Easter Egg

Easter Egg

Hallo Everyone!

With the Easter Holiday rapidly

approaching I was delighted to

find this lovely project from

Craftyfield in my in box.

The perfect answer to the

dilemma of how to carry all

the little eggs found on the

Easter Egg Hunt ........

"A drawstring fabric bag, like this one, 

is ideal to wrap up awkward shaped items

 and, as a bonus, you get 2 sides to decorate!

 The bag is roughly 15 by 20cms.

It's also a lot easier to buy ready mad

 than to make the bag yourself, which I 

now know since this is precisely what I did.

 Given the choice, let me tell you, I'd

 rather spend the time on the fun

 decorating part rather than the 

construction of the bag!

No step by step today, especially on how 

to cross-stitch, as I'm a complete beginner

 myself, but I will give you ideas to 

decorate fabric bags.

 The bravest crafters might want to 

paint or draw on the bag, otherwise

 try stamping with textile paints 

(SoSoft, Starlight Textiles, Setacolor) 

or any of your permanent inks. 

I would recommend Brilliance inks 

because there are so many colours available 

but Archival or Versafine will work too.

 Remember to place a piece of cardboard 

inside the bag to give you a firm 

surface to stamp on and protect the 

reverse of the bag from the ink or paint 

seeping through.

If stamping is not your thing how

 about stencilling? Just make sure the

 fabric of your bag is stretched and 

held in place with masking tape before

 applying the paints. 

Use one stencil for an overall pattern 

or several to create a scene.

 Create stripes with masking tape or 

die-cut shapes out of acetate to stencil

 specific areas of the bag. 

If you are not confident decorating 

your bag directly you can use a separate 

piece of fabric and sew it on

 to the bag later. 

Other ideas: use image transfer with 

gel medium, collage rice paper, sew 

a printed fabric piece or several 

pieces to make a shape or pattern...

You can add embellishments too,

 flower shapes, buttons, shrink plastic 

items (don't forget to punch the holes 

before srinking...), ribbons, twine etc... 

Like me you can use felt die-cuts motifs

 to the bag, and I would advise you to 

sew them on to be sure they won't move. 

You could die-cut initials or a complete

 name, word or phrase.

 Steel rule dies (the thick Sizzix dies) are 

best for this but I have had success with 

thin dies too, just as long as the shape

 isn't too detailed.

Only a few ideas here, but really the

 world is your oyster! 

Share with us in the comments if 

you have ideas of your own.

These little bags will make it so easy

 to wrap up the Easter eggs or Bunnies 

and make nice keepsakes too!"

Thank you Craftyfield - lots of ideas here

especially for those of us who like to

make individual bags for each family

member

These bags would be good for

a little person's ballet shoes

or gym pumps too

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Mothering Sunday

Mothering Sunday

Happy Mother's Day!

I was thinking about Mothering 

Sunday - its origins and customs,

when it dawned on me that I

haven't seen a Simnel Cake for a

long while.  Do any of you bake

them for Mothering Sunday? 

Can they even still be bought?

 Craftyfield has popped in with

 a lovely bright card to share

with you:

"Gelatos are great for adding colour quickly

 to a project. Here I used them dry as this

 is my favourite technique with them.

I simply scribbled the colours over

 the stencil, held in place with masking 

tape and rubbed a dry baby wipe over. 

A brush will work equally well for this.

If you want clean colours, use a clean 

piece of wipe everytime you change

 colours, especially when working with 

complementary colours which together 

make greys... (Blue/Orange; Yellow/Violet, 

Red/Green).

For a quicker background, you can

 create a stripe with masking tape,

 instead of doing the whole card 

front as I did. 

Or stencil just 2 corners, or inside a 

heart stencil... the possibilities are endless.

If you are doing the whole card front 

with a small stencil like I did, be 

mindful of the pattern repeat. 

The one I used for instance had a 

vertical repeat, but I couldn't find 

a way to join the design horizontally! 

No matter... the joint will be mostly

 hidden by the focal image.

Over to you, have a play 

with these sticks, they are great fun!"

You'll find Gelatos here:

Or you could use Distress Crayons

They are fun to use too and

come in the Distress colours so

can be matched to your project.

They can be found here:

Thank you Craftyfield - love that

background

I know that in other countries, 

Mother's Day falls at different times

of the year.  Also, there are other

customs - do please share what

you do in your country

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Boxing Clever

Boxing Clever

Hallo Everyone!

Strictly speaking, todays box

isn't a box ...............I know.......

think I've been bitten by the

Mad March Hare ......!!

Get ready for a truly gorgeous 

project from Craftyfield

"I know decorating glass can be daunting 

but these plates offer creative

 possibilities that had me very excited!

Having 2 sides to play with means that 

you can use Archival inks to stamp and

 alcohol inks to colour, for example, 

but also create foreground and background

 independently without having to worry

 about painting around your motifs.

The kit unpacked. 

The back panel can be painted with acrylic

 or, once gessoed, could be stamped 

and coloured to create a suitable background 

to the scene.

For this project I took a shortcut

 and used patterned paper.

 I stamped my fishes (Paper Artsy Hot Picks)

 with Archival ink and embossed with clear

 Embossing powder first, then I overstamped 

and embossed with both clear and Silver 

powders to create the look of scales.

The algae have been stamped with Versamark

 and embossed with a green embossing 

powder to which I added a sprinkling of 

darker powder for variation.

I painted the back of my fish with DecoArt Extreme

 sheen to add both opacity and shine.

