Sunday 10 March 2013

Green / Recycle / Irish / St. Patrick's Day at Anything But A Card. . . . . .

I'm joining my team mates on week two for the challenge at Anything But A Card. The theme is an interesting one and caters for all tastes. At first I thought it was really difficult but when I discarded the part I didn't want to do (sorry all Irish bloggers!),  I realised that what was left was green and recycle. I can do that,  I thought! If you haven't entered yet you must go over to ABAC and see what the other designers have come up too - so many different ideas for one challenge!

Ages ago I bought some old beer mats in a fab vintage shop in Brighton. I had no idea what I would do with them then but they were the perfect items for this challenge.

I used the beer mats as the shape template and middle layer for some drinks coasters plus a larger bottle mat.

Lots of pictures I'm afraid but I like to show you everything:

The three main layers for each mat. The green layer was made using distress inks and some water spritzing. The beer mat followed by a layer of recycled card from the back of a paper pad.
The final pieces: 6 glass coasters gift wrapped with some recycled ribbon; a circular bottle mat and a fabric  gift tag which matches the images used in the project.

The fabric tag was stamped, coloured with distress inks. For extra strength the shape was then attached to a second piece of fabric using bond-a-web. Some areas of the design were picked out with black stitching. The edges of the tag were zig-zag stitched to stop them fraying. Card was attached to the back so a message can be written. An eyelet was added with some black ribbon.




The complete set of coasters: square for the glasses, round for a bottle.

For each coaster a background was made using distress inks, some stencilling with distress inks and some with embossing ink and mica powder.

Various Lynne P images were stamped in archival. Each coaster than received two coats of clear embossing powder. Utee may have been a better choice but I find it can dull colours and I wanted these to remain bright and vibrant. You can see the mica in this image: it appears as gold-like shadows here and there.



The back of each coaster was covered with black felt to act as insulation and protection for polished surfaces.












After glueing the layers together, a gold leaf pen was used to finish the edges.







Remember: you can do the four leaf clover and leprachaun theme or you can go green and/or recycle. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

22 comments:

  1. A wonderful up-cycled project Julia! Love the Lynne Perella stamps that you used and they look so effective against your rich green background. Love the stencilling too. Brilliant! Hugs, Anne x

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  2. These are gorgeous up-cycled projects, love the fresh green.

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  3. I'm not usually a 'green' person Julia but I do like lime green and these are just fabulous. What a great gift. X

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  4. Now these I like a lot ! and what a great way of recycling, would never have thought of it
    and they look fabulous! x

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  5. Very very beautiful project Julia.
    Great gift with great colors and stamps.
    Greetings Janny

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  6. Green isn't my favourite colour, but I do like these a lot - the green is nice a clear, and I love the image you've used! xxx Keren

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  7. I wonder if my comments has been successful.
    Wishes
    Lynne

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  8. SUPERB!!!!!!!! I love this set of coasters. I have a ser of old ones I now think I will make over with your inspiration. Great colour choice too. Thanks for popping by my blog too. Am not doing too much at the mo....family probs!!!! Hoping you are feeling better now and recovering .Thanks again for taking time out to comment
    Hugs Carol xxxxx

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  9. What amazing work Julia! Love how you have created these and really embraced a vibrant shade of green. Hope you are recovering and taking care of yourself. Hugs, Jenny x

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  10. Awesome job with the coasters, they are gorgeous!!! Great way to recycle those old coasters! Hope you are having a wonderful week end my friend, waving hi from the hills of North Carolina ♥

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  11. Brilliant use of the LP images - these are so gorgeous, Julia! Lovely to hear from you... and see some more lovely work!
    Alison xx

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  12. These are fabulous sweetie, I love them all. Lol what a brilliant Lynne fix tee hee.
    Huge huggles x x x x

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  13. Wowww you creative lady....these sets of coasters are amazing Julia!
    GORGEOUS!!!!
    And how was your Andy Skinner day??? :-)


    Hugs, Alie :-)

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  14. wow, these are stunning, I love the bright green the images really pop and the fabric tag is brilliant. good to see you back x.

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  15. Awesome set of coasters! Totally cool and love the green with this image!

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  16. Julia these are GORGEOUS,I love the mats I always grab any I can LOL, these are really fabulous, thanks fro the inspiration and have a great day..

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  17. Fantastic--a wonderful set of coasters. The colours and images are amazing

    Love Chrissie xx

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  18. They're fabulous Julia! I have a load of mats, so thanks for the inspiration! xxx

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  19. Fabulous green colour, love all the pieces especially the one with the fabric.

    Sylv xx

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  20. What a brilliant set of coasters, green is my favourite colour and I love the LP images.
    xxx Hazel.

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  21. How fabulous! I am sure you do Paper Artsy VERY proud!!!

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  22. I love this set....so vibrant and fun!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. Juliax