Woodware - Just a Note

I thought I would have a bit more crafting time over the Christmas period. But by the time I got the Christmas dinner on the table I was shattered. I don't know about you, but as I get older I find the run up to Christmas extremely exhausting. Husbands just seem to expect Christmas to happen as if by magic. It's when they ask things like "And what did you get for my parents?" that I just want to disappear into a quiet place and hibernate until it is all over.
This week at Woodware the theme is "Just a note". Rather than a card I had great plans to decorate a note book for myself, to keep tabs of my crafting deadlines. But so far I have just managed the front cover. This is a work in progress so please forgive me!!
I had a nice plain black notebook that I bought a while ago and thought it would be nice to decorate. Those of you who know me will know I have a thing about nice notebooks. But this one will be dedicated to all things crafty, like DT deadlines, interesting websites and a record of ink pads and pens etc to avoid duplicate buying at craft shows!! 

I used dictionary paper then stamped a selection of Stampendous stamps. I added a bit of Frantage powders to the flourish stamp and also on the metal bookplate. 

 

I filled in the bookplate with glossy accents. I added a bit of colour with some coloured pencils.

 I love the magnolia stamp. The botanical style image just fit my theme perfectly.
On the inside I started stamping but as I already said this is a work in progress. The green is too bright for me so I will cover the inside covers as well. And I will divide the book into sections using file tabs and more stamped images.

I will show it to you once completed!!
I would like to wish all of you a Happy New year, especially to my friends and fellow DT members. I hope you get some quality crafting time over the holiday!!
Siobhan x

The Stamp Man - In the bleak mid winter

Well it has certainly been a bleak mid winter this week with not a snowflake in sight!! And that's our theme this month at The Stamp Man challenge blog.
For my project I revisited a technique I haven't used for years - using household bleach. I used my all time favourite Dreamweaver stencil LJ849 Bare Trees Silhouette. I taped the stencil down onto black Bazzill card stock and spritzed neat cheap household bleach over the entire stencil.

Then with a piece of torn paper I covered the top two thirds of the stencil and spritzed again to further develop the bleaching effect to create an horizon line. I also cut out a circle mask and spritzed through that to create the moon. Remember to cover your work surface well and avoid the temptation to wipe your hands on your jeans!!

To finish off I used Stampendous Aged Ivory Frantage embossing powder on the Tim Holtz snow flurry border, round the edges of the background panel and also on the die cut snowflakes.
The reindeer was die cut from mount board and I built up several layers of the Aged Gold Frantage embossing powder then sank a flourish stamp into the hot layers to give the deer some nice textural detail.
Although dark and moody I thought it kind of captured the mood of the bleak mid winter theme. 
There is a voucher to be had if you enter the challenge, about 60 people have and there are some great interpretations of the theme. Check out the blog for details.
Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you have a lovely time with friends and family and don't over indulge too much. My highlight in the run up to Christmas will be sitting watching the final of Strictly Come Dancing tomorrow night with a glass of wine and some tapas (my hubby is cooking!!)
Siobhan x

Woodware - A Little Birdie Told Me

This week at Woodware we are no longer doing Christmas. The theme for this week is "A Little Birdie Told Me". I must confess I have been so busy at work, Christmas shopping and making all the things I meant to do weeks ago that I totally forgot about this week's challenge until yesterday. So this was a bit of a rush job. I made it before breakfast so that I could photograph it and then by lunch time it was in the post for my sister's birthday. If it gets to Ireland in time for the 19th it will be a miracle!!

My bird is one of my favourite Stampendous bird stamps CRC237 Cling Lone Bird. First I blended some yellow, orange and red inks over a panel of text paper from an old book. Then I sponged through a circle mask to create the sun. The flower silhouettes are all from clear Artemio sets I have. The bird was also stamped in black onto the panel. Then I used brush markers and stamped again onto white card and cut out the bird's body.

I roughed up the edges a bit with the edge of my scissors and mounted onto Kraft card. The background paper was from my stash but I added some script using the word stamp from CRS5029 Cling Jumbo Songbird  and some foliage near the base.

