When is is a tin no longer a tin?

Do you know about Altered Tins? 

I love a tin! Some of them are so cute or useful. I love putting buttons and beads in them  and I love to look in them and sort through the treasures within.

Well... there is now another use for tins of all sizes. You can take an ordinary tin and alter it to make it into something completely different.  The only limit is your own imagination.

They make the perfect little showcase for artwork. Because tins are so irresistible for peeking into, you can hide a little arty scene or frame a perfect little piece of vintage ephemera within an ordinary tin as a surprise for the viewer. Or you can make the entire box into something completely different.

I have been plying with tins this week to get ready for an Embroiderers Guild Summer School in July. We are spending 2 days making interactive Altered Books and Altered Tins.

Would you like a little look at my tins?

The first one is based on Bees: Those precious little creatures who pollinate our crops and keep our crops growing.

This is a little cigar box, about 3"x 3" in size. I have decoupaged the lid to disguise the raised writing on the front and painted it with metallic paints.

Then I used a new Sizzix Honeycomb die to cut out metal and metallic card for the background of the base and inner lid. This was layered onto paper and net.

I put a little wooden frame on top of the metal honeycomb to frame the little brass bee and glass flowers. I added a tiny brass tag with the word Believe. We must look after our Bees and protect them from harmful pesticides. Our crops and food supplies will be in grave danger if the bees die out.

Below is a close up of the frame with the flowers, the bee and the metal honeycomb.

The second tin is teeny tiny!

About 1.25 inches long.

It is small enough to be worn as a pendant. The outside of the lid is painted to resemble enameling. A little impressionist garden made of dots.

It has been wired and beaded into a pendant and has the same little brass Believe wired into the top.
The inside is handmade Merino and silk felt with hand stitching and glass flowers.  A little fairy lives in this tin. We all believe in Fairies don't we?

I'd love to know what you think.

I will show you more tins  in the next few days.

Bye for now xx