more round boxes

 Hi friends.  Can you tell I like making these little boxes?  I made one for a contest that required a pumpkin.  So... I made the pumpkin... a pumpkin box actually.  

And a better view of the cover.  

I used some silk leaves, which I cut down a bit so they fit better.  I went outside and picked up a few sticks to use as a handle.  They were really dry, so I hope it doesn't break.  But I guess it would be easy enough to replace if it did.  

This next box was a special request by my cousin.  She really liked the floral one I made, so this is pretty similar.  I used a different flower stamp, and the flower on the cover is paper, whereas the other one was silk.  

And here is the cover.  I punched and die cut some different sized flowers, and cut the petal separations deeper.  Then I sponged all the edges with candied apple distress ink.  I turned them over and used a stylus and a thick foam mat to give them more shape and dimension.  Then I glued all the layers together, added some leaves, and glued the flower onto the cover.  

I remembered that I had some decoupage medium (hmmm... actually I have four jars) that would work to give this a nice smooth finish.  Although I didn't check, I'm pretty sure that all the jars have been opened, so hopefully, they are still all usable.  The one I used just needed to be stirred a bit before use.  I normally use matte mod podge, but I only have a little bit left, and I've been procrastinating going shopping for more.  Plus, sometimes it leaves the surface a bit sticky.  I think that may have something to do with the humidity.  I've really been trying to use up what I have instead of buying more.  A while back, I was watching a video, and the girl used a 1:1 mix of water and white glue as a finish.  I absolutely would do that, but I've also used almost all of my white school glue, because I ran out of tacky glue, which is really my favorite for putting this type of project together.  I like it because it's not so runny and dries with less bubbling.  But I found if I use a very thin layer of white glue, that works quite well, too.  

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit.  I always appreciate that. 

circle flowers

Hello friends.  Today I made a card that combined two challenges on SCS:  the mix-ability challenge #10 -- circle flowers using no dies or punches, the free for all challenge #163 -- birthday card with glitter, and one of the April challenges from the OWSE Yahoo group -- book paper, tissue paper, or music paper was a requirement. 

I started by using some of the spray paints (which I made following this tutorial) and spraying them on some old book pages.  Once they were dry, I cut out circles in different sizes to layer as flowers.  I crumpled them up and then flattened them out, so they would have some texture.  I glued three layers together for each flower.  The flower centers are also pieces of book pages all scrunched into a little ball.  I added glitter to the centers.

The stems and leaves are cut free hand from the book pages as well.

I used a piece of hand made washi tape (made with scor-tape and used coffee filter + stamps and ink) along the bottom of the card, and added some faux stitching around the edge.

The sentiment from Hero Arts is stamped in jet black archival ink.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a great weekend. 

20 hearts - #12, #13

Hello my friends.  I haven't blogged for a few days, because I've been busy preparing for my technique class today.  But now that is done, so I can concentrate on more fun stuff.  Last evening I sat down and worked on some more hearts for the February monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  I finished two and have a couple more in progress. 

The first one is another one using the image transfer technique with sticky back canvas.  I used a piece of patterned paper.  The shimmer is from matte gel medium that reflects my camera flash. 

For the background, I glued on a piece of patterned paper, then sponged through a harlequin stencil from the Crafter's Workshop with weathered wood, faded jeans, tea dye, and vintage photo distress inks. 

The script is a Donna Salazar stamp, stamped randomly with jet black archival ink. 

I doodled some scalloped around the heart with a black Pitt pen. 

The Bible verse is computer generated. 

My second heart today is also part of the ways to use it challenge on SCS (sponging) and for a Quick Fire challenge from OWSE Yahoo group, which was to make something that represents spring fever.  Probably the thing that I most await for in Spring is for my lilacs to bloom.  I have a lilac hedge along one side of the back yard, which I've planted over the years since we've lived here.  Some were dug up from my parents' home up north, and others were purchased.  I have several different varieties - purples, blue, pink, doubles, and one that blooms almost a month later than the others.  They are all so pretty and I just love how they smell.  Even though, once cut, they don't last long, I always have to bring at least one bouquet into the house. 

