Happy Christmas

As you can see, the festivities are well under way in our house. Luna saved all the dogs the trouble of unwrapping their gifts by eating them ALL yesterday!?

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Lx

PEACE!

For all you CAS fans, here's a Clean and Simple card I made using lots of gorgeous gold embossing powder and some fabulous stamps from PaperArtsy.

I really look forward to a nice long walk with my dogs every day and on a recent foray I noticed how beautiful the teasels look at this time of year. It gave me the idea for this card.  I've used Lin Brown's beautiful Teasel stamp here and one of her gorgeous Christmas sentiments.

Don't you just love it when you find a stamp that's a real multi-tasker. I love the gold with the white and the deeply etched red rubber stamps mean you get such a lovely crisp clean image. Yum!

Lx

STENCILLED ROBIN CARDS

Morning all

Sorry for the prolonged absence. You know what it's like leading up to Christmas. Busy, busy, busy... especially when you're making your own cards... I know you'll all be nodding vigorously and probably be nursing a serious case of Crafter's Crouch - LOL

I love Robins so I was very excited when I saw this Dinky stencil at That's Crafty. I'm really pleased with how these little cards turned out. Pretty much just a simple resist technique using Golden Gloss Gel but it really makes my little heart happy :oD

Find yourself a piece of patterned paper you like, push some clear gel medium through the stencil and leave it to dry. Then you can paint the background however you like. I used the Abstract Squares dinky stencil to put down some fresco paint. I used cheesecake, snowflake and antarctic to keep the background very understated and reflect some of the colours in the patterned paper. If you get any paint on the robins themself you can just wipe it off. When the paint was dry I stamped and embossed some musical notes and some flourishes.

I used the dinky star stencil and some Dreamweaver silver embossing paste sprinkled with silver heat embossing powder and I love the dimpled texture you get. Sprinkle on the embossing powder while the paste is still wet and heat in the usual way then set aside for the paste to dry thoroughly.

Here's one I did slightly differently as I wanted a more masculine card. This one is a bit grungier and I used a slightly different dinky star stencil. I painted the background rather than use patterned paper for this one.

I think this would be nice with some metal embellishments on it too.

That's all from me today. Not many sleeps until the big day :oD

Back tomorrow with a clean and simple card using more fab Lin Brown stamps.

Lx

PAPERARTSY TOPIC - CHRISTMAS CARDS AND GIFTS

Evening everybody

Christmas is fast approaching and there's a new topic at the PaperArtsy Blog of Christmas Cards and Gifts.  I've been saving this project up since I bought Lin Brown's gorgeous plate of ELB23 stamps on their release back in the summer. As I was gazing lovingly at them I spotted a little birdie hiding amongst all the beautiful flowers. A rare but highly prized breed - the (lesser spotted) PATwit :oD

Go on, give a home to a PATwit this Christmas.... You can find detailed step outs for your very own PATwit at the PaperArtsy Blog this evening as part of the current topic

Lx

ARTISTIC OUTPOST ATB

When I saw these greyboard panels at I knew they would be perfect for an Artist's Trading Box.

I set my heart on using some lovely winter themed stamps by Artistic Outpost (I used Midwinter and  and Snowy Woods (sorry, I couldn't find a link for this one). I added some lovely moulded snowflakes I made with a Forget Me Not mould by WOW and Tim Holtz's gorgeous Tattered Pinecones

I used the white Dylusions spray for a smattering of snow...

A bit of icy crackle....

Feels like Christmas is really on it's way...

Lx

IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS TODAY...

It's a long time since I knitted a bear but I really enjoyed knitting this little guy for a friend's daughter. I hope he's going to be very happy in his new home

I can't wait to knit a bear for Tilly's new baby sister when she's old enough too.

Lx

KEY TO HAPPINESS

Are these gorgeous little acrylic tags. They're perfect for key rings.  Here are two I made using some lovely Carabelle stamps, a bit of heat embossing and some Fresco Paints. Super easy. They'd make great little gifts if you could bear to give them away...

 I added a little bit of stencilled texure using the Circles and Diamonds Dinky Stencil by That's Crafty and some Snowflake Fresco Paint mixed with Golden Heavy Body Gel (Gloss) and some Pearl Glaze (all by Paperartsy)

A WALK IN THE WOODS

Evening everybody. I've got a tag to share with you this evening with lots of exciting goodies I got from That's Crafty the other day.

I used one of That's Crafty's new MDF tags as I wanted to do lots of heat embossing. It's a nice sturdy surface that doesn't move when you heat it. They've whooshed on up my list of favourite surfaces. Definitely in the Top 3..

