Bravely we tackle the room of doom

My adventures with creativity started following a life changing event... and in the early days all the materials I owned fit into one small expanding toolbox type container.  Hard to believe now, but that was way back when...

Over the years as my interest grew so did my accumulation of materials and I bought all sorts of things to try out..My buying habits were random and I was often influenced by price (cheap) or captivated by cuteness or anything pretty, without considering how I might actually use it.

Fast forward a couple of years and my interests were firmly established and my buying more focused...not under control of course - because almost all crafters like to buy new goodies, but at least I was buying things I knew I would use... Only trouble was I was buying them faster than I could actually use them.

Our home office became my craft room and it was perfect for a while... but about four years ago we realised I had outgrown it and after much consideration the larger but rarely used guestroom became my craftroom. More light and more space was heavenly...but what happened?  My craft supplies expanded to fill the available space...

Of course they did not do that on their own - they had a lot of help from me  and before we knew it the lovely craftroom became a chaotic craft pit aka the room of doom....

We promised we would tackle it, swore we would not take another holiday until it was done... but of course we did and I bought more goodies on my travels...until we reached the point where finally enough was enough. We agreed that over this holiday period we would finally tackle the room of doom....

We allowed ourselves Christmas Day and Boxing Day to chill and then we got stuck in. starting yesterday. And WOW! What a revelation. I must admit I am a mix of childish glee and utter embarrassment as I uncover loads of brand new unopened goodies and things I had long forgotten I even owned.... and I mean LOADS! Basics like card and adhesives, as well stamps, dies, embellishments, ribbon and enough alterables to last an eternity...

The first joy was moving the boxes and bags that cluttered the floor and actually seeing the floor and being able to move around the room without the need to scoot sideways, swerve or tiptoe round something... I could appreciate the space once more without fear of  a paper avalanche.

This is a BIG job and I am under no illusion that  it will be quick or easy. It is going to take time to complete but I am so looking forward to an organised craft space in which to create...and in the meantime I having so much fun discovering goodies and thinking of ways to use them... as I  sort and tidy.

The temptation to ditch the sorting and move onto the creating part is strong so my work desk is deliberately covered in piles of stuff ...and this stuff will be the final stuff to be sorted...

So the creating is on hold until the sorting is completed. I hope to be back soon and for the first time in a long while hope to share pictures of my newly organised creative space.

Until next time, take care
Cxx

Finally made a start on my Christmas cards

I am a firm believer that  Christmas belongs in December... trouble is that seems to find me mid-month  frantically making cards and trying to beat posting deadlines. Of course it doesn't help that I still can't bring myself to batch make several cards of the same design...I know it makes sense and would save a ton of time, but I love the creative aspect of making all of the cards different in some way.

This year I decided to use a few general themes... so I have gnomes, owls,  snowflakes and Santas and the collage pic above shows samples of each. 

It is fun doing these festive makes and I just love sending a smile in an envelope, especially at Christmas.

Haven't used my Bah Humbug stamp yet... but that may still happen ;)

Until next time.
Cxx

Winter themed tags

I seemed to have joined rather a lot of swaps this month...and all of them with a winter theme...so here are two tags for starters...

I cut all the tags  and washers with a Tin Holtz tag die set. I cut two the same for each tag and then trim the second one of each for a perfect fit as a layer on the base

The tag on the left is "Do you see what I see?" and  has a Kraft base and a cream velvet card layer,which has been treated with two shades of distress oxides wiped back through a leafy stencil to get the background effect. Once that was fully dry I stamped over with white Kraft ink and a couple of snowflake stamps. The owl was stamped, coloured and punched out along with the branches and adhered to the tag (the owl is popped up on a foam pad) Then I went over the entire tag and picked out areas to add some sparkly stickles. The final step was to decide on the wording for which I used a sticker by my dear friend Marta 

The tag on the right is "Let it Snow"  and has a white base which was stamped with random snowflakes before the layer was added. The main panel was coated with blue distress oxides and wiped back through a cracked stencil to give an icy effect. This was over-stamped with random snowflakes using white Kraft ink... which was also used to blend the edges. The dancing penguin was one I had in my Xmas box and I thought he worked well with this theme and colour. The snowflakes and stars were punched out of  diamond glitter card and the whole thing was finished by the addition of the wording sticker 

The tags have since made their way to the intended recipient who says she loves them, so that is a job well done!

