Monday 6 December 2010

Teen Christmas Card

This card has been made using one of this weeks 


To make this card I used an A6 base card (used tent fold)
One of Lukes snowflake papers Snowflake 13
A piece of silver mirri card embossed with the cuttlebugs snowflake embossing folder
teen_christmas01 Decoupage sheet
a small pale blue bow
some small blue gems

I printed the snowflake backing paper A5 size and stuck it on the base card and trimmed the edges
In the centre of this I stuck a piece of silver snowflake embossed mirri card
In the centre of the snowflakes I stuck  some small blue gems
The decoupage sheet was cut out and assembled and then stuck to the right hand side of the card
The blue bow was added at the bottom in the centre
Across the top I stuck a small Happy Christmas border peel off

I think this is more suited to a girl teen because of using the gems and Bow


Here is another one I made







Friday 3 December 2010

Little Christmas Stockings

While here I thought i would show you what the Children have been making this past couple of weeks at Sunday School

Several of these little stockings were made from felt
The Children have sewn and decorated them and each have inside a small mini Chocolate bar
A small bell was added on to the hanger so they jingle as well
These have been made to be sold at the Church Christmas Fair tomorrow
They are usually bought by the families of the Children

Pine Cone Bird Feeders

A good way of using up some pine cones and also a way for the birds to get some food during this awful weather we have been having here lately


I  melted some fat in a container in the microwave 
then Megan added some bird seed and gave it a good stir
She then pushed into all the little compartments of the pine cones
and put on a plate to set
When set we added a ribbon hanger to each one
They will be hung on shrubs and branches in the garden
To enable birds to have a feast

Pine Cone Decorations


Megan and I made use of some left over pine cones from  an autumn walk by turning them into decorations
I sprayed them with a silver lacquer 
Then Megan dabbed them with glue and rolled them in some fake snow  
We attached a ribbon hanger to each of them  

Sunday 28 November 2010

Nadolig Llawen

Here is another Nadolig Llawen card


This one was also made with one of the Nadolig Llawen papers from Free Craft Downloads

I used  paper 4
I also used one of the Christmas decoupage from  on the site as well 
I chose to use the Church twisted Pyramid 

I stuck the backing paper on to an A6 base card and trimmed it  keeping the larger piece to make another card with
I cut out and made up the twisted pyramid,  and stuck this on some bronze coloured card then stuck it  to the bottom right side of the card
To the top left of the card I stuck a Nadolig Llawen banner backed on some bronze coloured card

Friday 26 November 2010

Nadolig Llawen Shaker Card

Nadolig Llawen


For those who don't know Nadolig Llawen is Welsh for Merry Christmas.
On Free Craft Downloads we have some Welsh Christmas Backing Papers, Inserts and Tags.

As some of you will know Welsh backing papers are hard to come by so it's great to have these

For this card I used a Blue base card
The paler Nadolig Llawen with snowman background
Snowman inverted pyramid decoupage
Some foiled holly leaves and berries
A Nadolig Llawen greeting
Small piece of acetate
Small amount of fake snow

I printed out the backing paper and the snowman decoupage  both on A5 size paper
I stuck the backing paper to the base card and trimmed the edges
I cut out the pyramid decoupage and the centres I used some foam tape to layer the first 4 layers  making sure all the edges were sealed 
I decided not to use layer 6 as the edge was quite fine so I used layer 5 as the top layer, to the back of layer 5 I stuck some acetate to the back of this layer before sticking the foam tape on
I put a small amount of fake snow inside the space of the pyramid then added the top layer 
This was then stuck in the centre of the base card and some foil holly leaves and berries were stuck to each of the four corners and the Nadolig Greeting was stuck under the decoupage

When the card is shaken it looks like it is snowing


Tuesday 23 November 2010

Snowflake Paper Card

Luke has been very busy following in his Dad's footsteps and has made some great snowflake papers which Bob has added to the Gallery on Free Craft Downloads

Here is one of the cards I have made

 A quick and easy card to make which I hope you will agree looks nice 
I used the  Snow Flakes 9 paper
From this I cut out a diagonal strip and used 3 of the snowflakes
I used a Blue mini Dl card as a base card  and added a piece of blue ribbon down the centre
I stuck the strip of 3 snowflakes to a silver piece of card then in the centre of them I added a small blue gem 
Under the first and above the third  snowflakes I added a cream bow with a circle of very tiny beads in the centre this was then stuck on the blue base card

This is another card I made

 You can find out how it was made in the Card making Project Section on Free Craft Downloads

While I was making these cards Megan decided she would like to make one as well 
She used some embellishments and a foil Merry Christmas and  Snow Flakes 16
Here is her card





Tuesday 9 November 2010

Change of Blog Template

Yes it is the right Blog!

