Altered Gumball Machine

I love making these gumball machines.  I have a pretty decent collection of them.  My husband might say I have a slight problem.  There are over a dozen in the kitchen waiting patiently for me to alter them.  They do make a mighty fine collection in the mean time.  :)

Can you see the two teeny tiny fairies in there? That is fussy cutting at it's best.  The little house is from Melissa Frances.  I covered it in MME paper and glitter glassed the roof.  The little flower on the front is from Pink Paislee.

The hearts in the yard are pins that I stuck in and then cut the extra pin part off.  The bottle brush tree was dyed pink and dressed up with some pearls.  

The whole house is trimmed with vintage ric rac.  The roof and backyard got some vintage paper flowers.  

The coin slot has been covered up with a pretty disc from Melody Ross. 

The bottom is trimmed in fancy white lace and the gumball slot is covered with felt roses and leaves.  

Here it is again.  I love how it turned out.  

I am entering this one into the current Try it on Tuesday blog challenge.

What have you been crafting?

Jess

Vintage bingo card and pretty pink tag

Today is different it is all about the pinks and reds.

Let's just jump in and look at the pink.

Sorry about the crappy picture.  I used Victorian Velvet and Pickled Raspberry distress inks to color the background.  I added Pumice Stone using the Dot Fade Layering Stencil.   Washi tape here and there makes for some extra interest.  

Next I added white Prima flowers that I tinted the edges using distress stains in Pickled Raspberry and Antique Bronze.  The top flower is colored with the Victorian Velvet distress ink.  A little strip of burlap acts as the leaves.  

The ribbon is old sari silk.  Another quick and easy tag.  

The next project was quite fun to create.

Vintage bingo card wall hanging.  I love paper doilies.  I have used them for projects year round.  These red hearts scream Valentine.   

I had the plastic birds, but they were a hideous peachy flesh tone. I colored them with a million different shades of alcohol ink until I was happy with them.  The most difficult part was keeping the white color off the red heart.  

Maya road ruffle ribbon added the perfect touch to the bottom. The letter tiles came from a game of Appleletters.   

Check back later on in the week for more creations.

Jess

Fairy Houses Part Two

Welcome back! Are you ready for the second fairy house?

Oh so cute!!! Once again the roof is glitter glass.  The paper on the bottom of the house is MME.  I am not sure where the paper on the eaves is from.  The edges of the house were given a quick swipe of Picked Raspberry Distress Stain.  The flowers on the corners were tinted with it too.  

This tiny lady is again from Lisa's Altered Art.  She didn't have wings, but I had a pair that fit her just right.  A little bling makes her sparkle.  Check out the teeny pom poms by her feet!

Not sure why these won't go side by side, but here are the chimney flags and the side of the house has a sweet kitty sitting there.  

Here is the back.  Tiny fairy laundry( from Echo Park) and a garden of vintage lace flowers.  The image is from Lisa's Altered Art.  

Just looking at this little house makes me smile.  

Which do you like the pink or the blue?

Jess

Fairy houses

A few years back I took a class and made the coolest Halloween house.  It is still one of my favorite Halloween decorations.  I have been collecting(stashing, hoarding) paper mache houses since then.  This Christmas I finally made one and it came out great.  Of course they are both packed away and I can't find any photos of them to post here.  The good news is that I made two tiny houses today!

How stinking cute is that?!  I didn't realize that the windows are a bit wonky until after I started to cut them out, but fairy houses don't have to be perfect.  The roof is blue glitter glass.  The edges are all given a quick coat of Broken China Distress Stain.  The fluffy flowers on the front are Martha Stewart,  The moss came on a roll from the dollar store.  

Here are the residents.  I love that she is sitting on the flowers.  

Both sides.  I just used some chipboard flowers.  

The back.  All of the paper is MME. The blue ribbon around the top and the blue flower ribbon in the front is vintage.  The yellow ribbon just came from the stash.  

There are tiny flags sticking out of the chimney.  

The fairys are from Lisa's Altered Art.  She has great 

collage sheets and they are really reasonably priced.  

That is house number one.  I think it is adorable, but I love the other house even more.  

Stop by tomorrow to see just how cute it is!  

