Altering a spectacle case By Maansi Vaswani

Good morning everyone,

There are things that we use every day and we continue using them even though they may be tattered or may have started looking old or shabby.  It's usually the love or comfort that we feel with objects that we have had around us for years.

This is the story with my Mom's spectacle case.  It's old and completely worn out but she refuses to give it up.  She is very happy and comfortable using it.  But I decided to give it a bit of life and add glamour to it.

As you can see from the pic below it's a black leather case from which even the leather has started peeling away.

Before Image

Thus started the journey of altering the spectacle case.

First of all, I gave it a coat of black gesso.  As the original case was black in color I decided to stick to the black color.  Another reason for this is the fact that it's an everyday use item so it should not get spoilt easily with regular use.  

After this, I decided to add texture by adding some gauze and again painting it over with black gesso.  I did this on both the sides.  

Painted with Black Gesso

Once this was completely dry,  I added some more texture on top with some stencils and modeling paste.  

Used Modelling Paste

Thus my base was ready. The time now for adding the embellishments.  I have added some MDF embellishments,  a few metal charms, flowers,  rhinestones and some glitter balls and shaker elements.  

  With Placements 

Being a spectacle case I did not want it to have too much of depth and at the same time, the working surface is small. Thus the design was simple and elegant.

I stuck everything using the 3D gloss gel. And once everything was properly stuck and dry, I went ahead and covered it completely in black.

Then I added sprays in shades of red,  gold and copper.  I have even made sprays out of the metallic paints in my DT kit which added a wonderful shimmer to the project.  Between the coats of sprays, I have lightly dry brushed with white gesso to lighten up the colors and have them pop out a bit.

Once I was happy with the colors I completed the project with rubbing in some Prima waxes in turquoise, red. Additionally, I also rubbed some of the metallic paint in gold.

Here are some of the pics of the new altered spectacle case.  And I must say my mom was super thrilled with the new look. 

Image 1

                                     

Image 2

Final Image

Supplies used are

Black gesso 
White gesso
Metal charms
Mdf embellishments
Modeling Paste 
Glitter balls.
Micro Beads
Half pearls and rhinestones
Shaker elements - heart
3d Gloss Gel
Sprays
Metallic paints 
Prima waxes

Hope you like this makeover and do leave your comments and love below.

Maansi

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Desk Calendar By Maansi Vawani

Good morning everyone, 

At the beginning of every year, we all make resolutions and goals.  Also, we have planners and calendars to ensure we are able to write down our goals and targets. 

I had always wanted a desk calendar for my crafting table.  But at the same time something which would last me for beyond a year.  As I knew I would not be able to discard it at the end of the year. Thus this year I decided to make one. 

The inspiration for making this has been a lot of calendar blocks made of wood and have been decoupaged.  There are a lot of patterns in wood bases available on Pinterest as well as Google Images. 

But to find wood and have a stand created would have been a time taking process. Suddenly it occurred to me that maybe it can be done with some paper and some chipboard pieces (basically scraps from an earlier project)

I decided to give it a try and see how it turns out...  

So here is how I went about creating the blocks

1. I wanted the blocks to be a bit big so that I could have the dates in bold.  Each of the blocks requires 6 square pieces.  This keeping it at 2.5" by 2.5" I cut out 12 such pieces. 

Step 1

2. Taking a piece of cardstock I stuck the pieces in a formation to get a cube (pic below) 

Step 2

3. Keeping half an inch margin for sticking the paper I cut off the excess.  I also cut the corners for a neat fold  ( As in the pic below) 

Step 3

4. Now the four pieces in a straight line will be stuck together to create the four sides and the other 2 pieces at the top and the bottom.  This my cube is ready.  

5. I constructed the stand in a similar fashion with the height being 6 inches and the breath being 5.5". The width is about  3 inches.I have kept the breath at 5.5" as the total space taken by the cube would be around 5" together.  

6. After the box was constructed all I needed to do was use a beautiful pattern paper and cover it. I have used the Time collection and have selected a variety of colors as I did not want to stick to a particular color combination.  Thus each side of the blocks has a different color and pattern. 

7. Each of the blocks was stenciled using a number stencil.  The number placement on the blocks is as follows 
Block 1 - 0,1,2,3,4,5
Block 2 - 0,1,2,6,7,8
(Number 6 doubles as number 9, so  I was careful with the paper being selected for that side) 

8. After my blocks were ready and the stand also covered with pattern paper, I create some tags for the months and put them on the in the metal label bracket. The other month's tags are stored in a pocket at the back of the stand.  This ensures that I can easily take out and change the month as and when required.  

9. Lastly, on the sides I added some handmade sunflowers to add a bit more beauty and color to the project.  I have used archival inks for coloring the flowers. I did not want to add any space for notes etc as I wanted this to be just a calendar stand.  (though an area for post-it notes or pockets can also be done on the sides) 

I did initially plan to add another tag on the top for the year but then decided to do away with it... That is an option if you wish to make this.  

There are a few pics of the completed project. (front and back) 

Hope you enjoyed this project 

Supplies used 

Cardstock 
Chipboard 
Tacky tape
Fevicol 
Pattern paper 
Stencil 
Acrylic paint
Speciality papers for flower making 
Zero's Embossing pad
Zero's Perforating pad
Embossing tool
Archival ink 
Black embossing powder
Border punch
Metal label
Iris Paper
Wishing you a wonderful day ahead 

Maansi