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.

 

  

Tags - 3 & 4

Hi everyone, another couple of tags for you today.  This is an alcohol ink tag, that I stamped with archival ink.  I added another resin project, this time a key.  Again I used alcohol ink to colour it black.  Then I found this cute camera.  I then added lots of awesome words, and a couple of lovely roses to soften it up.

  

For this tag, I used the same technique as above, but I added this Prima clock.  Some sticker words again, and the be empowered words and a strip of paper on the base.  A few roses and this time a ticket to add some lighter colour.  Have you started your tags yet? I've got some great ideas coming up, so keep checking the blog out.