Altered boxes

Some of you may know that I have embarked on an on-line course on altered boxes with the talented Louise Crosbie, aka Zuzu's Petals. This is my first box and I had a lot of fun altering it. First I sprayed it with mica powders that I mixed with water in my mini-spritzer. The colour is a beautiful peach though it doesn't show up too well in this photo. Then I dry brushed over it with gold acrylic paint and added a torn napkin with a roses and music theme and complemented that with some torn, distressed music paper around the sides. I then rubbed gold wax here and there over the music paper and finished off the lid with one of Sheena Douglass's flourish stamps embossed with her brass WoW EP. I coloured some lace with Distress Ink and attached it to the side of the lid. I'm happy with my first effort but realise now that I need to have a complete theme in mind and the necessary embellishments to decorate it before I begin my second box (though I have to confess to having already painted one in delicious pearlescent blue acrylic and again added dry brush gold acrylic on top in readiness - lol!) Loving this journey!

Another Christmas teabag card

I had some die cuts left over from a previous project and decided to make another (final - lol!) teabag card. Sometimes life is just too short and other interesting techniques beckon. So if you receive this card from me this Christmas, put it somewhere safe, it could just become a collectors item :)

Fascinating Organza!

I have been wanting to try to make an organza flower for a week or so and finally bought the material on Saturday and made this on Sunday. I was hoping it would be brooch-size but it turned out to be 15cm in diameter! I think it will have to be either worn on the head (a fascinator?) or sewn onto a bag. I found a piece of Friendly Plastic that I had "oozed" with Angelina fibres which seemed to match it perfectly. DH kindly made holes in it and I sewed it in place. The colour doesn't come out too well in the photo but the organza is a beautiful shimmery deep burgundy. Fun to make but patience required!

Tea-bag folded Christmas card

Here is a tea-bag folded Christmas card that I made in advance of Friday's workshop.Of course there are many variations on tea-bag folds but this is the most basic one. (Don't forget to click on the photo to see it in greater detail.)

Iris folded Christmas cards

Gosh, it is nearly 6 weeks since I last posted. What a naughty blogger I am! I am running a workshop on Friday on the techniques of iris folding and teabag folding. Here are a couple of samples I've prepared in advance.

A new series.....

I thought I'd do a series of cards like this as they are fairly quick and easy. Well, after the preceding post I thought I needed to speed up my production somewhat - lol! This was created by laying down some Distress Inks on my craft mat, spritzing with water and finally dragging some glossy photo paper through it. I then mounted it onto some complementary coloured card and finally onto some A5 white card stock. The greeting and insert were done on the computer. I feel the photo doesn't do it justice as, in real life, the image is really glossy, but I hope you like it.

A challenge to myself......

I don't do quick and easy cards but this one took the biscuit for the most complicated and longest in the making I think I have ever made! I really wanted to make this card as I loved the design of the brass stencil and decoupage images by Mattie. This was not die cut! First I embossed the swirls on my lightbox and then cut out various elements. I cut round parts of it, leaving some attached to the frame. Then I added some blue backing paper and cut out the hat and added 3 layers of flowers with sticky pads (couldn't find my silicon glue!) I really enjoyed making this card and think it is one of my most satisfying to date. I won't tell you how long it took me to make...... but if you should receive it, you'll know how very special you are to me!

Favourite leaf

I felt this little leaf deserved a picture of its own as it is definitely my favourite. It was stamped on acetate with black Stazon and gilded flakes were added on the reverse side.

Leaf samples

I am running a papercraft workshop on Thursday and thought I would make up a page with a variety of ways of using the same stamp to get different effects. I'm sure there are many more but think this will suffice for the moment!

Pam's birthday card

This is an encaustic piece that I made a few months ago. My friend Pam admired it and so I earmarked it for her birthday card. Happy Birthday, Pam!