Fabric bag for Easter

I'm not a great one for sewing, embroidery or any kind of needlework but, needs must, and I had a call for a cross-stitch panel and decided to place it on a drawstring bag.

If you're like me, sewing challenged, I'll just say don't bother making your own bag and pick one up already made! And I would have done as the Craft Barn has them on sale here but I needed a specific colour...

A double Scoop of Gelatos

Me again... just in time to wish Happy Mother's day to the British mums with a card full of the joy of spring. After all the snow and cold weather last week,  I couldn't wait for a little bit of sunshine and I created my own from hot colours of Gelatos.

The double Scoop of the title comes from the design of this Mother's day card relying on stencils for both focal image and background. Unusually there is no stamping. At all!

Aquarius

As you can see I'm having a busy week here! Those are the vagaries of blog scheduling... I hope my faithful readers won't mind.

Lately I have been buying unusual (for me) items at the Craft Barn because with the sales, there are some fab bargains to be made and at that price I told myself if I spoiled it all it didn't matter! On this occasion though, I managed to get very close to the result had in mind. Phew...

You can read the details on how I made this hop on to the Craft Barn blog...

You've been framed

Today I'm showing a technique I discovered some time ago on the Tando blog, one that got me really excited! Come by the Craft Barn blog to read up on the details!

Cubbeys with aperture

Have you seen the Craft Barn sale? I did, and I picked up some great items, and today I'm showing what I did with it.

Mixed Media page

Today I'm showing a Mixed Media piece I created for the Craft Barn blog.

This one involves quite a lot of techniques and products, but if you follow my step by step it is still easy to create.

Textile gift idea

I have made several phone covers for myself in the past and got admiring glances from someone who I thought would appreciate an upgrade... I like this type of gifts because it's a useful one and it's in constant use, thereby showcasing your talents to all and sundry!

Photos of the front and back above and below:

An easy start of the crafting year

New year, new hobby or new supplies? To ease you in gently, even if you are a beginner, I made this Clean And Simple (CAS for the initiated) card and you can read how I made it on the Craft Barn blog.

Merry Christmas

So this is Christmas... [I'm singing this song as I write this...] and what have I done for the Craft Barn blog, I hear you ask? Well, a Christmas card of course!

I wondered if I should call on my Oops Birdie for the occasion but he declined, on account that the poor fellow did not want to be confused with a turkey... [didn't have the heart to tell him there's zero chance of that!!!]

Instead, just to prove that fungi aren't just for Autumn, I enlisted my Mushroom Lane house, which I found snowed in since we last saw it.
I believe there has been, as well as snow, several glitter showers recently....

So without further ado,

Supplies:
Riley and Company Mushroom Lane Cling Stamps - House 2
Find it Trading Dies: Yvonne Creations - Merry Christmas
cArt-us glitter cardboard: White and blackColouring: alcohol markers, white acrylic paint, silver gel pen.

The fun thing about this card is the way the partially die-cut "Merry Christmas" projects its shadow on whatever is behind. Like so:

I do hope you will have a great time during the 12 days of the season and that New Year will find you in fine fettle and rearing to craft.

Merry Christmas to you all!!!
I am entering the Lost Coast Designs, Fashionable Stamping, The Artistic Stamper, Unikostudio and We Love To Create  challenges.

X-mas wrapped up

So I have the cards, the next item on my crafting to-do list is the wrapping. I may yet create some wrapping paper, I have done so in the past, but today I'm looking at making bags in the quickest way so that I have a template for last minute wrapping panic (been there, done that).

If you want to read my step by step for not just 1 but 2 kind of bags you will have to hop on to the Craft Barn blog.

Supplies:
Woodware clear stamp: Huge Snowflake
Embossing powders: Cosmic Shimmer Brilliant Sparkle in Gold, Sea Glass (Wow), Frantage Aged rose, Clear
Paper Artsy Fresco paints
Andy Skinner's Sunburst and Imagination Crafts Drop Screen
Inks: black Versafine, Brilliance Starlight silver, gold
Envelopes, mirror card.

Hope you like my bags!
I am entering the SSS Wednesday and Rubbernecker challenge.

Winter birthdays

Spare a thought for those December babies... forever overshadowed by that most famous of babies and somewhat neglected when it comes to their birthday. Some can feel quite prickly about it.... (no names here but I know someone very close, ahem, in that case).
With this in mind I designed this birthday card especially for the December born.

Supplies:
Succulents stamp set: Craft Emotions stamps
Starlight paints - Imagination Crafts
Brilliance inks
Glitter card - Art-C
Water soluble pencils: Derwent
Enamel accents Ranger

Hop on over to the Craft Barn blog to read my set by step.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Craft Stamper TIMI, Penny Black and more, Fashionable Stamping, We Love To Create, Creative Artist challenges.

X-mass production

Yes, it's that time of the year again, when we crafters REALLY need to knuckle down and produce, en masse, those Christmas cards!

Today, I have chosen a design going to the heart of the matter, with a simple Merry Christmas sentiment die-cut as the focal point of an otherwise very simple card.

Come by the Craft Barn blog to read my step by step, this is a quick one, which I hope will come in handy for your Christmas makes.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday Challenge,  challenges.

Iconic

The wooden hinged diptychs remind me of Byzantine icons and this is the inspiration for my Craft Barn DT post today.

