Mars and Venus !

Hello crafty friends..

Welcome to my page today. Super excited to share my furniture makeover project today! I call it the “Mars and Venus” collection...you will see why.

 

I have been having this laminated bed side tables for over 18yrs now and it was a safe bet to experiment on them! I must admit I was a little skeptical about working on laminated furniture but then there is no harm trying. My gut feel said all will go well with the Chalky finish paints!

And yes...it did...here it goes! 

 

Step1- I removed the hardware from both the sets and sanded them with a lot of patience. This created a “tooth” for the paint to adhere. I started with the blue one as I had to impress my husband first! I mixed a bit of Prussian blue acrylic paint to Deco art Chalky finish Vintage and got this funky blue color! 2 patient coats and there was no evidence of a laminated furniture here!

Step 2- I wanted to try distressing using the dry brush technique. This was my maiden attempt on big furniture and with such bold colors. I decided to give it a go. I used the deco art black gesso here. 

With a dry brush and very little gesso on the tips of the bristle, I gave the professional strokes hare and there and voila, to my surprise, I just loved what happened! I got this blue black textured and distressed look to the table. With a smile on my lips and relief in my mind, I started the next procedure.

 

Step 3-For this funky mars collection I chose the macho papers from Tim Holtz ‘Lost and Found’ paper pack. Just what I wanted, blacks, blues and hints of red! I decoupaged them using the Deco art decoupage glue and as I waiting for it to dry, I worked on the handle. I gessoed it and gave it a red and black combination. Once all of this was dry, I gave 2 coats of matte finish varnish and my mars collection was set to go!

 

I have to admit, my husband was super happy to see this and said “I love the oil and grease look here”...well, I was just taken back. Oil and Grease...wow! now that’s a new term for the dry brush technique.

 

I was so happy, I overlooked the little goof up of having the bingo panel upside down! Oops...but then who says BOTTOMS UP is wrong...its fun!

Step4- I move to the twin now with peach colors. I mixed a bit of orange to Deco art  Lace chalky paint and gave 2 coats again. Here I was going to have the lipstick and lotion streaks... (Yes after the oil and grease)...that made sense. I went about giving dry strokes with greens, peach, white and brown to create the distressed look. Not as good as the oil and grease...but my back ground was set.

 

Step 5- For this, I used the Tim Holtz ‘Wall flower’ paper collection in subtle tones of browns and peaches and decoupaged the same.

 

 For the top of the table, I decoupaged a napkin and did some random stamping too. The handles were given a green brown effect and when dry, I gave 2 coats of matte varnish. The utterly feminine set was ready!

 

They were no longer identical twins now! When each of us have such contrasting personalities, why not out furnitures reflect that??? Now these are statement pieces at home and my husband doesn’t want to part with these in the guest bedroom! Do you know what that means...I get to work on MORE furniture at home!

 

Yes, each room will have a statement piece now...they WILL speak a different language! Wait and watch....but as for now, I want your honest opinions here and if you do have a favorite here, let me know. Mars or Venus????

  

Thank you so much for stopping by today and with all these experiments with furniture, I have concluded that “anything” is possible with Chalky Finish paints! Give it a try.

Deco Art products used-

Chalky finish paints Vintage and lace

Decoupage glue

Matte finish varnish

Until my next creative journey,

Happy Crafting and recycling.Cheers.

A year end gift!

Hello crafty friends..

Welcome to my page today. I have another re cycling project today but before that, I would like to share some good news with you.

Yesterday was a dream come true moment to see myselffeatured in our city edition newspaper as a “CREATIVE RE CYCLER”. 

Here is the link to the write up.

How true it is that if each one of us did our bit on re cycling, we can definitely contribute to the climatic changes in the environment. I wish this breed of crafters grow and people start to buy and make more handmade stuff.

Now, onto what I have recycled today! Here it is...

 

With these ingredients, I decided to make something as a yearend gift for my husband. He has a habit of keeping his things where ever his hands reach out to, lol! I hope you get the picture and every day there is a hide and seek and searching session!

With year coming to an end, I thought he should be done with this habit and I have decided to make a caddy style box for him to keep his little treasures...you still have time to guess what it is!

Here is my gift to him...

 

I have altered the liquor carton by working on it horizontally and creating an opening and a flap for closure!

I have used the lovely Tim Holtz “Lost and Found” paper pack which was the perfect one for this project, you will see why.

Once the outer box was lined with the paper, I have given some texture to the lid by adding a layer of tissue and then worked on it with Prima Clocks stencil and some home made texture paste. Have you still guessed what the box is???

 

The coloring of the lid was a happy accident. I started coloring with acrylics without giving a coat of gesso and realized the colors were very translucent and I could still see the print on the carton! That’s when I ran some gesso on the wet color and voila! I just loved the streaky shaded colors of green, yellow and white. I loved it to bits and recreated the same mistake on the inside of the lid too! Of course the box had to be inked with walnut stain for that old look and some crushed olive for some brightness in the base!

For the caddy style, I attached a wooden handle but not before altering it too! It was shiny brown and I sponged in thick gesso first and then gave coats of rusty hinge and vintage photo DP. I have stamped some script on it too and have stained the edges with Walnut stain.

A few tags on TIME adorn the handle...just a reminder to him on the value of time! 

 

On the flap I have used die cut buttons as embellishments. Any guesses on what it is before I open the box...

 

Here we go...

Yes! It’s a WATCH BOX! Now we will save time everyday looking for the right one! It’s all going to stay in place here! 

