Sizzix & Vintaj Bezel Jewelry Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to my tutorial for the Sizzix & Vintaj Bezel Jewelry Blog Hop! Don't miss all the inspiration during this great week long hop and there is also a great prize to be won. There will be a new project every day, this is day two. You can read more here.

 

I had such fun with these products and made three bezel pendants. It is easy and quick and a great gift, maybe for Christmas. Two of them were made with Ranger's Metal-Pressions sheets, and the one in the middle with one of my favourite papers from Tim Holtz. If you rather want to make embellishments for cards or scrapbooking pages, the techniques will work perfectly for that too.

 

These are some of the products that I used: Vintaj bezels, Sizzix/Vintaj Round Square and Eclectic Framelits dies which are designed to die cut shapes that fit the bezels perfectly (such a great idea!), Sizzix/Vintaj Deco Emboss folders, Ranger/Vintaj Patina Inks and Metal-pressions sheets. Let's start.

After you picked which bezel to use, locate the coordinating die and die cut from copper Metal-pressions. These dies are much easier to use together with the Magnetic Platform. Cutting Sandwich: magnetic platform, cutting pad, material to be die cut, die and second cutting pad.

Emboss in the Mod Trees Deco Emboss folder. You place the metal inside the folder and close the folder, also remember to check which side should face down.

Place two dots of Patina Ink on your craft sheet and paint the piece with a paint brush. Work quickly because the inks dry real fast. Wipe off most of the ink from the embossed areas and use a Vintaj Reliefing Block for the rest.

I made four tree panels using different inks. The first one was embossed in the Moonlit Night folder. I liked all of them, but ended up picking the one to the right. I'll use the others on a card.

The little owl was made in the same way, only using Silver Metal-Pressions and different Patina Inks.

Peal of the back paper from the metal pieces, they are self-adhesive, and carefully position in the bezels. As you can see, it is a perfect fit, something that would be tricky to do if you had to hand cut these pieces. If you want to, you can leave the pendants like this, maybe adding a protective layer of Ranger/Vintaj Glaze.

For the little bird, I die cut the oval, making sure to position it right where I wanted it. The smallest images on the Tim Holtz paper pads are perfect for this.

Here you see the two pieces and the die.

To prevent the UTEE from seeping into the paper, which makes the paper look a little transparent, I sealed it with a few coats of matte multi medium, on both sides. Let dry in between coats.

I decided to coat my pieces with clear Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE). This gives a great look to them, almost like vintage glass. A note of caution: be extremely careful when working with UTEE and the melting pot, because the UTEE gets very very hot. Never touch the UTEE.

 

Place a craft sheet into the melting pot, on the UTEE setting. Place the bezel on the craft sheet and carefully spoon small piles of UTEE into the bezel, until you have filled the whole bezel. Carefully lift the craft sheet out of the pot. The bezel and the UTEE will be very hot, leave to cool down completely before touching it.

I did the same thing with the owl.

For the bird, we will use the UTEE as an adhesive. Place the bezel in the pot and add a little bit of UTEE to it. When the UTEE has melted carefully place the bird oval into the UTEE, using a pair of tweezers. Again, be very careful not to touch the UTEE, bezel or the pot itself.

Continue adding UTEE to the top as explained before.

The little owl is so cute and if you make two, it would be a great pair of earrings.

I love trees, so it is no surprise that I made a tree pendant for myself. 

 

I used a Tim Holtz ball chain and jump ring to turn my bezels into necklaces. You could also add beads and charms to make a more complicated piece.

 

You could also use stamped images to make pendants.

It is such fun to make pendants that will fit the recipient perfectly.

 

Thank you so much for looking! I hope you enjoyed the tutorial. Don't miss all the inspiration that will be posted during the week, this is only the second day of the hop. Yesterday, Vivian posted a great tutorial.

 

Happy crafting!

