Baby wall art using Sara's Signature Little Angel Collection

 Hello and welcome back to our popular Anything Goes week over at  Addicted to Stamps and More challenge.

As you know, we had a new addition to our family late last year when our first Grandchild, Alice, was born.  I wanted to make something for her but I am an atrocious knitter so I raided my stash and made this wall plaque to welcome her.

1) Take a papier-mache plaque and remove the paper cord before coating it with white gesso.

2) Paint the plaque front with grey paint. I used a tester pot of emulsion paint that I had in from when we decorated my craft room. When it is dry, repeat on the back and then give everything a second coat.

3) Take the Memory Box stencil 'Stars Starry Nights' and place it on the plaque so you can spread glitter texture paste through it. This was a little time consuming because the stencil is smaller than the plaque, so you have to do it in stages, letting the paste dry each time before moving onto the next bit.

4) Die cut the Friendly Elephant ( from Crafter's Companion) using some paper from the CC Little Angel paper pad and ink through the die to enhance the features. Curl the elephant's ear and then cut it again from some white card and stick it to the back to give the image some structure.

5) Die cut the heart balloon from the Balloon Trio set from the same CC range using some stripey paper from the same pad. Cut the strings from some coordinating paper.

6) Cut three banners from grey card using one of the PTI Countdown details die and stamp and white emboss the words from PTI Wonderful Words: Baby Stamp Set.

7) Stamp the greeting on the back in Smoky Shadow ink using a mixture of Avery Elle Lovely Letters alphabet stamps and PTI Love Lives Here.

8) Finish off by adhering the elephant and balloons to the front and replacing the paper cord.

I'd like to play along at

Shopping our Stash #343 - Stashed Stencils

International Art and Soul Challenge #27 - Use stuff you already own

Alphabet Challenge - X for Xtra Special Occasion

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Recycled plant pot for Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media Challenge

Hello and welcome to the July Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media Challenge. This time we want you to look round your home/garden, or anywhere really, and find something to recycle.

This challenge is sponsored by

I decided to recycle a terracotta plant pot that had seen better days, but I liked the shape of it,  so thought it was worth spending some time on. I started by washing the pot, and then added a coat of gesso before painting it with several thin coats of acrylic paint. I decided not to paint the inside of the pot because it would come into contact with water when I water the plant and I wasn't sure how the paint would stand up to that.

Next, I used a Martha Steward leaf stencil and added a border of stenciled fern leaves around the top of the pot using more paint and a foam pouncer brush.

Once everything was dry, I stamped the stems and leaves from the Papertrey Ink Reasons to Smile stamp set all around the bottom of the pot, and then went round and stamped a variety of flower heads in pink ink. To finish off, I added gold gilding wax to the rim of the pot and tied a bow with some jute twine.

Here is the finished pot with the plant that was the inspiration for it.

I can't wait to see what projects you come up with, and if you want some more inspiration before you dive in, why not pop over to the Happy Little Stampers Blog to see what my talented Teamies have to show you. We have the wonderful Stephanie Lanzalotto joining us as Guest Designer this month, and we also have some links to tutorials that you might find interesting.

I'd like to play along at

Fashionable Stamping Challenge - beautiful blooms

We Love to Create Challenge - anything goes

Altered Eclectics Challenge - anything goes

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Sunshine Canvas for Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media challenge

Hello everyone and welcome to the new Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media Challenge

Our theme this time is 'paint' and as I am making up a sunshine package to sent to my daughter, I decided to include a canvas.

I'm still finding my way with mixed media and my mainly CAS style, but I  started by painting Gesso onto an 8 by 8 inch canvas and when it was dry, I randomly dotted Folk Art Acrylic paint in sunflower and school bus yellow on it

before using a brayer to spread the paint out. Using the brayer leaves a bit of texture on the canvas which I find pleasing. I then took a sunburst stencil from Glitzcraft and painted the School Buss Yellow paint through it to give my background

Like many people, my daughter goes to work in the dark and comes home in the dark at this time of year, so I wanted to put a phrase on the canvas to cheer her  I chose one I have seen on Pinterest and typed it into my Silhouette Studio software before cutting it from orange vinyl, which I applied over the canvas and burnished it down. I finished off by inking the edges of the canvas with orange zest ink and stamping the sunburst stamp from Happy Little Stampers Mix Mash stamp set to add some more interest.

