Another one......

Purple and silver this time to go with our Christmas colour scheme. 

This one has the addition of some lovely leaves I found on a Christmas floral bouquet decoration.

More wreaths

I've made a couple more wreaths - another pink one for a friend to give to her grand-daughter:

and one using baubles instead of flowers:

Wreath of roses

I went shopping last week and found some cheap polystyrene rings for wreaths in the Christmas crafts section so bought a few, of course.

I decided to use one to make a non-Christmassy wreath for Jess's bedroom although I did use a Christmas decoration which I pulled apart.

I covered the wreath with organza ribbon and tied a length on to use for hanging. The leaves were from a Christmas garlang which I cut apart and stuck on. I then made the wire and bead embellishments and added the paper roses. 

I still have 3 polystyrene rings left so trying to decide what to do with them!!

Mini quote canvas

Here's the canvas I made for the Make The Day Special shop blog for my post today.

I used a prepared 10cm square canvas which I coloured with Ranger Distress Stains and then stamped a Unity quote stamp with Distress ink. I highlighted the text with a fine pen and then added rub-ons, Prima flowers and centres and a beaded embellishment. The trim was originally white so I used the distress stains to colour that too.

Materials used: canvas, Ranger Distress Stains, Unity stamp (from Quote Bundle Pack), Ranger Distress Ink, black Sakura pen, My Mind's Eye rub-ons, Prima flowers and centres, Kaisercraft rhinestone, Crafty Notions Rainbow Drops, upholstery trim, beaded trim.

Desert Island Crafts Challenge - Challenge #10 and C.I. "Vintage (with a heart)

It's the 15th of the month which means it's time for another challenge at the Desert Island Crafts challenge blog and this time we're working with my itinerary.

I used:

• lace
• decorative pins
• something metal
• 3 different stamps
• distressing
• stickers

I'm also entering this for the current challenge on the Crafty Individuals blog (where I was lucky enough to win some fab blog candy last week!). The challenge is "Vintage  -with a heart" and of course Crafty Individuals products have to be used.

I started with a plain white board book which I coloured with Ranger distress inks and then stamped over the top with a Crafty Individuals stamp. I then added an image from a C.I. book (part of the blog candy) and then lightly added gesso over the top. I used some white rub-ons, a clock stamp in the corner, a metal sticker, lace and pins.

I stuck the inside of the pages together after cutting out a niche in which I placed a heart charm. Again the pages were coloured with distress inks, overstamped with a C.I. stamp, a C.I. image added along with white rub-ons, stickers and embellishments.

The back cover of the book was stamped with another C.I. stamp in distress ink. I tied a piece of lace through the book spine and added pins.

Materials used: board book, Ranger distress inks, C.I. People and Places 2 image book, C.I. 237 stamp, CI 214 stamp, CI 255 stamps , Fancy Pants lace, Studio K metal sticker, Marcella by Kay metal sticker, Making Memories alphabet stickers, Pink Paislee Artisan element, Basic Grey rub-ons, Claudine Hellmuth gesso, other lace, decorative pins, charm and ribbon.

A canvas...

Here's my latest make for the Make The Day Special blog this week:

Having recently seen the gorgeous work of Christy Tomlinson I felt inspired to have a go at a canvas using some of Christy's techniques but in my style. I usually like all my craft to look "clean" so this was a bit of a challenge but one that I enjoyed and I'm quite pleased with the result.

I used a 6" x 4" board canvas which I stuck patterned paper on to and then used gesso to cover it. I then stamped the sentiment from Unity's Quote Bundle Pack using black Versafine ink. I also used the grid stamp from the Unity store kit - Moments In Bloom to stamp randomly over the canvas.

I added rub-ons, handmade bunting and some puffy stickers and then used a black fineliner pen to highlight elements.

Materials used: Canvas, My Mind's Eye papers, Unity stamps (as above), black Versafine ink, black Letraset pen, green Versamagic chalk ink, Heidi Grace rub-ons, American Crafts rub-ons, Creative Imaginations rub-ons, Making Memories puffy stickers

Also used: twine, gesso

Happy Daze challenge - Wood Calendar

Happy Daze are having another Facebook challenge at the moment - Wood - so I'm entering this for it.

I bought a plain wooden calendar in my local craft shop Just Tracy's and have used Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden 6" x 6" papers and Butterfly Garden stamps to decorate it.

It started off looking like this:

I started by painting all over the main calendar and the wooden date blocks with Claudine Hellmuth Studio gesso and then used Mod Podge to stick the Butterfly Garden papers to the main part.

I then added some lace, flowers, vintage glass buttons, and some stamping to the main panel and lace along the bottom.

The date blocks were stamped using the Butterly Garden stamps and Versafine sepia ink and edged with Versamagic chalk ink with some highlighting of the designs in green Versamagic ink.

Materials used: Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden 6" papers and stamps, Versafine sepia ink, Versamagic malted mauve and key lime chalk inks, Claudine Hellmuth Studio Gesso, Mod Podge, Prima flowers and flower centres.

Also used: cotton laces and vintage glass buttons.

You may like to head over to the Happy Daze blog here and leave a comment as they are currently offering some fab blog candy of a £25 gift voucher to spend in the shop!!