 

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Surfaces: Ranger/Vintaj Metal-pression: Copper, Silver; Tim Holtz idea-ology: Wallflower paper stash
Dies: Sizzix: Eclectic Bezels, Square Bezels, Round Bezels,
Embossing folders: Sizzix: Mod Trees, Moonlit Night
Ink: Ranger/Vintaj Patina Inks: Verigris, Clay, Onyx, Moss
Embossing powder: Ranger: Clear UTEE
Other: Vintaj Bezels: Rectangle, Oval, Bamboo Small; Tim Holtz idea-ology: Jump Rings, Ball Chain
Tools: Sizzix: Big Shot, Magnetic Platform; Ranger Melting Pot, Melt Art Project Craft Sheet; Vintaj Metal Reliefing Block

Dragonfly Pond Tag Tutorial

Hello everyone! Have you seen that there is a new Sizzix Challenge? The DT members will share inspiration, and today it is my turn.

 

I made a transparent tag with dragonfly ovals embossed in a Vintaj folder. The acetate for the background was embossed and I used kraft-core paper to die cut the leaves and swirls.

To see the full tutorial, head over to the Sizzix blog:

Don't miss the challenge, the inspiration photo is gorgeous and you could win an eclipse2 machine.

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Gelli Print Spring Mini-Book

Hi and welcome to my blog! This week at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog we are focusing on big stamps. I love large background stamps because they are so versatile.

 

This week I made a mini book with some spring photos. I used Darkroom Door background stamps together with my gelli plate to make textured backgrounds. I ended up making so many that I decided to make a mini book, and I still have lots of leftovers. I tend to make a lot of backgrounds every time I use my gelli plate because it is so much fun.

 

Let's look at some of the backgrounds first. I brayered Distress Paint on my small gelli plate. Here I used Picked Raspberry and Salty Ocean. Press the stamp into the paint and remove. Place a paper on top and get the first print (to the right on the photo). Place a second piece of paper on top of the plate and pull the ghost print. I used Neenah Smooth Solar White cardstock for the prints.

Here I used Picked Raspberry and Dusty Concord together with the Harlequin stamp. Remember to clean your stamp immediately after using it with paint, so that the paint doesn't dry on the stamp. For more gelli printing inspiration check out these posts of mine: Gel Printing with Dies and Embossing Folders, Jump Art Journal Page, and Dotty Gelli Print ATC Book.

For these prints I used Salty Ocean and Mowed Lawn together with the Peeled Paint background stamp. After you pressed the stamp on the gelli plate, stamp it directly on a piece of paper. This is a great way of stamping with paint, since stamps can be a bit tricky to evenly 'ink' with paint. Both papers at the bottom were stamped in this way.

A fun version of this technique is to also use stencils. Here I used the great Leaves stencil by Simon Says Stamp. Brayer paint on the gelli plate, place the stencil on top and then the stamp. That way, the stamped texture only appears in the open areas on the stencil. Remove the stamp and the stencil and pull two prints. The ghost print here were one of my favourites.

On these prints, I did the same thing, using Wendy Vecchi's Never Enough Hearts stencil and the Harlequin background stamp. The ghost print is to the left. As you can see, the stencil isn't as wide as the gelli plate, leaving two borders, an effect that I really liked.

These prints were done in the same way, with a Hero Arts stencil and Broken China and Mowed Lawn paints.

One more example, this time using yellow and blue together with a circle stencil. The grid stamp looks great used like this and I liked the combination of circles and grids.

One last example, with Tim Holtz Star stencil and again the grid stamp. I left these prints for another project.

 

I used mat board for the covers and covered it with printed papers. The papers were stamped with various background stamps. Here you can see the new great French Script Texture stamp. The Vintaj bird was die cut from cardstock that had been covered with foil tape. The die cuts and embosses the bird at the same time. I coloured it with Patina ink and burnished to reveal some of the metal.

The title was stamped with the Darkroom Door Scratched Alphabet and Hero Arts Basic Lowercase Letters, using Archival Fern Green. It translates to 'spring feelings'.

 

I am not going to share every single page, because then this post will be too long. I embellished the book with stamping, die cuts and washi tape, keeping the pages pretty flat. I taped two printed papers together back to back to form each page in the book.

 

 This bird is so cute. Archival Ink gets a great matte look on the Distress Paint prints.

 

I used sentiment stamps as part of my journaling, but also added more handwritten journaling after I took these photos. Love this tree die by Simon Says Stamp. I used leftover gelli prints for the die cuts.

