Scrapbooking layout - Live in the sunshine

 Hi everyone this is my first layout for the Twiddleybitz design team that I am on for the next three months.
 This layout of my beautiful daughter Alysha getting a sneak kiss from her boyfriend Jason.  I love this photo and I wanted it to be very special.  I loved the Twiddleybitz surfboard chipboard piece.  I just knew what I wanted to do.  .

Firstly as this is a hollow surfboard, I filled it with modelling paste, and when it was dry I covered it with some cream paint and then crackle medium.  Once it was dry I added a small layer of gel, and sprinkled with sand.  I then coloured the rest of the chipboard with distress markers.  I added flowers, starfish, and some film strip. 

 I used pieces from the grab bag to make the squares under and above the photo.  The little birds are chipboard pieces as well, and I covered with a little ink.  I found the bead when I was on the floor looking for the bird that I dropped,so it seemed appropriate to add it to the page.  You will soon find out I love clocks, and I put them on every project I do these days.  The photo actually has a piece of acetate over it, which had these awesome swirls on it

 I hope you enjoyed this post, and please click on the link above to take you to the Twiddleybitz ning for lots of fantastic ideas. 

Abstract frame

Hi everyone, Merry Christmas, as this is my last post for Artfull Crafts before Christmas is upon us.  No snow again this year; I am forever hopeful.

I was quite taken with the Forget me not collection that I received for my next challenge.  I decided that it would be the basis of my next off the page challenge, Abstract memory frame.  Great news for you though, it is on special at Artfull Crafts, so make sure you click on the link, and go and add one to your cart! 

As you can see it is pretty involved project.  I didn't want to put photos in it, I thought it had more possibilities as a quote display board, one of my last presents to make.  I painted the board edges first, and although you cannot see it here, I used metallic copper paint, on all the edges and then Kaisercraft paint on the top 

I started using the Forget me not paper collection, Which I measured and cut to fit all the different boxes. 

Then it was playtime. I had all the wooden embellishments in my stash from SENZ, I also used resin embellishments that I made,  Kaisercraft blooms, a variety of stamps, some bling, and Kaisercraft tags.  I stamped using black ink, on left over bits of paper, and then matted those on brown card stock.  I also used quite a few items from Kaisercraft collection embellishments.  I also used a few dies for making embellishments such as the Sizzix bird and cage, and the dress from the sewing room set.  
I have taken a photo of each section, so you can see what I did.

I hope you have enjoyed, and thank you for stopping by. Thanks for all the great comments.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, and I hope that 2013 is wonderful and of course full of great crafting opportunities.   

  

4 Christmas Tags

Hi everyone, whats on the blog today? Christmas, no surprise there, but it it that time of the year.  So today is about tags... 4 of them actually, and embossing powder, and resists.  I decided it was time to try using some of this amazing embossing powder, that has been around for awhile, so tends to be put away, while new products are in favour.  But I love it, there are so many colours, and textures, you have got to try it out.

Embossing powder can be used to colour a product (I love old gold), it can be used to distress (distress embossing powder) and then it can be used as a resist (any colour but I do like clear powder for this)

The picture on the left uses clear embossing, the one on the right has been embossed twice. 









Left hand side:
I then used distress ink on the tag to colour it.  Note that where I embossed the words at the back, the distress has resisted it, also the red reindeer.  I useddistress embossing powder for the lamp, some stickles and a graphic 45 images. The lamps have stickles in them to look like the light lights are on.

Right hand side, Tag 2 has been embossed with distress embossing powder, and then the lamp was gold embossed, but I sanded it a little bit, to grunge it a little bit.

In this image, on the left I have stamped Santa with black ink, then used a white crayon to colour in all the places I wanted to stay white, so I could colour the rest of the tag in. 

Time to add a few embellishments.  Tulle, berries twigs and a Bobunny metal embellishment.   

For this tag I stamped the background, and then
coloured Santa with crayon again.
I also coloured the holly on his head with
distress markers, and then inked it very softly
with pale distress inks. 

