Festive Fun day 4: Honest Christmas Cards

i tried my best to keep these clean but after nearly 6 months of Christmas i needed to do something to bring a bit of laughter to everyone. If i come up with anymore i will share them but in between shopping and organising, the crafting is getting side tracked im sure we are all in the same boat at the moment but i am enjoying spending time making more homemade gifts and cards this year so next year i might take my creativity to the next level. i will most likely start again in May haha we crafters never do get away from Christmas.

                                     
                                                This was the mulled wine talking

                   Everyone who owns a cat will know just what this card means

                                            Thank you for looking

Festive Fun Day 3 : custom gift wrapping

some last minute gift wrap ideas and mine usually are last minute,

you can pick up rolls of brown parcel wrap fairly cheaply theses days, i get mine form Poundland and its great to keep in as you can adapt it to suit any occasion. to make the customised gift wrap i just filled a 6x6 acrylic stamping block with an assortment of random Christmas themed stamps. you can choose just words or images,the fun is about mixing them up to get a different look. i then inked the lot and stamped along the paper, i placed a foam mat underneath to get an even image but a mouse mat also works.

Why not decorate an empty jar with paper and ribbons? you can fill them with sweets of baking mixes to give as presents. i used a variety of different items from twine and lace to decoupage

sheets. as long as you use a strong glue or glue gun you can stick anything to your jars.

bottles are difficult to wrap so why not make a fancy cover to go over the bottle. I cut out a large rectangle shape and used a small circle die to make the opening for the bottle. i used the Papermania Bellissima Christmas decoupage sheets to decorate the topper.

I added a tree decoration over the top as an extra gift.

Thank you for looking

Festive Fun Day 2 Christmas Shopping

I thought i would share with you some photos i took when i went to the Worcester Christmas Fayer. we have been going for 2 years now and this was the first year where the weather was mild.

                                             
                                           My Mum who also doesnt like being on Camera

                                           
                                                       i dont like photos of myself

   
     The stall that sells the tree ornaments always has something unusual every year.

 its nice to walk around and look at all the hand made gifts, the ducks are a great novelty present.

 All the stall owners were dressed up in Victorian costumes which added to the fun.

                                               
                                                    Love the smell of citrus and cloves

                 
                   It was really busy and being Black Friday it was heaving everywhere.

           Thanks for looking i will be back tomorrow with some custom gift wrapping ideas.

Festive Fun day one: Home made decorations

over the next week i am going to post a series of Christmas themed posts in the run up to the big day so here is day one,

There is nothing more fun then making your own decorations and this year i did just that using the wooden shapes from the Papermania Bare Basics range.

 I simply painted the shapes with acrylic paint and the let it dry before painting on some PVA glue and adding glitter. the bell i sewed through the bow to hold it in place.

This is the Dove shape which can be adapted for numerous occasions like Christmas and weddings. i have also taken a shine to these mini ribbon flowers that add a nice shabby chic look to your projects. so i will be adding more to my stash soon.

The Tree can be glitzed up in any way and still look good, traditional, vintage gold or modern white will look fab on any Christmas project. I will be stocking up on these for next year hopefully i can get some in the sales.

I used an assortment of twines and ribbons to make a loop with for hanging them to things. experiment to get a different style.

My favorite one is the Owl which has so many possibilities. Glitter for Christmas or Purple and Orange for Halloween. yep Halloween Owls will be next.

         The Reindeer looks so classy in white and i am going to use this one to fancy up a bottle of Irish Cream Liqueur.

 A few more variations of the stars, i added white paint to the base and coated in white glitter to give it this vintage look. adding pearl beading and resin flowers finishes the look.

 The robin is a symbol of winter itself and can be made in to a tree decoration with a bit of paint.

Thanks for looking  and i will be back tomorrow with some Christmas shopping pics.

One last Challenge for The Memory Nest

My term with The Memory Nest has ended and i am going to share with you my last project as a design team member.

