A snippet of my life!

A snippet of my life!

This is not about crafting more of an understanding of me and how crafting plays a big part in distracting me from all the symptoms I have every day.

I'm sure there are many of you out there will have turned to crafting when illness or the stresses of life start to take over your lives.

I saw this letter, on the internet, of a person suffering with fibromyalgia and ME and reading it I found it so true about how I can be every day but more importantly explaining why people should not judge me by my illness but for the person who I am. I still need a 'normal' life and to try and socialise and enjoy life around my illness. I will not let it beat me but some days or even on a daily basis it can get the better of me.

Fibromyalgia and ME (Collectively documented as CFS/FMS) means many things change, and a lot of them are invisible. Most people do not understand even a little about CFS/FMS and its effects.

These are the things that I would like you to understand about me before you judge me. Please understand that being sick doesn't mean I'm not still a human being. I have to spend all of my day in considerable pain and exhaustion, and if you visit I probably don't seem like much fun to be with, but I'm still me stuck inside this body.

I still worry about life's ups and downs, and most of the time I'd still like to hear you talk about yours too.

Please understand the difference between "happy" and "healthy". When you've got the flu you probably feel miserable with it, but I've been sick for years. I can't be miserable all the time, in fact I work hard at not being miserable. So if you're talking to me and I sound happy, it means I'm happy. That's all. It doesn't mean that I'm not in a lot of pain, or extremely tired, or that I'm getting better, or any of those things. Please, don't say, "Oh, you're sounding better!" I am not sounding better, I am sounding happy. If you want to comment on that, you're welcome.

Please understand that being able to stand up for ten minutes, doesn't necessarily mean that I can stand up for twenty minutes, or an hour. And, just because I managed to stand up for thirty minutes yesterday doesn't mean that I can do the same today.

Please repeat the above paragraph substituting, "sitting", "walking", "thinking", "being sociable" and so on ... it applies to everything. That's what CFS does to you. Please understand that CFS/FMS is variable. It's quite possible that one day I am able to walk to the park and back, while the next day I'll have trouble getting to the kitchen. Please don't attack me when I'm ill by saying, "But you did it before!" if you want me to do something then ask if I can.

In a similar vein, I may need to cancel an invitation at the last minute, if this happens please do not take it personally. Please understand that "getting out and doing things" does not make me feel better, and can often make me seriously worse. Telling me that I need to exercise may frustrate me to tears, and is not correct... if I was capable of doing these things, don't you think that I would?

I visit my GP, consultant and physio on a regular basis so I am doing the exercise and diet that I am suppose to do.

Another statement that hurts is, "You just need to push yourself more, exercise harder..." Obviously CFS deals directly with muscles, and because our muscles don't repair themselves the way your muscles do, this does far more damage than good and could result in recovery time in days or weeks or months from a single activity.

Also, CFS may cause secondary depression (wouldn't you get depressed if you were hurting and exhausted for years on end!?) but it is not created by depression.

Please understand that if I say I have to sit down/lie down/take these tablets now, that I do have to do it right now - it can't be put off or forgotten just because I'm out for the day (or whatever).

CFS does not forgive. If you want to suggest a cure to me, don't. It's not because I don't appreciate the thought, and it's not because I don't want to get well. It's because I have already tried most of the treatments my consultant, GP and physio have suggested. I have even tried homeopathic remedies. People in general have suggested treatments. I've tried them all, but then I realised that I was using up so much energy trying things that I was making myself sicker, not better. If there was something that cured, or even helped, all people with CFS then we'd know about it. 

In many ways I depend on you. I need you to visit me when I am too sick to go out... Sometimes I need you to help me with the shopping, cooking or cleaning etc. I may need you to take me places.

I need you on a different level too ... you're my link to the outside world... if you don't come to visit me then I might not get to see you.... and, as much as it's possible, I need you to understand me.

I liken my days as climbing a mount and it's a hard and painful journey but I'm still the same person inside. I won't let it beat me.

I hope you enjoyed reading this as it's not a text book description of CFS/FMS but a true life take on this little known debilitating condition.

My Favourite Holidays, Tattered Lace Goes Tatty Lace!!

When I saw what the challenge was on the tattered lace website I was so excited that I could use my scooter die.

My holidays used to be scooter rallies, some rallies were at the seaside and some more inland usually in a field with minimal facilities.

