Candle Box

 I made my daughter in law a box for Christmas this year using black chipboard and the papers from Graphic 45 French Country Collection.  I love the rich colors and the vintage home grown aspect of the paper.  My daughter in law loves sunflowers and chickens and I think this paper works for the two of us.  The box is 4"x4"x8" and the sides are split down about 2/3 of the way all the way around.  I covered all surfaces with the various papers from the collection and added chip board bits and ribbon from Stampin UP!

 Opened the box contained a candle that had leaf imprints circling it.  I  really like the way this box turned out and may end making a few more for gifts during the year.  While they look like they take a lot of work it can be done in a couple of hours. 

 The lid is some flower bits I had from other projects that I glued together into a sunflower ornament on the top of the box.

Another view of the back side of the box.  All sides were covered but these were two of my favorite. 

WOYWW #279

It has been a busy week around here with a lot of varied and fun things going on.  I spent a little time crafting but a lot more socializing.  The gardening is starting to wind down because fall has started to settle in even though most days the temperatures are in the upper 80's and low 90's(28-30 c.)  We are still harvesting tomatoes, peppers, some okra and eventually the last watermelon will ripen so we can harvest it.  If you would like to read about my weekend this past weekend that I spent at the SCA Protectorate down in Texas go to this post.  Protectorate is an event where all the fighters get together to see who is best and will be the champion of the newly crowned Baron and Baroness of this Barony.  It was a lot of fun and I enjoy the interaction with the people.

Oh yeah!  My desk this week...

Not a lot to show.  I have a couple things I am working on but nothing that I care to share this week...not far enough along!  Looking at the picture I really think I need to clear off some space and put stuff away.  I did make a couple more tags you can see here, the 6x6" butterfly journal pages, learned to weave and made some rings and pendants in a beading class!



I had someone ask about my cutting machines and especially about the Big Shot Pro.  Question was why do I need a Vagabond (on cutting cart to left of desk), a Big Shot, and a Big Shot Pro and what the differences were? I also have a Cricut.




The Vagabond is electric and I use it a lot when I have to cut a lot of pieces out of the same die cause it saves my poor arthritic hands some pain after a marathon of cutting out bits and pieces.  The Big Shot rarely gets used (it was my first machine) and I probably should sell it but I save it for back up.  Those two machines will handle all the Bigz steel blade and thin cut dies, regular sized embossing folders, and strip dies.  The Big Shot Pro handles all the those dies plus the larger 12"x12" steel dies and the 8"x8" embossing folders.   I can also cut 3-4 different die cuts at the same time or more then one strip die at a time which really helps when I am in a hurry.  The Pro will handle Accucut and other broad platform dies so I can cut bigger things out. 

and example of the big shot pro dies vs regular dies. 

I really like the diversity of the Big Shot Pro and lucked into getting it when a friend asked me if I would like to buy hers.  My friend had bought the machine about 6 months before to use for quilting and didn't like it but had never used it.  I bought all dies she had, the machine, various platforms and shims for just over $300...the machine retails for about $500 itself so it was a buy I couldn't pass up!

I had a young friend whose birthday was this past week and we attended her birthday supper on Sunday evening after I got back from the camp.  I had forgotten to make her a card and hurriedly made up a card using the Graphic 45 French Country Market papers when I got back from camp.  I really love this paper and the colors are so warm and inviting...really has a fall felling to it.  I thought since it turned out so well I would use this card for a sketch challenge on ATT this month. 

front of card

inside

 This came in the mail while I was gone!  Isn't it gorgeous!  A friend on ATT made this Halloween card for me in a swap I participated in!

 

 If you would like to participate in WOYWW this week go check out Stamping Ground and Julia will tell you how you too can layout your desk and crafty possessions for everyone to have a good snoop through.  I love seeing other peoples desks and projects they are working on and really miss it when I can't participate.  

Okay I am out of here!  It is just about 2 am my time and I am bone tired tonight... I am hearing my bed calling my name!  Hope everyone enjoys their week and I will be back in the morning to go blog hopping and snooping on others desks.  If you visit my blog and leave a comment I promise to make it by your desk this week! 

What do you get when...

What do you get when you use black gesso in your art journal?  Well.....I realized I didn't know what I was up to after I painted the page with gesso so I decided I would try this....

I first used a stencil and white paint and made a white on black cursive writing that you  can see behind the various bits.  Unfortunately after the cat jumped up and walked across it parts were smeared so I had to come up with something to cover the most smeared parts!  Yes they are going to have to learn new habits if they are going to be allowed in the room while I am crafting.   
Next I used coarse modeling paste and mixed brown paint in and used a harlequin stencil and made the stencil pattern on the top of the pages.  I decided I needed something other and darker then the harlequin on the bottom so I did the bricks on the lower right I took a break and when I came back I didn't like the black and brick but it was already dry and decided to try something different on the left.  I frosted a layer of the modeling paste on the page let it dry a minute then laid the stencil over the top and put a layer of the lighter modeling paste on top...I like that better!  I don't know how you do it but I always work right page first then move on to the left and it sometimes looks like there is a gigantic learning curve going on between the two!  After all was dry I did some fussy cutting of a couple sheets of Graphic 45 French Country Market paper and glued them down with Glue and Seal (suppose you could use Mod Podge) then added a few embellies and called it done.

I haven't been feeling well or in a really creative mood of late so haven't been doing a lot of anything but I have decided I am going to do something artsy fartsy every day and this is my lot for today.  Hope you like it!