Saturday, October 31, 2015

Happy Halloween...

It's here!

Happy Halloween!  It's that time of year where those that love to dress up and eat candy are very excited!  The Design Team over at Creative Paperclay® Modeling Material is excited too, especially in sharing their projects.  We got the opportunity to partner up with Gina's Designs to make this Spooktacular Event for you so enjoy!

My project is a creepy little graveyard:



Here is another view:



To make this scene I covered some chipboard base tombstones and coffin from Gina's Designs with Creative Paperclay®.



To add the stone like texture I used a toothbrush (reserved for such purpose) as shown in this picture:



To add colour to the "stones" I blended black and white paint into different shades of grey and painted each one.



For the coffin I used black paint for the most part, and some gold for the medallion.  The edges are coloured with some Creative paste.



To make the skull, spider, pumpkins,and emblem on the coffin I used Creative Paperclay and molds.



For fun I sat a plastic skeleton in the coffin.

Thank you so much for visiting now go Trick or Treating before all the good candy is gone!!

Wait, when you come back check out everyone's projects. by clicking here and enter for a chance to win prizes!!!


Materials used:
Gina's Designs: Tombstone Stand Ups, and Mini Coffin Fold Ups
Creative Paperclay® DeLight
DecoArt® Crafter's Acrylic Paint in: Black, Hunter Green, Orange (pumpkins), Amish Grey, and White
DecoArt® Media Fluid Acrylics™ in Metallic Gold
Imagine crafts Gold Metallic Creative medium
Plastic skeleton (My stash)


Monday, October 26, 2015

Halloween Boo Bag

Hi, today over at the Linnie Blooms Blog I am sharing my latest design for a Halloween Treat Bag.
Here is a sneak peak:


It is an easy project for any one to make.  All you need are some items from the Dollar or Party store, something to add colour,  some canvas Die Cuts, and trim (of course I used Linnie Blooms Products!!)some eyes that wiggle, and adhesive.  To make the "boo" sentiments I used my good old DYMO Label Maker and tape.

To read more details into the "How TO" just jump on over to the LB Blog, and see a close up picture of how I transformed an Owl Die Cut into a Cat!  It's magic!  Nah, it's just scissors.  Happy Halloween everyone!

Thanks for stopping by.

Thanks also to Faber Castell for the Big Brush pens I used, and of course Linnie Blooms for the Owl and Circle Canvas die Cuts as well as the green trim.  All other products and supplies were purchased. (Dollarama, Walmart)

Cat Lover's Hop: Sparkling Kitty



Hello, I am so happy to be participating in this new event: The Cat Lover's Hop!  I participate in other Blog Hops regularly but this one has to be one of my favourites, because it has a Cat theme!  You know how I love those felines.  So here is my project:



I made a black sparkly cat with shiny green eyes, not just because Halloween is around the corner, but because I am the proud fur mom of a beautiful long black fur cat with amazing green eyes! Do you see the resemblance?  LOL!



We are doing this Cat Theme Blog Hop from October 26 through 29.  October 29 is National Cat Day after all.  Only us feline fanatics would know this.

So To make my bling cat I used a wooden cut out that I purchased at the Dollar store, and I took off the cord meant for hanging it.



I gave it two coats of Black Acrylic Craft Paint (DecoArt), let that dry and then moved onto the bling!



The shiny embellishments are sheets of faux rhine stones that I also bought at the Dollar Store (Dollarama).  I brushed on some glue on the cat and lay down the sheets.  Once the glue was dry I just used some scissors and cut off the excess.  It is bit tricky to cut around the rhine stones, as you can't really cut through them.  I made the eyes with some more faux gems again from Dollarama.
I used my favourite craft glue: Aleen'e Tacky.



By the way I have several other projects on this blog and my YouTube Channel where I showcase cats, most often a black one!  So check them out.

I hope that you enjoy the hop, leave some comments and maybe win a prize!  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Friday, October 23, 2015

How To Work With PaperClay and Wood

Hi, today I want to share with you how I get Creative Paperclay® modelling material to adhere to a vertical wooden surface.  My trick is actually pretty simple, I just brush on a generous coat of watered down tacky glue before I lay the clay sheets down.  When I apply the clay to the wood I apply pressure carefully, and I try to wrap the clay around any sharp edges and overlap the next layer of clay.

Here are some examples of how I have done this in past projects:

                                                    (Applying a 50/50 water glue coat)


                                               (Overlapping clay around corners and edges)

I hope that you find this tip useful and have fun working with clays!  Thanks for stopping by.


Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Tropical Vacation Shadow Box

Ever wanted to make a souvenir shadow box of a favourite vacation?  Well, today is your lucky day.  Here is a project I made using Little B products as part of the Designer's Craft Connection's Blog Hop. I truly adore all the products made by Little B especially  the Adhesive Backed Notes, Tapes, Stickers and more that I can use in my planner and in my art work!  The products are very detailed, well made, and coordinate with each other in every one of the many collections.


To make this you will need a small divided wooden box like tray, this one was purchased at a Dollar Store.  It was painted in a creamy yellow with some Acrylic craft paint.  Two of the spaces were given a light blue wash to create the sky/beach background.



The decorating was done by using Little B paper products and punches.  There are three dimensional scenes made with adhesive backed notes and foam adhesives.  Several of the embellishments are also stickers and  tapes from Little B.



The  faux grass skirt fringe at the bottom was made with  White paper punched with the "Fringe" punch by Little B.  Later the 3 pieces of fringes were sprayed with some yellow ink. Once dry the fringes were layered in a staggered pattern and adhered with double sided adhesive.


To make the garland of tropical flowers as well as one of the flamingo's, the Little B "Tropical" steel Dies were used with several scraps of scrapbook  and card stock papers. Two different shades of shimmery pinks and some multi toned green paper made for pretty flowers.  The flowers were strung onto the raffia and each bloom was secured with a dab of glue to the garland.


To hang the shadow box on a wall, a choker style sea shell necklace was repurposed to be used as the hanger. It was simply strung through the hanger loops.




Here are some close up pictures of the inside spaces:


Note the space with the flamingos was made by cutting a piece of the Adhesive backed paper.  One flamingo was made with a pink scrap of paper and the Little B die. The two flamingos in the front are stickers by Little B, their legs are wires, so cute!  All the pieces were adhered with dimensional foam adhesive.

The bottom space was painted in blue and decorated with the dimensional Waves & Sandshores and Sea Shells stickers, all from Little B.

Above the beach scene the Hula Dancing girl is also another wonderful sticker from Little B which was adhered to a background made with gorgeous  tape, yes, All Little B!



In the top box in this picture more  Adhesive Backed notes were used by fussy cutting two of each sheet from the same pad.  More dimensional foam adhesive was used.  I just love the flip flops in the corner.  Of course they are Little B!

The tropical flower was made with the same die used in making the garland flowers plus two more die pieces from the very same set to create the centre bloom and stamen.

Using all the lovely paper tapes from Little B made decorating this shadow box easy, and so much fun.  Can you tell that I am a huge fan of this company and their beautiful products?

Thanks for stopping by, I hope that you get lots of inspiration from all the projects on this DCC Blog Hop!

Here is the list of Little B Products used in the project:

"Fringe" Punch #100638
"Tropical" Designer Cutting Dies # 100588
Tape #100632 ( .59 in, Gold Pineapples)
Tape #100569 (.11in, Green and Gold Stripes)
Tape  #100358 (.11in, Multi Colored Stripes)
Tape #              (.98 in, gold Foil Birds and Trees on White)
Stickers #100615 (Flamingo)
Stickers: #100164 (Waves & Sandshore)
Stickers: #100311 (Sea Shells)
Stickers: #100618 (Drink Umbrella)
Stickers: #100616 (Pineapple)
Stickers: # 100648 (Hula Girl)
Stickers:  # 100153 (Flip Flops)
Notes: #100095 (Summer)
Notes: # 100622 (Flamingo and Grass)
                                                          Click 
Other Products:
Wood Shadow Box With Divisions (7 inches square)
Acrylic Craft Paints in Sky Blue, and Yellow Daffodil
Double Sided Adhering Dimensional Foam Tape
Tacky Crafting Glue
Pieces of Craft Card Stock in pinks (Flowers and Flamingo)
Pieces of Green Scrapbook Paper (Flowers)
Raffia (Garland) 24 inches
One sheet of White Scrapbook Paper (Fringe)
Yellow Ink spray
One Choker Style Seashell Necklace (Repurposed)

Other Tools used:
Small Sharp scissors
Paint Brush

Here is your chance to win some awesome Little B™ Products:  To enter, viewers must "LIKE" the Little B Facebook Page and comment on the blog posts.  Get 2  points per comment, so the more comments the greater the chance to win!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
                                         

To see all the participating Designer's work you can click here:

Monday, October 19, 2015

Handmade Paper Thank You Cards

Handmade paper is easy and fun to make, and as a Designer over at the Arnold Grummer Design Team Blog I get to share with you my projects as do all the other so talented designers.  You can check them out here.



