Thursday, October 31, 2013

Autumn Dragonfly Altered Tin with Accordion Folded Tag

Hello everyone, and Happy November!  I am so glad you stopped by today.  I hope everyone had a creepy fun kinda Halloween, and while I could make Halloween projects forever, all good things must come to an end, so on to Fall projects.

I have really been looking forward to getting my new stamp set, Fall Collection, from the ever-so-talented Ms. Pam Bray, and now I cannot wait to use it.  This is just one set of several that she has designed, and I want them all.

I recently missed out on participating in an Altoid tin swap due to other commitments, so that has been on my mind lately.  I used this Velamints tin to begin my altered transformation of a Fall tin to hold an accordion folded tag.  The poor tin was beat up a bit, but I managed to cover up some of the flaws.


Supplies used:

Sin City Stamps:  Pam Bray's Fall Collection
Velamints tin
Studio sticky-back canvas (Ranger)
Black India Ink (Stewart Superior)
Chestnut Roan Chalk ink pad (Colorbox)
Distress Markers: (Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick)
Distress Inks:  (Dried Marigold, Crushed Olive, Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Ripe Persimmon)
Distress Stains: (Wild Honey, Scattered Straw)
Dylusions ink sprays (Cherry Pie, Squeezed Orange)
Adobe and Olive Glimmer Glaze (Tattered Angels)
#8 Shipping tag (6-1/4" x 3-1/8")(office supply)
Botanique 6"x6" paper pad (Donna Salazar)

Directions:

Start by removing the lid.  This makes it easier to decorate the tin.  Trace and cut out lid from canvas.  
Stamp brush image in black onto canvas; let dry.  
Spritz canvas with cherry and orange ink sprays; let dry.
Cover shipping tag with a piece of the Botanique paper.  Align the paper at the top of the tag. There will be about 1/4" uncovered at the bottom, but this will be trimmed off.

Stamp sunflower onto tag with brown chalk ink; color with markers.  As you can see, this paper is rather grey blue, but this can be altered to match my needs.
Ink edges of tag with marigold, olive, vintage photo, persimmon, and black distress inks.  Stamp AUTUMN onto tag with brown chalk ink.  Quite a transformation, wouldn't you say?
Edge back side of shipping tag with brown chalk ink.
Trim second half of print paper down to fit onto back of tag.  Ink edges as for the front.  Stamp three leaves onto tag with brown chalk ink.  Color with markers.  

Adhere print paper to center of tag.
Score tag at 2" and 4" and accordion fold.  Trim off excess at bottom to make a 6" long tag. Because this particular tin is smaller than an Altoid tin, I had to trim a sliver off each long side of the tag to make it fit into the tin.  You probably will not need to do this with an Altoid tin, however.

Stamp "Harvest your gifts and give them freely" onto another scrap of print paper with brown chalk ink.  Cut out each part of the phrase and adhere to tag, as shown.  (NOTE:  It is important to score the tag first before adhering the words so that you don't adhere some of the words over a fold.)
reverse side of tag with words adhered

Front of tag with German Scrap border adhered along bottom

I like to color my ribbon to match, so I used off white seam binding and added marigold and brick distress stains to it, crumpled it up and let it dry like that.  
Be sure to re-punch the holes in the tag top so that you can add your ribbon.

Adhere Botanique print papers to inside lid and bottom, as shown.  Sponge distress inks over paper to give it more of that Autumn color.

Stamp sunflower top only onto smooth vanilla card stock.  Color and cut out flower; adhere to inside lid with pop dot and small floral berry twig.
Strips of German paper scrap borders were adhered along bottom sides and lid sides.
German scrap border around bottom and lid

Below is what the inside tin looks like with the folded tag inserted.  I added a Tim Holtz philosophy charm "Genuine" with a small safety pin to the ribbon.
To make the dragonfly on the lid, first stamp onto reverse (silver) side of a piece of blue metal foil with black ink.
Emboss outside lines of image, and parts of the wings and body.
Turn foil over to blue side. You can now see where to cut out the image.
Turn foil back over to the reverse side and finish embossing with the embossing tool.
Gently sand off some of the blue foil along the high (embossed) spots.
Apply green metallic cream over the high spots that you just sanded.
The foil was too blue for my liking, so I pulled out my Glimmer Glazes in Adobe and Olive and gave the entire dragonfly a coat of each color, allowing to dry between coats.  Here it is again for a quick look.  You can see where the glazes landed in the nooks and crannies for a deeper color while still providing that shine I was going after.  
I hope you enjoyed my Fall project today and that you will be inspired to create a tiny tin for yourself or to give as a gift.  Remember, gift cards fit very nicely into these tins.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you can visit the Sin City Stamps blog to see what the rest of the team has for you this month, and don't forget to check out all the new stamps and awesome products that Sin City Stamps has for you in their online store.  

