Altered vintage shadow box

I've not blogged for over 5 months as I have not been well and done little crafting, but I have finally found a project that inspires me to craft.

35 years ago, when I was 14 my dad went to night classes to do woodworking, this was his very first project, its based on a Scandinavian 'shadow box' , about 2 foot wide and 18 inches high. I had previously just used it to display small ornaments such as Whimsies (remember them from the 70s/80s?), then I painted it in classic cream matt paint.

I decided to alter it with vintage papers and embellishments to follow the theme of my craftroom, have previously altered my large craft desk and have been collecting potential items to use, and finally started on this project as I have no mojo for cardmaking right now.

I used mainly Graphic45. Papermania 'MadamePayraud and Recollections 'Always Remember 12" x 12" papers, I added 2 inspirational ATCs sent tome years ago, and lots of metal charms - owls, bird silhouettes, clocks and keys, along with vintage lace and vintage botanical ribbons, featuring keys and butterflies. then I started to embellish the shadow box with Papermania Midnight Blush capsule collection pin wheels, various die-cuts and vintage buttons, also used glossy accents to highlight certain embellishments, now I need to find small objet d'art to accessorise it before it goes onto my craftroom wall

 a spider for Incy!

thanks for any comments, Fi x

First attempt at altering furniture - my vintage craft desk

Wow, just seen its 3 1/2 months since I last blogged, that was mainly due to my pc hard drive crashing just 11 1/2 months after we bought our new pc, luckily it was in warranty and is now fixed.

Its been a disruptive year at home as we had the bathroom and kitchen completely renovated as well as all new insulation in the loft, so all the excess items we had no room to store anywhere in our small home ended up in my craft room which I renamed our warehouse, I hadn't had the energy to sort it during the damp winter months but hubby needed vital paperwork from somewhere in my room so 2 weekends ago I asked him to help me completely empty my craftroom, with him doing most of the lifting. As I am an avon lady, I always keep lots of boxes for temporary storage and we took everything into our huge bedroom and sorted it roughly into craft, photos, paperwork, miscellaneous, rubbish, recycling and charity, so now each box of which there are very many only has one category and I wont bring any boxes back in my room til they are sorted into exactly what stash they contain.

Also as the room was almost empty, except for pc desk and chair, 3 bookshelves with craft stash on and my large craft desk, it was the perfect time to completely redecorate the room, when it was Carrie's it was a pale pink but I prefer classic cream as its neutral, so far I have painted almost 2 walls and about a third of our bare floorboards which I love, also have them painted in our bedroom.

A few years ago a good friend gave me her old large office desk and it has served me well in 3 locations in our house but it was always dominant being made of dark wood laminate, so I had the idea to paint it whilst I was decorating, but it didn't seem right so a couple of days ago I came up with the idea of decoupaging it with vintage papers, many of which I bought last year in Canada and had in the main not used, the following photos show how far I have got so far.

                                                  1. Desk just with undercoat of paint

2. Drawer fronts covered with Docrafts Madam Payraud's 12 x 12 paper and some paper from unknown maker, bought in Canada.

3. Second set of  drawer fronts covered with unknown papers and Recollections Signature 'Always Remember' 12 x 12 papers all bought in Canada.

 

4. Initially I used pva glue to stick the papers, but that was a total disaster as the papers bubbled badly so had to scrap several sheets, before using Affixit Craft permanent DST tape runners, and will do a couple of coats of clear varnish to protect the surfaces. On the desk top I have laid the 12 x 12 papers out in a rough grid but overlapped them all to make it less formal and also used partial pieces of the papers or vintage adverts cut out from Madam Paynaud's papers and sayings from the 'Always Remember' papers to personalise my desk.

 

5. More of the same papers but also a 12 x 12 paper from Docrafts Portobello Road and more sayings from 'Always Remember'.

6. Mainly papers from unknown makers bought in Canada.

6. Desktop fully decoupaged.

7. Full view of desk with drawers, all decoupaged. Still have to paint the sides and back of the desk which are visible.

I have really enjoyed the creative process of this first attempt at decoupaging furniture and am very happy with the result so far, thanks for any comments you may leave, Fi xx

 

 

4 cards made this week

its been a couple of weeks since I blogged, and I have spent this week making 4 cards. Needed to make a birthday card for a friend's husbands birthday, found some gardening decoupage and also used some lovely buttons I bought whilst in Canada, its 1 6" x 6" scalloped edge card.

