Keepsake Box, By Elizabeth Pipkin

KEEPSAKE BOX

 

Hi again everyone! I’m here to share my last project as Guest Designer for Unique Laser Designs and I would like to say that it has been an honor and privilege to have the opportunity to use these great products and work with such a great team! For this project, I decided to make an ordinary wooden box into a keepsake box as a gift for my sister who is retiring from her job at the end of this year. I wanted it to be something special and I hope this fits the bill! I chose Unique Laser Design’s pretty Corner A, Flourish A and the word Love, from their Live, Laugh, Love and Hope set. The corners and flourish are wood and Love is chipboard.

 

I decided to keep the finish simple on these by just dabbing on Ranger Adirondack Pearl acrylic paint dabber. Then I used a Q-tip rubbed in Tim Holtz Aged Mahogany Distress Ink Pad and rubbed around all the edges.
 

Now, to begin on the box... I purchased it from our local craft store awhile back and after seeing a pretty keepsake box decorated by Gabrielle Pollacco, I decided to give it a try!
 

I painted it inside and out with Gesso.

Then, I randomly rubbed acrylic paint on all sides including the bottom with my finger.
 

I wasn’t too thrilled with how the paints didn’t blend in smoothly so I got my foam paint brush out, got it wet with water and ran it over the entire box. Then when it dried, to tone down the paint a bit, I used my Pearl dabber again, dragging it across all the colors.
 

 

Before moving on to the outside, I wanted the inside to be pretty also. I used papers from Graphic 45’s Botanical Tea collection cutting them to size, inking the edges with TH Victorian Velvet and gluing top and bottom in and then adding smaller images from the same collection. I also added some Diamond Stickles to the flowers and hummingbirds to shimmer it up a bit. The pretty butterfly is from Reneabouquets.com.
 

Now, back to the outside of the box… The next step is to randomly stamp images you want to use on your box. I used Tim Holtz Black Soot Distress Ink. Now I have to say, this was way out of my comfort zone because I hardly ever use black ink for stamping, but after seeing it used so frequently among other artists and Gabrielle’s pretty box I decided to give it a try. I was pleased with the final result. Also, I’ve always been a stickler for precise stamping but am getting to where I really like the look of fading (or not a completed stamp).

I inked around all edges, inside and out with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo distress ink pad to give it an aged look and then I used my homemade texture paste with a Prima stencil.

 

I wanted to use an image from Graphic 45’s Botanical Tea paper on my box, so I cut it out with my Fiskars circle template and cutter, distressed the edge and inked with TH Vintage Photo and glued it to the top of the box. I then framed it with Artisan Elements circle and inked that in with Tim Holtz Black Soot.

 

 

I also decided to use Tim Holtz’s pretty metal corners to add elegance to the box.

Now for the embellishments! My beautiful ULD pieces, a Reneabouquets butterfly, a Prima flower, some cheesecloth, white berries, leaf ribbon, pearl flourishes and metal key. The blue butterfly I fussy cut from the G45 papers to match. I also used Diamond Stickles in the image.
 

 

On one side is ULD’s pretty “Love” chipboard.

The little cherub I won in a drawing and metal key on the side are both from Reneabouquets!

 

And the finished product!
 

Thank you for taking time to stop by and view my Keepsake Box!

Products Used:

Unique Laser Designs Corner A and FlourishA (wood)

Love, from Live, Laugh, Love and Hope set (chipboard)

Folk Art acrylic paint in Rose Pink, Aqua Moiré and Forest Moss

Ranger Adirondack Pearl dabber

Gabrielle Pollacco’s Daisy Stamps (lattice)

Prima Clear Stamps #545055

Hero Arts Clear Stamps Special Time #2

Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads in Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Victorian Velvet and Aged Mahogany

Prima 6x6 stencil, Ameruse Duchess Mix (H) flower

Diamond Stickles

Bo Bunny Frosting Jewels (pearl flourishes)

Graphic 45 Botanical Tea 12x12 paper collection

Artisan Elements circles

Tim Holtz metal corners

Reneabouquets cherub, butterflies and intricate metal key

Queen & Company baby blue rhinestones

Snowflake Picture Frame

Hi everyone! It’s Elizabeth here to share with you my latest project as Guest Designer for Unique Laser Designs. When I first started this project, I had another Christmas card in mind, but, in the end, decided to do something different for a change....an off-the-page creation! This time I wanted to use the pretty ULD Snowflakes (the little ones) and Snowflakes B.  The large ones are chipboard and the tiny ones are MDF.

  

 I first used Adirondack’s Pearl Dabber on most of them and Silver Metallic Dabber on two of the large ones. While still wet, I sprinkled on Stampendous Shabby Blue, Shabby White and Aged Silver on the various flakes and heat embossed them. On two of the white ones I spread some Ranger’s Glossy Accents and then sprinkled on Diamond Chunky Glitter Glass from Reneabouquets.

I prepped the frame with some Gesso and chose the paper I wanted to use. This is double-sided K & Company’s EB Visions of Christmas. In the picture below, I have the side I wanted to use facing down so I could outline the frame for cutting out.

