Wednesday 30 November 2016

Quick catch up .....

Happy Wednesday .....
I think I made it before midnight!

Where has this week gone ......... it's nearly Thursday already ...... and what happened to November!!! Only 24 days to go before the BIG day that's all ..... help!!

It's all go in the old craft room too.  New Blog Challenges will be getting underway in the next few days.  I've still got Christmas cards to make ..... never mind write and send!  And, I've got a huge class to prep for next weekend.  The ladies are all getting very excited about this one ..... it's the last one of the year and it's going to be a busy one!!  More about that later.

Speaking of workshops we had a lovely one last weekend.  There was only a few of us this week so it was a little more relaxed shall we say ...... quieter too!!! (Sorry if any of my regulars are reading this ..... we did miss you!)

We decorated MDF baubles ........ very festive (there was even mince pies .... yum!!)
Here's a couple of the designs that I made to give them a little inspiration ......


The baubles and all the MDF shapes came from a company called Calico Craft Parts.  They produce fabulous wood shapes and craft items all ready to alter and decorate.

I used the large plain bauble shape as the base and then gave them the crackle treatment ..... a thin coat of white gesso ..... a layer of paint in a dark colour, for this one I used Ground Espresso Distress Paint. A thin layer of PaperArtsy's Crackle Glaze followed by a coat of Snowflake Fresco Finish Chalk Paint.


I love how this works ..... you never get the same results twice.

Once it was all dry I gave it a spritz with Perfect Pearls mist to give a nice shimmer to it and then added a little bit of texture paste over the top through Tim Holtz Speckles stencil.
You can just about see I added some fine crystal glitter over the paste whilst it was still wet for a touch of added sparkle ..... you can never have too much sparkle at this time of year!

I then painted one of the cute little reindeer with a brown paint and added glitter to his antlers before attaching him on to the bauble


I added a die cut sentiment ..... cut 3 times and layered, then the top layer was painted with a red pearlescent paint


Some festive foliage finished everything off ..... a few berries, some die cut and punched leaves and a mini pine cone along with a pretty satin bow.


Here's another version .... you can only have a little look at this one for now ..... all will be revealed later in the week on a Blog Challenge ......


Again .... I used the same techniques .......different shape.

We even decorated the back of the baubles ........ crackled paint again only this time stenciled with texture paste over the whole thing ...... this is so sparkly in real life


This was another option I gave them ..... I made this last year and I still love it.  The mistletoe is my favourite I think


Just look at all the detail you get in some of the shapes .....


These are great for hanging on the tree, but why not use them as gift tags.  Those special presents for the important people in our lives deserve an extra special gift tag!

Speaking of tags .... remember the 12 tags of Christmas with Loll and Friends event from earlier this month ..... you do, well, the winners have been announced today and guess what ...... one of my tags was chose in the Top Tags ....... yeah!! and one got an honorable mention too!!  Thanks guys .... it was a pleasure to be part of the event.


Thanks for popping by ..... especially if it's still Wednesday!!!
I'm off to bed now ..... an early start tomorrow.  I'm off into town with Lauren, lunch out then I've an appointment with the optician.  Nothing major, just a check up.

Cheerio until next time ...... see you in December!

Night night!

7 comments:

Redanne said...

I love your bauble with the reindeer, he looks so festive with his sparkly antlers! But, like you, I love the mistletoe one, that mistletoe looks so realistic and the neutral colours are gorgeous. Congrats on the Hon mention too! Have a good week. xxx

nancy littrell said...

Hi Linda, Congratulations on your being a top 5 winner and HM on Loll's Tag Event :-) I loved both your tags. Your GORGEOUS bauble this year and last are absolutely amazing "Works of Art"!!! I love every detail, but especially your crackle paste and all your added glitter that make all your embellishments really pop! Wow!! TFS all your description too :-) Hugs, Nancy

Loll said...

Your decorated ornaments are so beautiful Linda. Thank you for all your inspiration. I really want to try to make some of these.

Congrats on your Top Tag and Honourable Mention at the tag event. As always, I'm speechless that you were able to make twelve tags to enter. Each and every one of them was a unique work of art. Thanks for all your support my friend! xx

Darnell said...

To give them a LITTLE inspiration? I think you gave them a LOT of inspiration with these beauties, Linda! Congratulations on the well-deserved recognition from Loll!! Hugs, Darnell

Unknown said...

Love the baubles Linda, they are absolutely gorgeous :)
Hugs, Kaz x

Unknown said...

Your layout is beautiful. I love the design and details.


Thank for your always encouraging me

Mrs.B said...

Gorgeous baubles Linda, looks like a great workshop, with lots of inspiration!
Just had a little catch up - tree looks lovely.
Avril xx