Thrifty Thursday: using acrylic paint!

This is our first Thrifty Thursday. The idea is to share with you a technique that does NOT require new scrapbook supplies or tools, but can be done using what most of us already have at home.

Today I want to share with you how to make something look old, vintage, shabby or distressed looking. I am finishing a custom order for 2 vintage scrapbook albums for 2 brothers. Here is a sneak peak of the first album. I wanted to achieve a fun, distressed, old look without making the albums feminine at all. So I decided to use paint. White acrylic paint. I found it is the best way to make something look shabby.

Now you don't need any special tools to apply your paint. Any acrylic paint will do. Because acrylic paint is rather thick it can be very tricky to use it on rubber or acrylic stamps. They tend to get all sticky and you can't see much of the detail of the stamps, unless it is a big one or a foam stamp. That's another post.

I used two simple tools for my technique. I used water bottle caps and medicine measuring cups to make the white circles on my latest album. I also used my finger to dab the white paint around the edges of my album. I tried using a make up sponge but I liked the result of using my fingers better. I was going for a not so uniform look, more messy.



First squeeze some paint on a paper plate and spread it flat like you would icing on a cake, then use the cap and cup to start stamping. Don't worry about perfect prints, you are going for shabby, not perfect prints. You will have some circles thicker, with missing pieces to the circle, others lighter. the paint dries really quickly too.



The first photo on this post is an example of the result of this technique. The complete photos of this album and more will be on my other blog this weekend.

You can use other tools with this same technique. Try using bubble wraps, the end of pencils, a sponge, a paper crinkled into a ball or anything else you can think of and already have at home.

On the card below I smeared the edges with white paint.



Here is an example using green paint and bubble wrap.



Would love to hear about your results and your discoveries with white acrylic paint. Until next Thursday, stay thrifty and crafty. :)

Be blessed,

Tereza

How to add dimension to your scrapbook pages with Distressing techniques.

I just finished a custom order for a page layout I did last year. I have created this page 3 times... of course, not exactly the same. you will see here all the pages, in their order of creation. The last one is the one I just finished last night.







Were you able to pick up the subtle differences??

Well, I wanted to share with you how to add dimension to your pages. For this layout I used a textured cardstock base, then a patterned paper that shows behind the mats and lastly another patterned paper that goes on top. Can you see those 3 layers?

Next I tore the green patterned paper, wadded it into a ball so that it would crinkle. Do it gently so it won't tear on the inside, if the edges tear a bit, it's ok. then I smooth the paper out and glue the edges to the textured cardstock base.

After it's glued down, the center will be open so you can insert your mats or photos. I stitched all the edges, highlighted the darker leaves with a white gel pen, and added golden glitter to the orange parts of the paper. The edges of the paper was also distressed with the help of a pair of scissors. I also curled the inside of the paper.




Can you see all the dimension that that brought to the layout?

After that I worked on my chipboard flourishes. I painted them white and stamped them with distressed ink. I then layered my flowers: a mix of silk flowers and Prima flowers. I also printed out my title and poem. I added a black ribbon or lace to make the photos pop.

This is one of my favorite pages. I have kept the first one to myself and it has photos of my children gathering leaves in the front yard. The other pages went to two customers that requested them to be made again. :)

I am so glad I did. :)

I hope you enjoy the techniques and make sure you click on the pictures to see them enlarged.

Tereza

Making your own Liquid Pearls

I have never had Liquid Pearls in my hands. But I have seen enough projects created with it to know that I want some. I have read some articles about how to use Puff paint or Fabric paint and how it has the same or similar effect as the Liquid Pearls made by Ranger. I don't know because I haven't used any of the products mentioned.

However I did buy a couple of months ago a bottle of Pearl Metallic White acrylic paint and Glossy Accents from Ranger. So after looking at many projects and what liquid pearls look like on them and reading the articles about the cheaper stuff, I thought I give it a try and make my own liquid pearls.

Now from what I concluded from the information I gathered Liquid pearls would be a paint that has shimmer and dimension and you end with a droplet of paint that resembles a real pearl. So I thought, "I use my Glossy Accents to create water droplets." Look at this photo. Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them and see the details.



The water droplets here were created just by adding drops of Glossy Accents. When it dries it holds its shape and you have a water droplet. There are many different uses for Glossy Accents. You could have a whole afternoon of fun just with it. But I decided to go a little further. :)

Here is what I used.



So I mixed both together. I would suggest you start with very little. Get a paper plate and add a dab of acrylic paint and 2 dabs of Glossy accents. Stir until they are well mixed and use the tip of a paint brush's handle or a crochet needle to dab into the mix and start making little dots.

If you want round, plump, dimensional pearls be generous with the amount of goo you put on the end of your needle or brush. You can even go back and place more on the same place. Try one or two pearls and let them dry. As they dry you will see if they are holding their shape or not. If they start to go flat you will need to add more Glossy accents to your mix. It's trial and error job but after you get the hang of it, you will have your own recipe depending on the look you are going for. :)

I got this result with my experiments, and I was pretty happy with it since I wanted a subtle appearance.



