3D Collage Shadowbox--Sew Crazy

This shadowbox was so fun to make!  I used a Tim Holtz book-style configurations shadow box for the base and painted it white.  I added various papers to it, collaged on the front, and filled the boxes with all sorts of sewing goodies and ephemera.  Love it!  And I love making these--very fun, although they take time do make.  I just kept a side of my work table reserved for it and everytime I went into my craft room I did something to add to it.  Plus, I had a good search through all my "stuff" to find just what I needed for each compartment.  I have been collecting sewing stamps and sewing themed scrapbook embellishments for years.  This was just the project to showcase them. 

Sewing was always such a part of my life--and still is.  My mother and grandmother sewed all our clothes growing up.  I sewed for myself, my husband and my son, and made all his Halloween outfits.  I later made quilts by the dozens and did countless needlework projects.  I have lately been making little felt stuffies as gifts for the Children's Church on birthdays.  

I don't know what I will do with this creation, but right now I think it looks just fine on my dresser.  Below is the front of the box.  

Fun in the Mail!

Look what came in the mail last week

I previously subscribed to Jenni Bowlin's Papercrafting Kit of the Month.  This 2015 she has changed her offerings from papercrafts to collections.  This is the first Magpie kit.  Each month there will be a new collection of fun things that we can collect, collate, craft, or just crave!  Here is the box as I opened it:

And below all the lovelies unwrapped:

There is an antique spoon, with a hole in the handle for hanging.  There are three snowflake doilies, a train ticket, some antique sequin trim, three wood circles, a tiny china cup, a bottle of glitter, an antique cluster earring, and various and assorted ephemera.  I love this stuff!  I will definitely use it for crafting, and I am thinking a shadowbox of the month, each month featuring items from that month's collection plus other items from my stash.  A couple of years ago I had bought a whole bunch of Tim Holtz' shadowboxes from Tuesday Morning and I am thinking this stuff would be perfect for those destinations.  Now I can clean out one of the boxes in my garage!

Here is the link for the Jenni Bowlin site:   http://www.jbsmercantile.com/

Halloween Shadowbox: Thank you Memory Box!

I have wanted to make this Halloween shadowbox ever since I saw it on the Memory Box Blog.  Last year I even ordered most of the stamps to make it.  I worked on it yesterday at Karen's fun craft room and finished up today.  It has lots of Halloween gleam and glitter.  You can see the original at this link:  Memory Box Spooky Printer's Tray    I used a printer's tray from Hobby Lobby instead of the 7 Gypsies one used in the original project.  The basic papers I used were from the Memory Box Nightfall collection.  I added stamps from Hero Arts, Inkadinkado, and Amuse in addition to the ones from Memory Box.  I did not have any Halloween Design Adhesives, so I used strips of green glitter paper for sparkle.  I also wanted some text, so in addition to some stamped words, I used a Cricut cartridge called "Word Collage".  The Halloween selection was perfect!  I cut some text in black and some in orange glitter paper.   All background papers were adhered with Perfect Paper Adhesive Matte from USArtquest.  I used a foam brush to apply the adhesive directly to the shadowbox.    Here are some closeups of various sections:

In the section above, I worked at the "Spooky Collage" technique, which is shown on the Memory Box blog.  It was a lot of fun!  Karen and I made three spooky collages and used one of them in the Shadowbox.  It is basically a technique where you make a "waxy buildup" of clear embossing powder, stamp on top of it in black ink, and then embellish with alcohol ink.  You can check out the technique specifics here:  http://davebrethauer.typepad.com/stampcolorcreate/2010/08/the-spooky-collage.html  Karen and I found that the collage stamp worked better if you used pigment ink and then heat embossed it also in clear ink before adding the alcohol ink.  We just had to be careful not to let the built up pool of clear melted powder melt any further!  This way we didn't have to wait for the ink to dry before adding the alcohol ink.

In the section above, you can see the very cool "cat in the spotlight" technique, which is described in the original Memory Box project here.  I used Tim Holtz Black Soot (a freshly re-inked pad) and a foam applicator to make the shadow.  I masked the spotlight with Eclipse Tape.   Can you find the following:

• hanging ghosts from Penny Black embossed in white?
• an orange glitter moon behind an Inkadinkado haunted mansion?
• some owls displayed in front of some shiny orbs painted with Smooch paint?

In the section above you can find some spooky Inkadinkado spiderwebs heat embossed with Mystic Fire embossing powder from B & J Art Stamps.   You can also see a golden Hero Arts chandelier with some colorful Stickles accents.

Lots of fun!  I really enjoy making these.  I had intended it for use initially to house my Hallmark Merry Miniatures Halloween collection, but they just didn't look right and some were a little large for the printer's tray.  So my next idea is I will use it to house Halloween costume jewelry I have collected over the years.  That will make it very sparkly!  If I adhere the jewelry pieces (pins, earrings, etc) with hot glue I don't think it will get damaged if I ever decide to wear any of it again!  I prefer to look at my jewels rather than wear them on my person any day!  This project will be a great backdrop for my pretties!