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Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts

Friday, 6 February 2026

Snowy cabin in the woods - (Creative Artiste Feb)

Good Morning all

Its the first friday in February so time for the first challenge of the year over at Creative Artiste where the theme is anything goes mixed media- we need at least 3 different mediums please.

When I made my Autumn Shadow box last year from a cat food box I thought I might try and do one for each season.  So here is my Winter scene -  a very snowy cabin in the woods.  

Approx size 8x6" and 3.5" deep

After covering it all in snow I made my little cabin (see details further down this post) and glued it into place.  I then die cut lots and lots and lots more pine trees from dark green cardstock, these I adhered together to make my own chipboard and make them nice and study - the trees adhered to a wall are 4 layers but those freestanding are 8 layers of die cuts, all covered in mod podge to again help strengthen them and then I added my snow with thick white gesso, dabbing it on the branches with my pallet knife, while still wet I sprinkled on the lightest dusting of super fine glitter.

I adhered the trees into place and covered the bottoms with more snow to hide any glue and make them part of the landscape.  I painted 5 wooden birds in brown and red like Robins and added around the scene, these just a little colour with the splash of red

I painted wooden snowflakes with white cadence dora paint which really shimmers in the light, these I adhered to the back and side walls of the box and added a clear gem to the centres for a bit more frosty bling.





I had to have a little Robin on the roof of the cabin.  Funnily while painting these Robins like our British ones the red is actually higher up on their breasts but it just looked weird so my Robins are more red bellies😀 which is more like the American Robin....but then that is more suiting this scene as snow like this in England would be very very very unusual and even more so coming across an old cabin in the woods...and if we ever get snow like this in Cornwall then we are in trouble! lol  As it a very rare occurrence to see snow and even rarer if it settles and hangs around for more than a day or two. 2" of snow is deep here and a rare sight.


Here you can see the outside of the box also, which I covered in texture paste and white acrylic for snow and added more wooden snowflakes.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to hang this on the wall or sitting on a side to display so I added both options.  I found some big clear acrylic heart beads in my stash which made great feet adhered flat, being clear they give a frosty like effect.  I also added a hanging hook to the back.

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How I made it 

I made a small slim box out of kraft card, gluing all the edges closed.  I added yellow acrylic paint where i wanted the window and then added matchsticks for my window.  I then added lolly sticks as the wood planks, making sure they weren't cut perfectly to give a more rustic feel like an older cabin would have.  I added more lolly sticks for the roof, this time keeping the rounded edge as the scalloped edge to the roof.   Then covered in black gesso.

I dried brushed on various layers of 3 shades of brown.  I added a touch of yellow around the outside of the window onto the planks to give the effect of the light shining out.  2nd pic shows back of box, the angled roof I attached with pinflair glue gel as its sticky enough to hold up the sticks while they were drying to get the right angle - once the back of the roof was attached to the back of the box it was solid and no chance of moving. 


I covered the box inside and out in texture paste - well cheap polyfiller actually which is ideal when doing larger areas like this.  I gave it a snowy effect with the spatula - this took me back to my bakery days and when we had to decorate 100's of Christmas cakes each year😀   Once dry I covered it in white gesso and then white acrylic paint, sprinkling just a little super fine glitter on the inside onto the paint while it was still wet, this gives a subtle glistening effect.....I don't really 'do' loose glitter as it gets everywhere but won some in a mixed media box so it did work well here.

Items Used:
Memory box tree die
Dark green 350gsm cardstock
Cadence white gesso
Cadence white dora paint
Folk art acrylic paints
Polyfiller
Wood match sticks and lolly pop sticks
Fine glitter
Mod podge matt & glossy
Papermania wood snowflakes
kaisercraft wood birds
Papermania clear gems
Cardboard box

Hop over to Creative Artiste Mixed Media to see what the rest of the DT have created and join in.  Maybe its a new year to try a new craft and have a go at some mixed media - we accept cards and papercraft projects as well as 3d ones like mine so you can start off small like an ATC but just mix your mediums - at least 3 different ones





Thank you for stopping by once again. I hope that February is a good month for you all.  Here the snowdrops are well in flower, early daffodils in full flower and crocus too and the days are slowly drawing out. Emmax

Id love to enter the following:








 

Monday, 22 December 2025

Deck the halls

Good Morning everyone

Today im sharing my last Christmas design of the year, a couple of cards made using this beautiful stamp i was given a couple of birthdays ago, Ive gone with a different colour combo for Christmas of teal and purple - just because I can😁

I stamped onto white linen card which has been a nightmare to photograph without it going all funny so i apologise for the dodgy photos!



A6 white linen card base.  I stamped the image onto white linen card with versafine clair ink 'warm breeze' I watercoloured the bird and berries with Derwent inktense pencils and added a touch of colour to the leaves.  I die cut into a rectangle with X-stitched edged die.  I stamped the image again, just inking the sentiment banner and stamped into it with one of the sentiments on the stamp set with 'purple delight' ink, cut out and decoupaged onto the main image.

