Guest Tutorial - Starlights Butterfly Jar by Jane Collman

We're thrilled to have the very talented Jane Collman on the blog today with this beautiful glass jar project. Over to you, Jane.................!

Hello everyone, Jane here. I'm delighted to be on the Imagination blog. I had great fun decorating this glass jar.

You will need -

Glass Jar

Starlights x 3 colours

Imagination Crafts' Rice Paper

MagiBond Decoupage Glue

Jute/String

Texture Stamp

Versamark Ink Pad

Embossing Powder/Enamel

Take a plain glass jar and lid and paint base coat with your palest colour. 

I’ve used Banana Yellow Starlights...

The paint will dry very quickly but it doesn’t matter if it is not completely dry before you

add your next colour.  I’ve used Chartreuse Starlights, painting just at the base and at the neck only on the jar and just random splashes on the lid.  Brush with light strokes. 

I didn’t want to cover all the Banana Yellow...

Add your next colour sparingly, I used Zinober Gold. Again, random light brushes of

Starlight, not completely covering the Chartreuse, to both jar and lid, this is just to give a hint

of the Gold colour...

I picked these colours to contrast with the beautiful Butterfly Rice Paper Pattern 153.

      Cut out around the butterflies you are going to use and with a wet paint brush and water, dampen around the image.  Very carefully tease the paper from around your butterfly. 

You will be left with a lovely wispy edged image.  This will look better than if you leave

the image with a hard, straight edge...

Decide where you want to place your images and use a brush and Magi Bond Decoupage Glue to stick them to the jar, adding more glue on top of the image to seal...... 

Add images to jar and lid as desired...

Make sure all paint and glue is completely dry. Wind some jute/string around the neck of the jar and tie in a bow.  I also added some at the base of the jar and around the lid.  You will find it easier

if you put a small piece of double sided tape on the jar and lid first and then place your jute over it.  That will hold the end whilst you start winding!  

Now you are ready to add Embossing Powder/Enamel to your jar and lid.  I have used Stampendous Frantage Shabby White Embossing Enamel which has white and gold granules and powder.  You will need a stamp which just gives a little texture, something from Art Stamps

Distress Set 1 is perfect.

No need for a stamping block, just ink some of the stamp with Versamark and

press gently onto the jar.  Add your Embossing Powder.  Make sure you have a tray or paper underneath to collect any powder/granules that fall off.  Set the embossing powder with a heat tool - be careful, the glass will get hot.

Keep adding powder to jar and lid until you are happy...

To finish, I tied the ends of my jute/string in several knots and added one last butterfly which

I stuck onto white card before cutting out.  A little Diamond Sparkle Medium painted over the butterflies will give an added bling!

Thank you very much to Jane for a fantastic step by step and a beautiful result.

Imagination Crafts returns to Hochanda this coming Friday. November 17, at 10am, 3pm and 7pm, then continuing on Saturday, November 18 at 12 and 3pm and Sunday, November 19 at 7am. There'll be new products, some fantastic special offers and lots of demoes from Sue and Mandy-Jane.

Massive Website Sale This Weekend Only

Ah, the wonders of modern technology! A few weeks we had a sale on the website and we sent out a newsletter to all our subscribers to let them know. It turns out that many of you didn't get the newsletter and missed out on grabbing a bargain, or three. 

So, to make up for it, we are doing the sale all over again! This weekend only, from tomorrow, Friday September 29 until Monday, October 2 at midday, there is 15% OFF EVERYTHING on the website - including items previously reduced.

Some stock is available in limited quantities only, so if you see something you want, grab it quickly. 

www.imaginationcrafts.co.uk

Tuesday Tutorial - Creative Spirit by Martina Tidball

Hello crafters! Martina here with a step-by-step showing how I created one of the cards shown on the last Hochanda shows with Mandy. I used the Mr Sprocket stencil, among others, with 

Alchemy Waxes, Structure Paste, Rusty Patina and Starlight Wax and went completely steampunk/grunge/industrial with this one, making a complete mess of my fingers and everything else!

I started by cutting a piece of strong card to act as the base for my topper. I then used a square die from my stash to cut the middle out and create a frame, keeping the middle for later on.

With the frame size/width decided, I used lots of different stencils and picked out little interesting elements. I used Structure Paste through each one onto some blank card and set aside to dry. When ready, I cut my elements into squares, rectangles and other shapes to give some interest to my frame.

Now for the messy part! Using Magi-bond Glue, I arranged my shapes all around the frame, making sure to cover every section. I overlapped some pieces and put some at an angle, so nothing was ‘perfect’; any overhanging edges I cut off later.

Whilst that was drying, (it did take a while as I had used an awful lot of glue!) I set about creating the centrepiece. I trimmed my square middle section that I had  die-cut earlier, taking a few mm off each side. I then covered the whole topper with some Café Crème Rusty Patina. Using the Mr Sprocket stencil, I masked off the section I wanted to use, making sure it fit just inside the trimmed square.

