Paint Fusion Fushias - An Altered Stickles Rack

Hello crafty friends!

A journey into a 'brave new world' for me today, by request of my daughter! I received some of Sheena's amazing Paint Fusion Stamps as a present, but I have been a little scared of doing much with them...

Ages ago Adele bought a Clevercut rack to hold loads of Stickles, but apart from being assembled, it remained in its bare state staring at me. I was just going to paint it plainly to get it done, but Adele decided she wanted me to use some Paint Fusion flowers on it (no pressure then!!)

Anyway, here are my first efforts, not perfect at all, but I am working on it! I really need to get the hang of the veins, but I think I need a smaller brush for that. The good thing is that the back panel is screwed to the wall anyway and you can't really see the sides once it's up! I know it's there though and Adele was happy with my efforts, so that's all that matters.

Thank you for looking!

P.S. the front section had no room for flowers - only the Stickles with the distressed paint look in between!

xx 

Crafter's Companion Foil Transfers and Rice Paper - Quick and Easy!

Good day crafty folk! I have a quick and easy make over on the Lisa B. Designs Blog today, please pop by and see how easy it is to make the card below!

Love

Martina

xxx

Rare Oddities - Graphic 45 Papers to make an Ink Storage Solution

Good evening crafters! As promised, I am back with another crafty storage make for my 'organised' craft room.

This unit is designed by Stamps Away (or 'Clevercut) and is meant for small square inks (Versacolor etc). The unit comes flat-packed and is easily assembled with strong PVA glue to secure. Once dry I always fill the 'joins' with decorators' filler and sand the excess off ( I like the surfaces to be smooth). With a perfect base created, I painted the whole unit using DecoArt Chalky Finish Paint in Remembrance. This does take a while, but only one coat is needed, as the DecoArt Paint is fabulous to use.

To smarten up the trays (yes I know the inks will hide most of it!) I added some Imagination Craft's Starlight Wax to 'distress' it and then used lots of little Lavinia and Cardio Stamps in each of the cavities. The final touch was a light spray with gold Crafter's Companion Sparkle and Shine.

I also added some wax to the edges of the unit and the inside.

I did not want to make the outside of the unit too 3D, but it was a perfect excuse to use some of my gorgeous Graphic 45 Rare Oddities Papers! (that way I can always look at them and also not give them away!) I finished the edges with some purple braid from my stash.

 

Here is the finished unit! All ready to go and in use already.

Thank you for reading,

Love

Martina

xxx

An Imagination Craft's Rice Paper Decoupage Card

Hello all! I have the project below over on the Lisa B. Designs Blog today, please pop by to see a step-by-step guide! I have used Rice Papers, Crafter's Companion Foil, PaperArtsy Infusions, Art Stamps, Starlights, and a PaperArtsy JOFY stencil. 

See you soon,

Love,

Martina

xxx

A Pretty MDF Piece: Flowers, Rice Paper and Transfers

Good morning all! How are you doing today? Made any crafty things lately? I am in the middle of the busiest months of the year for cards, with tonnes of birthdays and events to make for...oh dear! As my daughter said to me "I have high expectations mum, you always make a better card each year" NO PRESSURE THEN!!!

Aside from those projects, I have also made the MDF piece below, which is shown today over on the Lisa. B. Designs Blog. Pop over and take a peek for a step-by-step guide!

    Love

Martina

xxx

Poles Apart but Best Friends!

A very cold feel to the card from me this week over on the Lisa B. Designs Blog. I have played with the gorgeous Hobby Art Poles Apart characters...here is a sneak peek, click HERE to see the complete post and finished card!

Let it Snow!

Some cute and cuddly Hobby Art friends from me this week over on the Lisa B. Designs Blog! Click HERE to see the full post, but here's a sneak peek...

Back from a Crafty Blogging Break!

It has been a while since I have blogged, I know! There are two reasons for this really: I had my 4th baby in March and prior to that I have been posting each week on the Lisa B. Design's Blog! So, I have been busy, really! Along with all this I have managed to retreat into the crafty nook (otherwise known as my study) occasionally, and have made cards as often as I can! Here are a few things I have played with...

Sheena Douglass Perfect Partners dies and stamps, Distress Inks, Imagination Crafts stencil...

A card with an acetate front, Imagination Crafts Sparkle Medium, Tattered Lace Dies, Just Rite stamps, Spellbinders Dies and a Sue Wilson Border

Various Card-io Stamps, Versafine Inks

Polkadoodles stamps, watercolours, Distress Ink, Card-io stamps

Inkylicious stamps, Memento Inks, Clarity Stamps

I am still part of the Lisa B. Design's Design Team, so I will be posting a new project each week over there, each time explaining the products and methods used. Click HERE to see the blog and regular posts from the team!

