A project from last weekend

Good morning.

Today I am going to show you one of the lengthier projects from the retreat with Rosemary Merry. This is a fabby book covered with the gorgeous papers from Graphic 45 Christmas Emporium range. As some of you may know this is the range which was used for a book in a box on the Stamp Pad retreat in October. When I saw the papers I have to admit that my heat sank as I thought uh oh. I need not have worried as the project was totally different.

This is the book made up. It is a little difficult to see but there is also an acetate page in front of the red page.

This is back of page 1 and the front of page 2. The image on the top is cut from one of the sheets of paper. Also on page 2 the small 'stamp' image is cut from the paper. The little girls are cut from the paper which has these images all over it. A mat for a photo has been included.

The stripy paper is the back of the black script paper also used on these pages. The centres of the flowers were punched from corresponding papers and the glazed with Glossy Accents. The rosette flowers was die cut using a Tim Holtz die, again this used coordinating papers.Another 2 photo mats have been included here.

The pictures and stamps on these two pages were all cut from the reverse of one of the sheets of the paper. A row of flat backed gold gems were stuck in a line on a small strip of paper, to tie it all together. A photo mat on the top to store some treasured photos.

This is the little children paper which was used earlier on in the book. Again a 'postcard' was cut from the sheet of paper. Some beige satin ribbon covers the join in the paper on both halves. The word Christmas was die cut and stuck on and then glazed again with Glossy Accents. Another 2 photo mats are included to personalise the book.

This page probably took the longest to do. The background is three strips of paper. The tree was cut from one of the larger pieces of paper. This took ages to cut out as I had to go around the branches and baubles! then to go around the toys at the bottom. Yes it probably took me a hour or more to cut out, but I felt the end results are worth it.

This is the last page in the book. As well as another of the postcards from the papers, there is another photo mat. Just to add a bit of interest I hand cut the stocking from the paper and the holly bunch. I added red stickles to the holly berries to make them stand out a bit more. There is also a strip of holly along the top of the page, which this again seemed to take forever to cut out in between each leaf, but does look great in real life. At the bottom of the page we added some lace and some white pom pom ribbon.

I hope you like this as much as I do.

Happy Crafting

Hi There

Wow, I didn't expect it to be sooo long til I posted again. I had a fantastic time at the crafting retreat run by Rosemary Merry last weekend. Was shattered on Monday, but in a good way.
I will show you a little project we did on the Sunday afternoon, the project was called 'Little Treasures' and I'm sure you'll agree it is!

This is made up from wooden spools (like old cotton reels) there were decorated with paper and inked around the edges. The bobbins were then threaded onto some wire and spaced out with some buttons. A big bow was added with a button and a big bell. The snowflake hangs slightly behind and then ribbon knots finish off the handle to disguise the wire underneath.

Now I have finished the rest of the projects off I will get around to photographing them and putting them on here, in between the Christmas cards!

A Weekend Away

Well Ladies,

Sorry there is no post form me. I'm off for a weekends crafting. Myself and 5 friends are going to Rosemary Merry Christmas retreat at lunchtime. No cooking, cleaning or running around after hubby or children, just crafting all the way :) With a bit of drinking, some fun and lots of laughter! ! !
There is NO truth in the rumour that we will be the noisy-ist  table!  Well not much anyway>

See you all soon

Advent Calendar

Christmas is coming, and my boys are writing their lists, I would to if I thought anyone would read it!

So today I am going to share with you a project I made on a workshop at The Stamp Pad in Greenfield. This was a whole day workshop, and even then I still had to put the final touches on at home. I think the longest time was spent painting the advent's wooden carcass. I didn't realise just how long it would take to get inside every recess and the front and back of the doors, at one point I did think that maybe I should have left the wood au natural :) Whilst the paint dried we took a break for some lunch, then onto the fabby job of decorating.

We used SEI Silver Valley papers on the advent. When the papers had been trimmed to size we then had to make a small hole for the door knobs to go through. I thought this would be an easy task, measure and cut one then use it as a template for all the others, NOPE. Because of the make up of the piece, every handle was in a slightly different place or angle. This meant that it did take some time, but ultimately was worth it. Then it came to putting the numbers on, these were die cut so we had a choice of whether to put them straight or on an angle. I went for angled as I can't do straight very well. Each door was then decorated. For this I used rub-ons, stickers, die cuts, wooden embellishments anything to hand with a Christmas theme.

 This is a close up of the top right hand corner.

 This is a close up of the top left hand corner

 Bottom left

And finally the bottom right hand corner of the finished piece. Now I just have to fins something to go into all the boxes, without resorting to chocolates!

More Christmas

Hi there

I thought I would share with you a couple of Christmas cards, yes I know Christmas again, but I have to make lots :).

This first card is much better in real life. The main panel is some vellum which was die cut and embossed using a Marianne Designables folder. These are great as they cut and emboss in one go. This was then backed onto Blue glitter paper and attached with brads. The Christmas sentiment was from a Stampendous stamp set, this was inked in blue and then die cut with Nesties Labels 22. Some ribbon and a star finish this off. Fairly quick but stunning in the flesh, so to speak.

This second card is another square blank with some plain christmassy paper as a background. Then 2 'Pine branches' were cut using the Marianne Pine Needles die, one in creamy pearl card and another in green velvet paper. Then we die cut a large scalloped oval nestie out of green velvet paper. This was then stamped with the message and then heat embossed. This does take a little while but the effects are stunning. A few little gems on the oval finish this off and a charm dangling from the bow on the pine branches.

Thats all from me for today. I hope you like what you see.

Inside the Box

Hi There

Today I would like to show the book we made to go inside the box. This is the front cover.

All the papers on this book are from Graphic 45 Christmas Emporium range. 

The first pages with a lift up flap on the left and a double tag in the pocket on the right hand side.

Then on the next pages a small fold out mini book on the left and another tag pocket on the right.

The last set of pages show tags and tickets on the left and another pocket to put more pictures in on the right.

Finally the back cover.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this project as much as I enjoyed making it.

A Box !

Hi There

I would like to share with you a box we altered on the Crafty Weekend with the girls from The Stamp Pad.

This is the front of the box. It is covered with Graphic 45 Christmas paper. In the top window is a scene cut from the paper. The bottom window just has acetate in so you can see through to the inside.

This shows the back of the front cover. The right hand side is covered with a gorgeous red patterned print paper from the same range. The die cut tag was trimmed and then I cut around the holly leaves on the tag so they popped out of the frame. This was very time consuming but really does make a difference.

This is the outside of the box. I am loving the door knob/bookplate on this. It gives is a really weighty feel and is so tactile.

What was in the box?
You will have to wait until next time :)