Altered Trading Blocks and Altered Pages Birdhouse

If you've been following along this month, you already know that Altered Pages has partnered with The Artists on the Block, sharing our Altered Trading Block creations, aka, ATBs.  These fun, easy to alter, blocks are made with Eileen Hull's Sizzix block dies.  

As this is the last Thursday of the month, I believe I am the last to submit my creation.  However, I am so excited to present my double-decker bird house.  Can you see the tenants inside?  I had my husband hold a flashlight and shine it into the hole so I could take a picture.

Supplies used:

Altered Pages collage sheets:  AP-2220 Chirpy Goodness; AP-1566 Feathers; AP-1564 Vintage Eggs; AP-1478 Vintage Wings

Metallic Rubon Sets: Rich Primary #1; All Metals #2
German Scrap
Eileen Hull's Sizzix Box, Square XL die

Eileen Hull's Sizzix Blocks/Cubes, 3-D XL die

Sizzix mat board

Sizzix embossing folders: Bricked, Woodgrain

Metal candle holder

Rustique Tin Can embossing powder

Clear Embossing Ink Dabber

Corrugated cardboard from packaging

Acrylic paint, matte medium, Cobalt Teal, Rust

For a complete tutorial and more pictures of my double decker ATB bird house, especially a closer look at those cute little tenants living inside, please visit the Altered Pages blog.  

Check out this awesome special sale, through the end of the month.  We will add a FREE 6 well plastic palette and 1 ready to fill mister bottle when you purchase Splash Inks at the special limited sale price of 26.98!    Supplies are limited to on-hand quantities, valid until May 31, 2014 or until supply is gone. NO coupoon needed.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend!

Barbara

Venetian Carnivale Mixed Media Card

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog.  It's the beginning of a new week over at Altered Pages, and I have another fun, mixed media project to share.  First off, I want to let you in on a little tidbit of good news.   Altered Pages is offering more specials this month.  

When you purchase any three Rubber or Clear stamps or stamp sets, you will get a FREE Memento ink pad! 

OR

BUY SPLASH INK GET A FREE 6x6 STENCIL

Isn't that an amazing deal?  So, to get your juices flowing, I thought I would use some of these products to hopefully inspire you, and perhaps tempt you to take advantage of this special deal.

First off, stamp large Venice lady from  Carnevale di Venezia stamp set with StazOn midi Claret ink (Tsukineko) onto an adhesive cork sheet.  I was super amazed at how well this stamped onto the uneven cork surface with the StazOn ink.  

Spray cork sheet with Dylusions ink sprays in Lemon Zest, Squeezed Orange, and Cut Grass.  

Use a water brush and dab with a paper towel to remove some of the color in the stamped image.  I know these images are looking real similar, but if you look closely, you can see areas where I removed some of the color, such as in her face, the mask, and around her headdress.

Using my water brush and multiple colors of my Splash Inks, I colored the image, then I highlighted her face with some Dylusions ink sprays in White Linen and my water brush.  When all was colored, I then sponged Golden Glitz Delicata ink (Tsukineko) around the image to give it a metallic, bright essence.  

I wanted to bring out some of the parts of my image a bit more, so I used a black Micron pen to outline what I wanted to highlight.  Again, it is subtle, but very effective.  I outlined her face and eyes, the mask, parts of her headdress, and the word "Venice".  Can you see the difference?

Now to decide how to use my lovely focal piece.  I chose to make a card, but this would also be lovely on a large tag, canvas, or wall hanging.  First, I die cut the cork with a rounded tag die, adhered it to a piece of dark green card stock, and trimmed around the cork, leaving a 1/8" border.  I sponged more Golden Glitz Delicata ink around the edge and adhered it to my card with pop dots.  Then I die cut a Venetian border strip and covered it with Golden Glitz Delicata ink.  I wanted a more copper color to match the copper stripe in the die cut Venetian mask, so I pulled out my Metallic rub-ons Rich Primary colors and added copper over the entire border.  The shimmery copper stripes in the die cut mask do not show up well in the photo.  It looks so much better in person.  I thought it needed a little something more, so I added a few metal square stickers to the bottom area for interest.