The past, and present face each other on the inside:

I used several techniques to give an aged look to my diptych and you can read all the details on the Craft Barn blog.

Supplies:
Hinged wooden icon
Gesso
Paper Artsy stamps from LCP02 and HP1008
Brilliance ink in Graphite Black
DecoArt and Paper Artsy Fresco paints
Mini layering stencils TH010
Gilding wax
Crackle medium

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday, Creative Artiste challenges.

Fauxdori inserts

Today on the Craft Barn blog I'm showing how to create some inserts for your Midori (Fauxdori). I did a step by step for the cover last month which you can see here.

Some pics to whet your appetite:

Come and find out on the Craft Barn blog how I did these and other inserts, plus a lot more pics...
Warning you might need to get a cup of your favourit beverage at hand, this is a long post!

Thanks for coming by,
I am showing my make to the Mini Album Makers, as it completes last month's album, which did make the Top 5 BTW...

Gift for the girls

There is nothing like a hand made gift for the girl that has everything... something with a personal touch and absolutely unique, is the answer for those times when nothing fits the bill.

With a fast approaching Christmas, I constructed and decorated this box from Art-C for a girlfriend to keep her jewellery in, well some of it anyway...

It's an easy project and, having chosen to cover the box entirely with paper, a fairly quick one to make too!

Supplies:
Art-C Masonite Shelf with Drawers kit
Imagination Crafts Rice paper
Scrap of recycled metal die-cut (Spellbinders - Persian accents)
Kaiserkraft stamp
Imagination Crafts: Starlights in Dark Orchid
DecoArt Metallic Lustre Wax Finish - Champagne Ice
Gesso
DecoArt Matte medium
DecoArt Ultra matte varnish

Do come over to the Craft Barn blog for the full step by step.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Monday, Inky Chicks, Creative Artist and Craft Stamper TIMI  challenges.

Time for Gelatos

The holidays might be receding in our memories but I am still thinking about the vibrant colours and brilliant light of the summer...

I used a failed Gelli print as a base for my journal page and experimented with Gelatos in my favourite colour(s).

Come and see the details on the Craft Barn blog and, if you missed it, have a look at the Midori style book that contains this DIY journal here, my readers comments tell me this was quite the popular project... so many thanks to my followers for those encouraging words!

Have a lovely weekend,
I am entering the Inky Chicks challenge.

SSSS

Summer, Sun, Sea and Sand are the inspiration for this scrapbook page.

You will forgive the beach photo's odd colours as my printer's ink cartridge ran out on me... and I will replace the photo, as soon as I get around to have a 2 year back log printed, professionally this time!

Do come and check the step by step on the Craft Barn blog.

Supplies:

Watercolour card
Distress Oxide in Faded Jeans and Fossilized amber
Brayer
Kaisercraft stamp:
Impression Obession stamp: Canvas Cover-A-Card
Kaisercraft wooden embellishments
Gel medium
Sand and seashells: the real thing... collected on an beach!

Layouts are for me a labour of love, they do take me a long time because I tend to dither on each addition and I am never sure when to stop! However the size of the canvas (12x12) allows to play with lots of mediums, stamps and stencils and isn't that a crafter's dream...

Do let me know what (if!) you like on this layout in your comments,
Thanks for coming by today,
I am entering the Creative Artiste, SSS Monday,  Lost Coast Designs, The Artistic Stamper,  We Love To Create, Craft Stamper TIMI, and Fashionable Stamping challenges.

Turning a corner

Time for another show and tell at the Craft Barn blog! This time there isn't much of a step by step, just because this is a CAS card and so easy to make you really don't need instructions!

Still, if you want all the inside story come and visit the Craft Barn blog, you may even leave a comment there to show your appreciation... no pressure!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Craft Stamper TIMI, Penny Black and more, Stamping Sensations, Stamplorations CAS and Casology challenges.

Inspired by Van gogh

This week we've all gone artistic at the Craft Barn and I took my cue from Van Gogh (loosely..).

In particular, I have taken inspiration from his Cottage paintings and the colours from his straw bale paintings... he liked his series!
Instead of drawing  I stamped my cottage, trust me it looks all the better for it, and I used crayons to "paint" the scene rather than oils.

Supplies:
Cottage stamp by Imagination Crafts
Linen cardtstock
Gelatos
Distress Crayons
Core'dination cardstock

A step by step awaits you on the Craft Barn blog where you can see how I have created the effect of a painting with none of the difficulties of the real thing.

Thanks for coming by,

Of Tagging and spray paints

Lucky me... I got to play with new stuff as well as use up some of the old stash!

As sprays goes I have quite a few different brands but, so far, the only ones that I haven't had a problem with (clogging and getting the paper too wet) are the Prima Blooms. Some new colours have arrived and I added a few more to my collection and got testing... Would the new bottles be as good as the old ones?

Come and read about my experiments on the Craft Barn blog where I have a step by step for this tag:

Supplies:
Rice papers, Starlight paints: Imagination Crafts
Pixelated stencil: DecoArt Mixed Media
Life's a beach Flourishes: Kaisercraft
Distress Oxides: Ranger
Prima Blooms sprays.

And look... not a hint of stamping!
Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the That's Crafty and SSS Wednesday challenges.