Alice in Wonderland - in Fall Colours

I couldn't resist joining in an Altered Alice challenge, as I need an excuse to make Alice in Wonderland artwork otherwise you will think I am just obsessed! I have been restrained for a long time now! The challenge this month is to use fall colours, and it seemed strange not to give Alice her customary blue dress, but it was fun once I got into it! You don't have to follow an Alice theme for the Altered Alice blog, but why wouldn't I?!

The image I had in my mind was of Alice falling down the rabbit hole into the hall of doors, taking the Autumn leaves with her. I had the perfect stamp for the hall, from the Eternity plate by Non Sequitur, which was just the right size for the little back to front canvas. The depth of the frame added to the sense of perspective, with the full size Alice on the edge, and the shrunk (shrink plastic) version where the corridor narrows. She has drunk from the 'Drink Me' bottle, a shrink plastic version of the bottle from the Vintage Apothecary set by Artistic Outpost from Happy Daze. Now that she has shrunk she cannot reach the golden key, made from a mould and friendly plastic, with some gold Inka Gold, from Happy Daze, rubbed on.

I started off by painting the frame and sides with bronze paint and gathered up some brown organza to represent the curtains, with a sequin trim at the top for the pelmet. I coloured the stamped corridor image with Pro Markers in shades of brown and orange, also used to colour Alice.

I finished off with some very brightly coloured Autumn leaves, in orange, bronze, and green, so I am also entering this for the Happy Daze challenge which is An Explosion of Colour, as that is what the trees outside my house look like at the moment.

Gingersnap Creations Challenge - Babes and Tots

Gingersnap Creations challenge 'Babes and Tots' starts today. I covered a frame with tissue tape and coloured it with metallic rub ons and stamped the Dream word in red. I stamped the little girl from the Crafty Individuals' set (CI292)directly onto the Butterfly Garden paper by Pink Payslee. I coloured her with Pro Markers and white opaque pen. I stamped the words 'Cute as a Button' and added a Princess crown to her head. I added some childish charms, and a Charlotte doll made from a home-made mould. Finally I added butterflies which were tissue tape applied to thick card, then cut out and glued on with silicone glue under the wings.

Steampunk Printers' Tray - and more info on my Moulds Course

I quickly blogged this tray last night and thank you for the lovely comments. Here I am with a bit more detail. The 'Printers' Tray' was originally a wooden tray which had housed some (very sickly) sweetmeats such as marzipan fruits which were reduced in the French supermarket after Christmas last year, and this is the second resurrection of the tray. The reasons for making it were firstly that I wanted to enter Happy Daze's 'Dangling Things' competition because I love to have things that dangle on my projects, and secondly because I had already cut into the beautiful papers (Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante) last week so I thought I would use them up. I did a PVA crackle first with some peach paint. You can just see a little crackle round the edges.

1. This section has the men from the Tim Holtz Steampunk stampset (thank you to Alison for letting me stamp them up). When I cut them out I cut a little ledge so I could glue them down to the front of the tray to add some layering. The photo corner is one of my home-made moulds, made up in clay. The teal-coloured clockface is from DezinaWorld, with some cogs and watch springs added.

2. This section has some vintage pen nibs, and in the middle a piece from the papers popped behind a Fragment. On the right is an actual mini pocket watch (it has a butterfly on the front which goes well with the design). I removed the watch mechanism and back of the watch and cut a circle of one of the paper designs and then popped the back on again. On the opposite face I made a clay watch face from a mould, glazed it, and added a game spinner.

3. For this section I popped some shrink plastic cogs onto the background paper and added the butterfly strip at the bottom. I painted and gold embossed a grungeboard flourish and cut out some of the tiny butterflies to add to it.

4. For one of my dangly bits I used some Primark chain and added a birdcage charm, a ring of keys, and a tiny deep recess frame - wonder if anyone can guess where the tiny image in the frame came from? You probably won't, but I will throw down the gauntlet anyway! I then filled it in with Glossy Accents. The butterfly to the left is another mould, and bottom left are some home-made flower and leaf moulds made from some Primark charms off a charm bracelet. Ok, now the Charlotte doll, not my best decision. It is a home-made mould and I stuck it on and added the home-made angel wings. So far, so good. Then I remembered I had seen a number of these on Vintage sites where they have very black hair and very rouged cheeks. So I decided to do this, 'in situ', after I had already glued it down, which made it fiddly. Unfortunately it looks a bit like Friar Tuck. I may take the whole section out and re-do it, but it's good for a laugh, for now. Added more shrink plastic cogs.

5. I love the paper in this section, so I kept it simple! I added a top hat, and as another dangly bit, a clock charm from a Primark charm bracelet. To cover the hook I carefully cut out some flowers from the paper and glued it across the corner of three sections, to give the effect that the lady is in a 'shady bower'.

