Vintage Father Christmas...

This is one of those projects that are just great fun to make, especially at the end, working out all the different bits of ribbon and lace and wool to use!
It's a fabric based stamping project and so I've used the DecoArt So-Soft fabric paints to paint in my Santa and also to stamp with. The stamp is from Crafty Individuals CI-396, a lovely traditional image.
I used StazOn to stamp it onto a piece of calico:

and then painted it with  the So-Soft paints:

It ends up like this - you can still clearly see the stamping lines, which I like:

Then I put paint directly on the stamp to make a text background:

added some stars cut from CI-374 (I've used these in loads of projects!):

painted them yellow to make them stand out:

Then I took some slightly coarser weave material and stamped more stars in the paint:

and layered it all up:

Start arranging all the twiddly bits:

I then added machine stitching - nothing perfect or neat - it's just like drawing with thread:

and various embellishments:

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Christmas Class...

I've got a class at The Craft Barn on Saturday where we're going to make a Christmas Cottage which will look something like this:

or this:

So, if you fancy having a go, take a break from the Christmas rush and come along and join the fun!

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Moody Blues Angel...

Here I've made a Christmas decoration to celebrate becoming a member of the DecoArt Helping Artist Programme.
The paints I've used are by DecoArt - I actually used some of the So-Soft fabric paints on the chipboard as that was what I had to hand - also tried out some of their Dazzling Metallics paint in Ice Blue, which is gorgeous!

I took my Tando Mixed Media Board (if you haven't seen these, they come in 2 different sizes) and stamped the Crafty Individuals angel from CI-396 onto white tissue paper:

Then I painted the board with So-Soft Indian Turquoise and Ocean Blue and edged it with the Ice Blue Dazzling Metallics:

Flip over the angel and paint the reverse in colour:

and then block out the whole image in White when dry:

Stick to your board with a glue/sealer:

While that's drying die cut and paint a swirl (Tim Holtz die):

I thought it was a bit plain so I then added StazOn Teal Blue stamping to the background using the music from CI-330 and the text from the angel plate.

I then wanted something a bit darker round the edges so used Midnight Blue StazOn to stamp the borders of this reindeer stamp CI-332:

I literally just inked up parts of the image and stamped away, not bothering with a block:

I also stamped the swirl:

and then it was a case of adding the twiddly bits!

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Christmas part 2...

Here's the next instalment:

Now I've just got to layer them onto an actual card and get them written!

Thanks for looking!

helen

Christmas....

Yes, I have been making my Christmas cards!
Every year I say 'Never again!' but I took a fancy to this paper kit from Craftwork Cards. I added some embossed swirls, a few die cuts and, on some of them, some pictures cut from some Graphic45 paper that I bought several years ago and then couldn't bear to cut up! Well, now I have!
Here we go, there are several variations:

I'll post a few more tomorrow!

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Down by the Riviere....

This is just a little arch I made (love that shape) using tissue paper, paint and Lynne Perrella stamps. 

It's very simple but the detail of the stamps makes it look more complicated! I painted the arch first and then blocked out the reverse of the building in Snowflake white.

I felt it needed a little something at the bottom so added some ribbon and the crown brad which I painted gold.

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Happy Birthday

Yes, it was my youngest daughter's birthday the other day - can't believe she's 18! We survived the party (although the earplugs weren't much use!) and a great time was had by all!
Here's a pic of the birthday card I made for her:

One of those cards that are great fun to make - layer on layer of twiddly bits!

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Demo Day

I'm demoing this Saturday at the Craft Barn along with lots of other lovely people. The theme is making gifts for Christmas and I'm stamping up an apron. I've already started planning it out as these are big and there's a lot to cover - here's a sneak peak:

I'm going for JOFY stamps this time - there'll be lots of paint, stamping, stencilling etc. and at the end of the day someone's going to win it ! (Better not get any stray blobs then!!!)

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Tree Tag....

This was one of those projects that I absolutely love making - lots of twiddly bits!

The tree itself is taken from a Crafty Individuals stamp - a panel of trees - and stamped onto fabric and coloured with paint.

 The whole tag is then built up from there. That bobbly wool's been lurking in my wool drawer for ages just waiting for the right moment - colourwise it was right - stitching it on was a little more tricky! The yellow  strips of painted calico have been stamped with the Harlequin Swirl Background and then pleated to add a bit of dimension.

I then dug around in the ribbon drawer and added several layers, including some more bobbly wool in neutral this time. The words have been taken from various plates, stamped straight onto painted fabric and then stitched/stuck on:

For the top I die cut one of the pediment thingies (been dying to use one of those!), painted it and stuck it on:

Add pins and buttons and wool and charms and Hey Presto, there's your tag.

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Splish, Splash

It's cold here and a bit grey, so I thought I'd post this card to make you smile:

It uses the punky penguin from Crafty Individuals, (one of my all time favourites), the lighthouse set, the ship's elements set and a background that was left over from something else!

Thanks for looking!

Helen

And then came a spider....

A little bit of spookiness for the Crafty Individuals October Challenge:

Look at that spider! It's from a set by Tando and I just love the legs!:

I've slightly altered the collage by adding a tree from CI-361 instead of the crow from CI-319:

The theme for the Challenge is October.

Thanks for looking!

Helen