The gelli prints make great backgrounds for mini books. Here I used the Chicken Wire stamp to add more texture. The 'happy' die is another favourite of mine. The sentiment comes from New York Vol. 2.

The first flowers came out really early this year and I had fun taking photos of them. The die cut branch is the die version of the Leaves stencil used earlier. I die cut it from a few different papers and used here and there in the book.

This is the opposite page to the one above, also using the Harlequin printed paper.

Few things are more interesting than exploring a garden. I love the new Darkroom Door Gum Trees set, it also has great sentiments.

 

A favourite sentiment of mine and a pancake picnic outdoors.

 

This sentiment and the birds come from the Love Birds set. All the little stars and hearts I used in the album were die cut with Simon Says Stamp Holiday Shapes and Mini Hearts set. 

The yellow and blue prints didn't totally fit into the book, but I wanted to use these anyway. The Heart Parade is such a great die. I stamped a few words inside the hearts and added a few solid hearts.

The opposite page to the previous one, with the darker print, and a fun large Simon Says Stamp sentiment.

There were a lot of Snowdrops, waiting to be captured on camera.

I really like the way the Fern Green stamped tree looks on this background, as if it is part of the print.

I love this quote and it was perfect for this album. The bird stamped with green also looks really nice on the green background.

Finally, this is the back of the mini-book, using one last print, more stamping and some washi tape.

I hope you will join us in our 'big stamp' challenge this week. As every week, one participant, randomly drawn, wins a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp.

Thank you for looking at this long post!

Happy Crafting!

Anna-Karin

 

Supplies:
Surfaces: Neenah Smooth Solar White Cardstock; Ranger Foil Tape; Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Collage Mini 8 x 8 paper stash; Core'dinations Tim Holtz Color-Core cardstock
Stamps: Simon Says Stamp: Shoot for the Stars, Beautiful Words; Darkroom Door: Chicken Wire, Grid Background, Peeled Paint, Harlequin Background, Floral Texture, French Script Texture, Gum Trees, Trees, Love Birds, Bold Blossoms, Wildflowers Vol. 1, Wildflowers Vol. 2, Full Bloom Vol. 2, Scratched Alphabet, Photography, Enjoy the Ride, New York Vol. 1, New York Vol. 2, Home Sweet Home, Wilderness Vol. 1; Hero Arts: Basic Lowercase Letters; Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous: Simple Sayings
Dies: Simon Says Stamp: All Seasons Tree, Mini Hearts Set, Life, Family, Love, Large Holiday Shapes, Holiday Shapes, Happy, Heart Parade, Clustered Leaves, Sizzix/Vintaj: Exotic Bird; Impression Obsession: Bird Set; Memory Box: Delicate Branch Frame
Ink: Ranger Archival Ink: Fern Green, Leaf Green, Vermillion, Jet Black; Ranger/Vintaj Patina Ink: Weathered Copper
Paint: Distress Paint: Broken China, Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint, Picked Raspberry, Dusty Concord, Mustard Seed
Stencils: Simon Says Stamp: Leaves; Tim Holtz: Stars; Hero Arts: Irregular Checkerboard; The Crafter's Workshop: Mini Circle Regiment: Wendy Vecchi: Never Enough Hearts
Embellishments: Kelly Purkey Washi Tape; Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Elements Tissue Tape, Merriment Tissue Tape, Symphony TissueTape
Tool: Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate 6 x 6; Sizzix Big Shot; We R Memory Keepers Crop-a-dile; Ranger Large Inky Roller

Altered Artsy Almanac

Hello everyone! A new fun challenge is up at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog, 'A is for'. I had so many ideas for this challenge and couldn't make up my mind. Then I got the phrase 'Altered Artsy Almanac' in my head and remembered a planner from some years ago that I never used.

 

'Almanac' is a common word in Swedish for a calendar or a planner, I think it might mean something slightly different in English, more in the line of weather, tides, planting times and such. I wasn't sure what to do with my almanac, but figured that something that was meant for planning a year, might work well for recording a year too. I used a bunch of different techniques to make this and turned it into a tutorial. 

 

The original planner, just a plain planner.

