Gypsy Caravan, Christmas Style

Caravan front.

I am totally in love with this project.  The concept is just fabulous, and open to so many different style interpretations.  The pattern is called Gypsy Caravan by Laura Denison of Following The Paper Trail.

Caravan side, with the shutters closed.

This is just my practice project, one I 'whipped' up to make sure the instructions and pattern was accurate, before using my good paper.  I am glad I did too, because the instructions are at times a little mysterious, which is helped somewhat by watching the Ustream videos, but even then I threw out the first attempt because one of the measurements were incorrect and you weren't advised until the second video that this was the case, at which point it was easier to just ditch the one I had made and start again.  There are also instructions not included in the downloadable pattern that she goes through on the video, so be prepared.  If you want to make this project I strongly urge you to sit through all the videos before you start construction.

 

Caravan side, with the shutters open showing the cubby space.

I buy my chipboard in 30" x 17" sheets, and this used almost a full sheet to put together.  The paper range I used is by Jodie Lee called Father Christmas Papers which you can still find in scrapbook stores printed under the Pink Paislee label, or you can download it digitally from Jessica Sprague. That is exactly what I did, and then printed it out on matte photo paper using my inkjet.

Caravan rear, with shuttes and drawer closed.

The pattern comes with instructions to make a mini album to fit in the trunk of the caravan, but I wanted something simpler and quicker to make, and also something that would suit anyone, not just photo enthusiasts.  So I whipped up a little drawer that fits in that space which could hold all manner of doo-dads.  Notice it's a wee bit wonky?  That's why I do a test run, it lets me see what fits and what doesn't, so when I do a 'proper' one I am aware of any issues before hand.

Caravan rear, with shutters and drawer open.

 

The fabric trims and buttons I bought in 2011 in a clearance sale at Spotlight(Australia's poor cousin to Joann's or Michael's).  I liked them so much I held onto them and held on to them waiting for that special project... sound familiar?  Aside from the fabric trims I haven't added any embellishments.  As this was a practice project I think I will probably donate it to my son's school for a raffle, or donate it to the local hospital or something like that, and let the recipient fill it with goodies and add any extras.

Linking up with the following blogs:

Make it Monday:  Always Anything Goes

Use it Tuesday:  Make It Sparkle (gold tinsel on buttons and trim)

Inky Chicks:  Anything Goes

Shopping Our Stash:  Use Your Old Buttons (buttons as hub caps on wheels)

Through the Craft Room Door:  Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp & Show:  Embrace the Old (used up hoarded trims and buttons)

Church Trinket Box

Cricut + SVG Cuts = Last Minute Life Saver!

Here's a Christmas cutie that took me all of 10 minutes to throw together.  The pattern is from SVG Cuts, the paper is Twig and Berries by Kaisercraft, the sigh of relief is mine! 

 

Linking it up with the fabulous folks at Make it Monday.

Crackers!

 

This is the last Christmas Crafting! challenge before Christmas and things in my personal life have been so chaotic and dramatic that when Arline offered me a free pass for this month I almost took it.  But then I stopped and thought, it's a rare few who don't go through chaos and drama at this time of the year.  So I set my mind to coming up with a project that was quick and easy, something we all need as the days count down.

These sweet little crackers come from SVG Cuts, as part of their Gingerbread Chalet collection. 

They take no time at all to cut with the cutting machine and assembly is as simple as gluing the long ends together and then gathering up the ends with ribbon.  I reckon it took almost four times as long to take the photos of the crackers as it did to make them!

The paper collection I have used here is Mint Twist by Kaisercraft.

If you have a moment this holiday season where you feel like everything is falling down around you and you maybe, just maybe, be going a little bit crackers,  I hope that you can take a deep breath and remember that some how, some day it will all be ok.

Edited on 4th December to add:

Arline just emailed and said that Blogger is being difficult and she hasn't been able to upload the new challenge yet (and here I could have had a few more days up my sleeve LOL).  She is working on it and will have it up as soon as possible.

Twig & Berry Mini Album

When I made the Maisie Book Box, I knew immediately that I wanted to put a mini album inside it, a book within a book!

To fit inside the box tray the album had to be 3" x 4".  As you can see from the photo above, once the wire binding was added it made a perfect fit.

