Silent Night

This is my first Christmas card of the season. 

I have to say that I'm not a huge card maker (understatement of the year!!) and I certainly have no desire to turn out volumes of any one card (I'm strictly a one card and move on type of girl!). However, all that being said, I thought it may be fun to try and make a card that I could enter into various challenges and see how I got on.

I found this personal challenge put me into a total creative void mid afternoon and at the point of abandoning this idea.  However, this evening things started to fall into place and I'm actually really pleased with this card.

I think it's good to step outside your comfort zone and see what you can learn from trying something new.  I hope to continue this journey ...

Take care and keep crafty x

The Girls

This week is a colour week at Gingersnap Creations and the challenge is GC128 Yellow, Red and Brown.  As we are also featuring livestock and farming this month, I knew this photo was perfect for the challenge.  These are 3 of the hens at the cottage we stay at in the Isle of Wight and they are just gorgeous!

I created my background with stencils, stamps, sprays and paints and I embossed little golden chicken feet criss-crossing the page which made me smile!

 

I used guilding flakes on the pencil tops for some glittery sheen and a jewelled swirl by prima for a bit more dazzle!!

The big butterfly is a stamp by Lost Coast Designs.  I stamped it onto old sheet music and dipped it in wax before colouring it with pastels and adding the wire antenna.

I hope my project has inspired you to enter this colour challenge - it's always great to see everyone's ideas.

x

Magical Paradise

This is my entry for the Stampotique Designers Challenge No 43 It's a Non Traditional Christmas.

The main rule of the challenge is no Red or Green and it is also a Stampotique Stamp Only challenge.  Some of the ingenious ways that their stamps have been used is really cool so if you've time, why not hop over and take a look?!

I've used the little starfish stamp to make my tree and I've perched the large star on the top which I doodled some swirls inside.  I used little dots of stickles to decorate my tree.

I wanted a really watery feel to my background and so I used watercolour paper and Neocolor II watercolour crayons which are absolutely fantastic to work with as they are so soft and full of pigment.  I spritzed the finished background with marshmallow glimmer mist to give it a soft glittery finish.

My mermaid and octopii (?) are coloured with alcohol inks and are raised from the background for a little dimension.

I had loads of fun dreaming up how to use my stamps for this challenge.  Maybe you will feel inspired to be a little un-traditional too?!!

x

Glass Bead Gel Tags

I have uploaded a tutorial onto the Gingersnap website to show how to make these tags.  

I love playing with messy stuff, and glass bead gel is so exciting!  I actually bought it from an online art retailer without knowing what it was or what I would do with it because it just sounded fun.  I wasn't disappointed as it is gorgeous stuff!

When wet, the gel is milky and the beads are hard to see but once it dries it is clear and the little glass beads are everywhere.  You can spray it with glitter, tint it with paint or spritz it with mica spray.

I decided to use it to create effects in apertures which I cut into large tags.

I made a seaside tag based around this lovely bathing beauty who I downloaded from Diva D'Este.

I created a wavy element at the bottom using the gel.

This butterfly tag has the gel all around the butterfly and is scuplted in swirls.  I decorated the tag with shimmer sprays, masks and paints.  The butterflies are beeswaxed and have idea-ology pen nibs for their bodies.  I used stamps by Lavinia stamps, Lost Coast Designs and Stampotique.

Halloween Postcard

I am currently doing a postcard exchange with a lovely group of ladies  which is running for 14 months.  We started in June and it's proving to be a lot of fun.  Some months we get to choose what we do and some months the recipient has expressed a preference.  Either way, it keeps you on your toes and it's lovely to see everyone's ideas and work.

For October the preference was bats so a Halloween theme was the obvious choice.  I used distress inks for the background and stamped some patterns into it with water to give a faux bleach effect.  I stamped a crackly pattern over this before adding my main images.

The monastery, bats and spider are by IndigoBlu and the foliage is a stampotique stamp.  The sentiment is heat embossed in vanilla white and then mounted onto purple card which I had embossed.  I outlined the edge in gold and fixed it with 3D silicone glue.

I used glossy accents on my spider to make him stand out.

I am really pleased with the way this card came together ... hope you like it too! 

Spookily yours ... x

Heart Bookmark

 

I made this little bookmark on a stand at the craft show I visited at the weekend.  They were demonstrating their range of acrylic craft paints and also 3D dimensional paints so you could create whatever you wanted using their products.

I was really impressed with the craft paints as they give a lovely chalky finish and far less expensive  compared to some other chalk-finish paints.  I bought a few colours to try but may well get some more once I've had a play.  

The background was greated using a drag of the paints with an old credit card for a spatula and then I added texture with various bits and pieces eg bubblewrap, sequin waste etc.

I drew my hearts in dimensional paint and infilled then with craft paint which I built up a little for texture.  I painted the little die cut hearts and stuck them one to complete my heart theme.

I added the ribbon trim back at home and voila!  

Footnote: Anyone got any suggestions for using a bookmark with a Kindle?!!! LOL  xx

Rafia Challenge Week

Farming is the theme for this month at Gingersnap Creations and this week is all about Rafia.  I haven't used it before in any craft project but actually it is really easy to work with and there are loads of ways of including it.  If you fancy seeing some of these ways, pop over to Gingersnaps as my fellow DT members have all come up with a different idea.

I decided to make mine into wheat sheafs which I then painted with acrylic ink and used liquid pearls for the seed heads.  

My gorgeous Maritime Dame is from a new set by Lynne Perrella for PaperArtsy.  I bought her at the weekend at the Hobbycraft Show at the NEC in Birmingham and I had to get her out onto paper as I think she is amazing.

I also incorporated my favourite fish from Art Journey.

Thanks for visiting and hope you like my take on rafia and feel inspired to enter the fun!

Whatever you do this week ... keep inspired!!  x

Luggage Tags

I'm loving making these tags and today I've made them in three themes.   

Not for any particular reason, just because!!

So here they are ... BEACH

I love shells and everything beachy so I made these using sand with glitter in it and little miniature shells.

THINGS WITH WINGS ...

I can't resist all the lovely birds and butterfly imagery and so these incorporate some of those.

and finally ...  HALLOWEEN

Probably my favourite festive event (so long as it's not done too creepily!!).  My halloween fairies are just spooky enough to capture the flavour and I coudn't resist a little line of black pom-poms to finish them off.

For anyone who hasn't viewed my earlier tags, do hop to Harmony Road Studio as the idea for this project is Leslie's!

 Keep arty, keep crafty!  x

Chocolate Box Cottage

OK ... half term is over and I have time to create again but before I post my new luggage tags, I thought I would share some of my photos of Rose Cottage in the Isle of Wight.

How gorgeous is this?  

Not only does it look like the front of a chocolate box but it also has a massive garden.  

There is a stream with a little stone bridge over it where the kids can take their nets and float boats.

 

There is a miniature lake with a gingerbread house, complete with a rowing boat called The Tadpole where you can sit and enjoy a cuppa.

 

  

And these girls are the biggest hens I have ever seen!  They have big fluffy legs and even more impressive is their big feathery feet.  They are just FAB!

We did treasure trails, bubble blowing and garden games but learning how to make your own bow and arrow with their Dad was one of the highlights for the boys along with seeing whose arrows were the sharpest and went the furthest!! (It's definitely a boy thing!)

 

Pumpkins carved and ready for lighting ....

But the best part of the week is seeing the children learning to value time with each other which is, for us, what being a FAMILY means. 

       

 

Hope you and yours also had a great week ...   x