Sleigh Ride for Crafty Individuals

This fabulous stamp popped through my post-box recently along with some others that are all new to the Crafty Individuals shop. I have already shown one card using this stamp - here is another with softer colours.

I fell right in love with this one and knew I wanted to make some fairly simple and quick cards with it to add to my collection (which grew quite rapidly and have now all been sent out).

I blended some distress inks onto tissue paper and stamped this lovely image over it adhering it to card with spray fixative.

Using the pennant on the edge die and Core’dinations paper I made a border.

And added a gold embossed star and a computer generated sentiment.

Materials

CI 398 Santa’s Sleigh Ride – Crafty Individuals

Pennants On The Edge die – Tim Holtz for Sizzix

Distress Crackle paint – Ranger

Core’dinations Black Magic paper pad

Distress inks – Iced Spruce, dried marigold, chipped sapphire

The excitement is mounting in our family can you believe it's only six sleeps? I hope you are well on the way to getting finished. My cards are all written now, some still need delivering and just a couple of last minuter things to buy and wrap. Good old M&S on-line helped this week (I really don't fancy trying to get through the crowds at the Sandhurst store - it's a nightmare).

Sorry not been on the blogs this week, but hope to catch up soon. I am picking the girls up from school today so that we can make flapjacks (one of our family Christmas traditions), so that will be fun.

Take care.

hugs {brenda} x0x

Funkie Junkie 12 tags of Christmas #11

Linda has produced a fabulous tag for #11, I loved the fresh colours on this one and have more or less cased her design for my card with just a few differences in the trees and materials used.

Starting with the background I used the zesty broken china and shabby shutters together but before I blended the inks I stamped the splatter stamp from Tim’s urban tapestry set with picket fence distress paint and dried it. I think this gives a great snowstorm effect. I over-stamped with frayed burlap using the small music score from mini holidays 4.

The tress were die-cut from the small movers and shapers pine tree using dark green card and then I dipped them in some peeled paint distress paint misted with water and heat dried them. I die-cut the trees again with some white glitter card and cut off portions to look like snow on the boughs, sticking them over the top of the green painted trees. I finished them off with a white pen to make them look as though they were part of the snowstorm and then glazed them with tattered angels pixie dust glitter paint and edged them with walnut stain. Cool huh?

I die-cut three snowflake flurries (Tim’s on the edge die) and cut two them down and stuck them together to create the edge piece for my card, I also cut a single snowflake similar to how Linda did hers. I covered them with distress ink and antiquities verdigris EP and heated them. When cool I then covered them with glossy accents and rock candy distress glitter and finished with some walnut stain distress ink around the edges.

The mini deer is a TH movers and shapers die, cut in cream card, covered with walnut stain DI, heat dried and then covered with glossy accents and the rock candy distress glitter. He looks much more mottled in real life, this is one of those occasions when I couldn’t get the light right to show you the real effects.

Lastly I used the sentiment from Tim’s simple sayings stamped in Wendy Vecchi’s potting soil archival ink and edged with walnut stain again.

So this is the constructed card, you can see what I mean about casing Linda’s tag, there are so many similarities aren’t there?

I loved the snowy effect when it had all been put together…..

….. and I love the non-traditional Christmas colours.

Linda has the full details of this challenge on her tag 1 post but in essence make a tag or card etc. and take something as inspiration from Linda’s tag for your own make, link this up to her post and originally you had to enter all 12 challenges by December 22nd to be eligible for the draw, but Linda is extending this with two bonus round tags on the 21st and 28th December and everything now needs to be completed by the 8th January. Linda is very generous with her prizes so you could win a $50 or $25 voucher to her on-line store ‘The Funkie Junkie Boutique’ and even get a 15% discount over January 2014.

Another day nearer to the festivities, I always love this build up time, getting everything ready. I started my baking as I said I would (see last post) but sadly my boil and bake cake went rather dry. Still I shall be making another next weekend so hopefully I can remedy the situation.

I haven’t heard from Becca today but yesterday she was dressed and up and about on the ward and had eaten some toast for breakfast. The surgeon came round to see her and said he was very pleased with the op and her progress and is hopefully going to let her come home next week. That will be wonderful.

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:  the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.

~Burton Hillis

Have fun and enjoy your preparations for the big day.

hugs {brenda} x0x

Funkie Junkie 12 tags of Christmas #10

This is my latest card based on Linda’s 12 tags of Christmas challenge and this is being entered for #10. However the deadlines for completion have been extended to January 8th (details here).

