Paint - Jen and Tricks

Adding hand-painted decos to my Christmas cards

The Christmas cards needs to go in the mail next week if they are to arrive in time, especially the ones I’m sending overseas. So I have to get a move on! I thought I’d done rather well so far, but when I sat down and reviewed my list I realised I still have a few to make. Gah! Glue glue glue! My problem might be that I never like to make the same type of cards more than a couple of times, 2-4 for the most of any card. It’s much more fun that way, getting to try new techniques and motifs and colours. But I guess it’s not so great when it comes to speed and productivity, hehe…

I like to add handmade embellishments to whatever I make, if I can manage. So I tried to paint these X-mas baubles in watercolour. I don’t really know how to paint but painting different layers of the different shades worked out quite well. I made them the same size as one of my circle punches, do cutting them out was a breeze. I have soem pics of the finished X-mas cards to post, I just need to get them off my camera. But here’s a sneak peek at least! Have to get back to stamping and gluing and making more cards! *Hurries back to my crafting nook*

P.S. What’s the chance of me setting up a Craft Signal light, like in Batman? It could be a monkey. I could flash it towards the ceiling and make an alarm noise and run to my work space shouting: “To The Craft Cave!”… Seriously have to look into this… It feel very important… Maybe I should write a theme tune…

Photos that makes you remember

It doesn’t have to be the most fantastic photo that makes you remember, and it doesn’t have to be from the most special occasion. Of course even the every day things can be just as memorable as the big events.

Going through my photo stash I came upon this photograph; it is ten years old, a friend of mine took it, and it’s a photo of me in my early twenties. What struck me about this picture were two things: It was a picture of me just being myself, and it was a photo of me in my first apartment.

Seeing it made me remember a thousand things in a matter of seconds. It reminded me of what I used to wear, of my favourite necklace, of my nose piercing, of my first SLR. It reminded me of moving away from home, of my small one-room studio and all my favourite things in it.

I lived for almost eight years in that small place and a lot of things happened there. It was a place where I wrote stories and made up new recipes, and a place to invite my friends to.

So that is what I wrote in my journalling:

I couldn’t find a paper I thought went with the photo and the sentiment, so I painted this pattern by hand on a piece of recycled paper. There are some better photos of the details in my last post. I also embossed the clock and filled in some of the details with some acrylic paints.

Overall it feels great to have gotten this photo out of the dusty box it used to be in. I sort of represent that whole time in my life. Yes, this layout took quite some time to finish, but it was a happy project to complete.

Stay safe, everyone!

The Numbers are Up

I’m making a small album with photos from my trip to Italy, and I couldn’t find an album I liked. I got a generic one instead, and am going to try and spruce it up. I wanted some chipboard numbers to glue on the front but could not find any in the right size or shape. I did however find really cheap ones made of light weight wood at the craft store, sold piece by piece. So, that way, I can alter them any way I want, and in the end I don’t have a box of left overs I won’t use. Win!

So I painted them red with ordinary acrylic paint, and then I used a glossy accent that crackles as it dries. It’ll match the Italy-inspired ribbon i found, so now I feel all co-ordinated and matchy ;) Gluing them on the front cover of the album with some bead glue will keep them in place.

Cheap and plain wooden numbers, painted to match the colours of the ribbon. (Also notice the time warp back to 2001)

Use a glossy or crackled glaze to give it dimension (you can glaze just about anything...)

Ready to use, crackeled red numbers to glue on album.

More Urban Sphere pics

“Hello”

I chose this paper as the colour reminded me of one of those gorgeous sunsets you can get in a city when the sun and the sky reflects in all the windows. The patterns is made of fuzzy crushed velvet flock, which I think go rather well with the kitties living in the building :)

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I glazed the windows and worked on the fasade to get something a bit grungy in colours that would match the background paper. It’s basically brown cardstock that I painted, sandpapered, embossed and inked.

“It Must Be Bunnies”

Being a softy for pop cult references, made me think of this title. I wanted houses that felt flower-powerish amd found this funky paper I got from Tricks:

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More paint action on the paper, I’m starting to like that combo. It makes a busy paper a bit softer in the contrasts, and as a step up from just inking the edges it makes the paper look like a finished product. It’s an easy trick to get it to match another paper or a different colour.

“Knock Knock – Who’s There?”

Friendly monsters who’s taken up residence in one of the tower blocks. Stars made of tiny peel-offs, embossed dots and a silver pen.

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Adding hand-painted decos to my Christmas cards

Photos that makes you remember

The Numbers are Up