Romantic Altered Matchbox {Swedish House Crafts}

It's time for me to share the first of my Design Team makes for Swedish House Crafts - and I could not be more thrilled! I could not have been happier with the selection of new (to me) collections that I received to work with - lots of romantic colours and textures; new and interesting stamps; amazing dies and some really lovely embellishments!

Swedish House Crafts are UK based, so if Gummiapan, Magnolia Stamps, Maja Design, Pion Design, Reprint and Roxstamps are all new to you, then it's well worth a visit!

The first make I have to share is this cute, little 'Romantic Altered Matchbox'. I used to make these little lovelies *all* of the time, but I haven't made one for so, so long!

The base of the matchbox is covered in one of the small florals from the Maja Design, Sofiero, Limited Edition Collection (shown below.) You can see that I've also used the same floral to cover the inside of the drawer. It's so soft and delicate. I'll be so sad when I have used it all!

Once the base was covered, I started to add embellishments - the best bit! I used more of the Maja Design, Sofiero, Limited Edition Collection with a Gummiapan Die (Rounded Large Twig) to make some leaves, then added a few hand-cut and coloured leaves to add a little depth.

I added some of my own handmade linen and lace flower embellishments, then tucked in some beautiful Coral Pink/Primrose Paper Flowers and Vintage White Paper Flowers to add a little colour.

To finish, I used more of the Maja Design, Sofiero, Limited Edition Collection to make a butterfly embellishment and added a Large Round Brad to the drawer for effect!

I'm so happy to have re-kindled an old love - and I'm sure that I'll share more matchboxes! In the meantime, head on over to the Swedish House Crafts Blog for more inspiration from the Design Team!

Learn Something New Every Day {Finally Finished Fridays}

After categorising some of my works in progress at the beginning of November and promising to complete at least one project each week - a promise which I managed to keep for all of three weeks before I became ill - it looked as though the pile of unfinished, unloved projects would once again be forgotten. But the sense of satisfaction that came from finally finishing a project that has been sat gathering dust was hard to forget and I've decided that the idea of Finally Finished Fridays is worth continuing on into the New Year.

I admit that it will be hard to pick up those old, unfinished items when new projects are beckoning but, thankfully, I have you - my lovely blogreaders - to keep me on track and tell me off when I don't post something each week. You will help me, won't you?

Anyway, just to prove that I'll be following through on my promise this time around, here's a completed project to round off 2010. (There's so many photographs of it, I've had to pop them into a slideshow!)

I started this mini-album in September, when Shimelle's annual Learn Something New Every Day project began in earnest. I was determined to keep up with the project but, I had some extremely bad news not long into the project, and although I continued to keep notes, take pictures and jot down my journalling, it was too difficult to complete the actual album at the time. (And it's easy to see why once you start scrolling through the photographs.)

I'd made a start on putting together some of the pages at the beginning of November, because I felt that since I'd managed to keep on journalling and taking photographs, that I should be able to finish the album without too much trouble. But, because there were some very hard lessons for me in September, looking back was difficult - and a little overwhelming, and I only managed a few pages at a time. I finally finished today (though the photograph from Day 18 seems to have gone missing!) and it feels just a little bittersweet.

But, if I can finish this little album, I can finish anything and I feel as though I can let go of the events of 2010 and move forward into 2011.

Have a Happy New Year x

Fringe Necklace (The Altered Element}

I've spent the last week in label sticking, envelope stuffing miserableness, so you'll have to forgive me for my lack of blogging. However, I'm sneaking in one last recycled project for The Altered Element DT - a super cute, fringe necklace made with the beads from some 'recycled' jewellery and some rather lovely, leather thong.

I have a massive collection of beads that I've saved from broken necklaces or from old and outdated pieces that I've found at my local car boot sale. I've been wanting to make a necklace using some of the larger beads for quite some time now, but couldn't find a leather thong thin enough to fit through most of my beads.

However, at just 1mm thick and only 30 pence per metre, the leather thong from The Altered Element is perfect (and it comes in dark brown or natural/nude too!)

To make your own version of this necklace you'll need at least two metres of leather thong, some recycled beads (or maybe a selection like the Dress It Up Beads which come in a wide range of colour mixes.) You'll also need some end caps, some jump rings and a lobster clasp to finish your necklace.

To start, simply cut one piece of thong to the desired length of your necklace, then cut additional pieces of thong to a variety of lengths for the fringe. Add beads to each smaller piece of thong and then, keeping the longer pieces towards the middle, add them to your main length of thong using lark's head knots.

