Behold Beauty mirror Altered Art

 This is my entry for the Sunday Stamper Challenge at Hels Sheridans blog page "Ink on my fingers" Pinkleart Blog.  This week it is blue and stamping, I don't do much in blue for some reason but it was nice to do something other than pink or lilac!!

Take a charity shop bargain, mirror for 50p and get messy :-)  I found this on one of my rummaging sessions and it is a nice'ish little mirror but it needed work to turn it from boring cream to something prettier.  Cheap objects like this are great for practicing on, after all if it goes wrong it goes back to the charity shop!!  It gave me a chance to try out some of my new stuff and stash bust my old too.  So here is how I did this with as many details as I can recall.

Lol, the downside of trying to photograph mirrored objects

The wood frame is painted in pearl acrylic paints, I tried to get the brush marks to show for effect so a dry brush method on the final coat helps.  I used two colours of pale blue's .

Randon stamping using faded jeans distress ink and with a brick effect and crackle stamp to suggest texture.

The torn paper is two pages from an old flower book, I washed this with a wet  brush with hardly any paint on to hint at colour. Run through the Cuttlebug in a bark effect folder and a flowery one, then did "ink to paper" with distress ink to show up some of the embossing detail.  Tear into pieces and inked the edges with more faded jeans ink and stuck on with wet glue

 Martha Stewart's NEW silicone moulds for the letters made with UTEE, these are great and give great results, the letters come out so easily and they are quite detailed too

Pour UTEE onto Texture tread rubber and use a butterfly cutter, Shape while still warm,  brushed with Mica powder. The other small butterfly is a Martha Stewart mould.  Various die cut leaves and sprigs were dipped into clear UTEE as well as the flowers

 Paper for the flowers is K & Co

 I used Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die, Marianne and Crafts Too die's for flowers and leaves. I love the look they have after being dipped into UTEE, like real crystal flowers

 Close up's of the book pages after inking, embossing and tearing
Thanks for looking xx

Advent Card/Calender

 

I have been meaning to make one of these for a few years now
but time always ran out or I forgot till December :-(  So I thought I might try it and do a tutorial to go with it in case anyone else wanted to have a go.  I used a large card blank to make the basis for the card, a sheet of A4 to go inside, if you use a bought blank card it's easier as you will have an envelope that looks nicer than having to go with an office one.  O'k it's not perfect but not to shabby for a first try.

Part One

The basic measuring and cutting is as follows.  Please bare in mind that this is scanned so the red lines should be on the right hand side when you do it or the tabs will open from left to right which is a little odd.

With the card in landscape measure 1/2" in from the right and then the tabs are 1 1/2" each with a 1/4" gap between.  The space at the left hand will be slightly out but it looks o'k. To make the lines down measure 1/2" from the top and then 1 1/2" each tab and 1/2" between till you have four lines of boxes

Work on the inside of the card, don't worry about pencil lines as you can erase them but they will be covered by papers and pictures anyway.  If you wanted to use a patterned paper to cover the card before cutting do it now and glue all over so it won't come away when you have made the cuts.  So when it's all marked up you CUT the GREEN lines and SCORE the RED lines.

Cover the windows with patterned papers and fill in the rest with paper if you didn't cover it first.

Choose some pictures to go behind the windows and stick them to a sheet of cardstock so they will show in each space, not showing mine in case I decide some poor unfortunate is going to receive it!!

Cut out the numbers from a sheet or however you decide to do the numbers.  I used Teresa Collins "Countdown" sheet I bought a few years ago but she has a new range this year which would work. Here it is and where you can get it in the UK I am sure American ladies will have no trouble finding it, maybe at Crafty Charlie's?

http://www.thestampattic.co.uk/christmas_cottage.htm

http://www.craft-emporium.co.uk/index.php?cPath=831_1087

 I used a nestie to cut out the numbers and fixed with raised glue pads to help when opening the window.  Attach in a random pattern. 

 Inside I added some pattern paper and a topper with the last number mounted on another Nestability shape and a little glitter.  Well there it is, hope you have a try and enjoy making it yourself x

Finishing touches

Its the final countdown now so time to put together some finishing touches to presents you have made. Boxes are essentials for those little extras to go in. Here in my previous post is a good easy way to make some, the folded corner as opposed to the cut one makes for a slightly stronger box.

I got these cute clear baubles and flat photo Christmas Tree ornaments, (I made some last year) as a keepsake of Noah as he grows to add to my tree each year. You can put 2 photo's in each so as the turn you see 2 different pictures. In the baubles I added some Christmas confetti and I have written the date on the back of the photo's too. Great for the family and Grandma's as a stocking filler.

Christmas Scene

I have made a start on the scene for my front entry porch. So far we have trees, houses and snowmen. Keep watching for the end product
TFLxxx

Merry Christmas Garland

Well with the cards all ready to go I thought Iwould have a go at some decorative things for the house. I decided on a garland first for the front porch where I always have an extra tree and I wanted something for the wall there.

Paper - My Minds Eye - Wondeful Winter Glittered Stack
Papermania - Christmas Textured Plain Cardstock Stack
Cricut Cartridges - Winter Woodland and When its Cold Outside

I did not add anything more as the papers do it all and I love the look just as it is.

Letters cut at 3"
Snowflakes cut at 4 1/4"
Cut File

Holy decorated ribbon was just from a Christmas Wrapping section instore

Place Settings and Friends Cards

I wanted to make some of the cups like Donna had done on Cricut forums but not as cards so I designed a cut file to make them into place names and menu cards. I hope you like them. I have not done them to suit a table theme as they will be for tea-time so a variety of colours suit, with the Christmas Crackers it makes a more fun table, had they been for dinner I would have made them the same to co-ordinate with my table,

I made them with a tab and slot so it would make them stand better. The menu ones have the work cut from the front layer for the names I did cut out letters and stuck them on after. Here is the CUT FILE if you want to have a go with the pattern I made.

The papers are Dovecraft, I added some pompoms to look like marshmallows on some of them and used glitter and flakes for "sprinkles". The menu ones have a printed menu inside made in "MS Word" and cut out

I have finished my cards but I couldn't resist making a few more just in case I forgot anyone, its always good to have some spares. The papers are Forever Friends with matching Double Sided card stock, some mirror board and punched snowflakes. I used a free embossing board gift from a magazine to make the greetings.