Monday, May 3, 2010

Grungepaper Wallets, Rusty Keys, and.....

Yesterday I had the most fun teaching some of my best art pals how to make little grungepaper wallets.  It's always a pleasure to work with Heidi, Laurel, and Corris, and we really had a wonderful time.
This is the one I made as a class sample.  The GP was embossed and inked with two of the new shades of distress inks....Bundled Sage and Forest Moss.   Because these women are very experienced crafters, I notched my original design up and added some bead danglies.
Heidi looks happy (as she should) with her lovely creation.
Laurel, who loves all things French, chose the fleur de lis embossing folder and some lovely delicate beads.
I'd forgotten my camera, and these photos are courtesy of Corris' iphone.  So of course, the photographer didn't take a picture of her own wallet, but trust me, it was beautiful.
Yep, they had fun......and Heidi conquered wire wrapping!

Now, on to rusty keys.  I love key images and use them a lot in my creations.  I have and adore Tim Holtz's idea-ology keys, I think grungeboard keys are wonderful and their lightness and flexibility makes them very versatile.  But.....I think that real old rusty keys are just the best.  Problem is, they're not so easy to find.  This is what I usually come across (and buy) in flea markets and online shops:
Not exactly new, but also not exactly rusted and vintage either.  I was reading Tim's wonderful new book, "A Compendium of Curiosities," and there were two techniques that caught my eye.  "Chipped Enamel" showed me that distress ink and distress embossing powder work on metal, and "Rusted Grunge" pointed me in the direction of color choice.   So I inked up the keys with Vintage Photo distress ink and then embossed them using Vintage Photo embossing powder.  Check out the transformation:
They look even more authentic in person, and I can't wait to start using them in my art.

I've been really into tags lately, and did this one for a travel theme.  All images are PID.  The Eiffel Tower is a Sizzix die.  The little black decorative strip was cut with Tim's Ornate "On the Edge" border die.


21 comments:

Elaine A said...

Eileen -

The little wallets are just so pretty, your gal pals did a lovely job! AND I just love how those keys came out, really AWESOME! Will be trying this technique. Your tag is so sweet, I just got the ornate on the edge die so I will be experimenting soon (I hope).

Elaine Allen

Angie Hall Haviland said...

OH MY, Eileen!!! LOVE those keys!! FABULOUS idea...I have a ton of old keys!!!!! Love the grunge wallets and tag too. Looks like you had a WONDERFUL time this weekend.

Dorothy said...

All items are to die for!!! You do such awesome art!!!

Tammy D said...

What great ideas! I would have never thought of grungepaper wallets. That's too cool.

Linda said...

Great idea with the keys! Since you can now make new keys old, try checking with a place that makes keys and ask for their "mistakes". My local hardware store was HAPPY to unload some of their mistakes. The best part was the price. . .FREE!

ine said...

Hello Eileen,

seems we are both in are "old, rusty" days for the moment...LOL

I'v not thought yet about rusting " new keys" !
I do find some old keys sometimes here on fleamarkets ( when there is one I will have an extra look out for you), but I also have some newer ones that are lying in my embellishmentdraw, ready to be used, but they are always looked over.. This is a great idea to alter them !

The wallets are real beauties : the first one looks like it's from crocodileleather !
The second one is really elegant.

do you have a template for this wallet ? I would like to make one !
A wallet to keep all my coins in.... instead of spending them immediately on artstuff :)

greetings from belgium
Inge

Lori said...

Great wallets, great idea with the keys, (just scored some on an auction this weekend), great tag! Love how you used the Eiffel tower Sizzix die, and Tim's on the edge, very cool, they really go together! Great time creating with friends, that's priceless...

Anonymous said...

LOVE LOVE LOVE the creations Eileen....I do have the pattern to your coin purse on my website here http://www.pennyduncancreations.com/PDC%20SVG%20Cut%20Files%20Page%20Boxes.htm if anyone is interested in the svg file for it.......

Vic said...

Great job on everything! I love those keys.

MarleneMAZ said...

Fabulous projects Eileen !
Can you pop over here to help me make one of those wallets :)

Cool Cakes and Crafts with Amalia said...

Great blog post today! Chock full of ideas and great art.

Diann said...

I love your fantastic grungepaper wallets and those rusty keys...how fun for you and your friends! Thanks for sharing your fun tag too! Diann

Shirley said...

I absolutely LOVE these wallets! Beautiful!! And the keys are wonderful. You are so talented.

Art By Wanda said...

Love the danglies on the wallets... fabulous idea!!! The keys... wow!! I have to try that. And your tag is wonderful!!!

Nancy Lynn said...

What a genius idea you had with making the grungepaper wallet Eileen. Love all of the ones you have made and I like the danglings on this one. Love the rusted keys. Can never have enough keys, especially rusted ones.

Princess of glitter said...

Love what each one did with the wallets! Absolutly love what you did with the keys, my hubby has a collection of keys for no reason, may have to use a few! Great ideas and wonderful inspiration! Thanks for sharing!

Carol's Crafts said...

Beautiful work, Eileen. I just love your wallets. They are so pretty. Your keys are really vintage now, after applying your technique. Love your tag too, my dear. I sure wish I could live in NY for awhile so I could attend some of your cool classes.

Cheryl said...

Love the transformation of the keys Eileen! The wallets look very cool.

2amscrapper said...

love those keys! great tag

Anonymous said...

Absolutely gorgeous! Makes me want to move back up north to learn from you gals. :-)

Juliet A said...

Your rust effect is probably the best I've ever seen (I was just in a faux rust swap in March, so faux rust is still on the brain). I will now have to buy the distress powder, just so I can do this to keys.