Let there be light....

Hi everyone!

       I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas. I have sadly neglected my blog in the run up to Christmas - the kids suffered from the nasty norovirus just before Christmas and for the rest of the time I seemed to be running around all over the place making lists, wrapping presents and generally complaining that there was no time to do everything that had to be done!

   All was worth it and in the end we celebrated a really wonderul Christmas!

 I am here today to share with you one last Christmas post - as always there has to be candles in our house and Servietten Technique is my favourite Christmas crafts....

These candles were made quite a while ago, but I couldn't share them on here as they were to be gifts for family....but at last those gifts have been opened..so I can share them today....

This candle was made for my sister-in-law Alison.....I grabbed this gorgeous set of music sheet serviettes while visitng Czesky Krumlov in the summer - My husband dreads me seeing serviettes in shops and he really didn't agree with my pleas of "...but I need these" when I saw the music sheet serviettes.....I am sure many of you will at least appreciate the huge need for these as part of my craft stash!!!

The candle was coated with Mod Podge and the tissue applied (for a good video demo watch this).

 When it was dry I wrapped some twine around the candle and tied it into a bow at the front.

 I began to decorate the candle using die cut wings that were dabbed with Frayed Burlap DI and Vintage Photo DI. They were then sprayed with Perfect Pearls in Biscotti.

  I used some leaf and flourish die cuts that were coloured with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain DI's

         The word 'Joy' was made from label letter stickers.

I used a wooden star and added a brass button that had been painted with Antiqued Bronze DP

********************************************

This candle was made for my mother-in-law Gil....

        

....I used a serviette that I had 'stolen' from a previous family dinner. I glued the serviette to the candle with Modge Podgeand left it to dry

I wrapped twine around the candle serveal times tand then tied it into a bow at the front.

 I cut a gingerbread man shape out from card and painted it with Vintage Photo DP

When dry I drew around the edges with white gel pen and added face and button detail with a fine permanant marker.

I coloured some die cut holly with Evergreen Bough, Pine Needles and Walnut Stain DI's

 I added some mini wooden buttons and a flourish inked with Walnut Stain DI

 And one final candle was made for myself.....

I adore the simple red and white christmas style....

   I chose a very simple serviette with just Christmas words. I stuck it onto the candle with Modge Podge

 I wrapped some red ribbon around the candle and secured it with a pin

   I stuck a wooden snowflake to the candle and added a red metal rose

.........A very simple but very beautiful decoration that looked stunning all lit up.......

     Hope you liked my candle decorations! See you in the New Year!

Christmas Scene

Hi everyone - It is Sponsor Spotlight time again at Our Creative Corner. 

Our generous sponsor this month is Tando Creative.  Come and join in the festive challenge over at Our Creative Corner to be in with a chance of winning a fabulous prize! 

And here for you is a sneak peek of today's spotlight....

If you are interested in finding out what I have made and how it was made then hop 

over to Our Creative Corner

Hope to see you over there!

Sinterklaas

Hi everyone - It is Sponsor Spotlight time again at Our Creative Corner. 

Our generous sponsor this month is Tando Creative.  Come and join in the festive challenge over at Our Creative Corner to be in with a chance of winning a fabulous prize! 

And here for you is a sneak peek of today's spotlight....

If you are interested in finding out what I have made and how it was made then hop 

over to Our Creative Corner

Hope to see you over there!


Happy Crafting

Laura
xxx

A little bit of Christmas

Hi everyone!

Today is the 1st December and at Our Creative Corner Alison is hosting a challenge! 

Have Yourself A Merry LITTLE Christmas.

That's right, we want to see your festive ATCs here at Our Creative Corner.

Your little nuggets of creativity, Artists Trading Cards, need to be 2.5 x 3.5 inches in size, and have a Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or otherwise seasonal festive theme.

You can create just one ATC, or a series.

You can create a chunky ATC - on a thick block of wood, but the main creating surface front and back should still be 2.5 x 3.5.

You can even create ATBs - Artists Trading Blocks - little Christmas cubes which should be, for this challenge, 3 x 3 x 3 inches in size, please.

*********************************************

I really enjoyed making the chunky ATC for a spotlight at OCC recently and I decided it would be fun to make another - but with a twist

This one opens up........

.............to reveal a Christmas scene...........

............but before we take a peek inside - lets look at the outside of the chunky ATC first...

I made an ATC sized box - 2.5" x 3.5" x 1.5"...I made a lid for the box and after cutting a hole for the window I painted all of it with Stone Fresco Paint.

 I marked diamond window panes in permanent black marker on acetate and painted one side with Gesso paint for snow.

  I stuck the window in and began to decorate the box. I used card which had been inked with Vintage Photo and Fired Brick DI's and then cut into rectangles. I stuck each 'brick' on by hand and then stamped over some of the bricks with a text stamp using Gathered Twigs DI.

