MrsBeez

Confetti bag/pouch

Posted on May 13, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received =0

Is it really Monday morning again? Being Monday it is of course Brag Monday over at The Graphics Fairy. Here’s what I’ll be sharing:

P1040176 I shall also be linking this up with Crafty Boots where the theme is “Celebrations.”

I’ve made this as a little bag for confetti. My friend’s daughter is going to her first wedding where she ISN’T going to be a bridesmaid. I can identify with this as I never got to be a bridesmaid until I was married when, technically, I would have been a Matron of Honour. However, as it was my cousin’s wedding she allowed me to be a bridesmaid J During those years of never being a bridesmaid (the pain of it is all coming back to me!) I would have loved to have had something like this bag so I could “pretend” – something I excelled at!!

I have to thank Ros Crawford, AKA Mikey’s Mom, for drawing my attention to Creations by AR who has made a template available for this little bag. It was so simple, I shall be making more. I actually took a snapshot of the template (you can do this easily – the template is a PDF and this facility is part and parcel) and pasting it into Word. This enabled me to put the lovely Graphics Fairy image straight onto the template (you will need to resize it)before printing out.

The bag is super simple to assemble and once done it was just a question of embellishing. I’ve used my favourite pale pink ruffle lace to frame the image. I used a double piece of ribbon to make the little handle, then attached bows on either side.

I’ve added a little leaf trim, some paper blossoms and a punched butterfly. As yet, I haven’t added any glitter but might just pop on a smidge.

Here’s hoping for a great week ahead and it would be lovely to see you here again!

Dragonflies – RRR #71

Posted on May 12, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =1, craft packages receieved =0

Well I had a lovely day in London yesterday – although I have to say that for the second time this year I found London to be colder than Sheffield. I took a huge gamble and went without an umbrella AND wore high heels. Thankfully, we didn’g get caught in the rain and my feet held up to the challenge I set, including walking on cobbled streets and negotiating a spiral staircase without a handrail!

There was champagne and dainty sandwiches and champagne and delicate savory morsels and champagne and tiny pastries and champagne and cupcakes and… well I think you probably get the picture. My friend had managed to buy lots of vintage cake stands, plates, teacups and saucers it was beautiful. As was her house, which I hadn’t seen before. I returned home in the evening tired but happy still clutching my bunny ears! Just 4 weeks to the wedding – I haven’t even thought about an outfit!

Today I am sharing a couple of little dragonflies that I thought might make nice present toppers:

I shall be sharing these over at Really Reasonable Ribbon for the ribbon sparkle & bling challenge. The base of these pretty babies is a pipecleaner. I double it over, pulled it into an oval at the looped end and twisted at the other to make the tail.

Next, I wrapped silky ribbon around the “skeleton” going from top to bottom and then back up again, using a blob of glue to secure. I made a pair of anntennae from some silver wire. The pink dragonfly has beads on the end and the blue one has sparkly aqua gems.

The wings were made from some champagne netting. I cut two strips. wrapped wire around the centre of each piece and then combined them to make a double pair of wings. You can’t see it in the photo’s but there is a sprinkle of crystal glitter on the wings which looks very pretty.

To finish them I added a large gem and a little blossom, plus a chit-chat sticker.

There was a bumper package of ribbons, from Really Reasonable Ribbon, but I have banned myself from undoing them until I sort out the mess that is my ribbon bag. You really wouldn’t believe what a dreadful state they are in. Bonnie would probably never send me any ever again if she saw it. A kindly ribbon fairy has offered to take them away and sort them out for me but as much as this appeals to me, I would feel very bad if I let her do it. I will go and hang my shame curtains immediately!

Diamonds and pearls and..er…a bee

Posted on May 11, 2013 by MrsBeez

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An early post this morning as I’m heading south for the day for a trip down to London. A soon to be married friend is having her hen tea party this afternoon so I’m hot footing it down there for a few hours, returning home late tonight. I LOVE London and miss living in the south. I always get a bit of a lump in my throat as the train whizzes past old haunts and the memories come flooding back.

Last week it was all about the seashore, this week it would seem it’s all about the bees as I have another bee card to share with you.

I am linking this up with Sunday Stampers for the diamonds and pearls challenge. This is more what I had in mind earlier in the week when I ended up making this instead.

