A Garden Urn for YOU...Wait...Not THAT kind of Urn for YOU...

...It wasn't a threat!!  I swear!!  I meant the good kind! For flowers and such and...

Sigh.

I'm pretty sure this is what all those school teachers were talking about during one of (the MANY) school conferences with my parents. I was either talking too much OR saying inappropriate things OR not thinking before I spoke and having 'unintentional, yet profound, impact on others'. 

I'm just kidding!! 

Seriously...It's wasn't either/or...it was all three. Together. At the same time.

Oh, come on...did you REALLY expect anything different??? This is ME we're dealing with here, people!

I'm working on a shadowbox secret garden. Using Graphic 45 staples and paper, I wanted to put something together that was unique and filled (mostly) with things I made myself. Hence, the Koi Pond and now, the urn planter and garden sink. 

The garden sink is made by prima, but I gussied it up so I can feel pretty good about having a hand in customizing that. In fact, I'll have the tutorial for you tomorrow, if you're so inclined to take a look. :)

Today, however, is the day for my garden urn planter. 

I've never 'quilled' in my life. Personally, the first time I heard it, I thought it had something to do with old writing quills. 

Or a QUILTER with a lisp.

Anyway, I figured out that it's not that hard, and I jumped into making the base, which I shaped and stuck a toothpick into for stability. That was easy enough. It was the next part that threw me. See, I'd discovered these wonderful little urns HERE 

WARNING: Don't panic. It's neither you, nor your wine consumption, that causes the page to look funny. It's in French. Wine consumption, at this point, would only be a negative if you started seeing the text in English. THEN there would be cause for concern, or flat-out panic...at least a LITTLE before you pass out.

Being a visual learner, I wasn't too concerned with my French being limited to "Commet alley vous, Mademoiselle." and "Sprecken zie English". 

The problem was the little coils with the big holes in the middle. My Curling Coach was CLEARLY not set up for this. Fortunately, I knew the ONE place where I would find the right answer. And NO...it wasn't Pinterest. Remember, it was PINTEREST that got me into that mess in the first place.

 I went to talk to the Dirty Girls as Splitcoaststampers.com. The Dirty Girls are what the SCS Design Team is referred to. As there is 12 on the design team at all times, it's called the 'Dirty Dozen'.  A 'Dirty Girl' spends 6 months in the 'Dirt Pile', then comes out as a master of all papercraft. Sort of like Kung-Fu, but without all the sweating and boiling pot of water to brand ourselves with some symbol of our mastery on our forearms; like a paper trimmer or something REALLY edgy...like a Scor-Pal.

I spent 6 months on the dirt pile, myself. Personally, I think they were really short last October, and they figured I MIGHT be less high-maintenance and less 'stalker-y' if they were to put me on it. But, whatever the reason, if THOSE girls don't know the answer, then there IS no answer.  

In English, at least. 

Sure enough, someone suggested coiling paper around a tube which was close to the circumference I needed. Which I did. Twice. Shaped them both to fit evenly, and one to fit  the coil on the wrapped toothpick. 

Afterwards, I put a decorative sticker around the middle and 2 plain line stickers at the top and bottom for texture. Then, I painted it white (yes...I used different colors of paper...kept running out of the colors I was working with....then painted it a gray that I mixed with matte Mod Podge for sealing. After letting it dry for a few minutes, I lightly used a baby wipe to create some distress, and that was it! 

So, my secret garden progresses. Here's a look at a little of the process.

BASS-ACKWARD Mini Projects with Carmen

Meet my miniature Koi pond. I made him out of clay (cue song)

I fired him (actually, I baked him in the oven for 20 minutes, but using the term 'fired' sounds makes it sound SO much more like I know what I'm doing! Which I don't! Yet more evidence that YouTube is going to bring about the end of the world as we know it...ok, ok...cue THAT song, as well.)

I'd also like to introduce my miniature koi fish, lillypads and flower, also made from clay. 

Now, I will take you to the Koi in the pond, covered by their first coat of resin. 

