It's All About The Bling

 

     This month's challenge at River Of Creativity is all about Fashion Sense. It's a challenge for all creative projects, so if you have made a new dress or knitted a new top you can enter them, we would love to see your work.

     I have wanted to make this head for some time, I've been collecting all sorts of 'bling' for months. I made a steampunk-ish type one several years ago and this one started life the same way, papier mache.

     I have a polystyrene head which I covered with cling film and then approximately 8 layers of papier mache. Once completely dry I cut the head open at the back and removed the polystyrene form. Using hot glue and a selection of clean stones from the garden I weighted the bottom inside.

     I pulled the head back together and sealed the wound with three layers of papier mache - an old newspaper and some PVA glue.

     Once the head had dried out thoroughly I die cut some swirl shapes in greyboard and glued them in place at random. I also die cut a fancy border in greyboard and glued that all the way around the base. 

     The next step was to use pieces of aluminium tape to cover the newsprint and the shapes, taking care to use a ball tool around the shapes to flatten the edges and define the swirls. Then it was time to break out the black acrylic paint, this was sponged all over the head, then just before it dried completely I rubbed some of it off so it had a distressed look. It's easy to touch up any areas you're not happy with but you can get messy hands, good thing it's all water based.

      Then came the fun part, trying to decide which bits and bobs to put on the head. The mask was a must, it helps define the face as the features are not strong. I was originally going to cover it with bling but having used aluminium tape it already had shine before anything else was added. It ended up with a tiny tiara, earrings, necklace and lots of stud earrings popped in on the swirls. Everything was attached with hot glue so I had to work fast, I made a few mistakes and had to peel things off, patch and try again, but I did enjoy making it.

      The last one I made was for a headphone stand but I have no idea what this one will be used for....yet. I have also kept the polystyrene shape just incase I feel like making another one.

Steampunk type head from 2016

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

Creative Artiste - #75 Anything Mixed Media      Top 3

Watercooler Wednesday - #323 Cathy's Challenge - All Things Feminine

Mixed Media Lovers - #5 Anything Goes

The Crafter's Cafe - #273 Anything Goes

A Perfect Time To Craft - #9-2021 Anything Goes      DT Fav

Love To Craft - #62 Anything Goes

Crafter's Castle - #45 Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar - September Anything Goes

Cutlery Bird

     I have always admired the amazing items made from old metal cutlery, sadly I have neither the skills nor the tools to make my own. What I do have is a selection of plastic cutlery, a heat tool, a glue gun and the challenge to try it my way.

     I used to play around with my plastic stir stick and hot coffee on the train journey back from college, so if hot liquid and mild force will bend a plastic stick then a heat gun should be just as good, if not better........it is!
     Making sure to use a heat mat, a silicone mat and finger guards I started to go all Uri Geller with my cutlery. There were a few melt downs but it didn't take long to work out just how much heat was too much.
     I confess I used a photograph of a metal bird as a guide, but this one is not exactly the same as the photo, I used whatever plastic items I had to hand.

     Using spoons for the body, forks for the wings and knives for the tail the bird started to take shape. Feet were a bit of an issue for a while, then the penny dropped and I payed a visit to my local discount shop for some hair accessories. Small claw clips turned out to be perfect and while I was there I got some other bits and bobs for future projects.
     I have also bought some coloured plastic cutlery to play with, it will be interesting to see if the core colour takes over when melted. I would suggest making sure the windows are open when melting plastic, or better still try and do it outside.

     As this bird was made with white plastic I wanted to see what I could do to colour it. For this one I used a special grey primer for use on plastic, followed by a copper spray paint. There are some craft paints that may work on plastic but I have yet to try them.
     My collection of small plastic bits and bobs has increased a little so I will try some other birds or animals soon.
     Not Just Cards is the perfect challenge blog for a non papercraft project, so pop over and see what else we have for inspiration this month.

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

2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes With A Critter

Crafty Animals - Anything Goes

Love To Craft - Anything Goes

Worldwide Open DT - Anything For A DT Goes

A Bit More Time To Craft - Anything Goes

The Crafter's Cafe - Anything Goes

Seasons Greetings

     Not Just Cards challenge blog is for all things crafty, so this month I made a wreath for the door.

     The base for this was a polystyrene ring, which I then covered with hessian ribbon, to secure the ends I used hot glue.
     There is a wire loop on the back which gives me somewhere to tie the wreath to the door.
     The pine fronds are from an old artificial tree that I use as an outside decoration. The pine cones were collected on one of many walks around parkland, all I had to do was use the hot glue gun to secure it all and add in a few wired berries.
     The bow is wire edged ribbon, again stuck on with hot glue. A rather simple but effective seasonal make. Please pop over to Not Just Cards and see what other inspiration we have.

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

The Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas

Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

International Art & Soul - Anything BUT A Card

It's In The Bag & On The Card

     We all spend time making great cards for Christmas but what about gift packaging? Why not make a gift bag to match the card for that special friend, then pop over to Not Just Cards and show us.The waste from making this bag was used to make a card, it doesn't match the bag but it has made use of bits that may have been thrown out.

     Using both the Poinsettia and the Swirl Poinsettia dies I cut in gold and white, I kept the offcuts for the card.
     Assembling the flowers white over gold and shaping them slightly didn't take long but I wanted something special for the centres. Using a hot glue gun I added a large blob of glue to the flower centres and covered them with seed beads, gently pressing them down a little and leaving them until set.

     For foliage I used the new small ivy spray die and cut several in thin white card, I also cut a white greeting.
     The layers were all cut and matted before I put the flowers on, it's much easier to do when everything is flat. I have also learnt that if you wish to stamp on the top layer this should be done before it gets stuck on the bag, when folded up these bags can be a bit 'lumpy'.
     I love the Kraft and white combination, it's clean and simple and works well for any gender.

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

ABC Christmas - S-Sparkle & T-Texture

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas/option Patterned Paper

The Holly and Ivy Christmas - Anything Christmas

Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas

My Time To Craft - Anything BUT A Card

     Now what to do with the off cuts?  To start with I put the white over the gold layer but off set it slightly and stuck them together.
     Using the Poinsettia stamp set I put a large piece of red card in my stamp press and stamped it using a Crimson ink pad, I though black would look a little too harsh.

     I put the white and gold layer over the red and lined up the petals, there is a little overlay as the gold and white are offset, then carefully stuck them together making sure there was a red border all the way around the top layer. I put a tiny amount of glue on my finger nail so I could stick down the little bits without making a mess.
     There is a small difference between the Swirl Poinsettia die and the Poinsettia stamp, the smallest stamped flower does not have a corresponding swirl because it's too small so their are two of the next size up. This meant that the smallest flower was missing on the top white layer so I stuck one on top of the white and there was one flower hole with the wrong size stamped image, so I covered this one up with a red die cut flower dropped in the hole.
     The red layer was trimmed to give me a nice even border around my image panel, this was then stuck on to a white card blank. All that remained was to add some gold pearls to the flowers.
     Making a card with what I would usually have discarded made me very happy, after all no crafter wants to throw anything away do they!

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

Happy Little Stampers - Anything With Dies

Winter Wonderland - Favourite Embellishments

Materials List - for both projects

JND132 - Swirl Pionsettia Die
JNDCC017 - Poinsettia Die

JND50013 - Elegant Poinsettia Stamp

JND129 Mini Ivy Die

Light Up Your Christmas

     This project has been so much fun to make for two reasons, one-I love making Christmas items and two-I finally get to spill the beans on why things have been so quiet on here.........I can't tell you how pleased I am to have been asked to make some samples for John Nextdoor. These die sets were released on TV Thursday and the tree die proved to be a firm favourite.

      This die has no end cut so you can make a continuous line of trees, just by cutting and moving it along you can create a whole forest the full length of your cardstock.
      The bottle I used came from a shop called Flying Tiger, it is plastic which makes it safer for use around little people, and the bottom comes off for you to decorate inside.
       A full sheet of A4 card was slightly short of a perfect fit inside, not being sure of the exact depth I wanted I cut my forest across the middle of the card so it gave me room to play with.

   
      Using the deer set of dies I cut all three strips and coloured my deer brown. I left a tab on the bottom of each animal so I could glue them to the base of the forest, leaving them white means they hardly show when the light is on.
      Some of the deer are facing the opposite way to the way they were cut, as long as both sides are coloured this gives you double the possible poses of your animals.

      So the LED tealight I used inside could not be seen and the glow would be even I used a sheet of thick vellum and stuck it behind my trees.
      I also wanted falling snow so I used a sheet of acetate sprayed with Stix2 White Fabric Spray and stuck that, once dry, behind the vellum.
      Three layers were a bit harder to curve when putting them in the bottle but as long as you are very careful with the branches it's pretty easy to slide it all in. I didn't glue the forest scene inside the bottle as it sits quite happily against the plastic.

