Into the forest....

Good Morning everyone

The first Friday in June so time for a new challenge at Creative Artiste where the theme is always anything goes 

MIXED MEDIA

Using at least 3 different mediums

I have another one of my shadow boxes made from a cat food box....of which i have a never ending supply!  This time we are in the woods at dusk surrounded by trees watching the hedgehogs come out to play😁

Box size approx 20x16cm /6x8" and 3" deep

See below for step by step.

Once all the trees were in place I added reindeer moss to the floor, added a couple of trees to either side with a little chipboard birdie, 3 small printed toadstools and my 2 hedgehogs.  Ive had these chipboard hedgehogs for at least 10 years so about time i used them.  I first covered them in brown paint in 2 tones, darker at the bottom and lighter at the top, to the top where the spikes are i very lightly dry brushed on diamond cadence dora paint - when the light hits it it really dances. 

I stamped the quote onto a sage green cardstock die cut into an oval, covered with mod podge and adhered into place with glue gel covering the join in the trees.  I added  more die cut foliage around and behind the oval to frame it and added another little wooden bird.

The foliage was die cut from cardstock i had painted with green cadence dora paint so it really shimmers when the light hits it.  Ive had these tiny wooden birds for years and still using them - it was a big pack. I left them natural as they match the tones of the reindeer moss

The trees ive added half way at the sides were 5 layers of die cuts so nice and sturdy and stand up well.

I love how the light emanates from deep in the woods...who knows what magic is going on in there.  My nan always called this time of night 'The gloaming' which always conjured up a more magical feel than 'dusk', a bit like twilight that always sounds more mystical than dusk! lol  For those who don't know gloaming is Scottish...My nan had long lost her Scottish accent accept when she used her many Scottish words and they always came out in a Scottish accent

and a close up of the hedgehogs, this is as detailed as i dared to get with them, i think if i had attempted putting in eyes & ears it would have ruined them

and onto the box base

After the box was coated in black gesso i then coated in a layer of dark blue and teal paint as i wanted a more dusk/nighttime look.  Then i added lime green and yellow to the back of the box as i wanted the feel of a luminous light coming from deep within the forest - i brought this slightly onto the sides of the box too.  Once dry i dry brushed on midnight blue and black to help build depth, you can see from the right hand photo that the yellow is still visible even through this dark paint but it makes it part of the scene rather than just yellow on top.

(colour is correct on the left one - right one was photographed at night before i moved onto next step)

I covered a sheet of scrap card in green cadence dora paints using light and dark greens, ones dry i die cut into foliage and adhered to the back of the box, this really shimmers in the light and also then has the effect of the light in the forest catching the leaves.

I die cut lots of birch trees from brown 300gsm cardstock and adhered 3 layers together to give me more of a chipboard.  I then dry brushed on brown acrylics to give more realistic bark then just the plain brown cardstock.  I have 2 very old memory box birch dies - 1 is one truck and the 2nd is several trunks joined together, this joint one i used for the background, i used one and a half across and then as its not tall enough, cut up another one for the top, knowing that i would be hiding the joins....if you click on the photo it will bring it up bigger for you to see closer if you wish

The outside of the box, i added texture paste through stencils and in other areas just dabbed on with my pallet knife.  Over dry i covered in the same midnight blue, teal & liquorice black paint used on the inside and once dry, dry brushed on the same lime green and yellow paints.  I finished the corners with metal corner protectors.

The start of my shadow boxes.  I cut up cat food boxes and covered in brown paper saved from packaging.  I cut to 3" deep but you could have a really deep shadow box and leave the full depth of the original box

You can see other cat food box make overs here

                      

                                  autumn shadow box                                       snowy cabin

Items Used:

Inkylicious 'forest quote' stamp

Toadstool digitals 'Mixed Media Toadstools' from Double Helix Digitals on Etsy

Memory box dies - 'Tall birch' & 'Massa leaf' 

Impression Obsession birch tree die 

Kiasercraft wood birds

Texture stencils

Texture paste

Cadence dora paints

Folk art acrylic paints

Hop over to Creative Artiste to join in with your mixed media makes and see what the rest of the DT has come up with this month.  Any project welcome as long as you use 3 or more mediums.

