That Craft Place Challenge 21st December 2014

Hello Bloggers,

Well it is time for another challenge over at That Craft Place and this time it is Anything Goes.

I have produced a card built up with layers of inks through different stencils/masks and a wall hanging using images on torn tissues and napkins.

This card is 8"x 8" and has been made by layering up different distress inks through different stencils/masks keeping the card flat.

I started with a black card and on that layered a piece of printed card that I had in my stash.  I then cut down a smaller white piece of card and using the fantastic masking tape from TCP held down a mask from Creative Expressions.  I used three different blue distress inks and one of Barbara Gray's brushes to lightly brush the ink through the mask in different directions,

Once I removed that mask I used a splat and cup stain mask and went through that with green ink in different areas using cut and dry foam.  I then used pumice stone distress ink to put down the words Inspire and Dream from Lisa's new laser stencils.

The idea of this card was to build the card up with layers but keeping it flat to allow the butterfly to really stand out.  The butterfly has been cut from the new Tim Holtz die with an embossing folder included with it so that the wings can be embossed on acetate.  I finished the card and butterfly off with gems from my stash,

A note about the masking tape sold by TCP it is in my opinion one of the best I have ever bought or used.  It is so low tack that there is no fear of it tearing your work as you peel it off but sticky enough to hold your card, mask or anything else in place.

My second piece for the challenge is a wall hanging which has a lovely touch of spring about it to brighten up our damp cold days.

I started with a paper mache wall hanging which I gave a cover of white gesso using cut and dry foam to apply.  I always use cut and dry foam to apply gesso and paints as it prevents the brush marks and the odd brush hair.

Once dry I used some distress paints and americana paints to cover both front and back of the wall hanging.  I applied the paints to the wall hanging and then used a mister to spray with water and allow the paints to run and mix with each other.

I had a napkin with birds on it so I carefully tore around two of the birds and made sure the image was only one ply.  I coloured a small white canvas using gelatos and blended the colours with my fingers.  I took a normal tissue from a box and separated it down to one ply and stamped the quote on to it using archival ink. You must remember to dry your stamped image with a heat tool as archival ink has an oil base and this could smudge if it is not dry properly.

I applied the bird images and the quote using mod podge and then I finished decorating it with flowers and a butterfly that I stamped and cut out,  I ran my black soot distress paint around the edges of the wall hanging to frame it.

The items used in these projects can be purchased from That Craft Place along with much more lovely crafting stash.

Thank you for dropping by to take a look at my challenge entries, I hope you have joined in with us on this challenge as it is open to everyone.

TTFN
Ria

DT Challenge 7th December - Christmas

Hello all you lovely people,

Well today it feels a lot like Christmas at That Craft Place Challenge and everything is looking lovely and festive.

I decided not to go with the traditional Christmas colours for my DT piece but instead us cool winter icy colours.

I used a flat canvas which I painted using Americana Decor Paint in colours Lace and Serene bought from TCP.  This was my first time of using these paints and my word for them is, LUSH.  They are lovely and creamy, come in 8fl oz tubs and go on to surfaces like a dream.

Once the canvas was dry I used some Mod Podge and stuck down some screwed up Tim Holtz music tissue paper and left to dry.

I painted the whole of the MDF laser cut Believe in the magic of Christmas and snowflake plague from TCP in the lace colour.  Once that had dried I then painted the actual words on the plague in the serene colour.

I then masked off all the snowflakes so I could use a music stamp I had and stamped on the words using Archival black ink.  Next I masked off the words and used Crafter's Companion Silver Spray & Sparkle all over the snowflakes.

I stuck a sparkly gem in the centre of each of the snowflakes and then stuck the laser cut MDF piece on to the canvas.  At this point I was not too impressed with it, something was missing.  I took out my Black Derwent Charcoal Pencil and a small paint brush and went around the outline of each letter to highlight it, which in turn made the whole piece come together.

So there you have it, my entry to the Christmas Challenge in the form of "Believe in the Magic of Christmas".

Thank you for stopping by to take a look at my blog entry, please do leave a message to let me know what your thoughts are on my project or just to say Hi.  I appreciate you taking the time to come over to "Home is where My Art" is and if you would like to join me on my crafting journey please feel free to follow me.