 I made a vintage style shop sign by stamping with an alphabet stamp using Potting Soil Archival ink and blending Walnut Stain DI around the edge. Copper Liquid Pearls were dabbed in the corners of a piece of blasa wood that had been painted with Vintage Photo DP. Texture paste was dabbed onto the top of the sign and sprinkled with Rock Candy Distress Glitter.

I covered some holly with Pine Needles DS and then dabbed some Mown Lawn DI over them. I then covered them with Rock Candy Distress stickles.

 The holly berries were card that had been inked with Fired Brick DI and covered with Glossy Accents and topped with Diamond Stickles glue.The flourish is covered with Walnut Stain DI and there are two curled rusty wire pieces.

    The additional sign was a clip art piece I found on Linda's blog when I was first blogging. I had wanted to find a use for it and I finally did!

  Part of it was used as an additional advert above the sign and the other part was stuck to the side of the 'building' along with other adverts.

    Inside the box I decorated the walls with some printed Christmas paper.

I made a tree from card that had been inked with Pine Needles, Mown Lawn and Walnut Stain DI. It was then dabbed with several colours of Stickles glue.

 The candy canes are red and white striped cotton thread that was stuck onto the tree in a candy cane shape.

 The clock was made using a clock stamp, stamped with Jet Black Archival ink and cut out and stuck into a metal pendant charm. Glossy Accents glue was applied to the image to form a glass effect.

    The teddy bear was made from one brown pipe cleaner, twisted into the shape of a teddy bear. Tiny black beads for eyes and a black brad for it's nose. A tiny strip of red ribbon was tied into a bow.

 Presents were made from wrapping balsa wood up in pattered paper and tying up with strands of wool or ribbon.

 The window needed a curtain. So I got two strips of lace and a piece of dolls house bannister and constructed a lace curtain.

      

So there is my Christmas Chunky ATC! I do hope you like it!

Hope you will come along and join us this month at Our Creative Corner!

You could be our December Winner and feature as our Top Talent! You could be one of our Top 3 or you could even be the lucky winner of a wonderful prize donated by this month's sponsor - Tando Creative

Happy Crafting!

Winter Wonderland

Hi everyone!

Enjoying winter so far? If so come and spread some wonderful winter cheer with us over at Fashionable Stamping Challenges!

Winter Wonderland

 

Of course it is another frame! I love making them - simply balsa wood strips glued into a frame shape. This one had texture paste stencilled through a damask stencil. 

It was then painted with Gesso, covered in a layer of Taupe Fresco paint, the excess was then wiped away with a baby wipe and then when the frame was dry Pewter Treasure Gold was rubbed over the top.

 The stamped images were from an Artistic Outpost set called 'Sleighride' To make the background I used Iced Spruce DI and Picket Fence DP on the craft mat, spritzed with water and then swirled the white card through the inky paint puddles. 

When dry I stamped the trees with Watering Can Archival ink. I then dabbed the trees with Picket Fence DP and sprinkled Rock Candy Distress glitter over the paint. When this was dry I added more texture to the snow effect by dabbing Rock Candy Stickles glue over the trees.

     A spritz of White Linen Dylusions spray gave a lovely snow effect to the sky

The girls were stamped with Jet Black archival ink. I then cut around them and stuck them onto the background after dabbing some Iced Spruce Di around the edges to cover cut white edges and also add shadows.

I like working on little details - so I couldn't resist some very fussy cutting with a craft knife!

I felt that the picture needed a border within the frame. So I got a sheet of white card and cut out a small border. I inked around the edges of the  border with Iced Spruce DI 

I stamped a lovely border stamp around it using Colourbox Platinum ink. I then added some Liquid Pearls in Platinum.

 As the title of the challenge is winter wonderland and there was a 'Winter Wonderland' stamp in the set it seemed only right to use the stamp on this creation!

 It was stamped with Watering Can Archival ink and the edges of the white card were inked with Iced Spruce DI. Silver brads were used to attach the card to the frame.

I decided to make some frosted winter foliage to decorate the frame.

 I got some of my favourite ivory roses and tore away some layers to make them smaller. I dabbed some Iced Spruce DI over the roses and spritzed with water to blend the ink. I dabbed some Iced Spruce DI over some holly and fern diecuts and then covered them with Rock Candy Distress stickles glue.A flourish was dabbed with Colour Box Platinum ink.

 I also added some beads - silver, pearls and crystals along with a crystal button

So there is my Winter Wonderland scene! I would love it if you came over to see what the rest of the team have made to inspire you at Fashionable Stamping Challenges!

Remember we are a stamping challenge so please feature a stamped focal image on your creation.

  

You could be the winner of $20 to spend at Flonzcraft Stamps! And of course you could be picked as one of our Catwalk Spotlights!

Hope to see you there!

I am entering this at Artistic Outpost November Challenge