Graphic 45 Design Team 2014 Audition

It's audition time at Graphic 45 and I've decided to give it a go this year!
These projects are a representation of some of the things I had the most fun making.

Time Flies....The papers I used were a combination of Olde Curiosity Shoppe and Communique Collection. I love the flip side of 'Society Page' with it's harlequin pattern and use it in lots of things!

I made these ornaments using the beautiful Secret Garden papers. Plus some raw brass flowers I hand enameled, some wooden finials and lots of silk flowers. You can see the tutorial for how to make these HERE.

A couple of detail shots....

Mr. and Mrs. Beed are two of my favorite characters. I have planned lots of adventures for them......

This little altered altoid tin was inspired by The Ladies Diary papers.
I love fussy cutting and the flowers on the front were a lot of fun!

There is some info on how I cut my 'facades' for the altoid tins HERE

Day eight of the Twelve days of Christmas. I decided to make it 'Eight Prima Donnas' and make them a Christmassy little boudoir complete with a Christmas tree and a couple of mirrors. Each Prima Donna has her own room (read hand made envelope) and a personality to go with the title of Prima Donna!
I used a Victorian exploding box for this piece and a combo of papers, the main one being Fashionista's Le Fleur.

This project is a sort of Steam punk wall plaque made with more Olde Curiostity Shoppe papers.

This is a tunnel book called 'Shipwreck' for obvious (and cheerful!) reasons.

A detail shot:

There is a wee tutorial on cutting and staging the different layers of the book HERE.

Another tin, this time using French Country papers.

A trio of cheerful bird plaques using Botanical Tea.

Steampunk Spells Wall Plaque. I had a lot of fun playing with these papers...the colors are great and are a fun alternative to the classic Halloween color combo.

Thank you for visiting and making it all the way down this long post! Thank you, Graphic 45 and best of luck to everyone who has auditioned!


P.S.
Baba Yaga House. Made from a matchbox, papers and hand made polymer
clay chicken legs.
Not really anything to do with G45, but I love it!

Like pain? Try wearing a corset!

It's all about corsets over at Alpha Stamps this month, so with that in mind,

I made this fun little corset book with a lot of supplies from the French Corsets Kit.
Because things are a bit girly for me, I had to be a bit of a smart-ass and have some fun with it!

So stop by Alpha Stamps and take a look at all the well-laced corset art in the Gallery!

Supplies List:
 
Die-cut Chipboard Corset
The Secret Out At last Collage Sheet
My Graceful Figure Collage Sheet
2mm Silk Ribbon
Pink Ruffled Ribbon
Pink Roses Dresden Scraps
Stickles Lime Green
Liquid Pearls 'Flamingo'
Liquid Pearls 'Key Lime'

Additional Supplies
Bo Bunny Vintage Dot, 'Passion Fruit" Paper
Graphic45 Botanical Tea, 'Hello Friend' Paper
Spacer Beads (similar to these)
Vintage Eyelet Trim
Various Copic Markers
Various smart-ass sayings gathered from Mae West and a few movies.

Odd Birds

Birds have been the theme running through the month of February over at Alpha Stamps. I've been playing with the new Bird Shadow Box Shrine Kit and having a lot of fun coming up with stuff.

Because I'm a bit of a fantasy fan, I thought it would be fun to make a couple of mechanical bird friends for these two little pixies. The wee things aren't grown up enough to fly on their own, but they have their independence with their bird pals. I bet they can get into a lot of mischief......

Odd Bird

Strange Bird

 SUPPLIES:
Shadow Box Shrine - Bird 
More Cab Card Cuties Collage Sheet 
Curiosity 'Intrigue' Scrapbook Paper 
Double Dot Vintage Island Mist Scrapbook Paper
Spanish Crowns Collage Sheet
An Odd Bird Collage Sheet
Velvet Ric Rac - Sweet Pea
Small Brass Gears
Sprocket Gears
Brilliance Pigment Ink Pad 'Galaxy Gold'
Diamond Stickles
Goldenrod Stickles
Brilliance Pigment Ink Pad - Pearlescent Olive


Additional Supplies:
Swarovski flat back crystals
White acrylic paint
4x4 artist block, but you can do the same thing with 8x8 Heavy Chipboard.
Small watch parts
Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe 'Butterfly Specifics' paper (for the pixie wings)
Brass flower filigree
Double Stick Foam tape
Matte Medium or Mod Podge


A few tips for making these wee ones........ 

                                

The first thing I did was cover my boards with paper. If you are using chipboard, cut it to size.

When my boards were covered and the matte medium was thoroughly dried, I sanded the edges of each piece, first with a slightly rough grit sanding block, then a finer one to smooth out the edges.

I used the Galaxy gold ink pad around the edges and then the Pearlescent Olive. I just played around with the inks until they looked right.

I did the same thing with the Shadow Box Bird Shrines - covered them, then sanded, then played with the ink pads, giving a little extra emphasis on the beaks, around the edge of the center hole and I rubbed a little around where I planned to put the eye.

Next, I turned the birds over and experimented with where I wanted to place the gears. After I was happy with where the big gears were placed, I glued them on the back side of the birds. After they dried, I turned the piece over so the I was looking at the front, and placed the smaller gears and watch parts where I wanted them, filling in any ugly gaps or placing a piece where it showed nicely.

