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Thursday 27 November 2014

How to Jazz up Sospeso Flowers

Festive Lantern

Hi friends I am thrilled my introductory post to Sospeso Transparente was so very well received!

Ice Effect

Though the Sospeso Transparente flowers look gorgeous just as they are ,...you can jazz them up still further by playing with them , adding a few things you may already be having in your crafty armament or using some material specifically designed for Sospeso Transparente .

Frozen Leaf

        At the onset itself I have to specially thank Shalii Mittal for patiently explaining to me how to use vetrificante in gel , ground crystal glass and all the other techniques I will be sharing in the coming posts .Thank you so much Shalini you are truly a Crafter's Encyclopedia and I am so lucky to have got a chance to learn from you albeit over the phone!!

Gardenia Printed films
You can use any of the material listed below to make gorgeous Sospeso Transparente flowers.
  1. Tissue paper napkins+ thermoformable plastic
  2. thin paper[called Paper veils]+ thermoformable plastic
  3. Fabric + thermoformable plastic
  4. Printed films on their own  
Of these using printed films is my favorite as its fast and utterly non messy!I used the beautiful  Gardenia printed plastic films shown above to make some 
gorgeous pearly white Gardenias.
Heated and embossed flowers
They look beautiful just as they are dont they...but let's see how we can play around with Sospeso Transparente a little bit more....To illustrate a few techniques ,I made Gardenia flowers and added them to a swinging Lantern

Lighted Lantern
The lantern swings prettily on a hook and has a base which can be removed to add a candle or LED light inside it.

I used crystal beaded pollen on the centers of my Gardenia flowers as well as added a few pollen on the lantern

Crystal Beaded Pollen

3 ways to Jazz up your Sospeso Transparente flowers

Stack the flowers on top of each other

Flowers to stack
Depending on the designs of your flowers..choose a small flower to stack atop a bigger one. I even stacked a Gardenia bud in the center of a larger flower[ shown in the extreme left of the picture above]
Hot glue flower layers
            Hot glue is the best way to glue your flower layers together. Put hot glue on the center of your larger base flower and after putting the smaller topper flower use the wooden embossing tool to press the flower centers together to get a good firm adhesion + give shape to your flower center at the same time as the heat of the hot glue can alter the shape of your flowers slightly.
            Another tip is if you are planning to stack your flowers don't emboss the center of your base flower as much as you normally would-- that way its easier to stick on your top flower

Ink the flowers

Inking flowers
If you are using paper veil flower designs you can actually use your normal stamp pads to ink your flowers but with the printed film flowers you can use permanent markers or even glass paints.
Inked flower petal edges
If you are using glass paints use a paint brush to apply your paint onto your flowers.

Crystal flowers and Crystal Pollen
You can add glass paint even after adding the ice effect with the ground crystals.

Make "Iced Flowers"

Ice effect
Special Sospeso Transparente materials are required to give the ice effect: Vetrification gel Ground crystal glass

Ice effect
The technique  described by Monica Allegro as "Ice effect" involves mixing approximately equal parts of the vetrificante in gel + ground crystal glass in a plastic dish and applying it over your formed flowers.
Ground crystal glass
You have to work fast while mixing and applying the crystals as it dries fast while its on the dish and can clump together but the crazy thing about it is that takes quite a bit of time for it to dry on your flowers and if you are impatient like me and try to keep touching the flower or lifting it...the crystal will just fall off your flower...so BE PATIENT and allow it to dry...even leave it overnight!

Ice effect
You can be really generous and paint your whole flower with the crystal + gel mix using a small spatula or stick or just apply it in places like I did. The most frustrating thing I found about this way of doing it was the gel+crystal mixture had a will of its own and kept sliding off the curved petals.I tried painting with a brush [crystals stayed put to the brush!], hand smearing[ oof that was messy!] and even a bit of speech therapy [translate that to cursing and stomping feet in frustration!]
Ground crystal Use
Well I had to find another way...and this one is believe me less frustrating ..Place your flower on a plastic surface  and carefully and I mean really carefully  [as the gel is quite liquidy in consistency] pour drops of the gel on to your flower. Add crystal ground glass on top and wait..dont even touch it or move it...just wait! 

Crystal Ground glass

After 30 mins or so you can lift the flower and shake off the excess crystal .With this technique variation you wont get a thick crystal covering of your flower and the adhesion of the crystals is not as strong   as with the other way of applying the crystals but its much easier and you can use this method if you are making non jewelry projects / show piece items .
Ice Crystal flower Pendant
Here is a super short  14 sec video showing my swinging Lantern with the "Ice crystal " flowers.