Time for a change  and hopefully a change for the better

I have been thinking on and off  for a while about changing the template I used  but I couldn't find one I liked
I know there are loads and loads out there to choose from and I think that was part of the problem too much choice   there was always something I didn't like
A very good friend whose opinion I value a great deal suggested a 3 column template  I quite liked this idea but wasn't so keen on having a left and right side bar so after searching and searching most of the afternoon through hundreds I came across this one  so have decided to give it a try

Hope you all like it too 

Monday 8 November 2010

Brewsters Christmas Card

A Christmas Card on a Card







I made this card using the Brewster decoupage sheet available on Free Craft Downloads
I also used some of the older papers with it

Brewster Decoupage Sheet
Flakes 3 Backing Paper
A5 Page Curl Christmas Tree Backing Paper
Christmas Tree Decoupage
Gold Peel offs


I used an A5 white base card (Tent fold)  - In the bottom right corner I stuck a small rectangle of the flakes paper
I cut off the white edge of the page curl paper on the bottom right side
Then I stuck the Christmas tree page curl paper on the base card

I made up the Brewster decoupage and folded the card he is holding in half  then from a small piece of white paper I made an insert for it (measured to fit)
On the inside of the insert I stuck a Happy Christmas peel off and on the opposite side I stuck a gold peel off Christmas Tree I stuck the insert in the mini card

On the front of the mini card I stuck a piece of the flakes 3 backing paper and trimmed it around the edge of this I added gold fine line peel offs

I cut out and made up the Christmas Tree Decoupage, when the silicone glue was dry I went around the edges of the tree with a clear sakura gelly roll pen and stuck some small gold star peel offs  this was then stuck to the mini card

I stuck some gold corner peel offs to 3 corners of the main card (not the corner with the page curl)  then stuck Brewster with his card in the centre of the main card

In the picture below you can see the opened card that Brewster is holding 


 


Here is another one I made 




Monday 1 November 2010

A New Year Card for 2011

This is an easy card to make and very handy to have a couple made up to send out to people you forgot to send a Christmas card to or unexpectedly get a card from

The papers I used to make this card are :-
2011 Template 5x7 size
new_year_08_ls  Backing Paper
new_year_08_l  Backing Paper

 I used a  graphics program to“fill in” the numbers on the template
I wanted the “backing paper” to be on the front only as well as it saving on ink 
When I was happy with it I printed it and cut out the bits inbetween the numbers
If you don’t have / use a graphics program another way to do it is to cut out the unwanted bits between the numbers then stick your chosen backing paper to the front of the card over the numbers then from the back cut around the edges and cut out the unwanted bits between the numbers



On the inside of the card I stuck the lighter backing paper and trimmed the edges You can see this showing through from the front of the card






On the inside I stuck a die cut champagne bottle and glasses
It says “Let’s Celebrate” on the bottle






 To finish off the front of the card I used some wavy edged gold peel offs to outline the numbers (they bend better than the straight ones) and put some along the bottom of the card as well







Your greeting / message can be added to the back of the card

You will find a lot more papers in the New Year section

Monday 18 October 2010

Some Snowglobe Cards

I made These cards using the snowglobe template we now have on Free Craft Downloads

The first two use some of our Christmas designs on Free Craft Downloads


Christmas Teddy Decoupage
Snow 2 Backing Paper
Dark wood Backing Paper







Santa and Rudolph Decoupage
Snow 1 light backing paper
Light wood backing paper










I made some other cards to show that snowglobes are not just for Christmas


Old flower decoupage
Happy Birthday embossed words backing paper
Light wood backing paper









