An upcycled canvas with a secret

Hi all

Well where did the last month go?? Life has a nasty way of interfering doesn't it? and it seems someone upstairs has their finger pressed firmly on the fast forward button of life, is time speeding by for you too? Anyway I'm not here to waffle LOL I'm here to drop this off

 

My latest creation for the Scrap365 blog inspired by some modern Mexican artisans.

It started with this...

.... lots of upcycling, using up some of the bits I snaffle away and a little getting messy!! To see how this pile of 'stuff' turned into my canvas and what the secret is hop on over to the Scrap365 blog for a step by step post :)

Before you go it's been nice to *see you* I'm trying to get back into my cyber routine now and will be back with you soon for a quick catch up and round up of my last month .... see you then!

I hope you're well and happy and, as ever, until next time
Happy Crafting
Love
MJM x

Craftscape inspiration part two

Hi all

As promised I am back with a few more of my sample pics from the recent Craftscape shows on Create and Craft using the new Craftscape digi kits from Daisy Trail and Craft Artist professional.

Following on from my last post when I shared pics from English Town, Autumn Country and Twilight Forest here are the other 3 kits in the collection starting with images from Country Garden

 

This cut out photo of my sis, my nieces my woofs and their sister was taken on the Yorkshire moors and this kit is brilliant for creating that expanse of rolling hills and beautiful blue skies

 

These scene kits are brilliant for creating posters and flyers and this one I mocked up to advertise some cream Teas yum! Great for small businesses and I can smell the scones wafting from the aga in that country cottage LOL. I used the transparency tool (the wine glass on the top tool bar) to blend the background scene so the text pops in the fore ground.

 

Another piece of home décor with a quote on it, perfect to create scenes to match your home décor and your mood!

 

A simple scene for the front of a card, there are a lot of elements in the scene but as the kits are so clever everything just merges together as one brilliantly!

 

 

as well as creating lovely inserts

 

Now we're going to the seaside ...

 

Another card which again shows you don't have to create a huge scene but a few elements used together can create a really striking design.

 

 

and you can go to town more on the insert

 

And then this card is creating a whole scene that leads your eye through and to the end of that pier into the lovely warm water ... sigh!

 

 

Using elements to then create the insert.

 

More work with the cut out studio allowed me to put hubs into a painting

 

and his niece and nephew into a scene. I really love this seaside kit, so many clever elements and a great one for home décor!

 

and finally to the other extreme we're off to the Winter Village kit, again so many clever elements with snow, snow banks, frosty tracks and pretty houses

 

I was able to cut out the scene behind my cousins and create a winter wonderland for them

 

This is the front of an aperture card ...

 

 

and this is the inside, like I said there is a project tutorial coming ;)

 

Not a scene in sight for this card but lovely elements from the kit on the pretty background create a stylish design

 

and then what about creating some Christmas place mats? I created the scene and once it was printed off and cut out I laminated it, you could even personalise each one from everyone coming to dinner as well as print smaller ones for drinks mats and don't stop there what about Christmas crackers made with the templates, place names etc, Christmas table sorted :D

 

And finally a very Christmassy and simple card that looked great with diamond Ice glitter once it was printed

 



 

with an insert to match :)

 

And that's all for now. I hope you feel inspired to have a go at some different projects and thanks for popping by.

 

I will be back soon with some projects and some other things to share, I hope you are well and happy. Until next time, as ever,

Happy Crafting

Love

MJM x

Craftscape inspiration part one

Hi All

I am loving seeing all the work pop up in cyber space that you have all been creating with the new Craftscape kits from Daisy Trail to use with Craft Artist Professional, and from what I have seen it looks like you are really loving using them! They are fab aren't they and oh so clever! I had such a good time with the One Day wonder shows on Create & Craft when we launched them!

