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Tuesday, 1 March 2016

Paris on my table!

Hello crafty friends..

Welcome to my page today.

Wee am here with my DT post for Rhedd’s Creative Spirit where every month its only Altered art or Mixed Media, NO CARDS! That’s always easy on my cos...I get the jitters if I have to make a card!

This time too I have recycled an empty paint box carton. I played around with its existing dimensions and made it look like a ladies bag!

I had a friend in mind when I did this. She has a new job and I dint want to just give a card that would probably be shelved and forgotten. I decided to give something that she would have on her desk and maybe it could even help her to be little more organized...what say???

I have used the Indian brand papericious”an evening in Paris” paper stack. Unusual of me with pinks here, but them it was going to a female friend you see!

The paper by itself was so pretty, I just added a little bit of lace and pearls to enhance the feminine look, lol! One little handmade rose with TH tattered florals die adorns the lid.

The handle is made with co coordinating glass beads and copper wire from my stash.

The die cut is from Sizzix and perfect for the occasion.

The box opens to reveal a stack of cards organizer! Yes, it’s a visiting/business card holder.

I thought my friend would find it handy and fancy on her table and easy to carry around too!

I hope you will drop by to see what team has in store for you and take the time to play along too.
Linking this to the following challenges...
Craft your passion- AG
Inspiration destination- AG
Simply paper crafts- AG
613 Avenue Create-- AG optional twist lace and pearls.
Crafty Boots Ch- Something for the lady

Until my next creative journey,

Happy Crafting and recycling,

Cheers.

Thursday, 25 February 2016

The "Quilted " duo

Hello crafty friends..

Welcome to my page today. I am right now working on my house interiors after the painting and going about giving some crafty touches to them!

As always I decided to give some cosmetic touches to the existing furniture and this time around it was the faithful shoe rack’s turn! Having been with us for over 12 years now, it was dull and boring to see this fella greet people at the entrance.

So in he enters my studio! Here is the process of the makeover....

Step 1- I removed all the hardware and gave the surface a good sanding and cleaned it up with a wet cloth. I was waiting to use the new chalky finish paints from Deco Art that I received. This time it was the cheerful” delicate” that hit the skeleton of the rack. This it was not going to be just paints...since this is at the entrance, I wanted it to be catchy and decided to quilt on it!

Step2- I love the TH Wall flower paper pack and always think twice before tearing a page and believe me, I decided to quilt with his papers! Can you imagine the number of papers I would need to quilt on a big surface like this...well there is a solution? I took a good quality photocopy of the ATC pages and my quilting started. I needed about 80 ATC’s to patch up!

Phew...am not complaining...I inked all the edges with Archival leaf green and had them on the top of the table using the De c Art decoupage glue. Once they were dry and secure, i started sewing! Yup...used my Faber castel PIIT pens to draw the stitches on the panel and voila...my quilt was ready!

Step3- For the drawers, I cut them into stripes and for a change. I planned a 2 tone coloring this time and the wall flower paper pack was just perfect to take that! My second color here is the Deco Art”new life” chalky finish paint.

Definitely gave a new life to my shoe rack, lol!

I mean look how vibrant it is now!

Step4-I gave a coat of Deco Art cream wax, light to the entire rack and as that was drying...worked on the handles. I gave them a coat of gesso and sponged in Deco art media acrylics, burn t umber to give it the lovely antique brown!

Now it was time to work with the dark wax. I always loved the weathered look it gives instantly to the furniture...have a look. The right side here has the dark wax and left doesn’t...too bright eh???

The handles were dry by now and found their places.

I gave a nice coat of Ultra matte varnish from Deco Art. For the quilted portion I gave at least 2 coats of varnish.

Here is one last look of it inside my studio...

And ZOOM into my house, where it sits pretty in the green corner!

Look it has a companion now...a little stool to match the rack. The same colors and same quilting from the left over pieces just made them with 2 inch squares this time!

That’s a lot of quilting for the past 2 days and no more louvered doors!

I had a tough time painting them but seeing these cheerful fellas smile after 12 years....was worth the efforts, what say???

