Secret Garden Specimen box for That's Crafty

What's the secret???
Open it up to find gorgeous garden finds :D

I have used Graphic 45 Secret Garden stamps and papers on a Tando covered printers tray to create this pretty vintage style specimen box.

For all the deets visit the That's Crafty blog HERE and to go shopping visit the site HERE :D

here's a close up of the inside ....

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

Roaring Twenties fan for That's Crafty

This is my third piece as guest designer over on the That's crafty blog so only two left to go :-(

As soon as I saw this Tando fan I knew it would make a gorgeous Gatsbyesque 20's style fan :D
The gorgeous stamps I used are Crafty Individuals Fashionable Twenties Ladies and were the perfect size for the large fan :D

I used a wire wrapping technique on the base of the fan I learnt from Jewellery Maker and using their wire.

If you want to go shopping visit the That's Crafty site HERE, and for how to create your own visit HERE for the deets.

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

Sew Pretty for That's Crafty

Good Morning everyone, hope you are up to crafty business today :D
This is my using  piece for this weeks That's Crafty design team using the Tando chipboard oval bowl/frame.
I of course used it as a frame :D

I embellished it with my current favourite patterned papers (Tilda), lace, buttons and ribbons, but used paper clay on the base if the frame.

For all the pics and deets visit the That's Crafty blog HERE and leave me some feedback please :D

Then if you want to go shopping visit HERE to see a fab range of products and an amazing range of stamps :D

Hugs'n'snogs,

Julie xx

Awkward Alice!!!

Well, I don't think I have ever had as many problems trying to photograph a project!!!

I am afraid this is the best I can do!!!
So here she is, awkward Alice hanging on my very munched Honeysuckle! (stoopid flippin caterpillars!!!)

hugs'n'snogs

Julie xx

P.S look who arrived today :D
hope these guys behave better!!!

How curious, Alice mobile for Thats Crafty

 That's me :D

Yes,  I am very honoured to be the guest designer for August on the That's Crafty blog :D
If you haven't been and visited the shop head on over HERE and see the amazing range of stamps and other crafting goodies in Laura's fab shop :D

This is my first piece using the lush Stampendous Alice stamps along with tando chippie yumminess :D

I had a terrible time trying to capture this at its best so will attempt to try and get some better pictures for you while I am on my weeks leave this week ;-)

For all the deets and how to visit the blog HERE and show me some support :D

I am rather out of practice at not only blogging but crafting these days!! But I intend to sort this out :D
I have some fabby Tando to play with, moulds and paper clay, and lots of yummy stamps :D

Watch this space,
hugs'n'snogs,

Julie xx

Birdie faux bell jar for Happy Daze

 

Happy New year everyone - better late than never huh :D
The theme over on the Happy Daze blog this month is recycling because I'm sure we all need to be a little bit thrifty after the season of goodwill and long pay months LOL :D

My project is something I have been wanting to do for a very long time but was struggling to find a cloche or bell jar - they have been increasingly popular since TH released his sizzix die, and impossible to find at a reasonable price! (thanks T!m LOL :D )

I found a very clever idea on Pinterest showing a pop bottle transformed in to a bell jar from THIS BLOG so thought I would give it a go.
I am a Pinterest addict by the way, so if you want to follow me or any of my boards click the button on the side bar :D

I have to say its not very easy sawing the top of the bottle off without crushing the rest of the bottle, so after a couple of attempts I enlisted my hubby's help. he found it easier to leave the top on but remove the seal ring, then hold the bottle by the top to saw. Tricky, but he managed it one attempt, and found it pretty funny that the top of a coke bottle was so precious to me LOL :D

The base was made from a ribbon spool from my Christmas wrapping, an old cd and the back of my Tim Holtz paper pad, which I covered with Graphic 45 paper, acrylic paint, and TH crackle paint in Frayed Burlap.

I then tied a piece of ripped Tilda fabric around, glued on some lace and spritzed everything randomly with a distress re-inker mist to age it all.

I painted one of these cute little wooden houses stuck on a mini wooden bobbin in acrylic paint then added paper accents to the roof and back. I stamped the black paper before I stuck it down, with my Picket Fence distress marker to give a chalkboard effect.

I inked the edges with distress ink and gave it all a spritz with the ink mist. The piece of fabric tied around the bobbin was a leftover stamped from a previous project which says May you love... so I pinned on a TH muse token which says FOR EVER MORE.

I added buttons, bling and flowers, and a mini bird nest, and a teeny bird I bought from a florist supplier on e-bay.
I spritzed again with the ink mist and added some distress stickles randomly.

