Friday 26 February 2010

Secret Beauty

Or Beauty Secret perhaps?




My starting point for this was the lovely shell trim from Ribbonbox. It said bathing belle to me at first but then I remembered one of my favourite Artylicious paper designs in pinks and yellows. The colours almost glow in it and I have been wanting to use it for some time. Here it was used for my envelope and I tried to pick up those colours through the card. The velvet flower was described in my previous post and I backed it with skeleton leaves as Jean Hardy had used these in her original. When I made the flower, it was meant to have a hat pin in it and complement a vintage 'lady in hat' image. In the end I changed my mind and used this picture from Craft Individuals' People and Places 2 paper pad. The swirly frame is the same as Jean's (ie Crafty Individuals) and was stamped first (in Lemonade I think) with Crafty Individuals' crackle stamp and then (in Versacolor Camellia?) with a berry stamp from Stampington's Christmas Found collection. This was the closest I could get to picking up the effect of the tiny blossoms in the lady's hair. The background of the 'letter' is a piece of card embossed in the Cuttlebug and sprayed with Glimmer Mists and Crafty Notions sprays. The text attached to it is Hero Arts Old French Writing and 'Beauty' is a K&Co rub on. The edge of the background card has been embossed in silver using A Stamp in the Hand's 'Field of Sky' but it also picks up the texture of the card. The 'Secret' slider is a Woodware Chippie threaded with pink organza ribbon and silver beads. Hope you like it.

Monday 22 February 2010

And Here Comes the 2nd One

Hello to all our lovely visitors. Today it's my turn to show you my project which resulted from taking inspiration from Jean Hardy's beautiful 'Enveloped Elegance' on page 34 of the February issue of Craft Stamper magazine. I have to confess, I am totally in awe of Jean's ability to put so much into such a small space and so I have taken a lot of licence and spread mine a little over a larger card base. My excuse is that we never intended to copy but to use the chosen CS project as inspiration so I hope I'll be forgiven, Lol! I've gone with a bit of a music theme.


The actual envelope is the same size as the one Jean used and I used a template I already had to make mine from some Laura Ashley paper. There were two shades of the same design so I used one to make a matching envelope liner. I wanted the image (Elusive Images) inside to look faded so used quite muted colours for the stamping and colouring and used a little distress ink round the edges before attaching to a torn piece of card stock. I then arranged the beads, buttons, chain and charm in the corner and adhered them with Glossy Accents. The image in the Ranger glass slide frame is from a Crafty Individuals book. The torn distressed piece of music paper was courtesy of Jo. The crumpled background paper was one I did using Starburst Stains and found in my bit box so I rubbed a Distress Inkpad over the top. Similarly the alcohol ink acetate I used to stamp the lovely cello (Aspects of Design) and punch out the little leaf stems I had made a couple of weeks before during a 'play' session. The pretty lace trim I got from Ribbonbox at the Hinckley Sincerely Yours papercraft show in January and the pearl trim was salvaged ages ago from an article of clothing. All the flowers, beads, chain, charms and word brads were from my stash.

I thoroughly enjoyed making this project and found it quite liberating to be doing something just for it's own sake and not with a specific person in mind. Thanks Elaine for choosing this project for our first one and thanks to Jean Hardy for the original inspiration.

I hope you like it and enjoyed your visit.

Hugs
Lesley Xx

PS I prepared this post in draft this morning ready to publish this evening but I've had a bit of an accident, er .......................... slipped on the blooming slush, ice and sludge while walking the dog. Result - twisted knee and badly swollen foot which I can't bend or put weight on so I think maybe a visit to A&E is called for when Hubby gets home tonight. I'm hoping it's just a really bad sprain but I thought I'd best publish the post now incase I'm otherwise engaged tonight, Lol!

Saturday 20 February 2010

Big Reveal Number one!

Well, it's time to reveal my February project to you! For my envelope, I used a scrapbook paper called 'Gypsy Lace' by Bo Bunny. This is a gorgeous, deep turquoise colour with a cream lace pattern on one side, and has a distressed effect on the other side.On the upper inside edge of the envelope, I used Boken China Distress Ink to distress the edge, and a stempleglede grunge stamp to stamp around the edge of the paper. I made my own beaded trim using a mixture of beads in blues, greens and turquoises, which I attached to a piece of turquoise velvet ribbon, and sandwiched between a piece of cream lace, and cream ribbon.
I wanted to fill my envelope with treasures and memories, so I used a Crafty Individuals frame, as Jean Hardy did in her project, and coloured this with Broken China and Scattered Straw Distress Ink. I then stamped a crackle stamp over the top, and added some fake silver leaf. I used a CI image with the word Dream down the side to echo one of my larger stamps. I then layered up a cream silk flower, a metal flower and a turquoise brad, and attached a little lock and key before fixing this to the frame. I made a letter fragment with a CI stamp which I placed behind a matted and layered Elusive Images sentiment. The layers were edged with the DIs and the stempleglede stamp as before. I stamped two Elusive Images butterflies and coloured these with Inktense pencils and a waterbrush. I used the 'Dreams' sentiment from the same Elusive Images themeplate as the key and lock that I stamped onto grungepaper.  coloured these with pencils again, layered them up with silicone, and then coated them with Glossy Accents.
The pale turquoise Bazzil card that I used as backing card was again edged with DIs and the stempleglede stamp. My metal flower was explained in a previous post.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working on this project, the colours were delicious. I hope you like my finished offering, Judith xx

Wednesday 17 February 2010

Just one last sneeky peek!

I am behind the other girls in completing this month's project, so I thought I'd slip in one last sneeky peek before the big reveals start!!


Here is a little frame I altered to include in my romantic Valentine's themed project. This was a little card heart frame from K & Co. I covered it with gesso and red pearly paint, before adding glossy accents, little red jewels and tiny paper red roses. The day after I made this, I found a jewel picking tool at a craft show, how I wish I had had it when I made this!

We really hope you enjoy seeing the final projects - coming very soon!

Elaine xx

Monday 8 February 2010

Here's some more!

Well here's a bit of a turquoise feast for those of you out there that like that particular colour! Even the water that I've cleaned my brushes in is turquoise. I have really enjoyed working on this project, because it has been purely for fun. There has not been any other reason behind the project; it has not been to sell, or for a birthday, or a Craft Fair. The only pre-printed elements are the paper used for the envelope, and the lovely Crafty Individuals image in the little frame. Everything else has been handmade, or put together from scratch, including my beaded trim. I don't want to show you too much at this stage, or there will be no element of surprise at the end, but here are a few pictures for you. Judith x 

Sunday 7 February 2010

A Bigger Peek


Just a few more sneak peek photos.



These will be my last I think until I reveal the finished article in all it's glory! Hmmm, not sure about that, but I've tried, Lol!



Thanks for taking another look.

Lesley Xx