This blog is a record of my creative journey. I love to share my passion for paper crafting so I design projects and then create tutorials and workshops to show you how to make them. Please feel free to wander around to check out all the things I share both here, in my ETSY shop and over on my You Tube channel. Thank you for popping by!
Monday 31 December 2012
12 Tags of 2012 Complete!!!!
This one is right on the wire but I was determined to finish my 12th tag in 2012 and I was running one behind as November's tag got away from me. You know how it as as life goes into fast forward on the run up to the holidays. I am really hoping that it is not New Year in America yet so I am getting my speedy typing dusted off and here goes for my last two tags and my last blog post for this year.
I wanted my 12th tag to be the January tag to complete my 2012 tag set so I decided as I didn't have the metallic stains that Tim used for his 12th tag to work with the poinsettias that Tim used and then to make a fun shaker tag to match my December tag. I have used coredinations card stock and I used a time embossing folder that I thought was very apt as we move from this year to next. I made my poinsettias from the little leaves of the Autumn Gatherings strip die. They were a little fiddly as all the leaves were individual pieces but I was happily with the overall effect. It is the first time I have used this die as I do not yet have the long plates to use them properly and every time I think of splashing out on them the price has put me off a bit. I loved the little pieces which are perfect for embellishing small projects so I think I will get them in the New Year when my finances have recovered - I know you know what I am talking about!!! ;-)
I tie dyed more ribbon to perfectly match my tags colour scheme using Scattered Straw, Broken China and Dusty Concord distress inks. I really love this technique for colouring ribbon and have used it time and time again to make the perfect trim to match my projects.
I also discovered as I was using the heat gun to dry a bit of ribbon that if you heat gems they magically turn into cabochons.....how neat is that. It doesn't take much so be careful not to over do it but it is a nice effect and easy. I filled my shaker with teeny tiny micro beads and wooden stars and added more gems and sparkle to the tag to hopefully give a bit of party glitz to my New Year celebratory tag.
The final touches were two beautiful hatpins from Prima (sorry Tim!!) and two charms to bring good luck and wisdom in the New Year .......I hope ;-)
Then tag complete here is my catch up November tag to complete my set...
I love the resist technique that Tim used for his November tag although I used distress ink rather than distress stains to create my background. I did indulge in some distress stains splats - very therapeutic if you are feeling frazzled. Once again I used the Autumn Gatherings die and more inky paper to cut out lovely Autumnal leaves and acorns. I used some glassine paper (old purchase not yet opened until today) to make ruffles for the bottom of my tag. A touch of glossy accents to shine my acorns and another matching prima hatpin with a leaf charm and some leafy green bling to finish my 12 tags of 2012 with less than two hours of this year to go - I am off to see if I made it in Tim land.
Happy New Year all my fellow 12 tag artists. It has been wonderful seeing what everyone has made of Tim's wonderful inspiration. I wonder what the New Year will bring from Tim.
A BIG THANK YOU to Tim (if you ever pop this way). I have loved playing along and exploring new techniques and old. It really was a really lovely challenge - INSPIRED.
Friday 21 December 2012
Tag Tuesday - Decorate a Christmas Bauble
The theme of Tag Tuesday this week was right up my street - I love all things Christmas and love to make things to decorate my home and of course my tree. I have made a quick video of how I made this bauble and it was nice to take a break from all my lists of this and that to do before Tuesday next week!!!
Here is the bauble I am showing you how to make on the video below.
I, like many others, have lovingly chosen all my Christmas baubles and decorations over the years but there is a moment of pride when the ones I have made are admired as much as the ones I have splashed out on! I am especially fond of some material baubles that my hubby and my eldest son made many years ago. I think I may get my youngest started this year!
Hope you like the video!
I just want to say a big THANK YOU and to send a big HUG to my tag swap friends Anni, Barb, Mo, Jane and Jan. I love receiving your tags and unwrapping them. How wonderful to hold actual tags in my hands. Thank you too to Carolyn for arranging the swap it was a lovely bit of Christmas fun.
Wishing everyone at Tag Tuesday a wonderful Christmas (with stockings full of crafty goodies!) and a happy and healthy New Year with time to play!
Merry Christmas X
Here is the bauble I am showing you how to make on the video below.
Here is one I made last year in a different colour way.
