Boxing Clever

Boxing Clever

Hi There!

Are you beginning to think of

getting away for a long weekend

or maybe even holidaying in the

UK this year?  

Louise Thomson has been

thinking the same and has sent

us a project reminiscent of 

summer holidays .............

"I painted a wooden box, first with 

a couple of coats of gesso, then with

 some fresco finish paints. 

The edges are stamped with a

 Carabelle stamp. 

I painted in all the details, rather

 liking the idea that it could be 

a little Cornish fishing village with

 multi coloured cottages. 

Some subtle detail was added to

 the top by sponging paint on to an 

Impression Obsession cover a card stamp

 and printing it over the lid (I'm afraid it 

doesn't show well in the photo).

 A little distress oxide ink was blended 

around the edges and I finished of

 with a couple of io die cut gulls."

Thank you Louise, a timely 

reminder of summer holidays

and trips to Cornwall.

Impression Stamps Cover-a-Card stamps

can be found here

and IO dies here

Carabelle Expressions stamps are here 

I can almost taste that Cornish clotted

cream .......... dreaming on.....

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Mothering Sunday

Mothering Sunday

Hallo Everyone!

In the UK it is Mother's Day

tomorrow and if you haven't

made your card yet, here is

some inspiration from

Louise Thomson

"I have made this card with 

mothers day in mind, 

although it could be suitable 

for any number of occasions.

 

I cut a little square of scrap

 fabric using a die. 

I sponged do crafts so soft fabric paint 

on to my chosen stamps (by paper artsy)

 and printed on to the fabric.

Once I had printed several flowers, 

I filled in a little more using a paintbrush.

 When the paint was dry I added 

stickles glitter. 

I stamped in to my card blank using 

the same paperartsy stamps in 

distress oxide ink before matting

 and mounting the fabric."

A delightful card Lousie, thank

you for sharing it with us.

Unusual too, with the stamped

fabric.  Gives a nice texture

I will have to consider adding

this technique to my little book

of ideas

D'you have one of those?  I find

it really helpful in those, what shall I do moments!

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Random

Random

Hi there!

Love is in the air, floating

all around .........it must be

Valentine's week.

I know, for most it is just

the one day and for some

it isn't even thought about

but here on the blog......

it's another world so we

shall have a week's

celebration starting with

Louise Thomson

A simple Valentine's card made using 

Card-i-o stamps and Versacolour ink pads. 

Sage green ink was blended around the outside 

and the border drawn on with fine liner. 

The card was finished with a few dots of 

Stickles glitter."

Thank you for starting us off

Louise with your delicately

coloured card

Of course, it needn't be just for

Valentine's Day, it would also

make a lovely Mother's Day

card too

'Til tomorrow

Mickie xx

Random

Random

Hi There!

Have you noticed that

scrapbooking is making a

bit of a come back?   

Not surprising really with

all the gorgeous papers 

we have now that are crying

out to be used.  Anyone

remember when we just used

to stroke them?...................!

Louise Thomson is sharing a

beautiful page with us today:

"If I were a more decisive person this 

would have been a nice quick make but

 as it is it has been on my desk for 

most of a week while I arranged and 

rearranged the bits on it.

 It is made using up scraps of the lovely

 Graphic 45 papers. 

I added Sizzix die cuts embossed with aged 

embossing enamel and doodling in fineliner. 

I few little other bits and pieces added 

texture along with a picture of the pup to finish."

Thank you Louise.  Love the pup,

not to mention the page!

There are lots of lovely 12x12 pages 

on offer in the SALE Perfect for anyone

who wants to take up scrapbooking

'Til tomorrow

Mickie xx

At Random

At Random

Hallo There!

Well, here we are at the end

of the month.  In some ways

it feels to have been a very

long month, yet on the other

hand, the weeks have flown

by and we have had some

terrific projects to share with

you, well worry not, we have

yet more terrific projects

for you in February

In the meantime, take a look

at this super cityscape from

Louise Thomson

"I started by making a background

 painting it first with gesso then fresco paints.

 I added paint splatters on top and used 

a kaisercraft stencil with distress ink to 

add the brick effect. 

Paper artsy stamps were added on top

 for a final layer along with washi tape.

Using Sizzix dies I cut out the buildings and

 trees from scraps of bazzil card. 

Each piece was then individually inked

 with distress inks and stuck down.

I repeated the process using the Sizzix vehicle dies. 

I blended a little more blue distress ink around

 the border before mounting on card."

Thank you Louise for giving

us this beautiful Cityscape

This would make an excellent 

picture for a child's room

I could quite happily use it in my

journal too - every picture tells

a story......  What tale would your

picture tell?

