I'm travelling into a new way of working, a new country, a new language, and a new hobby which I'm passionate about. Come with me for some of the journey...

Tuesday 16 July 2013

With added salt...

Hello everyone.  Welcome back to a busy week here at Words and Pictures.  After yesterday's romantic canvas for my Our Creative Corner DT piece, I'm here with my inspiration offering for the new theme at Fun With ATCs.  The challenge for this fortnight is to create a Trio of ATCs - with a clear connection between the three of them... and each of them only 2.5 x 3.5 inches in size, remember.  Can't wait to see what you get up to with this one.

Do hop over to Fun With ATCs to see the trios created by my fabulous team-mates, but before you go, here's my starter for ten... or here are my starters for ten...


When I was plotting my make for this challenge, I was thinking I'd go rusty and grungy (in the style of my Rough Around The Edges tag), using some of the bits and pieces I'd rusted up the previous week.  But as you can see, things changed a bit in the making!



I'd been meaning to have a play with adding salt to some inks for ages, after seeing fabulous results at Maria's Knutselsplezier and, with the deadline for the make ticking ever nearer, I just wasn't in a rusty kind of mood.  So I splashed out into colour.

















I started out at a grungy point, cutting my trio of words out of corrugated card, using the Movers and Shapers dies.  But when the colour kicked in, the corrugated card had to change.










I gave it a couple of coats of white paint, but that somehow wasn't enough, and in the end I embossed it all over with Wow Bright White embossing powder.  That gave me a glossiness which did the trick.



I spritzed and sprayed some ATC dividers (grabbed as they were being sold off... they're a little bigger than ATCs, obviously, so I had to trim them down afterwards) with lots of Dylusions sprays, and sprinkled rock salt and a bit of table salt on and left it all to dry. 




Very cool!















But as I was scraping the salt off afterwards, I noticed how beautifully it had soaked up the inky colours... can't throw that away, can we? And further ideas started to bubble.













So I deliberately dyed some more salt... 















I made little piles and spritzed them with the specific colours I was after.
















Also very cool!













Then it was down to assembling the ATCs themselves.  

I glued pairs of the trimmed dividers back to back... 













Once the white corrugated words were in place, you couldn't see that much of the amazing crystallisation.














So the rear side of each ATC gives you that in all its glory.













Gluing the salt gave me a couple of headaches, as it showed a slight tendency to want to dissolve in the glue rather than stick to it.  But we got there eventually.














I added some seam binding, also dyed with Dylusions sprays... and each ATC got the colour-way to complete the set.













So, for example, if it's red/blue on the front and green/blue on the back, it got the red/orange ribbon to finish it off. Does that make sense?













There's a touch more embossing powder top and bottom, and some doodling round the edges with a white gel pen, and we're all done.









So that's my unexpectedly colourful offering for you today.  Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you'll come and play along with us at Fun With ATCs, and I look forward to seeing you soon either here or elsewhere in Craftyblogland.


When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.
Rumi

You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.
Dr Seuss

Once you choose hope, anything's possible.
Christopher Reeve

I'd like to enter this in the Good to be Green challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show (or Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge, as I understand it's now called!) - both for the greens involved, and for the recycled cardboard packaging.




Oh, and if you want a breakdown of which Artistic Outpost stamp sets were involved in yesterday's romantic canvas, you'll find me over there today too with all the details.

If I'd given you the whole lot in yesterday's mammoth post, we'd still be here now!

55 comments:

Yvonne Garner said...

Hi Alison! Your ATCs are amazing. Just love how you found the beauty in the colorized rock salt and added it onto your project. Bravo! Yvonne

Gráinne said...

Those are so very beautiful, Alison! I love the colors and the idea to use the colored salt right away and to glue them together back to back, looks absolutely great! Suzanne

maria's knutselplezier said...

Your papers with the salt technique, look just like mine!!!and as olways yoy made something sêcial with them, I have mad a whole collection of card and things with it, but I can't show them yet, it's a bit of a secret yet , but in time they will come out and I will show what I did with the wonderfull pieces, great that you olso took the salt to decorate !! Great design!!!

Greetings
Maria

Helen said...

Love the atc's - bright and beautiful! The salt is fabulous - must try that!

chrissie said...