After things are thoroughly dried, I turned the piece over and gently place double stick foam tape in places where it would support the piece and still remain hidden.

I added two layers to give the piece some depth and to accommodate the thickness of the gears.

I DID NOT remove the paper from both sides of the tape. Only the side touching the bird back. 

Next step, I cut out my images, gave the children just a hint of color, glittered up the crowns and attached them and the butterfly wings to the children.

While they were drying, I stuck a gear and a watch part on the bird where the eye should go, and glued on a flat back crystal to the center of the stack.

I positioned the pixies where I wanted them on the birds and glued them on.

After centering the bird on the board, I removed the remaining paper  from the foam tape and stuck the bird down, making sure I left room at the bottom for the little 'sign' under each piece.

I made little plaques and glued them on bits of cardboard and they got the same ink pad treatment as the boards and birds did.

I glued them on after carefully placing them where I liked them.

I glued the velvet ric rac around the edges of the board, but if you're using chipboard, inking the edges of the board is probably a sufficient finish, unless you have some dainty ribbon.

The brass filigree was cut and added as an afterthought and attached directly to the board behind the bird on 'Strange Bird' and the remaining scrap glued to the tail of 'Odd Bird'. 

I used some flat back crystals inside the birds on top of the watch gears just, ya know, because I like a little sparkle.

The last details were added with white acrylic paint, and I used a small paint brush to dot around the eyes and wherever I thought looked pretty!

I'm happy to answer any questions you might have about these little guys...feel free to e-mail me.

Thank you for hangin' out long enough to get this far!

:-)

Here's a little something extra I made with some bits I had on hand.

 

                                        

The Philosopher's Stone Reliquary...another ATB

Recently, I was in a swap with the extraordinary pottermouth who made this wonderful ATB for me.
I pondered what to make her....I knew she liked Harry Potter, but I didn't want to make something everybody else had, so I started to ask myself a lot of, 'what if?' questions about events and objects in the books.
The one that stuck with me was this one; what if shards of the Philosophers Stone survived and were saved by Dumbledore? What would he do with them?
I think he would honor the memory of his old friend Nicholas Flamel and put them in a beautiful box, a reliquary.
Not long ago, I visited the National gallery and was blown away by an exhibit of byzantine art. There were a couple things that I was particularly fascinated with - the Madonnas and the beautifully made reliquaries. (and oh, my gawd, the jewelry! But that's another post)
There's no doubt that the major influence on my making this one was that exhibit.

I used a chunk of butternut cut to ATB size. I cut the front off, cut that in half and hollowed out the inside of the remaining chunk. I hung the doors with hinges and proceeded to wood burn the heck out of the whole thing.
The idea behind all the Celtic knotwork sprouting branches and leaves was that the Philosopher's Stone was the main ingredient for the elixir of life, so the wood would be almost compelled to sprout and blossom.
 And of course Dumbledore would have the Hogwarts crest emblazoned on the front!

The wee bottle is filled with a bunch of Czech glass beads that I pulverized with a hammer. The bottle can be removed to reveal two larger shards of the stone inset in the wood.

The wood was finished with a mixture of beeswax and mineral oil.
A detailed view of the back:

Artist Trading Blocks

Remember these?

I wrote a post about these wonderful little chunks of 2x4's and all the possibilities they inspire and here are a couple of examples of what I've made and a special ATB made for me in a swap on Craftster. These are just the tip of the iceberg! I've got a few more in the works and if you want to see some great examples of ATB's, go to Craftster and see them Here.

I made this one whilst thinking about spring. It's been unusually cold here in southern Virginia this winter.

The flowers are raw brass findings that I enamel with fingernail polish.

Here's one that was inspired by a scrap piece of Graphic 45 paper from the Steampunk Debutante collection.
The bulb in the middle (on top of the block) is, I think, something from Tim Holtz, but the two on either side are flash bulbs used in old flash cameras way back in the 20th century. :-)

My husband gave me a bunch of rusty washers and I used a couple of them on top. I love rusty things!

And this fantastic ATB was made for me by pottermouth in the Artist Trading Block Swap on Craftster.

You can see more of this awesome ATB Here.  I'll be posting a couple more ATB's in the next week or so, so stay tuned!

Trying new things

2014 marks a time for trying new things. New places, new foods, new ways of seeing things and trying new crafts.
I've always been intimidated with the idea of quilting. You can erase a line on paper, but you can't fix fabric if you cut it in the wrong place.
Speaking from experience.
I'm such a perfectionist and so used to being successful at crafts, failing miserably (more than once) at quilting was a humbling experience. I am all for learning from my mistakes and I sure have made a bunch over the years, but that has never stopped me from trying and overcoming obstacles.
Quilting is/was one of the few things I've wistfully put aside and left to gather dust in the back of my mind.
I decided to try again this year and a friend and I signed up for a workshop at a local quilt shop called The Sewing Studio.
I was nervous, but the ladies who work there were great, very kind and patient and by lunch time I was wondering why I waited so long to give it a go again.
I had a blast!
My first successful quilting project: The Compass Pillowcase

I love it!