Altered Brooches Tutorial

You may remember a short while ago I created some altered art brooches. Well, I've made another batch and a little "how-to" in case you'd like to make your own. Here's what they look like when complete...

Ready? Here's how....

For the base of my brooches I used THESE SQUARE TINS,  ROUND TINS, and SMALL ROUND TINS  from alphastamps.com.

The tins have a clear plastic window that is fairly easy to remove. Just slice into the plastic with a craft knife and use a pair of pincers to twist and pull the plastic from the rolled tin grip.

The plastic will tear but your tins should be fine. You could keep window in place, but I prefer to remove them. Removing the window adds to the depth and you won't have to worry about the vinyl scratching or not being able to fix items that might dislodge inside.

Using the base of the tin, trace around the edge on the reverse of a decorative scrapbooking sheet. When you cut this out, trim slightly smaller, just inside the line, so that the cut-out will fit into the bottom of the tin.

I like to cut out a bunch in a variety of papers.

Affix your cut-outs to the inside bottom of your tins.

Next, I gather the images I think I might use. These pictures are all from the Tintypes Collage Sheet (my favourite!) and the School Days Collage Sheet. To add a little extra weight, I glue the images on to heavy decorative paper and cut them out.

To soften the cuts, and hide the white of the paper, I run a paintbrush loaded with an umber coloured paint around the edges.

Now I start playing with placement. I mix and match, moving things around until things start to come together. As I keep working, these choices will change. It's good to experiment and go with the flow :)

If you'd like to add wings, hats, colour or other embellishments to your cut outs, now is a good time to do that. Aren't these Small Angel Wings adorable?!?

To add depth, I use two layers of double sided foam tape. Try to cover enough of the back so that the image is well supported.

As you put your items inside, place and replace the lid to see how your composition is coming along. The lid will cover quite a bit of space around the outside edge so it's important to check how well it all fits together before fixing your embellishments into place. In this tin, in addition to my winged girl, I've added Glittered Holly Berries, Tiny Paper Roses, White Rose with Heart Shaped Petals and some gorgeous tiny ivory and pink paper rose buds. It doesn't take much to fill up that tiny space!

Let's start on the exterior. I use a toothpick to carefully add jewellers glue to the of the tin. The rims that held the vinyl window in place are handy for gluing down trim. Here I'm using 2mm Rhinestone Chain which is absolutely perfect for those rounded corners and pretty and sparkly too boot!

 

You can now fasten the lid to the bottom of the tin and work on further embellishing the exterior. For the tin below I used some Plastic Pearls (Strands) and an Artisan Elements Borders Sticker which, although I've left white, can be coloured. It's just the right size for the small round tins.

For this brooch I've used Plastic Pearls, Gold Fleck Trim and Rhinestone Chain.

Keep playing until you're pleased with the results. Work in layers, adding bits and bobs, here and there. When you're done, attach a pin back so that you can wear your new piece of art.

 

Now get out there and show off your handiwork!

For all the products used in this tutorial CLICK HERE.

They're back...

Just a little note to begin...

A number of people have mentioned making a rather long journey to visit "Pixie Hill". I love you for it. I really do! Because I love you so much, I'm going to tell you that you that if your journey is really, very long, please consider waiting and visit during the summer open house. Yuletide will be cozy and sweet and all types of goodness, but there's simply be much more to see and do in the summer. This year our summer open house will be held on summer solstice (June 21st & 22nd - the most perfect faerie spying night of all!) and will include another, bigger, better faerie tour... maybe even a twilight picnic. I am delighted to have you, whenever you come, but if you're considering a long journey, you might prefer to spend Mid-Summer Nights Eve with us. xoxo

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The Pixie Hill faeries took a long vacation to the Gates (our local arts centre) for the month of October. They've just now arrived back home.

My original plan was to continue adding to the site over the month but some stupid germs decided to jump me and that was the end of those grand plans. BASTARDS!

It was really interesting how the 'installation' changed over the course of the month. The wind, weather and leaves altered the site in many ways. I loved the way the leaves made natural camouflage for the littlest houses. Wasn't such a big fan of the larger houses falling over. You can take it from me, if you ever decide to do an outdoor site, you will ALWAYS lose when it comes to a battle with a crafty critter.

Yuletide Open House!

Yep, it's almost that time again. If  you live nearby, or you're passing through our beautiful little town on December 8th, please stop by Pixie Hill for a visit. We'll have mulled wine and treats for nibbling AND the studio will have the nicest things for the very best people on your holiday list.

Even if you just want to peek around... come on in! I love peekers and snoopers :P

Lest we forget

Thank you.

It's a sickness

I dropped off a fresh bundle of goodies over at Impresario Market today.

Cobourg is a great town with LOADS of neat shops. The thrift stores are pretty darned great too.  These little bottles of pearly things? Ten cents each. TEN CENTS!

The other thing I picked up....

... another house. Honestly, I couldn't help myself. I mean, look at it! It is in dire need of my lovin'

I really have to try and restrain myself now though because I've got several of the things vying for my attention and I'm running out of room!

Dainty Fairy Crowns

I spied this trim and immediately knew it was destined for greatness. I ordered a fair bit and turned it into wee crowns, fit for Faerie Queens and other wee royals.

Just how tiny are they?

Pretty darned tiny!

Gnome Hats, Camo, and Paganism

First the crafty then the nitty gritty...

I've made a slew of these little gnome hats from some juicy red felt with sweet white stitching. How cute are they? I just might wrap one up and place it beneath the tree for our house elf ;)

Now, an update on the Halloween Costume vs Black and Orange uproar. A few people have asked if D wore a costume to school on Halloween. He did BUT he looked very much like he does every other day. In the end he decided to go as a zombie hunter, wearing camo, a zombie response tee and an orange hunting vest. No one was the wiser, he wore orange, and he was happy. Win!

Last night we decided to pop into the latest parent council meeting to see what's what and let them know how we felt about that issue. Apparently we weren't the only parents upset by the costume decision as it was already on the agenda. There certainly wasn't a resolution on the issue but I hope that next year they'll re-consider. I have a hard time believing that a better solution, an alternative that is actually inclusive, considering the feelings of everyone, not just the few, could not be found.

At the meeting, I mentioned that we are Pagan. The principal came over after the meeting and asked what 'Pagan' means. It's sort of a complicated question to answer because really, it's just an umbrella term that includes an awful lot of different things. I told her that I identify as a witch but I am not Wiccan. We celebrate the solstices and equinoxes, the changing of the seasons. We look to the old ways. I explained that we live our lives to be as Christian-like as possible, to be kind, to be good and helpful, but we do not adhere to other beliefs of that path. I often find myself completely stumped answering that question.

I've known people from many faiths and those that believe in no greater power at all. There's good and bad in each. In the end, the very best people are those who strive to be happy, gentle and good, who live with a sense of humour and focus on the betterment of their own lives rather than the faults they perceive in others. You? Well, I'm fairly certain you're one of the nicest of the bunch... no matter what your path :)

xoxo