MrsBeez

Red, kraft and white

Posted on December 10, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received =0

The theme for the new City Crafter Challenge Blog challenge #189 is Christmas Colours – make a project that include the colors red, kraft and white. It doesn’t have to be a Christmas themed project, just use the colour palette. Here’s the inspiration photo’:

And here’s the card I made:

I’m indebted to my friend Dionne who, in the summer, very kindly die cut me a million snowflakes in all sorts of colours. I’ve used one of the large red ones here, together with white and kraft coloured ones that I die cut on my Sizzix big shot.

I used a little red glittery heart in the centre.

For the background I embossed some kraft card and then layered it up with white and red. I decided this would be a perfect Christmas card for Mr Beez and add a sentiment just for him!

I mounted it on some kraft card and then on to candy cane striped ribbon, with a couple of little red gems for good measure.

Be sure to check out what the super talented City Crafter design team have been up to and I know they would love you to share your projects with them.

If you’re thinking you’ve seen this before, you’d be right. I inadvertently gave a sneaky peek of it last week in my attempt to be super organised!

Thanks for buzzing by.

Christmas plaque

Posted on December 9, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received =0

There’s a new challenge over at Crafty Boots Challenges and the theme is Christmas – yippee! I’m sharing one of the decorations I have made using images from The Gecko Galz.

I started with a chipboard base and then added the vintage Christmas bingo card that comes from the Gecko Galz Altered Artifacts collage set. I inked the edges and then added the lovely image of the girl which is from the Ephemera Romance collage set – you’ll recognise her from yesterday’s project. Next, I added clear crackle medium and a coat of chunky clear glitter.

Once dry, I hot glued gold chenille trim all around the edge of the chipboard and added a hanging loop to the back.

I’ve applied some beautiful gold lace and some red mini pom-pom trim along the bottom. The wreath has been brought to life by giving it a coating of Vintage Christmas Flowersoft.

P1060490 I’ve decoupaged a second image of the girl over the top of the first and added some red glitter glue to her coat and some clear glitter to the snowball in her hand.

The finishing touch was to add a red bow to the hanging loop.

P1060494 Be sure to buzz over to the Crafty Boots Challenges blog and see what the rest of the Design Team have been up to. My friend Dionne has made an adorable little wooden house.

Thanks for buzzing by.

Christmas spool ornament

Posted on December 8, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received =0

Today sees the second week of the new challenge over at Anything But A Card and the theme for Challenge #30 is “Anything Goes ..with a Holiday twist.” Here’s my Design Team piece:

The thing I am most pleased about is the Christmas tree. Almost a year ago I bought a bumper bag of green bottle brush trees with the intention of bleaching and dyeing them. However, in my true crafting style I was too scared to do it…until now. As it turned out, it was as easy as everyone says. Some warm water, a few capfuls of household bleach, pop in your tree and within no time at all the green is gone. Just rinse and leave to dry. The only thing I found was that the bleach took most of the faux snow with it, but this was easily sorted with a bit of white paint and some dry brushing. The baubles were cut off a metallic bead chain and attached with a glue gun.

I painted the spool red and then stuck the tree to the top. I then applied a layer of Snowtex all over the spool and also the base of the tree. Whilst it was still wet I added some faux snow.

To decorate the base of the spool I threaded a selection of festive coloured buttons with baker’s twine and glued these on. The greeting is from the Gecko Galz Christmas Tags collage sheet.

The little girl on top of the spool is also from the Gecko Galz. I added a pile of snowballs, made from small pom-poms, at her feet. I also popped some tiny parcels under the tree. A Christmas red bow finishes it all off.

I hope that, in between all your festive preparations and celebrations you’ll have time to buzz over to Anything But A Card and share your projects.

Thanks for buzzing by.

