Monday 13 November 2017

Christmas Decor DCWV Very Merry and WRMK Punches

Hello again!

Just a quick one to share this little Christmas scene I've created with an op-shop find, some of my fave WRMK punches and the new Very Merry Premium 12x12 Paper Stack from DCWV.


I've admired the tiny Tim Holtz trees for so many years and finally added some to my stash a few weeks ago. I figured I should actually use them not just stare at them, lol, so I created this little woodland scene on an old record that I found at a second hand store.


Initially I was just going to use the record flat and pop some alphas around the circumference but then I found out how easy it was to bend records to create other things, so I folded it into a taco shape (my kiddo's description!) and used the bottom as the base and top part to hold a festive message.


For the top part, I used my circular Thicker Alignment Guide as a stencil to cut out a sentiment from the journalling element sheet from the Very Merry paper pad. Obviously, this isn't exactly what the guide is supposed to be used for, but as I mentioned earlier, I was going to run some lettering around the record (which I will still try out on another project for sure!)

I then used my WRMK Reinforcer Hole Punch to create enough little circles to fill the top area of the semi circle. On top of the reinforcers, I then popped some tiny floral shapes which I punched using the same paper pad and my Marquee Elegant Font Punch.


The teeny florals bring a bit of extra colour and fun to the area.


My trees were next - given a lashing of green with 'Sea Foam' and 'Mint' Heidi Swapp Color Shine. For some snowy frosting, I used spray snow from a discount store.


Teeny deer to frolic amongst tiny trees! I strung some twine around one of the trees and used some red AC Zazz Glitter Glue for the baubles.

The snow was a bit tricky to adhere to the record. I basically just applied a layer of PVC glue, sprinkled the snow then glue, then snow, building up the layers as they dried. There's probably a better way out there but that made sense to me at the time.


 Finished off with some Pink Paislee chipboard letters and die cuts, this little


Heaps of new DCWV products are available at Spotlight Stores nation wide right now - perfect for your Christmas projects!

Thanks for stopping by

Sunday 5 November 2017

DCWV Layered Ornament Gifts

Oh my gosh, yes you are not seeing things - I am blogging, lol.

Life has been so busy since returning back to work full time as a graphic designer. I have been fortunate to be able to resurrect my career after having a few years off to raise my babes and I am loving being back in the thick of things! If you have other social channels you follow and would like to check out what I get up to, you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Scrapbook.com! (The links are all in the sidebar.)

Now to share with you these cuties that I was very lucky to play with from DCWV. A bunch of new festive goodies arrived on my doorstep a couple of weeks ago and I couldn't wait to get stuck in! I have another super cute project to share with you next week but first let me show you these altered layered ornaments which I have customised to give as little kris kringle gifts in a few weeks time. Yes, it is that time of the year already!!


These Layered Ornaments come in a ready-to-assemble pack with everything you need to create some super cute shaker ornaments. I've chosen to jazz mine up a bit to show you that they don't necessarily have to stay plain white.

** The best thing about these products is that they are all on special at Spotlight Stories right now so grab yours today! **

Here you can see the product in the packaging



Let's take a look at how they came together...

There are complete instructions within the packaging, which makes it very easy to know which piece goes in what order. I planned the stacks and then went about decorating or embellishing the pieces that I wanted, before finally glueing them together.


The pack makes 8 ornaments in total. If you didn't want to make them shaker ornaments, you could create heaps more! This first one below is stacked according to the suggestion on pack. I have popped some of the white/silver glitter supplied in the kit inside (there is also gold glitter.) This coarse glitter is great as I find it moves better and is easier to clean up after!

You will see that all but one of these ornaments have a little tag attached. This one has a mock bauble which I created using some circles I punched with my Circle Clear Cut Punch. I then folded them in half and glued them together onto a base circle. I really like the fan-like effect.


I ran the base piece through my Evolution Advanced with a geometric embossing folder. I dig the extra texture and interest this gives the ornament.

The plain tree has been given a splash of water colour and the top piece is pretty much a crazy experiment which turned out so nicely! One thing worth noting is that the paper is coated and I found it didn't hold mists as well as I would've liked. The plus side is that it produced this pretty marbled effect!


This ornament has been kept pretty simple, with a bit of watercolour, some glitter inside and the top layer given a shimmer with a Wink of Stella pen.