Hat and broom backing paper
Witches decoupage
Dark wood backing paper








Blue flower Decoupage
Light wood backing paper
Snow 1 light backing paper









Gold border peel offs were used around the outer edges of the cards
Ribbon Merry Christmas used on the Christmas ones
Ribbon bows used on the Best Wishes one
Ribbon flowers used on the Birthday one
Gold peel off letters used for Happy Halloween and Best Wishes wording

Tuesday 12 October 2010

Brewster makes his debut

Brewster is making his debut today 



Some of you will have already had a sneaky preview of him but today he is making his debut on Free Craft Downloads as a newspaper vendor



In the example card I made  I announced Brewster's debut  on the board
When you are making your cards with him you can add a persons birthday or  special announcement or personal message for someone etc
Hope you have fun with him

Wednesday 6 October 2010

Iris folding card

It has been a while since I have done some iris folding and had forgotten how therapeutic it is
I have recently joined a very helpful support group and earlier today we had the chance to do some iris folding
Here is the card I made


It did seem a little strange making a card with materials that were not mine but soon got into it and was quite pleased with how it turned out

I will have to dig out some of the patterns I have here and do some more

Sunday 3 October 2010

My experience with Watercolours and Mandalas

Earlier today  (03-10-10) I was lucky to have a try at watercolour mandala painting, something I was looking forward to but also quite nervous about, At the last moment before leaving home I was feeling that nervous I almost didn't go, I took a deep breath and told myself this was a once in a lifetime chance for me to do this and went and am so glad I did  I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience

The afternoon started with an introduction from Tatiania Overduin who is from Australia, she told us a little about herself and about her watercoloured mandala painting,

We had a powerpoint slideshow about the history of mandalas how they originated from Buddist traditons and the Sanscrit meaning "making one's circular mark on paper"  and were shown various ones from back in time
A lot of the mandalas are geometrical designs / paintings, what we did was "painting from within" our circle could be divided into 2 halves or into 4  it was a spiritual, reflective painting session to meditative music.

The Mandala is a form of creative meditation, an outer representation of the inner self, sometimes you may understand your personal mandala other times you may question your choice of symbols, expressions & colours.

We began our work in a calm environment listening to meditative music travelling our own journey in our minds and letting it flow through to our brushes and onto our paper

As some of you know I have been experiencing difficult times this past year or so and I have to admit I was a bit "scared" of how my painting would turn out, I was quite pleased with the result, to me it showed how I am and have been feeling.

We had some inspirational Bible texts to look at, from these and combined with the music and our feelings  hopefully we would draw some inspiration
The Bible text I was drawn to was
Deuteronomy 2:7
The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast desert.These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything
Deuteronomy 2:6-8


I looked at the circle I had drawn for my painting and how I was feeling also thinking of  parts of the Bible text " The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. This shows in my love of crafting  and how it helps me   and also  "He has watched over your journey through this vast desert" from the dark times I have experienced this past year I have sometimes felt as though I have been "wandering around lost" not knowing where I was going on my life journey or which path I was  to go down next where were the happy times?   I decided to let my paintbrush take me on that journey and see what happened

Here is my painting  I called it Wandering around lost

Some of you will know I quite often say  My painting looks like a 3 year old could do better and I will forgive you for thinking the same when you first saw my painting here.
After I try to explain it I hope you will see it in the same or similar light I see it
As I said earlier our circle could be divided into 2 halves or into 4  I chose 2 halves which I called past and present
The brown area at the bottom is my dark sad time, moving up to the burning orangish section was my anger and hurt coming out, branching out to the sides were more calmer quieter happier times moving up to the top half to the reddish shades is where I am now  to me the red seems a strong colour, where I am finding the strength to make important life decisions moving out to the outer edges are paler pinks which show me calmness / happiness just on the horizon and that there are good times to come.

If you look closely at the centre of the painting you should be able to see what looks like a little girl this was not intentionally painted in and seemed strange how it appeared. I was happy as a small child then as I got older and various things happened in my life I became unhappy within myself, and just seemed to plod along pleasing others and not caring / bothering about myself  I now feel I want to change this I want to find "me" again and be happy with myself

I hope from that you can now see my painting in a similar light to me

Megan came with me, she really enjoyed the session as well and did a painting, she started off with a geometrical practice sheet - I love the colours she chose for this and how she painted it I have told her I am going to frame it and have it on the wall :)
This is her practice sheet

This is Megans watercolour mandala painting
She called it Meadow
 
She explained her "meadow" painting to me saying that she did a flower because she likes flowers and the green field and blue sky was her feeling happy,  the black edge to the flower was when she was feeling sad with losing her grandparents.