I would like to thank everyone for their comments and support and i would like to thank Leslie for giving me the opportunity to work with this talented team.

I wish the team luck with their next term and i will do my best to pop in and visit your blogs.

 So here is my take on of Crystal's Sketch, i've gone for a winter theme as we are fast approaching Christmas. i have to say i am glad a got most of my shopping done on Black Friday but the town was heaving and i was exhausted afterwards. i am very tempted to do all my shopping online but then it would take away part of the joy so i will just start earlier to avoid the rush,

I used the lovely First Edition Vintage Noel paper pad as the background and the Christmas Village pad from last year as the second layer. \i then mixed some ultramarine powdered ink and glitter into texture paste before applying it to the That Special Touch Snowflake frame mask.

This is a photo of a church i used to walk past to get to work every morning. it had snowed and everything was sparkling in the light. It was only last year and i wonder if we will get any snow this winter.

 i used the Dovecraft Essentials 3D pearls to create this meated ice effect and to create the icicles. i then rubbed some on to the flowers to give them an icy look the wooden embellishments i painted with acrylic paint and then rubbed Dovecraft Essentials glitter glue over them to add a sparkle.

i wonder where my next crafty adventure will begin as we approach a new year, all i know is that i will bring you all with me.  Thanks for visiting

a new art canvas and introduction to Decomedia by Trimcraft

Hi everyone i have some more new products to demonstrate to you today. Trimcraft have just introduced the Deco Art range which includes a multitude of different paints and finishes. The range is suitable for both crafting and home decor. but today i am going to introduce the Decomedia spritzing inks.

i started off by coating a old canvas wall hanging with a thick layer of texture paste and let it dry over night. i then cut out three honeycomb background die cuts and pasted them to the background. i then just spritzed the colours around randomly adding a few stamps and let it dry.

i finished it off with a quote i made using different alphabet die cuts and a mixture of embellishments. i then spritzed over them again and added a few ink drops for effect.

i used the Magenta, Primary Yellow and turquoise inks and you can find them on the website www.trimcraft.co.uk

Thanks for looking.

News to share and a press release for Docrafts January releases.

I will be returning to the Docrafts Design Team for another term. The official announcement will be around the 6th Jan and i will finally meet my new team. i will be posting a mixed media tutorial along with an introduction to the Little Meow range in early January along with a team blog hop so it will be a busy month.

But for now here is a preview of my new layout and January's product launch. So excited xx

 Thank you for visiting and will be back with more inspiration once daylight returns to the UK.

The Memory Nest Make it Monday 30

Hi all i start off the December challenges with a new sketch and layout. if you would like to play along the join us at www.thememorynest.blogspot.co.uk. winners will get the chance to guest design in the next challenge. December is going to be one of those months where i will be changing design teams as most of my terms end this month. I am waiting to find out if i am continuing on with Docrafts and i have stepped down from The Memory Nest so we will be announcing a new team next week.

You can take any inspiration from the sketch  you like and here is my interpretation below

i wanted to do another nautical layout using the lovely sea shell stamps by Oak House Studios. i also used their sea blue ink and denim blue embossing powder to give the stamps more detail. The photo is of the Portland Bill lighthouse near Weymouth Dorset.  it a lovely area surrounded by dramatic rocky landscapes and blue sea, very calming.

Here i have used a selection of paper flowers and embellishments form Trimcraft. i used the Dovecraft essentials 3D pearls to give them a shimmer effect.

 I
 used the Memory Box Texture Disperse stencil (88507) to create the background and then spritzed over it with Oak House Studio's Vintage blue and Tempting Teal spray inks.

i used a stencil mask  Alpha Crumbled (88500) by Memory Box, to create the title using Slate grey ink from the Colour Chemistry range (www.oakhousestudio.com). i just rubbed over the letters using a make up sponge.

Thank you for visiting