2022 Topic 13 : Fabric {by Laurie Case} with Gwen Lafleur stamps

Hello and welcome! It's Laurie with you today sharing a couple of home decor pieces made using one stamp set, one stencil and 2 colours of Fresco Finish Paint. The supply list is fairly minimal! I had a heap of fun with this topic so let's get started!

This was my starting point:

A whole pile of jeans that are well used and well loved. All of these have rips and tears along with stains that cannot be removed. Not to mention that they're all too small!!

I did not want to just throw these away. I knew I could come up with some way to repurpose them. And this topic was the perfect time to start!

I started by cutting three strips of denim. These were not measured nor did I use a straight edge for cutting. I wanted them to be "perfectly imperfect". On the first strip, I used the PS226 Stencil and Hey Pesto Fresco Finish Paint. Nothing fancy here, I just applied one layer of paint through the stencil.

Using the same stencil and Snowflake Fresco Finish Paint, I added the paint just around the edges of the stencil using a small paintbrush.

Now onto the third strip. I traced the outline of the stencil onto the denim using a white pencil. This will end up being my stitched panel.

 

Here's a look at the panels once all three techniques were completed. But there are a lot of finishing touches to be made!

This is where I wanted to see if I could heat emboss on this denim! There are a few tips on the internet that say if you apply a layer of gloss gel medium to the denim, it will emboss better. Two things about this: I didn't have any gloss gel plus I'm highly impatient so waiting on drying time just wouldn't work for me, hahaha!

I used regular embossing ink as well as a super fine, detail white embossing powder. Things we already have in our stash! TIP: I found that heating quickly works the best. In fact, I'm not 100% sure the embossing powder is fully melted! It still has a slightly gritty texture but does not rub off. If you heat for too long, the powder melts right into the denim and almost disappears.

This is how it turned out with no prep to the denim. These are very detailed stamps and I love how it turned out!!  I wanted a boho-ish vibe to my projects so the EGL04 set worked perfectly!!

Here are more images from the same stamp set, heat embossed onto different shades of denim and cut out. I made a second project with these images which I'll share at the end!

To spruce up the solid green, stencilled panel, I thought one of the embossed circles would make a cute flower!!

Now, it's time to put everything together! I dusted off my sewing machine for this. Please don't judge my sewing skills!!

A little bit of zig zag and very crooked straight stitching!! You can see I also cut a piece of denim in a floral shape to place my embossed flower centre on. I found a wooden dowel (from my macrame stash) to hang my banners from. 

I also had some crochet ribbon that I thought would look cute as the hangers. I cut the ribbon in different lengths and cheated by using hot glue to adhere to the banners.

After attaching to the dowel, I had the sweetest, little denim wall hanging!

And as promised, here is a look at the second wall hanging made from the heat embossed images!

If you asked me which one is my favourite, I would actually say the heat embossed one! I know the stitching is wonky but there is something about this project that makes me want to do more of it....and perfect it!

I have to say that creating these little projects was good for my creative soul. This made me want to explore all the possibilities of using my stamps and stencils on more than just paper. I learned about heat embossing on denim. I repurposed jeans (with many more pairs to go) that would have otherwise been thrown out. I got a little bit more familiar with my sewing machine. And I got two adorable, handcrafted pieces of decor. All in all, this was time very well spent!

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit today! Take care and see you soon!

Laurie

Blog: https://itsallcutanddie.blogspot.com

Instagram: crazycardlady

2022 Topic 11: Stamp Mash-up {by Laurie Case} with Tracy Scott, Nicci Battilana and Scrapcosy stamps

Hello and welcome!! It's Laurie with you today to share a project full of twists, turns and ups and downs! When creating, sometimes things don't go exactly as planned and that's okay! At the end of this process, I learned a lot, ended up with THREE finished designs and most importantly, had so much fun "Mashing Up" three different designers!!

Recently I came across the technique of altering playing cards. I've done a couple of standard sized cards which were fun and quite simple due to their size. However, while perusing Amazon one night, I discovered large playing cards, 5X7 inch cards!! I thought, how fun! I must alter these!!!

These are the supplies I initially gathered. You'll find as I go on, I've either added product or not used it at all! This was a highly evolving project!!

I want to start by showing you the first card I created. I didn't end up using this card on my feature project because there were a few things I didn't like about it.

I love the colours and the collage! Downside Number 1: my Copper paint seems to have settled a little bit, so when I mixed it with Grunge Paste, it gave this gorgeous pink colour but this was not the look I was going for. Downside Number 2:  I felt that I covered too much of the card. I really wanted people to know that this was a large playing card, not just a piece of cardstock or card board!

So it was back to the drawing board!!

 

I pulled another card from the deck and chose a different area of the Printed Tissue. This area was less densely packed with images. I used gel medium to adhere.

I love that you can clearly see that this is a large playing card! I also love the images I was able to get from the tissue!

This is a regular sized card. I thought it would be fun to create some layers using the exact same card and suit.

I place the regular playing card in the centre of the large card, trying to match the centre club as best as I could. I laid the PS290 stencil over the top and applied Grunge Paste in a diagonal from top left to bottom right.

Now, this is where I thought I'd try something new. I sprinkled some embossing powder over the top of the Grunge Paste. I've seen this technique done before but in this case, it came out with mixed results, haha! Some of the powder flaked off the paste, some stayed on...at this point, I just went with it!!

I added some Mouse Ears and Bubble Gum Fresco Finish Paints. I used A LOT of water to get that splotchy look!

After the paint was applied and dry, I added a thin layer of white gesso to dull the colour slightly. I rubbed away whatever embossing powder that wasn't set into the Grunge Paste. This actually gave a very nice, matte look.

You can see some subtle stamping on the background. This comes from the AMAZING new set by Scrapcosy (ESC33). This stamp set is a must have!!

It was finally time to add the "wow" factor to this project!  I stamped a few images from TS043 and ESC33 onto some white cardstock. I heat embossed the large frame using the same embossing powder I used on the background. I didn't end up using most of these but it never hurts to have extras!!

I used alcohol markers to colour everything in but chose to use only the floral images. I fussy cut around the large flower. I also coloured two of these!

I placed a small circle die, cutting side up, with tape already on it over the Club on the large card. I lined the regulation sized card up with the stencilled Grunge Paste and pressed down, making sure the die adhered. I ran this through my die cut machine. It's not perfectly centred but close enough!  I thought this looked super cool!

Before adhering everything together, I added some finishing touches with a white paint marker. I love the look of stitching! I really must try it with a sewing machine one day, hahah!

To make each layer stand out, I added some black ink around the edges. Now let's put this together...

I used A LOT of foam adhesive on this! I wanted each layer to pop from one another. The small card, the frame and the flowers all have dimension!  You can also see that I stamped a small quote in the middle of the circle. This comes from the ESC33 set and was gold heat embossed.

This project turned out nothing like what I had in my mind. I started, then started again then started AGAIN!! I made 4 of these playing card backgrounds! This is the one I just happen to like the most. Never fear, I did keep the other backgrounds and actually finished them.

I always have to remind myself that the idea I start out with isn't always what I'll end up with. In the end, I wound up with 3 beautiful, altered playing cards and an extra one to play with! 

Thank you so very much for spending some time with me today!

Laurie

Blog:  https://itsallcutanddie.blogspot.com/

Instagram: crazycardlady