Deck the Halls...

... with festive bunting!!

This project was created for a class at That's Crafty in Romford.

It's made from greyboard, painted, stenciled and stamped with touches of glitter and sparkle ...  all very festive.

Pennants were given a frosty look with snowflakes (JM07) stamped in Metallic Glaze - I like how the snowflakes are only visible when the pennant catches the light. (The spotty background was created with the That's Crafty 'Bubbles' stencil)

Twiggy took centre stage against a snowy stenciled background (That's Crafty 'Snowflakes'), The tags on either side of him and text along the top of the pennant are from Emma Godfey's EEG12.

Round tags were decorated with stars from JOFY39, all the tags were stamped and painted on both sides just in case they turned around when hung.

This bunting was a lot of fun to create.  I really like the pieces as a length of pennants but the designs and layouts could easily transfer to cards or a canvas (I have an example that to show you in the next day or so)- or they could be tied as individual pennants onto a christmas tree.

ho ho ho

x

A labour of love....

...  that we'll enjoy for the whole month of December...

The new advent calendar:

Last year after christmas I saw an advent calendar in the sale in Sainsburys - 24 little wood houses, the roof of each house lifts off so it can be filled with treats.. nice smooth surface for painting... well I couldn't NOT buy that could I?!

There was nothing wrong with them - just not my colour scheme... I planned to paint them in neutral colours so they could be hung on any tree... they could go on the main tree, or a garland or on their own tree as they have this year.

I love the end result, but they were a bigger job than I thought - TWENTY FOUR HOUSES... count them: TWENTY FOUR!! I'm just saying because I painted 18 of them with 2-3 layers of paint...(so technically that's 36 houses!) the festive spirit may have started to fade at some point - but it was worth it.

24 houses (there's that number again!) split into groups of 4 colour schemes, with 6 houses in each group.  It became a bit of a logistical juggle - I wanted my chosen colours to be used on each of the houses so remaining a group - (as the originals were - three colours used in different combinations)... I wanted the houses to be four different colours, the roofs four different colours too.... and I didn't want 2 dark houses together (at this point I may have started overthinking the whole project... lol)

The first thing I did was number the inside of the houses before I painted over the number on the outside- to keep the combinations evenly spaced - this was important if they were hung numerically along a banner - I wouldn't want to houses the same scheme side by side (not that I'm OCD or anything!)(ok, maybe a little bit)
House scheme A: 1,5,9,13,17,21
House scheme B: 2,6,10,14,18,22
House scheme C: 3,7,11,15,19,23
House scheme D: 4,8,12,16,20,24
It was the only way I could keep track of what I was doing!

I decided on colours - fairly neutral - Chalk, Snowflake, French Roast, Metallic Glaze, Slate and Annie Sloan Graphite chalk paint (I bought to paint a piece of furniture, its a lovely dark dark grey)...
I bought a couple of packs of snowflakes in Matalan that I wanted to use on the houses (I always head there at christmas - they often have really nice bits and pieces), book text  and corrugated card board (there's always corrugated cardboard isn't there lol).  The originally the houses were just painted - I wanted my make-over to have a bit more texture..  oh and glitter - there has to be glitter!

Here are the finished houses - they all follow the same format - snowflake on the front (attached with Matte Medium), snowflakes (JM07) stamped in Metallic Glaze stamped on the back with the number in Chalk or Black Archival ink on the back.. The number are a MaVinci stamp set called Fortress - I like this font because its a little bit distressed.

***

House scheme A:  Graphite house, with a Chalk room covered in book text that has been washed with diluted Chalk paint. The bottom edge of the house has been glittered with Stampendous Frantage Crushed Glass Glitter in Gold.

***

House scheme B: Painted  in Chalk, and the roof in Graphite. 

I thought the roof was too plain so I covered it wood effect scrapbook paper.. which was too white so I diluted a very small amount of French Roast and paint the roof... several times... until I achieved the colour I wanted...

***

House scheme D:  Slate roof, dry brushed with French Roast to break up the colour, & the ridges were edged with Stampendous Frantage Crushed Glass Glitter in Silver (seems to be more of a very pale gold - very pretty).  The house was covered in book text and white washed to soften the text.

***

House scheme D:  Slate house, with a Chalk roof covered in fine corrugation cardboard that has been 'peeled'.  I lightly dragged Matte Medium over the roof and sprinkled on Cosmic Shimmer Iced Snow Glitter Jewels - the glitter is translucent so is only seen when the light catches it.

