Altered Cigar Box

Hi there blog friends.  It's been a long time since my last blog post and I apologise.  I really have no excuse, except for that life has been getting in the way of my scrappy time lately.  A few niggly health issues and a few other issues... nothing too serious.
So without further ado, here is my latest project.
This month I received the gorgeous Couture Creations 'Vintage Rose Garden' collection in my DT kit from The Scrapbook Store.  I've decided to alter a cigar box which I intend using as a jewelery box.

This is a view of the lid.  I've used the Blue Fern Studios 'Bordeaux Layered Frame' chipboard which I painted in off-white and then inked the edges using Tim Holtz Distress inks.  The background has been treated with a bit of texture paste using the Crafters Workshop mini 'Art Is' stencil.  The flowers are Petaloo burlap blooms, Petaloo mini wild roses, Prima flowers and Green Tara mini roses.  The leaves are also from Green Tara.

A close up of the front.  I've added some lace around the edge of the lid and repeated some of the same flowers in the left bottom.

The inside of the box.  I've lined the bottom with felt and the added a little saying from one of the pattern papers.

 A close up of the inside of the lid.  More Petaloo blooms and Green Tara mini roses and leaves.

Another close up of the top of the box.  The word 'Dream' is a mini chipboard wordlet from WOW and I've heat embossed it using Stampendous Frantage 'Shabby Pink Rose' embossing powder.

That's all for now.  I am currently working on another project using these gorgeous papers.  Will hopefully be ready to share soon.  Thank you so much for popping by.  Have a wonderful week!
Until next time.
M xox

October Sketch Challenge at The Scrapbook Store

Hi everyone!  Today I want to share the October Sketch Challenge at The Scrapbook Store.  Here is the sketch.  Hope you like it!

And my example using the beautiful Maja Design 'Vintage Spring Basics' collection.  The photos are of my friend's gorgeous little girl, taken a few years ago. :)

The chipboard circle is the 'Small Circle Flourish' from Blue Fern Studios.  I gave it a coat of gesso and then coloured it up using various inks

The background texture was achieved using the 'Bubble' stencil from Tim Holtz and some texture paste.  The flowers are a mixture of Prima and Green Tara Cheery blossoms and mini roses.

Another little cluster in the corner.  The leaves are 2Crafty 'Summer Leaf Stems' chipboard.

That's all for today.  Please check out the Gallery for more awesome inspiration from the rest of the DT.  And then play along!  You have until the end of October to get your entries in.  There's an awesome $40 store voucher up for grabs with free postage and the winner gets determined by random draw, so anyone can win!  I would love to see your entries. :)

 

Thank you for popping by.  Hope you are having a great week.

Until next time!

M xox

 



 

Scrap Africa Sketch Challenge No 36

Hi there everyone! Just a quick post to tell you about the new sketch over at Scrap Africa. You've got to check it out.  We have some awesome Guest Designers this month and some beautiful examples by the whole of the DT.  Below is my take on the sketch. I have used an old collection from Kaisercraft called 'Tropicana'.   I thought that it was perfect for the sketch.  The photo is of my DD and her best friend having cocktails while holidaying in Bali.

I have used an overlay from the collection that provided me with the palm trees and island feel that I was after.  I've cut some of the transparency away so I could still add more layers and dimension to my layout.

 All the bits and pieces are from the collectables pack with only a few little extras. :)

 Here is the gorgeous sketch!

I hope you can play along with us this month! Just link your take on the sketch to the Scrap Africa post HERE.   You have until the 14th of October to get your entry in.

That's all for now.  Will hopefully have more to share soon.

Have a wonderful day and thank you so much for popping by.

Until next time!

M xox

 



Scrap Africa Challeng No.35

Hi everyone! There's a new challenge at Scrap Africa and it's a Vintage Theme!
Create a card, layout or OTP project in vintage theme and link your entry up by the 30th of September to stand the chance of winning an awesome prize.  For more details and to see the rest of the DT and Guest DT's beautiful examples, have a look HERE.
My example using the FabScraps 'Industrial Chic' collection.  The photo is of my mum and I and was taken on my christening day in 1967. :)  All products used are from The Scrapbook Store.