See you soon with another project.

Until my next creative journey,

Happy Crafting and recycling.

Cheers.

DecoArt Products used-

Chalky finish paints- Delicate and new life

Decoupage glue

Media line acrylics- burnt umber

Ultra matte varnish

Sunday, 21 February 2016

Black beauties!

Hello crafty friends..

Welcome to my page today. Phew! I never knew getting a house painted after 11yrs would be a revelation! Yes, A revelation of the amount of unused stuff at home..It was kind of a mega clearance from my attic and a huge discovery of trash that had potential for a makeover!

And what great timing, I just got my next round supplies from Deco Art and waiting to start with the chalkboard paint! I liked it so much, I did not one but 2 back to back projects with it....just LOVE the matte black finish and the fact that you can write on it again and again.

My first discovery from the attic was 2 worn out wooden planks, one of which even had an incomplete painting! Perfect for my distressed project.

I wanted to have something catchy in the foyer ...that which hits the eye first when you enter home...and I even made a rough sketch before I started with this.

I colored the bigger panel with Americana decor chalky finish paint.. and the smaller panel was colored with chalkboard black paint and a roller from the local hardware store!

I gave 2 coats of the black paint and when that was drying, started mu decoupage and stenciling on the bigger panel.

Lovely vintage roses hit the top of the panel and used the decoupage glue from decoart. I also used their honeycomb stencil and yellow and white acrylics for some background texture and not to miss some text stamping with Bo Bunny script and archival black ink.

On the bottom part I had the rose buds decoupaged with stenciling and stamping too.

Since it was flowers and honeycomb, I decided NOT to have butterflies but bees and dragonflies for a change! I stamped these beauties on water color paper, heat embossed them in black and colored them with my brush pens and sealed them with Distress crackle.

I adhered the black panel onto the main panel with heavy white glue and left it overnight. Next day, I drilled holes on the top and braided some white rope for the hanging. I stenciled some corner design on the black panel with white acrylics and hand wrote this lovely quote!

Just the one I want to see first when I enter home...what say???

The butterflies and the bees found their place and some filigree metal corners with rhinestone gives a vintage finish to the panel.

This is how it hangs on the green wall as you enter...

Project2- My dad collected some miniature bottles, the ones you used to get in international flights back then! I don’t think it’s there now...sad!

These were given a good wash and their labels stripped and then I started my work! 2 coats of chalk board paint and they turned into black beauties! I wanted just neutral shades here, no bright colors. You can say this is my kind of CAS!

Some natural twine wrapped here and there and I made some handmade blooms in white using TH tattered florals(smallest), CLD daisy and sunflower and had them in different spots on the bottle.

The alphabets are cut from cereal carton and text paper and inked with Tea dye DI and find their place on the mini bottle.

Just for added interest I place them on a coffee stained doily and they look beautiful, what say???

So, let me know what you think about these 2 projects and I am already thinking what else can take the black paint now...maybe a small cupboard for my daughter so she can write and practice????

DecoArt products used-

Decoupage glue

America deco art chalky finish paint- Delicate

Americana decor Chalkboard paint

Deco Art honey comb stencil

Thank you so much for stopping by today.
Linking these to the following challenges...
613 Avenue create- Anything goes,(have used column A and C)

Until my next creative journey,

Happy crafting and recycling.

Cheers.

Wednesday, 17 February 2016

Grungy Suitcase

Hello crafty friends..

Welcome to my page today. I am sooo relieved and done with my house painting! It started at the beginning of the year and ended on valentine’s say....cool eh??? Great timing and so decided to make something for Mr. Hubby! A kind of “thank you” gift...no no not valentines!

As always I love masculine projects, I love recycling, I love grunge, I love browns and tan, I love metal, I love leather, and I love denim too and wait...I love wood too!

With all my “loves” in mind, here is what I recycled...

And here is what I made of it...

Lets jump start to the procedure...

Step1- I went about making some alterations to the box to suit my needs, like the opening and the closure. I wanted the leather and denim look...my fav when it comes to men, lol! (wink, wink)...

