Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Happy Birthday, Punkin'!

Hello friends and visitors! Today I have a rusty crusty card to share with you.  I have to say I'm a bit rusty (no, I did not intend to make that pun) on my grunge. As of late it's been mostly frills and flowers in the Closet.


The crackled background was made (quite some time ago) by first painting thinnish chipboard with black gesso. Next up, a good thick coat of DecoArt Weathered Wood Crackling Medium, left to dry overnight. Then another thick coat of DecoArt Media Crackle Paint--the cracks show up almost as soon as you get it painted on, but I left it to dry to a couple more days. Lastly I gave it a quick watercolor wash of  thinned DecoArt Media Prussian Blue.

To make the rust behind the nail heads, I wiped on Golden Bead Gel medium, dried, then dripped with Caramel alcohol ink and spritzed with water. More drying, then another watery wash of DecoArt Media paint--this time Quinacridone Gold, followed by a smudge of DecoArt Patina Green Antiquing Cream. While I had the Q-Gold out on my craft mat, I watered it down further and added random washes and splatters over the panel. I let everything dry overnight (or so) and gave it all a coat of DecoArt Ultra Matte varnish. I pressed the finished panel under some heavy weights for days, because with all that product, there was a good deal of warping.


For the nail heads I started with half pearls, and followed the incredibly talented Jenny Marples (Pushing the Right Buttons) steps here to give them the aged metal look. I don't have the rust alcohol ink, so I substituted with Caramel again. I also went back in with neat Q-Gold in the end.


I (tried using) the same technique on the Happy Birthday chippie but had already wiped on some DecoArt Texture Sand Paste and glass bead gel. I think there may also be some Paynes Grey on there, and Q-Gold as well as Patina Green Antiquing cream.


The wooden cogs and Tim's birdcage (modified at the tip to make it fit) die cut all got rusted with a variety of products including sand and grit pastes, DecoArt Everlasting chalk paint, Q-Gold, and Patina Green. I even tried making my own rust pastes with a combination of gel medium and Distress paint (Mustard Seed) and alcohol inks. I really think I need to invest in the stuff that everyone is using; it would be so much easier, and more effective. You do, however, get lots of great bubbling with the heat gun and gel medium, so not a bad substitute.



I've tucked in a few pieces of Tim's ephemera aged after a fashion like my talented friend and blog boss Brenda Brown (Bumblebees and Butterflies) did here on her giant altered tag. If you ever need rust inspiration, Brenda's your go-to girl!



I've made this card for my good friend, Niki (Pawsitively Creative) because I know she loves grungy rust as much as I do. And because Niki likes growing flowers, I tucked in a little flower from my stash, altered with Wilted Violet and Rusty Hinge Distress inks and another tiny cog for it's center.


Niki's birthday is not until April 28th, so I hope you will take minute to drop by her blog and wish her a happy birthday on Friday! A little birdie told me she's going to be 29 (again)! Wink, Wink!


I've made this card especially for Niki, but with these challenge in mind:
Mixed Media World-MMW#24: Anything Mixed Media Goes with a Twist I gave my background a watercolor washed look with watered down acrylic paints.

Thank you for stopping by today! I really appreciate your lovely comments!
Hugs and Blessings!
Sara Emily

25 comments:

  1. Niki will certainly love her fancy birthday card! All that rust and crackle look amazing! Great work my dear!
    Hugs
    Samra
    Paper Talk with Samra

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  2. Gorgeous Grungy card!! WOW that crackle is just De-Lish-ous!!!
    You really rocked out the rust Sara Emily!! Love those nail heads!
    Great card and I am sure Niki will dig her card!
    hugs,Jackie xo

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  3. Wonderful Sugar - being from the South, I can find lots of old rusty pieces in junk shops. "ain't it fun!"
    sandy xx

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  4. Oh my gosh, this is amazing, Sara Emily!! Wow!! It's rust-tastic!! The rust truly looks spectacular and so real!! The cracked background is fabulous!! Your attention to detail is perfect!! I love everything about this and I know Niki will treasure it!! Wow...did I say that already?? You are so talented my dear friend!! I love, love this!! Have a great day!! Big hugs :)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  5. You are so sweet and apparently not rusty at all at creating such amazing rusty texture. :) This is fabs and I adore the idea with the pearls. That crackled background is a showstopper my friend! Wow wow wow! Amazing creation. Hugs, Autumn

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  6. so many fantastic rusty elements Sara - your piece is amazing - and wow - that crackle...brilliant.Love this! Thanks for joining us at CVC too - big hugs rachel xx

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  7. I love the mega crackle background, it always looks amazing and you certainly did a brilliant job - the rusty 'nail heads' are beautifully rusty, as are your other embellies - I really don't think you need to invest in any more rust products, you certainly manage beautifully without them!! Niki will be thrilled with this! Hugs, Anne xx

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  8. Absolutely gorgeous Sara, I love your design, the mega crackle looks fabulous and the rusted elements are glorious. (You'll giggle when you see one of my journals coming up soon). I'm sure Niki will adore this fantastic card xxx

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  9. Awesome crackle and rust, Sara! The perfect male birthday card!
    Thank you for sharing it with us at SASPC!

