Family Fun...a LO for Bubbly Funk

I've got a quick and easy summer LO over on the Bubbly Scrumptious blog today...click here to see all the details 

50 points to anyone who can spot me in the LO...I am in one of the photos...can you find me??? :0)

Bubbly Scrumptious update...Valentine projects...

have you been over to the Bubbly Scrumptious blog to see my latest creations...i've gone all romantic for Valentine's day :0)  if not...just click here!

who said Valentine's have to be red or pink, eh? ;0)

constantly amazed!

i am constantly amazed by just how many beautiful effects and textures can be created with a little Distress Ink and some water...

now...i have to go and play with some of my other favourite colours...back soon!

a little wine...bottle!

Hi there bloggers...i do hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year celebrations.

Despite alot of illness throughout the whole family...we all managed to be well enough on the big day to spend a few hours together and had a thoroughly fabulous time...which i plan to scrap later today! :0)  Have you scrapped your day yet??

Now...back to the wine...its not a Christmas whine...but a Christmassy bottle of mulled wine...a perfect but inexpensive gift {depending how much brandy you put in it}.  I decorated this empty brandy bottle with Viva Decor Croco paint and tinted it with Saddle Brown Stazon to give it a lovely golden glow.  I die cut the label using a Nestability die and stamped and embossed the words "a little festive spirit" in gold embossing powder using a PaperArtsy alphabet.  I edged the die cut with Cranberry Adirondack ink using some cut and dry foam to add a little age and depth to the label.

Obviously, the glass changes colour completely when you pop the mulled wine in...

To embellish the bottle i tinted some Prima flowers with the Stazon ink and then used Alchol Inks, dropping them directly onto the white pearl centres and letting the ink run along the veins in the flower.  I then dipped the edges of the petals into drops of ink placed onto my craft sheet to get the coppery colour around the edges of the petals.  Finally i added some Prima leaves and beads...and i think you have a pretty spectacular gift in minimal time...with maximun impact!  The lace i've used was also tinted using the Stazon so all the colours tone beautifully which really helps to create a project that *works* and looks well thought out.

Now...who can you think of in your life that needs a bottle like this..?  I think it would make a lovely gift to take to a New Years' Eve party...and if you're not a drinker...you could do a similar bottle and fill it with luxury bubble bath for an alternative kind of treat!

Happy New Year to you all, 

alixxx

Bubbly Scrumptious update...oh 3~D Christmas tree...

still not able to post pictures...but i have another project over on Bubbly Scrumptious today...just click to here to  be magically transported to a world of 3~D trees!

I'm a creative girl!

I don't know if you've noticed...but i've been invited to join the fabulously talented DT over at Its a Creative World...and i'm sooo happy to join this super fun team who share a wide and wonderful variety of crafty ideas on their blog every day!

Today is my first offering for them...and you can see my creation and details on how to create something similar for yourself...just here.

Don't forget to add IACW to your blog list or follow us as this blog is well worth a regular look :0)

30 minute Thursdays...a very simple needle book

hi there Thursday crafters!

a useful 30 minute project for you today...a very simple needle case using leftover felt pieces...another project which is simple enough to do with the younger crafters in your lives...but cute enough to do for yourself or even as a gift for another stitcher :0)

You will need:

2 colours of felt

embroidery floss and a large holed needle

scissors and/or a die cutter

a button

some needles

Begin with 3 pieces of felt layered one upon the other.  I have alternated light and dark for contrast and my pieces are roughly 6" x 3".

Add a simple line of running stitch through the centre to create a spine for your needle book and hold the pages together.  Do a double stitch {i.e. stitch again over the original stitch} at either end and tie a knot.  Trim this fairly closely.  Make sure your stitches do not go right to the edges!!

Close the book up and use big sharp scissors to cut it into a fun shape...this is why you didn't want to stitch right to the edge...you don't want to cut your stitching ;0)

Fill the leaves of your book with a selection of needles or pins of your choosing...

Finally, we will decorate the book.  I've cut two Tim Holtz tattered floral blooms on my Big Shot and layered them with a toning button in the middle.  Sew these together and then sew onto the front to hold the front down and keep your book in shape, and to give it a bit of personality.  If you don't have a die cutter you could cut any simple flower shape by hand and make a truly unique needle book.

Thanks for stopping by and as usual i hope you enjoy having a go at this project...its part of my never ending quest to create a simpler, more organised craftroom!! lol

30 minute Thursdays...personalised keychain...