Today I have this card  that is it's own envelope to show you.  As you may already know I make batches of handmade paper in advance, and the paper I use in this sample was made a while ago.  However, there is a slight spin!  I added crushed dried red Maple Leafs into the pulp mixture when I poured the paper.  So that is why the paper has a rose tint to it and it is speckled throughout with flecks of red.  That made it an easy choice for today's project.



The other technique I used in the making of this Thank You Card is Paper casting in a Mould.  I poured a pulp mixture made from cotton linter into a ceramic maple leaf mould.  Before I added it to the card I coloured it with some Gelatos.

The sentiment, and ink I chose are from Stampin' Up!  I inked the edges of the card with the same colour of ink as well.

To see more pictures and get more links to the Arnold Grummer store and videos, just click here.

I hope that you are inspired to go make your own paper and cards, it truly is fun.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Materials:
Real Flower Seals/Stickers(given to me by AG, not available in store)
Rubber Stamps "Sincere Salutations"  Stampin'Up!
Dye Ink Pad "Really Rust" Stampin'Up!
Creamy Pastels "Gelatos" in Pistachio, Butterscotch, and Blood Orange by Faber Castell
Book: The Art of Paper Casting with Rycraft Ceramic Stamps Rycraft available at the Arnold Grummer store
Raffia by May Arts
Tacky Glue "Aleene's"
Template: Invitation & Thank You Card #354  Arnold Grummer
Cotton Linter for Paper Casting Arnold Grummer
Handmade Paper using the Paper Making Kit from Arnold Grummer

Friday, October 9, 2015

How to show your Thanks

How do we get ready for Halloween when Thanks giving is just around the corner?  Answer:  you make decorations that can be used for both celebrations.  As we celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend in Canada, our family  will have a few new decorations to set upon our table.  Then in a few weeks we can use them again for Halloween!



Today over at the Linnie Blooms Blog where I am a Designer on their Design Team I share this easy two for one project.  To make  a similar candle all that is needed is a candle that comes in a glass jar, some jute cord, several canvas die cut leaves, acrylic paints, a pen, ink, and hot glue sticks.



To make the place setting all that is required is a piece of card, a pen, a canvas leaf, paint, a mini clothes pin, a magnet, and glue.



Source of Supplies:
Canvas Die Cut Leaves by Linnie Blooms
Mini Wooden Clothes Pins by Linnie Blooms
Jute cord (Dollarama)
Magnets (Multi-Crafts)
Hot Glue sticks (Dollarama)
Card (Staples)
Pens by Faber Castell
Candle (Dollar Tree)
Tattered Angels Glimmer mists in: "Lemongrass, Golden Terracotta, and Tuscan Sun"
Stamping Chalk ink in Chocolate Brown

Thank you for stopping by.

How to Alter a Bird House into a Haunted House

Halloween and Haunted houses go together and I am sharing how I altered a Bird House into a Haunted House.


Today I have a post on the Creative Paperclay®Blog where I am a Designer on their Design Team.  You can get there by clicking here, and see photos of the steps involved in making your very own Haunted Bird House.

The supplies and materials needed include:  an unfinished wooden bird house (I got mine at the dollar store-"Dollarama")  Creative Paperclay®  Modeling Material,  some acrylic craft paints ( Slate Blue, and Black), a bit of tacky glue mixed with some water, glue sticks, several Halloween themed party favors (also from "Dollarama"), and  metallic Creative Medium


Some tools to use are: a large piece of dowel, tube, or a rolling pin to roll out the clay, a non stick mat is a good idea, a scraper or spatula, a brick pattern embossing folder, some paint brushes, toothpicks, and a hot glue gun.

Thank you to the following suppliers:
Creative Paperclay® (Modeling material)
Deco Arts (paints)
Imagine Crafts (Creative Medium)
iLoveToCreate® (Aleene's Tacky glue)

Thank you for stopping by.

Monday, October 5, 2015

Happy Birthday to My Son


Hello, here is the card i made for a very special young man, my son.  I am sharing it with you today as I know that examples of cards for men and boys are less common than those for women and girls.  I decided to also share my project over at the Arnold Grummer Paper Making blog where I am on the Design Team.  By following the link here you can see more details of how I made this card.

I hope that you are inspired to make some masculine type cards too.  

Thank you for visiting today.


Supplies:
Clear Stamp "A Real Boy" from Technique Tuesday
Ranger Archival "Jet Black" Ink
Ranger Distress Ink "Broken China"
Aleene's Tacky Glue
Red Line Tape
Scraps of trim from my stash
Label holder and brads from my stash
Handmade papers (by myself and the watercolour handmade paper was bought- no brand)
Luminarte Twinkling H2O's in    Blue "Carribean Mist"