Big Hugs

Ria

Delicate Asters Book

Hello Friends,

Today I am sharing with you a pretty little 6"x 6" Laser Cut Grey Board Book that came from That Craft Place Ltd

Lisa has been turning out some really lovely pieces from her laser cut machine and welcomes any orders/requests for items you would like cut.  I decided to use one of her 6"x 6" grey board books which came with a laser cut flower that looked a little like an aster.

I also used these other pieces that she sells in packets of two's, three's or a number that you require.

I put the cut pieces together with my Heartfelt Creations Delicate Asters set of stamps, dies and papers and set about creating a little book with secret pockets and tags.

I started by covering the front, back and inside pieces of the book with cut down papers and stamped on the papers in different areas.

I used the papers to cut out some of the flowers and built them up to become the delicate asters, I also cut out some of the little flowers and stuck those to the stamped blossom tree on the inside of the back cover.

I coloured the little grey board pieces with distress inks and used a mask cut by Lisa to put the dots on the umbrella.  I layered the flowers up on top of the leaves that I cut out using the die.

I then started cutting out pages to put in the book from the 12"x 12" paper pad and used some of the sentiment panels to make little pockets and placed tags in them.

I felt that the back cover deserved to be as pretty as the rest of the book so it has a 3D butterfly that I stamped and cut out and I used some lovely quote stamps through the book.

In the picture fourth from the top you can see a vellum page with a butterfly on it.  These I believe came from a Kanban kit and I put one vellum page between each heartfelt creation page just to add a different look and texture to the book.

This book will be going on show in That Craft Place shop for customers to look at and to give them inspiration for the laser cut books.

Thank you for dropping in today and taking a look at this pretty little book, I hope it has given you some inspiration for a project.  Please do leave me a comment to let me know you dropped by and what you think about the book.  If you like what you see and would like to join me on my crafting journey then please feel free to follow me.

Thanks
Ria

Christmas Stocking

Hello Blog Friends,

Welcome to my blog, I hope you are all well having fun and not letting this winter weather get to you too much.

As we are now starting to feel more like winter I thought it would be safe to share with you a winter make that I have done for That Craft Place

I have to apologise as I forgot to take a photograph of this in it's naked state.  It has been laser cut by Lisa out of MDF and comes in two pieces, the red part and the white part that you can see at the top of the stocking and they both have a hole cut in the top right hand corner.

I started by covering both pieces back and front with White Gesso and dried using my heat tool. Once dry I covered both pieces with Maimeri Light Modelling Paste as well as attaching some screwed up Tissue paper in areas on the stocking to give it extra depth.

The next stage was the hardest, waiting for it to dry!  I am not the most patient of people and have a habit of sticking my finger into things to see if they are dry yet.

Once I had given the modelling paste the correct time to dry I started painting the red area.  I used Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics in London Bus red and in a few areas I added in just a tiny amount of black to again give the stocking depth and shading.  I gave the front two coats of paint using a paint brush and the back two coats using a piece of Cut and Dry Foam.

I used White Acrylic Paint for the top piece and once this was dry I applied two coats of Crawford and Blacks Glitter Paint.

The Snow Woman was laser cut from Grey Board by Lisa and comes in a packet as a MR & Mrs.  I covered the three pieces with white gesse and then when dry I went over the body with the glitter paint.  For the hat I used a Glitter Glue that I found in my stash and finished this little lady with other items from my stash.

The Snowflakes are laser cut from MDF and were given the same treatment of white gesso and glitter paint.

I wanted to have some wrapped presents coming out of the top of the stocking and spent a night thinking of how this could be achieved (instead of sleeping, which I don't do much of anyway).
I decided to make two small boxes and filled the inside of these with tissue paper to give them more strength.  I then wrapped them in tissue paper and created little tags for them.  I then put two pieces of Centura Pearl Card together for strength and cut a slit in the side of each box.  I covered the pieces of card with glue and pushed them into the slit I had made and left enough card sticking out so that it could be glued between the red stocking and white top pieces of MDF.

I finished the whole thing off with some Christmas bits from my stash and some Polar Flower Soft. The Merry Christmas Sign was from one of the stamps I have in my Christmas Crafting Box.

I don't know how any of you store your Christmas Crafting Stash but I found it didn't belong in with my everyday stash so I decorated a box and anything that is to do with Christmas is put in that box and then put well out of the way once it is no longer needed.  For me that works but I would love to hear from you about how you store your Christmas crafting stuff.

