Fall 'Welcome' Sign with Graphic 45

I’ve created two different 'Welcome' signs using two different Graphic 45 collections, Couture and 12 Day’s of Christmas.

 I really wanted to demonstrate the vercitility of Graphic 45’s designs and colour pallet and encourage you to think outside the box. 

Do not be bound by the ‘theme’ of a paper line!
Don’t be afraid to pull out that Christmas paper in August.

For 12 Day’s of Christmas sign:
12 Days of Christmas Chipboard Die-cuts 212 Days of Christmas Flowers12 Day’s of Christmas Pear Tree
For Couture sign:
Couture  CoutureCouture Chipboard 1Couture Flowers
Blank sign base
Acrylic paint
White school glue
Ribbon
Jute twine
Assorted Petaloo blooms

Graphic 45 Staples door knob

Here’s the process that I used to create my sign. Give it a try and add your own flair and style!

Step 1: Grab a suitable sign base and a background paper. I’ve used an inexpensive blank wooden frame and chosen 12 Days of Christmas Pear Tree as my background.

Step 2: Using THIS simple crackle paint technique, I prepare my base and affix the paper to the frame. HINT: Coordinate the background paint to the main colour in the paper you are using.

Step 3: Create this funny folded loop shape with a length of ribbon, holding it in place with small dabs of hot glue (or score tape). Make a second that is a mirrored image of this.

Step 4: Apply the folded ribbon, along with two lengths for ‘tails’ to the front centre of your sign. This gives the illusion of a bow without the bulk of knots.

Step 5: The ribbon ends will now be concealed by a large tag from 12 Days of Christmas Chipboard Die-cuts 2. You can add a focal piece atop on the diecut. Here I’ve added an ornate door handle.

Step 6: Begin the embellishing! I’ve used 12 Days of Christmas Flowers to create some dimention and texture with some pretty blooms. HERE is a snapguide explaining how I assemble my flowers.

Step 7: When my main flowers and embellishments are in place, I situate the “Welcome” scroll just where I want it.

Step 8: With that in place I add my final embellishments, adding leaves, baubles and flowers from Petaloo.

Step 9: I complete the piece with a length of jute twine affixed to the back for hanging.

And here are the results using the same tutorial, but this time with the Couture collection:

Toilet Humour

Things have been kinda quiet around here lately. Sorry about that. I've been swamped with non-arty/crafty things like Canadian Thanksgiving and cleaning my house. Me? Cleaning? I know it's odd but I have a boatload of family from overseas spending the night tomorrow. Sure they say "Oh, don't worry! Don't go out of your way!" Pfft! I don't know about your family, but when guests are expected my family goes insane with the prep and cleaning. Just look at this...

Not only is that toilet clean, but I installed a new seat (believe me, it needed to be done) and even recalked around the bottom. I'm going to need a mental health day after this visit.

To be honest, my bathroom is the one place in this house that is usually clean. (Probably because I don't craft in there.) HOWEVER... I had guests over one day and a gentleman asked to use the restroom. I showed him to this very toilet and he came out moments later and looked rather shaken. I didn't think anything of it until later when I lifted the seat to clean.... it was an absolute horror show! It looked like Mr. Hanky the Christmas poo had hosted a conga line around the blasted thing. I was mortified.

Anyway, things will continue to be quiet for a few more days while I drive myself to madness, pretend to be the hostess with the mostess for a night, and spend three days in recovery :P

I'll leave you with another gem from my 1912 Hallowe'en Games book...

 

Halloween Cards with Petaloo & Authentique

Although I do enjoy making cards, I don't do it often. When I saw the Spirited Card Making Stack from Authentique in my design team package however, I had an overwhelming urge to make a few spooky greetings.

Using the Authentique Spirited papers "circles & scallops", "stamp blocks", "components", and "enhancements" the cards came together really easily.

The addition of some winding 'vines' of Floral Ephemera is perfectly petrifying :P

Some tattered Crochet Lace Fancy Trim gives a nice textured detail.

The Textured Elements Burlap Blossoms and Mixed Textured Layers are perfect for Halloween embellishments.

And sometimes just a little bling in the form of some shiny green Embellishment Brads is all you need for the finishing touch.

