Nordic Style Christmas Cards

These cards each measure 5ins x 5 ins and are made using hand cut Kraft card blanks.
These are the cards I made using the felt Nordic style Christmas decorations (although it does say wooden on the packets!) I found in Poundworld (they have wooden ones just the same in Poundland).
They are very much, “less is more”, the sort of card I would like to receive.

Removing the bows was a little hit and miss, some came off easier than others,  but I think I have managed to cover up the original hole for the hanging thread with a strategically placed pearl pretty well.

Wonderful, Wonderful Times With Marc – Marc’s Sizzix Pop Up Christmas Card

This is one of Marc’s 2013 Christmas cards.  I can’t give you any detailed instructions as to how he made it,  but hope the pictures coupled with a few comments here and there from me will paint the picture for you.

The base of the card is made using a Sizzix pop up card die
http://www.sizzix.co.uk/product/658048/sizzix-pop-n-cuts-magnetic-insert-die-star-3-d-pop-up
And embossed using the Cuttlebug Three Kings embossing folder:-http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cricut-Cuttlebug-Three-Embossing-Folder/dp/B006RK4PFI

The inside is equally stunning and detailed, Marc used a Darice 4.23” x 5.75” Embossing Folder – Stars Code: DEF-1218-63

http://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/darice-c1875/embossing-folders-c1505/4-23-x-5-c1878/darice-embossing-folders-p21235

I think Marc encountered a few problems when fitting the silver embossed inside involving quite a bit of trimming that he hadn’t expected, as it slightly overlapped the outside of the card, which it shouldn’t have done …..

My only claim to fame on this project was the band that goes round the card, an idea I think I may need to copy for some of my cards ….. I printed bands, about 3/4 in deep in Landscape (in Word) using Papyrus font size 20 ….. Marc then cut them out, glued the end together and added a few tiny peel offs. A band is such a special touch on any card

The back of the card is equally as detailed.

Stunning and such a lot of work …… can you believe Marc made of 100 of them, he is so much more patient than I am!.  If I have left anything out or Marc has anything to add I am sure he will in the comments box, which I will then add to this post to help further.

Wonderful, Wonderful Times With Marc– My ThermoMorph Face

This isn’t a project,  just an idea after I started musing at Marc’s!  I took the remains of the ThermoMorph that I was asked to review a couple of weeks ago for Marc to play with, I wasn’t entirely convinced of it’s potential for me “personally” as a crafter, but I thought Marc might be able to come up with an ingenious use for it.

ThermoMorph can be re-used over and over again if an idea doesn’t work out and I had forgotten I had put some “failed” faces I had moulded back in the pot, so when we opened it again there they were.

Anyway, Marc had awakened my interest in micro glitter when he had got out his mahoooosive collection to cover these Scottie dogs to use on tags and cards, he must have every colour under the sun  …..

…… and I started to play with the face, first adding red glitter to the lips, then a thin line of blue to the eyes, followed by eyebrows and a blush to the cheeks using Promarker pens.

The cold, white waxiness of the ThermoMorph gave the face an haunted/ethereal look which all came together when I added a black background and doodled hair with a white gel pen.  perhaps this is an idea I will come back to in time.

And while I am on the subject of ThermoMorph you just have to have a look what Nicky made with hers, …… a snowman kit and Marc if you see this can you make me a set!!!!

http://creativeflourishes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/diy-snowman-kit-made-with-thermomorph.html

And while you are looking,  have a look at this post too, I got the mould from Poundland too to use with my ThermoMorph but unlike Nicky never actually got round to doing anything with it …… doh!!!

http://creativeflourishes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/halloween-decorations-made-with.html

Wooden Advent House No. 2

I must be a glutton for punishment, because yesterday morning while listening to the omnibus edition of The Archers I finally finished a second Advent House, as an early Christmas present for my sister-in-law who has been so unbelievably golden to me over the last eighteen months. I wanted to make her something special, that perhaps will become an heirloom her children will fight over!!!!!!

I now have one last Tesco house left …. and that will be for Tom’s and Laura’s next year, and Lucy will be given my original one.  Anyway I digress …. I decided to use HobbyCraft Christmas 12 x 12 canvas sheets on this house, thinking it would be different to use a textured “paper” and it would save me all the varnishing!!

I kept to my basic design, using the same Hobbycraft Advent numbers as I used on the one for Jacob, but I had to source a lot of new stuff, like new snowmen (Craft For Christmas from eBay), some sparkly gift wrap (from Bulters) which should prove far more economical for other Christmas projects too, for the snow as I had absolutely no A4 white glitter card left………..

