Category: Gold Leafing

NEW Creative Expressions and BLING!

4/20/2019

For those of you who don't know... We recently got in a bunch more Creative Expressions goodies!!!

I have also been IN LOVE with all their stamps!! We just got in several more!!

The Dragonfly image from Wendy's Class is also back in stock!!! This Dragonfly is GORGEOUS!!

We love, LOVE these stunning die-cuts!!! Their new sentiments are so sweet and small... Great for card making!!

Check out some of their new Tile Collection Die-cuts!!!

These new Tile die-cuts are SO FUN to play with and make cards with!!

Each of the Broken Tiles Collections have a design die-cut AND a shape-die cut so you can cut the tiles out of OTHER PAPERS or OTHER DIE-CUTS so the tiles all match up!!

Check out this card Bekah created using ALL 3 dies!! (Notice how the Bitty Dots die-cut was then cut out of one of the broken tiles shape so it matched up PERFECTLY with the other 2 shapes!!!)

After Bekah created her 3 tiles she adhered them to a piece of Silver Glitter Paper. I love the contrast here!!

I also LOVE what Tracy created here where she layered RED SCRAPS of paper and a fun black and red doodle UNDERNEATH the Broken Tile die-cut shapes!!! She pasted the tiles she created onto a piece of Black Glitter Paper.

The contrast and the COLORS are so much fun here!!!

Creative Expressions and Nuvo both make AMAZING BLING!!!!!

Shaped Gems
Shaped Glitter
Gold Leafing
Biodegradable Glitter

Of course, when these NEW GEMS came in I was SCREAMING WITH JOY but even better is that they come in so many WONDERFUL designs!!

Each container comes with 3 sizes of gems!!! I love how iridescent and glittery they are!

Of course, I was OVER THE MOON at the Butterfly AND Star Shaped Glitter!!!!

Just LOOK how tiny these little Butterflies are!! I love how precious this card is when you add the little butterflies in as an embellishment!!

(But really, any of the shaped glitters OR gems would also work great for Shaker Cards!)

I love HOW MANY different colors of Star-Shaped Glitter that Creative Expressions carries!!

It makes me SO HAPPY!

Just look how wonderful!!

Also, Creative Expressions makes these FANTASTIC containers of Gold Leaf flakes in a variety of different color combinations... and they REALLY pack these full... so you get a LOT of leafing!!!

Now, Glitter has kind of been getting a lot of flack recently because it's *not great for the environment* ... and when I saw that Creative Expressions makes BIODEGRADABLE GLITTER I was SO EXCITED to get some for myself!!!

I love the different shapes of glitter in it too!!!

Stop by to indulge in all the fun, new stuff!! We would love to see you!!

Call us if you have any questions!!
360-647-9663

Altered Books

11/16/2018

It can be really fun to create art inside a book!! If you love to collect old books, you may be familiar with the aesthetic of holding, opening, and smelling an old book.. there is just something special about it.

This week for Demo, Bekah was the demonstrator! She showed some ideas for altering books and shared her take.. what wonderful ideas!!

There are SO MANY different concepts to consider when you alter a book... Here are some ideas!!

Use an X-acto Knife and a cutting mat to create unique cuts into old pages... back the final page with a solid piece of decorative paper to create a nice focal point. You can add findings to hide throughout your book... like hidden keys or old stamps or fun pieces of art you may have collected..

You can also take an old canvas book and tear open the front of the canvas and add in handmade papers!!!

Pictured below, you can see how the book is torn open in the middle with textured paper added. Then, add ink to bring out the texture and add in a Dragon Eye. In the sample below, you can see the molten-lava looking medium.. that is hot glue with Composition Gold Leaf applied to the hot glue... what a cool effect!!

Sometimes in old books there might be water stains... in this idea you can see how we used the water stains to start a doodle!! Just go where your mind takes you... add in collage and decorative papers to make the journal more expressive of your ideas!!

You can re-cover your old books to make them look WAY more exciting!!

Add Charms or Metal findings!!
Create new and unusual bookmarks!
Add decorative and handmade papers to make your book more fun!!

You can use inks to colorize backgrounds and then use an X-acto Knife to cut out designs and overlay them so you can see the ink behind it...

Doodle on your book pages and then use an X-acto Knife to cut out your designs!! Use Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive to glue layers of paper together to add dimension to your altered book..

Now, I have to share this AMAZING idea that Bekah came up with!!

Bekah has used powerful female figures to inspire her art recently.. and her ideas are just AMAZING!!

She used the book I Am Malala and traced the cover of the book onto tracing paper

Then, Bekah used the tracing to create bold areas to lay out where she would be cutting her book

Using her design on tracing paper, Bekah created a stencil from a sheet of Acetate.

In the SAME BOOK that she took the portrait design from, she created her Altered Book.

She traced out areas with a pencil. She then glued some pages together with Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive and used an X-acto Knife to cut out the chunks of paper where she traced.

Then, Bekah took Nuvo Blending Sponges and added ink to the page behind the portrait. She applied Distress Ink, Walnut Stain ink to the entire page.

When the page is turned, the portrait really stands out!!

Next, Bekah took the same stencil and Nuvo Mousse. She used 3 colors of Mousse: Aubergine (purple), Black Ash (grey), and Toasted Almond (ivory).

To make a skin tone, she used her palette knife on a silicone craft mat and added a few particles of Jupiter Color Burst and a TINY BIT of Toasted Almond Nuvo Mousse. The ivory tones of the Toasted Almond Mousse mixed with the orange tones of the Jupiter Color Burst make a beautiful skin tone.

