Wishes in a bottle!

Hello crafters..

Another Christmas project from me today!!! Yes, at Scrapping4Fun Challenge Rachelle wants us to showcase Xmas projects. Here is the picture to inspire you!

 So let the countdown start…before you realize, December will be here!

As always I went really vintage on my project. I loved this birdie image and had to do a mini version of it as a Xmas hanging/ ornament.

A pretty simple DIY project ( I can hear a sigh)…hopefully not a lengthy post!

For the details…

The image all by itself was so cute, I just gave it an orange backing and then a piece of black CS to highlight it and finally adhered it to thick chipboard.

I added some chit chat stickers too with a lot of festive message!. To protect the image, I used a piece of acetate from packaging.

The back side has another Xmas image which also has a 3 layered photo mat and all of this is sealed together by hand stitching! Phew! That was the hard part..to hand stitch such a thick layer (9 layers) is no joke! I pierced the holes first and took a woolen thread from my stash and started the blanket stitch…though it took time, it was therapeutic!

Once the layers were sealed, I worked on the hanging. I took this metal ornate corner and gave it the “faux Patina” look with layers of brown, copper, gold and turquoise colors and used copper wire and transparent beads to make a loop for hanging.

Now comes the interesting part, the lower part of the embellishment! Remember I said I went really vintage…so decided to have a message in a bottle concept.

I managed to find a glass vial (used to store Homeopathy medicine at home) as the focal point here and then aged the cap with the same patina finish.

I then made a scroll with music note stamped on one side and the other side I left for writing the message! I aged it with DI vintage photo, walnut stain and bit of Black soot to actually make it look as if it was an antique piece! Added a strip of yellow burlap and secured it with a jute twine bow!

 Doesn’t it look beautiful… I just can’t get over this vintagy feel!

Time to take out some copper chain link from my stash which too was not spared the patina! I added some tiny colorful glass beads and baubles to the link to make it more interesting and the sound of it hitting the vial is music to the ears!

A tiny little flower using TH tattered florals die  just found its way here as a last touch.

That a simple project right??? I told you so…

Hope this inspires you to play along at Scrapping4Fun, can’t wait to see what you all come up with.

You don’t need fancy stuff at all…most of these items were already there on my craft table, except for that glass vial…I had to empty some medicine out of it and couldn’t wait to buy one! So much for my passion!

I would like to enter my ornament in the following Challenges…

Sugar Creak Hollow- used anything clear ( Acetate, glass vial, glass beads and baubles)

Simply Create Too – shop in your craft room ( all of it except the vial from the medicine chest, Lol)

Craft Room Challenge – Vintage Christmas

Alphabet Challenge Blog – ‘S’ for stitching – not an easy job getting all those layers together!

Divas By Design _ Anything goes

Shopping Our Stash Weekly Challenge – “Rollin” use anything round ( glass beads, baubles and the vial surely rolls!)

Fab ‘n’ Funky Challenge - Christmas

Natalie and Amy - Stitch It!

Thank you so much for stopping by and do let me know how you like this project. I always love to read what you have to say.

Until my next Creative journey,

Happy Crafting and Re cycling,

Hugs.

All Scrolled Up!

Hello Crafters,

It was festive week here in Bangalore…we just celebrated Diwali (the festival of lights)! It is a much celebrated festival with lots of merry making , bursting crackers, lighting lamps all around the house, meeting friends and relatives and yes finally binging on a LOT of sweets! With all these, how do you expect one to craft???

 But, never the less the after effects was a creative hangover and I decided to make something classy and vintage for Xmas!! I can never make cards and my memories of wishing friends for Christmas is just calling up or wishing them with some flowers or sweets!

My 1 year of blogging has made me see some lovely creations by co crafters all over the world and thanks to the challenges, it has pushed me to create something this year..NO, not a card!

True to being vintage, I took out this last bit of lovely textured handmade paper in vanilla which has been with me for the past 6yrs now! I had used it loooong back when I started with dry pastel coloring and had just rolled this piece and kept, the sight of seeing it rolled up just inspired me do a scroll hanging.

