Reverse Canvas - Bo Bunny Soirée

I have another project using the Bo Bunny Soirée papers together with JOFY stamps and Sizzix dies over on the Papermaze Blog today.

To read more about it please pop over to the Papermaze blog.

Thanks for looking
Lynn x

Dual Celebration

Today is Father's day but it is also my brother Robert's birthday.

We are all getting together later to celebrate.

I made Dad a card and Robert a mini canvas card.

I used the same two set of stamps from JOFY for both these cards,

I also used:
Acrylic paints
Archival ink pad
Acetate
Stickles
page from an old book
mini canvas with easel
Black marker pen
3D foam pads

Happy birthday Robert and Happy Father's day Dad

Thanks for looking
Lynn x

Busy Buzzing Bees - A class with JOFY

On 26th May my plans changed unexpectedly and so I was able to attend a class at the Craft Barn by Jo Firth-Young, (JOFY) designer for PaperArtsy.

The class was to make this fun box canvas with two of Jo's stamps sets.

We were given a small box canvas which we painted with our choice of colours from the Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic paint range. Then we stamped the message and some honeycomb patterns directly onto the canvas, some of the patterns overlap the deep sides of the canvas. We painted in the hollow outlines for two of the words with white paint.

A printed page from an old book was supplied and this we painted with a wash of white paint, stamped the hive, then pained in shadows. This was cut out and stuck into position on the canvas.

The flowers were stamped onto tissue paper and painted, then cut out! Quite tricky cutting out these as they were on very narrow branches! It went very quiet while we all concentrated hard at this point.

We stamped large and small bees onto card and painted in the details, before cutting them out. We cut the wings off the large Bees! - but added new ones made by stamping on acetate. 

Bees and flowers were added to the canvas, again they were wrapped around the sides.

The wings of the tiny bees were folded up so they appear to be in flight.

A tiny hole was drilled in the top of the canvas so one large bee could be added by means of a coil of fine wire - from where he could hover over the canvas. The hole was tidied up with a tiny button.

And one lovely bee buzzing around on a wire from the top.

I finished off with a marker to go over any of the stamped lines which had acquired a little paint, and the gems were added to the flowers.

This was a great class and I thank Jo for teaching it and sharing lots of hints and tips along the way. 

It was also lovely to meet Dame Judi Dench in the Farm shop next door during our lunch break. 

I will certainly use this technique again and I have now acquired some of Jo's stamps to play with at home. 

Thanks for looking

Lynn x

Wedding Canvas

My brother, Rob married the lovely Elaine in Brazil back in May 2012. I made them a canvas for Christmas, but am only able to give it to them today as they have been away over Christmas and the New Year.

I used a 16"x16" deep canvas, and the Basic Grey Serenade collection. I picked out three papers - 50 Pence, Peacock and Chemise together with some alphabet stickers for the date. I made the base by painting the canvas with Opal Jo Sonia's acrylic paint and tearing, inking and arranging the BG papers.

The photo was 20 x 25 cm, but trimmed down. I used a Buzz and Bloom 'On the Grapevine' large die cut chipboard frame, this was also painted with the opal paint and then spritzed with Cosmic Shimmer Mist - Ancient Copper and Tattered Angels Chalkboard Glimmer Mist - Teal High Heal.  There are a few splodges of Tim Holtz Distress Stain, on the frame and papers.

I added three clusters of paper roses, cherry blossoms and leaves - these were all from Wild Orchid Crafts.
My title was made with Amy Tangerine American Crafts Everyday printed chipboard alphabet stickers.

To the flowers and frame I added some Glitz Stickles - Ancient Copper. I used a few flat-backed pearls and some pale blue organza ribbon with a heart hat pin.

I added a few very tiny blue flowers with leaves here and there on the chipboard vine frame.

Congratulations to Rob and Elaine, thanks for looking.
Lynn x

A Canvas for Dylan and Daisy

My sister asked me to make a canvas each for her friend Geraldine's children Dylan and Daisy.
Here is what I came up with. I started with two 12" x 10" canvases, and painted them ivory, when dry I inked the edges.

They both use papers from the same four collections, The Farm House Company, Basic Grey Basics, Scenic Route and Simple Stories Bingo Cards.

 

I made a group of three pinwheels on Daisy's canvas and three rosettes on Dylan's. The pinwheels were cut using the Cricut and the 3D Pinwheel Cartridge. The rosettes were cut by hand using various widths of 12" strips. I tied each button with coloured twine.

I varied the sizes and double sided patterned papers. I added brads to the centre of each pinwheel and buttons to the rosettes. 

I cut both names using the Cricut and the Storybook cartridge with a shadow, then I glossed the letters with Glossy Accents.

I added a charm with blue twine to the base of Daisy's photo...

...and a Micky Mouse paperclip with bunting for Dylan.
The bunting was made with chipboard flags covered with paper and inked. they were joined with red twine.

 I added a spiral heart paperclip to Daisy's canvas. 

There is also some tiny scraps of Kaiser Crafts Sweet Nothings paper here, edged with a Martha Stewart punch and as a mat for the photo. 

This also shows the bingo card from Simple Stories.

I added a tiny pair of chipboard Wellies to Daisy's canvas painted and inked.

I hope my sister, her friend and Daisy and Dylan like the canvas Christmas gifts. 

I had fun making them.

Thanks for Looking.

Lynn x

The Coopers Canvas

At the Cardinal Colours Spring Weekend Crop I took Anita's super canvas class. Please see Anita's blog for more details. As always an excellent value for money class with some lovely ideas. The papers were My Mind's Eye and the canvas was 16" square.

Here is my finished canvas followed by a few close up shots to show the different techniques involved.

The photos were from a professional studio where we attended for a family photo shoot in 2003.

The colours of this layout are prefect in my dining room.

Thanks once again for a brilliant class Anita.

Looking forward to the next weekend in September.

Canvas Gifts

Merry Christmas to Jessica and Jamie who played a very big part in Mark and Vicki's wedding back in July. I wanted to make them a keepsake. So I matched up some papers and paint and made them a canvas each.

Here is Jessica's Canvas:

Some detail showing the charm.

The canvases were painted with pearl and shopping bag acrylic paints by Making Memories, and the papers are Basic Grey Wassail and some scraps of Prima Marketing. The blossoms are also Prima and others from my stash.The charm is Primark! I have cut the lettering on the Cricut with the Storybook Cartridge. I added gems, pearls, dragonfly brads and Perfect Preals. I used a button and lace to make the large blossom.

Here is Jamie's canvas, he took his duties very seriously and greeted everyone when they arrived.

Have a lovely Christmas you two and I'm looking forward to seeing you later today.

A Canvas for Simon

Just a short post today - Having made a canvas each for the triplets Oliver, Hannah and Lucy, I decided to make one for big brother Simon too.

I like this black and white photo of him sailing in Cornwall, so added that to some Beach Babe, Fancy Pants papers and blue acrylic paint on a 10" x 12"canvas.

The letters and images were all cut on the Cricut using George and Basic Shapes and Life is a Beach cartridges.
Thanks for looking.

Family Heritage Canvas

This canvas was designed by the very talented Anita for the Cardinal Colours Retreat this last weekend.

I made my version of the canvas before the retreat so I could assist Anita in her class, we had a mini class so we knew how it went! See Anita's blog entry about this class HERE.

I chose this treasured photograph of my Grandfather together with his thirteen siblings and his parents, taken in the back garden of their two up, two down terraced house in Bromley (and we say we don't have enough room!) The occasion was his brother Frank's Wedding. For the mini frames I cropped images from the main photo, they are of - left to right: Frank the groom, Ernest (Grandad), Frederick Holder (Great Grandad) and Florence Emma Jane (Great Grandmother) 1911.

The Holder Family

This main photo shows - left to right back row - Rose, Ernest, Winnie, Chum, Florrie, George and Frank.

Middle row - Marjorie, Clara, Gladys, Fredrick, Florence, Lottie and William.

Front row - Alf and Edna.

Thought I would just show you this photo which was published in the local paper when the siblings had a family reunion in 1960.

Left to right back row - William, Lottie, Edna Humm, George, Clara Marsh, Gladys Bush, Marjorie Stebbins and Alf.

Front row - Frank, Winnie Williams, Walter(Chum), Rose Hall, Ernest and Florrie Kiff.

‘Here is Where Our Story Begins’

These were the details for this class:

A canvas class with Anita MacDonald

Using beautiful papers from the BoBunny Timepiece Range.

A large 40 cm x 40 cm canvas 

class includes some distressing, spritzing, ripping and a little beading.

Class requirements:

Standard tools and adhesives, Foam pads or silicone glue (for raising elements)

Dark Brown Ink Pad

A foam painting pad will be supplied but please bring along a 1 – 2” bristle brush if you prefer

7 x 5 Landscape photo ( or two 6 x 4 portrait) and also two 1.5” x 1.5” photos

This class would be suitable for Heritage, Family, Wedding or First Home theme.

I think this is a wonderful way to record a bit of family history, and rather than being tucked away in an album it's on the wall for all to see. Quite a conversation piece too.

I added some Glossy Accents to my clock faces to make them look like glass.

For more details about the canvas see Anita's blog.

A fab class, thank you Anita.