Ice Crystal Flowers

I hope you like my Ice crystal flowers though they are nowhere as perfect as some of the beautiful Sospeso Transparente flowers I have seen around the net but I hope they are passable for a first attempt!

Do come back later for more techniques on how to jazz up your Sospeso Transparente projects...
More Sospeso Transparente Tutorial Links

Where to buy Sospeso Transparente Materials : Sospeso Transparente materialsPollen 

Monday 24 November 2014

Travel Junk Journal - What and how My style!!

Namaste Guys

Time for festivals and holidays and everyone will be heading for vacations and I want to inspire you all with a Travel themed Junk journal. Before I show you the finished Project lets talk about what is a Junk Journal or  Junque Journal ?? A junk Junque Journal is a journal made from found items papers and scraps and pattern paper etc! It has many a functions you can use them to store your favorite poems or draw in them or add photos and write in them.
I have come up with a unique style of Junque Journal to take on my travels and the save all my travel memories and memorabilia and instead of using scraps and leftover found papers I use good pattern paper. 
So, this journal  I have designed for my upcoming trip and Ii have used the Far and Away Line from Teresa Collins. This paper collection is awesome to make a travel themed journal as It has some really great patterns and also a Die-cut sheet, and some sheets of Atc's and Journalling cards. A lot of the thinking and the work has been done for you.
Without further ado here is how I design and make my Junque journals, I divide the Signatures Day wise and add tons of pages, pockets, flaps and envelopes. So in terms of texture and page sizes there is a lot of variety and scope for adding elements like brochures and also for writing. You must be wondering as the pages are black how I do my writing I use a simple white gel pen to do so.










Just look at all the pages and the real estate so many places to write and add photos and brochures! So, you can get everything about your holiday and preserve your memories for ever.

 

As you can see This book is huge and I have made it 12 x 6 to get two full 4x6 photos on the pages !! and there the pages gradient from large to small to create movement fro the eyes that I think is attractive and adds to the charm.  

Materials Used
Thanks for Visiting
Do leave a Comment and Subscribe!!

Ciao 
Ashmita

Saturday 22 November 2014

Shabby chic altered wooden spoon

Today's post is a short and sweet one..

I was struggling to decide what should be the base for my post.. I felt like   creating a shabby chic project and so rushed to my kitchen to grab an old weathered wooden spoon which had been lying neglected since ages ;)
Shabby chic is one of the most beautiful styles as its all pastels and so feminine ...

To begin with :
I coated the oldie with few coats of gesso and allowed it to dry completely. I observed if I use my heat tool to dry gesso starts oozing and bubbling .. It's better to let it dry naturally .
Once it was dry Ioaded it with lindy's stamp gang mists and prima color blooms (in shades of pink)
These sprays give a beautiful subtle sheen and colour to the project .
Distressed the edges with some vintage photo and it was ready to get dressed and embellished .



A close up -
I created a cluster of lace, mulberry flowers & pearls. To top it off added the beautiful butterfly charm and the adorable tiny bottle filled with glass glitter.

 On the left hand side I added chains and charms to add some interest .


I also created a tag with the help of prima lattice stencil and Lindy's sprays.
Embellished it with the same products to match the spoon.



It's a cute gift for someone u really admire. I am gonna gift it to my mom and hang it at her kitchen door.


Hope u liked my post and give it a try ...
Stay blessed ...


Hugs 
Arjita 

Wednesday 19 November 2014

How to Make a Shadow box out of a frame

Hi Guys

So, first things first I am absolutely thrilled at the response I received for my Charmed Class and the Giveaway!! So may lovely comments and so much love!! am just overwhelmed!

And without further ado the winner is

Vidhusi Saraf

Congratulations girl you win the Goodie bag full of 100 assorted charms! Please forward to us via an email your complete postal address at info@crafterscorner.in to receive your win promptly!




And now on withe post for today! I have had so many queries and requests for how i do my Miniature scenes and Room boxes So I have decided to do a tutorial or a walk through of how I make one!!

This is what we will alter!



WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!!


The Constructed Shadow Box customized to fit into the frame and the layout of the miniatures!


Miniature Photo Frames


Hope this was helpful and you guys will try these too!!

Thanks for visiting.
Don't forget to Comment or subscribe!

