Category Archives: Altered Art

Prima Lavender Party Dress Card Folio

Prima Lavender Party Dress Card Folio for Throwback Thursday Kathy Clement Photo 01

Prima Lavender Party Dress Card Folio for Throwback Thursday

Hello, Friends!  Today’s Throwback Thursday is a Prima Lavender Party Dress Card Folio.  While cleaning out the Closet of Shame, I ran across a bunch of lovely chipboard pieces and a flash of inspiration!  Who doesn’t love having a new party dress for spring?  I know, right?  So after a bit more digging, I decided to use this lovely, retired 2017 Prima collection for our Throwback Thursday this week.

Put on Your Party Dress

Mixed Media Techniques for Chipboard Prima Lavender Laserowe Love by Kathy Clement Photo 01

Chipboard is such a wonderful addition to a card design.  You can paint it, cover it with paper, spritz it with mist or, as I did on today’s card, alter it with embossing powder.  This is probably my favorite way to alter chipboard.  Why, you may ask?  Because it is fast, easy and looks terrific!  It will probably take me longer to tell you the steps I followed than it did for me to actually do them.  Here’s how I took this brown paper bag dress to party dress with a little mixed media magic.

  • First, tap the entire surface of the chipboard with VersaMark ink.  Be generous!
  • Next, lightly shake a closed jar of Stampendous Shabby Ivory Embossing Enamel.  This helps mix the particles evenly throughout the mix.
  • Now place the chipboard in a funnel tray or on a piece of printer paper.  Gently shake the embossing powder out over the surface.  You are aiming for even coverage.
  • Then carefully pick up the chipboard and let any loose granules roll off onto the printer paper or into the tray.  Do not tap or flick the back of the chipboard!  Just let gravity do its thing!
  • Now you want to pre-heat your heat gun for a few seconds.  Use tweezers to hold the edge of the chipboard and use the heat gun to melt the granules.  Keep the gun moving at all times.  Chipboard will burn.
  • Heat the granules until the gold flecks start to melt and puddle into the ivory granules.  Now this chip is perfectly cooked!

Take it to the Next Level

The dress is very pretty at this point.  But I wanted to take it to the next level.  So once the chip had cooled, I spritzed it lightly with some Lavender Fields Glimmer Mist that I had in my stash.  Then I gently heated the embossing enamel a second time.  The embossing medium will “open” and allow the mist to sink into the mix, creating a lovely impressionistic pattern on the dress.

I also inked the edges of the dress with Dusty Concord Distress Oxides.  Then I spritzed and flicked water to make some pretty inky puddles.  You can play with this technique.  It’s fun!

TIP:  Adhere an acetate floral overlay from the Lavender Collection to the center of the dress to create soft pattern and design.  Use a dries clear adhesive for this step.  It’s pretty magical, if I do say so myself!

Learn how I altered the chipboard doily and the background tag in the video below.

Finishing Touches

Add some pretty ribbons, trims and posies and this dress is ready for the prom!

Learn how to add these sweet charms in the video, too!

A Peek Inside

Party Dress Card Folio Prima Lavender by Kathy Clement

I decided to create a little folio inside the card base.  The top half is an accordion pull-out with a ribbon closure.

Layer up bits and bobs on the cover to create a pretty collage.

Here’s a peek at the pages inside the 4 3/4″ x 7 3/4″ folio.  Lots of lovely room for photos and journaling the story of a wedding, anniversary, prom, birthday party or bridal shower.

Party Dress Video on YouTube

Here’s a little process video showing how this card folio came together.   I hope you enjoy!

And that’s it for Throwback Thursday this week!  I’ll be adding this little ditty to my Etsy shop if you’d like to see it in real life.

I’ll add a supply list below.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

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***Please note: Since Throwback Thursday posts are designed to encourage us to use up paper pretties from our stash, I use a lot of retired items in these projects.  This means I may not be able to provide a link to all the supplies used.  Thanks for understanding!

Reneabouquets Bee Frame and Pocket

Reneabouquets Bee Frame and Pocket Simple Stories Vintage Garden District by Kathy Clement Kathy by Design Photo 01

Reneabouquets Bee Frame and Pocket with Simple Stories Vintage Garden District

Hello, Friends!  You can tell summer is coming because I have bees on the brain!  This Reneabouquets Bee Frame and Pocket is such a unique design.  Dressed up with Simple Stories Vintage Garden District it feels just like a summer garden party!

The base is made with Reneabouquets Beautiful Board.  I am completely unabashedly addicted to this wonderful stuff!    And this Honey Bee Loaded Card, Tag or Frame Kit speaks to my honey-loving heart!    It assembles quickly and easily.  Beautiful Board takes all mixed media products like a champ.  The fact that the base is already white means that you don’t have to prime, and the colors are true.  Paint all your surfaces before you assemble.  Then just add a dries clear adhesive along the edges, snap the pieces together and you are ready to decorate.

Reneabouquets Bee Frame and Pocket: Two Sides to Every Story

Here’s a peek at the frame side of the kit.  Naturally, I turned the frame overlay that comes with the kit into a shaker box.  Here’s how:

  • Decoupage the frame with rice paper and Matte Medium.
  • First, paint the frame with Matte Media.
  • Next, cut a piece of rice paper slightly larger than the frame dimensions.
  • Now lay the rice paper over the frame and burnish gently.
  • Then cut an “x” in the rice paper from top left to bottom right corner inside the frame.  Ue a craft knife for this.  Repeat from top right to bottom left.
  • Now brush matte medium onto the back side of the frame and wrap the rice paper around it.  The rice paper will conform itself to the shape of the sides with a little gentle encouragement.  And you might need to brush a little matte medium onto the back of the rice paper, too.
  • Just keep working it until it looks the way you want it to look. Set aside to dry.  Then ink the edges with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.
  • When everything is dry, you can adhere acetate to the back side of the frame, add your foam tape and create the shaker box just as you would on a card.
  • Decorate with flowers, ribbon , buttons and Spanish Moss.

Here’s the Queen Bee, adorned with roses in the center of the hive.

Reneabouquets Bee Frame and Pocket: The Pocket

Reneabouquets Bee Frame and Pocket Simple Stories Vintage Garden District by Kathy Clement Kathy by Design Photo 01

The pocket contains a little decorative burlap panel and some sweet treats fit for a queen.

Bees and birds and flowers make me ridiculously happy!

I hope I’ve shared some tips, tricks and ideas that you can use in your own crafty adventures.  If so I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below.  You’ll find a linked supply list at the bottom of this post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

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Tell the Bees Altered Bottle and Hanger Card

Craft Consortium Tell the Bees Altered Bottle and Hanger Card Deep Roots Workshop Kathy Clement Kathy by Design Photo 01

Tell the Bees Altered Bottle and Hanger Card for Throwback Thursday

Hello, Friends!  I’m “buzzing” with excitement over this Altered Bottle and Hanger Card for today’s Throwback Thursday post!  It is a collaborative effort between our son Peter (Deep Roots Workshop) and Kathy by Design!  Peter turned this lovely apothecary bottle on his lathe, He was trying out some new carving tools and showed me the results.  The minute I laid eyes on this beauty, I saw a honey comb.  So I asked him if he would let me play around with it…and he trusted me!  Yay!

The Bee Bottle

Bee Bottle Deep Roots Workshop Kathy Clement Kathy by Design Photo 01

Peter creates his art pieces from reclaimed wood.  This poplar wood bottle was once part of a 100 year old barn here in North Carolina.  There’s nothing like starting a project that has weathered years of history!  After turning the wood on his lathe, Peter carved the little circles with carving tools.  Then he treated the bottle with his homemade Danish oil.  This is a mystery concoction of  his that really brings out the grain of the wood.  Then he handed the bottle over to the Kathy by Design Day Spa for a little face lift .

