All good things must come to an end - with Linda Eggleton

Hi everyone & welcome to my April 2crafty blogpost....it is going to be a fairly long post, so grab yourself a cuppa & get comfy :)

I have 3 projects to share with you today.....and none of them are layouts.

I thought I'd do something a bit different for my farewell post - yep, sadly, this will be my last post as a DT member of 2crafty :(

First up are 3 canvases.....which were soooo much fun to do!!

"Home is where your {heart} is"

There's a total of 10 different 2crafty pieces on the 3 canvases. I tried to create a little scene using 2crafty pieces that suited the "Home" theme....and I'm really happy with how they have turned out!

I will now show each canvas individually, for a better view.....starting with the centre one, which was the one I started first as I was originally only going to do the one canvas...but then I couldn't stop at one, so decided to create 2 more for either side....

(you can click on each image for a larger view)

 

 For the centre canvas I've used 4 different 2crafty pieces.... "Home is where the heart is" title, a piece cut from the 11" Viney Frame, Ornate Window Frame & ATC Butterflies   As you can see, I've added a lot of texture to the canvas background, but as this post is a little bit long already, I won't go into detail on how I achieved the different textures (I will ,however, try to put them up on my own blog in the near future).     Here are some close up shots & some detail on the techniques applied to the chipboard pieces.....  

 I had previously cut the 11" Viney Frame & used on a project last month...as it's a square frame, there are 3 more pieces I'll get from the frame. I've given this piece the usual coat of gesso, then added some texture paste & then coloured....any guesses on how I added the colour??? lol

Yep, my favourite way of adding colour to my chipboard....painted in glimmermist! This one was TA "slate" glimmermist that I watered down slightly

And again, the same techniques for the Ornate Window Frame. I then added a piece of brick patterned paper under the window frame to help it stand out a bit better so that it didn't blend in with the background.

And here you can see the "Home is where the heart is" title & ATC Butterflies with the same texture paste & painted in GM.....and I painted the little heart in title a different coloured GM.



Now for the 2nd canavas, which sits to the left side of the middle one above.

There's 3 different 2 crafty pieces on this one - Old Fence, Letter Box & ATC Doves

I had a heap of fun working with the Old Fence - First I coated in gesso and the usual adding of texture paste....then while it was all still wet, using the prongs of a fork, I ran the prongs down each little fence post in a squiggly fashion, to not only add texture, but to try to make the posts look like authentic wood.

I kept the Letter Box texture free...so that there wasn't too much texture happening.

So it is simply coated in gesso & then painted with a few different colours of my beloved GM's.

 ATC Doves - gesso, texture paste & painted in gesso...

then a few little rhinestones added for their eyes.


And lasty the 3rd canvas, which sits on the right of the set

3 pieces on this one....Swirly Leaf Tree, Grass Clump & ATC Birdhouse

I wanted to get the same authentic timber look for the trunk of the Swirly Leaf Tree, so it was done exactly the same way as the fence post on the canvas above. The smaller branches & leaves were coated in gesso then texture paste added with a dabbing motion using my brush & then painted in the usual GM.

I just LOVE how that tree trunk came out!!! It seems to give the tree so much character :)

Next up....the Grass Clump has the same standard texture treatment as above, & the ATC Birdhouse is simply gesso'd then painted in GM (no texture paste)

So, there you have my set of 3 canvases.....are you still with me?? lol

Ok....2nd project....

It might look like a layout...but remember I said none of my projects this post are layouts?!  This is an altered photo album....one of those cheap ones you get from the cheapo stores.

I got this one from The Reject Shop & it was solid black in colour before I started altering it ....

4 pieces of 2crafty were used....Ana's Vine, Skeleton Leaves, Graceful Butterfly & Vintage Keys

Again, I've first created a textured background that I won't go into detail here, but will share on my own blog in the near future :)


And now for some close ups....

Skeleton Leaves - Have I mentioned before that I love these leaves!

All four pieces on the album have been coated in gesso then texture paste added. The leaves were coloured by painting on GM & all the white pieces had some Frosted Lace Stickles added for a bit of sparkle.

A close up of the Graceful Butterfly

 Ana's Vine

and lastly....the gorgeous Vintage Key

Now for my last project

Which is a little Kaisercraft OTP handbag - that I've had in my stash for donkeys years.

Yay that I've finally done something with it!!! lol

3 different 2 crafty pieces on this little cutie! - Ornate Buckle, French Lace Border & the word "create" from the ATC word pack

And now for some close ups

 The Ornate Buckle has simply been painted in acrylic paint.....yep, no texture & it still looks great!

I cut a piece of the French Lace Border to suit the size I needed, then coated in gesso & painted in GM....and even with no texture on this one, the GM against the gesso gives a nice mottled effect :)

And lastly, Create from the ATC word pack.

I don't know if I could duplicate how this turned out....I kept trying different colours & techniques until I like it. From memory, it was a coat of gesso....then acrylic paint (in a different colour that I ended up not liking)...so then I painted it in the bright pink acrylic paint...but it looked kind of flat & not quite right. So then I added a few swipes of GM with my brush, & because the paint wasn't dry properly, this is the effect it gave....which I rather like!

I'm thinking I'll use the little handbag for some kind of storage....perhaps for storing my journaling pens :)

Ok lovely peeps, that's all from me....if you're still with me,

I know this has been a really long post, so I thank you for sticking with me!

Before I say my goodbyes...I'd like to firstly thank Vanessa for choosing me 9 months ago to be on this fantastic team...it has been nothing but fun & a pleasure to create with your amazing product...and I thank you for having the faith in my work & for "giving me a go" :) xx

Secondly, a huge thanks to Di for being such a fab co-ordinator of the DT, and for always being so encouraging with everyone's work....and also to the rest of the DT as well - it has been fabulous working with you all & getting to know you along the way on this incredible journey :) xx


So, with that all said and done.... Hasta la vista my friends :)
Take care.... xxx