Creative Expressions

A Festive Arched Window .

Hi there , here I am back again with a post for Creative Expressions.
This is a mixed media piece using the MDF Free Standing Arched Window which I stuck together before painting the whole thing with Black Gesso. When this was dry I stamped ivy leaves from the stamp set Festive Traditions Carol Singers randomly over the frame and embossed with silver powder  .

To create the backgrounds in the windows I used Distress Oxide inks onto white card ;. Dab some of the oxides onto a craft sheet , spray with a little water and swirl the card over the ink . The main colours  I used were Wilted Violet , Cracked Pistachio and Faded Jeans . I then dabbed the same or similar colours through stencils with cut and dry foam to add some interest . The top right is interesting because I used a die cut piece from a Sue Wilson Die , Twinkle Star Frames , as a stencil .

I used some of the coloured card left over from making the windows to die cut some foliage from Sue Wilson dies , Trailng Ivy and Berry Bough .

I stamped and embossed with black powder each of the Window pieces :

Top right , Reindeer and Stars ,

Top left , Branches ,

Bottom left , Trees , all from stamp set Winter Wonderland.

Bottom right , Mistletoe, from stamp set Festive Traditions Carol Singers .

I then attached the backgrounds into the windows before adding the decorations . In this picture I'd already added the Poinsettia before taking the picture , sorry .

The holly leaves , from the Grab Bag of MDF pieces were triple embossed with silver powder  . The berries were covered with glib and glitter . After I stuck the holly leaves in place I added some of the ivy .

I added dots of glue to the front tree and added more glitter ( actually although I rarely use glitter there's a lot on this piece ! ) . I put some glue inti the bottles which will eventually dry clear revealing the glitter that I also added to the bottles ! More ivy and some bits of bling were then added .

The Poinsettia was cut from another Sue Wilson Die , Classic Poinsettia . I only cut the two smaller flowers and then applied Pearl Lustre Gilding Polish before sticking the flower together . I tucked some of the Die cut Berry boughs under the flower There are three tiny pine cones, glittered , in the centre of the piece.

Here is more of the ivy and Berry boughs here . The silver rail is a silver embossed piece of Die cut frame from the Twinkle Star Die . I've added a painted pine cone and a tree Bauble and beads .

Of course you could easily change the colour scheme and use different embellishments to create something unique . So I hope this has inspired you to create something wonderful .

I've used various Creative Expressions products, here are a few of them , the whole list is on the CE website :- 

Dies by Sue Wilson , Festive Collection- Twinkle Star Frames , Classic Poinsettia and Berry Bough .

Finishing Touches - Trailing Ivy .

Creative Expressions Clear Stamp sets - Winter Wonderland and Festive Traditions Carol Singers .

Creative Expressions MDF Free Standing Arched Window and Christmas Mega Grab Bag.

That Special Touch Mask Chicken Wire .

If you want to see what other members of the CE design team have made please go to 

Creative Expressions

Creative Expressions

Two Contrasting Cards , One Stamp .

Hi there , today I've used the same stamp to show you two different cards using the same stamp.

I used the Butterfly Collage stamp by Woodware as the basis of these cards . It's a lovely stamp that has so many uses .

For the first card I used fabric to stamp on . I have tried using different types of ink to stamp onto fabric but I find that I can never get a good bold image . So I used black Gesso applied to the stamp with cut and dry foam . When the paint is thoroughly dry the rest of the fabric can be coloured with Fabric Lustre Paints . I used four colours ( see below ) and mixed the pink and blue to create a purple . Water the paint down to make a wash and apply it randomly to the fabric . I used the French Pearl to add highlights to the butterfly wings .

I mounted the fabric on white card to stiffen it . I rubbed Gilding Polish around the edges of the black mount . As usual I added some lace and bits and pieces from my stash to finish the card .

For the second card I stamped and embossed the design twice onto white card . I also stamped some butterflies from another Woodware stamp ( Vintage Pocket Watches ) and embossed them gold as well . I used a little water colour to add a little definition. Once dry I cut out the butterflies and also the two butterflies from the collage . If you look you can see that I have cut the lower left hand butterfly with the quote which would be covered and lost behind the frame .

The frame is cut using the Twinkle Star Frame Die , and the Collage was trimmed to sit behind it . I added more white card behind the frame to make it stand out .

I've curled the butterflies and attached them with dimensional glue to add dimension. Finally I added a bit of lace and a few flowers .

I hope this inspires you to use stamps in different ways .

Creative Expressions products used for these projects :-

Woodware Clear Stamps -- Butterfly Collage  and Vintage Pocket Watches .

Sue Wilson Craft Dies , Festive Collection- Twinkle Star Frame .

Cosmic Shimmer Fabric Lustre Paints-- Atlantic Blue , Moroccan Rose , Golden Lime and French Pearl.

Cosmic Shimmer Black Gesso .

Cosmic Shimmer Detail Embossing Powder-- Gold .

If you want to find out what other members of the DT are doing please go to 

Creative Expressions

PaperArtsy

Shades of White .

Hi there , today I am going to share a few photos from my latest post on the PaperArtsy Blog . I'm not going to spend time describing how I created this project because I have done that already on the  PaperArtsy blog . So if you want to find out more or see what the other talented people have been doing please go toPaperArtsy

Hope you like it . Back soon !