Sunday, February 03, 2013

Ever After...Well Sort Of!

It's time for another challenge at Simon Says Stamp & Show. Design team member Anna-Karin wants to see a fairy tale inspired challenge. So here we are, and off we go to Neverland , or anywhere else you please for "Ever After". Whether you go with a classic tale, use a quote from a story, or just tell a once upon a time kind of story in your art journal, we can’t wait to see what you do. There are no strict rules here. You could be inspired by a story, a character, even an idea or color scheme. From stories of princesses to flowers that talk, faraway places to under a rock, embrace your sense of whimsy this week and see where inspiration leads you.
 
You are probably wondering why you are looking at Frosty given the theme of the challenge, but when I kept thinking fairytale, fairytale, fairytale in my head, this popped up, and it's a diddy!
  Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul,
With a corncob pipe and a button nose
And two eyes made out of coal.
Frosty the snowman is a FAIRYTALE, they say,
He was made of snow but the children
Know how he came to life one day.
There must have been some magic in that
Old silk hat they found.
For when they placed it on his head
He began to dance around.
O, Frosty the snowman
Was alive as he could be,
And the children say he could laugh
And play just the same as you and me.
Thumpetty thump thump,
Thumpety thump thump,
Look at Frosty go.
Thumpetty thump thump,
Thumpety thump thump,
Over the hills of snow.
Stamps aren't just for inking anymore!  You can also use them to make images in molten Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel, which I learned at Ranger U. It looks scary, but it's really very simple.
Place a Melt Pot onto a Craft Sheet...this baby gets hot! Turn it all the way up. Pour UTEE into the pot up to the fill line, and cover it until it's melted. Add a few drops of Melt Art Heat It Ink (I used Sapphire.), and give that a little stir with the spatula the pot comes with.
Add a thin line of UTEE in a metallic (I used Platinum.) but don't stir this time. It will marble around by itself.
Select your stamp and place it onto a stamping block. Pour the molten liquid and immediately apply your stamp image into it. You can do this directly on the craft sheet or pour it onto a Melt Art Texture Fade like I did. Wait about a minute or two until your UTEE is slightly hardened and not as hot, and remove your stamp. Wait another minute and then remove the whole blog and trim as needed. Allow it to cool and harden thoroughly.
Use Distress Markers to color in the image. Permanent Markers can be used as well. The finished piece will be fragile, so no throwing it around. Mine cracked a little, but some Glossy Accents mended it back up.
I had some left over wood pieces from my Christmas Village, so I thought I would use them to make a plaque. I colored the background with Tumbled Glass Distress Stain because I wanted to still be able to see the wood grain. I used Picket Fence to dab on the bottom to make it look like heaps of snow. I dried it thoroughly.  I stamped Snowflake images using Snow Cap Paint Dabber.
I applied Glue N Seal to some millinery netting to apply onto the plaque. You can also use the netting you get from bundles of fruit or other things.
I actually did the next picture part first, but blogger made it too difficult to reverse the photos...sorry. I added a little bit of Wendy's Embossing Powder (Have I mentioned I want to eat this stuff?) to the bottom part to mimic the texture of the snow. While it was wet, I sprinkled a little Distress Stickles Glitter over it. Glistening snow city!
I die cut white cardstock using the Tim's Sizzix On the Edge Snow Flurries Die. I ran this through a Snow Flurries Texture Fade. To give it strength and sheen, I applied a nice coat of Glossy Glue N Seal. When this was all dry, I adhered it to the side of the plaque.
I painted some balsa wood strips with Silver Paint Dabber. I trimmed them with my Dremel after I measured them to fit the plaque. Love him! Don't be alarmed at my plastic mat...I never clean it. It's like having scars that this chick digs. ;0)
I used Picket Fence to color in the letters. The beaded wire (Computer components...who knew? Thanks Linda Cain for helping me figure out what they were.) was attached to the metal and added to the plaque.
I wanted the faucet handle to match the bright blue arrows and words in the Snowman, so I  used Alcohol Ink to color it. I added a layer of Glue N Seal to it to seal in the Alcohol Ink and prevent it from evaporating off, which it sometimes does on metal. I colored in the letters of LIFE with Picket Fence Distress Stain, and used the wire to attach it to the faucet.
I inked up the plaque, hammered in the brads, and adhered the back part which will be the stand.
 