Until next time

Cxx

Share a smile today

I have a regular  swap buddy and we take part in a monthly card swap and this is the card I made for her this month. 

It is super grungy but very soft to the touch. The base layer is Kraft card and the layer on top is cream velvet card, treated with distress oxides and  then wiped back with a stencil. I used inked and stamped  die cut Kraft card behind the TH alterations paper dolls. The layered sentiment is  made from stamped and die cut brown paper flowers and I used perfect pearls in opposite corners to finish it off.

I quite liked how this one came out in the end I really hope Suzanne will love it when it lands on her doormat....and she did!

Until next time

Cxx

Tag swap

Its tag time again... and this is one I made for a regular monthly tag swap over at UK Stampers .

To make my tag, I used a TH  die to make my base layers and washers, distress oxides, a stencil, TH Alterations paper dolls, lace trim and a  Cat Kerr quote stamp from VLVS.

I was pretty pleased with how this one turned out. I will be making more tags this week, but on a winter theme - which, judging by the rapidly dropping temps and the weather outside, seems more than appropriate.

Until next time

Cxx

Ministry of Mixology Fun

As promised, here are some pics from the wonderful weekend away at Ministry of Mixology. I took my niece with me this time and she is a complete novice...or should I say, she was a complete novice 😊

 Day one saw us  in Antonis classroom where we made this fabulous book box. It is a pretty big project (assembled size is 14 x 10 x 3 inches) and loaded with technique. The main pic above shows the front (at this point I hadn't put the hinges on)  and the photo to the right shows the back of the book

Day two found us in Andy Skinner's workshop for another technique laden workshop where we produced this rather fabulous piece with  genius opening and closing shutters. 

Although we all started out with the same basic kit, the options to personalise were pretty much unlimited and the finished projects were all different and all fabulous.

Left is a photo of my project with the shutters closed

  The photo to the right is my project with the shutters open.

There were a variety of skull options for the inside of the shutters and a few heart options too...and I was lucky enough to get the heart in the random allocation draw.  The heart received the paint and antiquing cream treatment which brought out its full beauty.

                                                                                             On the left is a photo of my niece holding her day 2 project. She chose a skull and gave it her own cool decorative treatment.

She started out as a complete novice, a real mixed media baby and ended up a superstar.

We were both tired and inspired by the end of the weekend and we are looking forward to doing it all again at MOM 2018.

Until next time
Cxx

Happy Birthday card

As much as I love stamping and all things inky and painty, sometimes my big shot calls to me - and this was one of those times...resulting in a birthday card using die cuts and embossing, with the teeniest of stamping for the sentiment.

They say a change is as good as a rest, so that's me rested 😉

Until next time

Cxx

Enjoying all that Jetlag has to offer....

The day after my last post we flew to the USA for a break with reality in Las Vegas...There really is nothing quite like Vegas to recharge the batteries and reset things and we had a great time, although it was a tad warm while we were there - 10 degrees above normal for the time of year!

While I was there I of course visited the amazing Viva Las Vegas Stamps store where I collected my pre-ordered plates of rubber. 

I also spent a wonderful Sunday afternoon with the wonderful DeeDee Catron in her studio doing some serious Gelli printing.  These were just a few of the background samples I made that day - with  deliberate white space of course! I plan to turn them into a mini journal as soon as I get a few minutes to spare...which I suspect may not be until after Christmas

We got back a few days ago and the jetlag has been brutal... so I am battling to get it under control because this weekend we are off to Coventry for the wonderful Ministry of Mixology event. I am taking my lovely niece along this time and I am hoping she will enjoy it as much as I plan to.

Will be back Monday with news of  the MOM event and hopefully some details of the projects we made there.

Until then, take care
C xx

Lighthouse shadow box

This lighthouse shadow box was a little extra I made to go along with a birthday card for a four year old who's current love is lighthouses. His personalised birthday card had the same lighthouse with a beam shining  with his name and the birthday message in  the lighthouse  beam. The shadow box  (obviously minus the birthday message) had a cord for display purposes and the waves and the  sand were heat embossed to give some texture. He loved it and  it is hanging on his bedroom wall.

