Happy Daze Design Team

Light Flyer by Samantha Read

2012-02-03T12:37:00.003Z

Hot air balloons have always held a certain fascination for me. I was fortunate enough to have a ride in one a few years ago and I really recommend it, it was great fun.

Then a couple of weeks ago on Pinterest I found that someone had decorated a light bulb to look like a hot air balloon so I just had to make one of my own.

I used my most favourite technique, which is stamping on tissue paper to get the effect I wanted.

The basket is a simply a bottle top, painted and the wires hold it in place.

I used:

Stampotique, Wee Owl

Stampotique, Daisy Daisy and

Stampotique, Sun Design

I do hope you like it!

Wishing you a happy day, Sam xxx

Drum roll please: Time to announce the winner of the January Theme.

2012-02-02T09:55:00.001Z

Twenty entries this month. So I put them all into the random number org and out came number 13. Congratulations to Maggie H who entered a fantastic chunky ATC.
On this she had used Inka Gold and the cover stamp from the February issue of craft Stamper. The new issue of this is available in the shop.
Maggie if you would like to email Moira at sales@happy-daze.net she will arrange for your voucher to be sent to you.

February challenge: Love - A Technique you love to use

2012-02-01T12:16:00.001Z

Time to announce the new theme for the month of February. In keeping with the month the theme is LOVE - A Technique you love to use.
To start your mojo off in style this month Netty ( Annette Goatley) has created this stunning frame and picture using the lovely moon girl from Stampotique.

Netty say's about her project.

I love so many techniques and love creating altered art. But one of my favourite things to do is upcycling. This old wooden frame has been upcylced from an old project.

Products used on the frame : Black Gesso, Crackle Accents, Texture Paste, Turquoise Metallic rub, Stream Adirondack Alcohol Ink and Copper Inka Gold.

Products used for the Picture: - Scrap of embossed card which was swiped with black stazon, stampotiques 'moon girl' and turquiose stickles. the rest of the embellishments have been upcycled from previous projects.

So share your most loved technique with us here on the blog. As usual there is a £15.00 gift voucher plus free P & P to spend in the Happy Daze Shop which will be award by a random number generator to one lucky entrant and the winner announced on the 2nd of March.
You can enter up to three projects for the challenge and each item must contain at least one item that is available from the shop.
you can enter either via the linky widget below, by uploading your project to the facebook page, or by emailing it directly to me at waynemonster@gmail.com

A Cracking Torso by Annette Goatley (nettyscraftings)

2012-01-29T09:00:00.002Z

Hi, this is another first for me................altering a Torso.........oooh am having so much fun this month.

First I used Black Gesso to cover the Torso, then painted it with Viva Crackling Bronze keeping it fairly smooth. Let it dry and then sculptured the Crackling Bronze to create texture and design. After it was dry I rubbed Inka Gold Copper over some of it.

Showing the back of the Torso so you can see the detail. I am very pleased with the overall look of this piece as it looks so different to how it started out. Even my husband likes it and thats got to be a first........lol
Take care, hugs Annette x

Alteroid by Samantha Read

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000Z

Well I'm still going strong with the current theme and trying new things by altering empty Altoid tins! My first was a couple of weeks ago, it's now another new addiction!

They are a great size to work with similar to ATC size, with the added bonus that when you heat the tin with a heat gun to dry paint etc, a yummy minty smell fills the room.

I couldn't help but reach for my favourite stamp, the ubiquitous Moon Girl, after all tins help you keep important things in mint condition!

I think this would make a lovely gift for a friend.

Items I used:

Stampotique Moon Girl

Stampotique Floral Flutter

Ideaology Hanger Clip

Claudine Hellmuth Stuido Paints: Painterly Pink, Traditional Tan, Sky Blue, Landscape Green and Purple Palette

I do hope you like my creation and thank you for taking the time to look, wishing you a lovely day, Sam xxx

* Just one word of warning, Altoids contain Pork gelatin so are not veggie friendly!

A "nod" to the 1930's by Ruth

2012-01-26T10:24:00.000Z

It's been a busy week for me this week..suitcases to pack, vintage shops to scour for accessories and ........three hats to make for our costumes.

I am off to a 1920's/1930's weekend of fashion parades, car displays, bathing belles and picnics on the beach. All set in the glorious blue sunshine of an Art Deco town in New Zealand.

My day dress or tea dress as they called them in the 1940's needed a hat. I found this one on my travels, it was very 1980's so I bent the brim down to make it like a cloche hat and added a selection of trims and lace and ribbon.

Happy Daze have a beautiful array of trims and "Guipre" lace that you could use for your own Downton Abbey moment!!

My next project was to alter a hair slide to wear with my flapper dress.

I used gold embroidered flower lace as the base and added a feather and some very old vintage buttons you could use some of the lovely Parisian Anthology Brooch brads for a colourful effect.

Don't fancy making a full sized milinery creation?
Then why not have a go at the miniature collection of alterable hats found on the left hand side of the shop products list under "milinery".

