For my Valentine

Ok, Ok I know there are two cards here and I do only have one Valentine but I got to messing around with stuff that crackles and, well, used the card for himself as a means to just let-go and have a play!  

Himself will either end up with two cards or I shall choose between them at the last minute ... think I know which one it will be but time will tell!

 Got to say I do love a bit of crackle!

This is the one himself will probably be getting ... was the one intended for him from the start.

 Close up of the crackles ... going to be using this a whole lot more from here on in!  

It is Art Basics Clear Crackle Glaze.

Have always used pots and pots of Ranger's Clear Rock Candy which gives delicate little crackles but after all these years figure it is time to move up into the world of LARGE crackles ... can't wait!!!!!

I use a lot of keys in my projects and had a delivery just as I started on these tags ... almost fell of my chair when I found the key below ... it was a sign!

So ...Happy Valentine's Day!

xXx LOVE xXx LOVE xXx LOVE xXx

WOYWW #347

Come on, dear readers, keep up! By now you should all know that WOYWW stands for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday where, courtesy of the beautiful lady that is Julia over at The Stamping Ground, us Crafty Bloggers get to share out workdesks each week and get the chance to hop to other desks all over the world for a good old nosey!  

My workdesk today is somewhat bare as I have just cleared away a whole heap of pastes and gels and mediums and metal bits etc., and replaced it with the more minimal requirements needed to make a couple of cards.  Then, once these are done, out will come the Brushos so I can make more backgrounds for the rest of the cards I need to make for this year.  Once they are all done I can PLAY and craft for the sake of it!

So directly in front of me ... pretty much speaks for itself ... nothing at all exciting to explain here!

Then to my left ... after many years of complaining and moaning about my stamp storage I decided to Take Action and got this tower contraption ... it should stand 11 drawers high but that was no use to me so hubby took out his saw and I now have two small towers ... one with a wooden top to act as an extra table.  

The very tatty cardboard box with the posting hole is a box that came containing flowers and I knew exactly what it's new mission in life would be ... I now post all my card offcuts etc., for recycling ... it works for me & is always in use as yet another space to put stuff! In this case the stuff are my folders of stencils and in the mug are my Wink of Stella pens.  

So welcome to my little crafty-arty world!  

Happy WOYWW'ing to you!  

Wooden hearts & metal bits

Oh don't be silly ... how on earth can it possibly be two whole months since I last blogged!

Ahhh, I remember now ... Christmas kinda, sorta got in the way and then I went down with that dreaded cold bug than knocked me off my feet for three weeks! 

 Today was my second day out since Christmas and I am shattered!

Headed off with my friend to the Clarity workshop, run by the delightful Maria Simms in Shrewsbury which meant a very early start - alarm clock on any day of the week when hubby is retired is a shock, let alone at 6am on a Sunday!!!!!

I like to make sure people know how I feel about them so I braved the nerves and made Maria a gift ... adding wording that should leave her with no doubt how just amazeballs she is ... had a meltdown when I finished it as I was not entirely happy with it and all the self-doubt poked me in the eye but I decided to give it to her at the last minute and I was able to relax a little when she liked it!  

The colours do not show up on here ... it graduated from blues through a sage green back to blue and was very sparkly!  I am not a fan of glitter and sit for ages deciding whether to use it or not but I do think a little sprinkling is the finishing touch.

I have a couple more to finish this week but one was a commission for a friend and is now on it's way to Australia ... one of the hearts below is another commission and I am just awaiting the details to put on the message that will go on it and the other two hearts are to be finished once I have decided what to do with them!

This one has not photographed at all well ... it is black with purple tones added ... it is very much more bright and sparkly than it looks here ... very dramatic though!

SO that wasn't a bad week's work really considering how poorly I've been ... had to do-a-bit and then take-a-break and then do-a-bit more but it keeps me quiet!

WOYWW #342

No workdesk to share as I have cleared everything away in readiness for Christmas but do admit to having serious crafting-withdrawal symptoms!  

Can share, courtesy of the beautiful Julia at The Stamping Ground- host and creator of our special WOYWW times, my cards for this year and a couple of canvasses that were sent and opened early!!!!!

This was the one sent to family & close friends.

Card for our first Great-Nephew, the delightful Henry ... will be nine months old on Christmas Day!

  Card for my husband.

Our main cards for this year and the reason my husband had to Hoover me!  

The moon is mica powder which wafted everywhere and the *S*N*O*W* is Glamour Dust ... need I say more!?!?!?

Two canvasses ... the same, but different!  Photo' taken at the WOYWW Crop 2 BPD at the end of October.  Two of the bestest friends you could ever imagine and I LOVE what they share.

I am in awe of what they give to everyone else and am proud and honoured to call them my friends.

The lady in the photo' is the wonderful Sazz (Sally-Ann Moore) who runs the Clarity East Midlands crafting group in Nottingham.  On her recent wedding day and I was lucky enough to get her as my Secret Santa at the group meet earlier this month.  Alas, me being Santa was not a secret but nobody seemed to mind too much.

These two are now in Australia and were opened on arrival rather than being put under the tree for Christmas morning!!!!!  Very naughty!!!!!

The one above had very much more purple on it than shows here ... it was not nearly as black as it seems! 

One of the best wedding photo's I have ever seen!

Might have to get a little crafting in during the holidays but today need to concentrate on baking mince pies and starting the chocolate mousse - last few cards to hang and then Christmas movies, time to stop and catch my breath and, well, to just chill!

