Beach Ornament for Eileen Hull

Hello Eileen Hull Fans, I am back! I took a wee break as family life needed some attention, but I am here as the Inspiration Team start a new month. This month we continue playing with the new Chapter 3 die cuts with the theme "Season's". That means any season is fair game. This summer has already flown by way to quickly for me so I am determined to stay in the season. Here is the team blog post.  *Affiliate- some of these companies have given me product to use, play & experiment with. The ideas are my own but I tend to work with companies whose products I like so enjoy the inspiration.  **some of these links are affiliate, I receive a small percentage from the company at no cost to you. This helps me deliver free content!

Therefore... drum roll... I introduce my summer beach ornament. Although to be fair anytime is the best time to head to the beach!

It is super hard to get a photo that does my beach ornament justice as it is long... so here is a close up of the main part of the ornament. There are a few, fun techniques on this one but I did try to keep it manageable so anyone can make one. I have a closer up pic at the end of the post.

Let's get started! I chose the awesome Romantic 8X8" paper line by Stamperia. It is filled with beautiful images of ocean animals. The circle is a little bigger then Eileen's Ornament Die but I knew the paper would need a backing anyway so I could make it work. 

Here is Eileen's die cut with the beige paper to show the difference in size to the Stamperia image. The paper would be too flimsy to be an ornament so mat board would need to be incorporated.

I fussy cut out the circle with that awesome doily edge. Then cut a circle out of plastic from a page protector, that would fit in the wreath shape. Then sewed 3/4 of the circle leaving the top open. Sequins, glass beads & sand were poured in. The top area was then sewn shut. As you can see did not do a very good sewing job, LOL. Don't worry I have a fix for that too. 

Next up was to cut out the wreath using Eileen's newest die cut. They were cut out of printed scrap book card stock. The paper has a bit of weight to it which helps when manipulating the image. They were then heat embossed using Tim Holtz's Distress Glaze in 2 of the newest colors, Prize Ribbon on the left & you can see the patterned paper on the right. This piece will be colored with the Salvaged Patina below. 

Love using embossing powder in general but the cool thing about Distress Glaze is it is translucent so you can see the image through it. Also gives you that epoxy look.

To cover up the sewing marks the wreath was cut up & layered to hide the mess I had made. Gives the ornament a more dynamic look anyway, so bonus. 

Next I cut another of the images, the dolphin, this time using Eileen's ornament die. 

I also cut one out of mat board, then glued the dolphin piece to it. This will  give the ornament strength. It was glued on the back of the turtle piece. The hanging thingy was cut using Sizzix Aluminum which is a sticker, adhered to mat board. I also cut out images from the paper pad, the word "Ocean", backing it on a piece of card board. Then glued this piece to a piece of patterned paper. There is room for me to write the beach name & vacation date.

Time to add some details. Using a shell that I picked up from our beach travels was a good start. It was colored with Distressed Oxide in Salvaged Patina. Once dry the high points were hit with Luster Wax in Gold. Love how it just changes the look of that shell. So great that it can be colored to match your project. 

All that was left was assembly. An eyelet was added to my word sign, & one to the bottom of the ornament being careful to get the eyelet into the mat board piece on the backside. Beads & a very cool turtle charm were also added. I love the idea of a hanging piece to the ornament. 

The shell was glued on using a foam square & the seagull brad was glued on the front as well. I was tempted to keep adding small beads around the shell but restrained myself. Very elegant ornament to commemorate my love of the beach. Now I just have to wait until December to hang it on my tree! Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you hop over to Eileen's blog to see what my teammates have come up with & join Eileen on her Facebook Lives!

Supplies:

• Mat board
• Eileen Hull- Wreath & Snowflake by Sizzix
• "            " - Ornament  Box   "          " 
• Aluminum Sheet in Silver
•  Stamperia Paper Romantic Sea Dream
  
• Distress Oxides- Salvaged Patina
• Redline Tape
• Easy Cut Adhesive

Dream of the Beach Altered Art

Hello Topflight Fans, this week the team are playing with MDF Life Quotes by Debbi Moore. There are many different kinds including Words, quotes, ATC coins & stands to put your creations on. 

MDF stands for medium-density fiber board, basically it is an engineered wood. I was given the word Dream. I went with my favorite colors & decided to do a bit of a beach theme even with the butterflies. My dream is the beach so that is the direction to go in! 

Here is what the Life Quote starts out as. It comes with a stand that the word fits into. I didn't add paint to the part that goes in the stand as the extra layer might not make it fit as well. 

I did a color test on a tag to make sure the colors I picked went along with some of my ideas to jazz the word up. Really loving the look of crackle so that was part of the test. PaperArtsy makes a Crackle Glaze Paint. Hot-Tip PaperArtsy paints come in translucent & opaque colors. Keep this in mind when choosing which ones to use. 

Next up was adding a base layer of color. This will be the color that shows through the cracks. South Pacific was painted directly onto the word. Fresco Finish is a matte paint & really goes on smoothly as a base. Once dry, a layer of Crackle was applied. While waiting for it to dry the butterfly were embossed in Eileen Hull's Golden Rod. Hot Tip- use an embossing heat gun, it is runs hotter & has less blowing so the powder stars put. Also shake the embossing bottle before applying to mix the different weights of powder.

Once the crackle was dry a top coat was added. This will be the majority color. I went with Aqua Duck Egg, a pretty pale minty blue color. A thicker coat creates bigger cracks & thinner creates smaller cracks. Set aside to dry. The butterflies were embossed with Golden Rod. 

The bottom of the word base needed a sandy look & Seth Apters Embossing powder Dirty Sand was perfect!! I masked off the edge that goes in the stand with tape & embossed letting it run up some of the letters because sand goes everywhere when you are at the beach!

The base was coated in more of an ocean water color, Blueberry. Using a heavy gel medium shells & art stones were added. I also used some Textured Sand Paste from Stamperia. Next crushed shells from our last visit to the beach were added. Once all that was dry, sequins, beads, and metal accents joined the fun. 

This is my favorite part just letting my imagination play. Adding details like the mermaid charm, painting the sand with a shimmery paint, adhering Diamond Sparkles from Hunkydory.

Finally a Tim Holtz quote was added with gold ribbon that resembles netting. More beads & Diamond Sparkles & a few more charms. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you jump in to the MDF quote game & make something pretty!!!

*Affiliate- some of these companies have given me product to use, play & experiment with. The ideas are my own but I tend to work with companies whose products I like so enjoy the inspiration. 

**some of these links are affiliate, I receive a small percentage from the company at no cost to you. This may help me continue to bring you techniques & more inspiration.