K&E Victorian Display Placard Décor

Talking about wedding gifts, most often they're generally gifted in either white or colours that depict happiness and purity. For this instance, I chose a something different. As I didn't get to attend one of my friends' wedding last year due to the pandemic where large scale event was prohibited, I didn't manage to gift her something. Took me this long, and I decided to repurpose and customize one of my past artworks to do up this simply placard décor for her and her newly-wed husband.

I die-cut several of the first letter of their names, "K" and "E" using Tim Holtz alphanumeric dies and glue them together to make it thicker; as if they're chipboard thick. Bend them a little to fit into the slightly curve surface of the heart. Added more glitter, some mica from Prima and top it up a little golden crown. Finally, add a strip of Bible verse (Ephesians 4:2-3) for them at the bottom of the placard. 

The corners of the glass are pretty sharp and I don't think it's wise to gift something that will likely prick your finger. In order to protect them, I covered them up using Graphic 45 ornate metal corners and glide them with some gold gilding paste. 

I added the lovely couple names and their wedding date behind within this little ornate plastic frame I've in my stash. Took me some time to figure out how to mount onto glass without a need to break the glass to fit. Glossy accent is the key and they do hold well without changing the colours and design elements I've done on the placard. This is part where I adhere the placard onto the glass using plenty of glossy accent. They dry clear without leaving much residue unlike some solvent based glue. Plus point is they're actually quite strong!  Added some golden flat pearls and ornate corners that I die-cut from Graphic 45 policy & decorative die.

Oh well, I might be sieving through my past artwork and will try to repurpose them as gifts or other projects. For now, this artwork of mine has finally found a home for a newly married couple. I wish them all the best in their marriage!

 

My Canvas Corp 4" x 4" Canvas Art

One of the requirements for being part of Canvas Corp Crew is to do up a 4" x 4" canvas that best represent yourself. It was a rather busy week for me last week, however I manage to get my canvas all done up! Can't wait to share it around and here I am sharing this today! Yeah!!!

It was indeed my very first time doing such a small canvas art. Though I felt I might not have enough to work around with, I managed to come up with a composition that's within the context I'd want to express. Using various Tattered Angel's mixed media products as well as Finnbair's old mechanicals, this is what I came up with. As the canvas itself requires no priming, you can pretty much work straight to it. I die cut out a few florals from some of the papers within 7gypsies Architextures 8.5" x 11" Mix and Match Book using Tim Holtz' Tattered Floral Bigz Die, distressed the edges and layered over the canvas to create some texture before all the misting and painting comes it. 

Those pretty lace I wrapped around the canvas is from 7gypsies which unfortunately it's a retired item. To give it a little rustic and ragged look, I misted some bandages with Tattered Angel Cork glimmer mist to go over the lace, and secured it with some Prima jute straw.

Not wanting to spare the empty space at the back of the canvas, I decided to do up a miniature Art Room within. That cute little frame is from my paperclay try outs using one of my Martha Stewart silicon moulds, which is of a good size to fit within. 

Nonetheless, it was a rather fun process to do up such a small mixed media canvas work. I'm pretty please with the final composition though I was a little concern about the small space given. Below is a list of supplies I used for this project with some links to various sources should anyone of you are interested to get them:

• Canvas Corp 4" x 4" Canvas
• 7gypsies Lace Trimmings
• 7gypsies Architextures 8" x 8" Paper Pad
• 7gypsies Architextures Parchment Rub Ons - Inspire
• 7gypsies Architextures 8.5" x 11" Mix and Match Book -Bee
• Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists (Cork, Vintage Pink)
• Tattered Angels High Impact Paint (Antique Gold)
• Tim Holtz Tattered Floral Bigz Die (Scrapbook.com, Sizzix)
• Tim Holtz Tiny Tattered Florals Thinlits (Amazon. Scrapbook.com, Sizzix)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink in brushed corduroy (Amazon, Blitsy, Scrapbook.com)
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mini Plaquettes
• Martha Stewart Frame and Flourish Silicon Moulds
• Copper Metallic Papers (Cardstock Warehouse, CutCardStock)
• Prima Marketing Finnabair Mechanicals
• Prima Marketing straw jute
• Creative Paperclay
• Own stash (miniature red roses, tiny glass bottle, brass key, green foliage, golden studs and sequins)

I hope this has been an inspiration in how to work within small canvas spaces. I shall see you all very soon with a tutorial.