The background on this heart is made using the Crafter's Workshop 6" brick stencil and mowed lawn distress ink with a sponge. 

The heart is die cut with Spellbinders nested hearts die and the lilac blossoms from a Sizzix die called build a flower, lilacs.  I cut the leaves and branch freehand.  I sponged the heart and flowers with shaded lilac distress ink and added some pearls to the flowers.  The leaves were white and I sponged mowed lawn on them to change the color, and then edged them with pine needles distress ink. 

My sentiment was computer generated. 

Thanks so much for stopping in for a visit today.  I hope you have an enjoyable weekend. 

altered box

Hello, my friends.  Wow!  Has it really been that long since I posted?  This week I've had a sore throat and head cold and really haven't felt like doing much of anything.  Today, I started to feel a bit better and did some creating. 

One of the challenges this month at OWSE Yahoo group was to alter a box into some type of art.  I actually started this months ago.  I had seen a way to create a canvas from a box when reading a blog post by Julie Balzer, where she linked to Alma Stoller's instructions.  I used a 9"x13"x2" box from frozen dinners.  To help keep its shape, I stuffed the box with some crumpled newspaper.  On the outside, I covered the box with torn old book pages and mod podge, which I then coated with gesso. 

I wanted the front of the box to have a lot of texture, so I decided to use my homemade gesso (see this post), but I really wanted it thicker than it was, so I knew I needed to make some adjustments.  In my search on line for gesso recipes, I had found several, using various ingredients.  One used baking soda as a thickening agent and since I always have that in the house, I thought I'd try it.  I added the baking soda to the solution I'd already made until I was happy with how stiff it was, and used a palette knife to spread it on my box.  It worked perfectly.  {Next time I need to make thick gesso, instead of adding baby powder to my glue, I'm going right for the baking soda.}

I painted on a couple of colors of acrylic paint and then used some stencils with paint for my background.  My first attempt got way out of hand, so I covered it over with gesso and started over.  My second attempt was much more pleasing, but I was really stuck on what to put on top of the background.  I've been looking at it for a week not knowing what to do with it. 

I finally decided to play and see if I could create some flowers from used coffee filters.  I've been saving my filters for awhile now.  I rinse them well and then let them dry.  A number of them have found their way into my art. 

First, I made a solution of glue and water.  Then I saturated a coffee filter in the glue, squeezed it out and twisted it into a roll that was pretty tight.  I used some office clips to hold and weight the ends and keep them from untwisting while they dried.  One coffee filter was used for each leaf and each flower petal.  Once the glue was dried, I painted them with gesso, let that dry, and sprayed the pieces with Adirondack color wash and let dry.  The ends were snipped off before I hot glued each piece to my box canvas.  The longer stem is made with two coffee filters, but unless you look really close, you won't see where they are joined. 

For the flower centers, I die cut scalloped circles with a spellbinders die and added some buttons from my stash. 

I'm really happy with how this turned out and love that most of it is recycled. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Be blessed.

still on a roll

Hi my friends.  Apparently my mojo is still working, because I made four more cards for the Dare to Get Dirty challenges for Splitcoaststampers fan club members.  I'm a bit behind, though.  There are still five posted challenges that I haven't done, and tomorrow, more will be added.  I guess I need to work faster.  I've kept them pretty simple, but I get bogged down trying to decide on all the details -- too many choices. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope your week is off to a good start. 

vsn cards

Happy Wednesday, my friends. We have sunshine this morning - nice.

I almost didn't participate in VSN this past weekend. When I checked the challenges, they simply failed to inspire me. However, on Monday morning I got an email from my sister wondering why she wasn't seeing any VSN cards from me. ACK! Nothing like having someone checking up on you, right?

So I went back and rechecked the challenges and decided to play. I still had until Monday evening to get them uploaded. I chose one with embossed vellum, another that needed a bird, and one that had to have a red dress.

