Bling it up !!!

Hello crafters..

Today, we celebrate Children's Day in India and am glad to be posting this!
I have something really cute  to share with you  today…my DT project for Scrapping4Fun Challenge#30 Rachelle wants us to create“anything with a "bling” this time…easy right??? So people, get blingy and look forward to seeing your creations.

I had to make a gift for my little one’s friend as it was her birthday yesterday. She is all of 5yesrs old and was very clear she wanted shades of purple this time…bless the pinks lol! I took this opportunity to make something cute and blingy for a little girl which she will fancy and at the same time be of some use too! So here is what I made…

A cute little handbag!

This empty cereal carton saw some daylight and made it into a cute little bag which can house loooots of goodies inside and there is a surprise at the back too…hold on for that!

Since the colors choice was made, the making of it was easy! I chose lovely PP from DCWV as pretty as a peacock paper pack and started covering the cereal box, inside out! This made the box really sturdy…the inside has a lovely paper in blue.

I then created a window and covered it with acetate ( another use of trash from die packaging). This window creates a lovely view of the inside! I have lined the window with purple bling.

I then stamped this lovely fairy image from Little darlings(Itsy Bitsy) and colored it with DI and applied silver glitter for some sparkle!

The flowers are handmade using TH die and Itsy Bitsy. The top part I have attached a lovely floral white lace which gives the look of a flap for the bag and has more bling. I am sure little girls can carry off that much and more!

A little birthday tag using Inkadinkado ornate frames and sentiment has been heat embossed in silver and colored with Di and more bling here!

Are you ready for the back…

Here it is…

I have made a cute oval panel in foam and kept the decoration minimum here, guess why???

 I told you it is not just a bag and can be used to store something too in the outside…any guesses! I won’t prolong the suspense here…this is what it can eventually be used as….

I also bought a few pair of earring for the little girl which has been hooked to the foam panel!!

 Now isn’t that a double bonanza…goodies inside and outside! My daughter is already screaming with joy looking at this…

This re assures me that her friend will like it too! I have attached Velcro strips on the top for the closure and lovely twisted lavender chord as a string to carry and flaunt this designer bag, Lol!

Here is my angel carrying the fairy handbag! I hope she will part with this one now…I may have to make another one for her now!
 I asked her if this bag is cute and pat came the reply.." No Amma, this is NOT cute, It is wow, beautiful, nice, very nice, good, very good"...Well I got it...that's the world of a 5 yesr old!

Pretty simple eh? I would like to have my fairy bag enter these challenges…

As You Like It Challenge _favorite gift packing ( I have a designer bag here, lol !)

Craft For The Craic – Birthday

Try It On Tuesday Challenge – Anything handmade
Craft Room Challenge - anything 3D

Tando Creative Challenge - Something with a use

Thank you so much for stopping by and do let me know how this " Wow" bag " passes off in your world...am waiting to hear!

Until my next creative journey…

Happy Crafting and Recycling.

Hugs.

My kind of CLEAN and SIMPLE !!!

Hello crafters..

Am back soon with another “not so complicated” project today. Before that, I would like to thank you all for the wonderful responses to my “forever fall” deco piece. Looks like you liked the bright colors, this project today is a contrast to that in terms of colors and embellishments.

 I managed to do something clean and simple…NO NO NOT A CARD…this is my DT project for AnythingBut A Card challenge#41 blog where the theme this month  is an open challenge. You can make anything as long as it is not a card.

I have re cycled an old wooden wedding invite into an altered wall plaque! I first sanded it and gave a liberal coat of gesso sanding in between layers. This time I wanted some soothing color and wanted to have lots of white! I know you might be as surprised as me on this thought. Believe me, I struggled to keep it simple but I had this vision in mind and then just did what I wanted to see…

I colored the panel in pastel turquoise acrylic colors and thane sanded it to reveal some white in parts and in some places the wood beneath too.

I drew a free hand heart in the center and used Pva glue to create cracks there. Once happy with that I masked the heart and went about creating textures on the rest of the board.

For this, I mixed equal parts of Putty chalk powder with white glue and little water to get a paste like consistency and poured it into a plastic paper cone, with its tip cut. Now with one side sealed when you press the cone, the paste oozes out of the fine tip which can be adjusted depending on how much you cut it.

Once again I drew free hand flourishes and swirls and left it over night to dry. The next day it was tough and strong..I sanded it a bit and rubbed in inka gold and some walnut stain DI just to age it a bit. There I go again…can’t keep anything really clean can I ???

Once I was happy with the aged panel, I went with creating the embellishments. This time, it was going to be simple…remember??? I made these flowers from scraps of pattern paper that I had. The roses are using TH tattered florals die and the  daisy is using CLD Shasta daisy die and the flower center has some flat back pearls.

