Christmas wreaths

Hi everyone

Thought I would share with you the Christmas Wreaths I made today. Used a Tando Creative kit so you get all the blank pieces then play with them however you wish. For the both I painted with Pebeo acrylic paints. Then used the Paint Fusion technique fro the holly leaves. On the traditional one inked around the edges of the stars with Spiced Marmalade and Walnut Stain Ink. On the other I painted and glittered them. All the baubles were painted and then stamped with the Indigo Blu bauble stamp and gilded with silver and gold gilding flakes.

Lovely and simple project and quick to do.

Hope you like them. 

Please feel free to comment on this and my previous Blog.

Helen 

Box Cards

Here goes my first Blog post.!!!
I thought I would share with you my boxed cards. Made using Chloe's Creative Cards ready to assemble box cards. They come in a pack of 8. 4 8 X 8 and 4 A5 size. Ready scored you just assemble and add your own embellishments.  I've made three so far. 

This is the first using some of my favourite Indigo Blu stamps for the stags, trees, santa (inside) and snowflake border and a Stamps Away stamp for the village scene, The front images were all stamped with blue memento ink and embossed using clear embossing powder. 

The baubles, snowflakes and foliage are made using Spellbinders and Marianne die cuts. I made the background using a Clarity stamp mask and the same blue ink and stamped the stags, trees, santa and message. The bauble inside actual hangs and dangles in front of the scene.

For this one I used a Crafter's Companion Desire embossing folder to create the embossed background inside and outside the card. The sentiment is a Hunkydory one from last year (at least I've used it now!!) matted and layered with gold mirror card and another bit more embossed card.

 

The inside was made using Spellbinders die cut for the tree, bauble and corners and embellished with pearls. The Chloe large flower stamp I embossed in gold and white on white vellum and white card and cut them out to make the poinsettia's.

Finally, if you haven't drifted off. This is the A5 size and I used the Katy Sue designs Winter theatre card CD for the images inside and out. Together with a memory box border die for the front foliage and die cut the front owl images with a Spellbinders scalloped circle die.Of course I used a few pearls.

I used the same Memory box foliage die inside but chopped it up a bit together with a Spellbinders 'delites' die for the flowers and stuck these around the edges. The background and decoupaged owl image is all from the CD.

Hope you like them.   
Helen x

Part of your Stash beating you?

First post on the blog! Thought I would start us off with a bit of info about the last meeting!

Wendy suggested we might like to bring in part of our craft stash that we just don't know what to do with and get some ideas off the other members.

I bought in 4 stamps by La Blanche that I had from the QVC shop in Shrewsbury. ( In the good old days when it was packed with bargains.)

I've never had any success with them but it turns out I might have just been using the wrong inks. What I should have been using were archival inks! Here is a picture of what Helen did with them, and she actually made them look really good! Seems I was at fault and not the stamps :)
Unfortunately the twinkling H20's on the sunflower arent showing up as in real life..they sparkle!


Susan also took home some of the stamps and tried them with black archival ink on some special smooth stamping paper and came up with an incredibly crisp image. Althougth the stamps seem to be moulded in horrid plastic they actually work really well! Just not with distress inks! - Proof you should try things a few times before giving up on them entirely :)


I really recommend you grab something unused from your stash for the next club meeting and if you are happy to loan them out, you might get something really nice back! And some top tips!

Annabel  x

P.s If you would like to borrow these stamps and have a go with them yourself, you would be most welcome.