The flower embellishment was made from 2 circles of Kraft card (green and yellow Woodware circle punches) I sponged the edges with ink and roughed up the edges with scissors. Then I shaped them on my firm spongy mat with a large ball embossing tool. A stitched button finishes my rustic flower. 
I am first up this week, so I will be checking daily the  Woodware blog to see what the other girls come up with.
Siobhan x

Woodware - Christmas Tags and Toppers

This week's challenge at Woodware is "Christmas Tags and Toppers". I made tags last year for this challenge. So this time I thought I would make some toppers which I am using to decorate jars for some of my colleagues at work. I bought the jars at Lakeland because I wanted them to be all the same size. I have lots of jars in my craft room but when I dragged them out they looked like they were only fit for a jumble sale. I was going to make 3 different ones for this post, but this weekend just kind of disappeared!! So it's just the one today.

I used the Stampendous "Snowy Postcard" for the front topper for this jar. It was layered up with ovals. Before sticking onto the front of the jar I made a lace edged band to fit round the jar. 

This was punched using one of the crafty edger punches. To give it more of a vintage feel I sponged the edges softly with brown ink and then added a strip of patterned paper and some organza ribbon.

For the top of the jar I made a round topper with the same stamp. Now all that is left to do is to fill the jars with jelly beans or dolly mixtures. I will do that at the last minute just to prevent the temptation of a certain person helping themselves!!

I have since added a bit of glitter on both toppers to give a bit of festive sparkle. I have five of these to make and each one will be different and while I am at it I am making an extra topper to use on a matching Christmas card. Well, that's the plan!!
I hope all your Christmas preparations are going to plan. When I suggested to my family that perhaps someone else could cook the Christmas dinner this year, there was a very long silence!! Never mind, us Mum's always seem to get there in the end.
Siobhan x

Woodware - Sketch Challenge

I am starting to panic a bit about Christmas...I like to be organised and when I am not it tends to stress me. Sad but true. So in between making my Christmas cards I have about ten birthdays to make cards for. For this sketch challenge I decided to kill two birds with one stone as it were and use this card for my Auntie in Ireland. So here is the sketch:

 

And here is my birthday card :

 

This gorgeous bird is from the new Stampendous October 2012 catalogue (CRR158 Cling Nestled Bird). As soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it for my bird collection. I have coloured the main image with Polychromos pencils to keep it quite natural looking. Then I splattered a fine spray mica paint across the piece by flicking a loaded paintbrush. The embossed script along the base of the background another Stampendous set CRS5029  Songbird - Jumbo Cling. I bought both of these from The Stamp Man.

My auntie loves flowers so I added a few flowers punched from pale pink card. I think it is a pretty card. I hope she likes it as it cost a blooming fortune to post to Ireland!!

I hope your Christmas preparations are going better than mine....never mind I am sure I will get there in the end. 

Remember there is a voucher up for grabs if you want to join is for this sketch challenge. Just check out the Woodware blog for details.

Siobhan x

 

Woodware - Christmas Gifts

This week's challenge is to come up with a Christmas Gift idea. I always have great intentions to make more gifts at Christmas, but never actually get round to it. So this year I am determined to make some stationary boxes with a selection of hand made cards to give to non-crafting friends. My friend Liz led a few workshops making these, back in the days of Stampaholics. They went down well but I never got the chance to join the workshop. I had always intended to have a go so here it is 3 years later!! The template and instructions can be found on Splitcoast Stampers and is really easy to make. The key really is to use 12 x 12 paper that is quite thick but you could use card stock and stick decorative panels on top. So here it is ..... my stationary box.

 This is the completed box. The flower was made from several layers of large daisies punched from text paper coloured and scrunched up.
Then open the box : 

The front folds down to reveal the compartments for your handmade cards and tags. The main compartment will take 6x6 inch cards.

 I also made a little address book and an envelope to hold postage stamps. 

These 3x3 inch gift cards fit perfectly into one of the front pockets.

Then I made some luggage label style tags to go in the other front compartment. I thought these would look good on parcels wrapped with brown paper and tied with raffia. In fact I will gift wrap this gift in that way to suggest that idea to my friend.
Then I made six square 6x6 cards in a similar theme. The intended recipient is a bit of a nature lover so I thought she would like these.

