Mother's Day the Sequel

Mother's Day the Sequel

Hi There!

Yes, I'll admit.  I had a brainstorm

(before anyone goes all pc on me

that is a technical term) and for all

I had created some articles specifically

for Mother's Day; I omitted to post

them...............Duh!

You don't have to be crazy to

live my life but it does help.....

As you will see, each card lends

itself to more than one

occasion all that is required is

to change the greeting 

I have three such projects for you;

the first is from Hazel Harler

and it goes like this:

 "For the background I placed a stencil 

on some white card and sprinkled it with

 Cosmic Shimmer Pixie dust and then

 sprayed it with water. 

I dried the card with a heat gun and 

stamped the Paperartsy Hot Picks flower 

and coloured it with a felt tip pen. 

I then edged the card with a black pen and

 added the ribbon then adhered the 

decorated card to a card blank.

I stamped a butterfly onto card 

that I'd coloured with Pixie dust, cut it out 

and adhered it to the card and then

 finished with the sentiment and some sequins."

-0-

The next card is from Jane Castle and it

goes like this:

"Here is a fairly quick and easy card to help

 with any ideas if you are struggling with 

what to make.

"For my base card I used a linen textured card 

and cut a paper heart template to work my

 Gelatos off to form my outline.

Then using the blending tool worked around

 the heart before removing the template

and added buttons following the 

shape of the heart.  There's lots of

lovely buttons on the Craft Barn website

if you need to stock up

Some I added thread to for added interest. 

Then using the same 3 colours of Gelatos

 coloured a piece of card and added a die 

cut Mum, a couple of Tim Holtz die cut wild 

flowers at the bottom and finally some 

Ranger Liquid Pearls to enhance the 

shape on the outside."

-0-

and finally, here is a card from

Claire Jackson

My card uses water soluble pastels 

(Gelatos or Distress Crayons) and

 embossing folders.

First I scribbled on two pieces of card

 and blended the colours with a damp 

baby wipe.

Then I coloured an embossing folder using 

the lighter colour first. I did both sides 

and then spritzed lightly with water. 

I put my coloured card pieces back

 to back in the folder so that I could emboss

 both at the same time, ending up with 

one side embossed and one side debossed.

There was still some colour on the folder

 so I spritzed again and ran two 

pieces of white card through.

Using a different folder I embossed and

 die cut some flowers.

 I had enough pieces for two cards

Thank you Hazel, Jane and Claire

for a lovely set of cards

Some good techniques here too

and I really liked the tip from

Claire on using two pieces of

card in an embossing folder.

There's always something to 

be learned isn't there?

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Easter Egg

Easter Egg

Hi Everyone!

It hardly seems a moment since

Christmas and here we are about

to celebrate Easter - four days off

work, how lovely.  The first holiday

of the year and much looked 

forward to I don't doubt........

Jane Castle has brought in a

delightful card to start us off:

"The card I'm sharing with you today

 could be used for so many different occasions

 it's one worth having ready made as 

a stand-by. ( maybe more than one!)

I began by colouring a 15cm x 15cm card blank

 with paint and ink. 

Next using the Toad Hall I painted a piece of 

smooth white card.

 Once dry I brushed on some matt medium 

and added some scrumbled tissue paper. 

To make sure the tissue paper was attached 

without any air bubbles I brushed over the top

 with a little more matt medium.

When this was completely dry -- (it's easy to tell as

 it will no longer be sticky!), I made a wash with

 1 part water to 1 part Chartreuse paint 

and brushed this over. 

Being a translucent paint the darker

 colour underneath still shows through. 

Finally when this was just dry I brushed over 

some Cosmic Shimmers Mica Powder.

This is what I stamped my chickens and sentiment

 on but first I decided on the size I wanted my

 embellishments to be. 

They all measure the same 5.5cm x 4cm, 

2 landscape and 2 portrait.

 I made a paper window of the size so

 I could choose where I needed to cut after 

stamping and heat embossing.

