Autumn Concertina Tag Book

While I don't have access to my crafting stuff I thought I'd take this opportunity to show some things I've made in the past which predate this blog. Today we're going back over 3 years to September '06! This is the sample I made for a class I was teaching at the time, 4 autumn themed tags in a distressed concertina folder. I've just realised as I'm writing this that the piece predates my addiction to stamping - in fact at this point I didn't even own a stamp and most of my crafting was computer-based! Click on any image for a larger view.



The folder was made from a piece of moss green white-core cardstock with a brown check paper adhered to the back. After shaping and folding, the pockets were held in place with eyelets at each end. It was then sanded to distress it and the quotes were matted and fixed to the pocket fronts. The black plastic name plate on the front was coated with a tape runner and then gold metallic flakes were applied to gild it. It was then sanded to distress the edges and fixed in place with brads.

Tag 1 - The flourishes on the background paper were enhance with gold stickles and the burlap swatch was fixed in place with double sided tape then secured with two textured brads. The quote mat was edged with gold Krylon pen and the quote was fixed to the tag with d.s.t. Finally a brown circle was fixed to the tag and then set with a large eyelet and cord was added.







Tag 2 - Fairly simple this one. Basic Grey background paper, matted quote with inked edges and a spiral paper clip (gilded with Krylon).












Tag 3 - The green tortoise-shell effect was achieved by dabbing alcohol ink to a piece of clear acetate with a square of felt, waiting a second for it to dry, then repeating the process until the desired effect was achieved. The acetate was then cut to shape and turned into a sticker by running it through a Xyron sticker maker (the small X shaped Xyron machine). It was then affixed to the tag. The brad was white, coloured with alcohol inks to match the colour theme of the tag.





Tag 4 - The tag background paper was made on the computer using hundreds of leaf images then printed and fixed to the tag. The slidemount was covered in brown cardstock and a strip of brown check paper was fixed down one side. The leaf image was printed from the computer, aged with brown chalks and fixed in place. An eyelet was inserted in the corner of the slidemount and fibres tied through it.

Simple as that! I hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane with me, there will be another one soon! :)

Crackle Frame Shadow Box

I thought I'd try something a bit different today - a shadow box. I bought a few of these frames a while back and have been waiting for an excuse to have a go at one! All stamps used in this project were from the Artistic Stamper, as were the watch parts.

The inside of the frame was painted with espresso paint dabber, and the front and outer edges with frayed burlap crackle paint. When the crackle paint had dried, I applied walnut stain distress ink to it to accentuate the cracks in it. The "Time is..." phrase was stamped with black Staz-on. The crackles don't show up that well in this photo, but they're there, believe me!

The background card inside the frame was tinted with walnut stain distress ink applied with Cut'n'Dry foam and then flicked with water to produce lighter spots on it. I then crumpled it up, flattened it slightly, then rubbed it lightly more walnut ink to highlight the crumple folds. I then turned it over, spritzed it with a little water and ironed it flat (yes, yes... I know.... enough already! Those of you that know me find it hard to imagine me with an iron in my hand, but you have to believe me, it's true! Would I lie to you, dear reader?) For some reason that I have not yet fathomed, this produced light blue/grey marks where the crumples had been. I'm not complaining, I think it looks great, I just wish I knew how it had happened!

The card was then stamped with a calligraphic mat and tape measure stamp in brushed corduroy distress ink, and glued into the frame.

The watches were created as follows (going from right to left):

• stamped in walnut stain distress ink
• stamped and embossed with gold embossing powder then tinted with walnut ink
• stamped with black Staz-on onto acetate, run through a Xyron sticker-maker to make the back sticky, then gold leaf was applied to the back. It was then scrubbed with a rough brush to distress it slightly.
  

The watches were layered with 3d foam pads.

The watch face and glass were layered in the lower left corner with a spiral paper clip, tinted with gold Krylon pen.

The key in the top right corner was a real one I had lying around the house, which was suspended from jute twine and held in place with 2 drawing pins coloured with a copper Krylon pen.

The chipboard key was from Maya Rd. It was coloured with gold Krylon, sanded to distress the edges and gently edged with walnut distress ink. It doesn't show up well in this photo, but the word ORIGINAL was then stamped onto the key using black Staz-on ink.

And that's about it! It took a fair while to make, but I'm really pleased with it. I hope you like it too! :o)