Some very sad news

Hello dear friends and followers.
Many of you will have heard already through Facebook and other blogs, about the sad news that the lovely Calico Craft shop went up in flames and all stock was lost just last week. HERE is a link to the official announcement.

My project was due to appear on the Calico blog on the day after the fire destroyed everything and the online shop and blog were taken down, so it was never shown. Therefore I thought I would show it here now.

I created a hanger using some of their wonderful paints and mediums, as well as their beer mats and paper serviettes. They stocked so many unusual things that were hard to come by else where, so I for one will miss them so much.

I'll do a quick step by step of how I created my project:

I started my background with a piece of mount board, covered it with Gesso using a pallet knife, while it was still wet I added some old book pages, left them to dry for a couple of minutes and then ripped them off. Here is a link to a video that shows you how to do this, even though in the video it lands up being a very different project..

Next I created some sprays using a dark brown Acrylic paint mixed with water. I love making sprays like that, because once they are dry they are water proof. Here's a close up of how the paints puddled around the gesso, leaving some great texture:

Next, I took three beer mats, coated them in Gesso and added the same colour of acrylic paint around the edges, blending with a baby wipe and my fingers.

In the case of the central tile/panel, I used a pinkish colour instead, to blend with the scrap of serviette I was going to use for that one.

Below you can see what it looked like after I had adhered the paper serviette scraps with Modge Podge.

Once everything had totally dried I sanded the edges and then sealed them with Decoart Traditions multi surface sealer. When that had dried I added Decoart One Step Crackle.

More of my own made acrylic spray was sprayed on the tiles when the crackle glaze had dried, to seep into the cracks and make them more visible. Below is a close up. I wiped the excess spray away with a baby wipe as soon as it had gone into the cracks. This is essential, as of course this kind of spray, unlike Dylusions or any of the others, is permanent!!

Here you can see how I put a chain at the top so I can hang this piece:

Because on this tile I had applied the crackle glaze somewhat too thick, the cracks became rather too big, - you live and learn....

The one good thing about this tragedy is, that at least no one got hurt, and I for one desperately hope that in time to come they will perhaps start trading again in one form or another. I have loved designing for them and want to thank both Helen and Steve for all the trust they had in us their team and for their generosity. I loved all their wonderful products, including the latest addition to their business, the beautiful Calico Craft parts.

Thank you for visiting and see you next time