What a wonderful idea to use the salt Alison and to use the left over salt as well is an extra good idea.
Terrific ATCS and such great colours.

Love Chrissie x

Cocofolies said...

Very brilliant Alison, you've rocked this technique of crystallization woow !!! I LOVE all these colours too ! Coco xx

Brenda Brown said...

Fabulous bright and vibrant ATCs Alison, the backgrounds have such a wonderful texture to them with the sprays and salt and I love how you reused it on the finished pieces.
hugs {brenda} x0x

Cestina said...

Oh I just love the dyed salt. Am thinking hard how to use the technique in the miniatures world. Some sort of jeweller's workshop perhaps? It's too good to waste the idea....

Though thinking about those candle-holders I have, I fear that ambient damp in the air might result in dissolved salt and an inky mess :-(

Rita said...

Fabulous work Alison, the colours are so stunning and that rock salt looks fantastic with the beautiful colours you have used. Hugs Rita xxx

Deborah said...

These are so unusual - but in a good way. Dyed salt - brilliant :-)

Astrid Maclean said...

What a fun set these/this are/is...:o)!!
Love how you have used the words and those salt crystals,( apart from the fact that the photos are brilliant as photos)look so cool too!

Great minds think alike lol, I was inspired by Maria's papers too and will have a project with some salted backgrounds to show in the next day or so too (very different ...)

House of Bears said...

Well these are rather scrummy. We love the rock salt in various colours too. We've been meaning to try the salty technique and after seeing your fab makes we must have a play

Monique said...

Wow, love the effect of the salt! Great ATC's.
xx

Mary Elizabeth said...

Makes me smile Alison. Wow!!! I love those salt crystals. And those backgrounds are fabulous -- I love the color combinations. What a pick me up and inspiration for a very foggy Tuesday morning here in the NC mountains!! Have a great day -- Hugs -- Mary Elizabeth

ionabunny said...

Fab technique Alison. I love your colours. Salt is deliquescent. I love that word. That means it has an affinity for water. You may find the large salt crystals on your ATC's start to get wet and melt just by absorbing moisture from the air. This may be ascetic, maybe not. I'd be curious to see them again if this happens. Maybe I need to experiment myself, all in the interests of science you understand. This is definitely a technique to play with. Thanks for sharing.

Inkypinkycraft said...

Great ATC's, spooky to sayvthe least as I have been playing with rock salt myself! Theses look fab , must try and play along! Hugs trace x

Alie Hoogenboezem-de Vries said...

Great results with the salt!
Your atc's look so bright...

kind regards, Alie :-)

Candy C said...

Alison...these are fun! I love the bright random colors of your backgrounds and the fact that you even used the salt in the project! Very resourceful! And what a great embellishment those crystals make! <3 Candy

Craft Addicts - Tracy Evans said...

Isn't this technique fun Alison. I love your backgrounds and the pop of co,our is fabulous. The touches of,white add wonderful highlights . I also love how you sed some of the coloured salt pieces in the finished piece, great idea. Thanks so much for joining in the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge. Tracy x

Gio said...

Oh, these are pure Summer! They have all the colours and light on them!
I *adore* you even added those little precious stones of salt, genius!

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

Using the salt is UBER COOL!!! I love the molted look, and then using the colored salt is genius...waste not! The backgrounds are stunning! Thank you for going green with us this week here at Simon Says Stamp & Show!

Redanne said...

Your ATCs are delightful Alison, love the vibrant colours on the fabulous backgrounds and that salt technique is impressive but your colouring of the crystals was just genius - they look like semi precious gems - wonderful. Hugs, Anne x

Karin said...

Wow beautiful atc's! Great idea to use the colored salt, it also would look nice in a small bottle!

Claudia N. said...

I LOVE your splashing out with colours, Alison ;)

The salt effects on the card and the coloured salt look just awesome!!!!
A wonderful trio!!!!

Hugs,
Claudia x

Terry said...

Very, very cool, Alison! Love those colors and salty effect! The salt crystals are certainly to be saved. I have yet to play with salt!! Hugs!

toni said...

Had to do a double take and check the name when i saw this gorgeously colourful bunch of ATC's tee hee! The gem like quality of the dyed salt is fabulous and your ATC' backgrounds and foregrounds are lovely, x

sam21ski said...

