Dressed up jewelry box and some cards

This is one of two "naked" jewelry boxes given to me by a good friend years ago. She knew I am into arts and crafts and would be able to transform the boxes into something beautiful. It took me a very long time to work on the first box and finally transformed it in 2008. You can see it here. Now, two years later, I worked on the second box. Here is the "before" picture.

The first step is to unscrew all the metal hinges and closures using a small screwdriver. Then sand the box and wipe with a damp cloth.

Then apply two coats of gesso all over the box including the inside, letting the layer dry in between aplications.

Apply two coats of brown acrylic paint making sure that the surface is totally covered and the white gesso won't show through.

Cut small pieces of patterned paper (I used Crate Paper Pink Plum Collection - Wildberries) to fit the sides of the box, as well as the inside bottom. Adhere the paper using decoupage glue. Dab a small amount of brown paint on the edges of the paper to cover the white core. Set aside.

Apply embossing ink on the cover of the jewelry box. Sprikle with UTEE and heat. Apply 3-4 layers of UTEE. After the last layer, let dry. Dab red and butterscotch alcohol ink on the dried layer of UTEE. Then dab copper alcohol ink to give it a metallic look. Heat again to bring out the shine. Before the UTEE dries completely, press a rubber stamp to leave a textured impression. Let dry. Embellish with flowers. Here is the top view with the stamped impression clearly visible.

Here's another view. You will note that I've re-attached the hinges and closures.

And inside, I attached a photo of myself and Ariel. Now, this is truly a treasure box!

Now, onto some cards.

Cut 8.5” x 5.5” pieces of paper (I used Crate Paper Pink Plum Collection papers). Fold in half to make the base card.

Using a die cutting tool, cut label shape from scraps of patterned paper or Kraft paper. Apply pink paint around the edges using your forefinger. Adhere die cut on the center of the base card.

Stamp sentiment on the upper right corner of the die cut and heat emboss using copper powder.

Cut Bazzil flower in half. Dip edges on embossing ink and sprinkle with distress embossing powder. Heat set. Adhere flower on the bottom left of the card. Embellish with cut outs from patterned papers (these are from Crate Paper - Paper Doll collection).

For the next set, prepare the same base card using patterned paper (I used Crate Paper – Paper Doll Collection papers) and Kraft Paper.

From scraps of Kraft Paper and patterned paper, die cut label shape. Distress edges of card and die cut shapes using Distress Ink. Adhere on the center of the card.

Stamp on a paper flower (Bazzil) using distress ink that matches colors of your die cut shapes. Adhere flower on the center of the card. Adhere fabric blooms (Basic Grey Sugar Rush) on the center.

This All-Occasion card actually takes only a few minutes to make and is a good way to use up your supplies.

These next two cards are very easy to make. Cut two sheets 4.25” x 5.5” rectangular shapes from Kraft Paper. Cut 2 pieces of the same shape from a patterned paper (these are from Crate Paper Pink Plum Collection). Get an old credit card, ATM card, playing cards or similarly shaped chipboard (I used the backing of Crate Paper Brads). Apply a strip of paint on the edge of the card. Use this to apply paint on the rectangular pieces of Crate Paper. It will not be perfect which is great. Some of the patterns on the paper will still be visible and the thin coat of paint will let the texture of the paper show through. Let dry.

Cut all four pieces of paper (the Kraft paper and painted Crate Paper) into a label shape using a die cutting tool – making sure you cut them one at a time. Now you have four pieces of label-shaped papers.

Score the Kraft papers about ½ inch from the left edge and fold. That will be where the card will open and fold.

Adhere patterned paper on the side of the Kraft Paper making sure that the painted side is facing up. Embellish with chipboards, stickers, trim and cut outs from your paper scraps.

Apply Stickles and Diamond Glazed on some of the elements for added texture, shine and dimension.

In the previous set of cards, I used some label shaped die cuts. That left me with a couple of negatives which I used in this next set. The card on top is made from Kraft Paper base while the one in the bottom is made from Pink Plum base.

I simple adhered the negative die cut which now functioned as a frame. The Kraft frame in the bottom was adhered using foam adhesive so it has a bit of dimension. I then embellished with chipboards and stickers.

Apply Stickles and Diamond Glazed on some of the elements for added texture, shine and dimension.

Crate Paper and Basic Grey products are all available at My Little Attic. Check it out!

Thanks for looking!

Mannequin

This was one of the projects we did in Iris Uy's Prima Class this year. I had so much fun making this as this is the sort of thing I wouldn't do on my own. I love the techniques and I love how it turned out. So pretty!