You may notice in the finished photo above that there is no longer any white specks peeking through the cork background.  That is because there were open spaces in the cork, allowing the white release paper to show through.  When I removed the release paper to adhere my cork to my green card stock background, the green now appears in those spaces.  Looks awesome, doesn't it?

During the month of May, join the Altered Pages Design Team as we cross promote Eileen Hull Designs Artist Trading Blocks with the The Artists on the Block Design Team.  They will be posting new ATB projects every Tuesday, while we, here at Altered Pages, will be posting new ATBs every Tuesday and Thursday.  Be sure to stop by often for a month of inspiration.   In the final week, I hope you will check back on Thursday  when I share my rendition of an Altered Trading Block.  But be sure to check out both teams for the most amazing inspiration.  

I hope you enjoyed my project today, and be sure to visit the Altered Pages online store for all of your artsy supplies and to take advantage of this month's specials.

Have a wonderful and creative week!

Barbara

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Blog Challenge #8 with Sin City Stamps

Hi everyone, and welcome back to Challenge #8 with Sin City Stamps and Craft Hoarders Anonymous design teams.  Today we begin a new challenge.  

Challenge #8 Show us Some Metal or Glass
Do you hoard gears, pins, brads, eyelets, frames, and other metal do-dads? Do you have a thing for tiny light bulbs and glass vials? Do junk drawers make you giddy? Do you hang out in office supply stores so you can score funky paperclips? Do bottle caps make you swoon? Dig through your hoard to find something metal or glass (or both) and make a project to share!

One talented participant will receive these prizes, donated by Sin City Stamps and Really Reasonable Ribbon! Challenge Rules are HERE.  Make sure you LINK your project up using the Link Tool on the Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge Blog. 

For my inspirational challenge entry, I decided to alter a microscope slide mailer.  I have been hoarding a small collection of these for years, and now I am addicted to playing with them.  The good news is, they are still easily obtainable.  This particular mailer is a single slide mailer, but they come in different varieties and hold two, three, four, and sometimes more, microscope slides. 

Paint both sides of single microscope slide mailer with white gesso.

Stamp winged spark plug onto microscope slide holder inside, and half of the spark plug onto a sheet of vintage book paper.  

As you can see in the photo above, I used colored pencils and metallic markers to color the image.  The metallic markers I used were more opaque, so I used a stamp positioner to re-stamp the spark plug portion of the stamp, returning the image to its original detail.

Align both images to match and cut right side of winged spark plug out, using the glass slide as a guide.

Stamp gears background onto outside cover, as shown.

Color front of holder with Gelatos in gold, silver, ochre, brown.  Edge holder with silver metallic ink.  (See finished photo above).

Stamp light bulb and time clock face onto scrap of vintage book page, fussy cut images, glue to inside holder, as shown below.  I accidentally cracked the glass slide, and I liked it so much, I left it like that.  However, for safety's sake, I then ran a bead of 3D Crystal Lacquer along the edges of the glass.  At the same time, I added a thick layer of 3D Crystal Lacquer to the light bulb for dimension.

Here is a closer look at that light bulb.

I added a piece of film strip that I very carefully curled using a heat gun and slipped it through a metal stencil clip.  I glued that and a tiny key escutcheon on the front, then bent the pointed end of a metal photo clip and adhered it over the edge of the front to look like a book closure.

A few more close ups of the inside.  First up, the fractured glass.

Next, the outside cover of the mailer.

Supplies used:
Sin City Stamps plates:  Classic Spark, Time
Chipboard microscope slide mailer
Microscope glass slide
Onyx Black ink pad
Silver metallic ink
Gold, silver, ochre, brown gelatos
White Gesso
Charcoal pencil
Blender stump
3D Crystal Lacquer
Various metal embellishments

Make sure you visit the Design Team and check out what they have to share!

