Sunday 3 November 2013

Wow, I finally managed to make something!

Hi lovely visitors and thanks for your visit today.

Blimey hasn't the weather been awful again but unfortunately not quite bad enough here to blow the blooming fireworks out!  I should think we have a few more evenings of the darned things driving us and more to the point, the dog, crazy before we can relax of an evening again.  This morning though I have gorgeous sunshine beaming into my craftroom ;-).

Anyway, yesterday I sneaked in a crafty playday ...... at the expense of the bottomless ironing pile, lol!  All week I had been wanting to join in with the current PaperArtsy Blog Challenge because the wonderfully talented Jo Myhill had inspired me with her very first project of the week.  The other two are equally inspiring but I knew I only had time for one ................ at the rate I work anyway, lol!

I loved Jo's little wooden frames but only had one in my stash (bought from PaperArtsy at the StampMagic Show a couple of weeks ago) and it is bigger than Jo's at 15 x 15 cm so I decided to turn mine into a Christmas decor piece but still following Jo's techniques in the main.  This is the result!



Although I have quite a few PaperArtsy stamps in my collection I don't yet have any Christmas ones yet (really fancying some of the JoFY ones ;D) but I did use the Mini 61 script, a border from HP1102 and a little circle from HP1008 for the centre of my Shrink flowers.  The Merry Christmas and flowers that I stamped the Shrink Plastic with are from my other collections.   The photos follow the sequence of events in the progress of making this project although, as usual I got carried away getting painty and kept forgetting to take some stages, lol!


I used Fresco paints, Archival inks and Treasure Gold throughout.

                                      

When I painted the shrink plastic I thought what a bl....ooming mess, lol, but once I had stamped all over it it looked much better and once cut out and shrunk I was really pleased with it.

Here's a before and after shot.

                                       


                                       

As Jo said it does take on a sort of velvety look and feel but you do have to be careful when handling it as it's easy to flake off the Frescos.  Jo was right about the patience you need to let it all dry too ;-) not to mention assembling the flowers!

                                       

I stamped and die cut the sentiment using a piece of the Shrink plastic I had left over.

Being me I wanted to add more foliage and so I used my Tim Holtz garland to cut various pieces from card painted with Holly and Claret Frescos.

                                       

The Arty Inklings Challenge is anything Christmas so I'm going to enter this project there too.
EDIT  I'm also entering this into the Stamping Sensations Challenge which is Christmas.
            and The Artistic Stamper November Challenge which is also Christmas.
EDIT EDIT (lol) I'm new to entering multiple challenges and yesterday I linked up to the
                     Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge which was anything goes but forgot to put a link back                        to their blog on here.  The challenge has closed  now so it's probably too late but I'm going to                        link anyway 'cos there are such fab things to see over there.

                                           

Well, I still haven't made any Christmas cards but I'm really pleased with this little decoration.  Thanks for getting me started Jo.

Hope you all enjoy what's left of the weekend.  Till next time ................

Hugs
Lesley  Xx






39 comments:

Lin said...

Beautiful Lesley just beautiful xx

Paula Whittaker said...

Gorgeous piece Lesley x

Paula Whittaker said...

Gorgeous piece Lesley x

Helen said...

Lesley, this looks just beautiful, I am sure it will grace your home this Christmas. Love the heart flower!

Hazel Agnew said...

Wow Lesley that is really lovely. You must be very proud of your days work. X

Julie Lee said...

Wow! Lesley, this is stunning!!! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! You have created something so full of Christmas spirit with hardly any actual Christmas stamps! Genius! Love the colours, love the layout!Love the pretty stamping on the edge. You deserve an extra large helping of fried mushrooms for this! Lol! Julie Ann xxx

Craftyfield said...

It's gorgeous, I would be pleased too if I'd made something like that!

Jo said...

Oh wow Lelsey, thinks looks fantastic, love how you've taken the design elements and techniques and made them your own. Jo xx

Jo said...

Oh wow Lelsey, thinks looks fantastic, love how you've taken the design elements and techniques and made them your own. Jo xx

Unknown said...

This is simply stunning! I love the contrast of the pink on the pale background and the crackle provides the perfect vintage Christmas feel.

Emma x

laury55 said...

great take from J0's tutorial...your canvas looks fantastic and will be a perfect Xmas decoration

Lucy Edmondson said...