Wishing you all a happy month of June. Emmax

Id love to enter the following:

https://diytozts.blogspot.com/2026/06/wyzwanie-96-recykling-upcykling.html#more

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https://craftingacutabove.blogspot.com/2026/06/june-challenge-and-july-anniversary-news.html - tree and leaf dies used

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https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/06/challenge-202606-june-2026-anything.html - anything but a card

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https://tolanythingbutacard.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-outlawz-anything-but-card-june.html

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https://pinspirationalchallenges.blogspot.com/2026/06/pinspirational-challenge-338-june-blue.html - blues and greens

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https://do-allkreatives.blogspot.com/2026/06/114-verpackung-box.html - Ive created my project from a packaging box 

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Autumn Shadow box

Good Morning everyone

First week into November - how scary is that! So with the 1st Friday in this month we have a new challenge over at Creative Artiste Mixed Media where the theme is always anything goes as long as you mix your medias - at least 3 different types please.

Ive made an autumnal shadow box for this month which actually started out life as a pet food box - its amazing what can be done with different mediums to transform something...

Approx size 6x8" See below for how I made & decorated the box.  Once that was done I got creating my little woodland scene.  I die cut a tree die multiple times from brown cardstock and adhered together to make my own chipboard - this making it more study.  I dabbed acrylic paint to the leaves in yellow, orange and red and dry brushed brown onto the trunks to break up the solid brown of the card & sealed with mod podge.  I then adhered these to the back of the box, one flat and 2 with glue gel to give a bit of depth.

I took wooden leaves and painted with acrylic paints and adhered to the back and sides of the box.  I then arranged some toadstools which I had printed and cut out way back in the spring just waiting to be used, they were printed onto 300gsm card but to give them extra stability I added card strips to the back of the stalks which also gave me more area to add glue to, to adhere them into place.

I add the same acrylic paints used for the background to scraps of cardstock and once dry die cut into lots of leaves which I then arranged around the box to make it look like they are falling from the trees onto the forest floor.

I die cut the word Autumn from gold glitter card and brown card, adhering the brown letters as a drop shadow and then added to the top back of the box.  I also die cut the gold glitter into a few leaves and scattered around to help tie it altogether. 

Everything was coated in mod podge to seal and protect.....the best way of dusting these projects is with a very soft large make up brush which is delicate enough to brush off any dust but not damage the rest...I was once asked that😁....Ive found the best way to avoid dusting in general is having craft projects lying around everywhere otherwise the cats are well trained in dusting with their tails😂😂😂

This shows the true colours better.  For the background tree I cut 1 up so that I could make it seem taller and a slightly different shape so that not all 3 trees were uniform, same with the one on the left I trimmed some off the left hand side so it tucked up in the corner more - the offcuts i glued into place behind other branches to help give the effect of different trees.

Technically these toadstools are too big for real life but this is craft land and I wanted them to be seen, not hidden under leaves

The toadstools - to give them more stability and area for me to add glue to, I glued strips of card together and added to the back of the stalks, adding a couple of coats of mod podge also helped give them some extra strength.

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and onto the box

I first cut the cat food box to size - this is a 40 pouch box so I got 2 out of it by cutting down the middle - this then left a side without a wall so I used the lid of the box for that, cut to size and held in place with paper tape before I covered the whole box in brown paper which helps strengthen the box, hold the side panel in place and cover all joins.  I actually used brown paper often used in parcel packaging now - its ideal for this.  Tear it into small pieces and decoupage into place using watered down pva - so my whole shadow box is made from rubbish basically😁   

Once dry cover with gesso which covers the brown paper nicely and gives a good base to work on.  You can easily use tissue paper to cover it but as i save all the brown paper from packaging its ideal for this and good recycling. 

Here in the UK Sheba & Whiskers boxes are the best as they are much studier than Gourmet & Felix - yes my feline bunch are spoilt & old so fussy and all eat something different so I get to try all the boxes out😺 The other boxes I cut up into panels which make great bases for the childrens art creations - more study than normal card but alot cheaper than canvas board etc... 

I then added a layer of teal, brown & navy acrylic paint.  Then once dry stippled on a layer of yellow, orange, maroon and brown paints - the same colours I used for my leaves. I then knocked the colour back with a layer of vintage white dry brushed over.  This helped my images to stand out but also meant the colours in the background give the effect of the autumnal forest behind my scene.  It does seem weird to add colour to then cover over it but its only a light top layer and the original colours do all still show through in the finished result and is more effective than a solid colour.

On the outside of the box I added texture paste through a bamboo stencil and freestyle using my spatula.  Once dry I covered with the same paints used on the inside.  Teal and Navy first and then the browns, yellows catching the raised areas and once completely dry I dry brushed on gold paint to highlight.

You can make out the gold a bit more here, just on the raised areas.  All coated in glossy mod podge and metals corners added on all the corners to help protect and neaten up.  To think this was just a humble cardboard box.....I amaze myself sometimes😀 

I of course have the 2nd box to decorate too.