All the stamps used in the cards are by Stampendous. They are all images I use time and time again. The next stationary box I make is for someone who likes cute and girly things. Really, the possibilities are endless.
There have been some really inspiring projects this week on the Woodware blog ranging from a gift bag, a muffin tin advent calender and a Noel Christmas decoration. Be sure to pop over for a look!!
I am looking forward to a quiet weekend before the madness that is Christmas completely takes over!! 
Siobhan x

Woodware - Black and White Christmas

There have been some gorgeous samples on the Woodware blog this week. I don't do much black and white normally so this was a bit hard for me!! However after seeing what my fellow DT members have done I could be converted.
Well here is my effort. It is an easel card and features an old but still current Stampendous stamp of the three wise men. There is so much detail in this image that I felt it would work well for this theme.

 I apologise for the photos, they are not great. I am struggling to get daylight just now. It's darkish in the morning leaving for work and completely dark by the time I get home!!.
The borders on the main card were stamped using the border stamp from a clear Stampendous set called "Damask Chair". It is such a lovely border which I use for lots of things and I thought it worked well here.
The black matting layers are black glitter card for a bit of Christmas bling (although it doesn't show up in this photo!!)

 And of course I had to add a few pearls. Woodware sell strips of pearls in lovely scroll type patterns which are great for adding that little something extra!!
Be sure to check out what the other girls have made this week for loads of inspiration.
Hope you have a great weekend!!
Siobhan x

 

The Stamp Man - Emboss it!!

This month at the Stamp Man we were set an embossing challenge. Any type of embossing so I went with heat embossing with powders for this Christmas card.
I have used normal powders and some Frantage powders to hopefully give this card the wow factor!!

 The main image is the gorgeous Stampendous "Snowy Postcard" Stamped twice onto white card using coffee Archival ink then colour added with Distress inks. The edges of the postcard were "Frantaged" using several colours of the aged and shabby powders.

The background was made using blended Distress Inks onto thick white card then distressed and layers of stamping. I then embossed white snowflakes (free from last month's Craft Stamper" magazine. The border at the top is from Stampendous and comes from the jumbo cling Hollyhocks set. 
To finish off I die cut a Tim Holtz reindeer from mount board, coloured and stamped with Distress inks. Then it was triple embossed with clear powder. And then finally more frantage powders around the background edges.
I really like this, so will probably give it to my husband, that way I get to keep it!!
You have until the end of the month to enter the Stamp Man challenge and have a chance of winning a gift voucher......so what are you waiting for!! I enjoyed this challenge and got another Christmas card for my box!!
Siobhan x
 

Woodware - Cute Christmas

I am last up this week for a "Cute Christmas" at Woodware . I don't do a lot of cute stuff although it is nice for a change. But then the panic set in!!! I don't have many cute Christmas stamps that are stocked by Woodware. Then I remembered that somewhere I had this cute little Stampendous raccoon "Rocco Skate". The card took less time to make than it took me to find the stamp!! Never mind, such is life as a crafter!!
So here it is, my cute Christmas card:

The trees came from a clear Stampendous set "Birch Buddies". As my sewing machine is out at the moment I did some stitching around the sentiment and the background . The background was stamped with a tone on tone look using Jane's Woodware design "Faithful and Joyful" background stamp. I used double sided adhesive film on white card and glittered the edges with fine pastel blue glitter for the matting layer. That leaves a sticky centre to pop the main panel on!!

The punched border was using the Crafty Edger Bling Bling cassette. A few pearls and a bit of aqua organza ribbon to finish off. I know someone who will like this card!! I will keep it for her.
Hope you have a good weekend. I better seriously start my Christmas shopping. Just looked out my craft room window to see a flock of Waxwings in our rowan tree. Such lovely birds but my husband always moans that they leave such a mess behind!!
Siobhan x

My Circle Journal

I promised to share my circle journal with you once it was completed. Our group of nine each chose a theme for their own journal. We all designed the cover, rules and introduction and then completed the first two pages. Every month or six weeks we met for coffee in Perth for a catch up and to pass the journals on to the next person. Last month we met for a meal to return the journals to the original owner.
It was a very enjoyable thing to do, especially as a way to keep in touch and we have something special at the end of it.
So here is my journal. I chose Natural History as my theme (no surprises there!!) and this is what I got back at the end:

This is my cover

Then I typed up my rules. I tried to keep them easy!!
I made my two pages next. I love ravens so decided to base my pages on the Crow family and learnt a few things along the way.

