Craft Room DT Call

My friend Zoe is working with the owner of the Craft Room, Julia, to coordinate a design team for the new challenge blog. Well, I thought to myself, why don't you give it a go as you need a bit more of a challenge at the moment! So here goes...

When we were cleaning up my mother's house, I found this box that she had kept pens in. She had it for many years and it was originally a box for tea! I decided to decorate it for her to keep then pens she needs in her new home.

I gave it a distressed look by painting it with a wine coloured paint then going over it with a cream colour using the PVA technique - painting a layer of slightly thinned PVA then covering it with the paint.

I coloured the additional bits of the swirls with my copic markers .

The inside of the box was covered with a dark green card and the edges painted with gold paint.

To finish it off, I added the flocked chipboard letters P E N S which I had coloured using a gold dabber paint. This enabled to flock feature to remain a little textured.

Starngely enough, when I gave it to my mother, she asked if that was the box she had kept her pens in at home!! Alteration does not necessarily change!!!

The second project is a book I made for a friend. I haven't put the photos in it yet as I want it to be a surprise.

The pages were all cut using the Tim Holtz Alterations Mini Cabinet Card Die. I used heavy card for the base for each page and covered them with different papers from my stash. Each page was edged with vintage photo distress ink to give it an aged look.

The cover has a large flower die cut from the Tattered Florals die (Tim Holtz Alterations Dies). I cut the flowers from 2 different papers and alternated the layers. Each layer has been sprayed with Cosmic Shimmer (silvery colour) then edged with Vintage Photo. I shaped the petals on each layer to provide a bit of depth to the flower. The centre is a large diamante. I also cut two leaves and gave them the same treatment as the flower's layers.

Each page in this book is different.

The page inside the front cover has a journalling stamp so that I can write a message to my friend.

Some of the following pages have  frames on them. The frames for the photos (which I will add later!) were cut using nestabilies dies from Spellbinders. I also embossed the frames to define the edges more.

Paper flowers and a crochet flower have been added to some of the frames. The flower on this page was coloured by stamping Versamark ink onto the petals then dusting with Perfect Pearl powder (green). A yellow brad was added to the centre of the flower.

Background stamps have been used to provide a little detail to the pages. One page was stamped with glimmer mist which I first sprayed on a foam pad then stamped the background stamp on it to pick up the ink. Another page was stamped using white paint from a dabber which I applied directly to the stamp.

I also used a mesh stamp to provide some interest on this page.


Some of the pages use different techniques. For instance, the next page is made like an envelope. I folded the card before I cut it and placed the fold just inside the cutting edge of the die. I then cut the top of one side with a tab die (TH again!). I added a couple of cards to the envelope with some nice sentiments from Tim Holtz. (I got some new stamps recently and wanted to use them - this project seemed like a great opportunity!)


I added a little die cut with a nice sentiment to finish this page off.







This page is made from a heavy card that I embossed with the patchwork quilt folder and inked up with shabby shutters, faded jeans, chipped sapphire and vintage photo. Added a little bird from Kaisercraft and a key cut with the cricut expression and rusted up with vintage photo distress ink and clear rock candy distress crackle paint.




This page is made from acetate which I coloured using alcohol inks in blue, yellow and green shades. Also added some metallic copper to give it a little depth. The acetate is attached to the base card with little dots of Glossy Accents. Amazing stuff as it does not show through the acetate.

 This page has a lovely sentiment from Hero Arts - The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams.

I cut the tag with a nestabilities tag die and cut the backing by tracing around the outer edge of the die. This works really well to provide a shadow for these tag dies.

The flower centre is done by adding gold metallic beads with glossy accents.


The final page in the book explains the journey of the book. The sentiment stamp is from a Darkroom Door set and the poppies are from Montarga, stamped with rusty hinge and overlaid with a cute balls and sticks stamp (bundled sage) that I got from the lovely Wendy at The Stamp Attic in Wantage last year.

 This is one of a series of ATCs that I made some time ago. It is a tri-shutter ATC, measuring 3.5 by 2.5 inches when it is folded flat.

I used tattered rose and weather wood distress inks to colour the card and used the same inks to stamp the delightful little cogs (designed by Zoe!). The Eiffel Tower stamp was one I picked up at the Craft Barn last year - I think it is by Crafty Individuals. The ticket was cut around the ticket stamp - Tim again!!


I would love to contribute to the Craft Room's Challenge Design Team. I love using a range of different techniques and enjoy teaching other people about using them. I also think that it would provide me with some more challenges that I am really ready for. Enjoy!