Tin Time

Here's a glance at a few of the altered tins I've created, with the "Fly, Birds" one being my favourite.

Jack was made for a good friend who's crazy about all things Hallowe'en. We have that in common.

Jack Pumpkinhead

Snarky housewives are simply faaaabulous, don't you think? And if you don't agree, then may I suggest another glass of wine?

Snarky Housewife

There is a dial on the back of the tin that can be rotated to change four different snarky comments in the frame.

I believe the word you are looking for is "divine."

 My mother is the firstborn in her family, and says she was too serious a child to play. And now that she's all grown up, she has a house full of tiny things to keep her young at heart.

Toy Tin

This tin went to my mother-in-law and when her sister saw it, asked, "That's beautiful! Did you get it at T.J. Maxx?!" Oh well.

Fly, Birds

Tin back

Grammar, usage, and mechanics. Pththththt.

Grammar....ugh.

Star-Crossed Lovers Kit

This month's kit from Alpha Stamps is "Star-Crossed Lovers" and it is enchanting! Chock full of gorgeous papers, ribbons, Dresden hearts, and a ton of glass heart charms, I felt my heart skip a beat thinking about what to do with this bounty. So many papers...

The final product is a 4.5" x 6" card with a mechanical iris that opens to expose the star-crossed lovers themselves. But because there were other images that I wanted to display in the card, I made a little slot in the top so the images can be interchanged. 

The card with the shutter opened.

The Dresden heart is rotated to open the iris.

 

Here you can see how to slip other images behind the shutter.

Twue wove...

"A partner neat makes life so sweet"

 Every bit of this paper came with the Star-Crossed Lovers kit, and I still have a heap of it left to make something else. Yay!

A special thanks to ModMischief for sharing the Mechanical Iris Instructions on Instructables.

Let's Talk About ATBs

It wasn't that long ago when I was introduced to artist trading blocks, or ATBs. I know, I know... everyone knows what an ATB is, so I'll just skip to the pictures.

The first ATB I made was to get comfortable with creating art from a chunk of wood. The possibilities seemed pretty limited to me at the time, and I ended up with a simple upright piece inspired by the artwork of Arthur Rackham.

The next ATB was turned on its back to accommodate a little checked pillow for this silly vintage kitty. At this point I knew just how fun ATBs could be.

So I had one upright basic block and one horizontal basic block, which was okay, but I really wanted to see just how far I could take this 2.5" x 3.5" piece of wood. The next block had to do something, so there is a movable part on each side of the block. Working with the narrow depth was challenging.

There's an articulated mermaid on the front...

with a ship in the clouds.  

On one side is a removable bottle with a secret message tucked inside.

The back has an urchin shaped flap that when opened, 

Reveals a pretty underwater scene...

And the shell hides a cherubic water baby.

 

The final side includes a tentacled something,

Mother of Pearl! Watch out!

                                        

I'm pretty much in love with ATBs, can't you tell?