It's A Boy! New Baby Card

Just a quickie from me today. I wanted to share this cute little new baby card with you, made using the new Winston CD from Polka Doodles. It's really quick and easy and everything is from the CD with the exception of the new baby tag which I made using the computer. I think this would look super cute in pink too!

The image has been coloured with my Graph'It markers and the paper safety pins have been enhanced with a Sakura Silver Gel Pen and Glossy Accents.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Allsorts Challenge Blog - It's a Stitch Up
Brown Sugar - Anything Goes
The Stamping Boutique - New baby
Crafty Girls - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Digi Choosday - Buttons
PDE Linky Party - Stitching
Crafting From The Heart - Anything Goes
Crafty Bloggers Network - Anything Goes

Altered Ribbon Reel -

This is another of the samples that I made for the release of the new Winston CD, you may have spotted it sitting on the counter alongside the altered sardine can. I warn you now there is picture overload on this post but I still failed miserably to capture it properly. It's not often I say this, but the photos really don't do this justice!

I got given this empty ribbon spool by one the members of staff in Hobbycraft who said they just bin them and if I could make any use of it then I was more than welcome to it. So being the hoarder that I am I carried it home with me and shoved it in my stash of altering bits. I have to be honest and say that I'd almost completely forgotten about it until I went to retrieve the sardine can for the other project. That said I glanced at it and thought no more of it until I'd coloured up Sewing Etty and decided that I wanted to decoupage her! Being short of time I decided that I'd scan the image and print multiple copies, however, it changed the colour tone and it no longer fitted with the papers I'd chosen. So I sat and pondered for a while and then suddenly the ribbon reel came to mind and I knew exactly what I would do!

So I grabbed it from the box and sat the image on top of it and as luck would have it, it was the right size! So I set to work and painted the reel with Gesso and Acrylic Paints so that it resembled wood.

Once dry I glued the lace and pearls onto the reel and added some tape measure ribbon that I had in my stash.

I then cut out the image and layered it up before adding glitter and Glossy Accents.

I decided that I wanted the reel to be viewed from all angles so I created a "fabric" panel screen using papers from the CD and hot glued it into place.

I then added the image to reel and started to add various embellishments from the CD such as the hat, pins, scissors, bunting, birds etc...

Once they were in place I felt that the reel needed some 3D elements so I added some little wooden reels available from Polka Doodles.

By this point I was starting to run really short on time so I grabbed my mini flower punch that I seem to use on almost every project at the moment and punched an assortment of flowers from the papers I'd printed from the CD. I then mixed these up with some of the handcut flowers from the CD.

I had lots of fun making this project and will definitely be grabbing more of these reels for use in future projects.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes
Ladybug Crafts - Anything Goes
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Goes
The Mirror Cracked - Anything Goes
Crafty Cardmakers - Ribbons,Lace & Pearls
Not Just Cards- Antything Goes
Try it on Tuesday - Recycle It

Altered Sardine Can - Gone Fishing!

So did you catch the show on Create & Craft today? If not then you can catch it here or on Catch Up TV - it was an amazing show with plenty of lush samples from my teamies and a genius demonstration from Nikky Hall involving hot glue!!! Anyway, I thought I'd pop in and show you this fun little piece that I made for the show using the new Winston Collection from Polka Doodles.

There are loads of fun techniques I've used on this project and I have to say that although it was a touch fiddly in places, I had an absolute blast making it! I know this getting to be a habit but there are loads of pictures in this post so apologies if it slow loading!

As many of you know I love upcycling stuff that would otherwise be discarded in the trash. I'm always on the look out for odd tins, bottles and boxes and as a result have a quite a hoard! Anyway as soon as I saw one of the design sheets on the CD I just knew that I had to alter a sardine can from my stash. Now for those of you worried about the smell, don't be, simply wash it out thoroughly with hot soapy water and then soak it in bi-carb and hot water overnight and any smell will be removed.

The first thing I did was to create a "lid" out of card. I simply drew around the tin and then cut it to size.

I then hot glued some beads onto the base to make feet and then coated the whole thing generously with Gesso, along with the card lid. Whilst I waited for it to dry I printed out the design sheet from the CD, cut it out and layered it up with silicone glue.

Once the tin and card lid was dry I dabbed on some course modelling paste (if you don't have this try mixing a bit of sand or salt in with some fine modelling paste or gel medium) and again left it to dry.  I then covered the entire tin and lid in silver acrylic paint. I then added a thinned down coat of black acrylic paint to it and lightly swiped it over with a cloth so that there some areas of silver showing through. Before this dried thoroughly I added some Burnt Umber acrylic paint and some Burnt Sienna. I then left the whole to dry for thirty minutes or so.

I then printed some dotty papers from the CD and cut them to fit the tin to create the water. The bullrushes were freehand cut from scraps of paper and coloured with my Graph'It Markers. I then glued each of the individual elements into the scene.

Finally, I rolled up the lid and cut jagged edges into the sides where it was curled before gluing it into position on the tin. The key was an old corned beef tin key that seem almost impossible to find these days, so I made a mold and cast a few extras. This was then rusted up in the same fashion described above.

If you buy the Winston CD please do stop by and show me what you made - I love looking at other peoples creations. Alternatively, please feel free to share with all the other Polka Doodles fans on Facebook Page

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire xxx

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes
A Little Bit Crafty - Distress It
Crafts & Me - Time for Anything
Natalie & Amy's Challenge - Things with wings
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Goes
The Mirror Cracked - Anything Goes