Merry Christmas 2015

Merry Christmas to all! I hope that this year has been wonderful, and creative and somewhere along the way you go a chance to play and enjoy yourself.  Once again the year is coming to an end, and what a non stop year it has been.   This is the best season for me, and once again plans are well underway for the big day.  24 people for games afternoon and then dinner.  Games this year have been kept under wraps again, and lets just say the photos will be good. Some of the ladies that attend weekly classes all got together for the final night on Thursday night, and it was all go. I made them all play a game, where you draw a Christmas scene on a paper plate, while it is on your head, and it was a little harder than people thought, especially when you think you are being so careful and keeping track of where you have already drawn.   Of course I was a little mean, and made them draw things in the wrong order, to put them off.  Girl has to have some fun. Website stress: is still on going, we are getting there slowly and the new site will now be up after Christmas, in the meantime the old site is still running, but is not being updated.  If you see something you like please email me and I can tell you if it is in stock. MERRY CHRISTMAS SALE: We haven't had a sale for two years, so we thought we would celebrate Christmas with: all scrapbooking papers $1.30 50% off stand of various products 30% off all stickers 20% off everything else,     We have been doing a lot of design work for people, and this was for a 90th Birthday, these were made for the centre of every table.   Make n take day's Tuesday 15th December 10am til12pm - 1pm til 3pm Wednesday 16th December 10am - 12pm - 1pm 3pm We will be having the classroom open for a few small projects.  There is a fireplace kit $12.00 (20 minutes) a note book $4.50 (10 minutes) and a love tile $3.50 (10 minutes) fairy $8.00 (20 minutes) you can choose to do any of these projects there are limited quantities, you can turn up or book it is up to you, however we will not guarantee what is available if you choose not to book.   This is one page from of our final Scrapbooking class for this year, using the Christmas overlay.  One of most favourite products is now available again, Opal dust, glitter and sparkle and I use it heaps especially at Christmas time.  It is not on the website, but if you want some ring or email me.  Love love love this stuff.   My latest piece in the Mixed media class we had last week.  The ladies all did an amazing job.  Ngaere has made this awesome little project with the little fireplace kit.  Checkout the blog for more pictures. imagineifnz.blogspot.co.nz   This is Tracy's version   This is Sharon's version.  These are all on the blog to check out. www.imagineif.co.nz/blog

We have decided to close on Tuesday DECEMBER 22nd 3pm. We will not reopen until January 26th 2016.   I will be in and out of the shop over the last two weeks of that break in January prepping classes, so if you are coming over and want to call in, please ring and I will advise if I or Pauline can meet you there.  Someone else who only just started will be in New York... hmmmmm. For any inquiries please email me on imagineif@xtra.co.nz or text or phone 0274991485 work hours would be preferred. Stay safe Jo

Hearth and Heart By Ngaere

One of the latest products that Jo at Imagine If has come up with is a cute little 3D MDF fireplace. You may have seen the gorgeous finished fireplaces that Tracy and Sharon have already posted on the Imagine If blog. If not pop over and check them out. I racked my brain long and hard trying to come up with a concept for this piece.  When I craft I need to "see" the project in my head before I can begin crafting and for a while it just was not happening.  In my kit from Jo I also had a set of the Prima "relics" and a light bulb went off in my head while I was looking a them and I thought "the hearth is the heart of the home" and it fell into place.  Rather than having the fireplace freestanding I wanted to be able to display it somehow so I found a shadow box from an unfinished project and decided to recycle it for this project.

Here is the finished project and the explanation of the processes I used to create it.

First I covered the MDF with white gesso on both sides.  This seals the pieces and stops the paint and mediums from soaking into the MDF. 

I also painted the Prima Relic pieces with white gesso.

I took the face of the fireplace and glued on some tissue paper for texture and added some Dresden Trim. metal embellishments and a couple of resin flowers.

I traced on the front of the fireplace where the faceplate would site and using texture paste I added some "brickwork" into the area not covered by the faceplate. For the back of the fireplace I covered it with tissue paper and then I used texture paste through a text stencil for added dimension.

I also used tissue paper and texture paste on the heart and on the recycled shadow box.

Once the paste and the gesso had dried I added colour to the wings and the top of the heart by painting them all with gold paint. When the gold paint had dried I brushed on and wiped off black paint.  To finish I painted the edges of the wings and the flames with soft gel medium containing red glitter. The heart I did in the same way except I painted it red instead of gold.

