Recycled box

I discovered an old watch box and decided it would be a good idea to recycle it and turn it into a gift in itself.  I used one of the hearts from the Tando Creative chipboard cogs set to decorate the lid of the box.  Using two coats of acrylic paint and sanding back the top layer with an emery board to reveal the one beneath.

The box was covered and lined with vintage effect paper and I used adhesive ribbon around the edge.

The gifts inside include a handmade booklet with tear off pages....

and four corner bookmarks.

Thanks for looking...see you soon.

hugs

Chris xx

Altered clock face

I was given a gift from a friend a while back... of an old clock to take apart.  I decided it would be fun to alter the clock face with some chipboard cogs from Tando Creative.

I re-did the numbers a little with a sharpie pen as they were wearing off and used a gold marvy marker on the cogs... layering the ink to give a stripey effect.

The cogs made lovely frames for these gentlemanly images from Crafty Individuals... they were a perfect size to just allow a glimpse of the images to wet the appetite.

I don't do masculine very often so this made a nice change
hugs
Chris xx

Kitchen canvas

A bit of painting going on today to create this kitchen canvas.  The chipboard shapes from Tando are a fabulous base for acrylic paint.  I used a canvas board which was also painted with acrylic... before adhering the completed kitchen pieces to it to create a faux clock. 

I love to create items that I can have on show at home but I think this would make a nice gift too.

Shame I won't be wearing a chef's hat anytime soon.... not being the world.s best cook IYKWIM
hugs
Chris xx

Christmas....

is coming... and so is Santa... you do believe in him don't ya ;-)  So in honour of the cuddly man with the white beard I created him a star of his very own.  I used gorgeous paper from Crafty Individuals....

as well as this gorgeous portrait of the man himself from the same place.  He deserved a frame and this wee frame from Tando was just the job.  I coloured it with copics before adding Tim Holtz crackle paint .  The two little hearts on top were removed from the sides.

Hope you are ready for him :)

hugs
Chris xx

Christmas is coming...

and I've not yet made one Christmas card.... slap my wrist and hit me round the face with a kipper...lol  At this rate I will be rushing to buy some...eeeeh naughty naughty !!  I can't help it I'm just not in the mood to make cards.... but I have made some Christmas decorations...lol

I covered this fab Christmas Stocking from Tando with some paper that I had inked, painted and splodged (technical term...lol) a while ago and forgot about.  I love it... and it's so different from the usual Christmassy colours of red ,white and green.

 I even managed to add a lickle bit of bling... whaddya think of that.... and now that the bling has resurfaced from my crafty stash you just never know where it will end up next ;-)

Have a great day

hugs

Chris xx

Vintage village

Tim Holtz papers are just yummy.... gorgeous... delicious and I just had to use them to cover this little mini village from Tando.  It seems like forever since I did anything in this style and I loved it.  The little family are from Lisa's Altered art...  aren't they just the cutest.

So they have new little homes... even if they can't go inside.... tis a bit like land of the giants....lol  (who remembers that t.v. programme )

I made the doors and covered the roofs with hand painted stamped paper...

and edged them with gold pen.

Mojo working well :-)

hugs

Chris xx

Flower power

Time to share some of the DT goodies I have been creating.  The little chipboard flower frames from Tando Creative  are just the cutest and fun to use. They also receive colouring with Copic pens delightfully. The chippie absorbs the ink so layering the colour produces a lovely varied effect and it's sooo easy!! I used the frame part of the flower on this arch ....

cos this little girlie from Lisa's altererd art deserved a pretty frame :D

I couldn't leave the center circle  that pops out of the chipboard flower so used it on this little mini tin that I covered with tissue and modpodge.

I added some wings to the flower centre piece and adhered this image ...also from Lisa's altered art ...onto it edging the piece with a gold ink pen.

