Authentique/Petaloo Beach Memory Keepsake

It never fails that when my family visit the beach we come home with some sort of souvinier. Sea shells and pretty stones, little things that mark the memory of our adventure. While pondering a summer/beach themed project I thought of the memories sparked by those little treasures and decided to give them a proper keeping place.

 

With an altoids style tin I've embellished the front with Authentique's "Guide" from their Anchored collection. 

Pretty white Forget Me Nots are paired with Botanica Petite’s in blue and accented with a tiny bit of Fancy Trim. All of those pieces come together with Sea Shell Pin accessories.

 Finally, a few sea shells are added as accents. The sides of the tin are embellished with strips of "Cruise".

Inside the tin is where we keep our memories safely tucked away.

 

It was a pleasant surprise to find that four little glass vials can fit snugly inside! Fill with small beach memories.

Using Authentique "details" stickers on the little glass vials, you can add the location and date that your beach findings were collected. Or, you could always fake it like I have and use Petaloo's bag of Sea Shells.

A few more stickers inside for the finishing touches and Voila! You've got a tidy little tin to keep your beach memories safe :)

Hop over to the Petaloo and Authentique blogs this week for some more great beach/summer themed projects and a chance to win fabulous products from these amazing companies :)

Supply list:
Petaloo
Forget Me Nots - White 1837Sea Shell Pins 1433
Fancy Trims - Taupe 1910
Botanica Petite’s - Blue/Purple/Green 1101Sea Shells
Authentique PapersAnchored Collection
> "cruise"
> "guide"
> "tranquil"
> "details"
OtherBlank Altoids TinCorked Vials
Glue

May Day Blessings

May 1st, or May Day, is said to be one of the days in which it is possible to spy the little people.

It's also the day that young ladies in white are donned with flower wreaths and proclaimed "Queens of May" and dancers frolic with ribbons around the May Pole. 

And all of this to celebrate the life of spring, the coming of summer, and high hopes of for a fertile harvest in the autumn.

Here's hoping your May Day is filled with beauty and your revelry brings you a bountiful harvest.

This piece is listed in the etsy shop HERE

Back to work and tiny things

I haven't been making much over the past week or so. Boring admin stuff, a trip to Ottawa, and mountains of laundry have gotten in the way. I really do get grumpy when I don't make things. It all came to a head last night when I got shouty with my online shipping tools (btw tools is an absolutely apt moniker). And so today I will lock myself away and make stuff, drink tea and soothe my frazzled nerves.

But I do have this one little thing to show. It's for a swap with a miniature lovin' crafter. I think it's sort of a very pretty mess... just the way I like things. I hope she likes it too.

Radio Redo

My husband brings home a lot of junk. A lot. When we were living in an 800 sq/f house he came home one day and said "You're going to be mad." His pick-up was filled (and I do mean FILLED... even the passenger seat was piled high!) with wine making supplies someone had given him. I wasn't pleased. My own sprawling craft stash makes any complaining on my part null and void.

He brought this home the other week. For the love of limited storage, why? But he plugged it in and it worked and suddenly I was nostalgic, remembering dancing around in my bedroom to 'Safety Dance' or 'Take on Me'. Deciding that perhaps this old thing wasn’t really junk after all I set to work on giving it a makeover.

For all of the curvy bits and odd shaped angles I simply covered with Washi Tape. LOVE the thick black tape with the Typography pattern because it can be torn and cut and stuck together and the edges practically camouflage themselves! The rest is covered with Inspire, Create, Inscribe and Dream.

This funky piece is now sitting in my working studio where I will make messes to the K-Billy's Super Sounds of the Seventies... or something like that ;)

Teeny-weeny supply list:

> Inspire> Create> Inscribe> DreamWashi Tape Set

... and an old radio

More greatness on the Graphic 45 blog. Hop over and check out the goodies!

Checking in...

Sorry for the lack of posts but it's been a fairly uneventful week around here. All admin stuff and very little crafty goodness.

My site was moved to a new server this week so I spent a bit of time updating. (ETA: in the changeover process I lost all of email.If you are waiting to hear back fromme, please resend!) I have finally added information to the page about faeries and pixies which you can find HERE if you are so inclined. If you've been to my other site you'll see that some of it is regurgitated. The other site will be coming down soon as it has been untouched for four years. I sometimes feel like I collect domains and let them gather dust like knickknacks.

There was one recent bit of creativity I can share: the above oil painting. I am not an oil painter... at all. Acrylic, watercolour? Good to go. Oils, not so much. And I do wish I had a knack for them so I drag them out once a year, toss something on a canvas and quickly put them away again when I see what I've made. It's not terrible, but it certainly isn't good. Like knitting, oil painting keeps me humble ;)

Finally, the blog will be postless for a little while longer as I'm heading to Ottawa this weekend with my kid and mudder. My darling son keeps reminding me that I promised him a fancy Beaver Tail (a sort of street treat they sell there) 4+ years ago. "Please put away your hockey stick" he forgets in 15 seconds. "I'll get you a Beaver Tail next time" he keeps in the vault. At least he has his priorities straight.

P.S. There is now a 'Follow by email' option at the top right. xoxo

The Evil Dead Altered Altoid Tin

I am a big horror fan. Being a kid in the 80's I was well acquainted with Jason and Freddy. I distinctly remember when I was around nine, my mum waking me to watch the late-late movie, "Dracula" with Bela Lugosi. Not very long ago I found the Krueger glove I got for Christmas when I was twelve. It must be something that runs in the family, my granny being quite the teen-slasher aficionado.

One of my all time favourite horror flicks is "Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn". Sam Raimi creates a picture made with such enthusiasm for film as a medium. (Eesh! That sounds pretentious... it's not meant to.) And what girl could resist the mighty chin of handsome Bruce Campbell? Smitten. From the get-go.

So I decided that for my next altered Altoid tin I'd create an ode to The Evil Dead.

On the exterior is my rendition of the famous cabin.

The trees were created with some rusty wire and bits of moss.

Inside the door to the cellar is chained up tight.

For good reason too! Cheryl is being naughty. Cheryl is from the first The Evil Dead movie, Henrietta is the poor thing down there in part two. (For a real fright look at my nails!)

"I'm all right now, Ashley! Come unlock this chain and let me out!"

I've made a series of 3 of the wee things and 2 will be available later this week in the etsy shop. I'm holding on to them for a few more days and plan on working on a couple of 'accessories' to include with them. These will be the only ones of this design created.

____________________

Two very quick P.S. notes: 1) I am THRILLED to say that I will be returning for a second year as a design team member for Graphic 45! Congrats to each and every one of my 2014 teamies. 2) It will be quiet here over the next few days as I switch servers and update my site. The blog should be fine but I'm sure my site will be a mess for a few days.

Sky Pirate Paper Boat

While tinkering and making I often watch movies. I'm not entirely engrossed in what is playing, but they provide a bit of pleasant background chatter and give me a sense of time. If it weren't for the endings I would lose myself entirely in my making and forget to stretch at lunch time and make dinner at the end of the day.

One of the films I watch frequently is "Stardust". It's not actually one of my most favourite films but, for some reason, it always results in incredible productivity. Who am I to argue with results? 

One of the things I DO like in the film are the Sky Pirates. What a magnificent idea! A band of cloud rovers collecting lightening. The papers in this months Alpha Stamps kit: Vintage Voyage inspired me to create my own version of a Sky Pirate ship.

 

I'm hoping to make several in varrying sizes, an entire fleet, to suspend from the ceiling in my studio.

Those beautiful little  Brass Anchor Charms and Brass Ship Wheel give the perfect finishing touches.

A bit of jute twine wrapped around Wood Mini Spools are the perfect on-deck accessory.

The 1/8 Inch Wooden Dowels provide an excellent mast for hoisting paper sails.

The lovely curvy sails are my favourite part of this little boat. I'd love to make another with three times as many!

Be certain to visit Alpha Stamps for more inspiration :)