 
So what is your Happily "Ever After"? Is it something you like to share? If so, create your work of Art and enter it into our challenge. You might be the lucky winner of a $50 voucher to Simon Says Stamp. You can also be named as one of the "Top Three Picks" for this challenge. Good luck, and don't forget to see what the other DT members conjured up this week...pure magic!!!
 
Supplies:

I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!



53 comments:

  1. a fab make , great techniques and love the snowman..great take on the theme trace x

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  2. Wow oh wow Anita!! Fabulous project, with so many awesome details to adore!

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  3. Ой... А почему снеговик такой злой?...

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  4. This piece just makes me drool Anita, the utee snowman is so wonderfully tactile and vintaged, I want to pick it up and feel the dimension of it. Love the board and use of the milliners net, another of your inspiring pieces. Thanks for the steps to achieve this little beauty.
    Hugs Brenda xox

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  5. What a fantastic piece!!! Love how frosty turned out, so clever and you know one of the bits I like best is how you have coloured the word bands with the picket fence and then attached it with the computer bits strung up. Such a cool effect!!! A totally gorgeous make, LOVE it!!

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  6. Absolutely amazing...love your techniques and those details ... my goodness !!!

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  7. Chuffing CHUFF!! That is AWESOME!! And Distress Markers on UTEEE... you are a GENIUS! LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT.... big hugs xx

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  8. Fabulous Anita, I love the use of the netting and your UTEE snowman is fantastic, great texture and dimension and the colours look fabulous. Perfectly framed too. Tracy x x

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  9. Wow Anita, what a fabulous piece you have created. Thank-you for sharing lots of your tips with us too. Enjoy your Day. Hugs from Scotland. Rita xxx

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  10. WOW WOW WOW....This is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!!! What a stunning piece!!!! I LOVE all the texture and detail!!!!!!! SO jaw dropping...

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  11. This is just a wonderful piece Anita! i haven't used my melting pot in oh so long. What a great project for it!

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  12. Oh, my! The texture in this is just off the hook! I love the look you achieved by stamping into UTEE. I don't have a melt pot (yet) but I really want to get one. I also love the way you used the netting. I have a ziploc bag full of this stuff because I can never throw away the netting bags on fruit and veg. LOL...such a packrat. There's so much to love here...the faux snow, the wonderful canvas background, the artful coloring...fun, fun, fun!

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  13. You are so talented, you never cease to amaze Anita!! I love your snowman and they way you put the background together, it's wonderful.

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  14. A very, very impressive collage Anita! Great...

    greetings, Alie :-)

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  15. This is so incredible. I am always blown away by the techniques you have at your fingertips, and how you use them to create such beautiful pieces that are immediately identifiable as YOU! Gorgeous!

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  16. Wow! This is so cool! Love all the techniques. Thanks for sharing with us.

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  17. Anita...this is very very cool! Love your project and your inspiration for it! I love your techniques you used on this...that painted plastic netting for the background...really? You're over the top creative! Love your UTEE snowman! He's very "cool"...no pun intended. :) Love it and love the step by step! <3 Candy

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  18. Cool technique and beautiful background. Wonderful design! Love your take on the challenge this week!

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  19. This is so cool! LOVE the netting on the plaque, and your Melt-Art Frosty is simply amazing; what a fantastic technique for creating a whole new dimension out of a stamp - wow, wow, wow!
    Alison xx

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  20. You really are the most fantastically talented lady! This is a stunning piece, so cleverly thought out and executed, I love everything about it and what a fabulous piece of home decor to bring out each year - love it! Hugs, Anne x

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  21. Another simply amazing piece of art!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  22. Very very cool creation, Anita!

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  23. OMG!!! The work you put into this piece! I am exhausted just reading the steps involved! Great outcome.

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  24. I love the sentiment on this card . . . very cool :)

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  25. Totally AWESOME, as usual! I love the word band and word stick that you chose! Perfect!

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  26. Wow!!! It is so beautiful picture. I love it:) The background is really stunning beautiful colours. And I love the idea of using this great mesh on the background:) This is of course a great snowman with gorgerous colours:)
    Greetings Asia:)

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  27. Wow Anita - what a great work! It is so fantastic and thank for sharing the techniques with us.

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  28. Anita you really are an artist! Background wonderful, fabulous technique and thank for sharing!!! BArbarayaya

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  29. Well Missy Houston....I have been singing Frosty the Snowman for some time now.........I just can't get it out of my head........................I know thats another song !!!!!...and its all your fault !!

