55 days - crafty countdown - the last Chritmas Card

Yesterday I said my mum had 3 dogs - my ability to count has really gone down hill!! They have 2 dogs - which to be honest, is still a house full. And I'm afraid yesterdays pressie won't be up for grabs, as Doc chewed it up!  Sorry.

This will be my last little Christmas card in this countdown - and again I had a rummage and came up with pretty papers, and one of my favourite products, Cosmic Shimmer PVA.  I brought with me some of the Tim Holtz Distress Stains, I love the Picket Fence.  It's white, but not as heavy as an acrylic paint.  You can see here, it lightens the paper slightly for me:

I created a circle, as my plan is to create a mistletoe wreath.  I saw such a pretty one whilst I was out shopping, so got my inspiration from that

I didn't bring paint with me, but my mums cosmic shimmer is already coloured, and dries with a raised finish.  Start with a blob, and pull the PVA down so it trails off, and forms a point.  I covered the white circle with the little leaves, making sure they point in different directions

As you can see above

I needed to dry the speeding process up (it's Christmas eve, and I've prosecco chilling) so I used my heat gun.  The colour really comes out, and the shine of the pearlescent PVA shows really well on this picture

To create more depth, I used a watercolour pencil in some of the gaps

And then I used a waterbrush to move the pencil crayon and give a really nice soft finish

I made sure I didn't cover the white completely so I will have shading

Now I need the mistletoe berries, for this I used the Cosmic Shimmer again, but the white pearl.  Again I dried it with my heat gun

To emphasis the wreath I applied Distress Ink around the edge of the card up to the wreath.  I left the centre, again to create depth

I love this picture, as it looks rubbish!!  Sometimes (often!!) when I'm doing something I look at it and think - that's awful.  And then it's a challenge to try and make it look half decent.  Don't give up.....well, not until you've spent over 3 hours on it :)

I like trying different layers as well, they really do make a difference to the finish of the card, as you will see from these 3 photo's

I cut the card down, as you can see.  And then inked around the edge, to make the distressing more even

Gently remove the ink which has covered the white of the mistletoe berries with a sponge.

I then added a sentiment, a lovely red ribbon, and finially I used glitter glue to add just a few white sequins

I'm really chuft with this one - I'll make sure Doc doesn't get to eat it.

Okay, Prosecco time.  Have a wonderful Christmas Eve everyone, I will join you again tomorrow xxx

Flickr and charity update.....

Hi folks,

I got lost again today. Went for a walk round Blean woods, and wandered aimlessly for an hour and a half. I like getting lost, it allows for exploration and discovery. I found lots of muddy puddles and eventually my way back to the car - hooray. It was good fun, and the dogs had a fantastic time.

Another up moment, getting on with my ATC club. I've been so busy with the charity thing I've not had any spare time, but fingers out and the trades are getting posted. I've updated the flickr account, so I hope your all checking it out to see some lovely cards by my talented club members.

I have another kit to offer you for the Prince's Trust:





As with my other kits there will be enough elements to make 3 cards, plus extra stamped images to make more. The stamped images will not be coloured in, that's down to you I'm afraid. There will be full instructions and extra tips. All the money raised will be going to the Prince's Trust. The kits as usual cost £2.50 plus 50p postage. Please email me if you would like to put in an order:

leoniepujol@hotmail.co.uk

I have picked this stamp to celebrate Lindsay joining the blogging community. Lindsay Mason is the designer of these, and many more, wonderful stamps. She really is a talented and lovely lady, so pop along and have a look at her blog:

http://lindsaymason.blogspot.com

Finally for tonight I have updated ebay with a few more kits for the Prince's Trust. I'm coming to the end of by freebies, so don't delay in getting a chance to grab a bargain and help raise lots of pennies.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320316491914&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:GB:1123

I will be auctioning the photo's and the signed card next Wednesday, so keep an eye on my blog for further details.

xxxxx

QVC cards

Well, I promised I would pop on a couple of photo's of some of the cards I did for the kits on QVC, so here I am!!

The first ones are taken from the lovely(and such good value for money it's unbeliveable) paper and embellishments kit (item number 587417), you get a choice of traditional or contempory. Great selection of papers, acetates, chipboard shapes and fab ribbons. Loved it.


















My favourite was the Christmas Tree paper,this is from a full sheet of 12x12 paper, which I have popped onto a card and cut round the tree, attaching another piece of paper inside the card.

I liked working with the acetate as well. I did use the snowflake on a scrapbook page, but to be honest I'm really rubbish at taking photo's of my pages, something I need to work on. The Christmas Tree acetate is great, and I've used this for making quite a trendy card (photo's not to brill here either I'm afraid).

I'll pop some more on tomorrow.

There are still kits left for the snowman card for the Prince's Trust charity, email me if you would like to put in an order:
leoniepujol@hotmail.co.uk
xxxx

More kits for QVC and ATC Challenge

Thought I'd pop on a quick post before getting ready to set off to QVC. Dawn has a show this evening, 11pm, urgh! Then tomorrow and a sensible time. I'm also popping on a couple of ATC's so if you fancy a challenge you can participate.

The challenge is

Christmas Tree Time

I've used some lovely paper from one of the DO kits, as the image has been duplicated it allowed me to decoupage the trees. The second ATC was made using a sticker, very quick and easy. I have matted it onto card stock, then set it at an angle on the card - going round the edges with a continuous peel-off. Dig out your Christmas trees....





I worked on a lovely kit from DO, which had papers and really pretty Christmas vellums. Also had a few kits from All About Crafts - okay decoupage isn't my favourite - but I didn't swear (mmmm). The images are really cute, and it wasn't tricky decoupage so no tantrums.