First, smoosh Speckled Egg Distress Oxide Ink onto a non-stick craft mat.  Spritz it with water until small droplets form.  Then pick up the ink with your fingertip (or a sponge if you don’t like inky fingers) and tap it along the edges of the bottle.  Then lightly dip the sides of the bottle into the inky puddle.  Let the ink run, and spray with more water to fade it out.

Next “pollinate” the honey comb design with some mica gel medium.  I used Stamperia Glamour Gel.

Making the Tag

Next I pulled out my Craft Consortium “Tell the Bees” paper collection.  I purchased this ages ago along with the matching linen ribbon, stamps and a shaker mix.   Here’s how I made the decorative tag.

  • First,  create the background. Swipe  a 4×4 panel of manila cardstock in a lovely puddle of Speckled Egg Distress Ink.  Create the puddle of ink by smooshing the ink pad onto a non stick craft mat and spritzing with water.
  • Now dry the tag.  Then go in for another dip.  This time just tap the panel lightly in the ink to add layers of color.  Heat dry again.
  • Then look for little beads of ink and lightly tap the card into them to pick them up.  This creates a gorgeous speckled effect on the background.  Heat dry.
  • Now sponge on a little Wild Honey Distress Ink in a random fashion.  Spritz the card lightly to blend the colors.  Spatter water droplets for an even more distressed look.  Heat dry.
  • Use bee themed stamps (mine came in the bundle I purchased way back when) and stamp the panel.  Archival Ink works best for this.  I used Coffee, Saffron and Black.
  • Finally, die cut the panel into small tags.
  • Tie a tag around the bottle neck with waxed linen thread.  Add embellishments.
Tell the Bees Hanger Card

Craft Consortium Tell the Bees Hanger Card by Kathy Clement Kathy by Design Photo 01

Because I already had all the supplies out on my work table, I decided to go ahead and make another Hanger Card.   This one measures 5″ x 7″ and I love the way it turned out.  The burlap is stitched to a panel of cardstock.  Then I just layered up some scraps from Tell the Bees, stitched a pocket in place and embellished.

Several of you asked about these little metal hangers.  They were a closeout item on the Melissa Frances website.  There are a few left if you are wanting to add them to your stash.  This one has been painted with Speckled Egg Distress Paint.

Here’s a look at the  mixed media tag and a little note card I tucked into the pocket.

Creating this project reminded me that I actually do like to ink and stamp.  I think maybe I need to schedule a day every now and then to get inky!

Peter and I enjoyed this little project so much that we are already planning our next caper.  We want to shoot some video next time to show you the turning process and the altering process.  If you’d like to learn more about Peter’s artistry, you can check out his ETSY shop.   You can watch him salvage the wood used to make this apothecary bottle on his YouTube channel, He’s always posting something interesting on his Instagram account. And if you’d like to follow him on Facebook, you can keep up with his antics there.

I hope you enjoyed this slightly different take on Throwback Thursday.  It certainly was fun for me to share this crafty adventure with our son.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

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Little Birdie Crafts Poppies & Roses Altered Box

Little Birdie Crafts Poppies & Roses Altered Tag Box by Kathy Clement Kathy by Design Photo 01

Little Birdie Crafts Poppies & Roses Altered Box: Good Things in Small Packages

Hello, Friends!  If you love little things, then you are going to be very happy with this Little Birdie Crafts Poppies & Roses Altered Box.  It definitely falls into the “good things come in small packages” category of crafting.  Do you save cute boxes?  I do.  Seems like I just can’t find it in my heart to toss a well made box.  I blame it on my mom, who used boxes to make everything from baby beds to bookshelves.

True story!  When my little sis was born in the 60’s there were no fancy little baby seats.  But my mom fashioned one from a cardboard box and pillows.  She used one of my dad’s old belts to keep Sissie tucked in safe and sound!  Ingenuity!  Gotta love that.

