also a messy crafter and rather clumsy person which, mixed with glitter, is a recipe for disaster, or at least for adding sparkles to your wardrobe for weeks on end (not always the most professional look...). With this project, I'll share a few of the tricks I use to avoid these problems and still get my glitter fix!

A well known way to try and limit glitter's drive to get everywhere is to trap it in a medium, generally a transparent one (ah, glitter glue). My first idea when seeing this topic was "what about Grunge Paste?" (to be fair it's a frequently recurring question in my crafting). Grunge Paste can be tinted, textured, stamped into, sanded, etc, wouldn't it be great with added sparkle?

It is great. I used my oldest pot of Grunge Paste, which is a bit dry, so I could add a fair amount of Fesco acrylic paint to tint it, then folded in the mix a truly impressive amount of glitter in diverse colors. I begun by stenciling the branches and flowers from Darcy's PS030 stencil before filling the rest of the background, working in reverse.

I then sanded back the layer of Grunge Paste to reveal the stenciled images. It was initially very slow and I was not looking forward to several hours of sanding! Fortunately I had the idea of spritzing water on the paste and everything became much easier. Apart from the gloop. Seriously, this process produced so much gloop I begun to save it and use it in other projects...

The result is really worth it with a very smooth finished surface (except where I was a bit too enthusiastic and begun attacking the board...) The Grunge Paste is so matte, it provides a great contrast that emphasizes the glitter while toning it a bit down.

For the focal images, I chose the flower and circle from Darcy's set EDY19. The designs go perfectly with the stencil without being completely coordinated, offering a lot of possibilities.

I used the stamps to make masks and stencilled around them with so more Grunge Paste, Fresco paints and glitter mix. The idea was to define recessed areas to be later filled with more glittery goodness... But first I had to address the previously mentioned explosion of colors!

This was done with black watercolor, in 2 or 3 layers to better control the shade. The Grunge Paste takes the ink beautifully but not the plastic glitter, creating a star-filled night scene. I loved this step; with just a few strokes of a brush, everything instantly became more subtle and classy, like a shimmering black evening dress.

The recesses were filled with mica and holographic flakes, embossing powders and more glitter, embeded in embossing enamel. As PaperArtsy's stamps are made of high quality rubber, I was able to stamp directly into the hot melted UTE for a maximum of texture. I love that technique, the reveal when you lift the stamp is always so satisfying and awe-inducing!

Voilà! A few simple ideas on how to make a very glittery but somewhat subtle project! I really like the contrast between the matte, glossy and shiny parts of this piece. I wasn't sure how the glitter would hold up to the sanding but the mix with the Grunge paste works really well. It could easily be used just for some stenciled elements instead of the whole background, like flowers on a page or Christmas decorations on a card! I'll certainly try it again, maybe with other sizes and shapes of glitter for a different look.

I hope this inspires you to put some sparkle in your life. Happy crafting!
Dounia x

Blog: http://doudoulina.over-blog.com/

Well you totally bossed that Dounia! I love how it sanded back too! and despite all the elbow grease required, it was certainly worth the effort. Stamping into glue is the icing on the cake - whatever will you come up with next! It is always so much fun to read your posts! 
~ Leandra

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