Wednesday 21 December 2022

Gift tags

Good morning. Today I bring you a quick project you can make with all your left over Tando bits to make cute gift tags. 



Materials

Tando ATC coins, Hexagons oblongs

Stars from Ebay

White paint

PVA glue

Christmas napkins 

A iron

Sand paper


Instructions

Begin by painting your shapes White. Once dry give one side a coat of PVA glue and leave to fry over night. 


Take your Christmas napkins and peel the layers apart until you have just the last printed layer. Carefully place it on your shape. 


Take a piece of grease proof paper and place it over the top. Take a hot iron and run it across the grease proof paper for a few minutes. This helps the napkin bond to the PVA glue. Once cool, sand the edges down. Ink if desired. 

Add them to your presents for a personal touch. 


This technique is very addictive. I have Christmas coasters, pot trivits and decorations all to match

Sarah 

Sunday 27 November 2022

24 Boxes of Advent - Grand Finale by Kim

 So may be you haven't room for 24 of these cubby boxes, but four will work just fine!

Start by building the boxes and drawers -
as in previous posts in this series. Next, take the outer boxes and glue them into a square. Make sure you line up the edges and get them 'square'. 

Once dry I gave them a coat of gesso, then Blue Harbor, fading to Spa Blue at the sides.

Now, to paint a picture over four separate drawer fronts could be difficult so I took a piece of multi media art paper, and prepared one surface that covers all four drawer fronts. 

I started with some old book pages and glued them on to the sheet. When dry I used thin glazes of Santa Red and Forest Green over the text. To add interest I brushed a thin wash of Hansa Yellow (Media Fluid Acrylic) in places over the red and green.

When it was dry I thought the colours were too strong to work as a background so I painted a wash of Titanium White over the top to knock back the colour. Let it dry.




I sketched lightly a simple Christmas tree shape with three layers. With Leaf Green I base coated the top section. With Forest Green with a little Deep Midnight Blue I started the top of next section, then changed back to Leaf Green to blend to the bottom of that section. Repeat for the bottom section.

When dry I dry brushed a little Fawn on the branches, especially those towards the left (that is where my imaginary light source is). Using a large dotting tool, I added the Venetian Gold garland - load the tool and place the first dot at the bottom of the loop, then continue up one side. You should get 5-8 reducing dots from a load. Repeat for the other side of each loop. The wonky star is in this gold, too.

Next, use the large dotter, or the end of a paint brush to add baubles, red, blue,  and yellow. When the dots were dry I used a very small dotter to add a glint of light to the top left of each bauble (remember where the light source is).

I used the same gold for the letters behind the tree - Y U L E. The U and L are only partially visible. They are outlined in black, using a very fine liner brush and a steady hand.

To finish add shading around the tree with a wash of Zinc, then spatter white 'snow' over the whole picture.

When it is dry lay the picture face down and rest the glued together boxes on top to mark the outline. 

OR, you could use papers from your stash.


 

Spread glue over the front of each drawer in turn and place on the back of the picture. Line up each drawer with its neighbour and the outline you drew. Leave to dry. I added some weight to them to make sure they made proper contact with the sheet. (Having made sure the drawers were the right way up for the picture!)

Using a sharp craft knife carefully slit between the boxes to separate them. I found by bending the boxes apart a little it was easier to follow the line - take your time as this is the vital part!

Last I painted the outside edges black - not the edges where the picture joins - then a coat of gloss sealer to bring out the colours.



Thanks for visiting! I hope you have a great Christmas, or whatever other celebration you have for the winter season.

Products:

Background paper, made or bought

Saturday 26 November 2022

Casa Bonita Christmas-Fiona Randall

 Did you watch Di on Create and Craft TV on the 19th November at 11.00 am. Where she showcased the new Casa Bonita Grey Board Pieces and the complimentary Casa Bonita Drawing Templates.

They are so much fun and there are so many possibilities in their uses.

for my project I decided to go with a Christmas theme.


