Up-Cycled Garden Sign + Pin-It to Win-It

We are doing a Pin-It to Win-It Contest over on Pinterest!!!! 

Our designers have picked their favorite products and assembled them into collections just for you -- collections we are giving away!! Pin any or all of the Designer's Picks from our Pin-It to Win-It Board to be entered to win the collection you pinned. We are adding new collections every day this weekend so check back daily! Just click on the image below to get started:

Source: clearsnap.blogspot.com via Clearsnap on Pinterest

And now, back to our regularly scheduled blogging, with Tami!

Hello Inky Crafters, hostess Tami here today with a project featuring the NEW! Mix'd Media Inx Colors! 8 beautiful NEW! colors have been added to Donna Salazar's signature line. Colors that lend themselves to all types of projects, especially those that are vintage-inspired...

   

If you haven't tried Mix'd Media Inx, and you like to work with different types of "surfaces", you need to get your hands on some and give them a whirl. Mix'd Media Inx are super thick, super creamy pigment inks that have a longer dry time than regular pigment inks. The longer dry time gives you time to "move and groove";  mix them, blend them and manipulate them in ways you haven't been able to do before with regular pigment inks. The colors are simply A-mAziNg! So deep, so rich, so intense; you'll love them. And, for even more ways to play, try embossing them as I did for this project. Embossing intensifies the color even more and the ink is raised, glossy and GORGEOUS!

You can make this project for just pennies, as the supplies are all items you probably already have on hand; vintage book pages, cardboard and jute. I love the look of stamping on book papers, you get instant texture! And when you emboss the images, like I did on this project, you add a little polish and shine too.

Take a closer look at the flowers; several colors were applied and blended to the stamps using the Stylus & Tip. And check out the fabulous colors and the gloss of the emboss...

My stamp set of flowers didn't include a leaf, but by using the Stylus with the Leaf Blender Tip, I was able to make my own.

The words of the phrase were also stamped and embossed on book pages; the key there is to make sure that your font and your ink color is bold enough to stand out from the book pages. The great alpha set from My Sentiments Exactly and the BOLD colors of the Mix'd Media Inx did just that...

Another fun way to use these inks is with templates. I used one from Crafter's Workshop to make the background design on the cardboard pieces. I applied 3 colors of the Mix'd Media Inx using the Stylus & Tip. The colors mix and blend beautifully and when embossed, create a nice textural background for the rest of the design elements...

I added a phrase to this piece, but you could also add photos - using clothespins, paperclips or small pearl head pins to secure them. You could also use it as an inexpensive memo board; the cardboard is sturdy enough to hold up to pushpins.

SUPPLIES:

Clearsnap Products:

• Mix'd Media Inx: Vintage, Indigo, Patina, Schoolhouse, Pewter, Peaches, Wisteria and Mossy
• Top Boss Embossing Powder: Clear
• ColorBox Stylus & Tips: Oval and Leaf

Other Products:

• My Sentiments Exactly: School Days Upper
  
• Hero Arts: Four Flowers
• Crafter's Workshop: Houndstooth
• Beacon Adhesives: 3-in-1 Glue
• Vintage Book Pages
• Jute
• Corrugated Cardboard

Tools:

• Scissors, Heat Gun and Hole Punch

DIRECTIONS:

NOTE: For flowers stamped using more than 1 ink color:

• Ink stamp all over with first color listed.
• Use Stylus & Tip to apply second color to edges of flower. 
• To avoid contaminating your pads, you will need to clean stamps and reapply inks fresh each time you stamp an image.

Flowers:

1. Stamp 6 large flowers using Schoolhouse Ink on book pages; emboss using Clear Embossing Powder, heat set and cut out.
2. Stamp 6 medium flowers using Peaches and Wisteria Ink on book pages; emboss using Clear Embossing Powder, heat set and cut out.
3. Stamp 6 small 10-petaled flowers using Schoolhouse and Vintage Ink on book pages; emboss using Clear Embossing Powder, heat set and cut out.
4. Stamp 10 small 6-petaled flowers using Patina and Indigo Ink on book pages; emboss using Clear Embossing Powder, heat set and cut out.
5. Use Stylus & Leaf Tip to stamp 28 leaves using Mossy ink on book pages; emboss using Clear Embossing Powder, heat set and cut out.

 Phrase:

1. Use Wisteria Ink to stamp "how", "does" and "your" on book page; emboss using Clear Embossing Powder, heat set and cut out.
2. Use Schoolhouse Ink to stamp "garden" on book page; emboss using Clear Embossing Powder, heat set and cut out.
3. Use Indigo Ink to stamp "grow?" on book page; emboss using Clear Embossing Powder, heat set and cut out.

 Cardboard Base:

1. Use template and Wisteria, Pewter and Vintage Inks - applied using Stylus & Tip to add design to 3 - 5 X 6 pieces of cardboard. Heat set, then tear around all edges to get pieces that measure approximately: 1 - 3 1/2 X 5 and 2 - 4 X 6.

 To Assemble:

1. Use photo as a guide for placement of flowers, leaves and words, adhere using 3-in-1 adhesive. {NOTE: I only added a dot of glue to the center of the flowers and at the base ends of the leaves when adhering. This gives the pieces dimension that the would not get if they were glued down completely}.
2. Punch holes as shown and use jute to connect pieces and for hanger; securing jute on the backside with a knot.

I hope you liked this trash-to-treasure project, and that it will inspire you to see what YOU can Up-cycle! And remember to look for and ASK for the new Mix'd Media Inx colors at your favorite stamp or craft store.