                                                       This challenge is sponsored by

and the winner will receive a 414 discount to the HLS shop.

We have another treat for you because we have Guest Designer Autumn from Sew Paper Paint joining us this month and you will want to see the fab tag she made for us.

Why not hop over to the Happy Little Stampers blog where you will see lots of inspiration from the Team and also some links to great tutorials on mixed media work. I hope you will join us this month!

I'd like to play along with

Craft for the Craic - something to make you smile

Creative Artiste Challenge - anything mixed media

Altered Eclectics - anything mixed media

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Glass Etching for Silhouette Challenges

Hello everyone,

How did Friday come round so quickly again? I am ready for another weekend though and especially as this one will include the Wimbledon Finals when we will be glued to our tv with a glass of Pimms and some strawberries and cream!

Over at Silhouette Challenges we are having a special challenge to use etching cream:-

"Special Challenge - Glass Etching" over at

"Special Challenge Glass Etching"
Begins: Saturday July 5
Ends: Sunday, July 20

A blog dedicated to the Silhouette Cutting Machines.

You MUST use a Silhouette somehow in your project.

This is in addition to our regular monthly challenge.

DT members were not required to participate.

We have 8 participating.

Sponsor is:

My Crafting Channel

Winner will receive:

Silhouette Cameo Replacement Cutting Mat

Winners for any challenge is announced on the Winners page on the 3rd day of the following month after a challenge ends.

If you have never used the Silhouette for glass etching here is a how to video.

I  had never tried anything like this before but was happy to step out of my comfort zone and have a go.  For my first experiment I decided to use a flat glass jar and a very simple tulip shape cut from vinyl with my Silhouette Cameo, to make a little tea light holder to hang in a tree. I used etch all cream and left the cream on for 20 minutes before washing it off. I was so excited to have a proper 'reveal' and see that the shape had been etched perfectly! Sorry for the quality of the pictures today but I found it so hard to get good photos of glass.

For my proper try I used a nicely shaped vase from my present drawer. This time I used a more complicated dandelion design from the Silhouette Store, sized it on the mat and then cut it out of copier paper to ensure I liked the look of it on the vase before I cut it from vinyl. It was trickier to apply the vinyl to the curved glass but 20 minutes later, I washed the etch all off and this was the result.

 I was so pleased with how easy it will be to personalise items for people and wanted to start etching everything in sight! These pieces were created using the negative space from the vinyl and it gave me the idea to use positive shapes on a couple of glasses and try a frosting spray with them. I cut some tiny butterflies and dragonflies from vinyl, stuck them on some glasses and masked off the top of each glass with some masking tape. I then took everything outside and sprayed three thin coats of frosting spray, letting each coat dry before adding the next one. I could probably have added an extra coat but I was too impatient and when it had dried, I removed the vinyl and had some frosted glasses

which would make a nice present with a bottle of champagne, and could be personalised by adding names or dates to the glasses depending on the occasion.

Well I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge and would encourage you to head on over and see what the Design Team came up with.

What are you waiting for? Step outside your comfort zone and join in the fun.

Link up your projects below.

An InLinkz Link-up

Home Decor

Hello everyone,

I'm still playing catch up with everything but I wanted to pop in to say hello and share a little of what I've been up to. When I took art at school, my painting and drawing was so poor that the Art Teacher used to ask me to give out brushes or change the water pots for other the pupils, and he eventually suggested that I take needlework instead! As a result, my lack of ability stopped me trying anything artistic and I have always lacked confidence in this direction.When my children were older, I started scrapbooking and loved creating layouts that used the enormous pile of photographs I had accumulated, along with beautiful papers and embellishments. A while later I discovered stamping and started creating cards so I could send handmade greetings to the people I love. Then I started blogging and sharing my creations with all you lovely crafters, and the encouragement I have received has made me realise that art isn't only about drawing and painting. However, when it comes to wall art, I still have a voice in my head that says I cannot do it, and shouldn't even try. When we finished painting the bedroom recently, the walls were looking bare and I was about to go out and look for some new pictures, when I had the thought that this was a chance to have a go because nobody else would get to see them if I didn't want them to. I had seen an idea on Pinterest that I really liked that involved hanging frames from a window pole and I was inspired to try it. Of course I still can't draw or paint so I used my stamps, inks and die cuts, along with a few cheap frames from Ikea to produce my pictures, and this is what I came up with:-

I used Papertrey Ink dies and stamps, a few gems and a little heart.