Thanks for looking!

Clock Frame or something

Ariel bought this in Bangkok last year and he's been bugging me to put some photos in for some time. I don't know why it took me so long to actually work on it but well, I finally did. Instead of three photos, I just used two and then I added a bit of scrapbooking in one of the circles. I just used paper scraps and some embellishments.


I love the liquid pearls! See those red dots and the gold strip on the butterflies? The butterflies were punched from scraps of paper using Martha Stewart's puncher.

And that lovely rubon is from K & Co. It comes with the bling. It's quite a challenge to rub it on the paper but I love the design and the blings! I still have a few sheets waiting for the special project to use it in.

Here is the whole thing. This clock frame, or whatever it is called, is now sitting by the side table of our living room, beside the phone.

Thanks for looking!

MLA Layouts

Now that the news is out, I'd like to share some of the layouts I submitted to MLA. These are posted at the MLA blog, along with the project details. I just want to show a bit more behind the scenes photos and thoughts about these layouts.

This one started with the photo. I love the photo and I thought the Marakech line is perfect for this. I wanted to keep the overall look simple so I opted for a dark background which isn't so busy. Then I just added a splash of color, a bit of stamping and some dimension through the layered elements. I added the buttons on top of the chipboards and I thought they really made a big difference.

Here's a closer look. The word "unforgettable" was stamped and heat embossed.

And here's a closer look at the layered elements. That's a button on top of a chipboard on patterned paper.

This second layout also started with the photo. I desaturated the photo so that there's only that bit of yellow showing through from the camera strap. Because it was desturated, it can work with any patterned paper. I chose to work with blue since the photo was taken in summer, by the pool. More layered elements on this layout. Can you spot them?

More stamping too! The word "adventure" was framed with a label chipboard which I painted with crackle paint.

Look at those cracks!
But my favorite part of this layout are the dots of Stickles all over the page.

Finally, this box has been sitting on my scrap table for months. I painted the edges red and covered it with scraps from my two layouts. Here it is when it was still naked...

...and all dressed up!

Here's a view of the cover. The flower stem was first "painted" with Mod Podge and then sprayed with a shimmer mist. I love how it turned out.

And here's a closer view of the gorgeous flowers.

There's more where these came from so stay tuned. And, before I end this post, I just want to declare...

...I'm BG-challenged no more! Oh yeah!

Artz De Scrap's Door Hanger challenge

I like this month's challenge over at Artz De Scrap so I decided to give it a go. I decided to make a door sign that I can hang at the office. I used a thin piece pf rectangular plywood as base. I then covered it with brown cardstock and embellished it with chiboards and a piece of ribbon.


The flower stems and butterfly were painted with crackle paint and then coated with Sepia Accents for a glossy finish. I then added some blings on the butterfly.

The most fun past is the mini notepad which I made using scraps of paper and cardstock and bound using the Bind It All machine. I made the usual signs you can see in the office like "IN - welcome" or "Busy - Do Not Disturb". I also added funny ones like "is Eating - Keep Out" and "is Grouchy - High Voltage".

The bound mini-book is inserted in a small slot in the CS that covers the plywood. It slips in and out easily to change the door sign.
The door hanger is now hanging by a hook on my office door.

Materials used:

• Mostly scraps from my Studio Calico Sept. 08 Kit Looking Glass - BG and Sassafras papers and chipboards
• Scenic Route and MM alpha stickers
• Maya Road and MAMBI rubons
• 7 Gypsies stickers

Thanks for looking!

Altered Jewelry Box

Here's a very quick weekend project. I've had this wooden box for years!

I keep forgetting to take a before shot. By the time I remembered, I've already painted two coats of acrylic. I sanded the box first before painting to smoothen the wood.


The first coating is sky blue. Then I painted white over it. I dabbed the white paint with sponge to give it a bit of texture and to let some parts of the blue paint show through.

Then, it's rub-ons galore! I almost used up an entire sheet of Fancy Pants Rub-Ons.
After applying the rub-ons, I sanded the surface lightly to give it a worn look. Then I adhered 3 layers of Prima flowers held together by a flower brad.

Here's the other side.

Beyond the page

When I saw the Kaisercraft Organizer at Nenette Madero's place during the Scrapjam last August 5, I fell in love with it but did not buy it as I was trying to manage my spending (right!). But a few days after, I was still thinking about it so I buzzed Nenette and ordered this from her. Yup, I ended up spending more as I had to pay for shipping. :D Should have bought it during the Scrapjam! Lesson learned: see it. like it. buy it. Do not listen to your conscience. LOL!