I have a very extensive collection of peel-offs which had gone unused for many months apart from the occasional peel-off greeting but I recently bought a box full from a friend on DO craft forum and thought they would make useful cards to start building up my card box where I can just pop in and pick up a card when needed, used to have lots in reserve but recently have only made cards when specifically needed. I am away from home a lot caring for my 6 year old niece whilst my sister is abroad on business and I cant take much craft stash, so peel-offs, backing paper, gems, DST and glue as well as the cards themselves are about all I can take, along with some decoupage to cut out and layer up.

I really enjoyed finding papers to back the peel-offs onto then cut them out and then make the new toppers onto cards along with patterned papers, holographic card, gems and pearls. I also have an extensive stash of card and paper off-cuts divided up into colour, style etc and hadn't dipped into them for months, so as my aim this year is to really start using what stash I already own but had forgotten I had, I used 8 different papers and card off-cuts (from 6" x 6" to small offcuts) on these 3 cards.

The first card is a small gatefold card  from my made up card stash (4.5" x 3.5") and to co-ordinate with the oriental dress topper I used Wild Rose Studios 'In Love with Japan' floral paper, along with holographic paper and pink glittered card all from my stash. As half the back of the dress is showing inside the card, I used the same paper to cover the back to make it look neater. I finished off the card with 14 pearls bought in Canada.

 

This second card is a 6" x 6" card, the pink paper was free from a craft magazine last year, not sure which one, spotted paper which made the handbag topper also from my scraps stash, the gems were bought in Canada last year, the purple holographic card was also from my scraps stash and the lilac paper is from Wild Rose Studios 'In Love With Japan' 6" x 6" paper pad. Finished off the card with gems bought in Canada.

 

This last card is a get well card for my friend Ginny who had a hip operation today, all papers are from my scraps stash, all on an A6 purple card base. finished off the card with gems from Canada.

 

thankyou for any comments, Fi x

Finally confident using my Big Shot after having it almost 2 years

Hubby bought me a Big shot for my birthday 2 years ago, but apart from one crafting session last February with a crafting friend, it has sat unused as I was so scared of breaking it. I was slowly bit by bit buying dies and embossing folders when on sale or from craft friends on docrafts forum, and when my friend learnt I was afraid to use it she came back round this week and got me to use it all day and it took away the fear and we had a very enjoyable day.

We embossed lots of Couture Creations and Crafts-Too embossing folders, but once we tried the Sizzix Bigz Christmas Ornament, Light and Stocking die we were hooked and used that repeatedly. We used lots of combinations of mirror, holographic, pearl and glitter card and adhered the pieces together using Anita's tacky PVA glue, its fine nozzle was essential to stick the small elements.

the stocking had 2 elements, the collar and the main stocking but I thought it needed something more, so cut out lots more of the curly decoration that came on the ornament and cut by hand a toe for the stocking. On the pearl lights I also added the same swirl to create the brightness.

It was a very enjoyable day and now I shall have to hunt for more dies and embossing folders.

I am staying at my sisters house next week to care for my 6 year old niece whilst her mum is in Poland on business, so I shall take some craft stash and use my made up dies to make lots of small Christmas cards with the 5" x 5" scalloped cards I bought at The Works last week, will upload them once I get home.

Thanks for any comments and happy crafting, Fi x

thanks for any comments

1st blog upload for 2014 and 1st rocker card

Not blogged for well over a month as I've not finished any projects for sometime now, mainly due to poor health and having to move out of my home for major renovations, we now have a brand new kitchen and bathroom, will take photos when we have got them back to how they should be, very happy with them.

I needed to make a birthday card for a Docrafts forum friend, and as its been tricky getting to my stash I have concentrated on crafting I could do on the sofa, mainly colouring in stamped images and cutting out and layering up decoupage, finally I finished a card this week, just in time for her birthday next week.

 

The decoupage/rocker card kit came from a free Crafts U Print gift in recent craft magazine, cant remember which one, the pink glitter card came free with the same magazine. I decoupaged the card and used silicone glue to give depth, you cant see the layers too well in the photo. I used the base of the rocker card as a template for the pink glitter card and just cut it out 2 - 3mm wider.

 

thanks for any comments, Fi x

graduation phot, 2 pages for Mo's album and 2 pages for Anita's album

We have finally received the official graduation photograph of us with our son Dan who graduated this June.

 

My twin little sisters albums which I am making for their Christmas presents are coming on well, I have til 27th December to finish them before we take them when we go and stay in a rented cottage in Pagham, Sussex. Yesterday I made 2 double layouts. Anita's favourite colours are chocolate and cream so that's the colour scheme for her album with a little blue added, her identical twin Mo loves bright pinks as well as blues and greens, so the albums have very different feels.