I enjoyed making these little pieces for Christmas, and what a great thing to put on your thoughtfully purchased or made gifts.  I hope you have enjoyed these.  Please comment so I know how I am doing with all my instructions and projects.  Thanks for reading. 

Snowman Hat

Hi everyone Jo here.  December is here and the Christmas countdown is on. This project is for Artfull Crafts table settings week.  I have always thought that snow at Christmas time would be wonderful, well, for a few hours anyway.  Making a snowman looks so much fun, but as that isn't going to happen this year in New Zealand, I decided a snowman's hat would be the next best thing for my Christmas table (actually for another friend of mine's table).

I started with a coffee tin, (no I don't drink that much coffee, I got it from a large business in town).  I covered the tin with BoBunny paper, I liked the black and white look. I also covered the top of the tin.  I cut this window from a Cottage Cutz die that I have had for a while, however there are lots of neat window dies on the market now, including two new releases from Spellbinders.  I adhered the cut-out window on to thick acetate, I then scored and creased the window panes, so that the window had dimension.  I decorated with Peelcraft stickers. 

 I used Graphic 45 paper behind the window to show a scene through the window.  I then cut a large circle from black card and adhered to the bottom of the tin, to make the brim of the hat. I then added baubles, pinecones, tulle, graphic 45 tags, poinsetta flowers, berries, leaves, ribbon, and a few branches.

    
  I used the window and peelcraft on a card as well.  So these windows have lots of uses. 

I hope you enjoyed the project.

Christmas Wreath 2012

Hi everyone.  As it is time to start decorating the house for Christmas, I thought I had better get moving and make my new wreath.  This post is for Artfull Crafts House or Tree Decorations week.

This is a gift for a friend of mine, and I have done it very natural just like her.  Hopefully she will not guess it is for her, though she probably will. 
I started with a plain white polystyrene wreath.  I tore Kaisercraft wrapping paper into strips, and glued it around the wreath.  It doesn't have to be perfect as you are not going to see very much of it at all.

I was given a big bag of mini pinecones, which has come in handy.  I used a hot glue gun, and stuck them all over the wreath.  I then got two ribbons, gold and brown satin, and glued them in between the pinecones, and weaved them around the whole wreath, and added a few feathers for fun.   

Next I glued on a birds nest and then added some eggs, and a little bird on to the side of the nest, and a Tim Holtz Christmas tree.  I added Kindy glitz  to the eggs and the tree.

Then finally I  had this beautiful metal family embellishment from Prima Marketing which I hung down the back of the wreath.

I hope you have all started getting into the Christmas mood, if not, why not make a wreath, it is very easy and a great family project.  I have bags of baubles that I purchased last year after Christmas, and if I get time, I am going to make another of these using those. Use your cuttlebug or sizzix dies to make flowers and leaves and adhere them.  If you want something different try using wrapped sweets or chocolates.  Enjoy.

Bookends - Dame Cashmere

Hi Jo here.  I have to admit when I first got these Kaisercraft book ends from Artfull Crafts I was stumped.  I just looked at them for a few days.  I decided just to start covering them using the  Dame Cashmere paper, and hoping that a plan would come to me.  I showed my daughter Aly when she came home my blue plan, and she said,  "No mum,  you have to use the yellow and the flowers".  She knows that yellow isn't one of my favourite colours, but I agreed that it would be bright, and not my usual vintage style.  

I didn't want to just paint and cover the bookends, so I decided to push myself, and use no paint at all.  I also decided to put on Dame Cashmere hat, and really imagine afternoon tea for a Dame, in the garden.

I took the Honeycomb paper and printed out a new cupcake recipe that I found on-line on to it.  Then I pasted it to the inside of the stands.  I added the prima bling clock, because nearly all my projects have a clock on them (have you noticed that?)

I then covered the teapot and cups in the floral paper.             

