A New Year

Hi everyone!

Welcome to the first post of the New Year! I really think 2015 will be a good one!

      Over at OCC we have lots of new DT members who are so thrilled to lead the way in the first challenge of the year. They have really impressed me already with their amazing creativity and positivity...it is a joy to have them on the team :o)

We have four new Sponsors this year taking our total up to seven! These wonderful companies have been so generous this year! You will all be thrilled with the prizes being offered! 

Another change to the team is that Claudia is no longer on the Design Team.....but before you panic, don't worry! This is not a goodbye! Our wonderful Steampunk Queen won't be going far. While she isn't doing any DT work to inspire you for the challenges, she will be at OCC as the Resident Guest Designer - Claudia will be posting inspiring projects throughout the year with tons of tips and ideas - so make sure you don't miss any of them!

There are so many good reasons to be watching Our Creative Corner this year....

• A huge range of styles of creativity being demonstrated each month. 
• Our Challenge Hosts coming up with unique and interesting challenges.
• Our Resident Guest Designer sharing tips and ideas. 
• Our Top Talents basking in the spotlight and answering our questions
• Guest Designers to add further inspiration for our challenges
• Sponsor Spotlights each month using products we love from the Sponsor companies
• Mega prizes from wonderful companies

*****************************************************

And here we go...the first challenge of the year at Our Creative Corner! 

January's challenge is being hosted by Pamellia - who has so bravely stepped into being CH in the first month of being on the Design Team - she barely had time to glance around before she agreed to take on being a CH. She has dazzled us with her expert organization of everything and we all have really enjoyed making the creations to inspire you....This is how she described her challenge.....

 With the holidays merely a shadow behind us, my guess is you still have bits of Christmas leftovers stashed everywhere, not to mention bags of Christmas bits meant for the recycle bin. I am a hoarder of all things I think I might get around to using one day, and Holiday bits are no exception! Every closet, drawer and cupboard is overflowing with the little things I collected throughout the holidays. Things I think I might use and things heading to the curb.

Christmas wrapping, gift bags, tinsel, ribbon, gift boxes, tissue paper, Christmas crackers, wine boxes, empty gift wrap rolls, Christmas cookie tins, even the images from the fronts of cards I received...you name, I hoard it!

Let's put those bits to good use this month!

With that in mind, for my introductory challenge theme, I have chosen........

CHRISTMAS LEFTOVERS

To be clear, your project does NOT have to have a Christmas theme, I only want you to recycle your Christmas scraps.

If it's not obvious what Christmas leftovers you used, make sure to tell us about it, somewhere in your post.

**********************************************

I was thrilled to get a pashmina as one of my Christmas presents this year....and while I loved the pashmina, I was very pleased with the tissue it was wrapped in - as it gave me the perfect item to use for this challenge.

   A gorgeous gold snowflake printed tissue paper....I got a leftover candle (we always have too many candles despite lighting up loads of them over Christmas) I also used some leftover ivory ribbon and Christmas snowflake wooden die cuts....

And I transformed that plain ivory candle into this...No tricky techniques here at all...just gluing and painting - but it makes a very beautiful decoration and means nothing gets thrown away....

So now I have one decoration already made for next year! I am thrilled with how organised I am - I just know by early December I will have fallen way behind as always - but to be this far ahead right now makes me very happy! :o)

I cut tissue paper to size and stuck it onto the candle with Mod Podge glue. I love working with tissue paper as it is less delicate than serviettes and less likely to tear. It can be smoothed out more and left with a neater finish.

I tore a piece of card and used some new Gold Decoart Media fluid acrylic paint - I love how bright the gold is. It is very much (in my eyes) the effect of gold leaf, especially if you brush it randomly and allow brushstrokes to appear. I love it!

I used several script stamps in Potting Soil Archival ink over the torn painted card. I then pinned it to the candle and wrapped some ivory ribbon and white cord around it....

I painted a wooden die cut snowflake with the gold paint and then stuck tiny pearl beads onto the snowflake

So there it is - a candle decorated with items that were headed to the bin.....

Why not come over to Our Creative Corner and see what everyone else has made?!

You could be the randomly selected winner of the prize donated by our Sponsor this month 

Nicecrane Designs

 You could be our winner and be invited to appear as our Top Talent. 

You could be one of our Top 3 and be pinned onto the OCC Pinterest board!

      Remember you gotta be in it to win it! So come on over to Our Creative Corner and have some fun!

Let there be light....

Hi everyone!

       I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas. I have sadly neglected my blog in the run up to Christmas - the kids suffered from the nasty norovirus just before Christmas and for the rest of the time I seemed to be running around all over the place making lists, wrapping presents and generally complaining that there was no time to do everything that had to be done!

   All was worth it and in the end we celebrated a really wonderul Christmas!

 I am here today to share with you one last Christmas post - as always there has to be candles in our house and Servietten Technique is my favourite Christmas crafts....

These candles were made quite a while ago, but I couldn't share them on here as they were to be gifts for family....but at last those gifts have been opened..so I can share them today....

This candle was made for my sister-in-law Alison.....I grabbed this gorgeous set of music sheet serviettes while visitng Czesky Krumlov in the summer - My husband dreads me seeing serviettes in shops and he really didn't agree with my pleas of "...but I need these" when I saw the music sheet serviettes.....I am sure many of you will at least appreciate the huge need for these as part of my craft stash!!!

The candle was coated with Mod Podge and the tissue applied (for a good video demo watch this).

 When it was dry I wrapped some twine around the candle and tied it into a bow at the front.

 I began to decorate the candle using die cut wings that were dabbed with Frayed Burlap DI and Vintage Photo DI. They were then sprayed with Perfect Pearls in Biscotti.

