Spring Floral Peekaboo Frame

This was a fun little frame that came together really easily using some papers from an 8×8 pack of Making Memories papers.  These $1 frames from Michael’s just happen to be the perfect size to allow you to use an 8×8 in its entirety.  This collection from Making Memories happened to have a lot of diecut papers in it and while flipping through them I found that I really liked the way the text looked behind this floral cutout so I Mod Podged them on as is.  You’ll notice the overhang on the sides (these frames aren’t perfectly square) – adding a couple of additional layers of Mod Podge to the front and back stabilizes those overhangs nicely.  I also added some glittery Scribbles (Duncan) to the flower openings to jazz them up a bit and then layered some Prima flowers for the corner.  The beads I used as the flower centers were from Flair from several years ago, but you can find coin-shaped beads like that in most bead departments of your local craft store.  

Tissue Box Cover

Well Central Illinois is now officially under water.  Or at least my basement is.  At least it’s going to be a great day to hang out at home and do some creative things!  

Here’s one of the items I had in the March issue of SNR.  Every month I have an article regarding items that have been altered for a specific room of the house and March happened to be powder rooms.  So along those lines, this is a nice elegantly girly cover for a kleenex box.  Gotta admit.  I love the idea, however I have altered both types of wooden tissue box holders and can’t for the life of me figure out why they would be made to NOT fit any of the tissue boxes on the market.  This one was from Don Mechanic for DecoArt and I have yet to find a box that fits into it.  So you have to take the kleenex OUT of the box then put them in.  

Yea.  Didn’t make sense to me either, lol.  Anyways, I covered it in patterned papers from Making Memories and also handcut the print flowers from a paper from the same Valentine’s Day line.  I always like holiday lines that work well for non-holiday items.  🙂  I used a Staedtler pen to outline the flowers so they would be a bit more defined against the background and added some velvet ribbon (my favorite!) from American Crafts.  

I absolutely LOVE these chenille flowers from Creekbank Creations.  In hindsight, putting them on top of a kleenex box might not have been the most logical thing to do though, since the kleenex lint is drawn to them like a magnet.  The epoxy brads are from Making Memories.  The flowers and ribbon are attached using Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive and the papers, of course, are Mod Podged on.  There’s also a thin line of black stickles around the opening.  

Butterfly Photo Holder

Another Michael’s unfinished wood find – $2 and because it’s basically just a block of wood – SUPER quick to alter!  If you’re looking for a beginner item to get your feet wet on altering, this would be an ideal project.   Simply cut your patterned paper (I used some Basic Grey) to the sizes of the sides and top.  

Adhere them using Helmar Professional Acid Free Glue.  Cut out a couple of butterflies from more Basic Grey paper (or whatever embellishments float your boat for your project), do a little bending for dimension and adhere using Helmar ScrapDots for even more dimension.  A little bit of Scribbles action to get things glittery, of course.  A quick bow out of ribbon, a few Prima flowers and a teeny tiny button brad (Making Memories – I just love these!) and it’s done.  Really.  It’s that easy!

Bittersweet Storage House

This piece was one I featured in an article in the February issue of Scrapbook News + Review on altered items for your craft room/studio.  I gave up on buying pre-made storage for my craft supplies ages ago.  I’ve found that by thinking outside the box I can come up with something custom-fit for just about any supply PLUS I get to alter it – woohoo!  I pretty much stalk the unfinished wood section of Michael’s.  Hobby Lobby is my other option, but I’ve found I don’t like their selection quite as well (or their quality – always check each piece before purchasing!) and they don’t change out their stock as often as Michael’s does.  When I came across this house shadow box (I think it was $5), my mind just raced with all the possibilities for what might fit into those cute little sections!  

I’ve pictured here a variety of things that fit into the sections, but I actually use it solely for my Stickles and Glossy/Crackle Accents.  I like having those out and handy plus being able to see the Stickles colors at a glance.

First I painted the whole thing with black acrylic paint (Jo Sonja’s by Chroma – it’s a nice, thick paint in a tube.  Step above craft grade, step below artist grade).  Then I started playing with the papers from the Bittersweet line from Basic Grey and just filling in all the spaces.  Paper packs are awesome for projects like this where you want a variety of papers – they’re all pre-coordinated!  I used an Xacto knife to cut out a few strips from one of the papers to decorate the “attic” area.  Then I just started dotting away with Scribbles (Duncan) in a shiny pink to make the edges more interesting.  Even with drying time on the Mod Podge and paint, I think the whole project only took me a couple of hours.  