Hi all...its Thursday again...so time for another 30 minute project...this week i've created a personalised keychain with a photo of my hubby on it. Of course, you're unlikely to want my hubby on your keychain...so feel free to add photos of your children, pets or favourite flowers...whatever you love!

Materials:

1 large Tim Holtz facet and the jump rings you get in the pack

Glossy Accents

2 charms of your choosing

alcohol inks

Stickles

a scrap of ribbon

a keychain

a scrap of pp

a photo

The first step is to adhere your pp to your facet using a smoosh of Glossy Accents. Move the facet around a bit {wiggle it} to spread the glue and allow it to dry for about 30 seconds. Cut carefully around the facet.

Next, adhere your photo to the reverse of the pp just as before, wiggling the facet for good adhesion...and allow to dry. Trim as before and using a pokey tool, remake the hole all the way through so you can attach the jump ring.

Using the jump rings in the pace of facets, make a simple chain of 5 rings with the keychain on one end and the facet on the other. Take your charms and colour them by dabbing with alcohol inks and when dry {again about a minute unless you've totally soaked them!} add a dab of glitter glue with your finger for some subtle sparkle. Leave this to dry, then using two more jump rings attach the two charms to the chain.

The final step is to simply tie on a piece of co~ordinating ribbon and attach keys!

And there you have it...a simple but personalised keychain perfect for a gift or as in my case, just for yourself...because *you're worth it* muahahahahaha

bubbly scrumptious update...Tim's fragments...

i do hope you'll pop on over to Bubbly Scrumptious and see what i've made for you today...using Tim's darling fragments and some yummy Prima pp :0)

just click here!

30 minute Thursdays!

For this week's 30 minute Thursday i decided to whip up a Speckled Easter Egg Hunt kit!




The little flags are created by stamping an Easter egg shape and the words *eggs this way* onto black cardstock and embossing with Adirondack matte embossing powders. I don't often use these powders as they give a mottled, speckled effect...but its just perfect for creating speckled eggs!


once i'd stamped the egg shapes i simply cut them out and taped them to kebab sticks so i can stick them into the grass on Sunday :) Easy peasy, huh? and super fun to do with your children if you have them {i don't...so i tend to borrow other people's ;) }

i created my own stamp from speedy carve rubber and lino cutting tools...but if you don't have any of this...you can easily create a simple egg shape with a potato...and amazingly...you can still emboss it!! who knew!! if you don't want to do any stamping at all...look for some Easter themed clipart and print out some flags using your printer...or get the children to draw them :)

once you've created your flag signs...simply pop them in the groud all around the garden and then hide your little eggs not too far away...unless you want the guests to spend a LONG time in the garden ;)


this is my stamp {which coincidentally also took less than 30 minutes to create}...notice that you have to do reverse the lettering...and i did that *almost* perfectly...did you spot it??? lol

metal mania...

this week's challenge over on the simon says stamp and show blog is to use metal...and i had to play along with that theme, right?

i've used 10 seconds studio metal and embossed it by hand, and with folders, i've inked it, stamped it, cut it out, glittered it...accented it with glossy accents and sanded it! i've also used metal tags, metallic glitter and metallic paint...as well as a couple of staples...so i think i've got the metal thing covered... ;)


one of the things i love about metal work is how versatile it is and how much dimension you can get into even a basically flat project...




i was particularly chuffed with how this rose turned out...its cut in metal and alcohol inked, then covered in distress stickles so its all sparkly...very vintage looking :)

ooooh....and i haven't shown you the whole thing...so...can you tell what it is yet??? lol

its a new doorhanger for my craftroom!

bubbly scrumptious update...

...do pop along and see my latest projects on the Bubbly Scrumptious blog...today i've made a ring and a card from one Tando chip shape for you...i hope you like them!

use it or lose it...

...its true in Yoga...if you don't use your body to its full potential...you quickly lose that potential...and its now true in the craftroom...if i've not used it...i'm chucking it/passing it on/or popping it on ebay! these quick card makes were an example of this process in action...i had had this 6X6 K&Co paper pad sitting around forever...and so i decided to use it up in a mass card making session!



the card on the right here uses Hels' sketch again...and the rest are just bosh, bosh, bosh cards! but now i have a draw full of ready to go cards rather than unloved paper and embellies...much happier with that!




i bet you've got a few papers and bits and bobs sitting around that could do with using up, eh? lol and it does feel good to have some cards ready...before crisis time! ;)

a little canvas art...

