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Maker's Monday: A Cozy Fire Part II

This project turned out better than I imagined it would! You can see how I made the bulk of it here along with a detailed supply list and now I'll bore you with the fireplace details! Be warned: there aren't a lot of in-process photos again because I was really in the process ...



Supplies:
***All of these supplies are Tim Holtz except for the E-6000 glue, acrylic paint and LED light string***
Specialty Stamping Paper
Distress Inks in Candied Apple, Aged Mahogany, Walnut Stain, Wilted Violet, and Black Soot
Harlequin Stencil
Glossy Accents
Collage Medium Vintage
Cardboard from Idea-ology package
Boneyard
E-6000 glue
LED Halloween lights
Acrylic paint in black, white, and orange
Hook and loop tape
Batteries

Tools:
Scissors
Round Blending Tool
Metal Probe
Small hole punch

First thing I did for this portion was to paint the larger Boneyard pieces with black acrylic paint. While they dried, I cut a piece of cardboard from an Idea-ology package down to a little over one inch long by about half an inch wide. I painted this strip black as well to the be base I'd wrap my LED lights around.


After everything was dry, I dry brushed on white and orange paint and then made an ashy gray by combining the black and white. I dry brushed this on as well so the bones looked like they'd charred and might still be burning.


I realized a little too late that most fireplaces don't have a wooden interior because, well, wood burns. It made sense to make a brick interior, but I had neither the time nor patience to wait to have a stencil or die shipped to me for this project. I decided to make the bricks.

I added Candied Apple DI to the Specialty paper and then added smudges of Aged Mahogany, Walnut Stain, Wilted Violet, and Black Soot so the background was very irregular, like brick that's been in a fireplace many years.


Once the paper dried, I cut it down to strips and then made small rectangles out of the strips. I glued each brick to another sheet of Specialty paper with a bit of white showing to act as the mortar. Once they all were dried, I added more Walnut Stain and Black Soot to dirty-up the mortar.


I guesstimated how big the main back piece needed to be, due to the fact that I had already glued the trim to the vignette box. Not good planning! I trimmed the brick sheet down and poked a hole in it from the back of the Vignette Tray and then made a larger hole with my small hole punch. Next, I glued it in place with Glossy Accents.


I trimmed the sides from the same sheet of bricks so they lined up pretty well. Once they were glued in place, I covered them and the back piece with Collage Medium Vintage using my index finger to make it look rough and uneven.

There was enough of the inked brick sheet unused to cover the bottom of the fireplace. Such luck! I glued it with Glossy Accents as well.

After everything dried, I fed the strand of LED lights from the back of the tray and wrapped the small piece of painted cardboard starting with the wire closest to the hole. As I wrapped, I moved the wire so the lights were mostly on top. After it was fully wrapped, I used E-6000 to glue the cardboard strip to the bottom of the fireplace. I weighed it down with the battery pack of another light set and let it dry over night.



With the lights set, I did a dry fitting of the bones on top. I used Glossy Accents to glue one bone down and then let it dry before adding the others. It was a slow process, but they're pretty secure. I also flooded the voids around the bones with Glossy Accents to give it more staying power.



The piece needed a floor and I decided to make my own, of course! I started with the Specialty Paper and colored it with Candied Apple blended with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink. I then used the TH Harlequin Stencil on top and dabbed in Black Soot Distress Ink. I love the diamond pattern, but it was too "clean" so I grunged it up using some Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

I cut the sheet to fit the bottom of the tray. The white edges showed so I edged the entire tray with Black Soot Distress Ink and my foam blender.

The final steps to the project are to adhere the battery packs to the back of the tray with hook and loop tape, secure the excess wires with makeshift spools and add twine or jute to hang it with.







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