This is absolutely beautiful, Lesley. The shrink plastic flowers turned out so great!

Lucy x

sam21ski said...

Lesley, your crackle is amazing and I love the effects of the crunchy waxed paper!!

Glad you found some ME time.

Sam xxx

Etsuko said...

It's a fabulous christmas decoration! I love texture and colours are good comb. Lovely and beautiful, Thank you for sweet comment.
Etsuko xx

Lynne K said...

WOW, Lesley! What a stunning piece! I love it! Well worth leaving the ironing for! I'm so glad you found the time to make it, and to share it with us at Stamping Sensations. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Hugs, Lynne xx

margaret said...

Only one word gorgeous!!!!

Unknown said...

Fabulous!! Well done x

Darcy Marshall said...

This is gorgeous, I love the pink and brown together. Looks like a chocolate box. Love the scrunched up paper, I can just see a couple of small fir cones or acorns nestling in there for xmas.

Val said...

Fabulous Lesley. Love the colour scheme as well.
Valxx

Unknown said...

Looks great hunni! Love the flowers! xx

Aquarius said...

Apparently home decor is all the rage so you are well 'in' with this fabulous seasonal decoration - just love it. Must keep an eye out when I'm shopping, for some frames to alter

Words and Pictures said...

It's beautiful, Lesley - I love the weathered finish and stamping on the frame - gorgeously shabby chic! What a lovely decorative Christmas piece.
Alison x

Brenda Brown said...

LOve this Lesley, lots of crackle and text and beautiful flowers and foliage in Christmassy colours. It will look fabulous as part of your Christmas house decorating.
hugs {brenda} x0x

Margaret Iddon said...

Pretty and distressed at the same time. It's really suPer Lesley.

Carol Q said...

absolutely gorgeous Lesley. your frame has crackled beautifully and I love your idea of the crackly paper in the middle.

ionabunny said...

Blooming lovely. Your heart flowers are gorgeous. A lovely piece of chrimbo joy

Anonymous said...

What a fabulous festive decoration Lesley! I love those shrink flowers!
Alison xx

Sally H said...

Oh wow, Lesley!Gorgeous colors and textures! Not surprised you are pleased with it. I managed to get here by puttig my sim card into my tablet, so I can see what I am doing, lol! Thanks for sharing your wonderful creation with us at stamping sensations this month. Good luck and I wish you an inky and firework free week xxx

Christine B. said...

Hi Lesley, a beautiful piece for Christmas. Love, love, love your flowers and beautiful stamping. Take care. Love and crafty hugs. x ChrisB

Astrid Maclean said...

Totally stunning Lesley, love what you did with this! The crackled finish looks fantastic and I just love all the other elements you used. Great Christmas deco piece!

Paper Creations by Shirley said...

Very beautiful, the colours and texture are so fabulous. Love the flowers as well. Have a wonderful week, Shirleyx

Dan said...

I came to leave a comment on your entry to this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, but there's no mention of it here so I guess I came to the wrong place! Lovely project though! :)

judith@poppy cottage said...

Gorgeous colours on this piece Buddy. Love the frame, and the flowers look beautiful set against the cool neutral tones. Glad you have had some time for crafting, hugs, Judith xx

Beryl said...

That's totally gorgeous. Been away for the weekend but so glad I scrolled back to find this fab creation.
Beryl xx

Paula (PEP) said...

Brilliant you got some crafty time - delightful mixture of browns with those pinks & I love your little pink swirls with the holly loves. The frame looks lovely setting off the darker embellishments.
Thank you for your kind comment - shoulder making good recovery after steroid injection last week.
Take good care of yourself.
Much love
Paula (PEP)

Sue's Crafty Corner said...

Where have I been, I missed this post and it's just caught my eye. I love what you've do here, all of the crackle effect and those flowers were obviously worth making they are gorgeous. Great to put on the wall too.

Sue x

Suzanne C said...

What a lovely holiday frame! Those flowers are beautiful. I am happy to see you sneaking time to play in your craftroom. :)

Francesca said...

Very Beautiful Christmas creation, thanks for joining us at stamping sensations this month and good luck !

Francesca x

Jennie -The Artistic Stamper said...

This is a gorgeous creation and thank you for joining in The Artistic Stamper challenge :)