Happy Earth Day, crafty friends! If you have been following me for a while, you know that I try to be as eco-conscious in my craft room as possible. I'm acutely aware of how my hobby affects the planet and I've made some mindful decisions about the things I do and the products that I buy. 

Before I get into the tutorial for this project, let's talk about some ways we can be more environmentally friendly in the craft room. 

Because I'm a mixed media artist, I know there are some things that I use that aren't very eco-friendly, such as using certain types of glitter, the use of acrylic paints, and casting with resin. I've tried casting with a powder (a bit like plaster of Paris but a bit stronger), but I just didn't get the results from my moulds that I like (they weren't terrible but they weren't up to my standard), not to mention that I was allergic to something in the powder! So I had to stop using it. But if you live in a place where you can purchase a high quality casting powder, and you aren't allergic to it, it's definitely worth it! Some of the other ladies on the Prima design team use a casting powder with great results. 

Glitter is made of plastic, so it's not biodegradable. Some companies are make a biodegradable glitter now, but if you do have a penchant for the glittery stuff like I do and it's not a biodegradable one, I always make sure that whatever doesn't end up on my project goes straight back into the tube for another project so there's no waste. 

Acrylic is permanent when dry, which makes it great for so many mixed media projects. Unfortunately, that also means it's not eco-friendly. There are some people who wash their tools in buckets and filter and collect the acrylic paint out of the water. And props to them for having the time and patience to do that! When I use acrylics, I always try to be mindful about not squeezing more out of the tube than I need (which is why I like Prima's paints that are in pots because you never pull out more than what is on your brush). Or, I opt to use other paints, such as watercolors, which are a bit more eco-friendly.

Not all parts of mixed media  and paper crafting are bad for the environment! I often talk about saving scraps to die cut small dies from. For me, die cutting from paper and cardstock is like a puzzle, or playing Tetris! And I recycle any paper or cardstock that is too small to use in die cutting. 

I also like to save packaging that my items come shipped in. I save the little ziplock style baggies that I get from shipments of supplies and use them to store my pre-cast moulds in. I also save some of the plastic packaging that my paper flowers, stickers, papers and other supplies come in to mix paints on or dab off excess wax from a brush. It's a great way to reuse this plastic, plus makes cleanup a breeze.

And of course, if you are a mixed media lover, you like to repurpose things for your art, altering old bottles, paint brushes, bottle caps, hard plastic packing, small boxes and so much more. I have two boxes full of these like this just waiting to be used for a project! 

There are some companies, including Prima Marketing, who do offer eco-friendly products! Pinkfresh makes their tools from wood and brass, eliminating wasteful plastics. Kraft paper is made from recycled paper, so the Tim Holtz kraft cardstock is eco-friendly (including his metallic pads, which aren't foil but metallic ink)! And most of Prima Marketing's paper flowers are made from sustainable mulberry paper, a resource that is plentiful and regrows fast. And that makes me feel better when I buy tons and tons of Prima flowers! 

I'm sure there are even more ways for you to be environmentally friendly in your craft room, so be sure to share your ideas in the comments below! But I'm going to move on to the other reason you came here for--the tutorial!

I used an embroidery hoop that I picked up at a second-hand shop as the base of this project. I traced it onto a piece of blue and green paper from the Postcards from Paradise collection as well as a piece of chipboard (saved from a shipment of supplies holding some papers). Then I cut out both and glued the paper to the chipboard.

While the liquid glue that I used to glue the paper and chipboard together was drying I painted the embroidery hoop with Impasto Paint in Mediterranean, being mindful of how much paint I squeezed from the tube. Once it was dry, I attached it to the paper and chipboard backer after adding a few rub on transfers from Postcards from Paradise to the paper.

I've got a little layering tutorial up on my Instagram, so I won't go into too much detail about that here. But I created floral cluster slightly off to the right side of the project in a vertical line. I used blue and green flowers from the Postcards from Paradise collection, as well as green and white flowers from Sharon Ziv's second collection.

As I added flowers, I also tucked in ephemera and I added one more rub on transfer to the base paper (I wanted to get the placement just right so I waited until I had some of my flowers down). I also added some of the Sharon Ziv Greenery Day rub on transfers to some acetate and fussy cut them out, tucking these into the floral cluster like ephemera. Acetate is a thicker plastic and can be recycled, so any of my unusable scraps went into my recycling bin!

I also added the frame from the Vintage Ladies mould and some leaves from Redesign's Monstera mould. To add color to them, I started out by painting them with the Metallique Acrylic Paint in Lime Peel, which the perfect chartreuse green to match the Postcards from Paradise collection! (If you don't have this paint, then try the Lime Green Liquid Acrylic Paint instead.)

Once that layer was dry, I added some of the Metallique Wax in Moss Green to parts of each mould, creating an ombre green effect. After that set up for a bit, I added the Metallique Wax in Celestial to the highlights. I'm really pleased with how these moulds turned out and I think are some of the most beautiful ones I've created to-date! 

I also added a small bottle from the Apothecary Bottles mould, that I colored in a similar way, but instead making it blue. I used Opal Magic Paint in Blue-Violet, and the Sea Glass and Celestial Metallique Waxes. 

To add more white, I used the White Crackle Paste and dabbed it onto my project with a brush. I think this makes my project look even more like planet Earth (blue oceans, green land and white clouds). To finish off this project I added a chipboard sentiment, some lace drops, crystals, and blue and green glitter which I applied to the flowers (being careful to get as much of the excess back into the tubes). Then I tied on the green ribbon from the In Full Bloom collection! 

I hope that this project inspires you to create something pretty and that you learned a few new ways to be more eco-friendly with your paper crafting and mixed media projects. Until next time, happy crafting!

Adrienne

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Below are products that I used for this project.

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Below are products that I used for this project.