Don't tell the other houses but I think 'House D' is my favourite - its grey (love grey), the glitter is so subtle, pretty & christmassy! (its closely followed by the book text house in my affections).

Here are the roofs:

... and the houses on the tree..  the plan for 'opening' the advent calendar is the houses are hung with numbers facing out, they once opened they re-hung with the snowflakes facing out...

These were quite a lot of work but were fun to decorate, and will come out for several christmases to come.

x

Masterboard.... the final!....

After I'd finished my Masterboard projects for the PaperArtsy blog (you can see them HERE), I had one label remaining...

If you read and remember the projects from this masterboard, you'll realise I like to use every last piece.

I didn't want to make another card, I wanted to make something different, and so I thought why not co-ordinate the envelope with the card..

....and keeping it simple I punched hexagons (love!) out of the stickers sheet:

 I  punched 4, selected my 'favourite' and used it as an envelop seal.

I still had lengths of the painted masking tape left over too...

so I used it as decorative strip to write the recipients name onto..

Thats it.. all gone!

x

A sticky variation...

.... but in a good way.

Its my turn over on the PA blog this evening you can go HERE to read it.

I wanted to talk about the above panel.. and the perils of using book text.. I used one of the stickers - painted the flowers and added text.. I painted the text in Dusty Teal to tie in with the Gelli® printed pattern on the background.
When I was finished I covered the back panel of the frame in book text (a 1950/60s book) and attached the sticker.  I smudged around the edge to help it pop off the surface slightly.
I also added a kraft die cut flower and gem to add a bit of sparkle.

This is how I planned for the finished piece to look - without the strip of painted masking tape...

It was all assembled, attached, embellished and ready to be 'admired'... and then I had a final quick read/scan of the text to make sure there was nothing inappropriate before I uploaded it to the blog/web.... and there RIGHT UNDER THE PANEL - was a reeeeeally unacceptable word (imho)!
It  was an 'o m g I'm so glad I spotted that!!' moment. (and don't look for it - I've smudged it out! lol on each photo!)

I looked at it and thought I've invested too much time in the project to just throw it away, so looked around for a rescue.... the masking tape!!  What a happy accident - the tape that was printed/painted as part of the gelli printing process was the perfect addition to hide the word - and of course it matched!
Taaaadaaaa & phew!

So my live and learn lesson from this is:   always remember to have a quick read/scan of a book page before you use it... this is something I always suggest to people in my classes when we're using old books (which, hands up, I totally forgot to do!) - what might've been and an acceptable phrase/term 50/60/70 years ago might not be acceptable now.

It all turned out well in the end.. I hope this has inspired you to gelli print, stamp, paint and use book pages - but always check your book text first!

:o)

ALBOTAT: A little festive something.....

.... to brighten your day!

This has to be the BEST christmas advert in the UK so far this year - its going to take some beating!..
Its adorable, schmaltzy, & funny in just the right amounts!

Enjoy

Though I may be biaised because I have a chubby tabby similar to the one in the film lol

(not sponsored by Sainsburys (unfortunately), other supermarkets are available! lol)

Tusen takk Haugesund, Norway..

... I had an even more enjoyable time in Haugesund at Scrap4Fun...

I've been talking to Jorunn Elin, one of the organisers of the crop, on email for awhile and so it was nice to meet her again at the airport and travel with her to the hotel and crop.

The weekend long crop is held in a sports hall and the whole event has a really nice relaxed comfortable feel to it.  There is a kitchen in the building that people can use whenever they want - eating/drinking as a group or on their own.

The classroom doubled as a bedroom for people who wanted to stay overnight.. it really did have a nice welcoming atmosphere.

Everyone takes their shoes off at the door to keep the floor of the hall clean..

and wears indoor shoes, socks, slippers:..  (a double whammy - keeps the hall clean and adds the relaxed atmosphere..)

Inside the hall there are two shops, & everyone has their own table where they sit and craft all weekend - I thought with 50+ women in a room crafting the noise would be BIG but no, everyone was too busy crafting to be noisy - just a gentle sound of chatter.

What made me smile was the sheer amount of 'stuff' people brought with them - and the amount of Ikea trollies there were (seen above, in the centre of the photo) and one very organised person had a collapsible shelving unit!! They, like me, pack a lot of things 'just in case'.
I had packed my suitcase with all the products we needed for the workshops - can't tell you how relieved I was to open it after the two flights to find nothing had leaked or been broken! (thanks in part to lots of bubblewrap and clingfilm).

