Hi, Jowilna here with another post for Couture creations featuring their wonderful dies. Today we are celebrating another day in our Christmas in July series of posts. Hope you have enjoyed the amazing projects the girls have done so far.Today i am sharing this quick layout I made using some of the fabulous Christmas dies that will be available soon at a store near you. I worked on a patterned paper background (and if you know me you might want to sit down for this moment - yes it's not white) and then added some simple coloured die cuts to add to the design of my layout.

I used the beautiful Birds and Branch  die and then  coloured them using dye ink and water. Once they were dry i inked the edges using a brown to add to the distressed worn look of my layout.

I also layered a second branch on top of the first for more texture

Next I used the Christmas Banners die and cut them using white cardstock followed by a colour treatment of blue ink and gold glitter.

I first coloured the banner and left it to dry really well. You can use your heat gun at this point to make double sure. TIP - any wet ink will also make the glitter stick to it in the next steps.

Use a glue pen and write on the cut wording part of the die. You want to make sure that this part stays in the cut out banner and not fall out.
TIP I use a strip of double sided tape to hold them in place at the back

Sprinkle glitter on top of the glue pen and then shake off the excess glitter back into the container. Wait for the glue pen to dry totally and then use on your layout

I also added some star elements to my layout. I used the Christmas star die and cut it using patterned paper. I then separated the inside stars and only used what i wanted from it. I inked the edges and then added some decorative gold sewing to the top

TIP Remember to keep all the other parts once you have cut your elements - it's amazing what you can do with the scraps

Enjoy your festive preparations with these wonderful dies from Couture Creations

CO723904 – BIRDS & BRANCH

CO723910 – CHRISTMAS BANNERS

CO723892 – CHRISTMAS STAR

wishing you a wonderfully creative festive week

It's time.... Issue 4 of Creative inspiration is now available for you to enjoy and find loads of inspiration using all those wonderful Couture Creations products. Here are two of my cards featured in the issue. This is such an inspirational issue filled with loads of samples using the different dies and embossing folders. For these cards i used the Fancy Frame – CO723312 from the
The Treasures Ornamental Lace Die Collection. On my first card i used the frame portion of the die, and then on the second card I used the inside of the die that pops out once you have cut it! And to be honest that was my favorite part to use!

I used a combination of inks to colour the frame and then added some glitzin glamour glitter glue to it for extra sparkle. A sewn line around the outside adds some more texture and highlights the edge

For the center of the die i used 3 colours of stains and inks to add colour. I also used silver to tone down the colours a bit. I love how it turned out. My patterned papers are all from the Couture Creations paper pads. I continued using the same colour inks to pick up the colours from the papers.

A few simple embellishments completes my cards.

 to see all the wonderful examples the other design team members created, head on over here

http://issuu.com/artdecocreations/docs/coinsp4

and remember all these wonderful products can be ordered via The Wholesaler and delivered to your favourite or closest craft and scrapbooking store!

Sharing some ideas from my Christmas photo shoot in 2013 for The Christmas Magazine. Each year i hope to get organized and start prepping for the festive season really early (don't we all) - although the commercial side of it does put a damper on it all, there still is that magical true meaning side to it all.I love these rusty ornaments and especially this cake stand from my home - so I incorporated it into my decor and filled it with my handmade fabric wrapped baubles.

The photos were all taken on my old farmhouse style table i inherited (or got) from my dad's parents. I painted it white and sanded it to get just the perfect amount of chippiness to it.

more rusty urns filled with sweets and decorated with berry garlands

and finally some handmade quick and easy kid friendly decorations for the tree - Using buttons and ribbon to create miniature wreaths - add them to candles, around serviettes, on cupboard doors - and when you are done recycle them to create something else

Strips of torn fabric wrapped around and pinned to the top of a polystyrene ball and then a ribbon loop added with a decorative pin

simple gift wrapping ideas with brown paper and paper garlands to string on the tree

and an old recycled curtain ring covered in ribbon and a festive berry - quick and easy and earth friendly decorating

are you planning anything for Christmas in July to help you get an early start to your special season?

