I made this frame to hold a picture I love of my grandparents. I pulled the red and black from my Grandpa's jacket (eek!) and picked out these papers from American Crafts. I put several coats of spray gloss over the frame not only to protect it, but I also really liked the shine to it for this project. I used felt flowers from American Crafts and added black Stickles (Ranger) to dress them up a bit and glitter brads from Making Memories for the centers. 
I made this to keep some of my crafty supplies close at hand. I honestly have so much stuff that I will forget about it if it's not in front of me so this is my solution. Here I can keep a selection of rubons, stickers, and other similarly packaged embellishments handy. I left slots for seasonal, new, and favorites. This piece is actually pretty darned big (24 inches high) so it will fit a lot of goodies. It's freestanding, however could be mounted to the wall as well and cup hooks added to the bottom to hang even more. If I had wall space, I would, lol! The piece was originally just a craft store unfinished wood piece. Glossy spray paint is your friend when working with big items like this! It REALLY didn' photograph well, but the top edge and all the front edges are actually covered in black ribbon with white polka dots (if you click on the pictures to see the gigantic version you can see the ribbon) . The papers I used are from EK's Arte Blanche line - they come 3 to a pack on nice, big rolls. This happens to be my favorite set - just love all the swirlies! The flowers at the top...well they will probably come off. I just don't know that I like them there. The labels on each bin are done with Heidi Swapp chipboard letters.
I'm so glad I picked up the collection pack for Basic Grey's Archaic line. I really have enjoyed using it over and over! This was a little box I altered for my son to put his little rock collection in. Just a simple $1 wooden box from Michael's and now I can (cough, hopefully...) stop finding his little rocks here, there and everywhere in my house! I love the little dirt/worms/rocks sticker and thought it would probably be a good idea to use the arrow pointing to rocks to keep Michael from deciding it would be ok to bring in dirt and worms as well. We'll see!
The countdown to CHA, that is! In exactly a week I will be arriving in Chicago (I'll be driving so leaving VERY early next Friday morning) for a few days of pure bliss! I've been to a lot of these shows but this will be my first NOT going as a buyer but as a member of the press (I'll be going with Scrapbook News + Review). I don't know yet what to expect from this new role but I'm definitely so excited to see all the new goodies, catch up with old friends, and just be in a totally creative atmosphere for a few days!
And speaking of Scrapbook News + Review, we are looking for submissions for our August issue! You can find the main calls here. Several of the departments have separate calls now as well, including mine! Have I mentioned yet that I'll be coordinating the newly re-vamped "Altered Art and Home Dec" section? :) I'm so excited about the future plans for this section! And I'd love to see your work for it! Here is what we're looking for:
Artful Rooms - We're looking for items you have altered for your kitchen - utensil holders, spice racks, kitchen art, altered cookie sheets and cutting boards...anything you can put in your kitchen!
Options - Time to see how you keep your household on time! We're looking for a wide variety of altered clocks - any style - what makes YOU tick?
Seasonal - We're looking for items altered with summer or beach themes.
Wearables - We'd love to see anything made with scrapping supplies that can be worn (totes/purses count) - jewelry, shoes (would love to see some flip flops!), etc.
ATC's - Show us your favorite ATC's for a new ATC gallery feature!
Call Guidelines Please submit your projects with the following guidelines: - Of any size - No restrictions on whether it has been posted to an online gallery, blog, etc., but we respectfully request that you take them down when requested for publication. Submit to jfranklin@scrapbooknewsandreview.com Deadline: July 31, 2008
I hope to see some of your work!!!
In the meantime, I'll leave you with one of the projects I had in the June issue - an altered wooden gift bag I made for my dad. I'm so in love with Basic Grey's Archaic line! I also used leather trim on this and clipped off the backs of some brads to just glue them on. The chipboard letters are 1.5" Prim & Proper font from Zsiage hammered with the Tim Holtz texture hammer then inked and swiped with gold and covered in Glossy Accents. Click on the picture to see the mega version and the details! 
Let me know if you'll be at CHA too! I'd love to be on the lookout for you! :)
I'm immersing myself in actual scrapbooking this weekend (now don't faint, please!)! Yes, scrapbooking with my scrapbooking supplies - who knew. Anyways, hanging out at the Ice Cream Social online crop at Scrapperie. Most of the challenges are for actual scrapbook pages so I'm going to try to get some done. Of course, I've already finished the ONE challenge for an altered item so I'll share, lol!
I had cats when I was younger and one of them liked going on jaunts in the backyard on a leash. Sooo, I picked up one for Max. Now understand, while my cat spends all his waking hours (all two per day, maybe?) running from window to window meowing and fretting. He has escaped maybe 3 times and seriously freaks out for some reason when he gets outside. Yes, my kitty is terrified of the outside world that fascinates him as long as he's safely inside. So no, the leash was NOT a successful experiment. But it was sitting here...so I decided to alter it. And make a hanger so I could hang it up permanently. The hanger went MUCH quicker than the leash itself - probably only 10-15 minutes of hands on time. Bo Bunny paper, Prima flowers, glittery brads from Making Memories, and glittery chipboard letters from Scrapworks. I used the Crop-a-dile to punch the holes and set the eyelets in the leash. I wish I'd not put them so cose together (aka there were WAY too many, lol, and the Crop-a-dile is not comfortable for me with that much use at once). Also, if you want to eyelet a leash, try a leather one instead. This woven thing did NOT like holes being punched in it (frayed all over the place - the back is a disaster, lol).
I think Max needs a new collar. Hmmmm...
I apologize for the underlining, I have no idea how I made it do that or how to un-do it! Anyone experienced with Blogger who can tell me how to fix this?
I picked up this little truck birdhouse from Michael's for my son. I had him pick out the papers and he decided on these beachy papers from Creative Imaginations. Probably not what I would have done with a truck, but he seems to like it! I thought the little "mobile home" effect was rather cute though! 
This was in the May issue of Scrapbook News + Review. It's a recipe box I altered to make a little treasure box for my son, who is continually starting up new "collections". I used the Cogsmo line from Cosmo Cricket, which I think is just such a fun line! I also used an old Making Memories ribbon slide with some ribbon poking out from the sides. Not much to it - it went pretty fast and I think it currently holds excess lego pieces...
Remember the frame I made a while back using the daisy paper from Imaginesence? I came across the scraps from that paper and realized I had enough to do up a little birdhouse to match.
The small design really worked well with my tiny birdhouses! The reverse side made a perfect roof as well. I went a little nuts again with the Scribbles, dotting everything in sight. I also pulled out some chipboard flowers from American Crafts (dotted with Scribbles, lol) and some Rhinestone elements from Heidi Swapp I got in the card kit from Memories from the Attic (I won this from a drawing on Scrapscene!).
Totally simple and totally makes me smile!
Well, today was the last day of 1st grade for my son, Michael! He's been ready for his 6-week summer break for about a month now, lol!
I had originally planned on making another frame for Michael's teacher, similar to the one I made for his kindergarten teacher last year (here), but Michael insisted that I do a birdhouse for her instead (I've got him addicted too, lol!). Since his school loops their teachers two years in a row, I can always make her a frame next year.
So I asked him what her favorite color was - of course he didn't know, but he did say she wore red a lot. Sooo, I picked out a couple of coordinating papers from My Mind's Eye's Tres Jolie line that featured a pretty shade of red. The manila paint from Making Memories happened to go nicely, so I used that for my base. I wanted to keep it fairly simple, so the only decoration I used was the Prima flowers, with dimensional paint from PSX for the centers. I just kept looking at those x's and decided some understated bling was in order, so used a clear glitter pen from Sakura for the centers there. Just the right amount of sparkle!
On a funny note...the Beacon's 3-in-1 glue I use has a tendency to occasionally bubble. Usually it's easily noticeable and quick to just pop with a needle tool or my fingernail. However when i attached the birds to this one, apparently I didn't notice a bubble. It wasn't until I went to photograph it zoomed in that I saw the hardened bubble...yup, right under the top bird's rump! It was comical, but I decided my son's poor teacher didn't need to see the birdie doing it's thing, lol! So there's a little excess clear glue under there, but at least it's no longer a big obvious (how did I not see it??) bubble anymore!
