Mixed Media Free-form ATC "Birdcages" by Elena Martynova

Hello there, creative friends!

Today I'd like to share with you my new inspiration! 

I made a series of ATC "Birdcages".

I really like to make different interesting things,

 I like to compose all sorts of houses for fabulous creatures. 

And for the inspiration of June, I made some four Birdcages for the fairies.

I'm dismantling my attic again:))) 

And I found a very interesting find. 

These are bird cages for mechanical wind-up birds. 

Once they decorated the girls ' rooms, and then they were banished to the attic for lack of use.
The wind, rain and dust had completely ruined the appearance, the cats had torn apart the
 small furry birds, and all the mechanisms were hopelessly rusty.

All I managed to do was blow away a centimeter of dust,

 disperse the spiders that had chosen the cages as their home, 

and scrape some rust off the bars.

Each bird cage has its own unique title.

 I used Mini Title Stick Set 3 and

Mini Title Stick Set 1 

The back wall is decorated with a floral chippies from the Corner Flower Vines.

First I covered it with black paint, and then I experimented

 with colored pastes, embossing powders, and waxes. 

I guess if I wanted to do it again, I wouldn't be able to do it :)))

The old mechanisms are made using sets of chipboard gears

 Steampunk Gears Medium and Steampunk Gears Small 

and Steampunk Strips

Between the layers, I added lace and a lot of different toppings: 

medium and small art-stones, beads and glitter.

I hope you enjoy my idea of unusual ATC))

I used 2Crafty products:

Steampunk Gears Medium

Steampunk Gears Small

Mini Title Stick Set 3

Mini Title Stick Set 1 

Corner Flower Vines

Steampunk Strips

Have a nice day!

Сheers, Elena.

Marg Mifsud - My very first 2Crafty Post !!

Hello everyone!!  I am so excited to be sharing my very first 2Crafty projects!!
I was thrilled to bits when Di Garling and Vanessa Tiberti invited me to be on this
amazing Design Team.  Thank you so much ladies, I so appreciate your  confidence
 in me and will do my best not to let you down.  As a Resident Guest Designer,
 I needed to make 3 card size items.

So, my first item is, (Surprise! Surprise!) an...

" Easel  Card"

  The 2Crafty Chipboard pieces used are 

Corner Flower Vine

Ornate Buckle

Heidi Vines

  The Ornate Buckle was coloured with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink
 and then clear embossed.
 

 As this is an Easel Card I used half of the Corner Flower Vine to anchor the easel.
 This piece was coloured the same as the Ornate Buckle with Spiced marmalade
Distress Ink and clear embossing powder.

 When I received the Corner Flower piece it turned out to be a bit bigger than I had
 expected but, as chipboard is so adaptable, I knew I would still be able to use it on a
card so I simply cut off the piece needed for this card and still had the left over bit
 for another project.  I really love this ornate piece and it fitted the card beautifully.
 

 I needed some leaves to go with my flower cluster so I trimmed some of the leaves from
 the Heidi Vine.  I sprayed them with water until they were quite wet.  Then, very
carefully, I gently separated the layers to about half way down the leaf as I
didn't want them to come apart completely.  I then shaped them and left them
 to dry.  Once dry, I simply coloured them with Crushed Olive Distress Ink.

I really love how they turned out.

My next  project today is a tag.

2Crafty Chipboard pieces used are...

Corner Flower Vine

Tiny Kathleen Frame

Chicken Barbed Wire Small

 As you've probably guessed, I've used the other half of the Corner Flower Vine
which was left over  from the previous card on this tag.

 All the chippies on this piece were coloured the same way.  Coated with gesso first
and then lightly coloured with Broken China Distress Ink.   I used Black Soot for
 the stamping on the background and on the chippies as well.

The chicken barbed wire comes in a 5" square piece and I
simply cut off a narrow strip to place on the side of my tag.

My last piece  is an AT Block.

2Crafty Chipboard pieces used are

Tiny Edwin Corners

Tiny Henri Frame

ATC Mask

ATC Tiny Hearts & Stars

The block measures 2 3/4" x 2 3/4".

The Tiny Edwin Corners were brushed with gesso and then clear embossed.
 The tiny Hearts were coloured with red acrylic paint.  I then applied a little
 bit of glitter and coated them with Glossy Accents.

This is the opposite side of the Block which is decorated in a similar way with the
same chipboard pieces.  Don't you just love those gorgeous ornate corners??

The front of the Block has the Tiny Edwin Frame which was also painted with gesso and then just clear embossed.  The ATC Mask was coloured with red acrylic paint and when that was dry I went over the central section of the feather with gesso.  I then coated that section with glitter and used a black Sharpie for the doodles.  Then I simply glued the tiny gems around the top of the mask. 

I used the centre piece from the Frame to make the small tag.   Trimmed a little off one edge, rounded the corners a bit more and  then I covered the tag with some designer paper and inked around the edges.

The chippies on the lid were treated the same as those on the sides.
 Painted the corner with gesso and then clear embossed and the hearts with
red acrylic paint and covered with Glossy Accents.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with these gorgeous chipboard pieces.
  2Crafty have a huge selection of pieces that are the perfect size for cards
and other small projects and, even if you receive something a little bigger than
 expected, such as the Corner Flower Vine, it is easily cut up into manageable
 sizes for your projects.

Thank you so much for visiting and I do hope I have inspired you today.

  And remember, to find a 2Crafty stockist near you, drop an email to...
salesat2crafty@optusnet.com.au