Using my stash

Hi bloggers,

Sorry for a delay in a further post, I had relatives from Australia over last week and went down south with them then had loads to catch up with.  But the good news is I came back really inspired and have made loads since my return so if the timer thing works on here there should be a few posts this week.  

So to the important stuff, like most crafters I have a stash and I have a habit of taking things I really like and hiding them away to never be used as they are too pretty or you don't have quite the right accessories to do them justice.  When I was away I bought the "Botanicals" paper pad from DoveCraft and some of the papers are just wow! I want it in every size -I would seriously reccomend you check it out, particularly the first papers.  Anyway my mission was to use one of my favourite papers from the pad and as the paper was so stunning I wanted it to be very simple and let the paper take centre stage.  Here is the finished card and a list of items used:

Products used

Dovecraft 'Botanicals' 8x8 paper pad
Vellum
Efco small flower punch
Stepper card blank and envelope
Peel off borders and corners

Pinflair peel off sentiments

Small gems


Instructions

1. I selected my favourite part of the paper (the rainbow rose) and placed the card blank over it and drew around before cutting out leaving a little extra space all around to allow wiggle room.
2. A double sided tape runner to cover the front of the card blank then stuck the cut paper on, I used my paper trimmer to trim the excess paper. 
3. I then used my small flower punch to punch out 13 flowers from the left over paper, making sure to move the punch around to get different colours.  I wanted the front of the card to be the main focus so also punched out 13 vellum flowers which I stuck on top offsetting the petals.  This made the flowers a bit more delicate so it complimented the front, but didn't steal the attention. 
4. Silver and gold border peel offs framed the front of the card with some matching corner flower designs added for a little bit more detail. 
5. As the paper pad was double sided, with the pattern on one side and plain white pearlescent on the other and the peel off separated into the sentiment and the frame I decided to mount the frame onto the white side with the greeting on the floral. 
6. Finally I added gems to the flower centres then stuck 5 of the flowers going down either side of the stepper and the final three on the back of the envelope so it coordinates.

I hope you agree the card is very effective and shows off the paper.  Well that's all for now, I will be posting quite a few times this week, including another project or two from the same paper pad to show how versatile it is so keep your eyes open. 

Finally, Happy Halloween

Wooden heart

Well it's obvious I'm new to this blogging thing, I set some posts to come up automatically and not only did it not post them it didn't save them so I have lost 6 blog posts.  I have been very busy this week, my favourite craft company Creative Expressions and are looking for Design Team members so I have been busy applying.  One task was to express yourself in a project so I made something very special that people who know me would look at it and know I had made it.  But it's been really exciting so if you can cross your fingers for me that would be great.

Anyway back to the main reason for this post, how to make a wooden heart.  The charity where I teach on a Friday (https://www.facebook.com/St-Margarets-Centre-MDF-Craft-Suppliers-980968768594579/timeline/) recently got a CNC machine so sell high quality MDF shapes, even personalised ones, and they are cheaper than anywhere else I have seen and they asked me to make some samples up to show people what they can create with a bit of imagination and when I saw this MDF heart I thought straight away of swans and these would be great for a wedding or anniversary, not only do swans make a lovely heart shape when their necks are together they also mate for life, this became a important symbol in my family as it represents my parents marriage and was part of a message he left for my mam to have once he was gone.

I started off by painting the whole shapes gold and once it was dry I went around the inside with a thin coating of pva glue and added a iridescent glitter.  Nicola at the centre then created a sunset effect with paint and a sponge and once dried I printed out two copies of swans,the first set I stuck straight on the second set I just cut out the feathers and created texture cutting into them then used collall glue to layer them up.  I used white ribbon to attach the two hearts together then added a pretty bow.  I finished it off by adding some peel off flowers and a little banner saying forever.

What do you think? Have you found your swan?

Hello and Welcome

For about 2 years I have intended to start a blog and finally got around to it.  Here you will find photos of some of my makes and instructions on how you can recreate them, reviews on any products I buy and probably lots of other things I don’t even know about yet as I am just getting acquainted with what a blog can actually do.   As I am a qualified craft teacher you may also see some makes by my students as I am immensely proud of them all.  I have added a few photos of the sorts of things you can expect to see and my first ‘proper’ blog post will be posted tomorrow.  Thanks for reading it means a lot.