Winter Rose Wreath

Hi everyone, another little festive project today from Darcy. 

This was so relaxing to make, and I can't wait to hang it up. I chose to go with traditional colours, but you could do this in any colour scheme. 

I started with some satin fabric and some lacy fabric, both cut into strips that were about 1.5inche wide. . .I then painted the satin fabric with Old gold fresco paint. If you look carefully, you will see that I only painted down the middle of the fabric, leaving the edges white. 

Then I mixed Hey Pesto with a little water in a small spray bottle, and sprayed the lacy fabric. Once covered I then added Holly fresco to the spray bottle and sprayed it in random places, so the lacy fabric became two-tone. Once dry I painted the little raised bobbly bits using Claret.

Now I had my base fabrics, I took a polystyrene ring and started to wrap. I overlapped the fabric as I wrapped, and secured with a dab of hot glue. Now you can see why I only painted the centre of the fabric, I wanted to fray the white edges to add a little more interest and as highlights. 

I then added a layer of the green and red lacy fabric in the same way.

Now for a quick late night wander around my garden...no I couldn't wait for the next day...so snip,snip,snip and I had some twigs. I rubbed the little blobby end bits with Ruby Treasure Gold and then wrapped them around the ring. Because the twigs were still fresh they were quite bendy and easy to manipulate. Again I secured them with hot glue.

To finish off the base, and also to trap the twigs, I added a length of braid. Again just wrapping around and securing with hot glue.

Now to make the roses. I scrunched up some wax paper, sponged it with Nougat and then brushed on some Treasure gold. From this I cut out several flowers using the medium flower die. I also cut some from heavy smoothy card, I used several Christmas stamps to cover the card flowers. I stamped on both sides.

Now all I had to do was build up the rose, I used alternate layers of wax paper and stamped card.

I found this video from Leandra really helpful in how to cut the layers so that they fit together.

In total I made 5 paper roses. Depending on how big your polystyrene base is then you may need to make more. Though remember you went to all the trouble of painting and creating the layers underneath, it would be a shame to cover them completely.

My final embellishment is a bow. I knew I wanted red, and I wanted velvet.. but of course I didn't have red velvet. So I took the lilac velvet that I did have and I sprayed it with red pepper Adirondack spray ink. It took a while to dry, but turned out really nicely coloured.

I then stamped the bow from EDY03 using black Stazon ink.

I folded my piece of velvet in half, and added a little polyester wadding between the layers. I then used my sewing machine and some gold thread to outline the bow. I wanted to be able to cut the bow out without it fraying and falling apart, so I used a close zig-zag to make a satin stitch around the outside edge.

Now I could glue it all together. I started by deciding which bit of the ring I wanted at the top. I glued a loop of braid to the back, and the bow to the front.

Lastly I glued on the paper roses, spacing them evenly around the ring.

And so it is all done and ready to hang up, perhaps on a door or by the fireplace. 

 I hope this inspires you to have a go at making your own wreath.See you again soon. 

Darcy x

Jo Myhill Project #3 Advent Calendar ....

Hi Everyone, Jo Myhill back again for my last post this month!

"I’ve wanted to make an heirloom re-usable advent calendar for ages and the idea of creating pockets that allow you to put either chocolate (yummy) or proverbs in really appealed."

I needed something big to accommodate all the pockets needed so a cork noticeboard was ideal. This one is 40cmx60cm.

I gave it a good coat of gesso all over the cork and the frame to give a base and tone down the cork.

On the actual wooden frame (front and sides) I added layers of Brown Shed to act as the base coat for the Crackle Glaze.

I smeared the Crackle Glaze on the front of the frame with my finger, it didn’t matter if it was a bit thick in places or didn’t cover all the Brown Shed as I was going to sand after the top coat as I wanted a very shabby look.

Once this was dry I mixed Nougat with a little bit of BrownShed. This made a slightly pinkier shade than I expected but it actually worked quite well.  I wanted a mixture of cracks so I varied the amount of paint I loaded on the brush and dabbed the paint on all the front of the frame.  Once this had dried I added the paint to the sides as well.

As I wanted to distress the frame more I took some sandpaper and sanded the frame in one movement rather than actually sanding as you would normally.  I also varied the pressure to remove more of the top layer in places where you might expect to see more decay.

Choose three 12”x12” toning papers to use on the cork. Cut the paper into 3” squares. 

Mark the centre of the cork board as this is where you’ll start sticking the squares down in a patchwork fashion.

I used watered down PVA to stick the squares down and also went over the top of the paper with the PVA to make sure the squares are really stuck down! I moved outwards to form a row across the board and then started to move up and down alternating the squares. At the edges there will be some overlap.

