Craftwell Blog: Pearl Ex

Showing posts with label Pearl Ex. Show all posts

March 23, 2016

Spring Blooms

Ebrush Design Team: Jan Hunter Week 11 Cycle 3

Hi everyone. Jan here. Not too long ago, my mom and I were having a conversation about some of our favorite spring flowers -- sadly, none of our favorites have roots in our yard and won't as long as we are renting unless they can live in pots. So in the meantime, we decided some paper blooms might bring us a little joy.

You'll need:
Peony petal pattern - Lia Griffin
Rose Creation Dies
Darice Crepe Paper - 1 full package - sheets
alcohol markers
wire (24 gauge, 18 gauge)
wire cuters
wood skewers (optional)
eBrush, marker adapters, siphon adapter
Vase SVG file (Hugs N Kisses Valentines Vase, Dreaming Tree)
Cut n Boss (standard sandwich for dies)
Designer paper - Graphic 45 - Secret Garden
Medallion Doily die or SVG file
Oval and scalloped oval dies or SVG file
glue
hot glue gun
foam adhesive dots
double sided tape
Gold Pearl Ex
brads
scissors
floral tape
floral foam
moss or shredds

Let's get started:

Cut all of your petals for the flowers from the crepe paper. *Tip: Crepe paper has a grain. Be sure to follow the directions on the patterns when cutting. I cut 4 sets of petals for the peonies by hand and 10 sets of petals from the Rose Creation Dies using the Cut n Boss. Add several additional leaves as you'll be doubling the leaves since they will be wired. *Tip: You can cut multiple layers at a time using the scissors and pattern and with the Cut n Boss which definitely cuts down on some of the prep time.

Get your markers and eBrush ready and spray all of the peony petals. I used a yellow at the base of each of the petals and a light pink across the middle of each petal, leaving the top edges of the petals white. Repeat for the other side of the petals.

Color the stamens the same shade of yellow. Glue the 3 layers together. Set aside to dry. Cut a piece of crepe paper 3in x 1.5 inches. Spray with a light golden brown on both sides. Cut this piece into 2 pieces, 1.5 x 1.5. Scrunch one piece into a ball about the size of a pea; the second piece, cut in a similar fashion as the stamens, then cross cut into small pieces. These will be the pollen. With the hot glue gun, attach the pea sized ball to the end of a piece of 18 gauge wire. Glue the stamens around the base of the ball. Let dry before moving to the next step. When dry, place a dollop of glue on your craft sheet or a plate. Carefully pounce the stamens into the glue and then into the "pollen" Let dry and repeat for the remainder of your peonies.

While you're waiting for the stamens to dry again, shape the petals. You can do that with your fingers, pulling slightly to create a cupped shape OR you can lightly mist with water and lay across the back of a bowl and let them dry. The ink from the markers didn't bleed, and the petals dried relatively fast and were ready to use as soon as they were lifted off of the bowls. Glue the smallest group of petals to the bottom of the stamens or to the wire. Let each row dry before adding the next. Continue to add petals until you've used them all. Once your glue has dried, wrap the stem with floral wire.

It's time to put the other flowers together. You'll need a brad for each flower. Do not bend the prongs. Use a drop of hot glue to secure the brad and another drop of glue to attach the wire to the prongs. Create 21 flowers out of the layers of petals. Cut some 24 gauge wire and glue in a sandwich of 2 leaves. Use floral tape to cover the wire. Do not add the leaves to the stems yet. Get your eBrush ready and color these flowers and the leaves. Be sure to color both sides of the flowers, spraying lightly. I chose to use the same yellow and pink markers I used on the peonies. You can group into stems or as single blooms. Leaves can be added to the stems using additional floral tape. Set the blooms aside while you construct the vase.

Cut all the pieces for the vase using your electronic die cutting machine. Cut a scalloped oval and fussy cut the image from the Graphic 45 paper.

I did not use any of the hearts in the file and changed the decorative square for the base to a rounded square and removed the hearts in each of the corners. Lightly edge the square, the vase and the trim pieces with a light brown. It adds a little more vintage look to the piece. I also sprayed the ovals along the edges. Construction tips for the vase can be found in this video.

Change to the siphon and lightly spray with some pearl ex mixed with water. It's a great way to add a little more to the front of the vase -- especially the embellishments which are mounted on foam dots for more interest. You can also spray the stamens on each of your peonies for a little more texture. Let dry.

Trim the floral foam to fit in the vase. Add the moss or shredds and arrange the flowers in the vase. I added skewers to my stems for a little more stability since my wire wasn't a heavy enough gauge. The finished size of the vase is 7" w x 8" h. Makes a delightful gift for Easter or a Spring birthday!

