Rosette Christmas Tree

Hi

Last Sunday I made this really cute rosette christmas tree.  Although it’s time comsuming to make it really is very very simple.  I used some retired DSP to make my rosettes but you could use card stock in block colour or alternate with two colours, or do what I did and use alternating DSP.

I decorated the christmas tree with snowflakes cut from silver glimmer paper.  After I has assembled the tree I realized it was slightly askew but that’s ok it was only my first attempt.   I still think it will make a great table centre piece for our christmas table.

I got several hot glue gun burns while making this.  I think I need to add some more decorations to the tree as they appear a bit sparse in the photos.

Thanks for visiting.

Tina xo

Shabby Chic Altered Box

Hi friends,

Well as usual, my “be back in a couple of days” has turned into a week or so.  Sorry about that.  I just don’t seem to be motivated enough during the week after working all day to sit down and craft and then post what I have done.  Sunday is usually my crafting day, where I can sit down and really get stuck into a project.

This Sunday was a little different in that I started off the day by popping in to the annual Christmas craft fete here in Cairns.  It’s a huge fete with lots of wonderful crafty things to look at and purchase AND it only costs a gold coin donation to the Leukaemia Foundation to enter.

I went along this morning with my friend Mel and got really inspired by some of the wonderful things on display.  I even purchased a set of three home-made fairy mushrooms for the garden.  They are so cute, they have bright red tops with white spots and look really good in my garden, although they weigh a tonne.  Apparently they are made from concrete and then painted with house paint.

Everything at the fete has to be either home-made or tools that can be used in the process of crafting.  So it’s a great place to see what all the wonderfully crafty women and men of Cairns have been up to over the year.  A couple of my friends and fellow Stampin’ Up! demonstrators are regular stall holders at the Christmas Craft Fete and I love looking at all the amazing items they have created to sell.

Well enough about the fete, today’s post is not about that, it is about this gorgeous shabby chic/vintage altered box I made.  I’m not going to go on about all the products I used as none of them are from Stampin’ Up! but as a wise man once said, “Man cannot live on bread alone”, and I think that applies to crafting too.   🙂

I love love love this box to bits, it really is the style that I love to create, unfortunately I usually have to use contraband (non SU products) to create this look.  I really wish Stampin’ Up! would have a regular shabby chic/vintage range in their annual catalogue with soft coloured/patterned DSP’s and matching vintage lace and embellishments.  Who know’s maybe next year they will.

Here are some photo’s of my box. I would love to hear what you think of it.  I really enjoyed creating this little beauty and can see myself doing another one.  I even learn’t some new techniques that I have never done before, and discovered some fantastic products that I can see myself using very regularly.

Can you see the clock at the back it is made with a special paint and a mask. I am loving this technique.

 

I have taken lots of close ups because there is a lot of detail on the top of this wooden box.

 

I didn’t make the big flowers but I did make the small pink rosettes.

 

 

 

So basically I painted the untreated box and then went crazy with decorating the top and then added some matching DSP for the inside.

I have been busy crafting today so I will be back again very soon to show you what I made today.

Thanks for visiting.

Tina xo

 

Homemade Plaster Heart

Hi friends,

As I said in a previous post I have been busy creating.  I have been looking at several blogs that are not specially Stampin’ Up! but have amazing work published.  I am always amazed at how wonderfully creative some people are.  I take so much inspiration from these types of blogs and love to try to replicate or in some cases even create my own similar design.  The second one isn’t always so easy for me, there really are some extraordinarily talented scrapbook and card making ladies out there.

This little project is one that I took the inspiration from one of the above mentioned blogs.  The original inspiration was made for the purpose of being name tags at a baby’s christening.  As I didn’t have the same need, I decided to just use the images as inspiration and created a general purpose item instead.

I am not overly happy with the shape of the love heart that I made from plaster because I used a cookie cutter as my mold for the plaster, however, I have found a chocolate mold online which I feel will give me more of a similar shape love heart to the original project.  I just need to purchase the chocolate mold and try again.  Stay tuned for more plaster hearts in the near future.

Nonetheless, I am still really happy with how this little plaster heart turned out.  I guess you could use it as a paper weight or just a decorative item.  They would also make lovely gifts for wedding bonbonnaire or favors.  I must admit playing with the plaster and painting with gesso got pretty messy but boy was it fun to do something different.

 

As you can see there really isn’t any Stampin’ Up! products on this project.  The rose is one I made with the help of my friend Cheere Robinson and is made from Stampin’ Up! Very Vanilla card stock and is daubed around the edges with Cherry Cobbler ink.  I have painted the plaster heart firstly in Gesso which I coloured Vintage White.  I then added some washi tape and then sprinkled some Stampendous Frantage embossing powder and heat embossed it.  I love this stuff as it stays textured even after heating, unlike other embossing powders.  I also glued some pearl strings under the rose and added some liquid pearls.  Finally I wrapped some vintage vanilla lace around the sides of the plaster heart.  I also sanded the edges of the heart in an attempt to soften them.

Here is a close up of the details on the heart.

 

You can see the vintage lace and frantage embossing powder better in this shot.

Remember to come back again soon as I have another amazing project to show you.

Thanks for visiting.

Tina x

Another Baby Shower Card

Hi friends

I know it’s been a little while since I have blogged, but I have been crafting.  I have been doing a couple of different things of late and feel my skill is developing in a different direction.  So stay tuned to see what I have been up to.

On another note…..

I have another friend who is due to have her very first baby soon and she told us the baby is of the pink variety.  Oh by the way my other friend, Mette,  who I made the previous baby shower card for had a little girl also, Anna Nordling Shaw arrived 10 days early but is healthy and thriving from all reports.  I have only seen a photo of her but she is extremely cute and has a head full of dark hair just like her mummy.

This card is for my friend Helen who’s baby is due in October and she had her baby shower last weekend.  Although I was invited I decided not to attend because it was a Halloween fancy dress party and I didn’t have a costume, (I must admit I have never been a fan of dressing up), and I didn’t want to disappoint Helen by not wearing a costume.  From what I have heard of the party I did miss a lovely afternoon and I’m sorry I didn’t go as I found out later that some of the guests didn’t wear costumes AND Mette was there with baby Anna.

Oh well we all have to live with the decisions we make.  I have passed a message onto Helen to apologize for not attending and my reasons why and I think Helen will understand as she has such a sweet nature.

Anyway enough of my rambling here is my card I made for Helen.

 

As you can see I chose to make an easel card.  Here are a couple of close ups of the detailed bits of the card.

The banner says “Welcome Baby” it’s a little hard to see as I stamped it in Pink Pirouette which is quite a light coloured ink.  I chose to use Pink Pirouette and Very Vanilla card stock from Stampin’ Up!

The top section has a swing card design with two little baby booties swinging from the love hearts.

Thanks for visiting.

Tina xo