A cluster of flowers using old and new Prima flowers and Green Tara mini roses and flower stems.

I've used the Crafters Workshop Mini 'Art Is' template with some texture paste on my background and the 'Love' chipboard word is from Scrap FX.

 More close ups of some of the smaller details.

 

 The lamp post is a TSS Chipboard piece.

I hope you get a chance to play along. I would love to see your entry.

That's all I have for today! Thank you so much for visiting. Hope you have an awesome day.

Until next time!

M xox

September Sketch Challenge at The Scrapbook Store

Hi everyone and happy Friday to you all.  Today I want to share the September Sketch Challenge at The Scrapbook Store with you.  For my take on the sketch I've used the gorgeous Carta Bella 'Moments & Memories' with a photo of my mum and her sister.  They are both in their 80's now and have always been best friends. :)

A close up of some of my fussy cutting. The alphas are from an older Prima collection.

I've used some white Prima flowers and mini roses from Green Tara. Just dabbed on a bit of mist with a brush at the centres and tips for a two-tone effect..

 Another close up of one of the clusters.

Almost everything on this layout comes from the Carta Bella 'Moments and Memories' collection.  I really LOVE it and can see myself using it for another layout soon.

And finally, the sketch. :)

I hope you can join in this month.  I would love to see your entry and there's a $40 store voucher up for grabs.  The winner gets determined by random draw, so anyone could win!  Why not give it a go?  You have until midnight, 30 September to get your entries in.

That's all I have for today.  Thank you so much for popping by.

Have a great weekend!

Until next time.

M xox

Scrap Africa Sketch Challenge No 34 and FabScraps 'Industrial Chic'

Hi everyone! Happy Spring Day to my fellow bloggers/followers in the Southern Hemisphere. It's slowly getting warmer around here, but I kinda like the Spring weather and wish it would hang around forever! :) 
Today I want to share the new Sketch Challenge at Scrap Africa with you.  It's a gorgeous sketch designed by the fabulous Denise van Deventer and a great sketch to work with whether you're a card maker or scrapbooker.  To get more details and to see the rest of the DT members and fabulous Guest DT members' wonderful creations, go HERE.

 

Here is my example layout using the beautiful FabScraps 'Industrial Chic' collection. I've started of with a 12 x 12 piece of chipboard for my background which I painted in 2 coats of white gesso.  All products used on this layout are available from The Scrapbook Store.

The chipboard clock face is from FabScraps too. I've heat embossed it using Stampendous Frantage embossing powder in 'Aged Shabby Blue'.  The bigger blue roses are from Manor House and the smaller ones were white Green Tara mini roses that I've coloured up.  I have also used blue Green Tara flower stems.

The texture on the background was achieved with a damask stencil and texture paste.  Also did some stamping using my Kaisercraft 'Script' stamp and brown ink.

A birdie house and birdies that I've fussy cut from the patterned paper and added some light blue pearls to 'hang' the bird house from.

More fussy cutting and stencil work using my Crafters Workshop Mini 'Art Is' stencil with some texture paste.

I hope you will play along. I would love to see your entries!

Thank you for visiting. Hope you have a wonderful week!

Until next time!

M xox

Scrap Africa - 'Travel' Challenge

Hi everyone! Scrap Africa has a super new challenge and its all about 'Travel'.
'Tell us about your travel adventures... perhaps your favourite location, or the most memorable trip.... anything related to travel.  Please include journaling, even if hidden and tell us where it is.'
To get all the details and to see the rest of the DT's fabulous examples, have a look HERE.

I have decided to do an 8 x 8" canvas of some of the wild animals in the Game Reserves in Africa.  All the little photos are from a postcard we bought when we were holidaying there a month ago.  It is one of our family's most favourite places.

