Greetings! This is Jeanette Wilde. I am new to the crew here and am looking forward to sharing with you my creations using the awesome products available. Todays project uses the 6" 3D Tree (link is in the supply list below).
I use quite a lot of beads in jewelry making but also in enhancing other creations like my journals. I am, however, really terrible at making head pins so I have a little tool that makes them for me and I like to just sit while watching a movie and set up my beads so they are ready to use and I can just grab and go. I keep these beads in a box but when I saw this tree I saw an opportunity to display my little sparkles.
This is a very simple project but the payoff is gorgeous. I really wish pictures could pay it justice since it really does sparkle and shine but hopefully you get the idea. My craft room is basically black and white with subtle accents of blues and purples so I went with that color scheme. I used a basic acrylic paint as a base coat - didn't really care if it was perfectly covered since I like the "vintage/shabby" look. You could sand in some areas once dry or add some crackle paint to really vintage it up though.
As you can probably tell I like sparkle so I then added a coat of Marabu's Rainbow alcohol ink. A little goes a long way so you don't need much to cover a large surface. It dries very quickly and leaves behind a shine that is litteraly a rainbow - turn it this way and it is purple, the other and it is blue.
Gorgeous!
I wanted to "fill in" the tree with extra bling and while you can use rhinestones I decided to make some resin gems so I could have the exact color and look that I wanted. Just use some tiny little gem molds in various shapes (the ones I have came in a larger beginners kit). I like to use UV resin since it cures very quickly - about 1 minute give or take. You can either use pre-colored resin or add color with resin colorant or mica powders. I went with white and blue colorant and then some mica flakes for the third. Since the molds are super tiny I use disposable pipettes to add in the resin. Then just follow the instructions of the resin that you are using. You don't really need super fantastic resin for these tiny little jobs as you won't really see any imperfections so I just go with whatever is cheapest at the time. One tip though is to use a lighter (very carefully!) to run a flame just over the top of the molds once they have been filled. This gets rid of most of the bubbles.
I then used a good glue to add the gems randomly throughout the tree limbs. Any mixed media glue should work - I used glossy accents.
You could be done at this point and just decorate your tree but since this is a "working" tree for me and I knew I would be carrying it around so I can use my beads I wanted to give it a sound base. I used an old glass bowl (it had a really great cheesecake dessert!); filled in the bottom with some layers of foam to lift the tree up and to hold it in place; glued the tree to the foam; and filled in the space with some marbles (more sparkle!). The final touch was to add some ribbon - since just about everything I do needs to have a ribbon - and, of course, the beads!
I absolutely love the final result. I now have a sparkly decoration that doubles as a bead rack. I can easily see my beads and can just pluck off the one I want to use then fill it back up.
I really hope you have enjoyed my first project with this awesome group. Gypsy Soul has a wide variety of 3D projects so you can make that next storage/decoration. See you next time!
Supplies:
3D Chipboard Tree 6", glossy accents, UV resin, UV light, Marabu Rainbow Alcohol Ink, clear silicone molds, resin colorant
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