An Altered Patina Photo Frame

It's 2018! I hope everyone has a pleasant New Year. Over at my tiny country where I reside, it was raining over the countdown period; practically rained through the last day of 2017 to the first day of 2018. Quite a significant day to remember; raining through 2017 to 2018.  

From this year onwards, I'm coming back with more updates and video tutorials, continuing to share and inspire people alike within the community. And I hope I'm able to do this for as long as I could. Your earnest support and encouragement in the work I share do means a lot to me. Though I may be slow in certain ways and may not be able to respond, I do value each and every one of you who has shown your kind support and encouragement towards my work throughout these years. As I promise before, I'll make an effort to bring more exciting projects and tutorials that's easy to follow and learn. Pretty excited for this and I'm looking very forward for this come back. 

Without me saying further and get carried away with my excitement, I'm moving on to share this altered patina photo frame which I made it as a belated birthday gift for one of my sisters within the Church of Christ. 

Throughout the years, I've been buying and collecting quite a number of "alterable" items which I've this tendency to keep them first, then think later what to do. At the end of the day, I'll always ended up forgetting what I've bought and never get to use them. It's because of a patina paint set I had bought since early last year, I decided to whip something up. While digging into a huge box of "alterables" (this is where I tend to keep them, conveniently sealed beyond my physical eyes), I found this Ikea Kvill photo frame which I had already torn away the plastic packaging. So right on the spot, YES! YOU'LL BE THE ONE I'M GOING TO ALTER! Without much further thinking, it got to me that I should also do up a start to finish video tutorial for this. 

There's an abundant amount of patina effect tutorials available online which I believe there's isn't a standard way in obtaining the effect. Neither is there any straightforward way as well. Previously, I've created a "non-traditional" method in creating patina using mists and solvent ink during my term with Graphic 45 which I still enjoy doing it this way. Certainly, with ready-made paint set available commercially, it just makes creating the patina effect much easier. 

In most of my projects, I've this tendency to match the colours and design elements as closely as possible. Basically speaking, they need to be in harmony and collectively a theme. As I was planning this project out, I already had in mind what kind of effect I want, and I had this Unearth paper from Kaiser Kraft Antique Bazaar paper collection which I took the design as a reference to create the patina effect. 

Unearth, from Kaiser Craft Antique Bazaar collection

Besides owning a number of "alterables", I also have several dies I bought and never put into good use. Decided to use this opportunity to use my stash, I dug into my die collection library (once again) to search for suitable dies to use together with this frame. The rose die from Susan's Garden collection and Tim Holtz's tiny tattered florals dies finally came to their pilot use, after being kept for years (Oops!). Because it's patina, I do find using bronze/copper metallic papers for these flowers as one of the better options over regular cardstocks. Very unfortunately, the bronze metallic paper I used from Time Holtz's Kraft Core collection is no longer available. This does shows that I do hoard onto things long enough till they could go into retirement. Nevertheless, it's not really the end of the world, I manage to find alternatives which I've stated a few in the list of supplies below at the end of this post.

This beautiful Spellbinder's ornate die-cut frame is also making it's debut. Yeah! I know! A crafter can never have enough. Suddenly, I took noticed that I just have too much things that haven't been put into good use. Guess I'd need to make several craft debuts in the future.   

I got the son from my sister-in-Christ to quote some bible verses that will describe his mum well and got these verses printed out onto premium paper. The print-out was subsequently tea-dyed and distressed. I mounted the print-out onto a piece of chipboard before placing it on top of the die-cut frame. I trimmed the Unearth paper to size to fit the window and I used the patina design as the backing of the sentiment. If you take a closer look, the altered patina frame does matches up quite well with the designed paper. 