….. plus some silver corner and small dot peel offs and some green and gold trim from the market (£1.50 a yard) …… oh and two of the snowflakes I got from the charity shop earlier in the week glued together with a flat back gem in the centre, at the top of the roof.

I think I fiddle farted with this house far more than I did with the other three I have made …. every time I thought that is it, I found somewhere else to embellish ……

……. it just seemed to go on and on and on!!!  But if you can’t over embellish at Christmas, well when can you?

I also need to apologise ….. life is rather busy at the moment, but I have enough posts in the bag to keep to an every other day type schedule,  but I don’t think I will be able to produce the amount of “new” ideas that I have done in the past ….. however, the old ideas are still there if you go to “labels” on the right side of the blog and click on anything that begins with Christmas or sounds remotely like!!!

I will endeavour to do something with all the bits that I have shown you in my recent heads up …… I am slowly building up the blog to it’s former self  ….. and am loving crafting again ….. the buzz is definitely back ….. it’s just that  my social life is too !!!!!!

Wonderful, Wonderful Times With Marc – Ranger Melting Pot Experiments - UTEE Cubes

When I saw an idea for making UTEE cubes using a Ranger melting Pot on the website below I was desperate to have a go during my next stay with Marc ……

http://inkstainswithroni.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/utee-cubes.html

….. however as per usual I left getting the ice cube tray that I needed to the last minute and then could only find novelty ones …. not an ordinary plain square one.  Once in London I searched Notting Hill from top to bottom with no joy, and it was only a chance visit to a charity shop that I found one in Battersea for the princely sum of 25p!

Unfortunately, by this time I only had a shady idea of the blog post that had inspired me …. and looking back now I’d got it wrong!!!  I started by putting a small square of patterned paper in the bottom of each cube, followed by some tiny charms and at Marc’s suggestion some hologram glitter and micro beads, our expectations were not too high as this first try was only an experiment.

I poured in about 10mm of clear UTEE into each square and then we could only keep our fingers crossed. As we were watching the Create and Craft demonstrations as we worked because the Melting Pot was the Pick of the Day we found out that by using a heat gun it was possible to get rid of any bubbles that formed in the pan.

Once set the cubes came out of the tray without too much trouble, eased out carefully with one of Marc’s pokey tools.  The results were mixed, but we learnt an awful lot for “next time”.  I think I need to find a shallower ice cube tray or square fondant mould for example and after checking Roni’s post again I shouldn’t have put the paper on the bottom because the charms disappeared into the pattern….. doh!

However, the beauty of the Melting Pot is that nothing goes to waste, if things don’t turn out as you hoped, you simply melt them down again, and believe me Marc doesn’t waste a thing,  he patiently removed the paper from the back of any “dodgy” cube, and then melted it down again, removing and saving all of the charms.  He then poured the UTEE onto the heat resistant craft sheet and when set it was put away safe ready to be used again.

I only stumbled on Roni’s blog a short while ago, but I just love it,  I don’t think that there was anything I didn’t love on her 31 Days of Halloween ….. and I definitely need to make an Apothecary/Halloween House for next year.

http://inkstainswithroni.blogspot.co.uk/

I have to be honest, this is the second time Marc and I have played with his Melting Pot, and this time it’s potential has blown me away …… being able to use something like this has made all the difference, how many of us have seen something demonstrated, been enthralled, got your hard earned money out and then bought it home only to gather dust after an initial play ….. I hold my hands up ….. I bought a Sizzix Texture Boutique after seeing it demo’ed on QVC and have used it once!!!!!!

The proof and value of any new tool has got to be what you do with the things you produce, I am sold, but what I do with what I have made with Marc when I get home will be our validation …. I am thinking perhaps an embellished luxury gift tag …… so as I always say, watch this space!

I also think that I could make a “job lot” of cubes containing just glitter and mircobeads to use as base pieces of one of my bejewelled mirrors, giving me an even foundation on which to build the more fancy layers etc. 

Let’s just say it’s a long, long time since I have been this excited by a piece of crafting equipment!

Wonderful, Wonderful Times With Marc –Ranger Melting Pot - Movember Moustaches

Last time I stayed with Marc we “just” dabbled with his Ranger Melting Pot, but on this visit we really got down to business! It also really helped as the said Melting Pot was Pick of the Day on Create and Craft and Ideal World while I was down, which meant that we were able to follow (and record) all the demonstrations as we worked.

My mission was to make moustache brooches/pins for the ladies to help support Movember 2013 and the gentlemen at work who are taking part, and for that reason I was thrilled to find a moustache ice cube tray in Poundland to use as a mould.