No I wasn't a mod I was a Scooterist with a Lambretta J125. It's a shame that the die is a Vespa but it's one of the best scooter dies I've seen. I also bought the mini car die at the same time as I used to have a mini many moons ago and it had so much character. The word 'character' plays heavy in what I'm saying because the mini was always breaking down! i had a hammer, 2 litre bottle of water and oil with me in the car at all times. The head gasket had blown a bit so it whistled like a kettle, it burnt oil and I had to use the hammer on the starter motor every time I went anywhere in it! Then I go and buy a scooter and a Lambretta at that! The Lambretta is known to every scooterist that they are not that reliable and when riding any distance it is very handy if you have breakdown cover or a van at hand to take it to your destination.

I wanted to do something with the scooter die that showed different ways of using the die cut with mixed media to add texture to my design.

I have made 2 designs.

Firstly the canvas -

I haven't used a canvas as such but cardboard packaging!

Scooters became popular in the 1960's theme so I have used wallpaper with an embossed sunburst design as the background.

I sprayed the Dylusions ink to add colour but it hasn't taken very well because I didn't realise the wallpaper is for use in kitchens and bathrooms so there is a coating preventing the ink to adhere! I did use pink and green ink but the green has disappeared! I'm not sure if it's me handling the paper or the green has been soaked up with the pink.

I cut 3 bracket shapes in card.

Using distress stains and inks I blobbed and sprayed the colour onto my craft mat then sprayed with water. Then dabbed and dragged my 3 pieces of card through the puddle of colour. Leaving them to dry.

I added colour around the edges with distress ink and sparkle medium.

I cut 2 scooters with thick cardboard and glued them together. Once dry I placed it under the bracket card and put it through my big shot. I now have an embossed scooter.

Using an Inkylicious Ink Duster I coloured the embossed scooter to really bring out the detail. Even though I say it myself I am very pleased with the result.

Taking the 2nd piece of card I use another scooter I have cut from thick card as a stencil. Colouring with the ink duster and ink.

The 3rd piece of card I stamped the scooter. To make the stamp I ran funky form and the die through my big shot and stuck it onto clear acetate packaging as this seems thicker than acetate I had in my stash.

Before sticking them down I stencilled flowers from the new Kaleidoscope collection with ink and sparkle medium.

Once everything was stuck down I printed off 2 photos of me n my scooter, trimmed them to size with a spellbinders edging die.

Finally added a flower and butterfly that I spritzed with the ink.

I've stuck the photos with repositionable glue as I may print the photos again cos I've noticed that when I've die cut it I've ended up with a valley cut in my head!!!! If no one notices I may leave it as it is lol.

Photo frame -

The 'frame' started off as a piece of packaging that I had been saving to make into a frame. It had the aperture already in it.

I covered with zebra duck tape.

Chose photos of some of the rallies and my scooter a few years ago. Scanned in a lambretta logo and resized it. Printed.

Cut out the logo with a die edger assembled in the frame and added some embossed card n a scooter.

Added flowers to the frame.

I hope you like my take on a 'Tattered Lace holiday'.

Materials used;

Tattered Lace dies - Scooter, Sentiment, Kaleidoscope collection flowers and butterflies.

Spellbinders die - edges.

Distress stains - brushed pewter, peacock feathers.

Dylusions spray - pink, lime

Distress ink - picked raspberry.

Sparkle medium - old rose, chartreuse.

Inkylicious Ink Dusters

Zebra duck tape from Hobbycraft

Materials used from my stash;

Big Shot

Bracket die

Cardboard and acetate packaging.

White card.

Challenge entered;

challenge.tatteredlace.co.uk

Indian Summer Iylah Poppy Frame

Indian summer for me sums up bright oranges, reds, pinks, purples n green.

For this challenge I have decorated a frame for my great niece's birthday. She will be 1 this Thursday. Her middle name is poppy so just crying out for me to use the poppy stamps.

·         Firstly I painted an old picture frame with a mixture of red and orange satin acrylic paint. i wanted a mat finish so I mixed pantry white and it did the trick. I used cut n dry to apply the paint as this helps any problem of visible brush strokes. the paint blends easier with cut and dry, i put the 3 blobs of paint on a brown craft sheet and picked a little of each colour then press against the mat, this pushes the colour into the cut n dry. I had some paint left over so applied to some card to use for the stamps.

·         You may be thinking the frame is orange! I changed my mind cos the red and orange didn’t compliment the photo so used acrylic orange and pantry white.

