Saturday Showcase - Peach Tea and Saltwater Taffy

Happy Spring to everyone! I'm the newest on the Design Team, but many of you know me as just Lyla from A Chief's Wife's Heart's A' Fire blog. I'm excited to bring today's Saturday Showcase to you; the first of this kind of thing for me, ever! I've had my eye on the Prima Marketing papers for some time now, and while I am a total Tim Holtz buff, I'm in love with the colors of their "Peach Tea" collection. Wouldn't you know it; Tim debuts his newest Distress color, Saltwater Taffy, and it matches the Peach Tea Papers, Flowers, and SIIC (Say It In Crystals)! So I decided to combine all four and mix it all up with one of Tim's newer Thinlits from the Sizzix Chapter 1 release. Read on and find out what I did with these...

This is what I began with. I'd ordered the three Prima Marketing Peach Tea items, along with Tim Holtz's Bunny Games Die Set and that YUMMY Saltwater Taffy, knowing it was going to go on this simple canvas board (you can get them at Dollar Tree). I picked up that baggie of trimmings from our recent building, and when I saw Tim's 3-D Textured Impressions Folder peeking at me from my Craft bag... I hit on exactly what I wanted to do!

Don't let the lighting fool ya: these Peach Tea Papers from Prima Marketing are soooooo delish looking: rich, yet pastels. I was pleasantly surprised to find that many of my Distress Inks/Oxides matched perfectly! There is a spot-on match with Distress Oxides: the brand new Saltwater Taffy, Salvaged Patina, Kitcsh Flamingo, Antique Linen, and Vintage Photo. I thought regular Salty Ocean looked good for some blue pop, but ended up changing it out for the more pastel Speckled Egg Distress Oxide. I also thought Squeezed Lemonade looked good on this paper pad, as well. I ended up using only 3 out of all of these.

Prima Marketing's double-sided designer paper pads are very sturdy paper! That's what really pleased me the most, it's the value as well as the color and usability. Here, you can see the canvas panel being covered with my FAVE sheet choice of the pad. This worn look is going to be a spectacular backdrop for those little bunnies!

Here, you can see I decided to take the boards of the paper in another direction at the bottom. Go ahead - pinch the photo and see how those upper 2 sheets matched up spot on! THAT's paper I can deal with! I used only 2 of the 6x6 sheets to cover this 8x8 panel with enough scraps (a couple shown above) leftover to use at the end. So Prima matches up their ends here and that is more value for me. A little line of not matching was ME. I started to freehand cut and changed to the knife. Don't worry - it won't be seen anyway. I did edge the bottom two with Antique Linen Distress Oxide.

Grab some stash cardstock (I keep a ton of black, browns, and whites to use in between layers or for stiffening help, etc) in brownish-tanish... can I make a basket freehand cutting? Let's see...

This is where Tim's "Intertwine" 3-D Embossing Folder came in... I DRY embossed it. I was looking for it to be like a RATTY type of basket. I wanted the texture, and I wasn't going to get ratty if I spritzed water. Another thing I didn't want; no coloring. Just this plain color and sanding was planned.

Again, don't worry about the line. I'll have filling for this basket a 'plenty!

I ended up needing a backside for this. The dry embossing went great and I had little holes in there (you can see up on the basket middle), but to keep glue from coming through, I was going to need to tape this all up and use my Glossy Accents at the end.

If I'm going to make a basket...it's going to LOOK like a real basket. So here's some top edging. Just roll that piece and then roll it again, with tape to hold it.

Here's the backside - it's all holding together and ready for the panel.

I made a larger pattern first (right side) and then cut it more exactly from another sheet of the stash. Embossing needed it to be in 2 pieces to get it through my Big Shot, so I have a space. ;)

Here's that plastic "wood" shaving. It was soooo soft and stayed together. I was grabbing it off the ground before the guys could ruin it by cutting more junk into it!

And now...heeeeeeere's the HARES! The Peach Tea papers and the Saltwater Taffy are just SOOO PERFECT TOGETHER, but add the Tim Holtz Bunny Games....I'm talking CUTE, here!

These bunnies are TINY, but that's exactly what makes them so stinkin' CUTE! And - biggest surprise for this Crafter (as some of you know, I've had severe RA for half my life) - was to find this set to be not so many pieces! The set itself is sorted together so that you don't even need the instructions to get the colors right. I did look for a video but didn't find one, so I simply cut all the bunny parts all on one sheet. I noticed right away that there were fewer pieces than in most of the Colorized sets, and the eggs in the set were SUPER SIMPLE! Just 2 dies each for a large egg and a small egg.

The only thing I can say that this Tim Holtz Bunny Games Die Set won't do well when reversed. I know some of the Colorize sets can be reversed, but when I tried to do so with this... You can see above here - the bunny just 'lost' his... roundness/puffiness. NOT cute. Yet, my plan was still going to work just fine.

Cracking eggs was never EASIER! Simply make the egg with the 2 cuts (glue together), and make another full cut, but don't glue it. Hold the 2 pieces together as you cut zig-zagged all the way through. Put the unglued (inside will be white, so the extra cut is white) zigszagged pieces slightly jutted out of the glued set zigszagged pieces. You now have an open egg. You can even just glue all around the outer edges, so you make a pocket in each half. (I have an idea going for using that.)

Now - those Prima Marketing Peach Tea SIIC (Say It In Crystals). This is my first time using these, and I am LOVING how ROUNDED they are! Fully rounded out but look faceted and sweetly matching all the same colors as the papers!

I even did a pink/blue/pink/blue painstakingly perfectionist I am. LOL

The color is closer here - a bit washed out to me. But for thinking "Spring"... I couldn't have chosen a better color scheme for this project! (THANK YOU, LINDA!!)

Here's everything I used - some of my stuff is VERY old now. I've linked the important stuff at the bottom. PLEASE CHECK OUT THIS PAPER THEME!! The Distress Inks I've used will show you the colors much better than I can on a blogpost.

ARE YOU READY?
Here's the resulting project:

Be Curious! I certainly am: our fourth Grandchild is due August 27th and I am so excited! Boy, or Girl won't matter to this Memaw...just a healthy HAPPY Baby is all I ask.

Tim's Bunnies have black for eyes and 1 eye is a tiny bit smaller than the other (on both bunnies). But not this Memaw's Grandbabies - so far, all 3 have huge BlueBlue eyes. Princess (the only girl so far) has purple flecks in hers. So these bunnies got 2 larger dotted eyes in blue (from stash trash).

That leftover paper became another "board" that got some Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mini Fasteners and a Quote Chip Theories (edged with Distress Crayon Picket Fence). See the baby bunny - no particular color on this one... just plain Peach Tea paper with shadowing in Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Antique Linen for a bit of depth. Bunny paws are trying to break the shell, but the ears are already popping out!

There couldn't have been a better (in all ways a paper can be better!) paper collection to use for this particular project. And the Spring feeling it gives makes me think of all the baby blue/pink that will be distracting me all through the summer. I don't think they want to know what it will be, but no matter: this Memaw LOVES her new Wittle GrandBunny!

I had fun doing this project, and it helped that all of it seemed to just match itself! I hope you'll be inspired to try a few of the Prima Marketing Papers - especially the Peach Tea collection! Have a super Saturday!

Supplies used:

Prima Marketing Peach Tea 6x6 Double Sided Paper Pad 997502

Prima Marketing Peach Tea Flowers - Perfect Day 658717

Prima Marketing Peach Tea SIIC (Say It In Crystals) 998417

Sizzix Chapter 1 Tim Holtz Thinlits Die Set - Bunny Games 665850

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Saltwater Taffy Ink Pad TDO79545

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad Antique Linen TDO55792

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad Speckled Egg TDO72546

Ranger Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool w 2 Foams IBT40965

Tim Holtz Tonic Studios Kushgrip 7inch Scissors T817

Tim Holtz 3-D Textured Impressions Embossing Folder - Intertwine 664759

Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents GAC17042

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayon Picket Fence (from Set #3)

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mini Fasteners TH92790

Saturday Showcase - Prima Marketing and Ranger Distress With Faux Carved Slate Tutorial

Welcome to this week's Saturday Showcase where we share techniques and tips using products available at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. It's Sara Emily here today, and I'm sharing these cards using Prima Marketing's  IOD Vintage Art Decor Moulds, flowers and papers and Distress paints to create a faux carved slate background.

For these three cards I was inspired by a design by wonderfully talented Margaret Mifsud. I wanted to try out my new Prima Cherry Blossom papers and Lavender flowers. In keeping with the current challenge theme, I kept things neutral.  I'm leaving the sentiment off for now. I think these can be used for just about any occasion from birthday to sympathy, so I'll have these ready in my stash.