Papertrey Ink again, plus a Memory Box tulip die.

This one is the same as the first but with the butterflies flying off the opposite way.

And this is how they look on the pole, decorated with a few bows.

I was really pleased with the result which hangs over the bed, and the success gave me the strength to try my hand at word art on canvas for another wall. I used my Cameo to cut the words in vinyl, stuck them to the canvas, painted over it and when it was dry I removed the vinyl

to reveal a saying that I can see every morning when I wake up to remind me that happiness is a decision I can make. So there you have it.  Me doing wall art - who would have thunk it!!!

I would like to enter these into the Path of Positivity Challenge
and the Word Art Wednesday Challenge which is Anything Goes.

Thanks for looking in and I hope to get round to some of the blogs I am missing this week.

Hugs
Carol x

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

Hello everyone,

Yay, its the first day of British Summer Time and we start to have light evenings again! I hope you are enjoying the glorious spring weather. Our eldest son is running in one of the Sports Relief runs today so we are off to cheer him on but before we go its time for the PTI March Blog Hop


and this time the inspiration picture invited us to use yellow and aqua colours in a project.



I love this colour combination which evokes thoughts of spring and new life to me, so I decided to make a new baby card with the Bundle of Love stamp set and the Framed Out 1 stamps and die

click to enlarge

I also wanted to make some egg shaped tags for Easter and cut some egg shapes on my Silhouette Cameo before stamping them with a variety of tiny PTI stamps in yellow and aqua mist. I glued each pair back to back with some yellow gingham ribbon sandwiched between them at the top:-

These tags will hang on a little Easter tree along with some decorations and will be attached to any little chocolate treats that will be given over the Easter Holiday

Thanks for looking in and enjoy all the wonderful inspiration on the hop!

Hugs

Carol x

Papertrey January Blog Hop

Hello everyone,



Its time for the Papertrey Blog Hop again and the challenge this time is to make something with a stamp set that either has not been inked, or has been gathering dust. I decided to use 'Its a Celebration' which I have only used the banners from before now. I decided to make a small decorative canvas for my dresser and chose a picture of my youngest son on his 21st birthday.



click to enlarge



I began by taking two 4 inch canvases and painting them with blue acrylic paint. When it dried, the colour was a little too bright, so I went over it with a thin wash of white paint to tone it down a little.

I was covering the canvas so didn't need to paint the middle.

I then took spring rain card stock and stamped a background with Versamark using the solid and outline tiny star stamps from the Celebrations set. I did some more background  (a little hard to see in the photo) using the bubbles stamp and Vintage Cream ink. I then layered up the backgrounds with some summer sunrise DP and inked the edges with creamy brown ink.

Before attaching the papers to  the canvas I sandwiched some ribbon between them and the canvas to join the two canvases together. I chose the photo of my son (looking very handsome don't you think?) and printed it out at 2.25 x 2.5 inches. Then came the fun bits of stamping and cutting out all the embellishments. I stamped three cupcakes, all with different toppings and added cherries, which I put glossy accents on to mimic real cherries. I stamped and embossed the gift parcel with summer sunrise ink and over stamped the bubbles with blue ink. I love how with PTI, you can over stamp and get the positioning right because you can see what you are doing. I finished the gift off with a button and twine.

I then stamped the sentiments, put them on strips and added a minute star stamp to highlight each word. The stamp for 'birthday' has a blank where the 'i' should be and there are little candle and flame stamps to fill the gap. I liked these so much that I kept stamping them and used them on the other side of the canvas:-

I added one of the party hats on top of the photo and tied some ribbon around to finish it off. I think it looks good on my dresser and I hope he likes it.

Thanks for stopping by and I'm off to get a cup of tea before browsing the other blogs for inspiration.

Hugs

Carol x