And if you really like the look of the bauble why not try covering a wreath? It takes a while but it looks fab. I made this one last year too and it now takes pride of place on my chimney breast.
One final bauble that can also be made from large punches or dies (my snowflake was a die and the circles were cut with the Cricut). This one is really easy to make and takes hardly any time at all.
I, like many others, have lovingly chosen all my Christmas baubles and decorations over the years but there is a moment of pride when the ones I have made are admired as much as the ones I have splashed out on! I am especially fond of some material baubles that my hubby and my eldest son made many years ago. I think I may get my youngest started this year!
Hope you like the video!
I just want to say a big THANK YOU and to send a big HUG to my tag swap friends Anni, Barb, Mo, Jane and Jan. I love receiving your tags and unwrapping them. How wonderful to hold actual tags in my hands. Thank you too to Carolyn for arranging the swap it was a lovely bit of Christmas fun.
Wishing everyone at Tag Tuesday a wonderful Christmas (with stockings full of crafty goodies!) and a happy and healthy New Year with time to play!
Merry Christmas X
Tuesday 11 December 2012
12 Tags of 2012 - December
I am now only 2 tags behind as I missed November - I can't believe I am falling at the last hurdle. I am going to try to catch up in between the decorating and the shopping - might help me hold on to my sanity in this the silly season!!! So here is my December tag for Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2012.....
Hope you are more organised than me and are enjoying all the festive preparations. I am decorating my trees tonight - Baubles by OCD tree decorator - poor Callum - he has learned to humour me now ;-)
Snowman Snowing Tag! |
I decided to make a video whilst I was making this. I quite like making these 'fast forward' how to videos as they are quite fun for me to watch back - You see only I know how many times I stopped the video to go to look for something and how many times I had to cut my head out of shot as I leant forward to concentrate!!! .....and then when I think my video looks super organised and clutter free I have a chuckle to myself as I know the chaos that builds up around me as I work! Take a look at the video and you will see what I mean ;-)
As usual I do not have all the lovely goodies that Tim uses but that is what makes each and every one of our tags unique and I have loved that about this challenge......oh and of course the encouragement to shop for the odd must have new addition to my stash - Thank you Tim ;-)
So without further ado a quick how I did it video......
Hope you are more organised than me and are enjoying all the festive preparations. I am decorating my trees tonight - Baubles by OCD tree decorator - poor Callum - he has learned to humour me now ;-)
Friday 30 November 2012
Tag Tuesday - Keeping Warm!
This was a great day to pick to do this tag as it is freezing outside! I should be painting the utility but it is so chilly out there (no radiator!!) I decided to stay in my cozy craft room to play!!! This weeks tag theme is Keeping Warm and I just had to wrap up my tag! So giving my tag some personality I drew some eyes and then added a paper hat and scarf with fluffy wool trim!!! (relatively quick for me!!!!)
As I was working I realised it would be easy to make this tag completely reversible and so I did. Side one looks decidedly frosty!!!
And side two is looking much more thawed and cozy!
I am going to have to brave the utility to make a hot cup of chocolate and then I am going to come back here and nip over to Tag Tuesday to see what the team have been up to this week (click on the link if you want to come along).
My son got all excited this morning as the weatherman predicted snow on Sunday. He is hoping for the snowed in kind and not just a dusting!!! Have a great weekend and be cozy wherever you are x
As I was working I realised it would be easy to make this tag completely reversible and so I did. Side one looks decidedly frosty!!!
And side two is looking much more thawed and cozy!
I am going to have to brave the utility to make a hot cup of chocolate and then I am going to come back here and nip over to Tag Tuesday to see what the team have been up to this week (click on the link if you want to come along).
My son got all excited this morning as the weatherman predicted snow on Sunday. He is hoping for the snowed in kind and not just a dusting!!! Have a great weekend and be cozy wherever you are x
Wednesday 28 November 2012
WOYWW 182
Hi to all my WOYWW friends - and of course anyone else that happens by this way! I hope you are all having a wonderful day wherever you are in the world. I am sharing number 2 desk today as that is where the action has been this week. I have been videoing like crazy and my You Tube Channel is filling up nicely and I am getting quicker and I hope slicker at making videos!!! I am having a ball.
This is the view you never get to see on camera!!!! I hope the view on all my videos looks like calm and organised creativity - This is craft mat exit left, right and up! Where all the stuff is shoved as it is used and no longer required to be in shot! Actually the only bit that gets on camera is inside the little bits of tape - The tape shows me I am keeping my hands in shot. The Graphic 45 paper was there to take a shot of a finished set of tags that I videoed the making of so I can share it once a swap is completed. A bit of Christmas fun I am joining in with over at Tag Tuesday. Actually I made another video of this weeks music themed tag - I had such fun doing a fast forward film of how I made it.
What do I do with all my tags? I was putting them on a wall - some of you may remember it was a very pink wall and they didn't look quite right (too much vivid colour didn't make a great display wall) so all the tags I have lovingly made are now in this bag!!!! They should be on the wall behind my camera but I just haven't gotten around to it yet! The xylophone tag on the top of the pile is the one I made the fast forward video I was just telling you about (click here if you want to see it! (10 mins of very fast crafting indeed)). Once I get the tags displayed I think they will become my inspiration wall.
Some of you may notice my Blog Background has changed - something I learnt how to do this week when I also learnt how to alter the background on my You Tube Channel. By next WOYWW I may manage to do the top bit of my blog (I think it is a banner or is it a header!!!????)
I am looking forward to catching up with you all over a cup of coffee today. If you are new around here and wonder what I am talking about then follow this link to join in the biggest desk hop in town - hop this way please!!!
This is the view you never get to see on camera!!!! I hope the view on all my videos looks like calm and organised creativity - This is craft mat exit left, right and up! Where all the stuff is shoved as it is used and no longer required to be in shot! Actually the only bit that gets on camera is inside the little bits of tape - The tape shows me I am keeping my hands in shot. The Graphic 45 paper was there to take a shot of a finished set of tags that I videoed the making of so I can share it once a swap is completed. A bit of Christmas fun I am joining in with over at Tag Tuesday. Actually I made another video of this weeks music themed tag - I had such fun doing a fast forward film of how I made it.
What do I do with all my tags? I was putting them on a wall - some of you may remember it was a very pink wall and they didn't look quite right (too much vivid colour didn't make a great display wall) so all the tags I have lovingly made are now in this bag!!!! They should be on the wall behind my camera but I just haven't gotten around to it yet! The xylophone tag on the top of the pile is the one I made the fast forward video I was just telling you about (click here if you want to see it! (10 mins of very fast crafting indeed)). Once I get the tags displayed I think they will become my inspiration wall.
Some of you may notice my Blog Background has changed - something I learnt how to do this week when I also learnt how to alter the background on my You Tube Channel. By next WOYWW I may manage to do the top bit of my blog (I think it is a banner or is it a header!!!????)
I am looking forward to catching up with you all over a cup of coffee today. If you are new around here and wonder what I am talking about then follow this link to join in the biggest desk hop in town - hop this way please!!!
Tuesday 27 November 2012
MY ETSY SHOP IS NOW OPEN!
Today is the day I have been working towards for over a year now. I have learnt much (so much that I am surprised my brain hasn't exploded!) and finally I am putting all that knowledge to the test - so fingers crossed for me. I feel like I want to add a fanfare to this blog post but there is always something new to learn!!!!
I will be selling templates with photo and video instructions. As yet the shelves in my shop are a bit bare but I will work hard to fill them. So today I am announcing the availability of my first project template. If you follow my blog you may have seen a sneak peek of this project on one of my WOYWW posts. The lovely comments I received made me choose this as my first item to offer for sale. Here is a taste of what you can make if you decide to purchase my template and the two video tutorials that accompany it.
As you can see it is a very versatile template that is great fun to make and great fun to give. I will be releasing more design ideas for using this template over the coming weeks so if you intend to purchase this item (and I am keeping my fingers crossed that you do!!) don't forget to sign up and follow my Blog and my You Tube Channel to make sure you do not miss out on the inspiration.
I hope to add a links page soon (.....again when I learn how to do it!) so that anyone that purchases a template can share their own interpretations and design ideas for using my template. I can't wait to see what everyone makes. It is so exciting.
I started this blog at the beginning of the year to keep a track of my progress towards starting my own internet crafting business and almost a year later - TODAY IS THE DAY!
