Back to Nature with Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and welcome. Over at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge blog we are at the mid point of our current challenge, 'Back to Nature'. Here's what our host Sara Emily has to say about it; "Having just returned from our annual trek to the mountains of West Virginia where we observed so much natural beauty on our hikes, I couldn't help but make my challenge nature themed. You can make anything you like, from a card or tag to altered art, just be sure to include a natural element in your vintage or shabby chic project. Think real twigs, leaves, shells, pebbles. Or you could include a die cut or a stamped or stenciled image representing a natural object."

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.

Nature's Wonder Framed Panel

As someone who frequently picks up all sorts of random stuff I just knew one of the pieces of bark that peeled away from our Eucalyptus tree would come in handy at some point. And when Sara Emily revealed that we could use something from nature in our projects for this challenge now seemed the perfect time! It fit inside the Framed Panel beautifully and proved to be the catalyst for this piece which also includes one of my latest obsessions, Alcohol Lift-Ink.

I took a few photos of this panel as it came together to help explain the process.

The Tutorial

I began by adding a strip of Woodgrain Paper, coloured with Iced Spruce Distress Paint and Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain next to a piece of Memoranda Paper Stash brayered with Picket Fence and more Iced Spruce Distress Paint.

After adding some Salvaged Design Tape to two of the corners I worked out where to place the bark and a strip of the Provincial 3D Impresslits Embossing Folder (altered in the same way as in my tutorial HERE) and drew around them so I could work out where to place the leaves from the Botanical Collage Paper.

Once the Collage Paper was dry I smudged the drawn lines with some Hickory Smoke Distress Crayon blended with water to add shadows to the edges. Then Opaque Texture Paste was applied through the Nordic Mini Layering Stencil. I also stamped one of the Ornate Trims borders over the Design Tape using Jet Black Archival Ink. With all of that dry I dribbled and splattered dilute Evergreen Bough Distress Paint over the stencilled areas to add more colour and contrast to the background.

The frame was given a weathered look with layers of Distress Paint and a drop or two of Rust Alcohol Ink before being glued to the edges of the panel. By applying Design Tape around the outside it disguised any uneven edges perfectly. The embossed strip and bark were glued in place where marked and I then added a small Baseboards Frame over the top, having scuffed it and added some Walnut Stain Distress Ink to the edges.

With the main elements of the panel complete it was time to work on the focal points. I knew from existing experiments that the Alcohol Lift-Ink is amazing but this bit blew my mind! There is a lot of detail packed into the leaves in the new Nature's Wonder stamp set and you can see from the photos below that all of that was revealed, even on a lighter background. I cut around all the leaves and then heated them, knowing this would slightly warp the Yupo Paper to give them more dimension.

To finish the framed panel I combined the leaves with some die cut branches, cogs and gears and placed them in and around the Baseboards Frame. One of the sentiments from the Nature's Wonder set provided the finishing touch.

The Close Ups

Here are a few close ups of the completed Framed Panel so you can see the details more closely;

That's it for my Back to Nature project 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 lace projects to be in with a chance of winning one of the fabulous prizes.

Take care of yourselves and get creative!

Jenny xxx

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