I then inked around all the edges of the frame with Tim Holtz Faded Jeans Distress Ink Pad, just rubbing it on. I like how it makes it look sort of aged.

I distressed the edges of my paper all around and inked around them with the TH Faded Jeans ink pad and then used Mod Podge matte finish over the face of the frame to glue my paper down. Once it was adhered I then used Mod Podge Gloss finish and allowed it to dry before placing some cheesecloth, a berry spray and the snowflakes I decided to use on the frame. I also added a few Queen & Co. Twinkle Goosebumps rhinestones for added bling.

Quite simple really! I hope you like it and encourage you to try making one for yourself!

Reindeer Christmas Card

Greetings my friends! 

This is Elizabeth here to share with you my latest project for Unique Laser Designs using their lovely Reindeer. I decided to leave him in his natural wood state with the exception of….well, you’ll see in a minute!

First, I selected my papers for the card. You’ll see a piece of sweatshirt fabric here with a pretty snow scene image that I decided to use on my card. I’ve had that scrap for who knows how long and it was a piece my husband brought home from work. It had been tossed out so he cut it out of the sweatshirt thinking I might want to use it for something!

I first distressed the edges of my papers and scrunched them up a bit. Then, I fussy cut the image out for my card and then glued it onto my background paper which is from K & Company EB Visions of Christmas Designer Paper Pad. I added some pretty Stickles to it as well as the snowflakes on the paper. After that, I decided to use some of my homemade texture paste to look like snow on the bottom of my card. This recipe was shared in a tutorial by Gabrielle Pollacco. When it dried I added some Star Dust Stickles for shimmer.

I then inked all the edges of my background papers, as well as the edge of the white corrugated cardboard using Tim Holtz Broken China and Faded Jeans Distress Ink.

In this photo you will see that I added a used Bounce dryer sheet to give it more of an appearance of snow mounding! Then I added some more Stickles (Diamond this time).

I wanted my deer to be walking in the snow so I added some texture paste and Stickles to his hooves.

Thought he needed a pretty, Christmas bridle!

Now, to finish off the details…I made a little bow with some bling and cheesecloth underneath for the top corner and stamped the greeting using Impression Obsession’s Christmas Sentiments clear stamp in Tim Holtz Faded Jeans Distress Ink.

And here’s the finished product!

Thank you for stopping by to view my tutorial!

ULD Products:

 Reindeer

Other Products Used:

Coredinations Foundations – Silver Pear cardstock

K & Company EB Visions of Christmas Designer Paper Pad

DCWV Luxury Stack Paper Pad

White Corrugated Cardboard

Stickles – Holly, Xmas Red, Icicle, Star Dust, Crystal and Diamond

Tim Holtz Broken China and Faded Jeans Distress Ink

Stampendous Frantage Glass Glitter – Steel Blue

Homemade Texture Paste

Used Bounce Dryer Sheet

Cheesecloth

Enchanting Layout

Hi everyone! 

I’m here to share my “Enchanting” layout using the amazing ULD wood embellishments,

Tamara – Elf on Moon and Cherry Blossom.

 

First, I applied Gesso on the blossoms and leaves of the branch and the entire moon piece.

I used Tsukineko’s Dew Drops Brilliance ink pads in Pearlescent Orchid, Sky Blue, Lavender and Purple using a Q-Tip to color in the fairy’s dress and flowers and Aloe Vera on the leaves. On her skin I used Color Box chalk ink in a pale peach. Then I spread some clear tacky glue and sprinkled glitter on the lanterns, flowers and leaves. On the moon I originally used a yellow ink pad but didn’t like the color so I painted over it with Deco Art’s Champagne Gold Dazzling Metallics paint and then heated it up to give it an embossed look. On the fairy’s hair I used Liquid Pearls in Buttercup. I wanted her wings and dress to shimmer and show the colors through also so I used Reneabouquets Diamond Chunky Glitter Glass and then also added Star Dust Stickles on top of that as well as on the background paper.  To complete the illumination effect, I glued a specialty yarn called Patons Cha Cha salsa yarn I got at our local antique mall on clearance. I love the glowing effect!

For the Cherry Blossom branch I also inked in the blooms and leaves using Tsukineko Aloe Vera and Spanish Olive ink pad on the leaves and Orchid Pastel on the blooms, Star Dust stickles and then Perfect Pearls in Pearl to tone down the color a bit. I left the branches alone for a natural look.

On to the layout….I used a brand new rubber stamp designed by Gabrielle Pollacco aptly named “Gabi’s Daisies Stamp” although for this layout I just used the lattice portion of it. I stamped embossing ink, sprinkled on some Stampendous Frantage Embossing Powder in Shabby Blue and used my heat tool to set it.

