Birdhouse Heaven!

 I have been having such a ball !!  Who would have thought that something as plain as this.....

 

 could turn out like this, wth just a bit of ink, glue and paper?
I have enjoyed decorating this so much,  I bought another five!!  So watch this space as there will be more to come!

Here are a few close ups!

 I covered the whole wooden house first with Gesso, then mixed some acrylic paint until I got the right matching colour for the base. I then used the First Edition Paper Roses pad which I absolutely love! Cutting the paper round the windows and perch at the front was a bit of a mission and took up rather too much time I think, so for next time, I will have to come up wth something else! I've put some more pics below, I just wish this stupid blog would let me put the pics side by side, sorry they do take up so much space!

Thank you so much for stopping by.....

Hope you have enjoyed looking.......

Please leave me a comment, or contact me if you need to ask any questions.....

Tag Inspired by Helen Allen

 

 I watch a lot of videos about crafting and using different techniques and one of the people that inspires me is Helen Allen. Helen follows the Guru that is Tim Holtz. Tim produces a tag every month for each year i.e. Twelve Tags of 2015 and Helen makes her own slant on these.  I have had a go at making one myself as I was so inspired by Helen's April tag. I used mount board at the base, which was great as it's very sturdy!  The iris stamp is one of Sheena Douglass' great creations and I love it.  I used Tim Holtz distress inkpads and Wink Of Stella before putting on a topcoat of Glossy Accents.

Here are a few closeups - I do hope you can see that lovely shimmer from the Wink of Stella!

Thank you for stopping by, I do hope you have gained some inspiration!

Busy, Busy, Busy!!

 Well, its been ages since I blogged! I have just been so busy with one thing and another, just life I guess!!  Anyway, here are a few cards I have made with a view to putting them in a shop.  But, I have been so busy, I haven't had time to pursue this avenue - yet!



I did enjoy making these and using a new technique for me,
which is "Ink Splattering"

 Then there has to be the obligatory Man Card!

 

 These two were decorated just by inking through a stencil, you can see by the pink one, I got quite carried away!




But then, isn't that what crafting is
 all about?!!!



Thanks for stopping by, hope you've enjoyed looking!

Christmas Card Sneak Preview 2

Another sneak preview of what I've been up to over the last few weeks!!  I haven't had this much fun in ages!!  Normally my card making is a mad panic to finish in time before they have to be posted off, but this time I am finished (boo hoo)!  I will make some more though, special ones for immediate family, so I don't mind sharing these with you as most of the people who will receive them will not see this post, phew!!! Again, Stampin Up feature prominently in my supplies list, the products are so good and everything co-ordinates, which is very handy!

 Anyone who knows me will know I have a "thing" about trees! So no surprise when I saw this lovely stamp set and punch...just had to be done! 

 And then there's the Washi Tape...oh no!

 Had to have Snowflakes!

And white embossing powder!

Ok, so here is the supplies list,  Stamps: Ornamental Pine, Festival of Trees and Serene Snowflakes. White cardstock, Bashful Blue Stampin Up cardstock, Inks: Bashful Blue, Lucky Limeade and Versamark, WOW white embossing powder and the Festival of Trees Punch (Stampin Up)

I hope you've enjoyed looking, and maybe got some inspiration for your own Christmas Cards!  Please leave me a comment, I will be very happy to hear from you!

 

Christmas Card Sneak Preview!

I am in crafting heaven!  I watched a demonstration on the new British Craft Network channel on stamping and paper piecing.  Although I have dabbled in paper piecing in the past, I have to say this demo by Francoise from Woodware Stamps really grabbed me!  Suffice it to say I had to purchase this lovely stamp and have a go!  Well, 25 Christmas cards later....I still love it...although I have made all my cards now, I think I may have to just keep making to satisfy my "need" lol !!  The supplies used are: Woodware Stamps Patch Robin, Stampin Up DSP stack Trim The Tree, Versafine Black ink, Wink of Stella clear glitter pen.

These cards are 4.75inches square, and I also made some smaller ones you can see below...

 

Oh boy, did I have fun!!  Thank you for looking and please leave me a comment or ask a question!

Halloween Treat Boxes

I know we don't normally celebrate Halloween here as much as is done in the USA but I felt inspired to make the oldest grandchildren some little treat boxes! They were made using the wonderful Stampin Up Curvy Keepsake die, and their very appropriately named Pumpkin Pie cardstock! I just stamped assembled the box then whilst it was still flat, stamped them with the SU woodgrain stamp in Tim Holtz Aged Mahogany Distress ink.  I cut some leaves from some Sizzix dies to embellish and tied them up with Stampin Up Bakers Twine.  

I didn't want the boxes to look scary in any way so no spooky faces or anything!  The eldest grandchild is only two and a half!  I filled the boxes with a few small pumpkin wrapped chocolates, a pumpkin balloon, plastic spider and finger puppet.  The kids loved them!


I will be using this Curvy Keepsake Die a lot over the coming weeks, as I intend to make some little gift boxes for the Christmas Tree and the Christmas Table!  

I hope you have enjoyed this post, thank you for looking and I would be very happy to receive your comments.

Welcome to Your New Home!

My friend has just moved house, so I made this card for her.  For the woodgrained background I used the SU stamp and Rose Pink card but with Ranger Picked Raspberry Ink. This is a very large stamp so rather than use a block I prefer to stick the stamp to the craft table then ink up the stamp and put the card face down on top! Rub all over thoroughly! Perfect impression every time doing this....Result!  The cute little birdhouse was a freebie from a magazine and the first time I have used it, but I will definitely use it again.  I coloured it with Promarkers and then used a pink Promarker to freehand draw the lines around the edge. It had to have a bit of sparkle, so I coloured the little blue birds with my clear Wink of Stella brush.  Sorry you can't really see the sparkle in this picture.  This is a sweet little 5 x 5 card, very girly and just right for my friend!

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by!