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Designers

Amber Milone - http://pinkchicpaperdesign.blogspot.com/
Christy Butters - http://creatingwiththegirls.blogspot.com/

Debbie Seyer - http://www.debbieseyer.com/my_weblog/

Donna Idlet - http://myblogidlet.blogspot.com/

Glenda Brooks - http://glendabrooks.blogspot.com/

Ginny Nemchak - http://pollyspaper.wordpress.com

Jan Marie Ennenga - http://re-creations4him.blogspot.com/

Karen Zueger - http://lostcoastscrapper.blogspot.com

Pam Bray - http://www.pammejoscrapbookflair.com/

Kathy Clement - http://www.kathybydesign.com/kathy-by-design-news/

Tammi Bennett - http://www.tjsmemoriesblog.blogspot.com/

Sin City Stamps Designers

Sin City Stamps Blog - http://sincity-stamps.blogspot.com/

Barbara Rankin - http://blackholeartstudio.blogspot.com/

Karen Lackey - http://starshinesalon.typepad.com/

Lisa Mita - http://lisamita.typepad.com/blog/

Peggy Oliver - http://mystampingobsession.blogspot.ca/

Robin Redd - http://robinredd.typepad.com/

I hope you can spend some time with us today to check out all of the awesome projects brought to you by both teams.  In addition, there will be prizes awarded, and all the information can be obtained on the Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge Blog.  Sin City Stamps is also giving away a fabulous $20 gift card, and the CHAC blog has this beautiful selection of Really Reasonable Ribbon to be awarded to the challenge winner.

Thanks for stopping by.  Good luck to you all, and have a wonderful, creative week.

Barbara

Mini Envelope Book

Happy Friday, everyone.  I hope you are ready for the weekend.  I have some fun envelope inspiration for you today using Sin City Stamps and one of the wonderful envelope templates from Green Sneakers, our co-sponsor this month.  I decided to make a little coupon book to carry in my purse.

Sin City Stamps:  Time; Dressforms; Wing-It
Green Sneakers:  PL4x6 Kreate-a-lope Envelope Template
Printed scrapbook papers
Black ink pad
Binding machine and o-wire

For more photos and step-by-step-directions showing you how I put this cute little mini book together, please visit the Sin City Stamps blog.   With the stamps from Sin City Stamps and Green Sneakers fabulous templates, it will make this project so simple to complete.

I hope you will visit the Sin City Stamps blog for more inspiration from the design team as well, and be sure to stop by the online shop for all your stamping needs.  In addition, Green Sneakers has a variety of templates to use for your paper crafting needs, so I hope you will visit them, too.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful, creative weekend.

Barbara

A Gypsy Card with Dylusions Ink Sprays

Hello everyone!  So glad to see you today.  I just spent last week at Art-Is-You Dixie, and I learned so many new and exciting techniques and product usage.  One of the things I learned was how to paint and shade faces.  When I got this stamp set from Altered Pages, I knew I had to try my hand at coloring this lovely lady's face.

I could not decide whether to make an art journal page or a card.  I decided to make a card, with a twist.  I used an entire sheet of inexpensive 9"x12" 90lb watercolor paper, folded it in half one way, then the other. 

I pulled out my Dylusions spray inks and, after first misting my w/c paper with water, I misted with Fresh Lime, Squeezed Orange, and Cherry Pie, allowing them to run together.  

• MAY IS OUR DYLUSIONS SPECIAL MONTH 

  
  

  
  

  FREE SPRAY INK with each OPTION you get a FREE bottle of Dylusions Spray Ink (value $4.95)

  
  

  OPTION 1 Buy a Large Dylusions Journal 

  
  

  OPTION 2 Buy a Small Dylusions Journal

  
  

  OPTION 3 Buy any Dylusions Stamp set

For some background design, I used this Dylusions 8 x 5 Diamond Border stencil that I had used prior to this project, and it still had black ink on it.  So I cleaned my stencil with a baby wipe, rubbing the excess ink through the stencil over my paper, giving me this wonderful background. 