Small is beautiful :-)

Check out more gorgeous projects on the Tando blog.

hugs
Chris xx

Chipboard jewellery and a little toot :D

A little bit of excitement today cos I can now share with you that I have been invited to join the Tando Creative Design Team.... whooohoooo with a cherry on top :D  That means lots of lovely lovely chippie will be coming my way to play with.  I want to say a HUGE thank you to Di  for the opportunity and I hope you will pop over to the Tando blog to join in with the gorgeous things that I and the other DT members will be sharing there.

I couldn't abandon my painting just yet... oh you just know that I can't...lol... so I was uber excited when I realised that the Tando Chipboard is sturdy enough to take whatever I throw at it... and as it also has a gorgeous white coating it's ideal for painting on. Yeeeeeessss!!  So for my first pieces for the DT I decided to create some heart jewellery.  I think Frida Kahlo is a wonderful artist and my brooch above is in honour of her.

I then decided to paint a little whimsy girl and turned the painting into a necklace before finally doing a mixed media brooch (below) too.   Lotsa fun... I enjoyed every moment.

This one was created by throwing bits of kitchen roll at it... ok ..ok I didn't throw them... I rolled them and collaged them and added swirls of fabric coated wire... but you know what I mean ;-)

The colouring is watercolour crayons and acrylic paint mixed.

Now for the best bit... I made these from the Tando Home hanger and I still have another heart and the words left to play with... heh heh.. I'm nothing if not frugal with my goodies!! 

I will share what I make with what's left soon.  TFL

hugs

Chris xx

Alter it monthly challenge- Home Sweet Home

Okay so you thought I had disappeared off the face of the earth... didn't ya...lol   I'm still here but I have a confession to make.  I am now a Facebook Junkie (and OMG fb games.... they are giving me sleepless nights and normally I hate these sort of things.... think I am morphing ooooer).  So me lovelies if you are on facebook yourself... let me know so I can add you as my friend  (well if you wanna be my friend that is...lol)

Right down to crafty stuff cos that's what you wanna see isn't it so... and I have decided to enter this piece into Alter it Monthly challenge where the theme is Home Sweet Home (can't believe I just found this challenge blog... where've I been).  There are some fab examples over there... go check it out.

Take a walk down memory lane... that's the name of my piece... created with gorgeous papers, stamps, chipboard  and an image from Crafty Individuals once again.

See my birdie at the white picket fence listening to the sweet tune of the violin.... I think he thinks it's a lady birdie...n... maybe he's in love...lol  He's sort of got that look in his eye :D  The chipboard house was wonderful to stamp on... great smooth surface and I coloured with distress inks... AGAIN...lol

Thanks for looking.... hope to catch up with you all this week :D

hugs

Chris xx

Butterfly pendant

oops this pendant was meant for the Sir Stampalot Blossoms and Butterflies challenge too but I forgot to add it to yesterdays post duh!!   Forget me head if it wasn't fastened on....can you just imagine me leaving it on a table somewhere and having to go back to pick it up....rofl.

Anyways I had lots of fun with this pendant and I think it turned out pretty cute.  I used alcohol inks on a chipboard blank before adding a handmade felt flower....

I also added shiny stuff in the form of sequins and seed beads which I sewed on... oooooer me and a needle and thread.............d a n g e r o u s combination!!  Managed not to prick me fingers and bleed all over for a change though.  How clever am I.

The stamped butterflies are Crafty Individuals...stamped with distress ink... Oh come on you just knew I had to right :D

hugs

Chris xx

SCD challenge - The letter 'D'

I often see something I am inspired by and decide I will have a go.... but then put off doing it and forget about what I intended to create.  I saw a video on you tube ages ago... on how to make a Squash book and although I put the pages together I put the incomplete booklet  aside and did nothing with it.  Until today that is...when I came across it quite by accident and decided it should be finished :D

So this is the front page of my Squash book which is about 4inches square and like the rest of the pages was covered in Fired Brick Distress ink...yummy....

topped with a handmade rose smothered in glossy accents (cos I hadn't any stickles left) and some freebie vintage paper from The Vintage Moth and one of my favourite quotes.

