Altered gift wrap for Thank you cards

I like to use a piece of gift wrap that arrives on one of my Christmas presents to make my thank you cards for the season.  This year I chose this very unique snowflake gift wrap in rust and ivory that my daughter wrapped my gift in.
I started by stamping a script stamp all over the paper using a reddish brown ink (Brilliance) and applying gold embossing powder here and there so I would get some gold highlights overall. Once it was embossed the rest of the script seemed to be less prominent so
I decided I needed to add a design

element with a bit more body to offset the delicate snowflakes already there and to provide a darker element to tie in with my tag greetings.  I dug these two snowflakes from my fun foam stash.  To make the larger one more delicate I punched holes in the larger balls using a regular hole punch.  Much better!!

 I used regular glue stick to adhere all the pieces to a clear mount and stamped it all over my paper using the same red brown ink.
On the left, you can see the piece of brown paper I was using on my work surface to catch all the over stamping from altering my paper and my card fronts.  It is looking pretty good and will no doubt end up in a future project as background paper after I have added a few more bits of "left over" paint over it in the next month or two.  I add all my left over paint from any project to paper - either one that already has some on it or a completely blank one if I do not have one that coordinates.  It always gives me very unique backgrounds for my projects.  You can check out the cards I made with my paper here.

Therese

Altered glasses case

 I finally refurbished my glasses case this morning!!  It has been a while since I noticed that it was wearing and either needed to be refurbished or replaced.  I am super happy with how it turned out and it will be easier to find in my purse now because it has more contrast!!

 So, this is how it looked before I started.  It had fabric glued to the metal case.  Have to say that it was fairly durable because I bought it used probably 10 years ago.

The covering was fairly easy to peel off.  The inside was a bit corroded but it is in fine shape otherwise.  Mechanism still works properly and is not too complicated.

 I managed to get all the glue off and sanded it down inside and out which removed most of the roughness of the corrosion that had occurred on the inside.  It looked pretty neat as it was but thought it would look more interesting with a bit more attitude!!

 I used fabric tape for the inside.  It took four strips of tape to do the whole inside. I started with the lid and then did the bottom.  The two middle strips overlapped nicely to cover the mechanism.  I trimmed the tape to the edges of the case.

Then I covered the outside with this cool lettered packing tape!!  It took four strips to cover the outside as well.  I did the lid first and then the base with the strips overlapping at the hinge.  I trimmed the packing tape on the inside to leave an even overlap to the inside.

I am super happy with how it turned out.  If and when it wears through or starts looking rough again I will consider removing the tape with a heat gun, spray painting it and creating a little quiltie for the inside.  For today, this project has been time efficient and I really like the look!!

Therese

Clock has a new face!

I bought this clock a while back in hopes of altering it for my craft room.  I have finally taken the time to change it up!!  Firstly, take the cover off and remove the hands.  Tech support was out getting a haircut so I checked the next best thing - You Tube.  Found a video that showed exactly how that was done.  Very easy!!  The Pooh was attached with double sided tape so it was fairly easily removed.  I measured the face - 8.5" - perfect for printing on letter size paper.  I found a clock face on CLKER and sized it to fit my clock in Corel Draw.  I went digging through my stash of decorative papers to find something that would appeal to me, was light enough to print on and would go with the white frame.  Yeah! I found a piece that worked perfectly.  I trimmed the 12x12 down to 8.5 x 11 and ran it through my printer.  Trimmed it with an exacto knife.

Here is my clock with its new face!!!!  I am very happy with it.  It was an easy project and I can change it up anytime I want.  I will consider doing it again when I get the chance to paint my craft room and decorate it more to my liking.  In the meantime, this will do wonderfully!
It was fun to alter this clock!  I purchased it at a second hand store and as you can see with very little work I have changed up the look significantly.  So if you are needing a new clock consider altering one!! You might even have one around the house that needs a bit of a lift!!  Go for it!!

