StencilGirl® and Seth Apter - Wow! - Blog Hop

Hi, servus and welcome to an especially exciting blog post today!

As the banner indicates, it's time for another blog hop - this time "WOW!" and StencilGirl Products have teamed up to showcase the new fabulous embossing powders (and Mixed Media Embossing Brush) designed by wonderful Seth Apter and to demonstrate how well these can be used together with StencilGirl stencils to create the most amazing projects with the special wow-factor (sorry, couldn't resist the pun).


Designers from the WOW! and StencilGirl Products design teams are sharing their projects (WOW!'s designers have shared theirs already yesterday...today it's StencilGirl's turn) to inspire you and introduce several ways on how to use Seth's cool WOW! embossing powder Trios and - my favourite - the Mixed Media Embossing Brush (I will tell you why I love it so much a little later in this post in the tutorial section).

At the bottom of this post you will find the links to the other teamies' blogs and projects and learn how to participate in the blog hop and about the great  GIVE AWAY that is waiting for three lucky persons...


But first let's take a close look on Seth Apter's new WoW! embossing powders and how they go together with StencilGirl stencils!
This is the project I have created for this blog hop:

It was all done using - of course - Seth Apter Wow! embossing powders, StencilGirl stencils...and DecoArt Americana acrylic paints.
The panel my altered brush sits on is an old bamboo chop board that I created a background on using Seth's "monoprinting-with-paper" technique (one of my favs).

And as I love to use found objects and left over snippets of previous projects in my work (that I keep in a little wooden box on my desk for inspiration), there is also a left over piece of self made Dresden trim (done with one of the 3D Impresslits folders designed by Tim Holtz), a frozen charlotte, some dictionary scraps and a small piece of linen ribbon to find.

Here are the products and substrates I've used...I always love to have quite a stash of stencils at hand when I start a project so I can pick the ones that fit best while the project evolves and takes me on its own journey (so some of the ones shown here weren't used in the end).

 I've used these StencilGirl stencils to create my altered brush panel: 

- Urban Insiders Bar stencil by Seth Apter

- Text and Texture Transform stencil by Seth Apter

- Past Present Future stencil by Seth Apter

- ATC Mixup Apter stencil by Seth Apter

- medium sized stencil from the January 2019 "Shaw-Apter Mash Up!" Stencil Club Set 

- medium sized stencil from the October 2016 Stencil Club Set by Mary Beth Shaw

The two WOW! embossing powder Trios designed by Seth hold six amazing powders that go by the intriguing names of Blue Moon, Sea of Tranquility and Space Dust (from the "Cosmic" Trio) and Etched Platinum, Weathered Gold and Crusty Copper (from the "Metalz" Trio). The thin bottle with the yellow liquid to the left holds Seth's "Mixed Media Embossing Brush" and an embossing liquid that can be applied to almost any surface by using the brush that is included in the lid.

On my project I went wild and tried the powders and the Mixed Media Brush on as many different substrates as I could - on wood, on paper, on top of acrylic paint, on the brush's bristles and also the metal part, on left overs from chipboard tokens from some board games and on some linen ribbon...and it all worked like a dream!

What I especially love about the Mixed Media Brush is that the liquid has an extremely long open time (compared to other embossing liquids from embossing dabbers) and you can vary the thickness and amount of liquid applied by spreading some of it with the brush on a palette first and using a cosmetic sponge for dabbing only a really thin coat of that onto a surface (which also works extremely well with stencils).
A little of the liquid goes a long, long way and applying too much of it can cause your embossing powders to kind of swim on top and drift away during the melting process. So less is more in most cases, but on certain substrates - like the brush's bristles or fabric for example - you need a thicker coat than a dabber would provide. So the Mixed Media Brush is really versatile and opens up a lot of new possibilities (which makes my mixed media heart sing).

My bamboo board and the ugly red brush were primed using DecoArt Chalky Finish paint "primitive". 

Then I picked some DecoArt Americana acrylic paints and put together one of my go-to colour schemes. I applied layers of paint by first brushing it onto a piece of card stock and then pressing that onto the board - a kind of mono printing technique that is perfect for layering and creating depth and that I've picked up with one of Seth Apter's great online classes.

Voilà - the base for my altered brush and for the next layer that was to be done with stencils and embossing powders was finished!

To tone down my brush I dry brushed it with some dark brown acrylic paint. Then I used the Text and Texture Transform stencil and orange acrylic paint to add the focal word to the brush's handle. I applied the paint through the stencil using a very small stencil brush.

I added more orange words from the stencil to the bamboo panel. Before the paint was completely dry I sprinkled some Sea of Tranquility embossing powder on top, tipped off the excess and heat embossed the traces left on the stencilled words. This added a kind of patina look as it didn't adhere to the whole design.

