Muse Challenge at Bella Creations~

There are 3 monthly Challenges at Bella Creations, and one is called The Muse. For the MUSE Challenge, we are given an image to use on a project of our choice. Appropriate for June, the Muse image this time is a vintage wedding portrait. I started with a 6" by 8" primed canvas artist board, Distress Ink in Antique Linen, and a Tattered Angels Glimmer Screen.

I held the Screen in place while dabbing Distress Ink over the surface with my Ranger Ink Blending tool. Next, I used Ancient Page Ink around the edges using a 'direct to surface' method...which is a fancy way of saying I rubbed the ink pad right against the canvas board!

                                                                            VOILA!

I gathered ribbon, the wedding image, my scissors and some Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden paper. The Pink Paislee cardstock is included in the Heavenly Kit.

I fussy cut a floral piece to surround the photo, matted and edged punched the image and used my favorite glue~~ Beacons 3-in-1 Advanced Craft Glue~~~to adhere everything securely. I also placed a Tim Holtz Fragment over the word 'Romance' using Glossy Accents.

The final touch was inking the sweet heart-shaped  doily. What do you think? I am going to give this as an anniversary gift! Notice the pearlized bead strand under the photo? It also comes in the Heavenly Kit. Use Glossy Accents to adhere something delicate like this. :)

May Bella Muse Challenge~

I had such fun making a shrine from a match box for the May Muse Challenge. First step, empty a matchbox and make a cut lengthwise up the center of the sleeve. (box I used is 4.5" x  2.5 ")

                                Paint any surfaces that won't be covered with paper or cardstock.

Once painted, replace the box into the sleeve but bend the slit cover (top you cut) outwards, like wings. You will have a box with wings, and this is what you will attatch to the shrine front after you cut a central opening.  

 Using a separate piece of thin cardboard, cut a house shaped piece 5" by 7 and 3/4", which will give you about a 1.25" side  to which your box will attatch from behind. NOTE~ the top will be where the peak is, so if you want your shrine to sit horizontally instead of vertically the peak would be on the west or east side, not north. Cut a central opening for the box to be seen inside.

I wanted my shrine to be horizontal, thus I cut a piece that looked like this~ above! Just trace around your matchbox and leave a border. A quilters/sewer ruler comes in handy.  I used the Muse image from Bella Creations and placed it inside the box. Next, I covered all surfaces with G45 Curtain Call.

I decorated the front of the shrine with Tim Holtz filmstrip, punched paper, feathers, ribbon, a metal charm, and a The Journey stamped car. I stamped the car on cereal box cardboard; next I stamped the same image on the striped g45 paper and mounted the cardboard car with foam dots to the striped paper which gives a nice 3D shadowing from underneath.

Happy May Day at Bella Creations!~

This month is PACKED full of fun and goodies at Bella Creations! We have three monthly Challenges and wonderful sponsors and prizes, so come play along! For the Tres Chic  Style Challenge the sponsor is

and they are offering an RAK which is a kit to make this sweet mini album~

For our Bella Muse Challenge make a project using this image from Gecko Galz~

and you could win an RAK from the Scrappy Gourmet! And last but NOT least, Flying Unicorn is offering a fantastic RAK for one lucky participant in the Bella Unique Challenge, which will have you making a sueded embellishment for your project~

And next month we are having a Blog Hop with prizes, surprises, and our first monthly kit designed by Lacee~ Don't miss all the excitement!!

My Muse...an empty gum package!

Standing in Target and buying another multi-pack of gum for my teen, it occured to me that these little containers would look adorable if altered. Because of Ms. R I have access to a plethora of empty Trident and Orbit boxes!

I started by opening the gum package on a piece of Cosmo Cricket paper, tracing the shape and cutting it out. I creased the cardstock where it would fold once it was glued onto the package, then used a liberal amount of Beacon's 3 in 1 Glue, my favorite for a permanant hold.

You can paint the interior and/or cover with pretty cardstock. In this photo you can see where I cut a part of the gum package away (green section) so I could more easily attatch the stretch cord throught the bottom. I planned to use a decorative brad and looped stretch cord for a closure. I have also used velcro tabs in the past, and if you can find them, mini magnets work too! I used the Bella Muse Challenge image for April and made a charm for the front of the gum box with a Tim Holtz Fragment and Glossy Accents. (Put Glossy Accents on one side of the fragment and press the wet side onto an image of your choice. Trim excess, if any) Don't forget to insert brad BEFORE you add decorative cardstock in order to hide prongs.

Can you see the stretchy cord loop extending from the bottom? Poke a small hole and insert the ends into the box bottom. Once inside the box bottom, tie a secure knot. You can also tie a tiny bead, safety pin or Tim Holtz Game Spinner onto the ends to hold  them securely inside through the fastening and unfastening of the altered box. (won't pull out!)

Here is a shot of the gum box opened and the interior tags exposed. I made double sided tags for photos, quotes or small memorabilia. I also added 7 Gypsies stickers to the face of the box above the stretch cord.

This is the outside of the box. The Muse image is a woman sitting on the moon. In my imagination, she was daydreaming about travel, and thus pictured herself on the moon....so I made the little box with a travel theme. The 'bon voyage' is chipboard matted with mulberry paper and there is a vintage postage stamp under the fragment charm. Scraps Of Darkness is offering an RAK for the April Muse Challenge~ Come play!