Tuesday 27 November 2012

Crafty Individuals' Stampbord and Pine Cone Reverse Canvas


I thought I had better blog this as it's now on the Crafty Individuals' blog! It is a large reversed canvas, about 10 inches/25 cms square I think. I covered the inside and the edges with a vintage Christmas design tissue paper which has Christmas trees and Christmas scenes on it and then gave it a whitewash of picket fence Distress Stain and edged it with Vintage Photo DI.

The main part of the inside of the frame comprises a Kars embellishment tray which was kindly sent to me by Elaine from Quixotic Paperie when I placed an order a long time ago. Thank you, Elaine, and I'm sorry it has taken me so long to make something with it. The story was, I was ordering some embellishments and asked if they came in one of these lovely wooden trays and she said, no, they don't, but I have one and will send it to you! The compartments are the perfect size for one inch stampbord pieces which I stamped with a variety of Crafty Individuals' Christmas stamps, coloured them with DIs, and did a little scratching back. I painted the tray with Fired Brick and sprinkled it with glass glitter. I had a piece of Coredinations card stock in the same colour which I embossed with a Cuttlebug musical notes folder and sanded it, and tore the edges.




To decorate the edges of the frame I made some pine cones out of Coredinations cardstock and a clay Christmas tree from a Krafty Lady art mould. I finished off with some mulberry flowers and holly leaves.

I had a lovely day today crafting with my very dear friends Jean, Jack, and Pauline. Jack is now the owner of the canvas for her Christmas home decor!





 

Sunday 25 November 2012

Vintage Sewing Canvas

 
I wasn't sure whether to blog this or not as it is not very arty or clever, but I had the urge to make a back to front canvas covered in Graphic 45 paper with one of their images in the middle, which spoke to me of a vintage sewing theme. Around the edges inside I aged one of those paper tape measures you get in furniture shops. On the right is a Kaisercraft mannequin which I inked then stamped with a script stamp then added glossy accents, and also added glossy accents to the butterfly. I did the same with the Kars wooden letters to spell out Vogue. The metal embellishments in the corners are some from France which I cut into shapes to fit. 


The flower was sitting around on my desk having been made previously in a batch that took ages. Home made glimmer misted paper and lots of crumpling and folding, then spritzed a mulberry flower for the centre to match and die cut leaves and some bought lilies and white mulberry flowers.Finally a painted mini cotton spool and a scissor charm. Inked edges all around and some lace.
 
 


Tuesday 20 November 2012

Colourful Picture Star Canvas


I have made this canvas over on the Happy Daze blog using the Artistic Outpost Picture Star and Whimsical Melange plates which they sell. I wanted it to be colourful as this month's challenge is 'Brighten up Your Month'. There is a chance to win a £15 voucher to spend at Happy Daze so do join in.! Go on, you know you want a break from Christmas cards!

Here is a closer pic, showing the Tim Holtz film strip:-


Here's a side view showing the base layer of the canvas, and the bunting:-


I am entering this into the Artistic Outpost referral programme for November. You can get their stamps direct from them if you are in the US, or from Happy Daze if you are in the UK.

Saturday 17 November 2012

Stampbord Crafty Individuals' Canvas


I made this canvas using the gorgeous new collage Christmas stamp from Crafty Individuals CI 369. You can see all the new products here.  I wanted to create a snowy woods scene where the woman has gone out to pick her Christmas tree. I wanted the main focus to be the stampbord piece, which I embossed in black. I used the main image in the centre and text from CI 257 going in different directions around the edge, masking off as I went. I coloured it with distress inks in  Iced Spruce, Festive Berries, and Shabby Shutters and then coloured the woman with a paint brush with a brown hat, Tattered Rose for her face, and Pine Needles for the tree.


I covered the canvas with tissue paper which had a pattern of fir trees and a little girl dancing on a frozen pond, then covered this with Distress Stain in Picket Fence. At this point I had intended to do loads of inking, stamping and embellishing but I was so pleased with the stampbord piece and I liked it against the snowy white background so I kept it quite plain.You can still see the trees peeking through. I am trying not to get carried away, as I know I have that tendency. So I embossed some trees from CI 257 in black ep, and some snowflakes from the Rudolf stamp CI 332, and added them with gel medium.

I did go mad with embellishing the ornament within the collage stamp though, with some pearls and gem stones - well, it would be rude not to!

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Festive Sparkle at Crafty Individuals


The theme for Crafty Individuals' challenge this month is Festive Sparkle. All you have to do is make something using one of their many products following this theme and upload it to their blog - as well as the chance of winning a prize, all entrants can claim a 25% discount on their purchases at Crafty Individuals whilst the challenge is running. I think that is so generous!

I decorated a canvas board, covering it first with Tim Holtz Christmas tissue tape, then with gesso and distress inks. I stamped a selection of Christmas stamps from Crafty Individuals using the same colours of distress ink and then image transferred some images from one of the People and Places images books so that the stamping and colours showed through. I die cut some snowflakes from shrink plastic and also some from roasting tin foil, which I put through a snowflake embossing folder, and finished off with some sequins and gem stones for some extra sparkle.

I do hope you will join in with the challenge.

Tuesday 13 November 2012

Cocoa Boy Card



I used the Spring and Summer distress ink colours and the Artistic Outpost Think and Wonder plate to make this card for the Happy Daze blog. I stamped the image on a wrinkle free distress background and added book text around the edge. For the dotty card blank background, scroll down to see what I used!











Amazing what you find when clearing out your house!

I am entering this for the Artistic Outpost November Referral Programme. You can get Artistic Outpost stamps from them if you are in the US, or from Happy Daze if you are in the UK.

Friday 9 November 2012

Crafty Individuals' Ballerina Mixed Media Canvas



I made this small canvas using Crafty Individuals stamps CI 206, 171, 347, 235, and 137 and I also used an image of the mother and child from one of the miniature books, transferring it onto a cotton crochet coaster using Dylon Image Maker. I used 7 Gypsies tissue paper first, then added gesso and distress inks before adding my images. I used the same distress inks on a piece of scrap card to stamp the flowers and butterfly. I added a little reinker to some texture paste and then scraped it through a stencil and then added some mica flakes. I hope you like it!

Crafty Individuals have some gorgeous new stamps out here. They also have a great challenge on their blog, the theme for which is Festive Sparkle. Do have a look at the details because five winners receive a stamp of their choice, and you can claim a 25% discount on any purchases you make just for joining in! I think that makes it one of the best challenges on the block!

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Creeping Vine


Over on the Happy Daze Design Team Blog today I have made this canvas board using the Artistic Outpost Kudzu Cafe plate - a newish one which I love! You can get these stamps from Happy Daze if you are in the UK, or direct from the Artistic Outpost if you are in the US.

I am entering this into the Artistic Outpost referral programme for November.

This is the board after I had covered it with patterned tissue, gesso, and distress inks:-

Saturday 3 November 2012

'Book Ends'

Over on Unruly Paper Arts today I have done a step by step making this pair of book ends:-

 
I used Paper Artsy Fresco Finish paint in Pansy with crackle glaze and then Snowflake over the top. I used images from the Rogue Redhead Designs Relish Reading Plate. The theme for this month on Unruly is Gifts and I thought they would make a great gift for a bookworm friend, perhaps with a carefully chosen book to go with it. I don't have a book case or any shelves at the moment so I am trying to read a book and immediately give it to the hospice shop, so I am keeping these book ends for myself, for a little stash of reading by the side of my bed.

I hope you will like them and that the step by step will make sense and be useful!