I took several parts of Linda’s tag for inspiration.

Firstly the gorgeous holly cut in cream card from Tim’s Holly Branch die then dabbed and dipped in forest moss and evergreen bough distress paint and when dry I ran them through a text embossing folder, sanded them down, inked the edges with walnut stain and added whitefire treasure gold.

The background came about by using Tim’s holly stencil that Linda also used, but I used distress inks and the wrinkle free technique before sponging evergreen bough DI through the mask, covering the whole piece.

I used an image rather than a sentiment to go behind the frame and this gorgeous one from Crafty Individuals caught my eye today. I stamped it in coffee archival and watercoloured it with distress inks.

The frame was cut from matte silver card and given a coat of tarnished brass distress ink and then covered with matte medium glue and tarnished brass distress glitter. Love how this turned out.

So here is my card after it had been put together.

I added a small red bow although I had actually cut the berries from the holly die and given them a coat of crackle paint, but they didn’t look right, so I left it simple.

The sentiment is one of my computer generated ones.

One thing I did change from the photos above was the background. It seemed a bit bright so I sprayed it with dylusions white linen to knock it back a bit and to give it more of a ‘snowy’ effect.

Linda has the full details of this challenge on her tag 1 post but in essence make a tag or card etc. and take something as inspiration from Linda’s tag for your own make, link this up to her post and originally you had to enter all 12 challenges by December 22nd to be eligible for the draw, but Linda is extending this with two bonus round tags on the 21st and 28th December and everything now needs to be completed by the 8th January. Linda is very generous with her prizes so you could win a $50 or $25 voucher to her on-line store ‘The Funkie Junkie Boutique’ and even get a 15% discount over January 2014.

I am just like a child running up to Christmas. I woke up at 5.30 this morning and decided to get up and make this card. What am I like???

Wishing you all a very happy weekend, it’s going to be very busy I think with preparations. I still have wrapping to do and I want to start some baking too.

Enjoy.

hugs {brenda} x0x

Winter Wonderland

Looooove this image, another new one from Crafty Individuals which is CI 399 and called ‘Winter Wonderland’. Jean is showing how the DT have used this stamp in a multitude of different ways on her blog where you can also join in with the Festive Spirit challenge for December.

This is my version.

I started with white card and stamped the image in plum archival and watercoloured with distress inks.

Some scraps of paper have been cut and inked and layered behind the image.

The movers and shapers mini snowflake was cut in chipboard and is covered with iridescent paste, aged mahogany distress ink and star dust stickles…..

… and the stickles also added to the falling snow. The sentiment is computer generated.

This one is hopefully flat enough to go easily in the post, but will need a large stamp.

Off to do my last workshop of the year at The Art of Craft this morning, we are making a non-Christmassy mini album from one sheet of 12 x 12 Coredinations paper and lots of bird themed stamps from Crafty Individuals.

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

hugs {brenda} x0x



Going around under an umbrella interferes with one's looking up at the sky.

Jerzy Kosinski

Through the frosty window

A sneak peek today as it is my turn to post over at the Country View Crafts Updates blog.

I would love to see you over there if you can find a moment amongst all the glitter, cards and decorations lol.

Thanks for popping by today.

If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade.

Tom Peters

 

hugs {brenda} x0x

Updated this post with the full edition from CVC updates blog so that I can enter it into the Simon Says Monday challenge before it finishes.

Hi Brenda here and my turn to share a project with you today. I have been using some Tim Holtz dies and a canvas to create my frosty window and who do you think is inside?

Well lets start at the beginning.

I die cut Tim's window die out of greyboard and gave it a couple of coats of picket fence distress paint .....

... and when it was dry I added crackle glaze, another coat of paint and watched the fine crackles appear.

I cut a frame from white card to go over the back of the canvas ......

.... and tore strips of tissue paper, scrumpled them up and using a wet glue adhered them to the back and sides as shown.

I made a background for the shadowbox part of the canvas .....

... and created a 3D mount from a very small canvas which is to be used inside it.

Look you can see someone peeking out, I bet you have guessed who it is? Do you like the frosty windows, this is such a cool technique. I adhered some plastic packaging to the back of the window and then smeared a little matte multi medium in the corners of the four panes of 'glass' and when dry I painted rock candy crackle paint over them. Don't you think it gives a great effect?

I painted the frame I made black after I had glued it on and then added some grunge paste through a brick mask to create the walls.