Until next time

Cx

Quick bow tie card

This week I got a very last minute request for a birthday card for a man, and with no time to spare I quickly made this shirt and braces card with buttons and bow tie.

I used a white panel of card to which I added the red and white patterned washi tape as braces. I used the same colour red to punch and assemble the bow tie, card candy as buttons and a strip of matching card across the bottom with a sentiment panel added at the mid-line to complete it.

When pushed for time it I am always surprised by how easy it can be to grab a few simple things and make something fun.

Until next time

Cxx

Autumn tag

This is a tag that I made for a tag swap over on UK Stampers. It was an open theme and I chose autumn...probably my favourite season of the year

I cut two tags and one reinforcer style ring for my base, one in Kraft card  and the other slightly smaller in white card. I used a sponge to apply three shades of distress oxide inks on the white card and then lightly spritzed with water  to form my background.

Once this was completely dry I used a leaf stamp top and bottom opposite corners and heat embossed it to give some texture.  I  then stamped the girl  (a stamp from VLVS) onto white linen card using sepia archival ink,   fussy cut the image  and adhered it to the tag using gel medium.

The wording was computer generated, cut out, ink edged and adhered to the tag with gel medium. and then I went around the edges of the tag  and the reinforcer with two shades of ink. Once it was all dry I adhered the decorated white base to the Kraft tag base and adhered the reinforcer to finish it off.

I am really happy with how it turned out and now I know that my swap partner has received it, I can share it here. 

Until next time

Cx

Make a Splash

I haven't been inactive or fallen off the face of the earth but I have been busy and 99% of the cards and projects I have made recently have been so deeply personalised  that I am not able to share them online... but this one I can...

 I made this simple card  for my nephew's birthday. It uses a super splash die in the background and the frog is stamped from a retired Stampin' Up! set. Thankfully froggy was easy to cut out with scissors and I added some glossy accents to make his eyes shine. I hope it makes my nephew smile when he opens the envelope

Until next time

Cxx

Be a Rainbow

This past week I took delivery of some new goodies... The latest release distress oxides and some stencils and stickers designed by Marta Lapowska (ordered from 13@rts in Poland)  and this was my first and very quick make with them. 

 I used three shades of oxides to make the blended background and then  using one of the new stencils and a baby wipe I went in and wiped back some of the colour. This is possibly my favourite thing to do with the oxides to make really quick and easy backgrounds that look fabulous but only take minutes.

I also got one of the Tim Holtz ephemera packs recently and to be honest I was a little bit disappointed ... there is a great range of stuff in the pack but my disappointment is in how tiny everything is...Maybe it says so somewhere in the description but I missed it and I am not entirely sure how I will use some of the pieces...but anyhow the butterflies I used here are from  that pack.

The sentiment is one of Marta's sayings stickers and while I love the wording and the fonts used in some of the stickers, I have realised I don't like stickers. I hate how they sit all shiny and I wish they were rub on transfers rather than stickers...but that is just me and I will be looking at other ways to use them.

Anyhow this card is on its way to a friend in the hope it will brighten her day.

Until next time

Cxx

Vintage Tag

Today I want to share this tag I made for a swap in a group I belong to. I really like tags as they are mini pieces of art that can also have a practical purpose and I do love anything that combines the two.

I cut the tag base from Kraft card using the largest of the Tim Holtz tag dies. I used matt gel medium to adhere some paper to my tag and when it was dry I trimmed it out and sanded the edges for a smoother finish. 

I used a few stamps from PaperArtsy  with distress oxide inks to add details to the tag and I ink edged the whole tag and then went round the very edges with some gilding wax. Some pearls and cotton lace finished things off and I was quite pleased with the end result.

Until next time

C xx

Treasure chest

This is a project I am working on with my local Day Hospice art group. Its a simple wooden mini chest which has been distressed using acrylic paints, antiquing cream and texture sand.

