MDF Christmas Word Art with lots of Sparkle!

Hello crafty friends!

How are you all? I love that crafting is such a friendly hobby, it's so lovely to speak to lots of people and share hints and tips! I love it when I meet someone as keen as me about crafty things, I feel reassured that I am not the only paper-sniffing, stamp collecting, Pinterest mad, ink covered, paper hoarding person out there...

Time for playing with some Christmas MDF this month - something I love!

I started with a blank, un-primed MDF word from Imagination Crafts...

and painted front and back with one of my favourite Starlight Paints: Menthol.

Once dry, I added some Starlights White Gold using a natural piece of sponge, as I wanted to try and get a textured look.

Once this was dry, I used a star stencil from my stash with some Welsh Gold Sparkle Medium to highlight the centre letter with some detail. I love this colour of Sparkle Medium, it goes with so much: vintage, Christmas, male cards, you name it!

Putting the word aside to dry, I set to work on the embellishments. I wanted to add some poinsettias with a difference, so I die cut them in several sizes using some of the gorgeous Woodware Vellum. This vellum is nice and thick and gives a lovely effect when cut and embossed (which I will show you later!) You will notice that I was a little hasty taking some out of my dies and de-leafed a couple, but it didn't matter, as those bits will be hidden in the layers!

Before embossing any of the petals, I used some Spectrum Noir Pencils to colour them. I chose to make the greens/white style of Poinsettia, as this would tone in with my MDF base:

There was no need to be precise with the colouring, it was done mainly to give some tone and difference so that the flowers didn't look 'too perfect'.

Once coloured, I put the petals back into the dies and embossed. A tip here: either emboss in the middle of your machine if you have a large platform one, loosen the pressure if you can, remove a plate or place the vellum in some paper before embossing, so that you protect it and prevent it from cracking.

My next step was to enhance the colour and for this I used Champagne Inka Gold on the edges of the petals. I used my finger to lightly apply the medium, creating a shiny effect.

Once this was dry, I used my finger again, this time applying Imagination Craft's Inca Gold Alchemy Wax all over the embossed areas really making them pop.

To finally assemble my flowers I off-set several layers and glued together. I then used some glue gel to make a centre dome and added some white and yellow seed beads along with some brown glitter. Odd combo I grant you, but I like it!

Wanting to add yet more embellishments to my finished piece, I raided my beading and jewellery stash and used some wire to make some 'hangy bits' (I am sure there is a professional word, answers on a postcard please!)

All bits complete, some ribbon, fiddling with the layout and I was done!

I hope you like it, I had fun with it and loved using lots of different things from my stash to make it.

Love

Martina

xxx

   

                          

Acrylic Christmas Tags

Good morning, Kirsten here with a scheduled post, hope you all had a lovely weekend. Today's projects are two acrylic tags from That's Crafty! & they are my final projects for October. As I said in a previous post, acrylic is very hard to photograph properly - at least it is for me - so if you're attending Lisa's next two classes you can see these tags there.

***When using any of the acrylic products from That's Crafty! always remember to remove the protective sheets from each side first.***

On one side of the first tag I applied Red & Green Starlights through the Imagination Crafts' Christmas Poinsettia panel stencil. As usual, I built up the colour by adding thin layers, allowing each one to dry before adding another. I also stamped the greeting from the Hobby Art Christmas Frosting stamp set with Jet Black Stazon ink. Again, always use Stazon, it's the only ink that will dry on acrylic.

When the Starlights & the Stazon were dry I turned the tag over & applied white gesso through the That's Crafty! Snowflake Background stencil.

Once the gesso was dry I used a brayer to apply Diamond Sparkle Medium to both sides of the tag & when that was dry I added gold Stickles to the centres of the poinsettias.

For the second tag I applied Diamond Sparkle Medium through the That's Crafty! 

Snowflake Background Dinky stencil on to the back of the tag..............

When it was dry I used a stencil brush to pounce Blue, Mediterranean Sky & Mint Starlights on top of the Sparkle Medium..............

I left that to dry for a short while then applied Light Copper Sparkle Medium through the Imagination The Clearing stencil. I applied quite a thick layer for the moon, then tapped the tip of my spatula into the wet SM to add some texture. The 'snow' at the bottom of the tag is Diamond Sparkle Medium mixed with Cracked Ice Sparkling Glitter............

                              

             

That's it from me for today, next week sees the start of our November projects. I'm looking forward to seeing many of you at Friday's classes in Fant Hall, Maidstone.

Have a great week.

Kirsten

Acrylic Christmas Book

Hello, Kirsten here with a scheduled post, hope you had a nice weekend. My project today is an
acrylic book from That's Crafty!, I used Imagination Crafts' Santa Claus Art Stamp, Starlights, Sparkle Medium, stencils & chalk paint.

The first thing to say is that acrylic is NOT easy to photograph, so those of you who were at Lisa's classes in Maidstone the other week will have had a much better view of this...........

These books come with two MDF covers, three acrylic pages & three book rings & the idea is to create a dimensional, layered image. You can add as much detail as you choose, I've kept this one very simple. 

***When using any of the acrylic products from That's Crafty! always remember to remove the protective sheets from each side first.***

On the first acrylic page I applied Diamond Sparkle Medium through a snowflakes stencil...........

I stamped Santa Claus on to the BACK of the second page of acrylic, using a Stazon Jet Black ink pad. You must use Stazon, it's the only ink that will dry on acrylic/acetate, etc. 

(Stamping on the back will obviously reverse your image when you turn the acrylic sheet over, so make sure you work out the position of the image first). 

If you stamp incorrectly, or the image is not as clear as you'd like, or you change your mind about placement, remove the ink with alcohol blending solution/alcohol wipes, then wipe the acrylic with a soft cloth & start again.

When the ink was dry, it takes just a few minutes, I began painting, on the reverse again, with Starlights. I began with a very thin layer, let it dry, then added more layers. Doing it that way gives the paint something to grip on to. To highlight Santa's beard & fur trim I firstly added Diamond Sparkle medium with my finger, then painted with Pearl Starlights.

On the third acrylic sheet I applied Diamond Sparkle Medium through the Imagination Crafts' Christmas Poinsettia panel stencil & when it was dry I painted over it with Red Starlights............

On the inside of one of the MDF covers I first blended DecoArt's Escape & Refreshing chalk paints, then I added white gesso through the That's Crafty! Bubbles stencil. I let that dry thoroughly then stamped the sentiment with Onyx Black Versafine - I made the sentiment with part of the Stampendous 'It's Time To Celebrate...' stamp & part of the 'It's Christmas' from the Hobby Art Christmas Frosting stamp set.

I dried the Versafine ink with my heat tool then covered the MDF with Diamond Sparkle Medium by applying it with a brayer..............

On the back of the MDF I had initially applied a green Sparkle Medium through the Holly Corner stencil, but then changed my mind about it, so I painted the cover with Emerald & Rich Gold Starlights, leaving lots of brush strokes on purpose. When the paint was dry I replaced the Holly Corner stencil & added Light Copper Sparkle Medium through it...........

I've decided against using the front MDF cover for now, so here is the finished book again...........

                                               

Thank you for visiting the blog today, see you next time.

Kirsten