A Twinkling Halloween

If you're itching to get your Christmas lights out (I know its waaayyyy too early!), I've found the perfect project to give you the excuse.  Halloween Lanterns!

Its a really straight forward, but effective project, all you need are a stack of clear plastic cups (from the party-ware section in supermarkets), your scrapbooking papers, your usual embellishments and your creativity.  

Firstly, cut with your craft knife, a cross in the bottom of each cup, this is where you will poke the lights through - they will hold.

This is the trickiest part of the project, gradually roll the cup along a piece of paper tracing the movement with a pencil at the top or bottom end of the cup, then carefully roll back again tracing with a pencil at the opposite end.  Once you have a long enough piece, join the sides and cut out.  This will be your template to use to cut out the pieces for each cup, from your chosen paper.  I've used Basic Grey's Persimmon range.

After covering each cup, you can then decorate and embellish as you wish, its as simple as that.  I have inked the edges of each piece of paper, used a ribbler on some.  Covered the edges with trims and borders.

And then hang!

Thanks for looking and keep checking back, the girls have some fab projects coming up.

Lucky Charm

Hi, Vanessa here with my post for this month.  I've used the Lucky Charm papers from American Crafts to make a few little projects.

Firstly, I've used the 4 x 8 page protectors to start an album for last years holiday.  This is a bit different from me, A4 is my usual scrapping size, but I need a bit of a change without going back to 12 x 12.  I've incorporated a bit of embossing and found a way to use some washi tape (go me!) which I just get a total mind-block with.

My second little project is CD envelopes.  But, with a difference.  I always have receipts lying around everywhere making a mess of the place and I need to keep them until I've done my "housekeeping" budget calculations.  I also put vouchers in different places with the intention of using them when I next go to the supermarket etc.  But, have a terrible habit of forgetting where they are and miss the deadline date.

I now have handy little envelopes that I can keep them in once place, nice and tidy!  Now I just need to train my brain in remembering that I've got them!

Finally, a scrapbook page with some paper rippling (have you still got your rippler from the Sarah's Cards retreat a few years ago?) and a couple of cards.

 

Thanks for looking.

Vanessa xx

Its a Farm Life!

Hi everyone, its Vanessa here. This month, I am using papers from the Farm Girl range by October Afternoon.  I ordered the washi tape from the range too and I know its such a popular medium to use at the moment, the girls have used it in their projects in fabby and ingenious ways, but I really struggle with it!  So ...... I thought - have another go, and challenge yourself. :)

Woosh is my first layout, where I've used the tape with twine to make some flags. The tree is hand drawn and cut out.  After a little bit of misting, lots of other little pieces cut out from the papers are added.

3 in a Row is next and I as you can see, I've used a couple of strips of washi at the top, but I have also covered some "do it yourself" thickers with the tape, inked the edges and then used glossy accents over the top.

Finally, some little cards for Easter.

Thanks for looking. :)

Barging Around

Hi,  this month I've been using papers from SEI's new Mayberry range and combined them with some SC mists, stickers, wood veneer shapes and Simple Stories Odds & Ends, along with using up some old chalk inkpads and stamps.  

 

I love the colour scheme of these papers and I found my old worn out color-stack of chalk inks were perfect for smudging randomly over the card. First though, I sprayed the cardstock with the shine mist and and then rubbed in some pink, yellow and a touch of green with the chalk inks.  I then gave few spritz again over the top, which has given a lovely shimmer to the colours.  I also used a Tim Holtz mask on the pocket, once dry I lighly inked over the top with baby pink.

The butterlies are stamped with Ranger distress inks. 

 

There will be more with this range soon and more pics of my recent trip on a Barge (no photos of my steering - or rather playing dodgems on the canal!!).  Thanks for looking :) 

Supplies : SEI Mayberry papers, SC Huey Mist (shine), SC Memoir cardstock stickers, SC Wood Veneer die-cut pieces, Simple Stories Odds & Ends, misc chalk inks, black journaling pen and butterfly stamps.

Life is a Journey

Hi all.  I think Claire and me must've been on the same wavelength this month.  I've been thinking about doing a few layouts themed around the journey of my life over recent times, which have been the most challenging for a long time and I thought the papers and embellishments from the Teresa Collins World Traveller range would work well - now in the sale!  (Just love the trims!)

I've been looking up and reading blogs/websites etc which regularly give positive messages a lot of which have really rung true with me.  My first layout is made with one of these images and quotes.

My First layout - Life is a Journey, I decided to blow the dust of my maya road mists and instead of spraying, I unscrewed the lid and randomly dropped the ink over the blank page.   The flowers are made up of papers from the 6x6 World Traveller pad and I used some gloss lustre mod podge over the top.  The finished page is lightly misted over the top with maya road irridiscent.

My Second layout - On my Way (to getting my life back).  This is a short trip I took to Munich with my sister a few months ago.  Again, I dropped ink from the mists bottle and spritzed a tiny bit.  I've used glossy accents over the top of the photo corner and the two labels "Vacation" and "Journey".  Finally, I spritzed irridiscent over the top again.

Thanks for looking and I'll pop back with a few more bits and pieces from the range soon.

Jubilee Mad!

Hi everyone, Vanessa here with my first project in a while and I've gone all patriotic as the Olympics and the Jubilee are coming up very soon!  I've seen a all sorts of versions of the Union Jack out and about in the shops etc, which inspired me to show how you can get all patriotic using any kind of paper or design.  For this project I have used papers from the Cosmo Cricket Evangeline range.

