A simple Gift Project

I needed to make a gift in a hurry today, knowing the recipient would be away over Christmas I kept putting it off then I got sick and just didnt find the energy or the mojo to complete a project. So today was the day, but what to make......hhhhmmmmm. Off I went to my favourite discount store to find a frame, I wasn't sure what sort of frame I would get. There wasn't much left after Christmas sales, but I was happy with my choice in the end. I hope you like it, please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

To complete this project you will need:
1 Frame, I used a 10 x 8 but will only use a 5 x 7 photo in it.
A spray of Prima Flowers, and a few extra flowers to decorate
Some patterned paper, I have used 2 different Basic Grey pages from the Curio range.
Chipboard Fence. I have run out of my favourite which is the 2crafty Iron Fence and had to use one that I found in my stash. If you are going to create this frame definately go with the 2Crafty one and paint it black.
Assortment of buttons
Prima Felt
Tim Holtz masking tape
Jules Gems Doily Flowers
Prima Bling
Kaisercraft Pearl Brads.
Co-Ordinating Ribbons

To create a layered feel I have placed the embellishments over 3 levels. The background patterned papers which are under the glass has the Prima felt attached to it, the bling is on the surface of the glass as is the large flower and the chipboard and the flower spray are all on the top of the frame. As I have used a a mirrored frame I used my embellishments to hide my adhesive. My trusty Ozito glue gun was used to adhere everything in place.

When adding my ribbon I used the smaller width (green) on my background page to break up the striped pattern and the masking tape. I then took the wider ribbon and carefully tied a bow with both the thick and thin width. One is a shear (fawn) and the other is a solid (green)

I then added a meaningful saying to complete the project, I used one from the Heidi Swapp clear extra's range.

Have fun creating.

Off to Bunnings i went this week and bought myself a cool new toy.
I love it it takes the bigger chunky glue sticks and is cordless, it works for 5 minutes away from the base which is enough time for the little jobs and when you have a big job you just unplug the cord from the cradle and plug it into the gun......way too cool. It even has a drip tray on the cradle for any leakage. Best thing is it sits on your desk perfectly unlike the cheap little ones that fall over all the time and it was a bargain at $16.95 If you need a new glue gun definatley go check these out.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Another gift down, still a few more to make but I am getting there. I cant believe how awesome these Profile Australia shadow boxes are it was so quick and easy to create this frame. I especially like the white but the other 2 colours are great as well. Fantasia has a heap of them in stock, I wish I had discovered them sooner it may have made my Christmas gift making a lot easier.

I made this for Juliet's teachers aid, she has been her school mum since kindy and we are really going to miss her, she has been part of our family for so long.........I'm sure she knows more about what goes on at home than I do LOL. I look forward to her being a friend in my life now that Juliet is moving onto High School.
Her's to frienship.....new and old in 2012.

Two posts today.......lets hope i can keep it up.I have been finishing off my teachers gifts and i wanted to share with what i did for Juliet's teacher. I was inspired by Jen Hall, who shared on facebook a gift she had made for her daughters teacher. it was such a simple idea that made a great gift.



I love how it turned out and Juliet's teacher loved it as well. I guess this is my last teachers gift i will have to make as Juliet has now finished primary school and is off to High School. Am i relieved? Yes but i am also a bit sad as this has been somthing i have done for such a long time.

Tommorrow is just around the corner and i know it is going to be a day full of tears (on my part) and excitement on Juliets part....then there is the countdown till high school starts. Bring on 2012

Well I must say it has been a long time between post, my New Years resolution is going to be to post here every other day and I am getting myself in training for 2012 by having a practice run now.......leaving it a bit late I know, but what can I say....I have been busy.

Well this December saw me with 3 children graduating, year 12, year 10 and year 6. I very stupidly said to one of the year 6 teachers oh I have this great pattern for a small graduation cap, I could make one for each student................how many would you need I innocently asked, hhhhmmmmm 90 was the reply. I responded with now worries, piece of cake whilst secretly saying inside next time keep your mouth shut.

So 90 it was, well actually it became 100 as I made them for the year 6 teachers as well.

Here they are all neatly stacked and

ready for construction. I found doing them in batches of 10 was the easiest way to keep track of were I was at.

Hours and hours later without any sleep they were done.............well all except the hanging tassels which I had to handmake to match the lemon highlights. So more and more hours and hours later they were done.

