Starry Night Inspiration

I have Metallic Distress Paint on my worktable today and I am super excited to share a fun project with you.  First of all, the new paints come in 3 colors: Tarnished Brass, Antiqued Bronze and Brushed Pewter.  Loving all of them but I think Tarnished Brass might be my favorite for the moment.

 

Just to jog your memory (or if you have not used Distress Paint before) here are a few things to remember:
1. shake before use (there is a mixing ball inside)
2. paint reacts with water until dry
3. once dry, you can layer other wet liquids without disturbing the bottom layer.

If you missed the original test drive of Distress Paint, you can see it here.

I decided to make my first test run on a #8 tag.
Metallic Distress Paint - tarnished brass and a stamp from the Stampers Anonymous Mixed media set to create a "night time" sky over the Distress Stain - Salty Ocean background.  Love these two colors together!

 

I normally don't use such a bright blue color in my work but less than 2 weeks ago I saw the Van Gogh painting, "Starry Night" at Musée d'Orsay and I just kept thinking about the golden stars in the blue sky and how they almost pop off the canvas.  This painting was a huge influence in today's project of metallic over blue.

The finish of the paint is fantastic, super shiny, just what you want in a metallic paint.  I know the rest of the photos will not capture the shine (so hard to see online) but the shimmer is really nice.

So the test run is good, love the color blue, love the idea, so lets expand it and make a project.

Cut three pieces of manila cardstock-
5 3/4 x 12" - fold in half
5 3/4 x 4 - fold out
5 1/2 - 3" - pocket
you will also need 2 pieces of paper for pages, cut 7 x 5" and folded in half.  I used a thinner weight cardstock, like the type you would run through your home printer.

Color both sides of the cardstock with Salty Ocean Distress Stain, just like the tag.  I don't use this color much, and now I am not sure why, because I am in love with it right now.  I think it is the perfect night sky. 

 Ink the edges of all cards with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

 

Shake, then squeeze out Tarnished Brass Paint onto non-stick craft sheet.  Pounce stamp into paint and onto cardstock. 

I randomly stamped (no acrylic block) over the entire surface, then dried it with a Heat it tool. 
Note: I only stamped circles on one side of each of the cardstock pieces.

On the backside of the largest piece of cardstock I flicked some paint onto the surface with a brush.

To add the 5 3/4 x 4" piece onto the large cardstock, I need a hinge.  I cut a 1" strip of Sticky Back Canvas, then painted it with the same tarnished brass paint.  The Distress Paint goes on to the canvas much easier than dabber paint since it is much more fluid...and it has great coverage.

 Once dry, I added some texture with another stamp from the Mixed Media Set.

Using the sticky back canvas hinge, add the 5 3/4 x 4" piece onto the right end of the large piece (this will make more sense in later pictures).  

I then folded the two 7 x 5" papers in half and punched 3 holes on the fold to sew them to the cardstock with waxed linen.  That is the waxed linen you can see here tying the signature of pages to the cardstock.

Okay, so set the "cover" aside and let's try some of the Brushed Pewter color.  I cut a couple pieces of cardstock to fit the flag stamp you see here on the "London Sights" stamp set.  The other stamp set I will get to in a minute is "Time Traveler", it all looks very British don't you think?

 Shake, then squeeze out some Distress Paint - brushed pewter onto the non-stick craft sheet.

 Then "ink up" the flag stamp with the paint.

Stamp a piece of cardstock and dry with a heat tool. 
Once dry, dip the card into Barn Door Distress Stain to color the remaining card.
Note: Remember to clean the paint off your stamp right away.

The metallic paint acts as a resist to the stain and creates a great background. I know it does not show in this photo but the metallic sheen is super cool.  Loving this resist technique.

We need some Crinkle Ribbon too.  Vintage Photo and Wild Honey will do the trick.  Works perfectly with the Tarnished Brass color.

Let's walk through the little book step by step.
I used Big Ben from the "London Sights" set for the cover, just like the tag.  I added Tissue tape, Remnant Rubs and the Crinkle Ribbon.

Open the cover and you can see the 5 1/2 x 3" pocket.  The word "London" is from the stamp set and  "observations" is a Remnant Rub word.

As you can see, I cut a slit in the pocket to allow the ribbon to wrap around the front.  Easy solution.

A guard is stamped on a #5 tag and stapled to the center panel.  You can also see the Tissue Tape covering the seam where I attached the 5 3/4 x 4" foldout.

I used Distress Markers to add color to the stamped images on the pages of the little book:  black soot, Broken china, barn door, scattered straw, old paper and of course a water brush.

I am not using water color paper so I spritzed water on the non-stick craft mat then just dipped the brush end of the marker into a water droplet.  This gives me a bit a extra open time before the marker dries on the paper.

This is my favorite page!  Seriously, how good does that look?   The suitcase stamp from the "Time Traveler" set is great and an easy one to experiment with color.

Here i just repeated the postage stamp over and over along the edges of the pages.

And this guy...I think he goes great with the words, "tell your story".  I like using the Remnant Rubs as journaling prompts.

I added a brad to the top of the flag card so it will swing out...a good place for a funny picture or hidden journaling.

When the cover is closed over the little book, you can see the added piece and the canvas hinge.
I also added the ring fastener so it can be pulled open like a door.

 

Well, that's all for today.  Hope you liked the project and that you might try making one in your own style.  Dig out a set a of stamps you haven't used in a while and get going! The project should only take a few hours, start to finish, and you will have something fun to keep or give away.  I could definitely see using this template for Mother's day...lighter colors, notes tucked into the pocket, sentiments written onto the pages of the little book, flowers and leaves colored with Distress Markers...hummm, sounds like a good idea to me!

Cheers for a great weekend!

paula

PS) for those of you who are fellow Project Runway fans I am happy and sad this week.  LOVED seeing the snippets of the collections last night (this is always my favorite episode) and am looking forward to next week to see the actual fashion show.  I won't spoil it for anyone who has not watched the last episode, but there was one person with a very clear vision that MUST win next week or I am going to be very upset.  I have not seen such detail since Season 7 winner, Seth Aaron.  I think we might just a have to have a Project Runway party next week!  

Oh, and the sad part?  ...it will be over soon!

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