I thought I would share some of the samples I made and have split the pics into a couple of posts so they are not too big LOL I am also putting together a couple of project tutorials with the kits, although they are so easy to use you don't need to be told how to use them! But thought I'd share ideas on aperture cards and maybe one of the stepper cards I made .... bare with me they will be ready soon ;)

The first few images use the Autumn Country kit, such a lovely warm autumnal colour palette

 

I put the cut out studio to good use with these kits as I think the scenes lend themselves to having people put into them to create a story

 

They also really lend themselves to creating scenes for home decor

 

and of course they are great for card making! Also when you look at your kits don't always think you have to build a huge scene some of the individual elements put together make lovely simple images

 

 

and if your card making the kits are more than perfect to make your own stylish inserts with any of your digikits! (Don't forget your insert sentiment either when making inserts, there are lots pre installed and you can add your own .... I will cover this soon in a little project tutorial ;))

 

These next images are from the English Town kit, so many little details to play with from hanging baskets to pigeons, birds on a wire and a castle on a hill.

 

this is the front of a card but could be home décor too!

 

Another play in the cut out studio allowed me to add my sis to this one (she will kill me!) The photo isn't great as it is quite old from the Queens Silver Jubilee actually when she dressed as a Pearly Queen but photo quality doesn't bother me too much, its the story that matters and the smile it gives me when I remember the day!

This design I transferred to the front of a canvas shopping bag using t-shirt transfer material just remember if you have a go to flip the image before you print so the writing is the right way round :D

Another card, I found I really liked some of my designs without a background, the images are so vibrant they look really good against a plain white background I think.

 

One of my favourites was this mock poster I made, I want to go to that party! I created the scene for the background and then used the transparency tool on it (which looks like a wine glass on your top tool bar) to blend it into the background then built on top of that with more embellies and the text.

 

Next we're moving on to the Twilight Forest kit, I love it! When I start playing with it I am transported into a magical fairy realm and it's a lovely place to be!

Another card again using a few elements from the kit to create a tableau and using a white background so it pops off the page. I love the way the candles seem to light whatever is behind them, Oh and don't forget the glitter once these magical projects are printed off, they really are license to go to town with the bling :D

 

 

And once again don't forget to create your own designer inserts and something for the back of the card for that professional finish!

 

More fun in the cut out studio this time with my niece playing dress up, perfect for this kit!

 

This as a finished sample is an aperture card, I have just given you the flat front image for now and as I said I will be posting a project tutorial to show you how to make this into an aperture card, a simple but very effective project. I also think it works as this flat image too!

 

and finally a clock face I made ... I want to go into that house don't you?

 

 

So that's some of my ideas from 3 of the craft scape kits. I will continue to look out for all your fab projects in cyber space and hope I've maybe given you some more ideas to have a go at. Thanks for popping by and I'll post some of my pics from the other 3 Craftscape kits soon.

 

I hope you're well and happy and as ever

Happy Crafting

Love

MJM x





A catch up Mash up

Hi all

I thought I would drop by today with a bit of a catch up of bits and pieces since my last visit ... hence the title 'mash up' I have been doing so well being organised with my blog posts ... even shocked myself :D but life and work got the better of me the last couple of weeks and I missed my Cyber Monday date last week so here's a little of what I have been up to ;)

At the end of September I had a day in the studio at Create and Craft with ....

The Serif 2015 calendar collection, Cottage Arts (beautiful) Masks and Art backgrounds and the Daisy Trail 2014 collection (and of course Craft Artist 2 Professional) A perfect combination for creating Christmas pressies this year whether you use photos or not, and if you're doing Christmas craft fairs .... say no more :D (Calendars and DT collection unlimited angel policy as long as you create your designs yourself and cottage arts is 200 of one design ... fill your boots I say LOL)

I managed some Me time in my studio

and even if I say so myself I LOVE my flowerpots! One of those things that I look at and am really proud of! A bit of mixed media going on here with watercolour pencils and pastels (thanks to Cat Bennett for reminding me to mix it up in Greece!)

I then created a couple of projects that I really enjoyed doing for the Scrap365 blog

Hop on over (after you finish here :)) and check out the step by steps on the blog and let your imagination go and create some of your own Mexicana .... go on the sequins are calling!! And while you're there look at the right hand side at the top and grab yourself the FREE copy of our new digital magazine .... AMAZING!!!

