How to make a miniature Garden Bench

Today I would like to share how I built a wooden garden bench for my current "Magical Garden" project.

I wanted to use thick chipboard to build the bench.  After searching through my Sizzix Bigz dies, I found Tim Holtz Vintage Valise die.  I cut the following pieces (as highlighted in red):

Following are the steps I went through to build the bench.

Step 1:  Trim off bottom parts of the handles.

Step 2:  Glue the trimmed handle with the corner pieces to form the legs of the benches.

I use Glossy Accents glue but you can use other strong glue/tape.  Wait till dry before next step.  

Step 3: Put some glue on the top of the bench legs.

Step 4: Place the strips onto the bench legs and leave it to dry properly before moving it.

Step 5: Gesso the chipboard.
Tip:  It is fine to leave the brush lines as they will show up as wood grains.

Step 6: Finally, I distress the bench slightly with Tim Holtz Pumice Stone distress ink to add some woody greyish tint for the wood grains.

Hope you find the tutorial useful.  Please feel free to comment especially on how I can make future tutorial better.

Thanks for stopping by.

XOXO
Mee Foon

Mixed Media Photo Frame

This is my entry to this week Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge #96 Hearts a Glow.   It is a mixed media project combined with Graphic 45 Secret Garden collection.   I have to admit this is one of those "On Going" project that has undergone tons of changes with the help of Gesso.  Finally, I settled for a more shabby chic shade.

The Cheery Lynn Designs dies I used for this project were
- Heartland America Large DL110
- Two of Hearts DL128
- Small Exotic Bbutterflies DL112AB.

The alphabets were cut from foam using Cottage Cutz Sugar & Cream alphabet die.

Another look at the project without any photo.  I wanted to make it into a photo frame where the photo could be changed.  I cut two Heartland America hearts.   I trimmed one of them to only retain the border to cover the PVC sheet on top of the bottom heart.  A close-up look at the hearts.

The original paper collection has a blue ribbon with a key.  As I was going towards the lavender color theme, I colored my satin ribbon with Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink pad Dusty Concord.  I also added more colors to the fuzzy cut flowers with the Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Markers (Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Dusty Concord).

Tip: A new trick I discovered to enhanced my fuzzy cutting.  As I cannot remove the small background areas between the flowers and leaves, I use "Bundled Sage" Distress marker to go over the yellow background.   This hides the background and creates an illusion of more leaves.

Thank you for stopping by.

XOXO
Mee Foon