Heavy Metal - or everyone needs iron

Ever needed a sturdy surface to hammer, smash, bash? Flatten small pieces of metal or set those rivets?
Look no further, just use "Iron" :)

Here the little beauty before the harvest:

CRC spray to the rescue to remove those rusty screws

taken apart

And here it is, my new 'iron' anvil. *drumroll*

Very happy with it, as you can see the next USB stick cover is in the making.
There are also many uses for the left overs:

multiple layers of Mica, perfect for your next ATC or card project

many possibilities here, picture frame, altered shrine ???

Have fun, everyone :)

Treasure Hunt

And another treasure I found, the amazing "Warmabed Temperature Regulator".
The name gives it away, it is a temperature regulator ... for ... a warm bed? Anyone knows?

 This will be altered :)

Heart Attack

or more correct, Valentines Fever :)

Our house is getting flooded with little paper hearts. Hearts everywhere, my Sweetheart just loves it this way.
And I have to admit, I love it too :) I love her and her playful side.

even the lamp did not get away

a present for me :)

Happy Valentines to all of you
~Rainer

The making of ... my Mask :)

For the ones that wanted to know how I did the eye piece of my mask, here we go:

'Raw' paper mask from Geoff's Emporium

Mask is sealed with black Gesso.
After that I added a cardboard tube for the eye piece
 (guess where that one came from)

Eye piece covered with golden colored aluminium foil.

After that I applied the leather and the stamps

The inside of the eye piece. Same foil, embossed with a cuttlebug.
The outside is textured with a toothpick, just random grooves.

The rim, cuttlebug again and some more foil.

Now the trick, to 'age' it I used ... *drumroll*
BLACK LEATHER SHOE DYE
Works perfect on foil. I also use it on plastic and wood.

From here onward it was more or less 'the usual'.
Stamping, adding ribbons, glitter stuff, etc.

I hope this short description makes sense.
Have fun everyone ~Rainer

AFTCM Swap Challenge : Mardi Gras Mask

The first ever swap I participated in and I have to say it was fun to try something different. For sure there was lots of advice and help from my sweetheart (plundered half of her stash ...)
The mask is on its way to the other side of the world and I can't wait to see what I will get in return.

The 'NZ Explorer' Mask

 "Who watches the watchmen?"

Not another Treasure, but ...

Isn't it just screaming "STEAMPUNK ME" ?
Loved this hardcover the moment I saw it. It is so hilarious, it just makes me smile.
IT WILL BE ALTERED :) not sure into what, but it deserves a new life. Come on, it was only 20 cents from the local Opshop.

~FLASHMAN~ *chuckles*

Treasure Hunt

Found this little beauty during one of our safaris through the local treasure shops.

The outside is not so impressive, but ...

HOW CUTE IS THIS !

Looks like a miniature vintage pocket radio (OK, it says 'exposure meter', but who cares)

Here a better picture I found on the web:

I'm not even tempted to take it apart or to alter it, LOL. It looks perfect the way it is and will find a special place.

Altered USB Stick - HOW TO

Ok, some were asking how I did it. Here we go:

The main ingredients, as mentioned in my last post. USB Stick and some funny looking metal things I found at Geoff's Emporium, 20c each ... who can argue with that. I thought they might be brass, but that look disappeared once I sanded and polished them.

I removed the plastic cover from the USB stick and broke off those legs from the metal cover. Later on I used some thin tin sheet to fold up a bottom for the 'new' casing. I also painted the top of the memory chip with some acrylic paint (bronze).

Next, FUN TIME, digging through my treasure chest (old watch parts, broken jewellery, etc.. )

'Test' set-up, playing around with the parts.

Now all I had to do is to put it all together. I soldered the back end and the chain attachment. I covered the bottom (tin) with some cello tape to insulate it from the memory stick. Then I glued it all together with E6000 (top, bottom, memory stick). For the detail parts I used G-S Hypo Cement.

Here a close up of the chain attachment, soldered to the back:

And done :)

About the box, ask my Sweetheart, she did that one. I sanded the tin box and she aged it with some acrylics. The tin logo is my design. We printed it onto tissue paper and used Golden Medium to put it onto the box.

Doesn't sound a lot, but it took a while. I hope the explanations will help, otherwise just ask.

Cheers, Rainer

Altered USB Stick

So exited, I finished my first little project. A birthday present for our boy, he will love it.

It all started with this, some metal thingy and a USB memory stick:

And here the finished 'product', packed nicely into a modified tin:

outside

opened

front

back

close up