MrsBeez

Dedicated followers of fashion

Posted on November 23, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received = 1

A little break from Christmassy themed projects today and a little bit of retro fashion. As I’m just completing my December Design Team projects for The Gecko Galz I realised I still have quite a few from November and October to share with you. Nevertheless, I think this tag has a certain winter feel about it:

This uses a retro fashion image from The Gecko Galz Retro Fashion collage set and paper from the Miss Muffet Paper Pack. As I’m in Christmas mode, this lady reminds me Julia, the wife in the film “The Bishop’s Wife” one of my all time Christmas favourites starring my favourite actor Cary Grant.

I’ve used a black tag and mounted the image on black card, adding some pearls.

A seam binding bow and gorgeous white organza rose ribbon trim complete the look.

My second tag again uses an image from the Retro Fashion collage sheet and features more ladies that look as if they could star in a film with Cary Grant – maybe North by Northwest, my absolute favourite of all films?

I’ve used some fabulous ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon, a strip of black crochet lace and a black flower as embellishments.

Instead of ribbon, I used a scrap of black and silver net/tulle at the top.

Finally, a card;

I cut the original image into three and used foam pads to attach them to the background.

The backing paper is again from the Miss Muffet paper pack and I’ve layered it on cream card.

There’s a strip of pretty cream net lace and a gorgeous cranberry seam binding bow to finish it all off.

Thanks for buzzing by.

Snowy Owl

Posted on November 22, 2013 by MrsBeez

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As we have now had the first snowfall I decided it was OK to share this snowy little project with you:

This is an altered tin that uses a lovely owl image from The

The owl sits all huddled up under the snowy branches, keeping his eyes tightly closed, as if that will somehow make it all go away.

I decoupaged the image adding several layers and then gave it all a good coating of faux snow and chunky glitter.

I added in white moss, white punched fronds and little red berries.

There’s also some white leaf ribbon trim.

This project is for all of you that would really just like to hibernate!

Thanks for buzzing by.

More string and some real life snow!

Posted on November 21, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =1, craft packages received =1

Yesterday evening we had our very first snow! It was very wet and was soon gone, but for a few magical hours everywhere was white. As you can imagine, I was a little giddy. I will now be on permanent snow watch and Mr Beez knows that the answer to the question “Has it snowed?” is always, always “yes.”

Today I am sharing a tag that I have made for the Sunday Stampers current challenge which is to use string:

The base of the tag is kraft card that I coloured with distress inks and then spritzed with water. Once dry, I stamped some script and then splattered on some white acrylic paint for a snowy look. The Merry Christmas was stamped over the top using Fired Brick distress ink.

I’ve added a strip of music manuscript and then some cherry baker’s twine.

The star is a Vintaj embellishment and I’ve stamped it with black Archival ink. I picked the star up for next to nothing at the Harrogate craft show and now I’ve used one I wish I’d bought more.

The finishing touches are seam binding bows and the little Santa embellishment was one from last year and is by Kaiser Kraft.

I hope you’re keeping warm, please excuse me now as I need to concentrate on looking out of the window!

Thanks for buzzing by.

Old inchies

Posted on November 20, 2013 by MrsBeez

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I struggled for a long time to think of what take I could do for this week’s Every Inchie Monday theme of “old.” I thought of doing distressed backgrounds or wrinkled fabric and papers. However, in the end I decided to go with using up old supplies and utilised last year’s “old” Christmas cards to make these:

I have a feeling that making something along these lines may become addictive! I punched out the one inch squares from different Christmas cards.

I drew the trees, by hand, onto more bits of old Christmas card, using a scribbly style that I hope looks a bit like stitching. Then it was just a case of cutting them out and sticking them onto the inchie background. To finish them off I’ve added some hand drawn stitching around the edges.

For this inchie I made the background and used some Vintage Photo distresss ink to colour the card. I spritzed the ink with water to give it an even more distressed look. The tree is made from an old book page.

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There are, as always, some great takes on the them challenge so be sure to buzz over to Every Inchie Monday and check them out.

