It's a Guy Thing!

This weeks theme on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "One for the Guys", so why not get creative and give this week's challenge a try?

I decided to make a journal cover using Ten Seconds Studio copper-effect metal.  I ran it through the Cuttlebug with the clockworks embossing folder and fixed it to some chipboard.  I then rubbed it with blending solution on an alcohol ink tool to remove the copper glaze from the raised parts, which revealed the silver beneath.  I rubbed on some black paint and then buffed it away in some areas and finally distressed it with a sanding block.

The text plate was created with layered strips of card which were then covered in copper metal and treated the same as the main cover.  Finally I stamped the text, cut it out and fixed it in place.

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

It's male Jim, but not as we know it!

The theme for this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "Men Only".  I racked my brain on this one, and got to thinking about classic male portraits through history.  I finally settled on Micheangelo's undiscovered masterpiece "Jonah Lisa" as my inspiration, and here is my version of it :)

Though it looks flat in this photo, the frame is actually wood and is about 3/4 of an inch deep.  I covered it in copper metal which I had embossed with the Cuttlebug Clockworks folder.  "Jonah" is a Tim Holtz stamp coloured with Promarkers and the bowler had and moustache were hand-drawn by yours truly, then cut out and fixed in place.  Quite the jaunty fellow, dontcha think?  lol

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

Steampunk Submarine Suggests Crafted Chronometer - Dutifully, Dan Divulges Details!

The theme for this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "Steampunk", a style that I've always found inspiring. According to the Wikipedia definition of steampunk, "Perhaps the most well known example of steampunk is Captain Nemo's Nautilus submarine in Walt Disney's 1954 film version of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."

I've always loved that movie ever since I was a kid, so much so that when I was a student, studying computer animation and games development, I created a game inspired by the movie.  A screenshot from the game is shown above.  That's more years ago than I care to think about, so this steampunk stuff has been a favourite of mine for a loooong time! :)

I decided to create a porthole clock, inspired by the movie.  I started by cutting 2 circles from card and covering them with 10 Seconds Studio copper metal.  The bottom circle had first been embossed with the Clockworks embossing folder, as had the metal covering the square of card below it.

I inserted large silver brads into the smaller circle, to act as rivets marking the hour positions and then fixed the smaller circle to the larger one.  I used distress stains in a range of colours to age the copper a little.  I cut a circle of thick clear plastic from some packaging and stuck it behind the circles to be the glass in the clock.  The clock face was stamped and mounted behind the glass using black 3d foam, and the hands were held in place with a brad.

I painted the metal square with Claudine Hellmuth black paint and let it dry, then buffed it with a dry paper towel to reveal the silver of the metal in the raised areas.  I stuck the clock onto the square and then stuck that onto a larger square covered in plain copper.  That was then stuck to a square of Tim Holtz's Kraft Resist paper and then onto a square of chipboard covered in black card.

Finally, I stuck the "82" plaquette to the hanger, and a couple of cogs and brads onto the hanger's clips.  That, as they say, was that! :)

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

Numbers Challenge

Over on the Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge blog today the new theme is "Numbers". I've been a bit naughty and am showing a project using 10 Second Studios materials and tools. After all, 10 is a number, right? :)

Another recycled item, this time a gift box made from 2 bases from Tria pen boxes. I've been unable to make anything new this week, so regular readers of my blog may recall having seen this before. You can see what the bases look like below. I removed the inner lip from one of them, and it became the lid, fitting perfectly onto the other base!

Using a paper stump and rounded silicone tool, I taped the metal onto the plate and then rubbed it into the design. I combined brown and green acrylic paint and a lot of water to make my own distressing spray, which I poured into a mini-mister. After each spritz, the metal was dried with a heat tool, until I was happy with the result.

The tile on the top was made several months back, on a metal class at LB Crafts. The copper was embossed on a Ten Seconds Studio mould and distressed with a patina spray. A square of patterned paper was cut from a Crafty Individuals sheet and placed in a silver Ranger Memory Frame, which had been rubbed with copper wax.

That’s about it, I hope you like it! :o)

Why not head over to the SSS&S blog and check out how the other design team members have interpreted the challenge - their work is amazing! Even better, why not join in yourself? Simon Says Stamp have another great prize up for grabs again this week! :)

As ever, click on the image if you want to see a larger view :)

Metal Gift Box

Another recycled item, this time a gift box made from 2 bases from Tria pen boxes. You can see what the bases look like below. I removed the inner lip from one of them, and it became the lid, fitting perfectly onto the other base!

The main part of the lid was created using a Fiskars Texture Plate. Using a paper stump and rounded silicone tool, I taped the metal onto the plate and then rubbed it into the design. I combined brown and green acrylic paint and a lot of water to make my own distressing spray, which I poured into a mini-mister. After each spritz, the metal was dried with a heat tool, until I was happy with the result.

The tile on the top was made several months back, on a metal class at LB Crafts. The copper was embossed on a Ten Seconds Studio mould and distressed with a patina spray. A square of patterned paper was cut from a Crafty Individuals sheet and placed in a silver Ranger Memory Frame, which had been rubbed with copper wax.

That’s about it, I hope you like it! :o)

Recycled Tria Box

A friend who's been buying Letraset Tria markers recently gave me 2 of the boxes they come in (actually she was going to discard them, so I saved them from a landfill future!). I figured that by removing the base I'd be able to make 2 desktop tool caddys (perfect for larger items like cropodile, texture hammer, rulers etc) plus 1 gift box. Here is the first tool caddy, the gift box will follow tomorrow (if I get it finished!)

The 4 sides are shown above (they are all perfectly rectangular - they look a little wonky because of my amateurish camera work, lol)

Starting at the top left -
Copper top embossed using Ten Seconds Studio border mould. Silver metal embossed in the Cuttlebug. White acrylic paint applied over whole box then partially buffed when dry. Molten UTEE poured over copper crown motif on non-stick craft sheet, then stamped with cookie cutter while still hot. Copper tile embossed with TSS mould then aged with glimmer mists and UTEE element fixed to centre.

The other 3 tiles were embossed using TSS moulds and tarnished with glimmer mists.

10 more seconds...

Here is another metal covered frame I made, this time as part of a 2 day "metal masterclass" that I took a while back at LB Crafts. Rather than using the cuttlebug this time, I used a selection of the Ten Seconds Studio texture moulds, and finished off with some brown acrylic paint to accentuate the sunken areas. This is also one large piece of metal, rather than the 4 panels that were used for yesterday's example.

Inside the frame is one of the stamped index cards I made a while back. If you want a clearer view of it, you can see it here.

10 Seconds and counting...

I've had some tools and sheets of metal from Ten Seconds Studio for quite some time, and today I finally got around to having a go with them - well, with the metal at least!

I picked up some cheap frames from Ikea and used cuttlebug embossing folders to apply texture to the silver and copper coloured metal. Finally I painted the whole frame with white acrylic paint and then buffed it with some kitchen paper when dry to reveal the silver and copper on the raised areas.

The frame looked a bit bare with nothing in it, so I rooted around in my box of cast-off project pieces and cut this piece from a stamped and painted Christmas thing I abandoned a year or two ago. I thought the colours were perfect for the frame - I hope you agree! :)