Sending All My Love

Hello and happy Friday!! It's Jennalee here today with an altered Altoid Tin and Frame. As you all know I love creating faux rust. While at Creativation earlier this month I was reminded of Rusting Powder from Paper Artsy. I knew this would provide the perfect finish for the blank canvas provided by the Altoid Tin from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.

The Altoid Tin comes ready for altering. I started by sanding mine to give it some tooth. 

Add some color to your tin with Mushroom and Gun Metal Alcohol Inks. 

Cover the tin with ephemera. I used a mix of Tim Holtz ephemera and vintage postage. 

Apply Rusting Powder with chosen adhesive and spray with a mix of vinegar and water. Spray every 15 minutes until level of desired rust is achieved. 

Look at that rusty goodness!! 

Cut a background for the inside of your Altoid Tin lid from Tim Holtz Journaling Cards. Smoosh into a puddle of Vintage Photo Distress Oxide. And add a length of Ruler Ribbon attached using a Tiny Attacher. 

Select a variety of postal themed ephemera to slip into the ribbon of the lid background. 

Cover the Altoid Tin Frame with patterned paper and add distressing with the run off of Rusting Powder from the tin. Add a Classic Label Sticker and hand-stitch an Arrow Adornment to the bottom of the frame. 

Using foam dots build up the frame insert to desired height. I chose to make mine level with the top of the tin. Cut a piece of patterned paper to apply to the inside of frame to cover the foam dots. 

Heat emboss a Photobooth photo using Vintage Beeswax. Once cool messy stitch photo onto a scrap of shorthand text. 

Stack foam squares to desired height and adhere to inside of tin. Color a small bunch of flowers with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink and slip inside the frame. 

I really enjoyed putting together this little tin and think there will be more in the future. And I can definitely see more faux rust using this method!! 

Happy creating ~ Jennalee

Two of Hearts

Hello!! Happy Friday everyone. I'm here today with a quick little Valentine project inspired by these amazing Heart Playing Cards from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts. The instant I saw them I envisioned them all rusty as a frame for some antique photos. Although this was a super easy project I am so pleased with the outcome.

The frames come in a 2 pack and there are 4 pieces total with the fronts and backs. 

Run the frame backs thru your Xyron and apply short hand book text. Trace around the frame opening and then paint the outer edges of the back gold. This gold accent will pop thru once the frame is put together. 

 

For the top of the frame pieces I used my favorite faux rust treatment. 

 Using a cosmetics sponge apply brown paint and then dip directly into cinnamon. Pounce on more brown paint and heat set. If you have a heat gun that runs hot you can burn the cinnamon for that great crusty effect. But be careful!! 

Photo copy your vintage images. Heat emboss using Baked Texture Vintage Beeswax. Die cut with Stitched Oval die. I heat embossed my images before die cutting so that the die cut details would stand out. 

Cut a length of vintage patterned seam binding and adhere down the center of the frame backs. Adhere the photos centered in the cutout area. 

Adhere frame to the back. And voila you have a super easy antique inspired Valentine in just a few minutes. 

Although its a quick and simple project I love the way these Heart Playing Card frames take the main stage. And be sure to stay tuned on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Blog this coming Monday Jess from Two Mad Dahlias has a tutorial using these amazing frames as well!!

Happy Creating ~ Jennalee 

With Wonder Shadowbox

Hello!! Happy Friday and Happy New Year!! I spent the first day of 2019 in my studio playing, and this was the result!! I had put together this Mini Shadowbox a while back and found it in my drawer while looking for the Pocket Watch, which was the inspiration for this whole piece. Being the new year I wanted to make something with a watch or clock theme. From there I just let the piece guide me. Those are always my favorite projects!!  

Begin by covering the inside surfaces of the 3-inch Shadowbox with vintage ledger scraps and cigar label patterned paper from Tim Holtz Paper Stash. Then assemble the box.

Cover the back of the shadowbox with a ruler print patterned paper. Cover the sides of the shadowbox with a faux rust background.  Sand edges and ink to help everything blend together. 

Apply Distress Crazing Medium to back of box and allow to air dry. Once dry add distressing using Prima Artist Powders.

Make a photocopy of a vintage photo booth photo on plain copy paper. Heat emboss two layers of Vintage Beeswax over image. I prefer to do this technique on plain copy paper because of the unique transparent effect it achieves. 

Apply Distress Grit Paste randomly on the 1 1/2 inch Pocket Watch. Allow to air dry. 

Once the Grit Paste has air dried apply a faux rust treatment. 

Stitch photo to pocket watch. Wrap wire around the top of pocket watch. 

Heat emboss the 2-inch clock from the Pocket Watch Assorted Size Set with Burnt Copper Leaves and a sprinkle of Patina Oxide.  

Adhere clock to inside of shadowbox. Add a small screw in hook to top inside of box. 

Add a Gadget Gear to the inside of the clock. In bottom left corner add altered Numeral. I wanted a nod to 2019 so I cut the word nineteen out of the dictionary and adhered it to the metal number. 

Finish off two opposite corners with a corner sticker from Industrious Sticker Gallery. 

Apply Handle with Care ephemera piece to top of shadowbox. 

To finish off the pocket watch add 'wonder' sentiment from Clippings Stickers. Adhere key to bottom of shadowbox. Add a vintage metal film canister lid to bottom of box for a stand. 

I really enjoyed creating this project and love the way it turned out. It was a great way to kick off 2019. I wish you all a very happy year full of renewed creativity!! 

Thanks for stopping by and happy creating my friends ~ Jennalee

Steampunk Tree Topper

Hello and happy Friday!! Christmas is right around the corner so I am sneaking in one last Christmas project this week. At first glance, you wouldn't think Christmas but it is. My hubby started a small Steampunk tree for his man cave. We are still working on collecting ornaments but he requested a tree topper. I got to thinking about the Skeleton Clocks from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts and knew they would make a perfect base!! I pulled out my embossing powders and heat gun and got to work. 

Here are the pieces I started out with from top left ATC Coin, Photo Reels Miniatures, Gears Shape Set, Clock Hands Shape Set, Skeleton Clock.

  

Heat emboss clock and inner ring. I covered the whole clock using Charred Gold and heat set. Then went back and added Oil Rubbed Bronze to the numbers. The inner ring was embossed with Oil Rubbed Bronze. Not pictured is the smaller inner clock that I embossed in Charred Gold. 

For the clock hands I used Burnt Copper Leaves with a few sprinkle of Ancient Amber.

The gears are done in Oil Rubbed Bronze, Burnt Copper Leaves and Ancient Amber. 

I covered the ATC Coin with a piece of aluminum tape that had been embossed and colored with alcohol inks. 

Once I started constructing my clock I realized I needed a layer for the back to hold the 2 clock faces and inner ring together. This Trellis Frame was the perfect size. I painted both front and back black.

At this point, I fit all of the two clocks into each other and added the ATC coin in the center of the smaller clock. I adhered the layers together and backed them with the Trellis Frame. I got so caught up in the flow I forgot to take a picture. 

I used a paper mache cone that I had in my stash to attach to the back of the clock and serve as the tree topper. 

I layered the gears on top of the ATC Coin until I was happy with the configuration. The Photo Reel was embossed with Charred Gold and adhered on top of the Gears. I used a clock key that I found in the jewelry section of Michael's and poked it thru the Clock Hands and Photo Reel.

The clock hands are set at 10:04 as a tribute to Back to the Future as requested by the hubby. I really enjoyed this fairly simple project. If you love heat embossing then you will definitely enjoy it as well. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! ~ Jennalee