Christmas in July--A Mixed Media Hoop

 

Hello! It's been quite some time since my last post, and honestly since the last time I got into the Closet to make something. I almost forgot how to do it! Having been a DT member for Frilly and Funkie, I couldn't pass up the Funkie and Frilly challenge over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique challenge blog. I took some time to make a Christmas ornament, inspired by Jenny's beautiful crackled ornament trio and finding my vintage stand up Santa on a top shelf in sarascloset. I'm in the process of trying to reduce my craft supplies by 50% and most everything in my Closet has been pulled out and either packed away, moved from it's original storage area so I can't readily find it (can you say crafty chaos three times fast?!) or gone to a needy home. So I was limited to my available stash I could actually get my hands on. Always a great way to get the creative juices flowing!

Let's take a closer look while I try to describe my steps I took in making it. A product list will be provided below this post, and most items can be found at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

I started with an embroidery hoop that was close at hand, having just purged my sewing things. I gave it  a coat of white gesso, and then smeared on some hardening Crackle paste I had just tossed in the trash. Since that didn't crackle too well, I had to dig in one of my moving boxes to find another jar. The first one I came to happened to be gold. It also didn't crackle well, so I torched it with my heat tool, which helped. I sprayed the hoop with Bundled Sage Oxide spray and dried, then rubbed with Ground Expresso crayon and Walnut Stain paint to get the most out of the crackling. I glued trim from my stash around the back edge of the hoop and set it aside while I worked on the background and embellishments.

I chose a Christmasy background ready made from my stash. This is a stencil-clean-off panel, and later a craft-mat-clean-up of those tiny drops of I chose a Christmas background ready made from my stash. This is a stencil clean off panel, and later a craft mat clean up of those tiny drops of ink left over ink . It was so pretty, I had to keep it. All I had to do was cut a circle to fit the back of the hoop. I decided to add a coat of Crazing, wanting to tone it down with Distress crayon. 

When it dried, I added background stamping and a festive sentiment using Tim Holtz sets, Winter  Watercolor and The Poinsettia along with Distress Archival inks. I was surprised that the archival ink bled into lines left by the crazing. After that first stroke of the brush, I knew I should have inked first, but I was already committed. Lastly, I smeared with Ground Espresso crayon. 

I backed the completed circle with a chipboard circle from my stash (delightfully the perfect size!) the sides/edges painted with Festive Berries paint, then red cardstock and and finally a green doily cut to size.

I had just gone through my doily and button stash and reserved these buttons and a stained crocheted doily, knowing I would get to the project soon. I cut off a piece of the doily and aged it a bit more with Antique Linen spray stain and threaded the buttons with some gold thread. I found a couple of fabric and gauzy poinsettias in my stash and adhered microbeads to the centers. There was a lone length of tinsel thread tangled with the red trim, so I added that to the arrangement for some extra frill.

I sprayed watercolor paper with Bundled Sage Oxide, dried, then dipped it into watery Mowed Lawn ink on my craft mat. After drying that, I gave it another spritz, this time with Rustic Wilderness spray stain. I sprayed with water to blend the color and dried a final time. Using Funky Festive Thinlits dies and the inky green panel, I cut some holly leaves and another winter sprig to add to the arrangement. I always dip the backs of my die cuts into a watery puddle of corresponding ink, so I don't have white edges. While they are still damp, I shape them and set them aside to dry.

 Everything was assembled and adhered. I added another button and some ribbon to the top to finish it off. I'm tickled pink to have had the time to craft again and especially to join in with the challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique blog. I hope you are finding time to make something, too! Hugs! Sara Emily

Challenge shares: The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog Funkie and Frilly Challenge

                              Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Out With The Old and In With The New Everything is old except The Poinsettia stamp set. It's not a new release, but I've had it in my stash and have not used it yet.

Products used:

Distress Paint - Walnut Stain, Festive Berries

Distress Spray Stain - Antique Linen, Rustic Wilderness

Distress Oxide Spray - Bundled Sage

Distress ink - Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness; Archival - Black Soot, Peeled Paint

Distress Crayon - Ground Espresso

Distress Mediums - Crackle paste, Crazing, Matte Collage Medium

Prima Gold Crackle Texture Paste

Tim Holtz Stamps - Winter Watercolor, The Poinsettia

Tim Holtz Thinlits Dies - Funky Festive