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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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Thursday, September 28, 2017

couture Creations blog post 2





Love Christmas Layout 
and Christmas note book 

By Sue Smyth

This time using Let Everyday Be Christmas 
I have made a regular layout, with lovely
matching double sided papers 
it is a snap to cut panels and fussy cut, especially
when you have pre cut ephemera and tags.



I have die cut leaves with the Christmas Branches set,
they are so versatile to tuck under my layered
bauble. To create the scalloped lacy border I have used the Reindeer
Medallion Die 




To add the 3mm pearls I lay a line of glue down along
the edge. then using a pointed tool I pick off 
the pearl and place on the glue.
This means the pearl is never coming off, our heat
here in QLD
 can make pearls fall off over time.


To cover the book, trim the paper to approximately the 
size you want.
Then use a gel medium or glue to adhere it to the 
cover well.




Then decorate as desired.
Here I have used a panel of paper
which has been glued to a panel of chipboard.
Over top I have die cut from white cardstock to cut a Snowflake doiley




Then I have layered the die cuts too. To make
them sturdy, again I have glued them to chipboard
and then adhered down.


I have added 3mm pearls and white fibre for 
softness.


Of course add rhinestones to the nifty Christmas Branches die 
to make them resemble holly

Products Used

C0725489 Let Everyday Be Christmas Paper Pad
C0725492 Let Everyday Be Christmas Die Cut Tags
C0725493 Let Everyday Be Christmas Ephemera 
C0725508 Let Everyday Be Christmas Christmas Branches Decorative Die set 
C0725510 Let Everyday Be Christmas Reindeer Medallion Decorative Die 
C0725513 Let Everyday Be Christmas Snowflake Doiley Die 
C0725516 Let Everyday Be Christmas Peace and Love Background Die 
C0724633 Snowflake 3mm pearls 

Happy Crafting 
Sue Smyth 



Thursday, September 21, 2017

Imaginarium altered magic


The Giant Mummy Book 
and Pigs might fly 
By Sue Smyth



I love searching second hand stores for nicely shaped books 
and a few months ago I found this massive 
Atlas, with a super hard cover. It cost me the huge 
price of $1.00 ...what a bargin
It measures about 60 x 30 cms so yes it is large 
and heavy.


I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it, I love 
Egyptian art works, and with Halloween 
coming up, I knew I would be able to find
lots of Mummy inspired items, along 
with my favourite go to plastic bugs !!!
YEAH 


Here are some super close ups, here
you can see how I have created a giant
rip in the front of the book.
And I have burnt the edges of the paper.
I use a fire lighter to make it easier.


Here is my giant Scarab, I found 
it as the Australian Geographic shop, 
you can get a whole pack of assorted bugs for about$15.00


Here I have included plastic snakes and 
a plastic skeleton, you will find these
at any store selling Halloween decorations.


I found lots of plastic skulls at Spotlight 
and they work a treat when painted 
with black gesso and then layered 
over with metallic paint.


I also found some super Dragon eyes that just 
had to be included.


I needed an ANKH, which I found online
to tuck into the mix.
Along with a Scorpion.


I tried to use bugs that 
were relevant, like centipedes, scarabs, beetles
and scorpions, things you would find in the 
desert. 


To soften the look and hide 
any voids, I have dyed 
some muslin brown
and teased it out, I have tucked that in
all over the front.


The best thing I found was 
these skeleton hands again 
at Spotlight in the Halloween
section, they were the inspiration for the whole
book, I wanted 2 skeletal hands
to appear to be ripping the
book apart, and the melee of 
bugs to be cascading out. 
I also made some resin molds 
of King Tut to include.


This plastic scarab is huge, I did have 
to alter him a bit to make him more 
authentic, a bit of surgery
with the scissors turned an elephant beetle
into a scarab.


I have called my book Secret of the Tomb.
I am working on the inside too, but it 
was not ready in time, so 
I will post it next blog post.