Ciao






Monday 17 November 2014

Best and detailed post on SOSPESO TRASPARENTE

Hello my dear crafters......
Shalini this side.....
Today I am extremely happy to be able to share this fantastic post with you....
We got a number of requests regarding this beautiful craft called SOSPESO TRASPARENTE and I know there are not much online sources where u can this learn art from so specially for you all ladies and with due permission of MONICA ALLEGRO ...the inventor and the owner of this amazing craft.
Since everything is COPYRIGHT so in the starting only I would like to take the opportunity of asking the apologies from MONICA .....if at any point of time if we go wrong from her techniques....
Also she has many many brilliant techniques and will try to introduce maximum to you...in the starting we will begin from very basic and go to higher levels.....
We are very thankful to Monica for helping us in this post .
And ofcourse I wanna add here that CRAFTERS CORNER is the only place where u get sospeso trasparente material at best and lowest price in India.
So I hand over now to Dr. Sonia for rest....
Here it is:

Sospeso Transparente bouquet
 Hi friends, Dr Sonia here with my latest love " Sospeso Transparente " which is a special 3D volume decoupage technique invented by Italian artist Monica Allegro.
           My job here is to introduce you to the technique , pique your interest about this beautiful crafting technique and share some of the little tips and tricks  I picked up when I experimented with Sospeso transparente !
Sospeso Transparente flower
           When I first came across Sospeso Transparente , I tried to research more about it and wanted to try my hand at it but I didn't know what to buy and frankly speaking most of the tutorials I chanced upon left me confused and with the feeling that "oh its too complicated and expensive!" But once I got my hands on Sospeso films and made my first flower, I fell in love with it big time...Believe me its a sheer magical experience when a bit of plastic is transformed in your hands within seconds to an object of such magnificent beauty! Its  a must try craft!!

What is Sospeso Transparente?

Quoting Monica Allegro herself " Sospeso Transparente  means transparent and raised up process"
The technique basically involves heating special plastic films and making 3 D shapes out of it.
Sospeso Transparente sunflowers

How to get started?

If you have never tried Sospeso and want to get a feel of this amazing craft I will suggest you start with Printed films [instead of paper veils and  fabric tapes ....we'll come to those later in subsequent posts!]
           So this first post on Sospeso will be about Printed Films as its the easiest and guaranteed to make you fall in love with this beautiful art !

What Sospeso Transparente material do you need ?

Just 3 things....
  1. Printed film design
  2. Embossing Pad
  3. Embossing tool set
    Sospeso Transparente
    Printed Films
    Sospeso Transparente films
    This is how the printed films look- they are special plastic films with beautiful designs printed on them. What is so special about these films patented by Moinca Allegro ? -- unlike other plastics these are safe, non toxic and do not let out hazardous chemicals when heated.
    Embossing Pads
    Embossing pad
    Unlike the embossing pads we use in parchment and punchcraft the Embossing pad for Sospeso Transparente  is super soft and made of special material which can take the heat and wont damage the delicate printed designs on the printed films.
    Embossing Set

    Wooden embossing tools
    Those who have dropped by my blog Cards Crafts Kids Projects know I like to craft with multiple media such as clay, punchcraft , parchment etc and so I do have a collection of plastic as well as metal embossing tools but they are not a good substitute for Sospeso Transparente because of 2 factors : 1. Wood due to its special heat conduction properties is best to emboss the  hot plastic films 2. These special Monica Allegro designed embossing wooden tools are the most gentle on the delicate designs . The plastic and metal tools are more likely to leave scratch marks on the delicate designs.

What Additional Materials do you need?

  • A good scissors 
  • A heat source -For Sospeso Transparente printed films, you can use a candle , a heat gun or even a hair dryer- I experimented with all 3  and will tell you about each!

Sospeso Transparente Heat options
Steps of Sospeso Transparente with Printed films

1.Cut out design 

Sospeso Transparente 
This is the only time consuming part of the whole process-- cutting out the  beautiful designs !
Tip : 
  • Be careful not to let sharp scissor points scratch the design-- my little assistant [ my 8 year old] managed to badly scratch one of our sunflowers while fuzzy cutting the flower but since the design itself had lines ,its hardly noticeable on our bouquet!
  • Dont just cut the outline..cut the petals inwards just like you would do for paper flower making to be able to shape the flowers better.Then only will you be able to allow the flower petals to curl fully on heating!
Cut the petals inwards
  • For the sunflowers I did not cut the petals right to the center but stopped at the brown demarcation.
  • For some flower designs let your cut line reach nearly till the center but be careful not to chop off petals! 
  • Also when you cut ,do exercise your artistic license and snip off sharp corners and round off edges!

