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Sunday, 18 May 2014

The Parfumerie Collection

Hello everyone - I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.  I'm so pleased you've dropped in, as I can share my happy news with you.  I was delighted to be invited to be a Guest Designer over at the Fashionable Stamping Challenges - it's a challenge site I've loved since I set out on my travels in Craftyblogland, and it's a real privilege to play alongside the wonderful Fashion Stampettes.

Not only that, but I was offered the chance to pick the theme so, purely selfishly - as I felt at the time it was a while since I'd been properly dimensional - I challenged them to create or alter a Three Dimensional Object.

Well, having thrown down the gauntlet, I had to come up with a three-dimensional object of my own... Well, I did.  Several of them in fact.  Without further ado, I give you... The Parfumerie Collection.


I'm afraid I'm a bit low on "before" pictures, and even of step-by-step photos, as I got wrapped up in the process itself.  We are, nonetheless, in for a photo-heavy post, so you might want a cup of tea... or perhaps a glass of fine champagne?







I like to imagine the finished toilette collection gracing the dressing table of an 18th century lady or madame, ready to hand as she's preparing to host one of her renowned salons, where artists and intellectuals gather for stimulating conversation.













There's a pretty fine line between society hostess and courtesan, of course... What could be more seductive than a woman of scintillating wit, great beauty, and with every inch of soft skin divinely scented!








You might first need some soap - if you're of the minority who feel regular bathing is not injurious to the health.

It's just a little wodge of paper inside, I'm afraid - imagination is all here!  The tissue paper around it is dyed with Bundled Sage and Iced Spruce Distress Inks and Stains. 




All the labels are stamped in Sepia Archival ink onto Specialty Stamping Paper.  

With stamps as exquisitely detailed as these, by Crafty Individuals, that extra bit of fine detail which the paper gives is worth every penny it costs!









The Eau de Toilette bottle in fact once held alcohol.  It's one of many alcohol miniatures I have stashed awaiting alteration (years in the collecting, I hasten to add!).

There's something particularly elegant about the shape of this one, so it was a perfect choice for this collection. 










There are various crackle effects in use throughout the collection.

I believe that on this one I used the DecoArt One-Step Crackle, over a coat of their sealer.









Then I added DecoArt Blue Mist and Ice Blue acrylics over it.  They were slightly diluted, so as to keep the translucence of the glass.  

You can see the glow as the sunlight illuminates it here.












For the lid, I used a decorative button from my stash, altered with the same paints, and a touch of Tarnished Brass Distress Paint, and there's some Idea-ology bead chain and a tassel around the swan-like neck.  









(I'm sure our elegant courtesan has a swan-like neck too, plenty of room for dabbing the eau-de-toilette to attract the lips of the rake as he's whispering gossip in her ear.)

The metal filigree piece, from The Funkie Junkie Boutique, seemed perfect to go behind the label.











The small powder container is one of my moisturiser pots (empty, of course, and thoroughly rinsed out), again hoarded for months awaiting its moment in the candlelight.










The Blue Mist and Ice Blue came into play again to alter the colour, but applied quite roughly to get a textured, distressed look.







As with all the pieces in the collection, I layered inked book pages, some lace, and then added some metal embellishing, altered with various paints to make them all co-ordinate.










For the final piece in our toiletry set, the Cologne bottle, I do have a part-way photo.  

This glass bottle is originally from Germany and contained coffee milk.  You've seen one like it before in my black and gold PaperArtsy Christmas candle collection.










Well, this one had been the subject of some Tim Holtz experimentation.  

He shared a technique to apply Rock Candy Crackle Paint to glass, and this was where I tried it out... then it just sat there, awaiting the next step.










It turned out the next step was some Blue Mist and Ice Blue paint.

In fact, the places where I over-applied the RCCP, so that it slid down in globules, now became rather fabulously funky - creating really cool additional texture and interest on the surface of my bottle.








I used a metal rose for the lid, glued onto another button from the stash, and again altered with the DecoArt paints as well as some Tarnished Brass Distress Paint, sanding back to the metal in places too.