 I used the depth of the 3D plate to place some

 shells on a "sandy" surface but one could 

add one or more layers of acetate hinged over the 

back panel to add more motifs and create even

 more depth in the scene.

If I were you I'd grab these gems whilst 

you can, at this price they won't hang 

around for long!"

3D Plate with glass:

Love this project Craftyfield,

thank you very much

A fuss free fish tank with your

own choice of fish - this is

brilliant!

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Random

Random

Hi There!

It is the last Sunday in the

month - nearly springtime 

How fabulous is that?  

Love it when the thick

waterproof, hat, scarf

and warm gloves become

superfluous to requirements

Makes leaving the house so

much quicker..............

Yes, I know, dream on ....

In the meantime Craftyfield

has discovered a new way 

of decorating greyboard and

chipboard ..........

"Did you know the Tando chipboard pieces

 can be embossed with folders? 

When I discovered this is possible, 

I saw them in a different light... 

With frames in particular, the added 

dimension gives them the look of ornate 

Vintage woodwork.

Today's project is showcasing this technique.

 First I painted the frame with several 

colours of acrylic paints, I was aiming for a 

Verdigris finish.

I embossed the frame in a Cuttlebug folder

 and applied Metallic Lustre to highlight

 the texture.

My frame is ready... 

I selected an image from PaperArtsy Hot pick 1207 

and stamped it with Versafine black. 

To age it, I used a mix of Antique Linen 

and Walnut Stain Distress inks.

 I created the background with layers 

upon layers of Distress Oxide inks 

in Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean and 

Scattered Straw. 

A bit of stencilling and stamping 

on top (PaperArtsy ELB33).

Finally, I picked the embellishments from 

my overflowing left overs bin.

There you have it a simple technique to 

jazz up these chipboards!"

Thank you Craftyfield, I love this

technique it adds interest to what

is often a boringly plain piece of

board!

I do enjoy Craftyfield's mini tutorials

don't you?  Just enough to inspire

the experimentation gene in us all

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Random

Random

Happy Sunday Everyone!

Hope you are enjoying a warm

and cosy, relaxing weekend.

It is wet, cold and........yes, you've

got it..........blowing a hooley!

Anyone got just two of the three?

Aren't you the lucky ones?!

Take a look at Craftyfield's mini

tutorial using those lovely little

boxes from Tando

"Since the Craft Barn was having a sale

 in January, I grabbed a few bits and 

pieces... I wanted to explore the possibilities 

offered by the Cubbeys with aperture and 

this is what I made  

The cubbeys need to be slotted 

and glued together but, 

depending on your chosen finish,
you will need to decorate first. 

I decided to go for paper rather than 

paint as I love the look of the

 Kaisercraft Basecoat papers and thought

 they would be perfect for my "inside walls".

The photo shows the pieces already

 papered on one side 

(what will be the inside") 

and the outside papers ready 

to be glued on the made-up cubbeys.

 I wanted to exploit the apertures 

and decided to use acetate as windows. 

One is inspired by churches stained 

glass windows, another is looking out on 

a landscape, both stamped and

 coloured with glass paints. 

The third one is a piece of printed acetate.

 Of course the point of it all is to

 see the sun streaming through and

 projecting coloured shadows... 

I am planning to showcase my cubbeys

 on a window sill for free and eco-friendly

 lighting, but you could always place

 it anywhere with a small candle behind

 (electric preferably).

I placed a few embellishments I made 

with paper clay, some Kaisercraft flourishes 

and other crafty treasures from my stash

 on the larger side of the cubbeys."

Love the sun streaming through 

the windows Craftyfield.  Thank you

for this inspiring tutorial.

I'm sure you all know that the SALE 

continues throughout February.  I'm

off to see if anything more has been

added and of course I shall need to

check out the Tando section..........!

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

PS:  If you need any clarification or 

extra information on any of the

projects we show, do please get in

touch.........

At Random

At Random

Hi Everyone!

Have you noticed we are

almost out of January?  

For some that is a loud

woohoo!  For me it's a

pessimistic - well that's

one-twelfth of the year

gone already!

No use worrying about it

let's have a cuppa and

relax with Craftyfield's

gorgeous canvas:

 "Whenever I have a bit more crafting 

time, I like to play with medias and

 techniques, especially if I have new stash

 to try...

Maybe after Christmas you have

 new stash too!

I first Gessoed my base card and applied

 a thin coat of gel medium in places,

where I stuck scraps of papers just for

 a short time, then ripping the paper off,

 leaving the ink behind.

I did the same with the Vintage

 image shown above. 

I added a few scraps of papers vertically

 to break up the horizontal writing.

Now for colours: 

I sprayed the card with water and tapped

 a (very small) loaded brush with 

Blue and Turquoise Brushos,

 adding a few sprinkles of mica powder too.

When this was dry I added Grunge Paste

 through Carabelle and Tim Holtz layering stencils.

Having unearthed treasures in my 

scrap box, I create a cluster around the

 center of interest, which will hold 

the focal image. 

A bit of vellum die-cut, a scrap of calico, 

some gel medium and Glitterbitz....
I also applied some 

Silver DecoArt Metallic Lustre 

on top of the stencilled Grunge Paste

 to highlight the texture.

To finish I popped up the Vintage 

image, added some gold wire,

 a small envelope, and

 a handmade flower."

A lovely canvas and a good

tutorial too.  Thank you

Craftyfield

I just love what you can do

with the bits and bobs that seem

to linger among the stash!  

Don't forget the SALE!

'Til tomorrow

Mickie xx