For my blog post this week I have created an exploding box which holds a minialbum and a little card to write your message on. My box has been created from scratch and the papers I chose to work with are Sir Vagabond Aviator 8x 8 and the co-ordinating 8x 8 background paper packs. All papers were distressed and inked with Vintage Photo Distress Oxide.

To make the base for the project I used 2 sheets of 12 x 12 card stock in a dark brown. For the base score at 4" along all four sides then cut out the corner panels.

 

For the lid cut a square that is 61/8" and then score at 1" along all sides. Cut into the corners and trim as shown in the photograph below:

I have chosen to add some moulds to my make. To make these I chose to work with the Amazing Casting Resin and the following moulds: Aviator Aircraft and New York Building. For the thinner impression mould if you are careful you can cast just parts of the mould so you don't need to waste resin and if you overpour slightly you can demould when the resin is still pliable and trim off any excess with a good pair of scissors. Once I had my pieces I then coloured the pieces from the impression mould with Truffle and Blue Deluxe Pastes but the Emerald that is in stock could just as easily be used as you only need a little. The propeller and dials from the thicker mould were coloured with Antracite Deluxe Paste. 

Once the component pieces were ready I then layered the papers and resin pieces. The first layer of paper was cut at 10cm (just slightly smaller than the 4" base) and adhered straight onto the panel. The second layer was cut at 9.5cm and mounted on scrap cardboard to build dimension before the remaining elements were added on top. Where paper elements were laid overlapping resin pieces they were supported with more scrap cardboard pieces. Finally I added a mix of Burnt Umber and Turquoise Glamour Sparkles but the Blue would work just as well.

I then decorated the box lid with paper panels - for the top inside and outside I cut these at 4" and for the side panels at 7/8" wide by 4" long. On the outside I added some paper elements before adding the propeller and then flowers from my stash before a sprinkle of the same Glamour Sparkles.

 

For the inside lid I cut a belly band and then created a panel 31/2" tall by 7" long scored in half to create a little card.

Before adding anything more than the base piece of paper to the central panel of the inside box I created my album. To do this I cut a strip of blank Craftyboard 31/2" wide along the short length of the panel and then scored at 31/2" from both ends - when scoring I used by blade in my cutter as this does NOT go through the whole thickness of the board but allows the surface to be broken enough for the panels to fold nicely and maintain the integrity of the whole piece. To cover the outside of the Craftyboard I selected one of the fabrics from Sir Vagabond Aviator collection, cut it so it would cover the base and go round to the inside adhering it in place with glue. For the closure of the mini album I used one of the tags from the collection and two tiny magnets covered with circles punched out form the paper so they are hidden when the book is open.

 

The inside of the cover was covered with patterned papers which neaten the edges. Inside the album is a concertina fold. To make this I cut 3 strips of cardstock at 31/4 inches wide scoring at 3/1/4, 61/2 and 93/4 and then cut two of the strips at 10/1/4 so I had flaps to adhere the pieces together. The 3rd strip does not need a flap so was cut at 93/4. Once the long strip was together the edges were inked and 3" panels of decorative papers added - on some I created vertical pockets with 1/1/2" strips of paper and others horizontal pockets. Before adhering the concertina pages in place on the back cover I added a piece of ribbon so that the concertina pages could be held closed.

Having created the album I could then stand this in place and decorate the rest of the bottom of the box with the remaining resin elements, flowers and Glamour Sparkles.

Happy Monday That's Crafty Creatives!

Today I am back with another rusty project, this time a beautiful rusty card using Katzelkraft Winged Butterflies stamp set, 13 Arts Industrial Zone 6x6 papers, the Rusted Metal Kit from DecoArt, the new Uncharted Mariner Embossing Glaze and Distress Oxide from Tim Holtz and the waste MDF bits from the Dinky Art Shrine Kit that I used in a previous post.

I started off with a white card blank measuring 6 inches wide by 8 inches long, and I cut an additional piece of card measuring 2 and a half inches wide by 8 inches long. 

I applied the base colour 'Tin' from the DecoArt Rust set to the long strip, one of the frame shapes from the waste of my Dinky Shrine kit and another mini waste piece that would work for my greeting and let them dry. I then applied a mixture of the 'Clay' and 'Texture Sand' from the kit to various areas of the pieces, again letting them dry. Finally I added a watered down application of the 'Asphaltum' over random areas to create a fabulous rusty texture. 

For the focal point of the card, I stamped the largest butterfly from the Katzelkraft Winged Butterflies stamps onto white card twice, using the gorgeous new Uncharted Mariner Distress Oxide, then embossing them with the matching distress glaze. I coloured the white areas of the two butterflies using the Clay and Asphaltum paints from the Rust kit and cut both out. 

For the mini frame, I cut a piece of the Industrial Zone papers and glued to the back, having first lightly brushed the paper piece with the distress oxide to tie in with the base card. I cut some spare pieces of mountboard I had and layered a couple of strips to the back of the frame, so that it was slightly raised from the surface of the card. I then glued the long strip to the left side of the card and positioned the frame so it overlapped the strip and the base card.

On the back of one of the butterflies, I layered small pieces of scrap mountboard as I had done with the frame to add some depth and stuck this down onto the frame. For the second butterfly, I gently curled the wings back and applied glue just down the body of the butterfly and stuck on top of the first.

