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Welcome everyone, I hope to inspire you and share some of my papercraft work. You can find out where I teach and what I am up to, what inspires me and what I am working on next. I love to share new ideas and neat ways of adding creativity to your pages or cards etc

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Tuesday, June 21, 2016

imaginarium post



Sues Treasures 
By Sue Smyth 

Hi Bloggers
Today I have a group of little treasures for you. I love
working small sometimes, and I hope these projects
inspire you to do the same.

Queen of Hearts mini

First is a little mini album made 
from a pack of cards and Imaginarium 
chipboard as the cover.
I have cut pages to fit the frame
and have sewn them together.


Then, I have 
cut the playing cards to fit the frame and 
layered them over the top.


The frame has been painted with matt black spray paint 
and then I have rubbed over gold paint to edge it.


To frame the Queen of hearts I have used 
bamboo skewers, which have been
trimmed, painted black and wiped over
with gold paint.


The inside pages are alternated blank 
pages with trimmed cards.
I have flicked black and red paint
pens over each card to 
give shabby grungy look.


The heart is  a hand cut heart, from chipboard, that I have embossed 
with aged gold embossing powder.
While it is hot I have sprinkled
Prills over the top, when it is
cooled, the Prills will roll off
and leave behind a dimpled surface.
then rub in red paint, and dry
brush the edges with black gesso.
Then I have added trinkets.


Emerging Dragon

For the Scrapbook and Papercraft Expo 
in Brisbane, I wanted to make a few
extra projects, that did not take up 
too much room.
A dragon eggs seemed like a great idea, at
the time and I think it turned out nicely.


See below for a mini
tutorial on how to decorate 
the eggs surface.

Once I have decorated the egg
with chipboard, I have 
added rhinestones 
and crystals


This is a close up of the egg, the styro base
is covered with chipboard and 
egg shell, adhered down with 
texture paste.

Even large chipboard flourishes 
can be made to adhere to the curve of the egg.


On one side of the egg, I have cut 
a slit, which I sprayed black matt
spray paint into. As the
paint is enamel it will eat
away some of the stryofoam 
and form a cavity 
for the dragon to sit into.


I have added lead sinkers into the cavity
to give the egg some weight and
to support the weight of the dragon.
For my dragon I have
cut up a resin dragon statue with
a hacksaw.
For the tail I have molded it 
with Fimo to suit the shape
of the egg.

Bronzed Nest Gift Box 


Next is a tiny box from Marina Jewelry Designs,which I could
not resist altering.
I wanted to make an intricate piece, with a nest 
and also inside have a little surprise.


I have started with Moroccan screen chipboard 
which is adhered to the sides with 
gel medium.


With small items it is important 
to have lots of detail.
The pearl strips add that detail to the edges.


For the top, I have layered, a chipboard frame,
with metal trinkets, to form a sort
of nest for the eggs and nestled a
small butterfly on the side.


I have added small rose buds, feathers, 
small Art stones, and tiny gum nuts, on a bed 
of green moss.


How to decorate your egg


Cover a styro egg with texture paste ( a bit at a time)
set small chipboard shapes such as cogs into the paste.
Spritz with water to mold in to the curve.
Also add egg shell and clear dew drops into the paste.
Add micro beads or prills while wet.
For larger chipboard, spritz with water and layer into
the paste, use pins to secure down, and
leave in place until dry and set.



Paint egg with turquoise Dylusions, then
spritz with black dylusions spray and dry off.


Rub the surface with Graphite inka gold. Then 
a layer of purple, navy and some turquoise to 
give an iridescent appearance.


Lastly layer over the top with gold metallic paint.


Now spray with a fine spray glitter to add
sparkle.


Here I have made a plain egg with 
just egg shell and texture paste, with the same techniques, 
it shows you how simple you can do an egg.




Here is a little step by step for the gift box.


Cut chipboard border into pieces and adhere 
along the edges. 
Then paint with turquoise ink, and 
add Ken Olives Colour bursts to suit. ( I have
used Violet and turquoise)


The gold leaves have been double embossed and 
snipped into pieces to tuck into the sides of the 
nest.


To finish I have added large pearls 
to the bottom as feet.





I have sprayed the bottom with 
black matt spray paint and nestled 
a small bird, moss and faux nest inside.


Chipboard used 

Happy Crafting 




Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Couture Creations 2

Sea Breeze Sampler 
By Sue Smyth 



I can never resist this format of memory keeping, especially
when you have labels or postcard type papers that are just
begging to be made up into a great sampler.
This would be great for Father's Day, if you swap out 
the bathing lady in the middle lol, or perhaps he would 
like that lol


Each panel is an individual work of art, starting with the middle
panel and chipboard frame, see a how to below to make 
the aged surface. You can also convert each of 
these panels into a card, and also substitute 
photos where you wish.


I have fussy cut shells and fish and coloured
them with alcohol pens, I like to also 
flip them over on a mouse pad and use 
a large stylus to cup the shape, then
you can adhere down with 3 d foam tape. 


Here I have coloured the banner and middle of the compass
then I have applied Dimensional magic over the 
colour and adhered the trinket compass over the top.


Here I have added small shells and art stones
using Dimensional magic to adhere them down.


The shells have been coloured with pens, and 
then covered with Dimensional magic.
I have added a star fish and gauze for a nautical look.


I have coloured a little of the sea, then stamped 
the knotted rope in black ink, fussy cut the 
rope and adhere over top of panel with 3 D foam tape.


Fussy cut the light house, and adhere on a background with 3 D 
foam tape. The back ground is simply a little
teal ink smudged over the top of the panel
and a swipe of dry brushed white gesso.
Add the anchor and some art stones.


Colour the anchor and cover with Dimensional magic.


I started by cutting out the panels I needed and 
arranging them in the order I thought I might use them.
As you can see I have changed them as 
I worked on, this is just a starting point, so I know
I have enough images etc.


Trim bathing beauty and cover with Dimensional magic
then sprinkle with a little white glitter. Not a lot, just some sparkle.


Paint chipboard frame with white gesso and dry.


Add another coat, but thickly this time, using a
stipple motion to add bumpy globs of gesso, 
dry with heat gun so it blisters and bubbles.


While still a little damp,sprinkle with a coarse 
gold embossing powder, not a lot, just a sprinkle.


Heat set and cool, then add another thick layer of white gesso.
And a little more of the embossing powder.


Heat to set, keep going until you have the look you
are after.



Dry brush the edges with white gesso, and dry each panel.


This is the back ground for the light house, just a swipe
of ink and gesso.


Cut a snippet of blue netting and adhere under the 
knots to the panel.


Add small pearls around the edge of the chipboard. 
Then adhere over the bathing beauty panel.


After you colour each panel, cover with 
dimensional magic, to give it shine, dimension and to 
stop fading.


To achieve the spots of white see then panel below.


I have flicked a white paint pen over each panel, here 
and there, to great the look of sea spray and 
to add small detail to areas that need it.


Happy Crafting 

Couture Creations Materials used.