My first ever video tutorial - wish me luck!

Hello my Crafty Friends!

I thought I'd let you know that I've just uploaded my first ever video tutorial on YouTube...:)). In the tutorial I am playing with my melting pot, clear UTEE and Stampendous ebossing enamels to make some lovely moulded flowers. 

Oh, I am so nervous!!! Please wish me luck and if you dare... click the play button lol ;).

And if you're in Oxford this Saturday - pop in to HobbyCraft as I will be doing a demo with Decopatch papers :).

Big hugs

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Steamin' things up a bit with Encrusted Steampunk Jewels...

Re-edited: My card is the winner of Divas by Design challenge #34 - yaaaay!!! And I'm also one of the top picks at the Craft Room Embossing Challenge - yaaay!!!!


I've got to say - when I first saw Kenny K's digi stamps, I thought - hmm, quite quirky but interesting.


However when I saw their Steampunk Burlesque collection I immediately thought they were HOT, HOT, HOT!!!!


As it's my bro's birthday coming up, I wanted to make a card that was going to leave him speechless and with his jaw wide open lol ;-). I am sure he's definitely not expecting this!!!!

I opted for the pre-coloured version of the feisty Scarlett West babe. To give the card a 'vintage urban' edge I added a handful of clocks, cogs & gears (stamped or die cut) and lots of distress inking through masks.

But what I enjoyed the most was going wild with a new technique I absolutely fell in love with! Fran from Stampendous was recently demoing the Encrusted Jewel technique on thwe UK's Create & Craft TV. 


I must confess, I watched it glued to the telly, with my heart beating really fast as I knew, I just KNEW, I finally saw something I have been waiting for all my crafty life! A perfect combination of sparkle, embossing and texture - all in one!!! What's the secret? Well, you're going to have to find out from the Inventor herself - click here to watch Fran's tutorial.

My encrusted jewels are a generous handful of real cogs and gears (a recent present from my lovely hubby) mixed with gold and copper sequins. All was set in a blend of vintage gold embossing enamel and copper, glitter black and sea foam white embossing powders.


I had so much fun making this card and I actually feel quite sad having to part with it now... oh well - I hope the recipient is going to love it as much as I do :-))).


That's all for now Friends. I will catch up on visiting soon as I am still battling with my nasty cold.


If you haven't done so already, make sure to enter my 2nd Blogaversary candy - the candy will expire in less than a week so you'd better hurry! And if you have a really sweet tooth, check out my new Blog Candy Cauldron linky for some more fabulous giveaways! 


Big hugs





Challenges for this card:
The Artistic Stamper May - Spots and Strips
The Stamp Man challenge - Favourite technique
Papercraft Star #96 - Use a stamp
Craft Room Challenge - Emboss it
Allsorts Challenge Blog #154 - Card for a man or a boy
Craft Your Days Away #45 - All creatures great and small
Ooh La La Creations #104 - Make It Manly
Divas by Design #34 - One for the Boys
Crafty Cardmakers #67 - For the boys

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Times gone by at Fashionable Stamping Challenges #8 - Vintage Christmas tag ;)

Remember the times.... when, as a child you used to get excited about every aspect of Christmas looooooong before the event?

After having just been to Poland, visiting my home town and my family, I feel a bit of nostalgia... Especially because we won't be able to go to Poland for Christmas this year...:(.

This has made me reflect on my childhood days and was an inspiration for this DT project ;). At Fashionable Stamping Challenges we would like you to create a project inspired by the Times gone by.... ;).

As always we are sponsored by our lovely Marina from Cottage Crafts.

For this challenge I've made a Christmas tag and a pouch to store the tag and a little gift voucher for one lucky recipient ;))).

The tag and the ornate frames were recycled and altered from a card from a ready meal box, cut with TH die :). The little buttons are the insides of the reinforcement circles for the tag - must not waste anything lol ;) !

