Altered Art - Valise by Chris W

When I was making the 'Good Luck Son' card it occurred to me that I've never used the Vintage Valise die in any altered art piece I've made. On went the thinking! A few hours later I came up with the outline design for this. It's taken me a few days faffing to get it to what it is now but then that's what us crafters do isn't it? You can adapt this piece very easily into something personal to you by changing charms etc, you could even change the colour completely!
I hope it offers you a little inspiration.
Level of difficulty: Intermediate
Materials:
Board or thick cardboard 225mm x 300mm
Thick paper or thin card (any colour) 225mm x 300mm
Brown card for main part of valise
Scraps of darker brown card for valise straps and die cuts
Scraps of light tan card for valise corners
Scraps of black card for valise strap struts
Scraps of grey card for die cuts
Scrap of white card for die cut word 'dream'
Piece of gold coloured craft metal for clock and wings
Scrap of old map
Craft metal - gold
Small travel pictures and words
Gold vintage effect buttons
5 assorted travel charms (choose from what you have)
An old coin
A piece of cork cut from bottle cork
Decorative hat pin
A metal decorative corner
8 distressed gold or copper brads for the valise struts
A brad for clock hands
Tim Holtz Distress ink pad 'Brushed corduroy'
Tim Holtz alcohol inks 'Ginger', 'Hazlenut', 'Sandal' & 'Butterscotch'
Tim Holtz alcohol blending solution
White acrylic paint
Viva Inka-gold metallic paste - gold
Claudine Hellmuth studio matte medium
Metal glue
PVA glue
Double sided tape
Very small foam pads
Tools:
Sizzix Big Shot die cutter (or any that cuts thick dies)
Tim Holtz 'Vintage valise' die
Sizzix 'Angel wings' die
Tim Holtz 'Gadget gears' die
Tim Holtz 'Weathered clock' die
Mini gears die (any)
Scroll dies (any)
Scroll corner die (any)
Two dies that denote foreign places (any)
Sizzix phrase die 'Dream' (you can choose what you want)
Sizzlits aeroplane die
An embossing folder for the wings (any)
Cutting mat
Inking sheet
Scissors
Scalpel
Pair of cutting pliers to remove button backs
Tim Holtz blending tool + sponge & ink applicator
Thin watercolour paint brush
Large flat water colour paint brush
Sanding block or emery paper
Water
Damp cloth
Paper hanky
Piece of kitchen roll
METHOD
The base board
Take your piece of thick paper/thin card and glue it to the board base. When it has dried completely mix a little white acrylic paint with PVA glue' (50:50) and apply an even coat over the board using the large flat water colour brush. This layer MUST be completely dry before the next step. Place your board landscape then using your blending tool and ink applicator apply patchy streaks of the alcohol inks horizontally across the board blending them as best you can. If the result looks unblended use a SMALL amount of the blending fluid to refine the blending. Drop a few drops of the 'Hazlenut' ink over the board to make ink spots. Alcohol ink dries very quickly but it must be fully dry before proceeding. Make a wash of 40% white acrylic paint and 60% water and apply the wash over the board using the flat water colour brush. Leave to dry.
Next, tear a strip of your map to about 100mm width and encourage some little rips down both sides. Crumple the map up so there are lots of creases in it when you undo it and lay it flat. Take your blending tool and sponge and gentle apply 'Brushed corduroy' ink down each side making sure you cover both front and back of the little rips. Without replenishing the ink gently drag the sponge back and forth over the rest of the map so that the ink stains all the creases from where you crumpled it. Once the map is dry glue it to the board using the studio matte glue. When the map has dried trim the excess away from the board. Drop a few drops of ink over the map and then place the board to one side.
Prepping the valise
Make up the valise in exactly the same way as the 'Good luck son' card using the brown and coordinating brown card.
Prepping your art
Start by cutting out your travel pictures and words as required then cut all of your die shapes out using the scraps of card. I've used coordinating brown for all except the large 'Gadget gears' and aeroplane which are grey, white for the word 'dream' and the clock and wings which are cut from gold thin craft metal. Once the wings are cut emboss them with an embossing folder then distress them using the sanding block. Take the clock and clock hands and do the same. Wipe away the dust with a damp cloth then dab them with alcohol inks using your blending tool and ink applicator. Take a brad and put the clock hands together. Use your pliers to remove the button backs then ink the fronts with the same alcohol inks and any of the other charms you want to. Next take your blending tool and sponge and lightly colour the edges of your travel pictures, words and card die cuts using the 'Brushed corduroy' distress ink. Edge the piece of cork using the same ink then slip one of the travel charms onto the hat pin and carefully push the pin into the side of the cork.
Bringing it all together
All of your art should now be cut, put together and distressed. Clear and clean your work surface and when everything is dry place the board down and start arranging your art. If you start with the clock, wings and valise you can alter their positions as necessary to accommodate your art - don't be frightened of overlaying pieces. When you have laid it all out walk away and make a cuppa. There's many a time I've started the gluing and then wished I'd placed something somewhere else! If you're working in the evening I'd be tempted to leave it until the next day - it is a lot of work to spoil by haste.
When you're completely sure you have the layout as you like it you can start gluing. The Claudine Hellmuth studio matte glue will adhere most things but use metal glue for anything metallic you're unsure about