Very cool indeed, love the vibrant colours

Great set of 3

Sam xxx

Tincan Crafter said...

ooooh these are yummy! I have got to give the salt sprinkle technique a try! Have been offline for a few days so I have only just seen this! You're awesome!

Unknown said...

so clever, what wonderful papers you have ended up with, love all the colours

happy crafting
Jay x

craftytrog said...

A very creative trio! I love them Alison xx

cathylynn said...

Your ATC's are so vibrant and beautiful! They remind me of the angel food cake (that had the colored sprinkles backed within) that my Mom use to bake when I was a child. Yep Yummy!! Thanks for sharing this salt technique! New for me but I love the results!
Hugs, Cathy-Lynn

Margaret said...

Using colored salt as an embellishment... How fantastic is this?!?! The backgrounds are gorgeous and I love that the salt brings the colors to the front too!

Shelby said...

Now that's a cool technique! I love how it turned out and your tags look fantastic.

Shelby

Meihsia Liu said...

Love the vibrant colors and great texture of the salt technique. Your ATCs are totally cool, Alison. Thank you so much for joining us this week at Simon Says Stamp and Show. :)

Judy Biggerstaff said...

You have done an amazing job on the ATCs and the use of sprays and salt. I am always anxious to see your projects.

barbarayaya62 said...

this tutorial seems created for summer! Colors are so bright and salt technique ....I try This!!!!!!Beautiful and colorful!

Paper Profusion said...

Just Brilliant Alison! I was enthralled once to see the salt crystal effect whilst painting on silk fabric, genius to apply the technique here too! Love how you have repurposed the crystals. Fabulous work. Nicola x

Nan G said...

Love the salted effect! And using the colored bits on the front - fab! So cool to see you stretching out with color. :)

Dianne said...

BRILLIANT , BRILLIANT, BRILLIANT, I loooove how the paper turned out with the salt, they are gorgeous,love how you created the words then added the colored salt, just brilliant you are, they are STUNNING, thanks so much for sharing your process and the gorgeous end results...

Julie S said...

Cool techniques!

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Such a fantastic technique. Your ATCs are full of joy.

Anonymous said...

Fabulous ATC's love the colours and the salt is awesome ! Sue C x

sara j said...

How about the recycled salt? I love this Alison!! I recently tried some sea salt with twinkling H20' and loved the reaction. So much I went out and bought some Kosher salt, and there it has set on my shelf for 2 weeks. Must try that again. !! These are really wonderful...colored salt. Who knew??

Unknown said...

Love this idea. The ATCs are beautiful, love the colours. Chris xxx

2amscrapper said...

fun ATCs and love the colored salt!

Kate Yetter said...

Awesome background! I love this technique...so fun. Love your atc's.

Von said...

Wonderful :) and the salt looks like tiny gems :)
Von ♥

craftimamma said...

Beautifully colourful ATCs Alison and like Von I thought the salt was tiny gems at first. Brilliant idea to use them instead of throwing them away and stunning backgrounds too.

Hugs
Lesley Xx

Jenny Marples said...

Rock salt heaven! Love that idea and the backgrounds you created. Hugs, Jenny x

Anonymous said...

These are seriously cool! I love everything you did!!!

Mrs.B said...

Fabulous ATCs - and such a discovery with the salt- Looks brilliant.
Avril xx

Unknown said...

You are so clever! I love the look of each ATC Alison. Hugs

Bonnie Irvine said...

Adding the salt to the ink makes such cool backgrounds. I'll be trying that technique for sure. Love the dyed salt sprinkled around the words, too. I had to double check to make sure this was really your blog...all those bright colours. How fun! You have incredible range in your art!

Neet said...

Came back for another look - love the idea of the salt taking up colour. What glue did you use to adhere the salt please?
A wonderful piece of art and so wonderfully photographed and explained.
Thank You.
Hugs, Neet xx

Kezzy said...

Wow fantastic funky bright ATCs. This is one of my favourite techniques which I remember having a go at new years day this year lol. I was determined to start the new year bright and I love my dylusions sprays. I love how you have embossed the die cut, it really pops with the colours :-) Kezzy xxxx