Pirate Mermaid briefcase

 Hallo,
    I have another briefcase to show you today. I used stamps from Sweet Pea Stamps of course - a couple Pirate Mermaids by Ching Chou Kuik - the first one is called 'Unregrettable Pirate Life' and the second is 'Caribbean Treasure'
  I colored them both with prismacolor pencils and used Spellbinders dies to cut them out and the fancy layer underneath too.
  I covered the front and back of the briefcase with pretty paper and then added the images and some bling - rhinestones, faux pearls, some pretty old buttons and some gold beads.
   Don't for get about the Anniversary sale going on over at Sweet Pea Stamps - use the codes above and get you some Sweet Peas of your very own!!!
   All for me today - Take Care
         Tera

Mermaid Briefcase

Hallo,
  I finished off this cool briefcase yesterday using 2 mermaid images from Sweet Pea Stamps - they have them both in digital and rubber stamp form.
  Check them out here - www.sweetpeastamps.com
  The first one is by Norma J Burnell called 'Rayne' and the second is called 'Kiara' by Elaine Cox.
  I took a used, but still in good shape briefcase and covered the front and back with some pretty ocean looking paper.
  Both the images were colored with prismacolor pencils and cut out with Spellbinders dies. I glued the layered images down along with some seashells, charms and some seed beads. To do all the gluing I used a artis....t matte gel that works similar to modge podge only better. I used it because I ran out of modge podge and discovered that I  like it a lot better. The gel is a bit more expensive but it is easier to work with and dries a bit quicker and smoother than the modge podge....
   All for this am - worked last night so its time for some sleep now :)
      Take Care
         Tera

Oriental Briefcase

 Hallo,
   I have finally finished off this briefcase project - after over 2 and 1/2 years.....Its one of those things that I got started and then got side-tracked and kept getting side-tracked and never got done.
  Well one of my New Years Resolutions was to try and finish off a lot of the projects I have half done like this one and I finally got this one done :) I have had the briefcase recovered for 2 years now and the one of the main images done for about a year and ideas for other images and embellishments picked out for over 6 months and I finished it today!!!! (its about time eh ?)
  It started out as a big old black briefcase with a few scuff marks on the outside, the inside is in very good shape with only 2 places that are scuffed up.
  I started out making up a masterboard with a whole bunch of Oriental stamps from several companies. I then cut the master board into pieces and edged them with red ink and used mod podge to glue them all over the briefcase - cutting smaller pieces to fit around handles and the zipper for the file pouch and ect. Once it was dry I sprayed it all with several coats of acrylic finish to make it more durable.
  The front of the case has 2 main images and the top left  hand one is a stamp from Sweet Pea Stamps - colored with copics and her dress is paper pieced, and layered onto a fancy Spellbinders die.
  The bottom right hand image is a Spellbinders die with stamps from Stampin' Up embossed onto it.
  I glued the images on with mod podge and when dry sealed them too.
  The back of the case I used a stencil and a black copic marker to make the iris and sealed it with a layer of mod podge and then the acrylic sealer (mod podge first because the acrylic sealer doesn't play well with alcohol markers :)
  All for today - need to gather some supplies for my encaustic wax painting class tomorrow :) So excited, and sooo addicted :)
   Take Care
       tera

Briefcase Project

Hallo,
Well today is my 3rd 12 hour shift in a row and I am TIRED - glad its my last (at least for a couple days ) - I used to be able to do a bunch of these 12 hr. shifts in a row but not lately - does that mean I am getting old?
Any way I decided to show you pics of a briefcase that I am recovering. It was found at a thrift store and its in really good shape - except for scratches on the out side which I don't care about. This is a thicker briefcase - about 3 inches but as you can see in the photos - lots of room for files and such.
I started with the sheet of Faux Designer Paper that I made and made a bunch of copies.... Then I cut them up into random pieces - mostly triangles, and edged them with red distress ink.
The last pic for today is the beginings of my decoupage work to cover the briefcase. Once I have it covered I will seal with with acrylic sealer and then decorate it furthor - probably sealing it again after I decorate. I have plans for a sketchbook to match .

All for today - Thanks goodness its friday!!!!!
Have a great weekend!!!!
Tera

Inside of briefcase

Hallo,
Here's a couple shots of the inside of the briefcase - I didn't do too much because I really liked the way the inside looked all by itself.
I added some beaded trim and a focal image. I cut the black base with my nestabilities and edged it with silver, then embossed the swirls and 'Beautiful' both from Cornish Heritage Farms in silver also.
You can find the CHF set here -
www.cornishheritagefarms.com

The elegant lady is from Rubbernecker and I colored her with a combinations of lyra and prismacolor pencils - then cut her out and layered her on top.
The only thing I have left to do is give it a few coats of acrylic sealer and today was way too humid for that.....
All for now....Take Care
Tera

Finished Briefcase make-over

Hallo,
I finished the briefcase today - finally. I didn't get any craft time monday due to errands and such....and tuesday was pretty much the same...the weather has been so nice that I got some much needed yard work done.
Today I ended up doing some more yard work because it didn't rain all day like they thought it would and because I needed to do some thinking.
Have you ever had an idea that just would not leave you alone? Well I had this idea that came to me for a project yesterday and this am when I went to the craft room to finish the briefcase this idea would not leave me along :) - So I took my little idea and did some more yard work while my brain worked out all the pieces of this project and hopefully I can get started on it this weekend (it involves some watercolors, stamps, stencil paste, napkins, mod podge and probably a canvus).
Eventually I was able to get back to the craft table and finish this briefcase. These are shots of the front and I will show you the inside tomorrow - will pre-post as I work the next 2 days. I am happy with how it turned out - would love to have about 4 or 5 of these to do all in different styles. I do have a couple other small suicases and a make-up trunk or 2 waiting their turn....
Stamps used include Cornish Heritage Farms http://www.cornishheritagefarms.com- houndstooth and sophisticated swirls backrounders, and their 'Beautiful' set. Hero Arts for the ladies with hats, and the focal image is an unknown (to me ) UM.
All for today ya'll
Take Care
Tera

Briefcase Project stage 2

Hallo,
Stage 2 is complete - trying to get to the craft room this am to start stage 3...but I can't seem to get off the computer....
Anyway here's some pics of stage 2 - I had gathered some schtuff that I liked and thought might look good with the masterboard paper - including an old garage sale necklace and 3 varieties of these self adhesive decorative foam pieces....


Here I took the masterboard copies and cut them up into various shapes and sizes and then edged them with silver craft ink - the hardware on the briefcase is silver so I went with that...

Here is where I started putting the pieces onto the briefcase with mod-podge - no pattern, just whatever fit and 'looked good'

Here's another view of the top - mostly done with this part...

I then took some of the black patterned faom and sprayed it with memory mist silver - a couple times so it would show up better.....more pics and then next stage on monday - I work the weekend so we will see you on the other side on monday...

Have a Great Weekend!!!

Tera