When it was dry I used some decoart paints to create the brick colours and when that was dry I again used the matte medium to glue on some distress  rock candy dry glitter to give the walls a frosty look.

The window is closed and we still can't see who it is peeking out!!

The greenery was made using coredinations papers in different greens, run through the festive greenery strip die then sanded down and inked with walnut stain.

I also used some left over 'frosty' berries from last years decorations in with the holly and greenery.

And here he is sat peeking out, it's good old Santa Claus just waiting for the 24th so he can load up the sleigh and be off delivering all his presents. Not long to go now.

Have fun with all your preparations and don't forget Santa needs to know you have been good.

hugs {brenda} x0x

Sleigh Ride 2 for Crafty Individuals

Welcome to a new week and my post today is to point you in the direction of the Crafty Individuals blog where a new challenge is up for December and we would like to challenge you to make anything festive for December.

This was not such a quick card as I was expecting it to be, but that’s because I kept changing my mind on things.

The background was made with distress inks and CI 241 snowflakes stamp.

Tim’s Townscape on the edge die with  Core’dinations paper sanded down and added distress crackle paint. When dry I painted on some white acrylic paint and glitter to make it look snowy.

I stamped the image from CI  398, one of the newest CI stamps, onto tissue paper …

… and with a paintbrush I painted a line of water around the image and gently teased it out (I use a blunt knife to help me pull the fibres apart).

I reversed it when I glued it to the background, the rough edge blends in really well and you can hardly tell it is there.

I also used the pennants on the edge die to create the top border and finished off with a computer generated sentiment.

Materials

CI 398 Santa’s Sleigh Ride – Crafty Individuals

Townscape On The Edge die – Tim Holtz for Sizzix

Distress Crackle paint – Ranger

Coredinations Black Magic paper pad

Distress inks – Iced Spruce, dried marigold, chipped sapphire

Well I managed to almost get the house decorated over the weekend, three trees and three rooms nearly finished, just a few cards to write and get out and then the presents to finish and wrap, but I feel I am nearly there now.

Those of you who were so very kind to send my Granddaughter, Becca, cards this time last year when she was in hospital will know she had a really tough time when she was diagnosed with Crohns disease. But she has flourished over the year, all her weight went back on and she has coped magnificently without her bowel working. Today she has gone back into hospital to have everything re-connected and we are hoping and praying for successful surgery for her. I will let you know how things go.

Enjoy the week and your festive preparations.

hugs {brenda} x0x

Funkie Junkie 12 tags of Christmas #9

A totally different design from Linda’s #9 tag but here are the things I took inspiration from – a large glittered snowflake, the beautiful colours, the flowers made from the tattered pinecone die and the silver embossed sentiment.

I love the cool, frosty look to this card and started with a distress stain background using faded jeans and brushed pewter creating a wonderful marbleised and metallic effect.

I used a fabulous large snowflake stamp from Penny Black and randomly stamped over with embossing ink and covered with silver embossing powder,

I stamped the sentiment onto white card using the silver embossing powder, die-cut and inked with walnut stain and vintage photo.

The large snowflake is from a woodware die-cut set that I have had for years.

I covered it with brushed pewter distress stain and when dry with glossy accents and the fabulous pumice stone distress glitter, it really comes out like a wonderful vintage glitter effect. I love it. I think I am going to go back and add a pearl to the middle though to finish it off.

I used white card again covered with the brushed pewter stain to die-cut the tattered pinecone and make the flowers edging them with walnut stain DI. I also added some sakura pen sparkle to the petals and some frosted lace stickles.

The leaves were covered with the pumice stone glitter and I mounted it onto a kraft card again edging the background with frosted lace. I don’t think the photos do justice to all the lovely subtle sparkle on this card, but it’s really pretty irl.

Linda has the full details of this challenge on her tag 1 post but in essence make a tag or card etc. and take something as inspiration from Linda’s tag for your own make, link this up to her post and enter all 12 challenges by December 22nd to be eligible for the draw. Linda is very generous with her prizes so you could win a $50 or $25 voucher to her on-line store ‘The Funkie Junkie Boutique’ and even get 10% discount over January 2014.

After I took the photos I adhered a large gem to the snowflake which added to the wintry feel of the card and then gave it to my sister who came to visit and swap Christmas presents on Sunday.

I got more cards written last night and want to get the trees in today while there is no rain or wind. Everything is winding up and getting so exciting. I just love this time of year.



Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.

~Laura Ingalls Wilder

hugs {brenda} x0x