Pretty Sweet Distressed Vintage

I would like to enter this card into the following Blog Challenges...

Polka Doodles Week 38 Challenge - Distress It

Sarah Hurley Challenge 50 - Vintage



Buttons....buttons......and more buttons!

Happy hello from me lol. I just wanted to show you what some kind person I know brought me in today. A fellow Rotarian of my husband brought me these gorgeous buttons in. His wife knows I craft and said if I wanted them I could have them. When the lovely man brought them in he said you'll probably bin a lot of them. I told him I definitely would not as they looked fab. I was doing my friend's hair at the time, well, we just could'nt wait to see what there was. So, I scattered them all over the styling station, they went everywhere....just managed to miss them going in our coffee!LOL Here they are......what a treasure of buttons..............

I have actually looked through them all now, and here are my favourite one's....

But....my favourite by far is this one........

And then.......I found these two beauties..........

The beauty does'nt just end there......look at the reverse of the right hand side charm...........

Of course.....having such lovely buttons, and also some vintage one's too, I could'nt just store them in any old way......so ......here' what I've put them in....



The sweet jar used to belong to my mum's grandmother. The sherry glasses used to belong to my Grandad. I'm sure they would be laughing if they could see how I'm using them now, bless you both up above!LOL

Well, I hope you have enjoyed my little story about my buttons today...and like my friend said today..................Cinder's has certainly got her buttons! LOL

Have fun and happy crafting,

Lots of love NJ XXX

Try It On Tuesday - Anything goes Challenge

I would also like to enter this card into the Try It On Tuesday - Anything goes Challenge.
Fairies are one of my favourite things, which makes for a wonderful world!

A Gem Of A Challenge 30 - Sketch

I would like to enter this card into the A Gem Of A Challenge 30 - Sketch



'NJ's Crafty Tips'

Hello everyone and welcome to this month's crafty tips. This month I am showing you a tutorial on how to alter a mirror.

Materials you will need are (if you don't have exactly the same, don't worry just use what you already have in your crafty stash).

Mirror (mine is from a swedish store you will all know)/Distress inks - Vintage photo, Walnut stain, Tea-dye and Rusty hinge/4 small sponges/Crackle accents/Pearl Ex powder Antique Copper/small spoon & dish/Paint brush/seed beads/Glossy accents/Lace circle or doily/piece of lace/Pinflair glue/selection of flowers/vintage looking ornate buttons and beads/scrap of watercolour paper/piece of kraft card/Embossing folder and machine/Crafter's Companion Spray & Sparkle in Gold/Hampton Art stamp - Home is where your heart lives/Lavinia stamps - Toadstool houses & fairies/ Memento Rich cocoa ink pad/4 small paint brushes/Distress stickles - antique linen,vintage photo,frayed burlap, clear rock candy.

Time to make: around 2-3 hours....this excludes drying time!

Step 1

Using your distress inks and sponges, randomly rub all over the frame. You do not need to sand this one for a key as it is already a matt surface that will hold the colour. Make sure you get inside the edge where the mirror part is too, and the outer edges. This is very random, alternate colours as you go along. Apply until you have the depth of colour you want to achieve.

Build up the colour until you are happy with the result.

Step 2

Pour enough Crackle accents in a dish to paint the frame.

Using a small spoon, add a small amount of the Pearl Ex powder to the dish. Mix well with the brush.

Now use this mixture to paint the whole frame.

Set aside to dry.

Step 3

Meanwhile, ink your lace circle or doily and also the flowers.

Step 4

Stamp the fairies, toadstool houses and text stamp onto the watercolour paper using the Memento ink.

Dab each colour Distress ink onto your craft sheet.

Spritz lightly with water.

Using your selection of paint brushes pick up the colour from your craft sheet and paint the stamped images.

Set aside to dry.

Step 5

Cut your Kraft card to fit the centre square.

Emboss the card using your folder and embossing machine.

Ink using your sponges.

Spray with the gold spray.

Step 6

Apply Glossy accents to the bottom left hand corner. Sprinkle with seed beads and set aside to dry.

Step 7

When dry attach your Kraft card to the centre using Pinflair glue.

Step 8

Using the Pinflair, glue the lace circle and your piece of lace, the flower, ornate buttons and beads to the frame.

Set aside to dry.

Step 9

Take your stamped images and carefully tear around the houses and the text.

Ink the edges.

Use a small pair of scissors and cut round the fairies leaving a small border.

Ink the edges.

Step 10

Attach the houses to the centre of the mirror using Pinflair.

Add the text and the fairies and embellish with flower and beads.

Decorate with the Distress stickles.

Set aside to dry.

Finally here is your finished Altered Art Mirror

I will be hanging mine on my craft room wall. Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my tutorial for this month. I hope you have enjoyed reading, as much as I enjoyed making it and showing you how. I hope you enjoy making your own mirror.

Till next month,

Have fun and happy crafting,

lots of love NJ XXX