Next, I stamped this lovely lady from the Gypsy Journal stamp set in Jet Black StazOn ink, so my image would not bleed with all the watercoloring.

Next, I stamped "Journey" in Jet Black StazOn, and "moved" the Dylusions color away from the image with my water brush, allowing it to stand out better.

The same technique was used to move the orange color from her face, leaving some for shading.  I still need to practice face painting, but all in all, I am very pleased with her.  I also added a bit of white to her eye with a white Faber-Castell Big Brush Pen, another technique I learned from Art-is-You Dixie.  You may notice I removed some of the color from the lace near her face.  I used a Memento Pistachio pen to color her scarf.  I was amazed at how easy these pens are to use, and how well it blended with my color scheme.

I am a huge fan of shading around the edges of my work, thanks to Mr. Tim Holtz.  But there are no distress inks here.  I ran my black Gelato around the edge, then smeared it with that same baby wipe I used previously.  Look how it frames everything so beautifully.   Ultimately, I glued it together, which gave it nice stability and this fabulous color inside and out.  Now, it is a card.

Card front and back

Card front and back on the inside

I almost forgot to mention that I used the border from the Dylusions 8 x 5 Diamond Border stencil and a Black Micron Pen to trace portions of the border, then colored inside with the white Faber-Castell Big Brush Pen.  You can see it in the photo below.

Supplies used:

Dylusions Ink Sprays:  Fresh Lime, Funky Fuchsia, Squeezed Orange

Dylusions 8 x 5 Diamond Border stencil

Gypsy Journey rubber stamp set cling unmounted

Faber-Castell Gelato: Black

Faber-Castell Big Brush Pen:  White

Black Micron Pen

Water Brush

Tsukineko Black StazOn ink pad

Memento Pistachio pen

Reeves 9"x12" 90lb watercolor paper pad

During the month of May, join the Altered Pages Design Team as we cross promote Eileen Hull Designs Artist Trading Blocks with the The Artists on the Block Design Team.  They will be posting new ATB projects every Tuesday, while we, here at Altered Pages, will be posting new ATBs every Tuesday and Thursday.  Be sure to stop by often for a month of inspiration. 

I hope you enjoyed my project today, and be sure to visit the Altered Pages online store for all of your artsy supplies.

Have a wonderful and creative week!

Barbara

Mother's Day Special

I have a special post in honor of Mother's Day today.  I wanted to take a moment to commemorate all the loving mothers out there who gave so much of themselves for us.  My mother passed almost 21 years ago, but she lives on in my heart.  This card was made for my lovely mother-in-law for rearing such a wonderful son, along with four other children.  

I love anything that looks old or vintage, and I found this jar of sugar dust in my stash.  It was just what I needed to make this lovely image of roses look like those old-time cards you sometimes come across in antique shops.  

I first layered a beautiful piece of Glitz Design paper onto a kraft card.  After sizing my collage image  to fit the front of my card, I ran it through my Xyron so the sticky adhesive would be on the front side.  Then I dusted the front with sugar dust.  I printed out two images so you can see the difference in the one with sugar dust (bottom) and the one without (top).

Next, I sized the ivory decorative frame from my Silhouette machine to fit over the image, distressed the edges with Old Paper distress ink, and layered it onto the front.  

I sprayed a piece of ivory seam binding ribbon with a bit of water and ran Tattered Rose distress stain dauber over the ribbon.  After it dried, I wrapped it around the card front and tied it in a nice bow.

Next, I computer printed "Happy Mother's Day" onto a scrap of the Glitz Design paper, and die cut it with my new Momenta cut and emboss label die.  I cut another label from thin chipboard to give it some strength before pop-dotting it for dimension. 

I re-sized and printed this sentiment from the collage sheet to use inside my card.  