To perk up the look, a little golden fleur dresden will be just nice. And a final lettering completed the whole project.

Here is a full list of supplies I used for this project, with links to various places you can get them if you're interested:

• Ikea Kvill Ornate Photo Frame
• Finnabair Patina Effect Paste Set (Blitsy, Scrapbook.com)
• Finnabair Art Basic, Clear Gesso (Blitsy, Scrapbook.com)
• Tim Holtz Tiny Tattered Florals Thinlits (Scrapbook.com, Sizzix)
• Spellbinders 5x7 Reflective Moment Etched Die
• Tim Holtz Distressed Ink in Brushed Corduroy (Blitsy, Scrapbook.com)
• Copper Metallic Papers (Cardstock Warehouse, CutCardStock)
• Daler Rowney System 3 Acrylic Paint (pale gold no. 708)
• Dusty Attic Teeny Tiny ABC Set
• Susan's Garden Rose Thinlits (retired)
• Kaiser Craft Antique Bazaar - Unearth (retired)
• Ranger Rose Gold Stickles Glitter Glue
• Golden Fleur Dresden

Mister Frosty - A Reindeer Music Box

Just a wink of an eye, it's already Christmas' eve! OMG! I felt as if I didn't have enough of last Christmas and this Christmas has already arrived. Perhaps I've been really busy lately, juggling between my part-time job and various Christmas projects, time flies particularly fast for me. Seriously I wish for Christmas everyday! 

Oh well, just in time for this Christmas, I had finally managed to alter a music box I bought from Innisfree (a Korean beauty store). Here it is, welcoming Mister Frosty... 

I've been into wintry mode for this season. To make my reindeer into a frosty snow deer, I used Tim Holtz's mini snowflakes throughout the entire music box and a couple of them as the saddle. For the stirrups, I strung 2 silvery snowflake charms and placed them over the seat. This is probably the most wintry saddle I had ever created for a reindeer.

Mister Frosty certainly need a comfy scarf. 

It's a functional music box and this is how it sounds like when wind. I had to remove this gadget before I could alter the whole box. And I decided to video this fun little thing. It is seriously LOUD and CLEAR! Pardon my excitement 'cos it has been a while I'm playing with such toy. 

Sooo... This is how it fits onto my petite hand. 

Hereby wishing everyone a Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!

Here is a list of supplies I used for this project:

• Reindeer DIY Music Box by Innisfree
• Tim Holtz (mini snowflakes thinlits, Christmas typed tokens)
• Dalyer Rowney Acrylic Paints (azure blue, titanium white & pearl white)
• Martha Stewart Sea Lavender craft paint
• Melissa Frances Mica Flakes in white
• Bazzill Basic cardstock in Walnut Cream
• Ultra Fine White Glitter Powder
• Own Stash (snowflake charms, white chiffon ribbon, white fluffy ribbon, rhinestone crystals)

Steampunk Curiosity; An Altered Eyeglass Case

Steampunk is always one of my favourite themes, and surely I love almost everything that's steampunky... I've created several several grunge and steampunky altered art pieces - from perfume bottle, bookend to mobile case... Now, I'm taking my eyeglass case and turn it into another steampunky piece... 

I find eyeglass case bulky and troublesome though it's function is to protect your glasses... When certain objects don't look pleasing to me, instead of hating them I turn them into art pieces so that it will be visually appealing to me... Using quite a number of ScrapFX chippies and Shimmerz stuffs, I'm spreading glitter and jewel as well...  

Presenting here my new steampunky eyeglass case...

Supplies:

• ScrapFX Chippies (micro cogs, mini cogs, flying time, wordlets; C words, steampunk feather collage)
• Finnabair Mechanicals (leaves 2, mini flowers, washer #1)
• Prima Marketing Butterfly brads
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology (game spinners, word bands, washi tapes)
• Shimmerz Products (Inklingz - miner, miner, 49er, tarnished treasure, Shimmeringz -heavy metal, Coloringz - night moves)
• Script lettering stamp
• Gold & Black glitter
• Distress sticklers 

Remember to mention my name (Katie Zoey Ho) under Paypal checkout for a freebie should you shop at Shimmerz...

