Hammered Silver Platter

Hi, Something very different today, Made from cardboard that might otherwise have been thrown away. I also used some Silk Clay from Creative Company, along with the Wonder Crystals and Wonder Tape that Justin & Gordon from Be Creative bring to Hochanda.

Years ago I found a battered silver plated try, which had been hammered, so I wanted to make something similar to that with the Wonder Embossing Crystals and add an emblem in the centre. I started by cutting out a 12' circle from an old cardboard box.

I then cut another identical and this time cut a smaller circle within it. This would form the rim of the tray. I stuck this to the base using Cosmic Shimmer Glue from Creative Expressions.

So there wasn't a step between, I used silk clay to form a slope between the rim and the base.

I covered the whole project using Wonder Tape, then covered it with 'Lodolite Quartz' and 'Picture Jasper' Wonder Embossing Crystals. I made it thicker in some areas to give it an uneven surface. Where it is thinner, the surface is pitted giving it the hammered look.

For the centre emblem, I covered a piece of card with a Wonder Sheet and drew a 6' circle. I then added my design inside the circle and cut out all of the sections.

I then peeled off the backing sheet from each section, using the Wonder Crystals I embossed each piece. The colours I used are:

To finish, I secured the design onto the base of the tray using Cosmic Shimmer Glue.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit today. I hope you liked the finished project along with the step by step that I have shared. Hope to see you again very soon. Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Morning, I thought I would share a card today, I made using the lovely stamps that Justin and Gordon from Be Creative Launched on Hochanda this week, along with the paper pads.

I decided to use Kraft card for this one, the main card is on a 6'' square and the background card is a 7''square. I started with the background card, Using Winter Sparkle Embossing powder and a Versamark In Pad, I stamped my chosen sentiment to 2 of the corners. Then I added some of the snowflake stamps from the set using the same powder. (Don't forget to use an Anti Static Pad). I set this aside.

Next I took my main card and created a landscape, I wanted the snow to have quite a texture and to be pronounced, so I used white gesso and stippled along my torn paper to add the hills and mountains.

Then I stamped some of the snowflakes in the sky using Versamark and again the Winter Sparkle Embossing Powder. I added a little Shaded Lilac ink to the sky.

From the Christmas Paper pad, I took a sheet of the trees and cut them out. I needed a lot as I was planning to decoupage them so used a full sheet. I took a sheet of patterned paper from the pad and stamped some Wee Houses from Clarity. I used Versamark to stamp and the the Wonder Embossing Crystals to emboss. After cutting out the houses I added a little more colour using a selection of Distress Ink.

I laid out my design before securing the trees and house in place using Collall 3d glue gel, building up some of them and others flat. I backed my main card onto a piece of white before layering it onto the background giving a fine white border.

Thank you for taking the time to visit and read my post today. I hope you have enjoyed the step by step and the finished card. I hope you will visit again very soon. Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

20's Mosaic

Morning, Today I am sharing something different using the Wonder Embossing Crystals that Justin and Gordon from Be Creative launched on Hochanda, this Wednesday.Having such an amazing collection of colours really opens up the possibilities. I had seen the marquetry show on Hochanda and really wanted to try it with other media, so what better than the Wonder Crystals.

Years ago, I started using Gallery Glass and had  few Stained Glass window patterns. Sadly they got packed away, but I found them and thought they would work really well for the idea I had in mind. I started by putting a Wonder Sheet onto a sheet of A4 Centura Pearl card and transferred my design.

I then cut around the edge of my design.

I then carefully cut around the design and placed them in order onto my craft mat.

The hardest part, was selecting the colours and to keep the design sharp. I used the following colours for this design and made sure not to repeat the colours next to each other, unless the design called for it. Here are the colours I used for this design.

Next I secured each piece in turn onto a piece of card using Cosmic Shimmer. When this was dry I trimmed around the design flush with the edges. To finish I backed the piece with  Black card.

Thank you ever so much for joining me today. I hope you have enjoyed the post along with the step by step I have shared and the finished piece. I hope you will join me again soon, Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Be Creative Launch Sample Previews

Welcome back to my second post for today. Justin and Gordon from Be Creative have launched some wonderful New Colours to add to the collection of Wonder Embossing Crystals. The shows are at 1 pm and 6 pm on Hochanda, The shows are going to be great so please dont miss them or the great products they are bringing today.

The new colours are amazing, the mixes are super and give you the ability to achieve so much more. Being part of their design team, I have been lucky enough to craft with them, so today I thought I would share some of the projects I have been making.

