Secret Santa Gift

On Artventures I participated in a Secret Santa swap where we made one gift and send it to our partner in time for Christmas. My partner was Maggi and I decided on a Christmas theme gift.

I had watched a video on the Hero Arts site where the designer used a switch plate to make an ornament and thought I would try something similar.

I had an old double switch plate cover that my DH gave me, so I covered it with some beautiful Poinsettia scrapbook paper by Magenta . I added some vellum snowflake paper to the background for the inserts.

I stamped and embossed  the little Christmas tree (Hero Arts)added a few pearls as ornaments and attached it to the background. Added some gold snowflakes and the alphabets chipboard which were covered with Glitter Ritz glitter.

I then coloured the little elf from Ezee Pzee, put some coloured paper behind his eyes and ears, then added beads for his nose and the package, and a pearl to his hat.

This is  at it's new home with Maggi, who had it displayed over the Christmas season.

Gothic Arch

The latest swap on AFTCM is a Gothic Arch with the theme of "Under the Sea".

I started by making my template on a piece of cardboard, then traced it on to a piece of 130lb cardstock.

I coloured the background with some dye inks then stamped the Postal Shell stamp in dark blue.

My idea was to make the piece look like an underwater cave, so I added embossing paste and gold mica flake paste around the edges. I then, coloured it with metallic blue paint and some mica watercolours.

I stamped the seashell stamp again on acetate with white Stazon ink and added some glitter to the back and attached it to the arch with some Glossy Accents.

I coloured some cardstoc with dye inks and stamped the fishes in Ancient Page Coal, then cut them out and attached them with some double-sided tape. I made some water bubbles by dropping glossy accents on a sheet of label backing paper (shiny side up) then when they dried, removed them and added them to the arch above each fish.

I wanted to add something else and found a mermaid that fit my colour scheme perfectly, printed it off; adhered it to cardstock and cut it out and attached it to the edge of the "cave".

To complete the arch, I added some starfish gems that I found at my little Dollar store, and some seashells that I brought back from a trip to Scotland a few years ago.

Rolodex Swap

On AFTCM we are doing a monthly Rolodex Card swap, with a different country featured each month. For this month the country was Greece.

I was lucky to get some Rolodex cards cheap at Staples and a friend who had been to Greece very kindly shared some of her pictures with me.

I printed of the pictures from my friend Christine and also some pics of the Greek flag. I added the pictures to the card then cut out the inserts with an Exacto knife. I took a punch with the Greek Key motif and punched out pieces of coordinating cardstock and attached them to the sides.

I then printed out the name of the Greek village with my labeler and attached them to the card.

Cinderella Slipper

I joined a swap in AFTCM where we make a 3-d or flat Cinderella Slipper.

The template was obtained from Terri's blog which includes a video on how to put the shoe together.

I traced the template onto some light cardboard and then covered each piece with some of my Faux Washi paper that I had in my handmade papers. Here is a link to how to make this paper on Trish B's site.

Once I had the shoe put together, I added some lace to the front, along with some fancy metal trim. I also added some plain metal trim around the top of the back portion of the shoe.

I wanted to add a flower but the ones I had did not work well. I discovered a tutorial/video on making flowers on Joanne's blog and decided to give it a try. I sprayed my petals with Smooch Spritz prior to putting the flower together. To complete the flower I punched out some leaves from a piece of Cuttlebug embossed cardstock, sprayed them with a coordinating colour of Smooch Spritz.

I added a heel using a child's alphabet block that I cut down, but it was a bit "wonky" so later on I removed it and added two wooden circles coloured with a plum fluid chalk ink.

great blog candy give away

Erika, over at Taylored Concepts has a really large prize up for grabs.  And I do mean large.  You really got to see this  giveaway.

Second Ezee Pzee Design Team Project

For my second project I decided to use a canvas. I started by colouring the background with some USArtquest Mica watercolour paints. After it dried I stamped and embossed a large flourish stamp in gold.

I covered the right side of the canvas with gel medium and placed some fantasy film over the top and heat set it with my embossing gun, then stamped and embossed the flourish stamp over the top again.

I added some snowflakes on the left with a stencil and molding paste. When they dried I painted them with the pearl white mica watercolour paint, then added some iridescent foil over the top. At the bottom I adhered the Tim Holtz musical tissue tape and painted over it with the mica watercolour paint to make it blend in more. To finish the sides and top I applied some opalite embossing powder and heated it.

The Ezee Pzee toy soldier was first coloured with colorbox fluid chalk inks, his face with acrylic paints,  and the hat band and strings were painted with a gold leafing pen. I wanted it to be more vibrant so painted it with some varnish. I attached gold metallic cardstock behind the epaulets and the areas in the front of the uniform, then added glossy accents to fill the areas. The buttons are little green pearl embellishments.

Since I did not have the cut-out piece for the mustache I had to draw my own on black cardstock and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I had a bunch of the little googly eyes from previous craft projects and added them (sorry he is a bit cross-eyed as they kept moving when I scanned it LOL!).

I added a piece from an old earring as an emblem on his hat and a feather to finish it off.

First Project for the Ezee Pzee Design team

I received my wonderful box of goodies from Kathy at Engravit the company that makes the Ezee Pzee die cuts.  It was filled with an array of items to play with and I got started with the first project.

I decided to make a Christmas card as I am way behind on my list.

I took a piece of 130Lb cardstock and did the "stamp smoosh" technique which I learned from Cathie Allan, using Clearsnap's Fluid chalks. I stamped and embossed the Poinsettia  stamp then coloured it with Smooch Inks. I edged the panel with a red marker.

The little Elf was coloured with Acrylic Paints and I added some distress ink to the toy bag to give it definition. I added some smooch ink over the top of the Elf's clothing and the bow. I attached metallic cardstock pieces behind the words, and the elf's ears and eyes, and a bead for his nose.

The saying was stamped and embossed on an extra piece of the background and edged with the marker.