Get your Armour on and hop along with Stampendous

Thank you so much for popping in today! I am awfully behind on my blog visits but I promise to catch up on them very soon!

Today I have a cupboard full of curiosities for you - quite literally. But more about that in a moment.

First things first. Today Stampendous gals are happily hopping along with their glass etching inspired art. This is part of this week's play with Stampendous rubber stamps and Armour Etch glass etching cream. In case you missed my previous project, with the cute little cottage chic bottles, be sure to have a peak here.

We'd be delighted if you'd like to hop along with us. More so as there are fabulous prizes that need a good home. Please be sure to let us know if you have a US address though, as these glass etching babies cannot be sent overseas.

OK, here we go. I found this little beauty recently in a charity shop. I must admit, I love visiting charity shops. You can often find there really quirky little gems, no longer loved by their owners, but perfect for creative endeavours. And they are usually inexpensive, making it feasible for a hobby crafter to shop, whilst still supporting a charitable cause. It's a win win situation, wouldn't you agree? So... this is my 'before' shot:

And this one is 'after'... :)

And here's how I etched the glass door of the cabinet. First of all, I asked my Hubster to take the door off the hinges for me. Then I masked off the door frame and a 5mm border all around the glass. Next step was to stamp the Leaf Sprig stamp and heat emboss it with Black embossing powder. And colour of the powder will do - this is just to create a resist/mask.

Now, it's time to etch - I left the cream on for five minutes. I didn't know that at the time I made this project, but the girls have suggested to use a scraper to smooth out the top surface of the cream coating. This will help to get the etching more consistent.

And here's my etched glass panel in it's full glory. Below you can see that where the embossing was thinner and not fully covered in powder, the cream seeped through and created a 'shaded' effect, which I really like. But if you are after solid unetched areas, after the first round of embossing you can add some Boss Gloss with a little brush to any missed areas and heat emboss again.

The front of the door was stamped with Elegant Borders and heat embossed with Gold Detail embossing powder. The individual shelves were also stamped with some cute little critters from the Critter Collection set. I also added some embossing enamel moulded dragonflies and flowers. Oh, and at the top I also added a couple of swirls from the Spanish Invite set, some Liquid Pearls and a little cameo.

To decorate the back of my cabinet I decoupaged a beautiful printed napkin with lovely dragonflies. I used Beacons Fast Finish as a decoupage and sealing medium.

And here's the back after distressing with a home made antique glaze (Fast Finish + grey/brown acrylic paint) and some additional stamping with Air Travel stamps.

The top was embellished with handmade felt roses and burlap leaves covered with a sprinkle of Shabby White enamel.

The shelves have been embellished with various lace spools and little vials full of colour fragments, sequins and beads.

Stamps list for UK's crafters:
Cling Leaf Sprig 
Perfectly Clear Elegant Borders 
Perfectly Clear Critter Collection
Perfectly Clear Air Travel
Perfectly Clear Spanish Invitation

And here's who's hopping today:
Stampendous blog
Asia King (yours truly)
Cyndi Bundy
Janelle Stollfus
Kristine Reynolds
Lea Kimmel
Tobi Crawford
Jamie Martin
Rhea Weigand
Etch Talk

Thank you again for popping in today and enjoy hopping along to see the rest of the beautiful etched gems!

Big hugs