I created a background on a size 9 Tando tag and then used the grey board pieces from the medium kit to create my house using pieces of scrapbook paper that I had in my stash as well as some glitter for extra sparkle on the roof to create a frosty effect. I made a shelf from a piece of grey board and attached to the tag for my house to sit on and DecoArt Texture snow paste added. I created a christmas tree from the grey board pieces from the kit and also a little pot for it to sit on. A trim was added to the edge of the shelf and tando mini snowflakes added to the tag.
A large tag was cut from a piece of Tando grey board and scrapbook paper added from my stash and the edges inked. The smaller tag was then attached to the large tag using grey board pieces to add depth and dimension.
Tando Holly Pieces were then coloured and added to the base of the tag and a sentiment added on top.
to finish a piece of seam binding was coloured with distress ink spray and attached to the tag with little silver bells added.
A fun festive piece that took minimal supplies to complete. These kits and stencils are so much fun to use and like I said the possibilities are endless and create hours of fun.

PRODUCTS USED.





Other Supplies.

Scrapbook paper from my stash.
Tim Holtz tree ring 3d embossing folder
Distress spray stain- Lumberjack plaid, Ground Espresso, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain.
Distress ink- Lumberjack plaid and Ground Espresso
Distress Mica Spray - Christmas set
Tim Holtz Rock Candy Glitter
Seam Binding
Tiny Silver Bells
Tim Holtz Christmas Ephemera.



Thursday 24 November 2022

New House Cards

 

Watch Di on Create and Craft TV - 19 November 2022 at 11:00 - she'll be showcasing the new 'Casa Bonita Greyboard Pieces' and complimentary 'Casa Bonita Drawing Templates'. 



Materials

Casa Bonita Greyboard Pieces and complimentary templates in the small size

6” x 6” card blanks

Scrapbook paper

Card stock

Foam pads

Water colour pens

Floral Stamp and ink

Tando minis:Hearts


Instructions

Card 1



I began by stamping a large flora and fauna stamp on a piece of white cardstock. I used water colours to colour the stamp in.

I them covered one of the small size greyboard houses in patterned scrapbook paper. I did the same with the canopy. I attached them over the stamped image before adding the greyboard greenery and some hand cut flowers. I matted the whole panel on a piece of red cardstock and matted that on a 6” x 6” card blank. I added a home sweet home sentiment and a Tando heart to finish 

Card 2


I drew 3 houses on a white piece of cardstock using the greyboard blanks and stencils. I coloured two of them with water colours. I covered one in scrapbook paper. I attached it to the unpainted house i had drawn on the cardstock. I used the template to create two sets of stairs and added them to the two outside houses. I added greyboard front doors, greenery and cut our flower to decorate before finishing with a sentiment and a heart.

Card 3


This card again was made similarly to the one above but in a slightly different configuration. 

As you can see, these wee houses are just the perfect size for greeting cards and the possibilities are endless.

Sarah





Friday 18 November 2022

Casa Bonita - The White House by Kim

Watch Di on Create and Craft TV - 19 November 2022 at 11:00 - she'll be showcasing the new 'Casa Bonita Greyboard Pieces' and complimentary 'Casa Bonita Drawing Templates'.

For this one I used the medium Casa Bonita set.

I started with a strong back board from an A4 paper pad, white gesso to prime the surface. I chose a square and two rectangles as the basic shapes, then added roofs, canopy, steps, and shutters. I used the shutters as balcony handrails. I glued everything in place except the hanging flowers and the flower pot ... and the cat.

Once the glue was dry I base coated the whole thing with Titanium White, two coats. The next stage needs the base coat to be thoroughly dry.

I used UniPin fine liner marker pens to draw on the detail. I used the drawing template to get the outline of the shutters and the door. Here are some close-ups to help you ...






The hanging flowers, tower pot, and cat were glued on last, after being decorated.

Thanks for visiting!

