LESSology Challenge #20: Creative inspiration of Shahrul Niza

Welcome to another day of inspiration! Let's check out what design team member Shahrul Niza did for LESSology Challenge #20: Barely there.

Hi there, it's Shahrul here. Have you made any barely-there cards, ATCs or tags before?. Neither do I, so I'm most excited to share a Barely-there Tag Carousel project with you this month. Tags are made entirely out of discarded plastic cartons from wafers and biscuits packages!. Here's how it looks like....

No worries if you are not a fan of Alice :). The carousel is perfect to hold Thanksgiving I-Feel-Grateful-For notes, to be a Christmas wish tree, a calendar, a fun ATCs display, little photos memory keeper and many more!. Is that not cool?

Humble materials used in this project

Plastic cartons, glass bottles, glass crystals and paper clips.

I used an old copper jewelry carousal, bought at the fleamarket to hang all these goodies :). You can create a tree if you like. Using jewelry making tools, I made little tags and ATC-sized cards to hang. Then I added many more glassy and transparent things for fun.

I made some image transfer with clear packing tapes using Magic Alice Digital Collage Sheets from Nicecrane Designs [thanks, Ignacio!]. Love that these images are still somewhat transparent.

Nicecrane Magic Alice collage sheets that were transferred on packing tapes.

Some close up of individual tags

So fun to assemble these; the 'looking mirror', a metal rose, skeleton keys, 'Drink Me' magic potion and 'Mad Hatter' tag.

Lastly, a tiny clear ALICE mini album. Basically it is an accordion mini album, secured with a metal ring. Then I glued some blue foam alphas for her name :). This is too much fun, isn't it?. 

Do check out other great inspirations from our DT team @ LESSology this month. And do come play with us for a spell :). Have fun!.

Hugs.

What a fun magical project Shahrul! Hope that you find time to come play along with LESSology Challenge #20: Barely there!

LESSology Challenge #19: Creative inspiration of Shahrul Niza

So, you enjoying all the design team's mirrored projects so far? We sure hope you would be inspired to play along with LESSology Challenge #19: Mirror, mirror on the wall. Let's check out what design team member Shahrul Niza did with this challenge, shall we?

Hello, it's Shahrul here.

Oh what a SWEET challenge!. I've always love hand mirrors and couldn't resist making one myself. Since I don't have a small round mirror I purchased one for just RM$3. And I'm going to use my old moldy large wooden spoon as the base :).

This is the finished mirror...

New and old items used;

I simply detached the mirror from the unsightly plastic holder. Filled the curve of the wooden spoon with tissue papers and foam tapes. 

Then distressed the back of the mirror a little bit so that the paint would chipped and became transparent. I did this by rubbing off the paint with a pen knife and a small scissors. Then adhered vintage rub-ons to the back. 

Here is the result of rubbing effort;

I filled up the gap between mirror and wooden spoon with some molding paste. While still wet, made imprints with hand-carved stamps. Let the spoon dry all night.

Once hardened, glued down a crumpled tissue paper all over for some texture. Then painted with champagne color acrylic, distressed with antique brown Stazon, added some bling, a rose and a handmade tassel.

Salvaged crystals from old lamp.

I hope you like it :). Let's get busy with all the exciting ideas and I can't wait to see your creations!. Hugs.

Wow! Wow! Wow! Hope you have all been inspired to get creative with your mirrors for LESSology Challenge #19: Mirror, mirror on the wall. See you on Monday when we announce all the winners for LESSology Challenge #18: It's a Wrap! :)

LESSology Challenge #18: Creative inspiration from Amy Tsuruta, Shahrul Niza, Audrey Pettit and Mandy Dodd

Are you enjoying the gift-wrapping ideas so far for LESSology Challenge #18: It's a Wrap! ....and working hard on your own projects? Today we get to see even more amazing projects from design team members Amy Tsuruta and Shahrul Niza. And to sweeten the deal, we also have projects from alumni team members Audrey Pettit and Mandy Dodd! :)

Hi All....Amy T here to share my It's a wrap project!

I'm a huge fan of altering tins...combine them with an upcycled Starbucks coffee sleeve and they make wonderful packaging for a gift:

The sleeve, deconstructed, makes for a perfect 'belly band' on the hinged tin:

The exposed corrugated cardboard is a wonderful starting point for any type of embellie!

I loaded it up with Basic Grey's Paper Cottage Collection!

Do you see the inner wrap?  It is actually an upcycled department store bag from Japan!  My mom gave it to me with something she was returning to me...she had it in her stash which came over to my stash:)

Peel back the inner wrap and  BAM....Tea for Two!

I can't wait to see how you're inspired by LESSology Challenge #18: It's a wrap!

Hello all,

Who wouldn't be excited about making gift boxes and prettying up packages?. Thrilled to come up with some unique gift wrapping ideas, I've been busy searching for old containers to be used for this month's up-cycling project!. Armed with some of my favorite fabric yoyos and paint, I started working :). Here is what I made...

Basically, I primed the round box with black gesso before painting it all with white acrylic paint. Sanded the edges to give it a worn-look. Then I glued on some pretty fabric yoyos around the box and later tied them up with waxed string. The fabric yoyos are practically my 3D gift wrapper!. Lastly, I secured a large silk rose with a brad onto the lid.

This little banner of fabric yoyos tied up with string simply makes me smile.

A silk rose on top. 