I found a printed snowflake paper in teal and purple pearl cardstock die cut both with nested X-stitch dies, added across the middle of my card front and then adhered the topper panel with foam tape for a little dimension

To finish I added glitter glue to the poinsettia and the birds hat for a bit of festive sparkle and glossy accents to the berries.

Version 2, the same but different, this time another sentiment in the set and snowfall paper

You can see it a bit clearer at this angle without the linen going all weird!  

For the patterned strip across the middle, its not actually a full strip as the dies weren't long enough as they actually nest into the one i used for the topper, so i just cut the panel in half and glued into place, with the topper on top no one knows any different - it also means only need small scraps of paper too.

Items Used:
Lil inker stamp 'Tis the season'
MFT Xstitch rectangle die set
versafine clair inks 'warm breeze' & 'Purple delight' 
Derwent inktense pencils
CraftUK ltd white linen card
Purple card
Teal snowflake papers - old pad from 'The Works'

So I had a phone call end of last week from the eye infirmary and a cancellation spot for my eye laser treatment so that was very last minute and the best Christmas gift...didn't quite go to plan so have to leave my eyes 3 months to heal and have it done again but it worked enough to relieve the pressure so they are no longer close to rupture and the pain and sight loss should improve so fingers crossed....early days but hopefully day by day they improve.  Back to hospital for my next MS treatment today so hopefully thats all the hospital visits for the year.

Thank you for all your support and comments on my blog this year, especially when i haven't been the best blog buddy keeping up with you all. Wishing you all a Happy Christmas & A Healthy & Peaceful new year.  Big hugs Emmaxxx



Id love to enter the first card in the following:




 

Tuesday, 25 November 2025

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening


Good Morning everyone

I bought this lovely Christmas bells stamp by Studio light back in the summer as I thought it would be ideal for simple cards while my eyes are not too good.  Ive just stamped it and added a little touch of colour.



6x6" card.  Ive had this pearl card for years, its a weird colour, a lilac beige and then when the light hits it it has a purple pearlescence - beautiful but difficult to team with other colours so i decided to just go with a predominately purple theme.  

I stamped the image and sentiment with purple ink onto the card, as its a pearl card, I blasted it with my heat tool to heat set the ink to make sure it was dried. I added subtle colour with fine liner pens to the water, trees & stars just to break up all the purple, the a grey drop shadow with an alcohol marker and a white pen to highlight all the snow. I used a craft knife to roughly cut around the holly leaves so that I could lift them for a little dimension on an otherwise flat card.  I then die cut into shape

From purple card i made my base card - die cutting 2 the same size and adding a score line to the back one and adhering together. I mounted my topper onto the front after adding a little shape to the holly leaves and then added a smaller frame die cut from the purple, tucking it behind the holly leaves at the top.


Sadly the photos don't pick up the beautiful shimmer from the pearl card.  I also added a very light touch of glitter glue here and there on the snow and added white pen snow to the background panel.  As the pearl card I used is more beige the white gel pen really makes the snow stand out more




I made 12 of these...using my stamp press perfect for this batch making as just needed to line the stamp up once and then get going and using my electric die cutting machine also made all the die cutting easy too so ideal at the moment.

Items Used:
Studio Light stamps #BL-ES-STAMP114
Fancy square dies
Versafine clair ink 'Monarch'
Centura pearl card
Purple card
Posca white pen
yellow, green & teal fine liner pens
Grey alcohol marker
Ranger Stickles 'twinkle'

Thank you for popping by.  I hope you all have a great week.  Big hugs Emma


Id love to enter the following:


 

Sunday, 2 November 2025

WLS Nov#1 - Merry Christmas


Good Morning everyone

Its the first Sunday of a new month so time for a new challenge over at We Love Stamping and the theme for this month is 

Christmas 
So a good excuse to crack on with your Christmas cards - get creative with your stamping

Today im sharing a batch of Christmas cards made using a stencil and stamp set that I bought in the craftstash closing down sale.  You get a stencil for the word merry and then tiny stamps to fill in the letters, I also used these filler stamps for my backgrounds.  I used what versafine clair inks I have hence it being mainly teal and pink combo....but then anyone who follows me will know I quite often use less traditional colours for Christmas....


DL(4x8") pearl teal card base.  I first stencilled onto white linen card the word 'merry' with tumbled glass distress ink.  I then used the stamps in the set to build up the foliage and flowers all using versafine clair inks.  Once dry i die cut with DL dies which have little holes around the edges and matted onto teal pearl card.

I die cut a larger panel from white linen card and using the same stamps as in the alphas I built up a background, focusing the stamping around the edges.  Once dry I inked around the outside edge with tumbled glass DI.  This I adhered flat to my card front and then added the Merry topper with foam tape for a little dimension.

I die cut the word 'Christmas' from pinky purple mirror card and adhered under the Merry.  Touches of glitter glue added to give a little festive sparkle.