Therese

Masculine Birthday card

Love how this card worked out!  It is a birthday card for my Dad who is 80+.  I am grateful that he and Mom still live independantly in their own house and are still active.  My Dad was a wood worker/carpenter most of his life so I used a thin piece of veneer that my DH gave me earlier this year for the central element.  I backed the veneer with label before cutting it with the Hanging Sign die (SX TH) using just the sign part.  I stamped the greeting with dark brown ink and sponged the edges as well.  I cut the hanger part of this die using silver foil cardstock.  To give it the look of old metal, I sanded it, added dark brown permanent chalk ink and then dabbed on black sharpie which I rubbed in before it dried which resulted in giving it a bit of a coppery tinge.  I added the hanger to the card front using 3D foam tape and tied on the sign using cotton thread.  I added a piece of 3D foam tape to the back of the sign as well to keep it from flipping over when the card is opened.  I like the way the elements work with the decorative paper.
I like that the wood has a connection to several generations.  I am so fortunate because my DH, knowing that I use all sort of "stuff" in my art, often comes to me with items he thinks I might be able to use!!  As soon as he presented me with several of these thin pieces of wood he had leftover from his night light project I knew I would be using one of them to make a card for my Dad.  As they were born, DH has made wonderful night lights for all of our grandchildren with interchangeable front panels which have been scrolled with detailed scenes.
So I will be sending off my card this week with all the best wishes I can pack into it so it will arrive in time for for his special day!!  Be grateful if you live close enough to your family members to actually hug them on their special days!

Therese

Credit card sleeves

Just created these cool credit card sleeves!!
I used heavy weight decorative paper for the main body, lined the insides with sticky backed foil duct tape and used a few more pieces on the outside edges to make them durable.  I used a round punch, half way over the edge, to make the little finger divot doing the sides one at a time before I taped the edges together.
These covers will protect my cards - debit and credit - that have a chip (RFID - radio frequency identification) in them from being scanned by accident.
You can see a documentary video here about how easily your information can be obtained without your knowledge.    Of course, there are companies out there selling protective card sleeves for this purpose but I thought it would be fun to make my own and make them personal!! Might consider adding some alcohol inks and/or permanent marker doodles to these as well.

Therese

Fabric flower cards

 Here is a close up of the black netting like fabric I used on the front of my flowers.  They have so much texture!!  So they would be "the star of the show" I created some very simple backgrounds for them.  I added some "faux stitching" with a fine tip Sharpie marker to some bright cardstock and embossed them. Quick and easy!!  As I playing with the lay out I decided that punchie centers worked better than the stitching ones I had created with thread so I added those to the flowers using large glue dots.

These were fun to make and I am looking forward to adding more fabric and hand stitching to my paper crafting!!

Therese

Fabric flowers

 I acquired a stash of fabric from someone who was downsizing so I have been looking forward to using some of the smaller scraps in my art!!  I decided this morning that today was the day and that I would try making some fabric flowers!  I dug out a few different ones - satiny white, black, gray and white flowers and a netting with little discs all sewn in a very organic manner.  Very cool!!  After layering them I thought the sandwich was a bit on the light side for flowers so I dug into my stash and found some white flannelette which helped give the sandwich the weight I was looking for.

Above, you can see above a flower in progress.  The hand sewn stitches in red and yellow embroidery thread inside the hand drawn flower shape with all the layers pinned together. I started sewing in the middle, going around in circles to create the center of the flower, then added one long center stitch in each petal and stitches all the way around to be sure that everything was well anchored.  The two on the left were cut with the largest flower on the Tattered Flowers die (TH).  I accidently cut the stitching in several places when I die cut  them because it was difficult to line up on the die.  The other three were done free hand.  I drew a shape on the white backing, did my hand sewing and then cut around it.
I am happy with my first attempt at hand sewing in many years and have plans to feature these on cards very shortly!!  A fitting Thank you for the generous soul who gifted me with some fun fabrics to play with.  I am hoping to try some Teesha Moore type fabric journals as well.

Therese

Tea tins for packaging!

Packaging for cookies, treats, embellishments - whatever your little heart desires!! I have a stash of tea tins (Tetley) that I repurposed and are off to a new home!! I have wrapped them with gift wrap to coordinate with their blue lids. Once they are filled, a person just needs to cut a 2.75" circle to tuck into the recessed lid that indicates what is inside!!

Do you have something hanging around that needs to find a new home?