If you don't have one, I would really recommend adding a watercolour pen to your stash. They are pretty inexpensive but are lots of fun to work with and super easy to clean as you go if you keep a spare sheet of paper next to you as you work.


This pretty tone-on-tone one has a pop of colour in the form of some sparkling blue American Crafts glitter glue.


I waited for it to dry before giving it another coat so that I got all the gaps.


Inside I have placed some tiny clear beads instead of glitter.
The tag on this one was created using some embossed effect paper from the Frosty Holiday Mat Stack I received. This 6x6 pad is awesome! It has glitter, embossed, holographic and foil finishes. Perfect for the holiday season!


This ornament is packed full of joy in the form of some sprinkles and shapes. The tag was created with my DIY Party Tag Punch and I embellished it with a little strip of holographic paper from the Frosty Holiday pad and popped a sentiment hand cut from a sheet within the Winter Frost pad.


The mini journalling tag sheet from that pad was especially handy for creating these and the mini size was absolutely adorable!


The sprinkles were a cinch to create thanks to my new DIY Party Sprinkle Punch! This little ornament is just begging to be shaken up!


Close up of the tag. You can see the snowflake embossed detail of the cardstock
Again, keeping it simple with some clean layers, no glitter and coordinating sequins in various sizes for a bit of interest and sparkle. The little tag is a layered one, using a 1 inch tag size in the DIY Party Tag Punch, a mini tag made with the Tag Clear Cut Punch and a mini banner from the Winter Frost pad.


This is the same combination of layers, but I have used some super fine American Crafts glitter and some coarse glitter from the kit for contrast.



This one turned out to be one of my favourites! I've used my Heidi Swapp Minc machine and run two layers through, the base tree with navy foil and the top layer with ombre foil which I have been waiting to try out!

 I coated the two pieces with some Minc Reactive paint and waited a few minutes until they were just dry. If the paint is wet you will not get a good reaction. Also, it's worth noting to clean up the implement you use to apply the paint straight away as it can harden and ruin the brush/sponge.


The best part is peeling away the foil to reveal the magic! I ran these pieces through on heat setting number 3


Lastly, I thought I would try something different and give one of the ornaments a backing card. The ornament itself has been painted with acrylic paint (the same colour, just lightened two shades with a bit of white on two of the layers.)

I cut a thickish strip of this pretty tiny dot paper with silver foil (Winter Frost pad) and gave the edges a decorative finish with my Scalloped Corner Chomper. I used my Bracket Clear Cut Punch to cut the shape below the sentiment (Frosty Holiday stack) which was also hand cut from the Winter Frost pad. The ornament was then stapled to the backing paper and the bracket placed over the top to hide the staple. I think this is a fun was to combine a gift and card in one!


That's it from me. 
Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks DCWV for allowing me to give these awesome new products a test drive!


This Winter Frost Mat Stack is

DCWV Materials:
DCWV Winter Frost Mat Stack 6x6 pad
DCWV Frosty Holiday Mat Stack 6x6 Pad
DCWV Layered Ornaments Paper Project

WeR Tools:

DIY Party Tag Punch
DIY Party Sprinkle Punch
Circle Clear Cut Punch
Tag Clear Cut Punch
Bracket Clear Cut Punch
Scalloped Corner Chomper

Heidi Swapp Minc Machine
Heidi Swapp Ombré Foil
Heidi Swapp Navy Foil
Heidi Swapp Minc Reactive Paint

 Happy creating!


Thursday 29 December 2016

Top Ten Blog Hop 2016

***
 
Happy New Year to you all!
Thank you all so much for your very kind comments along this wonderful hop! I'm thinking for instant gratification I might actually do a $20 voucher to a store of your choice as my prize. The winner picked at random out of 19 entrants was:


Congrats Jean! Please get in touch with me to arrange the details.

Wishing you all much happiness and plenty of creativity in 2017!


***


Hello and welcome to another year of the Top 10 Blog Hop. I'm looking at my poor blog and thinking 'what on earth happened this year?!' lol. It's has been a crazy one - leaving my little design business and going back in to the work force after around 7 years at home with my babes. It has been a very steep learning curve and along with lots of highs, there have been a few lows and a definately a few tears along the way.

To all you Mums out there, trying to juggle it all - well done. You have done an amazing job. Let's raise a toast to finding a few more life hacks in 2017 ;)

Now on to some all-important creativity...

