Hi everyone
Keren Baker here with you today.
I've been thinking a lot about preparing recently and there's something lovely about creating items you can use for seasons that are special to you.
This topic Gilded had me thinking about how to add metallic details, and as I'd recently purchased a mould for baubles, this seemed like the ideal opportunity to try it out and with some beautiful ornate details, I felt sure they'd look stunning picked out in metallic wax. Who doesn't love a little excess at Christmas!
I absolutely loved creating these baubles. They're totally unique and really inexpensive to create, and with a little care, something you can reuse every year. Getting to the point of decorating proved to be a somewhat lengthy affair!
There's something wonderful about vintage images, contrast them with some bright modern colours and you have real impact. So of course, being the Gilded topic, I chose PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Acrylics in Gold (FF20), then added in typical Christmas colours; Cherry Red (FF86), Lawn (FF156) and the outlier, Captain Peacock (FF110)!
I used paper clay which is really easy to use, but goodness me, these took days to dry. It may have been the thickness and cold environment but it was a good job I didn't need a speedy make. I had them laid out on a metal rack and was glad to have prepared double the amount I needed so I've got spare whenever I feel like making more.
Paper clay benefits from a gentle sand. I didn't want to lose all the texture but the edges and back looked much better afterwards.
I was ready to gather all the stamped elements. The sets I'd chosen were all from Ink & The Dog; Buttons Plate 6, Xmas Plate 1 and Winter Wonderland Plate 1 . I stamped using Stazon Black so any painting wouldn't affect the images. The square elements make fab details for small projects and you can see in the photo how easy they are to line up to make a larger image.
I'd also got some lovely printed PaperArtsy tissue but it was so creased, I had to now work out what to do with it!
You can see the gorgeous images that I thought would work perfectly- and actually is a great inexpensive way to collect more images without having to purchase all the individual stamp sets. I've decided on which stamp sets I absolutely had to have by using the tissue paper. This beautiful paper is the Scrapcosy designed one (& you won't believe how inexpensive it is ;-)
The issue was that it was so creased from me storing it that I needed a flatter result.
It turns out that sandwiching the tissue paper between 2 sheets of copy paper and ironing on a low heat works really well. By the time I realised that it wasn't going to scorch or erupt in flames, I'd tried ironing straight onto it after doing the sandwiched ironing. You get a really good result by doing that. This ironing is the type I can get behind!!
To preserve the details I painted on the reverse, adding the detail first and then going over with the colour (painting in reverse, really!).
The gold is really vibrant and shows up surprisingly well when you turn the tissue paper over.
I do love a crisp line and my painted lines weren't very neat, so using washi tape got my lines much more precise. Just take the washi tape off fairly soon after you've painted the lines.
All prep now done, I was ready to add layers of tissue paper. I just needed to add a little colour to the images.
A useful glue and sealer is Mod Podge. I prefer the Matt type. Now I just needed to glue and layer the tissue papers.
Most of the white in the tissue will become transparent once the Mod Podge is dried and it's really easy to cut once it's all dried.
TIP: You will find runny, thin glues easily saturate the tissue paper, which help it disappear into the receiving surface. A thicker glue will not do this so efficiently, so look for a runny glue, and you may need to be quite generous on both sides.
To add some extra gilding, I wanted to add gold wax to the gold areas of the bauble top and base. These waxes are readily available- search for metallic wax or gilding wax.
Once you've allowed the wax to dry, do give it a little 'buff' with a tissue and it brings the detail to life even more.
I needed to solve the problem of how to hang them. The paper clay isn't really heavy and due to the symmetrical shapes, I could have backed them with another bauble on the reverse, but that would have given quite a bit of weight to delicate branches so I dug out some Christmas music paper in my stash. I glued the string on first.
In theory you should be able to just trace around and use the shape to back it, but due to some slight warping when drying, I'd recommend using the back of the paper (if you want to highlight a particular part of the music or backing paper.)
My baubles were complete, just needed to add a couple of tiny buttons to add to tie in with the button design on one of the baubles.
These would have been beautiful with torn velvet material instead of the string (which I thought about only after I'd finished them!). They would make incredibly beautiful present tags and also if you fix the string hook onto the inside of a sturdy card, they'd make a fabulous focal point for a card. Just add a painty background or use up some old gel prints and you've got your Christmas greeting cards sorted too! If you don't have moulds, you could use simple cookie cutters to get a similar effect.
I'd like to wish you all a really happy Christmas. Your Christmas doesn't need to be gilded or lavish to make it a special one, just surround yourself with the things and people that bring you real joy.
Keren x