The 4 pieces of card were then mounted onto 

some black mirri card before attaching to the card.

 A flower was added from my stash of 'ready-mades', 

to break up the greens.

I like the texture the scrumbled tissue paper 

gives and it's good fun to get a little 'inky 

and messy' now and again!

Thanks for stopping by today, 

hope you have a good week and 

enjoy your crafting X."

A really effective card Jane,

than you very much

Those Joggles quirky birds

would be fun here, as indeed

would Lin Brown's birds for

PaperArtsy.  Both sets are

half price too!

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Boxing Clever

Boxing Clever

Hi There!

Upcycling is the topic of the

day today.  Jane Castle has

turned a very plain box into

beautiful storage ........... or

maybe a useful gift for a craft

buddy.......

"Hi Folks, today I'm going to show you 

an inexpensive way to tidy-up those loose 

bits of ribbon and lace that end up getting 

scrumpled and creased in the drawer 

or needlework box.

I began with a 17cm x 11cm x 8cm 

cardboard box that many businesses 

use for mail order. 

This was given a base coat of white gesso 

on the outsde and the inside of the lid.

 I then cut some ATC cards from some

 thickish card scraps.

The box was then decorated by adding some 

Grunge Paste through a Tim Holtz and

 PaperArtsy stencils. 

Once dry Fresco Chalk paint was added

 with a piece of Cut and Dry foam 

gradually building up the colour.

Just 3 colours were used in the end and

 then the whole of the outside was brushed

 with Satin Glaze. 

I then wanted to enhance the relief work 

without completely covering up the existing 

colours so I replaced the clean stencils

 and added some DI in Pumice Stone. 

Loved the colour but it needed to 

be a little more defined .......

So after some head scratching and a

 coffee I sponged on some DecoArt 

Metallic Paint in Zinc, perfect!

Some die-cut letters, ribbon and a wooden bead

 to pull open the flap and a 

little bird from Jofy 15 stamp set.

The inside was lined with some brightly

 coloured felt and the ribbons and lace 

wound onto the cards.

Then I had one of those 'Light-bulb' moments -----

If you had somewhere that you could attach

 a cup hook the cards could be stored 

on a book-ring......

Happy Crafting to you all. X"

That was a light bulb moment

Jane, thank you for sharing along

with your beautiful box

Now just in case you don't do much

in the way of online shopping, or

maybe everything you buy comes

in a padded envelope..... have a

look here for a suitable box to 

decorate in a similar way

"Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Random

Random

Hi Everyone!

I'm here with something completely

different today.  I say, I am but it

is really Jane Castle who has

brought the project to us

I think you'll like it.....

"Hi everyone, hope today finds you all well

 and ready for some crafting ideas! 

I have often stamped an image onto a 

piece of calico material and then embroidered

 it so here is one I made today.

The image was stamped using Archival ink, 

I chose the cornflower blue as I wanted most 

of my stitching to be that colour. 

Once the flowers were embroidered and the 

tiny beads sewn on I frayed the edges. 

This was then sewn onto a piece of blue card

 which had the edges distressed.

A tag was made from the same card

 and heat embossed in white. 

Before attaching to my kraft card blank 

I added a wooden flower button but any 

embellishment could be used. 

To finish off I added some Treasure Pewter 

to the edges and some faux stitching 

with a white pen.

This idea could be used for the fast 

approaching Mother's day ----- stamp 

Mum on the tag or embroider Mum 

onto the material

'Bye for now

Jane xx

That is lovely Jane, thank you.

I'm thinking that could also be set into

one of those clear plastic frames and

used as a coaster....... or.........

stamped and embroidered onto one

of those calico bags ..........

Leave you with that

'Til tomorrow 

Mickie xx

PS the SALE is still on - take a look

you might well find a bargain or three.....

Random

Random

Hallo Everybody!

