Artful Journal by Becky Conley

Hello!! Welcome to my bi-weekly Sakura post. This week I created two embellishments to adorn my latest artfully covered composition book.

SAKURA SUPPLIES:
Oriental Paper (coming soon!)
3d Color Crystal Lacquer
3d Pearl Crystal Lacquer
Peacock Green Gem Particles

Other supplies:
Composition notebook
large postage stamp
Outline Sticker-Sparkraft Enterprises, Inc
Black & White Card stock
Cricut: Rock Princess cartridge
sheet of double-sided super sticky tape (Therm-o-Web)



The butterfly was cut from black cardstock at 3.5" in two layers and brushed with 3d Pearl Crystal Lacquer in blue and gold. While it was still wet, I rubbed the gold layer through the Gem Particles then let dry. Then I assembled the wings and added more details with 3d Colored Crystal Lacquer and 3d Pearl Crystal Lacquer. I added dimension to the body with black 3d Colored Crystal Lacquer.



I applied the sticker to white card stock, then colored in the open areas with 3d Color Crystal Lacquer and 3d Pearl Crystal Lacquer. When it was completely dry, I trimmed it to the size of the sticker.


I put a sheet of super sticky tape on the entire cover of the composition book to apply the decorative Japanese paper, roll with a brayer to get any air bubbles out and to assure good adherence and trimmed the edges. Merely embellish the cover with artful elements. I kept this one relatively flat, I need it to travel well :o)

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog, please become a follower to receive updates and notices for new projects posted.

Cheers!
Becky

A Christmas Wish

Believe it or not - I created this ornament in about 30 minutes - beginning to end. Fortunately, I had time to let it dry overnight, before it and me ran off to a Christmas party and ornament exchange.....

Materials Used

3D Crystal Lacquer

1 vintage glittered star

white crepe paper streamer

gold and pearl glimmer mist

gold and silver find glitter

white cardstock

music rubberstamp

distress inks in vintage photo, tea dye & black soot

I was in a pinch - invited to a party & ornament exchange and make some creative goodness for my design team assignment. I had these vintage star ornaments arranged in a glass bowl as part of my Christmas decor - and a bottle of Crystal Lacquer...what more could a girl ask for?

I made the rosette using simple white crepe paper streamers using about an arms length doubled - that took like 2 minutes! I'm doing good! Sprayed it with a little gold and pearl glimmer mist and hit it good with my heat gun. Next, I poured a good amount of Crystal Lacquer on a paper plate and mixed gold and silver glitter on another. I dipped the edge of the rosette into the Crystal Lacquer and then dipped in into the glitter mixture - so pretty!

While I set that aside to dry (it did dry in just a few hours, but I left it overnight for good measure), I ran to my computer and printed the words "A Christmas Wish" in a fancy little font and cut it out in banner style - distressed the edges and used distress ink on it for a worn vintage look. Next, the star...easy peasy. Using the same scrap of white cardstock I used for the banner, I die cut a star, stamped it with a music stamp and distressed it using black soot and vintage photo distress ink. All I needed was a little doodad as an accent. I coated a scrap piece of plastic leaf stem - using Crystal Lacquer and my gold/silver glitter mixture. When I glued the whole thing together - I used a glue gun for speed - I added 3 tiny vintage glass ornaments from my stash and I was done and very pleased with the outcome.

Update: I've been asked to make more for the other gals at the party that didn't get my ornament!

Hope you take the time to make some creative magic this holiday!

Please visit Sakura's website for product info and more inspiration! -

www.sakuracraft.com

Till next time....stay creative!

Karen

www.katscrapstudio.blogspot.com

Lacquer Coated beaded bracelet!

Good morning!! We have less than 2 weeks left for Christmas shopping and gift making! I am in full swing on my creating and will share with you this fun bracelet that I've made for one of my loved ones!

For this project you will need:
paper
BIC Mark-its
Washi Paper
Tiger Tail Cording
findings
Sakura Hobby Crafts 3D Crystal Lacquer
Glass Tile
Gold Tone Star Bails

For this project I affixed a glass tile to washi paper with 3D Crystal Lacquer.
After it dried, I trimmed out the glass tile and sanded the edges for a smooth finish.

