Christmas birdhouse decoration

This is my first Christmas 2017 design project for the Fruit Pixie.   I have used the Tando mini chipboard birdhouse along with the Tando mini birds and branches to make this cute Christmas decoration.

This is such a fun little project to make, the birdhouse is so easy to put together and you can then add whatever you like to match your Christmas colours.

 

For my Christmas birdhouse I decided to use the wonderful decoupage papers from Craft Consortium. I chose the Merry Christmas papers as our Christmas tree is the traditional red gold and green.

 You will find it easier to cover the pieces before you put the birdhouse together. I painted all the pieces white on the outer side so the colours on the decoupage papers will be brighter.    I just use a PVA glue, you can water it down if it is very thick. Apply the glue to the surface of your birdhouse and then place it glue down onto the sheet of the decoupage paper. Roughly cut it out and leave to dry. Once dry trim off any excess paper and apply another layer of the PVA over the top of the paper to seal it and leave to dry again.  Once fully dry I painted all the edges with the Cosmic Shimmer paints and put my birdhouse together. Before you put the roof on, which I had painted white using the Cosmic Shimmer paint, I painted the inside of the birdhouse.   You need to think about how you want to use your decoration. If you want it to hang its best to put the hanging string in now. I used a glittery red Christmas trim. I made a loop and tied a big knot at the bottom. I then put the bottom end into the birdhouse with the loop of the trim hanging out and glued the second roof piece in place. Once dry the loop can be pulled up and hopefully your knot was big enough to not be pulled out.

 Now you can add your decorations. I used the Tando mini birds and branches. I painted the birds and branches with the Cosmic Shimmer paint and the stamped over the birds with a brown ink using the IndigoBlu dinky holly flush stamp.   I also cut some Mistletoe using the Couture Creations Mistletoe die and used some of the glitter card I had used for the icicles on the roof for the berries.

 I used some green pipe cleaners I had to make a little wreath to surround their door and added little bows from the same Christmas trim as I used to hang my decoration.   Everything except the glitter card, the red Christmas trim and green pipe cleaners can be found in the shop. You can find the -

              Tando mini birdhouse -

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/tando-creative-chipboard-mini-3d-birdhouse-15345-p.asp

The Tando mini birds and branches-

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/tando-creative-chipboard-mini-birds--branches-27191-p.asp

Craft Consortium decoupage papers Merry Christmas-

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/craft-consortium-decoupage-papers-merry-christmas-25860-p.asp

IndigoBlu holly stamp -

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/indigoblu-dinkie-rubber-stamp-holly-flourish-24097-p.asp

Couture Creations Mistletoe die-

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/couture-creations-intricutz-die-mistletoe-25827-p.asp

Cosmic Shimmer paint -

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/cosmic-shimmer-paints-644-c.asp

I really hope you like my Christmas birdhouse decoration and will give it a go. It would make the perfect project for children to do too

 

 

 

Christmas countdown advent calendar

For my November blog post for Tangie Baxter's art journal Emporium as part of her creative crew I have made a Christmas countdown advent calendar using all the wonderful Tagie Baxter Christmas digital kits and a little creativity on my part.

The base of the advent calendar is made from corrugated box card and then covered with one of Tangie Baxter's papers

 

I then cut out and collaged 25 4x4 inch pages for the countdown

 

I also made a page for Christmas day and a cover page too.

If you would like to see my step by step photo tutorial for my countdown calendar, you can find it on the Tangie Baxter Art journal emporium blog -

 

https://shoptangiebaxter.com/blogs/news

Birthday card for 1980’s lovers

My sister and I were both teenagers in the 1980’s and so as soon as I saw the 80’s collection from Lettering delights I knew it would be perfect for her birthday card this year.       I love lettering delights SVG kits and use them a lot for all sorts of things. Of course you need an electronic cutting machine to use SVGs, I have my trusty Silhouette Cameo of course which I would not be without!

Remembrance Poppy brooch

 Here in the U.K. it is Remembrance Sunday tomorrow. Every year I buy a poppy, as we all do, and the 5 mins later its fallen off. Over the years I have made myself different types of poppies and then just added my donation to the poppy sellers tin but I have never been 100% happy with them. So this year I tried again and this time I am very happy with them. I made mine out of felt but of course you could make them out of card. This was a project for The Fruit Pixie as she sells wonderful mixed button packs which are perfect for this project. A link to her button packs can be found at the end of this post.  

I used red felt for my poppy petals. The black if also felt, a half inch strip cut with pinking scissors and then gathered into a circle using a running stitch.

Each petal is pleated and then stitched in place. I then sewed the petals to each other. 

The black centre I stitched to the petals.

I finished it off with a button from the monochrome button pack.

Stitch a brooch back onto the back of your poppy to finish.

 

You can find the button packs here -

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/buttons-34-c.asp

There are lots of different colour themed packs to choose from that contain black buttons. It would also be a lovely if you had a button from your family button box to use too.

 

Brooch backs here -

http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/30mm-gilt-brooch-pin-back-516-p.asp

 

I hope you like my poppies. 

 

If you are wondering why three poppies, well one for me, one for my sister and one for my Godmother who admired my poppy last year but by then it was too late to send one to her so I sent one this year instead.

                                                  Have a reflective and peaceful Remembrance day.                                                                                                    

Spooky haunted house

This was a project I have been itching to do ever since I had the Tim Holtz Village dwelling die last Christmas! I just managed to finish in time for Halloween.

I had such fun creating my Halloween house.

 

First I cut the house out of box card so it was nice and sturdy.

 

I then cut all the pieces out again in grey cardstock, cutting the tabs off and also cutting all the pieces apart.

I then painted them using my Geli plate in a solid colour to begin with then I used a stamp plate I had made using funky foam to give a brick effect, which I stamped onto the Gelli plate then printed onto my pieces.

 

I then used my painted pieces to cover the base of my house.

 

The windows and all the silver coloured pieces are cut from card covered in silver insulating tape.

 

I did the same for the roof but I first put the tape through an embossing folder and sponged black and green paint over the top. It was then left to dry and used to cover the roofs.

 

 I wanted my house to light up so the base cut by the die would not be any good so I made a simple box out of card and strengthened it with box card. i then covered it in moulding paste and when it was dry painted it in black and silver paint.

 

I cut the grave stones from a Quickkut die I have had for years and hot glued them to the base along with 3 of the Tim Holtz pumpkins.

 

I needed a tree, so I sent hubby out into the garden in search of something I could use and he came up with 2 twigs that wired together looked like a spooky tree!

 

For the lights I poked holes in the base behind the gravestones and the tree. I also made two holes where the house would stand. I used a small set of battery LED lights, poked them through the holes and taped them in place under the box base.

 

All that was then needed was some cobweb fibres to look like mist and to switch the lights on and enjoy!

 

I hope you had a spooky halloween!