Three Little boxes!

I love altering boxes and these are three I made during the Easter break. I just hope I haven't got any chocolate smudges on them!

The first one is made from an old cardboard jewellery gift box. It is covered in Pink Paislee butterfly garden paper which I have to say is my favourite paper collection of the moment. I used one of the pretty Crafty Individual images from People and places book 2 and one of their lovely chipboard frames which I stamped and inked. I sealed the box with Claudine Hellmuths matte medium personally I prefer matte mod podge, but I need some more!

Talking of Crafty Individuals I was very pleased to find out today that I am one of the five winners of their first challenge. Now the hard job of choosing which one of their lovely stamps to add to my collection.

Another old gift box which I also covered in the Butterfly Garden paper. This time I used one of the Kaiserkraft wood frames adding some Inka gold. The image is one of the many lovely ones available from Moonlight journey. I used glossy accents to add a glass like effect. Adding a copper tassel and a pretty rose to finish.

The final box is a tiny wooden box which I painted in cream matt emulsion paint. I stamped three images from two lost Coast Designs Alice in Wonderland stamps and a Tim Holtz one. I lightly coloured them in using various Tim Holtz distress inks. Then added some more inks and the box went a grainy blue colour, which I'm rather undecided about, but perhaps it will grow on me! Finally varnishing it with Crafters companion spray varnish.

Less is more, but.......

I love adding the finishing touches and can't seem to stop myself adding more! Anyway this is my entry for the Happy Daze  made with Wood challenge.

Happy Daze are also offering Easter Egg Candy here in the form of a £25 gift voucher to spend in their shop.

I used a wood case available from Happy Daze  and some valenciennes trim in a gorgeous dusty vintage pink. I used some german scrap, but as I only had gold, I coloured it with a silver krylon pen. The pink paper is from the Tim Holtz vintage shabby pad and the feet are from his ideology range. The stamp is one of my favourites at the moment from Crafty Individuals CI-306. The blooms are kaiserkraft which are available from Merly Impressions. I had some cream lace which I coloured pink and used to back a cameo. I made a mould of a blue cameo, then used hearty clay to make an impression which I painted pink to match the colour scheme. Hearty clay is very light and the texture reminds me very much of those pink shrimps I used to eat as kid!

The back of the box has an old image of a pears advertisement and is one of the many free images available from The Graphics fairy 

Happy Easter to everyone. I'm just off to munch my way through some cream eggs!

Crafty Tag Card and Moonlight Designs

I bought some of the new Crafty Individual tags recently; I was rather unsure of what to make with them, so I decided to use one to make a tag card.

The frame is also from Crafty Individuals. I originally decorated the frame with inks and a crackle glaze, but it was a bit of a disaster so I managed to salvage it by embossing with some clear UTEE, then stamping on a swirl design. Finally adding some memento dew drop inks and some Inka gold. The image I used is one of the many available from Moonlight Journey  To complete the card I added some kaisercraft paper blooms and one of their chipboard pieces.

This card is using the new Crafty Individual stamp CI - 306

I added some kaiserkraft lace, a dusty rose bloom and attached some Tim Holtz safety pins, the papers used are Pink Paislee & Graphic 45.

Two more projects using Moonlight Journey images. The first is a small picture made from grey cardboard, which I embossed with a cuttlebug embossing folder then used Inka gold copper and some cosmic shimmer sprays. Then I used some prima lace and edged with a krylon gold pen and attached gold chain and a copper tassel.

Lastly using more Inka gold copper, and Cosmic shimmer sprays I decorated this small wooden key/jewellery cabinet. Adding a favourite Pre-Raphaelite image from Moonlight Journey. I applied glossy accents to the image to finish.

Crafty Individuals April Challenge

Crafty Individuals are one of my favourite shopping sites and I covet lots of there crafting goodies. They are doing a new blog challenge here on the theme of 'simply square.'

I made a mini picture using some of their 6 x 6 papers travels in Italy and one of their stamps CI - 112. I used one of my many blank beer mats and a Tim Holtz on the edge die. I cut out a frame from grey cardboard and used Inka Gold and copper and a couple of the Cosmic shimmer sprays, then edged in gold, with a Krylon pen. I decorated a couple of the crafty individual chipboard swirls with more of the cosmic shimmers and attached some tassels, chain and a Tim Holtz ideology heart. Unfortunately the picture does not capture the shimmer from the sprays. I think I need a few lessons in photography!!

Pre-Raphaelite & Vintage Trinkets

I went to a  Pre-Raphaelite exhibition yesterday; The Poetry of Drawing at the Birmingham museum. It was amazing to look so closely at the work of The pre-Raphaelites during a period in art that has always fascinated me. The drawings, painting, and stained glass were stunning.
Most of my recent crafting has been influenced by that era as it appeals to the romantic in me. I have just completed  a small book using beer mats that feature a couple of the artists from that period, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and  J. W. Waterhouse. I used some Claudine Wellmuth sticky canvas on the front cover and a combination of rubber stamping, painting and some digital images (using Grafix rub onz) to complete the project. Oh and some cute mini tassels, I bought from Joanna Sheen, a mini flower and pearl brad. The stamps used were Oxford Impressions, Soul of the Rose, which are available at LB Crafts, and lost coast designs.

The trinket box, I made a couple of weeks ago for a friends birthday using Graphic 45 renaissance Faire paper, the renaissance being another period of art that interests me. I used the Tim Holtz ornate feet and a curio knob to complete along with another tassel. The box is also lined with graphic 45 paper. I used a spray glue to stick the papers to a cheap wooden box. This box was inspired by a similar project I stumbled across whilst browsing youtube!

My final piece is a notebook which has been covered in more claudine Wellmuth sticky canvas. I used the free paint shop pro software to design the cover using some vintage images. I covered the inside also and stamped various butterfly images to co-ordinate with the theme and printed a similar back cover. I used the bind it all to complete the book and  finished with a Tim Holtz book plate, key and chain and another lovely tassell.