The little bee in today’s creation would have been wearing a crown if only I could have located the stamp. I saw it at the beginning of my crafting session but then it disappeared!

I stamped the bee, minus crown, on to some coconut white card. I edged the card with Black Soot distress stain and some gold rub on wax (my poor man’s gilding wax!). The background is some Graphic 45 paper from The Old Curiosity Shoppe collection and I mounted this on plain black card. The clock is one of the new releases this month from the Gecko Galz Time Flies set. (There’s a buy on get one free promotion on at the moment AND some fab freebies, so be sure to check it out).

I’ve added Black Soot and gold to the clockface, as before, plus I popped a black pearl in the centre.

I mounted the bee image on 3D foam and put some black ribbon underneath. If you were to turn the ribbon over you would see that it has Hotel Chocolat embossed on it! I cut it off the handles of one of their bags. I also added a little bronze key charm.

I made a coiled rose from black card and added a pearl centre plus a smear of gold to the edges.

Finally, as I had been a bit limited with the stamping, I went to town with the pearls adding little pearls to some of the diamonds. It reminds me of when you glaze a gammon and stud it with cloves. Always about the food as far as I’m concerned!

I will see you on my return from the Big Smoke. Before I leave, I just have to pack up my best pair of bunny ears, but please don’t tell a soul as it’s a surprise!

Playing in the sun

Posted on May 10, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received=0

Now I think I’m fully recovered from my brief mystery virus. However, it’s hard to be sure as youngest Beez decided not to come home until the early hours of the morning. Although this is a fairly frequent occurrence, this morning he chose to fall up the stairs. He didn’t hurt himself, but the disturbance he caused ensured that Friday began at ridiculous o’clock. Still, better to have him home safe and sound than worrying and wondering if he’s OK!

Today I am sharing a card that I am sharing over at Papercraft Star for this week’s challenge which is “let the sun shine.”

I find the hardest part of making a card is how to bring it all together. Sometimes it’s nice to just let the image speak for itself, but I’m not very good at doing this as it feels a bit cheaty. However, today I feel I’ve come quite close.

To create the image I masked off a circle for the sun and then used Broken China and Salty Ocean distress inks all over the base card. Once applied, I gave it a spritz of water so it had a mottled effect. Next, I removed the mask and then applied colour to the white space – I used Mustard Seed and Wild Honey.

Once everything was completely dry I stamped the foxglove image several times, using black Archival ink. The stamp, from Chocolate Baroque, is fabulous. I used a water brush to add colour, again using distress inks. Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry for the flowers and Shabby Shutters and Mowed Lawn for the stems and leaves. Finally, I added the little bees and gave the completed image a coating of crystal clear glitter for some sunshine sparkle.

Then came the dilemma – what else to put with it on the card? I played with all sorts of bits and bobs but it just seemed to be a case of gilding the lily. Then I hit on the idea of using some net. I applied several layers to the back of the image so it hung down just below the bottom of the card.

The finishing touch was to add the silver stud and the chit-chat stickers.

A big whoop because it is Friday! And an even bigger one for a good night’s sleep. Have a great weekend

Queen Bee take 2

Posted on May 9, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered=2, craft packages received =0

Feeling a lot better today, but still not 100%. I felt even worse this morning when I realised that yesterday I had let a friend down. We were supposed to be having early evening dinner at the local pub but I forgot completely. Whatever it is I’ve got/had is clearly having an impact on my creativity too.

Making this card turned into a right performance and it really wasn’t that difficult to do:

My original intention had been to use this image and produce something that was monochrome. I’d envisaged a dramatic black bow and some sort of dangly embellishment. I am sharing this over at City Crafter for the current challenge which has the theme of “Royal.” My first thought was, naturally, Queen Bee – that part, at least, I stuck to!

I stamped the bee first , followed by the little crown, on to a square of white card and then added Mustard Seed and Wild Honey distress inks. I used the same colour inks to stamp the background. I used a waterbrush to draw out some of the colour on to the petals.

I stamped some more flowers on to Japanese Rice paper and crunched them up before layering onto the background, popping on some coordinating ribbon beforehand. I also added dimension to the bee’s wings using the same technique. The finishing touch was to add a little gem to the centre of the largest flower.