Bon Voyage
Ruth xxx

Imagine... altered wooden box by Julie Dandy

2012-01-24T21:22:00.005Z

This week I have altered one of THESE little wooden boxes with Mady Scrolls Work stamp image.

I started by painting the box with a light green acrylic paint and when dry painted over areas of it with crackle glaze. When the crackle was dry I painted over them roughly with white paint - I didn't want to obliterate the green just make it look shabby.

I highlighted the edges with Inka Gold in ROSE .

I stamped the image in coffee archival ink on to a piece of tissue paper and then glued it on to the lid with Claudines matte medium and then coated the whole box with it to give it a protective coat.
I added some torn pieces of TH tissue tape to the top and sides of the box.

I used Glitz stickers for the word "Imagine" inspired by the tissue tape.

I finished it off with a piece of ribbon and buttons glued on with the matte medium and tied a piece of ribbon around the box in a bow.
Scrolls Work stamps are no longer in production so if you would like any I wouldn't wait to long as when they are gone Moira won't be able to restock them.

Don't forget about this months challenge is to try or to use something new. All the details of the challenge and how to enter can be seen here.

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

hidden message card by Joanne Wardle

2012-01-22T08:15:00.006Z

Continuing the "try something new" theme for the Happy Daze challenge, I thought that sometimes the easiest way to give something new a try is to copy something you've seen in a magazine.

I'm cheating a little here as I'm copying my own idea from my article in this month's Craft Stamper Magazine, which used Stampotique Stamps available from Happy Daze.

The card is a tent fold card with a gap at the top to hold a strip of card.
I used the wonderful moon girl, as well as Daisy Daisy, hearts Cubed and Each life, all of which are available from Happy Daze.

The instructions are in this month's craft stamper, which you can also get from Happy Daze

Altered Domino By Carol Fox

2012-01-20T09:00:00.002Z

I have been experimenting for a magazine article and this is one of the little pieces that I was playing with while trying a few things out.
It's a little Domino Fridge Magnet. I have used new things on it so it does kind of fit in with the challenge theme for this month.,
The stamping is done with Teesha Moore Rubber stamps, I am so pleased that Moira has started to stock these as there was no UK stockist before and I always had to order from the US and they would seem to take ages to come.
I have used the little legs stamp and then masked them off to stamp the swirl for the background. Its coloured in with Alcohol inks and then given a coat of glossy accents which has sealed all the charms in place.
For full details of the challenge this month and how to upload your imaged have a look at the original blog post here.

Chunky Wooden ATC, Trying Something New By Carol Fox

2012-01-18T09:00:00.013Z

I have fancied trying one of these ever since I first saw one a couple of years ago. They now seem to be everywhere so I figured it was time to actually getting around to doing one.
The wooden blocks are ATC sized 2.5 x 3.5 inches, they vary from the normal ATC in that they are wooden and 1.5 inches deep.
I have altered this one in a steampunk style. I covered all the sides apart from the front in Ten Second Studio Metal. I had first run this through my big shot using a cuttle bug steampunk plate, I then lightly sanded the texture to give it an aged appearance and to highlight the pattern. I stuck this to the block with The Crafters Pick Ulitmate Glue , this is the perfect glue for this as it just seems to fuse the metal to the wood.

The propeller goes round as it is fixed in place with a screw, these are in the shop but at the moment they are sadly out of stock .

The large knob on the top is from an old chest of draws that I got out of a skip for all the lovely hardware on it, this is lovely and aged with a great natural green patina finish. The lotto number is from an old set I picked up in a 2nd hand shop.

All the Tim Holtz Gears and spinners are available in the shop as are the other various charms and all the inks I have used.

The challenge this month to try something new or to use something new. All the details of the challenge and how to enter can be seen here.

' Grace in Simplicity ' by Annette Goatley

2012-01-15T09:00:00.002Z

Hi, I bought a Wooden Arch from Happy Daze and altered it, never done one of these before but I have to say its great fun. The theme for the Arch is based on a quote from Ben Jonson........"Give me a look, give me a face, That makes simplicity a grace"

Products used: Viva Crackling White and Bronze, Texture Paste, Claudia Hellmuth Studio Matt Medium, Acrylic Paints.
Stamps by: Stampotique and Lost Coast Designs.

Thought you might like to see some close ups.
Have a great week and take care, Annette x

A new way to make an old book cover by Ruth

2012-01-12T10:14:00.001Z

My love affair with everything Art Deco has never faltered since my teens so you imagine my joy when these gorgeous papers arrived. I had plans for one page but when you purchase a Websters pack you always get two, so today I have used both papers on different projects.

As the theme of this months challenge is "try something new".....I have used my "NEW" sewing machine and made a fabric book cover. I was inspired by the cover of a new craft magazine on the market...but in my haste I forgot to add the handles...duh!!