The Idea-ology Ornate Plate on the front got the same treatment, and I attached it using some frivolous ribbons, with another one around the neck to match.  











I'm quite certain that our courtesan decorates her powdered wig with the most frivolous of ribbons, so it seemed appropriate.















I hope you've enjoyed this brush with history - a particular historical vignette that I'm very fond of.  I think I'd've made an excellent salon-hostess (and probably a pretty good courtesan too, come to that!) and I suspect I might have been more at home in the 18th century than the 21st. 

I hope my Parfumerie Collection will inspire you to create or alter a three-dimensional object of your own (one will do!) and join in over at the Fashionable Stamping Challenges this fortnight.

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I'll see you soon, either here (later this morning, in fact) or elsewhere in Craftyblogland.  Have a wonderful Sunday!

Odours have a power of persuasion stronger than words, appearances, emotions or will.  The persuasive power of an odour cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally.  There is no remedy for it.
From Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

Having borrowed Madame's toiletries for this Mixed Media make, and with the added Metal embellishments on each piece, I'd like to enter this in the M Challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.
At the Craft-Room Challenge the theme is Recycle - the bottles and the moisturiser pot are all in the mix.
And the All Crafts Challenge at Craft My Life are playing Anything Goes But No Cards.
At PanPastel UK the new theme is Florals - quite apart from the floral fragrances inside, there are flowers on the labels, as decoration and as one of the lids!
Craft Hoarders Anonymous are inviting us to use up Ribbon, Lace and Twine - with not only ribbon and lace but all those hoarded bottles and pots - well, it seems like a match made in heaven!

81 comments:

  1. Alison I adore the collection and FSC can't thank you enough for such a fabulous challenge.

    The soft colour palette totally shows off the collection beautifully and I am sure that if Christian Dior saw your artistic talents he would have you on the payroll tomorrow.

    Thanks sweetness.

    Warm hugs from Shirl x x x


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  2. You have such a wonderful imagination...

    The soft pastel colours you have chosen work well with the vintage theme. A fantastic set of upcycled items and a delightful story to accompany them :-) xxx

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  3. WOW this is an exquisite set! Gorgeous!!

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  4. These are so beautiful and delicate! I love the chic French look!
    Kate

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  5. Hi Alison. I grabbed a cuppa and thoroughly enjoyed reading about this project! You have created such luscious texture and the colours are so perfect for this. You have rocked FSC!!!
    Dot x

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  6. Wonderful collection of Altered Art. The colours alone look stunning and the textures and your imagination have done the rest. Beautiful set and would grace any dressing table. Thank you for sharing with us Alison. Have a Good Day. Hugs Rita xxx

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  7. Your bottles are amazing! this technique is very difficult for me! You made a great great work and the result is delicate and very vintage! Thanks for sharing your step by step! Barbarayaya

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  8. You still have the imagination most of us had in childhood and then lost somewhere . This toilette set is beautiful! Love the stamping and crackle and embellishments. I like the story to go with the project, too! It takes us along for the journey.

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  9. Beautiful toilette set! Fab crackle and love the soft vintage colors. Madam would be very pleased to display this set on her dressing table. ;)

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  10. Your set looks fab. The technique looks really great!

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  11. What can I say but wow Alison, just amazing work.

    Apols for being so absent but am trying to slowly ease back into things.

    B x

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  12. I didn't get around to the cuppa I was hooked by your wonderful story to accompany your gorgeous parfumerie set! Love the crackle on all the pieces and the choice of colours is perfect! Sue C x

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  13. What a fantastic, beautiful, collection - love the colour!! Each item is so well thought out and made (of course!) - quite exquisite!
    You may have been happier in the 18th century, but I think you'd have missed blogland, you are so at home here!!

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  14. absolutely stunning collection Alison - so very beautiful and the crackle look awesome - love it xx

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  15. Just amazing Alison. Who would guess the humble beginning of this very beautiful set-not me for sure.