So, not the black and white creation I had intended but maybe I can try that another day.

Getting messy

Posted on May 8, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =1, craft packages received=0

Today I have been feeling a bit sorry for myself L I woke up this morning not feeling quite right and found I had a bit of a temperature. I don’t appear to have any other symptoms so have just been drinking lots of fluids and taking paracetamol. I don’t like being unwell and I especially don’t like having a temperature and not knowing what has caused it.

So, because I’m feeling a bit rubbish I haven’t really felt like being crafty. Therefore I thought this would be an ideal opportunity to share the altered canvas that I made at Hels Sheridan’s workshop at The Craft Den, in Sheffield on Saturday.

We started with a blank, primed canvas. Using a sponge I pounced on some creamy/beige paint. Then Hels showed us how to use a palette knife to scrape paint on to the canvas. Once dry, I used dark embossing paste through stencils to create the flowers and diamonds. The trick was to smooth in on first and then add another layer over the top to create a textured finish. I also applied the paste to the chipboard letters.

After that, I used a spotty background stamp with black Archival ink and stamped onto a single layer of a tissue (the nose blowing kind!). I then ripped small pieces of the design and stuck them down on parts of the canvas and also on some of the stencilling. We used glue and seal to do this and applied it over the tissue as well as underneath. This gives almost a transparent finish to the tissue so that you only see the stamped design. This is a great technique and I can’t wait to use it again.

I painted the side of the canvas with alternate stripes of beige and black paint. To neaten it up Hels showed us how to use a special Stabilo All pencil on the black edges. We also used this to add depth and definition to the stencilled bits.

To finish, there were all different colours of Treasure Gold gilding wax which was rubbed over the stencilling, parts of the canvas and some UTEE embellishements. I LOVE this product. The trouble is there are so many scrumptious colours to choose from, me being me can’t make a decision so end up with precisely none!

I also stamped some butterflies and had the luxury of cutting these out with proper crafting scissors. WOW – what a luxury they were and it made the job so much easier.

Can’t wait to go on another workshop and if you get the chance to join in with one that Hels is running, don’t hesitate she is a brilliant teacher.

If I wasn’t feeling quite so under the weather I would have added some pearls to the butterflies and shared this over at Sunday Stampers for the current challenge which is diamonds and pearls. I will have to think of something else to do for that. However, do pop over and take a look at all the inspiration that is over there. Hels brought quite a few samples with her on Saturday and I have to tell you they are even more magnificent in real life.

DoubleTrouble

Posted on May 7, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0 ,craft packages received =0

I always find the first day back at work after a holiday, even if it’s only a Bank Holiday, a bit of a trial, especially if it is hot and sunny outside. It’s not helped by the fact that I kept over compensating for the day off by thinking today was Wednesday. That’s not good is it? However, I did get the bonus of the most delicious school lunch in a fabulous school in Barnsley. As well as doing fantastic work around food, the school also had the most amazing greenhouse which was constructed out of empty plastic bottles.

Today I am sharing two cards which feature some cute characters.

I will be sharing one of these over at Crafty Boots for their current challenge for which you have to use a stamped character. I had great fun colouring in both of these with Promarkers.

Obviously I can never resist a bee image and I just love this whimsical one. I added some glitter to his/her (not sure, what do you think?) wings.

I layered up the image on coordinating yellow and brown papers and finished the whole thing off with some brown ribbon and some adorable fabric miniature daffodil heads.

The second card is in honour of my talented friend Dionne who is a member of the Crafty Boots Design Team. She has been telling me that she has started knitting, having taught herself with the help of YouTube. When I saw this image it just made me think of her clickety-clacking away with her needles.

I may have to take a leaf out of her book as I never got the hang of knitting. I did manage French Knitting and we also had a craze of finger knitting when I was at school. However, with both of those you just ended up with yarn that you couldn’t really do anything with.

Happy House

Posted on May 6, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft Packages ordered =1, craft packages received =0

Having told you yesterday that Sheffield is about as far away from the coast as you can get in this country, Mr Beez and I decided to take advantage of the untypical Bank Holiday weather (i.e. sunny!) and make the journey eastwards. It was a bit of a trek but we were very happy to spend a few hours in Filey and then up at the dramatic Flamborough Head.

