New Supplies Challenge, Part One

*March 10, 2013*   I posted this a couple of weeks ago, but I just joined the Crafty Secrets Linky Party at the Heartwarming Vintage blog, and I wanted to add a link so you can pop over there and see some of their beautiful vintage products and ideas. I absolutely love the postcard kits! That's where I got the image I used on this tin.

If you are visiting from the linky party, welcome to my humble little blog. Hope to see you again!

How many of you sometimes feel more like a collector of scrapbooking supplies than an actual scrapbooker? I can so relate! I made this adorable little photo tin for a new baby girl after I issued a challenge to the scrapper in me. I think it will be barrels of fun! Maybe you'd like to join me....

These are the newest items in my "collection." Some are from a trip to Archivers in KC, some are from Stampin' Up!, and some come from Crafty Secrets. Their blog is a great place to find inspiration, and I just love the vintage look of their products. OK--back to the challenge. I decided that I (I mean she--the scrapper in me!) that SHE needs to dig into these supplies and play! So that's what we did!

We started with this dvd tin. We've decorated these before, but a lot of the metal still showed. We really wanted to cover that up somehow, so we brushed ModPodge all over it and smoothed on a piece of crinkled purple tissue paper. We let that dry then brushed on another coat of ModPoge to protect the paper. Here's how that turned out:

The tissue paper is sheer enough to allow the sheen from the metal to come through a little. I thought it looked pretty cool just like that. But SHE said it needed more, so....

We dug into those supplies and found...hmmm.... We only used ONE THING from that table full of new supplies?! Oh, well, at least we did use something! The picture of the baby in the buggy is from a Vintage Postcard Kit from Crafty Secrets. We cut it out with a Nesties Grand Labels Four (only the largest die of that set will not fit through your BigShot), and used the next bigger die to cut a shiny purple mat to layer behind it. We also cut a strip of patterned paper, rounded the corners on one side, and scalloped the other side. Then we tied some sparkly purple ribbon and fuzzy pink fibers around it.We layered those pieces on the top of the tin using lots of glue dots to make sure everything is nice and secure. 

Then we cut a frame for the inside, using the same paper we used for the scalloped border. Just pick two sizes of die and run them through at the same time like this:

Those thin metal dies can get pretty jumpy when you're trying to be very precise, so the blue painters' tape holds everything in place without tearing your paper. One roll of tape will last for-ev-er. You can even reuse the same piece several times!

The inside of the lid is covered with cardstock and the frame is adhered with pop dots--oops! I mean "dimensional adhesive." Before putting the frame in place I inked the edges. Yes, I said "I!" The inner scrapper didn't want to get her index finger all inky, but that was the best tool for getting around all those little curves, so I inked the edges! Then we punched several flowers from pink and purple tissue paper, layered five or six together, and held them in place on the frame with gemstone brads.

The bottom of the tin is covered with matching cardstock. We used card sleeves for our photo pages, but anything that will hold a photo would work. We repeated the big scallop from the outside and used more gemstone brads to hold everything together. If you can't find pockets, make regular pages using plain or patterned paper cut to size and held together with brads, staples, grommets, or stitching. 

OK. There's one project completed for the "New Supplies Challenge." I need to get it sent to that adorable baby girl! And I need to get back to work on a couple of weddings! And make another one of these for a baby boy.

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Thanks for stopping by! See you next time!

From Waterbed Drawer to Shabby Chic Shelf!

Time to "upcycle" again! This shelf/bulletin board used to be a drawer under a waterbed. Really! Isn't it adorable? I think this one is going to go live with a young lady I know, but there are five more drawers in my garage, lots of fabric in my scrap room, and still about 40 election signs waiting for their chance to live a purposeful life!

Let me show you what I did. Even if you don't have any old drawers lying around, or you don't have any interest in making a bulletin board shelf, maybe something I do will trigger a different idea for you. 

I started with the drawer, some acrylic paints, fabric, quilt batting, ribbon, some brads that very conveniently resemble upholstery tacks, the hot glue gun, and an election sign.

Maybe you remember what waterbed drawers look like. Pretty plain. Very 80's. I slopped on some nearly neon green acrylic paint, added a layer of crackle medium, and topped it off with a little white here, a little cream there, all kind of smooshed together. This is definitely NOT a project where neatness counts. 

The whole point of using something like a crackle medium is to make the piece look used and worn, and old paint doesn't crack evenly across the entire surface. Some areas will be smooth while some will have tiny checks and others will have huge cracks. So don't stress out trying to make it look "perfect!"

I sanded a little around the edges of the drawer where paint would naturally wear away then used some old acrylic antiquing gel that I watered down a bit and swiped across the surface just to bring out the cracks and bare wood a little more.

Now on to the inside....

I cut the sign just a bit smaller than the inside of the drawer and covered it with quilt batting, using hot glue to secure the edges.

Next, I wrapped the fabric over the batting, pulled it snug, and hot glued the edges. I divided the left and right sides into halves and the top and bottom into thirds to determine where to start and end the ribbon. 

The back of this will never show, so don't worry about mitering corners or making the edges even. You can even leave all the hot glue stringies all over the back!

These brads were all different colors when I started. I pushed them into a piece of foam and brushed on a coat of Vintage White acrylic paint. 

When that dried, I very lightly brushed the tops and edges with some shimmery pink puff paint. That's what I had on hand. I love to wear pink, but to be honest, with two boys, I've never had a lot of use for pink paint of any kind!

I pierced a hole through all the layers at each ribbon intersection and pushed the brads through. Then I squirted some hot glue on the back of the sign and pushed it down to the bottom of the drawer. With all the fabric and batting it was pretty snug. Now it's ready to load.

There you go! It can hang on the wall or sit just about anywhere. 

I can't wait to see my friend's reaction! Then I'll have to get busy and put together a few more to sell at the flea market!

So.... Did inspiration pay a visit? What did it say?

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time!