 Here is the process..I decided to work on layers, but not layering PP but paints, yes…I started with the damask stencil (TCW)and yellow och re acrylic paints and then moved on to TCW flower burst with misters and the next layer was another Damask stencil by Itsy Bitsy which I misted in festive red. Sorry for the bad lighting! It's raining here!

Couldn't stop there, so the next layer was the clock stencil form Prima and I used some modeling paste and sprinkled gold embossing powder on it, when heated it took the bright gold and some places and in some areas it was just dull…perfect antique look! 

As if that was not enough, I spattered some black color and tore the paper, distressed with the tool and inked it with DI !!!

 Phew, so much for layers…No, wait I then stuck a green damask PP from DCWV so that it peeks out of the torn places. I think I am done here!

 Next, I took out these lovely vintage pictures from the net and altered it to my hearts content to make it more vintage! I layered a piece of paper from an old novel and then backed it up with gold carstock and the picture mat was ready to find its place on the scroll!

The word “JOY” was cut using spellbinders die. I stamped music notes on old novel paper and stuck it to chipboard from an empty cereal box and then cut the alphabets. They were then inked and the edges were heat embossed in gold!

Lastly, my first attempt at a Poinsettia flower using TH tattered leaves die…saw a tutorial and tweaked it a bit to my taste! Made the flower with 3 layers of hand made paper in bright red and green For the leaves, I stamped some text on it and the flower center is mini pompom from my daughters toy on which I glued Twinklets Diamond Dust, and applied gold glitter to the petal edges…sparkle and shine??? Gesssoed some ready made pine leaves and tucked it beneath the flower!

The flower is really bid...a palm size, unbelievable! Done, here too…

And finally, the last part involved making the scroll, for which I used an old dandiya stick( a wooden stick we use for dancing)!!! I made provision for attaching an antique gold chain to hang the scroll and attached some gold and red tassels ( remnants from my daughter’s dress gain)!

To add jingle to my project, I antiqued some gold bells and attached it to the top.

Yes, and its ready…after a 5 hour creative journey, I made my first elaborate Christmas creation! A Vintage, Festive, Xmas Scroll…how do like it??? Pl, pl let me know…like I said, my first try …would love to hear from you, I just love to read what you have to say!

For me, this was a very satisfying journey and so would like to link my scroll to the following challenges..

Craft Hoarders Anonymous- Layer It!

Divas by Design – Christmas flowers

Crafting By Designs – Get ready for Christmas

Craft Room Challenge _ make your own background

Delightful Challenges – 3 embellishments ( flower, bells and tassels)

As You Like It Challenge _ your style ( classy and vintage)

All sorts Challenge _ Christmas

We Love Vintage Challenge – Anything goes
Winter Wonderland- Gold Christmas

Thank you so much for stopping by and taking a peek at my creation!

Until my next creative journey…

Happy Crafting and Re Cycling.

Cheers.

The Sparkling "YOU"

Hello Crafters,

A warm welcome to all of you who have been visiting me frequently and also to those of you who have joined me recently.

By now you would have seen that most of my projects swing towards vintage colors and rarely I have projects that are eye popping in colors…well, this one going to POP!

The theme at our Bangalore Crafters Swap group this month is altered bottles. We are a group of ladies who live all across the city and meet once a month on a swap project and have giggly session talking about our extravagant hobby! Lol.. Most of them are bloggers too.

I have always shied from using very bright colors or sparkly stuff in my projects, but what if challenges demand it??? This is what I did to the bottle…

Did you actually think I made it…yes! Am surprised too..At Lulupu this month its Sparkle with Prima Challenge and I just raked out whatever had the word Prima with me! Lol..

Really…for some one who is passionate about making their embellishments, it was difficult to have too much of this brand, never the less I had quite a few to name..the clocks stencil, cracks stencil, chalk edgers, Leezaa Gibbons stamps, sunrise sunset paper pad, and the junk yard findings! So all these were put use  on this one bottle! 

