The Fairy Wedding Dress ~ hiding inside a little Altoids tin!

You are invited to a very special Royal Wedding….

 

No, don’t get excited. It’s not a delayed in the post invite to THAT wedding, because THAT wedding happened a week ago.   This is a different wedding altogether! 

❤  ~  ❤  ~  ❤

I’ve been trying to share this Fairy Wedding Tin for the last week,  and … well life got in the way and the rest is history.  But here I am now, doing the sharing!  Whoo hoo!

Chatting with another blogger, (Gillyflower)  in comments on my  last Altoids (size) Tin Transformation (<– clickable link)   a couple of weeks ago,  I told her that I had plans for a Fairy Themed Tin …. and began it straight away.  So this is me, sending you an invitation to come and share the secret of the tiny, all handmade (by me), ‘Fairy Wedding Dress hidden inside a Tin’!

Let’s begin at the beginning, shall we?

The Front of the Altoids size Tin is the first page of a three page ‘book’  which is an introduction to what’s inside the tin!

The front of the tin is the beginning of the story.  There are another two pages to the ‘book’, which are held closed by a small hidden magnet.

It says:   The Fairy Prince asked the Fairy girl to marry him, and she said ‘Yes’!  So with lots of excitement, a Fairy Wedding was planned.  With the finest silk spiders put to work, spinning the finest webs to make the finest Fairy Wedding dress.  On the opposite page is a tiny sketch of a wedding dress.

Then …  you open the tin to see the Wedding Dress of the Year (well, almost), which was all hand-made by Cobwebs.  er …. using Cobwebs …  ah,  no … er,  umm  ….  aw… just open the tin!

I wanted to do a fancy arty type of photo.  Black and white, but the dress and tree in colour.  Not sure it’s worth the effort, but it was an enjoyable few minutes of play-time.  😀

All the papers you see lining the inside of the little Tin are Graphic 45 ~ Fairy Dust.

The bodice of the Wedding Gown was made from lightweight, air dry clay.

That’s an English Penny you see at the base of the tin, in the centre.  An English Penny is (roughly) the same size as an American penny.

The tin measures 9cm tall,  and 6.cm wide, which is approx or just over  3.5″  in inches tall and 2.36 inches wide,  and it’s just over three quarters of an inch deep.

The Fairy Ballet Shoes you can see hanging from the knob, next to the mirror, are also made by me, and are roughly about a third of the size of a penny.

The dress isn’t dangling on the floor of the tin, as it looks in that last photo.  I can actually put my finger between the ‘grass and flowers’ and the bottom of the wedding dress … which you can see in the next photo .  .  .

… can you see the grass and flowers beneath the dress, in the above (bit fuzzy) photograph?

The dress is festooned with soft pink and red flowers, with bits of greenery here and there.  It has a sparkly ribbon around the waist, and a petticoat made from white cheesecloth fabric.   The skirt of the dress is topped off with two layers of pure white, fine, Tulle. The shoulder straps on the bodice are satin.

The tree which the dress is hanging from was made from a Pine twiggy bit which I found in my garden, which has been drying out for weeks in my craft room.  I didn’t have any plans for it at the time I picked it up (and thanked nature for it), but I knew I’d use it in some way, and ….  this Fairyland Wedding altered Tin is the perfect place!

I really enjoyed making this lovely altered Tin, and would love to make one like it again at some point.  But making a different sort of dress next time.  I have a million thoughts about what sort of dress and how it might look.  But … this tin was quite an intensive make.  All stops, starts and stops again, as I waited for bits of things to set / dry etc, – and I will freely admit that patience isn’t one of my strongest virtues.

 

Anyhooo  … that’s me done and dusted for this lovely Monday. I’m so glad that I finally got to sorting the photos out, and getting to share this Altered Tin with you.

I’ve spent the weekend just gone, trying to catch up with other peoples blog posts that I’ve missed.  Now I think I’m up to date …. but just in case my ‘Reader’ is telling me porky pies, and I’ve missed a blog post of yours, please do let me know in a comment so that I can come and catch up!