Have a wonderful weekend, and a great Fall!

Barbara

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The Robin's Nest Masquerade Contest

Hey there, Robin's Nest fans.  So glad you stopped by today.  Have you heard about the Robin's Nest Masquerade Contest?  Ever since I went to Venice for a vacation last year, I have been dying to make my very own mask, and this gave me the push I needed.  You still have time to enter for chances to win some fabulous gift certificates to The Robin's Nest store.  To help inspire you, I have a piece I would like to share with you, and a few tips and techniques I used to help you make or cover your own mask.  I started with a blank paper maché mask from my local craft store.  And here is my finished piece.

Supplies used:

The Robin's Nest:  Silver Glitter Swirl on Black card stock,  Red Glitter Swirl on Red card stock,  Gold Glitter Swirl on Creme card stock, Ruby Red Diamond dew drops
Sizzix dies:  Snowflake Rosettes, Mini Snowflake Rosettes
Gold german paper scrap (decorative border)
Ruby metallic cream
German Silver gilder's paste
Charcoal acrylic paint
Black pleated ribbon
Black tinsel twine (Tim Holtz)
Miscellaneous ribbons and yarns

Directions:

Trim a piece of Silver Glitter Swirl on Black card stock to 4-1/2" x 12".  Spritz paper heavily on both sides with water to saturate the paper and break down the fibers.  This will make the paper more pliable.

Apply a coat of bookbinding or white glue to half of the mask front and gently adhere the damp paper.  When you reach the middle of the mask, you need to make a pleat or fold in the center to straighten the paper up again so it will fold over the nose and cover the second half.
Apply a coat of bookbinding or white glue to the second half of the mask front and gently adhere the damp paper.  Gently tear the pleat you made and finish glueing it down carefully.  I have found that torn paper will make a less noticeable seam.
Allow paper to dry before trimming off excess.
Because of the curvature of this particular mask, it was a bit tricky cutting around the eyeholes with scissors alone, but a little perseverance, a sharp craft knife, and an emery board to sand off any imperfections made the task manageable.
At this point, I painted the back of the mask with a charcoal acrylic paint to give a finished look.


Glue black pleated ribbon around the mask, and black lace along the top.  Add gold leaf trim to top pleats, and red trim to bottom pleats.  Gather a bunch of ribbons, yarns and trims and attach to the left side of the mask.  I painted a wooden dowel with charcoal acrylic paint, and when dry, rubbed German Silver gilder's paste over it.  Then glued that to the back, beneath the bunch of ribbons.

Die cut two large rosettes from  Red Glitter Swirl on Red card stock, and two small rosettes from Gold Glitter Swirl on Creme card stock.  Follow directions to make each rosette.  Stack small rosette on top of large rosette.  Adhere one rosette to each side of the mask, embellishing with a metal fleur de lys brad and metal bead trims, as shown.
I hope you enjoyed my mask project, and that I have inspired you to give it a go yourself.  All you need to do is post the picture of your project on the Robin's Nest Facebook Page and you will be entered to win.  It's as easy as that.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope you will check the Robin's Nest blog for more inspiration and information on the contest.

Happy Halloween!  (It's almost here, you know.)

Barbara


Saturday, October 26, 2013

10/26 Leslierahye's 3rd Annual Very Spooky Steampunk Halloween Blog Hop

Hello everyone, and welcome to Leslierayhe's 3rd Annual Very Spooky Halloween Steampunk Blog Hop.  If you came for Pam Bray's All Things Altered Fall/Halloween Blog Hop, you can get there by clicking here.

I am so glad you stopped by today because you are in for a real "treat". Wait til you see what we all have in store for you today.  So be sure to visit each blog (some will have giveaways) and all you need to do is leave a comment on each blog, and return to LeslieRahye's blog and let her know you did.  As always, we would love for you to follow our blogs, especially if you see something you like.

For my project today, I made a steampunk spider.  I have always been creeped out by spiders, but I think this one is actually pretty, still in a creepy sort of way.  I was thinking of the Terminator when I covered him with paper, but leaving some of the metal endoskeleton exposed.  This little guy has been in a couple of fights, I think.  But you should see the other guy, er, uh, I mean spider.