2. Heat the cut design

Sospeso Transparente 
When you heat the flat design it will magically curl and you can shape it into dimensional flowers and leaves.
Heating with the candle
The most popular heating tool is our humble candle. Heat from the non printed side of the film.
Tip :
  • Use a good quality candle which doesn't smoke a lot and leave residue on your plastic film! 
  • Keep your embossing pad and tools near your heat source as speed is of essence here..you need to heat your flower, immediately put it on your embossing pad and shape your petals with the  embossing tools while its still hot and malleable!

At what distance should you hold the cut design from the flame? Depends on the candle really! I found that tea light candle flames are smaller and I had to bring the film within an inch to get the film heated . With the candle shown above even at 2 - 3 inches distance from the flame the flower petals would start to curl-- which is the sign for you to put it on the embossing pad and emboss.

Heating with the hair dryer
Hair dryer
Heating with the hair dryer is recommended by Monica Allegro in her book of Sospeso Transparente ! She recommends heating the flower while placing it on the embossing pad and embossing it at the same time without switching off the dryer! I found the hair dryer took more time and I didnt have the patience for it!
Heating with the Embossing Heat gun [mine is by Ranger]
Heat Gun Embossing
Many of you know I have a crafty little girl at home who likes to try any new crafty technique she sees. My 8 year old was fascinated seeing the Sospeso Transparente flowers come alive in the candle flame but was too scared of the fire! So we experimented with our heat gun and it was super fun because she could hold the flowers in her hand while heating the flower with the heat gun held at a distance and watch the petals curl gently.
Our finding : 
  • Amongst all 3 heat sources, the candle is the quickest but its more difficult to control the precise area you want heated. You may need to use a forceps for heating small leaves and branches!  
  • The heat gun was faster than the hair dryer but more gentle than the candle. You could get more precise control over heating the flower design by pointing the gun from a distance and only 2 - 3 seconds was enough to heat the film !

3.Embossing

Embossing
When you heat the plastic film it starts to curl-- quickly transfer to your embossing pad and emboss.
Tips :
  • Heat and emboss the petals before embossing the center of the flower
  • Choose which size of embossing ball you want to use
    •  for bigger petals use the larger size ball end
    • for a more gentle embossing use the larger ball
    • to get a deeper embossing use the smaller more pointed embossing ball end
      Embossing
  • To give a convex curve to your flower petals- place the design side face down on the pad and emboss the petals running your embossing tool along the center of the petals
    • running the tool from the center to the petal edge gives a more gentle curve 
    • running the tool from the edge to the center- gives a more pronounced curve
Embossing
  • Emboss the center of the flower by embossing it from the "right" side- dont be too rough or you can scratch the design off!
Emboss
  • Hand - sculpt the flower
Hand- sculpting
Monica Allegro does recommend hand sculpting and yes-- its one of the most fun parts about Sospeso Transparente --In the picture above I could actually get the sunflower center to cup and the petals to fan out by sculpting with my fingers while holding the flower over the flame -- use both hands while you do this so that you can control the shape nicely!

4. Reheat and Emboss if needed

One of the best things I liked about the Sospeso Transparente technique was that it was quite forgiving of your mistakes and can make even a perfectionist happy since it allows you to reheat and reshape any petal or part whose shape you are not happy about!

5. Adding Flower Centers

Flower center options
Sospeso Transparente flowers look gorgeous just as they are but if you want to add a little something extra to your flower center, you can add pearls, rhinestones, pollen, glitter balls or chunky glitter using normal white glue or hot glue [but with care since the heat can alter the shape of your flower slightly]
Sospeso Transparente Sunflower
Most Sospeso Transparente projects add the flowers to home decor frames ,wall decor, glassware, metal-ware and jewelry. I loved the flowers so much I wanted them to be the sole star so made a Bouquet of Sunflowers. I  could make this  whole bouquet of Sunflowers from a single printed film!
Bouquet
More links to Sospeso Transparente tutorials

Where to buy Sospeso Transparente Materials :Click here for :  Sospeso Transparente supplies
And stay tuned for more Sospeso Transparente techniques in the coming weeks.
Some tips added by MONICA :

-- To increase the volume of a flower you can stack more flowers
-- When you're using an hot air must be protected with a piece of cardboard, the parts that you do not want to heat and shape.
-- If you accidentally scratch the film with the tip of the scissors you can paint over the colors for glass line.
-- Sometimes it's possible, again with glass paints change color or fade or finish the edges or small parts.
We hope u liked this....for any query please drop us a comment.
Hugs Dr Sonia
Crafters Corner DT team.