ALTERED VINTAGE TOBACCO TIN

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 Creativity Is Contagious!

It's time for OUR NEXT TO LAST CHALLENGE at Linda Ledbetter's really fun and inspiring 

COMPENDIUM OF CURIOSITIES III CHALLENGES.  This is number 33 of 34.  Can you believe that we've already covered all but ONE of Tim Holtz' wonderful products or techniques that he's expounded on in his Compendium of Curiosities III book?  TIME FLIES!

The Curiosity Crew has some wonderful projects just waiting to share with you at the Compendium Challenge so be sure to check that out. This next to last challenge is a favorite of mine.  Turn to page 45 in your books and feast your eyes on "ALTERED SURFACES". 

I am really getting into manipulating acrylic paints. I totally LOVE that they can be super opaque or with a bit of water or another medium added in, they can be semi transparent to almost transparent.  You can get some amazing results using acrylic paints! 

ALTERED SURFACES is all about using Tim's Distress Paints to achieve some very cool effects; from a chipped metal look to aged and rusted ... whatever your heart desires.

For my project, I chose to alter the surfaces of some of Tim's wonderful Ideaology pieces.

This is a vintage tobacco can that I have transformed into a little vintage piece that could be used to hold ATC cards, a gift tin containing gift cards or just a little home decor piece. 

This piece is very special to me because the vintage photograph is of my father when he was a senior in high school.  He was a member of the ROTC squad and was a "crack rifleman" at the tender age of 18.  Pretty much right after this photograph was taken, my father entered the draft and served this country in the Pacific Theater during World War II.  A proud Veteran, I dedicate this piece to him.  I miss him and love him with all my heart.

Let's explore how this altered vintage tobacco tin came to be ...

I began with this vintage tin that I bought at a flea market for $2.50.  The paper behind it is from Tim Holtz' Destinations Paper Stash.  I used a section of this paper to cover the tin.  I used 1/4" Scor Tape around all sides and intermittently placed on the tin itself to hold the paper in place. 

Notice that the tin is a weathered silver color and already has some rust and aging on it.  But, I will transform it with the help of Tim's Distress and other Ranger and DecoArt products.

Here is the tin with the Destinations paper on it.  Nice but really boring and plain!  I brushed on a light coat of DecoArt's really wonderful Media Ultra Matte Varnish.  This sealer truly gives a soft, matte finish and I love the way it makes the surface feel. I added the Ultra Matte Varnish now so that if I decided to add paint or some other medium to the paper surface, I did not want it to soak into the paper.

In this photograph, you can see the before and after of Tim's Altered Surfaces technique (you will need to read the instructions in the book to see exactly HOW this is done).  On my tin, I've done some variations to the Altered Surfaces technique shown in the book.

I created trim for the top and bottom of my altered tin using these silver metal strips from Tim's Borders Industrial Stickers.  I used a combination of Crackled Pistachio, Rusty Hinge and Gathered Twigs Distress Paints to totally transform the surface from shiny silver to a weathered, rusted, patina metal look. 

I also employed this same technique on the exposed metal parts of the tobacco tin.  To give an even more patina look, I used a stippling brush to add extra Cracked Pistachio paint to areas of the trim and the altered metal surfaces.

What a difference! From a sort of rusted silver finish to this really lovely weathered antique gold, rusty patina look!  Now it was time to start adding my embellishments!

I had an ornate plate cut out of Grungeboard laying around.  It worked perfectly behind my Tim Holtz Industrial Stickers Frame.  I sized the photograph of my father and stuck it behind the already self adhesive metal sticker frame.  It has a nice antique brushed nickel color already.  So, I decided to sort of keep with that by covering the Grungeboard first with Brushed Pewter followed by Adirondak Pitch Black acrylic paint. It wasn't a perfect match but I was going to do A LOT more altering of the surface to this frame! 

Using basically the same paint colors (exchange Adirondak Espresso for Gathered Twigs acrylic paint), I totally transformed one of Tim's Typed Tokens.  If you look in the photograph, you can see that they are a brushed nickle color.  Compare the new and improved "aged, rusted and patina" look by altering the surface of the silver metal! Love it!

Here is the back side of my little altered frame made out of Grungeboard.  I am showing you this to further convince you just how much this altering surfaces technique using acrylic paints REALLY is amazing!  Here is the grungy PAPER surface ...

And here are two of the embellishments finished and ready to add to the altered tin.  Both altered using Tim's Altering Surfaces technique and the same acrylic paints shown above.  AMAZING TRANSFORMATION!!   I added two distressed Long Fasteners to the frame to give more of the impression that the frame is actually riveted into the altered tin. 

I also added a bit of DecoArt's Amazing Media Quinacridone Gold and Media Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide to both surfaces to give a more rusted, deep rich aged tone to the pieces to make them look even more metallic. I LOVE how they turned out!  