Then it was more show prep time! Most of the time I work in my craft studio (yes I know I'm lucky to have my own room!) But sometimes I like to sit on the sofa and watch telly while I'm creating (the beauty of digi crafting!)

Sometimes though the woofs get bored :D step 1 ... the paws on the mat and the stare

Step 2 the half body on the mat and the stare under the eyebrows

Step 3 the 'you will pay attention to me' stare

Step 4 'ok I am going to sleep on your hand so you can't move it' LOL Ollie did get his own way eventually and I took them for a walk after getting Stan out of his bed where he had retired having abandoned all hope LOL

And what was I prepping for? The amazing craftscape collection which launched on Create and Craft on 2nd October

This is a page I made live on air with Dean Wilson as my guide :D (the text is using the font Galeforce as lots of you have asked!)

And this is one of my favourites from Twilight forest .... I will share more images and a project tutorial or two soon ;) I just love the kits ,I think they are genius and I can't wait to see what you all do with them!

And finally after the very busy launch I went to Seaton Carew with the boys for a walk on the beach the next day to clear the cobwebs

and beautiful it was too! Although rain was around it was a beautiful Autumn afternoon and the beach and sky just seemed to go on forever! These moments in time are so precious aren't they?

And that's it, all caught up so far, as I said I will be preparing some project tutorials soon and I have some frequently asked questions to answer! Thanks for popping by, I hope you are well and happy and as ever, until soon,
Happy Crafting
Love
MJM x

Hold Fast to Dreams - A Craft Artist 2 home decor project tutorial

Hi all

I've created another tutorial for you using digi kits from the Victoria Nelson collection using Craft Artist 2 professional. Remember you don't have to use the content I have or follow the design to the letter make it your own .... unleash your creativity.

This is the piece of home décor I am going to create

I created it on a 12 x 12 page set up and the finished piece is about 10 x 10. I have used the Victoria Nelson Bird Garden digi kit .... so pretty!

I added some material to my page and resized it almost to the edges, I then aligned it centrally with the vertical and horizontal buttons in the align tab bottom right, this meant that every layer would sit in exactly the right place as I aligned each one the same as I built up the design, even the circle punch that I dragged on a resized was aligned centrally every time. (If you hold the CTRL or control key down as you resize the punch it will stay perfectly circular for you!)

Before I punched the circle I added a decorative edge to the punch by going to the third tool bar while the punch was selected and from the scissor type drop down menu selected the bump edge and then increased the wavelength and amplitude values (play around with these to get the pattern you want, I always call it the smoothness and bumpiness :D) When I was happy I clicked punch on the bottom right corner and deleted the waste area.

I added two more layers of material in the same way, aligning them to the centre and adding shadows to bring the design to life.

I then started adding the pretty embellishments to build my design ....

.... twisting things with the ball tool and flipping them if necessary with the tools in the arrange tab. I also erased away bits of the images if they didn't look right or over hung my design by selecting the embellishment and picking up the erase tool on the 2nd tool bar.

I added further detail with the envelope and keys embellishments after erasing away the bits I didn't want and re sizing them accordingly then adding them in place arranging them backwards via the arrange tab.

I continued to add detail to the top right of my design to balance it, again twisting etc as needed and erasing bits I didn't want ....

.... like the birds on the blue roses.

And lastly I added my quote using the text tool. Click on the A text tool button, click on your work space, choose a font and size and type then click edit points on the bottom right and push against the wrap text nodule to put the text in a line, clicking the centre button under the text tool button aligns the words accordingly. I also recoloured the lettering with the colour palette.

And that's it a pretty piece of home décor. You could just print it out and hang it on the wall, you could add it to a wooden plaque, you could print off the separate layers and hybrid it or add it into another design the choice is yours!

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and I thank you for popping by. I'll see you soon but maybe a little while longer than normal as I have some shows to prep for so bare with me ;) but until then, as always

Happy Crafting
Love
MJM x