My Blog has introduced me to all the other wonderful folk who blog and craft out there and I have had and am having such fun. I have met lots of lovely people (virtually!) and thank you for all your kind words of encouragement. I am definitely going to carry on blogging ('cause I love it!) and hope to still make time to participate in the wonderful challenges I have been playing along with.
So without further ado here is the link to my brand new shop:
This is the banner for my new shop.
I will be selling templates with photo and video instructions. As yet the shelves in my shop are a bit bare but I will work hard to fill them. So today I am announcing the availability of my first project template. If you follow my blog you may have seen a sneak peek of this project on one of my WOYWW posts. The lovely comments I received made me choose this as my first item to offer for sale. Here is a taste of what you can make if you decide to purchase my template and the two video tutorials that accompany it.
As you can see it is a very versatile template that is great fun to make and great fun to give. I will be releasing more design ideas for using this template over the coming weeks so if you intend to purchase this item (and I am keeping my fingers crossed that you do!!) don't forget to sign up and follow my Blog and my You Tube Channel to make sure you do not miss out on the inspiration.
I hope to add a links page soon (.....again when I learn how to do it!) so that anyone that purchases a template can share their own interpretations and design ideas for using my template. I can't wait to see what everyone makes. It is so exciting.
I started this blog at the beginning of the year to keep a track of my progress towards starting my own internet crafting business and almost a year later - TODAY IS THE DAY!
My Blog has introduced me to all the other wonderful folk who blog and craft out there and I have had and am having such fun. I have met lots of lovely people (virtually!) and thank you for all your kind words of encouragement. I am definitely going to carry on blogging ('cause I love it!) and hope to still make time to participate in the wonderful challenges I have been playing along with.
So without further ado here is the link to my brand new shop:
TheCraftProjectShop
and here is the link to my relatively new You Tube Channel:ACraftProject - You Tube Channel
Watch this space.....More coming soon!WISH ME LUCK!
Saturday 24 November 2012
Tag Tuesday - Music
I decided to leave my video camera running while I made this - a bit of an experiment - not really a tutorial but it gives you an idea of what I got up to yesterday!
A 10 minute recap of an 'almost' all day project!!!!!
I am looking forward to catching up with everyone over at Tag Tuesday and seeing what they have all been making for the past 2 challenges and this one of course.
Then it is put my thinking cap on as I have decided to spend Sunday making my tags for the Christmas Tag swap.........what to do - Note to self: I have to make sure I can get them in an envelope!!!!!!
Hope you are all having a great weekend X
Thursday 22 November 2012
New Design Idea for the Surprise Package
I have been working hard since my last post and almost have project number 2 ready to add to my shop. I am on the final edits to the pattern and I also want to make a third video to go with the main video tutorials that will accompany this set of card patterns (small clue before the big reveal!!)
This week I realised that my craft business is about selling templates for great paper crafting projects I have designed (if I say so myself!!!) and personal virtual tuition, a private class with me that my customers can attend whenever and how often they like! I want to be sure that anyone that buys from me knows I will (virtually) hold their hand every step of the way, giving clear and detailed instruction so they can be sure to make a project they will love. I think with a few tweaks I just wrote my company mission statement!!!!
So taking a short break from project number two I want to share a design idea for anyone that has purchased or will purchase the Surprise Package Template which was the first item on the virtual shelves of my brand new shop.
Introducing the Comic Strip Surprise Package.
This design would be fab to make for a youngster, teen or that always young at heart lover of comics in your life. A great design for the boys in our lives which is always a bonus when it comes to card making inspiration.
I have made a video that shows of the detail of the comic strip design. It is a bonus mini tutorial to any customer that buys my Surprise Package Template. I am hoping that all my design idea videos will now and in the future help me promote my business and generate interest in what I do and of course turn interest into sales ;-) !!!
Thank you so much for joining me on my crafting journey and being interested enough to click the follow link. If you like what you see here then please pass the link of my blog and brand new shop to your friends.
Here is the design idea video.
Thank you for watching and incase I have tempted you - here is the link to my shop!!!!
I hope to post my Tag Tuesday and 12 Tags of 2012 this weekend. It will be nice make a tag again. I have had a bit of a lull!!!!
Wednesday 14 November 2012
WOYWW 180
This week I have on my desk for your perusal a layout I started at a crop on Saturday which I finish yesterday. I have a card that was inspired by the paper roses I made for the layout, two samples for the template I have just put in my internet shop and all the halloween bits and bobs waiting for a box to magically appear and tidy them away!! Will it arrive before Christmas I wonder!
