Altered CD

For the month of March we are doing an Altered CD on AMCA with the theme of Vintage Women.

 I took some scrapbook paper and cut it to size and adhered it to the CD with some YES glue. I then stamped a script stamp with a second generation of Memory Brown ink.

I stamped the image of the Eiffel Tower in the same colour of ink and coloured the Paris portion with a Tombow marker. I wanted it to be more dimensional so I stamped and embossed it again on some acetate and attached it to the CD with Glossy Accents.

I dabbed some clear embossing ink around the edge of the CD and covered it with Stampendous Aged Wine Embossing Enamel and heat set it.

I attached the image from Moonlight Journey to a scrap piece of cardstock and cut it out and adhered it with some double-sided foam carpet tape.

I had some flowers (which are actually sticker like things for a lap top) and coloured them with some Inka Gold and glued them to the right of the image. To complete it I added the clock charm.

The piece you see jutting out at the bottom is an easel that I made from cardstock so the CD can be put on display if the recipient should desire.

Playing with spoons!!

Over on Linda and Rosie's Big Adventure blog they were running a challenge for altering cutlery. I decided to play with this idea as I have a bunch of spoons that I collected over the years.

On the first one I bent the handle, then added a piece of a dictionary page and coloured it. I added some coloured Crystal Lacquer then some Glossy Accents. I placed the picture of the little girl in the centre, added some more Glossy Accents. I then added some seed beads, a fancy bead and a piece of confetti. To complete it, I added a fan charm at the bottom.

Unfortunately this did not scan well and is more colourful, and looks much better "in real life".

For my second attempt, I embossed a spoon with twinkle and opal embossing powders. I took a grunge board letter and covered it with Sookwang tape and added Glitter Ritz and attached it in the bowl.

I stamped a the number one on a piece of scrap cardstock. punched it out and added a page pebble, and attached this to the top.

I then added a couple of confetti numbers and gems to finish it. I thought this one would be good for a Numbers swap currently running on CC Swaps, but since there must be some stamping I am not sure if one stamped image is sufficient. Will have to check before signing up for the swap.

March It-Girl

The ArtVenture It-Girl for March is Karen and her theme is Shrines. This is something that I have never done before and I really struggled with the theme. I made several attempts but was not happy with them, so back to the drawing board.

I was looking for something in my spare room and came across some small picture frames and thought they might work for the shrine. I settled on one that had a deeper "box" for the picture and a nice leafy motif.

The frame was a dull gold tone and I decided to jazz it up a bit. I started by painting it with gold Lumiere paint, then dry brushed silver, turquoise, blue an pink around it. The bottom was done with bronze.

The centre (background) is a matchbox into which I placed a piece of cardboard covered with plumbers a tape which I embossed with my Cuttlebug and dabbed with Alcohol inks.

The image is a postage stamp honouring Star Trek figures, but it looked a bit like an old Monk to me so thought it fit the theme. I adhered it to a Style Stone and edged with Krylon pen. I attached it with some E6000.

The charm at the top was silver, but seemed to stick out like a sore thumb, so I coloured it with some Adirondack Markers before attaching it. I added the gems and the flower embellishment to complete it.  I also glued the stand onto the back again so that it can sit on her desk or another piece of furniture, if she chooses. I hope Karen will be as pleased with the piece as I am.

Quote of the Month - January and February

I am participating in a swap on CCswaps where we create a piece of art using a quote for that month, which must be displayed somewhere on the art. The quote is: "Great art picks up where nature ends."

For January I used a piece of cardstock and did the Stamp Smooshie technique (you use your stamp as an applicator and smoosh the ink around on the paper-usually 3 different tones of the same colour ink). I then added some mica magic ink over it. I stamped the Safflower Script stamp (Stampington) on a piece of acetate with Stazon black ink and attached it with vellum tape.

I had a piece of cardstock on which I had rubbed off some Mica Magic ink while doing some stamping and liked the look of it, so I chose that to stamp the Magenta butterfly image on and attached it to the middle of the acetate.

I mounted the piece on another piece of Mica Magic coloured background. The final touch was to add the maple leaf brads and the quotes. This is now at it's new home with Maggi.

The February quote is: "Feet what do I need thee for when I have wings to fly." I decided on an altered book board. I used some techniques from Kelly Rae Roberts book Taking Flight. I am really pleased with the book as it has great inspiration and some step-by-step instructions and not just a bunch of "pretty pictures".

The background is similar to one that I learned in an Altered Diva class, where you paint gesso on the substrate, add one coat of paint. let it dry then add another coat and while wet spray it with water, let it sit for a bit then dab it with a cloth. The little circles in white were made by dipping the end of an adding machine roll holder thingy in paint and stamping on the book board.

The body was a stamp (PSX) of a seamstress mannequin which I stamped into polymer clay and baked. When it was ready I rubbed it with a wash of brown acrylic paint, then painted the flowers, heart and ribbon and body with acrylic paint and brushed some Pearlex and Perfect Pearls over the top.

When it dried I coated it with Poly Glaze, then when that set I rubbed some "Goldfinger rub-on paste over it and glued on the gems.

The head is an image from a magazine advert which I cut down and glued into a flattened bottle cap and filled with Glossy Accents. The gold wings were left over from when I was making some Christmas Angels years ago; cut in the middle to reduce the bulk and glued behind the body and added some gold Stickles to enhance them a bit. The seagull was a found item in my stash. This will be going to it's new home at the end of February when the partners list is announced.

Beadazzled Swap

I signed up for a swap on CCSwaps using beads. Since it did not specify what kind of beads I opted for the tiny seed beads for my creation.

I used a microscope slide and the faux sea glass technique http://www.juliaandrus.com/how-to

The microscope slide was dabbed with yellow, turquoise and lavendar pigment inks, then embossed with clear UTEE. I applied Perfect Medium and yellow, gold and pearl Perfect Pearls, covered with clear UTEE and embosssed it. I did not do the last step in Julia's instructions where you spray the slide with water and dab it.

While the UTEE was still hot I sprinkled red and turquoise seed beeds over the slide and heated it. I then added some Glossy Accents and added some gold seed beads. To finish it off I added a little starfish charm, then added the keyring.