I used both sides of the paper,  the yellow honeycomb as well as the floral.  I then added red distress ink around the edge, to distress it a bit.  I couldn't help myself, it was just soooooo yellow.  I also had to carefully do all the edges of the pot and cup with paper, which took a lot of patience, would have been easier to paint it.  But it was an interesting challenge, especially the inside of the cup handle.  

A string of bling was added to both teacup and pot, I wanted to use pearls but they didn't stand out enough, so I went for these aqua ones.

I used the red Gingham paper for the tablecloth.  I cut out the girl from the left over  Gingham paper and put behind the teacup. 

I folded a small paper doily that I had in half, and made a little table cloth.  I made a cupcake from resin, I put a couple of drops of pink alcohol ink into the mix, to get the correct colour, I poured it into a mini silicon cupcake mould that I picked up at the $2.00 store.  Once it was dry I piped a swirl (yes in my expensive icing bag, and using my good tools) from modelling compound. I then rubbed a little Kindy Glitz hot pink onto the top when it was dry.  I made a little vase of flowers, that I added a few small white stones to, and then I could glue them in place, and not see the glue.  I added a couple of mini books, for reading.
Dame Cashmere is now ready for afternoon tea in the garden.    These book ends are on special this week, so make sure you get in, what a great gift for someone who likes to cook, or just to have as a decoration in the kitchen.  You could decorate them yourself, or gift the recipient everything they need to make a similar project.  There are also a few other designs, so go and check them out here

Gift for Christmas

Hi everyone. My Artfull Crafts post today is to show you what I made for the Design Team Challenge.  We were allowed to make anything we wanted to make from the Merry and Bright range of papers from Kaisercraft range.  I have been thinking about doing this project for some time, and as most of the pieces we were given for the challenge were less than 15cm x 15cm, I decided this was going to be perfect.  I had seen the idea on-line a while ago, and was keen to use the basic principle, but with my own take on it.  There was no instructions, (and to be honest I am no good at following patterns anyway), so I had to work everything out for myself.

I was given two full sized Kaisercraft card stock sheets, that was going to be the base for the project, but someone (may have been me) cut the first piece incorrectly and the second piece - I scored horizontally not vertically.  So after putting it aside calmly and most respectfully and having a good nights sleep, I attempted it a third time, using white card stock.  Finally project completed, here is my version of a candle gift box - using Merry and Bright papers.

Now it is a great time to start making your Christmas gifts, this one didn't cost very much at all, and a handmade gift shows heaps of thought and time has gone into a present.  All the best.  Jo     
   

Scrapbooking Heath Ledger and Aly

Hi, Jo here again, I must be on the ball, this is my second layout for the week.  I was lucky enough to do a project with the Dame Cashmere papers from Glitz, which will be up in a week or so.  I had some left over papers and bits and pieces, so I thought I would challenge myself to use everything that I used in my off the page project, on a page.  So see if you can figure out what I did do, with what is on the page.  I will give you a clue, while this page is dark, the project is really girly.

 This is a photo I took in Melbourne, my daughter Aly was so happy to have found this, as Heath Ledger was one of her favourite actors. It was in a graffiti alley, with lots of other very cool art.  I had a lot of fun playing with different things on the page, including this little brush and bottle below. 

I filled the bottle with alcohol ink, to stain it black,  The little brush was a find for another project, but I couldn't find it when I needed it, but just in time, it came out of hiding just in time for this page.

The little letters were great for a little bit of text.

The little book, I turned into a map, and because we were looking for great photos, the camera tied on with string.  I hope I have got you thinking, what I have been up to.

Scrapbooking - Christmas Parade

Can you believe that Christmas is coming so fast? The next thing we know it will be 2013, and we will probably be complaining about the heat, and how much we miss those cooler days. 

This week I have done a Christmas Layout. for Artfull Crafts Layouts week, I have used Kaisercraft Turtle Dove paper, French Hen.
I liked this page, as it had such as traditional feel to it, and the photo was my Mother 'n Law (not the dreaded one - I got lucky) who very kindly jumped on my float last minute as a surprise for me, dressed as Mrs Claus.

