Dec The Hedge With MDF

     Christmas has arrived at Creative Expressions this month and I got a Christmas Mega Grab Bag of MDF shapes to play with.

     I drilled a small hole in the top of each shape before beginning decoration, I use a small hand drill for this type of job.
     I started with the angel, her wings are covered with CS flake and glitter glue then with CS gold flakes from the Inca Gold pack. Her body was painted white and then rubbed over with Pearl Moon gilding wax.
     While I still had the glue out I covered the dove and used silver gilding flakes .

     The flower is also made with the flake glue and green glitter on the large one, with red glitter on the small one, then stuck together.
     The snowman was glued and covered with white flock, with the exception of his hat, that has been coloured with an alcohol marker, as are his eyes, nose and mouth.
     The tree has been coloured with CS gilding wax in Decadent Bamboo, it is green but the shine has a gold luster to it. The little decorations are CS Glitter glue Red Apple Twinkles.
     The ginger bread man only has his features coloured using a white gel pen.    
There is a small length of gold or silver thread on each shape so they can be hung on a tree. My Christmas Tree is in the loft so I used my hedge to take these photos, it looked rather nice so I may just have to decorate it again in December!
      There are approximately three of each shape in the bag so you could decorate a reasonable sized tree with these, I haven't used the holly, sleigh and candy cane either. If you drill the holes for them the children would love using these little shapes, it would keep them busy for hours!

Materials used 
CE Christmas Mega Grab Bag MDF Shapes
CE Cosmic Shimmer Flake and Glitter Glue
CE CS Gilding Flakes - Inca Gold
CE CS Gilding Wax - Decadent Bamboo / Pearl Moon
CE CS Cosmic Twinkles - Red Apple

I would like to enter these decorations in the following challenges:

Sparkles Christmas - NO Designer Papers

Anything But A Card - Celebration (Christmas)

Vintage Heart

   Creative Expressions have some great MDF shapes, this week I've used the heart for my project, it measures about 7.5 inches tall x 4 inches wide and comes with a hole drilled through for hanging.

     I gave the heart a coat of white gesso all over, the chalk paints have a fantastic coverage but it doesn't hurt to make sure the surface is primed.
     The first coat of chalk paint is Mulled Wine, this is on the front only as this is the surface to be crackled, the dark colour will show through the cracks of the paler layer. The back will be lighter so I can add a message to it.  One coat was all it needed for a decent coverage..

     Once the Mulled Wine was dry I painted a coat of Crackle Glaze over it. The glaze has to be painted in one direction only to help the crackles form when drying. I chose to paint this across the heart.
     For the top coat I have used Shy Violet chalk paint, this was painted over the crackle in the opposite direction (up and down) once the crackle was dry.
     It starts to work almost immediately, this may have been due to a warm room. It is important not to overwork the paint or the crackle glaze will mix in and there will be no crackles when dry.

     The back of the heart is also painted with Shy Violet but has no crackle. Using flake and glitter glue I have covered the edge with gilding flakes, Persian Dawn. While I had the glue and flake to hand I also covered a small piece of greyboard with flakes, I did intend to die cut the name from this card but the colour was too light so I used some Foundations Amethyst card instead.
     Each letter was die cut and stuck on with Cosmic Shimmer glue, then outlined with a gold sparkle gel pen. I used pink ribbon fastened to a button to make the hanger, then covered the button with three small paper flowers. The butterfly came off a necklace from a discount shop, he is metal with an extra set of wings that stand up.

Materials used
CE MDF Heart Shape
CE Gesso - White
CE Chalk Paint - Mulled Wine / Shy Violet
CE Crackle Glaze
CE Gilding Flake - Persian Dawn
CE Flake and Glitter Glue

I would like to enter this hanger in the following challenges:

Eclectic Ellapu - Pink Team = Anything Goes

Anything But A Card - Out and About

Not Just Cards - Anything Goes

Crafting From The Heart - Anything Goes

You've Been Framed

     This weeks project for Creative Expressions uses one of their MDF frames, I love the colour of these frames so this one has not been painted, just decorated a little.

     There are two frames in the pack, one is 6x4 and the other is 5x3. They have a back, a frame and a stand, it then up to you how you use them.
     I have used the smaller 5x3 frame for this project, which leaves me the larger for another day.

     I have used CE Flake and Glitter Glue on a Tim Holtz stamp of flourishes, adding the pattern to all four edges.
     Persian Dawn Gilding Flakes are a gorgeous mix of gold. copper and silver, they go very nicely with the brown MDF.
     After the gilding was finished it was safe to add an acetate sheet to the back of the frame using ultra tacky double sided tape.

     The acetate will protect my photo when the frame is finished. To make a small gap just wide enough to hold the photo I have added double sided foam tape to the back of the frame, on top of the acetate. The foam is only on three sides and flush with the outside edge of the frame.

     The foam tape is white so it does show even though it's tucked in between two brown layers, so it needs to be coloured. A dark brown alcohol marker was just the thing needed to 'hide' the foam, once coloured it just looks like another layer of MDF.
     Add the little stand to the back and there it is, I didn't glue the stand in place so that if I wish to change from landscape to portrait I can move the stand too, it's quite a tight fit and doesn't drop out.

     The gap is 2mm, the width of the foam tape, which is just enough to slide a photo into.


Materials used
CE Rectangle MDF Frames - 6x4 / 5x3 twin pack
CE Flake and Glitter Glue
CE Gilding Flakes - Persian Dawn
Ultra Tacky Double Sided Tape
Thick acetate
Foam Tape
Dark Brown Alcohol Marker

Decadent Love

     This is my last project this month using Phill Martin's Decadent Damask stamps and Decadent Wine colours. I shall be coming back to these though as I have fallen in love with them completely. You can buy these at your local craft shop, they are distributed by Creative Expressions.

