Topflight Stamps shop inspiration

Hello my dear crafty friends and welcome to my new Mixed Media/Altered project made for Topflight Stamps shop.

This time I made an altered notebook in my beloved shabby style and used the stamp and the die from 

UK Creative Expressions brand.

I altered the cheap hardcover notebook that first was covered with fabric and them I added this altered, self made Mixed Media door (chipboards were arranged as the door and painted with crackle).

The I added the die cut par of the title and arranged it over the white cardstock .

 The main part of a title was arranged into the negative die cut and made with 5 layers of die cut word. The top one was stamped and inked over.

 This is a stamp and a die I used to make my notebook cover:
Floral smile

Smile die set

And one more close- up to the stamped and die cut title:

I hope that you like my post today and inspired with the stamp and die I used.
And if you want to see some more of my work you are welcome to my own  blog.
See you next Friday with more Topflight Stamps inspiration.

Fly away tag

Hello my dear crafty friends and welcome to my new post!
This is a tag made with Scrapmatts stencils and chipboards and Papericious paper collection.
It's a kind of encouragement tag and I made the double sentiment saying : Go and find yourself and then fly away".

Both sentiment parts are arranged over the Scrapmatts chipboard pieces made with cardstock and stickers.
Chipboards were painted with Prima Spark and Metallic paints.
I used two stencils for the textured background, but only the lower one is still seen.

 I enter this to some web challenges:
Simon Says Monday challenge- On the edges
City crafter- Something that begins with S- Stencils, sayings, summer
Altered embellishments for Mixed Media Monthly- all chipboards , die cuts and even flowers are altered with paints and mediums

Altered book cover with Art Anthology

Hello my dear crafty friends and welcome to my Art Anthology new post.

Today I am going to share  my new chipboard mini book cover made with bare chipboards and gorgeous Art Anthology products.

 Here are some close- ups to the painted , stencilled and misted cover.

I decided to stay in grey- blue and purples and to make it vintage dark in just three colors.

Metal pieces, small chipboard plate, fabric and paper flowers were also painted and misted into the matching colors.

 And as always I made a full step by step Snapguide tutorial for you that you can see HERE:
Check out How to Make Chipboard Mini Book Cover by Art Anthology on Snapguide.
I enter this are piece to some web challenges:
Altair Art- Chipboards

Dream paint brushes deco with Art Anthology

 Hello my dear crafty friends and welcome to my Art Anthology second April post!

This time I decided to show you how you can use your old and messy paint brushes and to make a lovely wall decoration using them with Art Anthology paints and a stencil.

As you can see the project base is made of 21 old paint brushes. My problem is that I never clean my brushes in a proper way. I do clean them here and there, but finally they are done and gone and the only thing you can make with them is an altered project. 

Lucky me, I never buy the expensive brushes and those are all kind of a general $ store ones.

So then life gives you messy " lemons" make a nice lemonade and in my case make a nice altered project.

Here you can see some close- ups to this project:

You can see the full step by step tutorial here on a Snapguide:

Check out How to Make Used Paint Brushes Wall Decoration by Art Anthology on Snapguide.

All products are listed in the Snapguide and I made a full Art Anthology products list HERE in this post .

Hope you like my project and see you soon again with a totally different Mixed Media creation.
 I enter this altered project to some web challenges too:
 Show us some chipboard- for Scrap and Craft challenge

Altered canvas covered notebook for FaveCrafts

For a very long time I wanted one of those fancy planners, but they very expensive. So I bought one cheap office planner and decided to upgrade it with some of the swag I got during the Blogger event and some of not expensive products I already had at home. I loved the door concept as the planner to the New Year is like a new door opened to the world. I add this HOPE AND LOVE metal sign as a family name and made it in general vintage colors and design, so it can fit my own style. But if you change the colors, stencil designs and flower style you can make it shabby, modern, classic or whatever style you like

 The full tutorial is HERE in FaveCrafts blog.
I enter this to some web challenges too:
 Embossing- Altairart- the web texture paste was heat embossed with clear powder to  keep the shape forever.