So next time you’re out at your local craft store, wander through the unfinished wood section and think outside the box!  Take a piece over to the scrapbook section to see what might fit – you might be surprised!!!

Beautiful Life Wall Hanging

This was a project I made for Helmar that went to CHA to go in the booth.  I miss it!  This paper line from Bo Bunny really looked great in my living room – going to have to hunt down some more and make a new one, lol!  For the base of the wall hanging, I used chipboard pieces from Creekbank Creations.  I think I’ve mentioned their chipboard before as I use it especially on jewelry.  It’s much denser than anything else on the market so it’s super strong and will hold up to any kind of application – paint, Mod Podge, inks, etc. without any warping.  They are local for me, so I can get my hands on their products easily but it’s not as readily available elsewhere so if you’d like to try it, you’d probably need to check their online store or see them at an event.  They have a whole second “store” that travels to all the CK conventions and lots of other events.  So if you’re at one of those, stop by and try this chipboard – they have lots of mini books and shapes and pages of cutouts plus will do custom word books.

Anyways, back to the project.  Again, I relied mainly on the paper and a page of cutouts that goes with the Beautiful Life line and just accented with lots of Stickles.  Some Prima flowers and epoxy washers from EK (Rebecca Sower’s Attic line) and a piece of ribbon from American Crafts and lots of Helmar adhesives to put it all together!  The little wooden house shape was a craft store find – they came in a package of four for $1, I think.

Heart Canvas Frame

Oops!  Still trying to get all these Valentine’s projects posted before the end of February.  😉

This little canvas frame took NO time at all.  You could literally make this in a half hour and give it for a gift a couple hours later (just to be sure the paint and glue were totally dry, lol).  The frame is one that EK used to sell – not sure if they still do or not?  Being canvas, it takes paint like a dream and I used Jacquard Lumiere paint to cover it in pink.  The rest is simply adding a few Prima flowers and some pre-glittered chipboard shapes from Scrapworks.  I used Helmar’s 450 Quick Dry Adhesive so it dried fast and strong.  Done!  Change up the colors and theme and you can have instant gifts for family, friends, relatives, teachers…

Anti-Valentine ATC

Obviously, despite loving to make projects for Valentine’s Day, it’s not exactly my favorite holiday, lol.  I made this ATC to temper all the lovey-dovey stuff I was making but not “feeling” this year.  Patterned papers and sticker from the Basic Grey Bittersweet line.  I cut the sticker and inked all the edges of the sticker and the ATC.  The epoxy hearts were actually one of the puffy ones from Making Memories that I simply split in half and used both sides.  The metal letters were originally gold and I covered them with alcohol ink to change the color.  I used the Around the Block tape embosser to do the wording.

Bittersweet Hearts Canvas

Ready for the late Valentine’s Day flurry?  I know.  You usually get the bulk of my holiday items right after the holiday, lol, but it’s because they’ve been in Scrapbook News + Review magazine and I can’t post them here until the month following the issue debut!  This is a 16″x20″ canvas I did using the new Basic Grey Bittersweet collection and a couple of fun techniques.  Oh!  And I’ve also got another Valentine project (a small dollar store frame) up at the Helmar DT blog today – be sure to check that one out for another fun technique!

Let’s start with the canvas itself.  I knew the effect I wanted, but on a canvas this size, knew I didn’t have enough Glimmer Mists or even the right shade to make this work.  So I made my own spray.  I took a spray bottle (actually it was the one I was using to spray the cat when he did something bad so now I need to get a new one for that purpose, lol) and mixed several shades of Lumiere paint (Jacquard), Pearl Ex (Jacquard), walnut ink crystals (to tone it down when it was a bit too bright) and water.  I couldn’t begin to tell you how much of what colors because I looked like a mad scientist – add a bit of this and a lot of that – until I got it to spray the way I wanted.  Then I layered it onto the canvas.  The first couple of layers I sprayed then wiped with a soft cloth (first one direction then the other, alternating as each layer dried) then started letting some of the droplets remain so it didn’t look so precise.

