Nature Shadow Box - Part 1

We are having a reprieve in the weather.  It was actually under 100 again today and tomorrow is forecast to be even cooler, Yeah!

A few months ago while shopping at Costco I decided to buy a black leather purse.  

When I got home and took the purse out of the box a light went on.  Wouldn't that box make a terrific shadow box.  It was sturdy, so I set it aside until I could come up with a design idea.

 Well,  I finally decided to go with an insect nature theme.

Here is the empty box that I saved.

So I looked through my computer and came up with images of 3 insects, a dragonfly, a butterfly and a  bee.  I sized them to fit the box and glued each on onto a lightweight chipboard.

Next I highlighted the edges and wings with Glossy Accents  I also printed out 3 words I sized to resemble tiles.  Dream, Beauty and Wish.

After the glossy accents was dry I cut each image out.  But first I tested the size to make sure they would all 3 fit in box.  I also altered the box by cutting off the edges at the top and bottom and fitting them in the bottom to support a shelf that I will insert at the bottom of the box.

Here you can see how I used the cut off pieces to support the shelf.  I haven't yet decided if I will leave this as a shelf or make it into a drawer.  Stay tuned to see how this project develops.

I rummaged through my stash and pulled out a few things I thought might work with my theme.

Not quite sure which pieces I will use.  This is really a work in progress.  And this is much more time consuming than I planned for.  Oh well, this will be interesting to see how this turns out, I only have a  loose idea of how I want be complete this box.

I have plans to use this Graphics 45 craft paper sheets to cover the box itself.  That's it until tomorrow.

Happy Crafting!

Small Shabby Chic Tray Redo

I started out with a small crate type tray.

My plan was to change it into a shabby chic vanity type tray.

I decided to use Graphic 45 Ephemera Cards I had left her from another project.  These cards are thicker than regular scrapbook paper.  I needed the extra thickness to mask the very rough bottom to the tray.

Here you can see where I dry fitted the Ephemera cards before painting my tray with an ivory chalky paint.

The tray only needed one coat of paint. Which I let dry before continuing.  In the picture below you can see how rough the wood was that needed to be camouflaged.

After gluing the card down with Mod Podge and letting them dry.  I coated the top of the cards with Mod Podge and let that dry again.

On each corner I added a lace medallion and a pearl at the top of each corner using hot glue. Then glued a smaller medallion in the center front and back.  I also glue a pearl to each of these.

Here is a closeup of the corner.  For the foot on the bottom I glued a very large pearl to each of the corners that I cut from a strand of Christmas garland I bought for half price at Target after Christmas.

I glued a row of smaller pearls inside each handle.

And the finished tray.  This is another of my favorite paper patterns.  I have already made a book and a couple of other projects using this "Gilded Lily" paper collection.

Hard to believe this was a rough wooden crate.

Happy Crafting!

Tag Travel Album

This album was made for the pictures from our recent cruise. 

The paper collection was Graphic 45, Sail Away.  The album pages are made from three sizes of Graphic 45 tags, in black.  I covered both sides of the tags with paper from that collection.

Love to use their papers, they always coordinate so beautifully.

front cover fussy cut elements


After binding the tags into the album I cut out a variety of images that where then Mod Podged in place and highlighted with tickles for the front cover. 

 When everything was dry I gave the cover a coat of Matte Mod Podge to make the it more durable.

fussy cut the children and added to the page

This is a waterfall of three tags on this page.

Here I added a little wooden star

fussy cut the mermaid, she was so cute and used Stickles to highlight her flowing hair

There was a lot of piecing and matching patterns, but it was fun to make.

 I used the 8" x 8" paper stack throughout this album.

Lots of tags a for journaling or photos.

And plain mats for more photos.

All the pages where highlighted with Stickles in a platinum shade.

Red, white, and blue ribbons on the tag tops to keep with the nautical theme.

Used a blue distress ink on all the edges and added a metal buckle with white ribbon to this page

back cover (Sorry about the glare.  Just couldn't get a shot without the reflection.)

I believe I found the layout for this album on Annettes Creative Journey.

Happy Crafting!  

Altered Laser Die Cut Alarm Clock

Today I made a small shabby chic project.  It is an altered clock made from laser die cuts I purchased from Ginasdesign.net.  She has some amazing die cuts. Here is the finished product it measures just about 6 inches top to bottom.

I used a few cuts from Graphic 45's new Gilded Lily paper pack.  Flowers from Wild Orchid, a Tim Holtz crown at the top plus assorted bling and trims from my stash.

These are some the components before I started.

Here is the clock all glued together with the background paper I printed from Pinterest glued in.  I actually glued the background paper in between the back two pieces of the die cut so all my edges would be totally concealed.  Next I painted all the bare parts with Gesso and when it was dry, I used a Tim Holtz distress marker to tint the entire clock pink.  I added two pieces of background paper to the bells on top cut to fit and then started decorating the piece .

The inside and outside edges I covered with cut apart  borders from the Gilded Lily Paper.

 The image of Marie Antoinette is another find on Pinterest that I printed out and highlighted with Glossy Accents and also used some of Rangers Stickles in a couple of places.

Flower detail.

And here is a close up of the top of the piece where I highlighted the raised areas of the crown with Stickles.

It is ready to hang on the wall or tuck into a shabby chic vignette.

Halloween Configuration Box

Fall is in the air and my thoughts turn to Halloween Crafts.  Here a configuration box I recently completed using a single sheet of Graphic 45 Rare Oddities paper.  I added dyed cheese cloth for webs, handmade flowers and little bottles filled with different spices to resemble medicines. Coated all the shiny stuff in the background with Glossy Accents and a few orange rhinestones and a couple of peacock feathers.  Lots of little odds and ends from my stash where used throughout.  The glow that you see between the boxes was created using single strands of peacock feathers glued along the seams.

Detail view of bottles

Top View

Both Sides

Back View