With Love

Morning, Today I am sharing a card I made for the launch of the New Fairy Door Dies from Joanna Sheen. These dies are beautifully detailed and have so many uses with just a little imagination. The door is the main focal point, sitting in a pocket made from parchment, with a little motif to match the paper. For this project I have made a 21st Birthday card. 

I printed off 2 sheets of a beautiful backing paper from the Josephine Wall Project book from Joanna Sheen.

Next I cut into the papers, so I could use sections of it, along with single flowers and butterflies to decoupage.

Taking a script stamp, I created a background for the piece. I stamped it with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink. Here I used a lovely script stamp from Leonie Pujol, but you could use any that you have in your stash.

I then distressed my background using Victorian Velvet and Tattered Rose Distress Ink.

To make a pouch, I took a piece of card large enough to house the door, then coloured ad stamped as for the background. Then I took a piece of parchment 1 cm larger on 3 of the sides.

I cut the door 4 times from white cardstock, removed the door panel from 2 of them and glued them together, leaving the full door at the front.

Next position the  decoupage elements using PVA for the flat and 3d glue gel for the raised elements.

I stamped the sentiment with white Stayzon ink onto the parchment and embossed it from behind. I also traced one of the flowers from the paper and embossed this also. Then Scored the 3 sides at 1 cm and attached it to the card to form the pouch.

I stained the door using Victorian Velvet Distress Ink, added the '21' die cuts to the door.  I secured an image behind the 3rd door, then threaded a key onto ribbon, securing the 2 ends at the back of the door before adding the last door frame.

I finished the card by layering it onto a pearl base card.

Thank you for taking the time to visit today, I do hope you like the finished card and the step by step I have shared. Please join me again very soon as there is always something for you to see. Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Fairy House

Morning all, Today I am Excited to be sharing a Fairy House that I made. It's not a quick make, but it's well worth the effort and you could also make it with clay, I liked the idea of recycling. 

To begin with, I painted a piece of cardboard, using a selection of paints (see photo). This wants to resemble weathered wood, that would have been on the roof for years, leave to dry.

Then create a sort of witches hat, which will be the base for your roof. Cut a circle and remove a quarter. Test for the size and secure, I used staples for speed as these wont show once you tile.

Take  a flower pot and secure to a cardboard base. Then take individual kitchen roll sheets, a water spray, PVA and a brush. Coat the pt with PVA, spray your kitchen roll and start to cover the pot. Try to make it look like real bark with pleats etc. Overlay some onto the base to form the land. Leave to dry and then paint as for the roof.

Cut the cardboard into 1/2 - 1'' strips and then into tiles.

Arrange your tiles row by row starting at the outer edge. Work around the first row, then overlap and stagger the second and so on. I recommend a glue gun for this step. Finish the top of the roof with a smaller cone.

The fairy door opens so I created a picture to go behind, you can choose whatever you would like to see behind the door.

I made some toadstools with Paper clay, left to dry and painted.

I added the fairy door to the house, I cut it a couple of times from Bronze pearl card. I added depth and bark detail to the walls with Gilding wax. Added flowersoft for grass and plants and to the roof as moss.

Thank you for joining me today, I hope to see you again very soon. For now take care and Happy crafting.xx

Parchment Lilies

Morning, Hopefully you got to see the shows on Hochanda, where Michelle from MJM Design Studios launched her wonderful artwork on a triple set of CD Roms. The Lilies and Light CD collection has been produced by Crafters Companion and is packed to the rafters with goodies to use. When I saw this particular design, I knew it would lend itself perfectly to parchment.

To start with I traced the design onto parchment using my pen and white ink. If you want to print on to your parchment rather than trace, you can change the outline colour to grey and fade the outline image down to approximately 30%. Obviously a printer will not print the white for you. Personally I prefer to trace with white, directly from the image.

Next using my Groovi plate from Clarity I traced the frame part of the design. I also traced one of the sentiments from the disk using gold ink.

I started adding the white work embossing from the back of the parchment in stages building it up over time.

I then used polychromo pencils to colour, again from the reverse.