To complete your necklace, fasten an end cap to each end of the necklace, then add a clasp using a couple of your jump rings. Done!

Paper Flowers {Altered Element}

This week I have another sweet, little tutorial for the Altered Element Design Team. As you might remember, this month's theme is recycling, so I hauled out my absolutely massive box of paper scraps and dug around until I found some old sheets of music. They had been festering in my 'must use' pile for some time and were practically begging to be turned into something pretty.

What You'll Need:

Ink Mists - I used Cosmic Shimmer Mists in Bronze Blush and Rich Gold, but they're all beautiful.
Brads - I used these 6mm Round, Gold Brads but it doesn't really matter which colour you choose because you won't be able to see them. Buy colours you like and use them for something else too!
Sheet Music - If you can't find any sheet music, I'd recommend some old book pages or some Bazill Smoothies Cardstock
Scallop Circle Punch - You could also use a die cut or a round circle punch.
Craft Knife or Scalpel - Be careful with these. I'll accept no responsibility for slightly shorter than normal fingers or thumbs after you've finished.

1. Punch - Depending on the punchability (that is so a word!) of your scallop punch or your die cut, stack up your sheet music and punch through as many sheets of paper as you can in one go.

2. Pile & Poke - Split your paper circles into little piles - I've used around seven to ten circles per flower, it doesn't have to be an exact science. Then, using your craft knife or scalpel, stick a little hole - big enough for your brad to go through - in the centre of each pile of circles and pop your brad through.

3. Start Scrunching - Starting at the top, scrunch a paper circle up and around the brad.

4. Scrunch Some More - Scrunch each layer in turn. Leave the last couple of layers fairly flat, but use your fingernails to 'lift' the edges a little.

5. Spray & Splatter - When you've assembled all of your paper flowers, it's time to get messy with the mists. I normal lay out my flowers on some old sheets of newspaper or pop them into a cardboard box. (This time I popped them onto some white card, which I'll be using for another project once it's all speckled.) Spritz your flowers with the mists - making sure that you aim some of the mists around the edges of the flowers as well as over the tops. Leave to dry.

6. Beautify - Now use your recycled flowers to beautify your scrapbook layouts, mini albums, altered art or to decorate your craft room.

Recycled Bottlecap Embellishments {Altered Element}

This is my first post as part of the new Altered Element Design Team, so I've been keen to work on something that's versatile and can be used in many different types of projects. Whether you're a seasoned crafter or a beginner, you'll be able to use these cute embellishments in your jewellery, interiors or scrapbooking projects - and as a bonus they're made from stuff that most people throw away.

What You'll Need:

Glossy Accents - A versatile 3D clear, gloss medium that you can use for lots of things. There's also a Matte, Sepia and Crackle version - so good!
Cord - I actually used a lovely Leather Cording, but I think these pretty Metallic Cords would be perfect with winter colours.
Bottlecaps - If you're not a big drinker, fear not. Ask friends or relatives to collect them for you or head down to your local bar, ask nicely and flutter eyelashes. Works for me!
Spray Paint - I used Plastikote Project Paint in matt white and bronze, but if you'll be sticking your embellishments down instead of hanging them, you can skip this.
A Selection Of Bits & Pieces - I used punched paper circles, buttons, small seashells and beads in my embellishments. These Alpha Beads and Spangles & Trinkets would also be excellent and are on my wishlist for next time I make these!
Hammer & Screw - Optional for adding a hole to hang your embellishment.

1. Before The Beautifying - You might like to clean up your bottlecaps by boiling them for a few minutes to get rid of any residual beer stains and tarnish. If you want to remove the small plastic inner, boiling will also help to loosen it up, but be careful trying to take it out while it's hot. We'll be covering this up anyway, so there's no real need to try this unless you're one of those people who like things to be as perfect as possible.

2. Painting - I used Plastikote Project Paint to re-colour my bottlecaps. Just lay your bottlecaps face up on a sheet of newspaper and, with the spray about a foot away, lightly mist over your bottlecaps. A couple of light coats if better than one heavy, clumpy one.

3. Adding A Hole For Hanging - If you'd like to add a small hole to your bottlecaps so that you can use them as ornaments or jewellery charms, it's pretty easy to do. Grab yourself a screw and a hammer. Hold the screw at the edge of your bottlecap, hit it really hard a few times with the hammer and voila. (Using a screw instead of a nail might seem counter-intuitive but I find that they don't bend and are, therefore easier to use!)