So this week i tried my hand at engraving – no a very steady hand i might add but nonetheless. I have always been fascinated at my sister who is a goldsmith and can make the most beautiful jewellery and work with all those fancy tools. Anyways, so when Chiswick sent me their gorgeous little engraving tool to work with I was beyond excited – if only it came in pink like their heat gun it would have been perfect (for girls at least). So here’s was a made – a recycled spoon keyring. Years ago my mom bought me a set of red and white dotted cutlery – and this was the back end of that set as they were really pretty but not functional at all. After the handles broke off i kept the metal parts like any good hoarder will do.

I used one of their stamps to get a pattern and then engraved it onto the spoon after my DH flattened it for me.

I love how it turned out – functional and recycled – just the way i like it!

Here’s a sxs of how i went about the process
step 1 – You will need a stamp with a fairly easy pattern on it, solvent based ink pad, and a flattened spoon. I ask my DH to hammer the end over to form a loop for the keyring to go onto.
Safety tip: Always wear protective eye gear when working with the engraving tool as well as hammering metal objects

step 2 – Ink your stamp with StazOn ink – this ink is made for metal, plastic, glass and shiny surfaces so it will dry and be permanent while i engrave my image. Press the metal spoon onto the stamp and lightly apply pressure to transfer the image onto the metal.

step 3 – Make sure you are happy with the image – if not you have a few seconds to wipe the image clean using a cloth and try again.

step 4 – Wearing your protective eye gear (for the sake of the photo I placed them in the frame but was wearing them when i did the actual engraving) trace over the stamped image lines. Depending on the settings you can regulate the depth of your lines.
TIP – Use light pressure when engraving while guiding the point over the surface.

step 5 – Once you are done wipe the image down with a soft cloth to remove any metal bits removed from the engraving. Add a layer of black acrylic paint and let the paint dry until almost fully cured. Use a cloth to wipe down the paint on the surface.

I really enjoyed playing with this fabulous little tool – and i can see loads more missed media projects happening using this baby!
Now if only i can colour mine pink….
This wonderful product is available from your local craft store – visit www.chiswick.co.za for products available in their range.

Welcome to another fun post creating with the wonderful Chiswick products. I have some work colleagues coming into town next week and one of them is a cat lover, so what better way than to welcome her with a little feline love! And the great news is that Chiswick has an entire stamp set dedicated to cats! So by now you always know how much i love the Chiswick inks and burnishing paste, and i thought it appropriate to show you how to make your own glitter cardstock instead of buying the commercial version. I really believe in multi purposing my products and so i always try and find as much as i possibly can to do with any one product. That way i can justify my expensive instead of buying things that end up never being used – i believe you have to fully utilize it if you spend the money on it.

So to start off i used some stencils on my background. Stenciling is all the rage now and very fashionable. And I was super excited to see how well the Pearlescent ink pads work for stenciling together with a sponge dauber.

Once i was done stenciling i used my finger tips to apply a thin layer of Gold Burnishing paste to the background. I used a smooth cardstock so spreading the paste evenly over the entire background was very easy. You can see how the white cardstock changes to a off-white with a slight shimmer – it’s quite hard to capture the shine on a photo but in real life it is magical.
TIP – keep in mind that the paste will leave the cardstock even smoother than before and it’s almost like it now has a protective oily layer on top of it

I then stamped my feline image in the center of the cardstock piece. Because of the burnishing paste layer, the ink created a funky ‘halo’ around the solid cat image and also prevented the ink from drying immediately like it normally would.

I used my heat gun to simply heat set the ink of the stamped image before continuing to decorate my tag. Heat setting it dries the ink immediately preventing any smudges

I then trimmed down the image and matted it onto pink cardstock and patterned paper before adding it to my tag.

 I also die cut words in the Chiswick cardstock – i cut a black and pink word and then layered them on top of each other slightly off-set.
A quick and easy gift tag for a lovely cat lady.

 cool and creative in a few easy steps

and here’s a list of the Chiswick products i used for my tag

Remember that all these products are available from your local craft store, and if you cant find them please ask for them by name and code.
In search of your local craft store, then contact Denise 031- 569 5673
and she will be able to assist you
For more info on all Chiswick products you can visit www.chiswick.co.za
until next time – have a wonderfully creative week!