The inside of the lid has an insert of distressed paper showing a bill of lading to keep to the general shipping theme... and inside there is some "treasure" set in the base of the chest

The treasure was made using some out of date mini macaroni - which I bought  ages ago fully intending to add to soup and of course never got around to making the soup... I rolled the macaroni in glue and set it in the base of the box and then painted it with gold metallic paint...on top of this I glued some random beads to complete the "faux treasure" Once it is all set there is still room to put small items in the box...

However I decided it would better if the box was fully functional and so I am doing another with the treasure on an insert box which fits inside the chest allowing a hidden compartment beneath the treasure to store real treasures.

This was a fun project and in my craft studio it only took me a couple of hours (including drying time) to complete. Of course in the art room with multiple participants it takes a lot longer, but it is still lots of fun.

Until next time
Cxx

Shadow Box

Following on with my Art in a box adventures is this shadow box, made as part of an art group swap. There was no set theme for this swap, just that it has to be a shadow box of some kind, so I used a piece of 12x12 card to make my base box leaving me with approx seven and a half inches of space to fill within the frame.

I used heavy weight purple card stock and after I made the folds (but before I put the box together) I stamped it with black archival and a crackle stamp (from Andy Skinners TOXIC set).  Then I cut my background paper and adhered that before folding the box to create the frame section. 

It was at this point I decided I wasn't so keen on the pattern on the paper or the depth of colour of the pattern (I wasn't sure what it was to be honest)  and so I ended up going over it lightly with some white gesso just to fade and blend the pattern a little in places. After that I used some texture paste through a script stencil and  set it aside to dry. In future I think I will do all of that first because I managed to get a little gesso on the frame and didn't notice it until it was dry...white gesso smear on purple looked awful so I had to touch up the affected parts with purple paint... all of which could have been avoided if I did the messy stuff to the background before I assembled it all. Needless to say, Lesson learned!

The rest was all about choosing and prepping chipboard elements, flowers, gems etc and putting it all together. I did not have time to mess with it any longer but I think if it was staying here with me I may well have tinkered with it a bit more...but I had to call it done and get it packaged up and on its way. I hope the recipient will like it when she opens the package.

Until next time
Cxx

Match box Art

This week I have been playing around with "box art" or  Art in a box and I have tried several different types...the first of which is this matchbox art.

I used distress oxides with a baby wipe through a stencil before assembling the box and the sleeve and also for the belly band which was a last minute addition, I added some stamped and heat embossed shells and  starfish as decoration.

Once the belly band is removed , a simple push from one end of the matchbox will start to reveal what is inside...

until the box is fully opened and

the whole scene is revealed...

For the inside I used a gesso base, topped with acrylics in shades of blue and white and once dry I stamped the gulls in the top corner before I assembled the base box. Painting all the surfaces before assembly means the roof side and base are all painted as part of the scene.

The tree and boat were stamped onto a piece of card, coloured and cut and I used a scored strip to pop this up halfway into the box base. The front of the scene was finished with some mica granite flakes and some art stones adhered with heavy body gel.

This was my very first attempt at anything like this and it was a challenge working on such a small scale but I learned stuff and had fun along the way.

Until next time

Cxx

Busy making cards

I have been really busy this past week making lots (and lots) of birthday cards, including some pretty cool milestones birthday cards,  but I can't share them on here because they were personalised with photos ....

So instead, here is a summery themed card I made for a buddy . For this I used a velvet card base which feels amazing to the touch (shame you can't appreciate that in a picture)  and I used  an old Stampin' Up! set along with a bee stamp from VLVS. Distress Oxide for the background and markers for the rest. The dragonfly I stamped direct to the card and also stamped two images onto vellum and heat embossed them both. Layered up they give more of an "in-flight" effect. I was quite pleased with how it turned out and I hope my buddy likes it... it is winging its way to her as I type ;)

This week I am working on a couple of projects and depending how they turn out (and the jury is out on that one at the moment) I hope to have something to share soon

Until next time

Cxx

Cray cray yeah

This week has been quite busy and little hectic at times. Aside from all the mundane stuff, I have begun facilitating a series of regular sessions as a volunteer with the Arts Programme at our local hospice and that was something new and it was fun.  There was also chocolate making and cake decorating alongside my card making this week and we managed to get a little of all done.  I didn't make any chocolates but I did add chocolate and lemon sprinkles to a cupcake... which I later ate...it was delicious! The maker of the cakes did get a Thank You card at the end of the session.

