Two very different styles

Have been to Potter and Mooch so long, it feels like I almost live there, lol! Finally managed to complete two cards today both very different. Not at all comfortable with the funky one, much more at home in my comfort zone with the pretty one! What do you think?

Beehive card

Watching the Clarity programme on Create and Craft this morning, I was impressed by the skep (beehive)that Barbara showed us how to make. As I have a little bee stamp I decided to make a card using this technique and this is the result. The flower and quote stamps are from my Sheena Douglass collection. The card is A5 size.

Mini book brooch

A friend of mine gave me a little book brooch at Christmas and well, I just had to try to replicate it didn't I?! I found making the covers easy enough due to my cartonnage course but the signatures (inside sets of pages) were more of a challenge as I had never done that before. With the aid of some video tutorials I managed to stitch them together and insert them into the covers. It was a good learning curve and although not completely happy with the result, I will certainly make one again. By the way, the little book measures 3.5cm x 4cm so really tiny!

My second notebook holder

Here's another little notebook holder that I started at home and finished off in class yesterday. Hope you like it!

Note holder

My craft journey has taken me down a different road lately. I have joined a weekly course in Cartonnage. I'm not sure how that translates into English but it is all about making things out of cardboard such as letter racks, boxes and notebooks etc. I have long wanted to make my own book from scratch, including the inside pages but this was my first project and I have to say I really enjoyed making it and I'm happy with the result. It measures 12cm square (just under 5 inches)and the paper is an Italian design called Fiorentina. I bought a little bloc of notes for the inside and recovered it in matching paper. Hoping to make a few more now that I have the hang of it!

Clarity demo card

I didn't actually see Barbara doing this demo but a friend kindly sent me the instructions and this is the result. It is a pity the camera doesn't do it justice because there was a final swipe of Encore Champagne ink across the crumpled tissue which really made it zing. It is similar in some ways to the Caught in Crystal technique but quicker to do so I think I may be making a few more in this style but with different stamped images. This is my first post of 2012 so I wish all my followers a Happy Crafty New Year!

Zentangled star

I saw this star on the Zentangle website of Rick and Maria and just had to have a go! The zentangling is a bit basic, the paper I used was a bit too thick (watercolour 300gsm) and the pen was a bit scratchy and running out of ink but apart from that, I'm happy with the shape!

The lid of box no. 3

I felt that this deserved a post all of its own. I know you have all seen the organza flower in a previous post but I am happy with its final destination on the lid of this box which I secured with "no nails". Off to make some more organza flowers..........

And box no. 3!

This box has gone through many phases. Through the night I hated the bottom of it and tonight I have transformed it with my new La Blanche stamp and now I love it! It is really all a learning curve and I am fast finding that nothing is set in stone. You can always rescue your original artwork with a little imagination! Throw nothing away!!

Box number 2

I love the paint effect on this box, pity it doesn't show up so well in the photo. I used Colourcraft Aztec Lustres paint which gives a gorgeous, well, lustre finish! Then I again used the gold acrylic swiped over certain areas. Had fun stamping floral images from Elusive Images Meadow stampsheet then embossed again with Sheena's WOW gold EP. From a previous project I found the perfectly matching tissue paper to stuff inside before finishing off with some gold braid around the edge of the lid and a butterfly brooch. I've already begun work on Box No. 3........