Emerald Creek- Double duty challenge. Here is how I take this double duty thing: it's an atr piece made for challenges, but on the other side it's a planner made to  use. So it's totally double duty one.
 Dream in Darkness- not cute, dark, Mixed Media
 Country view challenges- Rust
A vintage Journey- Use three of something- so I have three rows of door panels; three metal pieces; three pearls over the ribbon

Make art or begin to use your hoarded products...

This mini album full of Art  is my tribute to all of those  crafting Hoarders Anonymous (aren't we all are? ).
 I mean all of us, crafters, keep  supplies they bought and never used. Some of those supplies were never used because who can cut a paper so pretty? Some were never used because we forgot we have them. Some were never used because we didn't have a MOJO for them. And then  the day comes and you decide to make a really big  project with one company hoarded products and you realise that you have tons and tons of them  NIP (this is New in package  for those who already ask). So here is my new and fancy and
 " took me 3 days to finish" mini album made with mainly 7 Gypsies products, but not only them.

 First I found two book covers . You need one to make a mini album. So what I am going to do with a second one? The smaller one? To make book in book  and to use the cover inside the main cover.

Then I found this accordion book (there  is a bag that comes with it, but I used just the insert) and I decided to  adhere it inside as my book in book. You can open just two pages or to open the whole thing if you want to.

The point was to make it as my Art inspiration, so the  cover was made with different textures, materials, mask and texture paste, paint splashes and old paint brushes.
The spine was made with grungeboard, dry embossed and painted into this antique brown- black color. The chipboard butterfly was heat embossed and embellished and white flowers were misted to this rich vintage color.
An now to the inner cover. If the ART is a word on the cover the next words are MAKES ME HAPPY.I used an ATC card from the collection that speaks about love and family and couples, but this one was just perfect for my album.

 The back cover of this small Paris one was glued and stamped with the definition of ART stamp.
The inner small cover was embellished with masked word of ART and the sign of infinity. How about it? Will my art last forever? I hope so.

Then I found another ATC cards that tell us my art story:
First you  DREAM  (stamp) and then FOCUS AND LISTEN

Then you just move on and make art - JUST DO IT. (Also you sure are not Da Vinci as my stamps are)

The next step is to DO YOUR BEST : add colors and experiment

And the last one is just very simple : ART- NOTHING LESS

And now for the real dilemma: to add or not to add more embellishments.
Hard one to answer, but my left brain (the realistic one) decided to stop as the book was too fat to fit the main cover and I was too tired to make another spine(cut- dry emboss- paint- paint again- distress just to be able to add more hoarded things inside? No, thanks)
So I will keep the extras for  another hoarded creation. I believe that I can make dozens without even seeing  the craft shop, but I will need some glue one day.
Sorry for the long post, but this is one post I had to make as I know there are a lot of " sisters" (brothers? not sure) around  who are my soul mates in this hoarding thing and maybe it will make them to act.
I enter this to some new October web challenges:
Color inspiration for Berry71Bleu
SSSS- Finishing touches. Each page has a small finishing touch: the stamped sentiment... Weird
Anything goes vintagestamping
 Fall and fabric for Mixed Media MOJO
 Anything goes for Altered eclectics
Products used:
7 Gypsies :
Victoria book cover
Paris book cover
ATC kit Affirmations
ATC kit family
Accordion  book
6*6 paper pad  Off the wall
Other products:
Stamps: Rubber Dance, VLVS
Stencils: Tando Creative, TCW,Memory Box
Chipboards: ScrapFx,
Flowers: Petallo
Bling: FWAB
Mists: Tattered Angels
 Wood: Wycinanka
Letters: Pink Paislee
Embossing powders: WOW! Embossing Powders
Grungeboard: Advantus
Embossing folder: Sizzix
Other: paint brushes, fabric, gesso, texture paste, metal charm, old book pages, lace...
OK, this was a very long list, but hello? It's all hoarded for ages! I finally used them (the only new thing are stamps,really).
And my final word: Don't hoard- Use! 

Back to my handmade Calendar: January and February pages

About a month ago I  got this lovely blank calendar from 100 Proof Press shop and made the cover. I decided to make the monthly page each month and to show it in my blog, but January was a very busy blog month with a few guest design teams etc, so I will show you both January and February pages at once and then continue with monthly  posts.
So here is the cover again-  with full Calendar  Blocks stamp.

