New Years Greetings in an Altered Tin - Pt II

Time to finish up the altered tin we started yesterday!

I wanted to answer a couple of questions (and post some additional comments) about the first part of the instructions:

Q. - How many circles do I need?

A - That's totally up to you and how you'd like your greeting/message to look. I used 9 but you can use more or less. As you'll see at the end of today's post I added 2 or 3 letters to each circle reducing the number of circles needed. You could however use one circle for one letter, add just 2 letters per circle, or even a whole word on one circle. It's totally up to you.

Q - Is that a candle tin?

A - No, this particular tin was filled with nuts from Figi's but I do have a few of those candle tins that are approximately the same size! Those would work great for this project!

Comments - "I could use this for lots of different holidays!" YES you sure can! Simply change out the theme, greeting, etc. and these tins are perfect for birthdays, anniversary, Holidays and much more!!

On to Part II....

New Years Greeting Altered Tin

Part II

Just as a reminder in Part I we left off yesterday by embellishing the accordion greeting that we'll be tucking into our tin. This is where we will pick it up.

10. Apply a small strip of double stick tape to the last circle on your accordion piece as shown.

11. Remove the liner from the tape and insert the stack into the tin. When you're placing the stack into the tin, try to position it in the center of the tin.

Now your greeting is secured to the tin. The lift tab you created may stick up a bit but it will bend over once you replace the lid.

Time to decorate the lid!

There are so many techniques we could use to adorn the lid but we're going to start off with something fun and easy ~ Inking and stamping!!

12. Apply 2-3 coats of gesso to the lid. This will hid much of the original design that was on the tin but it will also give us a nice surface to use with our inks. Let dry completely.

13. After the gesso has dried, use your ink blending tool and apply desired color of Distress Ink. I'm using Broken China.

14. Stamp images using Archival Ink. I suggest using this ink or Staz-on since I will be adding Stickles Glitter Glue as an accent after the image dries.

15. Add Stickles or Distress Stickles Glitter Glue!

16. Run a strip of double sided tape around the edge of the lid, remove the backing material and attach a piece of ribbon....

Your tin is finished and ready to give!!!!

HAPPY

NEW YEAR

2010!!!

HAPPY

NEW YEAR

EVERYONE!!!!

I hope you all have a very safe and fun evening.

Sending you wishes for all the very best

in the coming year!

((((HUGS))))

See you next year ;)

Reader Request - Ranger Vintage Scented Ink Re-Inkers - PLEASE!!!

Hi Guys ~

I rec'd a request for some help locating a few re-inkers for some of Ranger's very cool discontinued "Vintage" scented line of inks. I am going to contact Ranger on Monday but I thought I'd toss this out to you all just in case you might know where to find these re-inkers.

"This is a request for assistance in a search for reinkers.



About 3 years ago Ranger put out a line of 'vintage' inks that were in retro metal tins and were scented. It was a gimmick and the scents weren't great so the line was discontinued.



Unfortunately some of the colors were WONDERFUL. In particular the Pumpkin Pie is the perfect shade for fall - pumpkins, leaves, etc. Ditto for Starry Night - the absolute best shade of blue for winter cards with night skies, angels, etc.



So I am on a search on the after market for reinkers for these: Pumpkin Pie, Starry Night and Spearmint.



If you or any of your readers would have any ideas, I'd be most appreciative!



Thanks! much"

If you can help, please either post here or e-mail me so I can pass the information along.

I'm sure any leads would be much appreciated!

Alpha Stamps While the Cat's Away Give-A-Way

Starting on Saturday, December 26, 2009 (through Sunday, January 3rd, 2010), I’ll post a Giveaway on the blog every morning, and you’ll have until 11:59pm PST to enter.
To enter all you’ll have to do is leave a comment on that day’s blog post (don’t forget to leave your email address, too, so I can contact the winners!)*

After midnight I’ll randomly pick the previous day’s winner.

Be sure to stop by and check out their Day 5 Give Away....Natural Wonders!

New Years Greetings in an Altered Tin - Pt. I

Hey Everyone!!

I hope you've all had a great time this holiday season! Did Santa bring everything you wanted? I asked for lots of kitchen related items (because I've been watching the cooking shows!) and I think I got them all! I wanted a deep fryer and got a very nice one from my guys, a roaster from Mom & Dad as well as a few gadgetry items as well...like my french fry cutter!! No crafty goodness but they all know I like to shop for that type of thing anyway.

Well, it's time to start thinking about the new year. 2010! Hard to believe the past year has flown by like it did.

