Butterfly Trails

Morning, I am sure you all know by now how much I love the 3D embossing folders from Crafters Companion. They were on Hochanda on Wednesday, so if you missed the shows they will be found via Rewind, on their website. They are so detailed that I really like to keep things as simple as possible to show the amazing depth and detail. They make a very special card or project with very little added, I think they make a real statement. For this project I have used the Butterfly Trellis 3D Embossing Folder.

To help position the hole I wanted, I first embossed the design onto scrap card. The circle was cut out using a die. I then used this to position the hole in my plain card.

Once the hole had been made, I ran it through to emboss the design. Next the whole piece was painted with Antiquing Cream from Deco Art and left to dry.

I wanted to layer my design onto black and teal Centura Pearl while still allowing the base card to show through, so larger circles were cut out of both of the layering cards.

Using Pebeo Dyna paint (Iridescent Copper) I highlighted the  detail so it looked like verdigris copper. I did the same with lilies cut from Sara's Signature Collection.

I arranged and secured the pieces together, then mounted it onto a card base made from Centura Pearl Precious Golds to match. Finally adding the butterfly layered onto a verdigris base, here I use the butterflies from the 'Take Flight' Die set, allowing the precious gold to show through.

Here is the completed card. I hope you like what I have done and the step by step I have shared today. Please join me again soon. For now Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Gilded Rose Box

Fancy making a gift box and dressing up with your 3D Embossing Folders. I can't tell you what a super impression these will give your cards and projects, they really have to be seen to be believed. The depth of design is on so many levels, the techniques and finishes you apply can really enhance them.

The size of the embossing folder is 5 x 7'', so I wanted to make my basic box with a finished size of 5 1/2 x 7 1/2 with a depth of 1''. I made my box with the Big Score, I cut two sheets of Matt Black Cardstock measuring 9 1/2 x 7 1/2. Having assembled the box, I gilded the embossed card with Empire Gold and Renaissance Gold and secured it to the lid with Tacky Glue. To add more texture and to hide the seam, I used DecoArt Sand Texture paste around the top and sides.

I used a small scrap of black card to emboss the cartouche and cut it out. With Black Dylusions ink spray, I dyed some paper roses. I then used the 'Rose' stamp from Sheena to add the sentiment.

I painted the Texture paste with Pebeo Black Gesso and then gilded the whole box and roses with the same gilding wax. I then used 3D Glue Gel to secure the roses and additional Cartouche to the lid.

Thank you for taking the time to visit today and for your lovely comments on here and Facebook, I really do appreciate them all. I hope you have enjoyed the step by step and the finished piece. Take care and Happy Crafting.xxx

Printers Plate

Welcome back, Today I am sharing the method I used to make this Printers Plate look. It was one of the cards I made for the Typography Collection that Leonie launched on Hochanda.

To begin with, I cut a bunch of letters from white card using the dies in the collection. For this project I decided to use the two larger fonts in the set. This is a wonderful way to use up all that card you have in your scrap box. I made sure I had 5 of each letter to get a lot of depth once they were glued together. When they were dry I coloured them using Distress inks, Black Soot, Hickory Smoke and Old Photo.

I then used some basic square and rectangle dies to cut a base for the individual letters or pairs. This was all cut from scraps of black card that I had, all the letters were stuck to the bases using Collall Tacky Glue.

Around the plates and letters I added Sand Texture paste from DecoArt and set aside. Once dry I coloured over the paste with black gesso, while keeping the letters original distress colour.When these were dry I used a mixture of gilding wax, Empire Gold, Renaissance Gold and Silver, all from Pebeo. This added highlights to the letters as well as texture and age.

I took my base card which I had already treated with the sand texture paste and gesso. The letters were then carefully arranged to fit before securing to the base card. I then added the gilding waxes to ensure the pieces blended together seamlessly.

The embossing folder 'Just Be' was used for my sentiment, I ran it through my machine with versamark so I could added the burgundy embossing powder to highlight the words. Next I stamped the Typography frame and used the same powder for this. Finally I layered the piece onto burgundy/red mirror card to contrast with the main letters.

Thank you so much for joining me today, I hope you have enjoyed the step by step along with the project I have shared. I have to say a huge thank you for all of your messages and support, this is something I just would continue if I knew you weren't enjoying the things I share. Take care and Happy Crafting.xxx

Clock Works

Morning, I thought it best to share this with you as a separate project. I actually used it for the back of the Dandelion  clock that I shared yesterday as the working arrived damaged and wanted to make the most of the MDF surface. The MDF was launched on Hochanda by Bev from Bee Crafty, during the show from Alexandra Palace, It was so popular and sold out (twice) incredibly quickly during the show. I have to say the quality is excellent, with such a smooth surface to work on, I didn't even need to prime it for this.

To start this project I used a clock/cog stencil. I smoothed Decoart Sand Texture Paste through it and removed the mask. While it was till wet I secured an old watch part to it using Collall 3D glue gel. The I linked some wooden cogs from Indigo Blu and secured them with Cosmic Shimmer Glue.

