Steampunk Tissue Box

One thing I can not get enough of is embellished home decor. The simple side of me suggests that the tissue box is decorated all nice and pretty from the manufacturer, and when you're done, you recycle the box. 

But I need these sturdy pieces scattered around my house so I can remember to do the things I love to do. And that would be cut paper, paint, and distress! I have spent a good chunk of my life trying to make something really cheap look really authentic. 

This is a wood tissue box from Craft Warehouse in Vancouver, WA. This is my favorite wood tissue box from all the stores I shop at. It has the open bottom and it's heavy and loose around the tissue box.

The majority of the die cuts I used are reclaimed chipboard sheets from a manufacturing department, but I found a way to make them look like real weathered metal items. 

I will eventually get to a place where I can show you step by step how I create all the layers, but for now, please enjoy the finished projects while I make sense of some "behind the scenes" photo's I have taken for that purpose. 

Supplies: I bought pretty much all of my dies and embellies from Joann's. They have amazing sales on scrapbooking supplies and tools, you get the best deals. But you have to get it on sale, because sometimes, and especially with the dies, they mark them up so the discount seems bigger. The 40% sale is my rule.

joann.com

Tim Holtz - Weathered Clock

Tim Holtz - Gadget Gears

Tim Holtz - Clock Face

Tim Holtz - Metal Box Corners

Tim Holtz Idea-Ology - Sprocket Gears

modernmasters.com

Modern Masters - Reactive Metallic Paints

Thrift Store Upcycle

I found this really cheap, fake wood table at a thrift store for $14. It took a lot of work, but I prepped the surface by lightly sanding it, then gave it a primer coat. I applied a lot of layers of iron paint to it and left it in the rain for a while to give it a really old look. It still needs handles, but I can't decide to actually order the specialty size online. Hobby Lobby doesn't have the right size handles. It was easier to get a tetanus shot than to take the time to seal it nice and proper. The sealing process takes some of the depth of color away. I'll get to it.

Tommy

This is my best friend when he was probably two years old. His grandfather worked on cars and was the Sedro Woolley fire chief for ages. I love the photo on top, because I always imagine what he was saying to his grandson at his kitchen table in Sedro Woolley, WA.

Grandpa Tommy, and his grandson Tommy.

We have a variety of Tim Holtz Alterations dies. The gear set, Word Play alphabet, mini old jalopy.

There is a large piece of acetate cut with a Spellbinders, grand size circle die. I rubber stamped gears and cogs on it to give it a very dimensional look. The idea is that it is digital media brought to life. It is very subtle. but it mats the entire circled section. The bottom of the acetatate is stamped with StayzOn ink, and the top is sprayed with black webbing spray.

Spellbinders circles and sprightly sprockets by Donna Salazar.

Tim Holtz Ornamental Sizzix die, and Stampers Anonymous. 

The center is an expensive laser cut chipboard piece. I can not recommend using them because they are incredibly fragile to paint on. 

This is the Tim Holtz Alterations picture wheel die. I scanned a black cut out and extracted it from the background into a PNG file. Then I took a series of photo's to the time, and placed it in a template to insert behind the picture wheel, which is cut out with chipboard, and coated with a rust and patina process.

I uploaded a small gift for you, if you would like to make a picture wheel yourself. Please see my free downloads page and look for the black template that is the scanned image of an actual die cut. There is also a block mask that you can clip your photo to in photoshop.

Thank you for stopping by!

Tool Box

This was an affordable Christmas gift to your all American, manly-man. What do you give the man who has everything? An aged toolbox reminiscent of his childhood, and working on manly-man things with his father. 

It is an inexpensive wooden box from the Craft Warehouse, I removed the hardware and soaked it in a activating rusting solution for a few days. The box is primed, then painted with Modern Masters rust and patina paint. It has several layers, and I let the solution pool, and set objects on top of the wet paint to take on the grunge look. Every detail is aged. I found the handle at the Hobby Lobby, and it is just glued on. I just hope he doesn't fill it with hammers and wrenches then try to carry it around!!!

Vintage Flair Jewelry Box

 I made this jewelry box for my mother a couple of years ago.  I am especially proud of it because it is so perfectly suited for her. I get my creative edge from my mom. When I was young, we were dirt poor, and she was always bringing home garbage and turning it into furniture, gifts, or decorations. She was amazing. Even as a child, I was really awe inspired by her ability to re-purpose garbage. This was in a time when taking home garbage was not considered a true credit to one's household! She filled our little apartment with the splendors of the world. There was a cable spool that she turned into a coffee table. She stained it, and filled the cracks with sea shells and macrame' trim, then sealed it with epoxy. She made turtle pillows to sit on, around that little table...turtles!!! She made planters out of old pop cans, and the list goes on. I have learned to see the garbage of human kind as an opportunity to stand apart from the norm. Thinking outside the box. I still offer a home to many of the things that she made, or fixed up, for my tiny pink childhood bedroom. This box however, is a store bought box from the Craft Warehouse. She would never accept a store bought gift, so I had to really age it, to sell her on the concept that it is a true gift. The top of the box is my favorite, because of my memories of her taking me to ballet class.