Thanks once again for dropping in on my blog and taking a look at what I have made and how it was done.  I do hope a Christmas Project has not got you stressed or worrying about how much you have to do.

Please do leave me a comment to let me know you have dropped by and please feel free to follow me on my crafting journey if you like what you see.

TTFN

Ria

DT piece for That Craft Place - door hanger

Hello Blog Friends,

Well it has been some time since I last blogged, that has been due to a number of things.  My health has taken a bit of a bashing and is taking time to get my head around that.

I also found that so many of my posts had lost some or all of the pictures I had used and this was upsetting because I had worked hard on them.  I decided to go right back to the start of my blog and delete any posts that had lost pictures.  As so many of you had started to follow my blog I didn't want to start a new one and loose all of you.

So the situation at the moment is that I am still on the design team for Sheena Douglass but I am also now on the design team for Lisa Ditzie Horton at That Craft Place.

Lisa will be sending me MDF and Gray Board laser cut shapes for me to decorate and these will then be placed in her shop to give inspiration for others.

This is my first piece that I have done for That Craft Place using a laser cut door hanger and Heartfelt Creations Papers and Stamps.

I started by giving both sides of the hanger a coat of White Gesso to make it easier to glue the papers to.

I have used The Classic Sunflower Collection 12"x 12" paper pad and the stamps that go with this collection.  I am a big lover of sunflowers I believe they are very happy flowers and make you feel like smiling when you see them.

Using some Slap it on Matte Glue I covered the front and back of the hanger with different papers from the pad, both had the spotty design on them.  I cut the middle hole out of the papers once stuck down and then I sanded along all the edges of the hanger to give a neater finish.

I used Archival Dandelion Ink on a piece of Cut and Dry Foam to go around the edge of the hanger and used the same ink to stamp the Classic Sunflower twice.  I used the large die that cuts out all the flowers, seeds and ladybirds.

The single Sunflower Stem was stamped direct on to the paper using Archival Jet Black Ink.  This was then coloured in using my Tim Holtz Distress Pens.  The two sunflowers were coloured using Archival Dandelion and Orange Ink pad and Distress Pens.

I layered the flowers up and used Brown Flower Soft for the centre of these flowers and the one that has been stamped.  The leaves were stamped and cut from the Bold Leaf set of stamps using Archival Fern Green ink pad.

The Butterfly was stamped from the Summer's Day and Sunflower Stem set of stamps and again coloured in using Distress Pens. Once the butterflies were layered up I used Mustard Seed Distress Stickles on the wings

The string of pearls are from my embellishment stash and were stuck around the hanger using Cosmic Shimmer Glue.  I used one of the litter tickets from the paper pad that says "Just a Note" and on the back of the hanger I used the stamp that says "The flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of Today".

I added a little piece of lace from my stash and then I created the bow using some orange and yellow ribbon.  I have added some of the seeds at the bottom of the hanger along with one of the ladybirds cut out by the die.

Thank you for taking the time to come back and look at my blog and I hope you will leave me a comment saying what you think of my creation.  I will be back on my blog a lot more now so if you feel like joining me on my creative journey please come along for the ride.

TTFN
Ria

Faux leather book,

Hello Blog Friends

Today I am going to give you a sneak peak at the other projects I made using the New Embossing Folders by Sheena Douglass which she will be working with tomorrow on Create and Craft at 9am and 3pm.

The front cover of the Faux Leather book I made using one of the new folders.  The flowers were coloured using the Silks paints.

The back cover of the book made using a second embossing folder.  I stitched a large button to the front and back cover. glued a large flower on the front one and used elastic to hook around the two buttons to keep the book closed.

The inside of the book covered with fabric and then a small envelope and tag stuck inside.  I used the two embossing folders to emboss the pages on the left hand side of the book as shown in this picture.

This is a box that I have made using black card the elephant embossing folder and then going over the raised area with gilding wax.

Last but not least this card I made using a beautiful 5"x 7" embossing folder and I used my distress inks on it and cut some of the flower out to give lift and shape.  I also cut out some extra flowers from the folders and used a Sheena sentiment and a tattered lace die for the bird.

