Well after feeling rough for a few days I finally got to play with a few of bits I couldn`t leave behind at the Ally Pally show I had just been too
It was my first time of going there , as I had never been as I thought the journey would be bad driving but caught a coach that went through my village and dropped us off at the entrance
The place was so light and airy and not to big , and even got to watch the many demo`s that were going on , and I didn`t know Sheena Douglass was going to be there so it was fantastic to meet her and watch her do her stuff as well as watching her replenish the distress inks pads that were flying off the stand
and loved meeting up with friends at palm court – so a fantastic day all round
So one good thing about not feeling 100% – it gets my mind in gear and I wanted to play and make something other than the STUNNING bracelets and watches as I love a product to have many uses – so up came the idea a craft top organizer
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Click here for the orginal Grungeboard write up
that features the Bracelet & Watch strap you
tube workshops as well as links for buying the
product
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I painted the grungeboard with cosmic shimmer glitter paint – then stamped in black with the swirl stamp and then again using the gold embossing powder – I loved the effect that some of the powder went onto the black too
Then I tried different ways to glue and fix the board into cylinders but it wasn`t playing ball even with the gel glue so I thought why not use brads but then you would see them inside – which would be ok if you covered them up – so here came the idea of the hitch fasteners then came into there own as the are neat from the inside and also give a design feature to the piece
To attach the shapes to the base board I just used a piece of grey card I inked up and draw a circle around the shapes where they were going to be place and then with the pinflair gel glue went over the line and placed the cylinders on top – job done – just need to fill them now
I am going to do a single one – brighter colours , so i`ll post as and when

Just a close up

Now for the reason for posting as I was handed this piece of grungeboard to the right of the picture – it was a piece Sheena showed on her demo about how to make a bigger watch strap and I said i`d add it along side the watch demo I had already done
So measure your watch strap size – I have used the same size as per demo 1.25″ width and cut of 2 full lengths
Measure in 8mm from both sides and then the long piece is 28mm – angle of mark at 9mm on both edges to form the angle and you will have the shape below
Widths will vary with different watch strap sizes – but it will give you an idea of the shape – why not cut this out on a scrap piece of card to make sure you don`t waste an grungeboard

Cut the piece out and then use this piece as a template for the 2nd piece – this will ensure it is a matching piece

Once you have the shape of the 2 straps ink and colour your 2 pieces- I have used distress ink pad `old paper` and `vintage photo` too and used the calligraphy stamp in black ink to give a nice feel for a mans watch
So attach your hitch fastener as you would in the main watch demo
I have just stamped a little amount on the reverse as this will be shown when the piece is bent over – I have inked it slightly darker to give a contrast

I have also made this additional small length just to cover over the middle section – but it is just something I thought of whilst playing
when you place the hitch fastener through just attach this piece underneath and it will lay nice a flat across the wrist

Now do the same to the other side , making saw you have the required bend over the wrist that is needed

So here is the watch without the backing piece ( please note this watch has no batteries as it`s always showing 10am on all the demos !!! – will get some soon- promise )
then finish your watch ends off to the required length that fits you

And here it is again with the backing piece added

Now for the other that inspired me at the show – someone had made a bookmark – and I love this idea – whilst you have the grungeboard to make bracelet why not make a few presents with this lovely gift idea
This was a full length piece of the grungeboard and the width cut to 1.75″ with the tassel ends being cut with a craft knife of a length of 1.5″
It has been inked and stamped in the same way as the watch

Here it is showing the 2 pieces would make for a lovely addition together as a gift idea

Thanks for stopping by – more ideas soon
Suzanne x