Re-Purpose, Re-Use, Recycle for Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and welcome. Over at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge blog we are celebrating Earth Day. It's Kathy's turn to host and she's called her challenge 'Re-Purpose, Re-Use, Recycle'. Kathy says "Earth Day is April 22nd, so let's honor the day with a vintage or shabby chic project that includes an item that would normally land in the recycle or trash bin. You can use an old jar, glass bottle, packaging material or other bits and bobs to create your upcycled masterpiece. Be sure to tell us in your post what your recycled item is and how you used it, as it may not be apparent in the photo."

As ever, the Design Team will choose their top four picks, with the winner being invited to join us in a Guest DT spot at Frilly and Funkie and the next three will receive Top 3 badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and follows the rules will be entered into the draw to have the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

For this challenge I took Kathy at her word and used some of the packaging material from a Funkie Junkie Boutique parcel along with some other bits and bobs  to decorate an Etcetera Tag.

Let's start with the recycling items chosen for this project; there's the brown wrapping paper and cardboard from one of Linda's parcels, some burlap string from another parcel, the page from an old French book about architecture and some coffee stirrers all washed and ready to go. Whilst you'll spot a used wet wipe on this pile too I chose not to use that in the end.

The piece of book page had a coat of Clear Gesso applied to make the surface slightly less absorbent. This makes it ready to accept the next layers of wet media.

A Stamp Platform was used to stamp one of the images from Tim Holtz Architecture stamp set onto it using Jet Black Archival Ink.

Some parts of the design were covered using White Acrylic Paint and a fine detail brush before being re-stamped to add the detail back in. A White Gelly Roll pen was also used to draw on some of the more intricate lines.

As Seth Apter's new Baked Velvet Embossing Powders are translucent I felt confident to use them over some parts of the image to colour and glaze them. The Dusk green has a cooler tone than was needed - adding the Lime version over the top gave the warmer feel.

After whitewashing with a dilute layer of White Gesso and scrunching when dry, the brown paper packaging was stamped and embossed the second image from the Architecture stamp set. A little colour was then reapplied by dabbing a used teabag over the top.

You'll see from this close up how the top layer of the cardboard was torn away to reveal the corrugated element and dry brushed with White Acrylic Paint. The coffee stirrers were cut in half and embossed with Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder.

The Wildflower Stems were given their pearl metallic finish by being painted first with coordinating Dina Wakley Acrylic Paints. Tim Holtz Alcohol Pearl inks were then added directly from the bottles over the top. The alcohol ink colours mix together beautifully when wet to create a graduated look.

And here are some close ups showing how the finished tag looked when all the elements were assembled together. you'll notice as part of the layering process the architecture theme was echoed in the stencilling of brick using Opaque Crackle Texture Paste;

From this close up you can see how well those Baked Velvet Embossing Powders work when layered over the stamped/painted image. The Transparent Wings add great accents without obscuring the images beneath.

The Alcohol Pearl inks truly do shine here and their added vibrancy gives a pop of much needed colour to the design. And I love that the IdeaOlogy Metal Gate fits perfectly across the bottom of the stamped window, giving it the look of a balcony overlooking the Grand Canal in Venice.

So that's my take on the theme 'Re-Purpose, Re-Use, Recycle' for the current Frilly and Funkie challenge. My talented team mates have created lots more amazing projects for this challenge so make sure you hop on over and check them out HERE. And remember to link up your own shabby chic or vintage recycling projects to be in with a chance of winning one of the fabulous prizes.

All the products used (including of course the packaging!) are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.

Thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Stamp Set - Architecture

Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Thinlits Die Set - Wildflower Stems #2

Tim Holtz Alcohol Pearls - Tranquil/Sublime/Intrique

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Metal Gates

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Transparent Wings

Seth Apter Baked Velvet Embossing Powders - Dusk/Lime

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Etcetera Small Tag Thickboards	Ranger Opaque Crackle Texture Paste	Dina Wakley Media Mediums - White Gesso MDM41689	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - White, 1oz Bottle	RANGER LIQUID PEARLS 1/2 OZ BRASS	Ranger Archival Ink Pad - Jet Black AIP31468	Ranger Embossing Powder - Liquid Platinum EPJ37484
Ranger Embossing Powder - White Super Fine Detail EPJ36678	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Quote Chips	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Layering Stencils - Bricked THS038	Venise Lace Trim - 3/4 Inch Wide	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Fuchsia, 1oz Bottle	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Ocean, 1oz Bottle	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Evergren, 1oz Bottle
Dina Wakley Media Mediums - Clear Gesso - 4 fl oz MDM46424