 I adhered the bails to the short sides of the rectangle to form a focus piece of a bracelet.

Next I created paper beads to match. I measured and marked my paper
at half-inch increments on one side and then shifted my ruler
a quarter inch so that the points would form a triangle when connected. 

I cut the triangles with my paper cutter. 

Following tips from a paper bead artist, I .used my BIC Mark-Its to edge the paper. 

I then rolled the beads around a skewer, securing with 3D Crystal Lacquer.

I then coated the bead with the lacquer as well. 

I allowed the beads to dry completely 

and then strung them with accent gold-toned beads to form a bracelet. 

Thank you for looking! I hope you enjoy my project!

Merry Christmas Tag

It's tag time!! And today I've got a tag to share with you that I made using Unity/Samantha Walker's Greetings of Christmas stamp set. I made my tree background with gold peel sticker from Sparkraft Enterprises and filled it in with Green Pearl Crystal Lacquer.
I love the dimension that it created and I think that the way the light reflects on the pearl lacquer looks like pine needles.

Thanks for stopping by!

Glitzy Crystal Lacquer Christmas Trees

Tis The Season 

Christmas Train

I began with a package of sisal trees made by Darice. I found them at Michaels for $1.99. Lowes and Michaels also, have a 21 pack with larger size trees for $21.00.	Bleaching Trees Step 1:  Start by filling a jar with straight bleach. Place the trees in upside down, and closed the lid (I left them between 10 to 20 mins).  The longer you leave them the whiter they get.
Step 2: Once the trees are bleached enough, I used tongs to remove them and rinsed them under cold water, and allowed them to dry on a towel.
Step 1: This part was so exciting to me because of the endless color possibilities.  The bleached sisal trees LOVE Outside The Margins Color Mists (they soaked  them right up). Step 1A: While the tree is still wet sprinkle extra fine iridescent glimmer dust (this particular fine glitter will stick to anything wet) then allowed the trees to dry in a warm area.  *Caution- if you use a heat gun to speed up the drying process, make sure you keep it moving or else you will have a charred tree. *Optional	Decorating Trees Step 2:  Next using a nylon throw away brush and of course Sakura's 3D Crystal Lacquer. Step 2 Continued:  brush 3D Crystal Lacquer  heavily onto the tree.
As another option, after the glitter has dried on the tree, you can lightly brush white gesso onto the tips of the tree branches to give it a snowy look then sprinkle again with extra fine iridescent  glimmer dust	Step 3:  While the tree is still wet  with the Crystal Lacquer sprinkled glitter onto the tree. To color the above trio of trees I used the following  Color Mists colors:  Margarita Magenta, Sterling Silver and Lime Jello.
Variation 2 Step 1:  Start by squeezing a thick line of 3D Crystal Lacquer onto a piece of plastic and roll your tree around in it.	Step 2:  Next using a plastic spoon heavily sprinkle the tree with a *glitter mixture. (*I mixed several different types of glitters in a dish along with tiny seed and crystals beads)
Step 3: Shake off any excess glitter mixture and allow it to dry.	Step 4:  Using 3D Crystal Lacquer apply it in specific spots on your tree and adhere your choice of individual beads (I chose faux freshwater pearls and crystal beads for this tree).
Step 5:  This next step got me very excited again because I lightly sprinkled  Sakura's  Raspberry Iridescent Particles over the tree that was still wet with Crystal Lacquer and it looks amazingly like tiny tinsel!	Here's my finished Glitzy Crystal Lacquer Tree. (I must warn you these trees are addicting with all the endless possibilities of decorating they have.)
Here's an close-up shot of  three tiny trees that I colored using a combination of Margarita Magenta and Tahoe Turquoise Color Mists.	Here they are on my latest Artist Trading Block.

Get the details for
Entering Aileen's 

Blog Giveaway

HERE

Canvas art.