I used walnut stain to ink the edges of the flower and applied a little bit of gesso too keep it shabby! Some ready made leaves and that was ready.

Next comes the focal object on the panel…the sentiment. I looks for some interesting craft quotes on the net and took a print out. The main sentiment is crackled with rock candy distress crackle paint and for the mini accordion behind it, I have used hand made paper on which I have used TCW stencil and Di to create a back ground and then stuck the quotes. On the edges I have applied gesso here too.

Do take time to read the quotes…This is so true with me. Is it the same with you too…do let me know.

I clipped the quotes to a mini clothes pin and stuck it to the panel and highlighted it with a jute twine bow!

I then drilled holes on the wood panel and strung in some baubles in complimenting colors and some copper wire. I had to tie a silver ribbon bow on one side to just lighten it up a bit!

I small cow bell retrieved from a broken wind chime at home, finds its place on the lower end of the panel! I have rubbed in gesso here too.

That’s it..my clean and simple project is ready…Do you think it is so??? Do let me know…If you know my style of work,you will understand my struggle here!!!!

My daughter just loves to hit on the bell every time she passes by it and says” Amma, it is time to craft”…I just love her for understanding my love and passion for the art and giving me time for it too.

This project is dedicated to all you craft lovers…Thank you all for stopping by, leaving comments, visiting me and also following my blog!

Hope this inspires you and would love to see your creations at Anything But a Card Challenge, this month.

I would like to link my “clean” project in the following challenges…

Frosted Designs - White space

Fab "n" Funky Challenges - 3 embellishments ( flowers, beads, bells,bow)

Crafting by Designs - Anything Goes

Die Cutting Divas- Ribbon, Twine Pattern paper, pearls

Crafty Catz- Ribbon

Crafts 4 Eternity - ribbon

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes
Vintage Stamping Challenge - Anything but a card
Scrap It Girl - Use paints, water colors or gelatos ( have used acrylic colors)

Sugar Creek Hollow - Recycling ( wooden invite, bell from a broken chime)

Until my next creative journey,

Happy Crafting and Re cycling,

Cheers.

Forever "Fall" with a tutorial

Hi Crafters,
Am back in my comfort zone...a project loaded with flowers and embellishments, all hand made! This is purely inspired by my morning walks...the sights and colors that I see. I love to walk thru the scattered leaves and admire their changing colors and textures and as continue a few bursts of colorful blooms in the neighborhood houses peeking out of the wall! Love the yellows, oranges and dark shades of pink thru the woody brown...would love to capture this moment FOREVER and so began this project.


A picture heavy post and I have tried to explain a step by step on the wood bark texture that was much appreciated and I had requests too for a tute. You can see the project here.
This is 360 degrees fall table decor piece, made from an empty Vodka carton! How cool is that...

I made a window in the box and then stuck masking tape all over to get an initial texture.

 Then scooped out my homemade texture paste. For this, I mixed equal quantities of chalk powder(from local hardware store) and white glue with little water to get a pasty consistency and then added some brown acrylic colors and applied it all over.
No, that is not chocolate sauce..just look that yummy texture.

 Once it dries, it's absolutely bark like...AS SIMPLE AS THAT! While you apply the paste on the masking tape, take a spatula and then just make incisions all over and in some places scoop it out to make like knot holes too! After it is dry, you can do the final color shading with further brown and black acrylic colors.
I further sprayed LSG cactus gold to get a slight shimmer too..too bad the camera can't capture it. I then stuck PP from DCWV pack...I crushed the paper and inked it with DI to get the slight texture to go with the bark!

Next cut out a piece of acetate and dabbed in alcohol inks in all fall colors and when that dried, I heat embossed a golden sunflower on both corners! I loved the texture of the alcohol inks.

Now comes the interesting part...I colored scraps of handmade paper with DI in fall colors using Tim's swishing technique...applying the inks on craft mat. spritzing water and swooshing the paper thru it to get a shades of colors. Then I splattered some black paint on it and ran it thru the big shot with TH tattered leaves die to get a handful of lovely fall leaves. Some of them are also using Cheery Lynn tropical leaves die.

I took out some pine cones and berries from my potpourri  deco and altered it a bit, sprayed gold mist and also covered the berried with diamond dust and went about doing the fall arrangement on the top panel.

Top panel...a bed of TH tattered leaves with hand made flowers all using CLD sunflower and shasta daisy die, heavily inked .


the front panel...the acetate widow with ornate metal corners and some more flowers on the sides with a little thank you banner!

And when the tea lights are on.....wow!
Just the moment I wanted to capture...I invite you all home to see this in real!


I told you it is a 360 degrees deco...so on the other side...
Cute little frames in all shapes heat embossed with UTEE platinum and some more hand made flowers.