Then Bekah used the Aubergine for Malala's scarf and the Black Ash for her hair and eyes.

She used the same book as the cutting above, just used a different grouping of pages farther in the book

I love how Bekah used the same theme for her art as the book.. it really just ties it all together!!

What beautiful and clever ideas, Bekah!!

Next week is Thanksgiving, we will have NO DEMO!!
Join us for the following week's Demo as we explore the world of Paper Lanterns!!

Liquid Gold Leaf

10/26/2018

We recently brought in Liquid Gold Leaf... which is an AMAZING product!!!

If you are familiar with traditional Gold Leaf (or Composition Metal), you may know that it comes in Leaf form and is VERY light-weight and soft.. it sticks to anything that is sticky and leaves a really stunning effect...

.. But Liquid Gold Leaf (or rather, Liquid Leaf as it also comes in Silver) is DIFFERENT because you can actually paint it on!!

Liquid Leaf comes in 4 wonderful colors... Classic Gold, Brass, Florentine Gold, and Silver

To work with Liquid Leaf:

Start out by SHAKING the bottle very well, you can also stir the Liquid Leaf with a disposable skewer
Use Synthetic Brushes such as the Nuvo Brush Set (you can use Rubbing Alcohol to clean the brushes when you are done)
Paint like normal onto card stock, glass, metal, clay and MORE!!!!

Just LOOK how vibrant the color is!!! You can even do Brush Lettering on all sorts of papers.. like this Matte Dura-Lar!!

Check out how cool this splatter effect is on the Matte Dura-Lar!! It is slightly embossed and is just as vibrant as traditional Gold Leaf

Write on black card stock to create a REALLY stunning effect!!

You can also use Light Molding Paste with a stencil... here I used the Olive Branch Stencil from Echo Park

Apply the paste with a palette knife and, once the paste has FULLY DRIED, brush on Classic Gold Liquid Leaf across the paper so that the entire image is coated with the metallic paint

We have also been playing around with the new Apoxie Clay! This clay bonds HARD AS A ROCK in just 24 hours and requires no heat.

While working with the clay, I made and shaped my own lock and put it on an old Altoid tin... I used the Brass Liquid Leaf to colorize the lock and I LOVE the results! Or check out this Harry Potter style wand with droplets of Brass Liquid Leaf throughout...

Check out this idea...

Take a plain tile and use the 2-part resin mix to float Alcohol Inks on the surface THEN drip on a little bit of the Liquid Leaf and watch as the colors move and flow together...

It has such a BEAUTIFUL appearance!!

Liquid Leaf is solvent based.. which means it can bond to ALMOST ANYTHING!!!

Seashells
Rocks
Plastic toys
Wood
Feathers

... and SO MUCH MORE!!!!

Stop by the store to see these samples in person!! You are going to FALL IN LOVE with this new product!!!

See you soon!!
360-647-9663

Apoxie Clay

7/20/2018

This week at Demo, Elli was the demonstrator for one of our favorite new products, Apoxie Clay!

We learned all about this *fantastic* new product and saw how it can be used in a variety of ways!!

What is Apoxie Clay??

Apoxie Clay (or Apoxie Sculpt) is a 2 part clay. You take equal parts of PART A and PART B and knead them together (It is EXCEPTIONALLY IMPORTANT that you wear gloves during this part of the process!) for about 3 minutes. After the clay is mixed, remove your gloves and work with the clay like you normally would. You have 1-3 hours to work with the clay before it starts to harden. The clay dries to *HARD AS A ROCK* in just 24 hours and requires NO HEAT or baking to finalize the hardening.

That being said, check out all the fun things you can do with the clay!!

You can take any old box and add embellishments with the clay!! Use any Silicone Mold to shape the clay. The clay bonds *beautifully* to the surface of this box we made using Thin Chipboard. You can color the clay after it is dried with Acrylic Paints

You can even make jewelry with Apoxie Clay! This miraculous clay bonds to rocks, precious stones, metal, and MORE!! This necklace (shown below) was created using NO GLUE... The bond is incredible, durable, and long lasting!!!

You can also use Gold Leafing (aka Composition Metal) to add color to the Apoxie Clay...

Here we took an old pen and added the Apoxie Clay and then rolled it through Gold Leafing... WOW what an incredible effect!!!

You can also shape and sculpt miniature pieces of art!!!

We shaped the covers of this mini book and let it dry on a Silicone Craft Mat (Parchment Paper also works). *we made the holes for the book before the clay dried by using the tip of a small skewer*

You can add details into the book cover by using the tip of an X-acto Knife to create designs, or bits of lace or ribbon to add texture.

After the clay dried, we added paper to the inside and attached the book using 3 small rings we made using bits of wire.

The Ball Chain is from Tim Holtz

One of the coolest things to do with the Apoxie Clay is make leaf impressions.. you can use fresh leaves from your garden!!!

Just use an X-acto Knife to shape the piece of clay to be "leaf-shaped" and then lightly press the leaf down onto the clay.. VEIN SIDE DOWN. The veins of the leaf with give the best impression in the clay.

*Don't forget to create a hole if you are planning to make it a pendant*

After you make the leaf impression into the clay, you can colorize the image using Pearl-ex Powders.

*the Pearl-ex Powders will only stick to the clay when the clay is wet*

To apply Pearl-ex powders AFTER the clay has hardened, you will need Versamark ink and a Low Odor Spray Finish