At the top and the bottom you’ll need to cut some of the 3” squares in half to fill in the gaps. Leave this to dry thoroughly.

To make the pockets I took some sheets of 12x12 Kraft paper and cut it to make six 4” x 6” pieces. On one of the long edges score along it at ½”. On the shorter edges score at 1¾” on either side.

Following the picture cut away the excess card and fold the sides in and the bottom up to make a pocket.  I used double sided tape to seal the flaps. To sharpen the folds run your bone folder or something similar over them.

To decorate the pockets stamp the text stamp from Xmas Plate4 in Sepia Archival Ink on each one.

Xmas Plate 4 

Then add an oblong of Claret paint on top of this.  I put a blob of paint on my craft and alongside it I added a small amount of water.  I dipped my brush in the water and then picked up a little bit of paint and painted an oblong moving the paint around with the brush, it doesn’t have to be neat.  As it’s a translucent paint it creates a wash over the text stamp. 

Once this is dry I added Brass Treasure Gold over the Claret wash. I didn’t want an opaque coverage so I didn’t load my brush up too much with Treasure Gold and scrubbed the Treasure Gold on. I use quite a stiff brush as I wanted to see some lines of the Treasure Gold and the Claret rather than an opaque solid layer.

Go back the cork board.  Mix together Nougat and Irish Cream and water, you want a consistency of single cream. Start adding the paint to the patchwork squares.  You want a really shabby look so move your brush vertically and then horizontally.  If it looks too wet mop up the excess with kitchen roll.  Keep adding layers until you are happy with the effect, not too much coverage you just want the background papers to peak through the paint.

Once this has dried add Vintage Photo Distress Ink all over the paint paying special attend to the edges of the squares. It looks a bit messy but as it dries it really adds to the shabby distressed look.  Flick the whole of the cork with water to react with the Distress Ink and create water spots.

To add another layer stamp the snowflake from Nut & Meg8 in Aged Mahogany Distress Ink and the small snowflake from Nut & Meg 1 all over the board randomly.

Nut & Meg 1

 Nut & Meg 8

Finally finish the pockets by stamping numbers on the front. I used the numbers from Words 2 plate. Stamp in Versamark and emboss with WOW Burgundy embossing powder. I quite like the edges of the stamp being embossed to add to the shabby grungy look, but if you want cleaner edges that will work as well. I find using a very fine paint brush to remove excess embossing powder really helps. Edge each pocket with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Words Plate 2

Punch a hole through the front and the back of the pocket so you can use a Tim Holtz memo pin to attach the pocket to the cork board.

It’s been really hard to take a decent photo to really show the size of this and clearly show the pockets, hopefully you can see enough to get a feel for the piece.

Well lots of Christmassy ideas this week to create home décor pieces that you can bring out every year to celebrate your family Christmas. Just need to buy chocolate money now! Jo xx

Leandra Says: I love it! And most of the fun of advent calendars is also trying to find the number for that day, so you've sussed that out too. When I was a kid we used to pull out the same calendar year after year, and open the doors to a picture behind, it was still exciting. But in my dreams this one would have a diamond in each pocket (from Mark) and I could go and get some humdinger of a ring made! LOL (always dreaming huh!)

Gillian Says: It's beginning to look alot like Christmas lol .... love this Jo, no matter your age who doesn't get excited by an advent calendar right! Thanks for a fab week of projects.

If you are inspired by Jo this week, then don't forget you are most welcome to play along in the weekly challenge, and thus go in the draw to win prizes. Details can be found here, which is also where you can go to link up your creativity this week, ie the 'Challenged by Jo Myhill' Sunday night blog post. You have until midday Sunday Dec 1st to enter.

Jo Myhill Project #2 Christmas House ....

Hi Everyone, Jo Myhill here again

"I’ve had a bunch of Scandinavian type Christmas decorations most of my pre and post married life, they were some of the first decorations John and I bought together. We rarely use them on the tree now as they are so small and they get easily lost in the branches. So I needed another way of displaying them and making them part of the family Christmas traditions".

I’ve always loved using these Wooden Houses in projects, the little nooks would are ideal to display the decorations.

I started by painting the whole house in slightly watered down Bora Bora. Watering down the paint means it goes on the wood much quicker and you don’t use quite as much paint as the wood sucks in the water rather than the paint.  

Add quite a few layers to get a good colour but it doesn’t have to be a perfectly neat, opaque covering. NB its generally better to base coat with an opaque Fresco rather than a translucent (unless you want the wood grain to show through). In this pic my Bora Bora looks a bit more like sky Fresco than Bora Bora Fresco...

