Cherry Blossom

Good Morning everyone

Today Im sharing a little gift I made for a friend, its a wooden book shaped box which I decided to turn into a kind of shadow box which can be displayed stood up and open.  I used a beautiful paper set I got back in the black friday sales with a spring theme. I used a mix of the 12x12 and 6x6 papers and found the images work well together for creating my little scenes.  It is unusual for me not to add anything else other than the chat stickers but was nice and relaxing when I was feeling a bit rough over Christmas time to not think too much about matching things and just use what was in the sets.

I forgot to measure the box before I posted it, but it isn't very big, if i remember correctly its about 5x3" and 1" deep

I painted the box with matt acrylic paints in shades to match the papers, so ive picked out the blue, pink and soft yellow, I painted the outside blue, the inside pink and the sides yellow.  I then cut one of the papers to fit the front and decoupaged with matt mod podge.  I then cut out the little girl catching a cherry blossom, some branches and little bird.  I tore a couple of pieces of paper to add as some ground for her to stand on and a couple of smaller flowers and sealed it all with more mod podge.

The chit chat stickers are by aall&create on the front here I added 'admire divine blossom' as thought that worked - there is something magical about the first blossoms of spring and how they lift our spirits. 

This shows it stood up open on display, it nicely stands up by itself.  I lightly added pink cadence dora paint to the edges for a little shimmer in the light 

On the inside left I added one of the papers and cut out elements of this cherry blossom wreath which I added the little cross legged girl inside and surrounded with different sized flowers.  A little birdie sits on top of the wreath.  I added a little touch of diamond stickles glitter glue to the flower centres for just a little sparkle 

Chat stickers say 'Enjoy serenity, experience enlightenment'

Just spending quiet time in the garden or anywhere with nature, sit and listen and its very calming and healing.  A kind of meditation against the hassle of life. 

I adhered the paper girl on swing to study acetate and cut around her, thus giving her stability and strength, i then added score lines at the top of the 'ropes' to adhere to the top of the box so that she actually moves and get swing forward and back.  I then added some cherry blossoms in front of the ropes to hide the workings - these I also added on acetate so nice and strong and wont damage as the swing moves. 

Below the swinging girl we have  a blossom branch with a little birds nest and bird.  I added glossy accents to the eggs.

Chat stickers read 'Achieve happiness'

Once you have done your meditation in the garden and breathed in the scent of the blossom and listened to the birds singing its is happiness and of course who then doesn't love a go on a swing😁  These bags of chat words from aall&create contain hundreds of words so I was going boggle eyed looking for some to suit that weren't too gushy! 

and the back of the box, just the same paper as the front.  Everything was coated in mod podge to varnish and protect it as it will be handled a bit. 

Items Used:

13arts paper 'Pastel Spring' 6x6 & 12x12 

Aall&create chat stickers

Wooden box

Folk art matt paint 

Cadence Dora paint - fuchsia 

Mod podge

acetate

Ranger Stickles 'diamond'

Id love to enter the following:

https://tolanythingbutacard.blogspot.com/ - anything goes option

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https://www.simplyellibelle.com/2026/01/ellibelles-garden-party-no-11-anything.html

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https://lovethoseprettypapers.blogspot.com/2026/01/atg-using-pretty-patterned-paper.html

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https://girlzcreativefunartofscrap.blogspot.com/2026/01/challenge-18.html

 

WLS Aug #2 Flowers - foxgloves

Good Morning everyon

Time with our mid month inspiration for We Love Stamping where the theme is 

FLOWERS

So a nice easy theme this month, but we always have the anything goes option too as long as you use stamping

Ive made a little wall hanging picture using strong printed acetate from Stamperia as the base

A5 size. I first did the background which you can see below with photos.

I then stamped the Pink Ink foxgloves onto white card, watercoloured with derwent inktense penciils and cut out.  I also stamped bee using a stamp set from chocolate baroque and cut out, I did all the stamping using purple ink so its softer than black.

I stamped the sentiment using a paperartsy JFOY cut out and adhered with pinflair glue gel.

From green brusho coloured card I die cut memory box pine foliage border twice, off set and added to the bottom so it looks like the foxgloves are growing out of it. To finish i punched holes and set green eyelets in the top and threaded with green waxed cotton so it can be hung up

The printed acetate has a lovely shine to it and adds a different texture 

I gave the foxgloves and pine border a coat of mod podge to seal them

I first cut the printed acetate to A5 size and rounded the corners with my WRMK corner chomper - I did this so that less chance of injury as its very stiff and corners quite sharp if caught.

I then added torn strips of washi tape here and there - this aall&create tape has similar tones in purples, teal and green.  Then stencilled on foliage in a vintage white matt acrylic paint this helped to break up all the glossy shine from the solid acetate.  I then stencilled on smaller foliage with green and fuchsia dora paint which has a beautiful shimmer to it.  I added some green acrylic paint across the bottom where the foxgloves would be growing out from.  