Don't Forget to Fly Altered Glass Jar at Made with Love

Alright back with a new Prima class at Made with Love this coming end April and early May... I decided to take a month off to sort out my schedule... It seems like I'm forever that busy that 24hr a day don't seems to be enough for me...

For this upcoming class, I'll be showing you how to alter this glass jar from priming to finishing, as well as how to create sparkling texture onto the glass surfaces... During the class, I'll be sharing some useful tips in how to prep the glass surfaces before working and techniques in sealing the colours... 

A Tibetan Poppy Altered Vase

One thing about dealing with colours is the ability to give you the freedom to play around... And this is exactly what I like about colours... Even I had received some training in both design and arts, I'm still learning how to see colours... Throughout the various DT projects I've done previously, thus far the colours I've played with are within a restrictive zone that I'd have to match accordingly to the colour scheme of every paper collection... Sounds rather convenient and to a certain extend yes it's pretty much straight forward...

When it comes to just using colours alone, that's a totally different thing altogether... It's usually nonrestrictive with a huge space for creativity... Anything could happen under the sun... What really excites me as part of Shimmerz DT is that I finally get to play with colours; seriously playing with colours... As I progress as an Artist I started to understand what colours are all about in a very different way... Every day I discover and learn new things... Pretty exciting journey I should say...

So for today Shimmerz's blog post, I'm sharing this altered vintage milk vase which I had it totally transformed into a piece of art decor... The original idea came from the Himalaya Tibetan Poppy, mainly the unique blue colour from this flower... Because of the unusual texture of this particular vase I've, it gave me a very medieval feel as if it came from somewhere back in the 12th century where the medieval Renaissance period was... To transformed into something more modernize yet preserving the vintage feel, I decided to use blue as my main colour with contrasting yellow to gold colours... I deliberately altered the flowers to mimic the Tibetan Poppy and darken the edges to worn down the look with a more vintage touch... To give a little Renaissance touch, I used some white feathers and twine to soften down the blue for a balance of colours...

Here is a list of Shimmerz products I've used for this project:

• Coloringz (Heidi Ho Blue, Well Blue Me Down)
• Vibez (Egg Noggin')
• Creameez (Get Glowing, Ride the Tide)
• Inklingz (Miner, Miner, 49er)

Do hop over to Shimmerz Paint Store to have a look. Some freebies for you guys should you shop at Shimmerz, simply mention my name (Katie Zoey Ho) under "INSTRUCTIONS TO MERCHANT" during checkout, you will get to receive a FREE jar of Inklingz...

Gear Up! Mixed Media Box at Made with Love

Hello peeps,

I know I've not been updating. Things are seriously piling up and I was freaking busy last week... There's a lot of unplanned happenings together with an unexpected design meeting and interview, my emotions were on rollercoaster ride... Moreover I had recently accepted a DT offer from one of the Sweden manufacturers and had gotten my DT starter pack, I was super excited the moment I saw how pretty the papers are... Well, in time to come, I'll be sharing my debute works soon...

Phew!!! I hope things can get more lined up this week... Alright for my next upcoming Prima class at Made with Love, I'll be teaching how to create an antique worn out patina look using various Prima Art Basic mediums and paints... It's somehow similar to my patina snapguide tutorial, but I'll be showing how to create the look in a different way using paints instead of mists... It's going to be a little intensive so I'm opening to only 12 pax for 2 sessions...

I hope to see some of you around... Below is the promotional collage and more detail pictures on this project...

A Prima Epiphany Mixed Media Layout

Alright scrapping peeps, I know some of you've been waiting for this and it's my pleasure to present my first ever start-to-finish mixed media video. Now screening on my YouTube channel. Yeah!!!