Happy Valentine's Day

to you all.  May your day

be filled with love and

lusciousness (that's my

alternative word for

chocolates and flowers!)

I recall a few years ago that

our local supermarket was

handing out a single red rose

to every shopper as they left

the store.  Amazing how that

perked you up and made

you feel a valued customer

................... shame they 

have never repeated the

gesture ....

All that aside, Jane Castle

has the Valentine slot today

with the quirkiest  tag

sure to bring a smile to

anyone's lips

"Today I'd like to share with you a tag 

I've made and there is no stamping

 involved----

 just paint, inks, glue and fun!

To start with I gave all the Tando Creative

 parts a coat of white gesso except for 

the heart. 

While the tag was drying I squirted the

 shaving foam into a washed out vegetable

container (this can then be thrown away 

without having to wash out!) and 

added the alcohol inks. 

For this I used 4 colours and then lightly

 swirled these around in the foam. 

The tag was then laid onto the top of

 the foam and lightly pressed

If this process is new to you there are 

numerous videos on line just put in 

'Shaving foam and Alcohol inks'.

You can usually get several prints from 

the same batch and you can add extra inks 

if needed. 

The added bonus is your card/tag

 smells lovely too!

Now for the quirky bird and heart;

 the face, eyes and hands were painted in 

Blush and the feet and beak in Haystack

Once dry the beak was then given 

some detail with a white pen.

The heart was coloured with red ink and then 

given 2 layers of clear embossing powder 

and the beak just 1 layer.

The edges of the tag were hi-lighted with 

some silver embossing powder.

For the body of the bird I glued some ric-rak 

to the bottom edge and then made the 

dress from a scrap of Core-dinations card. 

The same ric-rak was added for the 

edge of the sleeves.

The cheeks were added using a cotton bud 

and some chalk ink and the eyes are just circles

 punched from some blue card and then 

self-adhesive gems for the pupils.

The hair is black felt and the

 toe nails added with Enamel Accents.

I have made this to tie onto a bar of

 my Husbands favourite chocolate for

 Valentines Day but it could be used

 for any gift to a loved one.

Enjoy your day and any crafting you might 

be able to fit into the week ahead. 

Bye for now

Jane X

Thank you Jane, such a novel idea

I'm thinking that if you wanted to

you could make this up into a

card quite easily and even use

it as a get well card ..........!

'Til tomorrow

Mickie xx

At Random

At Random

Hi Everyone!

How are you all?  I'm

exhausted.........spent a

fair amount of time today

searching for the shed key.

All I wanted to do was to

see if it would be possible

to store some paintings

in there...............aaargh!

Cue Jane Castle to the

rescue .....

"Having sorted a couple of drawers

 out in the craft room I reminded 

myself of a wonderful pack of 

Tando Creatives Whimsical Houses 

so decided to have a play and create 

a wall hanging for my shed and 

back gate keys.

I cut a piece of wood to the required

 size and sanded well before giving

 it a libral coat of chalk ink. 

Having decided on which houses to use

 I then gave them a base coat of 

white gesso and then began painting the 

various parts in bright colours.

Then using various PaperArtsy stamps,

 inks, stencils and grunge paste began to

 decorate each of the pieces.

The piece of wood was then lightly sanded 

again and 2 holes made to screw

 in the cup hooks. 

A Shrink Plastic key was made using 

the stamp from HotPicks 1010 and 

once heated a little Treasure Gold 

was added.

A hole was made in the 2 roofs so

 I could attach some wire for hanging 

and this was done before glueing the

 houses to the wood.

 I then decided I needed some trees, so 

inking 2 leaves from Tando Creatives 

Mini Leaves 2 was the final addition 

to this project.

I'm very pleased with how this turned out

 it's fun, practical and different to anything

 in the shops. 

Have fun creating X"

Thank you Jane - your timely

project is going to save me

so much time spent looking

for the keys!

First I need to visit the SALE

'Til tomorrow

Mickie xx