Supplies used:

Wooden laser cut spider (Hobby Lobby)
Self-adhesive metal sheets (Quickutz)
Spiderweb paper (Mod Podge)
Industrial Texture Plate (Spellbinders Media Mixage)
Bookbinding glue (Club Scrap) (or Mod Podge)
Raw Umber Glaze, Asphaltum Glaze, Metallic Bronze Glaze (Golden)
Mini brass nuts, mini metal gears, metal wire pieces (Hobby Lobby)
Amber, Black Diamond Shaped Dew Drops (Robin's Nest)
Black Tinsel Twine, pen nibs (Tim Holtz)
Large Metal Flower (art-i-cake)

Directions:

Run a piece of metal sheet through die cut machine with texture plate.  Tear into pieces and adhere randomly to spider.
Tear pieces from spiderweb paper and adhere to spider, covering up remaining open areas.
Apply watered down coat of brown glaze over entire spider. Apply black glaze to exposed metal areas.  Let dry and wipe off with a baby wipe.  Then apply bronze glaze over entire spider.
The camera just cannot do it justice, but I think you get the idea in this closeup.
Adhere amber diamond dew drops to spider's legs.  Wrap black tinsel around body of spider.  Adhere metal nuts and gears around spider body, as shown.
Adhere large metal flower to center of spider's body.
A few more closeups.
Dew drops, pen nib, and exposed metal area
Two black diamond drops for eyes, and a copper gear for his mandibles


I hope you enjoyed my "punkey" spider and that you have lots of fun hopping around to all the blogs today.  A complete list of each blog is shown below to help you find your way.



Have a wonderful weekend and an especially creepy (but fun) Halloween!!!

Barbara

Friday, October 25, 2013

All Things Altered Fall/Halloween Blog Hop 25-27 October


Hi everyone, and welcome back to the annual All Things Altered Fall/Halloween Blog Hop, hosted by  Pam Bray, and featuring some really fabulously talented artists.  You can begin the hop on her blog at Scrapbook Flair.  She will be giving away a fabulous prize to one lucky winner.  To enter, all you need to do is visit each blog, leave a really nice comment, and return to Scrapbook Flair and tell her that you did.  We would also love it so much if you would follow our blogs, as well, especially if you like what you see.

For my project piece, I want to share my Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe mini album.  I learned to make this book in one of Marsha Bichler's classes.  She is a very talented local artist who loves to share her bookmaking talents.  While I love making these books, after all the technical part is finished, the really fun part of embellishing follows.  I usually spend many days, or even weeks, embellishing my books.   So let me share some photos and brief descriptions of the book pages.

Front Cover
Fussy cut various images from the Graphic 45 papers.  
These feathers were fussy cut and multiple snips made around the edges with scissors to give it a fluffy, feathery look.  
3D Crystal Lacquer added to eyeglass image, clear crackle medium added to butterfly wings
When opened, each page has this lace doily flap.
Each page is actually a pocket that holds a tag that is attached to the doily flap.  I used some of the curious definitions on each of my pocket tags.
Inside cover and Page 1
Page 1 with tag flap closed
Page 1 with tag flap opened
Crackle mediums and glossy accents used on various images for dimension and interest.
Page 2
Embossed chipboard shapes were painted with gold acrylic paint, then black ink to age it.  Also see picture of spine below.

Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Flourish gem stickers, more snipped feathers, and 3D Crystal Lacquer added for dimension.

Page 6
Page 7
Some images were adhered on only three sides to form a pocket in which to hold tags and other tiny bits of ephemera.
Page 8
Page 9
More gem stickers, a crochet flower, vintage button, and metal bee charm were added to this page.
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12 and inside back cover
Page 12 with gem stickers and a metal filigree butterfly
Inside back cover with gem stickers, and Tim Holtz film strips added 

Outside Back Cover
Aged embossed chipboard pieces on the spine
The closure was made by punching a hole in the back cover and inserting a Tim Holtz swivel hook with chain through the hole.  A binder clip was attached to the chain with a jump ring, and more charms were hung from the clip. 


I hope you enjoyed my curious, and a bit macabre, mini album, perfect for Halloween, don't you think?  A complete list of all of the bloggers is listed below to help you on your way.  Your next stop will be with Jessica, and I know she has something really special to share with you.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today and hopping along with us.  Enjoy the rest of the hop, and have a wonderful weekend.

Barbara