To create a kind of metal rivets I used two different sizes of left over circles from board game chipboard tokens and heat embossed these with Weathered Gold and Crusty Copper.

The label was heat embossed using Space Dust embossing powder.

Then I fused the smaller "metal" bits with the larger ones by simply putting them together and re-heating. This way the bits on top sank into the molten embossing powder below and once everything had cooled down it was beautifully fused without the use of any glue.

Two stripes of embossing powders (Space Dust and Sea of Tranquility) got added to the very ends of the brush's bristles.

More heat embossing on the panel was to follow! I used Sea of Tranquility again together with a stencil to create the beautiful drip lines. You can see the cosmetic sponge to the very right. Right left to it I had spread some embossing liquid from the Mixed Media Brush flask on my palette (but that doesn't show in the picture). From there I picked some up with the sponge and applied it thinly through the stencil. It gave perfectly crisp outlines!
(I used the left overs on the palette about half an hour later and it still worked smoothly - that's what I really call a long open time!!!)

You can also see the crisp lines from the design from Seth's Urban Insiders Bar stencil - this time done in "Blue Moon" embossing powder.  I had again used the cosmetic sponge through the stencil to apply the Mixed Media Brush liquid from my palette.

Etched Platinum went to the widest section of the metal wrap of the brush and was also used to fix the frozen charlotte in place.

I added some more heat embossing here and there - trying to repeat all the colours used in at least three different spots to fuse everything visually.

Using a fine tip Faber Castell PITT artist pen I outlined some of the designs for better visibility and more interest.

I finally found I needed a kind of frame for my frozen charlotte, so I die cut a circular label holder from heavy cardstock and heat embossed that with Weathered Gold (using the still not dried out left overs from the Mixed Media Brush liquid on my palette!). The label holder looks almost like the real metal thing, doesn't it?!

Three more tiny circle chipboard left overs were heat embossed with Crusty Copper for two nail heads for the label holder and one nail head that was to go on the end of the brush handle.

The piece got finished off by adding some text from the dictionary page scraps and gluing everything in place. Before that I had also added thin stripes of Weathered Gold and Blue Moon the the brush - the latter was applied to the linen ribbon (to the right). With the Mixed Media Brush that was no problem at all.

The brush got fixed to the panel by using thick heavy duty sticky foam pads. The other bits were glued in place using tacky glue and matte DecoArt Decou-Page.

Some close ups: 

My panel tells about stories lost, stories within, stories that are yet incomplete (the stories of our lives), the acceptance of incompleteness in general, it tells about the "principles of trusting" - that come into play when we take a "leap" and put our art (and soul) out there and only dare to do so because we are able to "lean" on our faith in the quality of our own art.

And now let's finally talk about the ...

There's a $35 Gift Certificate to StencilGirl® Products,

a $35 Gift Certificate to Seth Apter’s Shop

AND a $25 Gift Certificate to Wow!

Enter to win by leaving a comment below.

Then be sure to visit the other blogs in the hop and comment to win.


Tina Walker
Debi Adams
Mary C. Nasser
Claudia Neubacher (you are here now)
Kate Yetter

The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN!

Three winners will be chosen at random from all blog comments!

(Only one comment per blog please.)

You have until Tuesday, September 22nd at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments.

Winners will be announced on Wednesday, September 23rd.

Good luck, everyone,

and as always

hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia 

xxx

Numeric Goddess - Revisited - for SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges

Hi, servus and welcome back to a new challenge over at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges.

As usual we had our annual two-months long summer special challenge so everyone could enjoy their summer outdoor activities and still squeeze in some steampunk crafting, but now we are back to our monthly schedule, two prizes are once more waiting to be given away and the team has once more come up with some amazing projects for your inspiration.

I obviously needed that total break from crafting (in order to get back to a healthier daily routine) - so I haven't done any crafting during the last month (all projects and posts for August having been prepared and scheduled) - but instead of sharing no project at all, I have decided to present a steampunk project that I did for Calico Craft Parts two years ago and that you might not know yet.

My "Numeric Goddess" looks quite large in this picture, but actually it is a tiny assemblage piece.
If you want to learn about the craft parts and products I've used (and the how-to as well), simply visit the old blog post on the Calico Craft Parts blog HERE.

It's always amazing by how much mixed media you can "throw" on the smallest surface! A bit of crackle here, ...

...some wire wrapping there,...

...an improvised stand in steampunk style...

...and some found objects from my little treasure box on my desk 

- 

et voilá! 

The number 7 is my lucky number, and my frozen charlotte was missing a head....this way the idea for this piece was born. Sometimes I just need to look at a random collection of bits and bobs on my desk (or in my little treasures box) and it sparks an idea for a project.

