Quick and Sweet Gift over on the Susan K. Weckesser Blog!

I'm always super excited when it's my day on the Susan K. Weckesser blog!

Head on over there today and see my quick and sweet last minute gift idea...the beautiful altered bottle (in it's former life it was a maple syrup bottle from The Fresh Market!)

My Sweet Earth Blog: Quick and Sweet Gift

Tattered Angels Week-Day 5!!

It's our final day together crafty friends!

I hope you have enjoyed this week as much as I have and have learned a few tricks to add to your creative toolbox.

Tip #5-Change up your Metals!!

This technique works best with Glazes because of the acrylic base of the paint and the finer glitter.

As you can see here, this golden metal piece from Fabscrap just wasn't working for me, so I added a little bit of Shindig Glaze on top of it to tone down the brassiness. 

You can also use Glazes on plastics, such buttons, if the color is just not quite right.

My FAVS!!

Although I didn't use them in the particular project, I can't leave a Tattered Angels week without telling your my Favorite Chalkboards (shimmery) and Baseboards (matte)!

As you might remember, we talked about on Monday that Chalkboards and Baseboards differ from Glimmer Mists and Simply Sheers in that they will give you a more intense and opaque color, whereas mists and sheers are exactly that..sheer.

JUST A LITTLE NOTE: The name Chalkboard can get a little confusing. It gets it's name because it has the solid feel of a chalkboard, not the writing surface characteristics.

Here are my TOP 2 Favorite Chalkboards and Baseboards.

(1) Cardboard (Baseboard-matte)- Essentially the color of corrugated cardboard, this will turn just about anything into a solid sheet of kraft paper with a smooth matte finish. The brown color is so yummy.

(2) Red Rocks (Baseboard-matte)-This color could not be more appropriately named. It is a very true maroon-red without a lot of purple so that it feels like a neutral.

(4) Chalk (Chalkboard-shimmer)-  This is the most multi-purpose of the Chalkboards to me. I use it to highlight images, to lighten other Tattered Angels or to splatter on a project to lighten up it up if it's gotten a little too dark.

(4) Teal High Heel-With a name like that...what's not to love!? It's just fantastic!

I'm sad to say that our week together has come to an end. 

I hope you have learned something new and maybe lost a little "fear of the unknown" you might have had about Tattered Angels.

Come join me again soon...as I live The Creative Life.

P.S. Here's the link again if you want to see the full selection of Tattered Angels colors and products!

Tattered Angels Winter Catalog

Tattered Angels Week-Day 3!

Happy Wednesday!

We've had two fun-filled, glimmery days...are you ready for another?

Tip #3-Think Outside the Bottle!

Monday we talked about how great Tattered Angels products worked with each other, but you can stretch your TA dollar even farther by looking beyond those little Angel bottles. 

You can easily mix Tattered Angels products with your favorite acrylic paint colors to add some sparkle or mix with your favorite texture medium for a unique sparkly "chunky" look.

Here...I mixed my Golden Goddess Glam with an army green acrylic paint. 

You can see the fun glittery flicks it adds to the paint and because of the base of the Glam, when I heated it with my heat gun, it added texture to my plain acrylic paint. 

My FAVS!!!

Glimmer Mist is the original product that Wendy Senger made in her kitchen one day when she just couldn't find what she was looking for in her local craft store. (She made it in her BLENDER! I've seen the pictures...it was a mess! LOL)

With so many awesome colors, it's really hard to pick my top 5, but I'll try!

(1) Coffee Shop-My FIRST EVER Glimmer Mist and still at the top of my list. With a reddish-brown base and a copper shimmer, it is PERFECT to add a copper/weathered patina to any project.

(2) Mallard-My most recent LOVE! It is a dark blue-green with a lighter turquoise shimmer. (If you need one with a little more green....try Bahama Blue!)

(3) Coral Reef-Using this yummy coral color 

always makes me happy 

and adds a BIG punch of color to any project.

(4) Kraft-Just like the name suggest, this can turn just about any project into the appearance of kraft paper. The base is a darker kraft, while the shimmer is a lighter kraft so it adds a lot of dimension.

(5) It's Black-This is the darkest Tattered Angels color ever and adds a HUGE punch because of it's black base with black shimmer. It's THE Little Black Dress of Tattered Angels. (Need something a little softer? Try Black Magic (golden shimmer) or Beetle Black (silver shimmer.))

We're over half way done with our week...how sad! :(

Keep tuning in for more tips, tricks and my top 5 Favs!

Tattered Angels Week-Day 1!!

I LOVE Tattered Angels...I use it all the time on just about every project. I love the colors, the sparkle, the not sparkle...you name it...I LOVE it!!

