sweet repeat ~ a guest designer post for the funkie junkie boutique challenge

I am truly honored to have this second opportunity to be a guest designer for the Funkie Junkie Boutique challenge. Today I am sharing "sweet repeat" a collection of valentine treat boxes made with some favorite supplies as well as recycled materials.

I was so excited to learn the theme for the current challenge, hosted by Sara Emily. I often find myself holding onto items to give them a second life. There are so many things these days that go to waste, so I try to do my part to utilize scraps and packaging as often as possible. The Repeat Performance Challenge asks us to use at least one thing on our project that we would normally throw out. I had a number of shirt boxes that were ripped open during the holidays, rendering them unfit for future gift boxing. I thought the lightweight cardboard material would make the perfect base for valentine treat boxes. I also utilize recycled plastic packaging to complete the pieces.

Using the new sizzix curio box die, I die cut the box top and base from the shirt box material. I then select some papers from my Tim Holtz abandoned paper stash that I feel will be interesting for a valentine treat but not overly sweet. Each of the box tops have die cut openings at their centers. I die cut larger sizes of the opening shapes from the plastic die packaging to use as windows in the treat boxes. The clear plastic is attached between the box "base" material and the finished paper. Thus allowing the boxes to be filled with candy or any other valentine treat.

With the windows in place, I attach the finished papers to the box cover and while it dries, I attach the  papers to the bottom section of the treat boxes. Two of my boxes are finished in a simple manner with coordinating accent paper. On the third box, I cut a piece of metallic kraft stash to fit and then embossed it using a 3D roses embossing folder. Roses are such a traditional valentine gift, I thought this would be a perfect accent to view through the open window of the box top. When the bottoms are complete, it is time to add some finishing touches to the top portions of the treat boxes.

For the first treat box, I die cut an extended "crochet" piece from cotton rag paper and color it using pumice stone distress ink. I also die cut a few hearts and give them a rusty finish using Seth Apter's chunky rust baked texture embossing powder. The embellishments are added around the oval window with distress collage medium and allowed to dry completely. The chit chat word "adore" is edged in gold and attached at the top left.

The second treat box has a rectangular shape window. Around the bottom most edge of the box top sides, I have added a line of champagne metallic kraft die cut hearts from the falling hearts die. I loved the organic look of this for a bordered edge.On the top, a die cut cherub from coordinating paper holds a larger falling heart. The word "love" is cut from the tiny text die set out of the same metallic kraft. The banner die is included with the curio box die set, the banner piece is cut from the same paper used inside the box, then stamped with tiny peg dies to read "eternal."

The third treat box I created also utilizes paper from the abandoned collection. This box has an arched window, made using a movers and shapers die. The window opening is filled with the clear plastic packaging and around the finished edge, a piece of black Dresden is attached. The base/bottom of this box is covered with blackout kraft paper on the exterior and inside, the edges match the abandoned pattern, while the base that is seen through the window, showcases a 3D embossed design. Using a piece of red metallic kraft stash, I spritzed the piece with water and ran it through the big shot multiple times. With the embossed roses in place, I rub black soot archival ink over the raised portions to accentuate the design and allow for it to be more easily recognizable through the window.
Label letters are used to form the word "amore" and the "XO" on the box top.

These treat boxes are ready to be filled with sweets for very special valentines.
 Hopefully you are able to find time to make something special for your valentine. If you incorporate something that you may normally just toss away, we would love to see you join the Repeat Performance Challenge! You can link your project on the Funkie Junkie challenge blog post here.
Thanks so much for visiting my blog today,
I truly appreciate it.
~Ann
  xxx


supplies:
recycled materials:
shirt boxes, plastic packaging
Distress collage medium: matte
Distress ink:
aged mahogany, black soot, pumice stone
Dresden black trim
Seth Apter Baked Texture: chunky rust
Tim Holtz Ideaology:
abandoned paper stash, blackout kraft paper stash, , chit chat season, label letters, metallic jewels kraft stock paper stash, metallic 3 kraft stock paper stash
Tim Holtz Sizzix:
3D roses, alphanumeric tiny type lower, crochet 2, curio box, falling hearts,
mini love struck, sized arches
VersaMark embossing ink

   

home is where the heart is

Hi everyone, today I am on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Blog sharing these valentine putz houses.
 I love decorating my house for the various holidays throughout the year; with Valentine's day just around the corner, I thought it would be a lot of fun to create a small vignette of sweet putz.

The GSLC chipboard house ornament kit makes these super simple to create, and you can let your imagination go with all of the details. Each kit contains the pieces for one house, including a bottom with access flap in case you want to put a battery operated tea light inside. The houses have holes in the roof for hanging; however, since I will be using mine in a home decor display, I have simply covered the holes. I use some of the additional house parts that are available, like the house ornament porch, the house ornament window trims, and the the house ornament chimney and dormers. There are even more pieces that can be incorporated that you may be interested in, available in the shop.

The first step is constructing the basic house. The house ornament kit arrives flat. The pieces should be carefully removed from the surround. Run a thin line of glue along the edges and then secure the tabs into the slots and allow to dry. I suggest adding small pieces of mica or acetate on the inside at the window locations before gluing the roof in place. (This is a step I did not include on my houses, but looking back wish that I had. Having the windows sealed would be helpful when adding the glitter to the outside surfaces.)

When the three house kits are assembled, the next step is deciding which additional features to add to each house. The chimney and dormers set includes two dormers and one chimney. These can all be used on one house or split up among the houses. You can see that I use the chimney on one house and two dormers on another, while my third house uses a full set, two dormers and the chimney, as well as the porch. The window trims are added later. Location and placement of the additional house features is entirely up to you, simply glue them in place with a craft glue and allow to dry.