Thanks for buzzing by.

Christmas Wreath

Posted on November 19, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received =0

Today I have some exciting news to share. The lovely Kirsty of City Crafter Challenge Blog had invited me to be a special guest star for the next four weeks. Well, trust me,l I didn’t need asking twice! I love their challenges and the super-talented Design Team is one of the friendliest there is.

So, the theme over at City Crafter Challenge Blog for Week 186 is Decorate it (make a card or project using a wreath). Here’s the inspiration photo’

I decided to make a card:

I made the wreath by first preparing a ring from cardstock. Then I punched out lots and lots of spruce-like fronds and branches, from different tones of green card, using my Martha Stewart punches. I then used glue gel to apply them to the wreath, building up lots of layers. I popped some little red and brown berries in amongst the branches and then added some sparkly glitter.

I layered up festive coloured cardstock and topped it off with a piece of wood effect card as the backdrop for the wreath. Once the wreath was secure I added a little Merry Christmas sentiment which is a peel off from my stash.

The finishing touch was to add a nice juicy red bow and a couple of little rusty jingle bells.

Be sure to buzz over to City Crafter Challenge Blog and take a look at what the Design Team have been up to. You’ll be in for a treat.

Thanks for buzzing by.

Counting down the days

Posted on November 18, 2013 by MrsBeez

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When do you start counting down the days to Christmas? For me it’s usually sometime around the beginning of January. Yes, really! As you know, I love Christmas and I feel so low after the decorations have come down I cheer myself up and start planning the next one. Two pivotal dates in my calendar are July 25th, when I mark Christmas in July and September the 15th when there are just 100 days to go. In addition, because I usually take extended leave around Christmas I also have a mini-countdown of working days left. Today I only have 17 working days to go before I finish for the holidays. I promise you I’m not wishing my days away :)

So today I am sharing a mini Christmas countdown that I have made using a fabulous Father Christmas image from The Graphics Fairy.

The base is a little MDF ATC that I covered with red glitter card and trimmed with a silver chenille stem. After sticking Father Christmas behind the board I added red glitter to his and coat and hat, then popped on a little pom-pom.

The chalkboard is self-adhesive and comes on a roll, I’ve stuck it to some green glitter card.

I’ve added some stickers from my stash and some tiny white jingle bells.

I attached some red candy stripe trim to the back so that he can be hung up.

Thanks for buzzing by.

Christmas canvas and Christmas shopping

Posted on November 17, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received =0

Today, there was no choice, Mr Beez and I had to bite the bullet and brave Meadowhall, Sheffield’s big shopping centre, to do some shopping. Now I LOVE shopping, but not at Meadowhall and, for someone who loves Christmas, I’m not overly keen on Christmas shopping. Once I know what I’m looking for, I’m fine but it’s generally the case of having no idea at all and if I do see lovely things I want one for me too! Our foray wasn’t totally without success. Mr Beez was surreptitiously making lists when he thought I wasn’t looking and I did come away with one or two names on my “nice list” ticked off.

Having braved Meadowhall it is quite remarkable that I have also managed to make a little something to share over at Sunday Stampers for this week’s string themed challenge.

I love these little canvases and they are really easy and cheap to get hold of. I’ve used some old book paper (remember that altered book a few weeks back – I’m still using up the bits I cut out?!) and coloured it with some Vintage Photo distress ink. Once the ink was applied I spritzed it with water to make it blotchy. I then added water to the left over ink on my Splodge Mat and splatted some over the top of the canvas.

Once dried, I wrapped some string around the lower part of the canvas and dabbed on some white acrylic paint.

The tree is the roof part from one of the Dylusions Little Houses stamp set. I love to use it as a Christams tree. I’ve stamped onto green paper and then gone over some of the lines with a white gel pen.

The words are from a sheet that I bought from Etsy.

The finishing touch was to add a little gold star.

As I reach the end of this post one thing is very clear. I absolutely do need the M & S “Twelve Days of Christmas” nail varnish box set. Anyone heading for Meadowhall??!!

