Altered Cigar Box

One of the swaps for this month on AFTCM is an altered cigar box with the theme "Fragments from the Past". Fortunately I had a couple in my stash and a number of things to use for the theme.

I started by covering the outside with some vintage themed scrapbook paper that I got at my local dollar store.  I had just made a trip to my little local rubber stamps store and purchased some brads and trim. I thought the brads looked  bit like a little door knob and attached it to the bottom front of the box.

On the outside of the lid I attached the trim, a little penny charm and a stamped image from a friend.
I used one of the Tim Holtz frames and  placed an image of a woman (from artcreationsfridayblogspot (which seems to be gone) and covered it with some acetate, then glued it to the box.

In the oval area on the inside of the lid I added an ornament that I coloured, then covered the bottom with some velvet cardstock.

I haven't decided yet what I want to place inside the box, maybe some art supplies, cards or tags.

Shrink Plastic Charms

I entered a swap on AFTCM to make shrink charms which is an ongoing swap using various medium.

The poppy was done on white shrink plastic and coloured with markers prior to shrinking.

The flower was done on clear plastic, originally with pigment inks as the colouring medium. They rubbed off, so I coloured it with a sharpie marker and added a gem in the middle to finish it off.

The Butterfly was coloured with Brilliance Inks and nibs applicators after shrinking; this was also clear plastic but a different brand from the one used on the flower.

The last one, was done on clear shrink plastic and coloured with alcohol inks.

Clay Charms

On AFTCM we are doing a monthly charm swap and for April the charms were to be stamped clay and two were to be sent to our partner.

I couldn't decide what I wanted to do so I made four charms. After conditioning my clay I stamped some images into it then coloured them with various mediums.

 The charm on the left is done with copper paint, a small circular embellishment added and a flower gem. The Green one is done with Mica Magic inks. The blue one was coloured with pearlex and gems added to the butterfly body. The little maple leaf one is air-dryed clay and was coloured with markers and watercolour paints, then painted with some clay sealer.

Only two of the charms were sent to a partner.

April Charm

I decided to use some thing from my stash for the CCSwaps April charm.

I started with some metal tags and covered both sides with some old book page pieces and coloured it with distress inks. I added some gem pieces then covered the piece with Glossy Accents.

Unfotunately the piece did not scan well and it looks like there are a bunch of air bubbles, but it is not at all like that in "real life". It is actually smooth with some colour depth around the maple leaf gem.

I was not really happy with this one so I decided to do something different. I took some clay, conditioned it then stamped into it with a text stamp, then hit the highlights with some Mica Magic Gold ink.  I took a little flower embellishment and coloured it with Cranbberry Alcohol ink, and added a little pearl on a wire in the background.  Much happier with this one and it will be making it's way to my swap partner next week.

March Charm

We are continuing the Charm swap on CCSwaps.

For the March one I took a small chipboard square and made a hole with a Japanese Screw Punh. I covered the chipboard with platinum pigment ink, then embossed it with platinum UTEE ( Ultra thick embossing). While it was hot I stamped into it with gold ink.

I then took a small chipboard butterfly from Scrapware and covered it with clear embossing ink and embossed it with Christmas Night glitter embossing powder. I still wanted more of a dimensional effect, so I coated it with Glossy Accents (Ranger).  I attached this with some glue to the centre of the charm and added the ring.

February Charm

The charm swap is continuing on CCSwaps and we are making another charm for February. I decided that I would use hearts for mine as of course Valentine's Day is during that month.

I took some beads and strung them together with various charms to match the beads. The left one is a heart from an old pair of earrings. The middle one is a charm to which I added the little gem. The right one is also a charm, but I coloured the middle heart and ribbon with Copic Markers. I hope my partners will not find these too simple, as I am still trying to learn about making charms.

Charm

I am participating in a monthly charm swap on CCSwaps. I of course jumped in with both feet again, having no idea what to make.

I have never made jewelry nor have I done any amount of beading, so it was a challenge to come up with an idea. I scrounged through my stash and decided to use a Clearsnap style stone as the base. I covered the stone in alcohol ink,  applied an image from moonlightjourney.com then covered it with varnish. I then cut out a small butterfly image and attached a piece of wire with seed beads to simulate the antenna. I attached this to the bottom of the style stone, then covered it with Rangers glossy accents to make it more dimensional.

I then added a bead which is from a bunch that I bought in Scotland several years ago, and have found it hard to part with it because they are quite unique. But why save them???

Unfortunately the image is a bit blurry, as I used my Mac to upload it and am not as familiar with the program as I am with the one on my Hubby's PC.

Inchie frame completed

I received the rest of my inchies the other day via Carol, who met up with some of the gals from OZ who passed them on to her.

I was in a creative mood today so I decided to finish up a couple of ATC's and work on my frame.

The frame is painted with gesso and blue acrylic paint, then sprayed with Tattered Angels glimmer mist. Unfortunately the "glimmer" does not show in the picture. After it dried I stamped my favourite corner flourish by Inkadinkadoo with Colorbox Goldrush pigment ink and embossed with gold embossing powder.

I colored the flourish piece at the top with purple acrylic paint then painted it again with
US Artquest Mica watercolour paints. Added a sun charm and a couple of gems to finish it off.

I then completed the other two inchies and the centre panel. The centre is done with Breezy Blue embossing powder as the base then sprinkled with purple and gold E.P., heated then stamped into it with a large background stamp. I then rubbed some metallic rub-ons over the top. The embellishment is an old button that I had in my button box.
The inchies are (top left-clockwise) Trizzy, Autumn, Carol, Me, Mel, Linda B, Me, Vicki, Chris, Rhonda, Lynne and Tracy. I am so thrilled to be the owner of these beautiful miniature pieces of art and to finally have them all in the frame.

Inchie swap

I have signed up for a swap on the Dream, Create Inspire group where we are using a frame from Blumoth Crafts. Eleven people joined the swap, and we create the inchies using a colour scheme and and in some cases a theme chosen by each person. We have two inchies, the centre and the frame to complete our own when we receive our inchies in the swap. I have decided to wait until I receive my inchies before completing the frame.

I coated the inchies with gesso then used Acrylic paints, Metallic Paints, Lumiere paints, Perfect Pearls, Pearlex, and some of my stamps and stamping supplies such as Smooch inks, and pigment inks to do the bases. On some I used molding paste, others I used papers and even some netting type paper.

The embellishments are scrapbooking pieces, old buttons, old pieces of jewellery, brads and other "doodads".

I am really looking forward to seeing all the tiny works of art that everyone makes and the completed frames.

Art Doll

This piece is for another swap.

I had some little wire mesh floral pieces in my stash and decided I would try making my art doll using one as the body.

I had some frames left from a charm swap and thought I would use one as the head. I inserted a face inside the frame, then glued a fan charm on top and glued this to the "body".

I strung some beads and charms together for the arms and legs and attached them to the body.

I think she is a modern day gal as she has her cell phone in her left hand!!!

I added an S shaped paper clip as the torso an attached a heart brad and gem at the neckline.

The waistline is a couple of paper flowers and a brad. I finished her off with some faux rivets around the edge of her hem and the arms.