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