I don't have any photos of the card making to share, but instead there is this tag which I have made for a swap on UK Stampers. This used a Kraft card base which I cut with a tag die, some acrylic paints, background stamps and the image from Tim Holtz's Hipster set. All in all a fun set and a fun tag

Until next time

Cxx

NOT the prettiest Coaster in the world...

I have  a desperate need to tidy my craft space...and so what do I end up doing? Making stuff with odd things I have lying around of course!

And today I spotted a pile of old seasonal catalogues from SU that should really be destined for the recycling bin... but then that old I'm sure I could make something with these thing kicked in and there I was tearing and rolling catalogues...until I had a basket of pretty strong paper straws...

I cut a 10cm square piece of kraft card, added some gel matt medium and started pressing the straws lightly onto the base until it covered. I then brushed the whole thing with a thin layer of mat medium and left it to dry, before trimming the overlapping pieces from each side.

Then I applied paint... I did not gesso first - I'm not sure why I skipped this because I pretty much always gesso everything before I add paint, and to be honest if I do this again I will add a layer of gesso before I start painting, but this was a practice run and nothing was harmed so I just added paint... and I kept adding paint until I was pretty happy with it.

Once it was all painted I then painted extra rolled paper straws to use to cover the open ends on two sides of my project. I tried adding a border all the way round but it was not working so I gave up... Once the straws were dry I added them and then painted over again...

Once everything was all stuck down, painted and dry I used a background stamp and some black archival ink to add some interest...

This coaster will definitely not win any prizes and it is absolute NOT the prettiest coaster in the world, but its mine and I had fun.

Until next time

Cxx

Silhouette

I had a spare hour this afternoon and after one of Marta's videos on YouTube, I  decided I would give a silhouette project a try.

I started with a seven inch square base which I taped down to the work mat and I applied several shades of blue acrylic paint (I used DecoArt but any acrylic paint will do) to form my background... and then once that was dry (and I had no patience so used a heat gun) I began with black acrylic paint and a fine brush using Marta's video tips as a guide.

I tried really hard not to think too much as I was working and soon became engrossed in what I was doing... and it was really  relaxing. I spent a lot more time on the tree than I expected but it was all good fun. I definitely will try this again and will of course try to develop it further...but for today it was an hour well spent.
Until next time
Cxx

Any Excuse... for a Tag swap...

The recent heatwave has kept me out of my craft room and I was itching to get back in there and make something...anything...

And my something was this tag which will be used as part of a swap on UK Stampers.

Its actually quite large...I started with a mixed media background piece that measured 18 x 8 cm and when I was done with the background I liked it as it was and decided not to trim it down.

After  a base white gesso, I used a couple of shades of blue acrylic paint (DecoArt media line) and left it to dry.

Then I stamped over that using black archival ink and a variety of stamps...small text is a Finnabair stamp, other background stamps are from a set by Nathalie Kalbach for  Stampendous and the characters are stamps from Viva Las Vegas Stamps.

I painted accents on the characters before fussy cutting and adhering them to the tag, after which I added some glossy accents to eyes, beak and buttons.

Ink sponged around the edges and then the tag was mounted onto Kraft card and an eyelet added with my cropadile.

I was quite pleased with how it turned out and hope that the swap recipient will like it when it lands on their doorstep.

Until next time
Cxx

Fathers Day

Every time my birthday falls on a Sunday, I share it with Father's Day and this was one of those years... and this was the very simple card I made for my Dad.

When we were kids my Dad had a Chevy for a while. It was a huge American car and couldn't be parked outside the house because it blocked the road so he had to drop us off and drive round to my uncle's place to park there.... It all seems silly when I say that but at the time we loved that huge monster car... and so when I spotted a retro stamp in my collection it seemed the right one to celebrate my Dad on Father's Day.