I started by gluing pages together with multi-medium, leaving me with 12 spreads, one for each month. They were left to dry overnight, under a book with wax paper in between each page. Then I gave each page a coat of gesso. The planner had really thin paper and they didn't handle the gel and the gesso very well, with quite a bit of warping involved. I almost gave up, but decided that it wouldn't matter and wouldn't show as much in the end.

When the gesso was dry, the pages were coloured with Gelatos. I knew I was going to use Graphic 45 A Place in Time 8 x 8 papers, which contains pages for every month of the year and picked colours to fit with the patterned papers. Just scribble the Gelatos over the gesso and then spread and blend with a paint brush and water.

Each page has different colours. My son actually helped a bit with the colouring, but since precision wasn't necessary here, that was fine. Except that he wants to include a bit of black everywhere, which would have created mud.

After finishing preparing the inside pages it was time for the cover. I embossed foil tape in two different embossing folders. I used the bubble folder embossed foil on the back.

I coloured the cover with Patina Ink (Verdigris, Marine and Moss), applying the inks with a paint brush and letting them blend into even more shades. The Patina Inks dry very quickly.

Lightly burnish to reveal some of the metal.

Water down Black Soot paint and paint the cover. Leave for just a little while and then wipe most of the paint off with a cloth.

I swept a Ranger Emboss-It Dabber around the edges and embossed with Stampendous Aged Silver Embossing Enamel. The Prima metallic rose was also embossed with a little bit of Teal and Silver powder. Be careful since it gets hot.

The letters were die cut from grungeboard with the new Vintage Market die. They were painted silver, sanded and scratched and inked with Black Soot. I coated them with Glossy Accents. The Prima metallic word was embossed with a little bit of silver powder. I used washi tape to cover the joint between the two pieces of foil. Quite a transformation from the plain black cover.

I used the Graphic 45 papers to decorate the inside pages. I made sure to include enough space to write on. I used similar parts of the 8 x 8 papers on each page, but still have lots of left-overs.

Potting Soil ink was used to ink the edges of the pages and I also stamped each page randomly with a different background stamp, using Jet Black Stazon ink.

I made sure that the month on the original planner pages showed through at least on one place on each spread. Love the bird images here.

On each page spread I used the monthly planner paper, a strip of postage stamps, and a title strip.

The background stamping adds nice texture to the pages. This script stamp is from Darkroom Door.

 

Beautiful flower images for June. 



I tried to pick stamps that fit with the months, a wavy scalloped pattern for the sea images of July.  

August, apples and pears.

As you might know, I love text and script stamps, this is a part of a Hero Arts stamp.

 

September, with some sweet school time images.

 

My son's favourite page, and here he could add some black Gelato to the background too.

As you can see, the initially warping of the pages, isn't as visible once they are decorated.

The gesso gives a nice surface for the Gelatos and also makes the pages sturdier.

 

And finally December, with a new favourite background stamp, Tiny Star Background by Hero Arts.

I hope you will join us this week! As always, one random participant wins a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp.

Thank you for looking!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

Surfaces: Graphic 45 A Place in Time 8 x 8 paper pad; Tim Holtz Idea-ology Grungeboard; old planner; Ranger Metal Foil Tape Sheets

Dies: Sizzix: Vintage Market
Embossing folders: Sizzix: Clocks & Print Blocks; Bubble & Honeycomb,

Stamps: Darkroom Door: French Script; Hero Arts: Tiny Star Background, Coupon Background, Lacy Background, Tiny Heart Background, Lattice Background, Grid Pattern, Three Cats, Snow Dots; Prima: Lines; Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz: Seasonal Catalog 1

Ink: Ranger/Vintaj Patina Ink: Weathered Copper, Victorian Gable; Archival Ink: Potting Soil; Distress Ink: Gathered Twigs, Black Soot; Tsukineko Stazon: Jet Black; Ranger Emboss-It Dabber

Embossing powder: Stampendous: Aged Silver Embossing Enamel, Teal Encrusted Jewel Kit

Paint: Faber-Castell Gelatos: Gift Set, 50s Diner; Ranger Adirondack Silver Dabber: Distress Paint: Black Soot

Medium: Ranger Claudine Hellmuth: Gesso, Multi-Medium Matte

Embellishments: Prima: Sunrise Sunset Flowers, Sunrise Sunset Roses, Plate & Label