   
     The top of the bottle looked a little empty so I cut John's Ivy Corner die in green card, coloured it with a darker green and a touch of brown, then worked it with a ball tool. The resulting garland had dimension and a slightly mote natural colouring.
     The garland sits quite happily at the top of the bottle, as it's inside some of the leaves tuck over the vellum and this helps hold it in place, so no ugly glue marks to cover.

     All that remained was to cover the neck of the bottle. I'm not big on bows and frills but this was crying out for a bow. I had some hessian in my stash in various widths, you know how it is, you but several types just in case you might need them, well I did need them.
     I wrapped some wide hessian round the neck, then made a bow from the narrower one. I have an old artificial Christmas tree in my greenhouse that comes out each year on the front porch, this now has one small needle set missing!
    The berries were bought a couple of years ago but the cones are real, they are the result of a visit to a country house with lots of different varieties of pine tree and a carrier bag. All items were added to the bottle with hot glue.
     The LED tealight is held to the base with stickytac, I couldn't glue it in place as the switch is on the bottom.

Materials list - dies
  JNDC  C021 - Deer Scenes                               
  JND 141 - Woodland Trees                               
  JND 124 - Ivy Corner                                         

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

Sparkles Christmas - It's Snowtime

The Holly and Ivy Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes

Crimbo Crackers - Anything Christmas Goes

Cut It Up - Die Cut Critter

Christmas Crafts All Year Round - Add A Tree

Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Seascape Inktin

     What do you do with an old, dried out ink pad that's not worth trying to revive? Well maybe nothing with the pad, but the tin is a different story. This project is for Altered Eclectics challenge blog as we love anything altered, recycled or mixed media.

   
     It took a bit of brute force to get the pad off the base, only to discover that the base wasn't really going to be of much use, so that went in the metal recycle bin.
     The lid has many possibilities as it's a nice silver tray about half an inch deep. After peeling the label off the lid I used some Sticky Stuff Remover to get all the glue off, leaving it nice and clean.
     To be able to pop it on the fridge I added a strip of Stix2 self adhesive magnetic tape on the outside.

      To decorate the inside I used Alcohol Inks in shades of blue, ready for my seascape.
      The weed and creatures are all made with hot glue in a silicone mould, this means they are slightly flexible which is very handy when sticking them on a curve.
      The shapes were painted with a mix of acrylic and pearl paints, then stuck into the tin with hot glue. The addition of a few shells collected on various outings completed the tin.
      If you have anything altered, recycled or mixed media then please come over to Altered Eclectics and join us, we would love to see what you've made.

Hot Glue Flower

     This canvas was inspired by a photograph I saw on line, texture paste had been used to create the petals of a flower. Hot glue can be used for creating texture, so I set about using it to make my flower for Altered Eclectics.

     As the canvas was going to be painted I was able to draw a rough flower shape to guide my glue application. Working one petal at a time I put down a string of glue around the outside edge of the petal, with a silicone finger protector firmly placed on my hand I used it to smudge the glue into the centre to create a veined petal, this could not be done without the protector!
      Working at diagonals around the flower I created all the petals and let them set, hot glue sets quite quickly so you need to work fast. Some petals look better than others but then real flowers are never completely perfect.

 
     To get a textured centre I used some seed beads, a large pool of hot glue completely smothered with beads and left to set. Once the glue had set I very gently rubbed a finger across the beads to disturb any loose ones to get ready for painting.
     The paint I planned to use needed a layer of gesso first, some better quality paints may not need this preparation, it's an idea to try a small patch first if it doesn't give any information on the label.

     I painted the canvas with gesso and then a layer of white acrylic too. The purple metallic paint I used was then put all over the entire canvas, including the edges.
     I wanted the flower paler than the background so I used the same paint and added a little white acrylic to it, it lost it's metallic quality but that didn't matter as I was going to add foil.
     Once dry and touched up where necessary, I added a little glue from a Stix2 glue stick (other glue sticks may work) on each petal with my finger. After a few minutes I placed transfer foil over the petals and gently rubbed to get the silver in place.

     The beaded centre of the flower was painted with white pearl but it didn't look right, so I went over it with a thin layer of gold pearl with gave it some warmth.
     Butterfly or bee?....It had to be a bee. I die cut a bee in black card, then die cut in cork, I had hoped the cork one would be complete but his legs fell off as I took him out of the die, just a little bit too delicate. All was not lost as I used the little bits of cork that the die cut out of his body to go where the yellow bits might bee.

