Inspiration - Fe Fi Faux Fun

It is Cec here and I am bring you the inspiration post this week.  Since the Let's Fake It challenge still has one week to run I thought I would bring you some faux backgrounds that you can create for your projects using products you probably already have in your craft stash.

I have made my samples on 4 1/4" x 5" pieces of heavy card stock (Recollections) and haven't prepped the card stock with anything.  I did get a bit of warping so I would suggest that you use water colour card or whatever you have that can take a lot of wet media.  In all cases, I am providing the colours and brands that I used because that is what I had on hand but feel free to use whatever you like.

Crackle

1.  Coat substrate with an even layer of Liberty Blue acrylic paint (Accent) and allow to dry completely.
2.  Cover with a medium to thick coat of white school glue (Elmers) and allow to dry for a couple of seconds.
3.  Cover with a coat of Khaki acrylic paint (Craftsmart) painting in both directions and allow to dry naturally.

Make sure that the two paint colours you choose are contrasting so the cracks show.  For more open cracks, you can thin the second paint colour slightly with water.

Wood

1.  Score the card stock every half inch on the back side.
2.  Turn card stock over and paint completely with Khaki acrylic paint (Craftsmart) and allow to dry completely.
3.  Run a Coffee Archival Ink pad (Ranger) down the length of the piece from top to bottom and again from bottom to top and then repeat with a Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Tim Holtz) ink pad.

Do not press too hard on your ink pad because you don't want to cover your paint layer completely.

I had made a different sample first using Pumice Stone Distress Ink (Tim Holtz) instead of paint for the first layer along with the Walnut Stain DI and it looked great but I accidentally put the crackle piece on top of it not realizing that it was still damp and it turned the whole wood piece a hazy grey.  Once it was dry again, I re-inked it with a Coffee Archival Ink pad (Ranger) and this is the result.  I didn't toss it because it looks kind of cool.

Metal - Rust

1.  Paint card stock with Gunmetal Grey Metallic Acryllic (Folk Art) and allow to dry completely.
2.  Using a sponge add some Raven's Black Metallic acrylic paint (IndigoBlu) and some Harvest Copper acrylic paint (DecoArt) in random spots.  Blend the edges with more Gunmetal Grey where needed.

Metal - Tin

1.  Paint card stock with Vodka Martini Metallic acrylic paint (IndigoBlu) and allow to dry completely.
2.  Using a sponge add some Raven's Black Metallic acrylic paint (IndigoBlu) and some Gunmetal Grey metallic acrylic paint (Folk Art) in random spots.  Blend the edges with more Gunmetal Grey where needed.

Instead of using a sponge, you could spatter the other paint on.  I think I would spatter next time so more of the silvery first coat showed through.

Metal - Patina

1.  Paint card stock with Harvest Copper acrylic paint (DecoArt) and allow to dry completely.
2.  Use a Gears embossing folder (Tim Holtz) to emboss the card stock.
3.  Paint with Patina Green Antiquing Cream (DecoArt Media) and allow to dry for a few seconds.
4.  Dry brush with White Gesso (Liquitex) and then use a baby wipe to randomly remove some of the colour leaving the copper to show through.

Travertine (Stone)

1.  Use a palette knife to spread Molding Paste (Golden) over the card stock making it thicker in some areas and then allow to dry completely.
2.  Paint with Tapioca acrylic paint (Folk Art).
3.  Spray with Gathered Twigs Distressed Spray Stain (Tim Holtz and quickly blot with some paper towel.
4.  Splatter with some watered down Coffee Bean acrylic paint (Folk Art)

Leather 1

1.  Paint card stock with English Mustard acrylic paint (Folk Art) and allow to dry completely.
2.  Mix Espresso acrylic paint (Craftsmart) with equal amount of washable school glue (Elmers) and paint over the first coat of paint.
3.  Immediately lay a piece of cling film or dry cleaner plastic that has been scrunched up a bit on top of the wet paint and pat it down with the palms of your hands and then peel it off carefully.

The bigger the folds in your plastic are, the more interest there will be on your faux leather.  You want to lift larger sections of paint off with the plastic rather than small bits. 

I made a green sample first but there wasn't enough contrast between my paint colours and I didn't handle the plastic well enough so I need more practice but love the effect.

There you have it - a few faux techniques that you can use for your projects.  I will use these small samples to create tags and when I stamp on them I plan to use an archival ink.

If you want to fake it and create something faux for the current challenge, you have until Wednesday, June 6th at 20:00 pm UK time and you can find the challenge HERE.

Inspirational Post ~ Make Your Own Rust Paint.

Hi everybody! It's Toni here and I'm going to show you how to make yourself some cheap as chips rust paint. So if you're thinking of entering our Let's Fake it Challenge, this could be just what you need to get started. I don't know about everyone out there, but I love shopping for new crafty goods. My budget, however, does not always stretch as far as I would like! This means that I am sometimes too precious with my goodies, tending to 'hoard', rather than 'use' them. This hit home when I found that some rather delicious paints I had hoarded, had in fact dried up when I came to use them. Not good, but entirely my own fault. So without further ado, here goes.......