    Wonderful words today as well and very true-made me think in all sorts of directions :~)

    Love Chrissie x

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  16. Ooh la-la, tres jolie Madame Butterfly!

    Sally

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  17. A fabulous and one-of-a-kind collection of vintage perfume bottles Alison, wow!!!! The techniques you have used are great, and the RRCP applied two times on glass seems to provide a very interesting texture indeed, thanks for sharing! And congrats for being the new FSC Guest, so well deserved.... :) I was away last week for my job, so try to do some catch-up once again only now.. Warm hugs, Coco xx

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  18. Oooooh, your collection is soooo beautiful! Love the cracked paint - looks fabulous.
    xxx Evelyn

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  19. It's unbeliveabel - so fantastic - you did a gold job!

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  20. Oooooh, Alison! what a wonderful, delicate perfume set! I love your story so deeply bringing us back in time...Thanks! Lys.

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  21. Oh wow, what a gorgeous collection of pots and bottles, Alison. The icy colour is perfect, so elegant, and I love the buttons and blooms used to decorate them.

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  22. Well as ever you've taken this theme and moved it on to another level. Such a special altered collection, I love the way you've painted the metal embellishments as well as the crackled surfaces. Love it all! Jenny x

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  23. Stunning!! A fantastic collection so feminine. Welcome to FSC and for this fortnights challenge.
    Love
    Amanda x

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  24. absolute fantastic Art Work!!!!!!

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  25. STUNNING Work Alison, The texture & colours to these altered pieces is quite amazing...Simply Fabulous. Hugs May x x

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  26. Wow, wow and wow gain, - a new favourite!!! The crackle, colour embellishment and stamping are out of this world!!! And of course I love the whole story behind it (not my favourite period in history to be honest) but your bottles definitely are!! In fact I a sure they would grace my 21st century bathroom just perfectly lol! I am completely in love with those blue tones, they match the sepia to perfection, and oh those textures!!!!

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  27. Wow, gorgeous, sooooo much to look at and drool over - off for another look!!

    Sam xx

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  28. Where to start? WOW this collection is fabulous and so inspirational, a wonderful use of some of your recyclable stash. Esther is our hostess at Craft-Room Challenge this time and she is of course one of the fabulous fashionable stampers you have done her and them proud. Congratulations all round XOXO Zoe

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  29. Wow Alison! An absolutely amazing and jaw droppingly (is that a word?) awesome collection of pretty things - love them!
    Fliss xx

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  30. What a collection! I imagine it gracing the boudoir of Marguerite Gautier; but that could be because I've been thinking about 'La Dame aux Camellias' lately. As always, Alison, you have created objects of exquisite beauty. They just cry out to be touched. What a wonderful colour choice too! I love that they are recycled! For a few years my daughter has worked weekends in a perfume shop and it always saddens me that the incredible bottles are designed NOT to be re-used! One of these days I'm determined to find a way of getting those tops off without breaking them! Julie Ann xxx

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  31. Absolutely gorgeous collection, Alison. I am amazed to see each and every detail in this project.

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  32. Wow, an amazing, gorgeous collection. Each piece looks stunning. You chose a great challenge theme for us at FSC.
    Yvonne

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  33. What a gorgeous collection, dear Alison, so many wonderful techniques used, and they results in amazing finished pieces.A great idea to use the 3-D challenge you picked, to create this set .
    xo, Dorthe

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  34. What a stunning collection! I feel some bottle altering coming on (I have a sizable stash of empty mini Mateus bottles!) ;o)
    Happy Sunday!
    Alison xxx

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  35. Golly Gumples Alison, these are fabulous........wowee, hugs Annette x

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  36. Fabulous Fabulous Fabulous!! That's all I can say!! Absolutely wonderful, how you've up-cycled all of your 'hoarded' goodies ;) Crafters don't hoard...We stash ;) Love the CRC-DCP on the bottles...They really do look like vintage, antique bottles! Fabulous! XOXO-Shari

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  37. well I am blown away by your fabulous recycled bottles and jar Alison. Loved the story as well and wonderful descriptions.
    The decoration of each bottle is so individually gorgoues.