Until next time
C xx

Arty Birthday to me

Yesterday was my birthday and my amazing hubby presented me with a bag of arty  goodies as part of my presents. I said I would like some of the new Finnabair impasto paints and he opened a bag in the shop at the craft retreat in Coventry and included what he hoped would be my favourite colours...and he added some gorgeous metallics and some waxes, a couple of stamps, some chipboard embellies and some really cute metal hearts. What can I say, he did good!

I haven't opened any of them yet because we have this awful heatwave and I prefer to create in comfort...and in the knowledge that the paint won't dry on my brush, but as soon as temps return to normal I will be camped out in my craft space up to my elbows in painty stuff.

I do not do well in extreme heat so may hibernate until this passes... so until next time,
Take care
Cxx

Applied creativity retreat

It hardly seems possible that it is  already two weeks since I attended this fabulous event in Coventry. Six three hour workshops in two days it was full on creativity and such fun...and we came away with six fabulous completed projects.

The tutors for this event were three amazingly talented and beautiful women... Marta Lapowska. Anna Dabrowska (aka Finnabair) and France Papillon...but if you know their work you would probably recognise their style in the projects we made.

                                                                                                                                                                            Day one started with Marta and a vintage project, followed by Anna's lady assemblage piece and ending with France and what should have been a decorated egg candle holder in a basket, but the temps in the venue affected the plaster and many of us had failed projects... but we are all artists and we made something out of nothing... and I came home with a bag of plaster to have another go at home.

Day two began with Anna and this amazing book, followed by France and the abstract circles  project and ending with this very pretty floral piece with Marta.

I loved all of the projects...and although each technique involved was demonstrated by the tutor, we had free rein with a wide variety of products,  choice of paint colours, stencils designs etc  and style interpretations... so although we each did essentially the same project, the range of results was astounding.

We picked up loads of hints and tips and came away with lots of products to try at home. It was an amazing weekend and I am so glad I went.

Until next time

Cxx

Birthday Sax

I made this card today as one of a set all going to the same birthday boy. It can be challenging to make several cards for the same recipient but at the same time it allows me to see how they will look standing side by side on the mantle (or whatever passes for a mantle  in the modern home )

I used three shades of distress oxides for the background and then I grabbed a stencil and  wiped back some of the colour using a baby wipe  to create the starburst pattern. Once that was dry I stamped the sax player ( a Visible Image stamp) and added the sentiment stamp (Stampin' Up!)

I was quite pleased with how this one turned out and I am sure the birthday boy will like it too
Until next time
Cxx

Back to tags...

 My niece is getting married next weekend and I have been really busy making all the little extras for her wedding so the blog got neglected as I stamped and punched and folded and stamped some more making table games and camera kits and signs and tags and cake boxes and  thousands of little hearts all in her wedding colours... The invites were done last year but I kept all the off-cuts because I knew they would come in handy...and they have. She is delighted and appreciative of all the work that goes into this  and while I was happy to do this (it was my wedding gift to them) I am glad my work is done... Now I can  concentrate on getting ready for ( I have a beautiful new dress but what am I going to do with my unruly hair eek!) and enjoying the wedding.

So today, to brush away some creative cobwebs I decided to make some tags...Made using distress oxides for the backgrounds...I did a trio of tags using similar backgrounds but very different design ideas...

The first one (top of the page) with Dreamweaver gold embossing paste through an  Um Wow Studio stencil...

 For the second I used a Katzelkraft stamp for the main image and Tim Holtz stamps for the text ...

And the for the third I used a Finnabair text stamp and  archival ink with a variety of mark makers that were on my desk. The quote was computer generated, printed on texture paper, edged with ink and adhered with matt gel medium.

I used my cropodile to make holes and tied each tag with some fabulous quality bakers twine I got online. I had great fun making all three, one of which (and I am undecided which as yet) will be part of a swap

Until next time
C xx

Reach for the moon...

For this very quick and easy card I used a hunky-dory paper stack, metallic gold card and the Beautiful You stamp set from Stampin' Up! I stamped and coloured the girl image onto white pearlescent card and fussy cut it and adhered it to the card front making sure to position the hands exactly (I used gel medium to allow me some wriggle room in lining things up). The wording was then stamped into the moon.

I was quite pleased with how this one turned out and the paper stack is perfect for when you need a card in a hurry.