I used the same paper range to make the album as I did to decorate the book box, Twig and Berry by Kaisercraft.  As this is going to be a gift I have used plain kraft card to indicate where photos, tickets, receipts etc can be stored.  There are 10 double sided pages in total, with plenty of built in space for writing.

Here goes, a shot of all 10 pages...


 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

I am linking this up to Make It Monday:  Challenge #110

Maisie Book Box

I love old books, so when I saw this project at SVG Cuts, I knew I had to make one.  This book box comes as part of the Spirits of Christmas Past kit, which has 5 projects in total.  I had a few weeks there where I didn't have a sharp blade for my Cricut so couldn't cut anything, I swear I had withdrawals!

 

This box stands 5" tall and is 4.5" wide, with a depth of just under 2.5".  I used regular craft card for constructing the base of the box and used the Twig and Berry paper range from Kaisercraft for decorating the panels.  I've embellished with just a simple cluster of flowers and some twine.

 

The edges of the book have been liberally inked with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, and the inner box panels and the side page panel have been embossed and then treated with Antique Linen Distress Ink.

 

The little draw slides out easily and is very roomy.  I am making a 3" x 4" mini album that will fit nicely inside, hopefully I will have photos to share in a few days.

Here's sweet little Maisie, by Mo Manning.  She is coloured on Kraft card using Prismacolor pencils.  I am a little embarrassed to admit I have put my Lyra pencils aside in favour of the Prismacolor, I just love their creamy texture and they blend so beautifully, but mostly because Prisma has almost twice the colour range.

I am linking this up to:

Make It Monday:  Challenge #110

Anything But A Card:  Challenge #3

Mo's Challenge Blog: B is for... (Book Box)

Sleigh Treat Holder

 

 More fun with my Cricut!

The sleigh above is a file that comes from SVGCuts and is part of the Santa's Visit SVG Kit.  The kit includes the cutting files to create 6 different projects, great value.




I made the sleigh itself from Kraft card, and decorated with patterned paper by Kaisercraft.  The project comes together quickly and easily, and I can definitely see myself making a lot of these as treat holders.

Sharing this project with Make It Monday where it's always  Anything Goes!

Thanks for looking :o)

Christmas Crafting! Challenge: Traditional Colours

We're back!  We took a break for a month at Christmas Crafting!, but now with September here I have already seen fruit mince pies in the grocery stores which means the wind up for Christmas is beginning.

Our sponsors this month are Lilly Of The Valley, who make the most adorable rubber stamps.  They were kind enough to provide the design team with a few images to work with, and our challenge this month was to use traditional Christmas colours.  

I love projects that are quick and that use up my scraps, and this fit into both categories!  The images are coloured with copics and then cut out by hand.  I used a circle punch and some nesties to create the backing out of Kaisercraft papers.  The whole thing is then taped to the candy cane using tissue tape.  It came together in a snap and would make a great project for kids.

Thanks for looking, and if you haven't done so yet now is a great time to start your Christmas projects.  Before you know it we will be wondering where the time has gone and be rushing around trying to get everything done in time!

Postage Stamp Card

 

I finally have my camera back and can start blogging about the new things I have been making since getting my Cricut.  I love having a digital die cutting machine, and am already looking at purchasing another with a larger mat and greater functionality.  So far I am leaning towards the Silhouette Cameo as it is compatible with programmes like SCUT, doesn't require cartridges, and Silhouette have a massive online store with thousands of individual svg files for purchase.

First up is a sweet little card with a postage stamp edge that I created to be suitable for either male or females.  Myy partner is from the States and I thought this would make a good general themed card for him to send back home for various occasions. 

The postage stamp edge is a file that comes from SVGCuts and is part of the Santa's Visit SVG Kit.

 

The card is created from plain white card to emulate a regular postage stamp, and the I aged the edges inside and out with Antique Linen Distress Ink.  The postcards are taken from a paper by Kaisercraft which have been roughed up with a paper distressing tool, and the sweet little bear is from Teddy Bo, and he has been coloured with Copic pens. 

I am entering this into the Teddy Bo Challenge this fortnight, the theme of which is 'distress it'.