The inside of my book was covered with more of the vintage paper and this is where my part in the SCD challenge ... The letter 'D' comes into play with one of my favourite words... DREAM cos where would we be without one :D

The letters are distressed chipboard on inked background.

Thanks for looking...have a great day

hugs
Chris xx

Play.... art layout

I haven't done a layout for A G E S but I wanted to and as I couldn't be bothered to sort through photos I decided to just use this cute little fella from Lisa's altered art to do a fun layout. I will replace the pic with a photo of DG when I sort them out :D
I used a scalloped chipboard sheet (from bubblyfunk) which I cut into three after painting with brown acrylic paint. The truck, tree and lettering are from Basic Grey Archaic... love the stuff.

It really is a happy talent to know how to play and we should all be able to play more often... 'specially with craftybits eh.

hugs

Chris xx

Stash revival - don't you just love it...

when you find something in your stash that you forgot about and give it an airing and have loads of fun getting messy.... oooooh what a fab feeling. I so often get caught up with using new (must have) stuff that I forget what I have tucked away from former purchases.
I came across some textured paint that I bought about 5 years ago for 50p...yes 50p... in an art shop sale. It got hidden away in a draw never to see daylight again...lol Well 'till now that is and am I glad I found it...it's fab. I love texture... it's so much nicer when something is touchy feely as well as being pretty to look at. So I did myself a favour and created a plaque for my room to remind me of what I love to do.
I used the texture paint before I added my own colours over the top. The original was white with sparkly bits in it (bling it on...sigh) I painted a canvas first of all giving it a second coat of brown acrylic paint. These Maya Road chipboard letters were coated with the texture paint before using Tim Holtz distress inks to add colour.

The chipboard crown from Riff Raff designs just has two layers of the white textured paint and some bling added cos I love princessy things (the little girl in me is still here). For the background paper I used BasicGrey cupcake attached to a scalloped chipboard base which I cut in half for the top and bottom of my plaque. I added glitter and flock to portions of the design for more touchy feeliness :)

This lovely bit of bling is from some stick on pieces that DG bought for me at Christmas in his little parcel of loveliness. He knows his Nanna so well ...bless :) Believe it or not they were meant for decorating your hands!! I'm not quite THAT with it...rofl but they did come in useful.
One of my other loves is making things 3d and sticky pads are never far from me in my stash bag (the crown got the treatment) I added a little more colour to the canvas with distress ink rubbed in which brought out the sparkle from the textured paint and 'Bob's yer Uncle' and 'Voila' etc.. etc ..etc. I now have no excuse for not knowing what to do when I'm in the crafting mood.... I can see my reminder every day....

Create ... A R T :)
See you soon and thanks for visiting

hugs

Chris xx

Love to learn layout

Weeeeelll I was going to do all sorts today... had planned a bit of crafting time but didn't manage any so far and the days almost gone. Just looked out of the window a few minutes ago while I was tidying up and was thinking what a lovely day we've had today and then I glanced at my watch and couldn't believe it's after 6pm already. Cor where'd my day go!! I love light nights but when they creep up on ya like this before the clocks change it's a little bit disconcerting.
So I have to share something I did earlier... another layout of DG doing his exploring thing :D
I had a whale of a time putting this one together with all the circles and layering but I enjoyed it heaps.

I used papers and chipboard from BasicGrey Archaic... totally love these for boy stuff...

I added circles of cardboard and crumpled/distressed papers with a scattering of buttons
and chipboard stars.

I didn't want to add lots of journalling so I just hand wrote lots of words to do with learning around my embellishments.

