Maskarade......

Ooooh!! Where to start!!
The imagination started to run wild with this one. What theme to go with, do I want something exotic, bejewelled, weird and wonderful or simple but elegant.
Well this is what I finally came up with.........
As my Craft Barn DT Teamie Gio called it ... typically Venetian and being Italian she should know!

Some Distress Paint in Tarnished Bronze, Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms, heavy lace and some flourishes of black gems.

I gave the mask a base coat of gesso first then two coats of the paint, but you can pop over to the blog for                                                                      all the step by step details.

                        Keep looking on the blog this week as you will be amazed at the other DT projects

                                                        http://www.thecraftbarn.co.uk/blog/

Textures.....

Of Christmas
Buttons and ribbons were the items to be used for this weeks theme. What would us crafters do without them???
I thought I would use them to decorate a Christmas tree - with a contemporary feel. It's a great design to use up all your leftover bits of card. The stamping add a bit of texture to the strips

For the background I've used the Kaisercraft Diamonds stamp with mica powders in gold and copper for a natural look and I've stamped the tree strips with one of the stamps from the Edges set.

There are so many possibilities for the background with this design!! and just think how many trees you can make from colouring one panel of card!

 With a little bit of doodling around the edge to finish off and there you have it!!

Okay so now you've got the idea why not pop over to the Craft Barn Blog for the full "how to" details

                                                       http://www.thecraftbarn.co.uk/blog/

A Do Not Disturb....

Door Hanger Lindsay Mason Style.....

After seeing the lovely Lindsay Mason again recently and telling her I had never designed anything in the style she was demoing, at the NEC, she set me a challenge to do just that and to show it to her on the 27th November when we are both at the same event at the Craftrange.
Well I had so much fun and loved every minute of it.
This is what I did...

I don't think it was too bad for a first attempt, but there is room for improvement

Well that started the ball rolling and I then went on to having a couple of bestie friends round for a crafty night in. My friends had a go at Christmas designed canvasses and I did another favourite, a notebook.

I was really pleased with how it turned out and will show it to you very soon.

Now onto something completely different. On Saturday night I went to the 40th Birthday party of a very lovely friend. This here party was to be fancy dress. After some serious thought about what to wear we, that is my best friend Carol and I, decided there was no alternative but to go as the ugly sisters!!

OOohhh I can hear you say!! She couldn't possibly be an ugly sister!! but......

OH, YES I COULD!!!!!!

We even got gifts for the best fancy dress

It was a great party and have to admit I did enjoy the dressing up 

Can't wait to hear the comments !!!

Hanging Frames.....

Okay Bloggers, once again I have a Craft Barn DT design for you. The theme for this week is Stocking Fillers under a Fiver!! So I've used the Hanging Frames

You can use these in soooo many ways! I've painted and gilded the frames then made little tiles to go in the middles by stamping into ultra thick embossing with a Tim Holtz stamp. I put some thick black card behind them to set them off better

So join us on the blog this week and see what Stocking filler ideas the other DT members have come up with

and as usual with the Craft Barn projects all the instructions on how to make this  will be there for you to see

http://www.thecraftbarn.co.uk/blog/

Is There Anybody There......

Yep, I'm here AT LAST!!!

I've been so caught up with workshops, demo's and DT stuff that I've been guilty of neglecting you guys (hanging head in shame). Well let's catch up.....
Last Saturday saw me do my first workshop at the Craftrange in Burnley and it was just fabulous! We were using Brushos and I've been asked to do a part two which will be on the 6th December. I will be using Brushos again this Saturday at Daisy Jewels and Crafts in Coventry. There will be a demo in the morning followed by a workshop in the afternoon.

Then on the 20th I'll be back in Kendal where we will be using Kaisercraft stamps and some WOW products too, but more pics with them after the class.

Then I've also been busy with the new Off The Wall Collection from Kaisercraft for my first Jones Craft DT project for November. Such great papers in fab blue colours

So I hope I'm forgiven for my absence and I'll be back on the 13th with my next Craft Barn DT project

Framed.....

Craft Barn DT time - You've Been Framed

A while ago I used some DecoArt Interference Paints on some roses I made so I decided to give them another airing and used them to do this canvas. The remit was to use die cuts on a board canvas so I set to work painting it with black gesso first, added the die cut trellis and when dry I painted the whole thing with three colours of the paint

The how to details are all on the CB Blog in PDF form for you to use

http://www.thecraftbarn.co.uk/blog/

Some of my lovely Tim Holtz dies were put to good use on this canvas

I so enjoyed making this canvas, hope you like it xx