Little Duck In Wellies Easter Decorations.

These little tranklements were an extra Easter craft idea …………

……. made after I found these super cute, wooden ducks in wellies embellishments in The Works, a pack of 20 for just £1.

I started by colouring them with white and yellow Ranger Enamel Accents, adding their beaks and eyes when they were dry.

I used either a wooden easel (sourced from China) or wooden sign (Amazon) to put them on, giving them a couple of coats of clear, satin, quick dry varnish (Wilko) before sticking anything on them, to ensure that any acrylic pen I used later wouldn’t bleed into the wood.

I did the writing first to make sure that it would be more or less centred before adding the ducks.  Having varnished the boards beforehand it also meant that if I made any mistakes I could easily wipe the pen off without ruining any of the black paint.

With the ducks glued into position I was then able to do all the fiddle fart.

First by adding a little green Dovecrafts 3D Enamel Effects round the edges and on the easel shelf, followed by the tiny Fimo nail art flowers ……..

…… and then the stems and leaves using a light green acrylic pen plus white dot clusters here and there using a fine tipped Posca Pen.

I was nervous of adding the wings and lines on the wellies using a fine tipped black Sharpie pen, my efforts are far from perfect I know, but they will do!

My apologies for the quality of the photos on this post, I think I got a bit of grease on the lens of my camera.

A Third Adventure With Resin–Christmas Tree Tags

Woooo hoooo I’m almost  there, but not quite …….. however my new silicon trays arrived within in a week of ordering and not the two months Amazon first stated, so I am able to crack on with my learning!

This is the exact “look” I’ve had in my head along on my resin journey ……. I am so thrilled, I can’t tell you. The snow flakes are nail art embellishments from eBay.

I just need to fine tune and sort out the bubbles that formed under the glitter card I put in ……. (above)

I managed to minimise any small bubbles by using my heat gun on each new level of resin ……..but as these trays aren’t clear I wasn’t able to see any bubbles gathering underneath after I put the card in …….

…….. but from what I have gathered, I need to use a white glue on both sides of the card to seal it and then make sure it is again glued very carefully on to the “cured” hardened, resin, really taking my time, before adding the next resin layer to seal it in, if that makes sense.  So, another day added to the process to make sure everything is right. This a slow process, but hopefully worth it in the end.

As I post this, I have another set of tags on the go with these modifications, fingers crossed. I think they will also use all the resin I have left, so the results will go to decide if I buy more to continue my journey ………. so, watch this space!

Black and White Snowman Tags

After making my first set of black and white snowman tags I wanted to make some more,  so I ordered some more wooden black tags from China via eBay, which cost me £3.84 for 25.

They were a bit smaller than I had imagined, not big enough to write anything on the front, but I still thought I could make them work.

I started by giving the tags two coats of clear varnish on both sides to prevent any pen bleeding into the wood.  When the varnish was dry I painted a small layer of snow along the bottom of the tags using a Wilko white tester pot (£1.50)

Then came the bit I like best, all the fiddling and twiddling, adding the snowmen and snowflake stickers I stocked up on, when I realised their crafty potential, from One Below, before Christmas.

I used a fine, white Posca pen to add the faux stitching and doodles.

I also gave the back the same treatment, but leaving space for a message/greeting. The red and white butchers twine just gives an extra pop of colour.

I am hoping that by making wooden tags instead of using card, these will become little keepsakes over the years, they certainly wouldn’t look out of place hung on a Christmas tree.

I have about another pack and a half of snowmen and snowflakes left from my stash, luckily I have another quite similar idea for how use finally use them all up, so watch this space……….

Very Simple, Any Occassion Sort Of Card

This card measures approx. 5ins x 5ins and uses an ivory linen effect, hand cut blank as its base.

I can’t remember when I last made a card…….. and the reason I have really gone back to basics, as it just doesn’t come naturally any more!

To be honest it’s just just lots and lots of mat and layering, corrugated kraft card on red, silver, ivory and then red again!

The embellishment is a real blast from the past, going right back to my early days of crafting and blogging.

