Faery Door......

Hi all,

hee hee my 8 year old daughter spotted this one on my list for the Tando design team and asked if she could help...........

The colours, paper and layout were guided by my daughter and she has already pinched it to go in her bedroom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is what I used (and with some left over for another project!)........

The Secret Door small from the Works of Parts range

Many Thanks for popping by today.

Hugs 

Dawn x 

Book binding the 'secret' way..........

Hi all,

I love book-binding and this weeks challenge provided the PERFECT excuse to try out a different binding technique that has been on my 'to try' list for ages.

Neil Walker's book cover kits are just right for the binding I wanted to use as the spine is separate to the covers.........

The binding is the 'Secret Belgian Binding' if you fancy trying it, I used instructions from a book in my collection but there are plenty of tutorials available on You-Tube too.

The binding takes a little patience and fiddling around but it's well worth the effort as its' one of the few techniques that give you a book that will open completely flat.

Here is the kit I used (Squared Off)........

Many Thanks for popping by today.

Hugs 

Dawn x 

Retro Handbag

Hi all,

I had a good play with the desktop storage Handbag for this weeks challenge over at Tando creative...........

A nice and easy make in all honesty! Painted with decoart media fluid acrylics and covered with some paper from my stash. 

Here is the kit as it comes.........

Many thanks for popping by today.

Hugs 

Dawn x 

Get Painty Journaling

Helloooooooooo

when someone says 'get painty' to me I usually hit my journal and end up getting lovely and messy! How could I resist for this weeks challenge?!!!!!!!.....................

Using a mixture of the gorgeous Decoart Media fluid acrylics and a brayer I created a colour blocked background. This was toned down and unified with a light rolling of white acrylic. Some prominent stenciling was added using black acrylic through the Criss Cross Grid and Burning Rubber masks. Some letter stamps and bird stamps from my stash were used to finish off the page with some additional writing on some washi tape.

The expressions on the birds not only speak to me but ARE me at various points through the day, and I'm not joking lol!!!!!!!!

Many thanks for dropping by today.

Hugs

Dawn x

September colour theme over at Tando......

Hi folks,

I have been sooooooooo looking forward to this months colour theme......

and decided to go large ish.............

........and had a play with the gorgeous Noteholder/Pen Pot set........

I started by assembling everything as per the very clear instructions provided with the kit, the edging pieces were not attached at this point as I wanted to paint them in different colours to the pieces they would be attached to.  I chose to glue the 2 base units together to create one large unit but you could keep them separate if you wished.  A base coat of Decoart gesso was added to all elements once the glue was completely dry. 2 coats of acrylic were applied and then some stenciling was done on the outer base and drawer fronts using the Diamond Circle mask.

I built up 2 handles for the drawers using inchies, small circles from the centre of the round grid and hearts from the heart grab bag.  Each handle consisting of 1 inchie, 2 small circles and 1 heart.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I couldn't cope with the thought of ditching the waste pieces from the kit so I had a play with them and came up with some washi tape holders............

Decorated to match the original make using mini flowers, a heart from the grab bag (as before), the dotted star mask, the sunburst mask, and the hearts background mask.

I really could have gone to town with the right hand one, which I think looks like a bed! I could see lace, sparkle and bedding - maybe a pin-cushion of sorts - let your imagination run riot too!!

If you fancy playing along with any of our monthly themes please feel free to share your makes using the linky tool at the top of the page. You could be in with a chance of winning some fab Tando goodies as any makes linked will be entered in a monthly prize draw.

Many thanks for popping by today,

Hugs 

Dawn x x x 

Mad Hatter Canvas

Hi folks,

it's banners week over at Tando Creative and for this project I felt the need to go bright and bold with one of my favourite characters, The Mad Hatter...........

If you can't quite read the quote........

"Trust me. I know a thing or two about liking people, and in time, after much chocolate and cream cake, 'like' turns into 'what was his name again?'" (Mad Hatter/Lewis Carroll)

Here is what I used........

Bunting Large Scalloped

Mini Mask - Distressed Diamond

Distorted Harlequin Mask

The Mad Hatter stamp is from The Octopode Factory, the bunting stamp was loose in my stash. The paints used are Decoart Media Fluid Acrylics.

Many thanks for popping by today,

Hugs 

Dawn x x x 

Anything goes over at Tando..........

Helloooooooooo,

I have a wall hanging for you today made from an upturned insert from the arabian style layered arch .....

Lots of fun to make and build up. I have put the top two pictures up as the flash shows stenciling and gloss better in the first picture and the non-flash picture picks up the crackle nicely.

Here is what I used.....

Arabian style layered arch

Floral grab bag

  

Tall leaves

Sunburst

Many Thanks for popping by and leaving a comment if you feel you would like to.

Hugs 

Dawn x 

Summer week over at Tando Creative........

Hi Folks,

I was lucky enough to grow up in the coastal town of Looe in Cornwall and the majority of my school summer holidays were spent on local beaches! Happy memories of my Mum sunbathing while I played and swam to my hearts content. The fab picnics she used to make were always a bonus too!

Anyways, I chose to have a play with a mixed media board to see if I could epitomise my summers..........

Blue skies, golden sand, ice-creams and seagulls do it for me! I lost many an ice-cream to a greedy opportunist seagull too!!

Here is what I used along with some summer themed stamps from my stash.....

Many thanks for popping by and leaving a comment if you feel you would like to. Your time and thoughts mean an awful lot.

Dawn

Fridge Magnet

Hi all,

here is my make for this weeks Layers challenge over on the Tando blog.............

Lol sorry for the wonky pic, typical of me in general really!!!!!!

I started with one of the 74mm-138mm mixed media boards and put a layer of modelling paste through the Cogs Group Mask.
Once the paste was dry I added a thin layer of Decoart Gesso followed by a layer of Cobalt Teal Decoart Media fluid acrylic.
I replaced the mask and stippled a mixture of other fluid acrylics through in patches until I was happy with the result.

Elements from the Steampunk Wings and Cogs set and the Cogs Grab Bag were painted, again in Decoart fluid acrylic, and attached as shown. The word was added as I felt it needed one lol!

I have attached a magnetic strip to the back of the board and this is now brightening up my fridge as a fridge magnet.

Many thanks for popping by today, your time is much appreciated.

Hugs

Dawn

Carrier Storage Unit

Hi all,

I wanted to share my take on the amazing carrier storage unit as posted over on the Tando Creative blog today. This is one incredibly sturdy and supremely useful piece of kit, and all the better is the pleasure of decorating it to suit your own style/decor...........

Hee hee can you tell I had a lot of fun playing with paint and stencils while doing this one. I got as close to the colour theme as I could with what I had in my stash too!!!!

Here is what I used.....

Many Thanks for popping by today,

Hugs 

Dawn