Botanical Tea Hanging

This little project for Graphic 45 was so fun and easy to put together.  I have a few of my trade secrets revealed in this post too!  The lovely Botanical Tea paper line made for a perfect pairing on this whimsical hanging that is now adorning one of my antique floor lamps. 

Supplies: 

Botanical Tea 6x6 Patterns and Solids

Botanical Tea Stickers

Botanical Tea Chipboard 1

Botanical Tea Chipboard 2

Ornate Metal Keyholes

Ornate Metal Key

Shabby Chic Ornate Metal Brads

Metal Butterflies

May Arts Ribbon

White Gilders Paste

White Eyelets

Stickels

 

 

 

In order to make my chipboard pieces more substantial I added eyelets and covered the edges in white gilders paste.  While you cannot see it in this shot, I also covered the backs of the chipboard with coordinating paper, in case they we seen.  

 

 



 

 

Sometimes it is a challenge to cut your paper into an odd shape.  I often find that my edges are just a little bit wonky, so I have to disguise it.  In this Botanical Tea Hanging, I did just that.  The oval of paper I used to back my hummingbird sticker was not cut perfectly people, but thanks to my clever use of stickels you can hardly tell.  I simply covered my errors up with this handy glitter glue.  

 



 

 

Another trick I used on this project was the use of gilders paste to make my metals with different finishes look cohesive.  You would never know that they don’t match with my sneaky cover up.  What, no gilders paste in your stash….try acrylic paint, which works too! 

Cheers,

Rhea

 

 

Transforming your stash

I love to alter things.  I am not sure why, but I really love to watch something transform and come to be.  I decided to write a quick post about my most recent innovation with my supply stash.

As you know I design for Alpha Stamps, an amazing supplier of crafty goodness.  When a package comes for a design kit or special mission, it is like Christmas.  I am stalking the mailman for a package today with that same childlike excitement.  Anyway, one item I have fallen in love with are paper flowers.  I recently took these little guys to another level with the help of a melt pot and UTEE (ultra thick embossing powder.)

My favorite are the red ones.  I think they almost look like glass now that they are coated.  I bet you could take them a step further and add a bit of guilders paste and add more depth now that I think about it... Another trick I used on the red ones was to pull some of the petals back before dipping them.  This helped them to have some unique shapes. 

The black ones would be nice for spooky projects. White guilders paste on the tips is all I can think about now, I can't wait to try it!

These ones did not turn out the best.  I think it is because this is a thicker, more substantial flower. It is still fun to experiment.  I bet there are lots of other embellishments that would do well with an UTEE bath.

There are tons of ways to stretch your stash.  Think ink, glitter, sprays and mists.  So you don't have the right color item, change it up and see what happens!

With this as my inspiration, I am off to make a spooky cluster of charms for one of my altered bottles for Laura Carson's big event.

Cheers, 

Rhea