Until next time

Cxx

MOM - Day Two

Day two was spent with the lovely Kate Crane making this amazing box of tricks. The basic project was a  decorated box into which we put some tags we made. It is designed to be an organic project and more tags and replacement tags can be added as and when needed.

I chose not to assemble my box at the event to make it easy to pack and travel home with, but within 24 hours of getting back, it was done and the final  details on the tags were finished.

I also chose to decorate the backs of my tags and for this I used the same basic techniques and added some things from my  supplies at home to end up with these reverse tags (pic below)

I am really pleased with how this came out and I am already working on some extra tags to go into the box...and have plans to start another box over the weekend. It was just so much fun and the end result is both pretty and practical...what could be better!

Until next time

Cxx

MoM April 2017

This time last week I was in Coventry for my first ever Ministry of Mixology event and what fun-filled a weekend it was!  I can't recommend it highly enough and I am already looking forward to the November event...

Friday evening started with a meet and greet in the hotel but the event proper kicked off on Saturday morning... with a goody bag filled with all sorts of fab stuff propped on the chair before we even started. (The canvas bag that held pout goodies became the focus of attention at one of the make and take events on Saturday evening and we used paint and stencils...and in my case fingers too... to decorate our bags.)

Day one for me was a workshop with the amazing and lovely France Papillon. She really is a delight and using a variety of media and techniques we worked on making the gorgeous little book-style ink pad holder in the photo above.

It was designed to hold three full sized archival ink pads but can also hold mini books, mini art samples, chocolates...in fact just about anything that will fit to size...and it has this cool pulley system to bring the contents forward at the tug of the string.  

The transformation of the few pieces of mdf into something so gorgeous and practical was amazing and although we were all making the same project the variety of results was amazing. I am really happy with how mine came out and will definitely make another very soon .

Until next time

Cxx

                                             

Make a Splash!

This was a piece I made for an international art swap with a nautical theme.  I had to hold off until my swap partner received it, but this evening I heard from her so I can now share it.

I used Deco Art media line acrylics for the ocean and distress oxides for the sky. All the stamping was done using cobalt archival ink, I used  a Joy Crafts sea scape stamp set, Inkylicious stencils  and the gorgeous mermaid is a stamp from VLVS .

My partner liked it so much she plans to frame it and hang it in her nautical themed bathroom. I am delighted!

Until next time
Cxx

Tick Tock... postcard swap

This was a postcard I made for an online swap group. This month the theme was "Tick- Tock" . I started by adding blended colour to my base. Then I stamped a large clock--face background using versamark ink and clear embossing powder. I added a little more colour over the top and buffed back the resist before stamping assorted clock images using black archival ink.



To finish it off, the reverse of the card was also stamped with a postcard background stamp and the small clocks, along with a time related verse.

My swap partner has received the card and loves it...so that was definitely time well spent haha!

Until next time
Cxx

Stencil scene

This was one of several birthday cards made for the same recipient this month and as he likes nature this seemed like an obvious choice. I used a  textured card as a base to give a canvas effect and a stencil to frame the image.  I used a sponge to apply and blend blue and green shades of distress oxides which I then lightly spritzed with water. I stamped the trees using markers direct to stamps and the animals were stamped onto linen paper, coloured with markers and then adhered to the panel. I added the happy birthday wording in the bottom corner and then adhered the panel to the card base using foam pads. Stamps used are all from Stampin' Up!

I really liked the way the stencil frames the image and I plan to try out several other designs using this basic starting point.

Until next time

Cxx

52 card cafe...H is for Hearts

I am going to admit this was one of my favourites to make and I really like the simplicity of the design. I believe it is the seven of hearts underneath...topped with gesso of course.

I used three shades of acrylics, blended here on the main card. Once that was dry I used a Finnabair stamp and stamped the lettering in black archival. Once the ink was completely dry I applied a decent thickness of crackle glaze and left it overnight to dry.

I also took a piece of red card, stamped it with the Finnabair stamp and used a punch  to get the heart shape. I then added  crackle glaze to that too and left it to dry.

In the morning it was simply a matter of sponging some black ink around the edges and adhering the heart to the playing card. Job done!

Until next time

Cxx