Then there was the issue of the hearts.  I do have a heart punch somewhere, but only about a 1″ size and I wanted a much bigger one.  So I looked for one.  For a week or two.  In every store within an hour of here.  LSS’s, craft stores – NO ONE had a heart punch in anything over about an inch.  A month before Valentine’s Day.  I was livid, lol!  When I was a distribution buyer, I always made sure we had those in stock well in advance of the holiday so that when the stores began prepping for Valentine’s Day we’d have them ready for them (so I had them in stock back in early December).  Well apparently with the influx of diecutting machines (which I’ve still never broken down and bought), no one carries much in the way of punches anymore – even basics like a heart.  Sooooo, I dug out my old trusty Coluzzle.  Yea, I’m old school, lol!  And proceeded to cut almost 200 hearts out of each sheet out of the Bittersweet pack (I still have a TON of this paper left too – just no full sheets).  Then I used Scribbles to outline the edges of every single heart with a clear glitter to get a subtle sparkle.  I usually don’t spend this kind of time on projects, but this one took several days to complete.

I finished up by tracing one of the 8″ Making Memories chipboard hearts from a couple of years ago (watch for the heart itself to show up as a magnet I made) onto the canvas and began layering the hearts into a heart shape.  I built up layers using Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots.  These are so cool!  I used an entire tube of them on this but just couldn’t stop myself from layering them higher and higher, lol!  They do take some time to dry so I could only do a few layers at a time then would have to stop to allow them to dry so that I didn’t inadvertently flatten them when I pressed on the next layer.  But it was addictive, lol, and I loved watching it take shape as the layers built up!

Boxer Green Necklace and Earrings

This was the other necklace and earrings set I used in my paper bead tutorial on Scrapbook News + Review in the November/December issue.  I used another paper from the Basic Grey Boxer 6×6 pack I picked up and was sooooo thrilled with how they came out!  In my regular beading, I love using semi-precious stones, especially things in the jasper and similar ranges that have that lovely natural variation.  This particular paper, once rolled, looks so like real stone but is a fraction of the weight (and cost, lol).  I’ve had back and neck problems for years so really heavy necklaces bother me after a while but I can wear this all day and not even notice it.  The MOP ovals are from Cousins and all the rest of the findings are from Fire Mountain Gems.   I used the same finishing process that I posted the instructions for a few posts ago.

Christmas Tree Frame

This was a fun frame to make.  I used the $1 wood frame from Michael’s (of course, lol), and really wanted to show off the Basic Grey paper, simply because I like it.  Of course, it needed some bling though.

I love, love LOVE the Making Memories glitter glaze.  I’ve come across people time and time again who are disappointed in it and every single time, it’s because they are assuming it will work like paint.  And it won’t!  Same with the pearl (also fabulous), gold and silver glazes.  These should be used the same way you would a glaze for your walls in your home.  They are meant to highlight your base color in some way, not to BE the main color.  Use these with a sponge, bubble wrap, a rag, any of the techniques you would on your walls!  Personally, my usual choice is a wet (not dripping, but definitely more than damp – especially with the glitter glaze) makeup sponge.  You’ll find these glazes to be very thick, so the water makes them “spread” easier.  I put a bit onto a piece of wax paper or some other nonstick disposable surface (product packaging works nicely as well) and tap off my excess before moving to my project.  You can keep adding more as needed, but once it’s on there, if you use too much, there’s not much chance of fixing it.  Usually I pounce it on, but for this frame, I rubbed it on in a vertical direction so it gave more of a streaked look that isn’t terribly evident in the photo.  I also rubbed the glitter glaze on (with a wet finger – my favorite applicator tool!) to some felt flowers and added some glitter brads (Making Memories) to the centers.

The next fun thing I used was Fantasy Snow from Delta.  This is a very textural product but kind of a pain to work with.  It needs to be applied with something like a palette knife (if you do not own one of these, a popsicle stick will work, but seriously – go to the craft store and get a palette knife anyways – you can pick up a plastic one for about a buck and it’s worth it to have on hand for various things!) and while it’s wet, getting it to stick WHERE you want it can be frustrating.   Once it’s dry, however, it’s rock solid and shimmers like crazy from the mica inclusions.

Wooden Sign Ornament Trio

Here are a few more of the ornaments I’ve been making from my little wooden signs.  I really have enjoyed how quickly these come together – I suppose one could make them much more complex, but I think they’re fun as is, just using some quick rubons and baubles.  This little trio went into the November/December issue of SNR.  Again, I simply painted them a base coat of white.  The rubons are from Making Memories, the bows from EK (they were actually part of a sticker set), the rhinestone from Westrim, Stickles from Ranger, and these darling “Changles” charms from Provo.  I’m thinking I might do a mini tree just with these sign ornaments for next year!  Maybe with some fabric bows?

