FAUX CRACKED GLASS WITH COMPENDIUM OF CURIOSITITES III CHALLENGE

Hello Everyone!  

Happy Saturday and welcome back!

We are counting down the Compendium of Curiosities III Challenges.  Hard to believe we are already on 30 out of 34 challenges! I hope you all are having as much fun as myself and the Curiosity Crew are having. Your entries have been amazing and inspiring to us as we all travel this art journey together.  

Turn to page 54 in your Compendium of Curiosities III books and check out Faux Cracked Glass.  This is a very fun technique with really awesome results.  One of my favorites, especially at Christmas time when I'm trying to create something vintage to look like cracked or faux Mercury Glass.

The first thing that came to mind for this Faux Cracked Glass technique was a Tim Holtz Mason Jar introduced at this past CHA in January. I love these little guys!  

So, I popped one out of the 3-pack that they come in and went to work using the technique to transform the plain Mason Jar into somewhat of a Victorian little jar that will probably end up storing vintage buttons. 

I cannot tell you how I did the Faux Cracked Glass technique but I will tell you that I tinted the glass using Wendy Vecchi's Archival Ink Cornflower Blue Refill Ink color.  And ... one other useful hint.  Instead of using Matte Medium as the base, I prefer to use Wendy Vecchi's idea of the Glue N Seal as a base.  From my experience of working with this technique; both products will work.  But I seem to get better results with the Glue N Seal as my base ... less of a potential for the stuff peeling off of the glass.

Here is just the jar after I finished the technique and had tinted it with the Archival Ink refills. Don't you LOVE the cracked glass look? For me, adding a tint of color really enhances the cracked glass and adds to the vintage look.

I wanted to "doll up" the plain top of my mason jar so I pulled out some Prima Trinkets, Junkyard Findings, some half pearls and the cut off top from a Maya Road Vintage Pearls Trinket Pin ...

After a little stacking and hot gluing, here is lid during the altering process. 

After a light basecoat of White Gesso, I covered the lid in Burnt Umber Acrylic Paint.  When that was dry, I added a layer of DecoArt Crackle Medium and let it dry.

Continuing with the altering/aging process, I added a topcoat of DecoArt Lace Chalk Paint and within seconds watched the magic start to happen as the paint began to crackle and reveal the brown layer below.  I did not heat set this but rather, let it air dry. 

After the paint dried, I added a layer of dry brushing using a Melon Acrylic Paint to bring out the highlights of the edges and give some added depth to the evolving vintage lid.

To give added definition to the edges, I added a touch of Renaissance Guilding Wax to the edges (using my finger.) After everything was dry, I added a layer of DecoArt Ultra Matte Varnish to protect and seal the lid.

The jar was coming along nicely but looked a bit "naked". So I decided to give it a real Victorian look by adding some metal embellishments.

I used these pieces above to create a decorative band that would encircle the mason jar.  These pieces are bendable, so they would better fit the curvature of the corners of the mason jar. I joined them together using Tim Holtz' larger Jump Rings.

Next it was time to fashion some charms to dangle from the metal band.  I created these little charms using "stuff" from my stash.  The one step looper helped create a uniform upper loop to attach to my jump rings. I used little antique bronze ball and keys and a Swarovski crystal on each charm. 

Here is what I thought would be the finished metal band to add to the mason jar.  But after I got it in place, I decided to add yet another dangling chain between each key and some rhinestones.  You see those in the next photograph.

Adding the metal band to the mason jar was a bit tricky because of the curvature of the jar.  But, I managed it by bending the metal band to fit as best I could.  Next I added a 1/8" piece of Double Sided Adhesive Scor Tape to the underside of each long lacy metal piece. Starting in the center back, I attached the metal piece and then pressed the two side pieces in place. Immediately I brushed Ranger's Matte Medium over each of the lacy metal pieces; working the brush in and out of the intricate metal to ensure it's hold but also not to leave clumps of Matte Medium.  It dries clear and is a great glue and sealer!

Once the metal bands were holding, I added the rhinestones to the metal bands and then the lid using Glossy Accents.  Another wonderful Ranger product that dries clear and works as an amazing glue and sealer.

When all of the gluing was finally dry, I added the pieces of chain between each of the keys.  I like how they look and they definitely add to that vintage Victorian feeling that I was going for.

I decided to add a dangling token from the top of the lid. Here you can see the transformation from Tim's original brushed nickel silver finish to an Antiqued Bronze finish with a blu-ish "xoxo" in the center to bring out the blue of the faux cracked glass mason jar.

To do this, I simply mixed Gold and a touch of Burnt Umber Acrylic Paint together and using my finger, kept touching and adding paint to the surface of the silver metal until I was happy with it's appearance. I heat set the new antiqued bronze finish and then using my finger, I added a slight seal using the Ultra Matte Varnish and heat set it. Then I added Tim's Broken China Distress Paint over the "xoxo". I then wiped away the paint on the surface of the token, leaving it to fill the "xoxo" area. Finally, using my finger, I added just a touch of the Ultra Matte Varnish over the surface of the token to seal it.

Here is the finished back side of the jar. I really like how it turned out and I LOVE the Faux Cracked Glass technique!  It's a real winner when it comes to totally altering a glass or clear plastic piece to look incredibly aged and vintage.

After attaching the token with an extra piece of the chain to the top of the lid, I decided to add a small metal piece, adding a rhinestone to the center of the molded star on the front of the jar. I then carefully painting the molded star with a little paint brush using gold paint. I may decide to go back and attempt to paint the "Vintage Quality" lettering also molded into the front of the jar.  I think that might look really cool.  But anyway ...

This is my altered "Faux Cracked Glass" piece to share with you. I hope that you learned something from the techniques that I could share with you and I hope you will pull out Tim's book and read up on how to create the Faux Glass look.  Then make your own creation and link it up to the Compendium of Curiosities III Challenge!  

We have TWO lucky winners with each challenge; one chosen by the crew for their interpretation and execution of the technique and the other is randomly chosen to receive a wonderful gift certificate from our wonderful sponsors.

Our sponsor for this challenge is the lovely and talented Linda Coughlin of The Funkie Junkie Boutique ... a fabulous online store supplying you with all sorts of your crafting needs; specializing in those fun little metal piece and laces that you don't see everywhere else. She is offering a $25.00 gift certificate to our lucky winner.

Click on the banner above to be taken to The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

And as always, Tim and Mario are such generous and supportive guys!  They have donated a huge bunch of Tim Holtz products to be given away to each of our lucky chosen winners.  So, don't miss out on your opportunity to win some awesome goodness from Tim and Mario!

Good luck!