I accidentally stumbled (happy accident) on this faux finish when I was attempting to make faux antique zinc based on Heather Tracy's video. I wanted to achieve this finish on a flat wood surface for a recent challenge theme. I chose to use modeling paste as my base over the wood, and the added texture and 'veining' gave it more of a look of stone rather than metal. My process steps are outlined below. I've included photos taken when making this project with a few photos taken while making my featured cards, because they show the process better.

I used this same technique, following the same steps applied to greeting cards. In place of the Vignette panel, I used Heavystock paper. This paper is very heavy and can take a good deal of moisture without warping.

I tucked in some gauze to soften the hard stone and added ivy cut with Tim's Garden Greens. This one was already colored with green left over from another project. I added crackle paint and Vintage Photo ink. I dyed the gauze behind the flower with Victorian Velvet Distress stain.

On this one, I added some simple, but versatile Little Birdie blossoms from Linda's shop, sadly no longer available. After crackling the ivy, I added a bit of Prima's Metallique wax in Brushed Iron.

I love a product that can keep on working, and for me Prima molds fit the bill! The are extremely versatile and can be used for home decor, craft projects or even cooking and baking! They can be used with so many many types of media- air dry clay, polymer clay, earthen clay, hot glue, even chocolate (food safe rated). I bet you can think of even more applications. They have amazing detail and are so easy to use--because they are silicone, the casting practically de-moulds itself.

Now onto the  tutorial!

Faux Carved Slate Tutorial

1. Apply molding paste in random thicknesses on the largest Vignette panel with palette knife. I didn't want this too neat, because I want some texture to capture some of the paint in a later step. Allow to dry.

2. Fill moulds with paper clay and remove casting while still damp. I do not prep my moulds with any release agent, as they release just fine on their own.

3. Cut strips from one of the castings for the top and bottom of panel.

4. While the clay is still pliable, I applied Multi Medium Matte liberally to the backs of the castings and pressed them onto the prepared dry panel. I allowed some glue to seep out of the seams. This will make the applique look carved rather than glued on when finished.  Apply gentle weight if necessary. to get good adhesion. Let dry thoroughly.

5.Coat everything with black gesso and dry.

6. Spray with Brushed Pewter Distress Spray Stain. While wet, spray with rubbing alcohol until you see the color blend and move around. (This is really cool!) Allow to dry thoroughly.

7.  Mix grey chalk paint with watered down Ground Espresso Distress Spray stain.  Pounce on panel, and dab with dry cloth to remove some of the paint. You're looking for an organic look, so no harsh lines. Some of the Brushed Pewter will show through. This is the desired effect, since there are minerals in rocks.

8. Mix Black Soot Distress Paint with watered down stain and apply as you did with the grey paint mixture. Dry. While it's not pretty,  I slipped in this photo to give you an idea of  how the colors are layering. The top half has the black mixture added, while the bottom has only the grey. No veining yet. I only did part of the panel, because I knew it would be partially covered with design paper. In my collage above, I forgot to take actual process photos, so the staged shots with paints in them are when the panel was completed.

9. Water down Picket Fence Distress paint and apply with a paint brush to create 'veining'. Pat with clean cloth to blend. In some places, I apply just a bit of the paint, and spritz lightly with water to get it to bleed into the crevasses created by the molding paste. I follow up quickly with my heat gun to halt the spread of the paint. This gives it a more natural look.

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial and will give it a try! Our current challenge Neutral Point of View is open until Tuesday, May 8, and this technique would fit in perfectly with the theme. Be sure to stop back next Saturday when another Design Team member will be sharing more tips and techniques.

Happy Crafting!

Sara Emily

Here are the links to products used, which are available at The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Prima Marketing IOD Vintage Art Decor Mould - Keyholes	(LATE JANUARY PRE-ORDER) Prima Marketing Lavender Flowers - Giana	(LATE JANUARY PRE-ORDER) Prima Marketing 12x12 Paper Pad - Cherry Blossom	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Vignette Panels	Ranger Multi Medium Matte 4 oz.
Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain Spray - Brushed Pewter	Ranger Tim Holtz Ground Espresso Distress Spray Stain	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Black Soot	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Picket Fence	TIm Holtz Distress Mixed Media Heavystock TDA53835
Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 9PK - Garden Greens by Tim Holtz	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Victorian Velvet	(February Pre-order) Prima Art Alchemy by Finnabair-Metallique Wax- Brushed Iron