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