I used cotton calico and cut the material to fit the opened book with a generous 4cm selvedge. The second piece is the same size as the first but cut in half and turned in to neaten the inside edges. Pin to the outside edges and stitch along all the raw sides. Turn inside out to create the flaps and sew down/neaten the edge of the top and bottom that show on the spine.

Spray with pastel colour sprays.....oh such fun!!

I added (stitched) a luxurious silver trim to the spine Embroidered Lace it's 7cm wide and so stunning that I have been hanging onto it for too long!!

Leave to dry and slip the book inside and decorate with Websters Pages Hollywood Vogue paper. and Fabric Ribbon.

I love how versatile the calico is and so much quicker to make and spray than using paper and creating envelope corners and waiting for glue to dry.

(I think I am going to leave the fancy cover behind and just take my sketch book to New Zealand then add photos on my return and pop the cover back on it).

Tip: You can cover recipe books, vintage books, diaries, sketch books etc to make lovely gifts.

Websters 12x12 number 2!

This layout is my sister wearing a necklace as a flapper headpiece.....the whole family get dressed up 1920's style once a year along with about six thousand locals and tourists.

I cut the patterned paper using a template and glued it onto the black 12x12. The edges are dotted with liquid pearls to represent flapper necklaces. A doiley, stickers, wooden Kaisercraft fence, some journelling notes and ephemera complete the page.

This year it's my turn to dress up..camera check, diary check, flapper dress check!!

A quick reminder about the current Happy Daze Challenge which is Try Something New for the New Year.

It could be a new technique you have recently discovered or some new stash you can't wait to to use. There is still plenty of time to enter. One lucky winner will be drawn at random to win a £15 voucher and free P&P to spend in the Happy Daze shop.

Maximum of 3 entries per person & you must use at least one product which can be purchased in the Happy Daze shop.

You can enter by blogging your address to the linky widget here,
emailing your picture to info@happy-daze.net
uploading your photo to their facebook page

Leonardo Lovelies!

2012-01-10T09:44:00.000Z

Hoping to see the Leonardo Da Vinci Exhibtion at the National gallery soon, in the meantime I have satisfied my craving for all things Da Vinci, by making this little shrine. I used the little wooden arch which I gessoed and painted in matt emulsion. Then using black archival ink I stamped the Lost Coast designs Mona Lisa and Door and Window set. The other lovely lady is from my collection. I used inktense pencils to paint the images and background. Finishing with a touch of Inka gold in copper.

A quick reminder about the current Happy Daze Challenge which is Try Something New for the New Year. It could be a new technique you have recently discovered or some new stash you can't wait to to use. There is still plenty of time to enter. One lucky winner will be drawn at random to win a £15 voucher and free P&P to spend in the Happy Daze shop. Maximum of 3 entries per person & you must use at least one product which can be purchased in the Happy Daze shop.

You can enter by blogging you address to the linky widget here,
emailing your picture to info@happy-daze.net
uploading your photo to their facebook page

Mixed Media - ' Dance ' by Annette Goatley (nettyscraftings)

2012-01-09T09:00:00.001Z

Hi, have been longing to show you my Mixed Media Piece.

The stamp is by Lost Coast Designs (available at Happy Daze) the background has been triple embossed plus Viva Croco Bronze added. The left hand dancer has been stamped and embossed and the multicoloured dancers were stamped on the back of an old tissue box, cut out and placed.

I love the whole effect of this piece. Hope you like it as well.
Take care and have a good week, Hugs Annette x

something new by Joanne Wardle

2012-01-08T21:47:00.004Z

The challenge theme here at Happy Daze this month is "something new"
I saw this technique on Pinterest recently and knew I had to try it.

It's so quick and easy, yet I think it's really effective. Just stamp, cut some detail with a craft knife and then just tear!

The stamp is from Jo Capper-Sandon's range at Stampotique.

Polymer clay pendants by Julie Dandy

2012-01-06T21:46:00.010Z

Hi everyone and Happy New Year :D
For my NEW technique this week I coloured white polymer clay using perfect pearls pigment powders.
I used white clay and manipulated it until it was nice and soft. I put my perfect pearls on a piece of clingfilm and squished the clay in to it, then neaded it in.
Polymer clay is much softer than it used to be so is much easier to get to a workable texture.

I added in some clear glitter to see how that would look baked, you can't really see it though on the front of the piece, but I rather like how the back turned out with the crinkles from the clingfilm :DIt could quite easily be made in to a reversible piece by adding detail to the back (which I have just thought of now by the way LOL ).

While the clay was still unbaked I cut it in to the shape, made my hanging holes, then pressed my butterfly stamp in to it.

I baked it according to the manufacturers instructions and left it to cool.

Once cooled I added alcohol inks, I started with greens and blues all over but didn't feel the text stood out enough, so I covered it in black soot.
I then removed the excess by wiping over the surface with a paper towel with a little bit of blending solution on leaving behind the ink in the stamped image.
I added a little bit of perfect pearls to the butterfly.
When everything was dry I coated it with layers of Lisa Pavelka resin.