Inside of the frame, to protect the photograph, I first brushed a light matte varnish over the copy paper photograph to seal it.  I heat set that dry and then added a light coat of DecoArt's Media Crackle Glaze over the photograph.  

** TIP - I USED JUST A VERY LIGHT COAT OF THE DECOART CRACKLE GLAZE OVER THE FACE BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO DISTORT IT IN ANY WAY. I APPLIED THE GLAZE A BIT MORE LIBERALLY AROUND THE EDGES OF THE FRAME. THE MORE GLAZE YOU APPLY, THE MORE CRACKLED THE SURFACE BECOMES.  BUT THESE CRACKLES ARE MORE LIKE A PORCELAIN CRACKING, NOT DEEP CRACKLES.

Once the DecoArt Crackle Glaze air dried, I added a light wash of water and DecoArt Media Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide to the perimeter of the frame to give it a more aged look.  I love the deep, rich sepia tones the wash added to the photograph.  You can actually see the crackling in the photograph.  Really a GREAT vintage look!

I used the same altering techniques to alter Tim's Heart Charms that originally come in the brushed nickle finish to match my other altered Ideaology pieces. There are several images of paper hearts to chose from that comes with the Heart Charms.  These fit in the metal heart and then are covered with a clear cabochon that no only seals and protects the paper heart but magnifies the image.  I LOVE these sweet little charms!  

In the photograph above, you can see how I altered the more white paper surface to look more aged and weathered ... like the metal heart it is encapsulated in. To do this, I simply brushed a touch of the DecoArt Media Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide wash to the surface of the paper heart and kept adding layers of it plus a touch of an Acrylic Paint Espresso wash just around the edges.  I heat set it, added the self adhesive cabochon heart over it and instant aging! 

I like things that dangle and move.  So I decided to take this Ideaology Memo Pin and bend over to create something I could clip onto my altered tin that could serve as a charm holder as well.  The Memo Pin on the left has been bent to clip onto my altered tin.  The pin on the right is what they originally look like.

Another fun way to alter a surface that is not part of this technique, is to use Distress Stains! 
 Remember I had previously sealed the paper surface with a coat of DecoArt Media Ultra-Matte Varnish so that I could add more layers.  I carefully sprayed some Walnut Stain Distress Ink Spray onto the paper to give it an even more interesting aged look.  If I had not liked my spray, I could have easily wiped it off because I had sealed my paper.  But, I LOVED the randomness of the splatter. I did this randomly over the entire surface of the paper on the tin.  I really like the character that the spray adds and it is a more convincing aged look!

Here is a closeup look at my charms assemblage hanging from the altered tin.  These consist of Tim's Type Charms (at the top), his Ideaology Typed Token, and finally Tim's Heart Charm.  All are joined together, hanging from the Memo Pin by one of Tim's Wire Pins and small Jump Rings to form the chains.  All metal pieces were altered using the acrylic paints and Tim's altered surfaces technique.

Here is a closeup of the totally transformed silver top of the can and the silver trim into the rusted, patina finish.

Here is the finished rusty frame.  I added "1942", the year this photograph was taken to the frame using Tim's Label Letters that were glued onto a piece of distressed cardstock and cut out, leaving just a tiny border around the numbers.  Using Glossy Accents, I glued the numbers to the frame. 

Here is the back side of the tin with the added Walnut Stain spray and the very faux weathered, rusted and patina finish to the lid.

   A simple project to do but what a keepsake it can be ... or a great gift idea to really personalize a gift card or ATC holder for a friend or loved one!

Thanks so much for joining me on this creative journey of the Altered Surfaces tin!

Now it's YOUR turn to create something wonderful using the Altered Surfaces technique and enter our COMPENDIUM OF CURIOSITIES III CHALLENGE.

Our sponsors this week are the lovely folks at Inspiration Emporium.  They have been so generous throughout our entire challenge by donating a $50.00 gift certificate with each of their sponsor weeks.  A huge "THANK YOU" to them!  You can purchase all of Tim's wonderful products at their wonderful online store!

And of course, Tim and Mario donated a mountain of Tim's amazing products to be divided up and given away with every challenge.  "THANK YOU" doesn't seem enough to say to these two super sweet guys.  They are amazing! 

So, join us today and share your amazing art with everyone in our fun little community of Tim Holtz technique and product lovers!

And also ... as a reminder, many of the Curiosity Crew will be traveling to COSTA RICA in September of 2016 with the inspiring Jim West and his fabulous Craft Tours!  We will calling ourselves "THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PAINTS". 
CLICK ON THE PHOTOGRAPH ABOVE to be taken to the Craftour website for more details. 

Good luck with this challenge's Altered Surfaces!