Red-eyed Tree Frog Box With Mica D’Lights

Sometimes ideas for a project float around in my head for weeks or months. Concepts float to the top, sink to the bottom, fade in or fade out. That was certainly the case for this project. Here are some of the random thoughts that came together to create this little box.

My favorite electronic cutting machine, the Zing! For the first time, I can cut very detailed designs, with lines about 1/16”. I can also easily control the blade depth and cutting speed, so I can cut very lightweight paper up to wood veneer and grunge board. And with the software that comes with it, Make The Cut!, I can design my own cutting files!

Cut • Bond • Create from USArtQuest, a thin, acyrlic-based, double-sided adhesive sheet is heat resistant, transparent, non-yellowing, flexible and acid-free. Cut • Bond • Create has three layers; the bottom layer is paper (feels a bit like wax paper), a thin sheet of adhesive as the center layer and a top later of paper (with a blue grid pattern on it).

Mica D’Lights, also from USArtQuest, are sparkling bits of mica with a touch of glitter.  Mica D’Lights have a natural organic quality and a beautiful metallic sheen and are available in 18 colors! I used Collection 1 which comes with 8 colors.

Inspiration from several wonderful ladies I met at CHA Winter 2012 who travelled all the way from Australia to attend the show, including Mary Wilcockson, Kaye Churchill (A Crafter’s Passion) and Lee-Anne Thompson (Scrap Therapy).

Jillian Sawyer’s book, Bush Beauties, where the animals, trees, and flowers of the Australian outback come to life in a collection of more than 50 crafting designs. Litoria chloris, also commonly known as the Red-eyed Tree Frog, is a species of tree frog native to eastern Australia.

A tiny little box; all that remains of a stationary set that was a gift from a friend years ago. Yes, I save everything.

Here’s the process. You can click on each photo to enlarge it.

	Cut Zoology Stripe 12ZS398 paper from Bo Bunny to fit the top and sides of the box. Ink the edges and fronts of the paper with Ranger Archival™ Inkpad #0 Sepia ink using an AppliQates sponge.
	Paint the edges of the box with Burnt Umber Perfect Pigments™ – Pure Liquid Acrylics™.
	Use Great Tape to adhere the paper to the box and then add some Burnt Umber to help blend it in to the edges of the box.
	Use the Red-eyed Tree Frog design from Jillian Sawyer’s book, Bush Beauties, to create a vector image in Make The Cut! Put the silhouette of the frog in one layer and all the other shapes in a second layer.
	Put the Cut • Bond • Create on the Zing! cutting mat and brayer it in place. Use the Zing! to “kiss cut” all the interior shapes that make up the frog. “Kiss cutting” means the force behind the blade is low enough that only the top layer of paper is cut. The adhesive layer and bottom paper layer remain intact. Then increase the pressure and cut out the silhouette (cutting through all three layers). You can see the cutout of the silhouette in this photo, but it’s impossible to see the delicate kiss cut of the top layer.
	Peel off the bottom layer of the silhouette, exposing the bottom side of the adhesive layer, and press it down on the top of the box. The silhouette is now firmly adhered to the box lid.
	Use a pin to get under the edge of the top layer of paper and peel up the cut that outlines all the other shapes. In a stained glass window, this would be the leading. This exposes the top side of the adhesive layer (only where you peeled off the paper).
	Sprinkle JudiKins EP013 Black Detail opaque embossing powder over the exposed adhesive. It will only stick where the adhesive is exposed. Shake/brush off the excess and heat emboss. Cut • Bond • Create is heat resistant, so you can use it to emboss without any worries. Now the “leading” of our design is a nice shiny smooth black.
	Working with one color of Mica D’Lights at a time, from the darkest color (i.e., Tanzanite) to the lightest color (i.e., Gold) peel off sections of the frog to expose the top layer of adhesive, apply the Mica D’Lights, press it into the adhesive a bit with your finger, and shake off the excess.
	Since some of the shapes are very tiny, I found it easiest to use a pin to lift off the top layer of paper. You can see the size of the frog’s upper lip compared to the pin – it’s very narrow! This process reminded me of paint-by-numbers.

After you have applied each color, your Red-eyed Tree Frog box is complete!

I think this technique would work really well with any design that’s suitable for a stained glass window or paper piecing. And with 18 colors of Mica D’Lights to work with, just image the images you could “color!”

You can find more USArtQuest projects on the USArtQuest blog. You can also see some pictures of my work on Pinterest.

Happy Crafting!

Joe