·         I stamped the poppies with Versamark and embossed.

·         Added more colour to them.

·         Cut them out.

·         Stuck them to the frame with PVA glue.

·         Sprayed all of the frame and poppies to seal it.

Voila pretty frame for a pretty little girl.

Materials used

Indigoblu stamps - Poppy Meadow.

Indigoblu - pantry white paint.

Embossing powder-Stampendous vintage mahogany tinsel.

Versamark.

Sizzix - Tattered Florals XL die

Darice embossing folder.

Sue Wilson butterfly die.

Wink of Stella violet, pink, black.

Crafters companion pink glitter spray varnish.

From my stash

Wooden frame.

Acrylic paint

Centura pearl green card.

White card.

Challenge entered;

indigoblu blog challenge

Steampunk flowers colour palette

I did the Gelli plate print a bit back. It's one of them crafty techniques where you have to do a batch at once cos you can't just do one you are compelled to do loads and loads!

·         I cut down the Gelli print to fit the card then,

·         Stamped flowers with Versamark and then embossed them.

·         I used a Versamark pen to fill the flowers.

·         Applied PanPastels with the plastic knife tool from PanPastels.

·         Used a die cut cog as the sun with PanPastels applied to it.

·         The petals on the 3d flower are made from brown paper packaging. I stuck them to a small round cardboard base, glued the petals to it then added a cog as the centre.

·         Sprayed with cheap hairspray to fix the PanPastels.

Materials used

PanPastels - turquoise, copper.

Embossing powder - Stampendous - aged copper.

Gelli plate.

Crafters companion - Kraft card, Embossalicious Embossing Folder - Make a Wish.

From my stash

Silhouette cameo cogs and petals.

Acrylic paint.

Versamark.

Printer paper for Gelli plate printing.

Challenge entered;

Chocolate Baroque

Christmas in July

I must admit I did find this really hard because I'm not really a Christmas person. It's not the same when you don’t have any children. Mind you my great nephews ages 3 and 6 tire me out!!!! And fill that void of missing out of having any children.

I looked at the challenges I wanted to enter and decided I could kill three birds with 1 stone!! As the saying goes.

Challengers are Indigoblu - Christmas in July, That's Crafty - use a stamp, PanPastels - bold and bright.

Firstly I folded A4 card for the base, then cut a black mat and a white mat. I gutted the black card, for any new people starting to craft this means I've cut out a rectangle within the mat but made sure that there is enough 'frame' to show when the white card is stuck on top.

On the white card mat I randomly stamped snowflakes with Versamark and then brushed on PanPastels.

I felt it needed to be brighter so i randomly stamped with distress ink. I didn’t bother to put the stamp on an acrylic block as this would have showed where the edges of the stamp would be.

I spread some Decopatch glue on my non stick craft mat then dabbed my stamp in it taking care not to dab too much glue because the imagine floods when stamped. I stamped onto some scrap card several times and heated with my heat gun to dry. It did bubble a bit but the snowflakes looked ok.

Once dry I applied PanPastels.

Then I die cut 3 baubles. My new crafty toy! I've been cutting all sorts of things.

Ruffed up the edges of the card and baubles with scissors.

Applied PanPastels to the edge of the baubles and white card.

On some scrap card I stamped the xmas tree with Versafine and applied 2 different embossing powders but you can't really see what I've done, I should have used a pigment ink that stayed wetter for longer.

To brighten it up I used PanPastels and then cut it out.

I edged the tree with the maker pen so that it lifted it from the background.

Before i stuck the pieces of card on the background i applied the liner to the baubles and tree and left to dry.

I then stuck them on the card.

Then used the green liner to make the baubles look as if they are hanging.

Voila my 1st Christmas card of the year! This is a 1st for me; I usually leave it till at least December or 1 week before Christmas!

Materials used

Indigoblu stamps

PanPastels - pewter, magenta, bright yellow green.

Waco glamour liner - green, crystal.

Versafine - Spanish moss

WOW - regular green, lime light.

Sizzix - big shot, bauble framelits.

Distress ink - picked raspberry.

Distress marker - crushed olive.

From my stash

Decopatch glue

Centura pearl card base

White and black card

Pva glue

Heat gun

Challenges entered;

Indigoblu

Thats Crafty

Panpastel uk

Blog Break!

It's been a while since I looked at my blog. I'm calling it my blog summer break as I don't have a holiday booked for this year!!

