For the Girls

For the Girls

Hi There!

So here we are with the 

final project in this strand

and what a project it is....

Here's Jane Castle to

show you what she made:

 

The project I have made does take a little time

 to make but then if you are going to give 

someone a handmade present your 

time is the main part of the gift. 

So grab a cuppa and we will make a start.

One of my main hobbies is gardening 

and I like to save seeds for the next 

growing year. 

A very close friend and neighbour is 

a keen gardener also and we

 always give each other birthday and 

christmas presents, nothing expensive but 

always something with a special thought. 

So I decided to turn this wonderful 

mini house into a seed shed for her.

Using Art-C mini house box kit I gave

 the outsides of each part a coat of white gesso.

The inside of the base, back and 2 sides 

were then covered with some of 

Imagination Crafts Rice paper.

 This was attached using 

Ranger Distress Collage Medium.

The distress medium does make the background

 quite a bit darker as you can see 

in the photo above.

Next I made a start on the seed envalopes. 

For these I used some ordinary brown

 wrapping paper as this helps to keep the 

seeds dry. 

Cutting pieces 10cm x 10.5cm, I then made 

folds so that the finished size would be 6cm x 4cm. 

the corners were cut away so as to 

remove some of the bulk.

In the picture above you can see the various stages, 

the last one has the bottom sealed and 

the top open ready to be filled.

I stamped the labels onto white card using 

black ink and a stamp from JM15. These were then 

lightly coloured using Chalk Cloud blending 

ink before hand writting. 

The envelopes were stamped and heat embossed 

with white powder using various PaperArtsy stamps.

The tag was made from kraft card and also 

heat embossed.

The seed packets were then filled --

and immediately sealed. 

Poppy seeds can go a very long way !!!

At this point I decided to make a sign for 

my shed, so masking off a stencil I 

inked onto a strip of shrink plastic.

This took about an hour to dry and then

 I cut it to shape and punched the holes

 in the top before heating

Now onto decorating the outside,

 the roof had a coat of Granny Smith paint 

before adding Grunge Paste through a Tando mask.

 I added a little Slate paint to the paste 

before applying it to the roof. 

Once dry I lightly sanded and 

added some Treasure Pewter.

The sides and the back were painted in 

Blush paint and then sponged with the 

Chalk Cloud blending ink in Toasted Rose. 

Stamped flowers were added using

 Carabelle Studio 'Zinouk du Jardin'.

Using the same stamp set I made a 

little figure, she was stamped onto

 300gsm card and then cut out. 

Her dress was stamped onto an off cut 

of painted card and stuck on top. 

Colour was added to the figure with 

Distress Markers.

Self adhesive gems for the ear-rings and

 Liquid Pearls for her buttons. 

The spade was stamped from JM 43.

There are holes in the 2 roof pieces so I 

added a ribbon bow and attached the 

'Don't eat the Daisies' tag.

The 'Seed' sign was threaded with some 

silk thread and tied to the decorative edging 

which was painted in China paint.

Zinouk and her spade were stuck on 

with some glue and the seed packets

 popped inside.

As this is a fairly small house/shed

 it's hard to catch the detail of the 

inside on camera.

I have been very impressed with this kit, 

it all went together very nicely.

I might include a battery nightlight to go 

inside for when the seeds have 

been planted.

The bow could be untided and then

 it could hang from a branch on a

 summers evening.

Thinking about it several would look

 very cute!!"

Items Used

Art-C Mini House Box Kit

Brown Parcel Wrapping Paper

Imagination Crafts Rice Paper

Ranger Distress Collage Medium

Shrink Plastic

Brilliance Ink Pads

Tando Creative Mask

PaperArtsy Stencil

PaperArtsy Grunge Paste

PaperArtsy Rubber Stamps

Carabelle Studio Rubber Stamps

Ranger Liquid Pearls

PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylic Paints

Cosmic Shimmers Chalk Cloud Blending Ink

Treasure Pewter

Stampendous Embossing Powder

and some seeds!

