Shabby Old Boot

     For the beginning of this month at House Of Cards we would like you to use our sketch to create a Cute or Shabby style card. The DT have come up with some lovely cards to give you inspiration so please pop over and take a look.
     I was given some Hunky Dory bits and bobs to use up and in that pile was this lovely old boot and the fancy strip. I have used some scrapbook paper for the backing, cut to size with corners rounded off and distressed with Victorian Velvet Distress Ink.    
     When I reached for the corner punch I grabbed the wrong one! so that's why one corner has a slot cut in it. How to get round this problem? With the right punch do the other corners and tuck a tag, which will hold the greeting, in the corner like it was meant to be there! Mistake?...What mistake!!
     I have added a pearl swirl that tucks under the boot topper. The topper is mounted on foam pads to allow the pearls to fit. As there were pearls under the topper I decided to pick them off and stick them on the boot over the buttons, waste not want not!
     I hope you can come and join us at House Of Cards, there are two weeks for you to make your card and join us, see you there.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Craftyhands Challenge - Shabby Chic

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - Anything Goes with patterned paper

Seemacrafts - Vintage

Steampunk Cinderella

     At last here is the steampunk shoe I promised before Easter. It has taken a little longer than anticipated but it's finally finished.
    It began last year as an idea to accompany The Boot but it took ages to find the right shoe. It couldn't be any old shoe, it had to have the right look to begin with and I finally found it a couple of months ago in a charity shop. There was only one shoe so I got it for a small donation rather than throw it in the recycle bin.

     The first thing to do was chop off some of the heel and replace it with a bolt. It already had a strap and buckle which was perfect.  I had a small musical movement in my stash so I punched a hole just below the buckle for the handle to poke through and stuck the movement in the toe  of the shoe. I had to add some packing to stop it from sliding forward and to make sure the handle cleared the buckle when it was turned.
    I covered the heel with aluminium tape to help keep the bolt on and hide the join.

    I have collected all sorts of bits from charity shops and junk shops over the last year just for this project. Not everything was suitable in the end but I have used a wing nut on the back held in place by wire threaded through a button and tied off inside the shoe.  The chain of charms is part of an old necklace secured at the top by a small bull clip and at the bottom by a screw top brad through one of the holes in the strap. Also on this side is a large gem stuck in the middle of a ridged washer.

     The metal toe piece is a decorative corner from Creative Expressions bent to fit. The crochet lace has been added to the back of the strap using double sided tape and the zipper rose was made from a new zip I chopped up. I found a really good tutorial on line showing how to make zip flowers, this one is no where near as good as the tutors!!
    The inside of the shoe had to be hidden after all the things that have been attached to it so I have chopped up some polystyrene and covered it with a dark red fabric that matches the stitching all around the shoe. This is not stuck in so if anything comes undone or the music stops working it can be sorted without destroying the shoe.
    The clock is made from a charm stuck on to card and covered with a Glass Glintz dome, stuck on with Glossy Accents. The wings are from a butterfly stamp cut out and stuck on the back. It is attached to the memo pin with a jump ring.

     The invitation is cut from black card using a Spellbinder die Decorative Labels Eight. I've run around the edge with a gold acrylic paint to jazz it up a little and spelt invitation in peel off letters.
     The light bulb paperclip is from a stationary shop but I can't remember which one ...sorry, that's what happens when you spend the best part of a year collecting bits and pieces, but it is fun.
    The right side of the shoe has been dabbed with silver acrylic paint and then I've stuck on some cogs I die cut out of an old pie dish. If you run the pie dish through the Bigshot without any dies it will squash it down nicely ready for you to select what you want to cut. They have been grunged a little with brown paint.

     The cogs have been stuck on with silicone glue and some have screw top brads through them as well. There is another gem washer on the toe and the fizzy drinks can flower that you saw last month has been attached to the heel.

    I hope Cinderella likes her shoe, the Prince could have The Boot. They would make quite a couple don't you think?

    I didn't have a particular challenge in mind when I started this as I didn't know how long it would take. Imagine my delight this morning when up pops Make My Monday's new challenge of anything but a card!!!  There are also a couple of steampunk challenges on the go at the moment so lucky me.

 

    I would like to enter this shoe in the following challenges:

SanDee & Amelie's Steampunk Challenge - Fairytale

Try It On Tuesday - Inventors, Inventions & Steampunk

Make My Monday - Anything BUT a card

Crafty Emblies - Anything goes

Tattered Floral challenge

    There is a challenge over on Tim Holtz blog for anything made using the Tattered Florals Die.
   This flower is made from a fizzy drinks can, cut open , cut out and coloured with alcohol inks. After colouring I have run it through a cogs embossing folder. There is also a fabric layer using the daisy like flower from the same die.
   The flower layers have been stacked up using a screw top brad wrapped with stamens to hold it all together. I have tried different types of glue and tape with mixed success but a brad is perfect as it goes right through it all.
   There are two leaves cut using the Tattered Leaves die, also a Tim Holtz die, coloured with greens and run through a bark embossing die.
   The flower is attached to something I am working on at the moment but am unable to finish by the end of the week. Please pop back soon to see the companion to 'The Old Boot' which can be seen in the background.

   The Old Boot was a project done at the end of last summer, I am now working on it's companion. If you would like to see the making of the boot then please click on this link here. Flowers were cut from card, fabric, metal and paper, Bigz dies will cut through almost anything, I love them.

The Old Boot gets Flower Power

Here as promised is The Boot.  It began life a long time ago as a lovely new work boot but when it's work was done I thought it should have a new life.
J&C Creations challenge this month is Try Something Different, so I did. I decided that as distress and grunge are so in vogue at the moment I would go the other way.
With the exception of one sequin covered flower they are all die cut from metal, card and fabric using a range of Sizzix and Spellbinder dies.

 I wanted to put my flowers on a green base so I had to paint my boot. I masked off the top brown cuff so it stayed brown and then painted with a cream emulsion I have in a tester pot.

 The green layer is a mix of various shades of acrylic paint and some Cosmic Shimmer misters.
The large purple and blue flower in the bottom left corner is the only metal one I made, it's coloured with alcohol inks.

The large pink flower with the button in the middle is fabric stuck on double sided sticky sheet then on to card and cut out. The netting is also die cut with a card flower in the middle and a gingham brad.

  The foliage is cut from a mixture of pearl card, plain card and some coloured with Distress inks or sprayed with mica misters.
The butterfly is the only stamped item on the boot. Stamped and embossed then coloured with Cosmic Shimmer Watercolours.I used a flower stamen folded in half and stuck behind his head to give him antenna.
Everything is stuck on with Cosmic Shimmer PVA dries clear glue, it's amazing stuff, much stronger than it looks!
 The whole project has taken a few weeks to complete but it has been fun. Oh and it has a jam jar inside so you can use it to store your brushes or put flowers in it!
I would like to enter my boot in the challenge over on Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Handmade Flowers.  When you see the creations people have come up with you'll be amazed. I don't enter to win, I just want to share because it was so much fun making something different.
So go on and Try Something Different!