Girl With A Clock, Chunky ATC by Carol Fox

Hello, Carol here, with my last post as Guest for this month. For my last project I have altered a Wooden ATC Block. The lovely man who owns our local wood yard cuts these for me, and I really love working on them as they are a nice size.

I first gave the block a coat of Gesso and then coloured it with Viva Decor, Inka Gold in Steel Blue, I then used Lava green through the Crafters Workshop mini Gears template.

Using Ranger Black Archival ink I stamped the Dots background randomly onto the block, once it was dry I added thin lines in a sunray pattern using the same ink and a credit card. ( I have found the ranger ink works best over the viva as it stays nice and black, some inks seem to sink in and loose the blackness). To finish I used a Black Acrylic Dabber on the edges.

I have used the Girl With Clock stamp as the main focal point, adding the large butterfly wings from Butterfly Collections to the image. Colouring this in and adding some stickles to the wings for a bit of shimmer.

For the flowers I coloured a piece of card with the same Inka Paints and then stamped the small flower from the Tick Tock Flowers Plate, I then cut it out and stamped again on the back so the image is double sided. I then made these up into the flower shapes. Finishing with a spritz of Turquoise Perfect pearls mist and some Distress Stickles.

I attached everything to the block with Glossy Accents, running a line along the bottom of the block and random dots to the flowers, then adding small seed beads to the wet accents.

I have enjoyed my stay here and I wish to thank Jennie and Emma for all their support through the month and to everyone who has read my posts, I hope you have enjoyed them, and I have enjoyed reading all your comments.

Thank You, Carol

Fantastic Flappers by Carol Fox

This is my 2nd piece for the blog this month, So hello again. As soon as I saw this set of 20's stamps in the shop this project came to mind so I dug out this old fan from my big box of "stuff", took me ages to find it, but I knew it was there somewhere. It turned out a bit brighter than I anticipated, but that's they way it goes sometimes, you cant really plan your crafting, as it all quite often just happens along the way.

The fan is silk so it took all the paints and inks really well. I started by giving it a coat of white gesso because as you can see from the photo it was bright green.

I then mixed up Claudine Hellmuth paint in Painterly Pink and Traditional Tan to give me a dusky pink shade ( I know it still looks white, but trust me its' pink lol )

The using Coffee Archival ink I stamped the text stamp  Calligraphy Mat 13 randomly over it, using the stamp directly on my hand as a block was to ridged for the fan.

Once dry I splodged some gesso on my craft mat and using the Dots background stamp I stamped the gesso directly onto the fan. I let this dry thoroughly.

I Squirted some dylusions ink onto my mat, added a bit of water to soften the colour a bit, and then using a paint brush I quickly gave the fan a quick coat, before it was dry I spritzed it really well with some more water and held it up to drip  onto my mat so the colour was even paler and more patchy. Once this was dry I gave it all a coat of Matte finish Glue N' Seal.

I stamped the main images using black Archival ink, and then using the same Dots background stamp as before and black ink I filled in any gaps. I added beaded trim to the bottom and it makes a great noise as you flick the fan. I dragged a black Dabber along the top edge to define it a bit. To finish I gave it a spray with Perfect pearls in Heirloom gold.

I hope you enjoyed my fan and I look forward to reading your comments. I shall be back on the 28th with my last project as the Guest this month.
Carol x

Professor Bumbles Magical Travelling Steampunk Suitcase By Carol Fox

Hi, I'm Carol fox, and I am very happy to be your guest on the DT for July. This altered suitcase is the first of three projects that I shall be sharing with you through the month. I really enjoyed making it and I hope you enjoy reading about it.

Professor Bumble is an avid traveller but like most of us he enjoys the arriving, but the journey can be a bit tiresome. So imagine his joy when he stumbled upon this magical travelling suitcase in the back of an old dingy shop. He would now be able to travel around the globe without having to spend to much time away from his beloved Emily.

I used one of these paper mache suitcases as the basis for my project. I started by giving it a couple of coats of Claudine Hellmuth Tan paint, both inside and out, then adding the detailing on the case with the Sable brown. I then randomly stamped the cog images from the Tick Tock Plate over the case using black archival ink. I then edged the case using a Black Acrylic Dabber.

I stamped images from the Labels Plate onto cream paper, inked them and then attached them to the case using multi medium. I stamped and added quotes from the Travelling Words plate in the same way.

I stamped the Slow and Fast image onto coated white card using archival ink, so it was nice and black and stood out well. I attached a game spinner to the centre over the stamped hand for extra detail. I layered this onto the case using sticky fixers.

On the back of the case I used the world image from the Round The World plate, colouring it with blue and brown distress ink.
I made the little wheels using oversized draught pieces from a childrens game, drilling holes in them before glueing Tim Holtz Sprocket gears onto them and adding large oversized brads to their centres.  I cut small round pieces of wooden dowling to act as axels to attach them to the suitcase. The propellor is hand made from metal and layered up with a large spring and a sprocket gear.

I added die cut cogs coloured with inka gold paste to give it a working steampunk appearance. The key is from my personal stash but the Tim Holtz ones in the shop are very similar.
I stamped odd tags and labels from the Ephemera plate and the Labels Plate onto shrink plastic,  colouring them in before shrinking and attaching them to the key and the handle of the suitcase with odd bits of chain and jump rings.

Inside the case attached to the lid for safe keeping is the travelling map by which Professor Bumble chooses his destination. He decided to glue it to the lid for safe keeping, after running into a tornado and nearly getting it ripped from his grasp.

I have used the Map of Europe, stamped using black ink and aged using old paper distress ink, before glueing to the lid.

The most prized possesion that travels with Professor Bumble is his old Phineas Pinchbeck Pocket Watch. He keeps a photo of his beloved Emily tucked into the back of the watch.

I have used the Watches Set stamps and the matching chipboard to make this watch. The white chipboard was too bright so I used Old paper Distress ink to age it before I started. I stamped the main watch image straight onto the chipboard and highlighted the hands and numbers with glossy accents. Then using glossy accents I attached a reclaimed pocket watch glass over the stamped watch face.

I then hinged the two pieces together at the bottom. I cut three pieces of white card to fit the circle area, and ran two through my bigshot with an embossing folder to add texture before colouring them with Inka Gold Paste to give them a lovely metallic finish. I then glued them to the back and the inside of the watch.

Onto the other piece I stamped the larger image from the Gibson Girl sheet and coloured it using distress ink pens on my craft mat picking up the colour with a paintbrush so the shades were faded. I glued this to the inside back of the watch. I coloured the edges with paint from a gold acrylic Dabber. I added a small shrink plastic tag featuring the  Phinease Pinchbeck image.

Professor Bumble never travels without his Moustache oil, carefully packaged into its box for safe keeping. I used the Goose Grease image on my box, masking it off before adding cogs from the Tick Tock Plate as a background. It is coloured with spiced Marmalade, Brick red and Mustard Seed Distress ink.

The small bottle has been covered in Rock candy Distress paint, once this was dry I coloured it using Butterscotch Alcohol ink. The shrink Plastic label was made in the same way as the tags for the suitcase.

Other little bits of ephemera he has collected on his travels include a voucher for 6d of  his favourite trousers, and the advert for them he took from his paper before he left home, along with a tape measure to ensure he gets a good fit and tickets collected on his travels.
These items feature images from the Open Road sheet and the Ephemera sheet, both of which can be found here.

I hope you enjoy my project and I shall be back in a couple of weeks.
Carol x