Christmas Cards using Masterboards

Hi, I hope your weekend has been going well, this afternoon I've been making some christmas cards using masterboards as a basis to work from. Over on the PaperArtsy Blog there is a brilliant video by Leandra showing how to create a masterboard and some wonderful examples on how to use them, to view the video etc click here.

For these I made 2 different colour combinations but still have plenty left to use on other projects.

The paints used for my first board are ; Evergreen, Toad Hall, Guacamole, London Bus, Inky Pool, Snowflake and a little Pewter to finish. These were all applied with a brayer.

I then stamped text from ESN 03 in archival watering, the hanging star from Jofy 06 in archival jet black and finally the swirl from Special Christmas plate 3 in snowflake paint.

For my second board the following colours were used; China, Lake Wanaka, Beach Hut, Claret, Stone, Autumn Fire and Snowflake.

Then the design was created using T.H. Holiday Knit stencil with stone paint, the lines from Jofy 07 stamped in archival cornflower, noel from special christmas plate in archival watering can and finally the rings from HP1004 in snowflake paint.

For my first card I stamped the bunting from Jofy 07 onto my master board in versa-mark and white heat embossed.

This was cut out and the tassels were hi-lighted with a little Treasure Pewter.

The trees were stamped from the special christmas plate 3 and also white embossed. Stars were punched from trimmings after cutting out the trees.

I used the edging stamp from Jofy 06 for the bottom edge of the card.

For my second card I cut a piece of the master board and mounted it onto some burgundy coloured card. The star was stamped from Jofy 07 onto some kraft card , white embossed, cut out and then some Treasure Pewter was added. The white flower/tree from Jofy 38 was white embossed and then some glitter added. The MDF star was given 2 coats of gold embossing powder.

My final card which is my favourite out of the 3 repeats some of the 2nd card but uses the large flower from Jofy 38 ( which was one of my gifts from winning the blog challenge a few weeks ago and I love!) this was embossed using a clear glitter embossing powder and then hi-lighting with treasure Gold in Renaissance.

Bows, buttons, wire and hearts were added for detail but I felt they were all fairly quick and easy to make as it is sometimes too easy to get engrossed in making christmas cards and the time just vanishes. The next thing you know it's the last day for posting!!!

And on that note I shall away--- many thanks to PaperArtsy for the nudge into master boards, much appreciated. Hope you enjoy what is left of the weekend and many thanks for stopping by. Take care and all comments are much appreciated, Jane x

My Craft Art Journal

Good evening and welcome, tonight I would like to share with you the making of my first ever book/journal.

I was very lucky to be chosen as one of the members of Lucy Edmondson's team for PaperArtsy's #3UP, our colour brief was purple, yellow and a dash of blue ---- these perhaps would not be my first to go to set of colours but I like to try new combinations. I had decided to set myself the challenge of starting a new craft of 'bookbinding' and felt this was the opportune moment and as I didn't get around to making a piece for the ' Shiny Things' challenge a few weeks ago made this my theme to follow.

To begin with I painted a piece of A4 white card with Pansy and Plum Fresco Chalk Acrylic mixed with a splash of Dusty Concord Distress Ink. I then added touches of Zesty Zing, Pumpkin Soup, Inky Pool and China.

Then using stencil PS005 I sponged through dusty concord and then brushed over mica powder in perfect pearls and antique gold.

Next it was onto changing the colour of the book canvas and also adding a shimmer--- so I mixed Treasure Gold in Ruby and Sapphire on a tile with a palette knife and spread this onto the canvas, left this to soak in for about 10mins and then buffed up with a piece of kitchen poll and then an old, soft tea-towel.

As you can see there was a dramatic change in colour, but I was thrilled with how it blends in with the card for the cover.

Then it was on to making the signatures, each one was made from 4 pieces of A5-- one sheet of watercolour paper and 3 of 90gsm paper. These were folded in half to make 1 signature and there was a total of 4.

The holes were made with an awl and sewn together with waxed linen thread. The back/spine was given a coat of PVA glue and once dry the ribbon was attached with another coat of glue.

The backing boards and spine were cut to size and the book canvas was then attached with glue.

I then cut the painted card to size and attached to the boards. The inner lining paper was cut to size, the front page was stamped with the pen from LPC030 in watering can and then these and the signatures were glued in place. The book was then left under weighted books over night to dry.

This was a nerve racking time!

The next day I attached the book plate that I'd cut from blue and yellow leather using a Tim Holtz die, the letters ART were cut from card painted in plum and then triple embossed with clear embossing powder. The blue leather is very grainy and I have hi-lighted parts with sapphire treasure gold.

Well I know it has a few minor faults but I am thrilled with how its turned out. I'm now itching to make another and I think family and friends will be getting personalised books for presents this year. I have even persuaded Rob ( Hubby ) to make a book press!!

Thanks to all at PaperArtsy for the chance to take part in this series of #3UP I've really enjoyed the challenge.

Thanks also to my other team members, it's been lovely to have their support and to make new friends. If you have time do pop over to the PaperArtsy Blog and see the rest of the teams wonderful art work, click on the link here. 

Take care and have a good evening, bye for now Jane x

Christmas Tree Decorations

Well here we are just 5 days to go till the Big Day---- hope you are all prepared!!! ( I'm not sure there is such a thing as being completely prepared.) Anyway I thought I would share a quick and easy variation of a salt dough that I found whilst searching the internet.

This was an american recipe that was measured in cups so I have converted it to tablespoons which makes it easy to knock up a small batch.

Ingredients

4 Tablespoons Baking Powder

2 Tablespoons Cornflour

3 Tablespoons Water

Mix the 3 ingredients in a saucepan and place on a low - medium heat. This will gradually bubble and thicken to form a stiffish ball similar to mashed potato. Place the dough in a clean bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Leave until cool, a batch this size only takes about 20mins.

Once cool knead until a smooth dough is formed then its ready to roll out. Its best to collect cutters, stamps, inks, baking sheets etc before rolling out. Heat oven to around 170F and line baking sheet with baking parchment.

Once the dough was rolled out I stamped various designs onto the dough before cutting out with different christmas shaped cookie cutters.

I used Archival ink pads as I wasn't sure whether the dye based ones would bleed. After cutting the first batch out I kneaded the remains of the dough and rolled out again. Where there was parts of ink in the dough it made a nice marbled effect.

These small shapes took about 45-50 mins turning over once after 25 mins. This will vary according to the size and thickness of your pieces.

This is how it looks once baked, I lightly sanded the edges to neaten before colouring with various waxes.

On this tree I used Treasure Gold in Ruby and Renaissance and finished with Inka Gold in Platinum.

Its amazing how quickly these shapes transform once you start to add colour.

I am entering these tree shapes into Clarity Stamps monthly Challenge titled 'Trees'

I would like to wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year. Hopefully we will meet again very soon in 2015. Take care and thank you as always for stopping by today.

Best Wishes Jane x