Christmas Houses

Hello all!

Christmas is fast approaching...I am SO not organised! To be honest I have been busy making things for other people and not for myself; I always seem to think I have loads more time than I actually do!

Here is an MDF piece I was pleased with, made for a recent Imagination Craft's Hochanda show. It started life as plain MDF before being transformed!

The MDF was basecoated with white Gesso before I applied random thicknesses of Crackle Paste to add texture. Once dry I also stencilled a few bricks to some sections with the same paste to add another layer of interest. I used a wash of Chestnut Starlight Paint to age the houses and give some shading, making it darker or lighter as appropriate. The branches and birds are greyboard Magi-Cutz painted with Starlights and the rest are odd bits from my stash! Voila!

I think I may need to make another one for myself now!

xx

Imagination Craft's Rice Paper and Upcycled Glass

Hello there!

This is a post for all you Imagination Craft's fans, featuring some of the samples I made for the latest Hochanda show this month. The show focussed on mixed media and Rice Papers (until they rapidly sold out that is!!). My first set of samples looked at the use of the Rice Papers onto glass, with a touch of Starlight Paint to add some shimmer. This technique is great for upcycling old pieces of plain glass, or even random ornaments, (I raided the charity shop) but is also great if you like buying plain bits of cheap glass (think pound shop) and then making them into beautiful gifts.

My basic technique was to choose a main colour and then a Rice Paper design that would accentuate that (or the other way around if preferred!).  I used a wet paintbrush to moisten areas of the Rice Paper that I wanted to feature and then very gently tore around these areas to release them. Applying decoupage glue to inside of the glass item and the back of the Rice Paper, I placed into position. Once all the areas had been decorated I then gave a final glue coat all over to seal. To add colour inside and behind the Rice Paper (making it pop) I painted with Starlight Paint.

Where it was very tricky to paint inside an item (small pots) I  applied a coat of decoupage glue to the glass to create a 'key' and then covered with my choice of Starlight Paint afterwards. I attached the Rice Paper on top of this.

Once I started to play with glass and all the different ways to apply decoration, there was no limit! I applied Crackle Paste, Alchemy Wax, painted inside and out and attached embellishments to my heart's content!

Thanks for reading - see you soon!

Imagination Crafts - Mixed Media Madness!

Good Morning all!

Today I would like to share with you all the samples I made for the last Imagination Crafts One Day Special on Hochanda (June 27/28th). The products were certainly popular, as they sold out very quickly indeed! Some of the products are still available on the Imagination Crafts Website if you missed out...

Lots of love

Martina

xxxx

Imagination Crafts - Art Stamp Samples, Clocks and Rice Papers!

Hello all!

I would like to share with you some of the other crafty makes I did for the last One Day Special on Hochanda. There were so many samples from the team, as the products were all so lush to work with! Most of the items sold out, but there are still some in stock on the Imagination Craft's Website or on the Lisa B. Designs Website.

If you would like to know how any sample in particular was done, please leave a comment and I will get back to you ASAP!

Love

Martina

xx

An Imagination Crafts Nautical Crate: Rice Papers, Starlights and Wax

Good morning all!

I have a step-by-step tutorial today over on the Imagination Crafts Blog, showing how I made the crate below. This was made for a Hochanda programme showcasing Starlight Waxes, (which sold out at the time!) but there are some left on the Imagination Crafts Website if you're quick!

Thank you for visiting - see you soon!

Love

Martina

xxx