Consider online classifieds like Kijiji

http://www.kijiji.ca/

or Craigs list

http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites

or any barter sites that allow people to offer items for sale or trade

or put them on Freecycle for free and someone will likely just come and pick them up!!

http://www.freecycle.org/

Therese

Envelope book

Created this cute little envelope book for a swap on AFTCM!! We were free to choose a theme and any kind of envelopes we wanted!! A while back, I received a similar book from a swap hostess on another group and thought it would be perfect so decided to go with this concept.

The envelopes were cut from one 12x12 travel scrapbook paper using a Sizzix little envelope die. It gave me eight die cuts. I sponged the inside of the flaps so they would blend with the other side, folded and glued the sides to create the envelopes. I used a different 12x12 sheet of scrapbook paper to create the little cards for inside - technically twinchies - they are 2" x 2" - mostly great travel destinations - Eiffel Tour, Statue of Liberty, etc.

After cutting out my images I made a collage with the scraps and cut 1.75"x1.75" squares from it and used those to back my twinchies. I added some hand written inspirational words with a black sharpie on the collage pieces.

Now they needed to be bound to each other. I decided to create my own paper tape to use for binding. I cut off a piece of tissue paper tape from a roll that would normally be used to bind a bandage to your skin which I purchased a while back with intentions of altering it for papercrafting. It is wonderfully strong, very light and translucent. I used a sponge and inks to colour it and then stamped it in a dark brown using a collage stamp. Perfect!! Similar look to the Tim Holtz tissue paper tape!!

I used lengths to bind each envelope to the next one until I had all of my little envies bound to each other. You can see here that without a tie they want to create a circle!!

In my first photo you can see that I added a tie using seambinding and a metal embellishment that reads "Dream Big"

A fun little book to make!! You could use any envelopes to make a similar book - coin envelopes would be excellent!!

It is off to my partner in this afternoon's mail!!

Therese

Beeswax collage - Home

Another technique I have been wanting to try for a while - a long while. Today was the day!

I used half of a game board (6"x9") as my substrate. For beeswax, I melted sheets of beeswax normally used to make rolled candles. For melting, I used a small crock pot in which I placed a small metal can (salmon). It took about a 1/2 hour to heat everything up but it worked perfectly. I used a utility natural bristled brush for applying the wax.

A few photos of the steps I went through while working on my collage.

#1 - The substrate - The game pieces have long been incorporated into collage bins and the boards have been just sitting so I decided to use one of them. I cut it in half and sanded the design off the paper of the playing surface so I would not have it showing through my collage and to keep the back of the board - a nice pebbly black surface - as the back of my collage.

#2 - I laser printed my collage images - vintage world map, neighborhood of houses, a large house and a woman standing - and trimmed them close. I downloaded the images from this Flicker Collage collection. The link is also on my sidebar under Online Resources - Collage Images. I referred to this video by Suze Weinberg to get started. All of my pieces were large so I applied beeswax to my substrate, laid my images down and used my heat gun to apply heat which melted the wax and incorporated the images into it. I added wax with the brush when needed. It is best to have something that helps spread the wax evenly over the surface. I used a crumpled piece of wax paper which worked reasonably well but was not ideal. I will try a skewer next time, using the pointy end for the fine work and laying it over to work the large areas.

#3 - I have collaged all the large images and have temporarily placed the red foil heart and the lace at the bottom.

#4 - All the words have been incorporated. The words were handwritten - black sharpie or white gel pen - on white tissue paper, dipped into the wax and positioned. It was more difficult than I thought to keep them straight and positioned correctly because as soon as I applied heat they were prone to moving around in the melted wax. It might have been more practical to use printed words from books or even laser printed ones.

Here is the finished collage. To attach the lace I applied wax to the bottom section with the brush, dipped the end of the lace in the wax and put it down on one edge and proceeded to position the rest of it by heating small sections and laying it down. I added some small hydrangea flowers to the collage which required more wax than I expected to keep them in place. I punched some holes in the top corners with my Cropadile and inserted and set large eyelets. Tied in a black ribbon to create a hanger.