Something for a windy, rainy day

It was my turn to be the nurse in charge of the youth group on Saturday and the plan had been to take the young people sailing.  When it came to finalising the plans on Friday the weather forecast was force 7 and heavy rain. So we had to make a decision in the best interests of the young people we care for taking into consideration their conditions and needs.

In the end we spoke to the sailing club concerned and decided to postpone these plans for another day.  We also didn't have a huge uptake due to it being the bank holiday weekend.

So Hannah (respite nursery nurse) and I set about making plans for staying at the hospice and making a fun day in for the teenagers. 

We got popcorn and DVD's together. The Wii set up.

We planned to make scrapbooking canvases and because it was short notice I searched all our photos of previous events and printed out a 5"x7" photo of each of them (I'm unable to share these photos, photos of the event or photos of their canvases, as I need to protect their identity on the Internet).

Hannah was great, she phoned everyone concerned to change the plans.

I couldn't believe it when yesterday dawned and it was sunny, but it was short lived and by 11am it was stormy, raining and dark.

At the last minuet, I left home early and got cake baking stuff so we could make and decorate cupcakes too. So did Hannah! Great minds!

In the event the kids got engrossed in the crafting and had the DVD's running at the same time. We still had the picnic lunch we had arranged but had it indoors instead of on by the riverside.

The craft work went on all day in the end (their choice). Each child made a canvas of themselves, and we made one for the girl who was unwell and unable to attend at the last minute. In order to demonstrate we made one of Hannah with a photo from last year's Christmas party, when she came dressed as a snowman. The Cricut came in very useful and was a bit of a novelty to the youngsters.

Here is the joint effort canvas of Hannah the Snowman! 

After the canvases they went on to make cup case boxes using the Sweet Treats cartridge for the Cricut, and mini canvases with their names on. In the end we had a job to get them to go home!

... and I do believe, Hannah may be getting a little interested in crafting! ...

... as she set about making another canvas for her colleagues at Sara's wedding back in June.

Will be interesting to see what the rest of the team think of the creations on Tuesday.

Tunstall Forest Canvas

I have recently added to my collection of Suffolk Canvases. Each one is a different place and year.  The canvases are mostly 16x16" and painted with acrylic paint. This canvas shows the photos I took in the Tunstall Forest in the snow back in December. The title is white glittery Thickers letters by American Crafts. The date is made with Basic Grey letter stickers. The white glittery brads are from Doodlebug Design.

Thanks for looking, Lynn x

chYps, Siblings and Canvases

I am a children's nurse specialist and work for chYps (Children and Young People's Service) We are a hospice at home service for the London Borough of Bexley and West Kent. We are part of the EllenorLions Hospices. We are currently expanding our service further into West Kent.

We were recently granted some Department of Health funding to set up some Sibling weekends, to support and acknowledge what bereaved siblings and siblings of children with life limiting and life threatening conditions go through. Together with Glynis our Play Therapist, and Tracie our Lead Nurse I have been involved in setting up a weekend of activities for these children from 5 to 18 years.  Hopefully these weekends will become a regular feature for our organisation.

This coming weekend Linda and I are running craft workshops at this event and have decided to make memory canvases with the children.  They have been asked to bring along a photo or two of their sibling.  We have been shopping for lots of materials and have raided our own stash too. Lots more memory work has been arranged too.

This weekend I made a few samples for the children to see. I have tried to keep it simple due to time and age range.  We plan to take the Cricut along so they can  cut a character and a name each.

For these three canvases used scraps of Basic Grey Boxer, Archaic and Blush. The Storybook Cartridge was used for the lettering. The Create a Critter Cartridge was used for the dinosaur, the Paisley Cartridge for the owl and toadstool and the Princess Cartridge for the Princess! For the purpose of these samples I used photos of my great nephew and nieces.

I think we will have fun making these next weekend and with the young people's permission hope to share some of the craft work.

We are planning to keep these workshops going on a regular basis. If anyone feels they would like to donate some craft materials to this project please contact me at this email address. Many thanks.

Canvases

Most of the scrapbooking I have done over the last few days has been for The Mojo Design Team so I cannot show them to you for a while. However have made some new canvases to hang in the Suffolk house. The one above is Heather and Nicholas' wedding in 2007. The wedding was held at St Maws, in Cornwall. Coming up for their second wedding anniversary.

This canvas is for the wedding we went to last year to celebrate the marriage of Amy and Martin, in Devon.

The third canvas is of Amy's older sister, Helen, when she married Adam in 2004, also in Devon.

Then I made a new Suffolk canvas picturing a day out spent between Felixstowe and Felixstowe Ferry. May 2003 when the children were 11 years old. This is to add to three I made last year, pictured below.

A holiday on Colin's yacht in Woodbridge Marina in 2002 .

More recently a day Alan and Emily spent at Framling- ham Castle in 2008.

And lastly the children at Aldeburgh in 2005.