I decided to make my monthly pages in the very  similar layout: a tag, a month stamped and cut from the 12 month calendar stamp, an open book stamp and small stickers month name over it. The colors are a fit to the month, some washi tape keeps the tag  and some small embellishments.
So he is my January: winter blues and greys, some shiny color splashes, a metal charm painted with enamel paint over it. It screams Winter and January. (Authentique papers as my double background)

And now for February- also it's still winter, I made it in a very vintage Valentine style , with Pion Designs  papers, pink letters, some mute Petaloo flowers and a gorgeous Handmade Halo glass pebble.
Again- month February stamped and cut and the open book to make the word with stickers. And yes, it's a bit bulky and after 3-4 4 month I need to take some embellishments off if I want to leave it on the wall. So what? I love it this way for a whole month!

Hope you like it too.
Want to make a similar project? 100 Proof Press blank calendar is in the shop and 2 stamps you need to make this project are there too: Calendar and Open Book. Everything else is " whatever you have at home and don't use...". So go and use it!

Window of opportunity

 This card was published in SNR April/May 2012 issue
My new card or maybe it's just a small project with this most gorgeous Windows set from The Rubber Cafe.
I used Crate papers for my basic layers and   the fun stamping on this card.

First of all I stamped those wood shades stamp with brown ink , heat embossed it with clear embossing powder, cut  into halves and colored with Tea Die and Vintage Photo distress stains. Then I stamped the window over the flower paper and trimmed it to the size. The same window stamp was used again, this time on TRC  white paper , clear powder embossed and hand cut. I layered it over the flower window and glued with 3D glue.
Then I stamped a couple of Grandma's Doilies over a thin acetate (some stickers back recycling) with White Staze-On ink and made a curtain with this piece over the window. A small piece of recycled wood was added with One and Only tape to keep all this construction in one piece.

I stamped a sentiment from this stamp set over another wood piece with Truffle Mixed Media Ink- it works just great over the wood too.
I made flower  pots from texured cardstock, free hand cuts, inked a bit around with the same brown ink and then glued some small Petaloo flowers with Scrap Happy Glue.

 

It was pretty much of work actually, as the hand cut of the window was not so easy after all and I maybe did it 5-6 times, but I like the final result.

Molding paste masking canvas

This is a prefect example for a fast and shabby project made with Tando Creative Mask and some craft store molding paste, Creative Inspirations Paints and some embossing powders.

 

I just added some Petaloo small flower on the corner, together with Cheery Lynn Desings die cut and 2 Tando Creative chipboard leaves painted and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

  The outside frame was made with Maya Road brown zipper trim and if you don't count the drying time, this is 20 minutes project mostly.

Vintage gift card holder

This project won the Unibind Photo Creator July competition- thanks
This project was published in Gingerscrapstreet magazine Nov. 2011 issue
About 2 weeks ago I signed for a Unibind FB page challenge.. I didn't really know what I am going to get for this one and I was very happy to get.. Chipboards.. Great, hard, balck and blue covered book boards were the perfect piece to alter and Pink Paislee and Petaloo products were the perfect  products to use. First I tried to use my Bind it all - but those chips  were much too thick for this device, so I made the holes with  my loved CAD and still didn't have a clue what I am going to craft. So here is the final result: my vintage fancy gift holder with Maya Road Kraft envelope for the gift card inside.And I also couldn't resist to add one CLD die cut butterfly, some TH metal pieces, lots of ribbons, some vintage and regular buttons. As for techinques  most of PP ephimera pieces were  inked, Petaloo flowers were  watered and inked and covered with 3d glue, I made some hand cuts and stamped a sentiment. I really  like the result

And some challenges too
Ribbon, crystals, pop dots from the list for Desert Island challenges
Vintage for CYDA
Birthday for Crafts and me
Not a card for Paper Play
Bird for  Craft Garden
All thing girly for Emerald Fairy
Vintage for Frosted Designs
Die cuts and cut outs for Clearly stamps
Bingo: gems- flowers- die cuts for Totally Papercrafts
Beautiful woman for Crazy Challenges