a little cacti crate

Hello all..I hope that you are doing well. I am back today with another project that I created for the recently released Tim Holtz Sizzix Chapter 2. One of my favorite sets from the release was the Funky Cactus thinlet set. They are absolutely ADORABLE…and were perfect to use to create a little garden crate!

The Cacti…

All the cacti and their flowers were cut from scraps of backgrounds made with various green, pink, yellow, blue and purple Distress Inks and Spray Stains. I love backgrounds and the scraps are always handy to have to make tiny cuts from.

I highlighted the indented textures on the cactus by rubbing them with Distress Paint and Crayons.

The flowers were adhered to the cactus using collage medium.

Here’s a SUPER handy tip!

Did you know that you can use the stylus tools from the new Sizzix Shaping Kit to add tiny painted dots to things? I simply dipped the tip of the tool into some Distress Paint and White Gesso and added them to the centers of the flowers…lickety split, the perfect round dot!

The crate and tiny terra cotta pots…

I stamped the 4 side of a vignette box using Black Soot Distress Paint and the collar advertising stamp from the Eclectic Adverts stamp set CMS372. I picked this stamp then had a quick thought and wondered if I could use an old cuff link as a little knob…and it totally worked!

I’ve been a collector of little things FOREVER, and I may have a pretty good size collection of snap cuff links. 😉 I collect things and think, someday, these will come in handy for something…so when I stamped this onto the crate, a little light bulb came on in my head. (So now I am wondering if I have enough of them, LOL!) But I’ll show you that in a sec…

I sanded the box with my sanding grip, brushed it off to remove the dust, then stamped the image. It didn’t stamp perfectly, but I was ok with that because I wanted it to look vintage and worn.

I hammered in 8 of the tiny tacks into the sides of the box. These tacks are found in the idea-ology Vignette Hardware pack..they’re awesome and totally look like old nails.

Next, I rubbed the crate with a little Gathered Twigs Spray Stain.

I painted 3 idea-ology thimbles with Rusty Hinge and Tea Dye Distress Paint, let them dry then rubbed them and the crate with Translucent Grit Paste then set them aside to dry.

I added a small dab of collage medium within each thimble and stuffed a little piece of styrofoam inside. With an exacto knife, I made a small slit into the styrofoam, and added another dab of glue then slipped a cactus into the slit.

Next, I added tiny bits of floral moss and greens into the tiny terra cotta pot to cover the foam.

I dug through my scraps and found bits and pieces of mummy cloth, cheese cloth and quilt batting. I stained them with Walnut Stain and Gathered Twigs ink and stains, then added them and bits of floral moss within the crate.

I rubbed the dried grit paste with Crushed Olive Distress Crayon.

The tiny pots needed some dirt and grunge so they were rubbed with a little Walnut Stain Distress Crayon.

And here is where that vintage cuff link came into the picture.

I got a little giddy as it was the perfect size to become the drawer pull, I smiled 🙂 and adhered it to the end of the crate.

Yep, it went perfect with that Eclectic Advertising stamp, even if no one else knows it, it made me happy…it’s all about the little things, isn’t it? 🙂

With that, my little cacti crate was complete.

Thank you so much for stopping by today! Have a great week!

Creatively yours,

Stacy

Products used to create this make… Funky Cactus, idea-ology thimbles, vignette box, vignette hardware, Eclectic Adverts CMS372, Styrofoam, Collage Medium, Translucent Grit-paste, Walnut Stain Spray Stain, Distress Inks, Sprays and Crayons, Mummy Cloth, Cheese Cloth, Floral Moss

What is an affiliate program, and why should I click on the link and buy through you?

When you shop via the affiliate link (linkdeli) on this blog, I receive a small commission from the affiliate provider (Simon Says Stamp & Scrapbook.com) at no extra cost to you, whatsoever. These commissions help me to cover the hosting fees and other costs to run my blog and be able to provide you with FREE inspiration. If you shop the links, THANK YOU! I truly appreciate being able to share my love of creating with you.