Products:

Casa Bonita medium greyboard and design template

DecoArt colours

UniPin fine liner pens

Thursday 17 November 2022

Casa Bonita- Rickity House- Fiona Randall

Di is back on Create and Craft TV on Saturday the 19th November @ 11.00 am with the New Casa Bonita Grey Board selection and Casa Bonita drawing Stencils. 

Here I have used the large grey board pieces to create my rickety house mounted onto an MDF panel.


There are so many options and different combinations to play around with and the possibilities are endless. These are going to be so much fun. The drawing stencils are a must have to your collection and will provide hours of endless fun.

products used.

Large Casa Bonita Grey Board Pieces.
DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic in Carbon Black and Dark Grey.
Ranger Distress spray stain in Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo Antique Linen, Hickory Smoke and Ground Espresso.
Ranger Distress Oxide Spray in Frayed Burlap.
Ranger Distress Mica Spray in Flickering Candle for the Windows.
Green Moss


Wednesday 16 November 2022

Haunted House


Watch Di on Create and Craft TV - 19 November 2022 at 11:00 - she'll be showcasing the new 'Casa Bonita Greyboard Pieces' and complimentary 'Casa Bonita Drawing Templates'. 

When Di sent me the new 'Casa Bonita Greyboard Pieces' to play with it was October and i immediately imagined Halloween and haunted houses, so that's where i began. 


Materials

Casa Bonita Greyboard Pieces and complimentary templates in the medium size

Halloween scrapbook paper

Green, orange, and white paint

Tando Bats

Box frame recycled from charity shop

White journal pen

Acrylic crayons


Instructions


I began by creating my background. I wanted a spooky sunset effect. I took a piece of orange paper and embellished it with pieces of Halloween scrapbook paper such as spooky trees, gravestones, pumpkins etc. I used acrylic crayons to blend the scrapbook pieces into the orange background. I added a moon and used white crayon to highlight it and make it pop. 

Next, I took a house and canopy and painted it black. I painted a set of windows and a door in orange and a set of shutters in white. I painted lots of greyboard greenery too. Once dry, I doodled around the edges in white pen. I added the black house to the background before adding the greenery and a greyboard set of stairs. I cut out some vines and pumpkins and mixed them in with the greyboard greenery



To finish I added some white scrunched up tissue paper as spooky curtains and some bats and cats for atmosphere. 

I hope you like what i did with the knew Casa Bonita Greyboard Pieces


Sarah  



 







Tuesday 15 November 2022

Cassa Bonita greyboard pieces- Julia Baker

Cassa Bonita greyboard pieces- Julia Baker





1











The base for this piece is from a cardboard box which I first painted with gesso,when dry glue on a piece of patterned paper. Trim round edges then add some washi tape to neaten edges and add a frame.

Using a circle stencil, ink some random circles with blue ink.

Add patterned paper to houses and roofs, I used Stamperia - Azolejos de sueno.

Using acrylic paint, paint doors, steps,windows, pots and foliage. When everything is dry , start to assemble by gluing houses and roof’s, then add windows, doors pots, foliage and cats.

To finish add in some tree branches.



Monday 14 November 2022

Casa Bonita Collection (Greyboard) by Bernadette



Good Morning Everyone,

The new Casa Bonita Greyboard and Templates Collection designed by Di is fabulous.  This is a tag I made using the medium sized houses. When you start to see the blogs coming up and the posts on the Facebook group and Instagram, you will be amazed at all the different ideas from the design team.  

Make sure you tune in to Di's Create and Craft show which is on Saturday 19.11.22 at 11.00am.  

I love the size 10 Tando tags https://www.tando-creative.co.uk/TAGS120X60.html and use them so much as my main substrate. 


To start with I glued some patterned paper to the tag then added some texture paste using a snowflake stencil. 



In addition to the Casa Bonita houses, I decided to use some of the Tando snowflakes https://www.tando-creative.co.uk/TMSNWFLKS.html and mini frames https://www.tando-creative.co.uk/TMFRAMES.html

I painted the houses in an off white colour and painted the frames and snowflakes in a couple of shades of blue.  I then added some blue paint to the houses by dry brushing it on in patches.




