Altered Tissue Tape

Okay readers, I have found an awesome new technique for altering my favorite craft item: tissue tape.  This is amazing staple is made by Tim Holtz and I just can't seem to get enough of it.  Tim recently posted on his blog many ideas for this product. I simply took one of his ideas a step further and here is what I made.

It is a little difficult to see, so I included a few different angles.  The entire outside of this little shrine is covered with altered tissue tape from the Sketchbook collection.  Love this stuff!

The project started with a score from a garage sale, and old piece of dollhouse furniture.  I took off the doors and broke out the shelf that was inside.   The whole thing was colored with spray ink and the edges were coated in copper Rub and Buff.  The inside opening appeared to be too deep so I added a few layers of craft foam before I lined the inside of my mini shrine with paper from Tim's newest paper stash, Crowded Attic. 

I knew I wanted to give the outside more texture so I thought I would use tissue tape colored with alcohol ink, inspired by Tim's recent blog post.  Direct application is the trick to get the color nice and rich.  As I was applying my inks, I had a curious thought, what would Perfect Pearls do with the ink...  I dipped my brush into a pot of copper pearls and tapped it above my tape to sprinkle it on.  I then used my brush to disperse it across the tape.  My goodness, how well this worked.  The inks were still wet enough to accept the pearls perfectly and the sheen that you get is just amazing. These photos really do not capture how lovely it really looks, but you can see a bit of the shimmer in the photo above. I have since used this technique on metal too...and it works really well!

The outside of my structure was covered in the tape.  I added a crown from Tim's Ideaology collection that I altered a bit with paint and ink to age it.  My stash of found objects and goodies provided the stuff for the inside.  The bottle, also by Tim, was filled with a bit of sand and a bit of sheet music I aged with Vintage Photo and tied up with a bit of string.  I have no idea where the game piece came from, I have so much stuff in my stash!  I added one of Tim's light bulbs, a vintage clock key from my Dad and a pair of bone dice.  The charm hanging from the top is an old watch face that I attached a wing charm and spinner too. I then used some wire to create a finding.  I just love this little charm.

I am so excited to share this trick of the trade with you!  Please let me know if you try it out.  I would love to see what others can do with this little idea. 

Thanks as always for stopping by! Happy crafting!