December tagalong

Hello

Today I'm sharing the last tag of the year for the challenge with Isa. The challenge was to use three elements or techniques from the ones used over the year. I went with crackle, sparkle and wings, and frame it.

I used reds and oranges on the base layer, followed by the crackle glaze when it was totally dry. I've found I get best results if I use a generous amount of glaze, apply it in one direction, don't go back over it and leave it to slowly air dry.

When the glaze was dry I went over it with contrasting colours and left it to dry slowly to maximise the cracks.

With the tag made it was easy to add the other elements...

 ...some stamping in the backgound and ink around the edges...a Giogiocraft frame coloured with Distress Oxide ink and gilding wax...the Katzelkraft butterfly designed by Isa... and a sentiment sticker...done.

For a bit of extra shimmer I used clear Wink of Stella on the wings. Finished the last tag of the year. 

I've had lots of fun with the group and the challenges. There isn’t going to be a group running next year but I am enormously grateful to Isa for the huge amount of time she gave and all the tips and techniques shared. 

Thank you for following along on my crafty adventures this year. Wishing you a Happy New Year and I look forward to hearing from you in 2023 xxx

Peace

 

Wishing you all Peace and Happiness

It's a wrap

Hello

I'm almost ready for the family celebrations. Final touches, envelopes decorated with GiogioCraft stencils for giftcards and vouchers.

I smooshed embossed card in Distress Ink and used die cuts from magazines to make some tags.

 

 

 

 

Presents are all wrapped...think it's time to stop crafting and pay attention to what we're going to eat!

Wherever you are in the world I hope you are spending time with people who are special to you and who cherish you. Have a great day xx

Time to party

Hello

A very quick one today to reshare a card made right at the start of the year for the challenges with Isa. 

It's one of my favourite stamps and will definitely make another appearance in the future.

Thank you for stopping by. Hope your day is full of wonder xxx

Deck the halls

Hello

I'm in the final throes of holiday preparations before relatives arrive. Not much time for crafting but I have managed to finish off a few decorations started earlier in the year.

Back in June a friend and I shared our moulds and had a mammoth resin pouring afternoon. The result looked like this ...

Most of the pieces are waiting to be used but I did get around to the Christmas decorations.

First a base of PaperArtsy fresco finish paint on the larger decorations...followed by Pentart sparkling gel medium.

Lastly a gentle rub over with gold gilding wax.

 The blue decorations are going on presents and the stars are on the tree.

My husband brought me back some decorations from Ukraine and Poland at the start of the year. I've used a base layer of metallic paint.

I spread glue on the decorations and sprinkled on Stampendous frantage embossing powders before heating. The embossing powder is quite textured, but when you heat it on the glue it bubbles and becomes extra crusty!

 

I'm afraid in the absence of any decent sunlight at this time of year, the sparkle doesn't show that well. These will look lovely on presents...if I can find time to get on with the wrapping!

Thank you for stopping by. Have a lovely week xx

A Noof Christmas

Hello

I had a lot of fun making today's card using Noof the cat from Lavinia. It involved some masking and some careful positioning.

First I stamped the hat on the card, and also made a mask by stamping and cutting it out of copy paper. I find copy paper is thin enough that the second stamp can press right up to the edge and not leave a white gap. I used a stamp platform as they are quite big stamps and you can always go again if you miss a bit.

With the hat masked off I stamped the cat on top...

...so that when the mask was removed the hat sits neatly between the ears.

Next I postioned the mice (it took a few practice attempts)...

...and the baubles...and drew in the strings.

I used a white pencil to add some shading to the mice and coloured the rest with alcohol markers. The last bit was some stencilling with weathered wood Distress Ink.

I don't think Noof is very impressed with the decorations! What do you imagine he's thinking?

Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate all your comments.

O Christmas tree

Hello 

Another quick share of two cards made earlier in the year. You can see the original post here with the how-to.

Autumn seemed to come to an abrupt end here and now it feels very wintry indeed. Planning is underway for a family meal over Christmas. A lot of tidying to go and not much time for crafting...but then all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! 

Hope you have a lovely week xx

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas - part3

Hello

Today I'm sharing the remainder of the ATCs/cards made on the workshop with Isa. You can find the details here.

This was a really fun workshop to do. The ATCs were easily made into cards, which is great as I never have enough done in advance.

Thank you for taking the time to look. I appreciate all your comments and will visit your blogs too if I'm able to. It's always nice to see what other people are creating.

Have a great week xx

Butterfly kisses

Hello

Another quick post today. This time of year is always busy. I'm sharing again a Christmas card made earlier in the year for a challenge with Isa where the theme was snowflake cluster, with red and grey. I used a spotlight technique, stamping the butterfly in grey on the card blank and overlaying the coloured die cut shape.

The stamps are by Chloe's Creative Cards from issue 103 of Creative Stamping magazine. The photo makes it look wonky...it isn't honestly!

The sparkle shows up better in the detail.

Thank you for stopping by. Have a lovely week xx

Wintry weather

Hello

The weather is set to turn a bit colder where I am next week so I thought this was a good card to share. It was made earlier in the year for a Christmas card challenge with Isa on the theme of gradient.

I used blueprint sketch and faded jeans Distress Ink for the background. Isa introduced the group to Dr. Ph.Martin's bleed proof white for a really opaque white paint. It's great for snow splatters.

Thank you for stopping by. Have a lovely week xx