From Trash to Treasure at Stamps and Stencils

Hi everyone, welcome to our next challenge over at Stamps and Stencils. It's the turn of the very talented Autumn to host and here in her own words is the new theme.

 Don't we all love a good upcycled project?  This month we'd love to see how you take something that you'd normally discard and give it new life in your art.  Whether it's glamorized boxes, Styrofoam turned into a stamp, packaging that's been die cut, or another altered idea you have.  Bring on your best mixed media repurposing!  We can't wait to see what you come up!  Don't forget to use stamps or stencils in your project.

Some of you may remember me altering some tiny tins in the past, the first had a sewing theme and the second had a flower and butterfly theme. Towards the end of last year I was lucky enough to find another tin and I have been wanting to alter it in a Steampunk style ever since but never quite got around to it...until now. What a perfect opportunity to turn trash into treasure and at the same time complete my trio of tiny tins.

I've explained how I've prepared the tins in my previous posts but just wanted to show you their size.

The ingredients.

I used distress and archival inks to create the inserts. Some tissue tape and vintage photo distress embossing powder created the card band for the outside.

Crunchy wax Kraft paper was put through an embossing folder and then I used treasure gold to create a patina.

Then it was just a case of layering up inked, gilded and rusted embellishments until I was happy. The insides.

Quite a few layers in the base.

A side view

and finally with the lid back on hiding it's contents.

To finish I thought I'd share the trio with you. A reflection of some of my favourite subjects all with a vintage flavour.

As it is a Steampunk tin I'm also going to take the opportunity to join in with SanDee&amelie's Steampunk April challenge. 'Anything Goes' - Steampunk/Industrial

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to hop across to see what the rest of the talented design team have created to inspire you. Can't wait to see what you'll turn into treasure!