Wednesday, May 2, 2018

See Grungy Possibility with Distress, Ideaology, and Baked Texture For Frilly and Funkie



Welcome friends and visitors! Today is that day when the Funkie side of the Frilly and Funkie team get to display their inspiration for the current challenge, which is 'Neutral Point of View'. I'm super excited because it was my turn to choose the theme, and immediately my mind turned to grungy browns!

Here's the scoop on the challenge theme:  'We're seeing a lot of pastel and brighter colors this time of year. For this challenge we're inviting you to step away from all that color and play with your neutral art supplies. You can add a few pops or hints of color, but be sure we see mainly neutrals on your vintage or shabby chic design. (Think black, white, gray, brown, beige, cream, ivory; even gold and silver.)'



I was pretty excited to find this backing to an old frame unclaimed at an estate sale last Friday. With all the beautiful antiques being offered, my friend running the sale thought I was nuts to want this piece of wood. But he charged me $1 for it nevertheless. This set the stage for my inspiration, and I pulled out some Ideaology pieces and my brand new Funky Flowers #3 dies and got to work. I laid some groundwork of Distress paint sponged through a yet unused mini layering stencil. I thought this would make a wonderful backing for the Funky Flowers, but in the end it barely shows at all.


I removed the backing from Tim's Mini Framed Panel to save for another project, since I already had a backing panel. I had some old thick foam circles in my stash, and these work perfectly to add some dimension. I gave the frame a coat of black gesso, then randomly sponged on Distress inks and smeared random blobs of Prima's Texture paste - gold crackle . I got a little impatient and ended up heating to dry the paste, so there's not much in the line of crackling going on. But it adds some grungy texture. Lastly, I scribbled with Distress crayons and heat set. In addition to Vintage Photo shown here, I also used Walnut Stain and Antique Linen crayons.


I painted the Baroque frame with gesso and Distress paints like the wood frame, and while the paint was wet, sprinkled very lightly with Baked Texture in Chunky Rust and Patina Oxide. After heating, I wasn't thrilled with the gloss, nor the Rusty Hinge paint color, so sponged on Walnut Stain paint followed by Distress crayons as per the wooden frame.





Once I had the frames done, I decided what my subject would be. The Paper Dolls each have their own personalities, and as I was shuffling through them, I spotted this girl who reminded me a bit of me when I was younger--I always had a book in my hand. This is when my creative 'early' autobiography was born. I colored the doll with Distress crayons and markers. Notice the staring blue eyes. In my younger days, I always received comments on my bright blue eyes. The bow in the hair and the frilly dress is a bit of a stretch for me. Other ephemera and Design Tape was chosen for it's significance: the alphabet design tape from the Journey set because I have a distinct memory of my brother rewarding me with a dime if I could recite the ABC's correctly. I also remember my Mom making us all know our times tables up to 10 (I wasn't in school yet.) I'm afraid it didn't help me much in the higher levels of math. The 'graph paper' design tape added for my love of drawing detailed room plans when I was a youngster. It seems appropriate I should marry an architect!


I sort of have a ruler/yardstick fetish, so I had to include a piece of one of Tim's Ruler pieces. While I love to use my real rulers in my projects, these are the perfect scale for smaller projects like this. This one's perfect with it's reference to reading. When I was in second grade, I started my tutoring career helping the unteachable to read. (I still remember Ronnie Rush; he's probably a rocket scientist now!) 

Our family dog, Sparky, bore a close resemblance to one of Tim's paper dogs. I just had to have Tim's Milk Caps when I saw there was one with these words on it. While the cap is referring to a type of dairy cow- Jersey cows, I used it to mark where I was brought up--on a farm in New Jersey. We had about 60 head of Holstein dairy cows at any given time.


I hemmed and hawed about what background to use for my Mini Framed Panel, but in the end remembered I had saved this heat embossed panel I made especially for this topic. You can see how I made this in my tutorial HERE.