Once this was dry, I painted it all over with acrylic paint, the one I chose was 'Sleeping Beauty' from Indigo Blu. It is a beautiful metallic colour and gives a marvellous sheen. I set this aside to dry completely.

On my glass mat I put a small amount of Townhouse Teal acrylic paint and separately another amount of Grandmas Teacup, both of these colours are from the English Cottage Acrylic paint collection from Indigo Blu. To both of these I mixed some Kroma Crackle thoroughly  before randomly applying to my project

I left this for the rest of the day and overnight to dry thoroughly and crack before applying gilding wax, I used Pebeo Silver and Empire Gold to highlight some areas. To finish, I secured it to the base.

It's such a great piece of MDF, I am almost pleased that the clockworks were damaged to allow me to decorate the back as well. Thank you for taking the time to visit today, I hope you have enjoyed the step by step I have shared and the finished piece. Would be great to have your comments. Hope to see you soon, Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Dandelion Clock

This is a project I was really excited about so I am really pleased to be sharing it with you today. The base is made from the large 8' circle MDF that Bev from Bee Crafty launched at Alexandra Palace live on Hochanda. I used the dandelion set of stamps, it's a really wonderful set and I am sure I will be using them in a lot of different project, I am sure you will too.

To start with I took a sheet of tissue paper, slightly bigger than the MDF and stamped the dandelion seeds with Versamark to act as a resist. I wanted to get as many layers as possible to add interest to the finished piece.

Having spritzed the tissue thoroughly I sprinkled Brusho's over the surface, I used Emerald Green and Cobalt Blue.

I then saturated the tissue with water to blend and make pools of colour, then put it outside in the sun to dry.

I took my clock stencil and drew around it onto copier paper, cut out and set aside. I would use this later to protect the work, it makes it a lot easier.

Next I mixed some white Gesso with a coupe of teaspoons of plaster, I find this gives a much nicer surface for stamping onto than Gesso on it's own and the results are much nicer. I painted this onto the base and left to dry.

Using Black Versamark, I stamped some of the dandelions and seed heads from the collection onto the MDF base. 

I left this to dry before applying the tissue to the base using Cosmic Shimmer Matt Glue, Seal & Glaze from Creative Expressions. When this had dried overnight, I stamped more dandelions on top using Versamark and embossed with white fine detail powder to add another layer. Next I took some Decoart sand Texture Paste and coloured it using some black Brusho's

I placed my clock stencil in place and then added my copier paper to protect the other areas. Using a painting knife I spread the  Sand Texture Paste onto my project and removed the stencil and paper.

I added my sentiment using Black Versafine and added some Pebeo Gilding wax to the clock and edges.

To finish I added the clock hands and my project was finished.

Thank you for visiting today, I hope you have enjoyed this step by step and like the finished article. Hope to see you again soon. Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Timepiece Box

Morning, Here is another project I am really excited about, so I am sharing it with you today. I adore making boxes and mixed with a time theme, blues and Crackle, I came up with this. I thought straight away about clocks and time with this stunning die from Leonie's new collection. The shows will still be on Catch Up on Hochanda's website via the TV schedule, if you missed them or want some more inspiration.

I started by cutting black card to 7 x 9'' to give a finished box size of 5 x 7'' on this is scored at 1 inch, one on the lid side of the big score and the other two at 1 inch on the base side. One one of the bases I cut all sides 1 cm from the score line, this will be put into the lid and glued to hide all of the workings.

From the lid I cut the 'In a Spin' die and set aside the die cut for later.

I then took pages from an old dictionary and ripped them into strips and odd shapes, I secured these to my lid using Glue, Seal and Glaze from Cosmic Shimmer.

When dry I replaced the die to cut again, to ensure a nice crisp edge in my aperture.

I took a clock/cog stencil (this is from Clarity), I used the clock portion of the stencil and applied Texture Sand Paste from Deco Art. Once dry I gave a coat of Sleeping Beauty Acrylic pain from Indigo Blu. I had watered this down slightly with water as I wanted the words to show through here and there.

I mixed three separate colours with Kroma Crackle, I used Park Lane, Townhouse Teal and Grandma's Teacup from Indigo Blu and built up the colour and texture. The I set this aside for the crackle to do it's magic.

Next I took some Tim Holtz letters and the 'In a Spin' die cut from earlier and added some Pebeo Silver Gilding Wax.

Next I added some of the gilding wax to highlight the crackle even more and to give added depth to the design. It also ties the letters and die cut together. I secured watch faces, workings and watch inners to the back of the die cut and arranged the letter and numbers, securing them with 3D glue gel.

Here is the finished piece. I am very pleased with the result and would have love to have kept it for myself. The text still shows through in places where the cracks have appeared so it has turned out as I wished.

I hope you like the finished piece and that you have enjoyed the step by step for this project. Thank you so much for visiting today and for taking the time to leave your comments.