I love this canvas! I made it for my husband, for our anniversary back in August. I wish I had step by step photos, but, it seems I do my best when I'm not worrying about photographing each step, or working on webcam. It just... comes together! I'm going to try hard to describe the steps, but if you have questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments section, and I'll answer them the best I can!

I used a lot of products, so I’m going to try really hard to link to everything I used.
The flowers were made using grunge paper. Cut with a Tim Holtz die, and covered with book pages. I painted them with the stains (which will be listed/linked below) and added a button to the centers.



First, I covered the white canvas with book pages using PPA matte.
I adhered paper flowers and circles with intentions to paint over them, adding texture.



I used Maya Road’s sheer Luxe Stoney Island alphas.
I used Lindy’s Stamp Gang materials to paint the canvas… here’s a list of the products I used and the colors.

Color shots (I mixed the powder with rubbing alcohol):
Tiger Lily Red Orange
California Poppy Gold
Rhododendron Red Rose

Starburst Stains: Bells of Ireland

Mica Powder: Stellar Yellow Red



I used Crystal Lacquer to adhere the sheer alphas. I didn’t like that you could barely see them, (don’t ask… sheer, and I expected to SEE them, I don’t know!!) so I added some Gesso to the tops of the sheer letters and wiped the paint off them to more or less outline them. Then I started looking at it, and didn’t like it at all, so I pulled the letters up (while the adhesive was still wet!) and LOVED that, so much more!! So I basically used the alphas as a stencil.



I used USAQ’s 101 Craze and Crackle Paste.

I used reinkers to add color. You know, reinkers that are typically for ink pads!

To use the reinkers, I mixed them with a little water and used my brayer to roll it onto the canvas. When painting the canvas I worked from the lower left corner to the upper right corner. With my darkest color in the bottom, and my lightest color towards the top.



I mixed the Starburst Stain and the Chartreuse reinker and splattered it on in certain areas. The green really helped to break it up a little bit.

I typed out the words on the computer, printed them, and inked them up with some Antique Linen Distress Ink. Outlined them, and used some Crystal Lacquer to adhere them to the canvas. Then… I squeezed my WHOLE bottle of Crystal Lacquer onto my canvas… I used my brayer to roll it all around, and cover a majority of it. I really wanted this to have a glossy finish, I totally got it!! And
I love it!!

Crystal Lacquer works really great, not only as an adhesive but also as a finish. I love that the Crystal Lacquer doesn't diminish the texture at all, and actually enhances it by making it glossy!

Be sure to check out Sakura for Crystal Lacquer. They have a variety of beautiful colors, as well as an extremely FINE tip for their Crystal Lacquer.

Altered Photo ART by Becky Conley

Hello All!
Are your photos flat? Let's jazz them up!
I'm in mixed-media HEAVEN! I printed one of my garden photos and altered it with SAKURA products and Sparkraft "outline" stickers.

This photo doesn't do the original art any justice, you have to see it in person to appreciate it's glory. The reflection of light on the Gem Particles is AMAZING.

SAKURA SUPPLIES:
3d Clear Crystal Lacquer
3d Color Crystal Lacquer: Black
Gem Particles: Raspberry Iridescent, Peacock Green and Blue Flash

Other Supplies:
Canson Canva-Paper 12x16", Sparkraft dragonfly outline stickers, Matte finish Spray Sealant

DIRECTIONS:
1. The Canva-Paper is textured like canvas! Print the photo and heat-set to hurry the process if you are impatient like me! Then spray with a matte finish to seal the inks.
2. Apply the dragonfly "outline" stickers, apply 3d Clear Crystal Lacquer to the wing areas and sprinkle with Gem Particles. (Blue Flash and Peacock Green) Remove the excess, then fill in the body and head area with 3d Black Color Crystal Lacquer. Let dry.
3. Brush the flowers with a thin layer of 3d Clear Crystal Lacquer, sprinkle Raspberry Iridescent Gem Particles to the center areas only. Let dry and remove excess.

Thank you so much for stopping by, please become a follower for more inspiration and project ideas.

Cheers!
Becky