Just A Quickie!

Hi there. Wanted to show you a card I made using something a little different as all the items came from a crafting kit, not something I usually do but the lady who designed the kit is the one and only Becca Feeken (of Amazing Paper Grace). If you haven't heard of her check out her blog 'Amazing Paper Grace'. Everything she does is stunning and always pretty, which I love. If you can have a crafting idol she is mine!

All the card, paper and embellishments were in the kit. The patterened paper was from 7Gypsies. The great thing about the kits she produced was that you got a set of Spellbinders dies, exclusive to Becca and her kits, along with an exclusive set of stamps from Justrite. The beautiful William Morris style patterned squares was one of the stamps and the huge 4 windowed postage frame was one of the dies. The kits came with instructions to make several items and this card was one of them. The only things I altered was the addition of a Spellbinders Banner with Happy Birthday and I also used a sentiment stamp from Waltzing Mouse, another must of mine, instead of the sentiments stamps supplied and added the extra postage die cut to take the sentiment. I also changed the interior of the card to suit the person I'm sending it to.

Sadly Becca has stopped making the kits due to other commitments. You may have seen or even own the Filigree Delights die set she designed for the latest release of Spellbinders and she has some new stamps released this month for Justrite.

 I don't know if the photo shows it well but the colours were quite masculine and I am in fact sending this to a male, although if I had made it the way the kit instructions show it would have had a pearl flourish and a flower where my button is which made it look far more feminine. Hope you like it and check out Amazing Paper Grace if you haven't already. She can't fail to inspire you. Back soon
Michelle x.

Finally!

Finally! Never thought I'd get here as everything that can get in the way did get in the way but the piece I've been messing (my Husband's word) with over the weekend is done, even though it doesn't have a home yet.

It's a lovely Cuckoo clock kit from Kaisercraft that I have decorated with French Country papers from Graphic 45. It has taken so long because I had to sand the MDF parts down. Then I painted the parts using Kaisercolour paint. I mixed Pistachio and Soft Moss to get the colour I wanted. When that had dried  I painted on a coat of Distress Crackle paint from Ranger and when that took effect I rubbed over with Black Soot Distress ink to give an overall worn and aged look.

Next I set about drawing around, in pencil so I could rub away any unwanted lines later, the various parts. I then cut them all out and went around all the edges with the Black Soot Distress ink. I then stuck them all to their matching MDF pieces and coated each one with a layer of Matt Multi-Medium from Claudine Hellmuth Studio. I then started to cut out elements, such as the rooster, that I wanted to use to decorate as well as using the Spellbinders Jewelled Flowers and Flourishes and Bitty Blossoms.

 

 

The flowers were shaped using an embossing tool and mat and were finished with black sparkly centres from Creative Expressions. The roses were rolled with a quilling tool. All the bits and pieces and flowers were then coated with Matt Multi-Medium. I then used Spellbinders Grand Decorative Circles One to make the centre piece for the clock face and added a circle from patterned paper and som Kaisercraft pearls in pewter to represent the numbers on a clock face.

I then used some Tim Holtz chain and brads to attach the pendulum pieces to the clock and then covered this over with a scalloped MDF trim. I also used the Heartfelt Creations Decorative Chateau Gate for the little window and added two French Country stickers and a chicken I cut out to the inside, mounted from behind the clock. I added a couple of pewter pearls for handles.

 It was then just a case of glueing all the bits where I wanted them and giving everything a further coat of Multi-Medium. I added the clock workings and FINALLY it was done.

 

Well I said come hell or high water I was posting this today and believe me this post has took an age as my server wouldn't download the pictures and now its jumbled them all up so I apolgise if the photo's don't flow as they should. I was just grateful to finally download them. Hope you like it. Back soon

Michelle x.

Not quite what I wanted to show you!

Hi and happy bank holiday Mayday Monday. Hope you have been enjoying the fabulous weather and long may it continue although I have to say that running in that heat was not much fun and I ran early before it really got going!!
I have been working on an altered item all weekend, apart from much of today because my husband drove me around four, yes you heard me right, four different B & Q's for a particular range of garden table and chairs. Isn't it funny how we all scramble for these things when the sun decides to make an, no doubt brief, apperance! Yes, we got said chairs and table (and we would have got them a lot quicker if he had just listened to me and gone to the B & Q I suggested in the first place cos yes that's where we were successful!!!) but sadly my project isn't quite ready to show you and I blame my Hubby wholeheartedly but I will post it tomorrow whatever happens. Anyway here is a sneaky peak to keep you guessing!

 

I have pretty much taken step by step photo's in case anyone out there needs a little inspiration starting something similar.  As you can see the Spellbinders Jewel Flowers and Flourishes were involved along with the most beautiful papers from Graphic 45 called French Country. If you haven't come across these yet check out the Graphic 45 website (just type in name in search engine) their stuff is amazing and exceptional quality as their paper is really cardstock and holds up to lots of bending and shaping without damaging it and the pattern's and themes are just so different from the rest...my absolute favourite!

Anyway enjoy your bank holiday evening and I will be back tomorrow

Michelle x.

Something Useful!

Hi, Friday again. Do you feel like life is going to fast. This week has sailed by.
Firstly I just want to say a big thank you to all of The Gentry clients who bought a raffle ticket to win the Fathers Day card I made. We decided to raffle the card rather than auction it and it is only day one and many peeps have bought a ticket already so just in case any of them ever see this a REALLY big THANK YOU!
As I am still busy with new things I wanted to show you something different and something I'd never done before. These were mobiles, in fact I made three practically identical ones, for a mother and baby unit. They are all black and white as this is what newborns see and are stimulated by.

