An autumnal wreath (posted by Elaine)

It's my turn to follow Lesley's lovely Christmas themed wreath. I think I must have had some idea that I would be behind as usual when I decided not to make a Christmas wreath for our shared project! I love leaves and I know quite a few of my CSQ projects have featured them, so I decided to go for an autumn themed project this time.

 

In the run up to Christmas I saved a couple of pieces of thin brown kraft type card used in the middle of rolls of Christmas wrapping paper to keep them rigid. I knew they would come in handy for a craft project and this material formed the basis of nearly all the leaves on my wreath. First of all I die cut leaves using the Tim Holtz Tattered Leaf die.

I added colour with Distress Inks in Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo, Forest Moss and Aged Mahogany and then ran the leaves through the Big Shot with the matching Tattered Leaf embossing folder. I added highlights on the leaves with Treasure Gold gilding wax in Florentine and Onyxite.

Next I used the Penny Black Filigree Foliage cling stamps, stamping in Coffee Archival ink on 300 gsm smooth watercolour paper. I fussy cut the leaves and added colour with the same Distress Inks. Remind me not to use such thick paper in future if I plan to fussy cut so much - ouch!

Next I cut more leaves from the recycled brown card using a Prima Bigz Arbour die. I again added ink and gilding wax to highlight.

The base for my wreath was a wire ring. I don't think I had really thought through how I was going to attach my leaves to the ring, although I had wondered about wiring everything on.

I decided to add a touch of green to lift it all from too much dull brown and I used a lovely olivey green wired ribbon which I fixed into position with some florists wire.

From then on, I decided the best way to fix my leaves into place was to use red line tape around the wire and onto the back of each leaf, leaving one side of the backing tape in place. This gave me a base to stick other leaves onto and I worked to build up the layers.

 

My finishing touch was to add some twigs cut from chocolate brown card using a Memory Box die, some artificial berries and Chinese Lanterns and some little pine cones that had been lurking in my Christmas decoration box for about a hundred years!

 



This is the final wreath completed and I have to say I am delighted with it and pleased it has turned out to be a good alternative to all the Christmassy colours that have adorned our house in recent weeks. It has been hard taking a good pic of the whole wreath so here are a couple, anyway, you get the idea!

 

 

 

I really enjoyed making this wreath and now feel like I might try to make a similar project for each season in suitable colours and designs. This was a really enjoyable project so thank you to Judith for choosing it! We are looking forward to seeing what design you come up with in due course.

 

I am being cheeky using our shared blog to enter this project for the Christmas Leftovers challenge at Our Creative Corner. I rarely get time to enter challenges, but when I saw this one and realised that my developing wreath was largely made from the left overs of the rolls of wrapping paper and the little cones from my decorations box and has been assembled since Christmas, I thought it would qualify for inclusion!

 

Thank you for popping by. Your ongoing support for our rather neglected blog is so much appreciated.

 

Elaine 

A Belated Happy Christmas! (from Craftymamma)

At last ........Hello, welcome and I hope anyone who is kind enough to drop by (after all the time that has elapsed since our last post) has had a wonderful Christmas spent in whatever way you enjoy the most.

Way back when we were posting our last project Judith made the fab suggestion of making wreaths for our next one.  I don't think any of us anticipated it would take us quite so long to get round to them but I actually managed to make mine by the end of November.  My problem was finding time to take decent photos but I got there in the end and I have to say I'm really pleased with my first ever wreath.  We didn't have to stick to a Christmas theme (and I don't know if my buddies decided to take a different route) but as it's my favourite time of year for decorations I'm glad I did as my wreath has been on display for several weeks now ;-).

 I totally forgot to take any photos of various stages so my apologies.  There weren't any really complicated techniques though and I found this such a relaxing project to do.  I bought the lovely rustic twig wreath from Hobbycraft and the two cute cherubs were just 25p each from my local supermarket. Originally they were a garish bright gold with awful glittered wings as you can see below but after a PaperArtsy Fresco Finish paint treatment and some touches of Treasure Gold paste they looked beautiful!

 this was before the Treasure Gold was added

 and this was after and I liked them so much I went back a got a couple more, lol!

