Tattered metal flower

Two posts in one evening!  Just realised Tim Holtz Tattered Florals challenge is finishing shortly and there's such a great prize, I wouldn't like to miss out on the chance to win it.  I needed a small gift box anyway so thought I'd use the "metal" flower to decorate it.  I've cut the petals out using gold and silver coated card, embossed the shapes then rubbed them over with some black and brown acrylic paint, wiping off the excess with kitchen roll (please don't look at my hands!)

The box was topped with a sheet of embossed paper from the Tattered Time matstock pack from DCWV which is already coated with a varnish-like finish so it compliments the flower perfectly.

Really pleased at the way this has caught the light.  I'm entering it at the Tattered Floral challenge  - there are loads of lovely examples there already.  Thanks for any comments.

Garden ladies

I've been asked to do a little workshop in April for a group of ladies who belong to a nearby Flower Club.  They don't have much in the way of funds so I had to think of something quite easy but attractive and inexpensive for them all to make - I think there will be between 20 and 30 of them.  The other thing is that I'll probably only have about 45 minutes and didn't want to do something that required them waiting to use tools.

So I came up with the idea of a seed packet holder which would fit in with their hobby and also produce a neat little gift to hold any spare seeds they might like to give to a friend.  I have to thank Sarah for the original idea for one holder and then I fiddled about a bit to produce the second, even easier, one.  See what you think!

The stamps are from a gorgeous Oxford Impressions set called Le Jardin which my blogging friend Lynne introduced me to.  She makes the most gorgeous creations and you need to pop over there if you haven't seen her work before.  This stamp set contains three photo quality stamps (the lady on the left is one) which print beautifully on semi-gloss card.  You can get Oxford Impressions stamps at That's Crafty but be warned, you'll find it difficult to choose!

So, I reckon if I cut the card (2 from a sheet of A4), score it then provide them with dst, ribbon, a few bits of lace, a few paper flowers and a pile of stamped pieces for them to choose from, it will be quite a nice little project.  I'm meeting up with their Chairman on Monday and hope I can persuade her to provide the seed packets LOL.  I'd be very interested in anything similar any of you have done with a group this size that went really well - thanks for popping over to see me.

Hope, Dream, Wish

Got to dash this morning as I'm due at the hairdressers but I just had to post my pic of a card I made for a dear friend.  I was inspired by the fabulous dressform over at Our Creative Corner and the lovely colours of pink, blue and cream.  I used a little Blockheads stamp I've had for ages and gave her some embossed wings.  I used some cream paint to tone down the background paper a little and then added a sweet little bouquet of silk flowers tied with seam binding.  The lace and word ribbon across the bottom just adds a bit of softness and there's a little stamped crown (nearly forgot that!) and some pearls to finish.

Its a design I know my friend will love and I'm so pleased to have got the inspiration from this challenge.

Thanks for stopping by and I'd be delighted in any comments you'd like to leave.  Also if you get the chance, please pop over to Our Creative Corner to see the lovely shabby chic examples from their design team.

Fashionable Stamping Challenge - Red/Black/Brown

Another man's birthday card needed this weekend - they seem to be coming thick and fast but using the three colours in the Fashionable Stamping Challenge, this one came together really quickly.

The globe thingy and the watch were on a set of free stamps with Creativity magazine (I do like a freebie!) and I stamped them onto some kraft card and added Fired Brick DI.  The embossed gears, the umbrella man, tissue tape and the chitchat stickers were of course Tim's and I added a bit of Rub'n'Buff Gold to the gears - still not too sure about that but I thought I'd try it.  I love the little watch parts - this was from the Docrafts Chronology pack.  Job done!

I'm entering this into the FSC challenge - thanks so much for the kickstart.

This Sweet Life

This is something I've been "playing" with for a few days now.  I wanted to try out the lovely Rusty Rose Fresco Paint and the texture paste with a mask so I used a small canvas board to experiment.  The paint went on really well and the canvas gave a nice texture.  Not too sure about the paste though - I think I still need some practice to get it right.

The stamp is one of my favourites from Crafty Individuals and the butterflies were cut from one of their background paper pads and dabbed with a bit of acrylic paint.  I tucked a little bunch of flowers behind the folded ribbon topping that lovely bit of lace I've had for ages.  The hexagons reminded me of a honeycomb so I added the little bee stamps and the "sweet" sentiments.  I cheated with the stitches and used rub-ons which I think look quite effective.

It was easy to turn this into a hanging by adding a piece of burgundy satin ribbon and backing the whole piece with some burgundy card.  I think my Mum will quite like this instead of a Mother's Day card and she won't mind a bit that this is a practice piece.

Wish I'd made this ......

Just had to post this pic today of the fantastic swap of an altered mint tin I got at our craft class.  When you think, this tin is just 4 x 2 inches in size - she has packed an amazing amount of detail into it and almost everything is handmade.  The lady is into dolls houses and makes all sorts of miniature items to fill them.  I was thrilled to be the owner of this lovely piece of work as my fingers and eyes could never cope with anything that small.  Enjoy!

Just look at that corset and the fantastic "perfume" bottles - just brilliant.

Vintage dreams

Had a lovely time playing with my new Fresco paints and texture paste (more of which later on) after getting some tips from a very good friend Laura who has been so generous with her advice - isn't blogland a lovely place?  You just have to ask for help and someone will always give freely of their expertise.

Anyway, the tag background was done with the Fresco Finish Ice Blue (I'm starting with the light colours first) and overstamped at the bottom in white with a lace stamp. The vintage stamps were from a lovely free gift on the cover of a recent Creative Stamping magazine - I love this set.  The little flowers stamp was also a freebie with Craft Stamper and I did a bit of touching up with a white opaque pen before adding a bit of twine and a Tim Holtz chit chat sticker.

Getting on now with a little canvas and the lovely pink Fresco paint and texture paste - ooh, I love getting messy!  Thanks so much for stopping by and listening to my ramblings.

Entering this into the Fun with ATCs challenge - Vintage.