Unless you meticulously paint an intricate box like this, you can't know how hard it was to not ruin that mirror! The inserts slid in nicely, and I gave the entire box a nice coat of something that deactivates the rust and patina. I also put a clear coat of mod podge on the paper.

 

Did I mention this is real rust and patina? That's because I know you will scroll down to see the other projects. Eventually you will see a clear picture.

There is no photograph on this project, but I still call it "Memory Art" because I harnessed a particular time in my life, which was living in Mount Vernon, WA. My brother had just been diagnosed with cancer, and my mom put in some extra mom hours to make me feel special. One of those special gifts was a pretty pink jewelry box with a dancing ballerina in it.

The Family

This is one of my favorite photo's of my dad and his two brothers and sister. My father is the little cutie on the top right, "Freddie". This canvas was inspired by the hardship my grandmother faced while raising four children at such a young age, in the aftermath of the Great Depression. Their father was not around much and she had to fend for herself, carving out a pattern of survival skills that I have found invaluable during the last few years of my own personal hardships. Remember the stories your grandparents tell you, because they are trying to teach you something!

I chose this quote because we take our hits, then we dance on.

This is a laser chipboard cut, and the butterfly is a Spellbinders die cut, and various metal findings.

The bird and branch is a Tim Holtz Alteration die, bird branch. I cut it out with chipboard, then layered it for depth. My grandmother loved the birds.

The cogs are another Tim Holtz Alterations die, and a few metal pieces placed strategically. The fence is a laser wood cut from Michael's. The grass is a Cheery Lynn Designs die cut that I painted with texture paint.  

My grandmother had the all American home when I was growing up. Simple and maintained with love. She didn't have a fence, but she had a beautiful enclosed patio. I aspire to have one of my own.

The paint is a real rust and patina paint and solution. I then stenciled on a brick texture using fiber paste and a brick template stencil. After that cured, I applied a new layer of rust and patina.

More hardware findings by Tim Holtz Alterations. Cut out with chipboard and painted, then soaked in a tub of activator solution and enclosed and shaken on occasion until I was satisfied with the depth of color.

The quotes are stamped with Stampers Anonymous stamps, by Tim Holts. I can't read the side poem anymore! I used StazOn ink on acetate, then adhered with Crackle Accents glue.

The knob is packed by Tim Holtz, and dropped in the tub of solution with the hinges, gears, cogs, and metal accents.

I will have one more 12x12 thick canvas that I will post next.

Thank you for stopping by! 

Homestead

These are my immigrant great-great-grandparents from Sweden. They arrived in Minnesota in the 1880's. My great-great-grandmother, Ida, worked at a hotel to pay for her passage to America. I don't know when they met, but they set up a homestead in Bellingham, WA in the early 1900's. This picture really speaks to me as the American dream. I imagine they saved every penny they had to build this small home. They raised three children, and thrived here for some time.

 This is the first in my homestead series, which is a collection of thick 12x12, mixed media canvas. Something I like to call "Memory Art".

The image is printed on acetate and mounted on a lightly patterned paper. I cropped the house out by hand and mounted it on a 5x7 flat canvas that I had pre-painted with a rust and patina process.

The key, and Home, and fence are laser cut outs I found at Michael's. The grass is a die by Cheery Lynn Designs that I painted with a textured paint.

This is a Tim Holtz brand hardware knob that I bought at JoAnns. I let it soak in the rusting solution for the night to give it this aged and weathered look.

While the solution is still wet, I place bottles or jars on the canvas until it is dry, that is how I get the rings. 

Thank you for stopping by. I have another 12x12 canvas that I am really excited to share.

Steampunk Cigar Box

Next in my rust and patina series is a couple of cigar boxes. Remember how much we loved to turn them into purses? I love these boxes! I use them to store my sewing supplies and notions; easy to carry around, and they look pretty when I just leave them sitting around for months. I am a slob =)

 

I am using Modern Masters paint to create this REAL rust and patina effect. I cut out chipboard with my Sizzix machine and dies, and gave them a nice protective coat of paint before swishing them around in the activator solution. Everything is applied with a basic craft glue, nothing fancy, and the inside is scrapbook paper made by Graphic 45. 

This one is my favorite! It was a Christmas gift, but maybe I can make another one for myself :)

I have several more projects using the rust and patina process. I will make a point to start a tutorial when I get my blog all caught up.

I found a cigar box on sale for $3.59 at the Craft Warehouse in Vancouver. I bought 3 of them, and painted two for Christmas gifts.

Tim Holtz Alterations dies: Hardware Findings, Weathered Clock (hands), Gadget Gears, Spellbinders Sprightly Sprockets, 

Thank you for stopping by!