In the end I was really glad I had made them, Juliet was so grateful and so were her friends in year 6. I had so many Thank You comments from both the boys and the girls. It was a great way to exit the school, after 16 years of being a parent here its time to hang up my hat (no pun intended) and move onto High School. No more brown uniform or brown shoes, no more junior shcool..........all of a sudden I feel sad and a bit nostalgic I have made so many great friends amongst the other parents and the teachers I know I will miss them but look forwarding to catching up in 2012.

PLAYING WITH MY COPIC MARKERS

Well i finally found a bit of time to play with my pens, i have been missing them heaps. I think they will be the last of my craft supplies to get packed. I decided to colour a Tiddlyinks "Fairy Fae Catches a Star" digital stamp. You can find her here. www.tiddlyinks.com/item_170/Fairy-Fae-Catches-a-Star.htm I have been checking out some really talented ladies on the internet, they use there Copic Markers to create some really fabulous shadowing and i wanted to give it a try so this is my first attemp. I am not 100% happy with it, I probaly shouldnt have gone with pink for my first try as i find it a little harder to blend but overall i think i am hooked now and will be looking at adding this type of depth to my colouring images in future. I have added the folds in the skirt of the fairies dress if you have a look at the original stamp you will see that it is just a straight skirt with only a little contour line on the right hand side. Let me know what you think.



Darelle

A couple of Christmas Cards I made this year

I have had a lot of things to do in the lead up to Christmas so didn't have a lot of time to make many Christmas cards.These are the last 2 I made, there were a few others like my Magnolicicous group Mingle card but I forgot to photograph them so before I sent these ones on there way I took a couple of quick snapshots.

With everything that has gone on in the last couple of weeks, I was in a bit of a black somber mood so I found myself wanting to use black cards, it was also hard to find my mojo, I am hoping this will come back once the kids and I get settled in our own place, I just wish I had all the answers for them now. It has been a really difficult time for them and I had hoped that things would have a been a lot easier on them but you know what they say about the best laid plans they never go the way you want or expect them too. I know that next year, 2011 is going to be my year. A year filled with personal growth and achievement as I stand with my children and create the life we deserve, a year filled with joy and laughter, hope and Love. I want to show my children that you can start again when there seems like there is no hope, that by trusting and sharing with each other we will get through. I also want them to know that if you hate you allow all that was wrong in the first place to stay in your life and you wont be able to move forward. Go on and lead the best possible life you can by not giving into the power of hate but by embracing love you will always lead the life you deserve.............expect nothing less.

Enough of my musings for now, I wish all that read my blog the very best for 2011, to those who are near at hand I hope you join me for the ride.

Darelle

A CHRISTMAS GIFT I MADE FOR A WONDERFUL YOUNG LADY

My son asked me if I would make something for his girlfriend for Christmas...............mmmmm I said, and what would that be exactly? (not that I have a problem making something for his girl, she is an exceptional young lady whom I admire very much) You know that frame thing you made for Juliet, well I know she would like one of those. Okay then but it will be different to Juliet's as I don't want to make them exactly the same.

I don't think I can show the original one I made as it was published in the Home Decor addition of Scrapbook Creations....some of you have probably already seen it anyway)

The photos that they gave me were taken with a mobile phone and were not very good so I am going to take some more professional shots on Tuesday so that I can finish the project and send it on its way to its new home. We have some lovely bushland at the bottom of our street so I will take some shots there, hopefully i will get some nice ones to use.

I have used some really nice Prima Flowers out of my stash and I made the big pink flower on the far left hand side out of coffee filters, Glimmer Mist and some Kaiser paint lightly brushed on with a dry brush. I know I will still add some finishing touches to this project over the next couple of days, some beads here and some distressing and tearing there until I have it just right, but overall i am very happy with the way my gift is shaping up. I hope you enjoy checking it out.

Darelle

Happy Birthday to a Wonderful Friend

To my Wonderful Friend Vanessa, heres wishing you a wonderful Birthday. Vanessa loved some other monochromatic cards I had done so it was only right I did one for her Birthday. I know she loves this little Tilda with presents so I just had to use her for this card. I have used warm greys for this card from W0 through to W7. So that it was not so harsh I added a very pale pink RV10 to her cheeks and B000 around the edge of her apron. I have also used G000 and R02 on the the ribbons on the presents.

I used the magnolia flag banner on the inside of my card. Again I have used very muted colours underneath my pale greys add a bit of depth to the image. Overall I was very happy with the results, monochromatic colouring is one of my favourite techniques.

I hope you enjoy checking out my cards.

Darelle