Tuesday 28 September 2010

Another Christmas Card

I thought I had better make a start on the Christmas cards so have been busy making some today
I decided I would put this one on here for you to see


I bought the Black and Silver  ribbon a few months ago thinking it would come in handy for some Christmas cards
I used 3 silver bell embroidery peel offs , these were stuck to some white paper then sewn with a metallic green thread 
I used a white A5 size card, stuck a strip of the ribbon down the side of the card
I cut a  piece of  black card   7cm wide by 19cm long  this was then stuck centrally on the main part of the card and edged with a silver border peel off
The 3 bell peel offs were stuck onto the black piece of card with foam pads
I added a small silver Happy Christmas peel off above and below the middle bell

Monday 27 September 2010

Christmas Pudding Card

 I used
Christmas Pudding Template
Snowman decoupage
Brown backing paper
Print the Christmas pudding template twice  once on plain white paper and once on white canvas card
Print the snowman decoupage on to glossy photo paper A5 size
I printed out the brown backing paper A5 size as well
Cut out and made up the decoupage then get on with making the card


Using the  template that I printed on canvas I cut around the pudding shape and folded along the straight line
I then used a red sakura gelly roll pen to colour in the holly berries and a green one to colour in the holly leaves








From the paper template I cut out the bottom of the pudding and used it as a template on the brown backing paper and cut around it








This was then stuck to the bottom  of the card










To finish off the card I added the snowman decoupage to the bottom of the pudding












 * As an afterthought I used a white sakura soufflé pen  to put small dots over the bottom of the pudding to look like snowflakes

Sunday 5 September 2010

Swing Card

Megan made her first swing card today 
On Free Craft Downloads we have started holding Bi-Monthly card challenges for forum members
Septembers is only our 2nd one and it is to make a DL size swing card
Megan asked if she could make one - as she  is not a forum member she can't enter the challenge so she made one to put on here instead
She said she hopes it would help people who don't know how to make one

Cutting out the template

Folding the card
 

Showing the swing
 

Cutting the ribbon
 
Sticking on the ribbon
 
Sticking on some fairy embellishments
 



Writing on the reverse side
 
Showing the finished card from different angles
 




 Hope you like her card

Tuesday 10 August 2010

Fleur de Lis card

I made this very quick and simple card from one of this weeks Papers added on Free Craft Downloads



I only  used one sheet of the backing papers to make the card
I chose to use fleurdelis 02
I also used a sheet of black card and some gold peel offs

I cut the card to the size needed to make a DL card  (folded size21cm H by 10cm W)
I added a piece of the backing paper  to it slightly smaller so a black border could be seen  (20cm by 9cm)
I cut a piece of black card to 4.5cm wide by 15cm high and added this to the middle  of the fleur de lis paper
From a spare piece of the backing paper I cut out 3 of the fleur de lis as a diamond shape then stuck them to the piece of black card

I edged the fleur de lis backing paper with some gold border peel offs

Monday 9 August 2010

Clay vase

Megan went to a Clay craft workshop earlier today

This is a clay vase that she made - She really enjoyed the session - They "learnt" how to mix the clay to produce different colours, and learned that there were different types of clay for different projects etc  and then were able to make something of their choice with some of the clay
Megan chose to make a mosaic effect vase with a flower in
It may be a little difficult to see on the picture  but she has added a caterpillar from one of the leaves going to a petal  and on the side of the vase she has added a butterfly

Front view


Back view

Sunday 8 August 2010

Glass beaded sticker cards

I have managed to make a couple of quick cards tonight so thought I would add them here for you to see




I was very kindly sent the Glass beaded stickers by a friend - it was an unexpected surprise to get them
Where I am there are no local craft shops so I have never seen beaded stickers like these before  They are beautiful  I have had them sitting here on my desk until I had time to use some of them.