I have adhered lots of gauze to the cover to 
appear like a Mummy shroud.

Here is a little Hint on how to do it 


The cover has been cut in half with a CHAINSAW, 
yes that is right,the cover was so hard I had 
to enlist hubby and his trusty 
chainsaw, I made sure he did
it roughly for a rustic look.


I have added macrame cord around 
the edges and layered over 
it scrunched tissue, and on
top of that, chipboard and embellishments.



Burn the edges with a bbq lighter or a portable 
burner from a kitchen shop.


Then paint the whole book with 
black gesso. It is starting 
to look so cool already!!


The frame is painted with black gesso.
Then randomly draw with 
liquid pearls(any colour) 
Then leave it to dry.


When dry paint with black gesso again, and dry off.


When you rub over gold ink gold it will 
pick up the fine lines and looks so 
vintage.


The main body of the book 
is covered in crumpled tissue
painted black and then 
rub over inka gold of your choice, I have 
used Graphite and cobalt.
I have also used an Art Alchemy wax 


Here is the start of my embellishments, and as you can see above 
I kept filling the frame with 
whatever I wanted to enhance the theme.
Why not have a go and make you very
own altered book.


Pigs Might Fly 



My next project is a cutie.
I have been looking for so long for a fat cute 
pig to alter. And at last I found one.



She has several layers of wings and such a cute 
smile on her face.


I had to make her a crown, and I found
plastic ones in the party section.


To decorate the sides I have adhered chipboard
cogs, to the base of the pig, and layered over
real metal ones later.


Even her bottom is cute lol.


Cheese !!


Paint the crown with black gesso first
and then rub over with gold inka
you will be surprised at the detail
that is revealed.


The monarch butterfly chipboard makes a great set
of wings for a pig.

Here is a little how too 


First paint the pig black, I use
flat black spray paint, but you could 
also use black gesso.


Then add texture paste to 
the surface so you can adhere the chipboard.
It helps to mist the chipboard with water
first so it can bend with the
shape of the object.


When dry, paint black again
this time with black gesso,
as this will help the colours adhere
to the surface.


Then paint the pig turquoise and add
a little purple paint.
I have done this randomly
as I love the randomness of ART.


Chipboard is sprayed black too, and 
sponge over paint randomly.


I have rubbed over Alchemy  waxes, this 
one is Antique Turquoise.
It gives a cool aged look. 


The add Vintage gold for a super sheen.

Happy Crafting 











Thursday, September 14, 2017

couture creations guest post

Let Everday Be Christmas Sampler 
By Sue Smyth


As most of you know by now I love this format for scrapbooking a
new range, it is a great way to make a gift or work
out great card ideas.




This time I have matted each panel onto a white die cut
rectangle, I have inked the edges in Gold metallic rub
for a little bit of shine.


Each panel is raised on a scrap of chipboard
trimmed to be just a little smaller 
than each scalloped rectangle.


The Reindeer Medallion die cut deer is smeared with Dimensional 
magic and sprinkled liberally with glitter, choose
a colour that blends with the layout.


The Love and Hope Background die cut is trimmed to only
use the words and again I have smeared with Dimensional magic
and sprinkled with white glitter.



Nothing makes a sampler pop more than layering 
up the die cuts. 



Here I have layered quite a few to make a dimensional panel


I have added some altered flowers and lots of 3mm Pearls 
to finish my layout 


Products Used 

C0725489 Let Everyday Be Christmas Paper Pad
C0725492 Let Everyday Be Christmas Die Cut Tags
C0725493 Let Everyday Be Christmas Ephemera 
C0725508 Let Everyday Be Christmas Christmas Branches Decorative Die set 
C0725510 Let Everyday Be Christmas Reindeer Medallion Decorative Die 
C0725513 Let Everyday Be Christmas Snowflake Doiley Die 
C0725516 Let Everyday Be Christmas Peace and Love Background Die 
C0724633 Snowflake 3mm pearls 




Happy Crafting