Giving Thanks Blog Hop + A Woodgrain Tutorial

We at STAMPlorations are having a very special blog hop in honor of Thanksgiving! 

I've got SO much to be thankful for this year. 2015 has been such a monumental one but here are some things I'm EXTRA thankful for:

>I just found out I'm going to be a new auntie again!

>I have amazing, supportive family

>My boyfriend is pretty much the better than Nutella. Yep. 

He's that awesome.

>I reached over 200 blog followers in my first year of blogging!! And you all constantly make my day!!

This week, I particularly felt like getting messy in the craft room. I've been doing a lot of clean-looking cards lately and all of my bits, bobs, and texture-making things have been glaring at me. 

I decided to try out one of those glarers - my NBUS Weathered Wood STAMPlorations stencil. 

But how to go about creating a realistic looking wood grain? I didn't know, so I just started trying things and found a really, really perfect combo! Which, of course, I'm gonna share with you!

Step One

Swipe Vintage Photo Distress Paint downwards, letting the dabber create variegated streaks. Then Spray with Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain, filling in any white spaces. Dry completely. 

Step 2

Position your stencil and tape down. Use an embossing pad to dab embossing ink through the stencil. Do not rub in circles as this will ruin the print AND your inkpad. 

Step 3

Add a dark brown embossing powder. I love this one, which is sooooo old and an inheritance from my grandma. It's actually called rust and dries to a wicked cool texture. 

Heat it all up and voila! Pretty easy, realistic looking woodgrain!

And here's what I did with it!

Lotsa layers! I added some aged pattern paper, as well as some roses from the Blossom Overture stamp set and also put together a sentiment from the same set. I backed the focal panel with some gauze to soften up the overall design. 

I took my layout from the current Retro Sketches challenge:  

I'm also linking this up to Mixed Media World - Anything Goes. I'm also sending it over to Simon Says Monday - Thank You Challenge.

Woot! I'm amazingly happy that I got some mixed media goodness going on again. And I'm so pleased to have been part of such an awesome hop that celebrates the things we all have to be thankful for. 

Please hop along with us! AND you could win a prize! There are some awesome Thank You cards to view!

Thanksgiving Centerpiece with Gesso and Perfect Pearls

My coworkers all laugh at me, because I'm always picking up bits and pieces of things they are going to throw away. This was an apple cider jar one of my coworkers brought to a recent fall-themed potluck. As she was about to chuck it into the garbage, I stopped her and asked if I could have it. She looked at me confusedly, but handed over the jar! Woot! Normally this blog is all card making, all the time, but I had to share my finished Thanksgiving centerpiece. 

The first thing I do when starting a project is to look for inspiration from challenges. The fabulous Oscar de la Renta is being paid tribute over at Runway Inspired Sketches. He will be much missed and left an indelible mark on the fashion industry. I loved his ability to create such light, airy, girly clothes that flattered every figure. I'm not really sure if it's a card making only challenge because the rules don't really say, but I'm going to find out. ;) I chose this image to inspire my design:

 It's bold and graphic and shimmery, but isn't too hoity toity (notice the sneakers?) That's the look I was going for with my creation.

In my last post, I wrote about my first experience using gesso on cards. Did you know you can also use it to paint on glass? I began by slathering my jar in gesso.  It took three different coats! Here you can see the progression. 

  

I've also written many times about my love for Perfect Pearls because those babies are so versatile! (If you want to see many of the ways they can be put in action - check out my post A Walk Down Memory Lane.) I wanted to make the leaf motif on the jar really stand out, so I mixed some Perfect Copper with water to form a pasty paint. 

My camera was cooperating quite well and you can see the shimmery copper accents. I painted the leaves and the stem of the jar and then added Perfect Gold, which is a slightly lighter shade to accent the veining on the leaves. 

I let everything dry, and voila!!

It looked lonely there all by itself, so I ran to Hobby Lobby and grabbed some burlap flowers, berry sprigs, and a little glittery cardinal to add some cheer. 

I hope my dinner guests will like it as much as I do! The next time you think about throwing out a cool glass jar, why not upcycle it into something truly lovely? 

I'm also going to enter it into the following challenges:

Eclectic Ellapu - Leaves 

Mixed Media Mojo - Thankful (because it's for Thanksgiving dinner)

Thanks for stopping by! Follow my blog and leave me a comment and I'll be sure to do the same for you!