In this pilot video, I'm sharing a time-lapsed progress in how I created this pearlescent Epiphany mixed media layout using Prima's Epiphany paper collection, Ingvild Bolme's Shabby Chic Treasures, Prima flowers, Colour Bloom Sprays and Finabair's ArtBasics, ArtExtravagance and ArtIngredients. Yes it's a layout that I used almost 90% of Prima goodies!!! Though the general look of this layout look simple, but the work behind is not what you think it is as you will get to see in my video. The Epiphany collection contains a good blend of pastel blue, pink and gray which will be the colour palette I worked towards in building this layout. Filming is not really easy for start-to-finish mixed media videos as I'll have to plan properly to ensure the flow is smooth. Certain tasks such as fussy cutting, planning and positioning of embellishments to waiting for medium to dry are not shown in order to make the video within 30 minutes for maximum pleasure and view ability. I was quite excited yet nervous for this as I was pretty concern that it may not turn out that well. Finally I survived!!!

I had developed this photo of mine and had kept it for quite a long time till I decided to create a layout using Prima's Epiphany collection. The white pureness with a touch of soft pastels of this collection just make my heart flutter. I really love this collection. Moreover I'm a Christian and Epiphany has a biblical meaning to it. Epiphany itself is a traditionally observed church festival held on 6th January to celebrate the manifestation of the divine nature of Christ as represented by Magi (Matthew 2:1-12). Hence, I decided to create a layout to kick start this holiday season (though it's not 6th January yet), to commemorate my status as a child of God and the essence of the Gospel and Christ. Also, as a form of remembrance and realisations I've gotten from God.

Alright, before I bored you guys any further, here I'm presenting this for your crafting inspirations. Feel free to let me know what you think and remember to comment and subscribe to my channel. More photos below and a list of supplies as follows.

Happy crafting!!! Cheers!!!

Here is a list of supplies I used for this layout:

• 12" X 12" Canvas Panel
• Clear Scraps Acrylic Borders & Mixers (ornate border & corner ornate)
• Prima Epiphany (Words to Live By & Striking Appearance)
• Prima Epiphany Clear Stamp 2
• Prima Colour Bloom Spray (cotton candy, pearl white, soft teal & storm cloud)
• Prima 6" X 6" Stencil (decor 1)
• Prima Jute Trim (wheat)
• Prima Charlotte Scalloped Roses (white)
• Finnabair Vanity Big Dolly Clear Stamp
• Finnabair ArtBasic (clear gesso, heavy white gesso, soft matte gel, 3D matte gel & modeling paste)
• Finnabair ArtExtravagance (texture paste clear crackle)
• Finnabair ArtIngredients (art sugar in white, light pink & charcoal, glass glitter in sterling and glass beads in crystal)
• Ingvild Bolme Chalk Edger (attic dust)
• Ingvild Bolme Shabby Chic Treasures (butterflies & door locks)
• Stickles (frosted lace)
• Paper Dolly
• Die-cut Letterings on Foam

Graphic 45 Newsletter - Patina Mixed Media Tutorial

Mixed media is endless with so many possibilities. And it all started from imagination. In this week Graphic 45 email newsletter, I'll be showing you how to create this beautiful vintage patina look on this ivory 5" x 5" mixed media box. If you haven't subscribed to Graphic 45 newsletter, click HERE to subscribe. You wouldn't want to miss other wonderful projects and exculsive tutorials featured on newsletters.

I was deeply inspired with layered frames that I've pinned on my Pinterest. And since I've several resins frames in my stash, I thought it was the best time to fully make use of them and created this lovely sentiment.

Sit back and enjoy! Happy crafting!!!

Here is a list of supplies to create this sentiment box:

• Graphic 45 Time to Celebrate 8” x 8” Paper Pad 
• Graphic 45 Staples (5" x 5" Mixed Media Box in Ivory) 
• Prima & Melissa Frances Resin Frames 
• Petaloo Flowers 
• Prima Flourish Stencil 
• Script Stamp 
• Clear Gesso 
• Modeling Paste 
• Tinted Gold Acrylic Paint 
• StazOn Midi (Spiced Chai) 
• Lindy Stamp Gang Starbursts & Magicals (Tiffanylou Blue, Delphinium Turquoise, Ponderosa Pines Olive & Tibetan Poppy Teal)