I taught two workshops - thankfully everyone spoke English for which I was very grateful and relieved! lol

Here is the first group busy at work on their 'mushroom panels'..

... and here with the finished work..

And here some of the second group painting, stenciling and stamping their 'monogram box' canvasses..

and again with their finished work..


 The classes took place on Halloween which Jorunn Elin and Berit embraced fully lol..

The language barrier was not a problem - the only confusion came because the Norwegian word for brush is pensel.... lol

Thank you to everyone who came to my classes: it was lovely to meet you and spend creative time with you; and to the organisers - especially Jorunn Elin and Berit who looked after me (and Matt) so well and made us feel so welcome...

It was a pleasure, thank you for inviting me... and I hope you all enjoy working/playing/creating with the JOFY stamps.

So while I was working Berit's husband Alf took Matt on a site seeing ramble of Haugesund & up to the Lighthouse and surrounding rocks.. he really enjoyed.. & he saw more of Haugesund than I did! lol

.. and then it was over too soon - back to the UK.. taking longer than expected due to the fog that had settled over the UK airports on sunday... but that didn't spoil a lovely trip.


NB  Before the trip everyone we spoke to warned us that Norway "is expensive", and yes we found it to be a little pricey but not eye-wateringly so.. and it certainly hasn't put us off visiting again.

Tusen takk Oslo, Norway...

... last weekend was a lot of fun!

I was approached and invited to teach workshops at Scrap4Fun in Haugesund, Norway.. and so because M & I have never been to Norway we took the opportunity to combine it with a trip to Oslo...
We LOVED Norway!  Everyone is so friendly, it's beautiful, clean and quiet!.. oh, and almost everyone speaks English! - which is good for me because my Norwegian is very limited - but has grown by at least 2-3 words since my trip! :o)

So here are some highlights - its going to be a photo heavy post!

We spent the first 2 days in Oslo before moving onto Haugesund on Friday - two half days in the city (after and before flights) and so it was a taster visit of the city.

Our Oslo hotel was lovely - relaxed, welcoming and so comfortable. It was the first time we were introduced to the single-duvets-on-a-double-bed layout!!  well in my humble opinion that is a genius idea!:
* no more fighting for duvet
* you could have different weight duvets on each side of the bed to suit the sleepers
* easier to wash and iron!

Oslo seemed really quiet, busy but quiet - lots of electric cars which lessened the traffic noise, and the town has a tram system which lessens the amount of car traffic around the city.
On the first day, armed with our trusty map, we strolled around the redeveloped dock area of the city (taking it easy due to our VERY early start from Heathrow - 5am check in - OUCH)..

Dock buildings have been redeveloped into restaurants, shops and offices - as has happened in lots of cities - including London

The Norweigans are a hardy bunch - their idea of cold is different to the English idea of cold - here I am sitting OUTSIDE a restaurant in the Aker Brygge area of the city in just a cardigan - no coat!

OK, so I was only able to do so because there were heaters all around us (thats why I'm so red!) - but it was lovely to sit outside and have lunch.

I wish I'd been able to see this 'christmas tree' lit up - looks fab unlit so must've been sooo pretty lit - all those little 'spikes' are fairy lights :o)

EDIT at 14.30:  I just googled 'christmas tree oslo' to see if there was a photo of the above tree lit (or similar).... google never fails... here it is in all its festive fparkliness!  lovely

On the second day we walked up to the Royal Palace and down the main strip into the shopping area of the city..

I really liked this avenue of trees - evidence of the landscape history of the city - at one time there must have been a road or path there but now it just leads down to metal railings and the main road... look how perfectly straight they are!

You can walk right up to the Royal Palace (obviously there are a couple of guards to stop you getting in but you can get quite close - closer than you'd get to Buckingham Palace!).  It sits right on the top of the hill overlooking the city..

Down the hill past the University with a very nice paved forecourt... loving the circles..

In the main shopping area lots of department stores with lovely architecture.. (& lots of H&M shops! lol)

And this proud looking chap was in the middle of a square holding a flower market..

... where I saw these,  I LOVE ornamental cabbages - all those frilly layers of colour...

.. and all these interesting pumpkins!  (well it is the day before Halloween!)

Quick look at the Parliament...

... and then it was time to head to the airport for our flight to Haugesund...

I think thats enough for one blog post - the Haugesund leg of the trip will follow in the next blog post...


(one last thing - Panduro has shops in Norway - in the UK its only online so to look around a shop was a treat!!  (and it would've been rude not to!) (I'm easily pleased! lol)