The crackle background for the tag was made with PaperArtsy Fresco acrylic paints and glaze and I also collaged some stamping :). This fabulous clock stamp is by Tattered Angels with some added Stickles accents and this was overstamped with TH script and chandelier stamps stamped in copper.  

These most beautiful Vintage Christmas stamps are by Stempelglede. The stamp on the tag was triple embossed with UTEE and cracked for a more distressed look ;).

The pouch was made using Hels's tutorial which you can find here. The background for the Pouch was coloured with Tattered Rose, Pumice Stone and Tea distressed inks and stamped with Crafty Individuals crackle and Santa sleigh stamps.

The message in the little bottle/jar has got a piece of secret journalling :).

I hope you can join us for this challenge and the theme should really get your creative juices flowing! And if you have a bit of a creative block, check out the outstanding inspiration from the DT!

Have a lovely Sunday!

Big hugs

Challenges for this project:
Sunday Stamper 179 - Christmas
The Artistic Stamper Nov '11 - Backgrounds
Crafty Individuals Nov '11 - Winter Wonderland
The Stampman - Collage background
Sugar Creek Hollow Nov '11 - Trash to Vintage Treasure
Simon Says Challenge - Buttons
Addicted to Stamps Challenge #16 - Shabby, Shabby Chic or Vintage
Christmas Inspiration Challenge #36 - Bows
Dream Valley #19 - Anything goes
Flying Unicorn Nov '11 - Remember the times

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Fashionable Anything But a Card #6...- and my autumnal memory wreath...

Hello my Friends!

I've been such a bad blogger lately (I'm really sorry!). Those life turbulences again...;(( Just dropping by with this post to let you know I am still alive! And when things settle (and I truly hope they will very soon!) I promise to bore you all to death with my visiting and commenting! You might even wish I finally left you alone lol ;))) Until then...

This time at Fashionable Stamping Challenges we would like you to wow us with anything BUT a card! As always, we are sponsored by lovely Marina from Cottage Crafts.

For my sample I decided to make an autumnal wreath...

It's not a typical wreath though... This wreath is a reflection, a prayer, a poem about love and memories, about missing those close to heart people who are not with us anymore...

On the verse panel I printed a beautiful Polish poem "Ojciec (Father)" by Jan Brzechwa. It's very difficult to translate poetry into a different language so please excuse my lousy translation...:

Lifeless, sad words: "Little Johnny,"
Talk to me again, just like before. Turn out the light,

I want to be with you, like before, alone,
So it’s good to be together, like before.

With you, as before, I’ll sit
And I’ll be silent until dawn,

And I'll just listen to your words
Talk to me again, as before,

I know how hard it is to overcome the grave,
But do it, if you can, for me do it...

Here nothing has changed, only - the time ...
Come to me, not for long, though once again,

And say, just as before: "Little Johnny,"
Hug me as before, turn off the lamp,

Let me sit on our lap again
And with your hand stroke my grey hair…

The panel was covered in UTEE. This gorgeous bird cage stamp is from Crafty Individuals.

The flowers were coloured using distress inks and stains and overstamped with a collection of Prima, Dina Wakley and Tim Holtz stamps. Then a quick UTEE bath to create this gorgeous faux porcelain effect. You can find a great tutorial for faux porcelain flowers here.

The roses are nested in raffia circles and the wreath is sitting in a round tray, "wrapped around" the lantern.

I hope you can join us for this challenge. And I cannot even find the right words to describe how gorgeous are the projects prepared by all Fashionettes! So make sure you check them on the challenge blog!

Thank you for visiting and your lovely comments. They really mean a lot to me...

Big hugs





Challenges for this project:
The Artistic stamper October - Autumn colours
The Stamp Man - Circle it
Stampin' for the weekend #18 - Colours of Autumn
Crafty Individuals October - Winged things
Diabelski Mlyn - Jesienne wyzwanie
Moving along with the Times #119 - Autumn leaves
Paper Play Challenges #40 - Autumnal colours
Polka Doodles - Handmade flowers
GC #119 Random Redhead Challenge - Shared moments

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