Maisie Caroling

 

This week was my birthday and I received a long admired set of Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor pencils, and I have been having a blast experimenting with them. They are oil based, whereas Prismacolor pencils are wax based, as such they have a harder core. They feel very different to use, and I have found a much lighter touch is required than with the Prismacolor. The only complaint I have about them so far is the limited colour range, 72 in the Rembrandt range versus 120 in the Prismacolor range, with the most lacking gap being the brown palette.

  

As well as the pencils I also bought a few tools that I have been pining over for a while. I got a Crop-o-dile edge cropper, and a few dies by Tim Holtz. I have also used the Tim Holtz Tattered Flower Garland strip die for the flowers, and the juniper sprigs are from the Tattered Pinecone die.

I've used the small easel die to create a stand alone picture rather than a card, and I have a feeling this is one die I will use a lot :o)

I am entering this into Mo's Digital Challenge, the theme this week is Anything Goes.

Twas The Night Before Christmas

... when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

It was my turn to choose the theme this month at Christmas Crafting! and I chose the poem Twas The Night Before Christmas.  

I tried a new technique with this project.  The stamp is from Magnolia, and I stamped that onto Bristol Board using black Stayz On ink.  I then used Distress Inks and a water brush to colour the main parts of the image.  Once completely dry, I used Prismacolor pencils to deepen the shadows and put in any fine work such as the berries.

I used Bristol Board rather than watercolour paper because it's intended for multimedia, and it takes the addition of the coloured pencils better than traditional watercolour paper does.  I can see where a few watermarks have been left, but overall I was happy with this as a first attempt and can see the potential for a lot of creativity, and I feel I had a lot more control of the inks using the Bristol Board.

The box that I chose to decorate is an upcycled box from Domino's Pizza, they use these for their dippers and sweets.  The manager of my local store was kind enough to give me some brand new ones to play with.

 

These little boxes are great for altering.  They have a lovely parchment colour as the base, the commercial branding is easily covered with paper, and the inside is wax coated, making it ideal for giving food treats.

I hope I have given you some inspiration this month, why not try altering or upcycling a project! 

Gingham Christmas

It's the first day of a new month and that means Christmas Crafting challenge time!  This month we were challenged with using gingham on our project.  When I think of gingham I think country kitchen, jam jar covers, tea towels, aprons etc.  So for this project I decided to revisit a sketch I did earlier this year.

The first version can be found here.  I loved the concept so much I have several I am going to make over the coming months, and being directed to use gingham was just the excuse I needed to make another!

I've used Kraft card for the base, sweet Tilda has been stamped using Stayzon.  I first started stamping about a year ago, and back then I was warned away from Stayzon as being too difficult to use and clean up, but I have to say it gives the crispest most defined images from every type of stamp.  Little Tilda has been coloured with Prismacolor pencils, which I love using on the Kraft.  The Christmas patterned papers are from Kaisercraft, and the gingham paper is the reverse side of a Graphic 45 paper.

The recipe card is removable, with the gingham strip across the bottom acting as a sleeve for the card.  If you are interested in my recipe I posted it back in December last year, you can find it here.  The sentiment is a free download from the Shabby Princess, it came as part of a holiday recipe kit.

I hope you have been inspired to go forth and create your own gingham Christmas creation!

Christmas Cookies

Hello again!  Welcome to another challenge with Christmas Crafting!  This month's challenge was set by Arline, and she asked us to use an ordinary image to make a Christmas themed project.  The little cutie I used is called Christie Angel, and was generously provided for us to play with by Robyn's Fetish. 

The primitive style of this image is very cute, and very country, which led me to thoughts of my kitchen and from there I decided that she would be perfect for a tag giving a gift from my kitchen.  I'd seen cookie mixes in jars before and always thought they looked so lovely and rustic, so I set my hand at creating one of my own.

The tag is made using two Kaisercraft papers from the December 25th collection, and sweet little Christie is coloured with Prismacolors.  The sentiment is also a stamp from Kaisercraft.  The tag is cut using a Tim Holtz die, tied around the neck of the jar with a bit of raffia.

If you'd like to make your own 'cookie jar', below is the recipe I used.

This recipe is enough to fill a jar designed to hold 500g (17.6oz) of coffee. Place the following ingredients into a jar in the order listed.