Thank you Jane - I can

just see these little houses

dotted about the garden

holding those little battery 

operated night lights!

Another delightful present

don't you think?......

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Drunken Chalks

Drunken Chalks

Hi There!

Good to have you with us today

and every other day you can

make it too!  

Continuing our crafty inebriation

theme this week is Claire Jackson

and this is what she has to say on

the subject:

"As I’m always experimenting to see if

 I can get new effects using well loved products 

I was keen to find out if the Distress Oxides 

blend with alcohol...and they do on yupo at least. 

If you haven’t used yupo before it’s a non-porous 

synthetic paper.

 First stamp a background using 

broken china Distress Oxide ink onto Yupo.

Stamp leaves around the top and bottom. 

I used cracked pistachio and peeled paint.

Spray the yupo with isopropyl alcohol. 

I used an IPA aerosol spray for cleaning 

computer parts. 

Surgical spirit will work but it has some 

oil added which will leave a slightly greasy finish. 

You must follow the instructions on the spray 

and do this in a well ventilated room. 

Allow the colours to blend to create a soft image. 

Before all the alcohol evaporates use a baby 

wipe to blend the centre section.

Build up more stamping and spray again 

with the alcohol to let it blend. 

Blot it after a few seconds to give a 

slightly harder image. 

Add centres to the flowers using a 

cotton bud.

 With a cotton bud add dots of colour

 between the leaves.

Use black Memento ink to add a sentiment 

and stamping to the edges.

Add white highlights in paint pen. 

Before mounting it give it a spray 

with acrylic sealant. 

This will stop the inks continuing to migrate

 on the yupo and eventually becoming a faded blur."

Materials used:

Yupo:
Distress Oxide inks:
Memento ink:
Impression Obsession background stamp:
Carabelle Studio and PaperArtsy rubber stamps:
White paint pen:
Sealant:

Lovely card Claire, thank you.

Who would have thought that

such loveliness could come from

"drunken" chalks...........😉

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

On the Case

On the Case

Hi There!

Here we go into the new month

with a beautiful addition to our

storage theme.

Take a look at

Angela Radford's project below

and decide whether or not

you could bear to part with it....

"Angela here to show you what I've done

 with these gorgeous little boxes but first the

 background paper using Distress Oxide inks.

Before I started adding the background paper 

I covered the edges of the box with ink and 

left it to dry.

 Next, cut a strip from the background paper 

wide enough to go round the heart box but don't 

worry if it's a bit wide as I will show you how 

I finish it later. 

Now stamp your chosen images to decorate the paper.

Now attach it to the box.

 I like to do this a little at a time so it is nice 

and firm round the box, spreading the glue to

 ensure good coverage.

And here is my method of finishing the edges

 once the paper is stuck down. 

Take a file and rub the edge upwards away

 from the box and this will remove the excess paper 

leaving a lovely smooth finish.

The edges may need inking again at this stage.

The lid is next. 

Cover this in the same way as the box.

Couldn't resist a bit of grunging here!

Always a relief when the lid fits. 

It's better not to use card for the outside as it 

may be too thick and then the lid may not

 fit which can be very disappointing Lol!

Decoration next but as usual I wasn't quite 

sure so cut more flowers than I needed 

but they will always come in handy

 for another project. 

The yellow card was actually left over from

 an earlier project.

Edge the flowers next and then you will 

have to decide which ones to use!

I decided to make two small roses.

Such a tease! Better show you more.

 Well this is the top, almost finished. 

I added the ribbon too.

But decided it needed dew drops 

which were drops of Glossy Accents.

Just a few more photographs and then I'm off!

Close-up of the flowers.

And the back too. 

Happy crafting, Angela xXx"

Materials used:

Heart shaped Paper Mache Box

Distress Oxide Inks

Carabelle Stamp

Tim Holtz Die - Tattered Florals

Glossy Accents

Ribbon

Cartridge paper

A beautiful box Angela

Thank you 

Dare I say, beautifully grungy?

Perhaps not but I am sure

you all know what I mean

As to whether I could bear to part

with it..............NO! I could not

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx