Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Naughty me!!...I am a whole day late telling you about our new

challenge at Winter Wonderland, where our theme this week is

'SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN'

Our lovely sponsor this week is 

I am fast becoming obsessed with mixed media, and decided to create

my DT card in that genre. Methinks however, I probably went a 

bit 'overboard' with my handmade texture paste 'snow'??

I have had this wonderful image of a vintage Santa superimposed on a

vintage postcard for ages, and decided it was about time that I 

printed him out. He was a freebie by the wonderful Linda

from the Funkie Junkie...thank you, Linda.

I am still on quite a steep learning curve with mixed media

products and techniques, and as you can see, my application of crackle 

medium failed. I am now sure that it is partly because I applied it too

thinly, but mostly because I 'worked' it too much. At certain angles a 

thin crackle is visible, but I could not capture it in my photos. Nor 

do the photos show the sparkle of the glitter I sprinkled on the

crackle paste and 'snow'.

I die-cut all my foliage from white cardstock, then sponged it

with various distress inks, the same ones that I used on the image,

although at different 'strengths'. I then randomly scribbled on the 

foliage with a Versamark pen, and sprinkled it with gold embossing 

powder. As an experiment, I over-heated a sample piece, thus

slightly singeing the cardstock. I loved the 'leathery' effect, so

applied that 'technique' to all the pieces of foliage.

In previous attempts at applying texture paste 'snow' over distress

inks, I have found that the distress inks bleed upwards into the 'snow',

therefore discolouring it significantly. With great advice from Pamellia,

I sprayed over the distress inks with workable fixative, let it dry,

then added my 'snow', which remained bright white. Yayyyy!

Challenges I would like to enter

ABC Christmas - 'L for Lyrics...song as inspiration' (Santa Claus Is Coming To Town)

Anything But Cute #2 - 'Make It Masculine'

C.R.A.F.T. #315 - 'Christmas'

Frilly And Funkie - 'Monochromatic'

Fussy And Fancy #141 - 'Distressed (or use an Aurora Wings image)

Simply Create Too #87 - 'Masculine'

The Craft Barn - 'For The Man In Your Life'

Image - Funkie Junkie (Linda Coughlin) Freebie Vintage Santa

Dies - Tim Holtz Sizzix Holiday Greens

Paper - First Edition Christmas Village

Texture Paste - Homemade

Crackle Paste - Tim Holtz Rock Candy

Glitter - Tim Holtz Dry Rock Candy

Embossing Powders - Stampendous Frantage Shabby White; Art Stamps Australia Gold

Distress Inks - Tim Holtz Walnut Stain, Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Iced Spruce

Beads - from my junk stash

For a chance to win a great prize, pop over to Winter Wonderland, check out my teamies' wonderful creations, then enter your own projects. Remember, your project must be for Christmas.

Thank you for visiting,

Hugs

Jennifer. x

Churchyard Garden

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I feel I am becoming increasingly interested in 

mixed media creations, and have just begun to experiment in this field. This is 

my 3rd mixed media creation. I know it is fairly 'straight', but hopefully with 

time, and experience, my work will become 'looser' and 'freer'.

When I was a little girl (soooo long ago!) people used to say I was a 'very strange

child'. This was for many reasons, one of which was that I loved churchyards, and 

that love still remains today. Churchyards to some people are disturbing places, 

but I find them peaceful and beautiful, and some of the older ones have wild 

flowers, ferns, and other pretty vegetation growing in them, not to mention 

the occasional bunnies, birds, and insects.

My card has been greatly influenced by the countless times I have sat quietly

in old churchyards, not only in Australia, but in other countries too.

I distressed the edges of the kraft base, but it doesn't really show up, then

I die-cut the church window and painted the die-cut with Distress Stain

'Brushed Pewter'. To give the impression of light behind the window, I

sponged 2 yellow distress inks onto a scrap of card, covered that with

Tim Holtz' Frosty Film, then attached the window to that. 

For the brickwork, I applied homemade texture paste through a stencil.

The paste was made using the recipe by the wonderful Pamellia, who has

become a major inspiration to me...she has just started her own mixed 

media challenge blog, in addition to her personal blog. When the paste

was dry, I sprayed and sponged it with several distress sprays and inks.

After fitting the window into the aperture, I arranged my handmade

flowers and die-cut foliage, all of which were sponged, painted or 

sprayed with various inks.

All the foliage was finished with a light spritzing of liquid acrylic

pearlescent ink, but unfortunately it barely shows up in the photos...

nor does the lovely shimmer of the Frosty Film in the window.

I have had the dove die for years, and can't believe I have never used it.

It was among the many items I found when I transferred my outside  

studio to our spare bedroom. After cutting it, I roughly painted it 

with silver paint, then applied 2 light coats of 'Abalone' Opals.  

While the Opals was still molten, I carefully placed 1 tiny piece 

of  'Champagne' Glass Glitter (using a toothpick) to represent 

the dove's eye.

Challenges I would like to enter

Allsorts #310 - 'Use At Least 3 Die-cuts'

Anything But Cute #1 - 'Vintage Garden' DT Favourite

City Crafter #261 - 'Focus On Flowers'

Country View Crafts - 'Simply Scenic'

Crafty Cardmakers and More #138 - 'Make Your Own Background'

Fab 'n' Funky #258 - 'May Flowers' TOP 3

Fan-Tastic Tuesday - 'Add Some Flowers'

Inspiration Journal - 'Embossing Paste'

Little Red Wagon #288 - 'Distress It'

Mixed Media World #3 - 'Vintage'

Our Creative Corner - 'April Showers Bring May Flowers'

Suzy Bee's Bloomin' #79 - 'Anything Goes With A Twist...Add Flowers'

The Mixed Media Monthly #12 - 'May Flowers'

Dies - Sweet Stamps Elegant Leaves; Marianne LR 0106, LR 0150, Bosskut Dove

Punch - EK Success Retro Flower Medium

Stencil - Crafter's Workshop Mini Bricks

Embossing Powder - Opals Abalone

White Ink - Colour Box Frost White

Distress Stains - Tim Holtz Brushed Pewter, Festive Berries, Tea Dye

Distress Inks - Tim Holtz Peacock Feathers, Bundled Sage, Peeled Paint, Iced Spruce, Spiced Marmalade, Scattered Straw, Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Gathered Twigs, Walnut Stain, Aged Mahogany, Spun Sugar.

Liquid Watercolour - Winsor and Newton Chartreuse

Silver Spray - Daler Rowney Liquid Acrylic Pearlescent

Glass Glitter - Stampendous Frantage Champagne

Frosty Film and Distress Edging Tool - Tim Holtz

Stamens are from my junk stash

It's so good to be back in blogland...thank you for visiting me, and until next time,

Hugs

Jennifer. x

Inky Fingers

'Inky Fingers' was the only title I could use for this post, as that was well and

 truly what I had at the end of the making of this card. However, I seem to be

overcoming my aversion to having messy fingers and hands, as I loved 

getting 'down and dirty', and can't wait to repeat the fun. Before I began

'playing', every single element was stark white, including the card base.

I created puddles of various D.I.s, dragged my cardstock through them several

times, drying with a heat tool each time. Then from a height, I sprayed with

Picket Fence distress stain. When that was dry I sprayed with a little

Pearlescent Liquid Acylic diluted with water, creating a stunning 

shimmery effect, which unfortunately barely shows in the photos. 

When the base was completely dry, I softly stencilled swirls all over, using

portions of butterfly wings on a 12x12 stencil, then sponged around the

edges. 

The flowers are made using EK Success punches and D.I.s, and the

seam binding was stained with several D.I.s.

The bird in flight (as with the little birdhouse) was embossed with Chunky

Blue Frantage, and a tiny sprinkling of lavender Opals. The stamped bird

and sentiment are from a set of clear stamps I have had for about 5 or 6 

years, and never used. I found them (along with quite a few other sets, and

many other items) when I moved my craft room from the old stable to the

 house. Shame on me! The good thing is though, it's like having new stash.

At this stage I have not decorated the inside of my card, as per usual, but

if I decide to do so, I will edit this post.

Challenges I would like to enter:-

Artistic Inspirations #128 - 'Anything Goes With A Twist of Flowers'

Craft For The Craic - 'Bingo' (flowers, ribbon, die-cuts)

Creative Card Crew #84 - 'Handmade Flowers'

Frilly and Funky - 'Put A Ribbon On It'

Fussy and Fancy #135 - 'Girly'

Inspiration Journal - 'Spring Blooms'

Mixed Media World #1 - 'Anything Goes'

That Craft Place - 'Easter/Spring'

The Crafter's Cafe #109 - 'Spring Flowers'

The Shabby Tea Room #248 - 'Beautiful Blooms' (photo inspiration)

Dies - Spellbinders Grand Classical Lace Border; Memory Box Woodland Branch; Sweet Stamps Elegant Leaves; Couture Creations Baby Dove; Marianne LR025, LR0106, LR0107

Stamps - Inkadinkadoo
Punches - EK Success Retro Flowers Medium and Large
Stencil - Crafter's Workshop Butterflies 
Frantage - Stampendous Shabby Blue
Opals - Lavender
Inks and Stains - Versamark; Brilliance Archival Pearlescent Lavender, and Jade; Adirondack Denim; Daler Rowney Pearlescent Liquid Acrylic; Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain Picket Fence; Tim Holtz Distress Inks Scattered Straw, Antique Linen, Gathered Twigs, Bundled Sage, Dusty Concord, Milled Lavender, Tumbled Glass
Seam Binding and Stamens are from my junk stash

Me thinks I had better go and attend to boring tasks like housework, so thank you for visiting. I have some very exciting news to tell you soon, but at this stage I have to 'zip my lips', so in the meantime, I wish you "Happy Crafting".

******

I would like to mention too that at Winter Wonderland we have a DT Call. We are looking for 2 new teamies who are enthusiastic about making Christmas cards. For full details, pop over to our challenge blog, and if you are interested in joining us you have until 10th April to apply.

******

Hugs
Jennifer. x

Warm Winter Wishes

It's Friday, and that means the Icicles Team at Winter Wonderland have a new 

challenge for you. Our theme this week is 'WARM WINTER WISHES'.

We want to see your characters dressed warmly, and ...

please remember, your project must be for Christmas only.

Our lovely sponsor this week is 

Several of the techniques I used to create my card are way out of my

comfort zone, but I really did enjoy the process. 

For some time now I have felt that my card making has wanted to change 

direction somewhat. I have always hated getting messy fingers, but after

making this card that is going to change. If you look below at the list of

 items I used, you will have some idea of the 'mess' on my desk and hands.

My card took many hours to create, but I hope I will become quicker and

more adventurous as I become more familiar with the products

and techniques. Of course I will still regularly revert to 

my more usual style of 'clean and neat'.

I fell in love with this lovely image the first time I saw it, and for

reasons unknown to me it is now sadly discontinued. I used

chunky white Frantage and a tiny sprinkling of blue 

Opals around the image and sentiment.

This side-on view provides a better glimpse of the snowflakes I

created with a stencil and translucent texture paste. Unfortunately

you cannot see the wonderful sparkle on the snowflakes, having 

smothered them in Rock Candy glitter while the paste was still wet.

I coloured the seam binding with several blue distress inks, and

die-cut the greenery from cardstock that I had sponged with

several green distress inks. Before attaching them to the card,

I sponged the tips with Gathered Twigs D.I. Likewise,

the twigs were sponged with several brown D.I.s.

I painted my die-cut lamp post blue, then embossed it 3 times,

using a sprinkling of blue Opals and silver embossing powder. 

Challenges I Would Like To Enter

ABC Christmas - 'F Is For 'Frosty' '

Christmas Cards #15 - 'Photo Inspiration - Blue and Silver Ornaments' (TOP 3)

Crafting For All Seasons #98 - 'Pastel Hues'

Crafty Catz #271 - 'No Design Paper'

Crimbo Crackers #76 - 'No Printed Paper'

Deep Ocean # 99 - 'Vintage'

Fan-Tastic Tuesday #77 - 'Anything Goes (with a twist) Make It Square'

Mixed Media World #1 - 'Anything Goes'

Penny's Paper Crafty #219 - 'Favourite Embellishments' (die-cuts,glitter,coloured images)

Sparkle N Sprinkle - Anything Goes with glitter/embossing powder/flocking (Honourable Mention)

