Lucy in the Sky with Metal

The latest Circle of Friends project is incorporating Metal into an ATC. The metal could be anything and any amount.

My original idea was to do something with the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz but no matter what I did I couldn't get it to look right. So I decided to play with one of my favorite (and first) stamps.

I black embossed the image onto white card stock and used various shades of blue and purple watercolor to color the image. To add the impression of metal I added glitter to the stars. Other touches of "fake" metal include gold Dresden around the edge and a crown that I painted with gold paint. The actual metal that I used is some wire that I twisted to mimic the swirls of the stamp. I topped them with sequin stars.

The Dresden, crown and sequin stars are all from Alpha Stamps

Shades of Aqua/Turquoise Charms

So far I've played it safe with the new swap group, Marie Antoinette Mail Art aka MAMA, only taking part in swaps that I knew I could do perfectly. Well, one of my friends hosts charm swaps through MAMA I thought, well she'll be honest so if I suck at charms she'll let me know. And I signed up.

I went to the local Bead store and to Michael's to gather all my supplies, everything I got is pictures to the right. I had already put the dragonfly charms together when I took the picture.

Bellow is what I turned all those bits and pieces into.

Upper Left: I used an off white bead, a blue glass flower and some glass leaves to put this charm together. The bead and flower are strung on a head pin and the leaves I used wire to attach them.

Middle: I love this one! I affixed three blue mixed with a brownish tone to the vintage brass leaf chain. I think this one would make a really lovely bracelet all on it's own and may go back to the store and get more.

Upper Right: I had the dragonflies sitting around from a project I never got to. At the same time I had ordered the stone I affixed to the body. It felt like fate played a part in me not using these items until now, so I had to join the swap.

Lower Left: This one is my husband's favorite. Everything is strung onto a headpin, starting with a brass toned bead, the ring with brown toned rhinestones then the turquoise bead, which has a pretty flower on it, topped with a matching ring and bead.

Lower Left: I think this one would make a nice pair of earrings (which probably means it is going to be a lot bigger than the other charms...oh well...sigh) I dangled three strands of aqua beads off of the vintage brass finding.

The requirements of the swap say that each charm needs to be in a bag. I wanted mine to be special and still swap themed so I got some organza bags and stamped a crown on them, adding some aqua glitter to where the stones would be on the crown.

I also attached my charms, using aqua ribbon, to some aqua paper that I stamped with a flourish and highlighted with the same aqua glitter I used on the bag.







I really like the overall effect. I know my charms have some issues, this was my first go at anything like this. There are some crocked rings and some miss twisted wire but all and all I think I did pretty good and know I'll only get better with practice. I of course intend on taking part in more of the charm swaps. I can't wait to get my returns and make something out of them.

Hop Scotch

This week at One Powerful Hour Pauline has selected the theme...

Child's Play

Right now I mainly think of my little girls, one loves dress up and the other is into stacking, but I couldn't think of how to portray either or these. So I went with one of my school yard favorites, Hop Scotch.

I am not really pleased with the outcome of this ATC, it's a little to plain I think. I mounted a decorative paper onto a solid blue, printed the hop Scotch board out on transparency, affixed the little girl (she's from Altered Pages) and added the brads, to look like the stones used in the game.

Next week at One Powerful Hour the theme is A touch of spring. Come play along with us!

Something Sweet

This week over at One Powerful Hour I've selected the theme...

Something Sweet

My favorite thing to do with challenge themes are play on words. There are so many way's this theme can be taken. I decided to do a bit of both...play with the "love" aspect along with the "yummy" aspect.

A few weeks ago Sarah who is the mastermind behind Soul Journaling posted a tutorial for those of us that are members of her yahoo group. I followed her tutorial and came up with this piece.

The background on the heart is entirely covered with glitter...brown and pink. The image is from Altered Pages, the words from Paula's Kit Club and the fork from Alpha Stamps. Other embellishments include the pink German scrap (which was a pain to put on but adds a nice touch), rhinestones and I glittered the image using sticklers glitter glue.

I hope you enjoy!

Bee Mine

I've posted another set of ATC's for the Marie Antoinette Mail Art group. I am simply loving this new group and I'm so glad that they accepted me as a member.

This months ATC theme was a Marie Valentine. I found this image on Etsy from Olgas Designs. It was originally a bookmark but I cut it down to fit. I printed it out twice and used the entire portion as the base of the ATC and then cut out the image of Marie with the yummy cupcake and 3D mounted it.

Next I cut out a strand of the lovely heart ribbon. I got it in a Paula's Kit Club, but alas she is no more, but I'm sure you can find it somewhere else. I know Alpha Stamps carries it in red.

The Bee Hive is from Alpha Stamps. I stamped it on a separate sheet of paper and colored it using colored pencils. Before finishing it I added some pearl ex powder to the hive so it's all sparkly! I then 3D mounted it on top of the Marie image.



The final touches include a heart that I coated in diamond glaze after outlining. A metal Bee that I made look old using a salt and vinegar mixture. The ribbon banner with the phrase "Bee Mine" and a gem on the cake.

This group is way into packaging...and I have received some absolutely fabulous pieces that I didn't even want to open because the packaging on them was so lovely. So I made sure that my Marie's had something a little special about them.

Following the instructions provided by another of the MAMA members I made crepe paper flowers that I added velvet leaves and some gold sprigs to. I affixed these to a soft pink silk ribbon that I tied around the outside of the ATC envelope.






Here is a picture of the back of the ATC all packaged up with the ribbon tied...I am not very good at bows :(

I can't wait to get my exchanges everyone's pieces are always so fabulous. I hope they enjoy mine.