I did it.  I altered my Binderie Punch for the 7Gypsies challenge.  (here is what it looked like before)

I hardly ever alter anything but I did this to challenge myself to get my mojo going - and boy did it work!  Oh I grumbled and hmmm'd and haaaa'd but I pushed myself and do you know what?  I am really happy with it!  It really took me out of my comfort zone which got the creative juices flowing - and now I am looking around the house for something new to alter, lol.  Better tell my family to nail everything down that they don't want altered!

I took pictures as I did it so I could share how I did it.

To start I decided that the red had to go.  This is actually when the grumbling started as I really love it's red color but I thought if I immediately took it out of the picture then I would feel less restricted.

So out came my Studio paints and brushes - I mixed sky blue + dab of yellow to get a really yummy green.

Red gone, sigh.  BUT with it gone I didn't get caught up it anymore.  Best to start out with a clean slate.  Or a green slate in this case!  LOL

Now the fun begins.  Pretty-ing it up!

I decided to use a tissue paper technique to cover the surface with a print.  This means I get to use the above stamp which is new and I have been dying to use on something. 

Let's just take a moment to admire it's beauty...

Ahhh!  I fell in love with it the first time I saw it.  It is a 6"x6" (yes it is that big!) and features a vintage map of what looks like London, England.  You can see why I have been anxious to use this stamp on something!  Gorgeous! :)

OK- back to the tissue paper. :)

I grabbed some light tan colored tissue paper (nothing special - from my dollar store stash) along with Archival Ink in Jet Black and stamped onto the tissue a few times.  (some spots bled a little but I am totally ok with this - it is tissue paper after all!)

Close to the center of the tissue I cut a hole for the magic black button that is at the top of the machine.

Then I tool my Studio Multi-Medium in matte and "painted" the surface of my punch.

I then placed the tissue over the Multi-Medium, letting it crinkle and fold a bit.

I ended up with something like this.  Funny looking, isn't it?

I removed the extra tissue and then I painted a second coat of Multi-Medium over the surface which causes the tissue to go sheer.  I love this technique because it allows the base color to show through and you get this neat effect with wrinkles and the stamped image. (Different colors of tissue will effect the final result as you do still see it in some spots.) 

One thing to note is that when the tissue paper gets soaked through it becomes very delicate and tears easily.  If you do get a tear, it is pretty easy to patch because the tissue goes mostly sheer when you add a piece and the wrinkled design hides everything.

Next I decided to add some subtle shimmer to it so I pulled out my Perfect Pearls.

Normally I would just mix some Perfect Pearls with some water but since the surface of my punch was coated in Multi-Medium it would have just beaded up as soon as I brushed it on.  So I mixed some Heritage Gold Perfect Pearls with some water and then added some Multi-Medium to the mix.  Looks pretty gross I know but once brushed on it dries clear and all you can see is the shimmer of the Perfect Pearls.  (One thing to know - if you aren't adding Perfect Pearls over the surface and you can see brush strokes on the last coat of Multi-Medium then try thinning some Multi-Medium with some water and quickly brushing the entire surface again - this should help with the brush strokes)

It is hard to tell in the photo but it now has a dark golden shimmer to it with most of the shimmer drying along the wrinkles, highlighting them perfectly.

I was then happy with the overall background of the punch so then I set to decorating it.  Everything was pretty straightforward - a punched cardstock border with my Effervescence punch,  a word sticker border made from a sheet of 7Gypsies stickers, some vinyl Thickers for my initials and two small red buttons for the marking of where the punch holes are.

Then I decided I wanted a "button" button.  LOL  I mean, I wanted to decorate the black button on the top of the machine with a sewing button.  This created a dilemma.  The button I wanted to use was larger than the black button - if I glued it directly to the black button I would no longer be able to press it down to make the machine work.

This is how I solved the problem. 

I have this new {to me} product call Scrap Dots by Helmar.  It is sort of a liquid version of foam squares.  I decided to raise the red button up with this product 'cause I felt that a foam square was too thick in this situation.

I just squeeze a little glob on top of the black button and then gently placed my flower/button combo on top. (You have to make sure you don't press too hard so that you don't flatten it.)

What I like about the Scrap Dots is that you can make them any thickness that you want (you can let it dry and add another "glob" on top to build height) and it will dry exactly as you leave it.

Once it was dry I was still able to press down on the button to make the punch work because of the little gap created.

And then I was done. :)

As I mentioned before - the little red buttons replaced the arrows on the punch so that I can still see where the holes are going to end up.

Think you might try altering your punch now?  I am telling you - altering is totally addictive!  I am looking at my Mini Mister holder next...it just looks sooooo boring now! ;)

So go and look here to see all the altered Binderie punches and vote for your favorite (you need to register at the site to be able to vote but don't worry - it is easy and pain-free!)