A altered bird house

This is one of my all time favorite type of crafting. I love to alter things. I found this bird house in the naked wood section and immediately saw potential. I have a few drawers that contain odds and ends and bits and pieces for projects just like this. I will point a few items that you might not recognize but the rest you can probably figure out starting with the front.

The glass knob at the top of the peak on the front is the cover to a small Yankee candle. The black button on it is the outer cap from a champagne bottle. The trim on the lower peak is from an old remote control that I took the keypad out and cut into strips. I have said in the past, "I don't throw anything out". Below you can see the other sides.

A lot of the items are from my Tim Holtz stash. The chipboard butterfly on this side is from Tattered Angels.

 On the back I could only envision something running from the top to the bottom so this is what I came up with. A few buttons and stickers. I had no intention of have a black, red and white color scheme but with the base of the house being black I didn't have many options. I wanted the red for a pop of color.

The white handle on this side of the house is an old handle from my stamping desk. I still have six more for future projects. It is a little hard to see but on all the perches under the entrance holes I have put a pearl or rhinestone. You can see them best on the second image. I covered up the lower hole on this side of the house with a red button and then put a bubble floral sticker on top of it. The roof is just designer paper.


Altered art is really my therapy so you may be seeing quite a bit more of it. It is also garage sale time where you can pick up some really cool pieces at a bargain price. We all love a bargain whether we use it as is or re-purpose it. Keep your eyes open and really look at something for what it could be. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you would have otherwise dismissed as junk.

~Have fun and enjoy!



Inked Embossing

Today was a perfect day. It started out with some rain and then a bit of thunder while I read the paper with my morning coffee. I had the house to myself this weekend and it was pure heaven. By mid afternoon the sun decided to come out and then it got a bit muggy. This certainly isn't the type of weather we get in April and it was a nice change to the cold weather we've had lately. I need this humid weather to get me ready for my Florida vacation in two weeks.

Today's card is using an embossing folder with a twist. The larger frame was created by inking up a Sizzix folder with ink and then putting white card stock in it. I just inked up the folder directly with the ink pad. It created a chalky look and gives you a two tone pink/white color frame. I used Spellbinders Label 8 for both windows. The inner frame was run through the Cuttle Bug with the Swiss Dot folder. I wished I had put more backing on the frames to create a deeper window. My mind really wasn't in this one. The rose is store bought and the leaves were created with Sizzix Branch w/Leaves. I love the flourish which is a die from Memory Box called Elegant Scrollwork. I can't wait to get some more of their dies. The window frame with shutters will be my next purchase.

I hope everyone has a good week. It looks like I have a very busy one at work as well as at home. I hate the craziness I always have at work just before I go on vacation. It's not until I am out the door that I can really start getting excited about being away. This time might be a little different though. I don't know if the excitement is really going to happen.

~Have fun and enjoy!

Maggie

I think I will call her Maggie. I just love this stamp from Paperdoll pARTs called Bird & Bee. I colored her dress with colored pencils and used a bit of Gamasol for blending. Of course she needed a crown so I used a brad that I cut the shanks off of and then just glued it on. I used a new embossing folder from Darice and then used the Spellbinders Label 4 to create my window frame. I just love the look and depth the frame creates- it is one of my new favorite techniques. The flourish is a die from Memory Box called Elegant Scrollwork. The leaves, flower and sprig of pearls can be found in most bridal sections. You can see a better view below and as always you can click on any of the pictures for a enlarged view.

I am  looking forward to my Florida trip with mixed feelings. These days there is a lot of guilt with anything that is pleasurable, but I know I need this. Right now there isn't anything I can do to change or make the trials in my life better. I will always be a phone call away for support and love, but if I am going to be the rock in all of this, I need to give my soul some time off. As I said, my work doesn't allow me the luxury of a mental hiatus. It is on my mind 24/7 and it is overwhelmingly exhausting and painful. Not to say being in the sun with nothing to do but read and relax is going to help me stop thinking about it but maybe it will give me the recharge I need to stay strong.

~Enjoy

An appreciation thank you

Just wanted to post something for you to look at today. It was Physician Appreciation day last Friday and I made this card for our Cardiologist for all of us to sign. He knows I make cards so he came to me right away and asked me if I made it. He was so thrilled to get something that was hand made. I think I really impressed him with this one. He said he was going to take it home and show his wife. It was really amazing because at that moment he made it seem like his talent of taking care of the human heart was no different than the talent it took to make the card- it's all in the perspective I guess.

 It is hard to see in the pictures, but the Fan Deco square is really a frame. It sits up quite high but the angle of my pictures did not capture it. I used the MS corner and border punch for the frame. The font from Stampin' Up was cut out with a Label 22 Spellbinders die. The border across the bottom was cut with an EK Success Medallion Chain Large Edge punch. A strip of black and silver rhinestones were added over the border and the black background is a 5x7 Holly Ribbons Cuttlebug embossing folder. I thought it was very fitting to use a red doily heart.

~Have fun and enjoy!