Within the collection is a Special Limited Edition 'Hochanda Pink' to help to celebrate their 1st Birthday. Also new to the range are Celebration Blue, Celebration Red and Celebration Purple. The addition of these new colours really opens up the possibilities. I am sure they have a lot more to come, so it's all very exciting.

I have really enjoyed using the new colours both on their own and in conjunction with the exsisting range. I have made quite a few samples and I will be sharing step by steps for them for anyone wanting to know more and how I went about them.

I have also been making samples with the beautiful paper pads. The quality of these is excellent, I would definitely describe them as card more than paper. I have loved the designs and colourways, I would highly recommend them.

Thank you so much for taking a look at my post today, I hope you like the items I have made and shared. I will be sharing my first step by step for the cards and projects I have been making on Saturday, I hope you will take a look.Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Looking Good

Morning, After having such fun using Leonie's new Mixed Media range, I decided to work on another project, I dont know where the idea came from exactly, apart from the picture in my head, I have a feeling it might be from a painting I saw in a museum when growing up. I wanted to incorporate the Wonder Crystals & Sheets that Justin and Gordon bring us from Be Creative. They work so well and the effects you can get are amazing. They should still be available to buy on the Hochanda Website. I do hope you managed to get Leonie's new collection as it is so versatile.

The hardest part about this project was working out how I could bring it to life using card. The idea I originally had was of the face being in mid air, but I thought it wouldn't be possible without using metal frames etc. I roughly drew a sketch onto paper.

Once I had worked it out, I started with a box frame, I coloured all of the parts that might be seen with Black Soot Distress ink.

I applied a Wonder Sheet to some greyboard and marked out the shape which would become the head.

Using the spare space below this I drew some shapes, which would enable me to add detail, movement and texture to the head, making it look something like hair.

I made a few adjustments before cutting out the basic shape.

Then I cut out the hair shapes and applied Wonder Tape to the edges. I stuck these to the head section.

On a flat surface, I coated this with Goldstone Wonder Crystals.

As I heated the Crystals I added more, the two I used here were Goldstone and Lodolite Quartz.

I assembled my box frame.

I cut a frame that would go over the top of the box and coated it with Goldstone Wonder Crystals and heated. This would conceal all of the workings and joins.

I cut out an eye and lips from Leonie's Looking Good Die Set, Three of each and glued them together with Cosmic Shimmer. I cut an additional one of each from board covered in Wonder Tape, this was to be the top layer. I Used Carnelian for the lips and Turquenite for the eye.

Using the drawing I had made earlier I shaped Copper cable to form the nose and attach the lips and another for the eye. I secured this with super glue and 3D glue gel.

I then used the same method to attach both cables to the back of the hair section. This gave the illusion of the face being suspended in air. I paced the hair section onto my frame using Cosmic Shimmer glue.

Lastly to finish off the piece, I added the top frame which I had embossed using the Crystals earlier.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit today. I really enjoyed making this piece so I hope you have enjoyed reading the step by step and seeing the finished project that I have created. I really appreciate your comments and do read them all. I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Take care xx

Tree of Life Lamp

Morning. I have some Home Decor to share this today. For this piece I have used the lovely Oak and Maple leaves drawn by Sam from Bee Crafty along with the amazing Wonder Embossing Crystals and wonder sheets from Be Creative, both shown on Hochanda. It's been a really exciting project and I am over the moon with the results.

In order to use as little Hessian and wonder sheets as possible I first stamped the smaller Oak and Maple Leaves onto Wonder Sheets.

I then roughly cut out the leaves, peeled off the backing and stuck to the hessian, then I cut them out properly and peeled of the top sheet and covered with more hessian, then cut around the existing shape.

I used  Turquenite and Goldstone Wonder Crystals and embossed half the leaves in each of the colours. While some of them were still hot I shaped them to be more realistic and to let the light shine through later. I then covered the whole shade with Wonder Sheets, covered with hessian and painted with Black Gesso, this would give a really dramatic background for the leaves.

Then I moved onto the lamp base, using the 50 mm Wonder Tape, I twisted it in lengths to form into a branching tree shape. I wrapped the tree around 2 1/2 sides of the base.

I coated this in Goldstone Wonder Crystals and heated until melted, then added more here and there to create the tree trunk and branches.

Finally I arranged the Oak and Maple leaves around areas of the lamp. I am so pleased with this project and it looks even nicer in the flesh so to speak.

I hope that you have enjoyed this step by step and another way to use the lovely stamps from Bee Crafty. I hope you will join me for my net post tomorrow. Thank you.xx