I really liked the shimmery look and dimension without having to spend any extra money or waiting for my Liquid Pearls to arrive in the mail.

Now you try and have fun!! Let me know what kind of results you have. :)

Tereza

12x12 Custom page is DONE!!!

hi Everyone,

this is a quick post to show you the result of that custom order I had for a 12x12 scrapbook page. Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them and see the details. :)

This is the original layout.


My customer asked me to duplicate it. Unfortunately that is just not possible for me. But I came pretty close. I painted and transformed the chipboard scrolls I had at home, and I also distressed the eyelet brads I had. Click on the colored links to learn how you can do the same.

Here is the result of the layout. After I painted the scrolls I stamped on them to complete the look I was going for. Would love to hear your comments!! thanks :)

Coloring and using the Chipboard at hand!!

I am at the moment working on a custom 12x12 page. The customer saw a page I made in the past and asked me to duplicate it. I kindly explained to her that I would be glad to make another one for her, but it would NOT be exactly the same as the first.

I have a very hard time duplicating any of my work because most of it comes out of pure inspiration of the moment. So while, I can use some of the same papers and products and maybe keep with the same sketch, the layout will have a very different feel from the first because that is just how it is with a creative spirit.

I will post the finished layout later with the original for you to see what I mean.

Now, the hurdle I found with this layout is that I used some chipboard scrolls that were white and I don't have any more of those. So, using my thinker, I decided to paint the scrolls I had. They were in a variety of colors and I painted them all white, as you can see on the photo.



Some of the scrolls were flocked and had bright colors so I had to use a second coat of acrylic paint. Once it dried all I did was punch them out of their sheet. They came already with adhesive in the back. I did not worry about the chipboard being perfectly painted since it will be stamped. I will show you the results next week.

So, next time you need a chipboard letter or any other embellishment in a color you don't have, just paint it. :)

Enjoy!!

Tereza

Working with Doily

If you are a fan of everything romantic you have seen the doilies that have taken over the scrapbooking world. Now you can find them in many different sizes, color and shapes. There are many different companies that are making them.

I wanted to use the doily in my scrapbook layouts without having to spend an enormous amount of money. Let me explain: I live in a very rural area, I have no Local Scrapbook store and the closest Craft Hobby Store is an hour away. Although I purchase most of my supplies online, it still needs to make sense financially. So I try to keep a list of things I need and purchase them all at the same time from the same place so I save on shipping.

So on this day, I decided to work with what I had on hand. I purchased some 12" doilies from Walmart. (yes, we do have one in my town! LOL) My children and I painted our doilies. After I painted mine with acrylic paint, I dabbed a piece of cloth on it, to give it a shabby look, taking some of the paint off.





Now, you say: "But it's not Acid Free." No, it's probably not. But if you painted it with acrylic paint you have put a barrier between the acid from the doily and your photos. "But you took some of the paint off!" Right. So you mat your photos.

A lot of the fear of the acid on the papers that are not made for scrapbooking has no precedence since you can always protect your photos by matting them with Acid Free paper or card stock. Make sure that papers or items that are NOT acid free are NOT touching your photos, or you can always buy one of those spray things that supposedly neutralizes the acid of the paper. :( Right, one more thing to buy!!

Anyway, here is the final layout that I used the doily on! Also take a look at one of the cards I have made in the past using doilies. Enjoy and feel free to leave me a comment or a question!

Tereza

Got Flowers? What to do when you need Prima flowers.

Would you love to be able to buy any Prima flower you wanted and as many as your heart desired? I would!! Unfortunately, it's just not possible. LOL

So I have learned to improvise and work with what I got. Last year when I was working on a new project I did not have Prima flowers in the right color for it. So I began brainstorming how could I get it without having to buy any more supplies. I am drowning in supplies!! LOL (Answer this question: do you have NEW, UNTOUCHED, CLOSED, UNOPENED containers or boxes of Prima flowers? If you answered "yes", then you are drowning in supplies too!)

I learned with Scrapperlicious how to make flowers out of pattern paper, vellum, acrylic and more! But that was not the look I was going for. I wanted to use some Prima flowers! So it hit me: I can paint them!!!

Yes, I can paint them! So I used some acrylic paint and painted my pretty Prima flowers.




The ones on the left are the original. The ones on the right are the result of my painting job. :)

I needed some flowers that were of a deeper green, like grass green; and I needed some red flowers. So now, I had them! So next time you can't find an exact color in your Flower stash, paint what you got!!

Here is a photo of the painted flowers on my project.



I will be talking about some basic supplies that you should always have on hand on later posts. Be sure to sign up for my newsletter or follow the blog. In a day, where everyone talks about how bad the economy is (I don't agree with the rumor) you surely would appreciate to learn how you can keep your cardmaking/ scrapbooking hobby going, wouldn't you?

Let me know you stopped by and say hi!! :) Also, check out my other blog for some of my projects.

Tereza