Finally I added a greeting from the Industrial Zone cut apart sheet from the 6x6 inch paper pack onto the mini rusty plaque and glued to the bottom right of the card.

A fairly quick project and one to suit men or women for a quirky rusty effect card. Alternatively you could mount this in a frame for a piece of home decor to add to your wall. 

I hope you enjoyed today's project - and remember to have a good look at those 'waste' pieces, as they may just be what you need to finish your project!

Happy Crafting x 

And there you have it, a summer bird tag. If you want to see some Christmas ideas hop on over to the HobbyMaker website and check out yesterday's show.

 

Hello!

I'm here this week with one of the samples I created for the show today at 2pm on HobbyMaker TV which is not to be missed for inspiration to get ahead on those seasonal makes. The perfect way to chill on a warm June day too!

My chosen substrate is the largest size MDF tag from That's Crafty! I used the Snowflake stencil with Holographic Fine Texture Paste to apply a pattern all over the surface.

Once the paste was dry, I misted Aubergine and then Frost Lustre sprays over the tag. This did leave a slight purple tone on the snowflakes but it's very subtle and rather pretty.

I then took some greyboard snowflakes and set about decorating them up to add some bling. I painted them with Pearl Metallic Paint, adding some Metallic Ice Blue and Patina round the outer edges. I then smeared some of the Holographic Paste on the snowflakes. You can see a little of the sparkle in the above photo. I glued them on with 3D glue, necessary because of the uneven surface.

I next stamped the bird and pine branch on smooth white stamping card, using black ink for the bird and dark green for the pine. I coloured the images with markers and cut them out - the branch took a little patience but the trick is to leave a white border which I then coloured green.

I added some more of the holographic paste at the bottom of the tag to look like snow and smudged some Metallic Bronze paint around the edges.

I glued the branch and bird in place with 3D glue and tied some toning ribbon through the top to finish.

Have a great weekend and see you next week.

This week I have deliberately returned to working with a 4" x 20" canvas to demonstrate how you can take a basic design (see Whoever is Happy post) and make it look completely different by altering your materials. I hope that this will encourage people to move from simply copying to adapting projects as a stepping stone for creating with no specific style as I think this is an important part of many creatives crafty journey but one that many find quite difficult to do.

 

For this make I substituted the clay pieces in the original post for resin leaves taken from the Leaves and Pomegranade and Flowers moulds. To cover these I primed the resin with acrylic primer before painting with Advocado and Garden Green paints and let it dry throroughly. The leaves were then distressed with Vintage Patina Turquoise - simply paint on the gel then wipe off the surface leaving the colour in the recesses. I then added a little more Advocado paint using a dry brushing technique to highlight the veins in the leaves and finally lightly dry brushed with white gesso.

Whilst I had my resin out I cast my title piece from the Labels mould, primed it and then painted with Milk White paint before distressing with a custom blend of the turquoise and Dark Blue Vintage Patina and finally dry brushing with a little white gesso.

 

My next step was to arrange my composition - some images are adhered directly to the canvas and others lifted using the resin pieces to support and angle them - in places some cardboard was added for extra stability. the paper flowers were then tucked in place - with some cut in half and tucked poking out from the paper pieces. Finally I watered down some of the Advocado paint and added splashes.

 

 

If you look back through the blog there are a number of different projects made with garden house which I hope show case the versatility of a paper pad from the romantic range of papers and look forward to seeing your makes with it. 

Happy Monday lovely Crafty Folk!

Today's project has been created using my mini concertina book template from That's Crafty! Journal It! Templates Set 4 and the gorgeous new papers from Craft O'Clock - Robots Adventures.

It's a little journal that can sit on your desk or you can pop in your bag and use whenever inspiration comes. 

I started by tracing template 2a (the cover) onto black card and cutting out. I scored all the score lines in the same direction, then folded the end of the cover over on itself and glued with That's Crafty! Multi Purpose Craft Adhesive.

I then used a couple of sheets of the 6x6 Robots papers to cut some mats for the cover, measuring them slightly smaller than each section of the cover. These were then adhered to both sides of the cover with That's Crafty! Adhesive. 

I then took template 2b (inner pages) and traced the two end sections onto 3 sheets of cartridge paper, cut out and folded in half along the middle score line. This created a booklet of 48 pages.

I measured half an inch from both edges of the centre score line and poked out two holes. 

Back to the cover I cut a small strip of Tyvek and adhered it to the centre spine. I then used the holes of the booklet as a guide and poked two holes through the Tyvek - this was used to strengthen the spine as I would be sewing the booklet to the cover (a strip of card would also work here). 

I then stitched the booklet into the cover, starting with the thread on the outside of the cover, then sewing it through the holes inside, then back outside where I tied it into a knot then a bow. 

For the closure, I cut out one of the Robot Tags from the inside cover of the paper pack and glued it onto some mountboard, again cutting around the shape. I then pierced a hole through the top of the tag, then through the top of the cover. I added a decorative brad (or split pin) through the tag and cover, and opened the pin on the inside of the cover to secure.

To cover the legs of the pin and to create a secret pocket on the inside, I cut some of the 6x6 paper and glued 3 sides of it, then positioned this piece over the legs. I added another little tag from the back of the papers' cover and popped it in the little pocket. 

And there we have it! A quirky little bitty journal, with a fab little robot tag closure and a secret pocket to boot!

I hope you enjoyed this and get tempted to have a go yourself. Happy Crafting!