On the Case

On the Case

Hallo There!

"Goodness me!"  She exclaimed, "It

is the last day of the month....already!"

Expect that rings a chord with a few 

of you - I wonder if we were more aware

of the date in the days prior to the IT takeover

of our lives?  Not sure I can remember that

far back........................!

Hazel Harler is here today to share a

book with us..............not just any book

I hasten to add but a very special book....

 "Hi everybody, I've a decorated book box 

to share with you today.

I used a paper mache book box.

 I glued some crumpled tissue paper to 

the spine and gave the box a coat of gesso 

inside and out.

I covered the box inside and out with

 some script rice paper.

I painted the spine with acrylic paint 

then I dry brushed some white gold

 Starlight metalic paint over it.

 Some of the embellishments I'm using. 

The frame on the photo was heat embossed

 with aged spice Frantage embossing enamel.

I made the stickpins by attaching some beads 

to a couple of headpins with glue.

The branch was painted green then painted

 with some crackle accents and then I dry brushed 

some white gold Starlight paint.

The finished box. 

I also added some roses and a word sticker

 - the photo is of me and my sister.

 I made some photo cards to go into my box. 

This card was covered with rice paper, 

I stapled some folded flowers to one edge 

and added a wooden butterfly.

The photos are me with my mum and dad, 

I won't tell you what year it was but we had

 all the mod cons - you can just about see 

the mangle behind my dad.

This card is covered with rice paper

and I just added some gems. 

The photos are of us with my grandparents. 

I chose the colours because I always remember 

my grandma in later years always wearing a white, 

purple and green cardigan.

 Card again covered with rice paper, 

I embellished the card with wooden birds 

that I'd painted with Starlight paints. 

This is a photo of my lovely Auntie Nellie.

The card is covered with rice paper,

 I also used another piece of rice paper to

 embellish the card and I added some 

seagull die cuts. 

The photo is me and my sister with dad 

on a caravan holiday.

The cards are in their box and because I didn't

 go mad with the embellishments 

I have room for more cards.

 I've enjoyed making the cards but I think

 words are missing so I'll sort that out later."

Supplies:

Paper mache book box.

Imagination Crafts rice paper.

Plain card.

Tissue paper.

Acrylic paint.

Gesso.

Imagination Starlight paints.

Frantage embossing enamel.

Crackle accents.

Impression Obsession seagull die.

Embellishments - 

wooden shapes, lace, beads, headpins,

 skelleton leaves, gems.

Thank you Hazel for showing us

some of your beautiful memories 

in your gorgeous memory book

Those rice papers really lend themselves

to this sort of project don't they?  So many

designs to choose from too - bound to be

something to suit every mood and/or taste

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

On the Case

On the Case

Hallo Everyone!

Hope your week has started off

well and will continue on the up

We have a great week planned

and here is Louise Thomson to

start us off.....

"When my hubby and I got married, 

a friend of ours gave us a 'treasure box' to

 keep all the little bits and pieces you

 gather over the years from dates and 

holidays and such like. 

I loved it so much that I've made one for

 pretty much everyone I know who's got 

married since! 

This one is destined for a friend who is

 getting married shortly and is having

 a literary themed wedding. 

It started out life as very ordinary

 office storage.

I gave the whole box a couple of coats of 

gesso primer.

While the gesso dried, I stamped this incredible 

impression obsession book stamp in archival 

cobalt blue ink.

I kept going until the whole piece of

 tissue paper was coated!

Then mixed some pva and water and 

used it to cover the top of the box.

The base of the box also got a coating in gesso,

 followed by a coating of starlight paint in turquoise.

With the starlight paint dry, I softened 

the look using fresco paint in chalk, which I

 then sanded back. 

I also added in some scraps of paper, 

stencilling, and a few paint splatters for 

good measure!

I made a background card using 

distress oxide inks. I smooshed them on 

to my non stick mat, spritzed with water 

and picked up the colour on the card. 

I repeated this several times, 

drying between each layer.

Next I added some stencilling.

This was followed by some script stamping 

and some die cut birds and lettering.

To the top of the box I added more stencilling, 

this time using grunge paste.

 I repeated this stencil several times to 

build up the background.

 I also added some more of the floral stencil.

Once the grunge paste had dried, I replaced the

 floral stencil and added colour using

 cracked pistachio and worn lipstick distress oxides.

Using some leftover background card I cut

 out some little birds using an impression obsession

 die set.

I fiddled about with the layout for a long time

 adding some gorgeous graphic 45 papers

 and a few little extra details such as the

 stitching in this picture.

A feather quill from a Bo Bunny stamp set.