 

 I then plucked up courage to raid my stash of gorgeous Christmas papers, which I lovingly stroke every year but rarely use and put my Tim Holtz poinsettia die to hard work cutting out lots of flowers.  I cut a few extra of the largest layer and cut them into individual 'leaves' to fill out my arrangement then inked the edges of every leaf and petal with Black Archival ink.  I then shaped each one by using a round ended tool on the reverse before layering them to make the flowers.  I used some black seed beads for the centres.

 I arranged them all on my wreath and adhered them with Liquitex heavy duty gel.  I tied on some strips of hessian and some twists of paper covered wire which I  also used to attach the vintage looking glass bauble.  .

  

Finally, I painted 2 small MDF tags with PaperArtsy FF, added some stamped scrolls, a sentiment and some hessian threads and attached them with the gel.  I didn't tie them on because I wanted them to stay in position.  I used a piece of hessian cord  which I'd saved from somewhere (as you do ;D) with which to hand my wreath.  Ooh, nearly forgot, when everything was stuck down and dry I hung it outside and sprayed it with a Tattered Angels mica spray.  I think it was Dewdrop but it was so long ago I'm not sure, lol!  I think the subtle sparkle shows best on the close up of the cherub & flowers if you click one the pic.

I hope you all enjoyed my little touch of Christmas decor and I'd like to take this opportunity of thanking you all for your visits, especially if you have time to leave a comment and for sticking with us through our infrequent blogging habits.  We must try to do better in the new year!

My good wishes to everyone and may 2015 bring you all happiness and good health.

Hugs

Lesley  Xx

Fabric and Flowers (posted by Judith)

Hi Folks, well it's my turn to post my little accordian style book, as suggested by Elaine, and inspired by Kate Crane.

I decided very early on that I wanted to use fabric as the basis for my book inspired by the work of Lin Brown whose work I admire so much. I was very lucky to attend one of her workshops recently covering this very subject, so it helped my project along enormously!

I started by cutting out some watercolour pages to 5" x 5", as this was the size that I wanted to work on. I covered all of the pages with fabric, using Bondaweb, and gave them a wash of colour using Paper Artsy paints. I added stencilling, stamping, and in some cases, some texture paste through stencils as well. I coloured some of the texture paste before I used it with paint for my front and back covers, saving time colouring the paste afterwards.

I stamped several images onto sparkly acetate, and also onto spare watercolour paper, which I painted with the paints to co-ordinate with my backgrounds. I then stuck the acetate to the painted images before I added them to the backgrounds.

I have used a couple of Lin Brown stencils on this page, which is the front cover of my book, and a Paper Artsy butterfly.

On these two pages, I have added some lace painted with paint to tie into my colour scheme, and some stamps by Jo Capper-Sandon join the Paper Artsy stamps.

 

I have watercoloured some stamped flowers directly onto the fabric on these pages, and added more stencilling. This time I have added script to the stencilling as well. The words are stamped onto painted fabric.

I have added a flower stamped onto black card to this page and another little Jo Capper-Sandon butterfly on sparkly acetate. The foliage was stamped in white, and given a colourwash of yellow and orange.

I have added fabric tags to these two pages, stapling the fibres to the tags instead of tying them in the traditional way.

Finally on my back cover, I have added scraps of tinted lace along with the Jo Capper-Sandon stamps. More textured stencilling completes the background.  I have dry brushed the edges of all of my pages with paint, using a variety of colours to tone in with each page. I also added some fabric tabs between the pages for interest.

My construction is not the same as Kate's, I have hidden the ends of my pages within the concertina folds, preferring an edge to edge look inside the book. I went for black card, like Elaine, as I felt that it complimented my bright colours and black stamping.

I have enjoyed the process of making my little book, and hope that you like the end result. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

If I had wings (posted by Elaine)

Elaine here, posting the second of our book projects after our decision to re-launch our shared blog here, just when everyone had given up on us!