See it’s makeover…

Firstly, I wrapped the entire bottle with masking tape..A quick and easy method to prepare the bottle base.

 Then I applied a thin coat of gesso and went ahead creating textures with the Prima stencils, some die cuts and cheese cloth. When all this was set, I rubbed the Prima chalk edgers cold ice, English Ivy, Blossom tree and Blossom bud, randomly and misted water to spread the colors.

The colors formed their own pattern and once I was satisfied with the brightness of the colors,I fixed it with a coat of spray varnish! This was my first try with varnish on mixed media and I was hoping things would not vanish or get muddled…and I was Lucky!

I then cut this lovely lady from the sunrise sunset paper pack..she had this confident look yet very feminine and there was this air of calmness around her too! A complete package that she was…I thought I will add some sparkle to this vintage lady…out came all the sequins,  glitter powder and rhine stones.

I stuck the picture and lined her with purple bling and glitter powder on one side. The junkyard findings bulb with YOU just fit in perfectly just as to say this is a tribute to you!

I had this sequin lace which I boldly yes! Adhered to the neck of the bottle and surprisingly the lady seemed comfortable with all that sparkle and shine…what say???

I must admit, I was getting a little uncomfortable with the bright colors and the bling but it’s all about getting out of the comfort zone right?? S ,I went ahead and added more! Some colorful trinket bells…so every time you lift the bottle there a soothing jingle!

I stamped some inspiring quotes from Prima on tissue paper and stuck it to the bottle. I took out my chalk ink markers and did some color splat in bright pink and yellow…yes I was getting too comfortable by now or should I say BOLD!

I then wove some colored twine in bright yellow and some shiny sparkly multi colored wire(used for making fship bands) around the neck of the bottle and then inserted the beaded loop.

 I have chosen glass beads in matching colors to form the handle…now you can carry the lady around anywhere!

I topped the mouth of the bottle with some lovely lace flowers in white with a flat back pebble center! No fuss here, just plain white flower but lots of them spilling out of the bottle…

That’s pretty much it…that’s my colorful bottle for you. I think the lady out there handled the transformation quite well and seems to accept all the color, shine and sparkle around her! What say???

So ladies celebrate Womanhood, bring out that sparkle in you and never hesitate to come out of your comfort zone! Do let me know about my bold creation…waiting to hear what you have to say.

 I would like to enter my sparkling lady in following challenges…

Lulupu - Sparkle with Prima

Country View Challenges- Sparkle and Shine

Altered Eclectics - Anything goes

Decorate to Celebrate- Anything Goes
Pile It On- Uplifting message

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Until then,

Happy Crafting and Re cycling,

Hugs.

Secret Garden Memories

Hello Crafters,

Thank you all for your visits and valuable comments on my rustic candle holder! Today I have something just the opposite, a colorful mixed media canvas…a long time on my “to do” list as you can see I mostly do altered projects only!

This is my DT project for Scrapping4Fun  challenge#28 where it is “Anything Goes” and we have this picture inspiration...which means leave it to your imagination and creativity and see where it takes you!

You can create just about anything…

My imagination landed right in my Garden..Lol ! I am a nature lover and spend my first half hour in the morning with my “cuppa” in the garden…it’s an absolute bliss out there…total unwinding and a lot of creative thinking! Do you do that too..I just love sitting by the window and watching the greens…my studio too over looks the garden…I have to thank my husband for that who sacrificed his garage for me to have the “creative space”!

With all that said, I just took all the bright colors from the palette and went ahead with my garden story! Nothing in this planned and I just went with the flow…what ever my heart and soul had to say about my “garden memories”.

Join me in the nature walk…

For once, I have used a real stretched canvas…no hidden box or carton…so no surprises, Lol!

A coat f gesso and my canvas was ready to take the textures I wanted. I painted with acrylic tubes in blue green and yellow and then used a rose stencil and” wiped off” color using a baby wipe! This left a lovely pattern revealing the canvas beneath!