Make sure you tune in to Sheena's two shows tomorrow at 9am and 3pm and you will get the chance to watch Sheena use her folders using lots of different techniques, shows not to be missed.

Thanks for looking in I would love for you to leave a comment letting me know what you think and I can give further details on my makes if you want them.

Ria

Elephants and Arches

Hello Bloggers,

Today I am going to talk you through a card I have made using one of the new Sheena Douglass embossing folders.

I started with a piece of black card cut to 5"x 7" and put it through the embossing folder with the crosses on it and ran it through my eBosser.  Once embossed I then applied some Renaissance Gilding Wax over the raised area.

I cut a piece of kraft card as a matt and then on a slightly smaller piece of kraft card I used the arches embossing folder.  I ran some glycerine over the smooth side the folder placed the card face down and embossed it.

Once embossed I covered the areas made wet by the glycerine with black embossing powder and heated.  The raised area that was left was painted with a gold H2O.

I used some black card and again used glycerine on the smooth side of the elephant embossing folder and once that was embossed I covered it with gold embossing powder and heated.  I cut two of the elephants out and used glue gel to raise them slightly.

The sentiment was stamped using black archival ink on kraft card and cut out using frame one D-Lites die.  I went along the edges with the gilding wax.

If you tune in to Sky on Monday at 9am and 3pm you will catch Sheena doing her wonderful techniques using her new embossing folders.

Thanks for dropping by please do leave a comment and be sure to check out the rest of the samples made by the other inkoids and Sheena herself.

Ria

It's time I was back here

Hello you lovely people,

I can not believe that I have not blogged since the end of January and feel ashamed and sad because I have really missed you all.  Some of you know that my health had not been at it's best and I was desperately trying to get well enough to go and visit my Dad and family in New Zealand.

Well I am happy to report that not only did I get to New Zealand but that I had the time of my life with my dear Dad, my Auntie Edna whom I speak to on the phone every week but have never met, she is 87yrs old and her and I have a lot of things in common.  My Uncle Barry and Auntie Carol travelled over from Australia to meet me for the first time also, so there I was surrounded by my family the only people missing were my two children and my amazing sister Tina who lives in York.

I had my birthday while I was in New Zealand and we were all together to celebrate that, the memories will be with me forever.  My Dad threw two birthday parties for me, one in Rotorua where he and Auntie Edna live and one in Auckland which is where my Dad was living when I first found him after 30yrs of not knowing where he was or anything about him.

The long journey to and from New Zealand were very hard going for me and took it out on my poor old body but the holiday was so worth the pain and discomfort.

The hot air balloon was my birthday present from my Dad, he knew it was the last thing on my wish list which I had drawn up as a teenager.  I had honestly told myself that sadly it was something I would never be able to achieve now that my health was going down hill.  The firm that run these hot air balloon rides are one of New Zealand's finest companies and so professional.  They were so helpful to me and made sure that this ride was one that I could do with their help.

My Dad and I both cried on this day, I because I was living my dream and my wonderful Dad had made it all possible for me and my Dad because he knew just how much this meant to me.  Oh boy what a day one that will live with us both forever. The Champagne breakfast that followed was also very special and finished off this fantastic day for me.

I now have two scrapbooks to make one all about my family that had been kept from me for those 30yrs before I was able to trace my Dad, I have bought old photo's and original documents back with me to use.  Plus I will be doing a scrapbook on my holiday in New Zealand full of all the wonderful friends I made while there and of all the amazing places I visited.  I may show some of this on my blog as it takes shape but it is something that will take time as scrapbooking is a new thing to me.

I now intend to get back to crafting and sharing with you all the things I am working on and making.  I am looking forward to getting back to our Wednesday WOYWW as boy have I missed seeing all your desks.

I hope you will stick with me and encourage me to get back into doing what I love most, getting covered in ink and paint with a great project at the end of it.

Take care for now and keep watching this space for project and joining me on my journey.

TTFN

Ria

Another look at what I have been up to

Hi Bloggers,

I didn't get time to blog about the cards I put on Facebook over the last couple of days so I will share them with you today.

This card was made by using the embossing folder twice which you would normally do to continue the pattern but I was really surprised that this one looked like it had been done using the one embossing folder.

