Prettying up my oxide box

Still playing catchup on this blog of my makes this week. This time it's a box I decorated as I decided a plain wooden box from the works that I use to store my distress oxides and pan pastels needed a make over.
This is just one of the things I really enjoy doing. No stamping on this one, for a change. Just embossed card stock and some die cuts. A bit of metal on the corners and a wooden key. Some paint and other mediums of course - all Decoart.

Hard to get the darker colour it really is the light is not the best this time of year in Scotland and even daylight bulbs aren't working :(

back

front

one side

other side

I guess the pictures of the sides might give a better idea

Not much else to tell. I have a few more to do - I have decided to do different themes on them all - just to add some variety

Thanks for looking

I'd like to enter my box into the challenge at 

Dream In Darkness - Anything goes but Cute

Creative Artiste Mixed Media - Anything mixed media goes

Another Card for Another Friend

Ooooo I have been busy 2 cards in as many days ......
Another dear friend of mine ...........

Again, Chocolate Baroque came to the rescue with just the right image - The French Heart.

 The image was stamped onto "Sheena's Stamping card" and the flower painted with drawing gum before colourising the card with distress inks. The drawing gum then rubbed of and the image coloured with pencils.

Matted onto 2 different colour brown mats before the prima paper and more brown card base mats and then the card base. The ribbon was threaded through a gate die cut. The sentiment added on a tag and attached to the bow.

A simple card but one mad with love.

Thanks for looking

I'd like to enter this card into the challenge at
Craft-Dee Bowz - Anything with a handmade bow

Card for a Friend

Morning all
Yes I am still making bits and pieces, cards, tags, altering a few things etc. I just forget sometimes I must use more than Facebook to show that I'm still around. I'd just rather be crafting than typing sometimes but it has occurred to me that these early mornings, waking up at stupid o'clock, is the ideal time to update this blog. So here goes...........

  I recently had the good fortune to "meet" a lovely lady via facebook and it turns out that her birthday had passed a few days prior. She hadn't had much acknowledgement of it from others so I made her a belated card as a way of thanking her to pass the time very pleasantly while away a few hours chatting away like old friends. Turns out we had quite a lot in common.
The card I made used Chocolate Baroque stamps from the Steampunk Butterfly Plate and a few die cuts.

One of those fold flat pop up cards that were all the rage a while ago but I still like

Back veiw

Close up of the centre

And side views

Fussy cutting the butterflies and adding wire for the antenna.

 As a little extra I also included a little 4x4in canvas that I decorated for her

Using decoart crackle paste, embedded various bits in my stash, decoart paints to colourise it and a couple of words stamped onto vellum from the Chocolate Baroque, Illusionary artist range (France Papillon and Andy Skinner collaboration) "Perfect Words". 

I'm happy to say my new friend loved her little parcel so now I can show people what came out of this little cubbyhole of a craftroom

Thanks for looking

I'd like to enter the canvas into the challenge at
Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes - with a sentiment
A Inky Mess - Anything Mixed media goes
Altered Eclectics - Mixed Media anything goes

An ATC Swap

Good morning. Not much crafting going on here. I was unlucky to trap a nerve in my lower back and have spent the best part of the last two weeks suffering and barely able to sit for more than a few minutes. These things happen! Just hoping to get this done before retiring to my bed again.

I did manage to get a couple of ATCs done for a couple of swaps I had promised myself into.
There is a lovely group over on Facebook, Mixed Up Mag Mixer, that do monthly ATC swaps and this month - also a Valentine goodie swap.
The ATC made was to be mixed media of course.

Some modelling paste, crackle paste, paint, air dry clay and a little metal charm with satin varnish over some parts and matt varnish over others. This was mine and I received a lovely one back all the way from Miriam Gault in New Zealand with a bundle of fabulous goodies.

The Valentine goodies swap was to include a hand made item and other bits to the value of £10.
I have heard my swap partner has received her parcel so can now share a picture of what I made.

This was on the front of a little ATC sized card I enclosed

Chocolate Baroque Stamps. The Pegasus stamp from the April fairy set, this was kiss stamped with one from the Lace Fragments set, trees from the tall trees set. distress ink background.

I gave an altered memory box.

stencils are by Andy Skinner bought from Tando Creative. Tissue paper stuck to the box then painted and various embellishments added. The wooden elements were from Things to Alter.

That's it for the moment folks

Happy crafting

There's more for Today

Over the last couple of days I have been alternately working on these two projects. Drying time for both meant that I could work on one whilst waiting on the other.
First is a Tando Creative grey board heart shape with some of their minis stuck on. Guess whose stamps got used. Yep Chocolate Baroque's. I haven't got round to putting them away and the theme I wanted was covered.

 Covered the heart with first gesso then modelling paste then waited until just the right amount of dry before stamping into it with a stamp from the texture fragments set then painted. The sentiment from the Punky Expressions set stamped onto kraft card. those mini hearts also painted before sticking on.

My second project was on a mixed media board from Tando.

Crackle paste, various coloured paints and the clock and sentiment from the CB Steampunkery set. The clock part also stamped onto tissue paper and fussy cut out before sticking on to add just that little bit of contrast from the image first stamped with paint onto the board. 

A New Year - A New Beginning

New Years's resolution. I will make at least one post per month on this little corner of my world. A catalogue of my crafty makes if nothing else. Also, after talking with a very talented designer, I have also decided to try out for another DT position. I miss that input and impetus generated by being part of a team. Of course it will not be just "any old DT position I go for - it has to be on a team for products that fire my passion.

So, what have I been up to in the last couple of weeks? Well apart from making blankets for my now 2 year old Granddaughter's doll pram and bunkbeds, I have managed to squeeze in time to make a few ATCs.  One for a swap organised by Mixed Up Magazine facebook group. My ATC winged itself out to New Zealand where, I just heard, it made it safely. This means I can share this.

A greyboard substrate with stenciling, painting, a clay flower embellishment and a bee charm.

The package I received back was far beyond what I expected. Not only was the ATC super cute but Miriam enclosed lots of lovely goodies as well.

Now to think on February's one.

It's February

I have managed to squeeze in some more playtime. I have dropped a day at work so now only do four. More me/play time .....yayyyy
I have completed a few more projects.
First up is a little accordion booklet. The front and back made from greyboard - Mixed Media boards from Tando Creative.
One side features a flourish stencil from Tando and stamps from Chocolate Baroque's April Fairy set.
It was made using just two colours in various tones - orange and green and a mixture of paint and ink.

The other side - again paint and inks but now three colours, cream, grey and black. Using Chocolate Baroque's Lace fragment set.  I masked the main image before "2nd generation" stamping the borders and "3rd generation" stamping the bare paint.

I cut two long strips of cream card 9.5 cm wide from an A3 piece of card and joined them. Concertina'd them up at 8cm wide and connected the two boards with this with some thin cream ribbon to tie on each side.

Each page was then given a mat of decorative paper ready to receive either a photo or some journalling.