Xmas tree . . Oh Xmas tree

Yes I've really got into the xmas spirit now, making xmas cards, tree decorations, last weeks sleigh full of tiny parcels that needed creating and now finally here is my Xmas Tree.  This awesome MDF tree stands just 8" (20cm) high and is part of this weeks blog hop at Imagine if . .  . The second half of the design team are revealing these trees and the remainder are coming up with something else (its a surprise, so follow the links and see what they've come up with).
Here's what I have come up with:

 

Once the tree was assembled as below it was decorated with lots of Imagine if . .  

chipboard pieces (also listed below).  These were mostly painted, then finished with various coats of stickles, glossy accents, sharpie pen, glitter or ribbon.

 

This is what I started with:

 

 

Then I hot glued jisaw pieces all over





 

Once dried it got a good coat of gesso then several coats of green paint, finally the top coat is a Lumiere Metallic Acrylic paint - Metallic Olive Green, this is soooo luxurious and so much nicer in person.

 



 

It was fun putting all the decorations on, practice time for the real thing.  Follow my links here to continue on the blog hop.  Please leave comments at all sites, we love to hear what you think of our work.  You would have visited Carol's tree before coming here, next person on the list is the lovely Tash who has come up with a real gem for you today.

 

Imagine if . .   products used here are:  MDF tree

                                                               stockings

                                                               candles

                                                               stars

                                                               bows

                                                               gingerbread men & candy canes

                                                               jandals

                                                               santas hat

 

All products are proudly NZ made, and are available online or at the shop in Morrinsville.  Please support our homegrown products.

Life's a Beach

For this week's blog hop with Imagine if . .  Jo has asked half the team to show the fab new MDF xmas trees, and the 2nd half to show off more of the oversized tags.  I got to do the tags, which allows me to get a sneak look at the xmas trees before I have to do mine for next week.

I am trying hard to make all these projects useable, so decided to attach a spine between 2 tags and create a functional notebook.

 

First I had to attach the spin with some adhesive backed canvas, then all surfaces were covered with this gorgeous paper from Prima 'Seashore' collection, all edges were then inked with TH Distress Ink 'Frayed Burlap'.  A burlap trim was attached to the outside of the spine to cover the rough edges.

 



 

Then the fun began in earnest.  These gorgeous vintage beach prints are on a 'Paper Arts' paper available at Imagine if . .  , bling, sea creatures and a few flowers finish the fun vintage look.

 

 

 Inside the photos have been place under a chipboard film strip.  The jotter pad was cut to fit then slipped into a slit on the back page for easy replacement.

Products available at  Imagine if . . are:           Tags
                                                                Seahorse family
                                                                Sea shells
                                                                Film Strip
                                                                Paper Arts papers
                                                                mini roses
                                                                TH Distress Inks

 Follow the links to check out all the other tags and xmas trees that the girls have created this week.  Before me you would seen Carol's tag and as I'm last on the list go back to the beginning and check out Katrina's xmas tree.
                                                    

CAS Xmas cards

Everyone's starting to think about xmas, with many competitions and challenges to be entered.  Here I've made some 'clean and simple' xmas cards to enter into a challenge with Artfull Crafts where they allow 3 entries.

 

 

I've made several different colour variations of the same card.  All 3 cards have been made using the same scraps from Kaisercraft Santa's List & G45 Twelve Days of Christmas collections.   I love the origami xmas tree which was folded following simple instructions I found here .

 

Thank you for visiting, I hope this sends a little Christmas spirit your way.

Watch out here comes Santa

The blog hop this week for Imagine if . .   is more xmas fun, with the 2nd half of the DT (including me) showing you our sleighs, while the other girls have had fun making xmas cards.

I assembled the MDF pieces firstly, then painted everything black.  Once that was dry I gave it a good coat of my new favourite product Crackle Medium, then followed with the red paint.

 

I just love the effect of this crackle medium.  

 

The reindeer are xmas tree decorations, who are doing a stellar job 'pulling' the sleigh.