The background for this card was the ink that was still left on my craft mat after using it to make another background.  I had used my distress ink pads to put ink down on my craft mat and spritzed with water and took a piece of card through the ink.  I then dried that piece of card, spritzed again with what was still on the mat and took my piece of card through it again.  Once I was happy with the background I was working on I decided to use a spare piece of card and soak up the last of the ink on it.

This background was made up of going through the left over ink of about 8 different backgrounds I worked on.

Once I had embossed the card I took my StazOn ink pad over the top of the raised areas to make them stand out.  Once I was happy with that I then started to work different colours of distress ink in to the piece .  I cut the railings from a spellbinders die from kraft card and went over it with key lime radiant rains.

This card was made using the same folder but only used once.  The background was built up using the metallic pan pastels.  The background was black card that was put through an embossing folder and then covered with clear embossing powder and heated twice to give a glossy finish to it.

This card was made using one of the new embossing folders and some of the flower stamps that go with the new folders.  I used centura pearl card to put through the folder and then went over it with pan pastels.  Once I was happy with the build up of colour I took the ice silks over it to seal the pastels but to also give the piece some wonderful bling.

The flowers were stamped on to some centura pearl card that had been covered in the silks, cut out given a bit of shaping and then a pretty pearl was added to the centres.  The panels were cut and layered on to a sheet of card that started with a dark pink colour and went down to a light pink.

Well it is only one more sleep and then it will be time for Sheena's four day deals with these wonderful embossing folders, 12 of them in total and I am sure you will want them all.  Be sure to tune in to watch the Master of Stamping at work and press record so you can go back to look at her techniques.

TTFN
Ria

Sheena Douglass - New Embossing Folders

Hello Bloggers,

I have been shut away in my craft room busy working on my DT pieces and we have now got to the stage where we can start giving you a sneak peak of what's to come.

Sheena Douglass has been a busy lady designing embossing folders to go with some of her wonderful stamps that we already have in our collections.  Sheena will be on our screens at Create & Craft on Monday 27th January bringing you not only her folders but lots of her techniques in using them.

Today I have a sample to show you that was easy to put together but one that I loved making, it just felt right to me.

This is using a 5"x 7" embossing folder that goes with the Ageing Beautifully Stamp set.  The stamp set is one that gets used time and time again as it is so versatile.

I started by working on a piece of white centura pearl card on the non shinny side and making some splats using my distress stains.

I then used the torn edge, the little stain stamp and the hessian stamp, they were all stamped using gathered twigs distress ink pad.

I cut some kraft card to the size of the embossing folder and with the folder laying open on my desk I took the gathered twigs distress ink pad over the bottom part of the folder.  I then placed the right side of the card face down on to the inked surface and ran it through my embossing machine.

I stamped the sentiment from Only Words - From The Heart set on some more centura pearl card and cut it out using Spellbinders Labels Twenty-Eight.  I then did some more splats on this pieces and then I used my blending tool around all the edges.

I stamped the dragonfly from the Flying Colours stamps in black ink on kraft card, cut it out and went around it with the gathered twigs.

This was then all mounted on to an 8"x 8" Kraft Card.

I will be back again tomorrow with another DT piece so please do leave me a comment and if you like what you are seeing feel free to pop back.

Ria

WOYWW #240

Hello Blog Hoppers,

I can't begin to tell you how happy I am to be sitting here blog hopping after over two months of not being well enough to do much at all.  This WOYWW is so addictive and when you can't take part for whatever reason you really do miss it.

If you have just landed on my blog and are unsure of what WOYWW is all about then jump on over to Julia's blog for all the details and the link to enable you to join us on our journey around the world looking at other crafters work spaces.

On my work space I have a little thank you box that was made for a dear friend for helping me out.

This started out as a paper mache heart box that was given to me as part of a Christmas present from the same friend that I then gave it back to once I had worked on it.

This is the finished box which I had so much fun decorating and I knew as soon as I got the heart just what I was going to do with it, mojo was in full swing!

This is another view of it in it's finished state showing the little tag with Gill's name on it.  If you would like to know what I used and how I made this drop by over the next couple of days and I will have blogged a step by step post for you.

Going to keep it short and sweet today so I can look in on as many of you as possible because I have missed you all.

If you come across my blog please do leave me a comment I really enjoy reading what you have to say and if you like what you see jump on board as a follower and take the crafting journey with me.

TTFN

Ria