Welcome Smeared & Smudged Bloody Valentine blog hoppers!

My project was created for the Secret Sister Bloody Valentine swap on Smeared and Smudged. I have to say that I really enjoyed creating these projects for my secret pal. I chose to make a couple of non traditional items: Altered cigar box, soldered hanging ornament, and a soldered "dark fairy" necklace. Hopefully my secret sister will enjoy everything and I hope all of it makes it over the pond in one piece.

One thing I loved about this cigar box was it opened in the middle as opposed to one of the sides. This also presented me with the challenge of what to do with the heart center piece I wanted to be the focal point. I decided to split it into two halves and it worked like a charm. I then filled the heart with broken jewelry, beads, spiders, skulls and a few other odds and ends. At the top of the heart I spelled out "Be my bloody valentine, insert my secret pals name here". I also stamped the words forever and love hurts. I need to note here this little gem of a heart took me over two weeks to create.

Anyone who knows me knows I will solder anything that doesn't move faster than I can get my hands on it! I am not joking. Lol The black and cream flowers were soldered individually to the front side. I figured it was going to take me awhile to do this but the whole thing only took me 45 minutes from start to finish (This included cutting the glass). Speaking of the glass.... You can not see it in the photo but the glass has a special scratched finish you can only see when you tilt it in the light.After trolling through some images I settled on a dark angel and a poem that reads;

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

My rose is white and it bleeds for you.

On the back side I added some bloody halloween paper by Martha Stuart and another image. Oh come on.... You knew there was going to be blood somewhere. It is a bloody valentine swap after all! Lol

I thought it needed a little contrast so I soldered black and clear bling to the top and bottom of the ornament. Then finished the whole thing off with a black patina.

Last I created a goth like fairy necklace. It was quite the trick to line the wings up, hold them in place, and solder all at the same time. But necessity is the mother of invention after all and I managed to do it.

Products used:Rock Star Black metal by Ten Second Studio

Tim holtz: Advantus - Idea-ology Collection - Foundations Metal

Feet 7 gypsies: Red -

Knob - Antique Brass

Paper clay

Silver leaf

Crimson acrylic paint by Heidi Swapp

Martha Stuart 3X6 "Vampire paper"

All kinds of stuff from the "junk" box

Glass, solder, and copper tape

Thank you for stopping by! Now you are off to see Dianne. http://dkspinner.blogspot.com/

http://smearedandsmudged.ning.com/

http://ndustrial-lemon.blogspot.com/

http://suzy-ikesworld.blogspot.com/

http://welcometomydarkside.blogspot.com/

http://www.kemperneck.blogspot.com/

http://alisonsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/

http://cromscubbyhole.blogspot.com/

http://jcocraft.blogspot.com/

http://lynsblogger.blogspot.com/

http://kc-consultant.blogspot.com/

http://sugscardsnmore.blogspot.com/

http://www.phoebekattebeest.blogspot.com/

http://www.ladybrayton71.blogspot.com/

http://cajunstampingqueen.blogspot.com/

http://www.ldfdesign.blogspot.com/

http://dontbeaprude.wordpress.com/

http://stephscreativechaos.blogspot.com/

http://insanedaze.blogspot.com/

http://piecesoffatesusan.blogspot.com/

http://jamiescrazycraftylife.blogspot.com/

http://idontdostraight.blogspot.com/

http://happycraftings.blogspot.com/

http://trishliciousandco.blogspot.com/

http://dkspinner.blogspot.com/

A wreath tale.....

Christmas 2011 I had the bright idea that I was going to make a wreath for all of the mail boxes on my block. This was quite the undertaking and I had to call in reinforcements in the form of my Mom and Aunt Peggy. We had a huge assembly line going for 12 wreaths. Needless to say they were a HUGE hit with the neighbors and our block ended up winning the best decorated street award. Well last Thursday I went to neighborhood bunco and heard my wreaths were the talk of the home owners association meeting. I ended up being asked to create wreaths this year for three different blocks within the subdivision. Lol
So wreathapolooza 2012 is in the works! In the mean time.........

I love after Christmas shopping and can not pass up a bargain! For 2012 I decided to change the Christmas decor in the family room to red, green, and gold with a Santa Claus theme. So the day after Christmas I started hitting the stores for those 1/2 price must have ornaments, wreaths, ribbon, garlands, and other holiday embellishments.

First project up for Christmas 2012 is a 4 foot wreath for over the fire place. I bought the wreath at Hobby Lobby for 80% off (final cost $10) and the blown glass ornaments at Macy's, Hobby Lobby, Dillards, JoAnn's, and Michaels for between 0.50 to $3.00. The ribbon I found at The Christmas store in Arlington for $5 it was 30% off and came in a 100 feet roll. I will have enough left to use the same ribbon on the garland and table arrangements as well.