Flowers and Fairies...

You know when you buy a stamp plate and you love it, but you haven't used it for ages? I am like that with all my Crafters' Companion fairies stamps. I decided that I liked this little fairy and wanted an excuse to use her on a project! The fairy, sentiments, butterfly and flowers are all from the 'Lavender Fairy' plate. The flowers were tricky to line up and overstamp, but I think they came out ok in the end. I think if I had used a stamp without a definite line at the bottom it would have been much easier! The outlines were all embossed with black detail powder and the colour was applied using watercolour pencils. A touch of Hunkydory Diamond Sparkles 'Fairy Daydreams' finished the card off, along with some stickles in the lavender. I will enter this card in Lisa Bakers' challenge this month - 'Spring Watercolours'.

Just a Line to Say...

This card was made for my brother-in-law. I find mens' cards really tricky, as there seems to be certain stereotypes, but not all men fit into these! This card has a base made from two 6x6 craft card blanks made into a gatefold card. I have used a Crafter's Companion CD Rom - Beatrix Potter's Jeremy Fisher. The decoupage has been printed from the disc and then layered up with Pinflair. I have also made the images nest into a Spellbinders die in some complimentary green. The backing papers have been printed from the CD and again layered onto complimentary cardstock. The 'wheat' is a Spellbinders D'Lites die and the foliage is made from Tattered Lace and Marianne Creatables dies. The sentiment is from the Crafter's Companion Jeremy Fisher stamp plate. On the reverse of the card I have used the CD to print a matching 'insert'.

Fairy Romance with added Sparkle!

I was actually really pleased with how this card turned out for me! When I started, it just seemed a rather busy mess, but a little more play and I got what I wanted. The 6x6 craft card blank has been layered with coordination card stock in matching colours to the inks I chose: Distress Inks - Vintage Photo, Scattered Straw and Spiced Marmalade.The main panel is matt cardstock, coloured using layers of ink graduating in colour. I have then taken a script stamp and stamped over the lot in the palest of the inks. On top of this I have stencilled through the Sweet Poppy stencil (dandelion like) in various layers of ink and again tried to graduate the colour. The mushrooms are a Lavinia Stamp, as is the fairy couple. I have gone over the fairies with a layer of Wink of Stella (clear) and have grounded the fairies by creating a small hill using torn paper as a stencil. The top sparkly dandelions are from the same beautiful stencil, but this time pasting some Champagne Sparkle Medium through it; I love this colour, more subtle then gold, but still a great feature. The card has been finished with a Crafter's Companion Cute Companions sentiment stamp put on a Spellbinders Basic Oval. The dark brown matt is a D-lites die. The small brown pearls bring the eye in. Overall I think I like mixing up lots of layers and textures!
Thanks for looking!

Textured Backgrounds

These cards were inspired by the previous post. The card sizes are 6x6 and the blanks are from Anne Marie Designs. The front stamped panel has been created by using the Imagination Craft's Stencil 'Apple Blossom' and gently adding the colour 'creamy brown' from a Cat's Eye pad though it. On top of that I have randomly stamped the Indigoblu 'Dinky Flourish' stamp in Distress Ink (bundled sage) all over the sides. The butterfly is from Penny Black and has been randomly stamped again before being heat embossed with Cosmic Shimmer sparkle detail powder. The same has been done with the sentiment, which is from the Crafter's Companion plate Beatrix Potter - The Tale of Mrs Tiggywinkle. All the butterflies have been 'painted' using the inks. I have also stamped the butterfly again, embossed and cut it out. I have shaped it and raised it using Pinflair to give some dimension. The backing paper depicts the same colours and is from the pad 'Isabelle' by First Edition. Some raffia and some wooden embellishments finish the front. The inside has had a very faint version of some of the same initial inky layers applied.

 

Spring Flowers With Love

Moving away from Christmas into spring now!
These cards have been made using 7x7 white Centura Pearl cardstock. I have then chosen some backing papers from the First Edition pad 'Dreamcatcher' and some co-ordination cardstock to pick out certain colours.
The first two layers are co-ordination card to which I have added a 'dot-dash' pattern using a Micron pen. I have then cut a piece of white Centura Pearl card to fit inside this and using Spellbinders D-Lites flower dies, cut several shapes. Some more Dreamcatcher card has been added behind the cut -out flowers to show through to the front. I have also cut several more Spellbinders flowers in all sorts of co-ordinating card, embossed them to make them 'pop' and added them randomly. The little butterflies are actually from a Card-io set called 'Sketchy Spring Floral' and I have added little 'tails' to them. Finally, the sentiment is from one of the Flower Fairies stamps from Crafter's Companion. I am going to enter this card in Lisa Baker's blog challenge - 'Anything Goes'.

