Just Stain It for--- A Vintage Journey

Imagine the excitement at Meggymay's place when the Creative Guides at A Vintage Journey invited me to be  a Guest Designer for this challenge. The theme is-   'Just Stain It'.

 Naturally I said 'yes please'.  I never need an excuse to get inky.

I decided to make a hanging for the theme. They make great alternatives to send in place of a Birthday Card.
This is the base layer. A piece of corrugated card stripped back in places, with some dry embossed card stuck to it to add texture

Next came the small wooden  frame. Both the base and the frame  were embossed using grunge paste, using  small areas from Tim Holtz and other stencils. When it was all dry it was given a coat of cream acrylics.

I have added the photo on the left especially to show you the space I was working in to make this project, as we were away in the caravan at the time. Notice I do cover the seats as, crafty inkiness on the surfaces is not a good idea.

To begin my adventure into Staining this piece. I splodged and swiped over the surfaces with the stains, no method, just random.
I was using Broken China, Vintage Photo and Antiqued bronze distress stains.. I did use some crackle paint on the frame at this stage, but is nearly all disappeared as I added more stains  etc. As you can see from the photo there were a few spaces that needed more staining and a bit more texture, out again with the stencils and grunge paste. Next I dabbed stains onto the craft mat, sprayed  it with water and swept the pieces over. I then sprayed them  directly with water and magically the colours seemed to blend together.

Nothing can beat giving this stage a helping hand, to get into all the nooks and crannies, dabbed the distress stain on the craft mat then used an old piece of sponge.

I gathered together, the detail pieces I wanted to add, including the Found Relative  Photo Card

After assembling the hanging, it did need highlighting in parts with a little Gilding wax and a dab or two of Picket Fence distress stain,  this was applied with the trusty fingers as I felt I was more in control of where it was going.

I wonder who holds the key to this relatives heart

At   A  Vintage Journey, they ask us to say how we have been influenced by the work of Tim Holtz in the piece we have made.  I have  a bit of a list here-- the inspirational pieces he makes---the tutorials---the products, which are so easy to use and suit my love of all things Vintage and Shabby Chic --the Compendium of Curiosity books with the techniques......................

I will not forget to mention the inspiration given by the Creative Guides at AVJ.-Thankyou all. 

Thank you for taking time to stop by, the comments you leave are all realy appreciated.