DecoArt configurations box for CVC

Today I am sharing a configurations box with lots of photos and details at Country View Crafts Projects blog which was my workshop focus last Saturday as a DecoArt Helping Hand Artist.

 To whet you appetite hear is a little taster of what is included.

There are lots more photos of all the details and techniques I taught at CVC so if you would like to see more please pop over and take a little look.

Thanks for popping by and thanks to all the course participants who made it such a great day.

Have a great week.

hugs Brenda xxxx

Use a Portrait is the new theme at AVJ

My CG sample for the new challenge at AVJ uses several portraits in it, but how would you define a portrait?

A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. 


Wikipedia


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I used a Tim worn cover and had great fun changing it into a place to keep photos of current and past generations of immediate family.

I dipped it in distress inks (still one of my most favourite techniques) to achieve an aged look to it.

I love the way the colours have blended and dried achieving some fabulous water damage results.

I didn't add too much to the front cover, I just like it simple as there is already quite a lot of decoration on it. (This photo was taken before I added the ribbon to tie it up). The photo is my grandmother when she was a young woman and married to my grandpa. You can see I added two small pieces of collage, some inked layers using Tim's stencils, remnant rubs and label letters.

Let's open the book and see what is inside.

Family portraits, in fact 5 generations of us girls. The large cabinet card photo is one of my grandmother when she was small and in fact I captured all of us as children. On the left hand side is my Mum at the top, Chris and I, then my daughter Maddie and my two grandchildren at the bottom.

So having decided that rather than make a journal I would add a configurations box, I lined it with Tim paper and edged it with tissue tape.

I wanted to add two corners and for them to look aged too. So I layered distress paints, drying them between coats until I was happy with the look.

My intention was to get a rusted look by using tea dye distress embossing powders (the only orangey one I have), but I was disappointed with the soft effects.

So I dripped sunshine yellow and butterscotch alcohol inks over the top.

The photograph of my grandmother was mounted onto craft card and then I adhered these two pieces of wood to the back to raise it up. Beneath the photo I added some collage pieces and  more patterned paper and elements in various places.

I dipped the inside covers in the distress inks the same as the front cover and dried them adding some random stamped text.

The circular portraits were made using Tim's reflective imagery technique, although I changed it slightly, but you can see on the girls photos the metal showing through the distressed areas, (Don't forget - embrace your imperfections).

The background is the back of a cabinet card, I had used the front previously on a project and kept this piece, so it came in very handy here.

Some additional collage pieces, chit-chat stickers and two linen ribbons to tie it up ......

..... a decorated back cover with a stamped image from Artistic Outpost.

I have enjoyed making my portrait book and I know the girls will love looking at it.

Most of the supplies I used can be bought at Country View Crafts who are the wonderful sponsor for AVJ donating a great £10 voucher for each fortnightly winner. Why don't you transport yourself over to the challenge blog to see all the wonderful inspiration from the other.Creative Guides, you won't be disappointed.

Thanks for joining me today, for taking a look at my piece and for leaving a comment if you have time.

Have a great weekend.

hugs Brenda xxx

A Vintage Journey–Step 1

For the opening challenge of ‘A Vintage Journey’ I wanted to make something very special that I could keep as a memento of this special adventure. These are the covers of one of Tim’s large configurations books and  I have a great idea for using the inside for a future challenge so watch this space.

The front page cover represents the creative journey we travel and Tim's world wide teaching, sharing his love of all things vintage and his ideas, techniques and projects.

I began  by painting. blending inks through Tim’s masks, crackle painting and stamping the outside of the box, just along the edges as I knew I was going to cover most of it up.

Then with Tim’s papers in hand I chose a 12x12 with the world on it suggesting travels and journeys and altered this with the masks and stamps. I just love Tim’s new latticework mask.

I gathered dies, ephemera and stamps together that would fit with the scene and started to make my dimensional details. The ruler was made a while ago using a faux leather technique it looks really grungy doesn’t it?

I used some of the vintage photos from Tim’s Lost and Found paper stash and inserted them underneath the openings of his picture wheel and then chopped up sections from the film strip and added over the top, the centre was made using a stamp from Classics #1 and a vintage brad from my supplies.

You can see the globe and camera made from movers and shapers dies, a Tim rosette and clock also from the Lost and Found papers.

The Framework dies are fabulous and I used the chevron one here just because it reminded me of tyre marks and the Route 66 is from the Thrift Shop ephemera pack.

Some metal ideaology, remnant rubs (one just poking out from behind the pointy finger) and chit chat stickers all played their part.

And the title letters were die cut using the typeset strip die, adhered to the paper and covered with glossy accents to make them pop.

The inside cover represents my fabulous teamies who are sharing this journey with me, you can see each of our photos inserted into Tim’s film strip using the mini filmstrip strip die.

Again I gathered the elements together that I thought would go together for this page.

Here I used another of the Framework dies, this one is called lattice and by cutting it several times from different papers I have lots of different coloured rhombus shapes to use and I inserted three of them here.

Enjoy the journey is from the stacked artful words strip die and you can see an arrow from the industrious stickers.

The pediment and key were both die cut using chipboard and then aged using distress embossing powders.

The hotel badge is another piece from the ephemera pack.

I couldn’t resist this elongated photo of the Creative Guides.

The very back page, which won’t be embellished so it can lay down flat, but still reflects the travelling theme.

So now the book is done, I will need to think of what is going into the body of it, but ideas are emerging lol.

My special thanks to Alison, Anne, Annie, Astrid, Candy, Chris, Jennie, Jenny, Terry and Trace for all their help, guidance, support and love whilst getting 'A Vintage Journey' ready to publish today, we have been super excited for weeks waiting to share our projects and begin our travels. I hope you will be able to join us sometimes.

Have a great weekend.

hugs {brenda} x0x

Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.”
Anna Quindlen

Compendium of Curiosities week 30 - Altered metal

Oh I can't believe there are only 5 more CoC challenges left before we have completed all the techniques in the wonderful bible of TH. Linda however hasn't let the full cat out of the bag, but she has said that this won't be the end - so what is she up to? Can't wait to find out.

This week as the title suggests we are altering metal at Studio L3 and I have been itching to get started on my configurations box that DH bought me for Christmas. I knew I had some lovely little metal things I want to use and had to go searching in the shed to find them.

The little boxes are going to reflect across the ages and times of the lives of our close family. So the first box represents our grandparents days when life was much harder with none of the technology we know of today. The mangle symbolizes the way the wife and mother had to work in the home to keep the family washed and clothes and everything clean. Not like today is it? I can remember my Nana doing the washing in the scullery in a huge sink, pulling the sheets out, giving them a wring as best she could by hand and then putting everything through the mangle before hanging it on the line. Even though I had an electric washing machine when I first got married, I still had one with the rollers, (and they were electric too), that you put the washing through to get the water out, spinners were around but I didn't have one for some reason. Oh boy I am showing my age aren't I?

So turn to P.48 in the compendium to find out how to do the technique and I am sure you will be altering all sorts of bits and pieces made of metal. It's so easy and great fun.

I have already altered a few more bits ready to make the next boxes, which I am sure you will see in the weeks to come. I just seem to have so many projects on the go.

Have a lovely crafty weekend and pop back if you have time. I am going to make something with hearts and wings on next to support my friend Zoe's new challenge blog called Just For Fun. Go take a look if you haven't seen it already.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Challenges to have fun with -
Allsorts - Saving Nature -  these little ornaments had once been stood on display in a printers tray, now they find themselves with a new lease of life rather than being thrown away.
Creative Friday - Vintage