6. I framed the beautiful lady's face with a heart shaped frame, a home-made mould made from a set of Poundland plastic frames. I gave her a bit of lippy because I never go out without it! I cut a hot air balloon from another piece of the paper and raised it on silicone glue (actually I used a lot of silicone glue on this project to utilize the depth of the sections and create layering). I thought she looked like she would wear a string of pearls so I just draped some bits of Primark pearl necklace around, and added some triple gold embossed die cut cogs and another shrink plastic one.

 

7. Centre stage for a bit more dangle, is this stunning bird cage which was a gift from Brenda as I fell in love with it when we went shopping together, and she popped back to get it for me on her way to the car as it was the last one. I was so touched, and I am going to move it back and forth across projects for now, so I can keep using it. Can you see the little birdy inside? Then I added two brown glass apothecary style bottles, decorated with 7 Gypsies labels. The smaller bottle is a 7 Gypsies one, but the one on the left is a Tisserand essential oils bottle. I use a lot of these so it will be a good source of bottles. I just put gold memory foil around the lid. I popped another of the images from the papers behind microscope glass and edged it with memory foil, and added a home-made mould crown. Crossing over the two sections is an ornate frame I cut from the TH tag die, cutting it in mountboard and them in some of the papers, and putting the lady on the chair behind it, and added two screwhead brads.

8. Very simple section as I wanted to balance the rather cluttered overall design. Just some shrink plastic and grungeboard cogs on a cog background.

9. Some of the corset design paper from the pad, with a corset image on the right behind a Fragment. The feathered birdy is bought, and I gave him a top hat and glazed it with Glossy Accents. His bird cage is a mould made from a shrink plastic version of the Tim die, then made up in clay and glazed. I had a tiny mirror charm sat on my workdesk and I thought he might like to look at himself, like canaries do, or is it parrots!

10. Getting to the end now! One of the papers is like a vintage newspaper and I liked this ad for paste to polish your trumpet (as you do!). I popped a circular Fragment over it but also carefully cut around the text above and below as I thought it added something. Of course I then had to add a trumpet. No, not a mould! I think it is a cake-decorating item. On the right to finish off is a cog made from a mould.

Phew! good job I didn't try to type all this up last night. Hope it wasn't too much boring detail. Thank you so much to those of you who have written to me in response to the on-line course on moulds. A few questions have arisen from this and I wanted to say that of course we are entering the holiday season but please don't worry as the course isn't timebound and you can do it at your own pace. If you are interested, please do get in touch at lucy@cedmondson.net - or just to say Hello!

Gingersnap Challenge - Far East - Geisha Canvas

This month's Gingersnap Creations challenges are all featuring the Far East, and this week it is the turn of Geishas. I must confess, I made this little canvas a long time ago but it seemed to fit the bill, and as it has never seen the light of day, I thought I would give it an outing. It was made with the Geisha stamps from the Stamp Attack, designed by Jo from JoZart. It has a little bit of everything on it.

Here's a side view showing the writing, and depth of the canvas.

Mardi Gras - Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!

Today Gingersnap Creations are having a Mardi Gras theme as today is Fat Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday, the day we eat up all our fatty foods before the abstinence of lent.

I would like to have made something with more of a 'N'Orlins' Mardi Gras vibe, as we had an amazing holiday in the French Quarter of New Orleans many years ago, and I have aways wanted to return, especially for the Mardi Gras processions. I didn't have any suitable stamps unfortunately, so decided to opt for a Venice Carnival style, as I had the gorgeous 'Venezia' stamps by Oxford Impressions, and the Italy background papers from Crafty Individuals. I chose the paper with the masks on, but added another stamped mask and the words and cancellation mark. I then made an art mould of a mask and painted it in the traditional Mardi Gras colours of purple, green, and gold, and added jewel eyes. I then made it into a card and added feathers behind the mask.

 

Perfume Bottle Mould in Frame

I know you have already seen this frame, but the first time I used the original perfume bottle, but showed some I had made up, where I had taken a mould of the bottle. I have now made up another one using air dried clay, painting it with Azure Precious Metal Colour, and using Silver Acrylic Paint to highlight the filigree flower and bottle cap. I was going to fire up the meltpot so I could get more of a transparent style, like glass, with UTEE and blue To Dye For ink, but it is difficult when you have reduced your crafting space to two square inches! I am really pleased with how similar the bottle is now to the original, anyway. I want to give the frame away but as the perfume bottle was a present, I hadn't wanted to use the original one.