I am pretty happy with my collage and look forward to trying it again with other materials - magazine images, paper napkins and adding some glitz like Suze did in her video!!

Therese

Altered heart ornaments

A challenge to alter "something" was put out on one of my groups so I decided to see what I could find around the house. I found this small heart shape chipboard board book and it seems perfect for making altered ornaments for a community project called Evergreen Memories - similar to Festival of Trees elsewhere. I cut the binding off and trimmed the pages to round them out nicely. I covered the edges with red tissue paper and used gift wrap - red with snowflakes - on the front and back. I traced the hearts, so, after cutting they were just a bit big to fit really nicely so I crumpled them up and glued them down with wrinkles in them which gave them lots of texture and alleviated any issue of not having a perfectly cut outside edge. Once both sides were done I pressed them under weight to make sure the paper was well glued and to keep them flat. I decorated them today using colour printed vintage images, snowflake punchies, and scraps of lace, tulle and ribbon.

I am very happy with how they turned out and I am sure they will make a welcome addition to the tree. There are over a dozen trees that will be decorated by different organizations on the theme of Peace and will be on display at the museum for a couple of weeks. Over the course of the two weeks the public can drop by, enjoy the sound of music provided by local groups along with a tasty treat and get dose of holiday spirit. After wandering through the display they can choose to buy tickets for the ornament raffle. All the ornaments on all the trees are raffled off at the end of the display in support of local charities and programs. So these ornaments are off on an adventure which will ultimately find them a new home. I send them off with blessings!!

Therese

Altered CD - vintage Santa

An altered CD for a swap in one of my groups!! The theme was Vintage Santa so I dug up some scraps of decorative papers and got started. First thing I did was make a sketch of each section - front cover, inside cover, inside back and back cover. I decided which elements would go in each section - images, decorative paper, cardstock, etc. After working out the layering on each section I started cutting paper and gluing it into place. I used LOTS of double sided tape to make sure all the pieces will stay put. The front cover features a colour printed vintage Santa, a stamped "memories", decorative paper, a little strip of lace, olive ribbon with a burgundy "bow" and a piece of burgundy cardstock. The lace and ribbon wrap to the back of the cover and are hidden by the pieces on the inside front which is why I worked out all the layering before I cut and glued anything to the CD.

To the left you can see the front and back in one scan. The back features coordinating decorative paper, an ivory cardstock strip trimmed with scallop scissors and embellished with dots and a line in burgundy marker, a strip of olive cardstock and some burgundy cardstock at the very top. Went with cardstock because I wanted the back to have very little that would interfere with the CD laying flat. The inside cover (left) features burgundy cardstock, a scallop border punched piece of olive cardstock embellished with burgundy ribbon and a layered strip of decorative paper. I cut little notches for the plastic edging so that all the piece fit in neatly. The back cover (right) features a layer of decorative paper, a burgundy strip of cardstock trimmed with scallop border punch and an accordion book which has been embellished with some decorative paper and a little boat sticker which I received this week from my Secret Santa and it was the perfect colours for this project!!!!!!!!

On the left a photo of the accordion book inside the CD. Four and a half pages in ivory cardstock embellished with decorative paper and two more stickers!!

All of the pages and sections were stippled with ink to give them a nice vintage feel.

The recipient will be able to add a few photos and have a cool little album for her 2010 Christmas memories!!

I loved the challenge of creating this project and am very happy with the finished product. Would make a wonderful gift for grandparents filled with photos of their grandchildren. Certainly done in other colours would make a cool little brag book for any event!!

Therese

Altered tin!

I have been playing!! I do have a to do list of things that need to be done but instead I played with these little tins. My friend, Linda, was going to toss a bunch of these when I was at her house last month so instead, I took them home because I thought they had huge potential for altering!! I will be dropping by tomorrow to pick up my altered book which I forgot there when I was over for our play date. I'm in town picking up my sister - another play date in the works. So tonight I thought I would see what I could come up with using one of these little Making Memories tins that used to hold eyelets!!! I am sure you all have some hanging around your house too!!

We returned from PEI last week and I have some little treasures I collected on the beach while we were there so I decided to make a little treasure box for Linda with a few of my PEI treasures!!

I am so happy!! It turned out great!!!

First off I drilled a small hole in both sides of the cover that line up just above the dip in the tray when it is closed. I will be using them to seal up the treasure box when I am done altering and filling it.

I took the tin apart - just a little pressure will release the tray from the cover. I slowly rubbed paint thinner on the letters on the front cover using only my fingernail to gently scrub until they all lifted off!! Wiped that off and cleaned up the paint thinner with some dish soap - the cover was almost as good as new!! I added "friends" with rub ons and sealed them with acrylic sealer. They went really clear!! Yeah!! I added some yellow, green and blue transparent acrylic paint (homemade) which I used for this project on the outside of the bottom of the tray. It is a bit recessed so the paint, once dry, is perfectly protected from rubbing off or otherwise getting damaged. I put the tray back in the cover once everything was dry. It looks like the sea and sky!! I added a little sand dollar, a little white stone, a piece of white shell, a piece of blue mussel shell, some tiny bits of green, brown and clear sea glass - my PEI treasures - to the tray. To round out the mix I added a little red confetti heart, some multi coloured rhinestones and a few very small pearl white seed beads. I had experimented with sand and tiny holeless beads before altering the tin - they simply drained out of the tray when I suspended it. With the tray closed I added a wire hanger that runs through the little holes I drilled and keeps the treasure box nicely closed. I added curlicues to the ends of the wires!! I am sure there is a much better and prettier option but being very low on jewelery making skills I have decided that it will do the job for this project!!!

I am loving it!! These little boxes have so many surfaces that can be altered - inside and outside of the top and bottom cover - inside and outside of the tray - and are so transparent they would make wonderful little shrines, ornaments, jewelry, magnets, etc!! Alcohol ink and transparencies would be great on them!!

So, I challenge you to dig one out and see what you can do with it!!!! Load your creation to your blog and leave me a comment with the link!! I would so love to see what you created!!!! I think I will bring Linda back one or two so she can play too!!

Have a great weekend!! I am just starting a play date with my sister so I am sure we will have some creative projects to post over the next couple of weeks!!

Therese

Black, brown and cream card!

I have joined a new group - Art for the Creative Mind - and have jumped right in with a swap!! The challenge was to use black, brown and cream to create a card for our partner!!

I started with a brown card base, embossed it with a Tim Holtz embossing folder then added the cream top (punched with a SU border punch) to make it large enough for my envelope. I added some printed text at the top and a black and gold double sided ribbon. The text talks about driving in the early days and was taken from an old typing book. The original was too wide to fit the card so I scanned it, reduced in size a bit and printed it on cream paper - perfect!! The image is one I downloaded from the internet, printed on transparency, sanded the back and applied a colour wash of brown acrylic paint - gives it a vintage feel. I layered the acetate over a stippled cream base using discreetly placed pieces of double sided tape and added a soft knot of the same ribbon using a glue dot. I find that the altered acetate hides tape much more easily than the unaltered version. The laser printed punchie letters are also stippled and added to the card front using 3D foam tape.

Fun!! I am enjoying creating some one of a kind cards. Have been distracting myself from class prep so I need to get on that now!!

Therese

Altered page with Nature ATC

Catching up on some projects that were put on the back burner last month!! Created this page around the Nature ATC I received from Linda last month. I love the look of those landscapes put together with Stampscapes stamps. Linda has only recently started with this stamping style but is already very good at it!! I loved this style of drawing when I was in college and thought I would give it a go for this altered page. Though a bit time consuming I love what you can achieve with a couple black markers!!

I created the background by painting white gesso on to the book page and adding some blue acrylic transparent paint I create a while back for this project. Just painted it on and moved it around a bit with fingers and paper towel. Once dry, I drew onto this surface with a black fine point Sharpie creating rocks, trees and water. The dimension in the elements is created by adding dots with a black ultra fine point Sharpie. I used the ATC image as a guide. Added colour with Sharpies as well - gray for the rocks, moss green for the trees and several colours of blue in the water. This quote by Bliss Carman suited the layout perfectly so I wrote it in by hand. The holes you can see in the layout accommodate the shell I glued to my previous altered page in by altered book.

Try a new technique today!!