Baby Humphrey!

 Here are a couple of new baby cards that I have recently had to quickly assemble, fortunately I have had some die-cut Crafter's Companion Humphrey's Corner decoupage to save me! I have to say the one thing I hate about craft...cutting any sort of decoupage! Hey presto, the cheat's answer to this becomes available and here I am! I have combined with some papers from my stash and cut the word 'baby' for the card below with my Cricut American Alphabet cartridge.  Some lace and odd bits of bobs complete these very simple cards.

Card Candi Flowers

 I recently saw some Card Candi stamps that I thought were really simple but effective, so I thought I just had to give them a go! I also just happened to have acquired (!) a few Embossalicious folders which I thought might frame the main image nicely. I like these Crafter's Companion Diesire folders, they are the perfect size for my Big Shot and my usual 6x6 card size! This folder called 'Elegant Frame' gives a great feature to focus the eye. Both these cards are both made using the one of the Woodware Bubble Bloom Card Candi stamps, which also come with the sentiment I have used here. I have stamped them both twice, the second time just cutting out the leaves to coordinate with the main colour I chose. I have tried to go tone in tone with all the embellishments as well, as I thought the main image would look a bit busy otherwise! The ink has been added just to highlight the folders (Tumbled Glass Distress Ink). The card below also utilises one of the Spellbinders D'lites dies to accent the sentiment.

Thank You Teacher

At the end of another school year it's time to say thank you to those amazing teachers who inspire our little rugrats each day, so I thought I would use Crafter's Companion Popcorn the Bear to help me! I have coloured him using Tim Holtz Distress Markers on watercolour paper and cut out. This topper has then been layered onto a Spellbinder's circle shape to make it pop. The sentiment is a LOTV one. The doily in the background has been coloured using Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and layered onto some Hunkydory card with a strip of some orange paper I had in my bits box. The butterflies are actually the waste elements cut out when cutting a Spellbinder's Butterfly Circle die!                                                                                

Magical Dandelions

Back to fairies! This is a simple little card, using some fairy and dandelion stamps from Lavinia. I have stamped the dandelion heads at different heights, some using white ink and some using a starlight silver (both Dewdrop pads). I have added some stickles to the flower heads to add some dimension and interest. The fairies have been embossed in silver with silver ribbon and a matching sentiment to finish (a Crafter's Companion Fairyopolis sentiment).

Get Well Soon Teddy!

 This is another LOTV image, one that I think would brighten you up if you were feeling poorly! I have coloured the main image using Promarkers and the backing paper is from my stash (a DCWV one I think!). The sentiment is a Crafter's Companion one and the flower embellishment has been cut using my Cricut machine and the Art Nouveau cartridge. I have distressed the flower slightly to soften the edges (difficult to see in the photo I know!)

Party Girl!

A friend of mine at work is very excited about her birthday, and as she is a little bit of a party animal, this card was made especially for her! I had to (!) treat myself to some of the new Strawberry Kisses stamps, and as Crafter's Companion had some offers on the range for their birthday week, it seemed the perfect time! I have used some papers from a pad called 'Dreamcatcher' for the background and flowers. I have coloured the image using Promarkers and have used a mask to 'Spray and Sparkle' the shoe (although you can't really see it in the photo). Spellbinders have been used to cut the image and layer it. I hope she likes it on Monday! As the Crafter's Companion challenge is also about flowers this month, I am also going to enter this in it...

Golden Wedding Anniversary Cards

Once again a request; a card for a husband to celebrate 50 years together. Not to be traditional, funny and for a couple who love animals and are having 2 mice on the cake... This first card was made using the Cute Companions stamps, one from Summer Stories and one from the original range. The patterned paper is from the Summer Stories CD Rom. The swirls have been cut using Cricut Essentials and the flowers using a punch. The banners were stamped and cut out. The sentiment was printed on my printer and cut with Spellbinders...phew!! Oh, and I have coloured with Promarkers and Scattered Straw Distress inks!

This was option 2, the image is from the Humprey's Corner Crafters Companion's 'All Occasions' decoupage set. I have mounted using Spellbinders Ovals and Scalloped Ovals. The flourishes are from Spellbinders to, the new 'Jewel Fanatasies' dies. I have also used Persian Accents and Motifs dies from Spellbinders and some flowers from my stash to finish it off. In the end both cards were taken, and they were a pleasure to make for a lady who volunteers at the Hospice in the Weald, where my husband works (the lady in questions also regularly supplies us with yummy cakes!)