Dazzling-a layout for Scraps of Elegance

Hello there crafty friends! Using the lovely December "Silver Bells" kit I decided to challenge myself to create a non-Christmas themed layout with some of the wonderful Authentique papers that were included . I loved the green plaid and found it perfectly set off this heritage photo of two of my older cousins when they were little.

I distressed and inked the edges of all the paper layers and added some stencilling with texture paste and acrylic paint. The flowers came from my stash and were originally larger; I removed the outer petals of the 2 large flowers and used some of them to make the rose-this way they were much more proportionate to the page. The title piece was a part of the kit and I added a stapled twine frame to complete the page and add just a touch more texture.

Thanks a bunch for stopping by and do try to squeeze in some crafty time for yourself during this busy season-you deserve it!

Christmas gift bag and cards for Scraps of Elegance

hi there! Tis the season and I've been a busy little elf crafting for family and friends. I created a card and gift bag set with the Prima Victorian Christmas papers in the December Scraps of Elegance kit and card with the Graphic 45 Christmas carol papers.

 I stencilled on the bag and the largest piece of paper with homemade texture paste then when the stencilled designs were dry rubbed them with gold ink. The edges of all the papers were rubbed with gold as well and some of them with a rich brown as well. Lots of fussy cutting and some corrugated cardboard painted gold added some interest and dimension as did the berries and leaves which were included in the kit. I finished those clusters with raffia.

The Graphic 45 card is all about fussy cutting and layers; I used foam tape to add dimension and a little twine for texture. The berries were all dabbed with Glossy accents which gives them a yummy hint of shin.

Thanks a bunch for visiting and be sure to checkout the Scraps of Darkness/Scraps of Elegance blog for other projects made with our wonderful kits and for information on ordering them!

Santa's Sleigh in Pastels for Gypsy Soul Lasercuts

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my house-actually it has for a while! I love decorating for Christmas and was thrilled with this gorgeous chipboard sleigh from Gypsy Soul. The pieces went together easily after they were painted or papered with just a wee bit of glue in the grooves.

I covered the base pieces with papers from Kaisercraft's "Silver Bells" collection and also used them for the fussy cut details. I attached some of the cutouts to skewers and poked them into a styrofoam piece that was placed in the bottom of the sleigh. A little greenery inside finished the look.

For the gorgeous ornate overlay I wanted a sparkly magical feel but still wanted to keep it soft and pastel. I primed the pieces with light blue acrylic paint then heat embossed them with 2 layers of Ranger glitter embossing powder in Bridal Tinsel before adding a thin layer of glue and sprinkling them with clear chunky glass glitter.

I added the fussy cut arrangement using some foam tape for dimension. There are so many different ways you could finish this great little sleigh to coordinate with your decor or with that of a gift recipient. It could be filled with any sort of decorations or with gift items-even homemade Christmas treats! Use your imagination and have a great time personalizing Santa's Sleigh!

Gypsy Soul Items Used

Santa's Sleigh

Other Items Used

Kaisercraft Silver Bells collection

Ranger glitter embossing powder-Bridal Tinsel

Colorbox chunky clear glitter

Merry and Bright-Christmas layout for Scraps of Elegance

Well it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around my house and I was just thrilled to receive my Christmas-themed DT kit "Silver Bells"  the other day. The wonderful Graphic 45 Christmas Carol papers were just begging for some serious fussy-cutting so I had a great time creating this layout!

I fussy cut the frame and all of the flowers along with the leaves and berries. I layered the flowers and curled the ones on top for dimension. Gold microbeads were added to the flower centers and the berries were accented first with Perfect Pearls in Forever Red then Faber Castell Texture Gems for a little sheen.

I stencilled with homemade texture paste using a Tim Holtz stencil for the flourishes and a Crafter's Workshop stencil for the script.

The photo is of my two awesome kids back in December of 1997 when they were ages 5 and 2 and the title piece is from Michael's crafts....thanks heaps for stopping by and have a terrific week!

new month and new name!! Metal ornaments for Gypsy Soul Lasercuts!

Hi! Happy December and Hello Gypsy Soul Lasercuts! Gina's Designs has changed their name-same great products same design team but brand new name! This is my first DT post for the new month with the new name- I must say I'm still trying to figure out what happened to July and August never mind the fall; this year has just flown by and I can't believe the Christmas season is upon us already!

I signed up for an ornament swap on a Facebook group I belong to so had to come up with something that would work for mailing. The plain galvanized metal ornaments came from Michael's and the lovely chipboard pieces were perfect accents-fairly flat and not too fragile!

I attached the chipboard pieces to the ornaments with hot glue then primed the whole surface with silver acrylic paint. The snowflakes came from both  the Snowflakes Shape set and the Winter shape set. The gears are metal pieces from my stash.I misted this ornament with Mister Huey's sprays then added adhesive pearls

The chipboard sleigh and reindeer piece was cut from the Santa's Sleigh border and the other embellishments are various metal pieces from my stash.  For this ornament used Dylusions mist and again added adhesive pearls. The small stars are metal confetti bits.

Some white ribbon bows were layered and glued to the top to finish the ornaments; I had fun putting them together and I hope my swap partner enjoys them! Have yourself a terrific week and thanks a bunch for stopping by!

Gypsy Soul Items Used
Snowflake Shape Set
Winter Shape Set
Santa's Sleigh Border

Other Items Used
metal ornaments from Michael's
Mister Huey's mists
Dylusions mist

Recipe file box with decorated cards and a layout for Scraps of Elegance

hi there! I've been having a great time creating with the November Scraps of Elegance kit "Tracey's Country Kitchen" and am featuring my 2 latest projects today.

First I took a cardboard book box I got at Dollarama and transformed it into a recipe card holder and I decorated some coordinating index cards.

I used plain index cards and added fussy cut details from the papers; six are shown although the box could hold a great deal more.

Closeups of details and layers:

My other project is a layout featuring our kitten Maggie who-along with 4 littermates-I bottelfed from 2 weeks old. Three of the kittens have new homes but Maggie and her sister Honey stayed here and are having a wonderful time destroying my house and terrorizing my other 6 cats and 2 dogs-but of course nI love them to pieces!!

The sweet Petaloo flowers coordinated perfectly and I stencilled randomly with texture paste tinted in coordinating colours as well.

Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

sparkly Christmas Cards for Gina's Designs

hi there! The grass here is still green (although the weather people are saying we might see some of the "white stuff" over the next couple days) but I had a glimpse of a white winter wonderland the last day I was in BC last week and was inspired to create snowy-looking elements on my cards...

Since the fussy-cut ornaments on the blue card had silver details on them I decided to heat-emboss the  open heart pieces in silver. The plain heart I primed with gesso then coated with white glue before covering with clear glass glitter top create a snowy heart.

On the grey card I chose a softer look by priming the pieces with gesso then heat-embossing them with white glitter embossing powder (it took 2 coats to get an evenly sparkly effect)

Both cards look much more snowy and sparkly in real life of course-have some fun playing with glittery products on your chipboard goodies when you create Christmas projects this year-even if you live somewhere tropical you can have a white Christmas! Thanks a bunch for stopping by and have a wonderfully crafty and creative week!