Paris By Thirteen

On this last day of 2014 I am sharing my last post for Unique Laser Designs.  It has been great working with this group of talented people!

I asked Unique Laser Designs for an Eiffel Tower especially for this project.  In August I was able to go to Paris with my kids, my mother,  and my thirteen year old niece.  I am planning on giving this project as a memento of my niece's trip.

            

The two towers are cut out of chipboard, while Flourish A was cut out of wood.  These embellishments were simply embossed with embossing powder.  Tags can get busy due to their size and I felt that this simple treatment helped to showcase the laser cuts.

Have a wonderful 2015!

Flourish A

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

Vintage Keepsake Box

Hello! It's my turn to post today and I have a box that I altered to share. You will have to forgive me because I dug into (again!) my favorite paper stashes.

I had already picked out my Unique Laser Design flourishes and corner shapes for this project. As I was putting the box together, I knew I wanted a vintage feel; then I decided to make it vintage and masculine. I imagined what sorts of things a boy might collect in this box. I just moved that collection to the top of the box.

The patterned papers were trimmed to fit the sides and top of the box. I inked the edges and applied the papers to the box. I sealed the papers with matte soft gel, because I used dye ink; I did not want the ink to come off on fingers as this piece is meant to be handled. I trimmed the flourish laser cuts. I cut Flourish A in half so it could work like a latch. Flourish B's flowers were removed. I painted the latch and corners. The corners were painted black with my eyes shut (on purpose), and I was able to ink the bare spots brown.

Can you spot the last two ULD products? The heart inside of the pocket watch and the small brick with the message "Today" are small ULD pieces that I snuck onto the top of the box.

Box Top

                 

                                           Flourish A                                             Corner H                                                                     

I hope that you have enjoyed this project. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Here are the links to the products that I used.  

Flourish A                                     Flourish B

      Corner H                                   Brick Wall Stencil

   

 Hearts in Hearts

Embellished Burlap Mini Album

Today, I'll be sharing my design in a more virtual manner.  Let's just say we will walk through how I designed this burlap mini together.

So if you're ready, come and take this little tour de mini along with me:

Products Used:

Ladies Bicycle

Birds on a Branch

Flourish A

Flourish D

Thanks for following along my little guided tour. 

 I hope you enjoyed it!