Chattering Robins: The Artist Trading Block Meets the Fairy Tale

Hi everyone. My name is Betsy Skagen, and I am thrilled to be sharing my first post with you as part of the Robin’s Nest Design Team.

Always one to think outside the box, I wanted to use the fabulous Wedding In Love Collection to show how you don’t necessarily have to use materials in the way they are intended. Hey, once a rebel, always a rebel!

My Cinderella’s Time Gone By Artist Trading Block (ATB) features remnants of Cinderella’s ballroom dance at the castle and plays with the concept of Time: the importance Time played during Cinderella’s special night, the fact that this Time took place in the past and how Time distorts, warps and fractures memories.

Creating this box was truly a serendipitous experience. I knew I wanted to use a lot of translucent materials and I was delighted to find that I had saved a Cinderella slipper and carriage horse from my daughter’s long-ago princess birthday party. The icing on the cake came halfway through the project when I discovered that the Robin’s Nest actually had a cardstock quote about fairy tales. It was as if I had a personal fairy godmother watching over this project.

How to make the ATB

Step 1 Find a suitable transparent box. Make sure it is sturdy enough to support the weight of your materials. I used an acrylic box from my hoarder’s stash that had previously housed a Christmas ornament. Measure all the dimensions of the inside of the box and write these down for your reference.

Step 2 Cut two pieces of Dark Vanilla Silver Glitter Cardstock and two pieces of the Silver on Crème Classic Swirl Glitter Cardstock so they will fit back to back inside the two back walls of the box. Adhere these together with the decorative sides facing out.

Step 3 Cut a piece of the Iridescent Classic Glittler Swirl Vellum to fit the inside of the bottom of your box. Adhere this to the box using a clear adhesive such as Glossy Accents.

Step 4 Fussy cut a small strip of Dark Vanilla Silver Glitter Cardstock to place on the bottom of one of the sides.

Step 5 Lay the Silver on Crème Class Swirl paper on table and determine placement of chipboard clock, pendants, fussy cut and gears. Remove everything except chipboard clock from paper and lightly sprintz ink bronzer over clock so that it creates a shadow outline on paper.

Step 6 Using a silver acrylic paint dauber, paint the chipboard heart, clock and gears.

Step 7 While clock is still wet, apply silver embossing powder to paint on clock. Then use heat gun to emboss. And yes, you can see from the above picture why I never bother with manicures (sigh).

Step 8 Dry heart and gears with heat gun. Lightly distress the chipboard heart with ink bronzer. Rub with paper towel to get your desired look.

Step 9 Attach pendant to chipboard clock. Line up clock with shadow outline on paper and attach to paper using strong adhesive. Attach gears and second pendant.

Step 10 Using permanent black ink, stamp two smaller clock images onto plastic packaging material. Using heat gun, shrink and distort shape of these clocks to your liking.

Step 11 Using permanent black ink, stamp larger clock images onto plastic transparency. Apply Glossy Accents to back of this and apply to a piece Iridescent Classic Glittler Swirl Vellum. After it dries. Cut out the clock, and then make sharp shatter-like cuts into a portion of the clock to create a broken clock and a window for viewing. Ink edges of clock with black ink.

Step 12 Cut the fairy tale quote out of the Wedding Cut-Outs Cardstock. Attach at an angle to the second of the Silver on Crème Classic Swirl rectangles.

Step 13 Place the acrylic horse on the papers and sprintz ink bronzer over horse so that it creates a shadow outline on papers. I found it helpful to cover up some of the fairy tale quote to ensure the shadow did not overpower the quote. Remove the horse and wash the ink from it.

Step 14 Align the horse with the shadow and using a glass and bead glue attach it to the paper. Line horse with Pebeo Cerne Relief in Silver. Attach gear to right hand corner of quote.

Step 15 Using the glass and bead glue, adhere the glass slipper to the inside base of the box. Using the same glue, attach black and white Diamond Dew Drops to the base around the slipper.

Step 16 Carefully apply a clear adhesive around the inside edges of the left back side of the box. Insert the panel holding the chipboard clock into the box and press down onto the side. Let this dry thoroughly. After it dries, repeat the process and insert the fairy tale panel into the right back side of the box. Let dry.

Step 17 Apply Glossy Accents to the front of the large clock and adhere to the inside panel across from the chipboard clock. Let dry.

Step 18 Using glass and bead glue, adhere one clock to the inside back corner and the second close to the inside of the box’s upper left front corner.

Step 19 Thread black wire through the crown pendant and through the large pearl beads. Attach to the inside of the cover with glass and bead glue.

Step 20 Adhere the chipboard heart to the outside of the cover. Adhere pearl colored Dew Drops to the heart. Adhere Black Dew Drops to the four corners.

Step 21 Apply the Timeflies Rub-on to the lower left corner of the outside front of the ATB.

That is how you can make the Cinderella’s Time Gone By ATB. Hopefully this will inspire you to create your own ATB that brings you some happily-ever-after moments of creative bliss.