A Time Of Wonder...

Hello!
I've gone a bit bonkers with the colour today for my DT post over at A Sprinkle Of Imagination!

To see the whole project, please pop on over to the creative team blog!

Christmas Ornament swap!

Hello!
I recently took part on a Christmas ornament swap, hosted by the fabulous Zuzu! Now my swap partner has received her ornament, I can share it with you....

I made by bauble base from clay. Paper clay as it is much lighter then polymer clay!

You will need something to hang the bauble up, so twist a loop in some wire:

Then push the long tails right the way into the soft clay, taking care not to pierce the surface!

As it is a nice chunky size, it takes a while to fully dry out. This was left on a radiator for three days!
Once it's fully dry, I sealed the whole thing with some glue n seal, then covered it with old book paper...

 French language paper for a change! I then gave it a wash of white paint, and drew on a star shape. This was painted turquoise...

I then did a little stamping to carry on with the turquoise colour scheme...

This is a 3D ornament...Don't forget the back!

I think outlined the star with a fine liner pen, and did a little doodling...

A Rub On word, and lots of clear gloss varnish later, it was finished!

I added a touch of silver tinsel to the loop, just to bling it up a bit!
I had a lot of fun creating this, I think I'll be doing some more!
Trish xxx

Sparkle And Shine!

Hello!
We're a little over halfway in the Sparkle And Shine challenge over at A Little Bit Crafty this month! I decided to try out a quick and easy Christmas card idea for my contribution......

It's really difficult to capture the shine of the snowflake.... I used silver foil over sticky embossing powder to create the mirrored effect...

The snowflake was foiled over a really simple paint background, swipes of turquoise and little flicks of white to give the splatter effect. The turquoise gives a nice base for a white rub on....

Nice textural eyelash yarn to finish, wrapped around the card blank.
Hope you like it!
Trish xxx

Hessian: quick and easy ornaments!

Hello!
Told you I was on a roll with the Christmas projects...!
I've made a couple of quick and easy to create hessian pieces today, a robin and this star...

I have explained how to create both my ornaments over on the Calico Crafts blog today!
Love Trish xx

Deck The Halls!

Hello!
A little festive painty panel from me today as my DT piece this week for A Sprinkle Of Imagination! Traditional colours, but with a modern messy twist! Here is a peek...

Please hop on over to the creative team blog to see the whole thing!
Trish xx

It's Chriiiiiiiistmas!!

Hello!
Today marks the start of quite a few Christmas ornament projects from me....I seem to have gone a little bonkers in that department for some reason this year! Christmas present shopping? nope, not even started...... but I clearly have enough handmade decorations to fill a few trees!
Today I'm sharing a tree made from driftwood discs, as my DT project for Calico Crafts. Here is a sneaky look.....

Please hop on over to the creative team blog for more pictures!
See you soon,
Love Trish xx

Ready for some colour?

Are you ready for another colour challenge?
It's time to announce the second colour challenge today over at A Sprinkle Of Imagination!
This month, we're playing with this colour palette....

For the challenge, you have to use at least three of the colours, but I've gone mad and used them all....

I have used deli paper as my base for this (thin waxed paper used for wrapping food!). Have to say, the jury is still out as far as I'm concerned! It went a bit wrinkly and bumpy once the paint was on..... will have to play around lots more to get the hang of it better I think! The best part is that it's transluscent. The text you can see all over the background? That's a layer of text tissue stuck to the deli paper!

The colour was applied very simply, just paint smeared on in layers! Takes you right back to school days and finger painting, very relaxing!

A bit of stamping, a bit of washi tape and a lot of flicked black paint splats...

I stitched the deli paper/tissue to a black panel, then added my Stampotique figure.....

If you hop on over to the ASOI blog, you'll see all the details on how to join in with this fab challenge....go on, take a break from all the Christmas creating and have a play with this great colour combo!
 love Trish xx

Got Ink?

......is the title of the challenge this week over at the Simon Says Monday Challenge blog!
And, yes, yes I do, thank you for asking!
I used some for the background in this panel...

I've used Acrylic Drawing inks for this, love them lots! As the inks are acrylic, they're permanent once dry. This means you can layer them without them mixing to a muddy mess. Also, if you add paint on top, it won't react and change the paint colour. Sometimes adding white paint stencilling (for example) over dye ink sprays can result in the white paint tinting slightly, and losing the bright white look. Not the case if you use acrylic inks!
I used just three colours of Daler Rowney inks (you can find some here). I dripped a little bit onto regular cardstock, squirted with water to make the ink flow slightly, then dried it off. Then I simply repeated this with each colour in turn. Once the card was covered, I brayered over it with white paint, both to tone down the very dark areas, and to give a little texture. When the paint was dry, I went over it in places with more ink, resulting in a layered, inky look....

I stamped a little around the edges, and sprinkled on white UTEE in places. once melted, this gives a great splatter effect...

As you can see, I did some stitching too!
My image is a nice mixture of very old and very new stamps!

I have had this Peddlers Pack stamp of the little girl for getting on for 8 years, and it's still a favourite! She is standing on a film strip edging stamp that just arrived this morning, brand new from Kaiserkraft! This could easily become a very useful addition to the stamp collection!
I've printed a few circles, and added an old book phrase just to finish off.
The other great thing about acrylic inks is that they scrub off your hands very easily, so I'm all clean and raring to get going on a Christmas project or two! See you soon!
Trish xxx

Messy Monoprinting!

Hello!
I've been getting messy with paint again!
My DT piece this week for A Sprinkle Of Imagination is now live...
I'm sharing a monoprinting background technique, please hop on over to the creative team blog to see how I did it! In the meantime, here's a little teaser pic...

Take care,
Trish xx

Craft Stamper Blog Challenge- Halfway reminder!

Hello!
It's midway between challenges over at the Craft Stamper blog... which means you still have time to enter the current 'splatter' challenge and bag yourself some great prizes! Which other challenge offers you the chance to get published in a national magazine, AND become a guest DT member, AND win crafty goodies? That's right, no other challenge out there offers this kind of prize!!
OK.... off my soapbox now to share a little more splattery inspiration!

ssssssssh.... don't tell anyone.... this *might* just be a Christmas card! I know, way to early! It wasn't going to be festive, but once it was done it just had the look of Christmas...Either that or I'm going mad!
Very easy to do, just flick some red paint in one corner of your cardstock (splatter effect number 1!)

Cover two bits of cardstock with old book pages, then cut one into a square shape. Stamp with some dots, then edge with brown ink. The other bit of book paged covered card was die cut into a star shape. I then glazed it by painting on some Glossy Accents that I had mixed up with Peacock Feathers reinker...

The star was stuck to the square, then the square stuck to the card blank. My final bit of splattering was to flick some gold ink over the right hand side.....a little bit of sparkle!
So....have you entered the challenge yet? go on, you know you want to! Don't forget to tell your friends!
All the details can be found HERE !
Looking forward to seeing what you create,
Trish xxx

Poppies

Hello!
My turn today over at Calico Crafts to share my DT project with you all! As today is my closest posting date to Remembrance Sunday, I decided to share a project using poppies as the focal point....

Please check it out here.....
Love Trish x

Bookmaking three- The Piano Hinge!

Hello!
I have a DT project for A Sprinkle Of Imagination to share today!
The third part of my bookmaking series, this week I'll show you (with loads of pictures!) how to make a book with a piano hinge spine. A little fiddly, but well worth the effort!
Here is the finished look....

Why not pop on over to the ASOI blog to see how to do it!
Love Trish xx