Thanks for buzzing by.

Christmas card, tag and bag set

Posted on November 16, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received=2

Firstly, Happy Birthday to my nephew, Henry, who is 6 today. I am very pleased to see him sporting one of his new birthday presents:

The number 6 shirt has a particularly special place in the heart of West Ham fans as it was the number sported by their legendary captain, Bobby Moore, who also captained England to victory in the 1966 World Cup. The number 6 shirt was retired by West Ham a few years ago to mark the 50th anniversary of Bobby Moore’s debut, so is no longer worn by players. I’m glad Henry will make is only little bit of football history in his 6th year.

Last week I gave you a sneaky peak of one of my Gecko Galz Design Team projects that use this month’s fabulous free products. Every month Leanne kindly shares a digital stamp, paper and vintage image that you can collect for free. I feel particularly lucky that I got a preview of this month’s set as they all have a Christmas theme.

Today I thought I’d share the matching bag, tag and card that I made:

The card uses the image and backing paper and they go together beautifully. I’ve layered them up on gold glitter card and some matching crimson card. Then I’ve added a die cut poinsettia, some gold berries and some divine fabric holly leaves from Calico Crafts.

The coordinating crimson ribbons complete the look.

For the tag, I’ve added in some music manuscript, also from the Gecko Galz then embellished with a crimson bow, gold glitter trim, lace, berries and paper roses.

There’s also a smidge of one of my new favourite products – Stickles glitter glue.

Lastly, the gift bag which is a decorated brown mini paper bag.

I’ve used the more of the music manuscript paper, together with the green, but this time picked out the creams, instead of the crimson, with a seam binding bow and some little paper sweetheart blossoms.

Hope you have a great weekend and thanks for buzzing by. Don’t forget to go an pick your freebies!

Bonus butterfly

Posted on November 16, 2013 by MrsBeez

This is the first of two posts today as I welcome back the very lovely and super talented Dionne to my blog. You will remember that Dionne very kindly helped me in raising awareness of Cockayne Syndrome and the work of Amy and Friends who support sufferers and their families during my month long blogiversary butterfly project. Take a look at what she has crafted:

Isn’t it stunning? I love the colours, they seem perfect for this time of year. I don’t think I could bring myself to burn this. Dionne has made some amazing projects using this beautiful stamp from Stampin’ Up! She’s also the queen of candle decorating so be sure to buzz over to her blog and check out her fantastic work.

Thanks for buzzing by.

Twinchie time again

Posted on November 15, 2013 by MrsBeez

Craft packages ordered =1, craft packages received =2

It’s finally Friday – hurrah! If you’re in the UK you may well have spent the day in your PJs to mark Children In Need Day. One of the disadvantages of mostly working from home is that you miss out on fun office activities although for my workmates it’s probably a blessing that I’m not rocking up in my novelty nightwear! Back in the days when I worked in London for the BBC both myself and Mr Beez used to do a voluntary stint answering the phones and taking donations on Children In Need night. It was a heart warming and humbling experience.

Today I have some festive twinchies to share with you and, as you will see, I am slowly becoming totally immersed in Christmas:

I am sharing these over at Show Us Your Twinchies where the current challenge is to use bling. Now, given that bling is my thing, these are quite understated and even more so in the photos which do not show off the full extent of their sparkle.

I used my Dylusions holly stamp on white card and coloured in the leaves with a selection of green Promarkers. Then I added the background colour using various distress inks applied with Inkdusters.

I’ve added white highlights and snow with a gel pen.

I’ve used Xmas Red Stickles for the berries and extra sparkle to the leaves with a glitter gel pen.

I can’t decide which colour is my favourite, except I wish the red one (above) was a little darker,

These would make nice toppers for clean and simple cards. However, I’m tempted to see if I can find some small frames to put them in.

If you’re out and about fundraising for Children In Need I hope you’re super successful. Meanwhile, I shall sit here, all alone, wearing my Pudsey Bear ears

Thanks for buzzing by.