Gizza sweet. Girl's from the Black Stuff?

This piece is for two challenges.

Alter It monthly for October. Which is "To spook or not to spook".  I've altered a box that held my wrinkle cream into a Halloween treat container. So it's almost turns your wrinkles into sweets doesn't it? What could be nicer.

and

Stampotique Designers Challenge. SDC#17. Treat Container.
I was really hoping that whatever challenge #17 was going to be I would be able to enter Moth Fab in layers.
But it was not to be.
Although Moth Fab could possibly be considered as being a treat container herself in her underwear, I thought you might throw things at me for my audacity, so I made something else instead.
Although if I was sure it would be Cathedral City Cheese that you threw I would have entered her. Mmm cheese.

This time last year I would not have anything to do with Halloween Art and I am really a bit amazed that I made this.
I was made bold by Kaz's journal page called Naughty Weasel, as she has made this rather sick but completely brilliantly funny piece over on the Stampotique Designer's blog do go have a look if you dare!
 I did and I'm a real scare-dee cat when it comes to spooky things but this is more funny psychotic than spooky.
I say that as if funny psychotic is better somehow, which means I need to review my medication ;-)

So I came up with a rather gory Treat Container all splattered in fake blood courtesy of Dylusions Post Box red spray ink.
I did add lots of gold mica for shininess, so that makes it alright doesn't it?
( The gold mica doesn't show up in the photo's because if I added any shiny shots this post would stretch all the way to China.)

Gizza sweet. Girl's from the Black Stuff?

Click on any picture to make it bigger.

Seeing as there is the expression "Get your craft on" I thought that maybe we could
 "Get yer creep on" for Halloween?
Maybe not, seeing as I'm no trendsetter and I'm ever so grateful I am not responsible for such heinous expressions as "pushing the envelop" or "thinking out of the box" that do the nauseating rounds through large corporations until some other bright spark comes up with another even better heinous expression that everyone can run around spouting or sprouting even.

Top of the box.
Which actually means the top of the box, and not some wank.
(Sorry Mum but I really feel it was merited on this occasion.)

Open box.

One Side of the box

The other side of the box

Front of the box

Back of the box

Inside of the Box is Heart Throb who has a most unfortunate dribble of red ink on his brainbox that looks like a pickaxe was recently removed.
 Notice the lovely blue tissue paper lining for all those lovely Halloween treats such as Eye of Newt and Chunks of Spleen, which are selling like hot cakes in Asda this week.

This is the box before altering.

Stamps used were Stampotique.
The Ladies: Clover, Muffin, Jeepers and Miss Snottie.
The Boys: Heart Throb, Smile and Mort has a pin curl.

Now I have been tardy in the last few posts and not said how I made it.
This is going to be an awfully long post if I do one now so briefly with the main points only.

I used Reeves Black acrylic which is a soft sheen acrylic which has a very dense coverage and an ability to stick to a fairly shiny surface without the need for Gesso, so is perfect for a bit of altered art but not very good for writing on if you were to use it on a journal page. You would do better with a matt acrylic that pens can write on easily for journaling. (My opinion only.)
I used black stazon ink for the stamping because of the gold mica sprayed on the card and I thought it was guaranteed to adhere because it's Stazon. Mmm almonds.
The tissue paper was glued on with Golden Gel Medium around the top of the box only.
Gel medium is your fall back glue for Altered art.
If it wasn't so expensive to buy in the UK I would use it much more often as it will stick most things together and dries within seconds and thereby defies gravity.
These two properties make it an absolute must for a place in your glue arsenal if you like altering things.
Just to clarify, you don't need Golden Gel Medium if you want to alter your hair colour, you need a hair dye for that which is something else entirely.

So get yer happy creative creep on (or not) this week folks!
Gini
xx

Alter It Monthly Challenge. July 2010, Home Sweet Home - Flora's Round House

I recently found a new altered art challenge site that is monthly - whoohoo!
You can find it here. They also have a prize up for grabs, which always helps as an incentive.

I made another round house for a very special friend's birthday, the fantabulous card making Sylvia.
Happy birthday to you!

This is Flora by Evelyn De Morgan which is Sylvia's favourite Pre Raphaelite painting.

Now by my reckoning Flora has been standing barefoot in the garden for 116 years so I thought it was about time someone let her in a house to warm up her toes and maybe take a bath.

Click on the picture to make it bigger so you can see some of the glamour dust sparkle.

The interior and shutters are a gentle antique red not the raging RED that appears in the above photo.
I have got the colour better in this next photo. (I couldn't improve it in photo shop any further not with my limited skills anyway, oh dear.)

The house started out life as a 500 gram container of coffeemate.
Dimensions are:
Diameter 4".
Height of container 5.5", roof is extra on top.

I got the idea for the shutters from an article by Gail Milburn on page 72 of February 2009 Edition of Craft Stamper.


How to make it.

The first thing to consider is that it is much easier to gesso and then decorate by painting one of these.
If you want to wallpaper one, then you must be prepared to measure accurately in order to get a nice finish and expect a fair amount of cursing whilst you're doing it.
Once you've made your first one and made all your mistakes with that one it'll be plain sailing on all future ones! I'll show you my first one in a minute so you can laugh at it.

First of all decide what image (if any) is going to lean out of your window.
Size the image by measuring the height of your tin and allow for an inch or so of headroom in the container otherwise your head will get partially hidden under the overhang of the roof.
Once you have printed out your image, then you can decide on the width and the height of the window and how far up the tin the windowsill needs to start to suit your image.
(Next time I make one I'll take photos as I go along, because it is much easier to see how this goes together that way.)
Cut out your window and divided it into two shutters.
Decide whether you want the shutters to sit concave or convex against the sides of the house.
Mine sit concave because it is easier to glue the shutters open that way .
There is another way to do this that I use and I'll explain later.
Then label each shutter Left and Right so you don't get in a muddle with them.

To attach the shutter to the house cut a rectangular piece of card  that measures the height of the shutters and is about 1.5" wide.
Fold in half lengthways.
Glue one half of the rectangle to the side of the shutter that will sit  flush with the house.
Then wallpaper and decorate the shutter completely before you stick it onto the house.
I used the strong double sided tape (red backed) for all my wallpapering.
Your wallpaper can be designer card or paper, either will work fine.
Alternatively you could use gel medium as a glue.
Or if you want a bit of wiggle room then use white PVA but this would be my last chioce of glues for this project.

Then wallpaper the inside of the house.
When you have a window you don't need to glue the wallpaper down, if you have cut it accurately it will stay in place all on it's own as if by shiny magic.
You then stick the shutters onto the side of the house and then wallpaper the outside of the house.
I glued the shutters back in place with strong white PVA and used pegs to hold the shutters open while the glue dried.
For instructions on how to measure everything and how to glue the beads on and make the roof see this post that gave instructions for making this shell house.

The only difference is that on Flora's roof I glued punched out flowers around the bottom of the roof and if you decide to do this you need to make a circular band of card that will sit on the lip of the tin to raise the roof up enough to allow for the roof decorations to sit correctly.

I also used Tim Holtz grungeboard flourishes that I first painted in a bright green acrylic then I used my finger to apply two different shades of metallic green in a random way. Glued them on with glossy accents.
I also added some pearls and bling, lots and lots of glamour dust to the flowers using a Sakura Quickie glue pen.

The butterflies are Anita's Fairy Wings dimensional butterflies with the awful fugly silver holographic edge cut off.
Now as you know I am partial to a bit of shiny, but these butterflies are delicate woodland shades of brown and the very last thing they need is cheap and ugly silver holographic crap on them. So I used my tiny scissors and cut it all off. Off with the shiny! Never thought I would be saying that. Ever.

So onto my very first piece of 3 dimensional art and my first round house.
I did this one with two windows, one front and one back as it were.
I held the shutters open by tying the two shutters, one from each window, together with fancy yarn.
This is a T Rex shrine that I made for Himself as a Valentines present in 2009.
Okay you can start laughing now,
it's very heartening to me to see how I've improved in just over a year.
The photo's are abysmal quality as well which make matters worse.

Okay stop laughing now or I'll cry.

I am behind on visiting everyone and will try and remedy that shortly.

Happy creating!
Gini
xx

Gingersnap Creations GC46: Frosting. Run aground in a sea of starlight frosting.

Seeing as we have all this wonderful technology shall we try out putting this story to music and listening and well as seeing the pictures and words. (But not in a video, more like a very short amateurish Jackanory.)
I enjoyed this but then it's all very vivid in my head, and you might think otherwise.
We can but try.

When we rush we can savour nothing.
And I would like to savour this creative life we have.

Take a deep breath.
Maybe do a little spin on your computer chair to shake out the kinks.
Now let's focus our attention together.

Open an additional browser tab and play this song Star of Wonder by Tori Amos through youtube (or you can also find it on Spotify if you are a member).

Come on a little journey with me.

6 birdies are going on an adventure.
They are leaving behind their circus act.
They have packed up the big tent and put their hopes and dreams under their wings,
cast off and set sail.

They are travelling far far away across the sea.
A burning desire is a fire lighting their blood.
They are searching for a star.
"A star of wonder
Star of night
Star of royal beauty bright
Westward leading still proceeding
A star"

It is dark, so very dark and they are tired.
But they are resolute.
They are steadfast.
They have heard whispers they have captured and locked in their hearts.

"Some say a star will rise again
In the hearts of humankind
Some say we have been in exile
What we need is solar fire"

Suddenly their is an enormous grating sound.
Oh no!
Run aground?

The clouds suddenly part and starlight pours through.
They are surrounded by a sea of starlight frosting, glistening all around them.
"Star of Wonder
Star of night
Star of royal beauty bright."







Click on the pictures to make them bigger.

I am sure those birdies find all their little hearts desires.
Didn't Tori sing that beautifully?

This is my first go at the Gingersnap Creations Challenge.
I am so glad to have found another monthly challenge blog.
I like the extra thinking time it gives me.

I didn't deliberately have a religious theme in mind when I started planning this, it was just that the song "Star of Wonder" seemed to fit this little scene perfectly, and it is Easter.

I will be Missing In Action or Absent Without Leave depending on your point of view until 19 April.
If you are kind enough to leave a comment or you email me, I will get back to you 19 April or shortly thereafter. :-)

Happy Easter my lovelies and may our hearts always be open enough to experience Wonder.

Gini
xx

ABAA A story in a box. Challenge September 2009. Incey Wincey Spider.

It was foolish of me to say to Linda that if she did a Spider challenge I couldn't wouldn't play.
Now I should know better than to say things like that, because I'm contrary enough to prove myself wrong.
Thankfully common sense can prevail with me, like when I gracefully declined to take up the dare to grow a willy.

I have arachnophobia that varies in intensity depending on how many big uns I've seen lately and also how much therapy (I use the term loosely) I have had recently.

When this challenge was posted I thought "oh good just my cup of tea"
as I see a story in every piece of art whether it wants one or not.

Then, when I started thinking about it, I thought I would do one of my favourite books "The Little Prince" by Antoine De Saint-Exupery. A marvellous heart warming, heart wrenching then heart warming again book . He also did the loveliest illustrations for it.
I saw a secret or featured e mail, can't remember which now, on post secret where someone said they had had a very expensive school and university education but everything worth knowing they learnt from reading "The Little Prince".

But Mary, Mary quite contrary was saying do a spider in a box.

So I ignored her and carried on with planning The Little Prince and thinking that alternatively I could do another favourite "Welcome to Temptation" by Jennifer Crusie, although I have already done this one as a postcard so it wouldn't really be a challenge.

Mary Mary by this time was getting louder, do a spider in a very small box, because small is hard for you, a spider, a spider in a matchbox, do it, do it!

So the next three weeks past.
The Little Prince VS Spider in a Matchbox, and I had not even picked up the glitter glue to make a start.

Then one morning I woke up and thought OK the only spider I can do has to be very small and shiny. So Incey Wincey Spider came into being.

Click on the pictures to make then bigger.

This is the fit in your pocket matchbox which makes ATC's look enormous.
This is the front and inside the drawer.




In the Land of Shiny even drainpipes sparkle!

On the back I wrote the verse.



I put a brad through the end of the draw and turned the pronged bits over making sure I left a space between the head of the brad and the edge of the drawer so fingernails can grip and pull the drawer open. To keep the brad in that standing proud position I used my favourite welding glue Anita's 3D clear gloss finish to hold the bent brad prongs in place on the inside of the drawer. Then I stuck a panel of card over the top of the glued prongs with double sided tape.




Making spiders cute and sparkly has taught me that even ones worst nightmares can be made shiny. So I wrote on the bottom of the drawer "All fears can be made shiny".



How I made it.
I used the matchbox itself as a template to draw out each flat side. I didn't fold around any sides with card, each side had it's own rectangle of card.
(I do have other papers but can't get enough of this DCWV Pocket full of Posies card.)
For sticking inside the drawer I used double sided tape. Decorate the inside card before assembling.
The outside pieces I glued with white PVA, because it dries slowly it gives plenty of time to slide each card panel into just the right place. Golden gel medium would have dried quicker but once it's positioned it won't budge, so there is no room for fine adjustments.
The two long outside edges and the outside bottom of the draw I painted with metallic acrylics.

Happy crafting everyone!

Edited to add:-

Linda's post told the sad story of Pia de Tolomei.

Linda said "Pia de' Tolomei who had been imprisoned in a fortress in Maremma (Tuscany).
Ghino has fallen in love with Pia, wife of his cousin Nello. When she refuses his love, in revenge Ghino informs Nello that he has discovered a secret message proving that Pia is having an adulterous relationship. This is untrue but Nello imprisons his wife and leaves her to die. "


I don't like sad endings so I'm changing it.