Noel Ornament/Stocking Hanger

I know, I know, Christmas is over and you probably don’t want to see these, but I still have a few Christmas projects to share with you that were in the November/December issue of SNR!  So bear with me and I’ll try to get them all done up and scheduled for the upcoming week then I’ll move on, I promise!

I made this as a hanger to hang a few special ornaments on.  The plaque with hooks was from Walnut Hollow and one I’ve used before (I use this one to hang my purse and keys on in my entryway) – it alters quickly because it’s a single, simple shape to cover and you can spend your time in decorating mode.  🙂  I used some paint from I started with some Scrapworks paper and the chipboard letters are also Scrapworks.  The ribbon (from L’il Davis Designs from years and years ago) has lightweight wires so that helped with my bow-tying deficiencies, lol!

What you can’t see well in the picture is that I used a gold glaze from Delta/Rubber Stampede over the whole thing.  I wet down a makeup sponge, wring the excess water, then use that to apply the glaze all over.  Tap it off on some scrap paper first so you’re applying light layers and build them up.  Pretty much the same technique I use with the Making Memories glazes.   Over the front it’s pretty light (catches the light beautifully though) and I used a lot more on the sides, which you can’t see.

The charms are also really old from Provo Craft.  I LOVE these and have carefully hoarded my little collection (the product was called “Changles”) – aren’t they darling!

Bluebell Bracelet

Another piece from the Wearables section of the October issue of Scrapbook News + Review.  Just a simple, fun little bracelet using Bo Bunny paper Mod Podged to small wood tiles.  Each tile got edged with Stickles then I used a Crop-A-Dile to get the holes for the jumprings.  I added some coordinating beads to the jumprings because I had to use such large jumprings it just looked empty until those little beads made everything come together!  The magnetic clasp made this much easier to put on/take off.

In answer to the question about where to find the tiles, I buy lots and lots of similar items.  Check in any craft store in the unfinished wood section.  They are usually bagged and hanging and come in various shapes, sizes, and mixes – all very inexpensive.  Please note that there will generally be some warped pieces in each bag so just check each piece before you use it and if you need a certain number, grab an extra bag just to be sure you have enough.

As for using Scrabble tiles, yes, you can make a bracelet with them, however I would probably change how you do it.  Since a Crop-A-Dile isn’t going to go through it, you’ll need to use a drill.  Because the tiles are smaller than these (but much thicker), I’d recommend going through from the side rather than the top and stringing them rather than having to use really huge jumprings.

Passion Earrings

Never waste even the smallest scraps of paper!  I don’t even remember what I used this paper from Marah Johnson on originally, but digging through my scraps basket I came across the fact that I had this motif still accessible multiple times.  Some of the background imaging is different, but the main scrolly images were intact.  I had some chipboard blanks (from Creekbank Creations) on the table and they just fit over the area I wanted to work with perfectly so I decided they’d make perfect earrings!  I Mod Podged them on, added a little bit of Stickles (Ranger) and decided that was all they needed.  I had tried a few odds and ends to add to them, but I really liked the design too much to mess with adding rhinestones or anything else I had sitting around, so just left them.  I used a Crop-A-Dile to do a hole in the tops (and added eyelets to strengthen them) and also holes in the bottom to hang some simple silver drops (Fire Mountain Gems) from.

The earrings were in the Wearables section of the October issue of Scrapbook News + Review.

Haunted Mini Birdhouse

Another birdhouse I actually finished last year but after the holiday and I just saved it for this year and then it went into the October issue of Scrapbook News + Review so I’m just now sharing it.

The paper is from Zsiage and I decorated everything with a mix of Jolee’s stickers from EK and some transparent elements from Making Memories.  The transparent spiderwebs are kind of fun because they’re actually set onto the outer roof lines so it looks like they’re hanging in the eaves.  I don’t remember what kind of adhesive I used on the ghost, but obviously it wasn’t the best choice (ahem, and I’m assuming I chose something that SAID for vellum/transparency…).

But my absolute favorite thing about this birdhouse is the roof. Or roofs.  Those little dimensional polka dots?  GLOW-IN-THE-DARK Scribbles!  So much fun!  My son got the biggest kick out of how it lights up, lol!