4. Creating A Collage - I like to line the base of my bottlecaps with a punched paper circle. (If you haven't got a punch for this, just draw around the base of your bottlecap and cut out - or use beads and spangles to cover the base instead.) Layer up your collage using additional punches, stickers, sparkles and beads - sticking them down with a little dot of Glossy Accents to keep them in place.

4. Using The Glossy Accents - Don't shake the bottle - this will add bubbles. Just turn your bottle upside down really quickly, then squeeze onto a piece of scrap paper. Start adding to your bottlecap around the outside and then around the edges of your accents, then fill in the remaining space. Try to make sure that the hole for hanging is clear, but don't worry too much - it's easy to bang in another through the Glossy Accents.

5. Leave To Set - Your Glossy Accents will look less than glossy at first, but leave them to dry overnight (somewhere level) and by morning they'll dry to a hard, clear and glossy finish.

6. Hanging Your Charms - Use your screw to ensure that your hanging hole is free of Glossy Accents (just wiggle it about a bit - technical term) and then thread through some leather cording, knot and hang.

I'm planning on adding these embellishments to my scrapbooking pages, gifts, mini-albums and jewellery - and how cute would these be on your Christmas tree? There's so many ways to make them work in your projects!

As always, if you have any questions or have a go at making some I would love you to let me know in the comments.

And Now For The Good News.....

I'm On The Altered Element Design Team!!! I am absolutely delighted to be joining The Altered Element Design Team. If you haven't visited The Altered Element before then I think that you're in for a treat. The shop is full to the brim of the most amazing supplies - and is especially proud to stock some of those hard to find items.

I'm joining a seriously talented team of crafters and you can, of course, keep up with all of our design team projects over at The Altered Element Blog However, could I also encourage you to check out everyone's personal blogs? It will be worth it! Visit them here - Anikraft, Adorn, Crafty Makes, Welcome To My World, Mixed Media Musings, Jasmoon Butterfly, Gingersnap Creations, Crafty Dawn, Zuzu's Petals and Inspired Scilly.

And, as if that's not enough good news - I have a new job! I was due to end my current contract at the end of October and, with mum suddenly becoming ill, I had hardly managed to start looking for a new role. I managed to complete an application form for the one job that I really, really wanted. I was invited for an interview, which for obvious reasons, was difficult to attend while mum was ill. But, I knew that she would want me to attend the interview - she always did want what was best for us - and perhaps in some ways, having something else on my mind took away all my usual pre-interview nerves because I was offered the role.

I started last Monday and I can honestly say that I already feel settled. I'm doing a role that I love - working in a university careers department - and my new team are amazing.

For all this - and for the lovely comments and e-mails I've received since my last post - I am extremely grateful x

I'm Good For Inspiration, Aren't I?

"I'm good for inspiration, aren't I? You will find." ~ Fifteen Minutes Old, Snow Patrol ~

And so are Julie Kirk and Kirsty Neale from The Copy & Paste Project, who every so often like to challenge (and I mean, really, challenge) folks to create something by copying and pasting from their own ideas. Each and every thing that these lovely ladies create is so chock-full of inspiration that sometimes it's quite difficult to know which spark of thought to follow through to completion.

Challenge No.5 - A Flawed Work Of Art was no different. Starting with lyrics from another Snow Patrol tune, Julie and Kirsty came up with a couple of radically different projects and I had to give it a bit of thought. (It seems I've taken so long thinking about it that Challenge No.6 is already underway.) I had a few ideas but finally settled on.....altering a frame to make an earring holder.

Um.....yeah! How that popped into my head I have no idea but it did and I'm loving the results. I normally hang all of my own necklaces on my wardrobe handles, but I have had absolutely nowhere to hang my beloved earrings - even though I don't have that many of them. (I do have a few more than in the photo though!)

It was all fairly easy to do. I started with a copper coloured frame which I took apart, setting aside the glass. I then cracked open a pot of acrylic in my favourite colour, slapped it onto the frame roughly and left it to dry. Meanwhile, I covered the back piece of the frame with a bit of an old map and attached a couple of pieces of ribbon. (It's important to choose a ribbon or lace, so that you can hang your earrings from them easily.) Once the first layer of acrylic was dry, I painted on another rough layer, then sanded it down once that was dry. The roughness of the paint layers means that it will come off in patches - just what you want for a distressed look.

And now I have somewhere to hang all of my own little pieces of art!