For my embellishments I used a 3” doily painting around the edges using a paint brush dipped in a dab of water and then Perfect Pearls mica powder in Bronze. On that I used my square eggshell mosaics I made last year, a lovely filigree metal leaf that was silver to start with that I colored in with Tim Holtz alcohol inks in Stream and Gold Metallic Mixatives. I also used the Stream on the metal butterfly around the edges. The trim you see at the bottom is some I got at a local craft store and the gold piece is from an earring I made several years ago that was silver in color and I painted up with the Perfect Pearls once again in Bronze.

For the leaf design shown here I used Crafters Workshop Mini Vineyard Stencil and just dabbed Tsukineko ink pads in Brilliance Cosmic Copper and Starlite Silver on top of that to tone it down a bit.

For the title, the plate came with a template to trace around a chosen paper. I then handwrote my title with a gold paint pen, glued it in and covered it with Ranger’s Glossy Accents. Unfortunately, it changed the color of the paint so I ended up writing over the top with the gold paint pen.

Here’s a close-up of my “pixie dust” bottle attached to a piece of paper I rolled up and tied off with frilly yarn. This sweet little piece is from Fairy Tale by Bead Treasures that I got at Hobby Lobby. The little tag inside says “Pixie Dust: Sprinkle and think happy thoughts.” The beautiful key next to it is also from Reneabouquets.  I added a few Queen & Company pearls in Teal Blue.

The gorgeous image is from a card I scanned that I’ve had for many years from Leanin’ Tree. It is called “Wishing Pool” and the artist is Mary Baxter St. Clair. I love the painting so much I just can’t seem to part with the card!   The owl on the lower right of the card and the little door plate and key are also Fairy Tale by Bead Treasures. The lovely paper and glittered dragonflies used on this layout are from Reneabouquets.  I added a little Star Dust Stickles to the water and the beautiful fairy’s wings and dress to make her shimmer even more.

And here is the finished product! I worked on this layout off and on for about a week with one full day of experiencing a creative block!! However, I am thrilled with the finished piece and I hope you like it too!Have a wonderful day! 

Hugs, Elizabeth

Colorful Fall Layout

Hi again everyone! 

I’m back to share my second project as Guest Designer for Unique Laser Designs! For this project I decided to do a layout using their beautiful wood leaves. They smell so good! I really hesitated to do anything to them at all because the wood grain is so lovely but I had a specific project in mind so went ahead with my original plan.

First, I gave them a coat of Gesso.

Then, I spread some Aleene’s Turbo Tacky Glue over a small section at a time, then placed my pre-treated eggshell over it, and gently pressed it down. Do this until it’s completely covered with eggshell pieces and leave just a little space between pieces. I got the Eggshell Tutorial from Gabrielle Pollacco a few years ago. The pretreatment is the most tedious and time consuming, so you really have to want to try this technique to do it! (I will cover that part at the end of the tutorial for those that want to try it.)

Once you get them all done, let them dry completely. Then you’ll have to carefully break off the eggshells that hang over the edges.

Next, I gathered all my Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks that I thought I might want to use for my leaves. I knew I wanted an Autumn theme so these are the colors I came up with, as well as a little gold Metallic Mixatives and Alcohol Blending Solution.

After being satisfied with the colors, let them dry and add a layer of Ranger Glossy Accents. This seals the eggshells in and leaves a beautiful clear coat over the mosaics. Here are the finished leaves.                                              

Now, for my layout. It took me quite awhile to choose my background paper to compliment the photos I wanted to use as well as the leaf mosaics. I distressed the edges and added Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink to the edges with the wood tool and felt.

This is the first non-human layout I’ve made and it was a challenge for me using so many pictures. It took me several hours of deciding how to place them because I wanted to be sure and feature the beautiful wood pieces I’d just decorated. I also had trouble deciding whether or not to mat the pictures but in the end decided I didn’t want to cover anymore of the background paper than necessary so I just inked the edges of the pictures with the Tim Holtz Vintage Photo.

I then did a little dragonfly stamping and stamp-embossed a dragonfly at the bottom as well as some pretty leaf vines. I then added the title and a few birds and beautiful butterflies from Reneabouquets.com.

Thank you for stopping by! 

All of the trees pictured here were photographed by me on our property with the exception of the aspen, which is at our neighbor’s that is right next to our driveway.

PRODUCTS USED:

ULD W-1186L Leaves 

Daler Rowney Gesso (from Walmart)

Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks – Currant, Butterscotch, Citrus, Sunshine Yellow, Rust, Meadow, Ginger, Red Pepper and Gold Metallic Mixatives

Ranger Glossy Accents

Bo Bunny Forever Fall Bouquet (background paper)

Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink Pad

Fiskars Butterfly Magic Clear Stamps (lower dragonfly)

Inkadinkado Foliage Trails Clear Stamps

Hot Off The Press Dragonfly Clear Stamps (small dragonflies)

A La Mode Embossing Powder

Reneabouquets.com butterflies

To pretreat eggshells: Save up several and soak them in warm water and a bit of anti-bacterial water for at least an hour or overnight. Pull out the membrane and be sure to get all the little bits or the shell pieces won’t glue to your chipboard. Then let them dry for a few hours on paper towels. Then you are ready to go!