So Here It Is...Merry Christmas Everybody

Just popping in to wish you a very Merry Christmas. The big day is almost here and a long list of uber, cheesy films are poised, ready to watch.

These are a few of the festive cards that I made this year using 2 stunning collections of papers from AB Studio... 'Breeze of the Forest' and 'Secret Wood'.

I thoroughly enjoyed making these...lots of relaxing fussy-cutting, oodles of glitter and snowy effects.

Gotta go...there's a mince pie calling my name.  

Merry Christmas everybody...I hope Santa is kind.

50th Wedding Anniversary Gift

Oh I LUUUUURRRRVVVVEEEDDDD making this.

The brief was '50th Wedding Anniversary & Anything Goes (colourwise)'...Brilliant!!

There's something quite magical about black & white photos and on this occasion I had one from the couple's wedding day itself as well as a more recent colour photo to work with.

I spent a lot of time on this piece...A LOT! 

I spent a lot of time just looking at the white piece of paper.

I then spent ages just looking at the photos.

Then I had my usual...

'HELP!!! 

WHO'S NICKED MY MOJO???'

When 'IT' finally appeared I needed restraining from adding everything AND the kitchen sink...lol.

It's easy to get carried away.

So what did I use?

A 12"x12" white card base, foliagey stamps & dies from Altenew, paper flowers, stencils, beads, glitter, flower arranging accessories, ...

.... wired flower stems, inks, embossing powder, Finnabair butterfly stamps, vellum & glitter stickers.

The final piece was then mounted in a white, box frame to protect it.

Happy 50th Anniversary to this couple.

What an amazing achievement.

AB Studio - Secret Forest

Stepping wayyyyyyyy outta my comfort zone with this 'creation'.

I use the word 'creation', but seriously...if you'd been in the room when I made this, you'd think otherwise.

Despite its tiny size (4 x 4 inches), I managed to throw my toys out of the pram, yell 'That's it...I'm selling all my craft stash!' (again), shed a frustrated tear or two and have a small breakdown...lol. 

Seriously, there is a whole comedy series available just watching me create.

To cut a very lonnnnnnnnng story short....I used fussy cut elements and papers from AB Studio's 'Secret Forest' paper collection, microbeads, polystyrene balls, snowflake paste, glass stones, glitter, distress inks, Prima sprays. In fact EVERYTHING but the kitchen sink went into this. 

I then went up to bed totally deflated that it just wasn't happening, that what was in my head wasn't being reproduced on that ickle piece of paper. I started cleaning my teeth and thought...'I know what....flick Picket Fence Distress spray all over it, that's what it needs'. So just after midnight I returned to my project, flicked paint all over it and then promptly knocked the bottle over and spilt the contents all over my desk. 

Panic ensues. I should have gone to bed, but no, it couldn't wait until morning. Flicks needed to be flicked and flicked right now. Now I'm up to my elbows in wet wipes & kitchen towel frantically mopping up bloody white paint, It's carnage, but you know what...come the morning I had fallen in love. The flicks worked, gawd know how or why...but that's all it needed.

So the lesson today is... flick paint if flicks are required....but maybe wait until the morning.

Pop-Up Box Card Bouquet - LemonCraft Papers

It's my mother-in-law's birthday very soon and she will be 95 years young, so I thought I'd make her an extra special card this year... a pop-up box bouquet.

Using Lawn Fawn's Scalloped Pop-Up Box die, I made up the box using papers from LemonCrafts' 'Sweet Secrets' A4 paper pad and then spent an evening fussy cutting elements from their Vintage Time 008 sheet to stick inside.

If you've not heard of LemonCraft before, they're a Polish company that make beautiful scrapbook papers & sheets of coordinating elements...PLUS the most beautiful sheets of butterflies. Google 'LemonCraft butterflies' and you'll see what I mean. 

Now because my box has been stuffed with paper elements and some wired beads it does't lay completely flat when closed, so I'll either find a chunkier envelope to put it in or make one with another sheet of coordinating papers.

Here's a side-angled image...

To make the butterflies look like they're hovering above the display, I've stuck them on very thin strips of acetate which makes them flutter about as the card is wobbled.

I also added glittery highlights and gem stones to the centres of the clocks.

This was sooooo much fun to make.

I even got a WOW from my harshest home critics...lol.

Altenew Washi Tape - Teal Shadow

Just a quickie today using Altenew's 'Teal Shadow' washi tape.

I'm full of cold at the mo' and my brain has turned to mush so I can't remember what stamp set I used behind the fussy-cut washi tape.

But basically I stuck the washi tape onto some white card, fussy cut the bits I wanted, roughly laid out the bits on my card front, lifted and stamped underneath where I wanted the stamped leafy outline to show, re-positioned the washi tape pieces, ummmmmed n' arrrrred a bit (lol) then stuck the whole damn lot down!

There!

Think that was it....oh...except I missed out the bit where I stuck a strip of green glittery card across & stamped the Dearest Friend sentiment (from Altenew's Dearest Friend stamp set) .......aaaaaaand blobbed a few blobs of Key Lime Nuvo drops......aaaaaand added a few random dots (think I was losing the plot at this point) and finally...yes FINALLY... stuck some gems to the flower centres.

That's it....that's definitely it!

Love is All You Need - Mixed Media Project

This was a commissioned piece that I sooooooo enjoyed making.

The brief was based around the love for these 2 sweet girls.

The colour theme was green so I decided to go for subtle tones. I used black & white photos as the originals had other colours that would have been too distracting. 

I used a mixture of elements... wooden lettering & heart shapes, stamped & embossed vellum...

... paper flowers, wired crystals and glass stones.

I love using white embossing powder on vellum ... such a delicate feel.

I could make these all day .

Mixed Media Heart - Pink

I'm in love with Mixed Media. 

There...said it!

I love the individuality of it.

I love the creative process, which in my case follows several hissy-fits, a breakdown and a plea to whoever to HELP me get started.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE all the prettiness, randomness, inventiveness of mixed media.

I love, with a huge degree of envy, those crafters who can just do it... who can rustle a few sheets of paper, flick a paint brush about, shimmy some bits n' bobs and create something A-Mazing. 

Thank you to all those who share their creativity, ideas, passion and experiences. 

Thank you for inspiring me to just do it.

Hobby Art - Bee Friendly

Being an avid gardener, bees are very dear to my heart, and I absolutely LOVE this beautiful stamp set from Hobby Art called 'Bee Friendly'

I decided to use Distress Oxides for my background. I'm not a huge fan of the chalky look so I like to use them on glossy photo paper.

These are the colours I used (above). 

Just a simple ink smooshing technique...squish a colour onto your craft mat, spray with water, smoosh your paper into the ink & dry. Then repeat with the colours until you get the effect you like.

When it's all dry, grab a wet one and wipe the chalkyness away to reveal a glossy, vibrant look. In the photo above the right hand side has been wiped so you can see the difference.

At this stage I changed my mind about my card background and decided to create a simple black & white background of bees. I die-cut the Distress Oxide sheet into hexagons using Clearly Besotted's Honeycomb die.

I fussy cut a giant bee from the stamp set, coloured with Promarkers and stuck it onto my card along with the hexagons. I also added Glossy Accents to the wings.

A busy bee card, perfect for a garden lover.