Sweet Stampin' Christmas - 'Blue Christmas'

Top Tip Tuesday - 'Buttons or Bows'

Vintage Stamping #30 - 'Olde Worlde' Honourable Mention

Whimsy Stamps #81 - 'Use A Die-cut'

Image - Lili of the Valley All Wrapped Up

Colouring - Promarkers

Sentiment - Lili of the Valley Christmas Greetings-Small

Dies - Spellbinders Classic Ovals; Tim Holtz Holiday Greens; Memory Box Woodland Branch; Couture Creations Lucky Lantern 

Inks - Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Antique Linen, Gathered Twigs, Bundled Sage, Iced Spruce); Momento London Fog

Embossing - Opals Franklin, Bluegum; Stampendous Frantage Chunky White; Art Stamps Australia Silver

Stencil - The Crafter's Workshop Mini Flurries

Texture Paste - Dreamweaver Translucent

Glitter (dry) - Tim Holtz Rock Candy

Jewelled Brad - Stampin' Up

Seam Binding is from my junk stash

My Icicle teamies at Winter Wonderland have created some stunning cards, so why not pop over there, have a look, and then enter your own creations in our 'Warm Winter Wishes' challenge.

Until next time, thank you for visiting, and happy crafting.

Hugs

Jennifer. x

Animal Antics

Good evening everyone, and welcome to my newest followers. Thank you

for visiting, and I hope you find something of interest while here.

It's Friday once again, and therefore it is time for another challenge at

Winter Wonderland, and the theme this week is 'ANIMAL ANTICS'.

During January and February your creations could be for any occasion,

but for the remainder of the year, you MUST create 

something for Christmas.

Our generous sponsor this week is 

I love creating Christmas cards, and I had great fun with this one.

This oh, so cute image is by our sponsor, and is coloured

with Promarkers. I have been trying to get my hands on Frantage

for a long time, but here in Australia, it is VERY difficult to find.

However, I remembered a store a few hours drive from here, and found 

that they actually stock it...so thank you Tracey, at Pages 2 Scrap.

Another product I purchased from Tracey was a huge jar of Tim Holtz's

Clear Rock Candy glitter. I used heaps of it on my 'snow', but sadly I

could not capture the amazing effect it creates, in my photographs. I

 created that pine branch (on the right) by using a Cheery Lynn Fringe

die, after seeing a tutorial by the incredibly talented Pamellia.

Inside my card is decorated to co-ordinate with the front.

Image - Wild Rose Studio Bluebell and Presents

Colouring - Promarkers

Paper - Wild Rose Studio Annabelle's Christmas

Dies - Spellbinders Labels Eight, Decorative Labels Eight; Impression Obsession Pine Branch; Cherry Lynn Cutie Fringe 2; Couture Creations Mistletoe

Punches - EK Success Scalloped Corner Rounder; Martha Stewart Branch, PATP Aspen Snowflake (negative)

Embossing - (Brand Unknown) Snowflakes 

Sentiment - Craftwork Cards

Frantage - Stampendous Shabby White

Glitter - Tim Holtz Clear Rock Candy

Mini 'pine cones' are from my garden

Lace and gold cord are from my junk stash

CHALLENGES

52 (Christmas) Card Throwdown - 'Markers' (HONOURABLE MENTION)

Christmas Cards #13 - 'Winter Hues' (photo inspiration) (WINNER)

Christmas Cards All Year Round - 'Cute Critters' (TOP 3)

Completely Christmas #52 - 'Anything Goes with Twist - add some texture (WINNER)

Crafty Catz #269 - 'Song Title To Match Your Image' (That's What Friends Are For) (TOP 3)

Deep Ocean #98 - 'Our Furry Friends'

Fussy and Fancy #133 - 'Tic Tac Toe (lace/ribbon/sentiment) (ribbon on deer & gifts/gold cord?)

Holly Jolly Christmas - 'Dies and Punches' (TOP 3)

Jingle Belles - 'A Very Vibrant Christmas' (photo inspiration) (I used reindeer)

Sparkle 'n' Sprinkle - 'Anything Goes with loose glitter, EP,, and/or flocking

For a chance to win a lovely prize, pop over to Winter Wonderland to see the wonderful inspiration by my very talented teamies, then enter our 'Animal Antics' challenge.