I hope you like her! Maybe one day she gets free to fly again...

The team and I would love to see you play along with us over at our steampunk challenge blog! Simply click HERE to get there and check out their fabulous makes! As always we have an "Anything Goes - Steampunk/Industrial" theme - so you are free to create away and enjoy what you love most. Please, make sure you've checked out our few rules though. These can be found right below our blog header in the "Da Rules" section. ;)

Hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia

xxx

Free to Fly - Tag for Marte Savona

Servus! I hope you've been having a great summer so far!

Today's post is an invite over to the MarteLAB blog, where I am sharing my latest make for them - using Aall&Create stamps and stencils alongside some DecoArt paints and products.

As always there is a detailed step by step to be found over on their blog - together with loads of steps images and close ups. Simply check it out by clicking HERE. Everything you need to create this tag can be found in the Marte Savona online store - maybe not always the exact brand I've used, but it's all there.

Hope to see you over there

and

happy holidays!

Claudia

xxx

Heroes - a DecoArt Project

Servus, hi and thanks so much for taking the time to stop by my little (quite quiet) creative corner.

I haven't posted much lately as I am having to take a break from some of my already few design team commitments - due to health issues that I can no longer ignore.
I am in the middle of a struggle with a panic disorder that has obviously built up during the last fifteen months (being caused by menopause having hit hard last year) and has now struck me full blow.
Shaky hands and panic attacks caused by just sitting down at my craft desk and trying to tackle (even far away) deadlines are a nasty thing to have - especially when it concerns a hobby you think (or thought) you love. So obviously I will need to find new ways to go on with being a creative (which I have no doubt I am). Gladly I am in the very lucky position that some of my design team terms have just ended and that I am also on design teams where members are being cared about; so special agreements could be made. This way I didn't have to completely leave them all!

Sounds worse than it is actually (or maybe it doesn't) - but there's no need to feel sorry for me. I've already hit rock bottom and finally accepted my current situation - so the only way from now on can be upwards again. ;)

But there are of course also better days when my muse seems to be around and when I obviously manage to not be fixed too much on a deadline or the needed perfect (uh oh! Killer!) result of a project. So this week is going to bring you even two new projects and tutorials instead! Today's post is the invite over to the DecoArt Blog, where I am sharing a little altered mixed media tray that was a true pleasure to create.

It originated during my attempt to do a bit of tidying up in and around my craft space - which I find often sparks ideas for new projects (I guess because it is definitely more fun than a proper tidy up). I was right about to store away the little tray (the post on the DecoArt Blog reveals what it held in the first place), when I saw the drawer with my hoarded Tim Holtz paper dolls....and there it was!

The quote and melancholic feel to it were inspired by Peter Gabriel's fantastic cover version of David Bowie's wonderful "Heroes" - a song that never fails to deeply touch me. I have obviously heard it lately (I think it was used in a TV series or documentary or so) and it seems it was still spinning round in my head and needed to come to the surface.

As always there is a detailed tutorial with lots of steps images to find on the DecoArt Blog. Simply click HERE to get to the blog and check it all out. I hope to see you over there soon! And don't forget to pop by tomorrow for another project and tutorial!

Hugs and happy summer crafting!

Claudia

xxx

Travel Journal - a StencilGirl Project and Column

Hi, servus and thanks for stopping by!
How's your summer been so far? Travelling has become quite difficult and even more of an "adventure" these days, but you don't always have to travel far to experience new things and inspiring new locations.

Anyway, having a travel journal can never be wrong.
I always use a small travel journal to have information about timetables, train connections, locations to visit and other important stuff at hand without having to switch on my phone and connect with the internet. I simply am a dinosaur when it comes to electronic devices and always will be and do not trust them totally (or maybe my ability to have their batteries re-charged properly all the time). And I love journals and notebooks of all kinds. ;)

So I have created this one for my first post as a StencilGirl Columnist over at the StencilGirl Talk blog - and you will find loads of steps images and detailed descriptions of the how-to if you hop over to their blog (by clicking HERE for example).

It also has pockets to store tickets and other ephemera in and you can adjust the tutorial to any size of cheap bought notebooks to use on the inside (so you do not have to make your own signatures, which can be quite time consuming)!

And the flaps do not only help to keep the tucked in content in the pockets safe and in place, but also work as bookmarks if needed! And it all is made from just a single sheet of A3 Mixed Media or heavy drawing paper!

Here's a little scene from the back cover - just to make you even more curious and check it all out in the blog post. As a columnist for StencilGirl I will be sharing stencilled projects with a focus on "Textured, Weathered, Grungy" - my personal favourites when it comes to surfaces and designs - every three months on their blog.

Hope to see you over at the StencilGirl Talk blog!

Have a wonderful summer

and safe travels!

Claudia

xxx