I then took out my granite texture paste and created random textures with the palette knife. Tore out some pages from an old “romantic” novel and edged it with walnut stain, DI and adhered it with gel medium. The stamped image is a cute Micia rubber stamp( my first stamp)! I kept this side in brown tones and the rest of the canvas has all the bright colors. The little girl is in a hammock just reflecting my thought of spending time in the garden, she swings and I just sit, that’s the difference!!! I have created a nest using coconut coir and some hand made flowers completes the look.

I then stenciled a big flower using home made texture paste and colored it too. Stamped randomly on it and also created textures with bubble wrap. I had some red ink running down and rubbed yellow paint all around the canvas with my fingers. Loved the mess..

The TH tattered clock is just an indication of how time flies and with all the hustle and bustle of the every day regime, take time to follow your passion! I have also added some lace beneath the clock and finally added a bling flourish swirl to add that sparkle!

A TH corrugated flower with the quote says it all! My garden is my fav space and the place that kindles my creative soul..so “Dream on”…have colorful memories.

So friends, Thank you so much for joining me in the walk, do let me know what you think of it. Always love reading what you have to say.

Hope this inspires you to play along at Scrapping4Fun…would love to see your take on this.

I am entering my “ Garden Memories” in the following challenges…

Alphabet Challenge –“R” for round or rectangle ( round clock , lots of bling and bubble wrap texture)

Artistic Inspiration- Make your own background

Make my Monday – Numbers (the clock)

The Artistic Stamper _ Memories

Divas by Design

– Texture( Loads of it here…stencils, texture paste, lace, coconut coir, bubble wrap)

Lessology- beautiful scenery(coconut coir, novel pages and bubble wrap are up cycled)

Until then,

Happy Crafting and Re cycling.

Hugs.

Rustic ring of light

Hello Crafters,

It’s a mile stone today! Am happy to be sharing my 100^th post to day…time flies, it’s just about a year that I started blogging and looking back , I am so happy to have  so many bloggy pals and crafty friends on board. Thank you all for your support and your frequent visits to my blog and also taking the time to leave a comment. This ones for all of you who are visiting me today...

Today’s post also happens to be my DT post at Anything But A Card where the theme is Autumn Magic/Spring Wonder Isn’t that fun…you can make anything but a card, but keep the theme in mind.

As for me, my hands were as usual itching to do something vintage and rustic..it’s a simple creation but involves some techniques. This time around I have altered an empty brown tape ring to make a rustic, vintage candle holder! Almost like the one salvaged from your grandmother’s attic…Yes! That’s the look I wanted and I think, I pretty much got there, here it is…

I had this scented candle given by my friend which had dried flowers and leaves stuck to it, so decided to make a decorative holder for it. After gessoing the tape ring, I went about creating textures on it with damask stencil, it was tough to work on a cylindrical shape, but managed to do a decent job!Once that was dry I layered 2 shades of acrylic colors, bright yellow and lime green and slightly sanded it to reveal some white portions.

Once dry, applied walnut stain DI on the rim and randomly on the ring too to age it. Then I created the rusty look to the holder by rubbing granite texture paste here and there and applying brown paint and copper dust over it.

The ring was already looking worn and rusty by then, I chose a matching PP to stick inside the ring. At this point,  my holder looked soooooo antique , maybe rescued from my great grandmother’s attic..lol!

I decided to brighten it up by adding some rhine stones. I adhered them using 3D gold liner and it formed a nice ring encircling the bling!

The next part was the embellishment…very minimal but lots of technique here. I chose 1 leaf from TH tattered leaves set and 3 others from CLD and then gave them different treatments. The TH leaf was cut on chipboard with printed paper which I distress crackled and rubbed wild honey and walnut stain to age it. The CLD leaves are from colored hand made paper in autumn colors. The red leaf has text stamped on it and the other 2 are heat embossed with  clear UTEE and the edges in platinum!

There is just 1 striking vintage flower using TH tattered floral and the focal point is the vintage image that I have down loaded from We Love Vintage Challenge Blog. They have some amazing collection of vintage pictures.

