The Art of Domino...

I joined another great swap recently to expand my crafting experience. I signed up for a domino booklet swap for my group Keepers of Avalon on Swap-bot. I have never made a domino booklet before so this was an exciting as well as a learning process for me.

I used acrylic paint and Distress paints on the domino. I then covered the surface with Rock Candy Distress crackle paint. The images are waterslide transfers that I glazed over with Glossy Accents. The pages are tea-stained paper I stained with Distress Inks and Perfect Pearl Mists. I also used stamps with Staz-on inks for design as well. The last touch is some cabbage ribbon to tie it all together.

I may not have gotten everything right this first time, but all in all I do not think it is a bad first effort. I cannot wait to try more in the future. Thank you for coming along with me on my creative journey today. Until next time happy crafting!

Steampunk Container

I was in private swap with a lovely swapper, LadyStephanie and as I looked over her profile I notice she had been flaked on for some swaps and offered to angel one for a Steampunk Container. Here then is my offering for this swap to her.

It began as a humble, unassuming and unfinished wooden box from Hobby Lobby. But after some layers of quality acrylic paint in a dark umber, a lot of sanding it down to a smooth finish with worn edges. I began to decorate it at last.

I used acrylic paint to stamp the floral pattern on either side. I then found a clockwork print paper that I went over with Distress Inks and then glazed with Rock Candy Distress Paint. After that, I went over it once more with Distress Ink to reveal the cracks for an even more aged look. Then I just added the embellishments. The rest of the box is decorated with a stipple brush and acrylic paint and with a stamp that I inked with Staz-on over the paint.

I really hope this will brighten her day as I had so much fun making it. Until the next blog, happy crafting!

Watercolour Ribbon

I am making hand stamped, hand dyed ribbon for another wonderful Shabby Chateau swap! This is my first try at it and there will be more examples to follow shortly.

For this first try at making ribbon I purchased some inexpensive muslin and tore it into 1 yard strips. I then stamped it with various stamps using Staz-On ink pads, you can use any colour you like. Then using inks I dyed the ribbon in a Zip-loc baggie rising it in cold water after and drying it out to get an aged look.

I then used Distress Inks to make the tag along with my own mix of Perfect Pearls mist to give some sparkle to the tag, stamped it and then added some cabbage ribbon to complete the tag. I wrapped the ribbon around the tag securing it with a lovely pearl tipped hat pin. Hope this inspires you to make some of your own ribbon. Have fun and happy crafting!

Parisian Dreams

Once more I have turned my thoughts to canvas for my latest swap, titled "Shabby Time to Shine" where participants create their favorite craft as an introduction to their partner. Since I adore working on canvas so much it is the craft I chose to send.

This one is a bit different from others as it is more pastel in colours, and heavy on the vintage feel. I used a variety of acrylics, Distress paints, stamps, Perfect Pearl mists, vintage book pages and more to create a romantic canvas.

I hope my partner likes it, I can't wait to send it off a bit later this week! Until next time keep creating and keep swapping!

My "Poe"tic Crush...

My latest canvas offering is for one of my favourite Poe quotes from "Ligeia." I started out by layering black and brushed pewter acrylic and distress paints onto the canvas, then began mixing in other colours and inks, letting them dry and layering more colour to give the background depth. The edges are finished with Perfect Pearls powder from the metallic collection in pearl.

All artwork is my own with the exception of the stamp bordering along the top. I also used a vintage book page from one of Poe's narrative's to give a bit of an anchor to the piece, as to me a narrative is a stark contrast to a poem. But both are equal sides to Poe's diverse and creative nature.