Once dry, sand the wood all over just to take away some of the roughness. In a small spray bottle mix half and half water to Lake Wanaka and start spraying the wood.

Keep the bottle a distance away from the wood so you get a light misting rather than big droplets.  Let it sit on the wood for about 30 – 60 seconds and then blot with kitchen roll to absorb the excess paint. Keep spraying and blotting until you get a mottled weathered wood kind of effect that you like.

In another spray bottle mix water and Antarctic this time in a 25% paint to 75% water. Start spraying again, it looks a bit scary at first because it looks as though it’s covering everything you’ve just up but as it dries it fades beautifully and goes very pale because of the amount of water you’ve added to the mix .... Let this dry.

In another spray bottle mix London Bus and water, this time 50:50 and lightly spray. Add Chocolate Pudding to this bottle and spray again. If the colour gets too intense, blot with kitchen roll. Spraying paint is fantastic; it's a wonderful way to get colour into the nooks and crannies, and it builds up interesting layers of colours, which adds interest and depth to your project.

Add Snowflake and Stone to this Antarctic spray bottle and add water, roughly 25% paint to 75% water. This is your final layer to tone everything down and get that weathered wood look.

It seems a lot of spraying, but you want to build up lots of layers of faded mottled colour. Be warned though it can get messy (and addictive) so make sure there is nothing on your desk that you want to spray as well! A layer of paper towels underneath your project is ideal to suck away excess paint instantly. Set this aside to dry thoroughly.

Now take a sheet of card or paper and lightly spray with your spray bottles to get a browny-pinky-stone colour over the card. 

You may need to use some Cut N Dry to move the paint around the card. Dry and then lightly sand with a sanding block. 

Using the text stamp from the Nut and Meg 8 plate, stamp all over the card with Plum and Sepia Archival Ink.  I just add both inks to the stamp.

 Nut Meg 8

Once dry go over the whole card with Distress Ink in Brushed Corduroy and Burlap to give an aged stain look and flick some water on to give water stains. Leave this to dry.

Go back to the house and sand the edges to reveal some of the under-layers of blue paint.  

Now using a brush add Treasure Gold, Copper to the edges of the house and in the recesses. Try and get into all the corners so that you’ve got some shimmery colour to act as a frame for the next stage. 

On the roof of the house and the sides and back, brush on the Copper Treasure Gold in downward strokes to emphasise the grain of the wood. 

Go around the edges of the house with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and finally some BrassTreasure Gold.

On the back of the card draw round the house shape and measure up where the recesses/ cubby holes would be. Cut these out and then cut them a bit smaller than the recesses so that when they are stuck in you will see some of the Treasure Gold around the edge.

Distress each of the pieces of card with a Tonic Distress Tool and edge in Vintage Photo Distress Stain. Stick in the recesses. 

Now for some more stamping. Use the holly stamp from Nut Meg 8 plate and stamp along the bottom edge of the house on the sides and back. I started in the middle of the back to get a central image and used Watering Can Archival Ink as it's grey and gives a softer faded line than the black Archival. 

I then stamped the birdcage from Nut & Meg 6 on the back and sides, again in Watering Can Ink.

Nut & Meg 6 

And finally the holly from Egg & Nog 1 was stamped on the back of the house in the centre. I ummed and aahed as to whether to put more holly strands down the back, decided not to as I thought it might be too much, but I’m still not sure.

Egg Nog 1

I painted the holly and the birdcage in Tinned Peas and the robin in London Bus. Again the paint was watered down (Leandra’s painting videos on the PaperArtsy YouTube Channel are great to watch in terms of how to paint with Frescos) any excess paint/water was dabbed off with kitchen roll.

Finally I glued in the decorations with a hot glue gun and used drawing pins to hang the bells.

I am so pleased with how this has come out and it will be great to display every year at Christmas.  I’m now thinking of another one that I could use to display really beautiful glass baubles that I dare not purchase or hang on the tree as I have two inquisitive cats who like to dab the baubles and knock them off!  

Jo xx

Leandra Says: How fabulous, I can see why you picked the undertones of blue and red now! Not just a pretty face are ya! ;) Love that this project could be taken in any direction, these houses are so much fun!

Gillian Says: The whimsical stamps are perfect with these Christmas ornaments Jo, such a beautiful way to display those memories for years to come.

If you are inspired by Jo's ideas this week, please join along with the weekly challenge. You can link up your creativity here and go in the 2 draws to win a prize, usually a stamp of your choice. We love to see what you make, so jump in and get involved and perhaps try out something new, like spraying paint!!