Items Used:

Toadstool digitals 'Mixed Media Toadstools' from Double Helix Digitals on Etsy

Papermania wooden leaves

Memory box tree die (very old)

Spellbinders leaf dies (very old)

Memory box alpha dies 'Parker'

Bamboo stencil

Texture paste - white

Plaid folkart matt acrylic paints

Pebeo acrylic paints

Decoart Gold acrylic 'splendid gold'

Brass effect metal corners

Crafters companion gold glitter card

Hop over to Creative Artiste to see what the rest of the DT & Guest DT have created and to join in.  The more you mix your mediums and get creative the better.

I hope you all have a good month. Hugs Emmax

Id love to enter the following:

  

The four seasons

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https://thesisterhoodofcrafters.blogspot.com/2025/10/10825-anything-fall.html

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https://theoutlawzchallenges-saturday.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-outlawz-anything-goes-in-card-free_02053675983.html

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https://craftingacutabove.blogspot.com/2025/11/november-challenge-2025.html - dies used 3 different leaf die sets, tree die, alphabet dies

 

Kirsty's 40th Birthday

Good Morning everyone

Today Im sharing 2 cards I made for my Sister-in-laws 40th birthday.  This sis-in-law is hard to craft for as she doesn't really have any hobbies, interests or fav colours and with my mojo still being very sporadic these were hard going😀

6.5.5" card.  I made the fold with 2 sheets of white card.  I picked 3 patterned papers with a yellow and teal theme and on the front matted the floral paper onto the green one and added to the front.  I die cut the birthday sentiment from a yellow gold mirror card and white card, off set and adhered to a larger circle die cut from the teal paper.  

Flower die cut from yellow paper I used on the inside and a large glittery gemstone added to finish.

On the inside, i covered all the outside panels with this lovely yellowy orange floral paper and the pop out sections with the teal paper.  

Not having large number dies, I printed out a large 40 from my computer onto card, cut it out and used as a template to then cut the 40 from the gold mirror card and white card.

Here you can see i used the same paper as on the front for the side panels of the pop out book sections.

After adding the numbers, I decided they didn't look great - being hand cut, but also all the plain mirror was a bit too stark.  If i had thought about it before sticking them in I would have run them through an embossing folder.  I finally decided to use a small embossing ball tool and doodle a little swirl and dot pattern over the mirror card which made a big difference.  I also ran a large ball tool around all the edges which softened them and made them not look so wonky and 'hand cut'

and the back of the card - I added a white die cut circle to write the greeting in after using the same papers i used to decorate the front.  

and onto the 2nd card I made for her

A5 white card base which i die cut using my nesting dies. I cut a piece of black and white patterned paper with the next size down and adhered.  I die cut 2 champagne glasses from a silver rainbow glitter card, I adhered with glue gel to the front and added a white die cut 4 & 0 to the glasses.

I added little strips of the glitter card across the top and bottom and a white die cut sentiment to finish.  Very simple but mojo was in hiding!

Trying to show how beautiful the glitter card is in real life, it is silver but when the light hits it at certain angles you get a rainbow of colours.  No idea where it came from as i was given it years ago - so about time i used it! lol  Unfortunately it sheds glitter which i do not like - I don't use glitter for that reason - its like sand and gets everywhere.

Items Used:

Spellbinder dies - aster flower

Memory box dies - champagne glass, numerals

Elizabeth crafts birthday sentiment die

? nesting dies, circle birthday sentiment die ?

Patterned papers - various pads from the works

Thank you all for stopping by once again. Emma

Id love to enter card 1 into:

   

https://beautifulblossomschallenge.blogspot.com/2025/03/beautiful-blossoms-challenge-anything.html

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https://girlzcreativecrafts.blogspot.com/2025/03/challenge-54-layer-it-up-dt-call.html

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https://secretstamper.com/2025/03/creative-creases-challenge-101/

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https://theoutlawzchallenges-monday.blogspot.com/2025/03/march-3rd-monday-greetings-with.html

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https://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2025/03/challenge-819.html

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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:

https://secretstamper.com/2024/12/anything-goes-with-a-fun-fold-for-creative-creases-97/

https://creativeinspirationchallenges.blogspot.com/2024/12/creative-inspiration-challenges-21.html

https://creativeknockouts.blogspot.com/2024/12/536-time-to-be-merry-mirtillamente.html

https://movingalongwiththetimes.blogspot.com/2024/12/challenge-173-christmas-characters.html - my characters are reindeer

https://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.com/2024/12/challenge-606-christmas-animals.html

   

https://thefourseasonschallenge.blogspot.com/2024/12/december-2024-anything-goes-winter.html

https://peaceonearthchristmas.blogspot.com/2024/12/peace-on-earth-challenge-77.html

https://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2024/12/week-810.html