First canvas - 2 posts in one day!

In this month's Craft Stamper, Rachel Jackson made a lovely canvas project, which spurred me on to have a go, as I have never made a canvas before. I didn't have any of the same paints or stamps, so it looks completely different, but I had a go at the techniques.

I have used a 8 x 8 canvas and started by mixing 'painterly pink' and 'trad tan' Claudia Hellmuth studio paints and covered the whole canvas. It was a bit sticking plaster colour, bit too pink, so I then dry brushed trad tan over again in light patches which toned it down a bit. I had a bubble wrap stamp in my stash which I then stamped all over in various patches with adirondack espresso ink.

Rachel had made up a spritz using red and brown paints and matt multi medium but I didnt have those so I used a squeeze of the medium and then a blob on the end of a lollipop stick of gold dabber paint and viva blackberry croco. It's the first time I have ever made my own paint spritz, but it seemed to work ok! I put the title letters (Tim Holtz grungeboard) and Tim's flourish mask on the canvas and then sprayed away! I hardly ever do messy crafts so I really enjoyed this! Finally I painted with white dabber paint and the espresso ink to create highlights on the letters and the flourish, and added dusts of gold perfect pearls to the corners. The stamps are Creative Impressions, stamped onto pale beige card in espresso, and highlighted lightly with copics and glossy accents. I'm not sure about the glossy on the cowboys now, but I'm not taking it off again now. Lace sprayed with a bit of the spritz and a couple of twine tied buttons finish it off.

Everything I used is from Craft Den, except the bubble wrap stamp from my stash.

I hope you like!

Anything Goes - butterflies

We have another fortnightly challenge from Anything Goes Challenge Blog this week, and the theme is butterflies.

A big welcome to Tamara, from Posh Cats Crafts, who has joined us on the DT! Check out her lovely entry and blog!

My entry is a folded envelope book, decorated with K&Co Madelaine papers and butterflies, ribbon, gems, stickles, Prima pebbles and K&Co metal buttons. I have also cut a Tim Holtz tattered rose out of pink and red gauze and highlighted it with a button, a heart pin and a pin made from a Ideology memo pin, glossy accents and a gem. Everything available from Craft Den, except the ribbon tie.

It can be used to hang and pop notes into the pockets or folded up and carried as a note holder. It may become my fancy shopping list holder, lol.



Sorry for the pants photos, by the way, I could not find anywhere nice to hang it up, so it ended up hanging off my kitchen cupboard looking a bit forlorn

We are all looking forward to your entries for this theme!

Bird cage and Granny's card

I have been away for the weekend so a bit behind with blogging. I think I say that every week, lol. Sorry about the rubbish photos. I have tried and failed misreably to take some decent pictures of the really lovely birdcage that we made at Craft Den last week. They are either blurred or too close or both. I was hoping to get a decent photo of it dangling so I hope you get an idea of what it looks like :-(


Lynne has designed a very clever template, which we have used with the Tim Holtz birdcage die, but could also be used as a lantern and other ideas. I am sure the template will be published soon!

We used distress inks to colour the template and the cage (I used a mixture of mustard seed and vintage photo) and then various stamps (mine are paperartsy hot picks). When I got home I decorated the bird inside with black soot DI and dusted with perfect pearls. Then he is suspended inside using a strip of acetate. Actually, I dont like seeing a bird in a cage, I'm not sure why I didn't put him perching happily on the outside, I really wanted to have a little play with the acetate I think. Then I added the ideology chain and the 7Gypsies crystal danglies and a few white flowers coloured with the same DIs. The gems and the leaf die are from my stash, everything else from Craft Den.

Here also is the card for Granny that I made last week and was gratefully received this weekend. The kit is another very cute Nitwits kit from Craft Den. They are perfect for quick makes like this and I'll get another card from each kit I bought yet, so they will come out again for Grandpa and Grandma later this year.

Remember that the Anything Goes challenge this week is eyelets and brads and runs until 25th Jan. We would love to see your creations there!

Have a lovely evening

Anything Goes - First challenge of the new year!!

The theme this week at Anything Goes is 'Eyelets and brads'.

I have done my old favourite, a scrapbook layout of Emma, what a shocker. There was no room left for anymore eyelets and brads on this page. Every flower has a brad of various size and texture and there are silver eyelets set around the page. I had an idea to thread ribbon through them, but I have not remembered to buy the right ribbon yet, some lovely pale blue organza at Craft den, which I forgot to buy last night. The journal tag is actually one of my business cards, covered in paper and is also attached via a brad through the ribbon (the one I need to buy more of). I don't know why they gave me about a 1000 business cards, I only give out about 5 in a good year! I decided it was a waste to buy more ATCs so I'm using these instead if I am covering with paper. I have used up some old papers from my stash for this one, I am trying to be good to make room for more!



Anything Goes Challenge will now be a fortnightly challenge so you will have 2 weeks to come up with your gorgeous creations, and we promise to visit a little earlier this time! I was still visiting entries for the last challenge set before Christmas yesterday, but I think I will have to stop blaming Christmas now and just get organised!

We had a lovely class at Craft Den last night, making a lovely caged bird using a template designed by Lynne and Tim Holtz caged bird sizzix dies. I have added some more details when I got home last night so I'll post that tomorrow. Have a good evening!

January birthdays part 2

Here are the cards I have finished for Dan's mum and also our niece, Kathryn. They are both easel cards again, I find them quite addictive and I think that they always look like they were harder to make than they actually were! I have used bubbles Tilda again for Wendy's card, very similar to the one before for my auntie. With 6 cards to complete just after Christmas I need to be economical with the designs!




Lynne kindly lent me shopping Tilda and the shop front for the other card. Kathryn is 14 this birthday, going on 30 (she has been going on 30 for some time really, lol) so I think it suits her. I have used up some Bo Bunny kitchen spice papers on this one. I spread a layer of clear rock candy on the shop window to make it shimmer a bit and the jewellery is highlighted in various colours of stickles, which dont show up on the photo sadly.

The details on both cards have been made using Martha Stewart and EK success punches and Marianne Design dies. Everything except the flowers from Craft Den, which are from stash.

I hope you like them. I am just off to finish off Granny's card now! Have a lovely evening.

Happy New Year!!

I am a bit late aren't I, LOL! We have been busy here sorting out applying for Emma's first school, which we should have done ages ago, but we are always late doing everything, my family will back up that statement!

To get back into the swing of things, here are some cards I have made for the family birthdays we have in January. I have made so far a Dad and a Grandad card for my dad, a card for my auntie, who is 50 this month and a card for Dan's mum. I have still to finish a Granny card for Dan's mum and a card for my niece Kathryn (she has the same name as me and exactly the same middle initial as well!).

This is the card for my Auntie. The lovely Tilda blowing bubbles was from my mum for Christmas, along with some great punches, which I have used across the top of the card and the middle border. Tilda is coloured with copics and highlighted with glimmer mist. The paper was from stash, I am trying to be a good girl and use up part used papers, but everything else is from Craft Den.



For the Dad card I used a mix of Black Market Socirty papers and Chatterbox papers. The colours are perfect for chaps. I inked up plain white chippy letters with mustard seed, peeled paint and faded jeans DI inks, directly onto the letters. I quite like the stippled effect as the letters are slightly glossy so the ink pooled together while it was drying.




The Grandad card is made totally from a Nitwits collection of card and toppers. I bought some Granny style versions as well. Everthing from Craft Den.



Dan's mum, Granny and niece card to come when I have finished them and remembered to take photos.
Look out for the first Anything Goes Challenge of 2011 tomorrow!