It doesn't mean I haven't been crafting. I've actually been very busy cos I got my new crafty toy the Sizzix Big Shot.

I know I have got my silhouette cameo but there are some limits to what materials you can cut. Obviously I didn't read the instructions and thought I didn't need any extra cutting plates but I've found out through trial and error I need the long cutting plates for the Sizzix longer dies and also a silicone mat. I tried using some silicone sheet I had but it's far too thin and doesn't give an embossed effect to the different materials I've used.

I watch Create and Craft a lot and thought I knew how to use the machine but it's surprising how much I can't remember lol.

I'm also trying to only buy dies with shapes I can't do on the silhouette but I can't resist all the beautiful dies out there in craft land. There is soooo much choice. I'm selling some of my craft stash I don’t use any more to pay for new dies! But needs must!

Crafting is such a good therapy to take my mind off my illness and it's so nice to receive compliments from people. I was told by a cognitive therapist a while ago that I must do something I enjoy every day to feel self worth and that's so true. I try everyday to do that. I would recommend this to anyone who is struggling with an illness that creeps up and starts to take over your life.

I have found the Sizzix is easy to turn, years ago I had a Cuttlebug and that harder to turn. It may have changed since I had one but that's why I choose the Sizzix it had such good reviews.

Any handy tips would be gratefully received, thank you.

Sparkling Key Cabinet

 

I bought the key cabinet from 'the works' website. I did my usual thing of looking at the dimensions and thinking that's a good size then when I got it I was shocked how small it was!!! Lol. Does anyone else have this problem? I'm sure at least once in a life time everyone has made this mistake.

·         Firstly I painted the cabinet with chalk paint, I only needed one coat. I must say I am pretty well impressed with the decor art paint. I've painted a dark brown varnished display cabinet, I didn’t do any preparation prior to painting and I only needed 2 coats. I think if I had used a paint roller rather than a brush it still would have been 2 coats but using less paint.

·         Had to lightly sand the wood after painting as it looked really rough, I was hoping the paint could have disguised it but not to be.

·         I then diluted some inkadinks with water and sprayed all over the cabinet but when it dried you couldn’t really tell that I had used it. It appeared to have soaked into the wood.

·         So I added some mica powder which showed up a bit more but to be honest you can't really see it.

·         Distressed the edges with green viva decor and polished it after applying. I really love the effect this gives every time I use it. It can be used on multiple surfaces too. Pinflare sell this but they call it 'Buff It'.

·         I used a green sparkle medium with a key stencil to decorate the glass.

·         In my stash I found 2 keys and a shape that looks like old fashioned hinges made with air dry clay. I sprayed the Inkadinks on my glass mat and using a brush to paint them. Them on the hinges I used Inka Gold and the keys I used sparkle medium.

·         I then decorated the corners of the glass with liquid pearls and distress glitter glue. I'm not sure I like what I have done but for now going to leave it as I have but later i may try and scrap it off!

Materials used;

DecoArt Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint - Refreshing

Inkadinks - beany green

Mica powder

Sparkle medium - chartreuse

Viva Decor Inka Gold - green/yellow

Martha Stewart mould

From my own stash -

Stencil - key

Air dry clay

Challenge entered;
imagination-crafts

Wow 'Time' Tag

I just love the saying with these stamps. Is so true!!!! And I know plenty of other people would agree with me lol.

·         I cut the tag with my silhouette.

·         Stamped the background with gesso and then Versamark and embossing powders.

·         Stamped the numbers on white card and cut them out.

·         Using Versamark I stamped the saying on craft card and used a punch to cut it out.

·         I wanted the clocks to look like they had glass faces so i applied Versamark and embossed them with clear powder.

·         Added a string to finish the tag.

Materials used

Wow embossing powders - clear, blue glitz, blueberry regular.

Indigoblu - Stamps - Good Times, gesso

Distress ink - faded jeans

Kraft card - crafters companion

Versamark

From my stash -

EK Success punch

White stamping card

Twine

Challenge entered;

wow embossing powder

Stencil Tag

The technique I have used is by Tim Holtz. Challenges are; PanPastels - Inspired by Tim, Thats Crafty use stencils, masks or templates, I've used my own stencil made with the silhouette cameo. The Craft Barn a quote with the words IMAGINATION & LOGIC, I found on the internet for challenge.

·         Start by tapping distress inks on my stencil.

·         Misted the inked stencil with water so to react the distress inks.  

