Sparkly Altoid Boxes

My love for Altoid tins prompted me to embellish some empty ones that I saved. I tend to be a craft supply “pack rat” and for awhile now I’ve had a small stash of empty Altoid tins just waiting to be decorated. After patiently anticipating their rejuvenation, the Altoid tins finally had their chance to sparkle and shine.

First I spray painted the tins with some leftover antique gold paint. Then I added some glittery touches using the Designer Dries Clear Adhesive & a variety of Art Glitter colors. For the box pictured, I started to make a few random circles with the adhesive and sprinkled one color of glitter over the wet adhesive. Next I let the first set of glittery circles dry. Once they were dry, I made a new set of random circles with the adhesive & glitter. I continued this process until I had random circles across the tin cover in colors of T-Bird (#184), Jamaica (D30) and Siren (D28). I wanted to add just a little more glimmer, so I used Crazy Corn (#D1) to fill in the space between the circles. As one last touch, I used Glossy Accents by Ranger, to apply over the circles.

I liked using the Art Glitter Dazzlers line of glitter for this Altoid tin project. The pieces of glitter in the Dazzlers are larger, and they worked well with the circle shapes on the tin cover. Using the T. Bird (#184) Ultrafine Pearlescent glitter for some of the other circles added some glittery contrast to the larger, more sparkly Dazzlers colors of Siren and Jamaica. I also liked how the Dazzler color, Crazy Corn (D1) had a combination of large pieces of glitter with ultrafine pieces of glitter. And the fact that the ultrafine glitter used in the Crazy Corn is in a red and a gold color, giving it a look of depth and warmth. Using the Crazy Corn color in the background on the tin helped to unify the Dazzlers colors of Siren & Jamaica, with the Ultrafine Pearlescent color of T. Bird. After using the Crazy Corn, it has proven to be one of my favorite colors to use. I never tire of seeing how fascinating the sparkles look in the Crazy Corn glitter. And it’s hard to resist adding it to all the rest of my pieces. You are sure to see Crazy Corn used again in at least one of my future projects. Don’t miss it!

Fall is my Favorite

What is your favorite season and why? I enjoy the warm colors of fall and the crisp air. There's a feeling of slowing down and retreating as the summer shifts to autumn. Now that fall is here, I hope to get on the nature trail more often than the summer. I usually go out on the trail often during the summer but this year I didn't go on as many rides because of the hot, humid, rainy weather. It was the one of the rainiest summers on the records for Wisconsin. As it gets closer to the start of fall, I see the hints of my favorite season, along the path and sites around me. It is a bittersweet moment, as I know well, what happens in Wisconsin after fall's departure. I cringe at even the thought of the "s" word and I refuse to write it out in this post. Unfortunately, it will be here sooner than I'd like. I am going to miss being able to ride my bike out around the sites and sounds of nature, always welcoming me to a place to discover new things. My eyes are on the constant lookout for the smallest of details. I'm zipping along past some trees and bushes.....wait......wait.....what did I notice in the corner of my eye. Stop, back up!

There is a new discovery, look at those berries!

Next I stop within a tree tunnel and see these charming mushrooms

growing up the side of a tree trunk. How wonderful!

Tree tunnels are my favorite parts along the trail. Once fall is gone, I will have to say goodbye to the trail for another year until Spring arrives.

A time to smile!

While I wait for my replacement laptop from HP, I try to keep myself busy doing other things. One of those "other" things, using my sister's laptop to get online and view the most recent Rhett and Link music video. These guys are so creative and enjoyable to watch. Take a look at their new music video about 600 pillows.....very nicely done backwards!

Glittery Petite Purses

This is my first “official” Art Glitter project and I had loads of fun embellishing my Petite Purses with gorgeous, sparkly Art Glitter. Fall is just around the corner and it happens to be one of my favorite seasons, so I decided to make some purse designs with an Autumn theme. I make my Petite Purses out of sheets of fun foam and an assortment of embellishments. I have used the purses for presenting little treasures tucked inside such as the sculptural pins and magnets that I make. My Petite Purses come in two sizes, small and large. The purses made for this project are made in the larger size, which are a perfect size for gift cards.

While at a local craft store, I found some leaf embellishments and decorative brads to add some pizzazz to my purses. However, the most pizzazz came once the Art Glitter was applied. It was the last feature I added, but it was definitely not the least. Wow! The glitter completely transformed the purses and they gleamed and glistened with more life than before!

And speaking of transformation, I was able to turn my dull plain brads for attaching the purse straps, into some sparkly wonderful brads. I did not have the correct color of brads to use on my fall colored purses, so I looked to the transformative properties of the glitter as my solution. The brads were in light pastel colors, not quite the colors associated with Autumn. This is when the Art Glitter and the Designer Dries Clear Adhesive came to the rescue. After the plain brads were fastened to both the purse strap and the purse flap, I applied some Designer Dries Clear Adhesive to the brad caps and covered them with one of the following colors of glitter: Ultrafine #65 Old Gold, Ultrafine #56 Pumpkin, Ultrafine Pearlescent #179 Tang. I was very pleased with how the adhesive and the glitter completely transformed the brad caps from dull to dazzling. Hurray! Way to go, Art Glitter and Designer Dries Clear Adhesive! You two make a fantastic combination.

Once the leaves and brads were attached to the purse flaps, I used the Ultrafine Metal Tip on my Designer Dries Clear Adhesive bottle to start making swirls and other designs. Sometimes I used just one color of glitter to sprinkle over the adhesive, but other times I mixed some of the glitter colors together to expand my glitter color options. Another technique I used was sprinkling one of color of glitter sporadically over the adhesive and then sprinkle over it with another contrasting color to cover any remaining areas of uncovered adhesive. For example, I used the Ultrafine Pearlescent (179) Tang to sprinkle on here and there over a drawn out design in adhesive and then I’d use the Ultrafine Opaque (56) Pumpkin color afterward to cover any “un-glittered” areas of adhesive. Adding glitter in this way resembled the gradation of leaves changing color in the Fall.

I discovered the joy and contentment of working with glitter. The sparkle of glitter is so enchanting and inviting. The Art Glitter bug has bitten me. Stay tuned for more glittering projects.

Glitter colors used: Ultrafine #65 Old Gold, Ultrafine #56 Pumpkin, Ultrafine Pearlescent #179 Tang, Dazzlers #D30 Jamaica Hexis Grande, Dazzlers #D1 Crazy Corn Funky / Supplies: Designer Dries Clear Adhesive, sheets of fun foam, eyelets, decorative and plain brads, hot glue / Tools: Ultrafine Metal Tip, scissors, hot glue gun, stylus, wavy edge scissors, paper punch

Hellooooo......anyone out there?

Hello! I've neglected my blog for way too long. How are you out there in blog-land doing?

Things over here are okay. I am getting ready to receive a replacement laptop from HP. If you have read my previous blog post, you can see how much wasted time and headaches that I've spent dealing with HP. Hopefully my replacement computer will not give me so much grief and cause me any additional inconveniences.

Last week I sent in my first blog article for the Art Glitter website. It's the first of six articles that I will be writing for them. I am excited about doing the articles since I love to write and to work with glitter. Working with glitter is so very relaxing and I never tire of the way it sparkles. The only thing that I wish I could resolve is the way glitter seems to migrate to other areas where you'd prefer it would not go. Anyone have some tips on how to control glitter migration?