Send Nello my way and I'll glitter glue him into submission and sense. If he proves recalcitrant I will bring out the big guns in the form of embossing powders and "The Heat Tool".
The shiny way will prevail.
(Oh the irony - I'll torture you into a shiny happy person!)
Once he has seen the shiny light he can go rescue Pia and spend the rest of his life making it up to her in many romantic and ever increasingly inventive and novel ways.
Ghino can stand in the corner facing the wall for a very long time, we'll let Pia decide when he can come out of the corner.
Ghino having had plenty of time to reflect on the error of his ways made reparation for his cruelty by becoming a highly successful and adept matchmaker. The world is now full of happy couples who all have a little shrine on their mantelpiece dedicated to Ghino the Marvelous Matchmaker.
And they all lived happily ever after.
## Ta Da ##
Shiny happy ending :-)

Epilogue
The fortress in Maremma has been transformed and is now a remarkably popular crafting retreat. The tower in which Pia was held is now used as a wailing arena where everyone can vent their crafting and glueing woes.

ABAA Shell Challenge June 2009, Ferdinand's Flotsam and Jetsam Emporium

Hooray, all's well that ends well, Ferdinand is safe and well and living in Clacton on Sea!
Evangeline WILL be pleased!!!
His new Emporium and boundless charm are drawing the crowds like a magnet.
I'm sure all the Lady Birds will flock to see Ferdinand's shiny bits.
Click on the pictures to see them bigger.


I was so pleased when this months challenge was Shells, there is just something so elemental about shells and seaside paraphernalia that appeals to, and delights just about everyone isn't there?
I have wanted something like this since I was a girl, I don't live close to the sea any more and I do so miss it.
This started off life as a 1 kg tin of coffeemate.




How I made it.
After I cut out a panel, I wallpapered inside and outside with 12" card stock from DCWV Pocket full of Posies set (I just love this collection of designs and www.artymiss.co.uk have got it for £5 for a 48 sheet stack pack of12" card right now!)

I used Golden Heavy Gel (Matte) medium to glue the outside card on. It dries very fast, so glue and stick in small areas at a time. I used double sided tape to glue the inside card on. Start with a strip of tape down one edge of the card that will sit flush with the vertical opening , press the card on, then add another vertical strip to the card about three inches in and press down again and keep going all the way around. I wouldn't like to try and paper the inside of a round tin without double sided tape.

I wouldn't have attempted to make the shelves without foam board. Foam board is very light and I was able to use a couple of small foam pads to stick each shelf on the inside of the house. I first covered the foam board in another Pocket full of Posies card. I used Anita's tacky PVA glue to stick it on the foam board. To get the shelves to sit flush with the inside wall of the house I used the round floor template I had cut to make the inside floor of the house as a template to draw the curve at the back of the shelf, then cut out the shelf using a craft knife. I used a piece of string to measure the inside diameter of the house to cut the floor circle the right size and I also used string to measure the inside circumference of the house to cut the inside wall paper the right size.

The hardest part was trying to stick the shelves in. Two front facing eyes don't cut the mustard I'm afraid, but how many more eyes and where they would need to be positioned is a feat of engineering way beyond me. The result being slightly wonky shelves, but evolution was working against me.

I used Anita's 3D Clear Gloss finish to glue on all the contents of the shelves, the seed bead edging around the inside and opening of the house and all the beads and bling making the flowers around the outside of the house.

When trying to glue a line of bugle beads, seed beads or any little beads, it is much easier if you string them on some sewing thread first, then run a line of clear gloss along the line you want the beads to sit on. Then lay the string of beads along the line of glue. You can either pull out the thread after a minute or two or just trim the thread at each end of the line of beads.

The roof was made using pot pourri , that was already dyed turquoise and was some sort of seed head that stuck out on three sides to make the seed head shape. It looks like feathers and I'm really pleased with it. I cut a 12" diameter circle of card that was turquoise and cut a large pizza shaped triangle out of the circle and used double sided tape to make the cone shape stick together. Sticking the seed heads on would have been a nightmare of much cussing if I had used a tacky PVA glue mainly because it is messy and dries slowly, however Golden regular gel (Matte) medium was the perfect glue because it dries so quickly and isn't messy.

I haven't glued on the shells around the bottom of the outside of the house because by them being removable it will be easier to dust.
My high tech way of dusting this type of creation is to shut my eyes and blow (don't knock it , it works!).
Many of the shells are beach finds, some are bought ages ago and I used a lot of my old jewellery bits and pieces as well.



Linda (ABAA) inspired me to have a go at a twinchie with her lovely shells ones. So this is my first twinchie. I think it can sit on my computer at work as it is very apt at the moment in view of the current economic climate.





This was a backgound I painted with acrylics and edged with a brown chalk ink and used Anit's 3D clear gloss finish again to stick everything down. I'm always picking up weather worn limpet shells like this off my husband - no sorry- I meant beaches. The little face fell off one of my sons socks in the wash, in fact the whole pack of socks disintegrated in the wash very quickly. (Bad Matalan)


I have had a wonderful time visiting everyones blogs who have entered the challenge this month. So many talented happy crafters it's been great fun, thank you to everyone and especially to Rosie and Linda for running the challenges. :)