I have to confess, this project is Mark 2 for me. I started off well with my initial idea, but it went a bit pear shaped! That one may appear in due course on my own blog. Anyway, here is my take on the accordian book.

I recently purchased the Hardwood stamp from Stampin' Up. I love wood effect backgrounds so I knew this would be well used in my collection. The shape of the stamp guided me to a rectangular format for my book, and I stamped each page in Cobalt Blue archival ink on grey card. I added shading around the edges in Stormy Sky and Frayed Burlap Distress Inks to give an aged effect.  I knew I wanted continuity through the pages, so chose the same colour background throughout and added the same leaves - using a Dylusions stamp. I fussy cut the leaves and added colour with Distress Markers.

I love insects, (unless they are the biting kind!!!) and my stamp collection has many different variations. I have recently been index stamping my collection (it is still a work in progress), but it has made choosing and finding stamps so much easier when I have a theme in mind. My various insect stamp choices are stamped in Cobalt archival and unusually (for me) coloured with chalks. This really suited the muted colour palette I was looking for. The butterflies for my cover come from Stamp Camp and Crafty Individuals. The postmark used on the cover and throughout the book comes from the Mail Art set from Chocolate Baroque and the sentiment is from a Sam Poole set from Creative Expressions.

The first set of inside pages uses butterfly stamps from Indigo Blu (one of which was a freebie on Craft Stamper magazine). The silhouette butterfly is from a Martha Stewart set. The sentiment comes from a Lindsay Mason Doo Lally Pip set I purchased from the last Ally Pally show from AliCraft and I used the same set for the rest of the book.

The second set of pages uses the beautiful Stampotique bee stamps designed by Jo Capper Sandon. These stamps have been shamefully underinked since joining my collection and I am delighted to have given them an outing! The silhouette bees come from a Quietfire set.

The final set of pages uses dragonfly stamps from Visible Image and a clear stamp I have forgotten the brand of! The tiny dragonfly which is virtually invisible is from Crafty Individuals.

I mounted my book pages into black card for contrast. I puzzled about the construction after Lesley's experience and in the end decided to completely "internalise" my concertina, by sticking it between folded sets of pages. I made a little trial version to make sure it worked like me head told me it should!!! You can sort of see how it is put together in this pic.

It has been great to have the push of getting a project together for our shared blog again after all this time. I have really enjoyed making this book with some of my favourite subjects, images and colours. Thank you for taking the time to stop by and having a look and do be sure to pop back later to see the projects from other girls.

Elaine

And We're Off!

Helloooooooo!!!

Long time, no see on this poor neglected little blog!  First of all many thanks to anyone who drops by to see the first project post in a blooming long time but there you go, life gets in the way sometimes doesn't it.

Elaine liked a little book of Kate Crane's which you can see here and suggested it as inspiration for our return round of projects so today I have my version to show you.  Now confession time!  I started this several months ago and made some very basic mistakes and almost binned it but I kept it on one side and decided to have a faff last week to see if I could make it presentable.  Having learned from my mistakes I could do a much better job on another one but thought it only fair to show my gaffs, lol!

Unfortunately, I forgot to take step by step photos and because most of it was done a while ago I have almost forgotten what I did but I'll tell you what I can remember.

First of all I created a concertina 'spine' from black card.  I chose to have 3 pages plus front & back covers so needed a total of 5 valley folds.

I then cut 5 pieces of black card 4" x 8".  I decided to colour my backgrounds with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish paints so I put puddles of paint on my craft mat one colour at a time, spritzed quite liberally with water and then dragged my pieces of card through.  I dried with my heat gun between each colour and kept adding colour until I had an effect I liked and good coverage.  I then used various stencils and Fresco Finish Snowflake paint to create the next layer.

 

Next, I used a selection of PaperArtsy's JoFYstamps to stamp on each page with black Archival Ink. I also stamped the flower heads onto white card and heat embossed with clear EP before dragging out my much neglected Twinkling H2Os to colour them with.  I also added some of this colour to the stamping on the pages.