2 cups plain (all purpose) flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups quick cook oats

1 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 white sugar

1 cup dried sultanas (or any other dried fruit/nut combo you prefer)

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Pour dry ingredients into a large bowl and add: 3/4 cup butter (almost melted), one lightly beaten egg and one teaspoon vanilla essence. Mix thoroughly and roll into 1 1/2 inch sized balls. Bake for 10 minutes.

Yields approximately 40 cookies.

 

Christmas Baking with Tilda

Card Positioning Systems is celebrating their 5th Anniversary by releasing a sketch a day for 15 days.

This card is my interpretation of the day seven sketch.

I've used Kraft card as the base for this card (yes again!) but this time it's a darker Kraft, much darker than the Bazzil version.  The patterned papers are by Kaisercraft, part of the December 25th collection and have a lovely, muted tone to them that works very well with the Kraft.

I struggled a little colouring Tilda on the darker Kraft, the Prismacolor pencils weren't really doing what I wanted them to do and in sheer frustration I dampened a cloth with baby oil and wiped over the whole thing, with the intent of taking it back to the base, and voila!  I had exactly the look I wanted :o)

The recipe card is removable, with the striped bar across the bottom acting as a sleeve for the card.  If you are interested in my recipe I posted it back in December last year, you can find it here.

The sentiment is a free download from the Shabby Princess, it came as part of a holiday recipe kit.

This card is probably my favourite of all the ones I have made for the CPS Challenges so far.  The Tilda with spoon stamp is an all time favourite of mine, and the colours and vintage feel all worked really well.

Christmas Tree Altered Book

Technique:  Papercraft

Pens & Inks:
Versacolor metallic gold ink

Papers:
Bo Bunny "Father Christmas Holly"
Paisley Park "Father Christmas Around The World"

Dies:
Tiny Tabs & Tags by Tim Holtz

Other:
hard cover book to be altered
gold mica spray (ie Glimmermist)
gold glitter
gold cord
gold brads
red and gold ribbon
hot glue gun

This is my first altered book, and whilst I don't consider it to be "arty" I was pleased with the result, and it suit's me as it's function is a practical one.  The tree in the centre is not just decorative, it's a Christmas card holder.

I started with a book called Quartets for Men, which is a book of gospel hymns.  I picked this up at the Salvation Army thrift shop for a song (I made a punny!).  I removed the first and last page because this was a thicker sheet and would have created issues when folded. 

This left a small gap in some places between the meat of the book and the covers, which I sealed up with tissue tape.

Then the hours of folding started, well not really but it did take longer than I expected! 

To create the fold for the tree take the top right hand corner and fold it down to the spine.

Take that folded edge and carry it in toward the spine once more.

Tuck up the bottom flap.

Repeat that for all the pages.  My book was some 200 pages or thereabouts, and I removed around 20 sheets to ease out some bulk.  This was necessary otherwise the bulk of the folded pages would force the covers to extend beyond the flat 180 degrees that I wanted. 

Once all the pages were folded I lined the inside of both covers with the Bo Bunny patterened papper and then misted the entire surface with a gold mica spray, if you do this less is more, you don't want the pages to wrinkle.

When dry I squeezed the pages of the book together and ran a glue stick along the folded edges, not too hard though, you don't want to force glue between the folds so that the pages stick together, and gave a dusting of gold glitter.

The four little ornaments are made using the Tiny Tags die, which just happens to be the same size as the circles on the Paisley Park paper.  Cut out four tags, and four images of Santa.  Glue the images to the tags and trim any overhang.  Ink around the tag using the Versa metallic gold ink.

The tags are "attached" with a gold brad - what I did there was remove the prongs from the brad and hot glued it into position, that way nothing was sticking through the other side.  The final touch was a red bow atop the tree.

The cover of the book is a faux green leather, and the title of the book is imprinted with gold ink.  I decided not to cover it with paper and just give it a spritz of gold mica.

Here's the tree holding a few Christmas cards.  If you prefer it could be purely decorative and then you could adorn the tree with all manner of bling.

This is being entered into (and was inspired by) the first LESS-ology challenge which is to alter a book.  I am so excited about this challenge, as I love altering and upcycling and that is more within my comfort zone than card making.