"Boxes Of All Sorts"

Hi, and A Very Happy Easter to you all. Today I finally got around to finishing my entry for Crafty Individuals March Challenge titled "Boxes of All Sorts".

I really don't know where this month has gone but it's certainly flown by --- to view the other beautiful entries and the fantastic DT samples click on the link here.

To begin with I started off with 2 basic components ;

an empty box of chocolates measuring 10cm x 10cm and a pack of Twiddleybitz inches.

The box was given a coat of black gesso all over and the inches were cut to size. 

The frame of the inches and the squares were given a coat of white gesso and then the frame was painted with fresco chalk paint in Slate. Once dry a layer of Americana weathered wood was applied, then a coat of Fresco Chalk paint in Stone. the inches were painted in Fresco Chalk paint in Evergreen, Lake Wanaka, Mermaid, Beach Hut and Inky Pool with a brayer.

The inches were stamped using CI 184 and white embossed and the frame had touches of Treasure Gold in Olive Bronze added to the edges.

A small black card tag was white embossed using 'For You' from CI 438.

I then attached some fancy thread to the edges from the back and tied some bakers twine through the tag.

The box had grunge paste applied through CI mask which once dry was coloured with DI in Victorian Velvet, Seedless Preserves, Bundled Sage, Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint. A piece of scrap paper was placed in the centre of the mask so as not to colour the centre of the box.

Once this was dry Olive Bronze Treasure Gold was added to the foliage and dots of Liquid Pearls in Pewter were added to the centre of the flowers.

Some CI text ribbon was attached to the sides of the lid and the inches and frame were glued to the top.

I shall probably use this box as a present filled with homemade chocolate truffles.

Well I hope you enjoy what is left of the Easter break, and hopefully your weather is much better than what we have had here in Kent today. Take Care and have fun, Jane x.

Altered Frame

Today I am sharing the different stages of altering an old veneered frame that has had a small cross stitch sampler in it for about 25yrs. The frame was looking very tatty and the embroidery was in need of a wash so it seemed the perfect time to get to work on it.

I was inspired to alter this frame having read Sue Carrington's altered box on the Paperartsy Blog, to view this blog click on the link http://blog.paperartsy.co.uk/2014/06/altered-box-with-lynne-perrella-stamps.html

This is how the frame looked before I set to work on it, I stripped off the veneer and sanded the wood to remove any residue of glue. I then gave it a coat of French Roast, then a coat of Toad Hall followed by some small random areas of French Roast.

I then brushed some areas with Americana Weathered wood where I wanted a cracked effect and once this was dry added a coat of Mermaid all over. A light sanding was given to a couple of patches to reveal a little more of the under colours.

I then applied Grunge Paste through the Bird and Branch Stencil by Tando Creative to the bottom righthand corner. Next I spread a little Grunge Paste through some netting with my finger on 3 random spots.

Once this was dry I made a light wash with bundled sage Distress Stain and water to add a slight colour to the leaves and stems of the flowers. The flowers were coloured in the same way using seedless preserves Distress Stain. 

I applied some walnut stain Distress Ink to the edges of the frame and then randomly stamped the diamonds in Archival Watering Can, the trellis in walnut stain and the ' don't eat the daisies' in black soot Distress Ink.

I also did some stamping on the edges so as to tie it all together.

To finish the whole frame off I applied areas of Treasure Gold Wax in Olive Bronze and Sapphire and then buffed up with a soft cloth.

Now all that's left to do is press the cross stitch, place it back in the frame and hang it on the spare bedroom wall.

I would like to enter this for the PaperArtsy Weekly Challenge.

Today I went to the Craft Barn at Nutfield where they were hosting their yearly Extravaganza and Leandra Franich from PaperArtsy was demonstrating some wonderful background papers using the Fresco Chalk Acrylics, learnt some great techniques and if anyone is thinking of going along tomorrow I highly recommend it.

Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to leave any questions or comments at the bottom of the page. Hope you all have a great weekend, take care and hopefully see you back here soon Jane x

Home is Where The Heart is

Hi Everyone, I'm making up for lost time ---- 2 blogs in a week ! 

Todays card is my entry for The Sunday Stampers Challenge titled ' Anyone Who Had a Heart', if you would like to see Hels Sheridans blog and the other entries click on the link. http://pinkleart.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/sunday-stamper-week-296-anyone-who-had.html

ITEMS USED

Gelli-plate

Acrylic Paints in Hansa Yellow, Birch, Viridian, and Deep Madder.

White card 15cm square

Core'dinations card in deep red and dark teal

Claudine Hellmuth stencil Summer Garden

Corrigated Kraft card 

2 brads

scraps of card for 2 hearts in co-ordinating colours

Grunge paste

Words cut from an old book or printed onto card from the computer

Memory box Die foliage/vine

Heartfelt Creations stamp set Sun Kissed Fleur

Stickles

Treasure Gold in Olive Bronze

Decoart Metallic Lustre in Black shimmer

Distress inks in Bundled Sage, Peeled Paint, Aged Mahogany, Pumice Stone and Stormy Sky

Archival ink pad in black

Clear embossing Powder

Pro-markers in pink shades

To start with I made the background of the picture from a ghost print taken from the Gelli-plate. This was inked up 4 separate times with the acrylic paints listed. The first print taken of each colour  ended up too dark for this project, but the second pulling, being the ghost print I felt was perfect.

I then cut the houses from the various card listed and the hearts were cut from the patterned card.

 The Core'dinations card was sanded quite hard to give the old, worn look and the roofs were rubbed with the treasured gold and then buffed with a soft cloth. The houses were then assembled and the brads attached as door handles. The printed background was then trimmed to size and a little stormy sky ink was applied to the top with a blending tool and a little bundled sage and peeled paint to the bottom before sticking the houses  on. I then repositioned the stencil over the fence at the bottom of the picture and spread some grunge paste that had been coloured with the hanse yellow acrylic paint,  with a palette knife. Once this was dry I rubbed on some metallic lustre over the grunge paste and this too was buffed when dry.

The stencil was repositioned again this time over the centre of the large flower on the lefthand side and a little aged mahogany was applied with a make-up sponge just to hi- light the centre.

The flowers were stamped in black archival ink and then embossed with the clear embossing powder. These were then coloured with pro-markers and cut out. The centres were hi-lighted using the stickles in burgundy. A few stems of vine were cut using the Memory Box die and then the flowers and trailing vine leaves were stuck in place.

A little pumice stone ink was applied from the chimneys to give the impression of smoke. The words Home is Where The Heart is were then trimmed to size and stuck in place. The completed picture was then mounted onto some red Core'dinations card before being attached to the blank greeting card.

This is a card that was made for a close friend that is moving house today, it's a real 'touchy, feely ' card as the acrylic paint gives a grainy texture, the grunge paste fence is raised and a little on the rugged side and then all the elements are made from different textured paper stock. I hope you can get a true impression of this from the photos. Well I must fly as I hadn't realised how long I'd been tapping away at the computer. Hope you all have a good week and hopefully see you back here soon for some more crafty antics. Thanks as always for stopping by and reading this blog, I hope its been of interest to you, have fun crafting Jane x

PS Do leave any comments at the bottom of the page or any questions if you have any.