I have used 'Mini Gum Trees' and 'Teagan's Twig' chipboard pieces from Scrap FX.  All products, including the metal charms are available from The Scrapbook Store.  I've started with a few strips of paper from the Kaisercraft 'Mister Fox' collection and also added some texture paste using the Crafters Workshop 'Tile Texture' template.  My family love this little canvas and it has little spot in our lounge where its on display.
I hope you get a chance to play along.  There is some awesome prizes up for grabs and I'm sure we all have a few travel photos that need scrapping.  Why not give it a go?
I hope to see you again around here soon.  Thank you for visiting and have an awesome week. :)
Until next time!
M xox

Scrap Africa Sketch Challenge No 32

Hi everyone! It's been a long long time since I've last been in blogland.  We've had a fantastic 4 week break, but now it's back to normality... not that it's a bad thing. :)  I hope you've all been keeping well.
Today I want to share the latest sketch challenge over at Scrap Africa with you.

 My take on the sketch using the Heidi Swapp 'Dreamy' collection.

I've used a variety of Manor House flowers, Petaloo blooms and Green Tara flower stems.  The butterflies are from Collections Elements.

I've used The Crafters Workshop 'Chicken Wire Reversed' template on my background with some texture paste. Then rubbed some ink over it using my fingers.  All the transparency elements are from the ephemera pack from the collection and all products used are available from The Scrapbook Store.

I hope you get a chance to play along with us.  We would love to see your entries. For more detail and to check out the rest of the DT's fabulous examples, have a look HERE.

Thank you for visiting my blog.  I hope to be back soon with more layouts to share.

Have a great week!

M xox



'Love your Life' using Authentique 'Harmony' for The Scrapbook Store

Just a quick post to share a layout I did for The Scrapbook Store using the Authentique 'Harmony' collection. The colours in this range are amazing!  The pic is a selfie of my daughter (taken 2 years ago), that I 'pinched' from her FB page. :)
I've used a Memory Box stencil with Golden 'Light Molding paste' and inks on my background.

All papers are from the Authentique 'Harmony' collection and the die cut sheet.

A few Green Tara Mini roses to finish it all off.  The little wooden heart is from the MME Necessities range.

 ...and a bit of washi tape here and there. :)

 A close up of the stencil work.

The chipboard word 'Beautiful' if from the TSS chipboard range.  I've changed the colour by rubbing a blue inkpad over it.

My title was made using a 'Love' Scrap FX chipboard wordlet and some random stickers from my stash.  The birdie was fussy cut from one of the patterned papers.

 This will be my last blog share for a while.  We are taking a little holiday to visit family overseas and I will be absent here and everywhere else scrapbooking related for about a month.  I might have internet access at some points during our trip, but nothing permanent.  So if you don't see me around, you will know why. :)
As always, I very much appreciate you visiting my blog and for your continued support.  I wish you all a very happy and creative July.
Until next time!
M xox

June Sketch Challenge at The Scrapbook Store

Hi everyone! I know, I am VERY late sharing The Scrapbook Store's Sketch Challenge this month.  You still have until the end of the month to enter our June Sketch Challenge. Here's the sketch:

My take on the sketch. The photo is of my 2 kids with my mum and dad in the background (taken in January 2008).

I've used the 'Gingers Dreams' sheet from the new Blue Fern Studios 'Ombre Dreams' collection as my background paper.  I added dimension, using a Prima template and Memory Box stencil and texture paste, before adding mists and inks.  The chipboard are Blue Fern  Studios 'Graduated Circles' and Dusty Attic 'Scroll Border #3'.  All chipboard pieces were first covered in gesso, before I added mists and inks to colour them up.

The flowers are from Petaloo, Kaisercraft and Green Tara and the title is a wordlet from Scrap FX.

 Another few close ups of the background. The butterflies are Heidi Swapp epoxy stickers.

So why not play along?  There's a $40 Store Voucher up for grabs and you also get free postage!! That's a pretty awesome prize. :) The winner gets determined by random draw, so anyone could win!  Just upload your entries in the Gallery before the end of the month to stand a chance.
Okay, that's all for today.  Hope you have a fabulous week and once again thank you so much for visiting my blog.
Until next time!
M xox