Tissue Tape Tag Three and Four

Another couple of tissue tape tags today. The one above was made with Crafty Individuals CI 061, coloured with Pro Markers and torn around the edge. The bird and photo corner are more moulds I have made, and then made up with friendly plastic. The bird cage is another of the moulds I made using a shrink plastic Alterations bird cage, then making it up with friendly plastic, and dangling some of the pearls from the never-ending Primark jewellery stash! I am a bit worried I am becoming obsessed as I met up with a couple of friends for coffee yesterday, non-crafters, and I was eyeing up their jewellery to see if I could make moulds from it!

I finished the tag off with fibres and one of the Anita butterfly stickers I like so much.

For the tag below, I made a flower from felt and fabric, using the Alterations Tattered Flowers die (which Pauline has bought me for my birthday, how cool is that!). I layered the flower up with some fibres and a flower shaped button.

Queen of Hearts Frame

I felt in the mood to make something girly using some lovely beaded trim I got on e bay. I used one of the small collage frames from Crafty Individuals, and painted it Bronze. I cut a piece of the trim carefully around the design and stopped it fraying with a dab of glue and adhered it to the top of the frame. I dabbed a little Mustard Seed and Tattered Rose Distress Ink on a 2 inch Stampbord tile to match the Spring background paper and stamped it with the Queen of Hearts stamp CI 139. I sanded around the edge of the tile.

The embellishments are two more of the moulds I have been making. The rose is from the Primark jewellery I bought the other day, and the heart is from a Tim charm.

Gingersnap Creations Challenge - Sapphire Frame

Today's challenge launch on Gingersnap Creations is to use Jewel Colours in your crafting. I adore jewel colours, and today I have chosen Sapphire. I actually made the papier mache frame a few months ago, but I liked the colour and texture so much I didn't want to add anything, so it has sat there for a while. I had painted it with a sapphire blue Precious Metal paint, and then used Bronze Croco Crackling Colour over the top, to allow the sapphire to show through the cracks. Whilst it was wet I applied some torn pieces of sapphire Angelina film and then heat gunned it.

The beautiful blue glass perfume bottle, with a silver filigree flower and cap was a gift many, many years ago from my sister in law, but has been too beautiful to use, So I made a mould of it before I used it, so I can re-create it:-


The butterfly was made from this roll of butterfly packing tape which I bought for a £1 in my local Tiger. There must be hundreds of butterflies on the roll, in about five different designs. I popped one on acetate and one on grunge, cut them out and layered them and curled the petals.

 
Here's a closer shot of the background. It looks quite turquoise here, but it really is sapphire blue. I decided the perfume was going to be 'Violette Flor', so I popped this rub-on perfume label behind it.

I made some more moulds from the jewellery I bought the other day in Primark, to make two copper friendly plastic roses for the bottom corners, and added some of the chain and pearls.

Crafty Individuals Bird Cage Frame

Crafty Individuals now have a Blog! Isn't that great news! I have made this little papier mache frame using one of their new collage stamps, CI301. I coloured the stamped image with Pro Markers and added glossy accents to the butterflies. I made silicone moulds from some of the jewellery I bought in Primark the other day - the bird from the ring, some flowers, and the butterfly. For the birdcage I used the Tim Holtz Alterations Bird Cage die on shrink plastic, which I have done quite a few times before, but this time I used the shrunk piece to make a silicone mould, then made it up with friendly plastic. That way you can have whatever finish you like on the piece. I used metallic rub ons on the flowers and birdcage, and mica powders on the bird and the butterfly.


The stamped image was exactly the right size for the centre of the papier mache frame. I painted it with acrylic paint and then added some crackle paint, and then different shades of Silkies. I stuck some torn pieces of Angelina film to the wet paint and heat gunned it. Then I splodged some glossy accents in places and sprinkled on some mother of pearl flakes, and some Deko Ice which I coloured with alcohol ink, to match the project. I added a glass nugget to the centre of one of the flowers, then superglued all the pieces in place, including a piece of brass chain for the bird cage.

Happy Valentine's Day! A Card for Col

This is the card I have made for Col for Valentine's Day today:-

I used a piece of red heart tape across the middle of a white A6 card blank in a landscape orientation, and then added various different kinds of hearts, at different heights. There is a shrink plastic one saying 'To the One I love', and art moulds made up in friendly plastic, together with some wooden hearts and heart gems and padded hearts. The one third from the left is a Tim charm made into a mould with Siligum, then made up in clay with a dusting of mica powder. I added a bit of dangling chain to grunge it up a bit. It is really a bit girly for Col overall, but he wouldn't want to have an un-girly wife, would he?!

And a sneak peek ........

What could this be? 

 I am posting this today as a sneak peek, for the sole reason that it has a Valentine theme, but it isn't finished yet! So I am wondering if you know what it is going to be? If you can't guess, I might post a clue!