Anyway, if you're like me ~ this time of year you like to spend lots of time with family and friends just catching up and messin' around so it's o.k. if your holiday greetings and new year wishes arrive "sometime" in January ;) LOL! So, the project I have for you today is a fun little hello to send to friends both near and far. One of the main ingredients for this project is something I'm sure many of you received this holiday season filled with sweet treats and goodies. Nifty little holiday tins ~ I know we ended up with about 5-6 of them this year.

Now, these look difficult but you can make them in an assembly line fashion and whip them up in no time at all! So, let's begin!

New Years Greetings Altered Tin

Supplies:

Metal Tin

Cardstock

Scissors

Bone Folder

Pattern Paper

Adhesive

Embellishments

Instructions:

1. Measure the inside of the tin. It is very important to get a correct measurement...if you're wrong here your accordion pages won't lift out of the tin properly and make for a frustrating mess. You will also need to decide how many circles you will need for your greeting, message or sentiment. Be sure you add 3 extra circles to your finished accordion piece ~ 2 for the opening tab and one to affix to your tin. I made my finished accordion piece 9 circles long.

2. Now that you know how large your circles will need to be and subtract 1/4" - when you cut your circles out this will leave both side edges intact to create your accordion piece. I folded my cardstock for this tin 3 3/4". Score enough cardstock and fold.

3. When you go to assemble the folded pieces of cardstock leave a small lip on each section. This lip will be how you join together each of the folded sections to create your long accordion piece.

4. Join the appropriate number of folded cardstock pieces to create enough circles for your sentiment/greeting/message. To join each piece you can use tape or a double stick tape.

5. After you have assembled your accordion piece, fold it up into a stack and place your tin on the pile and draw the circle.

6. Trim the corners - be sure not to cut through the folded edges....or you'll just have lots of circles ;) LOL!!

7. If desired you may now stamp or cover each circle with pattern paper as desired.

8. To create the pull out tab, fold the first circle in half and apply glue towards folded edge. Your tab will look like the following...

9. Now your ready to decorate your album....

That's all for today ~

tomorrow we'll finish up the tin by attaching the message to the inside of the tin and decorate the outside.

Party Party Party

What can you make using only one rubber stamp, embossing ink, embossing powder, heat gun, black cardstock, Inkssentials White Opaque Pen and a bit of wired tinsel?!?!?!?

Why a party of course!!!

Want to save some money and make your own New Years Party decorations???

Well, here are some quick and easy party invitations and decorations made with just the bare minimum of supplies!

Save money and have fun at the same time.

To create the invitation, table place card, and hats I used black cardstock as the foundation for each piece then stamp and emboss using the same embossing inks and powder (Seafoam White).

*Invitation ~ stamp the damask image along the edge and emboss. Finish the invite by using the Opaque Pen to write out your details.

*Table Name/Place Cards ~ stamp the damask image and emboss, cut the cardstock into 2"x4" strips. Write each persons name on the card. Add a cardstock tent to the back of the card to stand.

*The mans cone party hat ~ cut a piece of cardstock into a half circle ~ stamped and embossed the design in an all-over random pattern. Attach a bit of wired tinsel around the rim and if desired add a bit of stretch cord.

*To create the woman's tiara party hat ~ stamp the damask image once, cut it out leaving a 2" tail on the bottom. I twisted the wired tinsel into a circle and attached the stamped image to the circle by tucking the "tail" into the wired tinsel and securing (can be done with adhesive or staples).

How easy is that?!?!?

***Additional decorations can be created using the same supplies....napkin rings, center piece, candy wrappers, add a bit of shrink material and make your own wine glass tags, etc. ***

*#*#*Ideas to add zip to the basic design: Use glitter embossing powder instead of white, add Stickles Glitter Glue to the design, use glitter, glass glitter, sequins to embellish. Add faux gemstones to your embossed images. Use flock instead of embossing powders or glitter. *#*#*

You don't have to spend loads of money to create fun and funky party decorations!

So go ahead ~

host that party you know you want to have

and

do it without breaking the bank!

Vintage Postcard Sunday...Happy New Year!!

Yes, this is the last time I'll be able to share vintage postcards with you this year so what better cards to share than New Years postcards!

Enjoy!

My Christmas Wish For You!!!

My Christmas Wish for You...

sending you

Warm Winter Wishes

from my family to yours...

May you get wet sloppy kisses

from your favorite furry friend (2 or 4 legged)....

and

May all Christmas Joy be yours!

All the best to you and yours!!!

((((((HUGS))))))

Merry Christmas!!!

25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments - #24 & 25

Here are the last couple of ornaments in the 25 days of hand made ornaments...

I wanted to show you my star after I added a bit of color to it....