    Thank You so much for sharing with us at Craft Room Challenge and huge congrats on being a Guest Designer at Fashionable Stamping. Like you I adore this wonderful challenge site and the extremely talented and kind Design Team members

    Please give them my best wishes xx

    Hugs Annie xx

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  38. Your Parfumerie collection is stunning Alison, I love every piece, the gorgeous textures and colours and all the lovely shapes! Many congratulations on being Guest Designer too. Anne xx

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  39. Oh my GOSH! This is an outstanding project dear Alison!
    Such a beautiful range of feminine pieces...each single piece a treasure!
    A feast for the eyes.. and an outstanding UPCYCLING/Recycling as well..
    I am thrilled!
    xoxoxo
    Susi

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  40. This would be right at home in a boudoir of any century! Stunning work Alison and I love the colour scheme. Nicola x

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  41. Stunning collection of toiletries, love the finish and textures on each piece and such a gorgeous colour. I'm sure they will have pride of place on Madame's dressing table!
    Avril xx

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  42. Wooooow, jaw droppingly gorgeous perfumerie collection! I love the crackle effects and the colour palette really suits this cute assemble. Very well done, Alison! Tres chic! xxx

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  43. Absolutely stunning collection of projects Alison! So much detail and beauty to enjoy! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  44. you are so clever alison, this collection is just soooooooo cool! thanks for sharing with us at Craft Room Challenge, Debi x

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  45. This is so wonderful, beautiful, and just plain stunning. I love each little item! What a great project! Thanks for sharing with us at Craft Hoarders Anonymous!

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  46. I am drooling over here. I LOVE this! Especially your bar of soap. (I won't tell a soul!) I've been doing a bit of redecorating and my bathroom is in need of some cheering up. You've given me so much inspiration! Each piece is wonderful!

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  47. ...oops!
    I got so excited that I forgot to thank you for sharing Madame's toiletries for this Mixed Media make in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge! :)
    ~Michelle

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  48. Fantastic story with a marvelous altered collection. The colors, textures, stamping and embellishments are over the top gorgeous. Your work is always amazing!
    Hugs, Cathy-Lynn

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  49. Oh Madame Butterfly this is just PERFECTION !!!!! Only you could have created this, your imagination is just darn magical, you would have made yourself into what ever you wanted in any era and have done it to perfection, you just that kind of woman... I'm a sucker for historical romance so this is right up my alley. You are THE BOMB Miss Alison, and that is why you deserve to be the Guest Designer at FSC, congratulations. I collect everyone's perfume bottles, I have 3 cans full, wish I had the time to play with you, thanks for all this inspiration..

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  50. So beautiful and I adore the little story you weaved through out.Fit for a princess.

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  51. What a fabulous collection of elegance! And the story you wove around them was just as delightful as the pieces themselves. It's easy for projects to create their own imaginery story when they're created as beautifully as these. Your attention to detail is always impeccable and the finished projects leave me shaking my head in awe. You truly are a master of transformation and I adore what you've turned these "ordinary items" into! I'm so glad you shared these with us for this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!

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  52. These are quite beautiful! Thanks for joining us at Craft Hoarders Anonymous!

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  53. OMG! Such a beautiful and inspiring collection Alison - you did it again! Totally droolworthy! Chris xxx

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  54. Magnificently shabby chic! I love the colors you chose, too. Thanks for joining us at Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge #8: Ribbon, Lace or Twine, Oh My!