So Marc and I melted a good lot of clear UTEE adding black pigment powder to it and were then ready to rock and roll,  however calculating the right amount of UTEE for each moustache proved harder than I first anticipated. The mould was really too deep, as it intended for ice cubes and also as it was black,  it was hard to see the level of the UTEE as I poured.  The first four trays of moustaches all went back into the melting pot as they were far too thick/deep, but Marc and I persevered and with a change in the angle of light and counting quickly to three (???) as I poured a production line of moustaches was finally established, with very satisfying results.

With a neat pile of about thirty moustaches completed I was quite happy to leave them as they were and just add a pin back to them, however admittedly some of the finished results were not as smooth as others and that was when Marc got out his mahoooosive box of glitters and the said moustaches took on a whole new vibrant look!  And oh my life Marc must have every ultra fine glitter colour that has ever been invented!!!

We applied a even coating of Anita’s PVA Tacky Glue and then the glitter, and that’s also when I learnt that Marc is always right about colour,  the colours that Marc suggested and I turned my nose up at were the colours that always “popped” ….. but Marc, I still don’t  do copper tones!!!!!

Now home, some of the moustaches have shed a little glitter and need a “touch up”, and the beauty of using PVA glue is that if I don’t have a similar glitter colour all I need to do is soak the moustache in water and start again! With shedding in mind I have also decided that once I have done all the touching up I will add a coat of Ranger Glossy Accent to seal the glitter in properly.

When I am completely happy with all the results I will add the pin backs and then work on a packaging idea to make them look “professional” enough to  take them into work to hopefully sell and help bolster Movember funds, so watch this space for an update!

Wonderful, Wonderful Times With Marc - Marc’s Glittered Poppies

Marc does beautiful things with his Remembrance Poppies, I showed them last year, but it won’t hurt to show them again, especially the ones he made this year while I was with him.

First, he took them apart and then after covering them with a light coating of PVA glue, sprinkled them with glitter, red for the petals, black for the centre and two shades of green for the leaves……

…… the lighter green first and then when it was dry adding the veins using a fine glue applicator. The results as you can see are stunning!

We had meant to do a poppy in Marc’s Ranger Melting Pot while we had it out but unfortunately we forgot until it was put away, aghhhh, however we did see one done on Create and Craft on Wednesday when The Melting Pot was the Pick of the Day to equally stunning effect.

Halloween Stickers

I know Halloween is now over but I thought I would just sneak in these labels I made to seal Marc’s cello Trick or Treat bags.

Before I went down to London I promised Marc that I would get some of the Poundland stickers I had used on mine, but I am afraid in all the excitement of my trip I forgot …… aghhhh, I could have kicked myself when I finally remembered them after I had arrived!

These were the first I doodled ….. just using a sheet of small self adhesive stickers, a black fine liner pen and Promarkers for the colour.

And then, when I went into Notting Hill I managed to find these tiny stickers (below) in Accessorize.

…….. a far cry, you will agree, to the stickers they have had in the past, the ones I would rave on and on about and buy in great swathes!!  However, they managed to adequately suit the occasion and my purpose……

….. with a bit of handwritten text, and a few dots and lines! I know this is sad, but I shall be dashing out to town (on Thursday) before the shelves are bereft of all Halloween stuff so that I have something to send to Marc all be it late to put away for next year!

Wonderful, Wonderful Times With Marc - Trick or Treat Bags.

On Wednesday afternoon I returned home after three wonderful days with Marc. Leaving was such a wrench, as I had such a lovely time and I love Marc and Rick and the girls (the dogs) with all of my heart. In fact I am filling up now as I write ….. silly sausage!! To keep myself  occupied on the train going home I tried to write everything we did down to blog …. with Marc’s voice and laughter as we worked still echoing in my head.

We did so much in such a short time …… we glittered like there was no tomorrow and as I left, Marc, in a certain light, twinkled like a Halloween Christmas tree possessed!!!!!!

On Tuesday night we made Marc’s Halloween Trick or Treat bags, it is a very happy evening that will stay with me forever, partly because Marc was a hard and demanding task master!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We used Kraft lunch bags for the base (99p for 10 from Home Bargains),  while Marc cut out the phrases in appropriate spooky colours and a whole flock of bats from his new Sizzix Halloween themed dies ………. 

Sizzix Sizzlits Decorative Strip Bats Die Item #: 15661584

Sizzix Sizzlits Decorative Phrase, Trick or Treat  #2 Strip Die

Item #: 15368386

…… I doodled on the bats with a white gel pen and added webs and spiders, faux stitching  and other bits of fiddlefart to the bags. 

We were very chuffed with ourselves ….. we finished at about 2.00am, fortified with erm….. a little liquid refreshment, I haven’t stayed up so late in ages ….. it was soooooooooo much fun and evening of very happy companionship which as I said at the beginning I will remember and treasure forever. Happy Days!