Inspiration behind this project is actually those pretty fabric yoyos themselves!. I have always kept them in my stash for a quick embellishment on mini albums. Every now and then, I would make some whenever I found beautiful fabrics. And now, they give a unique 'homemade' feel to my gift wrapping project :). 

Can't wait to see all the creative goodness from you next. Have fun wrapping!

 

My daughter recently made a small electronics purchase that came with a nice, sturdy box just perfect for gift giving. 

Although the box had printing on it from the manufacturer, I knew I could cover that with a few coats of gesso. Then it was quick work to add a strip of box-pleated patterned paper trimmed with paper doily to the top and tie it all up with a piece of satin ribbon I had saved from a previous gift box. 

I added a snowflake topper to the bow made from layered die cuts and strips of recycled corrugated cardboard. The topper is super easy to put together, and makes a great removable ornament that your gift recipient can enjoy for years to come.

To make the snowflake, simply cut 4 strips of recycled cardboard to your desired size. My strips are approximately 1/4" x 5", but you can change the size up to make larger or smaller ornaments. Lay the strips in crosses and staple the center to hold all the pieces together. Paint the ornament, if desired, and add touches of crystal clear glitter to each arm. Layer die cuts together using foam adhesive between each layer. Top with a button tied with twine and add the die cuts to the center of the ornament. Add a cardstock sticker banner and tie the ornament to the center of your bow.
Enjoy!

  

Do you love tissue paper for wrapping gifts?  I LOVE it, and whatsmore, I’ll recycle it.  (Nothing a hot iron can’t un-crease!) I also LOVE confetti – there’s something about the ‘joy’ it represents!   Confetti almost always accompanies a celebration oozing much happiness.

So thinking, thinking, thinking – how can we work the two together!

Make some confetti with the hole-punch in colours you love, and make the confetti out of the scraps we all have in a box or folder somewhere!

Out with the sewing machine…. 

Fold a full piece of tissue paper together and using zigzag stitch, sew around the edges.  It’s quite striking. Leave a little gap as this is where you will pour the newly made confetti through, then sew the gap up and also sew down the side where the fold is to give it a ‘finished’ look.

Shake the confetti around inside the enclosed tissue paper so it evens out….

Finish off with a little gift card printed from a piece of Lino from an art shop – carved into a line of little Christmas trees. (tutorial for this shown here). 

Ooooh...don't you just love how different and awesome each of these projects are? We would love to see your version of gift-wrapping! Come join us for LESSology Challenge #18: It's a Wrap! :)

Please leave a little love for these lovely talented ladies! 

P/s: Come back tomorrow for another round of creative inspiration - this time from our guest designers....and a special giveaway! :)

LESSology Challenge #17: Creative inspiration of Shahrul Niza

Hello there altered enthusiasts! Are you being inspired by our design team reveals? How about checking out what design team member Shahrul Niza did for LESSology Challenge #17: Fun with envelopes?

 

Hi all, Shahrul here. 

It's a hoot playing with envelopes this month. There were many possibilities of upcycling envelopes but this has got to be my favorite, accordion purse!. It is a bit of an organizer, small enough to keep receipts or postcards. Not only that I created accordion folders inside, I did gesso-stamping on the foam covers, a little bit of making beads tassels and use a crochet doily. Bliss!.                   

The front look.

Envelopes are glued together to create an accordion sorter. Pattern paper scallop tabs used as labels. I also added beads tassels to the front cover for fun :).

Looking forward to see what everyone's creations this month!!. Have fun creating :).

What a beautiful project Shahrul! Love the subtle stamping with gesso....and we all need a little accordian folder don't we? *winks* Are you inspired to play along? We would love to see your take on LESSology Challenge #17: Fun with envelopes!

LESSology Challenge #15: Creative Inspiration of Amy Tsuruta and Shahrul Niza!

Hello...hello friends! Today we get to see Amy Tsuruta and Shahrul Niza's take on LESSolgy Challenge #15: The Bookend Challenge.

Hi All,

It's Amy, here to show you how the LESSolgy Challenge #15: The Bookend Challenge inspired me!

We love candles in our household and this particular Vanilla Cupcake one had finally run it's course...I certainly wasn't going to toss that cannister...

So I embellished it:

I used Heidi Stock's Summer Honey digi collection for the paper and the sentiment is

EAD Designs

Keep Calm Set 1

Here's a pic of it in 'real' action:

I can't wait to see how this challenge inspires YOU!

Hi all. It's Shahrul here, with my debut post for LESSology Challenge #15 : The Bookend Challenge. So excited to share with everyone, my latest altered project :). I found some gorgeous little black vinyl records (~ 6.5 " in diameter) at the flea market recently and they were perfect for the bookends project!. So here what I made; bookends small enough to hold a few little old books!.

I used a couple of metal brackets from DIY store and a couple of wooden rulers to hold both ends together (the vinyls are so light and needed support, hence the rulers *wink*). I used brads to adhere brackets and vinyls to the rulers.

I left parts of the vinyls bare because they already looked gorgeous. The silver beads remind me of sparkly 'disco globes'!.

Although, I can't resist to decorate the insides with patterned papers, eyelets and laces.

I stamped some phrases on coordinating patterned papers and adhered to the rulers (both top and bottom). Sanded off the edges and distressed with archival ink.


Can't wait to see your creative ideas and have fun playing along with us!. Hugs.


~ Shahrul ~ 

Hope our fabulous design team has given you some fabulous ideas for creating your own bookends. We would love to see your entries for LESSology Challenge #15: The Bookend Challenge!  Please read our challenge rules to ensure eligibility for our prizes. :)