Until next time, "happy crafting",

Hugs

Jennifer. x

80th Birthday

Yesterday was a special day for one of my fellow guides at the Fort. He

celebrated his 80th birthday...a major milestone in anyone's life. Keith is

full of life, and is the Fort's 'clown'. He has many nicknames, just one of

them being a brand of smallgoods, because most of us tell him he is

more 'ham' than could be found in a delicatessen!!

I was going to make Keith a card which featured a clown, but as I was on a 

kraft 'kick', I opted for a more traditional card. I know for sure that Keith

won't be embarassed about the fact that I have disclosed his age, as he

has been telling everyone for months that he will be 80 in February. 

To create more dimension with the eight and zero, I die-cut three of each from

kraft, and layered them. I then heavily sponged them with Walnut Stain D.I.,

 embossed them with Moonstone E.P., then very lightly and randomly applied 

Tarnished Brass distress stain. Finally I briefly used my heat tool to allow 

the Tarnished Brass to blend into the EP.

I rarely write verses inside my cards, but as Keith is such a happy and 

bright person, I thought this verse suited him perfectly.

Challenges

ABC - 'D is for Die-cuts'

Fantastic Tuesday #71 - 'Anything Goes With A Twist/Use A Die'

Moving Along With The Times - 'Favourite TV Programme' (Foyle's War/Call The Midwife)

Paper Minutes #371 - 'Journey'

Party Time Tuesdays #195 - 'Anything Goes'

Penny's Paper Crafty #214 - 'Embossing (wet or dry)' (I have used both)

Sparkles Monthly #65 - 'One For The Boys'

That Craft Place - 'Film Inspired' (Genevieve)

Tuesday Throwdown #232 - 'Use Metal'

Image - Graphic 45 A Proper Gentleman Collection

Dies - Cuttlebug Alphabet Fancy Pants; Tim Holtz Sizzix Steampunk; Spellbinders Sprightly Sprockets

Embossing - Cuttlebug Clockworks

Media - Stampendous E.P. Moonstone; Tim Holtz D.I. Walnut Stain, D.S. Tarnished Brass

Brad - Stampin' Up Hodgepodge Hardware

Thank you for visiting my blog, and until next time may I wish you "happy crafting".

Hugs

Jennifer. x 

Double Twisted Easel

Hello to all of you out there in blogland. Are you all enjoying your Easter break? 

Please be safe if you are going away for the weekend.

In the next 3 weeks, I have a number friends celebrating birthdays, but I cannot

show you the cards I have made for them, as they all read my blog regularly. 

However, I was 'tidying up' my photo files on my computer this morning 

when I found photos of the card I made 2 years ago for a friend. It

was my 1st attempt at a double-twisted easel card. 

Barb loves blue and yellow.

The card is A5 size. The tiny butterfly in the L.H. corner was made using

3 clear peel-off stickers, folded in half and adhered to each other.

I stamped and punched some leaves for the background of this flower.

A small flower image coloured with Promarkers.

Challenges

Corrosive #197 - 'Pretty Pastels'

Crafting with Dragonflies #24 - 'Mother's Day/Special Lady'

Crafty Catz #227 - 'B is for...' (blue, border die, bling, Barb)

Fab 'N' Funky #212 - 'Flower Power'

Moving Along With The Times - 'A Card Containing the Word  "Happy" '

Paper Crafting Journey - 'For That Special Lady'

Ruby's Rainbow #77 - 'Ladies'

Stamps - Kaisercraft; Stampendous Leaves

Colouring - Promarkers

Paper - Grace Taylor Vintage Collection

Dies - Spellbinders Grand 12" Classic Lace Border, Scalloped Squares and Circles, Lacey Circles;

Punches - McGill Leaf; EK Success Scalloped Corner; Carl

Sentiment - Computer generated

Card Candi - Craftworks Cards

Ink for sponging - Versacube Baby Blue

Ribbon, flowers, gems, peel-off stickers are all from my junk stash

I hope the Easter bunny is generous for you, and you are having beautiful weather.

Until next time, thank you for visiting.

Hugs, 

Jennifer. x