I folded each of my pages in half and stuck the blank sides together with double sided tape so that I had five 4" x 4" pages. I cut out the separate flower heads and decoupaged them onto the pages with dimensional glue.  I also decided to add a few highlights with a white Posca Pen.

Then came the assembly ...... and this was where I realised my mistake!  It's glaringly obvious now, lol, but have  you guessed it yet?  I had forgotten to allow for sticking the pages to the concertina and had stamped over the whole page and even some of the raised elements and wording ended up being slightly covered by the black 'mountain' folds. Never mind, we learn by our mistakes and I don't think I'll make that one again ;D.

I cut some strips of fairly thin black paper and used a border punch to decorate the edges before folding them in half and sticking them over each concertina fold to give a more finished appearance.  Finally I used some 7Gypsies sticky backed fabric tape to hold the spine together.

In the end my little book didn't turn out too badly I don't think.  The part I was most pleased with was the paint & stencil layers in the background.

Well, that's the end of my post for today.  I have no idea which of my lovely buddies will finish their project next or exactly when but as we all have different commitments now our posts will be as and when we can fit them in.  I do hope you'll keep an eye open for when they pop up and let us know you dropped in by leaving a comment if you have time.

Hugs
Lesley Xx

We're coming Back!

It's been a long time since there has been any activity on our joint blog. We have had lots of ups and downs in our lives and so we have been unable to devote any time to our shared crafting space. However, after some discussion, we have decided that we want to try to reactivate the Craft Stamping Quartet.

I hope that you will keep an eye out for the posts that will follow in the next few days and join us again on our joint journey. We have a lovely project to start with. We will not be following the same format as we did in the past, in that we mainly stuck to projects from Craft Stamper magazine for our inspiration. We are going to use lots of other sources that are available to us as crafters these days like Pinterest, for example, but that will just make things a bit more interesting!

Elaine Jo Judith Lesley xx

In the blink of an eye....(posted by Judith)

Well, it seems an age since the girls came to stay for a few days, but I wanted to let you know how we all got on, and post one or two pictures of our time together.

The weather was absolutely atrocious for most of the few days that we spent together, so sadly, we didn't manage to spend our afternoons drinking tea outside in the garden. My OH had spent a considerable amount of time trying to get the garden looking just so, in time for the arrival of our VIP guests.

We have lots of little areas around the house for sitting and relaxing, but not in a downpour! So we stayed inside, and made the best of the bad weather. We still ate plenty of cakes......

Elaine was our cake maker extraordinaire for the trip and she made some Apple Scones. Chocolate and Orange cupcakes, and my personal favourite, Lemon Drizzle cake.

She got to grips with my range cooker and knew where everything was in the kitchen by the time she was ready to leave!
One of the days the girls were here, Linda Elbourne came to see us, and taught a class for us. We made a great project incorporating an altered suitcase and a mini book. It was lovely to see Linda, and to catch up with her. We took a class with her when we had our last holiday together, so this was a little bit of history repeating itself.

This is my suitcase all finished with its little labels and the paint job all done. My book is almost finished as well, but it need the holes for the book rings. My Big Bite just can't quite manage the job, so my OH is going to make the holes for me. Linda had a fabulous tool that makes holes in leather belts that made her holes. This is her book:

We spent far too much time chatting as per usual, and didn't get our project finished during the class. That's always the way I'm afraid! Linda was telling us that she is hanging up her crafting hat for a while, and becoming a pub landlady, you may have seen the announcement on her blog. She will be crafting again once she is settled, but she will be busy getting herself sorted out to start with. Happily for me, she will still be within driving distance of where I live, so I may have to stop in for a Pimm's!

We had another visitor the next day, Paula Whittaker. She lives not that far from me, and she came and had a crafting session with us as well. We were very honoured to see some of her fabulous creations that she had brought with her. It is lovely to get to know crafters online, but even more special when you get to meet them face to face.

So after all the weeks of planning, and emails flying backwards and forwards, our time together has been and gone. I hardly dare tell my OH that we'd like to do it all again next year......!

