Photos from Saturday's Moonglow Techniques Workshop

Here are some of the ladies busily working away at the Moonglow Techniques workshop on Saturday.  It was a day jam packed with splishing and sploshing, scrunching, embossing and generally having a good time crafting.  It was non stop all day, in fact we ate our lunch and got straight back to it without much of a break.  I didn't take loads of photos through the day, I plain forgot, so I had a frantic few minutes at the end snapping a few of their makes.

Their makes included various techniques using Starburst Stains, Moonshadow Inks, Moonglow Embossing Powders, Fusible Webbing, and Fabulous Filigrees.

I did manage to grab a few ladies to show me some of their work in the photos before they finished packing away before going shopping.
 
Here's Jean displaying her background made with Moonshadow Inks and salt.

And here's Jean's amazing Moonglow embossed grape filigree, I really loved how she did this and the 2-tone effect that you can just about see in the photo.  I know Jean used Royal Burgundy Blue Moonglow Embossing Powder for the grapes, I'm not sure which were used for the leaves.  Gorgeous!

Here's Shirley who has gathered some of her background papers together to put away and Barbara who is still toiling away on her lighthouse filigree.

Barbara finished her filigree and proudly presents it.

She did a great job, I had everyone adding the smallest amounts of Moonglow EP onto the filigrees, in order to add 2 tone colour, after a few layers of clear UTEE.  It was great when the colours landed in the right places which is a very fiddly thing to do and everyone made the effort to give it a go and they all did brilliantly!

Here's Barbara's lighthouse close up, my terrible photo doesn't do it justice, but I think you can see she has gold at the top, stripey colours going down and that pewter looks fab for the rocks at the bottom.

Now for some of the other ladies work.  Look at this stunning sunflower, the colours are gorgeous in real life.  The colours are all from the embossing powders.

It was added to the pile of papers made.

And more...

Didn't they do well!

As I said before, unfortunately as some of the ladies had packed away and were shopping by the time I took the photos, I didn't get take photos of everyone or everything and the photos of the filigrees aren't brilliant but I'm sure you'll get a little idea of what they were up to and how great they all did decorating them.

Now Stef, (middle RHS) is off to France (to see our friend Batty) and will hold a workshop at her place with Batty's friends to share the fun.  I am sure the ladies there will love having a messy play and also what she has made to show them.

All in all, it was another great day!!

Jill

More embossed Moonglow Fabulous Filgrees

I used Moonglow 2-tone embossing powders Midnight Emerald Obsidian and Midnight Copper Obsidian on the aspen leaf.  I just love the intricate detail on this, it is so tactile!  I really must stop stroking it and get round to using it on a project...

The gecko is embossed with metallics and stamped into with a patterned rubber stamp.

Again, Moonglow embossing powders in green, copper and bronze have been used before stamping with a patterned stamp design.

Not a great photo of this one, but detail has been added to the leaves and the outline of the 3 tulips with a permanent marker after the embossing powder has cooled.

Fabulous filigrees from last Monday's show

I showed these Moonglow Fabulous Filigrees on the show, they are intrically laser cut mount board shapes that can coloured embossed and used as embellishments, such as for the UTEE frame I posted about earlier this week where I used the anchor that had been embossed with Moonglow 2-tone embossing powders.  The powder above is the Razzleberry Plum.  While it was still hot I added some micro beads for texture.

I used various colours of Moonglow embossing powders on the butterfly above then stamped into it while the powder was still hot with a script stamp.  The stamp must be a proper rubber stamp, a clear stamp will be damaged.

Again various colours have been used on the gecko along with micro beads.

Just embossing powder on this kokopelli design, no stamping or beads. 

I love making these and if you saw the boards we had on the show you will have seen that I've made quite a few now!

The filigrees above are approximately 3", so more suitable to projects other than cards and are on offer at the moment at half price, £1.25 each.  We do have some that are smaller with 2 in the packs HERE

Another UTEE frame from Monday's show with hints and tips

This is the largest of the 3 frames I showed.  As I mentioned on the show I must have made them all about 12 years ago and every now and then I decide to change the colours so I add a bit more to them.

I was hoping to have some step by step photos but haven't been able to do them today so I will describe how I made them.

Materials

Acrylic paint

Non-stick craft sheet

Heat gun

Versamark or other embossing pad

Ultra thick embossing powder

Various colours of embossing powder to suit your colour scheme

Red rubber stamps, the more deeply etched the better

Embellishments, can be beads, wire, glitter glue, charms, filigrees or other chip board shapes

This is not a quick project, but more of something to keep going back to and you will use a lot of embossing powder, especially on a large frame like this.

I painted all the frames with matt black acrylic paint first, painting them means that you don't have to have embossing powder all over which also adds to the dimension.  You can add mica pigment powders to painted areas afterwards if you wish to add more colour.

I demonstrated stamping into a piece on the show but initially you will need to add powder to the frame.

Have a good pile of paper under your non stick sheet as it will be getting really hot, this will protect your table surface.

Ink directly onto the painted surface with a Versamark ink pad, Versamark is a great pad to use for this if you have one as it is a lot stickier than most embossing pads.  Dab the ink pad over a small area, you may feel comfortable just working on a 2" or 3" square to start with.  Sprinkle on the embossing powder, I actually used UTEE black. 

You can use embossing powders that you don't particularly like the colour of to form the basis. If they are ordinary powders they will take longer to build up though.

Tip the powder off and heat, you can repeat this all the way around the frame.

There are a few options for adding further layers. 

Continue adding powders directly onto the frame

Either re-heat the powder you have already added until it is sticky again and then add more powder or allow to cool and re-ink with your Versamark pad.