 

They sit snuggly inside on a long pillow that I hand stitched using an old pair of jeans and some sponge that are remains from my carpentry stash!

 

And before you ask me ...along with the box, one of the watches is  NEW too! Now that’s a pretty good one for a year end gifting right??? This should ensure my free flow of crafting goodies in the coming here, lol!

Thank you so much for stopping by and do leave your comments on the watch box. If it can house a bottle of liquor wit care, so can it hold these tiny treasures with all the warmth and care, what say???

Oh yeah...you can carry it around too!

I would like to enter the following challenges with it...

Alphabet challenge- V for Vintage

Fun Friday Challenge- Ag

Simply paper craft challenge- Ag

A bit more time to craft- Ag

Simon Wednesday Challenge- tag it

Until my next creative journey,

Happy Crafting and re cycling,

Cheers.

My Sunny Entrance

Hello crafty friends..

Welcome to my page today. I haven’t been blogging for a few weeks now...just not up to it with so much happening in my home town, Chennai. The rains have played havoc there and most of the city has had problems with it. With so much happening and rain lashing I decided to add some sunshine in my project.

I had a scrap wood piece lying around and decided to make a mixed media wall decor for my entrance. Here are a few easy steps...

Step1- I painted the scrap wood with a heavy coat od black gesso. You can actually see how weathered the wood piece is, with some holes already on it! PERFECT for my kind of project. I then applied Vaseline in random spots where I wanted some distressing to be done.

Step2- I applied a coat of white chalky finish paint ( Deco Art Everlasting). It dried in minutes and then I started sanding and in places where the Vaseline was there, the paint peeled off easily to reveal the black color beneath. I had a lovely distressed wood piece to play with now!

Step3- I made my own texture paste and added some white sand to it to make it coarse and grainy. Also added some black gesso to give it a cement like color and as I ran it thru the TCW bricks stencils, it just looked like cemented bricks!

Step 4- I decoupaged some flowers using  modge podge and also added pieces of washi tape in complimenting colors to the panel .An empty glass jar was given a bright yellow color and I added a resin butterfly to it for added interest.

 As the bottle was drying, I added a POP rose flower with flourish on the top of the panel, which I painted white and dry brushed some black gesso for some distressing. 

The base of the bottle has the same washi tape...doesn’t that look cool?

Step 5- Added some script stamped here and there Bo Bunny stamps and tried my hands with some carpentry here! I drilled a few holes to hold the bottle and ran a natural twine (thick) around the bottle to keep it secure on the panel. I hot glued the bottle before tying it with the twine and now it was ready to take up the weight I had imagined!

Step 6- I gave the entire panel 2 coats of varnish as that was drying, I decided to have this little quote to spruce up my mood and entrance. That’s it now it hangs pretty on my entrance wall!

Next time you visit home, do take time to notice it, else I am going to intentionally delay in opening the door, lol ! 

Thank you so much for stopping by today and hope your lives are filled with love, warmth and sunshine.

I would like to enter this panel in the following challenges...

Lulupu- Home Decor using modge podge and washi tape

We Love To Create- Ag mixed media

STAMP lorations Ch blog – Mixed media
Inspiration Destination Ch blog- Ag

Until my next creative journey,

Happy Crafting and re cycling,

Cheers.

A bag full of MEMORIES

Hello crafty friends..

Welcome to my page today. Back to paper crafting after a long time...yes this time with some scrap denim too!

I had an empty cereal box sitting on my table for sometime now and I was wondering what to do with it. As I was playing with it, I realized I could make a bag and so was born this project!

Next, my hands reached out to some old jeans and i ripped some fabric to make the cover. The best combination to go with denim is leather and so.... some faux leather too for this project.

Here is what I made...do you think this is just a bag!

It opens into a handsome, macho masculine album! The paper line used is Tim Holtz “lost and Found” and have used the hidden hinge binding here.

I followed the score line of the empty carton and so the size of the album and spine was determined by that. To enforce the strength of the album, i used thick chipboard and tyvek too to make the album durable.

There are 4 interactive pages...the base being Kraft, the papers compliment so well with it. I have inked the edges with walnut stain to further age the album. There are a lot of tuck spots and some little interesting tit bits that can be opened up for a little surprise!

The faux leather too is with Kraft CS as base and I have actually done some stitching to attach the leather and denim to the cover! How cool is that.

This album screams “masculine” from all sides and so I kept the embellishments sans flowers! Now that is a relief...

The handle is fixed using bronze metal brads and there some charms too hanging from the handle. The little glass bottle is filled with colored sand...white sand + fired brick distress inks!

In all this album has a list of men’s favorite stuff....denim, leather, metal, machine, football , blues, browns , reds and NO FLOWERS! Do you agree???

Do leave me a note about this album...I had a great time making the bag too! A lot of Tim Holtz Visual artistry stamps have been used for the secret elements and surprise notes that spring from the pockets!

I have still not made up my mind about the recipient of this bag full of memories...may be my brother who is visiting me next month with a box full of crafty goodies??? Definitely a deserving candidate...what say?

I would like to enter this album in the following challenges...

Lulupu- make a mini

Sparkles monthly Challenge- Anything But A card

A Bit More Time To Craft- AG

Country View Challenge- Blue

The Artistic Stamper Ch- fabric

All Sorts Ch Blog- Anything but a card

Thank you so much for stopping by today.

Until my next creative journey,

Happy crafting and recycling.

Cheers.