Dreams Come True at Christmas

Morning, I know some of you are making your Christmas Cards by now and a lot of you have probably done them all. Here is a Christmas card I have made using Leonie Pujol's collection of stamps and dies.I am sure you have seen them, there are some beautiful Entwining Dies along with her famous coordinating stamp sets. The collection works well on it's own to achieve a myriad of special designs, or alternatively used with anything you already have in your collection.

The finished card measures 8 x 7''. To start, I cut out 3 identical rectangles from burgundy Silk Art card. I used the outer cutting edge from one of Sue Wilson's mini striplets, it measures 1 3/4 x 5 3/4'' approximately.

Next from gold Silk Art card I used 'Frost' from the 'Entwined Christmas Tree' set, I cut 6 of these.

I arranged them onto my rectangles to create the backdrop and to add interest. I wanted to use the dies in a completely different way to what they were made for. I stuck these into place using Cosmic Shimmer Glue, then trimmed off the excess from behind.

Next, Taking piece of burgundy card and using a Versamark Ink Pad, I stamped a cartouche from Leonie's coordinating stamps. I also positioned one of the sentiments inside and embossed using burnished gold fine detail embossing powder.

To create my card base I took a sheet of burgundy card measuring 7 1/2 x 6 1/2 and layered this onto a sheet of burnished gold card and left a small boarder around the edge.

I then positioned my decorated rectangles onto the card, secured them with foam tape and 3D glue gel to raise them from the base. I cut the corners of my sentiment with an inverted corner punch and backed with gold card to match.

On a sheet of Super Smooth card, I stamped some of the coordinating stamps, some holly, berries and pine sprigs.

I coloured these using Mowed Lawn and Fired Brick Distress ink and then cut them out with scissors.

I shaped the greenery and berries on a foam mat with a ball tool, then arranged them onto the card and secured with 3D glue gel. Finally to complete the look, I added a gold satin bow, again securing it with 3D glue gel.

Thank you ever so much for taking the time to visit, I do hope you have enjoyed the tutorial and the finished card. 

My collection is still available at a wonderful offer price on Hochanda with Freedom Discount and Flexi Buy on the full collection. HOCHANDA LINK. There isn't a lot left, I doubt I can order any more either due to the minimum order amounts so please be quick. I also have the collection available at my CRAFTASCOPE ETSY SHOP.

If you did miss my very first Hochanda show and the launch of my collection, it is still available on Rewind, via the Hochanda Website, it was last aired on Tuesday 20th November so please be quick.

NICK'S FIRST LIVE HOCHANDA SHOW LINK

Another thing, here is a 30% off voucher to use on your first order (anything) from Hochanda, use code FEY5JBP7.

Take care and Happy Crafting.

An African Mystery

Hi. I have another big project for you today, in fact the largest piece I have done to date about 60 x 40cm. It's my piece for the All-and-Create Africa Challenge No4. The first idea was an African landscape, which evolved as a result of research, elements I wanted to create and a story. There are a lot of elements all of which, tell just one version of a mans journey. So what's the story surrounding this mans life? Was he part of the Trans-Saharan gold trade, providing gold to the Mediterranean economies that demanded it. The man was unearthed at the foothills near to the Sahara Desert. Among his possessions were some trade beads, traced back to Ghana, threaded onto copper wire. Whats your version of his story?  

To start with I created his face using a polystyrene head and allginate. This was filled with plaster, I made the mould to one side rather than face on.

The face was secured to my board. Then using polystyrene, I created the high and low points to start the land.

Using Ivory Powertex and Calico I began building the landscape, creating Mountains,hills,valleys and delta's.

The next layer was sand to create the ground, here i used a selection of fine and medium sand. Then added more layers of a texture paste in certain areas which gives another interesting texture, completely different to the sand.

To add pictorial interest to my piece and tie in with the story and theme, I create a landscape within a map of Africa. I made a stencil with copier paper and then used distress inks.

Then it was back to the main piece, building up various layers of colour from pale creams, yellows through to oranges and reds, leaving each to dry before moving on to the next. 

The final stage of the landscape was to create even more dimension, texture and colour. I decided to use rust, with it's lovely rich but sometimes unpredictable colours, which was scary. I went back to this many times with vinegar, brushing and moving it around to get the effect I wanted. Here is a photo of part of the process. It's looking a little disastrous and close to going in the bin.I was constantly worrying, wondering whether all the work so far had been wasted.

This project was a great learning process for me. I had loved geography and studied (minimally) parts of Africa in secondary school. This time round I read about the trading beads and found photos of some from Ghana. I wanted to make some and include them as an element in the finished piece. First I rolled out some paper clay into thin sausages and left to dry.

Next, I painted them with matt black gesso.

I then painted the 3 thin lines with yellow ochre.

To add the design, I used a white 4Artist marker from Pebeo.

Colouring the face came next, I had already built up the colour as I did the landscape, but now needed to tie it in with the background, I used layers of burnt umber, black and reds, distressing these as I went to get the finished result.

The first layer of rust was finally finished, I was extremely happy with the effect and wonderful colours it had given.

I layered up my pictorial element onto black card, drew in a double black line to create a frame and stamped using a mixed font from Clarity.

Meanwhile I added more rust and texture around the face to ensure it appeared as part of the landscape rather than just stuck in.I wanted it too look like it was coming 'OUT OF AFRICA'

Thank you for stopping by today and taking a look at this project. I hope you like all of the photos, the close ups really show the detail off, much of which is impossible to see without seeing it in real life. Take care and Happy Crafting.

Vintage Wishes

Morning, I am sharing a card I made using the Christmas Collection that Bev from Bee Crafty brought to Hochanda. I wanted to make a card with a vintage style, I thought that it would really suit the sentiment that I chose to use.

I must apologise for the lack of photos for this one. I am not sure where they went but somewhere between taking them and downloading them to my laptop they disappeared. I will just have to explain today and share the pictures that survived. I started by stamping the beautiful Elegant tree using Cobalt Archival ink. I stamped it four times, lining it up and joining them in the centre, to give the lovely pattern. Next using a brayer, I randomly rolled over the whole piece with Mowed Lawn, Twisted Citron and Picket Fence. I didn't want this perfect as it was supposed to look like a pressed image.

Next using the fancy Merry Christmas, I stamped it in the corner, using black Versafine Ink.

Finally to finish, I back the piece onto black card to form a nice frame.

I hope you like the finished card, I am sorry that all the photos weren't available and that you can understand my explanation. Thank you so much for your visit and hope to see you very soon. Take care and Happy Crafting.xx