Judith xx

Four days to go! (posted by Judith)

Well, it's been a long time since there has been a post on our poor neglected blog, and we are sorry for that. Life has taken over recently, and we have all had our fair share of ups and downs.

Hopefully over the next week, you will see a few more posts from us, as the Craft Stamping Quartet are having a holiday together in Norfolk! The girls are coming to stay at my house, Poppy Cottage, and we hope to craft together and spend some quality time catching up with each other.

We have decided that we are going to try to do a bit of sightseeing while they are staying, but the most important thing on the agenda is afternoon tea, and cake every day.

To that end, I have been collecting new, borrowed, and charity shop bits and pieces ready for their arrival. My Mother in law has been a great help to me, as she has vast cupboards full of crockery, so she has lent me some treasures. The glass dish is a 1937 coronation dish, which will be great for strawberries to go with the cakes, don't you think? The teapot is one of my wedding presents, and only comes out for high days and holidays. The Cake stand is actually new from a Laura Ashley sale, it is enamel, and very pretty. Everything else came from charity shops, and cost very little. I have a few other bits that I haven't photographed, but today is a bit grey outside, and I think that it's going to rain.

Behind where I was standing when I took the photograph is this beauty at the moment:

I absolutely love wisteria, and we inherited this one when we moved here. I consider myself very lucky to have this treat every Spring.

Well, I'm sure we'll be back with more updates of our time together in a few days, thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Must try harder! (posted by Jo)

What would we do without New Year and a chance to start afresh with the motivation that only saying goodbye to Christmas can bring? I love Christmas but afterwards am so keen to get things sorted out. My last six months have been almost completely craft free so to make anything would be a resolution in itself. But I've tracked my dry spell down to three things which I think will help me keep my juices flowing.

I am like so many crafters and have lots and lots of unused stash. I am in danger of becoming a mere collector. So often I find that when I rediscover something I can't remember why I bought it in the first place. So my first resolution is, when I buy something new, to make a note of the technique or project I want to use it for.

My second resolution is to be more open-minded about what materials I use. Since I have been crafting less I have not been able to keep up with what is fashionable in the crafting world. So I need to achieve results using what I already have and even pull in materials not intended for crafting. I hope this will make my work a bit more original too as I am not slavishly following recipes.

Thirdly I want to follow the advice of my good friend Judith. I am the only one of our Quartet who doesn't have a dedicated crafting space. It means I don't have a room or studio to worry about keeping tidy but it also means that when I want to craft I have to trawl round the house looking for things in all the odd cupboard corners I have to keep my stuff. I also have to put it all back again at the end of the session. If I only have an hour free to craft then most of it is spent getting out and putting away. Judith suggested having a little portable kit so that I can craft from my armchair without too much effort when I come home from work in the evening. I have a KP2 which is a very useful tote. But I have been using it for storage. Now I am going to fill it with my most used equipment and a couple of project boxes and bring it out in the evenings to make better use of my limited spare time.

I lost all motivation before Christmas and worried that I was no longer even trying to find crafting time. But I am feeling strong urges to get started again now so I am looking forward to having something to show on here again soon.

I hope you are all feeling refreshed and bursting with ideas ready to start the New Year. I know many of you craft your way through sad times and adversity and I hope it gives you as much joy and strength as seeing what you make gives to me.

Happy 2012, everyone!

My resolutions (posted by Elaine)

As Judith and Lesley have already said, life has been pretty hectic for us all lately, but we are starting 2012 intending to try harder to keep up with our shared projects this year.

Like the other girls I mean to try and keep my craft area tidier, keep on top of Christmas card making through the year and make better use of things I have already. Here are my specific resolutions though!

Firstly, I keep looking at projects on different blogs that incorporate machine sewing. I really like the effect and although I have traditionally used an old Singer treadle sewing machine for my sewing, I do now have large and small electric machines, so I have no excuse, but to make time to get practising and try and master this skill to add a new dimension to my projects.

