I Knew I Bought That Orange Frame For A Reason

While he loves to tease me about my trips to Michaels, JoAnn's etc., Mr. Chocolate also knows that I know when and where the sales are. As I was heading out one day in the Summer, he asked if I would frame something for him which gave me the perfect excuse reason to go to Aaron Brothers Art & Frame who just happened to be having their semi-annual  $.01 sale. We all have to make sacrifices right, so I made an additional stop.

Got there, found a frame for him which was a brushed metallic red .  Perfect for what he needed. But I wasn't going to pass up the chance to buy another "of equal or lesser value" for a PENNY was I? You know the answer. The same frame I bought him in red also came in a cool orange. I am not normally an orange person but there was something about that orange and did I mention it would cost me a PENNY?

You would think I'd have used it in my Halloween decorating. Temporary amnesia. Cured of that, and getting ready for Thanksgiving decorating, it all came together when Jessica at Craftily Ever After read my mind and made up a Thanksgiving themed printable!!! (Which she's sharing on her site...be nice and follow if you download it ). This is a horrible pic because I'm not ready to put it on my mantle yet and took it at a weird angle to avoid the glare :

I printed it on cream cardstock. I like the cream and brown with the white mat and the orange. And did I mention the metallic organza tulle ribbon I found at Joann's yesterday? No? There's an orange that matches the frame along with a copper, and a deep brown and yes, I got all the colors.

The Paris Collection

Welcome to those stopping in from:

No, I'm not auditioning for Project Runway. When I did the first candle in my "Lumiere" post, little did I know how addicting these would be! So I did another one which I added to that post. And , um....I've since done two more so I decided 4 was a collection and since they're all Paris themed..."The Paris Collection". Here are the two newest:

And here are the four together: 

Now, try explaining to the Safeway checker what you're doing with all these candles. Eyes. Glazed. Over.

Linking Up At:


src="http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad164/frenchychick/blog/frenchy1st-2-5.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket" />
SUGAR BANANAS


 

 

Lumiere

The first storm of the season blew in this weekend and we got prepared for the time of year when the power goes out. We're well equipped w/ flashlights, but playing 6 degrees of crafting separation with me ( where you can relate anything back to something within about 6 steps) storm===>lights out===>candles===>craft idea! See, only 4 degrees of separation between a storm and a craft.

I see these all the time at the grocery store:

Being raised Catholic, I know these as Novena candles but you often see them with images on the glass. Not being willing to let any surface go un-embellished though, I slapped on some Mod Podge, covered with scrapbook paper, downloaded a graphic from The Graphics Fairy, added some text, beaded some thread, added a ribbon and buttons and :

I knew I'd picked up a package of "Paris" themed charms on clearance at Michaels for a reason! Look what was included:

Houston, we may have a problem. I made another one tonight: 

This is a cluster of star shaped rhinestones that comes in a strip

Linking Up At: 

 

Need I Say More....

They're called Double Sin Brownies. You can see why! Go visit Songberries for the recipe!

Oh, and it's exactly TWO MONTHS til Christmas! Just sayin'

More Embossed Metal

So I was making another fired copper piece and this will be an example of what happens when you make your copper "well done". You definitely want a medium rare on this stuff in order to bring out the best variation of colors. When you "cook" it too long, you go from vibrant to dull and brilliant to muted. Which can be fine,but it wasn't what I wanted. So at first I thought this is a fail, but I remembered that I told Suzy at Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom that I usually take my fails and do something else with them. So I did!

This actually looks shinier in the pic than it really was

So what to do with it? It was kind of like an old tin tile except it wasn't old. So I aged it:

And then I painted it some more until I was happy with it using copper and gold paint ( I know...using copper paint on a copper piece of metal why didn't you just leave it alone....well.....) and I wanted to make another plaque so I got one of these out:

4x4 wood plaque from bag o plaques picked up from Michaels for $4.99 before coupon

Covered it w/ scrapbook paper using Mod Podge and went around the edges with copper foil tape. Then I mounted my painted copper piece but it needed something because I have an embellishment problem. Enter these:

Jolee's Boutique 3D stickers that look like miniature moulding. I used 2 pieces from this and two charms from my other metal project and:

Before the paint was completely dry on the copper tile, I wiped some of it off to age it a bit. Fail to fave!

Linking Up At:

 

Who's Afraid of Mod Podge?

Because if you are or if you have only just started playing with it or if you have played with it and want some other ideas or or or, there's a FREE 25 page e-book you can download from FaveCrafts ! And everyone's favorite Queen of Mod Podge, Mod Podge Amy from Mod Podge Rocks is in there! And she doesn't even know I'm posting this :)

The Girl Who Played With Fire

No, not that one, although I did read the books. I don't have a dragon tattoo either. But I do play with fire. The kind from a pencil torch. You're either interested now or you think I've completely lost it. Or both.  Easier to show you maybe?

Butane Pencil and Micro Torches

 Sure I could make creme brulee but I'd rather fire up copper. Why? Because it's cool and changes colors! See:

Embossed and fire heated copper acorn plaque

This may be old news to many of you but one thing I'm learning in blog land is that something's always new to someone.
Several years ago I was at a stamp show and a woman named Elaine Woodhouse was there and she had a micro torch! My inner pyromaniac came out and I stood there transfixed as she not only did incredible metal embossing...on aluminum and brass which is cool enough on its own, but the copper is what got me. When you heat it it is just magical. You don't have to have a torch...you can use a candle or if you have a gas stove etc. but a torch helps. When I went to the same show a couple of years later, she'd graduated to the larger pencil torch so of course I had to as well! If you want to see some how-tos on metal embossing click on her name. She's amazing. You may also have seen Ten Seconds Studio metal embossing projects. I saw them at another show ( notice a pattern here?) and went gaga for their tools. So I've done aluminum, brass, and copper and right now I'll show you a copper project.

Start with your image which can be a stamp (use Staz-On ink) or a clipart image, or a stencil, or if you have actual talent....freehand. I used clipart for this:

This is a sheet of copper I had in my stash. JoAnn's sells some by Walnut Hollow that's about the same weight. Or AMACO makes embossing metal too. Lay your image over your metal which you should place on a stack of newspapers or a special rubber mat that's sold w/ embossing metal supplies. You want your impression to "sink".

Trace your image, and then flip your piece over and go along your outlines to make it pop. You can puff out from the underside. I'm sure there's a You Tube video that makes more sense. I used this pattern wheel thingy to make random designs for no particular reason other than it gives it depth.

I only have two hands so I didn't take pictures while I was torching the copper but do that next. You don't want to hold it too long in one spot and the pencil torch goes REALLY FAST. You also don't want to have just put on a lot of perfume or hairspray. Or have a nervous husband screaming "please don't burn the house down" which is why I do this when he's not home. You will get different results every time you do this which for me is part of the fun!

Once again, one image doesn't want to flip the way I want it to

Sometimes I leave the metal alone at this point. Sometimes not. This time not. I wanted a less shiny finish so I went over it with black acrylic paint and wiped it off. You can use these as embellishments for other projecs or whatever you want. I made a plaque by covering a wood piece w/ scrapbook paper and Mod Podge, attaching some decorative copper thingies and rhinestones, finished the edges w/ copper tape and adhered my metal piece to the plaque using super strong double sided carpet tape. This time of year is when I get my torch out because the copper turns all the colors of  Fall.

Linking Up At: