Suncatcher with Faux Cracked Glass CC3C 30

.

When I saw Linda's beautiful red hummingbird feeder she made  from a syrup bottle I knew I had to make a Sun Catcher for the Faux Cracked Glass challenge. You can see Linda's beautiful feeder at her blog. It is one of the wonderful art pieces you will find  at Linda Ledbetter's Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge #30.

I actually finished it over the weekend but being NOT a great photographer had a really hard time catching the light for a good shot.

The sponsor for this challenge is The Funkie Junkie Boutique. Yes, one lucky winner will win a $25 gift certificate to shop for goodies. I love to shop there so wish me luck!  There is also a prize for The Curiosity Crew's Choice. It is a box full of fantastic goodies donated by Tim Hotz and Mario Rossi. You still have time to join the fun. Create your own entry and link it up the challenge is open till this Friday. You can find a ton of inspiration from the Curiosity Crew here and the rules here.

These little bottles are Tim's Corked Vials. I colored them using Tim's Faux Cracked Glass technique from page 54 of his amazing book "A Compendium of Curiosities Volume III". If you don't have a copy you can order it directly from Tim and he'll sign it for you.  You can see I've used Tim's screw eyes twisted into the cork tops to add his paper twine for hanging.

The little flowers on top of the cork are Idea-ology foliage painted with Picket Fence Distress Paint, then alcohol ink and finally Rock Candy Distress Crackle. Make sure each layer is completely dry before going on to the next. I placed Tim's Screw Eyes through the holes and then twisted them  into the cork stoppers to attach the flowers. 

 

I made a hanger for my Sun Catcher vials out of Grunge paper that I die cut with Tim's Styled Labels die, painted with Distress Cracked Brushed Pewter Paint and embossed with his Rays embossing folder. Years ago Tim showed us how to make an Alcohol Ink Palette by dripping alcohol ink into a palette and letting it dry. The Alcohol Ink Refillable Pen has a brush nib and a fine point nib. Filled with blending solution it makes an excellent brush for picking up the alcohol ink and coloring glossy surfaces. The Brushed Pewter Cracked Distress Paint dries glossy so I was able to easily color my labels with alcohol inks. I folded the labels in half, glued and stapled them together with the mini attacher and inserted a dowel into the center making the top for my sun-catcher. I used my crop-a-dile to add holes to hang the corked vials from. I topped off the top with a white wooden bead I had in my stash and another foliage flower. I colored both with Silver mixative alcohol ink and put a clear gemstone in the center of the flower. It reminds me of a little pineapple and the silver color goes great with the pewter. To finish it off I painted the dowel with Brushed Pewter too.

Now I can stick the dowel into a potted plant and place it in front of the window in my craft room.