To finish I edged the whole panel with fuchsia dora paint to frame it 

This is the acetate before use  - clear prints from Stamperia range 'Sleeping Beauty'

Items Used

Stamperia 'Clear prints' 'Sleeping beauty' SBA410

Pink Ink Designs stamp set 'flourishing foxglove'

Paperartsy JOFY stamp set 'jofy14'

Chocolate baroque stamps 'honey bee'

Memory box die - pine edge (very old)

Foliage stencils

Plaid folkart matt acrylic paints

Cadence dora paint - fuschia, green

Derwent inktense pencils

aall&create washi tape #50

ranger stickles 'twinkle'

versafine clair ink 'Monarch'

Mod podge matt

Our prize this month is a fabulous £25 voucher for Personal Impressions which have lots of fabulous goodies to tempt you with

So do hop over to We Love Stamping to join in and have a chance of winning the prize

Thank you for stopping by once again.  I hope you all have a good week. Emma

Id love to enter the following:

https://www.simplyellibelle.com/2025/08/ellibelles-garden-party-no-6-anything.html

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https://addictedtostamps-challenge.blogspot.com/2025/08/addicted-to-stamps-and-more-challenge.html

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https://stencilfun.blogspot.com/2025/08/august-2025-stencil-fun-challenge.html - I have used 2 different foliage/leaf stencils 

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https://beautifulblossomschallenge.blogspot.com/2025/08/beautiful-blossoms-challenge-anything.html

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https://dd-tripleb.blogspot.com/2025/08/august-2025-challenge.html

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https://paper-rocks-scissors.blogspot.com/2025/08/august-7-challenge.html  - used scissors to cut out the foxgloves and bees

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https://www.stampingsensations.uk/2025/08/august-challenge.html - bees

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https://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2025/08/challenge-830.html - beginning with B - Blooms & Bees 

 

Alice is 10 - cats & books

Good Morning everyone

My middle niece Alice is 10 this month.  She loves reading and cats so ive combined the two with these fab katzelkraft stamps and made a tri fold card which contains 2 bookmarks to Alice to use

The front of the card.  Its A4 folded 3 times so each section is 4x8.25" .  I stamped the cat images onto white card and coloured with alcohol markers.  I stamped the sentiment and then lightly stenciled on pawprints with cracked pistachio oxide ink, I then die cut into a panel and matted onto rainbow printed cardstock. 

I founded a printed paper in my stash that had a subtle blue pattern, matted onto blue holographic and then the card front.  I tied a double bow from the 2 ribbons ive used on the bookmarks.

I used blue holographic for my mat layer as when the light hits it it is rainbow colours to tie in with the image and every girl loves a bit of sparkle.

Showing the card opened up.  I made the bookmarks the same way as the front topper, this rainbow card is double sided so looks as great on the back of the bookmark as the front.  

I made pockets for the bookmarks using the same paper as the background and adding foam to the sides and bottom, leaving the top unstuck so the bookmark can slide in and out

So that when the bookmarks are removed it still looks good I stamped the cats a 2nd time, coloured in with alcohol markers and cut out, I adhered them to the pockets to line up with the bookmarks.

I doodled a line under the books with fineliner and shaded with grey alcohol marker to 'ground' the books and stop them floating in mid air

and the bookmarks front and back.  This rainbow card came in a pack from Lidl and is nice and stiff so ideal for bookmarks, I haven't laminated them as you know how childrens tastes change yearly but I know Alice will enjoy these bookmarks for as long as they do last.  I added stamped cats and pawprints to the back of the bookmarks for a little interest.  Punched a hole at the top and threaded with ribbons.  

Items Used:

Katzelkraft cat stamp set

Creative craft stamps 'fur babies'

Clearly besotted birthday stamp 'something to say'

DL stitched edge dies

Pawprint stencil

Oxide ink 'cracked pistachio'

Alcohol markers

Rainbow cardstock from Lidl

Blue holographic card 

Thank you all for stopping by.  Emma

Id love to enter the following:

https://craftyanimals.blogspot.com/2025/08/challenge-97.html

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https://2craftycrittercrazies.blogspot.com/2025/08/ccc-101-return-to-regular-theme-of.html

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https://girlzcreativefunartofscrap.blogspot.com/2025/07/challenge-12-new-challengeblog.html

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https://dragonflydreamschallenges.blogspot.com/2025/08/august-challenge-lots-of-layers.html

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https://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2025/08/challenge-829.html

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https://showusyourpussies.blogspot.com/2025/08/challenge-114.html

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https://craftrocketchallenges.blogspot.com/2025/08/challenge-128-animals.html

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Advent calendar

Good Morning everyone

This is a type heavy post so you may want a nice cup of tea, coffee, hot cocoa or even glass of mulled wine😁

Every year i refill advent calendars that i made for my 5 nieces and they love them and get so excited to see what each day contains - sometimes a sweet treat, sometimes something fun, or crafty or even sometimes something educational, this is their Christmas present from me and I think gives me as much pleasure to do as they get from opening them each day in December.