Party Owls

Posted on December 7, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received =0

My eldest son is the only one in our household who chooses to support a local team rather than a London based one as the rest of us do. In Sheffield there are two teams that divide the city – Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United. His choice is Sheffield Wednesday who are on the opposite side of the city to us, and known as The Owls. Their fortunes are not so hot at the moment and last week they sacked their manager. I doubt very much that The Owls feel like celebrating, unlike these party guys:

The idea for these came after I had made my circus themed decorations. Originally I was going to attach a hanging loop, but in the end decided to use pegs so that they could perch on the branches of the Christmas tree or anywhere else you might choose to put them.

The fabulous owl images are from The Graphics Fairy – there is a fantastic selection to choose from. I printed them out on to card and cut them out. To size the hats, I sketched them out on plain paper, using the individual heads as a guide. Once happy with the designs, I cut them out from glitter paper and glued them to the owls heads.

I glued the peg to the back and then decorated each owl’s hat and added glitter to the bodies. Each owl seems to have a different personality!

I love how these turned out. I think I might do a Halloween version when it comes around again. My top tip for making these – do not stand on them whilst the glue is still wet!

Thanks for buzzing by.

Snow was falling snow on snow

Posted on December 6, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received =0

Aside from the fact that I am currently in Vienna, today is a day for celebration as the lovely ladies from Papercraft Star are back after their November break. Ladies, you have been missed. Here is their photo’ inspiration for the new challenge:

And here is my card:

The background was made by swooshing on various distress inks with an Inkduster. I tore a piece of paper to create the landline and then just…er..swooshed! I added a little shading to the land by using the same piece of paper and very lightly using a little Iced Spruce distress ink. Then I added some snow with a white pen.

I stamped the moon on to the background and then stamped another on to some glitter card and then cut it out to stick to the original.

The tree is a die cut and I’ve added some Glitter Frosting to the branches – if you haven’t used this it’s a combination of very fine Flowersoft and glitter.

The little house you will recognise as one of my Dylusions stamps. I stamped a white roof to stick over the top of the red house and added a little more snow with a white pen.

To finish I took a real high stakes gamble and stamped the word directly on to the card. Yep, bonkers! However, I did have a back up plan in the event that it all back fired! The stamp is from a lovely stitched Christmas tree set by Darkroom Door.

Be sure to buzz over to Papercraft Star and see what the Design Team have been up to – you’ll know before me! I know they’d love you to join in if you can. The challenges always have the most fabulous inspiration photo’s and they are posted in advance which is perfect for someone like myself who is always on the move. Go on, you know you want to!

If you’ve been celebrating St Nicholas Day today, I hope you had fun. Thanks for buzzing by.

Santa dome

Posted on December 5, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered, craft packages received =0

Today I have a little Christmas ornament to share with you which I made as one of my Gecko Galz Design Team projects. I saw the idea on Pinterest and thought it would be a great way to use one of the fabulous images from the Santa Claus Lane collage set.

I used a 2 inch glass dome and coated the base with clear glue then stuck it over the portion of the image I liked the best.

I added a loop of ribbon to the back, made a double bow out of white and red seam binding and then popped on a snowflake brad.

I’ve also tucked in a small piece of white pom-pom trim.

Job done!

Now, as we’re at the start of a new month there are some new freebies available over at the Gecko Galz. You can also see the most beautiful samples made by my Gecko Sister Gerri. As if that wasn’t enough there are also freebies available when you make a purchase plus the chance to win prizes. You can also see the Christmas ornaments that the Design Team have been making. So, don’t delay and buzz on over today!

Thanks for buzzing by.

Under the mistletoe

Posted on December 4, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received =0

As you know, today we are off to Vienna. I am scheduling this post as I have been told, in no uncertain terms, that I must not be messing about on my blog when we need to make a prompt and early start. As if?! My project to share with you today is a tag that I have made for this week’s Sunday Stampers challenge where the theme is numbers.

This uses a beautiful mistletoe stamp by Lavinia. I love how sharp it is but in particular, I love it that the designer has made it so the leaves are solid and the berries are an outline.