Here is a close up of the layout. I bought some fab papers from Jacqui at Crafty Island. I loved the bright colours and they went perfectly with the Fun Fair photos - my little boy with the big Candy Floss is now almost 14 so it has taken me a while to scrap these!!!! Just waiting for the perfect papers.
For a while now I have wanted to make you a video to show you how much I have learnt from the first one I took with my phone so I made a card with the same Cratepaper 'On Trend' papers that I used on the Layout and thought I would feature how to make paper roses in the tutorial. So here is a close up of the card for those of you in a hurry.....
.......and if you have 10 minutes to spare here is the video tutorial. Hope you like it. These roses are so easy to make and look so effective.
I hope you are all having a fab week and thank you kindly for popping by. Your words of encouragement always make me smile ;-) I am off to desk hop starting at Julia's so follow me if you love to rummage on wonderful craft desks around the globe - don't knock it until you have tried it!!!!
Wednesday 7 November 2012
WOYWW 179
I must apologise for my lack of visiting last week. I just don't know where the time went. I am going to visit everyone this week that visited me last week. It is not like me as I do very much like my WOYWW fix each week. You can tell how busy I have been as I haven't posted on my blog at all since last WOYWW either (follow the link if you don't know what WOYWW is - after reading this of course!! :-))
So on my desk and endeavouring to keep it short, for a change!! I bought two fab stamps from the aptly named Gorjuss range and I have been having loads of fun colouring in as you can see. They are a couple of samples for my class on Friday. I am hoping that I have done Christmas with a twist. I am covered in glamour dust as I have been adding just the tiniest touch of sparkle. As you can see I am almost there - just some of the fiddly cutting with a craft knife left to do.
In my second and final photo my guillotine is acting as a card stand whilst these samples dry off. I loved doing the splodges to make a snowy background on the bottom card. I also had fun using the lovely Iced Spruce and Peacock feathers distress inks to get what I hope is another alternative colour combo - the iced spruce makes it look like it could snow for days - I am not sure that that tree trunk will stand up to much more!
I am off to nosy around before I get back to finishing my samples off....colouring in, nosing, colouring in, nosing sounds like a perfect mornings work to me!!!
Thanks for popping by X
So on my desk and endeavouring to keep it short, for a change!! I bought two fab stamps from the aptly named Gorjuss range and I have been having loads of fun colouring in as you can see. They are a couple of samples for my class on Friday. I am hoping that I have done Christmas with a twist. I am covered in glamour dust as I have been adding just the tiniest touch of sparkle. As you can see I am almost there - just some of the fiddly cutting with a craft knife left to do.
In my second and final photo my guillotine is acting as a card stand whilst these samples dry off. I loved doing the splodges to make a snowy background on the bottom card. I also had fun using the lovely Iced Spruce and Peacock feathers distress inks to get what I hope is another alternative colour combo - the iced spruce makes it look like it could snow for days - I am not sure that that tree trunk will stand up to much more!
I am off to nosy around before I get back to finishing my samples off....colouring in, nosing, colouring in, nosing sounds like a perfect mornings work to me!!!
Thanks for popping by X
Wednesday 31 October 2012
WOYWW 177
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
There isn't anything going on on my desk today as we are having a party tonight so it is full steam ahead with the spooky bakes - vampire cakes and severed finger cookies! So I left out my final two halloween makes this year to 'vamp' up my desk a bit!!
You see before you the two photo shoots I laid out for my latest 12 tags of 2012 and Tag Tuesday and of course as you can see they both had a Halloween theme.
Now don't be afraid as you take a peek as it is all an illusion of scary and underneath the macabre facade are all are the yummy things we love to play with, chipboard, glue, ink, paint, tissue and glitter! I have had such fun with these miniature ghoulish tags. This one used Tim's tissue covering technique to good effect to make the texture of weathered stone.
Although this project is second in this post I made it first and it was a bit of a labour of love! Took me back to playing with dolls houses and dressing up Cindy dolls - as you can see this gentleman is definitely a size zero! Ken would kill for a pad like this one day!! I can almost hear you saying - 'that's not a tag'..... but if you don't believe it then you will have to scroll down my blog a bit to see for yourself! It was one of those ideas that just grew!