...I've just published my first project for Bubbly Funk...its a canvas celebrating the fact that *life is good*...do pop over and see it...it and all the instructions are here :)

Friendly Plastic Masterclass ~ Day Three

day 3 ~ more ways to play with the pattern and surface texture



Welcome to our third day of Friendly Plastic fun. Today we will look at more techniques for making patterns and playing with the texture of FP. We will also put this into practice making a cover for a mini~book.

Technique five ~ creating pattern with rubber stamps

Those of you who are paying attention will remember that we used rubber stamps yesterday with warm FP to make indentations in the surface texture, but this is not all we can use rubber stamps for. We can also stamp onto the cold FP to add pattern and interest, even text, which is perfect for little messages, gift tags, and scrapbooking too.



In the photo the piece on the left has been stamped with Stazon and the piece on the right has been embossed with black embossing powder. The stamp {just in case you were wondering} is one by the fabulously talented Tim of Holtz.






To stamp onto cold FP it is best to work on a piece that has been flattened smooth and you will need to use a permanent inkpad like Stazon. Simply stamp as you would on a piece of cardstock and leave for a few moments to dry. Just like when stamping onto any shiny surface...be careful not to slide your stamp around and ruin your image.


You might be suprised to know that you can also heat emboss onto cold FP which gives a lovely finish, different to that on cardstock, almost sinking into the surface of the piece . Embossing onto FP takes a few more seconds with your heat gun than you are used to, but is really versatile as you can vary how much the pattern sinks by varying how long you heat the piece for. Cool, huh?

Technique six ~ creating pattern and texture with embossing folders


I love to use my crafty tools in as many ways as possible...value for money and all that...and embossing folders cross over from paper~crafting to FP~crafting perfectly. Cold, slightly squished FP sheets can be popped through the Big Shot {or other die~cutter} and with a little extra ooomph they emboss just like cardstock. {The weedy weeklings out there will need assistance like i do, getting my DH to turn the handle for me!}


If you don’t happen to have a big, strong man to hand, all is not lost however as you can gently warm your FP and place it into the embossing folder whilst warm enough to bend and flex but not so hot that you can’t pick it up. You will need to lightly spritz the inside of your folder with water to act as a release agent, and be careful of your fingers as the edges of hot FP can be a bit like molten sugar and super sticky. When the temperature is right a little cold water on your hands should allow you to manoeuvre it into place. All you need to do then is simply squash the folder by pressing gently on it...and leave it to cool. This technique is a little bit trickier, but with minimal practice you’ll soon get the hang of it. :0)

The photo shows a warm piece of FP {complete with sticky edges so i could remember which was which} on the left and a cold embossed piece on the right.

Technique seven ~ creating texture with through extrusion!

Extrusion is a posh way of saying *pushing it through a mesh* and this is one of my favourite fun things to do with warm FP. With very minimal effort you can achieve a stunning effect.

This technique is achieved by warming the FP thoroughly on a non~stick craft mat and then laying a mesh~like material over it. You can then lift the mat and pull it over the edge of your desk in a curvy motion to ease the plastic through the holes, or you can push with your fingers from behind the mat. As always play around with this and do whichever suits you best.

In this photo you can see that i’ve extruded the FP through sequin waste and bits of left over lace trim, but the number of things you could use is huge...try hessian for example, or the plastic packaging the oranges sometimes come in...again...if you think of anything that works really well...please pop back and share it with us all!

Technique eight ~ creating further interest by embedding items

Our final technique for today is another simple one. By pressing small items into warm FP you can trap them in the plastic making for an interesting surface texture. To trap items it is necessary to push them in far enough that the FP comes up around them slightly in order that it can hold them when its cold. Alternatively, as i’ve done with the small mirror here, you can push the item into the warm FP to make an indentation and then when its cold, glue it in to place.

I have no idea how many tiny things you could try this with, i’ve used glitter, tiny beads, chips of sea glass, buttons...this really is a case of look around you and see what you have that might be worth a try! With the purple and silver piece in the centre of the picture here, i have dropped tiny chips of glass called *Byzantia* into the FP and then flattened it with an acrylic block to make the surface smooth. I love this effect!

Now, to start to put all these techniques together, i've created a little mini~book with a cover made entirely from FP. Do you think you could do this yet?

Of course you could! Simply cut 12 strips of FP and melt to fuse them, squashing with an acrylic block. When this is cool pop it into your BIA machine to make the binding holes {or use a hole punch}, then gently spot heat areas of the cover you wish to embellish with more FP pieces and press them into place {simple heat will join them together there is no need for glue}. Add a bling swirl and bind to create your first FP mini~book!