I've had this very uncharacteristic obsession with pink this year. I've really never been a pink kind of girl, but for some reason I keep picking it up lately! I had this little heart-shaped wall hook from Hobby Lobby ($1, of course!) sitting in one of my boxes of "toys to be altered" and thought I'd whip up something quick. Well, I went a tiny bit overboard on this little project so it wasn't as quick, but not including drying time (which was a LOT, lol) it was still under an hour hands on, so not too bad.
First I base coated the hook with Strawberries and Cream (AKA Pepto Bismol pink) from Making Memories. I had picked up these two coordinating pieces of paper from Stemma and thought they would be really cute layered together on this. So I started with the white piece for the heart and covered several chipboard flowers from Creekbank Creations with the black. I had also covered the center pieces for the flowers as well, but ended up going a little overboard with Duncan products instead!
I outlined the flowers with a white Souffle pen from Sakura, then started adding dots everywhere with watermelon Scribbles. I ended up filling in the centers of the flowers with the Scribbles, then when those were dry still wasn't totally sold on it so added glittering crystal Scribbles over the top of that. Some more dots, a flower cut from the paper and Mod Podged onto the hook itself, and I now have a really girly, really busy little hook that I actually have no plan for, lol, except that it's cute! Luckily I have two little girls who live next door...who love all things girly and pink and flowery and glittery...
This is a clock I made from a scrapbook layout sketch for the first issue of Scrapbook News + Review. A lot of sketches really lend themselves well to altered items, whether you use pictures or not. For this one, I happened to use pictures, but I could have just as easily made each of the blocks just a coordinating piece of patterned paper, a quote, whatever works for the piece.
I started with an unfinished window frame from Walnut Hollow. It actually changed color a couple of times and got crackled before I ended up with what I was looking for. The window frames will fit a 12x12 piece of paper behind it exactly but I decided to use a piece of acrylic for the backing. Then I used a 6x6 piece of the same acrylic on the front of the frame to add my clockworks stuff to.
To add the clockworks itself (also from Walnut Hollow), I had to drill through both acrylic pieces and the window frame. With a large hole. This was NOT easy (if you've got someone handy with tools who knows of the proper drill bit to use, ASK THEM for help!!) and I definitely have to put the PSA out there to wear eye protection!! In retrospect, it would have probably been easier to use a blade and taken the time to carve out the holes that way (except in the wood frame - that took a drill just fine). Other tips - make sure you use a piece of scrap wood behind the acrylic when you drill. I also used a couple of pieces of masking tape in an "x" over the drill hole as a guide and also to help keep the acrylic from splintering as badly and flying everywhere. Kind of. Pretty sure a different drill bit would have helped, but I used what I had.
From there it was easy sailing. I used tiny screws to attach the back piece of acrylic. I made guide holes for the screws using my trusty Forster hand drill (see the bottom of this post for more info on this handy tool!). The hand drill and it's tiny hole went through the acrylic beautifully. I then matted each of the photos on coordinating pieces of patterned paper from My Mind's Eye and edged everything with a copper leafing pen (Krylon) and arranged them according to the sketch. I also edged the 6x6" piece of acrylic and used the leafing pen to color my clock hands and stamp the word Memories onto another piece of edged paper from MME.
I set up the center 6x6" acrylic piece and used the clockworks to secure it into place (with some more adhesive behind that piece of pattered paper as well, just to be sure it wouldn't turn since the clockworks is like a big screw). I used some old decorative brads from Making Memories with the prongs clipped off as my clock "numbers" and set them by turning the clock hands to find the right placement. I love the way it looks against my gold walls in my living room!!
This was the third custom birdhouse I created for a friend to give as a Mother's Day gift. She had asked for a Southwest theme, which I immediately pictured in my head, but could not for the life of me find ANYTHING that would bring my picture to life. Seriously - cowboy is everywhere, but nothing in those gorgeous Aztec-type designs I was thinking of. So instead, I googled southwest houses and after looking through tons of beautiful stucco houses, revised my vision and took a new path for this birdhouse.
I started with some old My Mind's Eye paper that had a stucco-like look. I pulled the brick red color for the roof from another common theme I'd seen in my "house hunting" (man, did I ever want to move, lol!). I did attempt the wavy roof, but didn't like the way it came out so stuck with a flat roof and went another direction.