The next page was made by lovely Sue who knows I also love dragonflies. The pocket on the RH page had two tags with dragonfly facts on them. I love the colours and all the details.

Next up was Elizabeth who chose butterflies for her pages. I love the colours of these pages and the crackled butterfly in the ornate frame.

Then came Erin, Sue's daughter. Erin used to come to classes at the shop with her Mum at an early age and it has been lovely to see her style develop over the years.

Next up is Isobel. She lives on a farm and chose these lovely images of sheep for her layout. Isobel is probably the least experienced in our group but did a superb job on everyone's pages.

Then comes Lin. Her pages are always soft and gentle. She chose thistles for her pretty pages. The thistles in the middle are actually cut out from one of the paper bags we used in the shop. Lin worked with me in the shop for several years and helped me keep my sanity at times!!

Next is my friend Liz. She did this gorgeous layout based on owls. It even includes a booklet that tells me about all the British species of owls. I love the colours she has used.

The next two pages were from the lovely Lynne. She is such a busy lady who often works long hours. When I saw these pages I burst out laughing. One day her pages will come.....and I am sure they will be worth the wait!! Lynne has a love of elephants and I just knew this would be her theme.

Then last but definitely not least are the pages from Maggie. I love her style and she also has a great love of nature. The colours she has used are gorgeous and I love the use of Frantage embossing powders for texture. She too has included a little booklet on facts about sea horses.

The back of the journal had a pocket for tags where everyone wrote a little their pages.

I was so impressed at the effort everyone went too and now I have a lovely keepsake of all these friends work. We hope to meet up after Christmas and embark on another project.
I hope you enjoy looking at the journal and perhaps it might inspire you to do something with a group of your crafting buddies.
Siobhan x



 

Woodware - Sketch Challenge

This week at Woodware I am first up. It's another sketch challenge and here it is: 








    A nice simple sketch to work with. I thought I would have one last go at an Autumn card before I knuckle down and get my Christmas cards made. 
I love getting out to the countryside at this time of year. The trees are looking stunning with their autumn colours just now. But I know it won't be long before the trees are bare. 
So here it is:

The stamps came from two Artemio sets of meadow flowers. I love the bold silhouettes of the flowers but I also love some of the more delicate sprigs. My centre panel was a piece of white card and I blended shades of green, yellow and oranges for the background. A splatter of water to distress it slightly and it was ready for stamping. 

 

 The second panel was made in the same way but the colours kept softer. I also stamped using the second generation ink (stamp onto scrap paper lightly first). 
The third panel was some rusty brown card stock and I gold embossed the delicate sprig with gold powder. The sentiment comes from a newish Woodware stamp designed by Jane.

I hope you like it. Sometimes the more simple cards can be the most striking. 
Ah well, back to work today. Why do the weekends always fly by!!
Remember this is a challenge and if you want to win a voucher you need to enter. Check out the details at the Woodware blog.
Siobhan x

Woodware - Frantaged Christmas

This weeks challenge at Woodware is "Frantaged Christmas". I love the Frantage range of embossing powders, glitters and mica fragments. But I decided in the end to keep it simple and use one of my favourite powders "Shabby White". Just before I started writing this post I checked the Woodware blog and found that Debs has also used this Stampendous stamp (CRR143 Snowy Postcard). She has gone for some lovely whites and blues. Anyway too late to change mine but hopefully it will entice you to get hold of this gorgeous stamp.

I stamped onto kraft card for my background. I also used the pine cones and sprigs from a Stampendous jumbo cling set CRS5040 Pine cone Boughs . I stamped the snowy houses onto white card as well to cut out the oval. For more accuracy I used the "Emboss Gloss" wand to apply embossing ink to the roofs of the houses and the snowy banks. Then I sprinkled on the Shabby White powder.

I also added a bit to the cones in the background and also along the bottom edge. I wanted to keep a vintage feel to this card. Sadly in the photos you can't see the sparkle and shine, but it really does catch the light.
Hope you have a good week.
Siobhan x