Walking With Nature Mini Album

Loooooovvvveeee this album to bits! This album was made using ONLY 7gypsies Conservatory papers! Well... ALMOST. Just one little pebble, 1 chipboard swirl from K&Co., 2 prima flowers, 1/4 of a sheet of wood "paper" and... that's it! The rest are just paper! With lotsa inking, stamping and fussy cutting!


See the flowers? These are handmade using the 7gypsies paper cos I couldn't find flowers of suitable colors. Not too shabby if I may say so myself. Considering that this is my first time making flowers!

Here's some fussy cutting. Cut out those flowers and vines from an 8x8 sheet of Conservatory paper. In fact, all the little flowers throughout the album were cut from the same sheet :) Maximise usage!

More fussy cutting! I am quite the perfectionist. And almost drove myself crazy snipping those little vines and flowers. Haha. But I love how they turned out!

Opps... Have not matted these pages yet. Oh well... I'll get down to it another day. For now I'm happy just looking at the inked pages!

Page on the left was created overlaying old dictionary paper onto pattern paper, then ripping the top layer off, revealing the bottom... Then inking like crazy.

Page on the right was created by inking distress ink over beacon's advanced craft glue. The glue acts as a resist to give that circular border effect. A little something I learnt from Sharon :)

Love the little wooden frame I created, photo slips right in from the top!

What do you think?! I really do heart this messy, inky, muddy looking "nature" album to bits!

Collection Altered Multi-Drawer Trinket Box

December Project! Altered a Multi-Drawer Box by Karen Foster.

Embellies were mostly just buttons by Graphic45, with a couple of metal embellies from Tim Holtz. Of cos, the little drawers require pattern paper to cover... October Afternoon papers were used here, but you could always use scraps! Budget eh? haha

See the border that looks like wood? Thought it's real?! Aha! Gotcha!

A technique that I learnt from Sharon. Rub the length of a candle down kraft cardstock. Remember not to hold the candle like a pencil and draw. Next, rub distress ink over the cardstock. I use Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress Ink here. The candle wax will resist the ink and there you have it! Woodgrain!

Another method would be to paint the surface with acrylic paint using a dry brush (preferably a damaged brush that has dried paint on it). Then just run distress ink over it. The uneven surface created by the brush can mimick woodgrain too!

Have fun!

Rusty Treasure Chest

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered my new favourite place, a local scrapbooking store called Laine's Papeterie. What caught my attention was this rusty looking treasure chest that was on display. I was subsequently told that there was gonna be a class held to create this little treasure. Overjoyed!

When I say rust, I meant those oxidized bronze kinda "rust". Not the reddish, dirty kinda rust. Something like that.

So here's what I completed in class.

A close up pic. Pretty realistic rusting eh? :)

Since Sharon (the instructor) was kind enough to share with us her technique. I'll spread the love! :) Here's how.

To create the rusty effect:

1. First, ink chipboard or cardstock with distress ink.

I used Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

2. Then use a stamp with busy designs and stamp randomly on the chipboard/cardstock with embossing ink/glue.

3. Emboss with a greenish embossing powder.

I used the Aqua ZING! Embossing Powder by American Crafts.

4. Rub Timbre Brown Staz On Ink over the embossed chipboard/cardstock.

TADAH!

I'm a happy girl :D

Oh wells... I was telling da hubby about my "new" hobby when I got home from class, when it dawned upon me that it isn't exactly a newly discovered hobby. But in fact, it's just... ART. Something that was once a big part of me, but was buried and overwhelmed by work and the mundane. I graduated from an Art College, but haven't been in touch with anything artsy fartsy for the past 3 years cos I'm working in the PR field now. The lack of artsy stuff in my life is slowly devouring my soul. I'm glad that I'm rediscovering art, and rediscovering myself in the process :)