Thank you so much for coming, and for having a coffee moment with me.  I love seeing you here.  I’m sorry I’m sometimes missing in action – I have some health issues which are being a proper pain in the ‘you know where’. (not literally, you understand.  I have no problems with my ‘you know where‘).  But …  let’s not bother about the health issues, for they are like dragons.  They’re only scary if you think about them too much!  So we won’t.  😀

As always. . .  I love your company and love to chat with you, so please feel welcome to comment.  Let me know what you think.  Let me know what’s going on in your life.  And … if you’re in the United Kingdom, then today is a Bank Holiday – so let me know what you’re planning to do with this day off work (if you have the day off work – ’cause some folks aren’t able to.).

Have a magnificent Monday, whatever you’re doing, and a truly blessed, wonderful week.  Sending much love to you ~ 

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Believe in the Magic . . .

In a comment on my last Fairy Dress bit of artwork (an A.T.C. – you can see it  HERE  –  it will open up in another window for you),  I received this message … or maybe it was a letter … 

Dearest Cobs,
I would like to place my order for a lovely fairy dress in my size. I would also like it to have a bit of magic in it so that it makes my size be about 5 sizes smaller. And if I’m going to ask for some magic I should also like the feathers to be completely functional so that I can lift my skirt and fly away whenever the mood strikes me!
Sending you the fluffiest of fluffy feathered blessings!
~ Tami

Well, this young lady didn’t discuss colours, she only mentioned feathers, and a magical dress which would make her look at least 5 sizes smaller.  But … I don’t think it would be small enough for a real Fairy Dress in Fairyland … so I’m going to have to wave a Magic Wand over Miss Tami and simply change her into Fairy Size.  However, I have made her a dress which has a feathered skirt, – the feathers of which have been kissed with colour by a Kingfisher as he flew past.  As Fairy Tami flies, the feathered skirt will simply brush away from her legs which will allow her to land easily.

The Fairy Wings are the most beautiful of feathers …. but they’ve been died, cut and tinted to make them look like a butterflies wings.

The Skirt …  has been adorned with Diamond like Crystals, which can also be found on the bodice, at the centre of each flower.  The Bodice was all hand painted.

Above the Fairy Dress is a crown of gold ….  again decorated with Diamond like Crystals, and placed at a slightly jaunty angle, as I feel that Miss Tami would wear her crown at a slightly jaunty angle to show the fun side of her character.  (And believe me, that gal has a MAHOOSIVE fun side!  lol).

Although the four photos might appear to be exactly the same, they actually aren’t.  I tried my best to show the little details of this card so had to use different lighting in the hope of drawing attention to things so that you got a full idea of the whole card.

The Fairy Dress and Wings are mounted on an 8″x8″ plain white card blank.  The Teal colour around the edge is actually called Aquamarine, and is made using one of my most favourite crafty products – Pinflair Buff-it.  I LOVE this stuff and have it in about 8 different colours.  You can buy it direct from  Pinflair HERE –  I’ve shopped with them for many years now and cannot fault their service.

After I’d applied the Buff-it and polished it to a shine,  I then applied wriggly lines of glue all over the card and added very fine glitter dust to that glue.

I fixed the Dress and Wings in place;  fixed the crown at a jaunty angle, and finally fixed the word ‘believe’ to the bottom right hand corner – which I’d printed onto some thin white cotton.

And that’s all there was to it!

I do hope Miss Tami likes it.  Of course… she’ll have to have a fitting to ensure that it fits OK, but personally .. I can’t see a problem.  I think it will fit like a glove.

All that’s left for me to say now is ….  I hope your week is going well and that it’s not too hot, nor too cold where ever you are right now.  Here … well it’s a little humid in my cottage, but I’m sure it’s like that for a reason …  and being England, the weather will change if you blink so I’m sure it won’t last for too long.  (Although it’s three days here in the South Coast, and I am getting just a little fed up of feeling like a wilted flower).