For the bell jar I added a game spinner and a  time piece to a curio knob with the screw and glued them on to the cut off top of the bottle.

Then glued on some lace which also got spritzed with the ink mist. I added distress stickles to the outside of the bottle around the top and bottom and just to make the bottle look more aged I sponged on some brown alcohol inks on the inside of the bottle.
I just placed it over the birdhouse and Voila, a cute recycled project :D

Who would have thought it had started life as a pop bottle, cd, packaging and a ribbon spool???

Pop on over to the Happy Daze blog to see other fabby projects and enter this months comp while you are there - not long left to enter so get recycling quick :D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

Crafty sew'n'sew for Happy Daze

I have had this idea in my head for a while and finally got around to putting it in to reality :D
I started with one of these fab hardboard collage frames and a papier mache torso.

I cut the torso in half and glued it on to the frame with glossy accents, then gave it a few coats of white gesso as a base.

When completely dry I covered the whole thing with pieces of a vintage sewing pattern glued down with Claudines matte medium.

When dry I painted it with a wash of Claudines studio paints in painterly pink and  sky blue mixed with traditional tan to give it a more vintage look.

I love that it has tinted the paper but you can still see the original print :D

I stamped around the edge in archival ink with these amazing BLOCKHEADS stamps

To finish I added buttons and other sewing ephemera and distress stickles.

If you haven't already go and check out all the NEW ITEMS in the shop as Moira has added some lush new lines that will defo have you parting with your pennies :D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

Polymer clay pendants for Happy Daze

Hi everyone and Happy New Year :D
For my NEW technique this week I coloured white polymer clay using perfect pearls pigment powders.
I used white clay and manipulated it until it was nice and soft. I put my perfect pearls on a piece of clingfilm and squished the clay in to it, then neaded it in.
Polymer clay is much softer than it used to be so is much easier to get to a workable texture.

I added in some clear glitter to see how that would look baked, you can't really see it though on the front of the piece, but I rather like how the back turned out with the crinkles from the clingfilm :DIt could quite easily be made in to a reversible piece by adding detail to the back (which I have just thought of now by the way LOL ).

While the clay was still unbaked I cut it in to the shape, made my hanging holes, then pressed my butterfly stamp in to it.

I baked it according to the manufacturers instructions and left it to cool.

Once cooled I added alcohol inks, I started with greens and blues all over but didn't feel the text stood out enough, so I covered it in black soot.
I then removed the excess by wiping over the surface with a paper towel with a little bit of blending solution on leaving behind the ink in the stamped image.
I added a little bit of perfect pearls to the butterfly.
When everything was dry I coated it with layers of Lisa Pavelka resin.

I tried a couple of other pieces some succesful, others not.
This is the same blue as my main piece but I added beadazzles to it...
This piece didn't work so well as I added the resin just to the indented area first and it puddled the alcohol ink ...And these little birds turned out rather nicely.
The one on the left is just the perfect pearls, the one on the right is swiped over with black ink.

The great thing about this technique is that you only need to buy white clay and colour it any colour with your mica powders.

Whats your something new going to be this month?
Upload it to the launch post on the Happy Daze blog to be in with a chance of winning this months prize :D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

Edited to add - everybody seems to love that little bird mould so HERE is a link for it. Its only a little mould though probably about 2cm max accross the widest point

Santas Christmas treat chest for Happy Daze

Well I really need to kick start my Christmas mojo in to gear as I am so disorganised with only being back from my hols less than two weeks!!
I thought I would share this cute idea for an alternative advent calendar which could be decorated to suit all ages.

I have made mine in to a vintage shabby chic style and plan on filling it with little chocolate treats, candy canes and promise tickets - eg. make mince pies, watch a Christmas movie etc...

I used a papier mache chest and covered it with two sheets of Pink Paislee Santas list 12x12 paper.

I started by painting all the edges inside and out with green acrylic paint so that any expose areas wouldn't be left brown.
When dry I painted the edge that is trimmed with red acrylic paint and left to dry again.

I cut the papers roughly to size and then used my nail to give score the paper in to the edges of the box to give me a cutting guide. The boxes aren't exact measurement wise, so make sure your paper is cut to fit the widest points so that you can cut them back to size.I distressed my edges with an emery board and then inked with Broken China distress ink pad then glued them in to place with Glossy Accents - I like to swirl it on then spread it out with my finger so that it reaches all the edges. I like GA for sticking paper on to objects as it grabs and dries quickly.

On the inside of the lid I added a distressed hole in the paper before adhering to the box and stuck a small piece of contrasting patterned paper on to the back to add to the shabby look.

