I wanna tell ya a story........

So grab a coffee and settle in for a long post!!! It's time for another challenge over at Stampotique and this week we're challenging you to use Mustard, Orange & Navy. Yep I groaned too, but I actually think the combo works really well even if it did have me ripping my hair out wondering what on earth to do!

It would've been oh so simple had I planned ahead and used the C&S card that I made for CASual Friday's the other week, but oh no little Miss Disorganised merrily created a card for that challenge and blogged without even looking at the forth-coming challenges for Stampotique!!! Eeek lesson learned!

Then I made the fatal mistake of catching a glimpse of what the other girls had done and full scale panic set in (Pop over to them to have a look and you'll see what I mean!). So I gave myself a slap and tried to focus on the project for several days in a row and....... Nothing!! Dontcha just hate it when that happens??

Then, just when I'd given up all hope I spotted a picture several times on various  Pinterest board's for a salt scrub which I thought would make pretty nice Christmas gifts for my girlfriends. This then led to much googling of various homemade scrub and beauty recipes (I know you're wondering where this is going, but hang in there with me!?) and eventually I hit upon a brown sugar and honey one which immediately sparked an idea for this project! So there you have it the secret to my creative thought processes - just genius huh? Rofl! :D

Anyway, this is what I've eventually come up with, not fantastic, but it fits the challenge! I hope you'll be kind after all my pain - lol!

I started off by sterilising an empty screw lid jar and ensuring that all of the adhesive used to hold the label on with had been removed. The scrub was then made up loosely based upon this recipe (I made a larger quantity, and used olive oil and some almond and orange extract for fragrance and adjusted the texture of the scrub by adding a little more sugar). Once the mix had been placed into the jar and I'd made sure that the lid was on firmly (believe me this is essential!!!) the jar was cleaned up with an acetone nail polish remover to get rid of every last trace of oil.

I then inked some cardstock with Distress Ink and scanned the background into my computer before using the Freezer Paper Technique to print it onto some fabic. A single flower from Daisy Daisy was then stamped randomly over the fabric before ironing to set the inks. I used a cereal bowl as a template to cut the fabric into a circle. The edges were lightly frayed (if you don't want the edges to fray at all, simply run some PVA around the edge before cutting.

Next I stamped Big Bee several times onto some white shrink plastic, coloured with pencils. Once shrunk I added Glossy Accents to the bodies and Stickles to the wings. These were attached either end of some jute twine which I then used to secure the fabric jar cover.

I didn't want to waste the inky background paper that I'd made to create the fabric with, so I made a tag card with my Sizzix Tag Die. To create a little more interest, I sponged Distress Inks through a piece of sequin waste and knocked back the colour in places by dry brushing with Gesso. I then used some navy paint on the end of a paint brush to add more interest.

The word BEE was created from some old paper scrabble tiles that I've had kicking around in my stash for ages - they've simply been inked and then punched with a circle punch, before being given a layer of Glossy Accents. I then used some blue ink to stamp the Grass before attaching more of the shrink plastic bees.

Well I think that's about it, well done if you managed to stay with me - told ya it was an epic post!!! Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire xxx

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:
Make It Monday - Anything Goes
Inspire Me Fridays - Anything Goes
Top Tip Tuesday - Recycle It