 Presents galore, again some are just xmas tree decorations, while others are Imagine if . .  chipboard pieces, painted and coloured.

 

Thanks for visiting, if you are following the blog correctly you would have come here after visiting Carol's sleigh and to keep on track keep going to visit Tash with her amazing sleigh.

 

Let us know what you think by leaving a comment, we've all had fun making these, why don't you try.  These and lots of other xmas goodies (MDF, chipboard & felt) are all available from Imagine if . .  and all are proudly NZ made.

Meeting Santa

Oh dear everyone is now starting to talk about Christmas . . . . I am not even in that mind set yet.  So when I received my latest pack of goodies from Jo at Imagine if .    I had to quickly put my denial aside, grab the bit between my teeth and embrace the fact that there's only 2 months left till the end of yet another year.  Jo has sent us all lots of xmas goodies to show you all, so get ready to be 'wowwed'.

I've started off with a xmas layout using a lovely photo from last xmas, showcasing the awesome chipboard 'Santa's sleigh and reindeer' pieces.

 

I started with a Kaisercraft Christmas Basecoat paper, then layered on lots of gorgeous G45 Twelve Days of Christmas papers, following this sketch which was the October LO sketch challenge at Artfull Crafts  (which I entered AND won)

 

 

As I am no artist I simply gave the chipboard a weathered, aged look using a fab new product I've come across 'Ceramcoat' Crackle medium - I LOVE IT, and its so easy to use.  Watch out you will be seeing a lot more of it in the future.

 

This flower stalk is a gorgeous Prima product which I beheaded, then painted to suit.  The little cones I found on the roadside, have been painted, then finished with a bit of gold stickles which sadly is not showing well in this photo.  The large flower is from BoBunny.  All the different layers were hand stitched as well.

If you are following this blog hop correctly you should have come to me from Carols awesome xmassy layout and next follow this link to visit Tash with her gorgeous creation

Let's Upcycle

Time for another blog hop with Imagine if . .  and for this week Jo has left it open and has allowed us to do anything we please.  If you are following the hop correctly, you should  have come to me from Katrina's  awesome creation,

 This has been a great chance to do a bit more with my storage boxes, as I have planned to ultimately have all boxes looking pretty - yeah right ! !  I store my individual and random papers by colour and decided to paint several pizza boxes for the job, to be decorated as time permitted.  So here is my first decorated box.

 

This box obviously is for all my green paper, so I wanted everything to be differing shades of green.  I started by covering the box with scraps of green papers, then added some texture by using texture paste through several different templates, added random scraps of laces, dry wall tape, & random flowers.  These were all gesso'd, then all was coloured with various layers of green paints, Dylusions ink sprays & Lindys stamp gang sprays.  The grey Prima flowers were painted, then sprayed; the old black flourish with black felt flowers were painted, the quote was distressed then inked to match as well.  The peacock feathers add a bit more dimension and interest as well. 

 

When it was all assembled and glued down I thought it would look great with a face in the middle, so if you look carefully you will see I've inked thru one of the Imagine if . .   face stencils.  Sadly with all the texture and with the flowers already attached its hard to see, but I wasn't brave enough to use a stronger colour incase it didn't look good.

 

Here is how it now looks back on the shelf with the other plain boxes, you can see why I've decided to 'pretty' things up a bit.

 

Next stop on your journey through the hop is Carol where she is also touching on the subject of storage.  I hope our ideas give you inspiration to sort out your own collections.

 

 

Treats for Halloween

Halloween is upon us again, so I've been busy preparing some wee bags of treats for the visiting kids.  Also this months challenge at I am Roses is for an altered bag, using orange & black, so doing these bags was a no brainer. 

 

The three I am Roses products I've used are Daisies, cherry blossoms, carnations and buds.  As my supplies are very limited I've coloured some of these blooms with Dylusions Ink sprays, which is super effective, and very easy to do.  I've also used feathers, cheese cloth & wool to give some texture.

