Thursday, April 1, 2010

What's Up Wednesday! 3/31/2010...FINALLY!!

A bit late getting this up....sorry 'bout that! My son has needed some extra Mom time so I am running behind....but family comes first!

These tiles and butterflies are made from a very common material....FUN FOAM! You know, the stuff in the kids crafts area! I comes in a squillion colors and it's CHEAP!



For this project I have used two different techniques with the foam. The first is heat embossed with rubber stamps.

Cut the foam into small squares (I used 2" squares). Evenly heat with a a heat gun and immediately stamp with a stamp. Deeper cut stamps without fine detail work best.





After stamping, lightly rub a metallic paint dauber over the raised areas



Affix the "tiles" to a chip board base, evenly spaced. Spray with Glimmer Mist (I used Irridescent Gold and Tarnished Brass) Let air dry.



Use 3-D paint as "grout" between tiles. This paint is very shiny, so I added fine glitter when the paint was still wet.





The Butterflies are made with a different technique... standard embossing with Tim Holtz Distress Powder.







Cut out the butterflies with sharp scissors and attach the butterflies to the tiled background in a random pattern.



This is a fun technique that I used years ago on a quilt project and thought it would work great for a lightweight mini album cover. Stay tuned next week for what's going to happen INSIDE this mini!
Have a great week and a lovely Easter weekend....
Don't forget to take time to PLAY!!!

Laura

15 comments:

  1. this is such an awesome idea i bought some of the fun foam so i could diecut my cuttlebug dies and stick them to a block and use them as stamps so this is really steping it up, thank you Laura for yet another fantastical idea, Tracey in NZ :)

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  2. Hi Laura,
    now i am definitely sure that you are a genius!
    you do research, you experiment and you come up with something totally new, you are a real craft person. i just loved these two ideas, the tiles looked so perfect. thank you very much indeed for sharing all these marvelous ideas with us...

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  3. Very cute Laura and perfect for all that foam I have sitting around after all my Christmas crafting lol
    Paula (also from NZ lol)

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  4. What a great foam technique, it looks great!

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  5. Great project, it looks beautiful.
    xxx
    Marlene

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  6. Now I have to run out and get some fun foam! Wonderful idea!

    Thanks,
    Michelle

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  7. This is such a great idea! would love to try it...what kind of foam do u use? would the foam backing that comes with stamps work? you know the 'stamping surface' thing? anyway..i love ur work laura u are the most talented i have seen on youtube. straight to the point and and excellent teacher..gonna try to find u on ETSY so i can stay posted on your kits! keep up all ur great tutorials and i look forward to seeing u on ustream! Absolutely luv ya gurl! lol take care ***Nichole

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  8. Very cool! You are one creative lady. Have a great Easter with your family. God bless you and yours.

    Thanks!
    Marisela

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  9. Oh my GOSH!!!! This technique is absolutely GORGEOUS!! Who would of thunk it! Only you Laura, I tell ya, you have the best ideas!!! I am going to have to try this!


    Thanks for the AWESOMENESS of your talent, and this fantastic mini cover!!!!

    Happy Easter!
    Lisa Sturgill

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  10. As always I love what you have done. I tried to find the stamp in Australia without any luck. Do they still make it?

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  11. I saw one at the local Joann's the other day. Not sure if it is online. Maybe check Stampendous website (if they have one)

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  12. love your work. you are truly an artist. Thanks for shareing your tutorials.

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  13. can't stop looking at this - WOW! Thanks for continuing to share your artistic genius with us. Doris :)

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  14. Awesome work and a great idea, thank you for sharing

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  15. WOW! I'm in complete AWE! I have learned so much in the last half hour pouring over your blog and youtube videos...and I don't consider myself a novice. You are my scrappy hero! {GRIN} I will be watching your blog, thank you so much for sharing your creative genius!

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