Journal Soup

I recently bought Kate Crane's Journal Soup part Deux and it was just the right thing to give me a creative kick! I've ordered some new paints because as much as I love my gelatos they just don't cut it for styles like this....see the mess below! For now I'm going to put them into a box but they will probably make it onto a card in the end!

Take a cheap bag from Penny's...and make it awesome!

Got this bag for €11 in Penny's, very 80's but very boring and not going to go with my dress that night so I decided to bling it up a bit!

I bought two hair flowers that were selling for 50c, bottle cap embellishment, chain is the long handle that came with the bag and stamped all over with stazon. I Luuuuuuuurvvve it, not very big though so enough for my phone and a lip gloss. Might make me show some restraint when I go out!

Spoooooky Halloween decoration

Well you hardly thought I was going to say Christmas decoration. The final week is upon us now and the last minute dash to costumes is being made as well as complete changes (a little 3 year old with KISS makeup, too fricking  cute!) I bought this die off Felicia http://scrapzville.blogspot.ie/ when I met her in Athlone this month and was waiting until I got some time to do it. It happened I was passing my desk and it lured me in like a siren calling. Before I knew it I was wrist deep in black paint and wondering what had happened. The delicate little gate kept falling over,  Eli kept pulling off the gates so I had to hot glue it to some grey board and covered it with some cardboard shavings, sprayed a bit and stuck down with PVA. I love the hand sticking out of the garden and the minute hand on the fimo clock is... a hand. Cracks me up :)

Thanks for looking!

2 altered houses

Love the difference in them, one in Halloween inspired and the other not yet finished is colourful and retro with Amy Tangerine papers I got in TK Maxx

Some DIY christmas makes- altered mini drawers and altered matchboxes

 This originally was pink and hideous I painted it with a paint dauber and stamped with a prima word stamp to create texture. 

 Altered matchbox in the first drawer, personal joke with my sister when we used to see someone he was a ride so I made a handsome skeleton suitor for her, shrink plasticed a bike and added what a ride to the outside

Fimo magnet from a Dyan Reavley set

She loves Dr Who so i painted the tardis on a match box

For Matt Smith on the inside!

Larger matchbox with a seaside theme inside

The back

Halloween House *photo heavy

Ah Halloween, the air is crisp, the leaves are crunchy and children easily scared. A magical time of year!
I want to start a set of classy halloween decorations, classy being a word I don't use lightly! I bought 2 of these houses from Cardznscrapz as Christmas presents so had to forgo one for my project. I painted the edges with a silver dauber and then stamped with black script in versamark  and covered it in Chillingworth Manor paper *warning not every box or even both sides are the same so measure each side!
I bought the new Doc Who magazine because it had the Weeping Angel in it and needed somewhere to house her so it was all perfect! I used a few other bits I had lying around and added Peter the armless Skeleton, poor Peter can't remember where he left them. Don't you hate that!
I'll just put this up because my motion activated flashing neon skull heads, I did mention classy decorations didn't I?

Commissioned Canvases

A friend had a baby so another friend wanted a personal gift to give her. With her being an excellent photographer I wasn't short on photos to steal off her on Facebook but I'm sure she wouldn't mind :)

Finished altered canvas

Thanks to Lisa for the tutorial on this canvas and I finally finished it off, one day before I teach it for a class. Not like me to leave it to the last minute! I rolled the second smallest tattered flower four times and rolled it into a rose after spraying it. I used an old book for the paper and love the effect it gives.

Graphic 45 Steampunk Spells Altered box

I had a box of chocolates as a present from an American friend, can I say yuck! I'm used to creamy milk chocolate not that but knew the box would come in handy! I got the new Graphic 45 Steampunk Spells 12x12 and fell in love with the lady and her hat!

Close up of the side of the box, I used a tutorial for the flowers from xannero on youtube

A smelly old zip box- let's keep it "just in case"....

Before and after

Top of box- pulled out the glue gun for this and man I forgot how much I love it, especially the little strings left everywhere! label is from a waltzing mouse wanda's kitchen set

Prima paper and a few dies I had lying around, now...to get rid of the smell of firelighters out of the box!

Book of Ruination finished

It's so hard to get the texture and colour of this journal but it was a lot of work getting there! 

I recently did the Andy Skinner online course for the Book of Ruination and this was the result. I love running my fingers over all the textures and I am so so happy with my new big letter die it's perfect for this kind of thing!

Altered page- be where your feet are

I wanted a dark page to highlight the dandelions so using a white layer, then dark grey and finally black. I was going to add a little ladybug hanging out of the main one and realised the proportions were all off so just left it plain and simple. The dandelions are hand drawn with my white pen, very therapeutic, nearly felt like I was zentangling!

 

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Altered dominoes and cigar box

This is the front of the dominoes box, with a Charlesque type chap on the front.

A creepy hand coming out from the bottom of the box

Side of the box stamped with script

Two Andy Skinner inspired altered boxes

Close up of the cigar box

 I learned this week my acyrillic paint is crap, I don't own a good paint brush, I have no patience for waiting for things to dry and that I have a very dark crafty side

A birthday craft basket ramshackle cramming session

The thing about coming from a crafty family is they will always surpass your expectations of presents!

I was blown away by the thoughtfulness and care & time that went into my birthday basket from my sister this year. It included a painted canvas, a patchwork quilt, felted zombie birthday card, PAC man Hama beads and loads of chocolate! But in saying that it set off alarm bells because I only had an altered canvas for her!

So this is my crafty offering this year...AMY if you are reading STOP!!! Or at least wait until after the 23rd!

My altered canvas for her which I've grown very fond of because its been sitting against my craft table for the last while & I don't want to give it up!

 

An Andy skinner inspired clay fairy fossil, she loves fairies but I don't know if this will be too morbid, oh well!

Not made by me, but I bought it from Black Cherry Stitches on etsy who has an amazing shop filled with little gems like this, check her out! I know Amy will scream like the 8 year old who watched this every day when she sees this!

Can you tell the panic had set in at this stage.... A stamped photo frame with fimo embellishments and I photo I took of her last year. Hope she likes the photo because there's nothing worse than someone giving you something made and you have a photo with you pulling the 2013 ugliest face award

 

A little fimo tile covered box with a handmade ring inside. I cannot explain or photograph how gorgeous this ring is. An underwater mermaid should wear it is all I am saying! Thanks for the tip Anne, it's another thing I want to buy now!

 

A beautiful prima mini album that I half filled with photos of her and her fancy fiancée and some of Eli because she loves that kid for some reason! Left it half blank so she could put her own photos in too and just in Case I managed to put in some photos by accident that she utterly despises!

If I can find some lactose free chocolate now I'm on to a winner and maybe next year suggest vouchers....

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