  I used some leaf and flourish die cuts that were coloured with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain DI's

         The word 'Joy' was made from label letter stickers.

I used a wooden star and added a brass button that had been painted with Antiqued Bronze DP

********************************************

This candle was made for my mother-in-law Gil....

        

....I used a serviette that I had 'stolen' from a previous family dinner. I glued the serviette to the candle with Modge Podgeand left it to dry

I wrapped twine around the candle serveal times tand then tied it into a bow at the front.

 I cut a gingerbread man shape out from card and painted it with Vintage Photo DP

When dry I drew around the edges with white gel pen and added face and button detail with a fine permanant marker.

I coloured some die cut holly with Evergreen Bough, Pine Needles and Walnut Stain DI's

 I added some mini wooden buttons and a flourish inked with Walnut Stain DI

 And one final candle was made for myself.....

I adore the simple red and white christmas style....

   I chose a very simple serviette with just Christmas words. I stuck it onto the candle with Modge Podge

 I wrapped some red ribbon around the candle and secured it with a pin

   I stuck a wooden snowflake to the candle and added a red metal rose

.........A very simple but very beautiful decoration that looked stunning all lit up.......

     Hope you liked my candle decorations! See you in the New Year!

Christmas Scene

Hi everyone - It is Sponsor Spotlight time again at Our Creative Corner. 

Our generous sponsor this month is Tando Creative.  Come and join in the festive challenge over at Our Creative Corner to be in with a chance of winning a fabulous prize! 

And here for you is a sneak peek of today's spotlight....

If you are interested in finding out what I have made and how it was made then hop 

over to Our Creative Corner

Hope to see you over there!

Sinterklaas

Hi everyone - It is Sponsor Spotlight time again at Our Creative Corner. 

Our generous sponsor this month is Tando Creative.  Come and join in the festive challenge over at Our Creative Corner to be in with a chance of winning a fabulous prize! 

And here for you is a sneak peek of today's spotlight....

If you are interested in finding out what I have made and how it was made then hop 

over to Our Creative Corner

Hope to see you over there!


Happy Crafting

Laura
xxx

A little bit of Christmas

Hi everyone!

Today is the 1st December and at Our Creative Corner Alison is hosting a challenge! 

Have Yourself A Merry LITTLE Christmas.

That's right, we want to see your festive ATCs here at Our Creative Corner.

Your little nuggets of creativity, Artists Trading Cards, need to be 2.5 x 3.5 inches in size, and have a Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or otherwise seasonal festive theme.

You can create just one ATC, or a series.

You can create a chunky ATC - on a thick block of wood, but the main creating surface front and back should still be 2.5 x 3.5.

You can even create ATBs - Artists Trading Blocks - little Christmas cubes which should be, for this challenge, 3 x 3 x 3 inches in size, please.

*********************************************

I really enjoyed making the chunky ATC for a spotlight at OCC recently and I decided it would be fun to make another - but with a twist

This one opens up........

.............to reveal a Christmas scene...........

............but before we take a peek inside - lets look at the outside of the chunky ATC first...

I made an ATC sized box - 2.5" x 3.5" x 1.5"...I made a lid for the box and after cutting a hole for the window I painted all of it with Stone Fresco Paint.

 I marked diamond window panes in permanent black marker on acetate and painted one side with Gesso paint for snow.

  I stuck the window in and began to decorate the box. I used card which had been inked with Vintage Photo and Fired Brick DI's and then cut into rectangles. I stuck each 'brick' on by hand and then stamped over some of the bricks with a text stamp using Gathered Twigs DI.

 I made a vintage style shop sign by stamping with an alphabet stamp using Potting Soil Archival ink and blending Walnut Stain DI around the edge. Copper Liquid Pearls were dabbed in the corners of a piece of blasa wood that had been painted with Vintage Photo DP. Texture paste was dabbed onto the top of the sign and sprinkled with Rock Candy Distress Glitter.

I covered some holly with Pine Needles DS and then dabbed some Mown Lawn DI over them. I then covered them with Rock Candy Distress stickles.

 The holly berries were card that had been inked with Fired Brick DI and covered with Glossy Accents and topped with Diamond Stickles glue.The flourish is covered with Walnut Stain DI and there are two curled rusty wire pieces.

    The additional sign was a clip art piece I found on Linda's blog when I was first blogging. I had wanted to find a use for it and I finally did!

  Part of it was used as an additional advert above the sign and the other part was stuck to the side of the 'building' along with other adverts.

    Inside the box I decorated the walls with some printed Christmas paper.

I made a tree from card that had been inked with Pine Needles, Mown Lawn and Walnut Stain DI. It was then dabbed with several colours of Stickles glue.

 The candy canes are red and white striped cotton thread that was stuck onto the tree in a candy cane shape.

 The clock was made using a clock stamp, stamped with Jet Black Archival ink and cut out and stuck into a metal pendant charm. Glossy Accents glue was applied to the image to form a glass effect.

    The teddy bear was made from one brown pipe cleaner, twisted into the shape of a teddy bear. Tiny black beads for eyes and a black brad for it's nose. A tiny strip of red ribbon was tied into a bow.

 Presents were made from wrapping balsa wood up in pattered paper and tying up with strands of wool or ribbon.

 The window needed a curtain. So I got two strips of lace and a piece of dolls house bannister and constructed a lace curtain.

      

So there is my Christmas Chunky ATC! I do hope you like it!

Hope you will come along and join us this month at Our Creative Corner!

You could be our December Winner and feature as our Top Talent! You could be one of our Top 3 or you could even be the lucky winner of a wonderful prize donated by this month's sponsor - Tando Creative

Happy Crafting!