Altered Art for A Vintage Journey

Hello Friends, this is one of two posts today!

This month at A Vintage Journey, the very talented Alison (Butterfly) is asking us to:

  Turn something unloved and unwanted into a piece of art.  Try some re-purposing - make something new out of something old, or incorporate an unwanted object into your artwork.  Think tin cans and jars, old bottles, toothbrushes - the more inventive, the better!

Since it is near one of my favourite times of the year, Halloween, I created a 3D project by re-purposing an old gift box and some match boxes.

The gift box had two compartments which gave me the idea of creating a 'Welsh Dresser' type project.  The matchboxes are from a Tim Holtz die and were the perfect size for my dresser base.  After constructing the matchboxes and gluing them together in pairs of four, I gave all the pieces a good coat of Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Black Soot.

Next I covered the top and bottom of the dresser with some gorgeous Halloween paper, part of Tim's new release, gifted to me by my dear friend Kath Stewart.

I then glued the top part of the dresser to the bottom and it was ready to decorate (my favourite part)!  I have lots of pictures to share....

For the top shelf I created a 'ook of poison, a couple of little jars of potions (Distress Spray Stain filled) and a jar of broken bones.  The 'spells and fortunes' metal word band is from Tim's latest Halloween Idea-ology release, a gift from my lovely friend Jenny (Buttons).  I used Distress Crayon in Spiced Marmalade to highlight the wording and attached it with Tim's new string.

The bottom shelf contains a vase of flowers, using Tim's Thinlits flower die, the dome is from last year's Idea-ology release and the fabulous skulls are part of Tim's latest release.

The book was created with card and some book pages, decorated with an Idea-ology skull charm.

I just had to add the fabulous witch to my scene, she was die cut several times, once in Kraft card to create the face and hands and twice in thick black card so that I could make her 'stand' up.  The fabulous cage is from Tim's Assemblage range, which I love!

Inside the bird cage is a Raven, stamped on (with Tim's new Ravens stamp set - gifted to me by the lovely Jenny) and cut from shrink plastic, he fits perfectly!

To finish off my little scene I die cut and coloured some leaves, in Autumn tones and added a broom and pumpkins,  from Tim's Idea-ology range.

I hope you like my re-purposed gift box and that you will join in the fun over at A Vintage Journey, where my teamies have created the most fantastic projects!

Our sponsor for this month is Simon Says Stamp Store who are offering a fantastic £25 gift voucher to one randomly selected winner!  If you love Tim's Assemblage range but cannot get to a Joann's store (like me!) Simon Says Stamp Store does stock some of the range.

Thanks so much for your visit, I really appreciate it.  I hope you will have a look at my other post   (HERE) too, it contains some wonderful NEWS!!!!

Hugs, Anne xxx

Eileen Hull Journal with Seth Apter

Hello Friends!

I hope you are not getting too tired of seeing journals, I think it is safe to say that Eileen Hull's Journal die is one of my all time favourites - and when I saw Seth Apter's new stamps and paints by Paper Artsy, I thought they would be a marriage made in heaven!

At the end of this post I have added a little tutorial to make a very simple Pocket insert for a Midori sized Journal.  I will post a more complex insert when I post my next Journal.  I will keep the steps for this journal to a minimum - don't want people getting bored!

I started by painting by the journal covers with Paper Artsy paints in Buff, Mahogany and Mud Splat.  I added some Terracotta, along with a little Stone mixed with a tiny drop of White Fire, all applied with a brayer.

I stamped onto Kraft card which was lightly coloured with Buff paint.  I used Ranger Black Archival ink to stamp the large image and the smaller frame piece.  I mounted these onto black card and then Kraft card.  I added some 'screw' brads, a key wrapped in rusty wire and a clear glass Cabochon over the image of the gentleman.

A quick overview of the three signatures I created for the inside, (they still need some stamping to finish them off) using several of Seth's wonderful dies.  I 'rusted' all of the pieces using Imagination Crafts Texture Patina Paint in Rustique and a few dabs of Verdigris - these paints give a wonderful textured rusty surface.

To finish off I added one of Tim Holtz new Assemblage charms, a metal egg timer, (sent to me by my dear and lovely friend Darnell.  It hangs from an Idea-ology hinge clip which I 'rusted' with embossing powder.

So there it is, I hope you enjoyed seeing my latest Journal, I have to admit, I love this one!

I am adding this project to Craft Stamper's Make it Take it Challenge - July - Anything Goes.

Thanks so much for looking, if you want to see the mini tutorial for a Pocket Insert, please keep reading, otherwise I will see you again soon.

Hugs, Anne xx

POCKET INSERT 1 (easy)

1.  Take an A4 (8.1/4" x 11.1/2" approx) sheet of strong card, plain or patterned.  It needs to be able to hold up with the tension of the elastic holder
2. Score on the long side at 4.1/4" and 8.1/2", fold and burnish well with a bone folder
3. On the short fold side, use a circle punch to punch out a finger hole in the middle (see left above)
4. Glue both ends of the short fold to create a pocket (left above)
5. Cut a piece of card 6" x 6.1/2" to create your second pocket
6. Score on the short side at 1/2", 1", 5" and 5.1/2"
7. Score at one end at 1/2"
8. Cut across the corners on both sides at the bottom, see below.  This reduces the bulk and makes the finished pocket look neater.  Cut at an angle to neaten the top if you wish, as shown below

9.   Fold on all score lines, the side needs to be accordion folded, the inside line is mountain        folded  and the outside line needs to be valley folded, see below

10.  Add strong tape or wet glue to the three folded edges and attach to the inside from of the folder

11.   Use a circle punch to create a finger hole 

12.   The finished pocket will be flush at the bottom, the top part will stand proud to give lots of                 storage room (see top picture)  Add to your journal in your chosen way.

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