Once my collage and frame were in place, it was time to embellish the wood panel. I chose a couple of Quote Chips--probably my favorite Ideaology product ever, right up there with the Paper Dolls. I heat embossed 'miscellaneous' in white and smeared it with Vintage Photo Distress crayon to tone it down. While it was not a great impression, the distressed look of it is growing on me.


At first, I thought I could take a pass on the Funky Flowers, but oh, my WORD! These are such amazing little dies that have endless possibilities. Come on, these are NEUTRAL and they're pretty; can you imagine how beautiful they are in bright or pastel colors? Take a look at my talented teammate Jenny's card where she uses set #1 if you need some convincing that these MUST be added to the top of your wish list! I used unlined index cards to mop up some Frayed Burlap and Iced Spruce Distress Oxides and black paper to cut these little pretties from. I used Liquid Pearls for some contrast, and a single half pearl that I had previously colored pink. I just swiped it with Prima White Gold Wax to go with the neutral palette. Just a hint of pink peeks out.

Thank you for hanging in there with my exceptionally long post! Now it's over to you! Please take a minute to pop over to Frilly and Funkie to see what my lovely teammates are tempting you with, and then I hope you'll get out your neutral craft goodies and play along with my challenge. Please see details on the blog. As always, the Design Team will choose a winner who will earn the chance of being a Guest Designer at Frilly and Funkie, and everyone who enters and follows the rules will go into the draw for the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. And there are Top 3 Badges for three further outstanding entries, chosen by the Design Team. I cannot wait to see what YOU will create!


Thank you for stopping by today, and for all your inspiring comments!
Hugs and Blessings!
Sara Emily


The following products were used and are available at The Funkie Junkie Boutique:



31 comments:

  1. A wonderful design Sara... Love all the vintage texture and layers! Love! Xx

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  2. Beautiful work, Sara, so many elements to move the eye around to! Thank you for playing with us at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge!

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  3. What a beautiful project, Sara Emily! I thought I didn't like those funky flowers when they came out but, seening how you used them, I love them now! It is especially nice to get a peek into your past with the things you have chosen. I live in PA and have many relatives in NJ.

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  4. Coming to your blog is always such a treat! The different techniques you use are always so stunning. Thank you so much for joining us at the SumMore Fun Mood Board Challenge.

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  5. Beautiful project Sara! Love the neutral flowers with the added black - perfect for the project.

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  6. oh WOW ... this is awesome! Thanks so much for playing in our ‘Flowers’ challenge at Dies R Us. Good Luck and please come back again soon!

    Darlene (DRU Blog Leader)
    DIES R US CHALLENGE BLOG
    DAR’S CRAFTY CREATIONS Please stop by for a visit.

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  7. Your flowers match the neutral style you were going for. Fabulous project. So glad you joined us at Die Cut Divas.

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  8. Oh my goodness, this is amazing!! Wow, Sara Emily, it's grunge-tastic!! Your details are spectacular, as always!! I love the flowers and the butterfly in the frame and every single detail!! And what a bargain on the wood background!! Stunning, my friend!! Love, love it!! Have a great day!! Big hugs :)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  9. Gorgeous project! Love the vintage look of it! A lot of work, but well worth it! Thanks for joining our "Flowers" challenge at Dies R Us!

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  10. Wow!! This is simply amazing Sara! I think I have said it before but you are certainly a master at creating that aged, vintage look. The details are awesome and I really love those flowers .. you have made them look spectacular!! Thank you for sharing all the fabulous techniques. Am bookmarking this for future ref. Love, love, love it!! Have a wonderful day!! hugs x

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  11. Oh my goodness, Sara Emily, this is awesome! You always find the most amazing stuff - would love to go yard sale-ing with you!!! Your background for this is beautiful as is that frame - WOW!! Love love love it!!! I enjoyed reading about parts of your childhood and the similarities between you and that sweet paper doll. I love your funky flowers and totally agree with you - at first I thought I could pass, but the more I see them the more I want them, so they're on my list. I love how you've used them - they add so much to your beautiful project! Love this!!! Hugs!!!

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  12. PINNED this beauty!!! I LOVE every bit and love the wood panel. LOVE the story too about you and the paper doll with the books...I can relate! Just gorgeous work!

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  13. As much as I cam over only go goo goo and gah gah over this incredible art, and have enjoyed doing so - I am even more satisfied by reading your thoughts behind this piece and seeing your very own self portrait (Tim Holtz style) come to life!!! How absolutely incredible that you've imparted little bits of your personality and character into each beautiful detail on this crazy awesome piece! It's a new favorite indeed! I totally love it and would say this is my favorite use of the funky florals I've seen yet - coolness squared! Thanks for the amazing inspiration this morning. Hugs, Autumn

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  14. Oh Sara, this is my favourite project of yours ever!! That piece of word was definitely worth that $1! I love the whole design, the fact that it holds memories for you make it so special too. The funky flowers do look amazing!! I love this SO much!!! Hugs, Anne xx

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  15. What a beautiful project, love the vintage feeling and all your textures and elements, absolutely fabulous
    ~DT Heather

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  16. Amazing as always Sara. I love everything about this, the colours, layers and composition. I need to go and dig all my TH frames out as you've inspired me to give them a facelift! Creative hugs, J x

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  17. Fabulous! I was admiring every little bit of creativeness and beauty! I love the shimmery background, the fantastic rusty goodness on the ornate frame and the lovely funky flowers! A masterpiece of inspiration!

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  18. Awesome creation, I love all the aged goodness!

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  19. I am completely gobsmacked by this gorgeous creation! The texture is just amazing...but the vintage finish you achieved on absolutely every detail is mind blowing. I am in awe. Just so stinkin' fabulous!

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  20. Where to even start with this gorgeous creation! The ageing and patina on the frames is sublime, the delicacy of the background perfect, the clusters of flowers totally delicious and your choice of focal elements reflecting your own memories all combine to make this project truly special. I am in awe! xx

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  21. So Beautiful!! Lovely vintage design! Thanks for playing along with us over at SumMore Fun Stamps Challenge!

    Theresa (SumMore Fun Stamps DT)

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  22. Gorgeous panel Sara :-) the whole design of this is absolutely stunning!! The textures and details are all fabulous! :-)

    thanks for joining us on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge
    Luv
    Lols x x x

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  23. Absolutely stunning! I love everything about this vintage piece.
    Kate

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  24. Absolutely gorgeous work of art, beautifully vintage with a touch of yourself too, love your blog post too, sooo interesting. Thank you so much for joining in the artistic stamper challenge x

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  25. Super creation, thanks so much for sharing it with us over at The Crafty Addicts!!
    Hugs Donna (DT)
    xx

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  26. Sara this is such a gorgeous piece! I am in love with the neutrals, you never miss with your projects! Such an inspiration ~Ann xx

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  27. Sara Emily, I loved stepping back in time with you, going over your memories, while putting together this beautiful piece!
    I should think, that if I had this, Every time I looked at it, I would be taken back to your youth,on the farm with the Holstiens's,or listening to your Mom having you recite your multiplication table.
    A wonderful post, full of details, both and how to create this piece and the sweet memories of the blue eyed Sara's youth!
    hugs,Jackie

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  28. What an amazing cool project! I am in awe of your talent! Thanks for joining us over at SumMore Fun! ~DT Jamie

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  29. Yum yum yum - brilliant vintage work and gorgeous use of all those bits and bobs. This is so full of thoughts and memories and stories - a magical project and a great post.
    Alison x

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  30. What a beautiful and vintage project! Love how you altered the little frame, it is wonderful!
    Thank you for joining us over Simon Says Stamp MOnday challenge! Please forgive me if this comment is way later than the challenge you joined in, but i had internet issue. I still wanted to thank you though for playing along with us and to let you know I appreciate your project!
    Have a gorgeous week!
    Zoey

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  31. oooh this is so beautiful ! Thank you so much for sharing your work with us at The Artistic Stamper
    WIshing you good luck to win beautiful stamps !

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