 

Using some Black Starlight Wax through the stencil, I added Mr Sprocket. To take some of the harshness away and add a slightly worn look, I used some Bronze Alchemy Wax on my finger to lightly dust over the whole image.

Going back to my frame, I covered the whole thing in a layer of black Gesso. With my foundation in place I could then add some colour.............

Again using my finger, I applied some Peridot, Bronze and Copper Alchemy Wax over the frame. I did not want to cover all the black, as leaving some exposed gives more depth. I applied the wax lightly, skimming the texture of the dried Structure Paste with my fingers. The three colours together created the magic effect of worn/industrial/vintage – LOVE IT!

Once all the wax I wanted was applied, it was time to assemble my card. I added a sentiment from the new Mixed Media Stamp Set and some greyboard screws from my stash (which I also coloured with the same waxes).

That’s it from me, I hope you like it and you get the chance to play with the amazing Alchemy Waxes. I have to say I have used so many waxes, but the fact these are water-based and can be removed when you have a ham-handed moment, (as I often do) is brilliant!

See you soon, love,

Martina

                 

Back on Hochanda Tomorrow

Hello! We hope you're enjoying the short week. This is a quick post to let you know about our Hochanda programmes tomorrow.

Our newest design team member, Mandy-Jane - known to all as MJ - is taking over the reins and guest presenting on three shows, at 8am, 12pm and 4pm GMT.

Canvas by MJ...............

There will be lots of mixed media techniques on canvases and cards, some new products - including some new stamp sets that the rest of us are desperate to get our hands on - and of course, they wouldn't be Imagination shows without a special offer, or two.

Canvas by Martina..............

You'll find all the products in the shows on our page on Hochanda's website - many of you know by now that shopping ahead can be a very good idea........

We'll be cheering MJ on tomorrow and we hope you will too. She's a little nervous, but after last weekend's One Day Special baptism of fire we're sure she's going to be wonderful.

Canvas by Lisa B...............

By the way, if you'd like to see all the amazing samples created by our design team for the Art Deco One Day Special they're all in our Pinterest boards. 

That's it for now. We hope you can tune in to Hochanda tomorrow. Once again, programme times are 8am, 12pm and 4pm GMT.

Hochanda

• SKY 663 (24/7)
 
• FREEVIEW 85 (24/7)
 
• FREESAT 817 (24/7)

Have a great weekend.

Tuesday Tutorial - Art Deco Canvas by Martina Tidball

Good morning all, Martina here! Enjoying the sun? I know it’s a bit hot, but it is lovely to see bright skies every now and again. Not so great in my craft room though, it feels like an oven and when the heat gun goes on I really do melt! This week I would like to share with you a step-by-step guide showing how I created one of the canvases for the Imagination One Day Special on Hochanda last weekend.................

To start with I wanted to add some dimension to the corners, so I reached for my StructurePaste and used it through the Art Deco Corners stencil. Once this was dry, I reached for my 

Mixed Media Sprays in Fuchsia and Purple and spritzed directly onto the canvas. With a wet paint brush I dragged the colour across horizontally to create a divide and to blend the tones..............

One the canvas was dry, I wanted to create a ‘showbiz’ backdrop. I had no idea how to do this, so at this point there was a lot of playing! Taking a wet paint brush, I striped upwards from my horizon line to the edge of the canvas. After each stroke, I immediately blotted with a tea towel to ‘bleach’ the colour away. I repeated this several times until I was happy with the effect................

 

 The ‘lights’ looked a bit pale for the effect I wanted, so I decided to add some Pearl Starlight Wax to each stripe making a shimmery finish...........
 

I was getting there with my background, but I still wanted it to ‘pop’ a little more, so this time I used some Black Starlight Wax and watered it down to make a grey tone. Using a fine paintbrush I added a light stripe to the edge of each ray on the left-hand side.

In the bottom purple area of my canvas I wanted to create a floor. To do this I used the repeating pattern on the Art Deco Fan stencil and some more Pearl Starlight Wax.

To make my Structure Paste corners stand out, I replaced the stencil and stippled some Black Starlight Wax through it using a domed stencil brush.

Now my background was sorted, I needed to add my main features. I apologise here, as I think I got so involved I appear not to have taken many photos! I chose a font from my PC (I think it was called Broadway?) and typed my chosen sentiment, resizing to fit. Once I had thought about my positioning, I planned where I wanted my Deco ladies to sit. I masked the bench section from the Isobel stencil and used Black Starlight Wax to add it in. I then extended the bench by moving the stencil along slightly and repeating the process. Next, I changed the masking tape to mask the bench on both the Isobel and Sally stencils. Using the NEW Golden Delicious and Vineyard Sparkle Medium colours I added the ladies to the canvas and set aside to dry. The finishing touches were some gems from my stash.

There we have it: a complete experiment, but I think it turned out ok in the end!

The other samples I created for the ODS programmes can be seen in our 

Design Team Pinterest board.

Imagination Crafts will be back on Hochanda this coming Friday, June 2 at 8am, 12pm and 4pm GMT with our new design team member, MJ. 

Thank you for reading and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Love,

Martina

xxx