Mother's Day Frame

Why not use your Tonic Studios dies to make a pretty little Mother's Day frame like I have. The great thing about a box frame is that you can 3D your diecuts as much as you like and know that they will be protected by the glass. It gives you so many options.

BTW, that's one of my favourite butterfly dies. (Rococo butterfly die and stamp sets)

Hope this has inspired you.

Books and Boxes

I have been trying out a few things lately and been creating some boxes and decorated notebooks to stock up in my Folksy shop which hasn't been active for some time. I am still working on a few ideas and haven't uploaded very much as yet, but here are some of the things I have been playing with.

This is a little wooden box I have painted in an Oriental style. I had great fun with gilding flakes and crackle glaze on this one. (Tonic Studios products)

Then I have been making some other little trinket boxes.

 I bought some adorable little wooden bun feet to give the boxes some character. They are really cute!

And I decoupaged a tray for my own personal use...

And a little key cupboard...

And made some little decorated notebooks...

And a few other things I haven't got pictures of yet. Plus I finally got around to finishing painting my Welsh dresser, (apart from stencilling the door ) which may or may not happen. Plus, I am in the middle of varnishing a top for some drawers in my craft room to make a new desk.

But apart from that, not been up to much ;-) You?

Have a lovely day.

Pearly Pink Valentine Heart Box Tutorial

It's time for a little tutorial using some wonderful Tonic Studios products. Create this decorated heart gift box and make someones day with this special little trinket box made with love...

First you will need a little paper mache box to decorate, just like this one, plus a sheet of smooth white card for painting and die cutting. (A little suggestion -  when choosing your papier mache box, always pick one with as loose a lid as you can find to allow for the thickness of your paint and paper.)

Tonic Studios Supplies...

• Nuvo Acrylic Paints in white and metallic pearl white
• Nuvo embellishment mousses in peony pink, lilac lavender, cornflower blue and aquamarine.
• Tonic Funky Glue
• Nuvo Glimmer paste in Moonstone
• Nuvo Crystal Drops in Wisteria purple
• Paper for lining your box. I used some 12x 12 Tonic paper I had (Romantic Cottage paper pack)
• Essentials Die Set - someone special
• Verso - First Crush Die set. 

INSTRUCTIONS

Prime your box with one coat of white acrylic paint .
Once dry, mix metallic white pearl acrylic paint with the embellishment mousses and paint your box and sheet of white card alternating the colours to create a variegated pearly effect. Use mostly pink with splodges of the other colours. Once dry, smooth  some glimmer paste with your finger all over the sheet of card which you will use to die cut your embellishments.

When totally dry, diecut your embellishments and glue to the box.

To line your box draw around the base of the box and then draw a line around 2mm insidewhich will be your cutting line to allow for the thickness of the box sides. Cut two strips to fit neatly in the sides. You can either repeat this for inside the lid, or paint inside the lid as you prefer. 

Decorate the edges of your lid with Nuvo Crystal Drops. 

I also glued some of the little hearts from the die cut onto the lid of the box. 

Now all you need to do is find a suitable little gift to go inside the box. Or better still...make one! 

There are other lovely heart dies from Tonic Studios that would work just as well for this project. Why not check out the full range on their website. 

Hope this gives you some ideas.
Have fun.

White on white birthday card

Hello. Hope you are having a good day. Another card today.  I am quite partial to making white on white cards with a gentle touch of ink just to highlight the edges. I think they can be really effective and it shows what can be done with only one shade of cardstock and Tonic Studios Dies.

Here I have used dies from September Harvest, Pinecone Season and Sunray Scene from Tonic's Faith collection. I couldn't resist adding a few little jewel drops to finish off the card.
Have a creative day !

An Anniversary Card

 Hello.  I've been having a bit of a card making sesh before I clear my desk and get back to my watercolour painting for a bit. I've made a cheery anniversary card for my mum and dad for next month. (It's OK, they don't read the blog.) This happy floral paper from Tonic Studios was just begging to be dotted all over with Nuvo drops don't you think? The pretty leaves are from their Fallen Leaves collection.

The vintage image is a free one from The Graphics Fairy. I love combining vintage images with Tonic Studios die cuts.

Hope you are having a wonderful day wherever you are.

Tonic Studios Faith Collection

These lovely Faith dies from Tonic Studios are perfect for cards and more. I have made this little card/bookmark combo to send to a friend who is going through a particularly hard time right now in hospital. I know it is her faith that is keeping her going and that she will appreciate the thought.

I inked the diecut layer for a soft, pretty effect. The beautiful little dove is cut from Tonic's Mirror card.

The bookmark is cut from three layers of card for strength, Two from the outer die and one of the decorative filigree design all stuck together with Tonic's Funky  glue (of course.)

The bookmark fits perfectly inside the card making it ideal for popping in the post.

I hope this gives you some ideas, or maybe gives you a nudge to drop a card to someone to let them know they are in your thoughts.

A Birthday Banner

Hello everyone. And a very Happy 2017 to you all. I hope this is a wonderful year for you.
We've had a good holiday with family visiting which has been wonderful, then I came down with a nasty cough virus which has not been so good. I finally got some sleep last night so am now posting about this cute little birthday banner I rustled up for my daughters friend .

I used lovely Tonic Studios papers...my daughter helped to pick out which patterns she thought her friend would like. Then using just the outer dies from their fabulous number dies, I cut out the numbers from Tonic's mirror card. To adhere the numbers I used removable sticky dots in case she wants to use this as a pretty banner in her bedroom long after the birthday celebrations are over.

 Of course you could use make any number you need and you can use your own choice of papers. It's a great way to make some pretty party decor. Hope this gives you some inspiration.

(Oh and if you want to see more of what I am up to,  you can follow me on Instagram . )

Have a lovely day.