I covered it inside and out and when finished strengthened the hinged section with tissue tape which I also inked with the broken china.

I glued on a piece of vintage lace using Claudine's matte medium - now I have a little tip when using this - make sure you clean the edge of the jar before you put the lid back on. If you don't (like I hadn't) and then don't use it for a while you will have BIG problems getting the lid off!

I also used the medium to stick the charms and prima flower on, as already mentioned its a really good strong glue LOL :D

I embossed some of the pieces with TH alterations embossing folders which I distressed and inked.

My splash of colour on the project is my lovely broken china distress stickles and the distress stain I used on the Adage ticket.

I used some letter stickers I have had for ages on the front of the box and gave them a little bit of dimension with the Glossy Accents. The promise tickets would be a great idea to keep the kids occupied over the Christmas period with ideas like make paper chains, make gingerbread, write a letter to Santa etc...

If you were making it for a crafter you could make little parcels or envelopes and fill them with little embellies - ideaology trinkets would be fabby for anybody taking part in T!ms 12 tags of Christmas. Moira sells fabby taster packs of these too so it needn't cost a fortune.

Or how about filling it with chocolate coins?

If you get cracking you will just have time to make it before the 1st of December :D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

Death bangle for Happy Daze

Can't find the perfect jewellery to go with your halloween costume? or do you want something just a little bit different to everybody else's??

Then pick up some of these amazing wooden bangles from Moira at just £3.55 for a set of three!!! :D

They have a lovely smooth surface so are very easy to colour.
I coloured mine by rubbing on Viva decor inka gold and polishing it up.

I then stamped white tissue paper with images from these fabby Pink Paislee Phantom stamps .

I glued them on with Claudine Hellmuth matte medium being careful not to get any on the front of the image as I wanted to tint the images with distress Spiced Marmalade ink pad.

I lightly spritzed patches of the bangle with Cosmic shimmer mist - just a little warning though, the pigment is very strong in these and stains very easily.....I have very purple hands right now!!!

I glued on some little patches of grey lace with the matte medium then when dry smeared on some distress stickles in Spiced Marmalade and Chipped Sapphire.

When everything was dry I sponged on more matte medium to seal everything in place.

You could make bangles to match all your outfits with these very affordable bangles :D
Now for some close ups....


Hugs'n'spooky snogs,
Julie xx

From Paris with love....

I begged Moira at the trade show in February to buy these cute little bags and it took some convincing let me tell you LOL :D

I have been meaning to do something with it for ages but it has been playing hide and seek with me for a while, but I finally caught it :D

I used Claudine Hellmuth studio paints watered down in a mini mister to colour the bag to start with as it was very white!!

I stamped Artistic Outpost Paris Exposition stamps and Glitz stamp on to tissue paper with Archival ink and tore around the images before gluing them down with Claudines multi matte medium.

I built up the colour with different colours of the watered down paint drying in between each colour. The amazing thing about these paints is they are waterproof when dry.
I applied some of the archival ink with a sponge to distress the edges a bit then gave it two generous coats of the matte medium.

When dry I added distress stickles randomly with my finger then when dry glued on the lace with the matte medium (its not completely dry in the pic sorry!!!)

I added a Zazi flower and madrigal flower which I only had in white, so I spritzed it with the pink paint :D

I'm really pleased with the finished bag and will definitely be using it :D

Moira has some fab offers on the site at the moment so head on over to grab yours :D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

Dragonfly duet altered pocket watch :D

Well, this turned in to quite a labour of love - in other words a chore!!! LOL :D

I treated myself to some resin a while ago and I was a little bit scared of it!!!
I made some little embellies to start with but it wasn't right and I started this project and couldn't get it to dry :(
I realised I wasn't getting the mix right!!

Luckily you can layer up resin and can't see where its layered so I finally got the mix right today to finish off this piece :D

I used my dichroic technique with croco to start with.
I coated my piece of lace with matte medium on both sides because resin soaks in to the fibres and it would become invisible with the resin - the same happens to paper!!

I stuck my embellies down with glossy accents then layered in the resin.

I finished it off by colouring the embellies with inka gold and adding a little bit of distress stickles on the resin to hide my pokeyisitdryyet finger prints :D

I'm so disappointed that you can't see the depth in the photo :( and blogger won't let me add anymore for some reason :(

yeyyyy I can now :D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

My Mum loves reading so what better present to make her than a pretty bookmark :D

The metal blank was bouught at my local craft shop but can be found for not a lot of money on the internet.

To embellish it I used pieces of broken jewellery, a few charms, my signature piece - buttons :D and of course some Tim Holtz fragments.

