My Work is in a Magazine!

I got the mail the other day and found that my Steampunk (paper by Graphic 45) Cigar boxes are in a magazine! The magazine is Just Cards presents Just Steampunk Vol. 2. I have a small picture of a box on page 55 and all page 56. Check me out!

These will be included in my inventor, when I participate in a special juried show next Saturday. The show is called "Fashionable Transitions," and is a yearly undertaking by the University Women of Flagler, who award scholarships to qualified female high school seniors residing in Flagler County, Florida. This organization also supports Take Stock in Children, an additional scholarship for at risk children, in grades six through nine.

The afternoon consists of boutique tables like mine for shopping, lunch and a fashion show by Chico's.

You can go to www.uwflagler.org for more details.

I'm looking forward to showing off all my art work, next week.

"Wizard of Oz" Altered Boxes

I love Graphic 45 scrapbook paper. These scrapbook pads are hard to find in Florida. Driving home through St. Augustine, I found a variety of these smaller pads. One pad I found illustrates the "Wizard of Oz." The Judy Garland movie just happens to be my all time favorite movie! It instantly triggered fabulous pictures in my head! I couldn't wait to get home to implement these ideas.

Each Graphic 45 pad includes two of each two sided designed page. This made it possible to design two pop up cigar boxes.

Not long before finding these pads, my granddaughter performed in a dance competition, where three other young dancers performed as a trio dressed as "Wizard of Oz" characters. My husband just happened to snap a photo of the children as they performed. Later he turned the snap shot into a drawing. He printed this drawing twice and we designed two cigar boxes, which show these little dancers making their way down the road! When these boxes are closed the kids are "sleeping" in the poppies, just like the characters in my favorite movie!

Here are my very special "Wizard of Oz" boxes.

Mother's Day Treasure Box

I am always on the look out for cigar boxes and each different kind bring a new challenge which I love! I got two raw wood cigar boxes, bringing me back full circle to the original fancy lacy wood cigar box, I had designed months ago.

On these I used the 3 step painted crackle medium, only one took the crackle better than the other. I used white paint as the base and orchid as a top coat. I went back in with white paint on the smaller box, which didn't take the crackle very well and it looks just fine!

 I ran a running stitch across flat cream lace and gathered it around each box using a glue gun to adhere the lace to the boxes. Then I adhered ruffled cream lace over the flat gathered lace.

Using music printed paper and purple cardstock, I die cut label shapes, putting them through the Cuttlebug with Spellbinders. Then I glued one music label on top of each purple label, for stability and distressed them with purple ink.

 Next I made a purple rose with deep green leaves using the Flower Shoppe cartridge on my Cricut. The Cricut was set at fit to page and Fun1 flower part and for the 2 green leaves I cut at 2 1/2" at Fun 5. Next I wound the coil flower around itself, adding quick drying glue as I went helping it to stay in place and glued the ends at the bottom of each. I pulled the petals down and shaped the flower. I gave each flower more definition with ink on the petal edges and I glued the leaves to the flowers.

I placed 2 shapes on pop dots on each box and glued a flower to the top o each. A hole was drilled and ribbon tied through it. Tim Holtz feet were added at each corner. Beads and other embellishments were added.

I'm sure any mom would enjoy having this box to put treasures in! I'm going to give one of these boxes to a very special treasured friend!

Crackle Mini Cigar Box

Ok, you already know, I'm totally into cigar boxes. Altering them is so neat to do. So one day a couple of weeks ago, I checked a smoke shop in town for cigar boxes and walked out with two mini boxes. They were so cute, shinny and full of wording. I had no idea what to do with these little boxes.

The first thing to do, is to get rid of the shine and the advertising, by painting the box white. Then I went to Michaels to use a 50% coupon and discovered a couple of bottled of crackle medium in the acrylic paint isle. A while back I had used another crackle medium, but wasn't really taken with it. This time I bought the Folk Art Crackle Medium by Plaid, made for acrylic paint.

After the white paint, also made by Plaid, was dry throughout the box, I covered it with the crackle medium and let that dry. I applied the contrasting topcoat color. The crackling showed as the topcoat of paint dried. It works really well. After everything was dry, I had my husband drill the hole and apply a Tim Holtz curio knob. I used E-6000 to glue Tim Holtz metal feet to the bottom corners of the box and had some more fun arranging flower petals and glitz around the top of the box.