When I saw these mdf advent calendars at 'The works' I thought I would do one for my mum.  Well its been a real mission and issue after issue so Im quite glad to see the back of it to be honest but I know I will enjoy collecting little gifts throughout the year to refill it hopefully for many years to come for my mum. 

Overall size is:  17x17"    The inset scene area is: 12x12"

Now on arrival One side was not attached at the bottom so i glued it back together along with a couple of the drawers that the fronts had fallen off and I took all the drawers out assuming them were all the same size - on putting them back i soon found that wasn't the case and after alot of trial I found out which draw fit which slot and wrote the numbers on both to make easier another time!  A few of the drawers were really tight so i had to sand them, I would have liked to paint the whole drawer inside and out but due to being so tight i didn't want the mdf to swell too much so i have just decorated the front of each draw.

I covered the front of each draw with various snippets of Christmas papers - ideal for all the little scraps so they come from a variety of papers, i just made sure they were all in shades of red and greens.  I cut around the handle notch in the top of each drawer and then inked all the edges with white gesso and coated with glossy mod podge to seal and help keep it fresh and clean each year.  

The back removes from the middle inset area, so i added a fabulous paper that came in a 12x12 paper pad from the works and is a lovely snowy tree scene which i thought was ideal background for my snow scene.  I added a set of cheap fairy lights i had from poundland around the square - the micro ones would work better but I didn't have any so these had to do! 

 I gave it a coat of mod podge.  To the bottom of inset i added texture paste with foam balls and faux snow flakes included, coated with white gesso.  

From my stash collected over the years I added a large wire brush tree and some smaller brush trees.  To the big one i added these little fairy little buttons and some faux snow and glitter. 

I paint some wooden snowflakes with white gesso, added a little glitter glue and adhered them to the back panel.

I added a little white fence to the back, leaving a space so it looks like you are going into a park or similar.  I added a little black plastic lamppost which id added a little texture paste 'snow' and a little sledge - the kids have run off into the park to explore the winter wonderland😀

I added faux foliage, real medium and small pine cones and some red berries to frame the scene.  I used red beads for the berries in different finishes so they catch the lights. 

This shows where i wrote the numbers for each drawer on the bottom of the drawer and in the slots so that makes it easier to replace them in the future

Now another big issue was that after decorating the drawers and putting them back in, I really struggled to get them out with the handle notches and the fronts pulled clean off the drawers and realised that my mum who has bad arthritis in her fingers would really struggle so I decided to add little handles to make it much easier to pull them out so she can hopefully manage for many years to come.  

 I only decided this after i had die cut and added the numerals to the middle of each drawer so i punched 1" circles from more scraps of paper to cover up the numerals and add my handles. I then used smaller numeral dies to die cut the numbers again from white and add - these are alot smaller than the original numbers.  Where the numbers didn't stand out very clearly on the busier papers i went around them with a black find liner pen.

These little handles were an ebay find, they are on very long brads which were long enough for the 5mm mdf front, however for longevity and as some of the draws are so tight i also added a good blob of pinflair glue gel behind the metal piece on the front to really hold them in place.  Of course if you don't have a dust allergy and are able to use an electric sander you could easily sand all the drawers to make it so much easier.

Showing it all lit up.  I gave the whole advent a coat of white gesso and then white pearl dora paints which are really shimmery.  On the top of the advent i added a little texture paste and more of the dora paints for a snowy effect.  The whole unit was varnished so will keep it dust and dirt free over the years. 

This is how it looked before i decided it needed extra handles on the drawers.  Having now filled the little drawers with goodies I know i made the right decision as so much easier to get them in and out so my mum can use them with ease.  

I am glad I preserved with this - at one point i was ready to put it on the fire!!!  But its taken so much longer and been way more stressful than it should have been.   I certainly wouldn't buy another one of this style. 

Hopefully mum loves it!

Id love to enter the following:

  

https://tuesdaytaggers.blogspot.com/2024/11/traditional-christmas.html

https://theoutlawzchallenges-saturday.blogspot.com/2024/11/the-outlawz-anything-goes-in-card-free.html

 

https://peaceonearthchristmas.blogspot.com/2024/11/peace-on-earth-challenge-76.html

https://creativeartistemixedmedia.blogspot.com/2024/11/welcome-to-creative-artiste-challenge.html

https://lovethoseprettypapers.blogspot.com/2024/11/atg-using-pretty-patterned-paper.html

https://thehollyandivychallenge.blogspot.com/2024/11/challenge-173-anything-christmas-goes.html