We didn’t have a paddle but we did manage to squeeze in an ice cream and, naturally, chips on the way home!

Today I am sharing a cute little house that I made using some images from The Graphics Fairy.

This might look a little familiar, as is similar to an altered piece I did a few weeks back. I so loved the image that I created by combining two Graphics Fairy images, I decided to use it again.

The base is a fab inchie frame in the shape of a house that I got from Artchix. Each piece comes with the frame, transparent window and then a solid back. For this I’ve just used the frame so I still have the back to play with. I’ve simply covered the fram with some champagne coloured mica glitter and then embellished with cream and ivory coloured goodies including off-cuts from my Tattered Lace die-cuts, pearls and an Ideaology chit-chat sticker.

Looks like todays Bank Holiday Monday is, for once, going to be a sunny one. Think we might take a trip to town and browse the Continental Market and gawp at all the snooker players hanging out in the Winter Gardens. Enjoy your day.

Being Crabby

Posted on May 5, 2013 by MrsBeez

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One of my favourite seaside places is Cromer on the North Norfolk coast. My uncle used to own a holiday flat there and we had many happy holidays back in the day when summers were always hot and sunny and you could spend all day on the beach. Although I remember one year my cousin and I were determined to swim in the sea at the end of October. My uncle was mad enough not only to encourage is us, but to join in as well.The flat was above two shops on the main street and was numbered 22 ½ . We visited last Autumn and it’s still there. There was a cushioned ledge in that bay window and it used to be great sitting there watching the world go by.

During my teenage years we actually lived quite close to Cromer and although there were nearer seaside towns, the attraction of boys motivated us to make the complicated bus journey there on a regular basis! Cromer has changed very little over the years, the journey from Sheffield is a nightmare but, once again, it is well worth the effort although the attraction now is for the delicacy that Cromer is famous for – fresh crab!

Today I am sharing an ATC which is my Anything But A Card DT piece for the current challenge which is to make an ATC.

The base of the ATC is a piece of Tim Holtz paper. To make the crab topper I first coloured a piece of cardstock with Vintage Photo distress ink, gave it a spritz of water then blotted with kitchen towel. This gives it a lovely mottled appearance.I stamped the crab in Fired Brick then added a little glitter and a trio of pearls. I found a piece of brown coloured wire lying around with my craft stuff and wrapped it around the ATC. I have no idea where the wire came from at all but I wish I could find some more.

I’ve used a piece of gold Dresden trim across the corner and popped on a couple of glass droplets. Under the mini shell are some fibre strands that I’ve pulled from a piece of jute. To finish I added a little star button and some Artchix words.

Be sure to check out the fabulous ATCs over at Anything But A Card. Not only have the design team pulled out all the stops there are already some amazing entries. You still have a week to share yours.

If you haven’t been to Cromer I would recommend you pay it a visit. You can’t beat a fresh crab sandwich eaten up on the coastal path overlooking the sea.

Little Miss Beez

Posted on May 4, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received =0

What a fab day! I’ve spent the day over at the Craft Den, a newly discovered Aladdin’s Cave of crafting, in Sheffield. Not only is it somewhere stuffed full of crafting goodies, it also hosts a whole range of workshops. I spent the day with a lovely group of ladies, under the guidance of crafting goddess Hels Sherridan, altering a canvas. My fingers are covered in all sorts of crafty gunge – paints, Treasure Gold (oh my!), inks, glue… What a great way to spend Saturday. I can’t show you the canvas today, as I still have one or two bits to finish but I’ve loved learning all the different techniques and can’t wait to try them again.

Instead, I am sharing a card that I have made for the Crafty Boots challenge which is to use a stamped character:

Yep, it’s Mrs Beez in her younger days. I wish!! I really wasn’t a cute child and you can’t deny that this little lady is a real cutie. I’ve coloured her with Promarkers and then edged the card with Wild Honey (obviously) and Vintage Photo distress inks.

I’ve layered her up on yellow spotted card and then used a combination of green and yellow spotty papers, separated by some brown ribbon. I edged some little daisies with Worn Lipstick distress inks and tumbled these down the side.

Now does anyone know how you get Treasure Gold off your hands?!