Start off by making the bow for the top of the wreath and then attach it with floral wire. Next I added the big Santa that sits in side the wreath. I have to confess to using chopsticks as a brace for the back of Santa. He is a heavy guy and needed the added support. The chopsticks also gave me something to use to wire Santa into the wreath.

Last I did a dry placement of ornaments before I wired and hot glued them into the wreath permanently. I have priced wreath's this size with a lot less decoration and they were $300 and up. I spent a total of $50 for all of the supplies and have enough stuff left for a garland and table arrangement. I told my husband I saved him a boatload of money by spending some. He actually agreed. Lol

Photo card ornament

One of my favorite things to receive during the holidays are the family photo Christmas cards.
I love seeing how the families change and the kids grow during the year. These are too special to discard after the season is over, so I have saved them through out the years with the intention of coming up with something creative to do with them. This year I decided to make an ornament out of them and "re-gift" them to the family that sent them to me. I think this is one gift that's okay to re-gift and the family won't mind receiving back this year.

Supplies needed: One photo cardTwo pieces of glass "I used scrap glass from an old frame"Scalloped copper tapeJump ringsRibbonBeads, loop pins, bead caps, silver ball beads

Wrapping your ornament

First step is to make sure you CLEAN the glass really well with alcohol rub before sandwiching the card between the two pieces of glass.I prefer to use alcohol rub instead of glass cleaner because it doesn't streak and does a great job of removing the grime. I peel back the tape and start wrapping the edge of my ornament.After wrapping the entire ornament with copper tape, I used a popsicle stick to smooth the edges down and remove any air bubbles trapped between the tape and glass.(If you need more detail on foil wrapping look under soldering tips on my blog)

When done this is what your ornament should look like.

Then it's time to plug the old soldering iron in and start soldering. I do the four sides first then the front and back of the ornament.After tinning the whole ornament I go back and add a thick layer of solder to enhance the scallops.(If you need more detail on soldering look under soldering tips on my blog)

Next step is to add the jump rings! I added two to the top to run ribbon through and three to the bottom so I can add some beads and bling.(If you need more detail on adding jump rings look under soldering tips on my blog)

I started my bead chain by adding a silver ball, bead cap, bead, bead cap, and another silver ball. Then I looped the opening closed. I continued this until I had twelve done.

Connect all of the beads together in two groups of five and one group of two. Then connect the two groups of five to the bottom of your ornament "creating a swag effect". Next I added the group of two to the center ring and added a little bling to the end of them. This way it dangles and adds a little sparkle

After adding a little ribbon you have a one of a kind handmade gift your friends are sure to love!

Here are a few other ornaments I created for family and friends this holiday season.

Welcome Summer blog hoppers!

You should have arrived here from Janell Blog (http://janellscreations.blogspot.com/) if so you are on the right path, if not please click on the link http://scrapersdelight.blogspot.com/ to start at the beginning as we'd hate you to miss out any letters. I hope you are inspired by my project and are enjoying the blog hop so far, when you are ready please hop over to Leslie blog at http://www.lesliekcreations.blogspot.com/ and continue the fun.


I decided to do a Dress form pin cushion as my Summer project. This had to be one of the easiest projects I have done. I chose a beach theme, but think of the possibilities..... You could do anything with this girl.

Supplies used:

Muslin (for dress form & sash)
Wooden spool
Wood dowel
Wooden sun (from Hobby Lobby)
Making memories (buttercup paint)
Perfect pearls (mandarin)
Sand
Small sea shells
Adirondack ink (wildflower)
Flourish stamps
small letter stamp
Stick pins
Two Summer charms
Ric rac and ribbon

1. Cut muslin dress form front and back. mark darts with an air erase pen. Stitch darts. Iron darts toward center.

2. Stitch dress form front to back with 1/4" seam allowance. Leave opening on bottom as shown. Trim points and clip curves. Turn dress form right side out.

3. Assemble dress form base glue dowel into spool, paint and add paper and ribbon.

4. Paint the sun base and glue a light coat of sand to the center. Let dry and then lightly dust with Perfect pearls "mandarin" an add the micro beads around the edge. When finish glue the spool to the center of your base.

.5. With flourish stamp add decorative markings to front of dress form. I also stamped the sash and added some perfect peals to highlight it.

6. Stuff top half of form firmly. Insert dress form onto dowel and continue stuffing. Place a little glue around dowel to hold in place firmly. Add finial to the top of your dowel and glue it in place.

7. Start arranging and gluing sea shells around the base. Then stitch your sash and charms to the dress form.

8. Lastly I glued little shells to the stick pins.

Happy Summer hopping :) Next stop is Leslie.

Bind it all WINNER!

We have a winner and it is Redonna! Congratulations!!! Redonna please send me your info so I can get this out to you. The winner was chosen by Randon.org
Thank you to everyone who joined or left a comment :)

Skull Appreciation Day blog hop

Hello smudged and inked blog hoppers!