Placed it on to watercolour cardstock. Tim's instructions - While the stencil is on the cardstock, press down over the entire design using a paper towel to print the colour as well as immediately absorb any ink that might seep out inside the stencil openings.

·         TOP TIP don’t use a stencil that has a tacky surface that helps it stay in place because i had inked the other side so when I placed it on the cardstock my fingers kept sticking to the stencil so I wasn’t able to press on it to achieve a clear pattern! 

·         Lift the stencil off, dried with a heat tool.  

·         I Cut the cardstock to fit the tag and distressed the edges with PanPastels

·         I used the same stencil. Used Versamark and dusted on PanPastels then adhered watercolour cardstock to the tag.

·         Stamp the dragonflies using black archival ink.

·         Then I stamped the dragonflies a second time on the watercolour cardstock and cut them out. I didn’t have to colour then as there was some colour from the previous stencilling so that's where I stamped them.

·         Wrote the quote, then cut them out separately and coloured with distress ink then adhered along side of the dragonflies, slightly bending the wings to create dimension.

·         Embellished with a small butterfly on a head pin and curled the wire using my pocky tool.

·         I Applied distress inks to craft sheet and Misted the inks with water

·         Cut 2 pieces of ribbon and rubbed them into the inks until covered.

·         Dried with a heat tool.

·         Tim's description of the bow - Start by inserting the short ribbon through the hole in the tag.

·         Take the longer ribbon and secure one end under your thumb.

·         Wrap the remaining ribbon around your fingers until you run out.

·         Slide the loop of ribbon from your fingers and pinch in the centre to hold. Place the loop on to the top of the tag and tie the short ribbon around the loops to hold. Tie again to create a knot.

·         My doesn’t look as good as his because he used crinkle ribbon and I haven’t got any so made do with satin ribbon which didn’t absorb the inks a good as crinkle ribbon.

That's something else on my 'I WANT' list of craft goodies!!

Materials used

Stencil - made with my silhouette cameo

Distress inks - crushed olive. Spiced marmalade, picked raspberry.

Archival ink - black

PanPastels - pink, green, orange.

Versamark

Viva decor 3D glitter stamp paint - silver.

Papermania rubber stamps - dragonflies

From my stash

Watercolour card

Ribbon

Water Mister

Challengers entered;

the craft barn

thats crafty challenges

panpastel uk

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Just a little note

My mind has been a little distracted the past 3 weeks and my crafting mojo has disappeared! Everything went ok with my knee operation but it was the diagnosis that floored me.

I watched the whole operation on the monitor and the anaesthetist and surgeon explained everything to me. It was very interesting I just wish they were talking about someone else's knee, Lol.

The outcome being that I have severe arthritis of the patella (knee bone) and the only treatment for this is a new knee operation!!!! This diagnosis blew me away; I seriously thought they could have repaired any damage during the arthroscopy.

Three weeks on and I'm coming to terms with the diagnosis. I see the surgeon again in about 3 weeks so that I can have a good chat about the next course of treatment. It's not going to be an easy decision as I have other musculoskeletal problems.

I have to keep telling myself that this is not going to beat me so I'm really pushing myself to craft as it helps with my self esteem and self worth.

I'm sure there are many of you out there that use crafting as a way of distraction from illness and to help fill those gaps of long drawn out days of emptiness and illness. 

Roses on the Horizon

This felt like my hardest challenge. I couldn’t really think of any techniques for this one.

My mind has been a little distracted this past two weeks with the diagnosis I got from my knee operation, thankfully everything went ok. I will leave a short post about my experience.

After racking my brain I came up with this design. I thought 'right' just get some materials out and go with it! My only problem is I want to use all my crafting stash all at the same time; I have too many mediums to choose from! I'm sure there are many of you out there with the same problem. No not problem but CHOICE.

·         Firstly I applied metallic PanPastels to card, the card at first seemed too smooth and the colour wasn’t as vibrant as I wanted but eventually I achieved a good coverage, it did help when I switched my daylight lamp on and saw the shine! Lol

·         I randomly stamped the large rose with Versamark and brushed PanPastels over it, repeating with a smaller rose and different colour of pastel.

·         In my stash I had some shaped card so i used that for the quote. I applied Versamark all over it then brushed on PanPastels but was left with lines where the pad had been placed so using the splat/blot stamps I randomly stamped them all over the card. I didn’t apply any PanPastels to these because as I stamped it pulled some of the colour off and I liked the effect.

