A brand New Year tomorrow......

.....can't believe how quickly this year has gone! Here is my last piece this month for Creative Expressions featuring their fun Henna mandala stamps (got some new goodies to play with for next month!) 

This was a really simple card to put together.  First I stamped Henna Mosaic onto a scalloped circle of Kraft card (cut using the Spellbinders Scalloped Circle die) then I embossed it in white, I repeated the stamping process on another piece of card and cut out the inner section of the design so it could be layered to add a little extra dimension. Then mounted the circle onto a square of 'milk' card which I had lightly stamped sections of the Henna Mosaic in the corners, this was then matted onto a slightly smaller square of Kraft card. This was then mounted onto more 'milk' card before adding some ribbon and cosmic shimmer pearls to finish.
Hope you all have a good night tonight and best wishes for 2014.

Donna xx

Well tomorrows the big day.......

......I love Christmas Eve and I've actually got today and tomorrow off this year so that's a bonus! So Christmas music on, candles lit, the odd chocolate to eat and some family presents to wrap......the perfect Christmas Eve :)  One of the presents will have this little tag attached that I made using the Henna Mandala stamp from Creative Expressions.

The background shape was cut using a Spellbinders 2012 Heirloom Ornament  Die from a background sheet I made some time ago.  Can't remember the exact colours I used but I know it was Cosmic Shimmer sprays I used in greens and blues and then a little white spritzed over the top of the Retro Circles mask by That Special Touch.  I stamped the Henna Mandala a couple of times, cut out the central flower motif and painted with Cosmic Shimmer watercolours. Then I used Fantastic Flourish One to cut a couple of flourishes which I painted with more Cosmic Shimmer. I stamped and embossed a sentiment and then glued the whole thing together adding a few spots of gold glitter to the centre of the flower.

Hope you all have a lovely day tomorrow :)

Donna xx

A sneaky look at ......

.....my project over at Country View Crafts......pop over if you would like to see more :)

Donna xx

It's a Retro Christmas .......

...........over at TagAlong this week where I'm hosting this week. I've used a cute little image off a stamp sheet from Artistic Outpost along with a little die cut festive foliage.......

Donna xx

Creative Expressions time again......

.....so time for a little Christmas fun with the 'Henna' stamps.

Stamp four of the Henna Petals and emboss in white on some white card, then blend some distress ink over the top with some cut and dry foam.  Cut out, keeping one full size and the others decreasing in size each time. Fold each one to form little 'caps'......just fold from point to point. Take a thin stick, roll a thin strip of paper round the base to form a little pot, paint with distress paint.

Once dry slot each of your little 'caps' onto the painted stick starting with the biggest and glue in place.
Voila you have a cute little Christmas tree...

...told you it was time for a little fun!

Thanks for stopping by, see you again soon :)

Donna xx

Playing catch up......

.....with challenges!  This weeks Sunday Postcard Art challenge is Winter Wildlife a theme picked by Deborah.......great theme Deborah :)

Ok here's mine, distress paint for the background along with a little shadowy stamping of some trees and some stamped and embossed snowflakes. Then I've used a couple of Tim Holtz movers and shapers dies and a Spellbinders snowflake.........hope you like........

Donna xx

Something fishy going on........

......some great new Under the Sea stamps are being launched by Sheena on Create and Craft tomorrow at 10.00.

Here's a couple of samples I've made.......

.......and just to show that fish and seaweed don't have to always look the same here's another card using the same fish stamp but a different seaweed one........just a slightly different look!

Tune in if you can.

Donna xx

More 'Henna' fun......

A nice quick card today using the fun new 'Henna' stamps from Creative Expressions.  Using the Henna Mandala stamp from the collection, I stamped it several times in black on some white card.  Then I cut myself some layers from the stamped images,leaving one intact. Colour in the layers with a colouring medium of your choice, I've actually used alcohol markers for this but any form of colouring will work just as well.
Using the Spellbinders Adorning Squares I cut out the base image,

then I layered up the coloured pieces and mounted everything onto some teal and white card and added a little Crystal PVA to embellish.