Tomorrow, we'll introduce the 2 lily pads, AND a tiny little frog. Which I did NOT make. But DANG he looks cute on the pad!!! No...you CANNOT see it yet! Tomorrow, I said! 

Only because I'm too lazy to take another picture and have to push all those buttons to send it to my computer, then download them and you know...all that stuff it takes MINUTES to do! Too tired.

But I WILL let you have a group photo

This little Koi pond came about when I saw this video tutorial on you tube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IDEBsxGRGk

I'm telling you, this girl is GOOD. I mean, REALLY GOOD!!!

This was a first try for me, and probably not the last. Lately, I've had this thing for miniature making. You know, sort of like that thing I had for clocks, then Altoid tins, then purses, then 3D, then watercolor, then 3D flowers, etc. etc. etc.

On that note, I've got a miniature garden urn planter (from quilled/coiled paper) I've got to finish, and, for the mother of all non-sequiters, a miniature, Victorian lamp to attempt. All for my new shadowbox project that I wanted to have done a week ago, but we know how I am about that 'planning' thing.

THINGS YOU WILL NEED

Pebbles, coated with dark gray paint and rinsed. 

Dark Gray Ballast Medium cinders (for bottom of pond...found it at a model rr hobby store)

E6000

Sculpey Clay-Translucent, Pearl, white, yellow, green, red

The patience of Job...either real or the one that comes in the handy pill formula. 

tee hee

Graphic 45 Design Team Audition 2015

My Art on Pinterest!

G45 Cuff Bangle-Made with G45 key, lock and doorknob plate (blog tutorial here)

G45 Couture Vanity

G45 Botanical/Couture ATC Cigar Box Armoire (5 photos)

Once Upon A Springtime Nightlight/Shadowbox ft. Chibitronic LED lights (Blog tutorial here)

(6 photos)

TY, G45!

My art on Pinterest! 

Bling, Blang, Hot DANG!

Rarely, does a first-time effort of mine actually WORK. 

May I present to you, the Graphic 45 Cuff.

As I was saying, RARELY do things work out for me on the first try. I really want to stress this because when I first started crafting 2 years ago, I was convinced that all the fabulous projects I kept seeing were first attempts by the artists! Seriously! Think about the videos and tutorials that are out there...how many of them actually admit they're on their 17th attempt? That's right...not many. However, the stars aligned correctly for me and, not only did I nail the first attempt, I'm on my way to buy lottery tickets. Or, 'fund my retirement', as I'm fond of calling it. 

I figure the chances of the lottery paying off for me is about as likely as Social Security. But ya gotta look at the glass as half full of wine and not half empty. Of course, ANY wine in a glass is a positive thing. Now, I'm thinking about wine and have forgotten what I'm supposed to be talking about. Sigh.

The cuff! That's it. And I'll have you know that I have prepared one of my incredibly technical tutorials that reflect my inherent professionalism and attention to task. 

NOTE: Any wine bottles in my tutorial photos are for craft purposes only. No grapes were harmed during the making of this tutorial. I can't make the same promise for children or husbands, but at least the grapes are safe.

As most of you know, Graphic 45 is having their Design Team call, and I fully intend to give it a go. Laura Carson, a G45 Ambassador (Ambassadors are people who work with G45 in teaching classes, etc. and aren't like the rest of us, who craft only when we can feed our kids Benadryl to get a few hours of peace) created a gorgeous necklace out of G45 materials.  Being ever the fan of non-traditional craft item usage, I wanted to make my own jewelry. So, I pulled out all the G45 ephemera I had on hand.

My FIRST thought was to make a crown. Mostly because I have always believed I SHOULD have a crown and forcing everyone do what I say, when I say it. However, as large as this door plate is, it certainly wasn't large enough to fit my head. So, that left only 2 other body parts that weren't too chubby to actually consider using as inspiration for jewelry. An ankle bracelet or wrist cuff. I quickly dropped the ankle idea, feeling it might resemble a shackle, moreso than a bracelet, so the cuff it was. 

