Southern Girls Challenge - Whimsical/Fun

For my DT project at Southern Girls I have made a "fun" little junk journal.  I was cleaning out my craft room when I came across a box of cards that I had made at various workshops, put away and forgot all about them.  So I thought it would be nice to use them and rather than just give them away individually I thought I would use them to make a little junk journal.
So I deconstructed an old book and bound some of the cards into it. I did not alter the cover apart from gluing a sample piece to the front as I liked the idea of the original cover being seen.  The cards bound into the book cover are different sizes and colours and there is room for journaling as well as adding photos if required. I added a charm to the spine and made a simple closure using bulldog clips, a clasp, chain and more beads from an old bracelet.  I was really happy with how it turned out and will probably make a few more.

Here is the finished journal:

This is a fun little project that took next to no time to make and uses all recycled materials.  Please check out the other Design Team projects over at Southern Girls Challenge and feel free to join in the challenge with your take on the theme of "Whimsical/Fun".

Steampunk Tag

In between rearranging and tidying my craft room I have been having a play with a couple of tags.  I have been looking at the amazing art on a Facebook group I am part of SanDee and amelie's Steampunk challenges and decided to make a tag and enter it in their September challenge.  Check out the incredible work on their blog.

Here is my finished tag:

 

Here is the process for making the tag:

 

Firstly I painted the tag black then I glued on some mesh tape and some pipes cut using Memory box stencils.

 

 

I then painted everything with grey paint.  Added on some fine sand medium and then painted on another coat of grey paint with some black added to darken it a bit.  I then used Rusty Paint and a bit more black. I was quite happy with the texture and the look of the tag.

 

 

 

I then painted up a Tim Holtz clock diecut and some more Memory Box diecuts gears and this time I added  little turquoise to change the colour a little.  I also added some hinge diecuts from Cheery Lynn and another die from Couture Creations.

 

 

Once I was happy with the background I assembled the corset and wings and added some embellishments and used chipboard letters across the top of the tag and it was finished.  I am very pleased with how it turned out and as I said at the beginning of this post I will be entering it in the challenge at SanDee and amelie's Steampunk Challenge blog.

 

 

 

 

Left of Center Challenge - Monsters

I am very pleased to announce that I have been accepted as a guest designer at Left of Centre Challenges.  My first project is for Challenge #98 - Monsters.

For this challenge I took a little paper mache book box and painted it black.  While I was tidying up my craft I found a pair of large plastic teddy bear eyes so I decided to use one on the front of the book.

I began by using masking tape to make an eye shape and I wanted the texture because it reminded me of skin crinkling around the eye.

I glued the finished piece on to the book cover using Powertex and then covered the whole thing with black Powertex.  I then glued on some eggshell as I had originally thought I would do a dragon.

However the eye was all wrong for a dragon so I added in some fabric soaked in black Powertex and while this looked OK I was still not 100% happy.  I had some black, grey and white knitting fibre in my stash so I thought that if I soaked it in transparent Powertex it would keep its colour and hopefully look like fur. So I overlaid the black fabric with the fibre and it started to look a little more monsterish.  I just love the texture that the masking tape has given the area around the eye and I painted over the whole area with another layer of Powertex to stop the eggshell crumbling off.

Once the area around the eye had dried I had intended to paint the eggshells and masking tape but I really liked the effect that painting it with Powertex gave it so I left it as it was.

I then covered the rest of the outside of the book box with tissue paper and painted it black and rubbed some Viva Gold copper lightly over the top. 

 Thanks for visiting and please check out the other design team makes over at Left of Centre Creative Challenges and feel free to enter your project into the challenge.

The Mirror Crack'd Challenge - Art Shrine September Challenge

  

Welcome to the September Challenge at The Mirror Crack'd.

Our theme for the month is a Tic Tac Toe grid.

Our host is Jolanda, and she will be choosing our Winner and Top 5.

Instead of a physical prize this month we would like to offer our Winner a Guest Designer spot for a future challenge.

 We hope our fabulous Design Team can inspire you. Please pop by their blogs and show them your appreciation.

For my project this month I chose to work on the diagonal choosing Gothic/Steampunk + Shrine+Textures.

Here is my finished project.

 

I began with a recycled tin that originally held game pieces.

I used the bottom part of the tin and began by covering it inside and out with aluminium tape.  Once it was covered I painted the whole thing with black paint then rubbed most of it off again.  I covered a piece of card with aluminium tape and then embossed it using an embossing folder.  I painted this black, rubbed off most of the paint then covered it with Mahogonay distress stain.  Once it had dried, I added some gel medium covered with crimson paint in various places on this piece.  I then glued it into the bottom of the tin. 

To add some visual interest I used some chipboard from Imagine If NZ. I coloured the moon and placed it behind the gothic arch window using some decorated paper from another project to look like the night sky and glued it to the right side of the tin. I cut the candelabra chipboard in half and painted it and glued it to the left side of the tin.

I painted up some Imagine If chipboard candles using gel medium mixed with red acrylic paint to give tem a glossy, waxy look.

For the wings I covered the chipboard with masking tape to give the appearance of feathers and painted them black. 

 I then used mahogany distress stain and gold paint to finish them off.  I painted an old picture frame added an Imagine If chipboard bat and gem to the top and a small black rose to the bottom.  I painted up a chipboard crown and added gems and then assembled everything inside the tin.  I added a string of beads around the outside of the tin.

 

I made a small magic book from scraps of paper and card and I made a crystal ball using a bead, a piece from an earring and a small dragon charm.  I added a small potion bottle and a red and black rose to the bottom right hand corner of the shrine.

 

 

 

I painted up two mini thread spools and added a design using hot glue. These I glued to the bottom of the shrine as feet. 

 I embossed and painted a pair of chipboard wings and added them to the sides of the shrine.

Because I wanted to hang the shrine on the wall rather than have it free standing I painted a recycled frame using white gesso and then added some crackle paste in random areas. On the backboard of the frame I painted white gesso then I stencilled it using white crackle paste. (My new favourite craft product).  I then painted on and rubbed of some black paint.  I assembled the frame and glued the tin to the inside of the frame. Once it was dry I add some black texture paste mixed with sand around the edges of the tin for a bit of texture. I also used this on areas on the frame and as a final touch I added some micro beads.

I created a cobweb on the small frame using hot glue and added a spider and the piece was finished. 

I think this ticks all of the boxes for the challenge.  It is definitely gothic, it can be classed as a shrine and it has plenty of texture.

I hope you have enjoyed this project and that it inspires you to make your own project and enter it into the challenge.

I am entering this project into the Fur and Feathers, Tooth and Claw challenge over at Haunted Design House. The feathers are on the skeleton's wings, the teeth and claws are on the dragons and bats have fur.
I am also entering this project into the September Challenge over at Dream in Darkness Challenge blog.