Rusty Face

Morning Friends and Crafters. I am so excited to share this mixed media piece with you today. It's a real favourite of mine a it was a bit of an experiment that came out just as I wanted. It was a fun project and well worth the waiting time. Once again this wouldn't have to be a journal or scrapbook page, it could easily be made smaller for a card or even par of it onto an ATC, Like I always say have fun with your crafting, try something new, and always remember, There are NO RULES.

You will need:

Craftascope A5 Media Stencil 'Trent'

Craftascope A5 Media Stamp set 2 'Profile'

Kitchen Roll

Powertex Rust Powder

Vinegar & Water Mix 50/50 mix 

( if for fabric or Clothes I recommend the Rust Dye either Bright or Dark from Inventors Asylum as it's much better where the integrity and strength of fabric is important, clothes etc)

Strip of Calico (previously used for cleaning paints, inks etc)

Medical Gauze Dyed to Match

Sewing Machine

Black card and threads to match or contrast.

Collall Tacky Glue

Step 1: Fold the  sheets of kitchen roll together (still connected gives more strength) Spritz with the mix of Vinegar Water. Next position your stencil in place, sprinkle with rusty powder and spritz again. Do check after a few hours to make sure it's not dried out, If so spritz with more. Keep checking periodically, then leave overnight or longer if required. Remove the stencil and leave to dry thoroughly before dusting off any remaining powder. If using on fabric with the rust dye instead, the fabric can be washed as instructed. 

Step 2: I use calico to mop up inks and paints etc and keep the fabric for future projects. I took one of the pieces and cut off a strip to use. First I added a strip of the dyed gauze and over the top added the calico, which matched the colours beautifully. I used a ziz zag stitch to secure the pieces. I then used Versafine Black ink to add some words, Here I thought the 'Life is Tough' fitted perfectly, but thats personal choice.

Step 3: To finish stitch around the kitchen towel a few times with a messy Zig Zag stitch, I finally added it to a piece of natural Calico, stitched around once more and then frayed the edges before mounting onto black card with tacky glue.

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Thank you so much for joining me today, I do hope you have enjoyed this tutorial along with the finished piece. It's such an easy but effective result and quite special how the rust forms the complete face just from the stencil including the lips etc as they were originally drawn. I added a very small amount of white gel pen just to highlight the eyes a little. For now Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Fairy House

Morning all, Today I am Excited to be sharing a Fairy House that I made. It's not a quick make, but it's well worth the effort and you could also make it with clay, I liked the idea of recycling. 

To begin with, I painted a piece of cardboard, using a selection of paints (see photo). This wants to resemble weathered wood, that would have been on the roof for years, leave to dry.

Then create a sort of witches hat, which will be the base for your roof. Cut a circle and remove a quarter. Test for the size and secure, I used staples for speed as these wont show once you tile.

Take  a flower pot and secure to a cardboard base. Then take individual kitchen roll sheets, a water spray, PVA and a brush. Coat the pt with PVA, spray your kitchen roll and start to cover the pot. Try to make it look like real bark with pleats etc. Overlay some onto the base to form the land. Leave to dry and then paint as for the roof.

Cut the cardboard into 1/2 - 1'' strips and then into tiles.

Arrange your tiles row by row starting at the outer edge. Work around the first row, then overlap and stagger the second and so on. I recommend a glue gun for this step. Finish the top of the roof with a smaller cone.

The fairy door opens so I created a picture to go behind, you can choose whatever you would like to see behind the door.

I made some toadstools with Paper clay, left to dry and painted.

I added the fairy door to the house, I cut it a couple of times from Bronze pearl card. I added depth and bark detail to the walls with Gilding wax. Added flowersoft for grass and plants and to the roof as moss.

Thank you for joining me today, I hope to see you again very soon. For now take care and Happy crafting.xx