     I began with a mount board tag that I had lurking on my desk, it was cream already so I didn't have to paint a base colour. I die cut a shape similar to Phill's motif and stuck it on with Cosmic Shimmer PVA, then I sprayed it with Decadent Wine Spray Mist. Once that was dry I rubbed some gilding wax over it, I don't have the wine (yet!) so I used Vintage Plum. If you don't have texture paste but do have a die cut machine this is a way of achieving the raised look of paste, the wax gives it the gorgeous shine that the paste has.

     The gold swirl is made with the same mask but using one of the other shapes along with Royal Gold Texture Paste.
     The word 'love' is from a set called Winter Greetings, they're mostly Christmas words but I liked the shape of this type face. Both on the word and all around the tag I have used Inca Flakes gilding flakes.
     In the bottom corner I have used made three little dots with the Wine PVA, some flakes stuck to it, I should have used the flakes and then done the dots last but it doesn't look too bad, it's antiqued!

       Using one of the Corners and Icons stamps with Distress Ink Seedless Preserve I stamped a few images in the top corner.
     The glittery motif was done using Phill's Sparkle Texture Paste and a Special Touch mask called ornate frame. I taped off the areas I didn't want so the paste only went through the shape I did want.

     To finish it off I have used some ribbon that I've had for some time, I think it's an iridescent ribbon that Creative Expressions had a few years ago, they do have quite a range of gorgeous ribbons to choose from.

Materials used

Phill Martin stamps - Decadent Damask Corners and Icons

Phill Martin Decadent Wine colour range - Sparkle Texture Paste / PVA Glue / Ink Spray Mist

CE Cosmic Shimmer Gilding Wax - Vintage plum

CE Cosmic Shimmer Gilding Flakes - Inca Flakes

CE Cosmic Shimmer Glues - Dries Clear PVA / Flake and glitter Glue

CE Cosmic Shimmer Texture Paste - Royal Gold

CE Stamp Set - Winter Greetings

Distress Ink - Seedless Preserve

I would like to enter this tag in the following challenges:

Inkspirational - Purple / and love or wedding
Simply Papercraft - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Stencil It
Love To Create - Anything Creative / Mixed Media

Coffee Time

     Welcome to the Monday project for Creative Expressions, another blackboard style stamp this week but with a slight twist. I'm often asked for card ideas for men, I think this one would do very nicely for a man or a woman.

      I have used Cosmic Shimmer Flake and glitter glue to stamp using the Espresso Yourself single stamp. CS flake glue is very easy to use, easier than I thought it would be. Put a little of the glue on your craft mat and use it to 'ink' up a small square of Cut -n-dry Foam, then use the foam to 'ink' up your stamp. Stamp firmly but DO NOT press down hard (you may stick your stamp to the card), remove and clean the stamp immediately, I use Grime Buster wipes, they're very good at removing anything and last for ages as they don't dry out quickly like baby wipes. Don't worry about the glue, it is ready as soon as the blueish bloom has gone and it will stay tacky for hours.
     Place CS Gilding Flakes over the stamped image, I have used Persian Dawn. Gently rub over with your finger making sure all sticky areas are covered, brush off the excess. I use a small piece of coarse foam, like the Ranger Rub It Scrub It pad, to remove any tiny extras and smooth down what is stuck.

      The card I have used is a chocolate brown pearl card from my stash. I would suggest stamping first then die cutting, I find it easier to get the die centred rather than the stamp.  Die cut with Spellbinder Labels One, the second largest die fits quite well with this stamp.
     I also wanted to make a matting layer with the same card and flakes, as well as using it as a base layer for the whole card. To save on card I cut the mat layer from the centre of the base layer, the hole won't show because it to is being covered up.

      Leaving the die on the card I used the CS Flake Glue again to 'ink' around the edge of the card, taking care not to get glue under the die, you don't need to cover the whole card as the centre will not be seen, once done I wiped the die immediately to clean it.
     Spread CS Persian Dawn across the glued area and work in again with your finger, use the rough foam to finish off. I collect all 'waste' in a separate jar, it can be used on smaller projects later.
   

     For the next layer I have used Foundations Card Taupe, it has a real Latte like colour to it. I have stamped across this with the background stamp Cafe Au Lait and Distress Ink Old Paper. I have trimmed my stamp right to the edge taking care not to undercut, I have then marked the edges where the coffee pot it so I can line it up and get a continuous run across the page.
     I have rounded two opposite corners on this layer and left the other two square.

     The extra coffee cup if stamped on Foundations Card Cream in Archival Coffee and clear embossed with CS embossing powder. Once cool it was fussy cut, the spoon is a brad from my stash that fits perfectly over the stamped spoon.
     The extra cup is mounted on foam pads and stuck in the corner, there is also a dark brown button in the opposite corner, it was the closest thing I could find to a coffee bean without having to make a clay one.

     If you make this card for a woman you could add a bow or even a flower but I rather like it as it is, it's also quite thin so it will go through the post without extra cost, it measures 5 3/4 inches square.

Materials used
Espresso Yourself single stamp
Cafe Au Lait single stamp
Gilding Flakes Persian Dawn
Cosmic Shimmer Flake and Glitter Glue
Foundations card - Taupe
CS Embossing powder Clear
Distress Ink Old Paper
CS PVA Glue Dries Clear
Spellbinder Labels One

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Top Tip Tuesday - Buttons or Bows (2 tips in italics by second photo)
Inkspirational - Anything Goes With Gold
Sister Act - Anything Goes