Thanks to each and every one of you for your kindness, support & friendship yet again this year and wishing you nothing but peace & joy, health & happiness and that you all have a

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

WOYWW #337

Not even going down the road as to how long it has been since my last blog!!!! In my defence I did have a wonderful five week holiday in Scotland and a week at the WOYWW Crop 2 BPD in Burbage and time has otherwise just slipped by in a frenzy of crafting!

But back to today and time AT LAST to share with you the craziness that is my workdesk this blustery Wednesday ... for "workdesk" read dining room table as it is far too cold to work out in The Hut (what we call our conservatory) so, for a while, the chaos creeps inside the house.  The delightfully lovely Julia over at The Stamping Ground can far better explain all this WOYWW business so head on over there if you want to find out more and settle down with a cuppa and a slice of something yummy and spend a little time blog-hopping all over the world!

So to my workdesk  dining room table ... probably the last five canvasses of the year and a mad frenzy as they are intended as Christmas gifts!  Hopefully will be finished by bedtime tonight ... hopefully!

All a jumble but a system that kinda, sorta works ... out of shot on the left is a makeshift table on which is heaped yet more "stuff" to wheedle through for the canvasses.  These are at the "they are never going to work" stage but, hopefully, they will come together once I have some colour on them.

Must not forget to drink that cup of tea - green-tea-with-the-bag-in - don't drink nearly enough so must get that one down me!

Can only show sneak peeps as the recipients of these may well see them but those work in progress canvasses in the photo' above will end up looking like these ... at least, that's the plan!!!!!

SO am getting there with all the Christmas crafting ... the 150 Christmas cards are made along with around 20 or so special ones for family etc.,  Got a few wooden hearts finished but need to make more and still got loads of other stuff to get done but keep telling myself I am not stressed at all ... not even a tiny little bit ...BUT Stupid forgot to Keep It Simple AGAIN so it's a good job I quite enjoy the frenzy of this time of year.  Honest I do!

Happy WOYWW'ing!

Happy Crafting!!!!

TUTORIAL : Mixed Media Box

Well I never thought I'd "do a box" but I did and I certainly never EVER thought anyone would want a tutorial on it but so many people asked me to do one after posting it on the Finnabair & Friends - Open Studio Facebook site and also here on my blog I thought I'd better give it a go!

PLEASE bear in mind this is my first time ... I am not saying this is the right way to do it, just MY way of doing it.

If there is too much information then I apologise.

If there is not enough information then I apologise

(if anything is not clear then do please ask ... I am very happy to say how I have done something!)

I am sure there are 101 ways of getting the same results but this method worked for me so here goes ...

Basic box ... this one is about 28x28 cm / 12"x12" square.

Painted it inside and out with Art Basics Heavy Gesso - Black.

Picked my current two favourite stencils to use :

Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Flourish

Crafter's Workshop Stencil - Live Laugh Love (the small 6" one)

Mask off the parts of the stencil you don't want to use!

I used Art Basics Light Paste - Opaque Matte to apply the design.
I dry each part with my heat-gun as I apply it as I LOVE the way this paste puffs-up with the heat ... make it even more dimensional.

WARNING : next photo' may prove too much for some! 

TOTAL CHAOS as I rummage and sort out bits & bobs to decorate my box. 

I change my mind many times ... it gets stuck on and pulled off and then stuck back on again ... not sure if it is fun or stressful!

But eventually I get something that kinda works.

Or does it?  

I go into meltdown at this point and consider giving up - but come too far now so carry on!

I used Art Basics 3D Gloss Gel - Transparent to stick everything in place.

Doesn't it look truly awful?

Such a mess!

Paint it all black again!

Now comes the part that REALLY freaks me out ... applying colour!

I have no eye for colour.

I dislike pink BUT it kinda worked on the other box so decided to go for it again.  

I still dislike pink.

I spritz & squirt & spray over and over ... drying in between layers.

The colours used here are:

Art Ingredients Mica Powder - Rust (put a little into a spritzer bottle of water)

Ranger Distress Ink - Faded Jeans

Perfect Pearls Mists - Forever Blue / Blue Smoke / Heirloom Gold

Colour Bloom - Pressed Petal (the only pink I like!) / Worn Leather

I built up the colour bit by bit ... if the colour is too much I squirt with water and dab with kitchen paper ... or squirt with water and let it run and drip ... get some amazing effects doing that!

Once the inks have dried I enhance the stencilling and highlight the flowers and cogs and - well, just about everything really with gilding wax, applied with my finger.

Creative Expressions Gilding Wax - Golden Light / Decadent Denim / 

Vintage Plum

Final stage I mixed a little glass glitter with gel and used a paintbrush to apply it to small areas of the lid of the box.

When that was dry I brushed on a little gel into a few places and sprinkled it with fine black glitter.

I dislike glitter BUT totally love the black one used here!

Art Basics Soft Gloss Gel - Transparent

Art Ingredients Glass Glitter - Pitch Black

Art Ingredients Glitter Set - Ebony & Ivory

Final step was to mix a little mica powder with gel and DRY BRUSH it over the box to highlight the details ... pick up a little of the mix of powder & gel and wipe most of it off onto kitchen paper ... you need VERY little on your brush.

Art Basics Soft Gloss Gel - Transparent

Art Ingredients Mica Powder - Copper

And when all that has been done you end up with a very different box to one with which you started!

Front 

Two sides

 

Back

Close up of the details

I hope this inspires even one person to have a go ... will have made the stress of doing my first ever tutorial worthwhile!