Slide Mailers

Have any of you ever been asked to demonstrate something without preparing for it, and made a start thinking, 'I don't know where this is going'? Well, this happened to me with these slide mailers. I had my class on Tuesday and had planned on doing something else, but one of my students had brought along some slide mailers and asked if I would show them how I would approach them. So I made this single mailer, but had no idea what colours I was going to go for, stamps, etc:-

I slapped on acrylic paint in two shades of pink, then some smears of gold, and gold crackle paint on all the corners. I added Crafty Individuals crackle stamp all over, front and back, in Brushed Corduroy and Victorian Velvet, then the same with their flourish in Sepia Archival. I used a large tag shaped Hero Arts stamp which has a clock and the Eiffel tower and the word Time, but just pressed the microscope glass into the piece of the image I wanted, and adhered it in the aperture with a little bit of French book text. I had intended to use accent beads to fill in the little space above the slide aperture but I couldn't lay my hands on it quickly enough so I used Heather Mix Flower Soft as it was on my workdesk. I then added a Pewter Friendly Plastic Eiffel Tower art mould to the front (you can get Friendly Plastic from the Altered Element). I thought I would use a bit of artistic licence and used more Flower Soft at its base, as a sort of jardin des Tuileries effect!

This double one was made in a similar way, but colouring the mailer with Distress Inks instead of acrylic paint, and using some image transfers I had prepared, on the front and inside the mailer.

I did Slide Mailers a while ago for a magazine article but it was fun just to have a little play this time!

Dressmaking Themed Canvas

I made this 'Shadow Box' which is really a reversed canvas yesterday. One of my favourite stamp sets ever, is the Sewing Plate from the Artistic Stamper, and I had wanted to use it in conjunction with this wonderful Torso art mould from Krafty Lady, called Mini Torso Front, which you can get from The Stamp Bug, and also I wanted it to be a canvas to use the tissue paper technique as I had some of this dressmaking tissue which I thought would work well. I cut the bit of tissue I liked best to do the stamping part for the centre of the canvas, and cut another good bit to fold to make a sort of folded pattern embellishment for the top left corner. I used Viva Gold Precious Metal Paint on the canvas, which you can get from the Artistic Stamper, then a crackle paste I got from somewhere else as an attempt at a substitute for crackle paint, but I'm afraid I wasn't happy with it. I then sprayed the lot with glimmer mists.

I have been crazy about the shadow boxes Hels has been making but had found it difficult to source them, so I thought I would use a reversed chunky canvas so that I had the sides, and the edges, to work with. All around the sides I stamped a selection of the smaller images from the set, which gives you a lot of images to work with. I made up the torso with some flesh coloured pearlescent friendly plastic, and stamped a bit of twill to wrap across it using a tape measure stamp, and put a strip of gold card on the end the way tape measures sometimes look, and stood it on a mini wooden cotton reel. The adorable iron sewing machine, which reminds me of the one my mum inherited from my grandmother and used when I was a child, is actually a dolls house item. There was a story to this as I bought it years ago when I was in a craft shop with a friend and she thought it was expensive and I would never use it and I shouldn't buy it. I was in love with it and virtually had a trantrum in the shop and lay on the floor kicking my legs! In the end I sloped back to the shop on my own a few days later and bought it! Big confession - it is not stuck down to the canvas as I can't part with it for one particular project so I will re-use it. Likewise the dressform as the mould itself is out on loan to a friend so I only have this one left that I had already moulded.

Around the edges on the tissue layer inside the canvas I have used various items to embellish it. A shrink plastic tape measure, made from the ruler in the Artist Plate (from the Artistic Stamper) and a black and gold shrink plastic sewing machine from the Sewing Plate, and then a needle threader, and some poppers, a special silver button I had been saving, a dinky minute zip, and a pair of scissors from one of those novelty button sets. Around the edge of the canvas itself I have added some buttons and a piece of tea dyed lace, with a hat pin pushed through it which is a lovely little touch I have copied from my dear friend, Lynne, so I hope she doesn't mind!

Here's a close up of the Torso mould:-

I have also taken close-ups of the dolls house sewing machine, and also the shrink plastic one made from the Artistic Stamper stamp.

Masculine Coaster Book - Artistic Stamper

I made this little coaster book yesterday with a huge range of Artistic Stamper stamps and their new backgrounds. I coloured the coasters with glimmer mists and distress inks then added different backgrounds - dots, stripes, harlequin, houndstooth, then the main images. The twill and ball chain and the watch pieces are from the Artistic Stamper, and the key and pillar are art moulds. This is a bit different to my usual style, a little bit quirky and lots of masculine imagery. Good to be able to get all these masculine stamps when you need them, though.