Fruit 'n' Flowers......

.......is the theme picked by Anne this week on Tag Along. Was wondering what to use when I suddenly remembered a stamp I had years ago when I first started stamping so I went rummaging through a box of stamps which in my mind I've labelled "I'll never use that".....well guess what I have .......the ants and watermelon is an old wood mounted Anita's stamp.  Thought the quote worked quite well with it as well. Anyway hope you like it, just a bit of fun :-) !!!

Donna xx

Want to know a secret????????

......you do??

Well Sheena's got some new stamps out, they'll be launched on Friday on Create and Craft at 2pm.  As you can see from the sample below they're all about the seaside.......

 There will also be some lovely paints featured on the shows as well, Silks from Luminarte, truly gorgeous and if you love a little shimmer then you will love these.

Donna xx

A quick idea for a gift.....

.....at this time of year it can get expensive when it comes to buying gifts.....Christmas, winter birthdays etc so why not create some quick and cheap gifts and save yourself a few pennies.

I bought a set of four white candles from a supermarket, £2.50 for four, and turned one of them into a quick and pretty little gift.....

If you've never decorated a candle before here's a quick 'how to' ......

First stamp your images onto some white tissue, I've used some recycled tissue from a package I had delivered, the stamp is from the Winter Flowers plate by Creative Expressions........

Then colour your image, I've used Cosmic Shimmer watercolours for this one but in the past have used ordinary watercolours, coloured pencils, distress ink and promarkers........

Once your images are coloured, carefully cut them out.  Then take a piece of Baking Parchment or Waxed Paper, carefully position your cut out image onto the candle and wrap the baking parchment tightly round the candle. Take your heat tool and lightly play it over the candle until the surface has melted just enough for the tissue to become embedded onto candle. You will see the image appearing darker through the baking parchment as it becomes embedded.....

Peel off the baking parchment and repeat the process if you have other images you wish to put on and then you're done.....

If you're going to give a gift you need a gift tag, so using the same stamp I've stamped and coloured the flower onto a small tag,  and added some Distress Ink as a background colour.
Then pop the candle into a cellophane bag and tie with ribbon and there you have it a quick personal gift that hasn't taken long and hasn't cost the earth!

Donna xx

Vintage Sewing......

.....is the theme that Carol has chosen for us this week on Sunday Postcard Art.  I've used Sam Poole's Vintage Sewing plate from Creative Expressions and the little wooden embellishments I picked up at Hobbycraft and added a bit of inky shading to.....

Donna xx

Time to Remember......

....is the theme I have picked for this weeks TagAlong challenge which I'm hosting.  I thought it was open to all sorts of interpretation but as this week end is Remembrance Sunday that is the route I have taken.  So I've kept it simple with some stamped Poppies (Sheena Douglass) and a few die cut crosses.

Do pop over to TagAlong and join in the fun.

Donna xx

A little floral plaque.....

....for my piece this week for Creative Expressions.

Start with a blank MDF plaque and paint with a mixture of Antique Linen, Pine Needles and Evergreen Bough Distress Paint.  Once dry add a little stamping with Alpha Writing and a branch from the Trees plate. Then take a piece of white tissue and stamp out the Crocus from the Winter Flowers plate, then paint the flowers with  Marine Sea and Emerald Gold Cosmic Shimmer Watercolour Paint. Cut out and apply to plaque with Glue 'n' Seal. Ink up the branch previously used with some embossing ink, stamp, then sprinkle on Copper embossing powder and heat to emboss. Finish off the edges with a little Enchanted Gold Creative Expressions Gilding Wax.  Stamp the sentiment "Find Beauty in Ordinary Things" from the Steampunk Flowers set onto a piece of white card, colour with card with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink. Edge with a little Black Soot Distress Ink and then add a little of the copper embossing powder. Glue finished sentiment to plaque.

Thanks for looking :)
Donna xx

Maps....

....is this weeks theme on Sunday Postcard Art. I bought the Huck Finn stamp plate by Artistic Outpost the other week so thought this would be a great opportunity to put it to use.  Used some bits of torn up map in the background and then collaged the stamped images on top.

Also entering this into the Artistic Outpost November challenge, where the theme is anything goes.

Donna xx