Have a wonderful crafty and creative day! More ideas and fun can be found on my blog.

December 2, 2015

Sweet & Simple Tags 1

eBrush Design Team: Jan Hunter Week 3 Cycle 3

Hi everyone, it's Wednesday and my turn on the Craftwell blog! Thanks for dropping by today. The holidays are here and we have a few gifts to bestow.

Using a few scraps from the scrap bin, I put together these two cuties!

You'll need:

TC Thankful Die set (branches, tree) PC Winter Shiver (Snowflakes), Bigz Ornate Plate, SU! Tag dies, CC Snowflake embossing folder

TC Acrylic Paper

Cardstock (I used NeeNah 110 lb, white)

eBrush, SN adapter, Siphon kit

Spectrum Noir Marker (IB2)

Cut-n-Boss

Big Kick

Xyron Creative Station (permanent adhesive)

Pearl-Ex, Pearlescent mixed with water in bottle compatible with the siphon kit

Cut the medallion and bread tag dies using the TC Acrylic paper. Set aside. Cut the rest of your desired elements from paper using the proper sandwich (refer to your guide).

Get the eBrush and choose your markers and color the paper elements.

They were fun to color and there are so many options. Using the siphon adapter, mix a small amount of Pearl Ex with some water and spray on your elements. Let dry.

Can you see the glisten? The Pearl Ex was a perfect touch!

If desired, dry emboss the tree using the CC folder (this is definitely optional, but adds another dimension to your tag/ornament.

Run the paper elements through a Xyron machine and place on the medallion as desired. Since the medallion is see-through, apply the other Tree on the other side matching it. Up side, no glue or tape showing! Use some gems as desired. Add a ribbon and you're done!

Did you notice the ombre effect on the small tag at the top? Just lift your eBrush and spray lightly and you'll have a perfect ombre effect on your tag. Add additional embellishments as desired.

Complete the 2nd tag using basically the same steps. These are easy and quick to complete.

Thanks for dropping by! Don't forget to check in again next week... simple tags 2 on tap.

June 19, 2015

Flowering Heart featuring the eBrush Siphon Adapter!

Ebrush Design Team: Jan Hunter shows some siphon work!

Thank you to Jan Hunter for this beautiful piece of work featuring the eBrush Siphon Adapter! It is a winner!!!

Clay, paper, burlap and cotton cording make for some fun with this heart. Add some color, beads and a button and you're good to put this project together as a very nice gift for someone special.

You'll need:

Oven bake clay (Sculpey was used for this project)

scrap paper

cotton cording

markers (Spectrum Noir)

Pearl Ex

burlap/canvas scrap (mine is from Canvas Corp)

circle wafer die

Die Cutting machine

ebrush, siphon adapter

straw

cookie cutter or mold

E6000 glue

2 step bird punch, 3/4" circle punch

Prepare your clay according to the manufacturer's directions. Form into desired shape. I chose to string a cord through the top and down to the bottom, so using the straw, I make two holes to string the cording through. The size of the shape you use will determine how much cording you'll need. Using the ebrush *siphon adapter, mix some pearl ex with enough water to make it fluid. Bake as directed. Let cool. *If you don't have a siphon adapter yet, you can brush the pearl ex on the unbaked clay.

While your shape is baking, begin to prepare your paper pieces. Cut as shown in the photo below. I ran put each piece through a paper crimper about 10 times. Enough to break down the fibers and separate each disc into 2 layers. See the photo below (click to enlarge). Wad it up to add more texture to the piece. With the "suede feeling" side facing you fold in half and in half again so you have a quarter circle. Carefully make two cuts towards the folded center for petals. Unfold. Using a piercer, make a hole in the center and place a mini/small brad.

Cut a burlap circle using your die cutting machine. Set aside.

Thread your cording through the heart (as shown in the photo above). To keep the cording from sliding, secure by adding a knot behind each of the holes. Thread your beads on the bottom ends of your cording. Knot each end and for extra security, slide your bottom bead up a bit and add a dab of glue on the cording and slide the bead back down in place. Using the bird punch, cut 3 wings and color those as well using the eBrush and markers. You can add some dimension by turning the leaves over and using an embossing tool, "draw" in veins.

Place all of your embellishments on the heart as desired. The burlap goes down first, then the flowers and leaves and the button/charm last. I used the E6000 glue to secure everything and let it dry overnight to make sure everything is secure.

Have some fun! Make this one yours. I got the idea from here.

Thanks for dropping by... hope you've got some crafting time on the calendar! And don't forget to drop by here frequently to see what the rest of the design team has been up to.