 This picture though already vintage, I have aged it further by adhering it to black CS and tearing it to reveal the black edges and then gave it the faux shattered glass effect using clear UTEE and covering the edges with platinum.

Finally, I had this stamp size sentiment from Whimsy about friends and I tucked that inside this fall arrangement. The entire arrangement is on a bed of coconut coir which gives a lovely texture and dimension, hope you can get the feel of it in the pictures.

That’s it, a small thing loaded with details…once the candle was lit in the center the look was just magical! It brought back memories of my grandmother…after all it was salvaged from her attic right???

How did you like this, do let me know…it’s gives me immense pleasure to know what you think and I do believe there is scope for improvement too…so feel free to let me know otherwise too. I am waiting…

Do take part in our challenge at Anything But A Card, keeping the theme in mind, you still have time and have a look at the amazing creations by a talented bunch out there every week!

 I would love to enter my rustic ring of light in the following challenges…

We Love Vintage Challenge Blog - Vintage Autumn

Our Creative Corner - Go Rustic

Imagination Crafts Challenge- Anything Goes

Loves Rubberstamps Challenge - Anything Goes

Crafty Sentiments Designs - Anything Goes

Shopping our Stash Challenge -Most colorful time of the year
City Crafter Challenge Blog - Leaves
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - altered art
Inspiration Journal- Disguise ( The empty brown tape ring)

Until then,

Happy Crafting and Re cycling.

Hugs.

A fall/Autumn Wreath

Hello Crafters,

Am back after a holiday, A warm welcome to all my new followers and hearty”Thanks” to all those of you who took the time to vote for my previous post!

Its autumn/fall challenge every where and a lovely sight to see the leaves change colors ! 

At Scrapping 4 fun Challenge, this month we have a choice of SEASONS to chose from...

You can create a card, LO, Mini album or "off the page" creations too!  

As for what I created, here it is…

Looks like a lovely canvas eh? 

All you restless souls, can scroll down to see the  end product …but for the others, here are the details!

Firstly, gessoed the top  and then created this lovely grainy texture with acrylic colors and applied distress crackle( Clear rock candy) in areas and at it dried , lovely cracks appeared! Rubbed walnut stain in the cracks to age the look and also inked the edged with Black soot to give dimension.

Next took a leaf stencil from my local craft store and used home made texture paste to add some falling leaves effect! Highlighted these leaves with Inka gold.

Now comes the interesting part…the wreath!

 What do you think it is made of??? Have a look…

Yes! You got it..an empty tacky tape ring + burlap twine from packaging + WREATH!

Isn’t that cool… the rest of the project was just about embellishing the wreath. 

The lovely leaves are from CLD Tropical leaves and Spellbinders, all cut from an old wedding invite and have inked the edges with Walnut stain.

The sun flower is also from CLD and the buds are using TH Tattered florals. 

A little vellum butterfly, heat embossed and colored using markers is seen hovering around the flowers!

The wreath is held on the top with hand dyed seam binding in autumnal colors.

Keeping the theme in mind, I have chosen the words that best describe the season and pulled out the Ideology chit chat stickers! These are all inked with wild honey and randomly placed around the wreath!

That’s it..my canvas is ready!

So…is that the end…

Do you want to see the final look???

here it is...

The box was so irresistible and had to have another lease of life!

Do let me know what you think and hope this inspires you to play along with us at Scrapping4Fun. Thank you so much for stopping by.

I would like to link my fall wreath to the following challenges…

The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge _ Ribbons,Twine& Fibers( have used ribbons and jute twine)

Frilly and Funkie - Autumn Colors

Crafty Creations Challenge - Use Orange

All Sorts Challenge - Autumn

Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes

Decorate To Celebrate - Anything Goes

Dream Valley Challenge - Anything but a Card
Simon Says Monday Challenge- Falling in love with...
Craft Hoarders Anonymous- Happy Fall Y'all
Unruly Paper arts- fall and harvest
Inspiration Journal - Disguise ( can you find the empty tacky tape ring?)

Have a great week ahead.

Until then,
Happy Crafting and Re cycling.

Hugs.