Shrinky Dink Monster Pendants

I had some time this weekend to play with my new Stampotique stamps some more! There are just so many things you can stamp... So I made three little shrinky dink pendants with little crystal beads hanging off the bottoms.

Here's what they look like before shrinkage. I use Creativity Kits shrink plastic, the kind with a shiny side and a rough side. The tag shape is punched out and then hole-punched at the top, then the bottom five times to attach the crystals. Then I used black Staz-On ink to stamp the monsters onto the shiny side. Staz-On is pretty much like the Sharpie marker of ink pads, totally awesome! If you use regular pigment ink on a real slick surface, it's really likely to smear. But I did use pigment ink (Colorbox) to stamp and edge the color on the rough side which always turns out nice. Stamping on both sides creates a pretty cool 2-level effect once the dinks are shrunk down the oven :) Oh, and the colors on the back darken a bit when shrunk, too!

Happpppppy Wednesday!

Altered Altoids Tins Christmas Ornaments

 Happy Thanksgiving!!! And what a sleepy Thanksgiving it is... I was up until 3ish then awoken by my alarm clock each hour thereafter to check if mysterious Best Buy had posted their Thanksgiving Sale prices yet (They kept it a secret but said "soon" at 11 PM last night! Go figure). FINALLY at 6:05 AM they posted my new computer at a steep discount and I got it. Whew. I'm stoked, because I've been doing ALL my blogging/computering/photo editing on a teeny tiny netbook since 2008. Anyhoo, I have some altered altoids tins to share with you today! :)

 Sledding!

 There are four levels in each, the snowy background scenes, then a snowy sparkly microball-covered hillside, the sledding boy, then the Christmas banner. The levels are separated and spaced by a couple squares of sticky-back foam.

 Santa Claus!

 The vintage images were all cutout of old 1950's era children's books.

 I used mod podge to seal sheet music to the outsides of the tins. I used Alene's tacky glue to stick little glass beads along the rim. Took forever to use tweezers to stick those guys on there. After the first bit of glue dried, I added another later of glue along the outside edge to make sure the beads were secure. The glue dried clear, so the beads are still sparkly. I love the look!

 This one is a small tin, the container for Altoids Smalls. Walking in a winter wonderland :)

I don't think that I mentioned that I removed the covers of all these tins. They come off pretty easy.

I hope everyone has a really great and happy holiday season this year! Eat some tonnage today, folks! Happy Turkey Day! 

P.S. I'm thankful for my readers and all the friends I've made through the online crafting community! Love! :)

Floating Dog Christmas Ornament

Folks have been asking... Is this a pug? SURE! (But I guess it could also be a bulldog if you colored him right) I suppose you could even crop the ears off and make it into a boston terrier! But anyway, it's cute with a Santa hat, no?

I made this ornament for a friend who has decided to buy local for Christmas this year! She needed an ornament for a sort of White Elephant game in a few weeks. I used my new Floating Dog stamp (available to buy here) and colored it with watercolors to achieve a pug-like look :) The santa hat is just cut out felt and white pipe-cleaner.

The base is cereal box-turned-chipboard by gluing a bunch of layers together. Then various layers of scrapbooking paper, book page, ink, paint, gems, craft foil, sparkly microballs and ribbon!

I've been working on some Altoids tins that I'll share next week. Have a lovely weekend! OH! And a BIG BIG thank you to everybody who has left oh-so-kind comments of congratulations on my new stamp line :) I always really appreciate your support and sweet words! It means a LOT! I have the best readers EVAR.