More Adventures With Resin

Following on from last weeks first foray into resin,  I immediately had another go while it was all fresh in my blood …….

Again, I learned a lot ……….

……… i.e far too many bubbles this time around, but that was all my fault as I kept on fiddling with the flowers, stars and skeleton embellishments which were so light they kept floating up in the runny resin and I kept poking them down. This is why I think it’s important to allow the bottom layer of resin to set a little before adding the bits.

However, all was not lost as I’ve decided to have a go at making a little pile of the Christmas Tree and Christmas lights ones to use as parcel charms on this years presents, so three silicon trays have been duly bought from Amazon. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B096ZPX3XL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Unfortunately, I will have to wait a while to use them as they are coming from China, but I suppose that gives me time to practice on a smaller scale to perfect my art!

I think I could get away with a few bubbles in the tree ones as it could look like snow. I put a small scrap of white, glitter card behind the tree to create the simple scene, but as I said, I need to let the resin set a little before adding the stars to help achieve a more symmetrical arrangement, or is that being too anal?

I am hoping that the new moulds will be a tiny bit deeper than the original one used above, as a couple of the bulbs didn’t lie as flat as I wanted,  resulting in a couple of bump on the back, not that anyone else would probably notice, except me. I don’t think it really matters where the stars end up in this charm, but perhaps a few more or variety of sizes might look better?

Anyway, I think I may be hooked and no doubt on the constant look out for things to set in resin for the next little while.  Happy days!

Altered Birthday Tin

This is an idea I have put together to hopefully make a whole pile of similar altered tins to squirrel away until I need them for birthdays.  I craft almost every day, but I never seem to have a card ready when I need one!

The 60mm x 47mm x 12ml metal tins came from eBay.

I started by lining the inside of the tin with an appropriate, small patterned print paper, using a template I made for a similar project.

When the glue was dry I was then able to add a little faux stitching using a black biro round the edges.

I handwrote the greeting on a white wooden heart (The Works) using a black, fine tipped, permanent pen.  I also mat and layered a birthday cake button on a scrap of pink, patterned paper and then again on silver mirror card.

On the back of the above I stuck two flat, round, wooden beads together to make a sort of base, so that the embellishments could stand slightly proud of the top and bottom of the tin to give a little extra dimension.  I need to look into perhaps finding some small, springy bases to add extra movement or even making some.

When everything was sorted I was able to stick both embellishments on either side of the open tin.

It, however, looked a little lacklustre so out came some tiny silver stars which I just scattered here and there ……..

……… which finally brought out the birthday sparkle.

On the outside of the tin I added an embossed tin, birthday greeting embellishment ………

……… along with a couple of wooden bees and a few tiny nail art flowers (of which I need to order a few more).

I used a green acrylic paint pen to do the leaves.  Voila!

Little Snowman Christmas Parcel Charms

These little snowman “thingies” turned out to be so small I just don’t know what to do with them. They would get lost on the average Christmas tree, a small twig tree perhaps, so at the moment I am thinking of them as charms to put on the handle of a gift bag or attached to a gift tag, on a present?

They started off as a way to use up some of the small craft sticks I have (£1 per pack of 60 from Hobbycraft).

I glued four sticks together and when dry wrote “Let It Snow” to the one side with a white, fine tip Posca Pen while I had the access to do it.………..

…….. before adding the top, bottom and sides to make a small shadow box I guess.

I then painted in the snow, it took three/four applications because the colour from the craft sticks bleed into it. If I ever repeat the idea I would give the back a couple of coatings of a clear satin varnish first.

Adding the snowman and the small sequins with a tiny silver flat back gem in the cente came next.

I varnished the back of the “boxes” just to give them a more “professional” look and finish, before adding a small silver bail which I covered over with another small sequin and gem to keep the theme going, followed by a few clusters of three dots here and there using the white Posca pen again.

From the picture below I think,  next to a 50p piece, you can gauge the size of the project and my quandary.

I wonder if I repeated the exercise I should then stick it onto a larger wooden tag, so it’s either in the centre or at bottom????

I might have another play and come back to you on this one.