·         I wrote the quote freehand.

·         Back to the background, I randomly stamped splat/blot stamps with Versamark between the roses. The stamps somehow managed to pick up some of the magenta PanPastels so that when I stamped them on the card it left a faded purple look which I actually really liked so left it like that. My Versamark pad is a little grubby to say the least. I must have had it a few years now and it's still going strong and I've used it loads of times.

·         I ruffed up the edges of the background and quote and stuck the quote onto the background.

·          

Materials used

PanPastels - phthalo green, magenta shade, metallic's

Versamark

Nikki Hall stamps - roses

From my stash -

Super smooth card

Soft brush

Challenges entered;

www.thecraftbarn.co.uk

panpasteluk.blogspot.co.uk

Tag - Summer Days

The background is made using my 6x6 Gelli plate. When I got my Gelli I had to try it straight away. I went to their website to look at videos. Tried it myself but they didn’t come out like any techniques they showed!!!!!!! I'm going to write a post about my experience with the Gelli.

·         I did this background on copier paper! Cut to the shape of a tag and backed onto cardboard.

·         Stamped images.

·         Applied embossing powder.

When I heated the embossing powder the glue that was sticking the paper to the card melted and warped the tag, grrrrr!!! I never learn. It took ages for me to get it flat'ish again, i heated it and flattened it with my hand many times, it wasn’t going to beat me.

·         Stamped the butterflies and dragonflies.

·         Tied ribbon. I used a lighter to crinkle the edges to make it look different. I surprised myself there wasn’t a fire; I'm a little accident prone!

Not a big description on 'how to' but I think the techniques are very effective.

Materials used;

Crafty Individuals stamp CI-207

Gelli plate

Versamark

Distress ink - picked raspberry

Stampendous embossing tinsel - vintage mahogany

From my stash;

Embossing folder

Paper

Card

Acrylic paint

Ribbon

Challenge entered;

craftyindividualsblog

Proud

I love this quote. 

I've just got a 6x6 Gelli Plate and I'm proud with my first attempts.

When I got my Gelli I couldn’t wait to use it. I got out all my stencils, embossing folders, magic stamps (I them made a few weeks ago. Mainly using embossing folders and silicone moulds), most of my acrylic paint, brayer, paper and card.

Once I started I couldn’t stop. I will write a separate post about my Gelli experience.

This is going to be a short post cos my mind is on other things because I'm having a knee operation tomorrow (27/06/14).

·         Firstly I chose which print I liked best.

·         Cut and glued them to card and then on a page in my journal.

·         The ticket ribbon I cut ages ago and thought it would look ok.

·         Printed quote edged with ink.

·         Glued to the page.

Materials used

Gelli plate

Acrylic paint - deco-art, jo-sonja and numerous other brands. Anything I could get my hands on!!! Lol

Silhouette cameo

Distress ink

Card

PVA glue

Challenge entered

thecraftbarn.co.uk

Ozzie Owl

I've had the owl a while in my stash so when I saw the challenge for PanPastels and that's crafty I thought I would decorate my owl. I had been tempted to do him blue and white after my beloved footy team but those colours wouldn’t suit my home decor. So in honour of my fave team I've called him Ozzie owl!! Lol he's now perched above the table which is much more than I can say for the league table the footy team are in.

·         Firstly I drew around Ozzie onto the back of the card, cut him out and sanded the edges to take on a distressed look and also it neatens the edges of my cutting.

·         I applied Versamark to the eyes, beak and chest.

·         Using a soft brush applied the PanPastels. I did spray with hairspray when I had done them and I managed to get finger prints on it so then I remembered the hairspray!!!! I do it all the time and then wonder why my work is smudged!!!! Lol

·         I used the scallop stencil as i thought it looked more like feathers so then applied the gel with some PanPastel mixed in it. I'm a little disappointed that the metallic of the PanPastel didn’t shine through the gel when it had dried but I was still happy at the result.

·         I glued everything in its place. I felt the branch needed some decorating so in my stash i found some paper flowers and leaves.

·         Then added glitter glue to the flower centres and eyes.

Materials used

MDF owl from Anna Marie Designs

Co-ordinations cardstock

PanPastels - metallic's

Maimeri - modelling paste

Stencil cut on silhouette cameo

From my stash

Paper flowers, leaves, glitter glue, twine

Challenges entered;

Panpastel

Thats Crafty