Halloween card for Imagination Crafts

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all ready for Halloween?  Iv'e made a spooky card for the mid month Inspiration Post on the Imagination-craftschallenges blog.

To make this card I cut out a circle to use as a stencil for the moon then I stippled white acrylic paint through the stencil onto a black card which I had coloured with  blue chalk to colour the background sky.  I then added white chalk all around the edge of the moon and faded it with a blender. I added random lines drawn across the moon made with a water pen and brushed Irridescent Mica Powder over the marks to give a cloudy misty moonlight effect. I used blue and white powders. I then put some silver sparkle Medium onto my finger and gently and thinly spread it over the whole sky to create the look of stars.

I added green mica powder to sparkle gel and spread this onto the bottom of the card to create the grass. I then mixed orange mica powder to sparkle gel and stenciled the plain pumpkin from the Pumpkin stencil. I made a few marks to give the pumpkin a round look and when dry added the pumpkin face using Black Stars Sparkle Medium.

The grass was made using a palette knife which I scratched into the wet Sparkle Gel for effect. To finish I added a black cat using Black Stars Sparkle Medium and gave him two blue adhesive gem eyes .

You can mix mica powders with Sparkle Medium to give colour or even change the colour. Experiment and have fun.

Products used -                  (visit the Imagination Crafts shop here to browse for more products )
Black Stars Sparkle Medium
Silver Sparkle Medium
Irridescent Mica Powders
Water brush
Pumpkin Stencil

Here's a little bonus for you .........

- a Tag also made with the same powders, stencil and methods as above.

Happy crafting...

Cake Decorating at Otter Nurseries

      

Hi Everyone,

Thought I would show you this cake that I decorated when I did my Cake Decorating Demo at Otter Nurseries last week.  Lots of interest in the decorating techniques and the cakes which ranged from small cup cakes to a fairly large wedding cake.  Some ladies had a go themselves and went home with their own little piece of heaven. 

I had so much fun decorating cakes that I now have a brand new hobby and something else to add to my Demonstration profile. I'm looking forward to decorating many more cakes in future - and eating them of course. Yummy.

Sparkle Medium with Glass Paints

Hi again,

Being on the Imagination Crafts Design Team means I can play with all different mediums alongside all the lovely products that Imagination Crafts sell on their website. Click here to go to the website.

It's great fun to create ideas for my two monthly posts so for my first October Inspiration Project I created a "Suncatcher" for Halloween made with Glass Paints and Sparkle Medium.  This could be put in your window on October 31st to shine through your window to outside or hung on your door for those Trick or Treaters.

Firstly I found an old piece of Acetate which used to be part of a plastic window. I cut it to size with a fret saw then painted on the back with yellow (for the sky), orange, green and brown glass paints and covered this with white tissue paper whilst still wet. This gives a crumpled look on the correct side of the piece.

I then used Black Stars Sparkle Medium and the Halloween Stencil - Pumpkin for the images on the front and also went around the edge with the Halloween spider's web stencil to give it a frame. I also added another frame with black card to finish.

Products used

Black Sparkle Medium
Halloween Stencil - Pumpkin

Honiton Craft Club - Talk and Demo

Honiton Craft Club - 

Talk and Demo on Gelli Plates, Sparkle Medium, 3D Embossing and more.....

Today I gave a Talk and Demonstration to Honiton Craft Club ladies and gents.  It was a bit of a last minute booking so I had a little time to prep but mainly played it by ear, giving a few hints and tips on a variety of crafty subjects including using the Gelli Plate to create backgrounds for cards etc, Sparkle Medium, 3D Embossing with Silicone Moulds and more....

The ladies asked lots of questions about all sorts of crafts. As well as Demo's on the above I also added in  lots of little hints and tips on how to decorate Polystyrene Balls, how to make jewellery with Fimo Clay and how to create a Christmas Tree using Bunting etc.,  Iv'e given talks to Honiton Club for quite a while now on a variety of different subjects.  

My next Demo is at Otter Nurseries for their "Ladies Indulgence Evening" on October 2nd from 5pm to 8pm where there is a variety of things going on to keep the ladies amused including a Fashion Show, Card Making and something a little different for me to demonstrate this time -  "Decorating Cakes, Biscuits and Pies" using Fondant and Flower Icing. There are some beautiful moulds for sale in store so come along and see for yourself how easy it is to make your Christmas table look stunning this year.  Pictures to follow soon.... All this talk of food is making me feel hungry....

Sparkle Medium is so adaptable - even for Bags and Jewellery

Felt Bag and Earrings using "Imagination Crafts" products.

This useful little bag was made from one piece of A4 White Felt. I used the Butterfly Stencil and Black Sparkle Medium to create the design.

Sparkle Medium works with lots of medium bases even Felt and Funky Foam (which the Earrings are made from).  Click here to see the fabby colours of Sparkle Medium in the Imagination Craft online shop.

Once the Sparkle Medium was dry I then folded the felt into 3 with the top third acting as the fold over section. I then stitched up both sides, added a button and ribbon to fasten and added white pearl adhesive stones to finish.

The Earrings were made using Black Sparkle Medium on Funky Foam this time.  Stencil the Butterflies so that you have 4 the same size, let them dry then cut them out. (You need 4 so that you can stick 2 back to back to create your Butterfliy Earrings)

3 Gold Eye pins were used onto which I added one gold bead. Pull up 2 of the Eye Pins to form antennae then the other middle one acts as the bit to fasten the chain to with a jump ring. I stuck 2 Butterflies back to back over the 3 Eyepins leaving the bead at the top then at the bottom of the Butterfly add another gold bead through all three Eyepins then turn a loop to finish.

An Earring Wire was added to the top of the chain and adhesive stones to embellish the body - hey presto - you have a pair of sparkly earrings (and a bag to keep them in)..... More creations on the Imagination Crafts blog to inspire you - click here to take a look.

Why not enter our Challenge this month too - click here to go to the Imagination Crafts  "Challenge Blog" and if you use Imagination Crafts products you could be in with a chance of a lovely prize. Remember, you can only enter up to 7 Challenges including our Imagination Crafts Challenge to be in with a chance. (Check out the rules just to be safe)....Back soon with more creations.

Imagination Crafts Products used for the Bag and Earrings -
Butterfly Stencil
Black Stars Medium

Sparke Medium on Felt

Hi all

This creation is made with Sparkle Medium on Felt. When the medium was dry, I cut out the feather shape and added it to another piece of felt - bring to mind that you can make any shape and use it for patchwork, quilting, even stump work - more creations to come soon.

Stained Glass Mirror - New from Old.

Hi again,

As promised another home-made, recycled creation - this time an old mirror that Iv'e added a Stained Glass frame to.

The original mirror was cracked so I cut out the good bit into an oval and added a stained glass frame with a flower for decoration.  I love the colours of glass - but it can be expensive to buy. The orange and yellows in particular as they use real gold to colour the glass.

Iv'e made quite a few stained glass items in the past from lampshades to porch windows.

Stained glass can look fabulous but you do need a lot of equipment and room to work. Bits of glass pinging around your workroom isn't a good idea, especially if you use the room for crafting too....

More creations to come in future for you.