I am looking forward to showing these to my two nephews who are visiting tonight along with lots of other little terrors I hope!! I will be busy today so I hope you don't mind that I will be doing my desk hopping tomorrow but I just had to join in on one of my favourite holidays.
Wishing you all a spooktacular day ....... and night and for those of you who don't celebrate halloween I wish you a quiet night!
Fangs for visiting me!
To find out more about WOYWW follow this link! You know you want to ;-)
Tuesday 30 October 2012
Tag Tuesday - Halloween Tag
Happy Halloween!
Testing for fit! Have to make sure it is comfortable for my prospective tenant. As you can see this is a bachelor pad.
The top proved to be a little tricky and is not as neat as I would like but as I intend to paint it. I think I can live with the imperfections.
As I was going out to wash my paint brushes to get ready to paint the outside of my coffin I espied this - My eldest tried his hand as a spot of marquetry and this roll of veneer was waiting to find a storage spot. Could I cover my coffin in real wood I wonder?????
Some bits were easy. The veneer has a tendency to split so you have to be careful. But so far so good.
Still fits and is looking much more upmarket!!
Now for the impossible! As you can see I used my hot glue gun to stick each piece in place and I trimmed to fit with my scissors as I worked. You have to remember on the arched sections to make sure the grain allows you to carefully glue the curve shape in place.
Once again not quite as neat as I would like but I have a plan! All crafters develop the skill of developing a Plan B and passing it off as Plan A!!! So keep watching!
Coffin covered and looking rather splendid I decided that my skeleton really would need to look dapper too.....so I added diamond jewels for eyes, a ribbon cravat and cuffs and more gems for that opulent look I am going with.
I promise this started out life tag shaped! As usual it measures 3" x 6".
But I think you know me by now - it kind of took on a life of its own - or should I say death of its own!!!!
I made this 'Tag' the night the clocks went back and you can be sure I needed the extra hour in bed by the time I got there! I just could not stop with the details - It took me back to playing with my dolls house only this one is definitely haunted!
I started by making my coffin out of card.
Testing for fit! Have to make sure it is comfortable for my prospective tenant. As you can see this is a bachelor pad.
The top proved to be a little tricky and is not as neat as I would like but as I intend to paint it. I think I can live with the imperfections.
As I was going out to wash my paint brushes to get ready to paint the outside of my coffin I espied this - My eldest tried his hand as a spot of marquetry and this roll of veneer was waiting to find a storage spot. Could I cover my coffin in real wood I wonder?????
Some bits were easy. The veneer has a tendency to split so you have to be careful. But so far so good.
Still fits and is looking much more upmarket!!
Once again not quite as neat as I would like but I have a plan! All crafters develop the skill of developing a Plan B and passing it off as Plan A!!! So keep watching!
Coffin covered and looking rather splendid I decided that my skeleton really would need to look dapper too.....so I added diamond jewels for eyes, a ribbon cravat and cuffs and more gems for that opulent look I am going with.
It was at this point in the wee small hours that I forgot to take photos but I can talk you through what I did. The bottle of strong spirits is courtesy of a Tim Holtz bottle and some water tinted with distress stain. I sealed the cork in place with hot glue to prevent any escaping spirits as we wouldn't want that! Tiny label finished it off. I made books from scraps of grunge paper coloured to look like old leather this time with distress inks and a Pilot gold leaf pen for the gilding. As you can see from this photo I have added hinges to the top of the coffin and the lid has become a bedside table! I varnished my coffin by rubbing in Glossy Accents which bought out the woodgrain a treat! I felt quite the carpenter at this point.
I made the candlestick by gluing together various sizes of buttons and a couple of rolls of grunge paper. The base of the candlestick was gilded with the Pilot pen again and a little gold Stickles and the candle was covered and dripped in PVA that dries white! It was my little brainwave. Initially I was going to paint it and as I reached for the white paint I spotted the white glue I had bought in error actually - well now I am glad I did as it looks fab and I recommend it. It dries with a waxy sheen and was perfect to bring my candle to life. I made a flame from a drip of hardened hot glue and some orange Stickles. You can see in this photo that I upholstered this swanky pad with black satin ribbon and even made a cushion for comfort! I really got carried away by all the details and had such fun. I made a vase from a pen lid and button which I coloured with black permanent marker and added Stickles to glam it up a bit. The paper roses were coloured with Black Soot distress stains. This works well but just be careful not to saturate the flowers too much or they will loose their shape.
