The First Snow

Hi everyone!

 Is Christmas here yet?!

 I can never wait for Christmas to arrive!...so here is a little taste of what is sure to be a huge collection of Christmas crafts by the time we reach the festive Holiday!

 This started out as a bit of a mess around with kraft card and white paint...

I started by just painting some Decoart Translucent white acrylic paint onto the tag...

Then I got some white acrylic paint onto an old credit card and began to make lines

I stamped some snowflakes onto the tag with opaque white ink

I splashed some Frayed Burlap DS onto the tag

.....and some White Linen Dylusions spray

I added some tissue tape

...and lace. Then I added some white Liquid Pearls to the lace

I added a '25' from Alpha parts - painted with Frayed Burlap DP

A white piece of card was stamped with a calendar stamp using Potting Soil

A snowflake die cut was dabbed with glue and had Rock Candy Glitter sprinkled over it. Then a crystal button was added to the center. The word 'Snowfall' was added

White hemp string was tied into a bow at the top of the tag

Hope you like it!

Happy Crafting!

Laura 

xxx

Halloween Greetings!

Hi everyone!

 I wasn't intending to do a specific Halloween creation for the end of the month...but then I bought the Hickory Smoke Distress ink...and it is sooo gorgeous I had to use it...

 I got some card and dabbed some Hickory Smoke DI and Picket Fence DP onto the craft mat and spritzed with water. I then swirled the card through the ink and paint and dried it with a heat gun... dabbing it in the ink/paint until I achieved the mottled effect I was after.

I stamped a skull onto tissue wrap and stuck it to the card with Decoart matte Medium

I stuck some die cut web shapes to the top of the card

Then I dabbed some Hickory Smoke DI around the edges and stenciled over the top using Roman Numerals stencil with White Acrylic paint.

 I stamped a spider web and script and text stamps around the card  

I then diluted some picket Fence DP with water and flicked the paint over the card

 I dabbed some Carbon Black Antiquing cream around the edge of the card and wiped away with a damp cloth when dry and then dabbed it with some Paynes Grey and then sanded it so the edge looked distressed and aged

Then I dabbed the card in places with Spiced Marmalade DI. I needed to make this permanent so I dabbed it all over with a sponge dipped into Decoart Matte Varnish...working quickly to not dislodge the ink...The ink being water reactive did move slightly, but this added to the rustic effect as it formed streaks rather than smooth blending.

I then applied some Decoart Gold Interference paint - It looks amazing but is really hard to photograph...This was the best shot I got of it...

Happy Halloween was stamped onto the card using Jet Black Archival ink

I stuck the card onto mount board and attached black wire to the top as a hanger. I twisted the ends into curls and then wrapped hemp string around it before fraying the edges.

Hope you like it!

Happy Halloween!

Laura 

xxx

Autumn at Last

Hi everyone!

Welcome to another Autumn inspired creation!

 This one was actually made last Autumn...but I didn't like it very much and I really had no enthusiasm for writing about it. The photos stayed in a folder on my computer and when Winter arived it seemed wrong to put up an Autumn creation...

I had basically dismissed it as not 'good enough' anyway..but that is something I don't like doing - I really try to not judge my own creations and I have learned to put things on here that I like and don't like - this blog is my creation diary and shows a creative journey and it would be wrong if I left out pieces...so I am sneaking it in now...a year late, but never mind - better late than never. 

It began with a brass hob ring that I found in a cheap store in the Czech Republic. I got out to the Czech Republic each summer to visit my mother in law who lives out there for half the year. There are many cheap shops out there (similar to Poundland in England) where there is a lot of junk but you can find some treasures occasionally....I loved the brass rings and at a cost of basically pennies it seemed a good idea to grab a few.

I basically covered it in layers of paint - Leaving it to dry slightly then rubbing away patches of still damp paint. I repeated this process several times. I used Distress Paint here in Vintage Photo, Antiqued Bronze and Evergreen Bough.

 I applied some Crackle glaze and rubbed some Raw Umber paint into the cracks.

  I made a background for the center of the frame by using Antique Linen DI and Frayed Burlap DI. Dabbed onto a mat, spritzed with water and then swirl the card in the inky pools. 

The card was than stamped with script and flourish stamps using Potting Soil Archival ink and a splatter stencil was used with Vintage Photo DI

I decorated the frame with many things...

First I used several Memory box dies...covered them with Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo DI 

I added real twigs to the decoration too...

I used buttons

I used die cut leaves stained with Ripe Persimmon, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and Spiced Marmalade DI. The larger leaves were stamped with a script stamp using Potting Soil Archival ink. Curled rusty wire was added too....

I used an ivory rose that was dabbed with Frayed Burlap DI and an ivory Hemp string bow

I used letter stickers from Tim Holtz salvage stickers set. I attached them to a piece of card after having creased the letters up

A hessian flower was used with a embossed piece of card that was sanded to reveal the colour underneath.

Hope you like it!

Happy Crafting 

Love from Laura 

xxx 

Queen Charlotte

Hi everyone, 

     I am here today with a creation I made a while ago - when I was experimenting with the Andy Skinner rust technique that I featured here at SanDee and amelies steampunk Challenges, I did several experiments with this wonderful technique and here is one of them...

 You can see the video for the Andy Skinner rust technique that I used here

This one (the background in the frame) was a bit of an experimental practice run. I wanted to see how the technique worked with just plain embossed card...

The answer is - not very well (at first) The card buckles as the sand texture paste is drying and the embossing began to lose a lot of detail. I glanced at it and dismissed it as a mistake....but I decided not to waste it anyway and do the paint effects as well....at the very least it was a chance to have a practice run with that as well...

    This one turned out very different to the rust effects on the creation featured here....I applied the paint much thinner....the Paynes Grey was only applied in patches and I did a watered down coat of Quinacridone Gold...I was really impressed by the results!

     So I decided to use it in a creation - and I loved the final piece

   I had a set of trio paper mache frames and decided to cut one down to a single frame and covered the cut end with card. After doing that I covered it with German text paper stuck down with Mod Podge glue. I then covered it with a layer of Mod Podge glue before painting it with Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide.

I then covered it with Crackle glaze

  I dabbed all over the edges with Raw Umber paint

I stuck the rusted embossed card into the frame

A dolls head was lightly painted with raw Umber paint before being stuck onto a brass flower and having a brass crown attached. A brass key was also attached...

Wings were cut out of rivet embossed card and painted with gold acrylic paint before being dry brushed with Raw Umber paint

A chit chat sticker was used that had been dabbed with Vintage Photo DI and attached to a brass frame

A brass screw brad was used to attach brown hemp string to the frame

So there is my Queen Charlotte creation....I hope you like it!

Happy Crafting!

Laura xxx