Have a wonderful day, whatever you’re doing.  And whatever you’re doing, be nice.  Smile.  A smile costs nothing, but it can change a person’s whole day.

Squidges, from me here in my corner to you there in yours.

Don’t let life ruffle your feathers! A Fairy Dress ATC

I got involved with the World Watercolour Challenge in July, but I, being me, took it a step further and challenged myself to paint only in ATC (Artist Trading Cards) size, which is just 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches.  Now although I failed on some of the paintings, I absolutely thoroughly enjoyed myself.  It’s ages since I painted so picking up the brushes again was such a joy to me.

However …  in the comments, I got into various chats about ATC’s and tried to explain that if you fancied making an ATC, you didn’t have to paint in order to make them.  You could glue, stick, adhere, ~  paper, magazine cut-outs, tissue, die cuts,  anything basically. And attach all sorts of things.  You can make a picture, a statement, a quote, or even a whole story on your ATC.

To try to show you what I mean, I made a quick to make ATC  … it could be kept exactly as it is, and stored in a collectors folder.  Or you can give ATC’s away to friends, family etc.  Or you can swap them with other ATC makers.  Or … you could use them on a handmade card or in a scrapbook.

Don’t let life RUFFLE your feathers  ~ photograph taken with the flash on.

First I made the fairy dress, out of bluey green feathers, a sticker and black card, and using a plain white card, pre-cut to ATC size (2.5″x3.5″).

I firstly coloured the ATC card using two different blues – one was called Freshly Washed Jeans – the other …  I’m going to have to call Teal – it was ink left on a bit of sponge, which I’d saved in a sealed plastic bag (I’m such a thrifter!).  Then using an embossing ink and gold Tonic embossing powder, I embossed all around the edge of the card.

photograph taken using a bulb light desk lamp only.

I stamped the ‘message’ ~ “Don’t let life RUFFLE your feathers”, and stamped a feather over it.  Then added the three pearl gems in contrasting colours.

Aw…. nearly forgot …  before I began this ATC …  I back-stamped it using my favourite ATC stamp:

an ATC back-stamp.  Used on the rear of Artist Trading Cards, so that the piece of art work can be traced back to the artist who made the ATC.

I tend to stamp my ATC cards on the back before I begin my art work …  but I’ve been known to forget and if you do it’s easily solved.  You stamp your ATC stamp onto some plain white paper, fill in the details and cut it out to the exact size and simply glue it to the back of your ATC.

And that’s all there was to it!

Well, it’s Monday again.  A brand new week, fresh out of the box and gifted to us to do with as we will.  Do something good today.  Make your day a memorable one.  See if you can do something which will make another person smile.  It could be a work colleague, a friend, a relative or a complete stranger.  Whoever it is … make them smile.  Do whatever you can, with what you have available to you.  Just make someone smile today and make it a memorable day for you, and for them.

Sending a whole ton of squidges, all sent out in various directions around the globe, in the hope of one of them getting to you and making you smile too.  If you’re smiling right now … then one has already reached you.

Have a groovy day  …  a memorable, groovy day.

 

A Bathing Belle ~ an ATC painted for World Watercolour Month

The inspiration for this ‘Bathing Belle’ came from an [unused] sticker in my Craft Room.  I’ve had this lovely sticker for about 7 years – bought in a sale at Hobby Craft here in the UK.  It’s quite large compared to this little watercolour painting.   I came across the sticker a few days ago and thought it would make a lovely image on a little ATC (sized at 2.5″x 3.5″).  However … I changed the style of the dress part of her bathing suit.

‘Bathing Belle’ ~ an ATC sized painting for ~ #WorldWatercolorMonth

Originally the dress was more puffed up and ’rounded’ in it’s design, but I wanted to make a play on words for the Bathing BELLE (Bell) so thought I could change her slightly and turn her actually into a Bell shaped Bathing Belle.

I changed her hair also, from a deep, warm brown colour, to a salt and pepper (or rather more salt than pepper) bathing beauty.  After all, Grandmas, Nanna, Nanny and (in my case) Grammy’s can be just as glam as any young thing, so I thought I’d give a shout out for those of us who have a bit of stray grey going on!

The last photograph above, was taken with a light from two desk lamps – one either side of the painting – shining onto the ATC and mount.  However the next photo has no desk lamps on, as I wanted to use the flash on the camera to try to make the ‘Starry’ water colours put in an appearance and I think I managed it …. take a peep …

‘Bathing Belle’ ~ an ATC sized painting for ~ #WorldWatercolorMonth

… if you compare this last photograph with the one before it, you’ll see that the sea has sparkling white horses to the ocean.  The sand has some sparkling wet sand, and our Bathing Belle has a twinkling sea-horse hair ornament.  This sparkle and twinkle comes from using Kuretake,  Gansai Tambi Starry water-colour paints.  When they dry these paints have a  fabulous twinkle and sparkle to them.

‘Bathing Belle’ ~ an ATC sized painting for ~ #WorldWatercolorMonth

Because I changed the shape of her dress, to make her look more ‘Bell’ shaped like,  if you use your imagination now and cut the ATC at where her dress ends at the bottom …  you’d find that you had a Bell which you could ring by grasping hold of her head!  LOL!!

But of course … we’re not going to do that.  We’re not savages!!  Grief!  😀

Bit of paint.  Scrap of Watercolour Card.  Tub of water.  And that’s all there was to it!

Happy Sunday!  May today find you happy, healthy and with few jobs or chores to do, but lots of happiness waiting for you to discover it.

Sending you Sunday Squidges, and lots of lovely love ~

A Summer Sundress for a Wonderful Wednesday

Hello all.  Happy Wednesday!

The weather here where I live in the South West(ish) of Great Britain has been heart liftingly glorious for the past few days.  The sky is a blended mix of the palest duck egg right through to the deepest, diaphanous turquoise.  The sea is the most incredible blue and picks up the colour of the sky and changes it into a water representation of the same thing.  The sun glinted off the ripples of the water in such a way that it looked like a gazillion diamonds were floating across the sea and the sun was catching the diamond cuts, making them dazzling.  So dazzling that I had to keep looking away because it was so bright.

I am so blessed to be living where I do.

This fabulous weather made me think that I should be doing something summery today – so I decided upon a summery dress card.

The dress is made from the exact same print as the paper I used on the front of the card (and part of the inside) – but the dress print paper is in a much smaller scale.  I turned the dress into a ‘spinner’.  This means that it’s hung on a strand of thick cotton thread, and you can actually touch the dress and make it spin back and forth.

Of course … I had to make the inside pretty too …

The ‘things’ which look like buttons down the side are Candi Dots, fixed with teeny tiny foam pads.  (They’re on the front of the card too – along the top and bottom).  The fancy die cut edge (and the one on inner crease) were made using a Spellbinders die.

This card made me feel like I wanted to get my pretty sundress on and go for a picnic in the park.  Hope you like the card. 

So .. what’s the weather like where you are? 

Have a blessed rest of your day all.  ~

Feathered Fairy Dresses – all hand made.

Happy Wednesday!

I’ve decided that it’s Feathered Fairy Dress Wednesday today,   so I’m giving you a selection of Fairy Dresses to add to your virtual wardrobe!  So no complaining that you’ve got nothing to wear!

The bottom half of the dresses are made from dyed feathers and the bodices are all cut by hand using a selection of different coloured mirror cards.

So .. choose your dress, slip it on and we’ll all meet outside at 4pm today  . . .  then all we need is faith, trust and a little bit of Fairy Dust!

 

The backgrounds to the cards are all embossed – sadly the camera didn’t pick that detail up.  (apologies for the photographs.  I’m useless with a camera!)

Wishing you a bright, cheer filled, contented day!  love ~