I'm slightly obsessed with these gorgeous fern leaf shapes at the moment. I think it must be all those walks in the woods with my pooches... I love the shape of them. They're so delicate. I more or less galloped down to That's Crafty to see what Laura and Graham could find me in the way of fern leaves and, as usual, they came up trumps.

The forest floor was done using a lovely Sheena Douglas stamp, stamping and embossing in golds, greens, bronzes and browns.

The leaves were made by pouring my beloved Fresco Paint in Hey Pesto into a Martha Stewart Mould. Clever huh! They do take a day to dry but it was well worth it. You get a nice flexible piece that moves and drapes like a leaf. I brushed over a little Treasure Gold to bring out the detail.

Just look at that texture. I LOVE IT!

More texture here. First I swiped on some Gel Medium and pressed glass beads into it to create a sort of gravel effect. When it was dry I used a Honeycomb Dinky Stencil by That's Crafty to stencil on some Gel Medium and then rubbed over with Treasure Gold when it was dry. Finally I brushed on some distress stain in brown and then buffed it off with a damp cloth once dry. I'm so pleased with the way it turned out.

I used a fairly plain white organza for the ribbon and stained it with alcohol ink and dylusions spray in shades of green. I just coloured patches as I wanted bits of white to remain like bits of light shining through the trees in the forest.

I found a little piece of textured paper and stamped it with the word "Woods" from an Artistic Outpost set I've been playing with lately. It seemed to fit perfectly.

That's it for this evening. I hope you've enjoyed walking through the woods with me.

Lx

MASTERBOARDS - PAPERARTSY

Topic 22 at PaperArtsy is Masterboards. I'm pretty new to these but what's not to love, right?

I'm finding it hard to tear myself away from Emma's latest Christmas release at the moment. It's just so useful. It was on my desk the other day and I noticed the tags looked like little houses, which led to this card.

I kept my masterboard really simple and used a combination of one of my all time favourite stencils, again by Emma Godfrey for PaperArtsy - 018 EEG . I just painted the whole background with Space Cadet Fresco Paint and stencilled the stars in four different colours of Fresco Paints (Chalk, Pewter, Antarctic and Inky Pool.

The stamping is done with white archival ink and white embossing powder. I used the let it snow stamp from the set and the small snowflake.

The tree trunks are from the same stencil. I just added some details with black fineliner. The treetops are the bigger snowflakes from the stamp set, stamped, heat embossed and cut out.

You've still got plenty of time to join in with this topic at PaperArtsy. There's some great inspiration there so nip over and take a look.

Lx

HMFMC#208 Anything Christmas NO RED or GREEN

It's AAAAAGES since I made a House Mouse card and there are a few folks I know who will be very upset if they don't get a card with meeces on for Christmas. With that in mind,  I thought I'd better knuckle down and make a few HM cards. Oh the hardship! ;oD  Here's the first, which I'm going to enter for the current challenge at HMFMC. The berries are pink and orange instead of red. I think it works - just!

I did enjoy making it. Christmas isn't Christmas without the House Mice.

Lx

JOY!

A whole lotta sparkle going on...

Lx

FRESCO FRENZY! A NEW HOME FOR MY FAVE FRESCO FINISH PAINTS

Morning all

As you know, I love my Fresco Finish Paints by PaperArtsy and this new MDF paint storage from That's Crafty is just perfect for storing my ever growing collection. The holes are at just the right height so you can see all the labels on the paint, which is going to be really handy when I'm frantically searching for JUST the right colour on the hurry up (as is my way ;oD). The unit stacks beautifully too,  so I'll be able to keep all my paints at hand without taking up too much desk space - huzzah!

One of the best things about MDF storage is that you get to decorate it and this is what I did with the first unit.

I wanted an autumn feel so I used Haystack, Barn Door, Caramel and Vanilla for the background with touches of gold (okay, with quite a lot of gold...!?). The inside is painted with Caramel. It's such a lovely warm colour. I splodged and poured the other colours randomly over the unit to create the background. It's messy but I love the effect.

I've done a bit of stencilling using several of That's Crafty's Dinky stencils. They're becoming a real addiction :oD  The ones I've used here are Pebbles, Diamond Circles, and Honeycomb Background

I kept the stamping very simple and, to go with the autumnal theme I've used a set by Stamper's Anonymous, which I stamped and embossed in gold for a bit of extra dimension and texture. It stands out against the background beautifully without overshadowing it.

 

The script stamp I used is one of those really useful little stamps by Kaisercraft. I stamped it in dark brown.