I was thinking of adding a flat screen TV but it was an after thought and I didn't leave myself enough room so my Skeleton Gent will have to make do with a good book by candle light!
Zooming in for the details! You can see I had a whole heap of fun with this. I love halloween and am looking forward to decorating my house - adding the cobwebs rather than hoovering them up and some spooky baking on the cards too. Cookie severed fingers, cheese string witches brooms, and mummy wrapped hotdogs!
Oh.... I almost forgot - the Plan B I mentioned earlier.
A couple of gorgeous metal corners from Creative Expressions and a cross charm and some red bling later and all hints of bad finishing banished by the fabulous filigree details! Success!
Have a Spooktacular time tomorrow! If you are not a Halloween fan then I wish you a quiet night!!
BOO!
Monday 29 October 2012
12 Tags of 2012 - October
It is still October (just) and I have 2 days to spare before Tim posts his November tag! That is not like me at all so I really must have been busy. I am normally champing at the bit to get playing with the featured techniques each month but I have had to prioritise - what is that all about?
So with Halloween just around the corner here is my suitably macabre tag inspired by Mr Holtz's October Tag.
First I layered up 4 chipboard tags with recesses cut into each to get the depth I needed and then I covered my tag with sewing pattern tissue using PVA that gave me a great textured base to begin painting my tag to look like old weathered stone.
I love stippling on the different shades of acrylic paint to get this effect. It is so easy but so effective. Now for the embellishing!
The candle stick was made by layering chipboard half circles in different sizes and a couple of grunge paper rolls. I painted the candle stick to look a bit like marble (I hope!) and then the waxy candle was created by painting and dripping on PVA that dries white. I discovered this when I made another candlestick for my Tag Tuesday project earlier this week. It even has that waxy sheen which I was really pleased with so I am doing it again here!
Next I used glitter - I had no suitable glitter to try Tim's colouring technique but I will definitely give that a go one day soon. It saves buying a whole range of glitters - just colour them to match your project. I wanted my glitter to to look a little like blood dripping out of the recess (never seen glittery blood before? No one would faint at the sight of it if it looked all twinkly like this!)
Next up I used Black Soot Distress Stains to colour pretty paper roses. This works really well but be careful not to soak the roses too much or you they will collapse and loose their shape. I dried mine with a heat gun.
I have had some great use from a few ASDA halloween decoration purchases this year and I added one of the skulls from a chain decoration I bought to sit spookily in the tombstone recess and I gave him two black jewel eyes.
I made a vase from another roll of grunge paper and a couple of semi circles of chipboard - I coloured it with Distress Stains and sparkled with more glitter. I hot glued the black rose flower arrangement in place and it was then that I got pesky glue strands and instead of stressing about picking them off I decided to add more and got this fab cobweb result.
Final touches were the plastic chain from the decoration added to the top of the tag, an over sized spider (no need for proportion - It's Halloween!), I lit the candle with a dried blob of hot glue that I covered with orange Stickles........and then all there was left to do was add more hot glue cobwebs!
Don't they look cool? I am not sure how long they will last but if they collapse in a heap I will just pick them off like I normally do when using hot glue on a project!!
Happy Halloween everyone! So how long have I got until the next Tim tag's due?????
Thank you for popping by X.
So with Halloween just around the corner here is my suitably macabre tag inspired by Mr Holtz's October Tag.
This tag was designed when I saw the tissue technique as I knew as soon as I saw it it would make fab texture for old stone and with Halloween just around the corner it just had to be a tombstone of course.
First I layered up 4 chipboard tags with recesses cut into each to get the depth I needed and then I covered my tag with sewing pattern tissue using PVA that gave me a great textured base to begin painting my tag to look like old weathered stone.
I love stippling on the different shades of acrylic paint to get this effect. It is so easy but so effective. Now for the embellishing!
The candle stick was made by layering chipboard half circles in different sizes and a couple of grunge paper rolls. I painted the candle stick to look a bit like marble (I hope!) and then the waxy candle was created by painting and dripping on PVA that dries white. I discovered this when I made another candlestick for my Tag Tuesday project earlier this week. It even has that waxy sheen which I was really pleased with so I am doing it again here!
