Cauldrons and Pumpkins

Hello Monday :0)

You've probably noticed that Halloween is creeping up on us... it's a bit of a 'Marmite' thing, you either love it or have nothing to do with it!! We always carve our own homegrown pumpkins and that's about it but today I have these mini cauldrons and pumpkins to share with you.... they're ideal for sweet treats or decoration at spooky parties :0)

They are made from empty Activia Intensely Creamy Yoghurt pots...as soon as I saw them in the shop I had a lightbulb moment!! They've changed the shape of the rim slightly since I hoarded my pots but they still work as cauldrons and by using a sharp Stanley knife, I trinmmed the rim off completely to make the pumpkins too..

I've been trying to work out the best way to colour the pots since putting them aside and recently found Black Gesso which is a brilliant medium that likes almost all surfaces and provides a good basecoat although in the end I used it for both coats of black, sponging it on for a rough cast metal effect. The handle is black wire with a strip of paper wound around it which is inserted through two small holes on either side of the rim. The three feet are narrow strips of paper rolled and glued before attaching to the underside of the pot.

The pumpkins are more of an after-thought, I'm not as happy with them because they looked much better in my minds eye :0) I used strips of orange tissue paper and mod podge but still ended up painting them after two layers to make a more solid colour. The dark indent lines are made with Promarkers and the face is cut from black card. I used the PS hotspots die for the zig zag mouth but you could easily cut your own :0)

To make the toppers I used a combination of the Halloween Icons dies, Ghoulfriends stamp set and the wooden sign is from the Happy Camper stamp set. The sign looks brilliant stamped onto the wood veneer and trimmed out... I used coloured pencils to add shading after embossing the sentiment in bright lime green..

The pumpkin topper is made from the small Bam Bubble die and the 'Boo!' die....those O's were asking to be turned into wide eyes!!!!

The shops are full of Halloween themed sweets now so I opted for chocolate eyeballs and pumpkins.. I had fun making these mini cauldrons and pumpkins...a real Blue Peter moment *wink* and I'll probably end up sending them into school for James to share with his class, best get finishing the others then!!!

                 

                                                           

Don't forget to check out this weeks photo challenge over at Paper Smooches Sparks and see what the DT has made to inspire you too.

Thanks for stopping by :0)

Jenny x

Fall is here!

Hello fellow crafters! I don't know about you, but I love love love fall. The oppressing heat finally goes away, the leaves turn to all kinds of colors, the grapes are ripe in the vineyards and beg to be … borrowed ;)

The season has so many joyful aspects, it's no surprise there are a ton of products in the store that let you celebrate it (and not just Thanksgiving). Today, I dug out my trusty Lawn Fawn Stitched Leaves dies, which are finally back in stock again, and inked them with some Distress Ink.

By applying first a light shade of color, and then adding a darker shade of the same color family to the edges of the leaves, you can create a wonderful realistic effect. And the stitching on the leaves – swoon! For the stitching to come out well, I found that using heavier paper does the trick: there's simply more for the dies to sink into and leave that impression.

I also used heavy watercolor paper (almost like card stock) for the entire card. It has a wonderful texture that enhances the leaves and the overall "natural" look that I was going for. You can also see that on the stitched border I have around my front panel, which was cut with the Mama Elephant Basic Set Creative Cuts.

The background of my card was stamped with a few tiny images – I actually used a stamp set from a company that's not in the store, but Lawn Fawn has just released two stamp sets which allow you to achieve the same effect: Thank You Tags and Sweater Weather. They have tiny leaves, nuts, and even a pumpkin which are perfect for this season!

The sentiment was cut with Wplus9's Hand Lettered Hello die from adhesive wood veneer sheets – they come in a pack of ten and you can pick the color that goes best with your card. For mine, I choose one of the darker colors to make the word stand out more. And the texture, oh this beautiful texture…

To finish the card off, I added some sequins in matching fall colors – I know, not very "natural", but a girl needs her bling.