This is how it looks with some pictures in it...I just slipped in some Xmas pics from the net. This can ofcourse be changed according to the occasion!
I also went a step further and gathered some twigs from the garden, colored it and layered it to form the feet for the box!


So, My "Fall" frozen forever in this little box which will find a place as a center table deco! Do let me know what you think of this project.


I am linking this to the following challenges...
Beyond Grey Challenges - Fall challenge
Decorate To Celebrate - Anything Goes
Divas By Design- Born fire colors
Creative Moments Challenge - Anything goes/ Celebration
Shopping Our Stash Challenge - Leaf me alone
Try it On Tuesday- colors of autumn
Sugar Creek Hollow - Re cycling and re purposing
A Vintage Journey _ Bountiful harvest
Inspiration Journal - Happy Holidays

Until my next creative journey...
Happy Crafting and Recycling.
Cheers.

For a Friend !

Hello Crafters,

Today I am sharing my Guest Design project for Rhedd’s Creative Spirit with you! Yes! I have been a regular there and was just so thrilled and happy when Sandie asked me to be a guest on her blog for Nov…and what more, it  coincided with my friends’ birthday! So I could make anything to my “hearts content” and share it with you!

It’s always a “anything goes” here at Rhedd’s and only altered art ,which I LOVE! So  play along and hope this inspires you to do so. With that said, I have up cycled an empty liquor carton here into a mini display cabinet and storage space too! I have a surprise when the door opens..wait and see.

I made this for my “Bestie” who introduced me to this wonderful world of crafting and blogging, it is her birthday tomorrow! She loves colors and hardly ever does anything Vintage, so I just decided to make something “special” for her which is NOT her style! Fair enough right???

And so starts my shabby vintage journey…

Firstly I covered this whole box with scraps of paper and modge podge so that it is sturdy and easy to take layers on. Then I cut PP to size from DCWV French garden paper pack. I stamped random butterflies and script using Archival green and brown inks. Then swished out the home made texture paste and using TCW damask stencil, created texture all around except the front panel, for which I had something else in mind!

Once this was done, I inked the edges with crushed olives DI and walnut stain and adhered it to the back and sides of the box.

The front panel – I made a faux frame door for the panel! I took a  piece of chipboard to size and stuck sheets from an old text and stuck this vintage picture of “friends” to one side. Then cut out the alphabets with chipboard and PP using spellbinders die and I inked it and stuck it to the panel. The background has some foliage and butterflies stamped randomly. I then kept an acetate sheet as protection and made the outer frame using another chipboard. On this, I used a stencil from my local craft store to create a border for the frame and I sprayed some walnut stain and worn lipstick inks mildly and when dry rubbed Inka gold all over. Stuck some pearls and added ornate book end corners. A shabby wooden knob helps to open up this frame!

Lastly some shabby chic fabric flowers using lace and TH tattered floral die decorate one end of the frame. You can see the friends dancing in joy! Isn’t it fun ??

Top panel – I took the maximum time to decorate this part. My friend is a passionate “sewer” too, so I took out this stamp set from TH Visual Artistry and stamped the dress form on text paper and heat embossed in brown. I then layered it on chipboard and fussy cut it. Some clear rock candy crackle paint on it and when that dried, I rubbed in the Inka gold here. I then outlined it with gold liner. Look at the yummy textures!

 That was not enough!!! I took some net fabric in pale pink and created a frilly skirt, added some glitter on the hemline and a cute pink bow with pearl fastens it to the mannequin! She definitely found her spot on top of the display cabinet!

Next, I cut the scalloped oval to form a frame using some gold printed PP and set it with glossy accents for dimension. I inserted a vintage quote inside and made it stand on the top along with the body form! Some metal charms hang casually from the frame.

More flowers using lace and Georgette fabric here on a bed of cheese cloth for some extra dimension. The flowers are inked with walnut stain and have applied some gesso too for the shabby look.

And my box has cute little white flat back pebbles as feet!

Are you ready for the box to open?? And when it does, there is a surprise for her!

 A cute suitcase mini in shabby vintage style too! The mini has a lot of space for journaling and photos, All the details on the making of this can be found here.

There is enough space inside for her keep some craft goodies and I hope this will find a place on her craft table too!

 So, please join  me in wishing Shilpa of Neon Diary a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

That’s  pretty much it…Hope to hear from you on this. Thank you so much for stopping by.

I would like to enter my Shabby wishes in the following challenges…

Crafty Catz Challenge - Anything Goes

A Creative Romance - Use Pink

Frosted Designs -Get messy with Mixed media 

Imagination Crafts challenge - Anything Goes

Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes
Crafts Galore Encore Challenge - Anything Goes
Mixed Media Monthly Challenge - Use stamps
Simon Says- anything goes

 Until my next crafty creation,

Happy Crafting and re cycling,

Hugs.

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.