The dotty paper was from Daisy Bucket. I'ts not a company I see advertised anymore so maybe they no longer exist. I'd had the paper a long time! Everything else was made simply with black and white cardstock. The birds on the bird house were cut with an older Spellbinders die called Bird Flourishes. The circles, the stars and the butterflies were also Spellbinders dies. Everything else was cut from various cartridges on my Cricut. I attached all the elements with Papermania brads and twine. On the end of each element is a black and white bead to weight it down so it hangs straight. I attached all the pieces from the bottom of the bird house and then glued for extra hold inside before adding a roof with some polka dot ribbon already threaded through so the mobiles could be pinned to the ceiling above the babies cots.

 

 It was really just a case of alternating black and white across the elements. The patterns on the bird and the large swirls were done with a black Pro Marker. It was good to make something useful. Hope you like them. Back with something newly made over the weekend. Have a good one!
Michelle x.

Working on new stuff!

Hi. Sorry for my absence but have a friend here for a couple of days so blog posts will be a little light on the ground. I'm also busy making new things for people so I thought I would show you an old project and give details of how to later.

 

I made this a while ago for my Husband for our Anniversary. Who says you can't put flowers and ribbon on a man's card! For anyone who is as spellbound by Spellbinders as I am will recognise these dies but I will put "how to" details up later. Have a good evening.

Michelle x.

Tis The Season!

Oh no I hear you gasp. That woman isn't talking about the C word already is she? Well you can breathe a sigh of relief, at least for now, as it's not Christmas I'm thinking about it's weddings! Many of us will be attending the wedding of somebody we know this Spring/Summer. So what could be nicer than handmaking a card for the special couple. Nothing shows you care more than giving your time to create something rather than dashing in a shop and picking a card that a thousand others have recived and this brings me to today's offering.

This was really simple to make and I don't know what you think but I would much prefer a card like this. This was made with black and cream card from Kanban's Mckenzie collection and it is beautiful and just screams wedding to me. It is already embossed with a watermarked pattern and so cuts the work time right down (no embossing). It is simply two cream on black matts with some lovely velvet ribbon and a diamonte ribbon buckle. I picked up various different ones from a craft fair. The Spellbinders used were Romantic Rectangles and Splendid Circles. I don't know why but I rarely use circles and yet this set is lovely. The stamps were a set from Inkylicious. The card was finished with a few rhinestones and it was good to go. I have to admit I'm a sucker for any new crafty product and I've bought Perfect Layers and other such devices but at the end of the day I matt and layer by eye. The tools are a little redundant! I think I should listen to my Husband more but don't tell him I said that as I will deny everything!!

 As always I like to make a matching box to house the card. This was made with two pieces (one black(base) and one cream(lid) of the same Kanban card and I used my Crafter's Companion Ultimate Pro to score the box dimensions. This was one of the first tools I invested in and boy have I had my money's worth out of it. I use it for every card and every box. If you can afford to get one..get one! You really will use it. I also make every bow I make on it! The box lid was trimmed with more black ribbon. Romantic Rectangles for the labels and a Bitty Blossoms rose and leaves. I finished with more rhinestones and used my JustRite alphas to stamp the couple's names.
Hope you like it. Back soon.
Michelle x.

Sorry I'm Late!

Hi and good Sunday evening. I am really late posting today as I have been so busy that time just got away from me. Anyway as promised I want to show you the Fathers Day card I have been making.

Apologies in advance for the photos. I literally just took them a few minutes ago.

Well what's special about this card I hear you ask? Well it's not so much the card as it's purpose. As you might have read previously I am running the Race for Life and money raised goes to Cancer Research so as I lost my Father to cancer I decided to make this card to be auctioned off and the money raised will also be going to Cancer Research along with my sponsorship money. The card is going to be up for auction at The Gentry Grooming Co in Didsbury Manchester from this Friday until the 1st June and the highest bidder gets the card for their Father.

The card was relatively simple to make it was just time consuming as there was a lot of cutting and measuring involved. I started with three sheets of cream A4 Kanban card stock. The photo doesn't show very well but the cream is a lovely buttery colour and is the nicest cream coloured card I've come across. I folded two of the sheets into an easel shape and cut the third sheet in half. The two halves were then attached to the ends of both easel card an the two easel cards were joined together. I cut two panels of the same cardstock, embossed them with one of Sue Wilson's new embossing folders called Tapestry and edged the bottom of each one with some lovely thick ribbon. I then embossed two more panels for the two fronts of the card with the same folder. Onto those I matted a brown layer of Coordinations cardstock and then matted onto those a piece of patterened paper from My Mind's Eye Lost and Found collection. I then used Spellbinders 5x7 Matting Basics A and B to create a frame for each front panel. I then glued into the frames a cream piece of card cut with Spellbinders Fancy lattice. I then cut two more brown panels, again using Matting Basics and then two of the patterned paper panels (paper same as above). I then cut a further two cream pieces and used stamps from Waltzing Mouse (their latest release). I used Adirondack Ginger and clear embossing powder. I also cut a brown and cream panel with the dies for the inside and again used the Waltzing Mouse stamps. I assembled all the layers for the panels and ran some more ribbon through the back so it was visable through the lattice. I then tied two knots and added then to the side of each panel. I finished off with some My Minds Eye pearl swirls which matched the paper.

I also covered all the individual panels that make up the easel with the brown card and the patterned paper. I still have the box to complete but it will be at The Gentry on Friday. I love the colours of this card and I'm sure my Dad would have loved it. I hope you like it. Back soon.

Michelle x.