Compendium of Curiosities Vol.3 Challenge #34....And That's A Wrap, Folks!

Well, here we are; at the very last Challenge for the Compendium of Curiosities Vol. 3, and while I only began at #19, it still seems like a loooong time ago. I am really happy to have joined in on all the fun, learned a lot of new techniques, and made some new friends I hope to keep in touch with and craft with in the future! So, here I am at the last minute again, and burning the 11:00 pm oil to make the deadline once again. Forgive me the times I've nearly missed it, but life keeps me on my toes. And that, my readers, is a VERY GOOD thing! With this last Challenge, there will be prizes again... and I feel like I've come full circle with this since I am using prize $ won from my JUNE TAG from Tim and Mario, to make this last Challenge project with !!

I must add a huge THANKS to everyone who has been checking in for all my posts and esp these Challenges! I still have one I missed that will feature a Bucket List happening of mine. Plus a few more that our busy life has not allowed me time to post yet. *sigh* Then, I must thank Tim Holtz for making these awesome CoC books that have me trying out new things all the time in my studio. And to Mario Rossi- for keeping us all in the know with his BTS photos, and doing all the sending of prizes!! A HUGE THANKS to all the ppl I've gotten to know in these Challenges on Linda Ledbetter's site- truly AWESOMELY TALENTED CRAFTERS!!! And their encouraging ideas and inspiration has kept me going.

And lastly, THANKS SO MUCH for all the prizes sponsored: The Funkie Junkie Boutique ,The Inspiration Emporium , and of course- Tim and Mario !

All that said; here it goes.....



It all began with my winning JUNE TAG. Mario sent out a $25 Gift Certificate for my prize and I chose to use it for adding another rack to my Blending Tools Spinner. But, like I've complained before- each rack comes with a base. I already have a neat looking base and wanted to just add another rack for 8 more Mini Blending Tools. So the base was leftover. What to do with that?? I came up with a neat idea and dug up a paper mache star and a tough paper tube.



The first thing I did was add a little bit of texture to my star with some Guesso. I wanted to use Tim's stencils to give it a texture you could SEE as well as FEEL...



I had to think ahead because I knew the star was going to be at the top. So I cut the tube to fit the star and pinched it tight with a SPINNER to hold the star onto the top! :)




I didn't want to get any Guesso onto the base, so I taped it up nicely - it doubled as a place to put the tube for drying.




Yep- I wanted to add texture to the tube also...it wasn't easy !!




Then I used Black Soot Distress Paint to coat the tube and it actually matched the base PERFECTLY!




This is the Guesso'ed star- with stars at the top and all bricking at the bottom 3 points.



I then used Tarnished Brass on one side only.



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For the actual Challenge- I can't show you that, but I LOVE stars and stripes and those stencils would go really WELL with this star!!! Full circle...see what I mean?? (Hint: My JUNE TAG 2015)





Here's the finished Side 2 after the technique.





Side 1 also has the technique done on it- with a white background/ I used a pattern to decide how to embellish it.




For those of you who wanted to see HOW IN THE WORLD I DRILLED THOSE MIRROR STARS:
veeeeery carefully !!




Some pearls onto red wire and a few IdeaOlogy items....



I chose to do some "rusting" of the Brass side... then some IdeaOlogy embellies...



And some ribbon in Distress Fired Brick....



I used my new TH Heart Punch (which I also got from prize $$) to add our wedding photo to the charm...



And there is Side 1 finished: it has all the colors of our wedding in 1984. Sitting up on my dresser next to all our family photos is a really COOL touch!

And in the summer, when it's Americana Flag time- I can just turn the star around for some antique look.

            Thanks for checking in this last Challenge and I sure hope to get the rest of some really COOL projects I've done in the past two months....POSTED SOON!!!
                                        Have a great weekend, and Happy Blogging!