So, for the lid, I covered it with tissue and modge and when dry did the “faux leather” using DP rusty hinge, vintage photo and walnut stain and when dry, applied archival black on the raised areas( creases from the tissue) and inked the edges with archival potting soil.

Step2- I used a few metal embellies for the corner. Stamped images of these grungy macho men on Kraft CS and heat embossed in black and gave it the leathery feel too!

Just so to soften their looks, I have used a metal charm that says ”hand made with love” hanging from the pocket and for the other gentle men, have use heart buttons for his vest! LOVE it.... A faux leather label with a TH sentiment and faux stitching finds itself in another corner!

Step3- For the base of the box...I just ripped an old jean to my hearts content and covered the base and for the rim, I dint spare the waist band too! And what a co incidence my waist size was a perfect fit to cover the box all around! Now is that a compliment...keep guessing my waist size now...wink, wink!

I also attached metal brads as legs for the box and used metal clasp closures and a little handle so that it can be carried around too!

Time to open up the box!!! Remember, I said, I love wood....

Step 4- Voila, the box opens up....and you see a mini suit case inside!

I have lined the inside base with wood grains paper from our very own Indian brand, Papericious. I love the earthy macho looks it adds to the interior of the box!

For the top lid, I spent a whole day working on it! I wanted a typical functioning suitcase? Keepsake box and so continuing the faux leather created an accordion panel to stack up papers and important documents!

I also created the ribs for holding the pen/pencil and yes...a little “message” scrolled inside the bottle too!

A few motivating quotes from TH and my little suitcase is ready to travel where ever hubby dear wants to take it!

Well that’s brings to the end and I had a great time working on this project with all the “loves” of my life, lol! With so much love wrapped around, this is one sturdy box now!

I would like to enter the following challenges ...

Simon Monday Challenge- Recycle

Scrapski wyzwaniowo- masculine

Things to alter- AG not cute

Emerald Creek dares- Bloggers scramble

The ABC Challenge- B for box

Creative Artist- AG with mixed media

Loves 2 create- AG mixed media

Sparkles monthly challenge- for males

Thank you so much for stopping by today.

Until my next creative journey,

Happy crafting and recycling.

Cheers.

Monday, 8 February 2016

SEW much LOVE !

Hello crafty friends..

Welcome to my page today. Today’s story, “Sew much Love” started from an empty slider packaging box. I wanted to weave a story around a vintage couple and to depict that, I altered a packaging box using the “industrial” style!

I opened my brand new foil tape and was more than excited to experiment with it! More so after seeing the TH january tag! Here we go...from a plain unassuming box....

To this!

Step1- I painted black gesso to the sides of the box and the edges of the lid. Then, I adhered some dry wall tape on the sides for texture.

Next,I stuck the foil tape to a CS and ran it thru the haberdashery embossing folder. For some reason the combination of scissors, buttons, thimble and a rose in between made it so romantic and that is why I chose this one. It also had a vintage look.The dry wall tape also complimented the checkered pattern on the folder.

Step2- The scary part! I applied black acrylic paint all over the embossed foil and waited for it to dry. Then ran a wet wipe over it, removing the color in parts. This gave an amazing distressed metal look! I then cut the circular portion off the embossed piece as I had other plans!

Step 3- Time to play with alcohol inks. I had to work with yellows and greens and kept only the rose red..that gave an instant romantic look the piece! I had a pic of a vintage couple in my stash just perfect to slide thru the cut portion and Oh my! They just looked so comfortable!

Step4- I stamped the sentiment on the space available and heat embossed it n white and also managed to have a small heart shaped brad along with it. A few twisted rose buds and the lid was ready. I further embellished it with some rhinestones. One look at the couple and you can say, they were just happy in their own space!

The pull out for the box has a little key and cute heart that says it all!

Step 5- A look inside and you can see a set of cards...and a bling heart holds it all together!

The heart too is using duct tape and used the Sizzix die for the mini heart, embossed it and colored with red ink and then rubbed in some archival black to distress it. Some rhinestones to bling it and it held on to those romantic note cards!