Secondly, in order to make better use of my stash, I have resolved to stop buying loads of stamps I don't get around to using. (The trouble is there are such a lot of amazing images out there!). So, I will really try to get all my stamps indexed and organised by subject this year and that will need to include cleaning them properly and putting them away when I have used them! This is what happens when I don't and I have to have a massive clean up and it is very tedious!

Lastly, I really want to try and make more time for experimental and fun crafting, instead of always meeting deadlines and planning all the things I make instead of going with the flow, and I really hope some of that crafty playtime can be spent with the other quartet girls this year - that would really be special.

Happy New Year everyone - enjoy your crafting and make every minute count!

Elaine x

My Crafting New Year Resolutions (posted by Lesley)

Hello Everyone and thanks for stopping by,

First of all I'd like to add my apologies to those from Judith for our lack of posts during 2011.  Life did throw us a few curved balls which had a habit of getting in the way of our crafting fun, in my case either by stealing my 'me' time or blocking my mojo.  I am going to start the New Year with positive thoughts that 2012 is not going to be a repeat which leads me onto my three New Year crafting resolutions.

Like Judith, and probably at least 95% of the crafting population, my craftroom has degenerated into a complete tip to the point that I can hardly ever find what I am looking for without a lengthy search and lots of my lovely craft goodies are going unused simply because I forget they are there under all the piles of stuff or I manage without them because I don't have room to get anything else out.  What a terrible waste that is so I too am going to have a mega tidy up over January (that's how long it will take me I'm sure) and will endeavour to maintain some semblance of order in my little haven.

My second resolution is also one of Judith's because this year I left it so late to make Christmas cards that I didn't do any at all other than design team ones.  I feel really ashamed about this because I love making Christmas cards and have hundreds of stamps.  I had to use the DT ones to send to my crafting friends and that added to my guilty feelings because I like to make each card with a specific person(s) in mind so I am determined that in 2012 I will try to make a few cards throughout the year with the big push being done about October when I should be starting to feel a few Christmas vibes, lol!

My third resolution is to do my best to complete some of the wonderful projects I still have unfinished from workshops and the Paradise Retreat with Glenda Waterworth and her then team.  Most of these date back to 2010 and I  know I will so enjoy finishing them if I stop thinking about them and actually get on with them.  I'm a slowish crafter anyway but I do spend far too much time 'thinking' (read faffing there) about what to do instead of really 'doing' it.

Well, that's my three crafting resolution for 2012.  I bet yours will match them by at least 65%, lol?

All that remains for this post is to wish each and everyone of you a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year.

Lots of love
Lesley  Xx

New Year's Resolutions (posted by Judith)

Well, several months ago, I spoke about our next project and hoped that we would be back shortly to show you what we had all been making. Sadly we have all been affected by illness either ourselves, or that of a family member. Our crafting commitments have kept us busy, and life in general has kept us on our toes.

Elaine suggested that we all post our New Year crafting resolutions before we start 2012 afresh on our joint blog, and so if you will please accept our apologies for our lapse in blog posts, I'll start you off with mine.

Firstly, I hope to keep my craft room more organised and tidy this year. It needs a major overhaul, and a good sort out. I'd like to empty it out and start again, but I can't see that happening. I think that I will have to tackle one area at a time, and be quite ruthless. I have been reading a thread on a forum that I belong to on this subject with interest, only today, funnily enough. They recommend that you sort your stuff into three piles, what you want to keep, what you want to sell or give away, and what must be thrown away. Be creative with how you store your stash too, look for cheap storage, don't spend a fortune if you don't have to, recycle if possible.

Secondly, I intend to make Christmas cards throughout the year. I started very well last year, joining in with the Bah Humbug blog, and kept going for three months! Those cards were my saving grace at the end of the year when I was unwell, so I will do that again this year, but keep going for longer. I read that sadly, the Bah Humbug blog won't be running for the forseeable future, which is a real shame, but I have a plan up my sleeve to deal with that on a personal level, anyway!