To finish the heart I added some embossing powder, copper micro beads around the top and clear micro beads in the niche. I then added red gems around the neck of the heart and outlining the niche.

Once the fireplace had dried I painted the faceplate with brown paint, then black and wiped off the black paint to give an antique look. I did the same with the brickwork using yellow ochre and black paint.

For the background I painted the piece with red, yellow and orange, then again covered with black paint and wiped most of it off. 

For the sides I covered them with book paper and painted them with yellow ochre brown and black paint. The grill I painted with black gesso and then I gave it a thick coat of Lumiere Pewter paint to give it a rough metal look.



For the mantelpiece I used the same yellow ochre and brown paint and brushed it on in long stokes so it looked a little like wood grain.

I painted the heart the same colours, I just added a little bit of black to the mix and then O stanped it and the sides with a brickwork stamp.  I then assembled the fireplace.

Once the fireplace was assembled I glued the heart and wings to the front of it and added the little bust into the niche.

I painted the shadow box in the same colours I used for the background, added some trim, chipboard letters and a few embellishments and the piece was finished.

I am really pleased with how this piece turned out and I hope it inspires you to try something a bit different with the gorgeous MDF fireplace from Imagine If.  If you do note feel like the fireplace is the right piece for you then check out some of the amazing products Jo has for sale on her website.  Until next time, Happy Crafting.

Tracy's Christmas Chimney

Hi Tracy here, I love Christmas!!! So imagine my delight when I got some Christmas product in my Design Team kit. Figuring out what items to use was the hardest thing but once an idea formed it was all glue, paint, glitter and mess for the day!!!

So of course I painted up the amazing MDF Chimney and used Stencil Bricks pattern over it using brown paint mixed in with texture paste. I also added white texture paste and glitter to chipboard that looks like snow fall. Lastly I added textured candles and tree. My girl has already claimed this for her room, so I will get a little fake battery candle to go inside chimney to light up for her.

Items from Imagine If used

MDF Chimney

Snow line

Candles

Christmas Tree

Brick Stencil

Fireplace Off the Page with Sharon

Hi everyone. Hope your crafting is keeping you busy in this "silly season"

Today I am sharing with you an MDF project which is a "fireplace".
I have created a wee fireplace assemblage, which I have decorated to become part of my Christmas decoration collection.

Step One
Using a super heavy gesso, coat the fireplace surround. I used it reasonably thickly, and did a couple of coats, as I want this to be the "mortar" of my brickwork

Step Two

Using Coarse pumice gel or Coarse sand gel ( you can make your own with 3D gel medium and very dry clean sand added to it ) Add either brown ink to the pumice gel and mix together to get a uniform colour. I didn't have brown, so I mixed green and red together to get a good dark brown colour. 

 

Step Three
Using a palette knife, spread a layer of the brown gritty medium onto the surface of the fireplace surround. While this is still wet, scratch away this brown medium to reveal the white underneath. I used a skewer. You need to wipe the excess away very often. I chose to make my bricks very uneven in size and shape, to give it a more rustic feel. You could use a brick stencil and just wipe the texture medium through it if you like.

Step Four

On the back piece of the fireplace, I used this viva decor ferro medium. It gives a really good metallic look, and is textured, a little like the back of a fireplace. Spread all over with a palette knife

 
Step Five
Apply gold crackle medium to the other part of the fireplace surround. I used the viva decor croco colour and put it on reasonably thickly, then dried with the heat gun to encourage heavy cracks.  I put together all the pieces and I also painted the top mantle of the fireplace with this gold for a more festive feel. ( This also covered up the joins of the MDF)

Step Six

Paint all the other edges with more of the viva decor ferro medium. ( I find it just gives it a bit of texture, and the subtle sparkle is quite cool)
I then rolled up some brown bazill cardstock, very very tightly to create logs which I stacked in the fireplace. I found it is easier to spritz the cardstock and roll tightly, gluing the last inch or so, to get a tight roll. You can ink the ends of the logs to simulate the rings of the log.

Decorate with items of your choice. I have had these puffy stickers sitting in my stash for a "month of Sundays" and they were the perfect size to hang from the mantle piece on a thin piece of string. Of course you can stand wee items on the top of your fireplace to decorate it further! And wouldn't it make an awesome part of a miniature dolls house! I could see a whole house designed around this one piece!!

Thanks for looking.

Cheers
Sharon