    Claudia xx

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  10. Wow! Your elements are gorgeously rusty and the DecoArt Weathered Wood crackle medium created amazingly big crackles! Fabulous card, Sara

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  11. Sara Emily's back! I've always loved your talent to make rust in many ways and to make it look beautiful! Stick to what you're doing instead of switching to whatever it is that you said everyone's using (I don't have a clue what that is - LOL!). Your methods and experimentation work beautifully and are an inspiration so please don't change!! Everything on your card is amazing, but that crackled background is WOW!!!!!!! Your friend will love this!! Hugs :-)

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  12. Wow! Niki will be happy! I'm always enamored by the way you take paint and ink and create something that looks REAL. Everything bespeaks RUST on your card! The corrosion, the colors, the metal-like details - amazing, Sara! I love it! I don't think you are rusty at all, my friend - only this masterpiece is! hugs, de

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  13. love the crackle rust effect !!! nice work.
    Thanks for showing your work on SASPC.

    Hugs
    Alexa
    DT

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  14. Hi Sara Emily. Wow what an amazing card you made for your friend. There are so many rusty techniques here I especially love those rusty nail heads. This is perfect for out rust challenge over at Country View Challenges. Thanks so much for joining in with the fun xxx

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  15. WOW, this is awesome Sara Emily! I love the crackled background~perfect for this amazing design! The rusted nail heads and chippies you created with the fun techniques are super cool! I LOVE this! All the dimension and textures are spectacular!
    Have a great day my friend~
    Sherrie K

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  16. Love your rusty crusty make!
    Thank you for sharing with Happy Little Stampers!
    Susan
    Calling All Crafters! – My personal Blog!

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  17. lovely project thanks for sharing with Creatalicious Rachel DT

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  18. Such a fabulous card, love all the details! Thank you for joining us at our 'Just For Fun Challenge' at Mix It Up Challenge Blog. We hope to see you again.
    ~DT Sherry x

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  19. Fantastic piece! Love all the detail! Thanks so much for sharing with us in the Mix It Up Challenge Blog's "Just For Fun" challenge! Will be looking forward to seeing you again when our regular challenge line-up begins on May 1st!
    Hugs,
    Leslie, MIUCB DT
    Love To Scrap 2

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  20. Delightfully rusty! I love this crackled background and the melting nails!

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  21. Nice 'n rusty ! Thank you so much for taking part in our rust challenge over at Country View Challenges !
    Corrie x

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  22. I absolutely adore this rusty grungy goodness and it is even better in real life! I was chewing my nails about not looking at your blog until I got the happy mail. Haha! What a wonderful wait and an even better gift! The feel of the mega crackle and the rusty parts are swoon worthy. Incredible design and details and the best part is-I can admire this card up close and personal. Thank you so very much for being awesome sauce and creating stunning g grungy creations. You sure surprised me! Can't wait to use the goodies as well. Totes Wowzers and fantabulous! Hugz to you muffin! ~Punkin

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  23. I can't believe I finally have a few minutes to visit my long lost friend Sara Emily!! And what a post to land on, wow! Doc must have been completely gaga over this work of art, I know I sure am!! Nobody does rust and grunge like you do my friend, this is just spectacular! The background crackle is totally mega, love the dark peeking through the cracks! Your rust techniques just get better and better, those pearls, WOW!! I would have never guess they started out as pearls, they look totally like rusted brads or nailhead embellies!! The dripping rust around them...another WOWZERS!!! Your birdcage and text are incredible, so eroded and full of texture! And then there's the lovely image of the sweet birds in the background, what an amazing design contrast! The flower is a nice touch, she really loves her garden and will appreciate that detail immensely! She is one lucky gal to have a friend like you to make such a wonderful card, you truly are amazing my friend! hugs :)

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  24. Fabulous! Sara. YOur crackle background is to die for and all those rusty accents and elements compliment it perfectly. I have no doubt Niki will LOVE it .
    hugs x

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  25. A lovely card!
    Thank you soo much for taking part in our "anything goes with optional birthday” challenge over at Creatalicious & good luck in the draw.
    Hope to see you again in our new challenge as well…

    Hugs,
    Melanie
    (DT-Coordinator Creatalicious Challenges)

    (DT Crafty Friends)

    (DT The Sketchy Challenges)


    PS: Sorry for the late comment, life had been very busy the past couple of weeks…

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