I didn't really understand what fragments were when I first saw them on the internet but they are such a cool little piece of kit when you get playing with them and you get loads!!! :D

I used a couple of pieces from the charm set and adhered them to some double sided paper with glossy accents by coating one side of the fragment, placing on the area I wanted to feature on the paper, and wiggling a little bit to move the glossy accents until it was evenly coated.

When dry I cut around the shape and sanded the edges.

To finish them I stamped them with Prima mini stamps with archival ink in plum - these are amazing stamps for small projects as there are so many small images to choose from.

Everything was linked together with jump rings - which Tim also does - how fabby would one look with some of the baubles mixed with fragments and keys??

Or perhaps you could do a cute easter gift instead of eggs - stamped shrink plastic charms would look so cute :D

Or how about putting photos of your loved ones on the fragments to create a lovely keepsake.

Hugs'n'snogs,

Julie

My distressing is now organised :D

Well as I mentioned on Saturday I bought the teabag box from Moira to organise my blending foam - well look how the decorated box has turned out :D


Here's how to.........

Start by painting it with white gesso, then paint it with white acrylic paint.

When dry I add on some TH tissue tape to strengthen the hinged lid and to add decoration.

Rip a piece of patterned paper - I used a piece from a book of sheet music.

Stamp background stamps randomly in acrylic paint - I used a Ranger paint dabber in pearl then colour with distress inks. When dry rub the stamped images with a very slightly damp cloth to remove the ink and reveal the image.

Next coat with a crackle medium -mine was from a local craft shop.When dry paint with a top coat of your choice.
Rub in distress ink with a piece of cut and dry foam to age the colour and highlight the cracks.
Paint on a thin coat of Claudine Hellmuths multi matte medium - the distress ink will lift but settles in the cracks of the paint.
Glue on a chipboard shape to the lid and cover with scrunched up tissue paper stuck down with the matte medium. When dry I highlighted it with distress ink.
Add on more tissue tape - I randomly added it to corners and on the back of the lid to give the impression the box had been repaired, then inked with vintage photo DI to age it.

For the top I chose a selection of random elements I have collected and started playing around with how I like them placed.

The girl is stamped on to a piece of vellum and stuck down by the objects around her and the optical lens.The piece of canvas was created with the faux batik technique I used HERE.

When you are happy with your arrangement glue the items down with the matte medium - because it dries clear it doesn't matter how messy you are - but you won't be able to ink again as it will resist.
Smear on some Distress stickles to highlight areas as much or as little as you like - I love its subtle aged shimmer.
Once I was happy with the top I started stamping around the sides and using TH distress embossing powders on some of the images to add a little bit of texture.
Again I added embellishments - mainly buttons, some mosaic pieces, a couple of tags from clothes (got to love River Islands mini masterpieces :D), lace and a scrap of the Batiked canvas I had cut off.

Then its time for the inside :D
It was already painted white and I crackled the inside of the lid at the same time as the rest of the box.
The sections were just spritzed with a combo of Cosmic Shimmer mists and edged with the tissue tape - this doesn't stick too well so needs coating with the matte medium to hold it down.

I decorated mine to house my blending foam on the cards I shared with you On Saturday but you could yours for anything you want!!
The cards I have cut are 6.5x6.5 Cm's so if its smaller than that it should fit :D

• What about your ideaology bits and pieces?? some of those are quite hard to store in traditional boxes.

• Or if you have a lot of small stamps you could index them - or even store them in there - the Prima minis would just and no more fit if you cut the strip of gems off and trim the bottom.

• Or index your ideas that you just never seem to get around to trying, but then can't remember what you wanted to do when you find time??

• Or make a memory box?

• You could cut cards to fit and store ribbons or lace.

• If your a scrapbooker or card maker you could print or draw design sketches you want to use at a later date.

• They aren't quite tall enough for stickles or alcohol inks but the lid could easily be removed if you wanted open top storage.

You want one now don't you LOL :D

This was created for HAPPY DAZE and SCROLLS WORK STAMPS and nearly all of the items used are available from Moira.

Moira's next Facebook challenge is starts today and the theme is "in a Vintage style...." so hopefully this project will inspire you to dig out all those fabby embellies we all like to hoard and stick them on a project :D
Or perhaps you have some amazing stamps???
Moira stocks the fabulous Scrolls Work stamps and they have many stunning vintage images :D

It doesn't have to be a big project like this one, it can be a card or even a tag but make sure you upload to the Facebook page HERE for the chance of winning a £15 voucher :D

Hugs'n'snogs
Julie xx