'Til tomorrow 

Mickie xx

At Random

At Random

Hi Everyone!

Fed up with the long dark nights?

Well, here's a cheery thought, this

time next month we shall be

having our tea in daylight.  Now

there's something to look forward 

to.

To help us on our way, 

Louise Thomson has brought

abeautiful canvas with her:

"I made a simple canvas using PaperArtsy

stamps and fresco finish paints.

To begin with I simply blobbed some paint

on to my canvas and spread it using a small spatula.

Once dry, I stamped using archival inks and began painting.

When all the pink flowers were painted 

and dry, I added in more stamping

 and painted this. 

There's a shimmer coming from the 

white gold fresco paint which has

 a lovely metallic finish."

Thank you Louise - makes me

feel all smiley inside as I

contemplate summer walks

in the countryside

'Til tomorrow

Mickie xx

PS:  Have you been to the SALE

today?  take a look you might

just find a few surprises!

At Random

At Random

Hallo Everyone!

Hope you are having a lazy

Sunday................why not

spend a little time with

Louise Thomson as she plays

with Dylusions and fairies......

"I could play with Dylusions sprays all day! 

Here are a few backgrounds created by 

spraying either directly on to card then

 adding extra water, or by spraying on to my 

non stick mat and then picking up the colour

 -or both! 

I chose one of my backgrounds to 

create a simple card. 

It is stamped with Lavinia stamps 

using Memento ink, touched up 

with Wink of Stella for some sparkle

and mounted on to black card to finish."

Thank you Louise such a lovely card

and so simple to make too.  

I think the design would look 

well embossed in white on the 

darker background too.......

Have you noticed?  All three cards

that have been featured this week

would lend themselves to almost

any occasion from Get Well to

Happy Birthday to sending a note.

So just pop onto the SALE and

choose your background medium

to get you started.............

There's lots of papers too that you

can stamp directly onto for that

all important background........

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Design Team Greetings

Design Team Greetings

Merry Christmas  and

a Happy New Year

to you all

Louise xxx

The Christmas Table

The Christmas Table

Hi there!

Expect you've been too busy

to notice that the final item in

The Christmas Table wasn't

there on Saturday.......mea culpa

so, here it is today and well

worth waiting for I can assure

you!

So over to Louise Thomson to

show us how to finish our table:

"It's nearly Christmas!!! 

My favourite time of crafting :)

Today I'm sharing a technique that 

you can use for a Christmas table

 centrepiece, or to make lovely gifts.

I started by cutting lots of shapes from

Bazill card using Sizzix tiny tattered 

florals and winter greens dies.

On the flowers I tapped my clear

 embossing ink pad, then

 sprinkled with gold embossing 

powder and heated to give them

 a varied texture and colour.

I fixed the flowers together in groups

 of two or three using gold brads.

Next I spritzed some of the greenery 

with colour bloom shimmer spray.

To the holly I added a good coating of

 glossy accents and left them to dry 

draped over various things on my desk

 so they would have a bit of shape.

Finally I added dots of liquid pearl

 to the branches with berries.

With all the greenery prepared and set aside,

 I cut further die cuts from a gorgeous

 Impression Obsession die. 

I laid  the die cut over a large church candle 

and wrapped this in a piece of 

greaseproof paper.

I needed three hands to photograph the

 next bit, so you'll have to take my word for it! 

I used my heart gun to gently heat the surface

 of the candle (through the greaseproof) until 

I started to see the colour on the die cut 

change. It does a similar thing to embossing

 powder, you'll see a corner start to change

 and darken then it sort of spreads across

 the whole image.

 Once the whole image was a solid colour 

again it was done. 

I learnt the hard way... 

DON'T TAKE THE GREASEPROOF 

PAPER OFF YET! 

count to ten slowly giving the wax

 time to set a little, then remove it.

 You should find the die cut has

 embedded itself beautifully on to

 the candle.

I repeated this in the other side

 of the candle too.

I ran a couple of strips of double sided 

tape along the bottom of the candle 

and started to adhere the greenery.

With all the greens stuck down, 

I added the flowers back in.

Here's a close up of the

base of the candle:"

Materials:

Sizzix winter greens die set

Sizzix tiny tattered florals die set

Brads

Clear embossing ink

Gold embossing powder

Liquid pearls

Glossy accents

Colour bloom spray

Impression obsession reindeer die

Heat gun

Sizzix big shot

Thank you Louise, this would

look lovely on anyone's table

Our Christmas Table is now

complete - leave you to cook

the turkey/goose/nut roast

or whatever else is the tradition

in your house - but don't

forget the sprouts!  

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx