Our granddaughter, Ashleigh (8 years) made the competitive dance team a few months ago. This is the first year that she tried out for it...and she made the team! :-) I am very proud of her, not only is she a great dancer...but she is not afraid to go out there and dance in front of a large crowd! She has been in dance lessons of some kind since she was just two years old and she just loves to dance! :-) Her first competition is tomorrow. The dancers all have some kind of case that they use for their make-up, hair stuff, shoes, pieces of their costumes, etc. We found this box at Wal-Mart (it's a Stanley Rolling Tool Box) and she wanted me to paint on it for her.
No problem...right? So everything was going fine and I was actually done with painting it a few days ago. Last night I took pictures and then started to varnish it. (You take pictures before varnish so that you don't have glare...) I knew pretty quick that something wasn't right! The varnish I was using it put on with a soft rag...no problem, except there was a problem...it was almost as if the paint was dissolving! Ugh! Then I thought that maybe if I used a brush it might go on easier and not "disturb" the paint. So I tried another section. Same thing. Well, except for one spot...on the handle where I painted Ashleigh's name...I brushed the varnish on and it didn't bother it at all! Too weird! Now what do I do? I didn't have any paint thinner and I wasn't sure what it might do to the plastic of the box. I figured the varnish was removing the paint so I just put more varnish on and rubbed! It did the trick except it left a slight residue. This morning I sent Don to the hardware store and he came home with "Oops". It took the rest of the paint and the residue right off! After that was done, I wiped off the box and started to re-paint! Remember...her competition is tomorrow! :-)
I actually had probably jinxed myself because I had told my mom the other day that I wished I hadn't put the "background" on. She told me I could repaint it! :-) Or maybe I'll just blame it on her! :-) Anyhow, today instead of cleaning the house painted! I do like it better without the background, but I was trying to copy something that Kimberleigh had sent me for inspiration!
Anyhow, here's Ashleigh's dance box! The top opens up with a tray (the "tool" box) and the middle slides down and opens for a chest! I've included the picture used for inspiration, the sides (that are "original") and the box as it is now! It's bright and fun! :-)
I have to restamp the "Love" part, but thought I'd post it anyway! I need to figure out where I got my inspiration from, all I can remember is that it was on Splitcoaststampers.com! :-)
No problem...right? So everything was going fine and I was actually done with painting it a few days ago. Last night I took pictures and then started to varnish it. (You take pictures before varnish so that you don't have glare...) I knew pretty quick that something wasn't right! The varnish I was using it put on with a soft rag...no problem, except there was a problem...it was almost as if the paint was dissolving! Ugh! Then I thought that maybe if I used a brush it might go on easier and not "disturb" the paint. So I tried another section. Same thing. Well, except for one spot...on the handle where I painted Ashleigh's name...I brushed the varnish on and it didn't bother it at all! Too weird! Now what do I do? I didn't have any paint thinner and I wasn't sure what it might do to the plastic of the box. I figured the varnish was removing the paint so I just put more varnish on and rubbed! It did the trick except it left a slight residue. This morning I sent Don to the hardware store and he came home with "Oops". It took the rest of the paint and the residue right off! After that was done, I wiped off the box and started to re-paint! Remember...her competition is tomorrow! :-)
Anyhow, here's Ashleigh's dance box! The top opens up with a tray (the "tool" box) and the middle slides down and opens for a chest! I've included the picture used for inspiration, the sides (that are "original") and the box as it is now! It's bright and fun! :-)
Thought I'd show you what I've been working on (and some of the reason I stay up late)! My creativity seems to "come out" later at night and just doesn't work well in the morning! I know that some people are just made that way and I'm one of them! :-)
I just finished and mailed out an altered clipboard. Now some (I can hear Rick & Bob now) might want to know why on earth you'd "alter" a clipboard! Actually, it's really only because you can! It's like a canvas or another surface to work on! Kind of like some of those abstracts you see and wonder "why"! It's not really meant to be functional, more like a piece of artwork that you'd enjoy looking at! :-) The theme is supposed to be "all about you" but why would anyone want a surface all about me? I created it instead to be something that I would like to look at and on the back I made a small "all about me"! My swap partner can remove it from the back if she wants to use it! Pretty smart, huh?
It's been really neat making these ATCs because on my computer (that had been stored for all the years we were traveling) I had some images I had scanned years ago from pictures that my dad had from his family and I'm using a couple of those! The only down side is that ATCs are 2-1/4" x 3-1/2" so there's not much room and the pictures had to be printed pretty small! I don't know "who" these family members are...just that they are really old!
It's kind of fun though seeing "how" these come together! Some times I get inspiration from looking online at others that have created ATCs, cards, tags, pages, etc. Other times I get an idea in my head or think of something to use and just start pulling "things" out that I have! Sometimes I also just browse through the aisles at the store and things kind of come together! A lot of times, tonight included things don't even end up like I had originally thought! One thing I really need to start doing is keep track of the items I use to make some of these things!