As the old saying goes "I decided to kill two birds with one stone"! I needed to make an altered paint can for a friends birthday and she just so happens to LOVE skulls. I must admit that I am addicted to altering these cans and I am considering a self help program. So if anyone knows of a good "paint can addiction 101 class" please feel free to forward the information.

Hopefully she will like and enjoy it the can:)


Supply list;
Autumn Leaves - Clear Stamps by Rhonna Farrer - Flourishes
12x12 Creative Imaginations - Caution Girl Collection - Paper - Cherry and Skull Paper
12x12 Random stripped paper from my stash
Ranger ink- acrylic paint dabber- snow cap
Ranger ink- acrylic paint dabber- pitch black
Heidi Swapp - Chipboard Alphabet - White
Mod Podge- glossy
White felt (used to make skull and cross bones)
Embroidery floss (two different colors)
Buttons- three
Various ribbons that coordinate with your paper




Altered paint can


1. Remove the handle from the can. (this will makes it a lot easier in the long run when adding your paper and embellishing).

2. Cut two pieces of card stock, patterned paper or fabric 7 1/4 x 10 3/4. This will leave you some overlap at the seams and a small gap at the top and bottom. You can easily split the 7 1/4 measurement in half if you want to use 2 different papers to cover the can.

3. Place a mark about 1 1/2 inches down from the top of your paper and use a 1" circle punch to cut out holes for the handles.

4. Once the paper is cut and the handle holes punched, you can stamp, ink, sew, draw or right on the paper before it is adhered to the can.

5. Adhere your paper to the can.

a. If the paper is lightweight, you can use double sided tape (I like Terrifically Tacky Tape) to attach the paper along the seams. I just run one piece of 1" wise tape up each side of the can, right under the handle.

b. If you're using heavy weight cardstock, or if you want your can to be a bit more durable, you'll need to use Mod Podge or some other decoupage medium. If you use a wet adhesive like Mod Podge. Use a foam brush to apply the paste to the can and then place the paper. I like to slather on another coat of Mod Podge over the paper. You can do this tidily or really sloppy, depending on the look you're trying to achieve. I usually allow it to dry over night before adding embellishments.

6. To create top or bottom borders, or a horizontal stripe around the middle of the can, cut a strip or paper or a ribbon and adhere with double sided tape.

7.I use a compass set at 2 5/8 inches to yield a circle with 5 1/4" diameter. (Be warned, when I used a compass I had an ugly flashback to geometry class.....). Again, adhere the paper to the top of the can with double sided tape or Mod Podge.

8. Once the surface is dry, you're free to embellish your can as you wish.

9. Replace the handle of the can.

10. Tie ribbons or add beads around the handle and decorate finish off by adding a paint key.

***Become a follower or leave a comment on my blog for a chance to win a bind it all and accessories. I will announce the winner on Thursday June 8th.*** You can scroll down for more details and pictures of the blog candy

Off to the next blog you go! Enjoy Dawns creations :)

Here is the complete list in case you have got lost along the way.

Terra

Tori

Alison

Kelli

Jane

Alex

Judi

Kathi

Steph

Lisa

Feddie

Heather

Kapree

Susan

Dianne

Barb Foster

JenniLynne

Teri

Cyndi

Pamela

Prissy

Trisha

Dawn

Lady Brayton

Donna

Black Dragon

Paulette

Creepy Glowbugg

Susan’s Crafty Chaos

Andrea

Helen

Kate

Fiona

Sugar

Linda

Dragonfly Jane

Debbie

Operation write home blog hop

Missing you card celebrating Memorial day


I wanted make a card using a military photo of my grandfather. I thought using his photo would be a nice way to honor his memory.
I have posted two different looks for this card by adding or changing one thing.

Supplies used
K and Company - Americana collection- Glitter Pillow Stickers- Stars
Paper Studio - Patriotic collage 12X12
The Girls Paperie - on holiday "Vintage travel" 12X12
Red & Blue card stock 12x12
flower soft - Peel off sticker 306 - Silver
Tim Holtz - die- Paper rosette
Silver German glass glitter "90 grit"
Glitz teeny alphabet "cream'

*I started by adhering all of the patterned papers (see list above) to my card base which is 5X7

*Using flower soft peel off stickers #306 - Silver, and attaching the strips around each piece of paper "creating a border".

*The final step was to add the photograph and K and Company Americana collection "glitter pillow stickers". Easy as can be!



I removed the rosette and attached the soldered ornament to the front of the card for a different look. The ornament makes a nice little gift on the card.
Become a follower or leave a comment on my blog for a chance to win a bind it all and accessories. I will announce the winner on Thursday June 8th.

Happy hopping, http://stamperstouch.blogspot.com/