I have been playing with lots of different products at the moment, and incorporating all the little things that I like to collect. I've had this lace for a while and decided to use it to keep the traditional feel, then I went for a lime green ribbon over it.  I added a clock of cours (I use them a lot in my work).  I used the back of the Turtle-Dove drummers page, for the long piece under the photo, which I rolled up the bottom right edge, and added a scalloped brown down the length of it for edging.  I used Partridge paper for the photo mount, which I distressed and inked.  I also added a couple of filigree metal pieces on two opposite corners of the photo. I cut the hanging Christmas baubles from the Drummer paper as well and then pop dotted them. Finally I glued a piece of chain using glossy accents to the top of the page, and when dry I tucked the chain under the baubles. 

 The top left of the photo, I used a filigree metal circle, which I added tulle, Berries (that I cut up), mini bloom flowers, feathers and leaves.

 

Next I coloured the little Fancy Deer with Distress markersand added a little string of Bling.  

Lastly I added some bits and pieces to the picture of the bird down the bottom right, flowers, berries tulle, leaves, feathers and I really wanted to add one of the gorgeous little nests that Kaiser did this year, but they were just to big.  So I carefully snipped some of the nest off the side and bottom, and then glued it onto the page, where the nest was in the picture.  Then I used glossy accent on the birds eggs. 
I hope you are feeling more festive now, well maybe a little bit more.  Don't forget layouts make great gifts, you can use gel medium and stick them on to a canvas, or you can purchase 12x12 frames to put them in.

Don't forget to join in this week's challenge to be in the draw to win great prizes! Submit your Layout/Photo Gift to the Artfull Crafts Gallery by the 24th November. And remember that you've got one until Saturday the 17th to submit your Card for last week's challenge.

Scrapbooking page - Double page Haunted house

Hi everyone, welcome to my blog this week.  Lots and lots of product on this page.  I wanted to get more of our Australia trip scrapbooked, (I am so far behind).  I have had a Dusty Attic chipboard piece for a while, and I wanted to get it used.  It was a 30x30 piece, that I carefully cut up, and turned into a double page layout. See below for the double page look.   I used Graphic 45 paper, with the cobwebs on the back.
Layout One:

For this part, I painted the chipboard house using distress stains, and then I added graphite glimmer mist, which is a black.  Then I inked the edges of the chipboard, and on the house I added some green ink as well. I then put some of the smaller photos inside the haunted house windows.  I added some Kaisercraft rubons to the house and a bat.  I added a spider into the spiderweb at the top left of the picture, that came with the cobwebs. 

Along the bottom I used black flowers to hide where I cut the chipboard, and also some cobwebs that I purchased from the $2.00 shops.  I mounted the photo on black card stock and distressed and then inked the edges, and then mounted on Graphic 45 spots paper (Christmas range) and then distressed and inked that really darkly.  I put RIP on the gravestone.I added the graphic 45 fence in as well, as it was a bit dark.

I added some Kindy red glitz on the candles and gold on the base of them, then wound some orange flowers amongst it, and the cobweb.

 The top of the picture was a picture I found on the Internet, and a clock I cut from Graphic 45 paper, and a rubon chandelier that I have used heaps from Hambly prints.  

Layout Two:

For this part, I cut a gate from my cricket machine, using iron works cartridge.  I then used a Tattered angels haunted card, that I coloured with distress pens, and then inked around with a dauber.

The tree was from the original overlay that I cut up.  I added more cobwebs and spiders and a black rose, a tipped over urn.  The bills of mortality was put on chipboard, like a picture, with string and flowers and pen nib added.

Lastly I worked on the moon.  I knew what I wanted but it took a few goes to get this look.  Glitter paint, was not a good look.  I had to carefully get it all out, so in the end I used a crackle medium to get it really cracked. The black bats were Distress stain, and Kindy Glitz.  
The final double page layout was so dark and awesome, I was really pleased with it all.