Bending the lock wasn't too difficult...at least I don't THINK it was...I made my husband do it. BUT, the hardest part was curving the ends, which we did with some needlenose pliers and patience.  When we finished, I spray painted it gold, just to see if the paint would stick and give me a good base for what I had in mind. It did. :)

Next, I started assembling what I wanted to use and piecing it together. 

 Using my needle-nose pliers, I bent the brass side pieces I found in my stash to accommodate the curve.

 Using E6000, I glued it all together and spray painted it in Metallic gold and let it dry overnight.

What I had in mind was to try and enamel this part of the cuff before putting on the final two pieces. I'd been wanting to try Ice Resin enamels, so I purchased the Turquoise finish (I had this idea of worn verdigris with pops of gold) and found the process quite easy. You won't get the smooth enamel finish that you get when using enamel and fire (which I believe my husband, and the State of NC has banned me from using) but it was easy and I like the finish. First, you brush on the liquid Medium and sprinkle the Iced Enamels. Mine was 'Relique Turquoise'. After heating it with your heat gun, you can continue to add layers. Just watch the hot metal. I didn't  and the only positive thing is that the kids will think I had myself branded, which will add to the 'fear factor' with which I use to raise my three boys.

I used 2 coats of enamel, brushing powder away from different parts I wanted to accent.

I coated the piece with liquid resin and let it dry overnight. The next morning, I glued crystals to the main butterfly piece, then glued it-along with the key on its back-to the butterfly below. I wanted more gold to show through, so I began lightly scraping the soft enamel off. The resin wasn't dry, so I was able to take a lot of the enamel off without scratching the gold spray paint off underneath. Then, I coated everything again with resin. And, once again, here is the result.

Thanks for hanging out with me and please let me know if you have any questions. I appreciate all the encouragement I'm getting for this G45 audition...I appreciate it more than y'all will EVER know! MWAAAH!

A Fae for Good Luck! I'm gonna need it! Ft. Graphic 45 "Once Upon A Springtime" and Chibitronics

First, my apologies for the amount of pics to follow...but this is a project with a lot of stuff going on and I have NO way of explaining it all without the pics...so thanks for grooving along with me!

Graphic 45 "Once Upon A Springtime" Fairy Diorama/Night Light, featuring Chibitronics made with G45's 5x5 Mixed Media Box with window.

 Front with see-through window, both sides framed using frames from the collection and acetate.

Last summer, I discovered an AWESOME product with a LOT of potential called Chibi-using copper tape, a watch battery and tiny LED light circuits, we can now bring light to our projects without having to use those dang huge fake candle lights.

Putting up these 2 rows of lights took less than 5 minutes. And it's easy...trust me. I failed every form of math and science known to man, and I can STILL do this.  Now, I can tell you're not impressed...yet. But consider this...I'm able to take this cute project and take it to another level entirely when I light it up with blue and white LED'S and make this cute diorama into a fully functional nightlight!

Here it is in full light...you can still see the blue tint. 

As to the rest, here are the close-ups and additional angles

As to the process, I mixed up some dark blue paint and painted the back of the box. I added a little tissue paper for texture, and painted it again.

After it dried, I installed the lights using E6000 on the batteries and binder clips to hold them firm.

Next, I cut my frames and trimmed an arch at the top of the window to fit.

I made the log the fairy is seated on out of Model Air-Air drying clay. I used a toothpick to scrape the lines and just rolled it. I flattened the part for her seat and let it dry. Then, I used my Copic air compressor to spray different E's and YR markers and kept layering them to get the layered color. Trust me when I say that I'm not an expert in layering color...just use browns and oranges and you can't go wrong. :) When done, I glued moss over the log and attached it to the back using E6000. Then, using plastic greenery, I began building my 'forest glade'. 

The rest was just decorating! I was SO pleased with the way this turned out! This is one of the projects I'm submitting for the G45 Design Team tryouts, so wish me luck, peeps!

More info regarding chibitronics can be found here at chibitronics.com