Anyway, here is what I did with it. I was so excited to work with it that I failed to take a picture of the item before I started working on it.

Here's the first picture I took - I've already pulled the pieces apart and painted the edges red.
And here are the shots of the finished product. I used Basic Grey's Scralet Letter papers and Queen & Co. felt.





The biggest challenge are those holes! I used the BG Precision File to "cut" the holes from the paper AFTER I've adhered it on the wood. I love that tool!

Altered What?!!!

It wasn’t an easy challenge. Well, it won’t be called a “challenge” if it wasn’t “challenging”! LOL. What I meant was I never altered before. I’ve beautified (like wrapping shoeboxes in Cartolina so my shoe storage would look nice), but never altered an item to change its reason for being (my shoeboxes are still shoeboxes).

As soon as I read the Round 3 challenge, at the week hours of Friday morning, images flashed through my mind. Tabo to desk organizers. Hanger to memo or photo holder. Trash bin to magazine rack. Empty mayo bottles to ribbon organizers ( I have lots of mayo bottles!). These were my last few thoughts before drifting off to a deep slumber. Fortunately, I had lunch the following day with a colleague who is also a talented artist (one of her paintings hang in my office and one at home), and she threw some ideas at me. One of her suggestions was to create an electric lamp using a cookie jar. The term “electric” got me turned off but I liked the lamp idea and I thought I’ll just make candle lamps from what else…my mayo bottles!!! And so, at around noon of Friday, August 23rd, my round 3 idea was born.

Other than thinking of which item to alter into what, my next big challenge is incorporating 4 non-scrapping materials. Well, I thought this was difficult at first but it turned out to be easier than I thought. Some materials will be inevitably used to complete my concept – like the wire (for hanging) and the metal rods (for the chimes), jump ring (also for the hanging mechanism), aluminum foil, to hold the candle and to add sparkle in the chimes. I also used a smaller mayo bottle cap to hold the candle. Come to think of it the candle is another non-scrapping material. Also, while paint is generally a scrapping material, glass paint isn’t. So that should count too. Plus the relief outliner. (The glass paint and relief outliner was purchased in Singapore 6 years ago!!!) Well, it doesn’t matter. I met the minimum requirement of four non-scrapping materials.

Anyway, I loved the outcome. Why haven’t I thought of altering before?!!! It would have been a great recycling project. Hmm…now I am eyeing all our empty mayo bottles. You can view my mayo bottle lamp/chimes here (other views - body, beaded wire, chimes, lighted)

Check out the rest of the beautiful entries here.

Donna is Pick of the Week, again!!! View her chopping board turned key and bills holder here. That’s two in a row. Not counting the other accolades this girl is bagging here and there. Congratulations Donna!

My best wishes to all the participants. You’re all so talented. It’s such an honor just to have my work on the same page as yours.

IDOLized

When I first heard that Scrappin’ Moms will launch an 8-week scrapping challenge, I thought long and hard about joining. That’s because it’s our Annual Brand Planning at work, and it would be the busiest time of the year. It usually lasts around 4-6 weeks, with the kick-off on the first week of August, and the deadliest schedule happening within the first 2-3 weeks. I was afraid I won’t be able to commit to the weekly layout submissions. And the thing with this Idol challenge, I can’t make a layout in advance because I have to know what the challenge for the week is. To make the long story short, I decided to join anyway. I thought it would be a welcome break for me from the busy work week. It would be my way of relaxing at the end of the week.

I was thrilled to know I made it through the elimination round. I’m happy to say I also made it through rounds 1 (Stuck on Cardstock) and 2 (What's your color?)! Yahoo!

This week, the challenge is called "Alter It" and the task is to alter a household item. Three non-scrapping materials should be used in the altered object and it should be used for a new purpose other than the original use of the item. This is one tough challenge for me since I haven't really altered anything.

I hope I make it to the next round! But it’s really tough since everyone is just amazing. The layouts are unbelievable. I guess that’s what I like about this challenge. Since I’m seeing what I am up against on a week to week basis, I really get pushed to do better and better, to the point that I have to go beyond my comfort zone. In any case, I am so enjoying this process. Despite the fact that it’s a competition and people get eliminated weekly, I can honestly say that I don’t get stressed out by this. I guess that’s because I see this challenge as 1) an opportunity for me to scrap – which already makes me very happy!; 2) a way for me to de-stress – so what’s the point of scrapping if it will add to my already stressful week?; 3) an opportunity for me to learn and grow as a scrapper – that’s the whole point!; and finally, 4) a means for my work to be featured side by side with some of the country’s best scrapping talents - who can ask for more?.