My Other Creations: Transparent Party Favor Box

The theme for this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is "transparent."  I went right for these clear plastic pillow boxes to see what I could do with them.  I decided to decorate them and fill them with crafty goodies for my friends who enjoy creating wonderful works of art. 

These boxes are completely different styles and that's because my artsy friends all lean toward a different aesthetic.  So I experimented with a couple of diverse looks.

For the pink box, I stamped a Wendy Vecchi image onto the front with embossing ink, added white embossing powder, then shot it with my heat tool.  

Caution!  We all know that heat and plastic don't mix unless you're trying to do something melty!!  This was a risky maneuver.  My plastic box was milliseconds away from being a deformed transparent blob.  I don't know if you ever get adrenalin rushes from crafting, but this was one for me!  Will I or won't I destroy this plastic box??  But I survived and so did my project...this time.  So if you do try and heat emboss onto plastic, my only advice would be to keep your heat tool moving around fast-- like warp speed!  If you heat up one spot for too long, disaster will surely ensue.

I topped off my box with some pink and white yarn and some Tim Holtz "Tattered Florals" daisy shapes that I cut out of used dryer sheets.

And for you extra inquisitive folks, here's a peek of what I put inside the box:

For the grungier box, I went a safer route and stamped directly onto the plastic with StazOn inks (no heat involved).  I used a polka dot stamp for the teal dots, then I used a sponge to dab brown around all the edges.

After that, I added some Washi tape and fussy cut around some stamped images, which I glued to the box.  I filled this one up with vintage dictionary pages, ticket stubs and other paper ephemera.

The great thing about these pillow boxes is that they are so incredibly versatile!  And they come flat, which makes them easy to stamp on and decorate.

I was able to create these boxes using the following supplies from Simon Says Stamp:

Simon Says Stamp Clear Pillow Box 3-Pack	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Ink	Hero Arts EMBOSS WHITE EMBOSSING POWDER	Heat Embossing Tool	Ranger Inkssentials Non Stick CRAFT SHEET Reusable 15 X 18 Stamp Paint Ink	Wendy Vecchi Busy Making Art Stamp Set	Fiskars Acrylic Blocks
Simon Says Stamp Assorted Straws	Doodle Twine, Cupcake Pink	Sizzix BIG SHOT MACHINE	Sizzix Bigz Die - Tattered Florals	Teal StazOn	Timber Brown StazOn	Hero Arts Life of the Party Dots Stamp
Dylusions Birds on a Wire Stamp Set	Wendy Vecchi License Plate Art Stamp Set	Walnut Stain - Distress Ink	Archival Ink - Jet Black	Colorbox Rain Forest Ink	Simon Vintage Dictionary Paper	Kaiser Timeless Tags
Kelly Purkey Washi Tape NUMBERS KPWS6	Kelly Purkey Washi Tape RED CHEVRON KPWS7	My Mind′s Eye Pretty Things Record It Washi Tape

So what transparent masterpieces will you create this week?  Please do share your creations with us on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.  As always, you will inspire us and you will enter yourself in a random drawing to win $50 in Simon Says Stamp store credit.  

Tutorials: Dryer Sheet Flowers

Hello all!  If you have some used dryer sheets and some spare time on your hands, swing on over to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog and check out my tutorial on how to make flowers out of dryer sheets (as seen below).

I also threw in some other handy household material tips like how to flip your stamp images using foam and Saran wrap.

I'll look forward to seeing you there!

My Other Creations: Traveling Bird Fabric Collage

I am a pro-bird crafter!  I love the simple silhouette of a cute fat-bellied birdie.  So I decided to make a traveling bird fabric collage:

Part of the inspiration for this piece came from a fabulous blog I recently discovered called "A Vintage Journey."  It's a blog dedicated to all sorts of lovely art that's influenced byTim Holtz.  And the members of the Design Team are incredible!  Many of them have been long-time favorites of mine whose work I always look forward to seeing.

The piece I made reflects Tim Holtz because I used several swatches of Tim Holtz fabric and I also used his distress inks to add some depth and dimension here and there.  Plus he's created many fabulous stamp sets featuring birds and crowns.

I finished off the piece by stamping a "Fly" sentiment and giving this bird some traveling food (cupcakes are perfect for any scenario life has to offer).

Thinking of birds makes me happy and it also makes me think that maybe just maybe Spring is on the way!

My Other Creations: Upcycled Memo Holder

What an absolutely fabulous challenge theme we have this week at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog!  The theme is, "D is for Distress."  I decided to play with alcohol inks and created this weathered-looking memo holder out of an old cheese grater and a vintage curler:

Just to show you the power of these alcohol inks (which I simply dripped and dabbed onto the metal with the help of the Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink Applicator tool), I've included a before and after shot of the curler.

Before alcohol ink: a nice shiny metal surface.

After alcohol ink: all sorts of swirly rusty colors.

The great thing about alcohol inks is that they instantly transform metal.  And once the color's on there, it's there for the count!

In addition to smudging and coloring my metal, I also heat embossed some black cursive text onto the background (using a Wendy Vecchi stamp) for an added layer of texture:

To give the flowers a more weathered appearance, I dabbed them with brown ink.  

With the curler acting as my "clip," I've attached a vintage-looking ticket to my trusty memo holder.  It's also magnetic for more memo fun.

I finished off the piece with some scraggly yarn and a "Salvaged" metal word band that I also distressed.

This was a fun project and it was made possible by this array of crafting supplies that you can get at Simon Says Stamp:

Ranger Alcohol Ink In Sail Boat Blue	Citrus - Alcohol Ink	Espresso - Alcohol Ink	Alcohol Ink Applicator	Alcohol Ink Applicator Tool Refills	Ranger Inkssentials Non Stick CRAFT SHEET Reusable 15 X 18 Stamp Paint Ink	Prima Lyric Collection Mini Roses
Prima Fairy Rhymes Mini Roses	Black soot - Distress ink	Walnut Stain - Distress Ink	Wendy Vecchi A Form of Art Stamp Set	Ranger Super Fine Detail Embossing Powder--Black	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Ink	Heat Embossing Tool
Fiskars Acrylic Blocks	Tim Holtz Metal Word Bands: Observations	Kaiser Timeless Tags

I can't wait to see you get your Distress on this week!  Be sure to upload the photo of your distressed creation to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog.  You can help inspire the rest of us as well as enter yourself into a random drawing for $50 of Simon Says Stamp store credit.  Wa-hoo!