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  55. Absolutely wonderful! Thanks for sharing with us at Craft Hoarders Anon :)

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  56. Oh! what a stunning toilette's collection! Gorgeous colours and beautiful labels. I love crackle on the bottles. I want to prick up my ears for gossip story into the Madame's powder room while using the Eau de Toilette. xx

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  57. OMG Alison. This is fan-flipping-tastic!!! You know I am a fan of your work but this is just fabulous! So clever.
    Hugs
    xx

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  58. Ooooh lah lah and THUD went my chin. Did you hear it? These are totally gorgeous and I also appreciated the chuckle over frequent bathing possibly being injurious to one's health. Must pin these lovelies on my Altered Bottles page. xx

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  59. Alison, this is amazing!!! I was stunned when I opened this post and saw this gorgeous project. What a great idea! All the bottles, colours, textures, labels and metallic pieces are wonderful. You even made a little soap. Thank you for the inspiration! I now wish I had my little bottle collection from when I was a teenager here to alter. Thank you for sharing with us at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog!!

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  60. You created a million-dollar collect here, Alison! I am just so amazed by this project, my head is still shaking! Priceless, I say!

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  61. Hi Alison,
    wow these are gorgeous, so beautiful.

    Thank you for sharing your creativity at Craft-Room Challenge;-))m

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  62. AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING! The story of the courtsean, er I mean lady in society is so vivid I was transported immediately. Talent, bBeauty and imagination...all rolled up in yet another beautiful project Alison. Wondrous....:)

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  63. Absolutely stunning creations, Alison! Love all of them :) Huges! :)

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  64. Oh! The decadence! The fabulous colours, the crackle and the wonderful words! A fabulous post and then some! Hugs, Chrisx

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  65. Fantastic work! Thanks for joining us at Craft Hoarders Anonymous!

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  66. If you heard strange noises in the last few minutes, it was me, oohing & aahing & practically drooling my way through this post. Each piece is utterly stunning & a work of art.

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  67. Wow Alison, what a wonderfull project, I love it, very pretty and feminine!!Super!!

    Greetings
    Maria

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  68. This is quite a stunning collection of perfumerie bottles Alison not forgetting the cute little soap. The soft pastel colour on top of the crackle is quite beautiful as are the altered metal embellishments and vintage stamping. Mo x

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  69. Alison your collection is stunning - so many gorgeous details. It's great to have you with us over at FSC - thanks for a great theme - and thanks for sharing with us at Craft-room too..Esther xx

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  70. Wow - wow - wow - these are breathtaking pieces. Missing words.

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  71. Hey there Allison, thanks so much for sharing your fabulous projects with the DT from Premium Craft Brands Challenge BLog, I am loving your perfume bottles, fabulous job Hugs Terry xxxx

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  72. BEAUTIFUL! Had to come comment... Congrats on being picked favorite on Craft Hoarders.

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  73. Wow wow wow truly gorgeous stunning awesome creations. Your imagination always amazes me. These would certainly look authentic on a 18th centuries film or stage set they are so realistic. The details are beautifully done, I love all the crackle and the colour is fantastic. Kezzy :-) xxx

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  74. I can see why I am scrolling down SOOOO far Alison! Your collection of recycled items is jaw droppingly beautiful! The textures and colours are perfect. I think the addition of paint to the rock candy is fabulous indeed!

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  75. Wow! Amazing makes. Thanks for joining in our floral challenge at http://panpasteluk.blogspot.co.uk/
    Anjie (DT)

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  76. WOW these are amazing, the colours are wonderful, and I really like the RCCP. Great use of the metal rose too for the lid. In fact I love everything about the whole collection xx

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  77. Amazing perfumerie collection, perfect for any ladies boudoir
    The colours and crackle are stunning and the exquisite labels and embellishments make then so special

    Jools x

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  78. These are amazing! I love the crackle and the color they came out! The labels are wonderful as well! Awesome projects!

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  79. I would love this on my dressing table - they're fabulous. Thank you for joining us at Craft-Room Challenge.
    xxx Hazel.

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  80. What a sensationally lovely set!!!
    Amazing!

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  81. Stunning project and it fits perfectly with our "Florals" theme over at Pan Pastel Challenges. Many thanks for playing along with us, Lou x

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Thank so much for taking the time to stop by. It's lovely to hear what you think - every comment is so much appreciated.