I do hope you've enjoyed all i've shared so far. Thanks for the lovely comments and do speak up if you have any questions and queries...i'll always do my best to answer them for you!

ok, enough for today...its nearly time for tea! enjoy the journey...xxx

recycled mini~wreath...

...how about this for a cute environmentally and budget friendly Christmas decoration...

the base of this mini~wreath decoration is the plastic ring left~over when you've finished a roll of that super sticky red tape...i couldn't bear to waste them...so i've been collecting them...and now i've made a start turning them into little Christmas gifts to tie onto presents, hang from the tree...or above the fire place...

very simple to do...i've wrapped the plastic in some wool left over from an old tapestry kit, using the wool to make a loop for hanging, and tying two lengths to form a cross through the middle to which i've glued {or you could sew} the poinsettia in the middle...add a bow from a scrap of ribbon {this one came from a gift box last Christmas} and either glue or sew this just below the hanging loop...

...to create the poinsettia...i've simply die~cut 2 sets of red petals and one of green from some felt scraps {you could easily do this by hand...simply cute a 5 pointed star and then slightly shape the petals}

i've stamped Tim's dotty stamp onto the red petals using VersaCraft ink and then embossed them in Adirondack matte embossing powder in cranberry...i've tried to show in the photo above that when you look really closely...you can see that the spots are not perfect...but from a normal distance they look great! i used another scrap of the wool to sew the petals together and added a button into the middle...then glued it onto the wreath!

et voila...a simply adorable decoration that you can whip up in a few minutes, from whatever you have to hand :0)

go on...have a go!

a snow~inspired project...

...i can't stop thinking about snowy projects this week...so here is my snowman advent calendar!

this is a cute alter native to the regular advent calendar...a rollagraph type desk calendar...with a snowman on each page {of course you could do all the pages differently for a daily suprize}...the suprize on my calendar is that each page is actually an envelope containing gold and silver coins!

i've given it some festive sparkle by stamping the numbers in black archival ink, then coating them in crystal stickles...which looks better in real life...but gives a lovely green glittery glow to them...

...i've given the snowman a festive twinkle by smearing him with distress rock candy stickles...and painting his scarf with twinkling H2O in ruby red...black stickles finish the snowflakes off nicely too...

so how do you do it?

as you can see you will need 25 envelopes {mine are C6 sized}, a lenth of sturdy mountboard {i used the bottom of an unwanted box}, a BIA with wire and your chosen stamps and decorative mediums...

simply decorate all your envelopes {i've coloured mine with black soot distress ink for a moody, snowy night look} and cut your mountboard slightly wider than your envelopes, and slightly longer, plus 3 inches...score across the short side three times at 1 inch intervals from the bottom end and fold this into a triangle as shown above...use a wet glue and a couple of pegs to stick this well down...when dry...simply use your BIA and wire to attach the envelopes to the base...and fill with goodies!

i'd love to see it if you have a go at this...do pop back and leave me a link to your blog so i can come and admire your handiwork! :0)

whatever makes you happy...

...who can resist a theme like that??? this is the challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp and Show blog this week...check out all the deets here. My entry certainly fulfils this brief:

things that make me happy include:

handmade gifts *tick*, items that are both pretty and purposeful *tick*, using up those odd scraps of ribbon *tick*...

...stamps by Tim *tick*, painty backgrounds *tick*, glitter and bling *tick*...and flowers *tick*...

...a finished item that gets an "oooooooooh" when i show it to someone {usually whoever happens to pass by at the wrong moment!!} *tick*

so there you have it...my entry for the whatever makes me happy challenge...and a happy me!

12 days of Christmas swap...

its not a regular thing for me taking part in swaps...but over on UKS atm...i was tempted by the 12 days of Christmas swap...inspired by a project in Craft Stamper Magazine...designed by the fabulously talented Linda...

the idea is that 12 people make 12 thrinchies {3 inch squares} and decorate them, leaving the corners clear for attaching with jump rings...then when we swap...we end up with 12 different Christmas themed squares and it makes a lovely wall hanging for the festive season :0)



if you're wondering why i've made 9 turquoise and silver thrinchies...its because some of the people have requested specific colour schemes {including me!}

this red, green and gold is my chosen colourway...

this totally golden one was just for fun...

...and this black and gold colourway was chosen by another swapee...i hope she likes it!

the more observant of you will have noticed my absence and may like to know that i fell down a rather nasty poorly hole last week...but i'm doing much better this week...hope its a good one for you too...