Petaloo Products:
Textured Elements Burlap Blossoms 1200
MixedTextured Layers 1257
Botanica Blooms 1102
Brads 1920
Floral Ephemera 1100
Crochet Lace Fancy Trim 1482
Asst Blossoms 1263
Spring Berry Clusters 1105
Forget Me Nots 1837

Authentique Spirited Papers
- Spirited Card Making Stack
- "circles & scallops"
- "stamp blocks"
- "components"
- "enhancements"

Images from:
Something Witchy Collage Sheet
Witchy Business Collage Sheet

An Eerie Tale Domino Pendants

I adore the images used on the pages of An Eerie Tale. I am, in fact, so smitten with them that I would wear them with pride on my personage! So I decided that to create some simple (yet totally eerie and adorable) domino pendants with some of my favourite images. 

Best of all you can use the tiniest of precious scraps to create these wee cuties. You do save your scraps, don’t you?

I happened to have some dominoes in my stash but I’ve seen boxes a-plenty in thrift shops. First I used a domino as a stencil to cut out the appropriate shape, inked the edges, then applied a layer of quality white glue to adhere the image to the surface of the domino. When dried, I applied a thick top coat of Mod Podge Dimensional Magic and added a blank pendant with a bail on the back. Easy peasy!

Here's the complete supply list:

An Eerie Tale
> You Bewitch Me> Run and Hide> Fanciful FableDominoes
Blank pendant with bail
Quality white glue
Mod Podge Dimensional Magic
E6000

And your daily dose of Hallowe'en from my 1912 book of games...

Hallowe'en and a Sneak Peek

I'm sure I've shared this book before. Despite it's pages being filled with scribbles it's one of my favourite possessions.

The book is dated 1912 and the pages are filled with 'games' and 'charms' meant to be enjoyed on Hallowe'en. Most of the activities involve finding out who your true love is, but there are a few other gems in there. I'll be posting a few of the entries this month... because HALLOWEEN!

To kick things off, here is the suggested invitation wording to your spooky gathering...

I would be thrilled to attend Miss Ethel Jones' party!

And now a sneak peek at something rather lovely...

Graphic 45's newest collection "Time to Flourish". Isn't it delish?!? Not sure on the actual release date but I seriously can not wait to get my hands on it :)

A Faerie Bed

It is a well known fact that our house is infested with faeries. We're quite lucky that they are (mostly) of the nice variety and that we get along swimmingly. It is inadvisable to spoil faeries, they find it insulting and overbearing, I do believe that an occasional treat is acceptable. 

And so, today I'm sharing this little bed I created for my resident faeries... because even the fair folk get sleepy.

The base of the bed is made from fallen twigs found in our yard. A small mattress was created with some quilting batting and a small square of cotton fabric. The beautiful covers on the bed are laces from Tresors de Luxe, including Lace Trim Venice Floral and Gold Venice Lace Applique.

For the tiny pillow, I have taken two segments from this White Venice Lace Trim, filled with the tiniest bit of cotton batting, and sealed the edges.

  
The posts of the little bed are decorated with deconstructed Rustic Shabby Chic Flower Embellishments and White Acrylic Flower Sprays.

If you have sleepy faeries and would like to construct your own bed, here are the supplies I used to create this piece:
Lace Trim Venice Floral
Gold Venice Lace Applique
White Acrylic Flower Spray
Rustic Shabby Chic Flower Embellishments
twigs
cotton fabric
quilt batting

Garden faeries and something to scribble in

Last year I started taking photos of the faeries in my garden. The photos are inspired by the Cottingley fairies, and in that spirit involve very little funny business. The photos are shot just as they appear, with only minor photoshopping and colour editing.

The bee in this particular photo was so very cooperative! He just sort of hung out while I did my thing :)

This fellow regaled me with tales of his strength. He told me he can lift a twig three times his size! Hubba, hubba.

Finally, this pretty girl was twirling in this cluster of mushrooms near the old maple tree. I think she was waiting for a parcel to be delivered to fairy mail box.

And for the something to scribble in...

Ta da! I made a book: Pixie Hill Planner for Scribblers and the Utterly Disorganized. 

If you follow the link you can preview the entire book. There are no holidays or events marked, just basic monthly calendars. There are pictures of my garden faeries inside, but the pages aren't coated or fancy so you should feel no guilt whatsoever about doodling and drawing in it.

P.S. I realize that Blurb shipping prices to non-US addresses is ridiculously high. I am sorry about that and I wish there was some way to curb them. (Seriously, because I get dinged by them too!)