Finally, I would like to recycle more in my crafting. I already use a lot of my unused stash on a regular basis, as followers of my own blog will know. However, I want to use the ribbons, packaging, etc., that I receive in my crafting on a more regular basis. I have saved some lovely things from Christmas, and have some ideas forming for them already.

So there you go, that's my three crafting resolutions for 2012, what would yours be? I wonder what Elaine, Lesley and Jo are planning to do in the year ahead? I hope that you all have a very Happy New Year, and that 2012 is a healthy creative, crafty year for you all. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Our next project

Hi Folks, it's time to announce the choice for our next project. This time it is Lesley's choice, and she has chosen 'Tissue Tape Tricks' from the July Craft Stamper magazine, by Liesbeth Fidder, for us to base our projects on. This is a great article, packed with lots of ideas, and hopefully will give us great scope to make our own items.

Keep checking back to see if we manage to get any sneaky peeks posted, and hopefully, you'll see our projects starting to appear in the not too distant future!

Judith xx

A not so tiny bird box! (posted by Elaine)

Well it's my turn to bring this quartet of our projects to a close. Judith set us the challenge of making a project of our choice in the colour palette chosen by Rachel Jackson of cream, latte and bordeaux from the May issue of Craft Stamper. My project is inspired by the lovely little bird house made by Jean Hardy in the April issue of the magazine.

I say inspired because my bird box is not tiny. You may know that my crafty friend Judith has this great idea of Forgotten Friday on her blog, using stamps and goodies that find their way into her craft room but have never been used. I think most of us are guilty of buying more products that we can keep up with. I bought this bird box with the aim of altering it sometime.

Now I had been looking at this box as I went in and out of my craft shed and doing nothing with it for far too long, so I decided to go for the Forgotten Friday approach and get on and do something with it. Now as well as my bird box, I decided to use a fab set of stamps from Prima called Green Leaf which were purchased as a result of another article by Rachel Jackson in Craft Stamper which I had shamefully never inked! I also used some papers from a huge 12 x 12 Bella Bella pad from My Mind's Eye that I bought ages ago in Blade Rubber that had incredibly never been touched - except to stroke!

I used the corners of the pattern on the paper to make the eaves of the house. I then overstamped with the Notary stamp from Prima in Hazlenut Adirondack ink. I added my favourite maple leaf stamp from Lavinia stamped in Expresso Adirondack and and the door from Crafty Individuals stamped in Plum Archival ink. The word "home" is from the new Chocolate Baroque Home Sweet Home set, mounted into a Tim Holtz ornate frame and covered with glossy accents. I decorated the eaves with some beaded trim and braid and added paper scrap roses, paper roses and the little key with some sari ribbon to the front of the box, as you know I don't really do minimalist!

The sides of the box got similar treatment with butterflies from the Prima Green Leaf set added and some sweet little laser cut birds and a little stamped grass.

These side views also show the roof which was made of punched strips cut using an X cut punch from a newsprint Tim Holtz paper from the Lost and Found collection, edged with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. I made the ridge of the roof from thin copper coloured metal which I cut with a lacy edge Fiskars punch.

I mounted the box onto a base made from chipboard which I covered in moulding paste through a decorative screen and then painted in crean and inked with more Hazlenut dye ink to highlight the pattern.

The back view shows the little bird stamp from the Green Leaf set stamped and coloured with pencils, his crown has been embossed in gold and a couple of brass butterfly charms have been added. Originally the bird was going to be on the front of the house, but in the end I decided I liked it's domestic look, so added the birds to the sides and back panels instead.

I did rather stretch the colour palette as I found myself adding more pink and dark brown. Hopefully I haven't strayed too far from the original inspiration!

So thanks to Judith for choosing this project, although I have to confess I found it hard to settle on an idea to work on as the field was wide open. Unusually for me this project wasn't planned. I had to work it out as I went along, but I am pleased how it came together in the end and thoroughly enjoyed working in a more organic way! Thanks of course too, to Rachel Jackson for her inspiring colours and to Jean Hardy for her tiny bird box which inspired me to create a larger one.

Thanks for popping in to see our different projects - we always appreciate your comments.

Elaine