 

Now I'd better get busy and make some less feminine bags for the boys.

a Stitch in Time

Is it a canvas? is it a book? . . . No . . . its a sewing kit.
For this weeks Imagine if . .     post I've been busy putting all the pieces together and created a wee surprise out of Jo's hollow book.

 

 

 
 
 
                           

  

 

 

I struggled at first for inspiration on this project, but once the ideas came I was away laughing.  After all these pieces were sorted, the fun began.

  

 

First the cover was created, using some sticky back canvas as the hinge.



 

Then I attached lots of die cuts (recognize these Ngaere??), used several stencils with texture paste, then painted it all with several colours with Lumiere paints.



 

All the embellishments were then mostly hot glued in place before getting a coat of gesso to seal them all.



 

Most of the bigger embellishments then received a coat of a very dark purple (yes scary I know) just to give them a solid base, then several layers of different colours were added until I was happy with the end results. 

Products used were: Lumiere Metallic Acrylic - Pearl Turquoise & Grape

                                 Folk Art Acrylic Paint - Heather

                                 Lindy's Stamp Gang - Starburst, Azure Sea Asters

                                 Viva Décor Inka Gold - Platinum

                                  Rub'n'buff - Gold leaf

 

I created the 'page' effect by adding book paper and scraps of lace between the chipboard 'pages'.

 

Enjoy more closeups of the embellishments.

 

 

Lots of Imagine if . .  products have been used in this, from lettering, random chipboard, felt flowers, stencils, quote from quote sheet, words.  All these products are available from the website and now can be found in several shops around New Zealand along with their very own new shop in Morrinsville.

 

Thanks for visiting, I hope my work inspires you to go forth and create something similar.

 

 

We are Family

Another busy week  has been had by us all yet again, so instead of a blog hop as we usually do just follow the links at the top of the Imagine if . . home page.

This week we are all showing off the new range of frames, and from what I've seen before this has even gone live . . . WOW . . . there is some amazing work being done.  As I'm now really busy at work I've stuck with something fairly simple, which I'm sure showcases the Imagine if . .  products well.

 

Lately I've been spoilt with lots gorgeous photos, which are usually mostly 'girly', so I'm loving this chance to show off a male page. 

Another Kaisercraft paper has been used, this one is from the 'Honey Chai' collection and is a lot bluer than the photo is showing.  I've distressed, inked & stamped the background, then underlayed some burlap & fluffy trim.  I've used 2 Imagine if . .  frames on this lovely 4" x 6" photo, which were firstly embossed to give a bit of texture, then painted, inked then finished with some crackle accents (they look great in person).  Cogs and arrows add more 'male' items to the page.



 

And lastly, no matter how hard I try I just can't seem to do a page without using some flowers.  I love this big blue Bo Bunny bloom, it works well with the I am Roses daisy and the whole colour theme of the page.

Thanks for visiting, please take a look at what the other DT ladies have created for you also, you'll be amazed, and also check out all the gorgeous products now available on the Imagine if . .  website.  As always your comments are greatly appreciated.

The Beauty of Nature

Time for another blog hop with Imagine if . . where this week we are celebrating the glory of nature.  Hopefully after starting with Jo you should have followed thru the hop reaching Katrina before me.  Here I am sharing a stunning photo I took some time ago early in the morning showing how the spiders webs glisten while covered with dew.

 

Here is yet another Kaisercraft 'Basecoat' paper (gotta love these), which I distressed & inked heavily, then splattered with pink paint, & randomly stamped.  Corrugated cardboard, painted washi tape & strips of random papers underlay the photo.  

 

I love this large Bo Bunny flower, also I am Roses daisy, while the smaller red flower & leaves are available from Imagine if . .  .  The quote was distressed, then inked.

 

 

The netting has been inked, the grassy reed painted, then I attached more micro beads, then softened by placing muslim underneath.  The face & birds nest are lovely little treasures that add more interest.

Next on your journey you will find Beth with her lovely creation.   If you've not ventured there yet, have a look at all the gorgeous products Imagine if . . has to tempt your creative juices as well.   As usual please leave a comment.