‘Joy’ Christmas Garden Display Stand - by Amy C.

With Christmas fast approaching, I wanted to add to our family’s Christmas decoration collection. I stumbled across this modern Christmas-shaped garden stake at our local hardware store and thought… ”perfect!” 😊

It measures at about 1 metre in length. Seeing as it is going to be an outdoor decoration, I wanted to keep it simple, but also eye-catching so it can get the little tykes excited as they walk past!

Firstly, I applied three coats of White Heavy Gesso – allowing drying time in between.

After this, I started from the top and worked my way down the 3 squares.

For the first square, I wanted to create a triangle-stripy effect. As you can see pictured here, I used Washi tape.

If you have a stencil with a striped pattern – go for it! It’s always good to improvise and use what you have, when you can! Make sure there are no air bubbles under the Washi tape, so that the colour paste wont seep through…

Using a spatula, I applied some of the gorgeous Envy  Colour Paste. When applying, work from the top to the bottom in an angular motion.

Allow it to sit for about 3 minutes before you carefully peel the Washi tape off.

I was stoked with the result here – the Envy Colour Paste sure is one gorgeous colour that can be used for a range of themes including Christmas, feminine or masculine themes with (say) orange or black: so versatile (and addictive!)

With the second square, I wanted glitter to make it look Christmassy. So, I simply cut a square to measure from glitter cardstock! I then used a ‘corner rounder’ punch on each corner and adhered it to the stake.

 

Moving on to the last square, I placed a strip of washi tape down so I couldn’t get the red ink I was about to use onto the second square. Using a dauber (sponge) I stamped the whole square with permanent red ink. 

To add a subtle texture, I wanted to heat-emboss with a polka dot pattern. 

You could also use a Colour Paste in the Fire Engine here too. As pictured, using the stencil, I stamped with the Versamark. This allows the embossing powder to stick to it. 

I sprinkled embossing powder in FireEngine Red over the area then heat-embossed with a craft gun.

Tip: A colour paste would be even easier to see and it would add a little more dimension.

After the three squares were done, it was time to add the final touches. As pictured here, I traced out the letter ‘J’ and a bow tie on red glitter paper, then added them to the striped square.

For the letter ‘O’ I simply painted it with Black Heavy Gesso. Once dried, I randomly dabbed some of the Snow White Colour Paste around the edge, in order to create a snow type of effect.

Lastly for the letter ‘Y’, with a spatula, I roughly applied the Envy  Colour Paste and set it aside to dry.

After I glued down the embellishments and letters, I randomly dabbed some more Snow White  Colour Paste around to create a cute wintry effect.

This project was great fun and easy to make. I hope it leaves you feeling inspired to get crafty with your Christmas preparations.

 

Ciao for now, Amy 

Keep Looking Up by Suzy Loudon

Hello again. I'm back again to share a very simple page I did. 

It all started with feeling like doing something colourful. 

I'm really happy with the end result and the gorgeous shimmer of the Colour Paste (unfortunately hard to pick up in photos).

To begin my page I first picked out my rainbow of colours of Colour Paste... Fire Engine Red, Tangareen Dream, Sunshine, Apple of my Eye, Singin the Blues, Just Blue & Royalty. I marked my photo spot on my page then the fun began.

Doing my rainbow of Colour Paste was a slow process as I didn't have a hole stencil with the exact hole pattern I was after. So it meant moving my stencil around generally doing a hole or two at a time. It meant lots of drying as I went.

                   

Here's a finished pic of my rainbow of paste.

Once the paste was completely dry all over I added some doodling around my circles and around the page.

I added a little colour/shimmer in my doodled love hearts and flowers by shaking up the Shimmer Sprays (in the matching colours) then uncapping them and using the spray tube to dab in them. 

 I then stamped some butterflies on some acetate with Stazon ink. 

Then on the reverse side I dabbed on the texture paste. 

Once dry I cut them out, bent them up and adhered the inner bit with glue.

 I then focused on my title. 

I first painted my chipboard in white gesso.

Then using a small blob of each Colour Paste added a spray of water. Mixing up to a smooth consistency I then painted each one. 

Once dry I traced around each letter in black.

 Keeping my page very simple all I added was black around my photo and some black string. 

I stuck my title on with some extra doodling and it was done.

Thanks for taking the time out to have a look.

Till next time, xxx