Holiday Terra Cotta Pots with Tombow and Glitter

The idea for these terracotta candle pots is inspired by a photo I seen on Pinterest recently. The original photo used plain pots but I imagined them all decked out for the holidays in silvery bliss. I checked my stash and I did have several varieties of Art Glitter silver glitters on hand, so I grabbed my scissors and a bag and trekked outdoors to gather some pine boughs and pine cones. I added four terracotta pots to the items I gathered outdoors and this is what I started with. My supply list was actually quite minimal for these:

• Art Glitter No. 508 Silver Moon Microfine Opaque
• Art Glitter No. 611 Antique Silver Fine Vintage Glass Glitter
• Art Glitter D24 Hi Ho Silver Dazzlers
• Designer Dries Clear Adhesive
• 3/4-inch paint brush

I pulled some old plastic packaging from the trash bin and squeezed a good amount of Designer Dries Clear (DDC) onto it (this is my palette). I brushed the DDC onto the bottom portion of the pots - working on one at a time. Remember, the DDC dries pretty quickly when brushing a thin layer on, so work in small sections at a time. I chose the No. 508 Silver Moon Microfine Opaque because the opaque helps to block out the terracotta color and the microfine gives a nice smooth finish to the pot. I found it easiest to pour the glitter into a plastic disposable sandwich tub and use a spoon to spoon the glitter over the glue area. After coating the lower portion of the pot I moved along to the rim. I wanted the rim to have a chunkier look and even more sparkle than the lower portion so opted to use Art Glitter Vintage Glass Glitter No. 611 Antique Silver Fine. I love the sparkle of the Vintage Glass Glitter. I applied the Vintage Glass in the same manner as the glitter on the lower portion. To finish off the rim I chose to use Art Glitter D24 Hi Ho Silver Dazzlers. If you want sparkle, you can't go wrong with Dazzlers. I applied the Dazzlers with a technique I seen on Donna Salazar's blog during the 2nd Annual Handmade Holiday Blog Hop recently. You can watch her video here. I poured the DDC onto a non-stick craft sheet and twirled the rim in the glue, making sure I had a good thick coat on it. Then I dipped into the Dazzlers which I also poured into a disposable tub. This method really works well to totally coat the rim and it leaves a nice thick coat that reminds me of good salt on the rim of a margarita! While I had the glue on the non-stick craft sheet I brushed it on the very tips of the pine cones and rolled them in the Dazzlers too.

When the glittered pot was dry I added a strip of silver tinsel under the brim to cover the open space.

I added a candle to the center of the pot and stuffed the pine boughs and the glittered pine cones around them. All it needed now were the gift tags.

These are punched with Fiskars XXL Tag Lever Punch. They're really cute shapes and the size is perfect! To decorate them I inked my rubber stamps (Hero Arts) with Tombow Dual Brush Pens, Grunge. The tags are edged with the pens as well, then finished off with a strip of twine (The Twinery) and a bow.

These little pots can be decked out for any occasion but I just love all the silvery bliss for the Christmas season.

Have a crafty holiday and stop by my blog for more crafty inspiration.

Altered flower pot, Art Glitter, Christmas, Dazzlers, Designer Dries Clear, Fiskars, gift, Globecraft & Piccolo, Hero Arts, home decor, Linda Neff, Microfine Opaque glitter, The Twinery, Vintage Glass Glitter |

Imitating Fall Splendor

For the month of November the Art Glitter Design Team is working with Tombow products and I wanted to share a project I created with both these products. I was fortunate to receive a set of Tombow markers with my favorite color range - earth tones! The theme I chose to create my project around is Fall. It's been so beautiful here in Michigan this year. The colors are so bright and vibrant - they just pop and really make you take notice, especially when the sun shines. I just wanted to imitate those colors and bring that fresh, colorful feeling into my home. I started with a 10-inch-by-10-inch primed canvas. To add a background color I scribbled Tombow Markers no. 969, 837, N57 and N35 onto the canvas then spritzed with plain water. I held the canvas up and twisted and turned it to control where the colors ran and how. Then I spritzed it with a homemade mix of Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls and water to add a golden Fall shimmer.
The Tombow markers are water base so they'll react nicely with the water. When you achieve the look you like turn a heat gun on the canvas to stop the reacting.
I needed Fall leaves so die cut them in a variety of colors, dry embossed, inked the edges and coated them in Clear Rock Candy Crackle Paint and left them to dry for several hours. They crinkle and curl and actually look like a bunch of fallen leaves when done!
I wanted to use a tag on the canvas so I used the same Tombow markers to color a Fred Mullet leaf stamp. Then I spritzed the stamp with plain water till I could see little color beads on the rubber then stamped onto the tag. I love the look this makes. It's creates a watercolor effect and the colors are very vibrant. I heat set the tag then spritzed it lightly with the homemade shimmer mix to add a touch of shimmer to the tag. I distressed the edges of the tag and ran the Tombow markers around the edges, mixing the colors and making sure to set some color in the cracks and tears. Then I held the tag over the non-stick craft sheet and spritzed just the edges with water. This makes the colors run and absorb into the tag edges to create a wonderful distressed look.
I wanted to add some glitter to the tag as well but didn't want a straight solid line. After checking my tools I decided to try a stipple brush. I squeezed some Tombow MONO Liquid Glue onto my craft sheet using its Broad Tip, dipped my stipple brush into it then stippled the craft sheet till I was left with just a light coating of the glue on my stipple brush. Then, I stippled around the edges of the tag, sprinkled on the glitter and used a clean brush to brush most of it off. It turned out great - just a thin coating of the glitter was left on the tag.I added a brad charm to the top, some Filmstrip Ribbon with staples and tied some pretty ribbons around the tag and added some decorative pins to the knot.
For the title I used die-cut chipboard letters and coated them in the same glitter used throughout the project, Art Glitter Gingerbread No. 243. It's the perfect color for Fall, with its mix of golds and reds. It blended it perfectly with the Tombow markers used for this project. After coating the chipboard letter in glitter I glued them in place on the canvas using the Tombow MONO Liquid Glue. This glue has duo tips, which came in handy. I used the Pen Tip to glue the letters to the canvas so I wouldn't get too much glue on the letters. This prevents it from squishing out from under and making a mess. I also used the Pen Tip on the glue to adhere all the leaves and acorns to the canvas. I put just a tad bit of glue on the high point of the leaf, spread it a bit with the glue tip and pressed the leaves and acorns in place, one at a time. By adding the glue only to the high points it allows the curled leaves to remain curled and add dimension to the project.
I also added a few leaves and an acorn to the corner of the tag and a metal corner tip to one corner of the canvas.
The tag is glued on last and I used just a squiggle of the Tombow glue down the center back of the tag and pressed it in place. By using the glue only in the center the edges retain their slightly curled dimension. A variety of the techniques I used on this project are ones I've done before, but, the stippling of the glue to add a light, random coat of glitter was a new one for me. Have you stippled glue before to add glitter?

Thanks for letting me share!
Linda