When this same sweet sis presented me with a cute box of gourmet tea bags this Christmas, I knew immediately that I wanted to make it into some sort of project.  So into the Closet of Shame it went.  I actually painted all the edges of the 3″ x 3″ x 3″ kraft box with ivory chalk paint before stowing it away because I knew I would be more likely to use it if I’d done a little prep work in advance.  Sure enough, as I was perusing the shelves this weekend, there sat the sweet little box, just begging to be used.  And that’s how this project came into being.

How to Alter a Box with Little Birdie Crafts Poppies & Roses

This is a quick and easy project.  You’ll need to change your measurements if your box is bigger or smaller than mine, but the process is the same.

  • First paint all the edges of the box, inside and out, with chalk paint. Set the box aside to dry and forget about it for 5 months.
  • Next, cut (6) 2 7/8″ square panels from the 6×6 Poppies and Roses Paper Pad.  Ink the edges with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink, or dry brush them with chalk paint.  Or just leave them as they are.  It’s all good.
  • Now, cut (6) 2 3/4″ square panels from another 6×6 pattern.  Use these to line the box interior.
  • Then trace the little tabs on the sides and closure onto a piece of printer paper.  Use this as a template to cut out designer paper for those areas on the box.
  • Fussy cut a border from the 12×12 paper pad.  Adhere this around the middle of the box like a belt. It will be a little bit short, so start in the center front and wrap around the sides, ending up on the front of the box.  We will cover the gap, so no worries.
  • Now, attach crochet lace with 1/4″ Scor-Tape above the fussy cut border.
  • Alter mini bronze box feet with Little Birdie Antique Gold Metallic Wax.  Adhere to the bottom of the box and set aside to dry.  I use my Dries Clear Adhesive for this task.

TIP: Set the box upside down while the feet are drying.

The Fun Part: Decorating the Box

While the box is drying prepare the decorative elements.

  • Fussy cut flower clusters, wreath, door,  and butterflies from the 6×6 pad cut apart page.
  • Accent the Ornate Clock Chipboard with Gold Metallic Wax.  Back this with a couple of layers of waste chipboard or foam adhesive. Cut the wreath in half and adhere behind the clock so that the flowers can be seen.

  • Next,alter the grass chipboard with Glimmer Moss Metallic Wax.  Cut apart.
  • Locate some pretty red Little Birdie Flowers.  I used Meadow Red and Candy Embossed Daisies.
  • Once the box feet are dry, arrange the elements in a way that pleases you.

To make the box lid stand upright, use this clever trick I learned from my crafty pal, Ginger Ropp.  Wrap a panel of chipboard with designer paper.  Then adhere along the back side of the box.

Creating the Tags and Tag Card

I decided I wanted to fill my box with a trio of decorative tags.  Two of the tags are just simple tags that I made by cutting  2 3/4″ wide cardstock and decorating with designer paper.  I staggered the height.  The first tag is 2 3/4″ x 4″.  Make the 2nd tag 4 1/2″ tall.

How to Make  a Tag Card

Here’s how to make the 3rd tag.

  • First cut (2) 2 3/4″ x 5″ panels of cream cardstock.  Crop out the corners with a corner punch.
  • Next, cut a 1 1/2″ x 4″ strip of designer paper from your scraps.  Score this at 1/2″ and 1″.  Now fold to form a little hinged spine.
  • Adhere the left hand flap of the hinged spine on one tag and the right hand flap on the other.
  • Then cut a little strip of designer paper to cover the the inside center of the spine.
  • Next, cut panels of designer paper to fit the tags.  Remember to crop out the corners to match the tag base.
  • Now adhere the patterned paper panels to the tag card.
  • Create a little pocket on the right hand side to hold chocolate or a gift card.
  • Cut apart one of the journal cards from the 12×12 collection and use it to decorate the inside of the card.
  • Use a scalloped punch to cut out one of the small doilies from the 6×6 pad.
  • Punch holes in the tops of the tags and decorate with ribbon, charms and flowers.
  • Trim journal cards from the 12×12 pad to fit the tag fronts.