Donna xx

Anyone for skating?

Bought a new die a few weeks ago (well actually bought one or two!!) and I'm using it on my second piece for the Country View Crafts challenge. I started off by cutting out a tag from a sheet of backing card I'd made ages ago using various mica and ink sprays.

Then I added some stamped swirls and snowflakes which I embossed with a mixture of white and silver embossing powder, I also added some white embossing around the whole edge of the tag. Using my new die I cut the Ice Skates out of some white card and shaded them with a little Black Soot distress ink and then 'laced' them up with some narrow silver cord. Then I cut a large snowflake using one of Spellbinders Create a Flake sets and layered it up. Also cut a few smaller flakes using a Tattered Lace die. Before assembling everything I stamped a little sentiment, cut it out and embossed the edges with some silver embossing powder. Then I glued everything in place and finally added some Stickles glitter glue to the snowflakes to make them really twinkle like ice.

Donna xx

Time for a play with some new stamps.......

......this month on the Creative Expressions DT we've been given the new 'Henna' range of single stamps to play with (they come singly but I've laminated an A4 sheet to store them on).....

I'm in Christmas mode at the moment so I've made a festive tag using one of the large circles.  Started by creating a background with some distress paints (Festive Berries, Aged Mahogonay, Pine Needles and Tarnished Brass), by dabbing the colours onto a non stick craft sheet then spritzing with water and then pulling a sheet of white card backwards and forwards through it.  Doesn't look much to start with but just aiming to get some mixed colours onto the paper at the moment.....

Then I stamped one of the fancy circles...Henna Mosaic... a couple of times and embossed them in white...

 
Then I cut them out and folded them up.....point to point, for every point....and then cut along one of the folds to open out........

Repeat with the other stamped image and stick the two together to form a medallion...

Then  I cut a tag shape out of some white card, stamped and embossed some more of the Henna Mosaic and embossed again in white and then coloured whole tag with Fired Brick and Pine Needles Distress Ink using a bit of Cut 'n' Dry. Then I glued on the medallion but not before edging it with some glitter and adding a jewel to the middle. The tag was finished off with a stamped sentiment (from the Winter Flower set), a couple of die cut swirls (Die D-Lites Fantastic Flourish 1), a few pearls and a nice bow at the top.

Thanks for stopping by,
Donna xx

A make all for me......

......picked this advent house up at work a few weeks ago

and eventually got around to decorating the other day.  As the theme over at Country View Crafts Challenge is Bah Humbug (which we decided was anything Christmas!) I decided to use this as my first make for the challenge. I started off by painting it white with a base coat of acrylic, then I added a little Iced Spruce and Evergreen Bough Distress Paint.

Once I'd got the main part of the house coloured, I added a little stamping and embossing to add a little extra interest.  I used a crackle stamp and a brocade pattern stamp but you could use a text stamp, festive foliage or anything that took your fancy, it's just to add some extra interest and texture.

Once I'd done that I set to work on the drawer fronts, again using Distress Paints........Iced Spruce, Evergreen Bough, Festive Berries and Aged Mahogany.

Once the drawers were all painted, I used some gilding wax to add a touch of gold and added the numbers which I cut with Tim Holtz's Alphabetical Strip Die.

Decided to add a snowy roof to my little house so mixed up some white acrylic with some light modelling paste and spread it over the roof with a palette knife and whilst it was still wet sprinkled some clear glitter onto it for some frosty sparkle. Also added a little festive colour with a couple of Poinsettia's made with a Spellbinders die and some holly cut with Tim Holtz's Festive Greenery strip die.

Have a feeling I'd like to add a little robin somewhere, so I'm thinking this might develop a little more through December but for now I'm quite happy with my Advent House :)
Oh and in case you were wondering what's in the drawers, well this little house is all mine (you don't have to be a kid to have an advent calendar/house do you?) and so it's my favourite...........

Happy December!!
Donna xx