Little Altered Art Frames with Graphic 45

It never fails. As soon as I see a cool altered object project, the object in question becomes impossible to find.


 
While looking for something entirely different the other week, I saw bag of small frames at a very reasonable price. I snagged them and set to work creating a pretty little set of altered art. 

With a little love, Come Away with Me, and Shabby Chic Staples, I've turned those sad little frames into tiny treasures. And you can too!  I've created this snapguide to show you how :) 

Check out How to Make Shabby Chic Altered Art Frames by Nichola Battilana on Snapguide.

How fun would they be as party favours, small thank-you gifts, or abandoned as random acts of kindness for strangers to find? Come on... I know you can do this!

My supply list:

Come Away with Me
Come Away With Me
Wanderlust
GlobetrotterTravel Odyssey
Vintage VoyageLook Out World
Shabby Chic Ornate Metal Brads
Shabby Chic Ornate Metal KeysShabby Chic Ornate Metal Key Holes
Thrift shop frames
3/8 Inch Looped Ivory Lace7/8 Inch Fancy Fan Ivory Lace
Tintypes Collage Sheet
Wire
Acrylic paints
Adhesives

P.S. You can hop over the Graphic 45 blog for even more pictures AND take a gander at a super fun project by the amazing, talented and all around lovely Rhea Freitag :)

Shabby Christmas Tree with Tresors de Luxe

There's less than 85 days until Christmas! As a crafter this means panic mode is already setting in and I'm thinking of holiday treats, gifts and decorations so that I'm not caught behind like last year (Who am I kidding? I'll always be behind!)

I created this lacy tree just as the panic started to set in. I'm sort of in love with this one and think I'll keep it for myself but I do plan on creating a whole forest for gifts.

I've painted a sturdy paper mache cone white then wrapped all sorts of Tresors de Luxe laces around it. Different weights, widths and even some variation in the brightness of the whites of the laces all lend themselves to creating a lovely, interesting texture.

My tree is topped with a Rusty Star and embellished with rusty little snowflakes and a bit of Star Tinsel. The whole thing sits atop a skinny log to give the look of a tree trunk.

 

This cone measures 14" tall and I've used about 12 different types of lace to cover it. Some of the lace, particularly near the top, were small scrap ends. Buy a variety of Tresors de Luxe laces that appeal to you and combine them to create something beautiful :)

Poe Brooch

I couldn't help myself and created another Poe project. Edgar wasn't going to be in this project at all... but sometimes my projects have a mind of their own and take off in their own direction.

The base of this brooch has been sitting around for over a year. I applied a metal butterfly from Graphic 45's staples to a Spellbinders® Media Mixáge Shields bezel (holy mouthful batman!) and the poor thing sat for an eternity. The other night, while waiting for the paint to dry on another project, I started fiddling and fussing with it again.

Inside the bezel are snippets from Graphic 45's Times Nouveau - Deluxe Collector's Edition. The portrait is from this Edgar Allan Poe Collage Sheet. The little locket at the bottom of this piece has what is believed to be the only photograph of Poe's wife, Virginia, and an anatomical illustration of a heart.

My original intention was to make something quite girly and pretty but it wasn't working. I've found it's much easier go along for the ride, to see where my work takes me, rather than fighting and forcing against it. More often than not the destination is quite nice... even if it does take a while to get there :)

A fairy tea party

I've been making an effort to make things for the enjoyment of it, rather than necessity. What could possibly be more enjoyable than a fairy garden tea party?

This piece is really quite sweet :) Those cute as a button Miniature Table & Chairs come from Alpha Stamps, as do the Paper Flowers.

 
I've used Botanical Tea to embellish my wooden spool, which was then wrapped some pretty embroidered organza and finished off with a bit of jute twine. A Candlestick Holder puts the whole scene on a little pedestal.

Knowing that fairies are particularly fond of elevenses and a hot afternoon cuppa, I think they would approve.

 

This piece is currently listed HERE

LAST CALL for Plum Pudding Market!

Just a bit of a shout out to any local artists and makers who might be interested...

I'm putting together a Christmas market at Casa-Dea Estates Winery on November 29th, 2014.

Space is very limited and the deadline to apply is tomorrow BUT if you're near enough and want to join in, please send in your info quick as can be.

Full details at plumpuddingmarket.blogspot.ca