Halloween Treat Jars

This weekend my niece and I finished up a quick Halloween project - these treat jars.

We got the idea and instructions from one of Joggles Mid-Week Muse videos.  If you are not familiar with Barb's videos and you are into mixed media I highly recommend you visit the Joggles site (which is a cool place to shop) and sign up for emails.

Now back to the jars...

We used some very inexpensive glass jars from Michaels - but the beauty of this project is you can do the technique on anything that you can paint.  In the video Barb used Tim Holtz Distress Paint but I didn't have enough for all these jars so we used Golden Fluid acrylics mixed with a little liquid Matte Medium to dull down the gloss.  We first prepared the bottles by coating them with Golden's GAC 200 so the paint would adhere better (something not necessary with the Distress Paint).

We added texture to most of the jars with some light molding paste.

It was EPIC! 2014 Steampunk Soiree

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend Epic Paper Arts 2014 event, the Steampunk Soiree.  This 3+ day event was held at the end of July-beginning of August in the Washington DC area.  It was an event put on by Kathryn Krieger (Kathryn Scraps), Jim Hankins (The Gentleman Crafter) and Kathy Orta (Paper Phenomenon), who each designed a project especially for the Soiree and then taught us how to make them.

There was so much more than the projects - the Steampunk theme carried through the event with themed hats one night, "fascinators"  and a gala costume event where the creativity of the costumes was unbelievable.  There was face painting, a themed photo booth and a cake by Charm City Cakes.
There were many terrific sponsors who provided goodies for the event.  The support staff was awesome and made this a really great time for all!

Of course one of the best things about an event like this is getting to meet so many people who share a common interest.  The Soiree was just the right size so that friendships could be made and conversations held with the Kathy, Kathryn and Jim both individually and in small groups.

Now on to the projects...
Several months before the Soiree a hint about the projects was posted - it was a Faberge egg.  I didn't know quite what to make of it but once I saw the projects I got it - they all had intricate designs on the outside and opened to even more awesomeness inside.

All of the projects featured Graphic 45's Steampunk Debutante paper, incredible chipboard designs by Blue Fern Studios enhanced with gold Mega Flakes by Indigo Blu, Prima embellishments and Tim Holtz hardware.  They each were based on a different size cylindrical papier mache box.

So here they are in their closed states - from left to right...

• Kathryn's "Radical Revolution"

• Jim's "All Geared Up" 

• Kathy's project

Shave and a Haircut - 2 Bits

Several weeks ago, when watching one of Laura Denison's UStream shows, someone mentioned that a Barber Shop would make a great addition to her Maple Street series.  I thought that sounded like a fun idea so I decided to give it a go.

It's a skinny building and the window tower is a riff on the windows from the Couture Dress Shop.  I wanted the downstairs to look like the shop, with an apartment above.

Most of the paper is from Graphic 45's "Good Ol' Sport" paper collection, although I did find a couple of images in G45's "Ladies Diary".

Maple Street is Growing!

Laura Denison added another design to her Maple Street building series - it's a Pet Shop.  This building is extra cute with all the little animals in the windows.

The building is made with BoBunny's "Happy Tails" collection.  This is a fun paper line - lots of bright colors and pet themed graphics - perfect for this project.

I love the curved awning on this building.  It really gives the building a special look.