Supplies used:

Altered Pages:  Mother's Day Special collage sheet
5"x7" kraft card
French Kiss Floral print paper (Glitz Design)
Silhouette machine; Decorative Frame cut file
Momenta Cut & Emboss Label die
Old Paper distress ink; Tattered Rose distress stain
5/8" wide ivory seam binding
Sugar Dust (Stamp La Jolla)

Have a very Happy Mother's Day to you all, and a wonderful week ahead.

Hugs,
Barbara

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Blog Challenge #7 with Sin City Stamps

Hello everyone.  This month, the Sin City Stamps design team is participating in the Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge Blog challenge this month.  Today's challenge #7 is to use fiber of any kind, such as ribbon, lace, twine, yarn, fabric, or just about anything that could be construed as "fiber".  In addition, the design team will be combining Sin City Stamps stamps, along with the use of the challenge items.  Both blogs will be giving away these fabulous prizes, so be sure to visit each of the blogs and leave a comment to be entered to win.  

Sin City Stamps Prize Giveaway

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge Blog Prize Giveaway

For my challenge entry, I chose to make a sewing themed card.  Yes, sewing and fibers, why not?

I love the Dressform stamp plate from Sin City Stamps, and I seem to be on this paper tole kick lately.  So, I decided to use different papers to "color" my stamped image.  This meant stamping my image three times onto three different pieces of paper and fussy cutting out the various parts of it.  I used colored pencils to color the pole and stand for the dress form.

Layer each piece, one on top of the next, to complete the image.  You can adhere some of the layers with foam tape for dimension, if you like.  I did not lift these layers, but instead, chose to lift the whole dress form instead.  (See photo below).

I bought this huge roll of ribbon from Costco because I fell in love with the tiny flower trim on the edges.  I cut the flowers and trim away from the central ribbon to adhere to my dress form image. 

 They are so tiny and perfect for layering onto smaller stamped images, such as this.

 I colored some ivory seam binding with Spun Sugar distress stain, bunched up the ribbon into tiny ruffled balls to make these very vintage looking ribbon flowers.  Adding the Prima zipper pull and a handmade hat pin to the flowers just made it for me.

 I needed one more element, so I used half of a Tim Holtz journaling ticket, stamped Treasure from the  Mannequin Tags 2 stamp plate in black Versafine ink, and added three tiny sewing snaps in keeping with the sewing theme.  All of my papers were edged with black soot distress ink.

Here, you can see where I die cut the Resplendent Rectangles from two of the 7Gypsies print paper pad and layered them together, then popped both the rectangles and the dress form for that dimension I so love. Oh yes, I also added crochet lace trim to the top and bottom for more vintage goodness.

Supplies used:

Sin City Stamps:  Dressform; Mannequin Tags 2
Crochet lace trim (Hobby Lobby)
Ribbon flower trim (Costco)
5/8" ivory seam binding
Versamark ink pad
Black Onyx VersaFine ink pad
Black Soot distress ink
Spun Sugar distress stain
Black detail embossing powder
7Gypsies Gypsy Market 6"x6" paper pad
Bazzill cardstock:  Light Rosey (7" x 10")
Kraft Core-dinations cardstock: Rose
Metal zipper (Prima)
Journaling Tickets (Tim Holtz)
Spellbinders die:  Resplendent Rectangles
Colored pencils:  Sienna Brown, Raw Umber
Hat pin, beads

I hope you have been inspired by my "fiber" filled project today.  I have included links to each of the blogs for your convenience.  Please be sure to visit each blog and leave a comment to let them know you were there and to enter to win one of these fabulous prizes.  And please be sure to visit the Sin City Stamps online store for all of your stamping needs.

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Design Team
Amber Milone 

Christy Butters

Debbie Seyer

Donna Idlet

Ginny Nemchak

Glenda Brooks

Gloria Stengel

Jan Marie Ennenga

Karen Zueger

Kathy Clement

Pam Bray

Tammi Bennett

Sin City Stamps Design Team

Barbara Rankin

Karen Lackey

Linda Hess

Lisa Mita

Peggy Oliver

Robin Redd

Thanks for stopping by, good luck on the giveaway, and have a wonderful, crafty week!

Barbara