Therese

Father's Day card

My Father's Day card for my DH. He loves music so I usually try to include that theme in his cards when I can!! I added a maroon watercolour wash to the music sheet which I clear embossed with a harlequin design. Did the embossing a while back and it was sitting on my craft desk waiting!! I stamped the words and composer images on white and then added watercolour to help them blend in. Also, added a wash to the colour printed greeting which was also sitting on my desk - left over from my last class!!

Layered some cool looking black handmade paper over my maroon card and added the altered music sheet trimmed to fit on the card front. Layered the pieces with black and arranged them neatly over it all!!

Very happy with how it all turned out!!

Therese

Cardmaking - Jan - coffee greetings

It was great to be back at Cardmaking and being creative with a group!! Welcomed some newbies!! A really different set of cards this time around. To start - easel cards. Found a tutorial on Splitcoaststampers. I modified it a bit to suit my needs - really cool cards!! Substituted hearts for coffee beans and added a stamped greeting to make one of them a Valentine's card. I am happy with both of them.

I really liked this coffee mug but it had a greeting on the curve of the mug which did not always suit so I took my exacto knife and trimmed my unmounted stamp!! It was a delicate operation but all is good and both pieces survived to be used again together or separately. I black embossed the mug for a really nice contrast and it made it very easily to watercolour. I altered my ribbon with walnut ink so it would not be so black and white - worked great!! Some decorative paper and a ribbon slide to complete the card.

This design was inspired by Crazy 4 Challenges - C4C20!! You will see that I have used the same sketch for a Christmas card because I am following Tracy's Christmas Challenge. More about that later!!

Therese

My art - christmas card and tag exchange

Here is the Christmas card I created for the girls from Card Club!! It features a Paper Artsy angel black embossed on taupe with a distressed and watercoloured border. It is layered over colour washed sheet music and a black card which has silver embossed greeting and snowflakes!! I added a snowflake embellishment - a black snowflake punchie (MS) over a silver fabric snowflake attached with a brad!!
I am so happy with the way this card turned out!!
Not a traditional Christmas card but that suits me fine!! We had a tag exchange this month instead of exchanging cards. I used adhesive cardstock and glitter to create my ornament. I cut the ornament with my CB using the Sizzix die and then peeled off the hanger and middle section and added silver glitter. Peeled off the top and bottom section and added black glitter. Mounted it to the tag with 3D foam tape and attached them together at the top with fiber!!
Got some really great tags in exchange - a cute little Christmas couple with gifts, large scallop circle with glittered ornaments, a glittered snowman star, a nicely layered and coloured winter tree with snowman, a glittery snowflake, a top note with evergreen trees and 3D snowflake punchies!! At least one yet to come!! We had a wonderful evening - good food and good friends always makes good memories!! I was in charge of the shoe box so I prepped some supplies for making little "magazine racks" for storing cards. I modified the design a little bit from from last time to make it more sturdy. I will see about uploading that later.

I am looking forward to Christmas and a bit of a break! I have been in cardmaking heaven for the last month and it has been very fun but I am looking forward slowing the pace of life and taking some time to "fill the cup"!!

Therese

My Art - Pocket calendars

These are pocket calendars I upcycled!! Purchased them at a local dollar store and created new covers for them! It is a quick and easy way to make personalized gifts for everyone on your list and they certainly will think of you every time they dig it out to check their availability for a project or a lunch!! Everyone should have one in their briefcase or purse and it really does help to keep you from double booking!!

Make a few for your friends!!

Therese

My Art - creative binder

I have decided to try to put all of my creative brainstorming in one place as opposed to bits of paper all over the place. There are several projects on hold because I cannot find the paper I mused the details on!!!
I altered a small binder. I sanded the front and glued down my own decorative paper. I added masking tape all the way around and then painted it with a dark maroon acrylic paint to coordinate with the binder cover. I stamped the bird in black StazON onto the decorative paper and then added some lustre in red and gold. Added beeswax over that to just seal everything and keep any colour from rubbing off.

Inside I have some blank pages for doodling and drawing as well as lined pages for making notes, etc.

Very happy with my new little book and am hoping to keep myself better organized.

Therese