    No honestly Anita This is fabulous..................I love my melt pot but have never used the ink......is it new?

    The wooden frame and background/die cut make this an altogether fabulous project. TFS

    Hugs my crafty friend

    Annie x

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  30. How cool is this!?! I'm with Annie... I've got Burl Ives in my head now. Thanks. Love what you have done here, especially the funky UTEE man and the gorgeous netting and snowy base. Fantabulous!!

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  31. I love your UTEE 'd Frosty. The song's stuck in my head too now. Seriously this is fab'. I love the background snowflake stamping looks so lacy, like real snowflakes, and love all the textures you've created in this project. I always hesitated about throwing fruit and veg netting away, wondering what crafty purpose I could re-use it for. I did find out it melts and shrivels with a heat gun producing great texture in collage work, gluing it on to background and painting over. I love recycled projects, making rubbish look interesting or pretty is very rewarding. Thanks too, for the tip about sealing alcohol inked metal.

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  32. Another Anita masterpiece!!! Just got a Melt Pot for Christmas and already it has me hooked. Need to get some of those texture treads now! Love how you coloured your snowman with the Distress markers.
    Did you know if you trim away the UTEE with a slightly larger border you can carefully use your heatgun on the edges to re-melt them to get a smoother finish - just don't use it too long or it melts the image too! (yep, that's happened!!)
    And then there's your background - oh wow! You use materials and media in such a unique way, it is utterly inspiring. Thank you for sharing this and the brill tutorial. Hugs as ever, Jenny x

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  33. Fab piece! What a fun technique. Love all the texture it creates. Great make.

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  34. You never cease to amaze, that is wonderful.

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  35. Okay - the net thing - BRILLIANT. I love it. I might have to start buying fruit in bags. It looks so cool. I absolutely love your blog; your projects are amazing and your instructions are really clear.
    LOL. Having said that, how did you get the blue in the utte/melting pot to end up where you wanted it. I am all about texture these days and the idea of putting a stamp in molten anything is pretty attractive to me!

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  36. great project, love how frosty turned out and love the tutorial too, best wishes.

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  37. I am speechless. This is insanely cool! You have some amazing skills! Such amazing texture and details, I absolutely love it!!!

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  38. WOW! This knocks my socks off! LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!

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  39. When are we going to get a video????? I would just love to watch you work. This is amazing.I just adore your work. I have wanted a Utee pot for ages, I wonder if my chocolate melter will work??? Thank you for always inspiring us. I am currently out of my comfort zone doing the Clean & Simple class with Kristina Jennifer & Julie, my hands are spotless. but coming to your blog is like coming home,as much as I am enjoying learning new techniques, I am looking forward to getting inky again. LOL. Thanks for always inspiring

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  40. Dude, this is awesome! Your frosty rocks and I'm still laughing from your description of the challenge..under a rock..LOL. I love thinking of that perspective. :)

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  41. Anita, I don't associate Frosty with being so beautiful--but you changed that! This is such a lush piece, all the texture and rich colors, you've totally changed my Frosty perspective!

    :)

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  42. Thanks for this fantastic tutorial. Your creation is outstanding. I really LOVE it.

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  43. Stunning work... I've never seen frosty look so good... amazing!! Fabulous tutorial... Love it..WOW! I am in texture heaven.... Hugs May x x x

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  44. Seriously WOW Anita - your head is totally choc-a-bloc with so many staggeringly fabulous ideas! A word I rarely use but this is AWESOME! Thank-you so much for sharing all the techniques here - what an educator and inspiration you are. Brilliant piece! Nicola x

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  45. Adorable work, Anita! I love the techniques and you're right..the song does say Frosty is a fairytale :)

    *mwah*
    Steph
    Simon Says Stamp!

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  46. Amazing piece! What a great imagination you have!! Keep up the good work.

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  47. Ohh Anita, what a fabulous piece! Love it how you stamped into utee! It's amazing! So pretty! Hugs, Sandra

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  48. Anita, this is the "Coolest" snowman! Love every detail and I have many of those fruit and turkey netted bags! Have a great day! Hugs!

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  49. WOW that's amazing Anita, I think this makes the snowman look incredible! Another fantastic technique! :)

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  50. Awesome work I love it .
    The little quote makes me think of that Jack Frost movie with Michael Keaton x

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  51. Lovely piece Anita. You made me want a melt pot!!!! What a great way to make a textured piece. Love everything about it.

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