I've read various recipes on the internet but this one works for me. It's not an exact science, so there is a certain amount of mixing and adding ingredients, to suit your own style or type of project you're working on. These are the ingredients I've used....

 Silver Sand
 PVA Glue
 All purpose Filler, cheapest you can get, for those in the UK, try Poundland
 Acrylic Paints in
 Yellow Ochre
 Raw Umber
 Red Oxide
 Raw Sienna
 Black
Once again, cheap paints work fine!

You will also need a palette knife for mixing  and some airtight containers for storing the rust paint.

I started by adding a good squeeze of PVA to a small container, followed by another good squeeze of filler compound.....

I mixed this up with my palette knife and then started adding sand, spoonful by spoonful, mixing each one in thoroughly. After mixing in about 5 spoonfuls of sand, I then added a generous squeeze of Raw Sienna paint. This thinned the mixture down, so I added more sand, spoon by spoon, until I had a nice grainy but spreadable texture.I was surprised by the amount of sand the mixture was able to absorb, so to ensure that it would actually stick to a surface, I added another dollop of PVA.  This little pot full, then became the base for all the other colours.

I got together a few small lidded containers and scooped out some of the base mixture into each pot I then added a squirt of a different colour, to each one. This is how they looked....

From the middle left, clockwise, Raw Sienna base colour,  Raw Umber added to base, Yellow Ochre added to base, Red Oxide added to base and finally a touch of black added to base. Use black sparingly, as it can completely overwhelm the base colour. I'm still amazed at how much rust paint I managed to get out of the original base pot. In order to see what the paint was like when it was dry, I painted some pieces of card with each colour. I was very pleased with the texture and also that it bonded really well to the surface without any grains of sand falling away. I also ran the cards through my embossing machine, and labelled them for future reference.

As I was very satisfied with the rust paints I'd created, I decided to use them to decorate a note book. This gave me the opportunity to try them out on a variety of different surfaces. The decorative elements I've used on the book include, fabric, card, chipboard, and metal. I applied the paint in a dabbing motion with a well used bristle brush. Here are some close ups ....

This is from the back cover.......

This is how it looks on metal....... 

and card........

This is the front cover with fabric collaged, then stencilled with modelling paste before applying the various colours of rust paint.

I hope you've enjoyed today's Inspiration Post. I would love it if you decided to give DIY rust paint a whirl and if you do, please feel free to share your results with us for our Let's Fake It Challenge, as I'd  love to see the results! Until next time, 'Happy Crafting' x

Another Brick in the Wall

Hi guys! Lula with you today to share another variation of our current challenge theme
Let's fake it.                 .
This time I was trying to build the wall on my birthday card.
The bricks stencil is one of my favourite item and creating a faux brick wall is easy!

I started with stenciling heavy coarse structure paste  onto gessoed piece of cardstock.

Loving my Gelatos it was sure I would use them to colour the bricks.

I  coloured  the rest of my background with Ecolines.

I added more gesso to the joints  between the bricks and started to put the canvas petals together.

The leaves were die cut and stamped with my favourite texture stamp.

Still not very happy with the wall I outlined the bricks with black Derwent Inktense pencil.

Finally I was pleased with the result!

To finish off this project I added a button to the flower, some moss to the leaves and a few touches of gesso to the leaves. The sentiment was stamped too.

I hope I've inspired you a bit today. We can't wait to see your  gorgeous projects.

Remember to use stamps or stencils or both!

Winners - In the Meadow

We're back today to announce the winner and top 3 of the In the Meadow challenge. Lots of fabulous entries but as usual there can be only one winner. So, congratulations go to ....

Alison

Congratulations Alison ! We loved the gentle colour combination and the natural feel to your page. Please contact carringtons22@yahoo.co.uk for your winners badge and also the details of your guest post.

Now on to the top 3:

Jannet 

Marjut

Pirjol

Congratulations everyone ! Please email carringtons22@yahoo.co.uk for your top 3 badge. 

There's still plenty of time to join in with the current challenge Let's Fake It.

'Let's Fake It !'

 Hi everybody! It's Toni here and I have the pleasure of setting the new challenge for this merry month of May. I love faux finishes of all descriptions whether it be rust, stone, leather or time worn vintage. You  name it we have the power to fake it! I'd like to see your projects that include at least one faux finish of your choice. Produce anything you like but please include some stamping or stencilling or both if your heart desires! I can't wait to see what you come up with........x

Toni

(Faux stone using Texture Paste, Art Stones and paint)

Rachel

(Faux rust and patina using inks and baked textures).

Cec

(Faux rust finishes with paints, inks and even a mixture of gel medium and sand)

Sue
(Faux marble effect using tissue paper and a Gelli plate)

Lula

( faux rust and patina effect created with paints, coarse structure paste and metallic paste)

Now it's over to you !

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