A few months ago, I had the privilege of writing a tutorial for Scrapbook News and Review Magazine on "5 Ways to use Tattered Angels That You Might Not Have Thought Of." The project featured in it was one of my FAVORITE mixed media covers ever because it just had a little bit of everything!

Here is the finished project:

This week, I'm going to take you through my "5 Ways..." Tutorial, plus show you my FAVS from all of their lines and give you some tips on picking the RIGHT TA product for your project.

PICKING THE RIGHT PRODUCT

With so many options, it can be intimidating to know which one to pick.

Here is a down and dirty, cliff notes version of the difference between all the products:

GLIMMER MIST: A sheer water based spray-able ink that contains a fine glitter. This will give you a sheer wash of sparkly color. Don't want the glitter: Use the Simply Sheer from the Plain Jane Collection. USE ON: Paper, Fabric, Wood, Canvas, Over Paints

CHALKBOARD: An opaque water based spray-able ink that contains a fine glitter. This will give you a solid surface of glittery color. NO GLITTER NEEDED? Use the Baseboard Products from the Plain Jane Collection. USE ON: Paper, Fabric, Wood, Canvas, Over Paints

GLAM: An acrylic based paint-able chunky glitter. This is what you use when you really want to WOW factor. USE ON: Paper, Fabric, Wood, Canvas, Acrylic, Metal, Over Paints

GLAZE: An acrylic based paint-able FINE glitter. This has the fine glitter of your GLIMMER MIST, but in an acrylic form with a built in baby brush for easy control. USE ON: Fabric, Wood, Paper, Canvas, Acrylic, Metal, Over Paints

STAINED GLASS: An acrylic, sheer paint that is the first of it's kind to be MEANT to paint on acrylic/slick surfaces and stick, giving the appearance of stained glass. (although...there are many applications other than that!) USE ON: Paper, Wood, Fabric, Acrylic

HIGH IMPACT PAINT: Acrylic based paints that are your door way to CUSTOMIZE all of your Tattered Angels products to the perfect color for your project!

OK...enough school...Are you ready for a fun, fabulous and creative week? Let's go!

TIP #1-LET EVERYBODY JOIN THE PARTY!!!

As great as Tattered Angels products are alone, they are even better when you mix and layer them together!

Take a look at this hinge...it's just a simple hinge cut from chipboard. BUT...by layering 3 kinds of Tattered Angels, you get the rustic look of metal. 

Here's how I did it:

Step 1: Dab GLAM (here I used Camel-my FAV multi-use GLAM) here and there around your piece. Make sure to leave a good amount of vacant space. Using your heat gun, dry your GLAM and, you'll notice because of it's acrylic base, if you concentrate on a few areas, the GLAM will crack and bubble adding a fantastic texture to your piece.

Step 2: Coat your project with GLIMMER MIST (here I used Pomegranate.) Because GLIMMER MIST is water based, it will not mix with your GLAM (which..remember is acrylic...) so it will only "fill in" the spaces to covered by your GLAM.

Step 3: Next, using a paper towel, you will add a light wash of GLAZE (here I used my FAV-Shindig!) The purpose of this step is to antique your piece and tone down any "too bright" colors.

FUN, right? This technique is fun to play with, varying the color combinations to make your own unique piece.

Join me the rest of this week for more tips and tricks and learn my FAVORITE and MOST USED TA colors and products.

Until tomorrow my friends...get caught being creative!!

PS...Wanna know all Tattered Angels has to offer?

You can download their NEW catalog HERE. It shows all the products, colors and has some AMAZING inspiration pieces.  

Putting Myself Out There is Scary!

Like any artist it is ssoo hard for me to put myself out there and let people critique what I do, but if you don't will you ever get any better?

 

I've decided not to live in fear of the unknown and put myself out there...no matter how scary!! LOL

 

In 9 days I will be submitting projects to audition for Jillibean Soup's Design Team!

 

They requested 2 layouts and 1 "other project." Below is a sneak peek of one of my layouts. Afterwards...I'll post the whole thing.

 

This actually features the My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline-Dilly Dally line. I've had the 6x6 pad of this for a while (got a GREAT deal on it on Peachy Cheap!) and since the projects don't have to feature Jillibean, I thought this was a perfect opportunity to use it since it is similar to Jillibean.

 



Had a lot of fun making 3-D Flowers and playing with lace. I only had off-white lace, so I got out my trusty Tattered Angels Glam in "Be Positive" and just changed it up!

What I also did that was fun was to head to my local Walmart Paint section and grab some paint swatches in coordinating colors. This is a fun (and thrifty!) way to add the perfect solid colored accents to any project.

Are you interested? Here is the Jillibean Soup Blog for more details: Jillibean Soup Blog-Design Team Call

Deadline is September 15th, so get on it and step out without fear! (Or at least in SPITE of it!!)