Altered Shutter

I have found a new love … altered shutters!

I know … it’s nothing new, but I finally got around to making one!

I made this one for my son and future daughter-in-law. She loves black and distressed, so that is what we did … (I apologize for the blown out photo … I had to lighten it in order to see the details.)

The shutter was brown when I purchased it. I painted some random colors in places with the hope of seeing the color underneath when I sanded off the black of the shutter … it didn’t work quite as well as I planned (I think I covered it with too much black spray paint), but there are a few spots where you see the color.

I used stencils from Wendy Vecchi and black glossy embossing paste to add a bit of texture and some fun words to the shutter.

I used alcohol ink to alter a brass metal piece that I placed on top. Beacon’s 527 glue held the metal clip and topper in place.

next came a bit of washi tape from Love My Tapes and Tim Holtz.

And, some Piccolo pieces coated with Enamel Embossing Powder were added to the side.

I altered a few old keys in alcohol ink and used a ribbon to dangle them on the side.

A handle attached to the bottom, some additional clips and some photos of my kids finished off the piece. I really wish I had better photos because it is a stunning piece, but I was in such a hurry to give it away, I didn’t look at the photos first! grrr…

Mini Canvases

I first saw tiny canvases a few months ago. Just 2-inches square, I thought they were adorable, but had no idea what to do with them.

I also had a shelf that was just missing something …

Alas, my brain finally put the two together and I created this …

These little canvases are perfect for filling in that tall space above the things on my little shelf.

I sprayed the canvases with Dylusions Ink Sprays. Once dry, I lightly painted white paint over the top. Then, I added just a hint of ink. And, used a Wendy Vecchi stencil and Ranger Texture Paste to add some birds to the top. As a final touch, I went over parts of them with a little Distress Ink.

I used Command Picture Hanging Strips to hang the canvases so I didn’t damage my shelf.

I love how they turned out … what do you think?

Fairy Altered Book

Sometimes the greatest ideas come in those wee hours just before falling asleep.

This is one of those …

I have been wanting to make an altered book for many years — decades, actually — but I never had the courage to try. But, when I moved, I “found” an old copy of Alice in Wonderland. The book had purple on the edges of the pages and was such a nice copy that I couldn’t get rid of it — even though my daughter had written on many of the pages. And, with the perfect book in hand, I knew it was time to attempt to make an altered book.

It took me awhile because I wanted to allow plenty of dry time and I had to carefully think everything through, but it wasn’t difficult.

To start, I covered the inside of the cover in paper. Then, I cut out a few pages at the beginning (to get to pages filled with text). Next, I rolled a few pages and glued them down in the middle of the open book. Once that was dry (I was afraid of messing things up, so I did a little bit each day, allowing for plenty of dry time) I used Ranger’s Glue ‘n Seal to paint the edges of the pages on the right side so they would become one solid block.

Next, I traced the interior piece of one of the Globecraft Memories frames and began cutting an oval out of the book. I used my Fisker’s craft knife and continued to cut in sections until I made it all the way to the bottom of the book. I then coated the inside of the oval with Glue ‘n Seal and added some paper and ribbon.

Then, I covered the exterior of the book in the same paper and added a tassel and metal plate that I’ve been carrying around for years …

Back on the inside, I decided I wanted to soften the white pages a bit, so I added some Distress Ink and discovered an awesome technique …

The Distress Ink doesn’t show where the Glue ‘n Seal was. Doesn’t it make for a great look?!?

Next, I wanted to make a place for my fairy to sit, so I used some paper, Glue ‘n Seal, Clearly For Art (by Wendy Vecchi, Studio 490) and a Tim Holtz/Sizzix die to make some flowers. I also pulled out some leftover Prima flowers in a variety of colors and sprayed them all with Adirondack Color Wash in Butterscotch and then a thin coating of Perfect Pearls Mists in Heirloom Gold. The flowers were a variety of green, pink and purple and I love how different they all became with the same treatment. Here’s the inside with the fairy (I used Glue Dots to attach her.

Next came the Globecraft Memories frame … I covered them with paper and paint and attached them together. I still needed a bit of space between the plastic globe and the fairy, so I added a couple layers of dimensional foam.

Then it was just a matter of embellishing … I added some ribbon, some more handmade flowers (some made out of the pages of the book I took out), some more Prima flowers that I dyed and a couple of metal embellishments. I also made a butterfly the same way I made the flowers (paper, Glue ‘n Seal, Tim Holtz/Sizzix die & Clearly For Art) and added some wire antennae. Finally, for some added girly charm, I glued on several Dew Drops from Robin’s Nest.

I love the depth inside the globe. Isn’t this the perfect addition to any girly room?!

Color Challenge

I hate it when people ask me what my favorite color is because I love them all.

Each room in my house is painted a different color and my dishes are Fiesta — I have at least one of nearly every color the company makes,  just because I couldn’t limit myself to one color.

So, when I found a color challenge online at Scrapmaster’s Paradise, I had to enter.

The colors for this challenge were Baja Breeze, Wisteria Wonder and Pink Pirouette. Here’s what I came up with:

I used leftover cardstock and ribbon to make the card. The flower stamp is from Hero Arts and the saying is from Wendy Vecchi Studio 490. I colored the flower with Copic markers and added Art Glitter to the center for extra pop.

What do you think?