To finish I added my piece onto black matt card, then layered it onto a card base made from Centura Pearl 'Hint of Silver'

Thank you for visiting today, I hope you like this project and the step by step I have shared.  Please don't hesitate to ask any questions you have about this or any other piece.

I hope to see you again very soon, There's more to come. Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Lilies and Light from Michelle (Catch Up)

Morning Everyone.

I wont be posting on Sundays, It's going to be my catch up day. With all the Die cutting I have been doing this week, I am ankle deep in paper waste,glue, paint, inks and dyes, it's all been great fun though. I did want to let you all know that Michelle will be on Hochanda at 2 pm this afternoon, with the wonderful Lilies and Light Collections. I have included some photos for those who haven't seen them yet, I know Facebook aren't sharing all the posts with you.

If you missed them before, please tune in today as they're really not to be missed. I can honestly say that they are full of amazing, usable images, which can be used for all manner of projects.

I have even more examples to come from Monday this week, so I hope you will take the time to look at the step by steps.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend, for now take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Magical Moonlight

Morning Everyone. Today I am sharing a card I made for the launch of Joanna Sheen's wonderful Fairy Door Dies on Create and Craft on Thursday. The detail in these dies is superb, from the wooden grain detail to the little extras, such as the door furniture, foliage and flowers.

For the base of this card I have used one of the papers from the Josephine Wall project book from Joanna Sheen. Before printing the sheet I added a large moon mask to the sky, so it would remain white.

Next, I added the skyline to the background using a mask from Clarity and Black Soot Distress Ink. I also used one of the Clarity Alphabets to stamp the words across the moon and sky.

I cut the fairy door and small fairies from Matt black cardstock, then added silver gilding wax to add a little moonlight and enhance the details.

I cut down the background in line with the skyline mounted onto some purple mirror card before layering onto my card base made with white pearl card.

Here is the finished card. I do hope you like the card and the step by step I have shared today.

There is plenty more to come, so do visit again. Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Always

Morning, Today's project is a scrapbook page made using the lovely artwork from Michelle of MJM Design Studios. Her Lilies and Light triple CD collection was launched on Hochanda a few weeks ago with Crafters Companion. In my opinion it's a must have collection, please don't be put off that it's digital. If you have a printer it really is simple to make a multitude of projects. Here I have done a digital layout and another identical but crafted traditionally to show it really is for everyone.

I planned my original piece digitally. Then to make the traditional page, I printed the sheets of elements i wanted along with photos.

I cut out the pieces along with the backing papers, then put the piece together using Collall Tacky glue and 3D glue gel.

Here are both pieces for you to see the comparison, it's incredibly difficult to tell them apart, unless you are close up.

Do take a look at the collection from Michelle, the artwork and colours really are beautiful. Thank you so much for visiting today. There is plenty more to share so do pop back very soon. Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Parchment Butterflies

Morning, My project today is a parchment card using the Classiques 'Take Flight' die set from Crafters Companion. The set comprises of a beautiful lace design and butterflies, which can be cut out or left in your project, making them incredibly versatile. This project is ideal for those who want to create a parchment look with ease.

Firstly, I took a piece of parchment a little larger than the finished piece to allow for the edge design. I made my first cut, then lined up carefully to create the square. It is fairly straight forward, but it is worth taking the time to ensure the perfect look.

Using the waste edge and a 2 hole pricking tool I shaped the corners. 

Next I snipped through the holes. I've inverted the pattern here, but you could also carry on the edge design if you wanted to.

Next I positioned the butterfly dies from the same set. The parchment is tougher than you think, but again it's worth taking the time to release the dies carefully.

To add the white work, I used stamps from the 'Rose Buds' A6 rubber stamp set from Crafters Companion. Having masked off the edges with scrap copier paper, I stamped the design using white Stayzon ink. I embossed from the back using an embossing mat and tool before colouring with alcohol markers.

I chose blue Centura Pearl to layer the project onto, then added this to a base card made with Centura Pearl 'Hint of Silver'.

As I said this is a great way to achieve that parchment look in a fraction of the time. I hope you like the finished card along with the step by step I have shared today. 

Hope to see you all soon. Take care and Happy Crafting.xxx