     The card bee was stuck on to acetate so I could get the translucent wings and also to give him some support. The wings looked OK but not quite good enough so I added a little iridescent glitter to them to make them sparkle.
     The bee is stuck on to the flower with two layers of clear foam pad, so if you look at it sideways the bee is hovering.
     A little trip around the edge of the canvas with a two in one glue pen, this is put on and it's blue, you smudge it with your finger to make a random distressed type edge and once it has changed to clear it is super tacky and ready for some foil, this canvas has a mix of silver and purple.
     The whole canvas is only 6x6 so it's easy to find somewhere to hang it, in sunlight it shows just how shiny it is.
     Altered Eclectics is a challenge blog for mixed media and altered art so if you have made anything like that please come over and show us, we would love to see your artwork.

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

Cut It Up - Flowers - must use a die cut

Simon Says Wednesday - Anything Goes

Love To Create - Anything Creative Mixed Media Goes

Altered Wooden Stamp Block

     Having bought a stamp press I decided to take some of my rubber stamps off the wooden blocks and remount them on cling foam, now they can be used in the press and take up much less room in storage. What could I do with all the wooden blocks? They looked to useful to be thrown out, Christmas decorations, that's what!
     As we like anything recycled at Altered Eclectics I have used this project as my DT piece, we like mixed media and re-purposed projects but no cards or ATCs.

   After removing my rubber stamps I cleaned up the blocks and sanded them. If you have glue that doesn't want to come off try using Stix2 sticky stuff remover, it works well and doesn't smell as much as white spirit.
    The next step was a couple of coats of white gesso and a coat of white chalk paint.

      Using PVA glue I painted a layer on the block and then added some patterned tissue, smoothed out with a clean brayer to get rid of any air bubbles.
     To add an edge I used the 2in1 glue pen and dabbed it with my finger all around the edge of the block, once it had gone clear I added some silver transfer foil.

      With a hot glue gun and some silicone moulds, kindly supplied by Aldridge Crafts, I made a few crowns, deer and snowflakes.
     Once these were set I popped them out of the moulds and trimmed them with scissors, then painted them with Starlight paints.
     The crown on top is two identical shapes hot glued together, then hot glued to the block. For the deer and snowflakes I used silicone glue so I had a little wiggle room before it set.
     The frosting on the top and sides is Epsom Salts sprinkled over PVA glue, maybe not the best option as it may react in damp conditions but very effective as ice crystals.
     Aldridge Crafts have all of the items used in this project in stock and this sample will be joining them shortly. Jane has used paper clay in some of the moulds which is ideal for light weight crafting and picks out the detail perfectly.
     Please come and join us at Altered Eclectics with your projects, we have lots more inspiration on our blog to help get you started.

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

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas  

The Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas   

As You Like It - Favourite Non Card Project - It's recycling something, no waste

Crimbo Crackers - Anything Goes
Creative Artists Mixed Media - Anything Mixed Media

The Male Room Goes Globe-al

     This fortnigthts challenge at The Male Room is to make something other than a card. On a recent trip out with Mum we found these empty domes, I love to see them at Christmas but always think it's a shame they're not used the rest of the year. There was my challenge, to make a summer globe. The clear dome is plastic so that makes it much easier to work with and more user friendly when it comes to young people.

      There is a small hole in the bottom which is just about big enough for a battery tea light, I did have to file away a little more to get mine to fit properly.
     There is also a wooden disc inside to put your display on but I chose to use a thick card disc instead. To get rugged texture on the ground I used some hot glue and squished it about a bit, stuck my tree on and then painted it all with a mix of green and brown. I sprinkled some modelling greenery on top of the wet paint for added effect.

      The cabin in my wood is a die cut house with an added corrugated iron roof and stove pipe chimney. These I painted with some Rusty Patina and added a few bits of greenery for moss. The chimney has a light rubbing of silver wax on it.
     I used small pieces of vellum to cover the windows so that the light would appear more opaque and to make sure that the candle can't be seen through the windows.
     The log pile is small bits of a tree branch chopped into lengths and stuck together with PVA. A little real moss was added to form a bush beside the log pile and another piece of corrugated card lent up against the wall of the cabin to add interest.

      The porch is a small piece of corrugated card stuck on to the outside wall, with chopped down toothpick poles to help hold it up.
     As with the Christmas globes it looks much more effective when the candle is on and the room it's in is dark. I'm working on a way to suspend a small bird from inside without the attachment being seen.
     Please come along and join our challenge at The Male Room, any masculine project other than a card. Pop over and see what inspiration the DT have come up with.

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

Classic Design Team Challenge - Anything Goes   (M)

Not Just Cards - Anything Goes   (M)

Love To Craft - Anything Goes   (M)

Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes   (W)