This is a 12" x 12" 7Gypsies double sided paper, and I cut out the journal tag and sentiment from the Recollections signature 'Memories Documented' paper pad, and finished the page with 2 Papermania Capsule Collection blooms and an adhesive pearl, the photo is of Fraser, who is 17 months older than the twins, then Anita in the middle and Mo.  I am journaling about where we lived and our relatives for not only my sisters but also for them to pass down to their children to show them our childhoods.

this page is another 12" x 12" double sided 7Gypsies paper, and I cut out and added the 'don't forget', bunting and journal tag from the same Recollections paper pad as before. From left to right its Mo, Ian, Fraser, Anita then me.

Above, how the pages are laid out in a double layout in Anita's album. I think the muted tones work well with the black and white photographs.

these are 2 of my favourite photos of Mo, the paper is 12" x 12" K & Co Addison Stitched Strips Flat Paper, I embellished the page with blue textured paper behind the photos, Papermania star brads,
Kraft card for journal tag, pink adhesive gems. Her name was made using a Brenda Pinnick 'Posies' pink adhesive letter and a pink button.

This page has 2 photos of our parents along with the details of when they renewed their wedding vows, all the more poignant as dad collapsed with a massive stroke 2 weeks later and was unable to speak until his death 7 months later, I miss his smile and humour. the page is 12" x 12" K & Co Classic K Margo Multicolored Plaid Flat Paper, I also used blue textured card, blue glitter card, hearts and swirls paper and a diecut journal tag which I was sent in a swap on docrafts forum. you can't see the acetate sentiment (bottom right) well, its adhered to the page with 2 Papermania khaki brads and reads "We were two and had but ONE heart", so true of them who were devoted to each other for over 40 years of marriage, I finished the page with cream adhesive pearls.

how they appear in the album as a double layout.

I am really enjoying going down memory lane and making these albums, thanks for any comments you may leave, fi xx

Three 12" x 12" scrapbook layouts for my sisters album, its her Christmas present

I have made 40th birthday albums for both my brothers and had aimed to make them for my twin little sisters for last October, but poor health put paid to that plan so instead I am finishing them for this years Christmas presents and am enjoying scrapping for the first time in a long time, I got so worried bout them being perfect that it put me off doing them, now I am just going with the flow, I know they will enjoy them as they have both loved previous albums I have made for them.

My sister Anita loves chocolate brown and cream colours the best so I am using that as the basis for my album for her, the 3 layouts I am uploading today are using photographs taken decades ago, 2 of our mum with our late dad, and 2 of us with our Scottish relatives, dad's side. One photograph is quite orange, as it was over-exposed, in the good old days you had to be so careful taking films out of cameras and you had no idea how the photographs would turn out til they came back from being developed, but I chose to use it as its the only one I own showing us with our great aunt Ella, so it has sentimental value despite being not very good quality, digital photography makes scrapbooking so much easier these days.

this page features a 7 Gypsies double sided paper, and Brenda Pinnick 'Posies' letters, a photo of my sisters with our granny and a photo of the 5 of us with our great aunt, I wrote a lot of journaling about where our grandparents lived, on the same road as granddads brother and sister, and also included their real names and what they were known as, information my sisters may not know, I am keeping the scrapbook pages fairly simple to focus on the photos rather than lots of embellishments.

this layout features Recollection Signature 'Memories Documented' backing papers and co-ordinating journaling features cut out from the same paper pad, I bought this specifically for this album at Michael's in Canada this year as I love the colour palette, the vintage style and the fact that the paper pad included so many journaling features I can cut out and use in my scrapbooking . The photo is of our parents, the matt behind the photo, the J for Journey, the large sentiment and the tall thin Happiness sentiment were from other pages in the same pad.

The 2nd page of this double layout used the same papers, and linked to this page by using  L for Love sentiment, and another matt behind the photo of our mum and dad, it is already glittered. Making these 3 pages brought back happy family memories. They were so in love and had 40 wonderful married years together before my dad died so young at just 69 years old, we miss him so much but scrapbooking photos of him and mum is easier now, its almost 9 years since we lost him and I was only able to scrapbook using a photo of him just this year. Crafting is a true therapy and so enjoyable too, thanks for any comments you may leave. I have many more pages to make in the next 2 weeks, my kitchen table is full of photographs which took ages to sort into categories.