Check Out My Chest...Of Drawers! Ha! Fooled Ya!

Sup!
A few months back I purchased a miniature chest of drawers made of bare wood with the intent of altering it. I finally attended to it at this was the result.

I wanted to alter it in a shabby chic vane. My first attempt at such a genre. Actually this is only my second alteration of something of this nature at all. Oh let me just tell you! I love it almost as much as shadowboxes.

Here are the sides

Here is the back

Here is the top of the dresser in detail

And a little close up detail

Tada!

Okay, I want to discuss the crackle look on the paint for a minute. I did not use anything more than glue. I've seen a few blogs reference it, so I tried it myself and it does work awesome. Better in fact, than the stupid $9.00 of crackle medium I bought and compared side by side. Here, allow me a brief rundown. It is super simple.
Paint your item in the base coat you want to use. I chose an acrylic in espresso brown.

Buy a cheap bottle of white all purpose glue. The kind you used in school. Don't even splurge on name brand like Elmers, grab that cheap crap.

Apply an even coat to your item once the base coat has dried.

Let it dry until its tacky to the touch. Aprox 3 - 5 minutes depending. You should feel some resistance of the glue when you touch it with your finger.

Paint the top coat the color of your choice. I used an acrylic in off white.

Apply using as few strokes as possible. The more strokes the bigger the chance you are then actually moving the glue around underneath.

You will start to see some cracks right after painting but after about five minutes you will see lots of them. Big ones. Nice and deep too. So much better than a crackle medium.

Cool huh! Here is what I learned. The smoother the surface the bigger the cracks. The back panel of the chest was super smooth and the crackle back there was dreamy. The rest was a rough wood and they came out great but not as pronounced at the smoother surface. Also, allow extra time for the top coat to dry once the glue and paint is on. Say three times the normal drying time.
Some tutorials suggest cutting the glue with water. I did not. If however, you are working on something that does require smaller cracks then mixing with water will do that.
Okay, so I am a convert. I will never use anything else.
Well there ya have it!

I Am A Card Making Fool!

Sup!
I am still in the throes of "Birthday Mania" here in Ansaldoland. So I have a couple of more cards to share in addition to a Thank You card.
First up, we got a great Thank You card along with a monetary gift from a customer. Now, I'm not sure of the protocol regarding sending a thank you card for a thank you card, it seems that could go on for infinity, but I really wanted to acknowledge the gift and the kindness. Here is the card:

I used Graphic 45 Secret Garden, which I ADORE!

You can't tell but I used Glossy Accents on the sticker inside the card.

I used Petaloo flowers and the charm is Prima.

Next is a card I made for Bean, Keith's sister, for her birthday.

Okay, I spent a stupid amount of time working on this card. I could not settle on the embellies. The first draft came out like this:

I hated the bow, so I lost it, added some Prima flowers and added some lace all around the card. Of course the papers are Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary. My FAVEORITE EVER!!!

Here is the inside.

Next up is Lawana's birthday card. A family friend who has known me since I was in a crib. I adore her. She was always so pretty I wanted to make a card that was a beautiful as she was.

I am beginning to fall in love with Prima. I mean I always loved their flowers but I have come to love their embellies and papers as well.

The papers on the front are Heidi Swapp  and inside are Prima Divine. The flowers on the front are Prima Lifetime and the chipboard is Prima Divine.

Well, there ya have it!

A Gift Of Cards For You!

Sup!
Okay, so I decided to make a bunch of all occasion cards and send them off as a gift for my friend Dawna to use throughout the year. I am getting a little better at making cards so, sure, lets do it.
First, this is Dawna's actual birthday card. She is a February baby so I did a 'birthday valentine" card. I embellished heavily on the inside as well.

The front. Crate Paper's Fourteen collection mixed in with a touch of Pretty Party. 

 The inside top

The inside bottom.
I am a fan of the over the top card!
And here are the cards I made for her to use.

Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary ( my fave of the Graphic 45 papers). I wanted a masculine card.

Graphic 45 A ladies Diary. I think this is my favorite of this batch.

Graphic 45 Curtain Call.

Pebbles Sunnyside collection. I wanted to give her cards in different genres to accommodate different personalities.

Pebbles Walnut Grove collection. I hate the glare I picked up in the photo but the centerpiece is a sticker I put diamond glaze on. It came out cool.

Pebbles Sunnyside Collection. Including the stamped tag there in the middle. The stamp is Pebbles also. The Sunnyside collection is ideal for cardmakers.

Pebbles Walnut Grove & Sunnyside. Pebbles is wonderful for its ability to mix different collections together easily.

While making all these cards my friend Lorna sent me an awesome cookbook from back home, Louisiana, so of course I had to make her a thank you card. Here it is.

The papers are Crate Paper, Random collection and the charm is Prima but I am not sure of the chipboard.
Yup, I was a card making machine here. Now, if you will excuse me I have two more birthday cards to make, a thank you card and two gifts! Yay!!!!!!!!!! I love it!!!
There ya have it!

And With That She Moved Off The Page Completely!

Sup!
I started out in this world making scrapbook pages only. I was too scared to do anything else. Last Christmas I decided to make my first card, after eyeing them both appreciatively and apprehensively all at the same time. I loved them! I was hooked! When I first decided to alter a box as a gift, that act opened me up to a whole new, super groovy world of stuff to do! I had done a couple of little things yeah, but nothing of this caliber. This box prompted me to make shadow boxes and now, I've just got in my first set of cigar boxes to alter. Okay, anyways, here it is.

That is the front view. It started out as just a plain index card box.

I used Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe papers, added some Tim Holtz legs and corners and a few trinkets and viola!

I painted the whole box black as well, including the inside and altered the inside of the lid.

I wanted to line the inside of the box with material but that was beyond my capabilities at that time. Believe you me, I am going to do that with a few of those cigar boxes I just got in.
Well, There ya have it!

Look Ma!

Okay, so this next Shadowbox I just finished as a gift to my mom. Okay so the gift was a little late, her birthday was Monday and I finished it yesterday, Friday. I did also make her a card which she did get on her birthday....

Here is the full shot. I combined photos of family and her with trinkets, many of which represent some aspect of her life.

I used a Tim Holtz Configuration box and painted the outside of the box and the edges of each of the little boxes comprising it. For the paint I went over the area first with Distress Ink in Vintage Photo and then went over the area again with Adirondack Metallics in gold. I covered each individual box on the interior sides as well as the back. I used Basic Grey's Lucille collection which I think may be my favorite of the Basic Grey lines.

If you are planning on doing your own here are some helpful hints for you. First, the boxes are only a few different shapes and sizes so once you measure out one to cut the papers write the measurements of the other same sized boxes down in the boxes, that way when you come to that box the measurements are right there.
To cover the entire inside of the box add in the measurements of the inside edges to your square to cut, in this case the inside edges are all 11/16 so add that twice to width and height. Score the same distance on the cut squares, fold and cut off excess and viola!
Glue boxes down to the big outer box as you go. I learned this the hard way.

I discovered a new glue that has all but replaced my hot glue gun AND super glue! E6000. I comes in a grey tube. This stuff is the SHIZZLE!!! I am telling you, it will hold down anything. I am in love with it. I did not use my hot glue gun once for this project.

Some close ups.

And another look at the whole again.

Well, there ya have it!
......
WAIT!!!! Here is the card I sent my mom in advance of this gift.

It was my first time adding lace around the outside of a card. I ran it under the papers on the inside. The base is Bazzill Basics A7 and the papers are Cosmo Cricket Art Angel. Here is the inside.

Okay now really, for reals I am done.