I am putting this one on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Blog Challenge

What have you been crafting?

Jess

Cupid's Wand

I have been saving this Charlotte for a special project.  I have never seen one like her with the little bow.  I am sure she is from the 30's or 40's, possibly Japanese.  

Just a little something to brighten your day.

I'm entering her in the Eclectic Paperie Heart Challenge and the Our Creative Corner No More Shopping Sins Challenge. 

What have you been crafting?

Jess

Ballerina Shadowbox

This morning I was reading all of the blogs I follow and I came across the cutest shadowbox on artful curiosities.  I was so inspired I had to make one of my own.  I hope Marti likes my take on her original.

Here she is! It's tiny.  You know how small those plastic ballerinas are.  I fancied her up by giving her a dress made out of pink sari silk.   

The box is a small cardboard jewelry box.  I used MME paper for the entire project.   I can't get enough of the 6x6 pads.  

You can't really tell, but the edges of the box are all coated with a mixed layer of Picket Fence and Brushed Pewter Distress Paints.  

The "curtains"  are held back with vintage paper flowers that have been colored with a bit of Pumice Stone and Victorian Velvet Distress Ink.  

The top is made from half of the SizzixOrnamental die and the banner is the Sizzix Tattered Banner die.  I gave it a good coating of Pumice Stone Distress glitter on both sides.  The letters are from a million years ago by Lil Davis Designs.  Another vintage flower inked up and it's done.  

I think she will make a lovely addition to my shelf in the office.

I am also going to enter her into the Try it on Tuesday "In with the New Challenge".

And check her out on How Sweet the Sounds Pink Saturday.   Let me know what you think!

Jess

12 tags of 2014

Woo hoo! It's time to start the new year in Tim Holtz tag making.  I didn't get to the December tag, but I am thinking I might go back and fill in the blanks.
Until then here is my tag for January 2014.

I was so excited to work on the tag that I forgot to take pictures during the process.  Whoops.  I used Pumice Stone Distress Ink for the background.  I smushed some on the craft sheet, misted it with water, and ran the tag through the ink a few times.  I then used the Clockwork Layering Stencil working it again with the Pumice Stone Distress Ink.  Next I added the rub on numbers and sanded them down.  

The bird cage was coated with black crackle paint to age it.  Once it was dry I ripped the bars apart and added the screw brad to the top.  The bird was embossed and coated with black distress paint.  He was given a light sanding too. 

The chit chat text was added to the top and I used half of a Tim Holtz stamp for the quote on the bottom.  

Some more rub ons on the metal tag and a mix of slate and caramel alcohol ink to give it an aged finish.  The tag was attached to the ribbon with a tiny safety pin.  

That's it! Pretty and simple.  

I love using birds in my work.  Breaking out of the cage is a good way to start the new year.  Free your soul and see what you can do.  

Jess

I hope you all had a lovely holiday season.  Since I work retail my life is consumed by work for the month.  I am very happy to say that I am enjoying some vacation time by hanging out with my family and getting inky.  I have missed my craft stuff very much! Just sitting at my desk I felt relaxed.  I got some new supplies for Christmas and really want to break it in.  Did I use any of it on my first project? Nope! I wanted to work on something Valentine's, but not necessarily in the usual pinks and reds.  I also noticed that the Simon Says Stamp Blog and the Artful Times Blog had a blue challenge this week.  

Here's what I did.  

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

I stained and inked up the background.  You can't tell but there is a silver shimmer in there that really looks beautiful.  

Next I added the Tim Holtz umbrella man.  I don't know what my deal is, but I can never get a really good clear image with this guy.  I ended up coloring him in with my black distress marker.  

I punched some hearts out with my daughter's heart punch. :) Hey, she uses my stuff.  I admit I use my 4 year olds craft supplies at times.  

Glued the hearts on using Zip Dry.  That glue rocks.  I love it.  Enamel tag with some rub ons.

Sentiment was stamped and cut out.  I used Pumice Stone distress ink to color them.  Then outlined them with the black distress marker.  

No crazy techniques.  It only took a half hour to make from start to finish.  I think it was a great way to get back into the game.  

I will be back later this week with more fun projects! 

Jess