Charmed - I'm sure!

I am joining in a challenge on Zuzu's Forum to make some charms. They need to be arty craft - not just a string of beads. I need to make 11 in total for swapping.

Here are a few on the go.


I have been experimenting making charms out of metal bottle lids.


It ruins your nails!



I get a lid and bash it about with a hammer

Into a squarish shape - not a perfect square.
I am going for a vintage look with my ones I think


I have then added black and white photos.


Bashed the sides in, then varnished it. It takes all night to dry the varnish. I have prepared about 15 of these.



The next stage is to add beads, and a ring. The top beads are glass - which catch the light. The bottom bead on this one is a lovely pearlised piece of stone or shell. The angel is actually in colour - with red/brown hair - but the scan doesn't show it up - and the bottom bead matches it wonderfully with a pearlised back and gingery brown front.


This Victorian lady is mounted on an angle so that it hangs like a triangle. The pearlised pink paint really shows up the colour photo.






A very simple black and white one - which I think is rather effective.

I spent ages rubbing the metal down with sand paper to make it shiny and to give it texture.

I still have the beads etc to add to at least eight more yet!

Little Girl Shoes - Hand drawn or painted for ATCards swap

Daisy shoes




Ladybird flip flops





Angels wings flip flops - size small!

Ooo Ollie

The above is for a black and white swap on Zuzu's forum.

The word 'art' is a cut out card which I painted white, them embossed - so to the naked eye it is shiny and bright.

I painted the black card even blacker to make it all contrast better - so too the white and black lettering. Laurel and Hardy's images were painted black and highlighted with white.

The marks on can see on the black jacket are not on the ATC but were on the glass of my scanner - so it looks jet black really and no smudges

Metal foil experiment

This design I did in the same way as the water iries below.

Freestyle design - a bit 'Art Deco'. Japanese Quince embossed on metal foil, then painted with glass paints.

Mounted on a thick royal blue crepe paper which I had drawn a quince design in silver, then the whole thing was mounted on thick card.

The paper it is photographed on is black - so to the little framework - would you believe!

It does look very much brighter in real life!

Playing with metal foil

This ATC is embossed metal.

I 'drew' a picture on the back of the metal - then turned it over and went over the outline - then painted it.

Hard to see in the photo - but they are stylised blue water irises rising out of a pond, with rushes.

Its mounted on a water colour painted background which matches the yellow centres of the irises

Watchmakers Tin - Altered Tin

Ginger on Zuzu's forum - kindly sent me a Watchmakers Tin to alter or decorate for a swap.

Here is my effort which has been sent to Seona



I was actually rather proud of it - my first ever attempt and it took me hours over a few days to do waiting for each layer to dry.

I used vintage watch parts which I bought off the internet and layered them in clear glues, glass paints and fine glitter - it looks lovely in the sunlight. It took me so many attempts to fit on the clock hands and get them to stay there - I almost gave up!



This is the reverse of the lid - which looks better in real life - and I have cleaned up the rim.


This is the inside bottom of the tin - with purple glass paints and fine glitters


Finished off with purple ribbon.

The tins were donated by Katy - for which we thank you.

You can buy 'naked' tins for Katy's Corner click here

Black and White Swap on Zuzu's Forum - Artists Trading Cards

Splish, splash, splosh - well that is what it felt like with this very watery messing about playing with black and white watercolours.
But I actually like how it has turned out.

Just think all these ATC's are smaller than they appear on your screen!




This one is a black textured card for the ATC backing. I stamped the butterfly image onto tissue paper and layered it on top.

A very sticky and tricky task indeed. Thank goodness it did not entail super glue or I would have been in a real mess!





A different medium - black and white watercolours. A freehand painting, sitting in the garden relaxing by the pond. (The is the proper size 3.5 inches x 2.5 inches for an ATC - I scanned the card in though so it is on the hough but in real life it is rectangle!

It was nice just painting with two colours and not to a particular theme as such.




Textured black card onto which I glued layers of tissue paper and mounted a stamped butterfly on plain white paper.