Sunday 27 October 2013

Candles, candles everywhere!

I thought I posted this last night! My apologies.

A selection of the candles I have been decorating the past few days:
This because not everything has to be about Christmas:






The perfect gift, just because.  I think some of you may recognise the sentiment stamp from Stamps by Chloe as I used it on the owl card but it looks entirely different here.  The small rose stamp is by Visible Image and I think goes with this theme wonderfully.  Sometimes, I think we don't always show our friends just how much they mean to us and a gift out of the blue goes a long way to show you were thinking of them.

The magical Christmas Candle I blogged the other day is available in two colour schemes: blue/green and purple/pink:


These are 6.5 inches tall and are selling at £4.99 each, can be personalised with a name or brief message for an additional 80p.

Finally for today, because I just adore Halloween:





Enjoy :)

I will be decorating more candles in preparation for the events I am booked to do in the run up to Christmas but tomorrow's post will not be candles.
Have a great remainder of the weekend everyone.
x

Friday 25 October 2013

A Magical Christmas Candle

Greetings folks,
I hope everyone is well today.  It's not warm in this part of the world, which is actually helping me to feel Christmassy! (I know that's not a word!)  In addition to making more of the cards that I blogged yesterday, I have been experimenting with candle decoration :)
This is my first completed design that I am pleased with:



The stars and the tree stamp are from Lavinia stamps, the sentiment 'Wishing you a magical Christmas' is from Stamps by Chloe. Inks used: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Deep Lagoon and Peacock Feathers Distress Ink.
This candle is around 6 inches tall and the finished product can be personalised with a name-or with a message (provided it's not too long). Perhaps this year sending a candle can be your thing rather than sending a card?!

I intend to add more candles as I create them, and if you would like a candle or a card made especially for your someone special this Christmas, then just send me an email at: Craftyshutterbug@gmail.com and we will come up with the perfect item.

Thursday 24 October 2013

Christmas is coming!

Hello everyone :)
I hope you are all well, I have had some difficulties with my back today but am taking it easy and taking the painkillers-one reason I shall keep this post short ;)

Today is the Christmas card I mentioned yesterday:



White pearlescent card stock embossed with the Star Pere Noel embossing folder (Couture Creations from Creative Expressions) and then highlighted with some iridescent glitter and a Sakura quickie glue pen. This was layered onto some green card, I managed to get some ribbon that is almost the same colour as the card, and this I ran down the left side of the embossed design and then stuck it all on black card, before attaching it to the front of a white pearlescent card blank.  Small green gems were used to add a splash of colour in several places and Meiflower teeny gems also added to bring some bling.
5 gems of varying sizes were added to the ribbon and 3 green gems to the top right corner of the design to complete it.



Inside the card simply says 'Merry Christmas' (stamp by IndigoBlu) in Peacock Feathers distress ink so that it matches the colours used on the front.

I like this card-I have made some in teal/peacock as well, and I am currently making more using purple rather than green or teal/peacock, (me and my non traditional colours!) but I could be persuaded to also make some using red I am sure ;)

Thanks for stopping by, leave me your thoughts below and I will be back with more tomorrow.
x

Challenges entered:
My Craft Creations-Anything Goes

Wednesday 23 October 2013

Cards for the men

Greetings one and all,
Humblest apologies for neglecting you recently. I popped to Iceland for a short break as a treat to myself (it was incredibly inspiring and somewhere I will go back to), I cannot wait to get painting! (more to come when I actually get brush/knife to canvas!)  Back to the run up to Christmas now: I am going to attempt to blog every day for a week-make sure I actually am productive now that I am back!
Today's offering is a design from the lovely Cheremane Smith, cards with a distinctly masculine theme-because the men in our lives are just so difficult to craft for!

I actually made these cards for friends of mine in the US. The birthday card for the husband of my boss when I lived over there-they were so much more than words can describe though-they are my American family.  The new home card for my friends who got married in York in June (remember the painting I did for them?!).  Both cards have gone to great homes, and I hope have brought a smile to the face of the recipient :)



Stamps used are from Visible Image-the toolkit and the handy hints stamp sets, along with the Happy Birthday sentiment (now discontinued I think).  Inks used were distress inks in Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire and Stormy Sky.  The tool brads in the top right corner are from my stash.

Weather permitting I shall be on my stall on Rhyl market tomorrow (they cancel it if it's particularly windy) so pop along and say hello-check out my new Christmas cards a day early ;)  I shall blog tomorrow around this time, my new Christmas cards!
If any one wants one of these cards shown above making for them (price is £3 each or 2 for £5), just drop me an email at craftyshutterbug@gmail.com and I will get making it for you :)
Thanks for stopping by :)

Challenges entered:

Through the craft room door- Anything Goes
Love to Scrap- Play Some blues

Sunday 6 October 2013

Altered Art-Ography

I hope you are having a lovely day.  I would like to share today the project that I have been all excited about-it's something that I think people with either love, or they will think I have ruined my photo! I have basically crafted onto one of my photographs.  Stamps and ink, embossing powders, charms, satin flowers, paper flowers, liquid pearls (an abundance of liquid pearls!), and other embellishments have all joined together in my photographic version of an Altered Art piece-I call it Altered Art-Ography as I started with a photograph rather than a canvas!

The image I used is this one:

Angel of New Orleans
(Available as above, mounted, in 10x8" and 15x10")

So, I set to work, sticking and stamping


and heat embossing (care had to be taken not to burn the ink of the photograph from the paper)

These pictures are in colour! I chose a monochromatic theme to tie in with the photograph.  I have used: black, grey and white inks along with black, white, ivory and silver roses, white and silver decorative leaves, some silver coloured charms (from the massive stash I have-see the post all about them!!), wow! embossing powder in ebony and my favourite for this project, platinum metallic. Some silver/grey skeleton leaves from my stash, liquid pearls in onyx, silver, platinum and white opal and paper flowers (from Donna's Kraft Kabin) in black and grey.
The finished product:

It is a one-off. I will not be crafting this photograph again. I had a lot of fun doing this and I am pleased with the result, I will have a try on other images of mine in the future :)

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and have a look.  Enjoy the rest of your day. I would really appreciate some feedback on this so please leave me a comment below.

Challenges entered:

DigitallySweetChallenge- Anything with wings
Crafty Catz- Anything Goes
LEJ Designs- Things with Wings
Through the Craft Room Door- Anything Goes

Wednesday 2 October 2013

A Christmas Card

Happy Wednesday to you all :)

Today I would like to share with you another Christmas card design.  This one is less complex than the last, and much more traditional when it comes to the colours used but still with a modern feel.  So, without further ado, here it is:






On a red pearlescent card base, snowflakes have been punched out along the bottom (I used a Martha Stewart punch), the letters of the word 'Christmas' were die cut (memory box type-writer lower case) from the same card stock as used for the card, and a snowflake (sizzix) was also die cut from the same as well as from white pearlescent card.  The letters were stuck using whatever crafting glue i picked up! (I think it was Dovecraft) and a length of white satin ribbon attached to the card before sticking down the die cut snowflakes.  A gem added and voila! Card completed :)  An insert of pearlescent paper in an off white colour adds to the two colour effect as well as providing the user a place to write a message :)

For sale, this card comes with a quality white pearlescent envelope, please get in touch for details.

Also available: die cuts of the letters and of the snowflakes-please email with requests :)

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to comment and I will be back on Sunday.  Have a great day :)

Challenges entered:

Crafting Musketeers- Christmas in October
Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge- No Patterned Paper
The ABC Challenge- W is for Words