Tiny Treasure Tin

~ photo heavy post ~

I had a fabulous afternoon, today.  I had a chance to craft more greeting cards that hold gift cards.  I know sometimes, you want to give a gift card, but want a beautiful way to present it.  {smile}.  I will have photos posted on my Facebook page in a day or two.  

I also got a chance to finish a blank mint tin.  I painted the tin with 3 different colors of chalk paint: burlap, cotton, and shell.  The top color is a beautiful pale pink.  I used a sanding block and 2 different grits of sand paper, along with a damp sponge to distress the tin.  Once I was happy with the distressing, I sealed the paint.  And then added pattern paper, embellishments, and sponged ink.

The wonderfully talented ladies over @ Brown Sugar Challenge, have a current challenge: distress!

closed lid

Recipe:  I painted Burlap chalk paint first.  I wanted this soft brown color to peek through.  Then I painted a soft white (cotton) chalk paint.  And the final color is shell chalk paint.  I did dry embossing first.  Then I used a damp sponge to do some wet distressing.  The final step is to add a sealant.  {smile} 

the lid

For the lid, I tore two pinkish pattern papers.  Adhered them together.  Sponged some brown ink all around.  To cover the paper seam, I added a die cut rose from the Tilda paper collection.  I added a scrap piece of cream crochet trim by Stampin' Up! , just below the die cut rose.  I added a simple bow tied with pink pirouette seam binding by Stampin' Up!.  And then I added a pink vintage button tied with cream twine by Paper Trey Ink.

opened

The inside lid, has two different pattern papers from the Corner Shop collection by Tilda.  I just love this paper collection.  The bottom pattern paper is an aqua blue pattern, to help bring out the blue blossoms in the floral pattern paper.  I added a strip of cream crochet trim and a scrap piece of pink pirouette seam binding to the pattern paper stack.  I added some machine stitching, to add to the soft, sweet look of the tin.  I added a sweet, adorable flair button, and a white heart pearl brad, before adhering it to the inside of the mint tin.  Finally, I added a trio of sequins from Pretty Pink Posh (marshmallow and mint).  I added a pair of soft green sequins to help bring out the green in the foliage of the floral pattern paper.

wide opened

The pink polka dot pattern paper is from Carta Bella, baby girl.  I sponged the edges of the pink polka dot pattern paper with brown ink.  I added a die cut teddy bear, from the Corner Shop by Tilda.  I sponged the edges of the teddy bear before adhering it to the inside bottom of the mint tin.

I am calling these little altered, decorated mint tins as Tiny Treasure Tins.  Because these adorable little tins should hold a tiny treasure {smile}!

Thank you for looking.  I will be making several more of these little treasure tins for an upcoming craft fair.  

Glacier Painted Tin

Howdy!  I want to share a craft I am making for my upcoming Arts & Craft Fair in a few weeks.  For those who follow me, I love vintage country chic.  And I love sharing what I create.  So, this craft fair is the perfect venue just for that {smile}.

Let me warn you now.  This craft takes a few days.  But, I believe it is well worth it {smile}.  I think if it can be crafted in 10 mins or less, it doesn't really have any heart.  [Let me apologize for those of you, who love 10m in challenges.]

To begin, I took a plain, hinged lid tin.  Its the size of an Altoid tin, but without the metal embossing. I used my chalk paints to give this plain tin some dimension.  I first painted Burlap chalk paint.  Let it dry for 8 hours*.  Then I painted Cotton chalk paint over that.  Let it dry 8 hours.  Then I painted Glacier chalk paint.  Let it dry 8hrs.  Then, I let the whole tin cure for 24hours**.  

[*I live in the desert, so my drying time is shorter than those living in another part of the country.  Typically chalk paint needs to dry for up to 24hrs.]  

[**curing time allows to the paint to bond to the surface.]

Now comes the fun part - distressing!  I took a sanding block and sanded the whole tin.  I allowed the sanding block to dictate where I would distress more.  It felt more random and natural for me to do it this way.  For the dry distressing, I used two different grits of sand paper to distress smaller areas.  I also did a wet distressing for finer paint removal.

You will have to look close.  But look close.  The larger patches on the top are NOT sanded down to the metal.  Thats Burlap chalk paint peeking through.  Also, there are some small patches were the (white) Cotton chalk paint is peeking through.  There are a few places were I distressed down to the metal.

Ok, now I need to seal what I did in the distressing.  So, I sponged on the sealant.  Let it sit for  20 mins, and then took a cloth and buffed it.  Now it needs to sit for 24hours to cure.  This project will test your patience.  But all good things take time.  Also, if you start on Friday after work, you should be able to complete one by Sunday evening. {smile}

Because I couldn't wait for my curing time, or to take a photo, the top is not actually complete.  The paper and embellishments are just placed on top of the tin for photographing.  I will actually adhere them later today, after the sealant has cured.

I took a scrap piece of stacked pattern paper, and tore all the way around the piece I wanted.  I sponged the edges with Corduroy distress ink by Ranger.  I added a scrap piece of aqua crochet trim.  Tied a vintage vanilla button with kraft twine.  I love how vintage, aged, and sweet this tin turned out.  It looks like something you would find on your grandma's farm.  Tucked away in the attic, or lost in the barn. {smile}

The inside is a little prettier.  I used Corner Shop pattern paper collection by Tilda.  I love the aqua pattern paper in that collection.  Some of these pattern papers look like vintage wall paper, while others are just sweet and gorgeous!  Let's take a look:

I used my 1/2" corner rounder to make the corners fit a little better.  I left the bottom empty.  So, no matter what you place inside, it will fit {smile}.  I used pattern papers that have this glacier/aqua color in them, to coordinate with the outside color.  

