Very Simple

    Hi everyone,

    I am back with another butterfly creation for Nicecrane designs... 

    I was a bit stuck when I made this - one of those horrible mojo-less times and I was really struggling. Then I remembered what Claudia said to me once when I was sure that I would lack motivation for ever - her advice was to just go play, don't try out new things, don't think, just have a play with tried and tested and much loved styles. 

     So I decided to sit and play with neutral colours, totally shabby chic but simplifying things by not trying anything new. 

I had been wanting to use one of the butterflies from Nicecrane designs

Colourful Spring Butterflies III

I had used these butterflies on the card I featured here a few days ago - but this time I enlarged it - this is one great thing you can do with Nicecrane's images....they are so easily transformed in different sizes and colours in photoshop or on a word document. I have changed images to sepia before, this time I simply enlarged this butterfly so that it is the focal image.

I began by making the background using Frayed Burlap, Weathered Wood and Picket Fence DP. I applied some blobs of paint to the craft mat, spritzed with water and then swirled the card in the paint until it was covered. Then I placed another piece of card on top to make a print. Both pieces of paint covered card were dabbed with a baby wipe to blend the colours together to get a marble effect.

 One piece of card was used as the background and this one I dabbed Brushed Corduroy DI over the edges to darken it slightly

The other pieces I cut into pieces for the title and main picture.

The title was stamped with a flourish stamp in Frayed Burlap DI and had a chit chat sticker applied

 The main picture was edged with hemp string and had lace strips applied

The butterfly was stuck onto card and then cut out. Rusty wire was twisted into antenatal

 Walnut Stain DI was used around the edges of the butterfly to darken the white cut edges and it was also used to stamp some text onto the wings

Frayed Burlap DI was used to stamp flourish , text and script stamps in the corners of the main image

 The frame was made from four pieces of balsa wood stuck onto thick card. Frayed Burlap DP was painted over it and then white antiquing cream was applied . This was wiped away when dry to leave a distressed effect

 Tissue tape was used around the edges of the frame 

 Brass hinge fasteners were used to attach hemp string to the frame

So there is my butterfly frame - going back to my favourite vintage shabby chic style...

Why not pop over to Nicecrane Designs and check out the images there...there are so many - Whatever your style of creating there will be something there you will LOVE!

Happy Crafting!

Love from Laura xxx

Butterfly Moments

Hi everyone

     Today I would like to share with you a card I made - Yes, a card!!!

I don't make them very often at all  - I tend to get a bit stuck when making them, but this one was a dream to make....And today it is a card made with Nicecrane Designs images - I chose these beautiful butterfly images...

Colourful Spring Butterflies III

 I chose three butterflies with shades of blue and peach in their wings and this set the colour scheme...

First I dabbed some Weathered Wood and Picket Fence DP onto the craft mat and used a sponge to dab a mix of these paints onto a Tim Holtz Lattice Stencil. I then got some white card and pressed it down onto the stencil to get a reverse stencil print. 

When this was dry I covered the card with Weathered Wood, Tea Dye and Peacock Feathers DI.

I then stamped some text and script stamps using Weathered Wood DI and Potting Soil Archival ink

I stamped some butterfly and dragonfly images using Weathered Wood and Tea Dye DI

I stamped a butterfly quote onto white card, dabbed some Weathered Wood, Tea Dye and Peacock Feathers DI and edged it with Walnut Stain DI. I then layered it onto some more card covered with  Tea Dye DI

I cut the butterflies out and edged them with Walnut Stain very lightly - just to take away the white cut edges of the paper.

The antennae were too difficult to cut, so I replaced them with brown wire

So there is one of my (rare) cards....Hope you like it!

 Why not pop over to Nicecrane Designs and check out the images there...there are so many - Whatever your style of creating there will be something there you will LOVE! 

Happy Crafting!

Love from Laura xxx

Into the Garden

Hi everyone,

I really enjoyed working with the Peter Rabbit images from Nicecrane Designs last month so I thought I would do another creation  - a slightly different grungy antique style this time, which is quite a contrast to the simple nursery hanging I did before...

This time I used a image from this set...

Peter Rabbit Pack

Please note - Peter Rabbit designs are not available on the UK due to Copyright Restrictions

I chose one of the images and decided to use a quote from the book as well....the warning not to go into Mr McGregors garden...

So, I began with my usual frame making fun....

Four pieces of balsa wood, stuck to embossed card to form the frame size I wanted. When dry the inside of the embossed card was cut away and the frame was painted with a mix of Sage and Toad Hall Fresco Paints. When dry it was coated with Raw Umber Antiquing Cream and this was wiped away with a damp cloth when dry leaving a tarnished effect.

I wanted to use a metal ornate corner as a decoration on the frame and it has a tarnished gold effect - so to match this I brushed some Classic Gold Treasure Gold all over the frame.

I made a background for the picture frame....using Bundled Sage and Frayed Burlap DI's and Picket Fence DP I applied them all to the craft mat, spritzed with water and then swirled the card in the inky paint puddle. Several swirls later and the card was a lovely antique effect.

I splashed it with some Picket Fence DP and added a spritz of White Linen Dylusions spray. Then I stamped using text and script stamps in Bundled Sage and Frayed Burlap DI's and Potting Soil Archival ink.

I made several of the paint/ink cards and so I used one of the 'rejects' as a mat for the image.

A frame die cut was painted with French Roast Fresco Paint and brushed with Classic Gold Treasure Gold. It had the quote attached and was attached to the frame with tiny metal screws.

I dabbed some die cut foliage with forest Moss and Peeled Paint DI's

A rose was dabbed with Forest Moss and Frayed Burlap DI and then spritzed with water. The rose was then spritzed with White Linen Dylusions spray.

The frame was finished with the ornate corner decoration which can possibly be used to hang up the frame

 Why not pop over to Nicecrane Designs and check out the images there...there are so many - Whatever your style of creating there will be something there you will LOVE! 

Happy Crafting!

Love from Laura xxx

Childhood Memories

Hi everyone!

    Today I wanted to show you some gorgeous images from Nicecrane Designs. Ignacio sells wonderful images that you can use in your craft work. Today I chose to use some of my favourite images from my childhood - Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter...

Peter Rabbit Cliparts - find it here 

Please note - Peter rabbit designs are not available on the UK due to Copyright Restrictions

  These images are such a classic children's image so I decided to make a neutral nursery decoration!

Aren't they gorgeous? Peter Rabbit images are perfect for a nursery and can be for a boy or girl..

   

I used a circle frame hanger set that I bought from the Range ages ago. I painted it with Americana Decor Chalky Finish paint in Lace and then painted the rim of the frame with Primitive

     When dry I applied a coat of One step crackle glaze and then when the crackles appeared I painted it with Decoart Media White Antiquing Cream.

I painted some die cut flowers with the Lace paint and then dabbed the flowers with Frayed Burlap DI and added a pearl bead to each

The pictures were glued inside the frames after being dabbed lightly with Frayed Burlap DI and a piece of crochet lace was stuck to the back of the frames to hang them together..

....the frames had a strip of script tissue tape stuck to the edges.

An ivory satin ribbon was attached to the top of each frame

A loop of hemp string was attached to the top frame under the ivory bow.

Hope you like my Peter Rabbit nursery decoration!

Happy Crafting!

Laura xxx