Harvest Mini Birdhouse

It’s been a while since I’ve posted one of these!  And I actually made this one LAST fall and never posted it.  Then it went into the October issue of Scrapbook News and Review so you’re now seeing it about a year after I created it.

Remember those leaves from the card I posted the other day?  Well this is why I originally bought them.  I loved the idea of a leafy roof for the birdhouse.  The paper covering the birdhouse is from Flair and everything else is simply some cute dimensional Jolee’s stickers from EK.  You know, I collected and collected those but never used them on scrapbook pages.  But they make SUCH quick work of little altered goodies like this!

Copper Swirl Acrylic Pendant

Have you noticed how good I’m doing on blogging lately?  Shhhh – I’m actually typing these all up in one day and scheduling them, lol.  You can tell because I’m not a morning person and you’ll see all the impressive looking 6:30 AM’s on them…not a chance I’m ever actually blogging at 6:30 AM.  I’m generally hitting snooze at that time and hoping my son gets up anyways to be ready when the bus shows up around 7.  I love being ahead of the game then can add in another post anytime I want/need to.

This was another item I had in the October issue of Scrapbook News + Review.  Again, I started with just a piece of acrylic album I cut into a smaller piece and sanded the edges and corners.  I backed it with some K & Co. paper from a 6×6″ pad (I will repeat this until I am blue in the face – I LOVE this size paper.  Every manufacturer needs to work this size into their repertoire!)  attached with Glossy Accents.  Over the top I did a layer of Glossy Accents and laid in the copper swirly paper clips while it was wet.  Note to self.  You know how cheap jewelry can turn one’s skin green?  Yea, these will bleed green into the Glossy Accents as well.  Ugh.  The flower is a Prima that was originally pink and I just colored it with a copper leafing pen.  Which gave it an interesting almost leather-like texture.  This was also embedded on top while the Glossy Accents layer was still wet.  A little rhinestone from Westrim finished off the look.  Then after everything had cured overnight, I added the edging with the same Krylon copper leafing pen.

Happy Autumn Card

I bought these little silk autumn leaves last fall at JoAnn’s.  Love them!  The tree wasn’t originally meant to be this big but I just kept gluing and layering those leaves, lol, and couldn’t stop!  The rest of the card is simply cardstock and a stamped sentiment.  All the edging AND the stamping were done with a copper leaf pen (Krylon).  If you try to stamp with one of these, just note that they dry FAST – you have to stamp immediately and it will more than likely stain your rubber stamp.  But it’s a fun, shiny look without having to heat emboss!

Home Sweet Home Altered Shutter

This was originally a finished seasonal piece I had purchased.  It had cutesy snowmen or something or other and I got tired of it almost immediately, lol, but LOVED the frame itself.  Already distressed and ready to go!  I simply added some My Mind’s Eye papers and cardstock to the centers of the frames.  I used a paper from the same line to cover a Valentine’s Day chipboard heart from Making Memories and use some Stickles to edge it and give a little more pop to the letters.  The little wood houses come four to a pack at Hobby Lobby for a dollar, I believe.

The mottled look on the “Home” letters was completely a happy accident!  I had attempted to use Glimmer Mist on my Zsiage Scrapbook Film letters and I didn’t like the result.  When I went to spray paint over them, I went right over the Glimmer Mist and got that neat look.  Then I took the Glimmer Mist again over the top and rubbed at it a bit with a damp rag when it was almost dry to give it that little bit of gold.  It looks like aged hammered iron and really went well with the existing hardware.  Sorry the photo really doesn’t do it justice!

Thank You Card

This card was from the sketch section of the October issue of SNR.  I have to admit – I’m really not the greatest at “staging” my projects for photos.  But every so often, I come up with one I’m pleased with – this is one of them, lol!  Ok, back to the card.  The papers are all older ones I love from 7gypsies, fan folded then glued down into a circle (you need to use a fairly thick liquid adhesive to do this).  A simple ribbon bow with a tiny epoxy sticker from the $1 section at Michael’s.  After I rubber stamped AND attached the sentiment, I decided I wanted to beautify it.  My Glossy Accents weren’t handy, so I grabbed the Plaid version.  Which despite going on thinner, generally has the identical effect.  However the thinner formula combined with me putting this onto a surface that was raised caused some obnoxious warping.  Ah well.  Lesson learned!