French Country Shadow Box

Yesterday I told ya about printing my own paper and today I am going to show you the first project I made...with the subdued paper mind you!

This is the mess I had while trying to figure out what all elements I wanted in the shadow box, the rooster was a must and everything was added around him. If you look closely you will see how some of the paper is gloss and in order to brighten up the paper I added some Liquitex Gloss Medium Varnish. I had found some at Zipp Outlet for I think $1.97, I also had found some Liquitex Matte Gel but haven't used any of it yet because I'm not quite sure how to use it but I knew I should have it just in case *okie is ashamed to think of all the things she has in her craft room for a just in case situation*. I had scanned some of the stickers that was available to me along with the paper as I knew I would want to use some. 

Another thing I knew I wanted to use was some wire ribbon, much like chicken wire, that I had picked up at Hobby Lobby when I was in Houston back at the New Year. I had originally gotten it with a different project in mind, that will post tomorrow, but I thought it would go nicely in the shadow box as well, after all doesn't every rooster need some kinda chicken wire to keep it safe from other critters? It cut easily with some little jewelry wire pliers I keep in the craftroom and just tucked the ends back behind the matted paper. 

After getting all my French Country elements together I decided I wanted to add a clock to the mix and I used the Tim Holtz Weathered Clock Die that I had also found at Zipp, I paid a whopping $4 for it. I cut it out of some gold mica cardstock and then used some of the printed paper to back it. People who have seen the shadow box in person have asked me if the clock was real and worked and I had to let them know it was only paper.

I did a lot of dimensional work on the shadow box. The rooster is actually 5 layers and this view shows how he is layered. I curled paper, pop dotted things, made a little banner, layered the sunflower and probably a few other things that I have forgotten. 

I did add some Ranger Perfect Pearls on the Roosters feathers here and there, which might be able to be seen better in the picture above. I used the colors of Sunflower Sparkle, Blue Patina and Forever Green. They don't show well in the pictures but in person they really look good. 

I was really pleased with how the shadow box turned out and it goes in my kitchen quite nicely! Be sure to come back tomorrow and see the other project I made using the printed French Country paper!

I Learned How To Print My Own Paper

Okay so it's not something I really want to do because I don't believe it is cost effective but when I couldn't find what I was looking for I had to take some desperate measures!

I have been searching high and low for some Graphic 45 French Country so I could make some items for my kitchen to go with the Match Box Project that I made in a class that my friend Linda and I went to back in 2013. The only paper I could find was $60 for the pack and I am not about to pay that much for some dang paper! I did have a deal worked out with someone that I would send them a Foodsaver Meal Saver Vacuum Sealer and they would send me some of the French Country they had but that deal fell through as I never received the paper...and yes I did send the vacuum sealer.

One night at Stamp Club I was talking about looking high and lo for the French Country paper and the lady who runs stamp club said she had some left and would let me buy it. I told her I would just borrow it if she didn't mind and then see if I could scan and print my own. She loves the collection as much as I do and I didn't want to take what was left of hers. I also had a friend scan some of the 8x8 sheets she had and mail those to me. 

Back in August I had made a trip to Goodwill and hit one of those bargains of the century when I found a brand new Canon Pixma Pro 100, which I discussed in my True Confessions post, and I just knew I would be able to print awesome paper with this thing. I had never used the printer before but my daughter had used it a few times printing some pictures she had scanned that she gathered from her pawpaw and granny. She told me it printed great, I wasn't here at the time she printed them, and that is why I was so hopeful about being able to print the paper I wanted. 

My hope and excitement soon waned into disappointment and frustration as I couldn't get it to print the vibrant colors. While it was mediocre and quite subdued I thought I would just have to make it work. When discussing it on Facebook someone mentioned something about matte photo paper and the color management settings in the computer. I ordered some of the matte photo paper from Amazon, being a prime member does have it's benefits since I actually received it the next day. I played around with my settings in the color management and thought I would try it again. By this time I had already finished one project with the mediocre paper, which I will share later, but there was still another project I wanted to do.

Anxiously I loaded the matte photo paper into the printer and hit the print button for the picture that was on my computer screen. I actually went into the kitchen and piddled around because I didn't want to look at it and be disillusioned while the page finished printing.When I came back into the craftroom I think a squeal of delight escaped my lips as I was elated with what was sitting there! Here you can see for yourself how well it printed once I made the adjustments in the color management, which I have no idea what all I adjusted at the time, and used the matte photo paper. You really can't tell the difference between what I printed and the original paper other than the paper feels a bit different.

I quickly printed a number of papers to use and even thought about redoing the first project I had completed with the crappy paper yet I didn't want all the ink I had used to go to waste so I decided against it.  I also figured out how to print multiple images on one sheet, the sunflower in the picture is actually from a full 12x12 sheet and I just cropped it to what I wanted to use. 

Now let me say that if Graphic 45 finds out about this I will likely be banished from ever using their products again but I tell ya what....we crafters are a desperate kinda breed when it comes to wanting what we want and I justify my actions by thinking it is what they get for discontinuing such a wonderful collection! 

The two projects I made with the paper will post in the next few days so be sure to come back and see what I made!