Extra Goodies

Since I had more room in my box, I also “gift wrapped” a little cookie in a punch out doily.  A scrap of designer paper makes a cute bag for a honey pouch.  One of the tags has a tea bag attached to the back side.  The other is backed with light colored wood grain so that a note can be written.  And I dressed up one of my vintage silver spoons with ribbon and a posy.

This makes such a lovely gift!  It is not expensive to make, and you can honestly put it together in an afternoon.  It’s great for Mother’s Day, birthdays, party favors, bridal showers…just change out the paper to match the occasion.

I hope I’ve shared some tips and tricks you can use in your next crafty adventure.  If so, I’d love to hear from you in the comment box below.  You’ll also find a linked supply list below this post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

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Queen Mum Mother’s Day Gift Ensemble

Authentique Flawless Queen Mum Mother's Day Gift Ensemble by Kathy Clement Kathy by Design Photo 01

Authentique Flawless Queen Mum Mother’s Day Gift Ensemble for Authentique Group Post

Hello, Friends!  Mother’s Day is literally just around the corner.  Moms should be treated like royalty on this special day, so I created this Queen Mum Mother’s Day Gift Ensemble with the Authentique Flawless Collection.  I had my own precious mother in mind while creating these paper pretties.  Her favorite color was pink…so I think she would approve.

I know Mother’s Day is not always a happy day for every woman out there.  For those of you who find it hard to get through this day because of bad memories, grief over the loss of your mother, or sadness at never having been able to become a mom, I offer you a gentle hug.  My own mom passed in 2015, so it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to celebrate with her.  My goal each year is to spend some time remembering her and celebrating her life.

A Tribute to My Mom…the Queen of My Heart!

My mom had every reason in the world to be a real “stinker.”  Born into very humble circumstances, her parents divorced and gave her away when she was only 4 years old.  She was sent to live with a very cold and aloof aunt.  She was never hugged, never tucked in at night, never told she was beautiful or smart or loved.  Yet she did not become bitter or inflict her sad life on the life of her 5 children.

My mother was joy personified.  She was always singing, always ready for a good laugh, always ready to lend a helping hand, always quick to embrace us, praise us, encourage us and sacrifice for us.  Her heart was open to those who needed a mother’s love, even if they were pretty unlovable.  A brilliant mind, creative soul and adventurous spirit made her into a remarkable mother.  So I celebrate her on this special day.

Queen Mum Shaker Trinket Box

The first item in this ensemble is the Queen Mum Shaker Trinket Box. This is 5″ x 7″ altered book box with an acrylic shaker frame on top.

TIP:  Cover the foam adhesive sides of the shaker frame with 1/4″ strips of patterned paper.

Because my mom was an avid letter writer, I designed a set of simple note cards and matching envelopes to go inside the box.

And because my mom loved to make lists, I created a little matching note pad to tuck inside, too.

Mom would have loved all this pink!

Queen Mum Easel Shaker Card

Use the same image on the easel card.  This ties it together with the trinket box and makes for a lovely presentation.

Die cut a border from the black damask pattern.  Then back it with pink cardstock to create a stunning border.

Here’s a look at the inside of the card.  All of these quotes make me think of my mom.

I had just enough room to add a box style treat pocket on the top of the easel.

Create a 3″ x 3″ envelope for tea and chocolate with an envelope punch.  Then tuck in a special demitasse spoon to complete the trio.

Years ago I found a quote from Pearl S. Buck, one of my mom’s favorite authors.  I think of it every Mother’s Day because it is so true.

“Some mothers are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together”

May you all be treated like a Queen on Mother’s Day!

Cheerio,

kathy

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