I have to say I'm thrilled to bits with how it turned out and I'm really looking forward to decorating another one soon.

Lx

Proud as a Peacock!

I've been wallpapering today so I'm a bit late posting this ATC. I think this looks a bit like a peacock's tail so I used blues and greens. Sadly, the light has been AWFUL so it's been really hard to pick up the dimension.

I liked the back so much that I didn't have the heart to cover it up.

Lx

ACRYLIC BUTTERFLY PANEL

Don't faint. It's me AGAIN. I know! This is becoming a regular thing isn't it.

More acrylic I'm afraid, but this time I got a lovely round piece to play with. One of things I love most about acrylic is the opportunity it gives for lots and lots of lovely layering. You can really make the most of being able to see through to all the layers on your piece.

Here I've used stamping, heat embossing, dry embossing, stencilling, flock, Treasure Gold, the works! I've used a favourite Stampers Anonymous stamp set for this and the lovely Dinky bubble stencil from That's Crafty to create that lovely confetti effect on the back.

The butterfly is embossed acetate. I used the lovely Sizzix Butterfly with Texture Fade by Tim Holtz. Money well spent, that. I love, love, LOVE IT! :oD

The Seed Heads are a JOFY Stencil by PaperArtsy. I stencilled them in white flock and I love the contrast of textures. You get the smooth shiny surface of the acetate and acrylic, the varied textures of the embossing and the fluffy white seed heads. Add that gorgeous butterfly to the mix and you've got a whole lotta lovely going on there.

I LOVE how the back turned out. I used the latest colours from PaperArtsy. I think they're gorgeous. I added a touch of Snowflake Fresco Paint for contrast too. I'll definitely be using this background again. Yum!

Lx

I want tohttp://craftstamper.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/take-it-make-it-challenge-november.html enter this for the Take It Make It Challenge at Craft Stamper

YOU ARE A FRIEND FOR ALL SEASONS

Obviously I need some more ATC's for my little crate so here's another one I've made using the acrylic ATC's from That's Crafty. Having not made an ATC for YEARS, I am now slightly addicted to these little beauties. I can't seem to put them down at the moment. The leaf stamp I used is a favourite of mine and has long since left it's packet (it is by U-Mount if memory serves) but I did see some lovely Sheena Douglas leaves at That's Crafty on Saturday that would do just as well as they're just the right size.

I used Fresco paints randomly applied in autumn colours on one side of the ATC and then stamped and embossed leaves on top of the paint when it was dry. When you flip the ATC over you can see the painted background on the other side so I shadow stamped more leaves around the edge and added a sentiment embossed in black. I love how you can still see the pattern showing through from the other side.

Lx

AN ACRYLIC TRIPTYCH

I particularly love these beautiful arch shaped acrylic shapes by That's Crafty and I think they work really well here as a Triptych.  I think they'd be perfect for all kinds of projects as you'll see in the coming weeks.

I've stencilled some birch trees onto the back (I will never tire of the gorgeous Birch Trees stencil by TCW) using PA Fresco Paint in Chalk for the trees and Squid Ink Fresco Paint for the sky.

On the front I've layered some writing embossed in white with some wild flowers and some birds embossed in black. Really simple but I think it looks really effective.

Lx

MIXED MEDIA ATC WORKSHOP WITH MARK GOULD

Morning crafty folk. Yet another apology as we lost our internet connection last week and there was nothing to do but wait for the engineer to sort out what was wrong, which didn't happen until Sunday!? I used my time wisely you'll be pleased to hear and I've got several blogposts scheduled over the next few days.

Anyhoo, first things first....

An exciting day for me on Saturday as I went to Mark Gould's brilliant ATC workshop at That's Crafty. It was a full on day of crafty fun, I met loads of lovely, like minded crafters and we all went home clutching a cool ATC storage crate and a handful of fabulous ATC's. Obviously I can't share step outs with you but here's a sneaky peak at what I made and you can get further details and more pics on Mark's blog, SpeshInk.

We had loads of great stamps and Dinky stencils from That's Crafty to play with (I splurged a bit on the way out so you'll be seeing my favourites again and again I'm afraid :oD

It was great fun trying out Deco Art paints and finishes. They're not as forgiving as the Fresco Paints but actually once I chilled out a bit I found I got on better with them. I even managed to squeeze on some of those cogs and arrows I love so much, along with the gorgeous Dinky heart stencil that's my current No 1 favourite...

The ATC crate is such a great idea and I'm on a mission to fill it, so brace yourselves for more ATC's over the next few days.


The fabulous crate, the substrates, stencils and stamps are all available from That's Crafty.

Lx