Celebration − A Birthday Card with Gelli Printed Paper

Hi there! Between Christmas and other wintery themes, here is a quick birthday card I made using previously made gelli printed paper from my stash. The other papers are from We R Memory Keepers and 4heures 37.



I'm entering my card in the Mixed Media Card Challenge, theme Celebration. (Edit: It was too late to join that challenge after all.)



Thanks for your visit and welcome again!

(Edit: Add link to the Mixed Media Card Challenge.)

Wintery Mixed Media Mail Holder − Scrap Africa

Hi there! Just a few days left until Christmas, and some lovely cards have began to drop in. I have to admit I don't always send many and I'm often late with them. On the other hand, I love to send and receive snail mail all year, and I think most people would love a hand made card any time!Let's keep that in mind in case we don't get to send Christmas wishes to all those we would have liked to.

This is my project for the mid-month mood board challenge No. 65 at Scrap Africa!



For the Christmas cards and any nice snail mail, I've been hoping for a special place to put the letters as soon as they arrive instead of piling them with bills and magazines. I spotted this little holder in a thrift store earlier this year and saw it was perfect for altering.



I got too carried away making it that I forgot to take photos of the process, and in a Nordic country winter, it's also always dark when I'm crafting! But I gave it some sandpapering, then gessoed a couple of layers.

Now before I forget, let's take a look at the lovely wintery mood board by Denise van Deventer! You can join the Scrap Africa challenge No. 65 until the end of the month.



I was inspired by the snowflakes, the frosty feel, and all the glass and sparkle.

I was also inspired by the Winter Challenge at WOW! Embossing Powder and the Christmas Ornament Challenge at Art Bazarchik.


I hadn't made a lot of 3D projects before, at least not this kind where you build layers of all kinds of little bits and bobs. It was a bit of a challenge but a lot of fun, a bit like a puzzle, moving and turning all the pieces around to reach a balance.



First, after the gesso, I had painted the holder with acrylics in white, a few shades of blue and Inka Gold in Turquoise. Secondly I stamped it with an old script looking stamp and used metallic blue embossing powder from Wow! Embossing Powder.



The leaves and some of the snowflakes are also decorated with embossing powders, after paint. The "foot" of the holder I painted with white and shades of blue, also making a bit of a pattern with stencils.



The side in the photo below has slightly less embellishments so it's probably going to be the back side. There's also a used puzzle piece under all the other parts - I first didn't like the look of it, with too much gold, a messy mix of paint and embossing powder. But it works out fine under the other pieces!



I even got to use a broken cheap necklace, probably dating from my sister's or my teenage years! You can see it between the other pieces, with the darkened chain and pearl and blue jewel looking plastic beads.



Et voilà, here it is ready and in use!



Thanks for your visit, and I wish you all a very happy midwinter celebration!

Illustration Friday: Punch, Collage with DIY Stamps

Hi there! Today I'm showing you the very first stamps I carved myself! The material I used here is called Speedy-Carve. It's a soft eraser-like material that is very easy to carve.

I've had the supplies for quite some time and now was a good time to start, inspired by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's Carve December Challenge.



The lemon slice stamp I made on day 1 can be used alone or together with the one from day 2, the lemon half.

Here I've used them in a mixed media collage piece I'm submitting to Illustration Friday, theme Punch.



Speedy-Carve is a great material, but I didn't have more than the small block that I used more than half of already. I'll have to check out the best place to buy more, and in bigger blocks, too! Another thing I need is smaller carving tools. The set I've bought seems to be good quality, but even the smallest tool is very wide.

Have you ever tried making your own stamps? It's really fun, and it doesn't have to be carved from a material like this - I think even potato prints count, or stamps that you make in any other technique. Do check out Julie Balzer's site and also the hashtag #carvedecember in social media.

I hope to be posting more home made stamps soon!

Hello Sunshine: Layout for Scrap Africa DT - Sketch Challenge #64

Hi everyone! I can hardly believe it's time to say Happy December already. I've been busy with the workshops I've been happy to teach here in my home town Espoo, Finland, and apologize for the long blog break!

Today is also the time for the new challenge at Scrap Africa, and it's a Sketch Challenge with hexagons, a shape I'm really drawn to but still had a bit of a hard time placing this time! I felt like making a sunny layout to cheer up the darkest time of the year.



Here's what the sketch looks like.



I was also inspired by the tic-tac-toe themed challenge at Challenge YOUrself! You can join until December 4th.



I chose Sunshine, Bling and Doily for my tic-tac-toe row.



The three things that represent sunshine in my layout are the colourful gelli printed paper, the pencil pattern like rays of sunshine that I drew with a Dutch Doobadoo stencil, and last but not least the sunshine themed photo!



I'm really quite into using sequins in my layouts right now! I just tried it for the first time a month or two ago as I'd never realized how easy they are to attach with a neatly drying glue like Glossy Accents. I had two small bags of them, golden and an assortment of blues and greens, from long ago when I did more textile arts. Now I bought my first ones specifically for scrapping, these almost clear ones that still seem to have a shade of pale pink or gold in a certain light. I'm really happy with how they worked out! Other bling I used are Stickles and Liquid Pearls glues.







Thanks for your visit and welcome to check out the Scrap Africa challenge to see what the other DT members did & more importantly, take part in it, you too!



You can join until December 14th and the random giveaway prize is this collection "You're Invited" by Bo Bunny!



I hope to see you again soon!