The main products I have used are :-

Cosmo Cricket Evangeline - Dandelion
Cosmo Cricket Evangeline - Rose
Cosmo Cricket Washi Tape
American Crafts Microbeads (Rouge)
American Crafts DIY Thickers (Poolside)
MME Follow Your Heart, Be Amazing Twine

First up is my layout "Bat It".  For the background I've used an old rose and script stamp on some American Crafts Kraft style card and Ranger tea stain ink and I've machine stitched around the edge of the card. 

 I covered the DIY thickers with the washi tape, inked the edges and used glossy accents on the top.

The bunting is hand cut and the Union Jack stripes are hand drawn with a brown journalling pen.  I then machine stitched the bunting to the page and drew over the Union Jack lines with glossy accents.

I used another piece of washi tape on the bottom right corner, pleated, and then machine stitched over the top.

Next up is a card made up in the style of the Union Jack.  I hand stitched the twine in the shape of the cross, using a WRMK Sew Easy.
 

I cut out butterflies and roses from the paper, layered the rose and used drops of glossy accents on the top.

My next layout is a simple and straight forward page, Girl Explorer, which again has some stitching, this time freehand using the twine, along the bottom.  For the title, I covererd the DIY letters with the micro beads, which gives a lovely spongy look and feel.  I used the washi tape for the main cross on the Union Jack patch.

The small butterlies are cut from a small woodware punch.

For my last project, I decided to jazz up a 39p notebook from Tesco.

Again, it was a simple case of cutting out the strips and layering them, however, for the main cross, this time I used two strips of double sided sticky tape and sprinkled the micro beads over the top.  I wasn't too sure it would work well on a notebook, but it worked really well.

  

 Thanks, hope you enjoy! :) x

My Baby Cuz!

For my next layout using the Amy Tangerine range, I've used the Fabric Paper as my main background and using the AC Glitter Yellow gel pen, I've highlighted the yellow hearts, giving a touch of sparkle. It hasn't shown up that well on the photos, but I've also used it on my own 3d accent camera sticker cut from the from "The Good Life" paper, which does show up a bit better on the second photo.

Thanks,

Vanessa

A Doodling Footballer

Hi all, when I was deciding what to choose for my blog work this month, the Amy Tangerine range got my attention.  I love the doodle style accent stickers and the doodle designs on some the papers.  I quite often have a bit of a doodle on my pages, especially outlining embellishments and photos etc. But I always use black.   Then, I saw the AC Candy Gel pens and thought - lets try the white (first!)

Firstly, I doodled around the edge of the cardstock, several times, before putting down my first matted layer and then I doodled around the edge of the layer, and each subsequent layer after that, as well as the hand cut elements from the papers.  To add a touch of extra dimension that the accent stickers already gave, I added Glossy Accents to the heart on the camera sticker and the "you are my favourite" sticker.  I also added a thin line of Glossy Accents over the stitched effect on the Thickers.

The row of fabric hearts on the left side of the top photo are cut from the fabric paper.

Thanks all and happy doodling :).

Vanessa

Coffee Break

Today I thought I’d show a little home project, again using the State Fair collection by Studio Calico.

I really like tile coasters and I’ve always been tempted to buy a few, but then I stop myself as I think – ultra thick embossing enamel - do your own!  Okay, not ceramics, but I thought I could get a similar look from revamping old cork backed coasters.  I’ve have some old dog-eared coasters that really need to be shown the bin, but I held onto them and finally, got to give them a make-over. 

Firstly, get your finger nails and a sharp knife to hand and have a good scrape at the covering peeling off as much of the top layer as you can.

Then, using a file (or sandpaper) sand it all down to smooth.  Spread the top with plenty of wet glue and adhere your chosen paper.  Leave to dry, trim the edges and then using your file/sandpaper, file the edges.

Once done, and dry, decorate as you wish, however, nothing too bulky as you want your cup to sit comfortably once done.  I’ve stamped, used extra cuts of paper, a journaling pen and rub ons.

Finally, using a clear pigment inkpad, stamp all over the top of the coaster and sprinkle a generous layer of clear ultra thick embossing enamel.  Repeat a second time.  This really brings out the colour in the papers and ink and gives a lovely, slightly uneven, glossy top.  Once this has dried, I did spray with clear radiator enamel to seal.

Musical Dudes

Hi, its Vanessa here and this month I’m carrying on with the State Fair Collection by Studio Calico. I’m also carrying on with the misting theme (my passion for the moment!) and I’ve created this page using a quick and simple misting technique, and a few quick techniques generally, which also give effective results.

Using a mask is a quick, simple and effective way of adding a splash of colour and interest to your page. Before doing anything else, I placed the mask (by Prima) in the bottom right corner of the page and then sprayed the mist at a slight angle. The mist is Butternut Squash orange.
I’ve done a little bit of stamping with the retro radio from the AC sing-a-long collection. Stamped onto patterned paper and cut out. As well as adding colour, I love to add definition to my pages and I find outlining the page and the elements with a black journaling pen works really well.

Supplies

Prima Lace G - Red
Studio Calico State Fair Collection - Right Step Up, Pie Contest & Guess Your Weight
Miscellaneous die cuts and frame
Maya Road mist - Butternut Squash Orange
American Crafts stamps - Peechy Keen - Sing-a-long
Ripped up Starbucks coffee cup holder
Organza Rose trim

Thanks and pop back tomorrow afternoon for a little home altered project using the same paper collection.

Vanessa x