First off, I coloured the tag with distress inks – Antique Linen, Shabby Shutters, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn and a touch of Vintage Photo. Next, I stamped some script in Vintage Photo. The mistletoe was stamped over the top and then the berries coloured in with a white gel pen.

Next I used the tiny hanging heart stamp, from Stampotique, and used black Memento ink so I could colour the hearts in red with Promarkers.

Then came the tricky part. Which number to use?! I mean, there are so many and I’m not very good at making choices. In the end, I found an Ideology sticker and used that.

After I had added the bow and baker’s twine I went over the hearts with some Crackle Accents.

Thanks for buzzing by.

Silent snow

Posted on December 3, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received =1

Now, if you paid a visit to my blog earlier today, or you are just buzzing over now because you received an email alert you may be a little puzzled. A slight scheduling error on my part! All we become apparent next week! It is still Tuesday and I am still going to Vienna tomorrow, so all is well with the world.

There is a new challenge over at City Crafter Challenge Blog and this week it is to use wood pieces or frames in your project. Freckled Fawn are sponsoring the challenge and there is a fantastic prize on offer for one lucky winner. Here’s my card:

I happened to have a box of tiny little wooden house embellishments that I’ve been to scared to use and decided this was the time to try one out. I’ve kept my card clean and simple.

I painted the house with red acrylic paint and added a little Snowtex. I placed some yellow card on the reverse side to give the windows a welcoming glow and then filled up the little heart with glitter glue. The background is a scrap of fabric – I kept the edges quite rough. I used another scrap to cut a little tree shape.

To finish the card I used two stamps from my new Darkroom Door set.

So, I’m off to pack and this is not my forte. I like to cover every eventuality and occasion so always take far more than I need. Mr Beez will question whether I need so much to which the answer obviously “yes.”

Thanks for buzzing by.

Jackets

Posted on December 2, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received =0

A new week begins and the new word over at Every Inchie Monday is “jacket”.

Well, did you seriously think I wouldn’t weave Christmas in there?! For once I am actual able to post my inchies on a Monday which is a nice change.

I’ve used glitter card for Santa’s jacket and a torn piece of paper across the bottom for the fur. The belt is black cardstock and the buckle is made by placing a tiny square of black card on top of a slightly larger one of gold glitter card. The buttons were done with Promarkers.

The elf jacket is green card. I used the reverse side of some Dresden trim, coloured with red Promarker, and a little gold glitter.

For the dinner jacket I used a white cardstock base and then black on the top, cutting out lapels, bow tie and a pocket. The buttons are silver glitter glue.

So a little wardrobe of jackets for the festive season. Be sure to buzz over to Every Inchie Monday to see the fabulous creativity that the other players will have brought to the challenge.

Thanks for buzzing by.

Santa Claus is coming to town…

Posted on December 1, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received =0

Happy Advent everyone – it’s finally here! At this point in time I am MILES behind with my list of things to do today. I shall get there but it’s slow progress. However, I have had some lovely Advent surprises – eldest son appeared with a chocolate Advent calendar each for myself and Mr Beez, I got a gorgeous pair of festive washing up gloves and a festive washing up brush from another friend plus a lovely Christmas countdown from another.

Today I am sharing a Christmas decoration that is a bit of a spin-off from yesterday’s illuminated bottle.

This started as a wooden heart that I covered with some white muslin, I deliberately left the edges rough and ready. I’ve added white crochet lace and some organza rose trim.

The image, from The Graphics Fairy, is the same one I used yesterday.

I’ve added a little silver glitter and topped it off with a sparkly punched snowflake.

To finish it off, I tucked in a small piece of music manuscript and some words.

As well as sharing this over at The Graphics Fairy Brag Monday party I am also linking it up for the new challenge, #85, at Really Reasonable Ribbon which is a bingo selection plus ribbon - I’ve gone on the diagonal for white, image and glitter.

Now next on my list of jobs is dusting and hovering! Alternatively, I could have a freshly baked mince pie and a glass of mulled wine. Decisions, decisions!

Thanks for buzzing by.