After finishing I felt the letters weren't standing out enough so I put the 'Merry' Stencil back in place and drew around them with a teal fineliner pen and then used a grey alcohol marker for a drop shadow which made a big difference - I should have taken a before photo to show the massive improvement such a little detail makes but didn't think of that at the time!  


Version 2 - the same but different.  I made 12 in all and all slightly different with how the backgrounds ended up stamped.  On this one I had a couple of inky marks on the topper where I didn't want them, so covered them up by stamping little stamps from the set to hide😁



Items Used:
Apple blossom stamp & stencil set 'merry' (STOBXM220042)
DL eyelet nesting dies (brand unknown)
Versafine Clair inks 'warm breeze, purple delight, glamourous, green oasis'
Tim Holtz distress Ink 'tumbled glass'
Grey promarker
CraftUk Ltd white linen 300gsm card
Craft Consortium pink mirror card
Teal cardstock




We have a prize of these lovely stamps from stamp addicts for the lucky winners so to be in with a chance of winning hop over to We Love Stamping to join in


I hope you all have a good month of November - scary how the weeks are passing.  Emmax










 

Wednesday, 18 December 2024

WLS Dec #2 - Winter

Good Morning everyone


Time for more inspiration for We Love Stamping where the theme this month is WINTER or you can always go with the anything goes theme as long as stamping involved.

Ive made a little warming treat for a friend, a little pouch with a couple of hot chocolate sachets in.


 Ive used this little hot cocoa kitty stamp from aall&create who is all cosy in his little jumper. I stamped him onto white, watercoloured with distress inks and cut out.

I used my score board and made a little pouch big enough for the hot chocolate sachets from green paper.  I then die cut 3 tags from off cuts of green and red papers to match the colours in his jumper.  I adhered the tags together, off setting them so you can see all 3 at once.  I die cut some little cups from white card and adhered in a stack of 3 on the smaller tag & added the kitty with glue gel.

I stamped the 'hot cocoa' onto white and matted onto green, white and then the tag.  I punched a hole in the top of the tag.

I punched 2 holes in the top of the pouch and tied on the tag using red & white bakers twine.


Just a close up


This makes a nice little get well pick me up for a friend who likes Chocolate.................can't stand the stuff myself, just the smell of anything like hot chocolate or chocolate cake turns my stomach😒

Items Used:
aall&create stamps #740 'light it up'
Stitched tag dies
joy crafts tea cup die set (very old)
12x12 Christmas paper pads from the works



and the lovely prize you could win this month 

So do hop over to We Love Stamping to join in and see what everyone else has come up with


Thank you for stopping by once again.  I think this will be my last post before Christmas so I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and  a Happy & Healthy New Year.  Thank you for all your support and comments this year, I appreciate them all. 

Keep warm.  Big hugs Emmax



Id love to enter the following: 


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Monday, 9 December 2024

Pop out book Christmas cards

Good Morning everyone

Those of you in the UK, I hope you survived the storm ok, we were ok here other than lost the electric for a couple of hours but a few trees down on the farm and part of one of the barn roofs gone and my other brother who lives closer to Devon is still without electric...it did wake up a few hedgehogs who came out for a snack.

Today im sharing a batch of Christmas cards using the fancy fold called 'pop out book'  Ive used these gorgeous papers from 12x12 paper pads from the works.

I think this is the last of my Christmas cards for this year.

Card size 6x5.5"  I  made the outside of the card from red card and the inside from white, the red then shows through inside and picks up on the red in the paper. For the front I simply matted the paper onto white and then the red base. Sentiment die cut from white and mat and layered. 

After making the pop up element i matted with a lovely soft blue snow paper oh the outside edges and a darker blue paper for the 'book' papers.  I added strips of the paper i used on the front to the sides of the book pop out and the outer edge.

I die cut old deer dies from white card, tore the edge of white card for some snow and built the little scene on the book pop out.  I added a little touch of red stickles to the bigger deers nose and some star dust stickles to the snow for a little festive sparkle to finish.   

Just showing the pop out side on, this card also stands open nicely on its own to display which is always a bonus with some fancy folds. 

Version 2.  I used dark teal card for the front and matted the front paper onto silver satin card and added a hanging star die cut from white and the silver satin which really shines when the light hits it. 

Version 3 - the front is matted onto a dark teal glitter card which is super sparkly

Version 4 - I made the base from navy blue card not black as it looks in the photo, used silver glitter card for the front mat layer.  This time i built a little tree scene die cut from white and silver glitter card


On the back of each card i put a place to write the greeting, this is a computer generated sentiment 

I used this Pop out book card (queenbcreations) step by step just adjusted the size to fit a 6x6 card

Items Used:
Tonic studio Christmas sentiment die
MFT dies 'deer love'
Memory box tree die
Frantic stamper Star on a string die 
Ranger stickles 'star dust, christmas red'
12x12 paper pads from the works which they haven't put names on but are this years '24 pads 


Thank you all for stopping by. Emmax

Id love to enter the first card in the following: