Thursday 1 June 2017

Beelieve.

Are you sitting comfortably? This is going to be a loooong post. 
I started off with a 12x12 mdf jigsaw that I purchased on an InkBuds weekender last year. I gave the sides of the pieces a coat of white paint to take away the bare mdf look and glued them to two papers from Craft Consortium's 12x12 Tell the Bees paper pad. I made sure I got the text the right way up! I roughly trimmed the edges of the paper and then sanded them to get a good finish. (Apologies for the dodgy photo, the sunlight was too bright!)
I then went round the edge of the pieces with a piece of cut and dry foam with a tiny bit of blueberry crush chalk paint on it.
Yuck. Too much contrast, so I went back over it all with the same technique but with natural stone chalk paint to knock it back.
Much happier with this. To secure the jigsaw and stop it falling apart, at this point I flipped it over and added sticky tape across the joins. I then found some 12x12 paper in my stash that I didn't like and stuck it across the back with cosmic shimmer. I continued until I had 4 layers of paper stuck on, which made it very sturdy.
You can see on the above photo, resting on the back of the jigsaw, the honeycomb die from the A5 X-cut Beekeeping set, that I cut in kraft card and then covered in Pinflair gold buff it before snipping them up ready to go on the jigsaw. I also sponged a bit of Starlights Rich Gold paint on parts of them to add a little more interest.
I die cut the hive from the same X-Cut set 3 times in kraft card and then pressed them into a versamark pad and heat embossed them with white embossing powder. I gave them two coats to get a good finish, before adding them to the jigsaw with foam pads to add dimension.
I die cut various flowers from both the Tim Holtz Wildflower sets in kraft card and coloured them with a mixture of blueberry crush chalk paint and distress and distress oxide inks to get the colours I wanted.
I then tucked the flowers around the hives with cosmic shimmer glue, cutting them down where necessary.
I die cut the sentiment using a Sweet Dixie Die and layered it up twice in kraft card to add some dimension and painted it with blueberry crush chalk paint. I also bought some amazing mdf bees from StickerKitten and painted them to highlight the details.
I then arranged the bees, sentiment and honeycomb pieces on the jigsaw and secured them with cosmic shimmer glue, before going around the edges of the jigsaw with my finger dipped in a little Pinflair gold buff it and then with a tiny amount of Starlights in Amethyst to finish the piece.
For some reason, the main picture is registering more blue than purple, so hopefully the following picture is more colour accurate.
Still with me? Go and get yourself a large tipple of something, you deserve it!

22 comments:

  1. This is gorgeous Cara. I've got loads of Zigsaw stuff of different sizes and just couldn't think what to do with them but you've really got a winner here. Happy crafting, Angela xXx

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  2. Such a creative idea. Lovely shades of beautiful colours and loving the theme of the bees, honey and wildflowers.Thank you for sharing this unique and fabulous project x

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  3. Hi Cara,
    oh my word this is sooooooo! gorgeous and wonderfully created.
    I love everything about this super creation.
    Your work is excellent.
    Lots of crafty love. Jenny L.

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  4. Oh WOW, Cara! What an amazing project, fabulous design. xx

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  5. Absolutely stunning creation, a great deal of work (to me that is) but it was certainly worth it in the end. Love everything about it.

    Kath x

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  6. Beautiful project :) Love how you have used the bees ^_^ Sarah x

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  7. Ohhh my goodness what a creation. Absolutely love it Cara, cant believe the work that has gone into this but so so worth it. Stunning, so wish I could see it in real life. You are so talented.

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  8. Beautiful layout, love the shades of purple and the bees together.

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  9. A total work of art...from your heart.
    This is so lovely.

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  10. Wow! This is one very clever jigsaw to put on display! Love how everything is perfectly balanced.

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  11. Hello Cara, this is lovely, the jigsaw is so chunky, I see what you mean with the purple being to into your face, but with knocking it back you craeted the perfect balans, those cut flowers are so delicate, Vicky

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  12. Wow Cara! This piece is BEAUTIFUL! I want to make for every season to hang next to my potting shed door... or put in my studio... or oh man.. you've unleashed a beehive of creativity in my brain. LOL So very pretty. Thanks for sharing the step by step.

    A tip for your photos. I don't know about other programs but I use FastStone Photo Resizer 3.5 When I edit my photos there are also options for adjusting the light/ tone of the photo. Great for those days when light doesn't cooperate.

    Hugs & Creative Blessings!
    Kel

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  13. WOW and thrice WOW, this is absolutely gorgeous Cara. I love the jigsaw design and all the fabulous detail, fabulous colours and I just love the theme, Kae x

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  14. Just had a glass of sweet desert wine and very nice it was too. Cheers!! I love your jigsaw. All the embellishments are georgeous and I love the colours. Hugs Mrs A.

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  15. Totally awesome! LOVE this, Cara. The jigsaw puzzle, those bees, hives and flowers are all fabulous on your creative piece of art!

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  16. I've got coffee . . . that will HAVE to do as I'm reading this at 12.38pm on Sat morning (although I suppose it's afternoon technically!)

    GORGEOUS project involving a lot of hard work, but it's really paid off Cara.

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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  17. Hi Cara
    Wow! What an amazing project. The detail is beautiful. Will have to have a look for these jigsaw.
    Have a great weekend.
    Ang x

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  18. This is so gorgeous - certainly a piece that will attract attention!

    Sharon
    x

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  19. Hope you had a well-deserved tipple of something nice yourself Cara, what a beautiful project! And well done on getting your text DP all the right way up ... not convinced that would have happened in my house LOL

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  20. Wow....Beautiful project Cara....love the jigsaw and the pretty papers...a work of art....Joolsx

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  21. WOW!! Love how you took us through the steps, I love the end result, I think you were right to tone down the purple. I was given a blank jigsaw abt 18mths ago, but it is still scaring me..maybe yours will make me braver?

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  22. This is a stunning project Cara. The design is fantastic and I love the colours. The wildflowers behind the hives look gorgeous. It's such an appropriate piece for you to make. I sure it will look great in your home. Barbxx

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Thank you for taking the time to comment. Please ignore any requests to prove you're not a robot and just press publish. Cara x