For the first one, I started by stamping damask panel (Rubbernecker) with a Colorbox chalk ink on shimmery white cardstock and then die cut with my new floral doily motifs (Spellbinders). I sponged the edges a bit with the same ink.

Then I stamped ten flowers (delight in life - SU) on vellum cardstock with white craft ink and embossed with white embossing powder. I cut them out and lightly sponged color on the back, pink for the flowers and green for the leaves. I stacked three together for each blossom, offsetting the petals for a full flower. I glued them down and added leaves, which are made from one flower cut apart.

The sentiment is from warmest regards (SU).

I added some pink liquid pearls for the flower centers as well as some accents on the card.

My next card is a very quick and simple one. I used all white cardstock, except for a single layer of brilliant blue. The flourish (inkadinkado) and the bird (carte postale - SU) are stamped in brilliant blue craft ink and embossed with hologram highlights embossing powder. Behind the bird is another of the spellbinders floral doily motifs. I really love this new set of dies.

The sentiment is again from warmest regards (SU) and stamped in brilliant blue ink.

My last card uses that same spellbinders set, as well as fancy tags. The dress is made from petite scallop circles dies, folded according to these directions. I used black ribbon at the waist and some punched flowers.

The sentiment is computer generated. I added some pearls, which I colored with a pink copic marker.

Goodness! I made two pink cards in one day!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope your week is going well.

class projects

Hi my friends. Here are the projects we are doing in class this week.

I especially wanted class members to see the vintage ornament, so you get an idea of what the supplies list is referring to. Here is a closer picture.

The ornament is about 3-1/2" across, so the items need to be quite small. We will be making the flower.

Thanks so much for visiting today. I hope your day is blessed.

paper flowers

Hi my friends. When I was growing up, we didn't have a lot, so we learned early how to make use of things that many people would toss into the garbage. Today, that's trendy. I love being able to make something instead of purchasing it, especially when it comes to crafting. So today, I made a paper flower for my card.

The Hope challenge on SCS today was Sentiments only - no other stamping allowed.

I pulled out a very old stamp by Artistic Stamp Exchange and stamped it in jet black stazon on saw grass cardstock (Neenah). I used nestabilities labels one to cut it out and sponged eggplant ink on it.

I used a piece of old world mat stack dp and embossed it with my textile embossing folder. A strip of saw grass was embossed with Swiss dots embossing folder.

I wrapped a piece of machine made bobbin lace (I have no idea why this is sold as 'crocheted ribbon', since the two types of lace are very different) and eggplant grosgrain ribbon around the card and attached the sentiment panel with dimensional tape.

The flower is made from the same cardstock, die cut with a small cuttlebug flower. I used five layers, because I didn't want a really full flower. Here is a video tutorial on making these flowers. I sponged mine with eggplant ink after I had formed the flower, but it was still wet. The leaves are a Martha Stewart punch, which I sponged with always artichoke ink and then used a stylus to add veins. I always snip off the stems before tucking them under the flower - just makes it a bit easier.

The butterfly (Martha Stewart punch) is two layers and the wings are popped up.

Thank you for stopping by today. Have a blessed weekend.

More Hope challenge cards

Hi, my friends. Just a quick post to show you a couple more of the cards I've done for the Hope challenges on SCS. The little dress is for a challenge called Thank Heaven for Little Girds, and the other is Vintage Style. I used a pattern for the dress that I had made some time ago and kept the card very simple. The flower was inspired by flowers seen here. Gorgeous card! Here is a link to a video that shows how to make them. I worked many hours on the 2nd card. Although I love the look, I don't make vintage style cards very often, because that style does not come easy for me. I used labels six nestabilities (spellbinders) and a new die that I bought at a stamp expo this past weekend from Heartfelt Creations. The die as made by spellbinders. It's part of a set that includes a butterfly (of course) and a border. And the stamp is from my all time most favorite stamp set from SU called Natural Beauty.

Thanks so much for stopping by.