Trash to Treasure ~ Stamps and Stencils ~ New Challenge.

Hi everybody! It's the first Thursday of the month and of course, that means it's time for a new challenge over at  Stamps and Stencils. This month Autumn is our talented hostess and she has put together a fantastic challenge which she has called Trash to Treasure. This is what she has to say about it........

Don't we all love a good upcycled project?  This month at Stamps & Stencils we'd love to see how you take something that you'd normally discard and give it new life in your art.  Whether it's glamorizing boxes, turning Styrofoam into a stamp, diecutting your packaging, or another idea you have.  Bring on your best mixed media repurposing!  We can't wait to see what you come up!  Don't forget to use stamps or stencils in your project.

If you have arrived here from the Stamps and Stencils blog, you may already know what I have used to make my project, if not, then have a look at the steps I used to make this picture frame which was inspired from a little Victorian tin photograph I picked up from our local junk shop. Here it is....

Quite adorable don't you think? The shop had a few of these little pictures and some consisted of two portraits side by side, unfortunately these were beyond my budget so I decided to make my own. These are some of the materials I used.....

Yes that's right, tea bags and  a couple of tomato paste tubes ! this is how I got started.....

I dried out, then emptied some used teabags. We tend to drink Green Tea in our house, so the used teabags are quite pale in colour. I cut a small slit in one side so that I could empty out the tea and preserve the shape of the tea bag and then used an iron to flatten them. Since discovering the joy to be found on the inside of a tomato paste tube, I save them all! To prepare them, I cut off the top and bottom, cut up one side and wash in soapy water. I then flatten out the tubes with something like a wooden spoon or in this case, the flat handle of a paintbrush.

I stamped a couple of the teabags with these images, using stamps from a set by Katzelkraft. They're quirky and I just love them ! I then ran the tomato paste tubes through my Big Shot, using an oldie but goody, embossing folder by Cuttlebug.

I used an oval Sizzix die to cut out a frame, and coated the surface with Deco art Antiquing Fluid.

I then adhered each of the stamped teabags to off cuts of mount board with gel medium. I also cut a couple of extra pieces of mount board for the outside covers. I lined up the oval frame to the stamped image and wrapped the extra metal around the board. No need for any glue at this stage. I repeated with the second image and then turned my attention to the covers......

For these, I used a piece of brown packaging paper, the sort that comes screwed up, in those lovely boxes of crafty purchases. I've accumulated quite a lot of these ! I stenciled the surface with gold acrylic paint, using one of Wendy Vecchi's stencils. Once the paint was dry, I sprayed it with Vintage Photo Distress Spray. I also sprayed a length of seam binding, to use for the hinge and closure.

I used matte gel medium to adhere the stenciled paper to the outside covers and then adhered them to the backs of the frames, using Helmar 360 Quick Dry Glue. I also sandwiched the seam binding between the layers.

As a finishing touch, I added a metal frame with a sentiment created with Tim Holtz rub ons, on top of a piece of teabag. I then used a piece of transparent packaging over the sentiment, and secured it to the front with Glossy Accents. 

And that's how I turned my Trash into Treasure ! Believe me, there is something very satisfying about reworking simple items that would otherwise be thrown away. If you fancy having a go at turning your trash into treasure, then we'd love to see what you get up to. Hop over to the Stamps and Stencils Blog, where you'll find some fantastic inspiration from the rest of the design team, as well as the challenge guidelines. Come on .... you know you want to ......x