I hope you enjoyed today's card and I hope you have a beautiful fall weekend!

It's all about Weddings

Hi folks - it's been a busy week for me with not one but two weddings to attend and gifts and stationery to make.   I made a very easy yet on trend gift using our wood veneers so thought I'd share that as today's project.

I used some woodgrain paper as a backdrop and then layered up some white card both smooth and textured using an embossing folder.  I then mounted two hearts that had been die cut from two of the veneers using the Wplus9 clear cut heart stackers dies onto stiff card cut using the same die.  Adding more dimensional foam behind them to give depth.  The date of the wedding was then stamped onto white card using the indespensible Milo's ABCs set.  Popped into a simple box frame - et voila - simple but personal wedding gift.

NEWS FROM THE STORE:

The latest release from Mama Elephant and Avery Elle is now live in store along with restocks from both companies.

Wplus9 restocks and the September release is in customs clearance and should be here next week.

Lawn Fawn restocks are on their way.

The Paper Smooches Christmas release is en-route too.

Altenew restocks are crossing the Atlantic at the moment.

Hero Arts restocks and Christmas products will be here soon too.

A quick heads up though - I have come down with a lurgy this weekend - will do my best to get orders out but please be patient if I'm not quite as quick as normal.

See you next weekend.

Tara

Faux Painting on Wood

Good Morning :0)
Well it's been an indulgent weekend here with new Lawn Fawn stamps and dies arriving :0)
I also picked up a pack of the Wood Veneers that Tara has in store and I thought I'd have a play with them to see what I could make...

As you can see straight away, it's green!! I took the piece of pine veneer and sponged white pigment ink across it before swiping Bundled Sage distress paint over the whole piece... I love that you can see the grain through the colours.

I wanted to achieve a stencilled paint look so I used Lawn Fawn's Penelopes Blossoms stamped first in Memento Pistachio dye ink to give a tone on tone effect. I then used this as a guide to over stamp the individual leaves and flowers using a selection of Avery Elle and Memento pigment inks.... had you noticed the individual elements in Penelopes Blossoms are exactly the same size used in the semi-circular display???

Being pigment inks you have to remember they need drying time although you can easily use a heat tool on this veneer at a gentle heat and remembering to keep the tool moving!!
Whilst the pigment inks give good coverage on the wood I still love the translucent quality of some of the colours, to finish I edged the trimmed piece with white ink and matted onto grey card for contrast :0)
The veneer has a self adhesive backing which is super sticky and makes life a lot easier :0)

                                      

It's the 1st of September so our next monthly challenge will be launched later today and this time we have a sketch for you so stay tuned for that and as always a reminder that the new Paper Smooches Sparks challenge went live yesterday. It's Anything Goes and I've used Market Fresh and Streamers for my DT card... check out the challenge details here :0)

Thanks for stopping by :0)
Jenny x

Ombre Wood and Paper

Hello again - fed up of me yet?  Sorry - Lou and I have swapped today so I can show you a quick project I've made to showcase our brand new wood veneer packs which I am totally in love with (so yes you're going to be seeing a lot of them!)

I created a quick background using one of the ombre papers from the new My Mind's Eye paper pads and layering up some card on top for dimension.  To join the two sides together I used a tag die cut.  I layered up some strips of the veneers on an off cut of card in an ombre pattern until I had an area big enough to die cut.  I put the die on an angle for added interest and cut it out with the tagged stitched die from Papersmooches - the stitched detail shows up fantastically in the wood.

To finish I die cut the scripty thanks from Lawn Fawn from another shade of the veneer - the packs give you lots of options, and simply stuck it on top of the tag - that sticky backing certainly comes in handy!   Here's a shot of all the colours you get:

You can stamp on the wood or colour it with markers too so it is very versatile.

For those of you waiting on Lawn Fawn, Mama Elephant and Lil' Inker Designs - you may want to stay close to the website this weekend.........

See you on Sunday.

Tara