Lots has happened since last year. Joining the We R Memory Keepers team and staying on at Simple Stories have been a dream come true. I'm so grateful to have this creative outlet to keep my fun side going when the going got a bit tough!

Below are a few of my favourites from 2016. I really couldn't just chose 10... so I've popped 16 on for the year that was ;)

LHR-SIN
This was such a fun page to create and it winged it's little way to CHA at the beginning of the year, which was awesome. It was also published in Scrapbook & Cards Today which was a first for me and such an honour! 
Details here >>


Hanging Mobile
I created this mobile for my daughter's room. I absolutely love the gentle light it brings to the area and how it lights up her face as she looks up towards it.
You can check out how this came together here >>



Open wide
This photo alone would make this one of my very favourite pages, ever!
My little one, at the cheeky age of 3, was trying to feed me some mud pie. Yum yum! I used a few different techniques and tools on this page, which is always fun and I think the combination was great for the subject.
Details here >>


Dear Jaime
My beautiful niece is turning 18 today! I just can't believe how quickly time has flown. This page is a little note from me to her.


Live Colorfully
This was another page for the Simple Stories booth at CHA. I pulled out all the floral elements I could find in my Carpe Diem collection and what resulted, was a bit of a colourful explosion!


Sun & Surf
This page was just so fun. I love the elements in Life in Color - the stars, the foil accents, the awesome little wooden die cuts. Totally me.


Miss you with my whole heart
The starry print on this page was the inspiration behind my constellation theme. I lost my beautiful Mum over twenty years to cancer, and its comforting to think she's up there, watching over us.


As wild as life gets
This project was inspired by Rio at the time of the Olympics. Having never travelled there myself, I have visions of a lush, tropical escape! I created this seriously interactive page using mostly Fuseable items. It a treasure trove of memories and keepsakes from a fun day out at Australia Zoo.





Framed Art
This framed bit of art was part of a set which I created for my craft space. I experimented with Minc paint and foil and just LOVE the result.

BeYouTiFul
This page was part of a GDT for The Cut Shoppe. I really don't make as much use of my Silhouette lately - something I need to work in 2017!
Details here >>


Life is Good at the Beach
I created this page for a monthly class I used to teach at Craft Inspirations in Petrie. Sadly, I had to give up my classes to make a bit more time for my family. Hopefully one day soon I can pick it up again.


Stationery Folder
My little girl got such a kick out of this custom stationery folder I made for her. It has paper for penning a letter, cards, envelopes, stencils and pens etc. She loved making cards for all her little friends which was SO sweet to watch.
Details here >>


Sparkle & Shine
This page was part of the same post which featured the page about my niece. I was in an introspective mood and created this one. The feathers swirling around were like the bits and pieces of life I felt like I was losing control over. There is a touch of hand stitching on it as well as some DIY feather stencilling.
Details here >>


Thankful for you
This page was super fun to put together. Check out the Simple Stories blog to see how I created the background.
Details here >>



With my Heart & Soul
This page was created during a class by the incredible Wilna Furstenburg. She and Louise Nelson were our amazing teachers at Escape 2 Create this year. I can't rave about this retreat enough and I absolutely adore the vibrance of this page.



Adventure Time Game

Ever in search of the fun - I created this little board game for my kids using We R Memory Keepers, High Five. Gameplay is simple, based off of an existing game, you just spin the wheel and move the amount of spaces on the board, watching out for obstacles/bonuses along the way.
Details here >>


Now I will admit that I am not organised enough as yet, to have a pic of my prize, but if you leave a comment below, it will enter you into a draw to win a little mystery goodie bag. Please make sure you have popped your comment in by January 1st, 2017. (I will accommodate for some time differences.)

If you are on Instagram, I will have another little giveaway on there too for followers both new and old. You can find me @chantallemcdaniel



If you are just joining the hop here, you can head to Mendi next...

Mendi Yoshikawa
Audrey Yeager
Christine Meyer
Juliana Michaels 
Wendy Antenucci
Suzanna Lee
Karen Hunter
Monique Liedtke
Kat Benjamin
Jennifer Haggerty
Jen Matott
Missy Whidden
Marcia Dehn Nix
Heather Leopard
Rebecca Keppel
Traci Penrod
Melissa Elsner
Monika Wright
Laura Whitaker
YOU ARE HERE >> Chantalle McDaniel

I am last, so if you are ending here - thanks for joining in the fun and good luck for your chances along the way!

Until next year ;)