I used Sapphire Glimmer Mist and Platinum Stickles Glitter Glue.

#24 - Name Ornament - Name Card - Place Setting Ornament

This ornament is REALLY easy and works well as place setting ornaments.

I simply wrote the persons name with Stickles Glitter Glue. It's more fun that using a marker or paint pen and brings an extra bit of Glitz to your holiday celebration. You could also add a nice ribbon and a bit of holly. At the end of the evening your guest has a nifty ornament to take home with them.

Ornament #25 - Mini Collage Tin Shadow Box Collage

The last ornament is a tiny recycled tin...This was a tin holding specialty clips from 7 Gypsies and it makes a perfect little shadow box! I applied Alcohol Inks to the inside of the tin, mounted the sentiment and snowman collage images using double stick foam tape at different depths. I then added a bit of mica "snow" and blue glass glitter. Replace the lid and secure using glue and ribbon.

So we did it....

25 Days filled with Hand Made Ornaments!!!

I hope you've all had fun checking them out and tried one or two for yourself :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

New Born Calf Pics!

Well, we had a bit of excitement on our farm...first calf of the season :)

A little girl ~ and I do mean little!

She's pretty small but as you can see, she's up and around ~ doin' just fine!

Her mom's name is Maggie ~ we haven't decided on a name yet but since it's been snowing I think Snowball or Snowflake but dh isn't so keen on those names.

Any suggestions????

I also baked 4 different types of cookies today ~ chocolate lovers (loaded with different types of chocolate), chocolate chip/pecan, mexican wedding cakes and candy canes - mmmm!!!

Needless to say I didn't get any ornaments made today but I'll share a couple tomorrow before our family festivities begin.

Do you all do something special for Christmas Eve?

We used to get together with dh's extended family but most of the family has passed or moved away so for the past several years we do our own immediate family celebration. We have finger foods and watch movies with the boys. It's great and a rare occasion when we spend time together. It's nice to be able to just stay home and relax :)

I hope you and your family are able to spend some time together to just enjoy each other.

Take care, stay safe and warm!

25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments - #23 - 3-D Star Ornament

O.k...I was a little reluctant to give these ornaments a try because they LOOK so difficult. But, they have so many possibilities I just figured I'd do it and see what I came up with.

25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments

3 Dimensional Star

Supplies:

Star Pattern (x5)

Cardstock

Bone Folder

Glue (fast drying preferably)

Embellishments (optional)

Stamps (optional)

STAR PATTERN: This is just one point of the star. You will need to print 5 of these in desired size.

Instructions:

1. Print 5 of the star pattern onto your cardstock. This pattern can be printed any size you like. Just remember the smaller you go it may be a bit more difficult with all of the folds. I printed mine at 3 1/2" in length measuring from point to the bottom edge. Finished star is approx. 7" tall.

2. I am using just a plain star for the example but you can at this point stamp, ink, etc. the cardstock on the back side of the patterns. (the back side will become the outside of the star)

3. Cut each point out and crease on all fold marks with the bone folder. Pay special attention to the creases at the point. It is very important to have nice crisp lines for the finished star.

4. Glue the long side flap to close the point to create a little "party hat" looking piece. Repeat 4x with the rest of the points.

5. The little flaps on the bottom of the point should be folded out - apply a line of glue along the flap on the outside margin as shown...

6. Slip the next point over the glued flaps fitting snugly into place. Pay special attention to the flaps - they should all be facing the same direction for your star to turn out correctly.

7. Finish adding points until you reach the last point.

8. Adding the last point on the star is a little tricky...you will need to apply glue to the flaps of both the existing star point and the last point. Tuck point #5 into the original point as shown in the photo then carefully fold the flaps from point #4 into point #5 and secure. If it doesn't look like all of the flaps are making proper contact you can either slide the last point around until all flaps touch or use a needle to move the flap around as desired.

And here is what your star should look like....

Now you're bound to have a few areas that aren't perfect but hey, life's not perfect so just go with it :) Remember this is a plain white star so it shows every perfection as you can see below. A couple of the corners near the center of my star look a bit beat up but hey, no worries...I'm going to squirt it with some Glimmer Mist and add a few bits of Stickles here and there so it will blend in nicely. If you start out with stamped and inked cardstock most of these imperfections will be hidden!

Now, if there is a point that doesn't fit quite right or a bent corner and it really bugs you there are a couple tricks you can use to cover the seams up....

1. Apply Stickles Glitter Glue or glue & glitter to all of the seams.

2. Add fiber, ribbon, yarn, etc. to the seams.

I'll be sure and post a pic of my finished star tomorrow!

So now it's your turn!