Well I guess I had better go get me some tea now before it's supper time already :D

I'm surprised my tummy hasn't been growling at me.

hugs

Chris xx

Ready, Steady, Cook... DCM challenge

Errrrm... you can stop holding your breath cos I ain't cookin'... can't cook, won't cook is more normal for me. Gimme a microwave any day of the week... can't even boil an egg properly no matter how I try, I've used the clock... bought a timer etc and still they don't come out right so I scramble them instead...lol

So you are saved from pics of charred foodies cos it's Kathy's turn to set The Daring Cardmakers challenge ... 'Ready, Steady, Cook and the recipe :-

3 Different papers

At least 1 piece of chipboard

At least 1 button

At least 1 piece of ribbon

and

1 optional extra of your choice

I had a lot of fun with this one and a happy accident too :D I used 3 BasicGrey papers from the Sultry range....

An outside piece from a Riff Raff Designs chipboard butterfly with paper, ribbon and a button for our fluttery friend

and my happy accident was that, as I inked the edge of my card I slipped... so I ended up creating a wood effect round the edges with felt tip pen... to cover it up :D

Then after layering the flowery paper down the side I added my optional extra..... yeah you guessed it.......

'BLING'... lol

Have a great day all

hugs

Chris xx

Big Art Adventure Challenge- Charms

Well my absence from blogging this week has had a lot to do with the fact that my body has been working the night shift. I've been awake all night and slept all day for most of the week because the little men working my brain are having a laugh at my expense...either that or they've been having parties and stopped working due to hangover induced coma's...lol

While being awake all night would be welcome... if I would have creative boosts and be as happy as the proverbial pig in muck.... it just doesn't happen that way... especially when you wake up and it's dark and you feel like you should be getting into bed and not out of it. A certain fog descends and somehow no amount of turning lights on helps to illuminate the hours ahead.

Sitting without noise for fear of waking everyone else ain't much fun either cos even if you fancy having a disco so you can prance around the room like a marionette on strings... you ain't gonna have one... unless you are ready to face the wrath of the neighbourhood the following day and I'm not THAT brave..lol

Anyway I think I've got it licked cos I am up and it's a little after 8....and DAYLIGHT whoooohooooo. After sleeping all day yesterday and grabbing a kip in the early hours I have hopefully got myself back on track... oh the little things that keep me happy :D

So onward we go and for this weeks Big Art Adventure Challenge we have Charms. This is completely new to me as I have never even thought of making a charm never mind put one together and I thought of giving it a miss as I didn't think it was my thing... but I'm so glad I didn't cos I have found me a new talent and another forthcoming addiction I think :D


So thanks to Linda and Rosie for encouraging me to think out of the box and also thanks to my good bud Chriss for sharing some fabby bits of old jewellery with me to help me in my creating when we spent some quality (chocolate free) crafting time together on Monday evening.

As usual once I got started they just kept coming so I have a little collection starting :D The images are all Artchix and the starting point for each one apart from the wings charm was chipboard shapes. I lurve chipboard it is soooo versatile :D
This one was covered with a piece of previously alcohol inked card which had been stamped with Crafty Individuals crackle stamp before adding the image and... ooooh look BLING...lol
Next piece was covered with a part image and a sentiment... the edges inked with black stazon and I gave her a bling ring and a crown sent to me by my buddy Karen (I got some cooool friends) lol You can also get the crown from Scrapz (see my fab places to visit).
My favourite piece of them all is this one thanks to this gorgeous butterfly and heart from a piece of Chriss' jewellery...oooooh I just love it. The chipboard was covered in coloured card again stamped with Crafty Individuals crackle stamp... the image was cut out and mounted onto a piece from an earring before attaching it to the chipboard with the other bits.

Finally my bottle cap charm has the addition of some ea ring pieces and wings hand cut from cardboard and then covered in some lush velvet paper that I purchased from Scrapz. It is soooo strokeable but unfortunately the texture doesn't show up well in the photo... you just have to take my word for it :D

Okay I hope I haven't interrupted YOUR sleep pattern by making you nod off with the length of this post...lol

I'm off to grab me a coffee and blog hop :D I'm having withdrawal symptoms now.

Have a great day

hugs

Chris xx