"The Outpost" wallhanging

OK - I confess.......I've been playing with calico and fabrics again and made another wallhanging!! This one uses an Artistic Outpost stamp from the fab set - The Outpost (buy in the UK from Happy Daze).

I coloured some calico using alcohol inks and then stamped the image using black Stazon ink. This was then sewn on to a felt background which, in turn, was placed on to a piece of frayed raw silk. I added some hand sewing around the edge of the felt using some hand-dyed rayon thread.

I made the backing piece by "quilting" some cotton fabric with layers of felt in between and randomly sewing together.

The actual hanging part is some twill ribbon that had wording printed on but I sewed some satin ribbon over this to cover it.

Shades of blue

There's a challenge running at the Happy Daze blog here to make an item using "Shades of Blue" and which must contain at least one item from the Happy Daze shop (link to the right).

For my item I used a gorgeous Artistic Outpost stamp sold at Happy Daze.

I sprayed a piece of calico with Glimmer Mist then stamped the image using black Stazon ink. The calico was then machine sewn on to a piece of felt. I then added sequins and beaded trim. I then threaded various beads to use for hanging.

Materials used: calico, Glimmer Mist, Artistic Outpost stamp, black Stazon ink, beads, sequins, beaded trim.

Butterfly wallhanging

One of my favourite Unity store kits...Life Becoming is on special offer in the Make The Day Special shop at the moment along with Quiet Essence for the grand total of just £20!!

I've used the butterfly stamp in the kit for today's project...a mini wallhanging. I started by colouring plain calico using alcohol inks and then stamped the image using black ink. I then embellished the calico with sequins and then sewed it on to a felt backing before adding the lace. The final step was to add the ribbon and beads to enable it to be hung:

Materials used: calico, felt, Unity stamp (as above), Ranger alcohol inks, Stazon ink sequins, beads, cotton lace, satin ribbon.

 

ICSketches #57 (with a difference)

I haven't played along with IC Sketches since my DT term ended there in January but I'm back to have a go at IC Sketches #57 however it's not card but a gift bag for Mum for Mother's Day this Sunday:

Materials used: pink paper bag, My Mind's Eye Penny Lane papers, HOTP fabric flowers.

Ric-rac, lace, buttons, brad and ribbon all from stash. Font = CKGirly.

A canvas

I love crackled effect on items but have had dubious success with Ranger Distress Crackle Paint and C rackle Accents so when I saw this post by Effie I just had to try out some Viva Croco crackle. I'd seen it in the shops months ago but hadn't bought any but this convinced me! It is absolutely fabulous stuff!! I bought a pack of six canvases each 10cm square and here is my first completed one. The tassels were all handmade by me and were so quick and easy to do using a flower loom. Materials used: Viva Croco crackle paint, Crafty Individuals image, hand-dyed lace from Ebay, vintage lace, tassels made from crochet perle cotton. Roses, leaf and pins from stash.

IACW - Fairy mini canvas

This is my post from It's A Creative World yesterday:

While out shopping I came across these cute canvasses and mini easels:

To give you an idea of size the canvasses are 7cm square. I wanted to make something to go in my 2 year old daughter's room so decided to go for a pretty pink and green theme. I started by dry-brushing the canvas with pink acrylic paint then when it was dry I stuck a piece of lace across the bottom using glue dots. The fairy image was one I cut out of a HOTP creative images book and I mounted it on the canvas with foam. I then cut the back off a star shaped button before adding this and some rhinestones to the canvas and then stamping with tiny alphabet stamps. The final touch was to adhere ribbon all around the edges of the canvas and then add a bow in the corner:

I'm happy to report that my daughter loves it and has requested more "pwetty tings" for her bedroom!!

I used: Anita's acrylic paint, HOTP image, vintage lace, silver-edged pink ribbon from The Ribbonrie, Studio G alphabet stamps, Brilliance ink, Dress Me Up star button, rhinestones.

Recycled Packaging Souvenir

Here is my post from the It's A Creative World blog yesterday:

I recently revisited a beach I often used to go to as a child with my parents but this time I took my own children. I remember long walks on Seaham Beach and always coming home with bags full of polished glass bits picked up from between the pebbles - a lasting reminder of Sunderland's glassmaking history. This time instead of just leaving my glass bits in a bag I wanted some way of displaying them and loved the packaging from my HOTP creative kit:

I started by taking out the cardboard backing and then placing my favourite pieces of glass in the compartments before using other pieces to fill in the gaps. I then made sure that the packaging was stuck securely using Glossy Accents. The next step was using a black permanent pen to colour the plastic before adhering beaded string around the edge. I then added a ribbon and pin embellishment, stickers and the date before tying on a ribbon to enable it to be hung:

I now have a bargain souvenir to hang above my desk and remind me of a great day with the kids.

Wedding frame

This was something I made for the Wedding theme day on It's A Creative World yesterday.

It started off as the naffest ( and cheapest - only 50p!) picture frame imaginable:

I "dampened" down the print by painting it all with cream acrylic paint before covering the whole thing with plain calico. I then stuck various Primas (some stamped) in 2 corners and added buttons, beads, brads and sequins to the flower centres. Then I lightly stamped some flourishes with pale green chalk ink.