Wednesday, July 11, 2012

How Many Times Can You Alter a Piece of Metal?


Click photo one time to enlarge, click a second time to zoom in to see the details.
 
It's no secret that I love altering metals...well, actually I love altering most anything and metals are high on my favorites list.  I'm hosting this fortnight over at Frilly and Funkie and my challenge is to use metals, but the catch is they must be ALTERED.  So I set out to do some altering.  For my first piece, I chose a Tim Holtz Ornate Plate that initially was bronze and painted on Snow Cap alcohol ink mixative.  When dry, I sanded it with the Vintaj reliefing block to give it a worn look.  For my second foray into metal alteration, I cut a Pepsi can (careful of the sharp edges!) with the TH Mini Flourish Movers and Shapers die and then ran it through the Regal Flourishes texture fade.  Okay, here's where my question comes in - how many times can you alter a piece of metal?  For this one, I really didn't know when to quit.  I couldn't get it to look right with the pale vintage palette.  First I broke open a pack of the Vintaj Weathered Copper patinas and painted on all three colors. I thought the greens would give it a greenery feel behind the flowers.  Way too bright, it looked terrific, but just didn't go with this piece.  In an effort to tone it down and make it more vintage looking, I dripped on some Ginger alcohol ink.  Again it looked great, but was still way too bright.  So what do you do when something is too bright?  Paint it with gesso, right?  Out came the gesso and I brushed it on.  Well, it did tone it down but it still didn't please me.  Okay, one last try before I chuck these things in the trash, I thought.  This time I embossed it with the Enamelware EP that I love so much and well, I'd like to say that the third time's a charm, but actually that was the fourth time.  And it was a charm.  That did it for me.  I like the variegated look the Enamelware EP gave it and the colors are muted enough to compliment this theme and the palette of the piece.  So there you have it - the flourishes are a little green, a little brown, a little white and spotty and dotty :)

And just a few deets on the rest of this card.  I selected a beautiful piece of designer paper from the Pion Fairy Tale of Spring set (now sold out in the boutique), then of course I covered the entire piece up.  The vintage floral card is from The Graphics Fairy and both the Thinking of You and the My Friend stamps are done in Coffee Archival ink using the Crafty Secrets Sweet Kids set.  And the two sweet flowers were hand stamped with SU Baja Breeze ink and die cut using the Tattered Pinecones die.  Love the way they came out.  The doily is also from my boutique and I sponged it a bit with Vintage Photo DI to age it a tad.

That's about it.  Thank you so much for stopping by today!  Hope you will be joining us over at Frilly and Funkie this week.  Be sure to stop by to see what the other designers have to get your metal mojo moving.

POST UPDATE:  I'VE HAD A COUPLE OF REQUESTS FOR THE FLORAL EPHEMERA FROM THE GRAPHIC FAIRY.  I'VE NOW PROVIDED A LINK ABOVE FOR YOU TO FIND IT ON HER SITE.






19 comments:

Scrumplescrunch said...

Very Beautiful Linda, the Aluminium cut flourish was worth all the trial and error, as it is amazing.
Smiles:)
Sue

Barb Turpin said...

So resourceful! Love the results.

Sophie said...

Wow! Eine traumhafte Karte.
Wunderschön...

Conniecrafter said...

Gorgeous, glad the 4th time was the charm :)

The Sparkly Fairy said...

This is beautiful and stunning!

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

I never would have guessed that the flourish was metal...so cool! I like the use of the soda can! This is one gorgeous card!

Tammy said...

Linda!!!
This is a gorgois piece:)!!! I LOVE all of the detail and how you didn't give up up until it was 'just right':) LOVE this style---LOVE every bit of this card:) GREAT work:) be blessed
~Beyond Measure
Tammy
www.urbeyondmeasure.com

Sue A said...

Only one word as usual Linda - WOW and WOW again, just gorgeous!!! You give us all such wonderful inspiration - and WOW again LOL xxx

Ginger Hanchey said...

Linda this is beautiful! I love the flowers - the whole piece is so crisp, clean and wonderful. Post it please on Zibbet and only tell me about it so I can buy it. :)

marda said...

Wow, this is stunning. All your trials and errors were worth the finale. Beautiful.

Words and Pictures said...

Absolutely gorgeous... your altered metal is stunning - thank goodness you kept trying and didn't trash it!! And the card as a whole is just lovely: delicious, muted colours. Love, love it!
Alison x

Donna Gibson said...

Beautiful card Linda! I'm really intrigued by your use of the Pepsi can with the movers and shapers dies. I'll have to give that a try!!

Terry said...

That sounds like a trick question, Linda! Boy do I hear you and I think we have all been through the numerous attemps to perfection! This card is perfect and such a treat for the eyes! Love it and now I need some of that EP! Beautiful!

B. said...

IT IS SAID IMITATION IS THE GREATEST FORM OF FLATTERY. I would love to imitate (steal) your idea of the floral card cut out and set at an angle and off the edge of the card. I have spent hours looking for this piece of ephemera on the Website you mention. No luck. Any way you can give me a link to it?

B.

Lisa Minckler said...

I just ran out to the garage and salvaged my aluminum cans from the recycling bin!!! I'll still 'go green' but it will be on a card this time. :) Linda, your card really inspired me. I look forward to my 4th time being a charm or fifth, or sixth. HA! Beautiful work here...as always.
hugs,
Lisa x

Meihsia Liu said...

Wow...your creation is as gorgeous as always, Linda. Great inspiration!

Marjie Kemper said...

Sure pays not to give up! The metal looks amazing this way, and I can't take my eyes off the flowers. Love how you alternated the papers on them. Beautiful!

Art By Wanda said...

Well, if you had started with the ep it wouldn't have looked the same and I think it looks marvelous!!!! A beautiful card!!!!

B. said...

Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU. The time you took to provide the link back to GF is so appreciated.

B.

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