I added the houses with the frames and blue snowflakes to the tag then the snowy texture paste around the edges of the tag and on the houses and frames.

At that point, I decided that it looked a bit dark at the top so I painted some more snowflakes with the off white paint.  I added some vintage photo distress ink around the edges of the snowflakes with a blending tool. 

I finished the tag by adding a sentiment at the bottom.


I cannot wait to see the Create and Craft show with all the design team samples and Di's demos.

Enjoy!!

Love, Bernadette xxx



Sunday 13 November 2022

Casa Bonita - Stationary by Kim

Watch Di on Create and Craft TV - 19 November 2022 at 11:00 - she'll be showcasing the new 'Casa Bonita Greyboard Pieces' and complimentary 'Casa Bonita Drawing Templates'. 

When I first saw the Casa Bonita greyboard and templates, my first impression was 'railway station' - Mediterranean villas, nah! So I used the large set for this one. (Stationary - not moving - station ... get it?)

Anyway, I used a large art board, with black gesso and base coated with Lamp Black. I tried various layouts until I found one I liked (and changed at the last minute). First job was to glue on the roofs. As my station is an old, country building I thought one part should have a corrugated tin roof, so I found a piece of cardboard box and stripped away the outer layer revealing the inner shape. I cut it to fit and stuck it on the tall building.

To make life difficult for myself I decided to cut out the doors and windows. To get the sizes I drew around the greyboard windows in the kit. I used a very sharp craft knife and recommend you are very careful if you decide to do the same - or get someone to help if you are not confident.


Having cut out the windows I used part of the sprue (the waste bit left behind when you remove all the pieces) as the crossbars of the window frame. I glued it on from the back. I made window frames from coffee stirrers, and stuck these on the front.

I wanted the walls to have the old, mossy granite look. I sponged on random areas of Burnt Umber, Fawn, Forest Green, and Burnt Orange. Once dry I used the 'rocks' shape drawing template with a black UniPin fine liner pen to add the stone wall effect.


The 'iron' roof was base coated with Burnt Orange, then textured by lightly sponging Burnt Umber and Black. The smooth roofs were based with Zinc and the slates outlined in Black.





Once dry all the prepared pieces were glued in place on the back board. To increase the 3D effect each building was spaced away from the others by using waste greyboard as spacing pieces.


Now for the details:

Bushes - Leaf Green base with dots of red, yellow, and white.

Windows - crossbars in Fawn, frames with a wash of Burnt Umber so the woodgrain still shows through.

Doors - The squared ones are shutters with the openings still in place. Painted Forest Green with Fawn outlines.


Canopies - To get the canopy shape over the ticket office door, use one canopy shape reversed over the other and mark around. The cut off the excess with the very sharp craft knife you used earlier.

The background is Forest Green, once the decoration pieces are glued on, they are painted Fawn.


The Station Cat - Base coat with Moon Yellow, a little Fawn for his lighter bits and used the black fine liner for eyes, nose, and dark markings.


Flower pots - Base coat with Burnt Orange, shade with washes of Zinc.

Entrance Steps - Base coat with Moon Yellow, then use thin wash of Zinc for the shadow on the risers.

Ticket Office interior - Base coat the full arched door piece with Fawn. Paint the ceiling section White, the a Forest Green picture rail. Use Black for the chequered floor tile pattern to get the 3D perspective. Leave a skirting board above it, then the panelling and arch in Forest Green, 'Tickets' and the small opening are with black fine liner pen, and the shadow person is ordinary pencil.

To add depth to the ticket office I used spare greyboard off-cuts to space the interior behind the doorway.


All that's left is to stick the remaining pieces on to the arrangement - sorted! Thanks for dropping by!

Products:

Large Casa Bonita greyboard and design templates

DecoArt Colours

UniPin Fine liner pens