Tonic studio trellis MDF shelves and drawers

OMG what a journey it has been to get this posted on my blog! I started to write up this blog post when my laptop decided to crash!! Not wanted to pay out money to mend it (January is always a tough month) I set about reading up on the Dell website on my I Pad what to do when a laptop crashes obviously there is a number of problems that could have caused it. I am not technically minded, I don’t understand all the jargon so I find it really stressful, just give me a paint brush or paper and I'm happy and stress free but I was determined to sort it. To cut a long story short it's took me a week to sort it out!!! Must get crafting now to de-stress.

Tonic studio trellis MDF shelves and drawers

• ·         Firstly I put the MDF pieces together, it was easy enough.
• ·         I painted it white, decided that I didn't want white as I wanted to use viva décor and it would show up better on black!
• ·         Next day I distressed it with green paint; I didn't like that so I used pearlescent black. It looked more like how I wanted it to.
• ·         Cut trellis circle die in all the 3 different sizes in thick card, I was going to stick some onto the mdf but there wasn’t room in the end!!
• ·         Cut 3 sizes in funky form and stuck them on acetate, when sprayed with repositionable adhesive it can be put on an acrylic block so that I can stamp with it.
• ·         The other card shapes I used as stencils.
• ·         I also cut some leaves in funky form and stamped them with green paint on the back of the MDF shelves.
• ·         Stencilled the middle sized die cut with Viva Décor Ferro and Viva Décor glitter paste. For the smaller flower used paint as I wanted them to all have different textures.
• ·         Stencilled the large and medium die cuts on the side of the MDF with the viva décor.
• ·         Stamped over stencils with pearlescent paint, was pretty difficult cos when applying paint with a sponge it not only went on the funky form but also the acetate so I couldn’t see clearly where I was stamping! Luckily when I stamped in totally the wrong place I could wipe the paint off with a damp cloth.
• ·         Cut the new trellis oval die with black card, applied viva décor Inka gold.
• ·         Embossed black card. Applied green paint mixed with pearlescent paint and used scrub it pad to apply the paint.
• ·         Cut to the sizes I wanted, applied pearl dots.
• ·         On the top shelve I lost a piece of embossed card cut to the curve of the MDF so after looking everywhere I left it till the next day and still couldn’t find it. To this day it hasn’t turned up so I must have used it for the other pieces but I'm so sure I didnt lol. I'm sure you crafters out there have had this happen to you, it is sooooo maddening when all you want to do is make something!!
• ·         Reluctantly cutting another piece of embossed card i stuck to the MDF then i had to apply the pearl dots and you may have guest what im going to say next because I picked up the shelves to dry i smudged 2 of the pearls so I popped a bit more on top of the smudged ones hoping it would dry ok. Luckily it did!! I can't believe how easy the pearl pens are to use. I would recommend them to anyone who has struggled with applying glue pearl dots. It is easy to squeeze and forms a blob straight away and also rectifies any mistakes, make sure before you start is to shake the pens contents to the nib as this helps eliminate any air bubbles.
• ·         I cut 3 centres from the square decor trellis die in black card and applied viva décor. The brass handles didn’t show up so applied viva décor. The handles are stuck on with blue tack at the moment because I need to order the tonic studios handles.
• ·         To protect the paint etc I applied Mod Podge matt all over. Also on the shelves I applied Mod Podge glitter.
• ·         The photos don’t really show the pearlesence of the black and the shine of the viva décor and the Mod Podge glitter.

I really enjoyed putting together this design as I want something to show off my little glass shaker light bulbs. They are so cute and the Martha Stewart glitter looks amazing. Will fill the others with my favourite emporium embellishments that are too nice to use lol.

Last week 26/1/15 I sent in photos of this project to Create n Craft when Jodie from tonic was demonstrating and Dawn Bibby was presenting. It wasn’t quite done but I wanted to show what different things I had done with the dies. I didn't expect it to be shown as I've sent in emails before but it was and I felt so proud, it really gave me a confidence boost.

Materials used

MDF craft rack and drawers - Stamps Away (Clever Cut) www.clevercut.co.uk

Tonic studios - Deco oval and square trellis base dies. Royal fern dies.

Tattered Lace - embossing folder

Crafters companion - Black card, Cut n Boss

Viva Décor - paper pen, Inka Gold, Ferro.

Mod Podge - matt, glitter.

Paint - metallic granite, pearlizing medium, lettuce acrylic paint dabber.

Gesso - white, black.