Next I used glitter - I had no suitable glitter to try Tim's colouring technique but I will definitely give that a go one day soon. It saves buying a whole range of glitters - just colour them to match your project. I wanted my glitter to to look a little like blood dripping out of the recess (never seen glittery blood before? No one would faint at the sight of it if it looked all twinkly like this!)
Next up I used Black Soot Distress Stains to colour pretty paper roses. This works really well but be careful not to soak the roses too much or you they will collapse and loose their shape. I dried mine with a heat gun.
I have had some great use from a few ASDA halloween decoration purchases this year and I added one of the skulls from a chain decoration I bought to sit spookily in the tombstone recess and I gave him two black jewel eyes.
I made a vase from another roll of grunge paper and a couple of semi circles of chipboard - I coloured it with Distress Stains and sparkled with more glitter. I hot glued the black rose flower arrangement in place and it was then that I got pesky glue strands and instead of stressing about picking them off I decided to add more and got this fab cobweb result.
Final touches were the plastic chain from the decoration added to the top of the tag, an over sized spider (no need for proportion - It's Halloween!), I lit the candle with a dried blob of hot glue that I covered with orange Stickles........and then all there was left to do was add more hot glue cobwebs!
Don't they look cool? I am not sure how long they will last but if they collapse in a heap I will just pick them off like I normally do when using hot glue on a project!!
Happy Halloween everyone! So how long have I got until the next Tim tag's due?????
Thank you for popping by X.
Friday 26 October 2012
Spooky Iphone Cover
This is just a quick idea I thought you might like to see. This would work with any kind of see through gel phone cover, I happen to have an iPhone. It may work with a hard cover but I couldn't promise. You are adding a layer of paper to a product designed to fit and I am not sure how much tolerance a hard cover would have - it is worth a try though as the effect is spookylicious!
I had my favourite Graphic 45 paper already in my phone cover so I thought I would like to go spooky this week. Trace around your phone cover to get the original shape including the hole for the camera. You need to make sure that you do not obscure the camera in anyway. Other makes of phone may have other issues like this to look out for. After you cut out the basic shape you will needed to trim to fit because you have used the outside of your phone cover as a template and you want it to fit snugly on the inside. Take a bit of time and slowly take a thin strip from around the shape until you get it right. Once you have got it right then this will act as a template for any other covers you want to make in the future. Seasonal ideas, wardrobe matching or just a paper you love......so many possibilities!
My papers and bits and pieces are all from My Minds Eye - Lost and Found Halloween collection with the addition of two tiny strips of haunted house ribbon. Remember keep your layering to a minimum as you don't want to add too much bulk. Hold everything in place with a touch of glue (allow to dry) or double sided tape.
Have fun with your stash - it takes so very little!
Pop it inside the phone cover and put the unique designer cover on your phone for an instant make over - this took me about 10 minutes so spookily fast, spookily easy and spookylicious! If you make one send me a link so I can take a peek!
Took me a while to work out how to get a photo of the phone I take all my photos with!
Happy Halloween!
Wednesday 24 October 2012
WOYWW 177
Hi everyone thank you so much for your good luck messages last week. I way laid myself a bit again but I have an Etsy shop - a fully edited video tutorial and pattern with photo instructions all ready to upload so I am hoping today is the day! I had an idea for a Halloween project so I got a bit distracted but still it resulted in more video making practice - click here if you want a peek! I had fun with a few spooky sound effects which was cool - don't be scared now:-)
My desk is looking quite neat and is festooned with my lovely prize from Jan (aka Lunch Lady Jan). Isn't it fab! I know it is a bit early to be hanging Christmas bunting but I just had to share. Thank you so much Jan and isn't it the perfect length for my desk! I will treasure it.
On my desk is a metal hear thingamy that I may get around to clipping family photos to and two small projects I though I might make video tutorials for - but not until I have at least one item up on the shop site - I must keep reminding myself!!!
Then my kind husband bought me a cauldron as you can see - I am not sure what I should read into that but I filled it with more Asda Halloween trimmings! Oh and some flowers my lovely MIL sent me. I think that is all from me I am just popping over to Julia's to see if she has posted yet and then I am off to bed. Follow this link to see more wonders on creative desks around the world.
Happy WOYWW one and all x
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