Heat the powder in a melt pot If you have a melt pot, I feel it would be safer to tip the melted UTEE onto the craft mat to cool before adding rather than tipping directly onto the frame.  If you over pour you could get into a terrible mess, plus it is going to be very hot as well as uncontrollable!

Heat the powder on the non stick sheet with your heat gun and then add them to the frame.

Ink the non-stick craft sheet with the versamark pad and emboss directly onto the mat.  It is the same as embossing a chip board shape or tile except there is no card.

You can add the powders and tip off the excess before heating or use a teaspoon or small scoup to add more while the UTEE is still hot.  Once you get a few layers on it will be so hot that the embossing powders almost melt immediately when they are added.

If you do this make sure you heat gun is well above the powder to avoid it blowing everywhere.  If you have a hair dryer style heat gun you will find this easier to control.  Start high and gradually lower the heat gun.

Allow the pieces you have made to cool.  When you are ready to add pieces to the frame, heat the area on the frame and place the piece you have made on the mat into the sticky UTEE and it will act as a glue. 

When you have built up lots of texture you can either warm areas on the frame and stamp into them there or make them on the mat and add them once they have cooled. 

Make sure the powder is really hot all over, you cannot harm it by overheating on the mat it will just go very fluid.  Ink a stamp with Versamark ink to act as a releasing agent, stamp into the UTEE and allow it to cool before removing the stamp. 

You may find that some of the powder is still hot and is left in the detail of the stamp.  Allow it to cool completely then you can remove it, it should just pop out easily or you can use tweezers.  As long as you are using proper rubber stamps not clear or acrylic stamps, it will not damage the rubber.

Snap the embossed pieces from the mat and add them randomly onto the frame.  Use different stamps to create different patterns and textures.

When adding your cooled pieces do not over heat the embossing powder on the frame as if it is too hot it will melt your stamped piece and you will loose the detail.  If your piece doesn't stick first time, carefully heat the piece on the frame and it will melt into the background.

The good thing about this is that if you are not unhappy with how it looks you can simply reheat and start again.

Save your favourite colours for the last layers.  Moonglow embossing powders look particularly lovely, especially against the black background.

Once you are happy with your frame you can add embellishments, heat small areas and add micro beads, the melted UTEE will also hold chippie shapes in place.

For glitter glue, allow to cool, add the glitter glue to your finger and rub over an areas that has detail.

You may wish to add your mica powders to a clear drying glue such as one of the perfect paper adhesives from US Artquest as this will ensure the mica is sealed in place and as it is a good achieval glue it will ensure the mica colours remain vibrant in the future.   When mixed with the glue a good way to apply it is with your fingers as you can work it into the detail.

I hope I've explained it well enough!  I have another frame to show another time, but if you have any questions, just ask and I will try to help.  I know Lynne has a frame ripe for embossing, I hope this helps Lynne. 

Suze Weinberg saw the frames a number of years ago and she approved of them and thought I'd done well:)

Well, not much notice but Monday's Ideal World decoupage show will be repeated tonight at 8pm on Create and Craft.

We are back to white stuff outside, so glad we visited Peterborough early this week!

Keep warm:)

Jill

Repeat time update - 12 noon today on Create and Craft, 3pm on Ideal World

Not going to let you forget am I?  Today, Create and Craft Live at noon on Sky 671, Freeview 36, if you'd like any of the items on the show, then visit us here

3pm on Ideal World for Craft Creations Ltd.

Just quickly scheduling this, with another teasing photo of one of the frames, hope it works!!

I'll let you know the repeat times as soon as I can.

Have a good week!!

Jill

UPDATE:  Not much notice but the show will be repeated tonight between 1am - 2am.

Shrink Plastic platform card with Nestabilities

Same idea as yesterday for this card. I stamped the flourish design onto pale blue vellum with white Brilliance ink and left it to dry.

I stamped the same flourish onto a large scalloped edge square of translucent shrink plastic that I cut with a Nestability and shrunk it straightaway, no need to wait for it to dry.

The largest dragonfly on Kay's Funky Frames stamp sheet was stamped with black archival ink onto another piece of shrink plastic that had been cut from a large label Nestability.

I edged the piece with the black ink so that there would be a contrast between the dragonfly piece and the scalloped platform.

I left it to dry for 30 minutes before colouring with Sakura stardust pens as I explained on yesterday's card.

I shrank it down and glued it onto the platform.

Remember not to panic when shrinking!!

Jill Boulton held a workshop with us here today, but I didn't get to play:(   In amongst serving customers, I must have made quite a lot of cups of tea and coffee, dozens I think, plus Ian and I made a start getting product samples decided and together for a new live show we are doing on Create and Craft TV on 28th November (12pm).

We have been asked to go back to film another show with Tracey's stamps that featured at the beginning of last month. We will have different accessories this time so I made up the envelopes today for the new design team members to have a play. Quite a challenge for them as there isn't much time and again, there are restrictions on what we can use.

So no chance to take a breather at the moment, it's straight onto the next show. Somewhere in between I really must start my Christmas cards!  I have ideas in my head that keep changing so by the time I get to actually make them I'm hoping I'll have decided what I'm finally doing!

The ladies at today's workshop used a variety of Ranger products, distress inks, cut 'n dry foam, grunge paper, alcohol inks, acrylic dabbers and this afternoon metal embossing with Walnut Hollow products.

The Cuttlebug came in handy on and off all day and last thing this afternoon I poked my nose in with something to try, embossing the Moonglow filigrees onto metal and then working on them with tools. I'd tried it in the week but hadn't made a note of the order for the sandwich, and it proved illogical to figure out again! But we got there in the end and they looked good. Another thing I will show you once I get a chance to make something with them!

Jill