 
With the additional features in place, It is time to paint the houses. [Note: I recommend attaching the window trims AFTER the initial paint coat] I select colors to represent the Valentine's holiday: pinks, blush, victorian velvet, and cameo as well as brushed pewter. I paint directly on the chipboard, two light coats, allowing time to dry in between each coat. When the base coats are completely dry, I add the painted window trims to the houses with glue. [Note: a pair of tweezers is very handy during this step.] It is much easier to paint the trims prior to attaching them to the house.

 

Using a paintbrush and distress collage medium, I paint the areas where I want the glitter to stick. It is easiest to do one roof plane/side of the house at a time. The degree that the house is glittered is entirely up to you. I use a super fine clear glitter (Distress clear rock candy) since the houses are small. You could use colored glitter if you prefer. A more chunky glitter would give an entirely different appearance. I prefer the look of a fine coat of glitter which allows the details to show. I want each of my houses to be a little different, so one house is only glittered on the roof and I added other embellishments to the exterior walls. One of the other houses is covered completely in glitter, while the third is only glittered on the walls, dormers and chimney.

I added extra details by incorporating some X & O sequins along the eaves, a large heart brad at the circular window, heart trims as a wainscoting, and even added shingles to the roof on one of the houses. For my roof shingles, I used painted die cuts from the village rooftops die; however, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts makes a wide variety of shingle styles that would work very well.

My putz houses are arranged on an antique silver serving tray with glass glitter and dyed bottlebrush trees to create a sweet valentine vignette. I hope you are inspired to create your own putz houses, they really are so much fun to make and adorn, and can be done up in any style you can imagine.

Thank you so much for stopping by today,
I really appreciate it.
~Ann

supplies used:
decorative heart brad
Distress collage medium
Distress glitter: clear rock candy
Distress paint:
brushed pewter, picked raspberry, spun sugar, victorian velvet
DecoArt acrylic paint:
cameo blush
  Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts:
House Ornament Kit (x3), House Ornament Porch, House Ornament Chimney and Dormers (x2)
House Ornament Window Trims (x2)
sequins
Tim Holtz / Sizzix alterations dies: village rooftops

love wins ~ a guest designer post for the funkie junkie boutique challenge

Happy new year everyone,
I hope that you enjoyed the holidays.

I am honored to be guest designer for the Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog's current
challenge: tic tac toe. This is truly a fun challenge that Cec Wintynok is hosting
and there is no end to the possibilities; you are sure to want to join in.
To complete the challenge, simply select any vertical, horizontal or diagonal line
from the graphic below and create a project combining all three items from your chosen
 line. Be sure to visit the challenge blog here to see all of the rules, as well as gather
inspiration from the awesome FJB design team.
Let's play tic tac toe!

For my project, I have created a fancy fold card, incorporating heat embossing
as well as ribbon. Love is in the air with Valentine's day right around the corner,
so I thought it would be fun to create a themed project and get a head start on valentines.

To begin, I fold a 12x12 square of cardstock into quadrants, then once diagonally.
Use a bone folder to ensure the fold lines are crisp. Once the creases are set, push the
diagonal creases towards the middle and the paper folds into a 6x6 card that opens to
reveal the full 12x12 expanse. I love that aspect of this style card, there is so much area
 for embellishing. If you would like to see a more detailed blog describing the process
for creating fancy fold cards, click here.

Once the card base is prepared, I decide on the theme.
I die cut a square of white bristol with the organic die, leaving a bit of extended
length to weave a piece of ribbon. This ribbon is long enough to wrap the card
and tie at the side, keeping it closed. Using distress inks and distress oxide inks,
I color a length of crinkle ribbon to match my card, as it is drying I spray the
ribbon with a small amount of distress mica spray in aged brass to give a
bit of shimmer in the light. The ribbon is set aside to dry.

Next, I heat emboss a wildflower stem die cut with charred gold embossing powder.
 I coat the die cut piece with VersaMark embossing ink, sprinkling the powder
onto the ink and then set it with my heat gun.

When the embossing has cooled, I layer the piece onto three more (non-embossed)
identical die cuts and secure together.

This gives the wildflower stem dimension when it is attached to the card front,
distinguishing it further from the intricate background it sits atop.

I secure a die cut "love" sentiment to the ribbon.

With the card front complete, the inside presents so many opportunities for
personalization. Staying with my valentine theme, I add special marbled papers
 to the triangular spaces, and then begin laying out the composition.

I use heat embossed love struck cherubs, hearts and stacked words.

I leave spaces for personal love notes

and in the upper quadrant I create a frame with embossed chipboard
that a special picture can be slipped into to personalize the card even further.

I think this will be a wonderful valentine to present to someone special.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by my blog.
I hope that you are inspired to create some handmade valentines and
perhaps join in the fun at the Funkie Junkie Boutique challenge.
Wishing you all a new year filled with happiness and love.
~Ann
xxx


supplies used:
bone folder
bristol
cardstock 12x12 sheet
Distress Collage Medium: matte
Distress ink
Distress Oxide ink
Distress Mica Spray
Emerald Creek Craft Supplies embossing powder: charred gold
Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts: chevron frames
Sookwang double sided adhesive
Tim Holtz Ideaology: crinkle ribbon, kraftstock,
Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations dies:
handwritten love, organic, shape strips, stacked words: valentines, wildflower stems #1
VersaMark embossing ink