Configurations Book

Today I am sharing a project that i recently completed using the Tim Holtz small Configurations Book. I must say I love these keepsake books as you can really go to town on the external decoration and then have a lovely surprise inside.

This first photo shows the finished interior with the little matchbook mini album out of its box. The papers used were a mixture of Prima Devine and Melissa Frances Attic Treasures.

Each internal box was decorated and filled with trinkets. I chose to turn one of the boxes back to front and cover it with paper.

This is yhw matchbook album open. I used a mixture of journal cards and patterned paper for the pages.

To make sure the book stayed closed, I punched a hole in the lid and passed some seam binding through.

I secured the seam binding in place using a Prima resin piece and some of the flowers.

The lid was covered first with paper and then I applied paste through a stencil in different areas. Next I added the fliwers and leaves. I then gessoed the whole thing using a light coat and removing it in some places with a baby wipe. I spritzed the cover with gold and pearl perfect pearls mists. Finishing touches were a key, brad, butterflies and a couple of resin pieces. All edges were finished with Treasure Gold wax gilt.

Prima TV

I recently purchased a gorgeous TV from createwithkate.com. It is designed by Ingvild Bloume (hope I spelt that right) for Prima. The TV is metal and has a lovely aged finish. The back opens and you can fit a little scene inside. I was so excited I made 2 little boxes to fit inside as I want to change the scene for each season.
The first scene is for spring.

I covered the inside of the box using Tim Holtz paper stash Wallflower. I cut some pussywillow from the garden and added them. I wrapped some flower buds around one of the stems and added some larger flowers to the r.h.s. Finally I added a little nest and eggs.

For my second scene I used the new Graphic45 By the Sea papers to cover the box. I fussy cut the lighthouse from one of the sheets and added it to one side. The beach hut is a little birdhouse turned back to front and covered with paper. I used a sandy coloured glitter and added some shells and a wooden bead for a beachball.

Catch Up!

I have been really busy lately and haven't had a chance to update the blog. So get ready for a photo heavy post.

Firstly though a little bit of class news. On September 21st I will be teaching a beginners Art Journalling class in Dungarvan Co. Waterford. This will be an opportunity for all of you who have been tempted to start this creative journey, but have just been unsure where to start. On the day we will hopefully complete 2 pages and have lots of fun making different backgrounds for some more pages. If you are interested in coming to the class contact me here in the comments or on my Facebook page.

A second class that I will be teaching is a mixed media canvas. I will be teaching this as part of the 2 day Create with Kate event in Athlone on 5th and 6th of October.

And so to what I have been doing recently. Well my journal journey continues. I am really enjoying playing with all of my products and seeing what works together. The new distress paints from Ranger and Tim Holtz are fantastic! In the latest issue of Crafting Ireland online magazine I did a product review, so check it out here.

 

Another thing that I have been doing lately is art swaps. 
The first swap was hosted by Create with Kate and was an alphabet swap. We were each given a letter of the alphabet and had to send our artwork to the person above us on the list. I decided on a canvas. The letter I had was "R", and I had an idea based on a quote about rainbows.

Another project I have done is a commission for a 16 year old girls birthday. This is again a canvas with a lots of collage work on it.

So there you go, a little sample of some of my recent work!

Keepsake Box

I was given 11 little wooden boxes and decided that they were perfect for keepsakes. So this is my first one. I painted the box with Adirondack Cloudy Blue paint first, both inside and out. I then covered the top, sides and insides with Melissa Frances Paper, Vintage Attic Treasures. To the lid I added some white lace and some gorgeous wooden buttons from Prima. The little flower button also has a little baby feet charm attached.

Around the edge of the lid I added some white ruffled ribbon and some blue satin with the words 'shhh baby sleeping' on it.

Inside the lid I have made a bow with some blue organza ribbon and added a Cameo with white ruffled ribbon behind it and a little pearl stick pin to finish it off.  I have started a pink one which I will post in the next few days. Enjoy the weekend. x