For the inside of the lid, I took a scrap piece of pool party seam binding and some white crochet trim and machine stitched them to the pattern paper stack.  Then I tied a trio of buttons with cream twine.  The buttons are adhered to the lid with hot glue, so they will lay as flat as possible, and hopefully don't get pulled off {fingers crossed}.

Thank you for looking.  So far, I have three Glacier painted tins and two Shell (a pale, soft pink) painted tins.  I haven't quite decided if I am going to paint more, or simply decorate them with pattern paper.  If I paint them, I need to start painting very soon.  Hmmmm.  But I will post a few photos of them once I have them completed. Look for these little cuties for sale at my next craft show @ La Cueva High School, in Albuquerque, NM, on Saturday May 2, 2015.

Cake : card-gift box

Howdy! and welcome {smile}.  So, yesterday, I spent quite a few hours in my craft room.  I have a craft fair coming up, and so the craft frenzy has begun {smile}.   I had a goal of creating 6 card-gift combo boxes.  And well.  I didn't.  I got three covers done, the inside templates are printed, the pattern paper has been cut to go on those, and the embellishments have been selected.  So that's a good start.  I also started 3 magnetic letters: O, E, and T.  And I started working on altering 6 tins.  All in all, not a wasted day.  By problem, was once I finished the covers of the 3 card-gift combos, I noticed that they all kinda look alike, and the creative juice for those had run dry {frown}.  That is why I started working on other projects.

Anyways, not to fret.   Today is a new day.  Let me share with you what I have done, and then I can get back into my craft room and either finish the magnetic letter, the tins, or start on some gift card holders.  Possibilities are endless in my craft room {smile}.

My typical style is vintage country chic.  Super easy for me.  I love lace, cotton trim, buttons, sequins, pearls, rhinestones, jars, banners, staples, metallic heat embossing, machine stitching, text, music sheets, and floral pattern papers.  

And sometimes I need a little help organizing these things and a direction of my crafting.  I stopped by a favorite challenge site to see what the current sketch challenge is @ Cardabilities.  There are two things I love best about this challenge site: 1) the sketches are very easy to work with,  2) a majority of the DT is in Europe.  Their perspective is completely different that American crafters.  So, it helps me broaden my horizons.  Here is the current sketch challenge:

and here is what I made:

At the time of photographing this entry, the inside box had not been completed.  That is why there is a gap where the bow is.  This grosgrain ribbon actually ties, to hold the box closed.  Untie the ribbon, and the card-gift box opens like a book.  You can place a smallish  gift inside the box (3" x 5 1/2" x 3/4").

Recipe:  The base is made from Ocean Tides card stock by Paper Trey Ink.  Love the color.  I used two pattern papers from the same collection Corner Shop by Tilda.  LOVE IT!  The cake poster card is one of the embellishments that is included in the pattern paper stack (12" x 12").

I add three different trims: a cream cotton trim, white lace, and a cream/pink saddle stitched ribbon.  I machine stitched them to the pattern papers.  I also included a large loopy double bow of cream twine.  

I added three blossoms, one pink and two aqua paper blossoms.  These were purchased from the dollar bin at a big box craft store.  (yeah, the dollar bin!  9 paper blossoms on a card! SCORE!)  I added some platinum sparkle to the petal tips. 

I tucked in a cake poster card.  I distressed the edges.  I added my sentiment banner of 'best wishes'.  This little gem can be used for a birthday, or wedding.

In the sketch there are some splatters, so I used sequins instead; Marshmallow and Pink Blush sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.  I also tucked in a metal brad.
The ribbon to hold this little gem closed is also Ocean Tides, by Paper Trey Ink.

Here is a different view:

thank you for looking.  I hope you have been inspired to play along with the talented ladies over @ Cardabilities.  Now, back into my craft room! {smile}

Welcome, Card

Wow! I had so much fun playing along with the talented ladies over @ retro sketches, that I created another card with their current sketch.  {smile}

here is their current sketch challenge

I was anxious to use some new pattern papers from Tilda: the Corner Shop and Tiny Treasures.  

And here is what I created:

Recipe:  This card is larger than my typical A2 size, it's 4 1/4" x 6".  I am pairing it with an A6 envelope, to give the banner, and button some extra room.

Ok, I started with the kraft card stock purchased from a big box store.  I lined the inside of the card with a piece of very vanilla card stock, and then matted it onto steel blue card stock.

So, I used the same sheet of pattern paper, and show-cased both sides of this beautiful pattern paper.  The striped pattern paper has this beautiful polka dot trim.  Since I added some cotton trim and ribbon to the top of the floral pattern paper, I purposefully turned the striped pattern paper, so the polka dots would be near the bottom of the page.

I cut the floral pattern paper 1/2" smaller than the striped pattern paper.  I used my thread cutter to distress the edges of both pattern papers.  I machine stitched the cotton trim along the top edge of the floral pattern paper.  I then sewn a strip of blue stitched cream ribbon across the cotton trim.  I also did a double border stitch on the floral pattern paper. 

I added foam tape to the back of the paper doll card, to help give it some height off the card front.  I sponged baked brown sugar classic ink along the edges of the banner pieces.  I used glue dots to hold the banners to the cream twine.  I secured the banner 'string' (cream twine) to the card front with vintage metal brads.

I added a vanilla button to the top left corner of the card.  I also tied a simple bow behind the button.  

Finally, for the floral cluster I added glitter to the petal tips, and rhinestones to the blossom centers.  The floral cluster is adhered to the card front with foam tape, also.

Thank you for stopping by! and I hope you have been inspired to play along with the wonderfully talented ladies over @ retro sketches.