Valentine Treasure Box

Hi there - Teresa here bringing you a Valentine's day project with an old world vintage feel to it.

I wanted to design something that could hang on a wall year round, and something that wasn't necessarily girly.  This is what I came up with:

Read on for step by step instructions:

The Shadow Box can be found here : Shadow Box

Step 1
Paint any areas of the Twiddleybitz shadow box you don't intend to cover with paper. I have used a deliciously vintage purple colour of Fresco Finish acrylic called Squid Ink here, and applied with with a sponge:

Step 2
Cover the front frame of the shadow box with paper. I have used Paper Artsy's Thorndon Hall paper pack:

 

Step 3

To give the frame more texture, I mixed some of the Squid Ink with Grunge Paste and applied it through a Brocade stencil:

Step 4
Once dry, I applied some Treasure Gold and buffed with a soft cloth:

Step 5
I used the Brocade stencil again to sponge some gold ink onto the backboard of the shadow box. I just did the edges because that's all that will be visible when complete:

Step 6
It's then a matter of stacking some papers to create dimension. I have mixed some Squid Ink paint with water in a Mini Mister to create my own spray, and used this to alter some of the papers:

 

Here I have used some heart shaped Spellbinders dies and some gauze to create a central focus:

Then I added a key cut from some of the patterned paper in the pack with ribbons tied around it, and then added some gold tassel trim:

Step 7
The finishing touches included:

A flourish cut from chipboard with a Sizzix die and some chicken wire coloured with Butterscotch alcohol ink, and some sticker alphabet stickers:

A couple of little corked bottles and a rolled up 'letter':

and lastly a tattered flower made from the sprayed patterned paper:

I hope you've enjoyed my vintage love project!

Password Journal

Hello Everyone from Joan 

This is very simple bookbinding that was prompted by my different passwords for so many things.  I was sick of resetting them, so I have been meaning to do make one of these for ages.

All the products used in this project can be found here:

www.crafterscupboard.com.au

Journal

Firstly, I decided what sort of size I needed for this password book.  I found an easy template to use that would be not too big – about A5 so I could print off the template for the middle pages in A4 and then fold in half. Thanks to http://serialcrafting.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/password-organizer.html for the template.

I then trimmed the pages down to fit my desired size – approx. 2cm off both ends and 1cm off both sides.

I decided that the easiest way to bind the cover and pages together would be to do a simple 5 hole pamphlet stitch.  You can check this link out http://www.designsponge.com/2013/03/bookbinding-101-five-hole-pamphlet-stitch.html

I measured up 5 holes evenly across the cover using a paper ruler and then lined it up on the pages from the inside. 

I then pushed an awl through the hole lot (5 times).  I threaded some crochet cotton double and I entered from the centre – I wanted some beads on the outside. If you want the knot not to show on the outside, start from the inside. I secured the knot at the end making sure that the stitches were firm but not tight.

Cover.

I just couldn’t help myself (they were burning a hole) so I had to use the Paper Artsy Eclectica stamps (Darcy series 1).   I sprayed some Dylusions dyes (bubblegum pink, white linen, sunshine & black marble). I coloured in the leaves around the heart and the zipper tag with Wink of Stella pens. Because I had to use the zippered heart I then fancied a stencil skeleton as they go together anatomically (TCW), and then I scraped through some black glitter paste.

I layered the heart as it became lost behind the skeleton, cut along and curled the “torn” line.  I then layered and mounted this to the Password Journal. 

 I now just need to fill it in all the pages with my passwords.Hope you all enjoy this project as much as I did!

Until next time,

Joan

Fun with Glitter Paste

Happy New Year to all! Teresa here with some ideas on what to do with a fantastic product called GlitzCraft Glitter Paste.

The first thing you need to know about it is that is by far and away the CLEANEST way to have glitter end up on your project! It's a paste (as you can tell from the name), which means it doesn't end up all over your workspace, in your hair, clothes and all over your face. It's also fast drying - fantastic for impatient crafters like me!

Being a paste, it is wonderfully easy to apply through a stencil.  Here is the Silver Glitter Paste on black cardstock using a palette knife through the Silhouette Script stencil:

You can see it goes on lovely and thick to give an opaque finish. The edges are also sharp and neat.

  

The next project is a tag:

I applied Dusty Pink Glitter Paste through the Circle Explosion stencil in the background. I then used a thin paint brush to apply Coral Glitter Paste on the spaces in the letters of this Darkroom Door Journey stamp.

I then grabbed a chipboard flower and applied glitter paste leaving a rough 'heaped' look:

The last thing I did to this tag was rub some Glitter Paste onto some cotton lace. It adhered really well, and dried with some flexibility so it didn't flake off when I stitched the lace to the card on my sewing machine:

I wanted to see how this product performed on acetate - I must say I was impressed! Here's a card with an acetate front:

I applied the Glitter Paste through the Fancy Feathers stencil, and not only did it adhere well, I was impressed at the sharpness of the images:

This product is fantastic:

- easy and neat to apply
- easy to clean up (it all washes out in water before it's dry)
- gives sharp images though stencils
- can be used in a variety of ways
- dries quickly (I'm talking two minutes! Even faster with a heat gun!)
- comes in a wide variety of colours

You can see Crafters Cupboard's full range here. This product is a wonderful addition to your mixed media arsenal.

Thanks for dropping by today!