I found this leather trim in my stash and started trimming out the rooflines and bottom of the birdhouse. Gotta admit - I really loved this look! Then on to decorating.
I knew I wanted cactus. However, like the southwest designs, cactus just isn't "big" right now...at least not in Central Illinois! I found a couple of EK's Jolee's that had some cactus included, but they looked completely cheesy. Not what I wanted at all! It suddenly hit me that I could repeat something I'd done years ago. A little unorthodox, but those cactus are REAL! Years ago, I helped decorate a dollhouse for a guy I was dating's little sister. We used real cactus and they survived forever - even in the hands of a 5 year old! If you look at some of the small cactus plants you find in grocery stores, Walmart, etc. (I got these at Lowe's), they grow by "budding". I took these tiny wooden flower pots (painted and sealed for waterproofing) and added just a tiny bit of dirt, then a tiny bud off of one of my cacti (which I bought to discourage my cat to avoid chewing on my plants...seems to be a lesson he's learning!). One of the full size plants had these lovely yellow blooms (look carefully - most of those "blooming" cacti actually have their blooms glued on!!!). So I recreated the look with tiny yellow Prima's folded and scrunched and then glued on. I sent along instructions that they'd need just a drop or two of water every 10 days or so. I used a Bazzill coaster as a base for this one as I didn't trust having the pots just glued from the sides so they're glued to the base instead.
It's a totally different look than my original vision, but I was still pleased with how it came out - my interpretation of southwest architecture!
This was a spinoff of the adorable butterfly collages showing up everywhere using the Martha Stewart punch. I didn't have the punch (but I do now - woohoo!) so I just grabbed a circle punch and a pad of Daisy D's papers. This was soooo quick! It gave me a place to store some coasters on a table in my living room that was looking bare, and the colors were perfect. The shadowbox with drawer is from EK, as was the circle punch (1 3/8"). They are mounted on 1/4" pop dots. 
On a side note, I have five baby bunnies living in my yard who seem to have been abandoned. They are soooo sweet and allow themselves to be petted, picked up, and photographed, lol! They are still awfully tiny and can't be very old. Anyone know if they're going to be Ok without their mother? She hasn't been around in over a week (which makes me think she may have met with an accident) and the bunnies usually separate during the day then you can find them at night all huddled together..in the middle of my yard, lol! There were originally six but their first nest was right next to the road...you can guess what happened. Is there anything I can do for them or will they be ok on their own?
Isn't he sweet!!!
This was another one of the birdhouses I was commissioned to make for a friend to give as a Mother's Day gift. I have to admit, this is my new alltime favorite one I've made! I love how the colors came together and the little basket and hat were so fun to play with!
The paper is from Daisy D's. Flowers from Prima. Mini buttons are mixed from Making Memories and Dress It Up. The paint is also Making Memories. The basket and hat are from Darice. I also used Glossy Accents to seal the wire "stems" into the basket.
I am so in love with Basic Grey's new Archaic line! To be honest, when I first saw the previews online, I just wasn't feeling it. It wasn't until I saw it in person that I found myself wanting every single piece, lol!
My first birdhouse without a resident birdie, but I decided the the little dinosaurs I cut from one of the papers (were just too cute not to use instead. All I used were a few pieces of paper (with lots of scraps left over) and a couple of pieces of the border stickers from the sticker sheet (the overhangs in front and back). This paper was so fun and it was quite enough all by itself. The palm trees are also cut from the piece of paper the dino's came from. My son begged and begged for this one, so it's happily sitting in his room....but I think I need to make another one for MY collection!
I just can't seem to resist the sparkly stuff here lately! I found this daisy paper with glitter from Imaginescence and just HAD to make something with it! Used one of the $1 wood frames from Michael's simply painted white. Of course, the glitter of the paper wasn't enough, so I edged the whole frame with glittering crystal Scribbles, then added little iridescent yellow flower sequins around the inside edge. A few layered flowers from Bazzill, some more sequins, then more Scribbles in the center of each of the flower sequins. It went really quickly. Maybe 20 minutes to DO, then overnight to dry. Now I've got to drag Michael out and get a nice spring-like photo to put in it for Grandma (who loves daisies)!
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