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

Bokeh

Bokeh 

Hi there!

How're you doing?  Trust all

is going to plan in your corner

of the universe .....................

To round off the week's bokeh

techniques we have Angela Radford

to show us how she goes about it

Get comfy and prepare to enjoy:

"This is an official name for a specific photographic  effect.

It comes from the Japanese word for 

haze : 'boke'  and blur: Boke-aji.

It is basically the aesthetic quality of images 

out-of-focus in a photograph. 

Crafters have found ways of reproducing this effect without a camera.

There are various ways of achieving this effect 

with both wet and dry techniques. 

The one I am using today is probably the most messy 

but I know that my crafting friends out there don't mind 

getting their hands dirty! 

So here goes.

For this technique you are best using watercolour paper 

as we are going to be getting it nice and wet.

So first you will need to attach the paper to a craft mat 

with masking tape as the paper is likely to warp when wet.

Next cover it thoroughly with water,

lots of it as you need the paint to spread. 

I have started adding colour here and it shows quite well 

that the paper is very wet.

I have used Paper Artsy fresco paints for this 

and you need to add enough water to them 

so they are more like a wash 

then apply them around the paper  

allowing them to blend slightly.

It may look a little dark at this stage 

but remember it will go lighter when dry. 

You can blot it if you wish to remove some of the colour. 

Remove the masking tape and dry it by either 

leaving it to dry naturally or use your heat gun

It should now look something like this:

If the paper has distorted I place it under my craft mat 

for a couple of  hours which will flatten it out again

Now you can start to add the dotty images 

though actually you could use any shape you like 

but I like dots as they are easy to find in different sizes. 

You can use a stencil or dabbers for this. 

I used a white pigment ink at different intensities 

until I was satisfied with the coverage.

And it's time to decide how you will use the Masterboard.

But before I do that I have another practice piece that I tried 

to see how this technique would look with coloured dots too 

and here is part of the Masterboard I made but what do you think?

These would make great background papers for all kinds of projects.                                                                                        

I decided to use sections from both Masterboards to make a card

I needed a background so decided to try the technique 

on a black card blank and I really like the effect.

I played around with the layout for a while before making 

a decision about the design. 

It was during this stage that I decided to use both Masterboards.

I used small dew drops from my stash 

to finish the card which just adds that 

little bit of sparkle which is so perfect 

for this technique.

Hope you enjoyed watching me make this. 

Give it a go, it's great fun to do.

Happy crafting,

 Angela x"

Materials used:

Fresco Finish Acrylic paints by Paper Artsy.

Watercolour Paper

Black card.

Stencils.

Dies.

Stamps.

Distress Inks.

White Ink.

Dabbers.

Smoothies.

Masking tape.

Heat gun.

Echo that Angela!  

Many thanks for a super project.

I'm off to make some master boards 

So very useful to have in your stash, 

especially if you have limited time

or, like me, an awful memory.....

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Advent Calendar

Advent Calendar

Hi There!

Continuing this week theme

here is an idea I think you'll like from

Louise Thompson

To make the base board, give it a good coat of gesso

 and leave to dry. 

Then apply fresco paints in Nougat and Antarctic 

using a paint brush.

Add some Pixie dust using a spatula and then

 a little turquoise using a dry brush around the corners. 

Mix together the white fire and Antarctic paints 

and apply through the stencil in random patches 

across the board. 

Allow to dry. 

Stamp JOFY snowflakes in versa color petal pink and orchid, 

focussing mainly around the edges of the board. 

In the very centre of the board stamp Woodware’s 

‘wishing you’ greeting in orchid

Set the board to one side and make the advent crackers.

Cut 24 rectangles of white tissue or crepe paper, each 25cm x 14 cm

Cut 24 rectangles of Bo Bunny printed papers, each 7cm x 14cm

Cut 48 lengths of thread or ribbon each 15cm.

Wrap each cardboard tube in tissue paper 

and secure with double sided tape. 

Repeat with the strip of Christmas paper 

and tie one end of the tissue with ribbon. 

Add your choice of treat to the cardboard tube 

then tie the other end

Paint the Tando stars and advent numbers 

using the Fresco chalk finish paints. 

Add a layer of white fire metallic paint 

to the top of the numbers. 

Set aside to dry.

Fix the crackers in to your base board 

using double sided tape or another strong adhesive. 

Top each one with a star.

Add a number on top of each star. 

Use the leftover stars to decorate the centre of the wreath. 

Finally finish with accents of rhinestone stickles.

Materials used:

Large piece of strong card, or even better, wood

White Gesso primer

24 toilet roll middles (or wrapping paper middles cut down to size)

Fresco paints in Nougat, Antarctic, Pixie Dust, Turquoise and White Fire

Imagination craft stencil – Leaf swirl

Selection of coordinating Christmas papers (I used Bo Bunny candy cane lane)

Tando creative stars grab pack

Tando creative advent numbers

Woodware ‘wishing you’ stamp

Double sided tape

Versa colour ink pads – orchid, petal pink

White Tissue paper

JOFY Mini 07 snowflakes stamp

Non-stick craft mat

Stickles – diamond

Acrylic block

Heat gun

Ribbons

Lovely idea Louise - thank you

You could make a few extras 

and have matching crackers

for the Christmas table

Catch you tomorrow 

Mickie xx

PS  don't forget there's a Zini up for grabs

take a look at Wednesday's post............