An Altered Tin
I'm trying very purposefully to make time for "making"! This week I exchanged an altered tin in a Vintage Crafters Cafe swap; I had been working on the tin since after Christmas, here and there, very slowly. It was satisfying to have a project to work on, even while being so busy with so many other things!
I started with an empty Altoids tin. I painted it inside and out with white paint. Then I found a couple of scraps of vintage linens with pretty floral designs for the top and for the bottom. For the bottom, which is deeper than the top, I sewed the linen onto a piece of felted wool from an old blanket. I liked the "cushion-y" look it gave to the linen.
I was making a wall hanging, so I glued the tin "open", and covered the back with scrapbook paper that that had a small, doily design. I added a phrase that was the "theme" of the tin.
For the front, I glued in the linens and then added all kinds of vintage, and a couple of new, millinery and embellishment flowers.
For a focal point, I swiped white paint on a jewelry finding of a bird over some roses; I added some colorful tatting pieces as accents, and then attached a birds' nest "dangle" to the bottom, with some ribbon.
I mailed it off just in time to my partner, and included a pretty tag I made!
Back of the tag:
I packaged it up in this beautiful vintage card box.
The cover of hers was a map of her part of the country...
Inside, bird themed ephemera in my favorite color scheme!
She included some ephemera, trims, lace and buttons, because she really paid attention to what I wrote were my "likes"! The recipe booklet may just go with my recipes instead of being used in art, because the dishes in it sound so great!
Pretty vintage needlework and trim, as well as a new tiny doily and a Martha Stewart doily seal (sticker.)
On the same day she received mine, I received one from my swap partner, Jane!
It was a really fun swap, and you should check out that Facebook page, where I hang out a lot! We're doing a Valentine exchange (anonymous) of a hand made card next. I'm also doing a heart swap like I did last year, with another group Rag Bag Gals -- but they won't even get sent in until February 25 and in all likelihood I won't have those until April (that's what happened last year!)
Like so many other places in the country, we've had blizzards, snow, and below-freezing temperatures. I find that January is a difficult month for me, with lots of dark moods and fatigue. I will be very happy to see the end of it next week!
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