Vintage French Tag

Loving the latest release of Spellbinders dies. Lots of lovely iconic shapes to create with....I'm in heaven!

This is a tag I made in a vintage French style:

 

It's a size 8 shipping tag, with Darkroom Door's French Script Texture stamp in black ink in the background. Papers from Prima's Cartographer 6x6 pad were then added, and the arrow and typewriter were cut from black cardstock. The feathers were cut from papers from the pad. The edges were all aged by sponging some brown ink on them.

Cutting shapes and then embossing while the die cut is in place really helps to bring out the detail in these amazing dies. Here's the typewriter and arrow:

  and here's a close up of the feathers. A light sponging with brown ink helps to accentuate the veins:

This tag can now be added to the front of a card, or even presented as is on a gift.

Thanks for dropping in for a look!

Spellbinders dies:
IN-015 Shoot!
IN-022 Typewriter
S4-428 Feathers

Laurel and Bee box

I absolutely love French provincial design. One thing that always catches my eye is the white washed pottery, gold leaf and the laurel and bee emblem that appears on many pieces.

This project I have put together incorporates all of these elements, using things most crafters would already own like paints, dies, a box and some thin foam.

Step 1
Paint a box using brown acrylic paint. I like to use a sponge to apply it because it goes on thin and dries quickly.

 

Step 2

I used my Grand Calibur to cut my S2-041 Laurel and Bee from thin foam. I found the foam in the craft section of my local $2 store, and the colour doesn't matter at all as it will be covered.

Step 3
Glue the foam shapes to the box. Ensure it's glued down well so that it doesn't lift when painted.

Step 4
Paint over the foam shape, getting into all the nooks and crannies (another reason I love to apply paint with a sponge!).

 Step 4
Once it has dried thoroughly, give the whole thing a white wash with either white acrylic paint or gesso for a chalky finish. This coat is best left thin and imperfect, with some of the brown showing through.

Step 5
Once the white has dried, it's time for the gilding. I have used Treasure Gold for this, and left it patchy on purpose as it's supposed to look old and well loved.

 

Voilà! A genuine imitation French piece to treasure!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you find this tutorial useful!

Spellbinders Dreamcatcher Card

I needed to make a card for a friend of mine who is a bit of a free spirit and a bit of an environmentalist tree hugger (in other words, a complete hippie LOL). The image I had in mind was a dreamcatcher with feathers dangling from it, so I reached for my Spellbinders Medallion Eight dies and this is what I came up with:

I hung some feathers and beads from the medallion that I cut from white cardstock. The word 'inspire' comes from the Spellbinders Sentiments set, and I inked it up before cutting the word out to give a letterpress look.

The background papers are from KaiserCraft, and I used a couple of Darkroom Door stamps in the background (Chevron, French Script). To finish the card off, I sponged some brown ink around the edges and added some adhesive bling in co-ordinating colours to the medallion.

Thanks for looking!

Spellbinders dies used:
S5-200 Sentiments
S2-023 Medallion Eight

diy stencils with spellbinders dies

Stencils are all the rage in the crafting world at the moment. Loving Spellbinders dies as I do, I thought I'd make some custom stencils and make a couple of cards using different media through the stencils.

For the first card, I used the Grateful Lattice die to cut a stencil from cardstock. (To protect the cardstock from wear and tear, you could coat it with something like gel medium or modge podge, but it won't last forever!).

I used Glimmermist in Viva Pink to spray though the stencil:

And this is what it looks like once the stencil has been removed:

I added some flowers, a die cut and "hi" to make this card:

For the second card, I cut my stencil with the Die D'Lites Medallion Eight die. I used a palette knife to apply some Paper Artsy Grunge paste:

 

You can get some amazing height from this medium even though the stencil is really thin:

 

Once the Grunge paste was dry, I applied some acrylic paint, and then dried it with a heat gun until the paint melted. This bubbling creates extra texture:

I then sponged some Frayed Burlap Distress Ink all over the piece:

and flicked droplets of water to create lighter spots:

Once that was dry, I applied some Viva Inka Gold to emphasise the texture:

I then added a couple of flowers and some Die D'Lites Petite Labels stamped with a Technique Tuesday stamp to create this card:

Thanks for reading until the end of this epic blog post! Here's a list of the Spellbinders dies I have used:

Pink Card
S5-164 Grateful Lattice
S5-123 Asian Accents
S5-197 Font One Lowercase

Blue Card
S2-023 Medallion Eight
S3-205 Petite Labels One

Felt table runner using Spellbinders dies

Now that the kids are growing up a little, and not spilling as much food/drink, it may be time to add some soft furnishings and pretty my home up a little.

We have a low coffee table, and I wanted to make a table runner for it, to stop the bowl I have on it from scratching the paintwork. I found some really cool thin polyester fabric (think scarf material) in a small animal print, and bought some wool felt by the metre in two matching colours. I pulled out my hardest working Spellbinders circle dies, and voila! A table runner:

I hasten to add at this point that although I own a sewing machine, I can't sew! Well, not in the traditional sense....that's how easy this table runner was to put together.

After cutting the circles in the brown piece, I used a contrasting thread to stitch around each one twice. Here's a close up:

 

 

I stitched the polyester to the underside after gathering it a little at the ends. The gathering helps it pop out of the circles on the finished piece. Then I stitched the top piece to the black and then added a double border around each rectangle. Done!

 

Table runners around these parts go for around the $30 mark. I put this one together for under $3!! It helps that the fabric was on special of course. That means I have $27 to spend on me. Or more Spellbinders dies :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Spellbinders Thinking of You

I needed to make a soft, pastel card for a bit of a sad occasion.This gorgeous calming shade of aqua, soft stamping on just the edges and the butterfly all add to the serene feel:

I stamped the sentiment, then cut it out with the Interlocking Loops die. Before removing the piece from the die, I sponged some Bundled Sage Distress Ink to colour the panel.

I then lay the inked the Elegant Fronds Background stamp face up on my desk, and press the corners of the card front into it.

Here's the materials list:
Spellbinders dies: S4-371 Les Papillons, S5-175 A2 Interlocking Loops
JustRite stamp: CL-03695 Elegant Fronds Background
Hero Arts stamp: C5591 Thinking of You
My Mind's Eye patterned paper
Inks: Bundled Sage Distress Ink, Jet Black Archival ink.

Thanks for stopping by today. Please feel free to ask any quesitons :)

ETA: Psssst - check this out!