More inking and stamping

This picture shows up the earlier stencilling better, 

and a little bird die. 

I 'hid' birds perched all around the book shelves

 just for fun.

I looked up some quotes online and found 

this rather romantic one which comes from 

one of my friends favourite books. 

The background here is made by spritzing card

 with color bloom.

Finally the finished layout!"

Materials list;

Office filing box

White Gesso

Impression Obsession Cover a Card stamp - Books

White Tissue paper

Archival ink mini set one

Starlights paint - turquoise

Fresco paints - Chalk

Paper scraps from stash

Tim holtz layering stencil - floral

Distress oxides

Non-stick craft mat

Heat gun

Blending tool

Kaisercraft 12x12 mini mix stencil

Grunge paste

Impression Obsession small bird set die

Sizzix thinlits die delicate lower case

Bo bunny - Birds of a feather

Color bloom spray – Sorbet

Micron fineliner

Thank you Louise.  Your friend

is going to be so pleased with

her box after all the thought 

you have put into it.  

Such a lovely idea for a wedding

gift.  There are so many bits and pieces that

we collect on our journey through life

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

News

News

Happy Bank Holiday Weekend!

Well, that's here in England.  If

you are elsewhere in the world

I hope you have something

 super to celebrate too

Helen Chilton has been taking

the time to have an in-depth look

at Creative Expressions' new

Metallic Gilding Polish and

here she is to tell you all about it

.........

" I've really put this product through its

 paces and I have to say I'm impressed.  

The colour range is beautiful and it really 

buffs up to produce a fabulous metallic sheen.

It comes in a pot like this:

Pull the top to the side to release the sponge

 applicator before unscrewing the lid.

It says to prep the sponges with soapy water. 

(I only read that halyway through!!!) 

However you do need to let them dry a bit 

or else it dilutes the polish (or squeeze 

them out as much as you can).

And there you have it. it's sort of squidgy! 

When not in use the sponge sits in the holder.

You don't have to use the sponge if you

 don't want to - you can use 

a paintbrush or your fingers as well.

Dip the sponge in and ....

....lightly, using circular movements, 

brush over the embossed pattern.

You can also press much harder as on

 the right and colour the background as well. 

Buff up with some kitchen towel.

It shows up on all colour card:

 from left to right: kraft card, white card, black card.

Also try tone on tone: purple polish on purple card.

Here I've added colour on top of the 

orange polish - love it!

Try colouring some glossy card and then

 removing colour through a stencil - 

this polish is water based and comes off

 easily with a baby wipe.

Here I've coloured with two polishes - 

Tangy Tangerine and Dark Cherry - 

and then...

... over coloured with the silver. The sheen is amazing!

This is stencilled with the Silver Dream over

 a Tangy Tangerine and Indian Pink background. 

The thicker you apply the polish the more raised 

the edges of the pattern will be.

Working on glossy card again, I've first taken

 out colour with a baby wipe then slightly 

moved the stencil and stencilled in Dark Cherry.

This background is done on Yupo - the 

polishes did react with blending solution which 

was quite interesting. You get a really shabby look.

You can use the polishes to stamp with - 

ink the stamp up using the sponge or your fingers.

On the left I've stamped neat, 

on the right I've spritzed the stamp with water.

On this one I've added polish over the stamping 

and gently wiped it back with a baby wipe.

Here I've stamped and embossed and then 

coloured the background. 

Just wipe stamped image with a 

baby wipe to bring back the colour. 

On the left white embossing, on the right clear

 embossing on purple card over polished with 

Tangy Tangerine.

You can also paint with the polishes.

 Just dip in your brush and go for it.

I've tried it out on lots of surfaces here 

and I was impressed. 

On the whiteboard bottle I heat dried the 

polish to give that texture.

This is a Stampbord bag charm on a 

stencilled background. 

The polish scratches back beautifully.

Look at the detail you can etch in.

I've made use of one of the embossed 

backgrounds here.

The panel is edged with the Silver Dream 

polish and heated.

As you can see from this card, It's easy to

 stamp over the polished surface.

 I used Archival inkpads.

I've painted in extra colour with a brush."

Materials used:

Cosmic Shimmer Metllic Guilding Polish

Imaginations Crafts Art stamp:

Woodware stamp: 

PaperArtsy

Various embossing folders

Tim Holtz Layering Stencil: 

PaperArtsy Stencil:

Thank you Helen - I think we

are going to have to add at

least one colour of this product

to our stash now we've been

shown what it can do .........

Hope Helen has difused some

of the mystery of the luscious 

new Guilding Polish for you

'Til tomorrow

Mickie xx