I tried a couple of other pieces some succesful, others not.
This is the same blue as my main piece but I added beadazzles to it...
This piece didn't work so well as I added the resin just to the indented area first and it puddled the alcohol ink ...And these little birds turned out rather nicely.
The one on the left is just the perfect pearls, the one on the right is swiped over with black ink.

The great thing about this technique is that you only need to buy white clay and colour it any colour with your mica powders.

Whats your something new going to be this month?
Upload it to the launch post to be in with a chance of winning this months prize :D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

Steampunk Brooch By Carol Fox

2012-01-04T21:37:00.000Z

I have been having a bit of a faff today tidying up my desk from christmas and I found this buried under a pile of stuff. I made it for the blog in December and them promptly lost it before it was photographed but it was very handy to find it as what I was making has gone horribly wrong. ( I put something down on it by mistake before the glossy accents was dry)

This little brooch I made using one of the Bezel Frames in the shop. A few reclaimed watch parts, a new Tim Holtz game spinner and a swooping bird charm. It's all sealing into the bezel with Lisa Pavelka resin .

December Challenge - Gifts, cards and Tags - Winner Announced

2012-01-02T12:40:00.002Z

There were 16 entries this month for the challenge. I Used a random number generator to choose the winner and out popped number 3. This is Meggys Way: Book In A Box .

If you would please email Moira at the shop sales@happy-daze.net she will arrange for your gift voucher to be emailed to you.

I personally loved your box and I expect your friend was thrilled with it.

New Challenge for 2012 - Try Something New For The New Year

2012-01-01T01:10:00.003Z

First of all to wish everyone a Happy New Year for 2012, thank you for your support of the challenges in the past year and we hope to see lots more of your lovely creations in 2012.

The winner of December's challenge will be announced tomorrow.

To start of the new year the challenge is, "Try something new for the new year", either try a technique you have fancied having a go at or just make something with some new stash you have.

To inspire your Sam has altered this lovely box.

Sam says about her project.

I can't remember decorating a box before so this was completely new to me, there's so much to think about because there are so many angles it can been seen from. The stamp set was a present to myself last week. Although altering the box was new to me I have used one of my favourite techniques on the box. I love stamping onto tissue paper, overlapping the different images and building up the layers. It's an extremely quick and effective way to add your layers and depth to any project.
"No Butterflies were harmed during the making of this box"

Items Sam used

Wooden Box
7 Gypsies Stamp Set - Conservatory
Archival Ink Pads - Black and Coffee
Clauding Hellmuth - Gesso and Tan and Yellow Paints

As usual you can enter the challenge up to 3 times, either by using the linky widget below, via our facebook page or by emailing your entries directly to me at waynemonster@gmail.com.

Party Time by Sam Read

2011-12-30T08:00:00.000Z

Following Ruth's fab vino I thought I would stay in the party mood!

It's party time for these Stampotique characters! I'm a huge fan of these little people, I like to think they're happy but sometimes I'm not so sure. For those of you who follow my blog you will know I am a massive fan of 'Head' though I have named him Joe, he enjoys lots of adventures and even has some accessories.

For this Happy New Year card Joe is off to a party with Marci and Smile.

I made the glitter ball with silver sequins and silver glitter. I coloured the card with Barn Door and Black Soot Distress Inks.

Whether you are partying tomorrow evening or having a quiet night in I wish you all a very Happy New Year and a crafty 2012!

Lots of love, Sam xxx

Happy (or should that be Merry) New Year by Ruth

2011-12-29T11:24:00.001Z

"Tis the season to be Jolly...far la la la...."

For a quick New Years Eve gift all you will need is a bottle of vino, or your hosts favourite tipple, brown parcel paper, border punches, stamps, versamark ink, string, shrink plastic and embellishments.

1. Stamp the Catslife Press Happy Holidays stamp onto red card stock.

2. On shrink plastic, stamp with My Minds Eye Christmas stamp or a Catslife Press circle stamp, ensuring you use a Stazon Ink Pad to prevent smudging. Punch a hole in the top and shrink with heat gun, watch the magic begin!!

3. Tie both onto bottle neck with string or Junque Twine.

4. Stamp onto brown parcel paper a suitable Christmas or New Year greeting. Catslife Press and Artistic Outpost are perfect for this.

5. Add some simple embellishments.

Your host will be impressed and so will your wallet. (I made 6 bottles for less than the price of one wine carrier bag from a pound shop.)

Wishing you all a happy and prosperous 2012

Ruth x

Shabby Calendar By Paula Tidman

2011-12-27T09:06:00.001Z

Hoping you all had a great Christmas. Ours wasn't very peaceful as the dog decided to scoff a Thornton's chocolate Santa when we weren't looking (chocolate is poisonous in large quantities for dogs, our dog is small and he consumed a very large amount!) so we had to take him to the Vets on Christmas Day, I won't go into details for the treatment as it wasn't pleasant and I'm sure you can imagine LOL but we returned £130 lighter.

Anyway onto my project as its nearly the end of the year I decided to make a calendar. I recycled some cardboard which I covered in Tim Holtz Vintage shabby paper I die cut the edges, distressed and stamped. For the main image I used the pretty Artistic Outpost Bluebird stamps which I coloured in using new flexmarkers from my stash. The roses were made using some more of the Tim Holtz Vintage shabby paper. I printed the calendar on the computer then used my bind it all to attach it. Some string was added to finish.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your holidays and here's looking forward to a very crafty New Year.

Merry Christmas Everybody

2011-12-23T10:00:00.000Z

All of us here at Happy Daze, Moira and the Design Team would like to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and a gloroius New Year.

Christmas Scrapping By Carol Fox

2011-12-21T12:12:00.000Z

I don't scrap but I do love some of the papers available. As soon as I saw this set in the shop I just thought how well they would fit onto the little wooden blocks that I am in love with at the moment. I have a pile of these on a wooden chest of draws in my hallway. I add a set each year as it's lovely when I get the decorations out each year to see the older sets and it brings back memories of that year. I have been doing this for about five years now and I am getting quite a pile of them.

For this years set I have used the Pink Paislee sheet , its very good value for these as on the sheet you get 25 images and you only need 24 for a set of four bricks so you have a spare incase you cut of sants's head whilst cutting out.(blushes)
These are a set of 4 bricks which I painted with claudine hellmuth Paints using the crackle technique between the layers. Once dry I roughed up the edges of the cut circles using a paper distresser and then stuck one of each face of each brick using multi medium.

Once dry I aged them up a bit using Old Paper distress ink on an applicator. with out the drying time these took about half an hour to make, so they are a quick and easy project and not too messy if like me you have had a good tidy up of the craft room for Christmas.
I may add a some stickles to them I have not decided yet. But you can jazz these up as much or a little as you wish, they are fun to make and look really effective.

I used
Pink Paislee paper
multi medium
paints
stickles
Blocks
distress ink
paper distresser

Childs Play by Netty Goatley

2011-12-19T09:00:00.003Z

Hi, this is an Altered Childs Brick which will be used as a Paperweight.

Had recently bought from Happy Daze some Viva Crackling Bronze and Viva Inka Copper and have totally fallen in love with these products.

Thought you might like to see the sides in close up.

Other products used:Glossy Accents, Black Gesso, The Ultimate Glue and the rest of the items have been recycled.........a 2 pence piece, 4 bottle tops, and the top of a pill box.

Am sure you are all very busy but it would be great to see some of your Christmas pieces here at Happy Daze. Take care, hugs Annette x

Another Configurations Box by Moira Sutton

2011-12-18T17:49:00.000Z

This is the other box, made from the lid and half the inner boxes left from the other project. The lid has a clear centre which, if you wanted to use it as a back you could cover with paper or as in this case integrate into the box. I coloured it with alcohol inks as I wanted light to come through from behind where there were gaps between the inner boxes. I was really impressed with how well the box stood up to being painted with Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paints in yellow and green, Cosmic Shimmer mists in and purple violet and a heat gun - no buckling or softening, the board was a rigid as when dry, which is just as well as I did give it a bit of a hammering with the colour!

The theme of the box is Fortune Telling, so the little bits and pieces relate in some way to things used historically in fortune telling or divination. I like that it looks like the shelves of a collector where things are left over time. And there is even space to add more bits and pieces, I'm after white or cream dice and a cup to go with the teapot.

The bottle was a holiday memento from Menorca, you know one of those "local liquors" you buy because you think it will be fun even though it is bright green and has twigs in it. Then one night, years later, your husband says "I fancy a drink what have we got?" and that's all there is so he opens it in hope and after one sip its down the sink! Still it meant I got a nice bottle to play with.

A Tweet Christmas By Sam Read

2011-12-16T08:33:00.007Z

In the run up to Christmas I often think of the birds outside, in the cold winds and rain or even snow. So here's a cute little chap in the fluttering snowflakes. This originally started life as an ATC, but my latest 'thing' is to turn ATC's into little cards.

The background is Broken China Distress ink, the snowflakes stamped with white acrylic paint with some Stickles for sparkle. I stamped the Bow Heart directly on the card and then again on some white card, coloured the heart and then adhered to the card on top of the original image.

The holly decoration was made using shrink plastic, sanded and then coloured using pencil crayons. The bird and heart flowers are simply stamped, coloured or painted and glued on.

I hope you like this little card, to say I was quite nervous about this, my first post on the Happy Daze Design Team blog, would be very much an under statement!

Wishing you a lovely Christmas, Sam xxx

A Cute Couple Card by Ruth

2011-12-15T07:00:00.000Z

I had been asked to make a first christmas card for a young couple, so some cute stamps were definately in order. The Websters Pages 6x6 die cut paper inspired the design and I simply folded some card stock to fit the inside with enough left for a message flap.

Tip: If your card slides open when standing upright, then glue a small button onto the flap to keep it in place.

I stamped the tree directly onto the die cut with Distress Ink and stickled it, hand painted the stamped bears using distress ink and a water colour brush. It's a brush that holds water in the handle and slowly releases it, enabling me to have streak free (sometimes) images. Simply pick up a touch of colour from a distress ink pad or re-inker and apply using a slight squeeze to get the water flowing.

"Love is the real thing the rest is just tinsel"

was a quote I found on the net and printed off, and the round Happy Holidays stamp is made by Catslife Press found in the Happy Daze shop Here

Products to use:

My Minds Eye have a similar tree stamp here

Artistic Outpost have some gorgeous christmas stamps here

Distress Ink Pads are here

Candy Cane Stickles is here

Websters Pages Waiting for Santa 12x12 pad is here

I used Puff Paint on the hats but you could use perfect pearls here

I hope the happy couple they like their keepsake!

Have a fabulous Christmas and I will see you soon

Ruth xxx

Winter Card By Helen Chilton

2011-12-14T08:57:00.000Z

Helen has made this gorgeous frosty card to share today using Artistic Outpost Rubber Stamps

Helen Used

Main Image: Think and Wonder

Greetings Text: Home

Script Background: Ephemeral Backgrounds

Shaker Tree Ornament & a card

2011-12-13T09:50:00.000Z

I think tree decorations can make lovely gifts; each year when decorating the tree you are reminded of the person who gave it to you.
I made a shaker style ornament from recycled cardboard and acetate. The die cuts shapes were painted with cream acrylic paint and then stamped with the snowflakes from Artistic Outpost Sleigh Ride with coffee archival ink. The main image is Lost Coast Designs Praying Angel. I added a snowflake charm and some confetti stars and some gold glitter beads and a gold tassel to finish.

Another quick project from me, this time a card using this lovely vintage old St Nick mounted stamp. I stamped onto Kraft card with archival ink. I used versamagic aspen mist to tint round the edges of the stamped image and the sentiment ticket. Then I used paper from my stash to create this easel card.

The current Happy Daze challenge is Gifts, Cards & Tags. There is still plenty of time to enter. One lucky winner will be drawn at random to win a £15 voucher and free P&P to spend in the Happy Daze shop. Maximum of 3 entries per person & you must use at least one product which can be purchased in the Happy Daze shop.

You can enter by blogging you address to the linky widget here,
emailing your picture to info@happy-daze.net
uploading your photo to their facebook page

Last minute gift by Joanne Wardle

2011-12-11T00:22:00.005Z

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To fit in with this month's challenge of gifts, cards and tags, I decided to share my last minute gift ideas. I often give Amazon vouchers as gifts, but any voucher that prints out onto an A4 sheet of paper will work.

I simply fold the voucher into thirds both ways to create a "z-fold" and then add covers (8cm x11cm) (be aware that the cover is attached to the top left corner of the voucher so make sure that there isn't any important information there.

The covers can then be decorated anyway you like. I have used Stamps from Stampotique.

Santa stop here...... by Julie Dandy

2011-12-09T20:11:00.007Z

This week I was inspired by T!ms 12 days of Christmas day 4 tag but made it in to a Santa stop here door hanger.

I started by covering my wooden door hanger with Pink Paislee Santas list patterned paper.
I inked it with and then splattered and spritzed on water to give a nice mottled grungey look.

I used Viva decor Inka Gold on the wooden edges which I found easiest to apply with a semi dry baby wipe.

Th ruffle on the bottom is made with pleated tissue tape - I put a piece of double sided tape on to the base first then pleated the tape along it.

My lace was coloured by putting distress stain on to my nonstick craft sheet, adding a little water to soften the colour and squishing the lace in to it until I was happy with the coverage.
I glued it down with Claudine's matte medium.

I ran a piece of acetate through my big shot with the TH snowflake border embossing folder and cut around the snowflakes.
I attached this with a little DST along the edge that would be hidden by my embellishments.

My snowman and snowflakes were cut from grunge board then painted with pearl acrylic paint dabber.
I coated the snowman with Rock Candy crackle glaze and left it to dry thoroughly , when dry I highlighted the cracks with distress inks.
I added the snowflakes with glossy accents and added buttons to the centres.
I tied some scraps of ribbon and fabric round his neck for a scarf and dangled some buttons strung together with jump rings from it, then attached him to the hanger with foam tape to add some dimension.

My little sign was hand written on to the back of an journalling ticket and pinned on with a memo pin

The last thing I did was smear on lashings of Rock Candy distress stickles to give it a lovely sparkly frosty feel.

Have fun,
hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

Creative Cardmaking

2011-12-09T12:16:00.003Z

If you're out and about and see the latest issue of Creative Cardmaking, pick it up and have a look, it has an article by some of the DT Members in it. It's out today and it's issue No 36.

Still obsessed

2011-12-07T16:31:00.004Z

These boxes from the shop are the thing I just want to decorate all the time as they are so quick and fun to do.

This one has been painted a rusty brown colour, a bit of rubber stamped text for the background before given a quick rub over with some Inka Gold. The charm and Tim Holtz sprocket gears and spinner were rusted before being glued on. I also added a few bits of old watch pieces from my personal stash.

The faux knob is a button from my ever growing stash of vintage buttons.

These little boxes are the perfect size for cufflinks and earrings so if you are stuck for a christmas present go make one and get the warm glow of giving a present that you have made yourself.

I USED

Box

Paint

Text stamp

Inka Gold

Charm

Tim Holtz Gears and Spinners

Multi Medium for glueing

A Shabby Gift

2011-12-05T09:49:00.002Z

A wee while ago in preparation for Christmas I made this Configuration box for a gift, not saying who for yet! This is half of a 5.75 x 10.75 box. I seperated the base and lid and split the inner boxes into two sets, one set to go with the base for this project and the other and the lid for another project.

I painted the back of the main box and the insides of the inner boxes in a sort of shabby style, then starting covering it with Pink Paislee "Sweetness" papers and a pot of Claudine Hellmuth Matte Medium. When filling the compartments I wanted to build o nthe floral and shabby feel of the papers so went for a selection of winged things and flowers including a Prima Butterfly perched on a wooden cotton spool; a cupid made from Cosmic Shimmer Ultra Thick Embossing Crystals in a sugar paste mould; a Dragonfly charm coloured with Inka Gold paints and Glitz stickles; a Prima Can Can flower and pearl bling Scrabble Tiles and more pearl bling

A Teesha Moore Christmas

2011-12-03T09:00:00.002Z

Hi, have created a small canvas and a large tag, these are both going to the same person as gifts for Christmas.

The small Canvas had been painted and inked, stamp by Teesha Moore and the moon was created with Gesso and Texture Paste as I wanted it to look like a round of Camembert........

The large Tag has piano backing paper which was masked with the Clock Mask of Tim Holtz and sponged with Distress Inks. Stamp and Cut outs by Teesha Moore. All available at Happy Daze.

Looking forward to seeing your creations this month for this great versatile challenge.
Hugs Annette x

November Challenge Winner

2011-12-02T08:01:00.002Z

There were thirteen entries this month including one via the facebook page. When they all went into the Random number generator it choose Number 13, unlucky for some but not for Lucy Edmondson who is the winner of the £15.00 voucher plus free Postage from the Happy Daze shop this month. This is Lucy's second win, she mus have luck on her side. Lucy your voucher will be on its way to you soon.

December Challenge - Gifts, cards and Tags

2011-11-30T11:59:00.049Z

The challenge this month is all to do with Christmas. Anything you have made to give as a gift, to wrap your gift in or label your gift.

This will also tie in very nicely with Tim's 12 days of christmas tags, so if you are planning to follow Tim and do the tags this year do check out the shop for many of the must have items you will need. If you do take part in his tag challenge please share them will us by uploading via the linky at the bottom of the post.

The DT have some lovely examples to share this month.

By Sam Read.

Sam say's, I haven't purchased wrapping paper since I started stamping, I love brown paper packages tied up with string. The stamp I used is the Do Not Disturb Seal, by Catslife Press 749F.

By Moira.
This started life as a purple wooden word, but has now become a present for my student nephew. I drew round the back of the words onto Appeltini Ten Second Studio Metal and embossed it in sections. I used the Ultimate glue to stick the metal down as it handled the odd shapes of the letters very well. To add grunge I painted some section and odd spots with a thick layer of viva crackle paint which when dry I went over with viva inka gold paints in Lava Green,Old Silver and Old Gold.

By Paula Tidman

Paula has altered one of the wooden boxes available from the shop using an Artistic Outpost stamp as a border.

By Carol

For this I used an upcycled Handbag mirror that I brought from a charity shop. I have embossed some Ten second Studio metal for the background, over this I have added sprocket gears and game spinner. Finished of with one of the large brass fairy charms that are in the shop. I also added a sprinkling of tiger eye chippings for fairy gold. Finally it was all filled with Lisa Pavelka resin, popped in the UV box for 10 minutes and voila its finished.

By Julie

A lovely Santa Pin made using Lisa Pavelka Resin Pink Paislee Father Christmas around the world Paper a gold bail like this one corked Vials Christmas muse tokens platinum stickles
I covered the domino in the Around the world paper, add stickles to the edges then covered it in the Lisa Pavelka resin, set for 10 minutes in your UV lamp box, add the bail to the back and there it is a lovely altered domino ready for hanging. Add various beads to a length of chain using jump rings and attach the muse token to the bottom. In the little corked vial add your naughty and nice list and hang this from a length of beaded chain. Hang them along the pin in the order shown, or mix them around it's up to you. A fab pin to brighten up your christmas.

By RuthRuth has altered an old frame with a 6 x 6 websters pages die cut. Inside is a 6 x6 vellun sheet and a christmas tree from a cake shop. The tiny robin and angel are stamped with black stazon, coloured in with water coloured pencils and made from shrink plastic. The broken bambi is wearing a bow to cover the cracks. Ruth has an animal loving friend who will be receiving this as a gift for christmas.

To enter our challenge create a piece of work on the theme of "Gifts, Cards and tags" Share something lovely you have made for giving this christmas.

You can enter the challenge three ways.

Blog your entry and use the Linky widget below to link to your blog entry
Load to the Happy Daze Facebook Page
Sent a pic by email to Waynemonster@gmail.com

Please Welcome Annette Goatley

2011-11-30T11:37:00.002Z

Our second new Design Team member is Annette Goatley better know to most of you as Netty. You can see her work here on her blog. She has previously done a guest spot for the blog and we are now very happy to welcome her as a permanent member.

Cameo style Jewellery Set

2011-11-29T10:01:00.001Z

This jewellery uses shrink plastic to create both the pendant and earrings. Firstly I lightly sanded a sheet of shrink plastic and then painted a thin coat of gesso (this makes it easier to stamp on.) I stamped Lost Coast Designs winged girl with archival ink and gently heated to dry the ink. Then I diecut into the pendant shapes. I coloured the images using photo markers and then used my heat tool to shrink. I used a Krylon silver pen around the edges. Then glossy accents to finish, but this needs to be left overnight to dry, a quicker alternative would be Lisa Pavelka Magic Gloss Resin. Earwires and amethyst drops are from my stash.

Welcome to a new team member

2011-11-28T17:57:00.002Z

We are very please to announce that Sam Read has agreed to join the DT.

You can view her blog here to see her work.

Welcome to the team Sam and we look forward to seeing what you create for the blog.

We Three Kings by Joanne Wardle

2011-11-27T11:50:00.002Z

As Christmas rapidly approaches, I find the need for quick and easy cards gets more urgent.

Here's an easy one made with one simple stamp from stampotique.

I have coloured the card with pencils, highlighted with glossy accents. I have also used some gilding flakes to accent the bands around the crowns. I finally finished with some gold cord.

Santas Christmas treat chest.... by Julie Dandy

2011-11-25T19:03:00.012Z

Well I really need to kick start my Christmas mojo in to gear as I am so disorganised with only being back from my hols less than two weeks!!
I thought I would share this cute idea for an alternative advent calendar which could be decorated to suit all ages.

I have made mine in to a vintage shabby chic style and plan on filling it with little chocolate treats, candy canes and promise tickets - eg. make mince pies, watch a Christmas movie etc...

I used a papier mache chest and covered it with two sheets of Pink Paislee Santas list 12x12 paper.

I started by painting all the edges inside and out with green acrylic paint so that any expose areas wouldn't be left brown.
When dry I painted the edge that is trimmed with red acrylic paint and left to dry again.

I cut the papers roughly to size and then used my nail to give score the paper in to the edges of the box to give me a cutting guide. The boxes aren't exact measurement wise, so make sure your paper is cut to fit the widest points so that you can cut them back to size.I distressed my edges with an emery board and then inked with Broken China distress ink pad then glued them in to place with Glossy Accents - I like to swirl it on then spread it out with my finger so that it reaches all the edges. I like GA for sticking paper on to objects as it grabs and dries quickly.

On the inside of the lid I added a distressed hole in the paper before adhering to the box and stuck a small piece of contrasting patterned paper on to the back to add to the shabby look.

I covered it inside and out and when finished strengthened the hinged section with tissue tape which I also inked with the broken china.

I glued on a piece of vintage lace using Claudine's matte medium - now I have a little tip when using this - make sure you clean the edge of the jar before you put the lid back on. If you don't (like I hadn't) and then don't use it for a while you will have BIG problems getting the lid off!

I also used the medium to stick the charms and prima flower on, as already mentioned its a really good strong glue LOL :D

I embossed some of the pieces with TH alterations embossing folders which I distressed and inked.

My splash of colour on the project is my lovely broken china distress stickles and the distress stain I used on the Adage ticket.

I used some letter stickers I have had for ages on the front of the box and gave them a little bit of dimension with the Glossy Accents. The promise tickets would be a great idea to keep the kids occupied over the Christmas period with ideas like make paper chains, make gingerbread, write a letter to Santa etc...

If you were making it for a crafter you could make little parcels or envelopes and fill them with little embellies - ideaology trinkets would be fabby for anybody taking part in T!ms 12 tags of Christmas. Moira sells fabby taster packs of these too so it needn't cost a fortune.

Or how about filling it with chocolate coins?

If you get cracking you will just have time to make it before the 1st of December :D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

Vintage Gentleman

2011-11-23T13:46:00.003Z

Ohhh its Wednesday and my turn to blog I nearly forgot (blushing smiley) Today I have a little altered cheese box to share.
It's been covered with tissue tape(to hide the horrible mess I made of it when I painted it, tissue tape is perfect for this lol) I then spritz it with a mister to age it a little bit and take away the shiny newness of it.
After adding a stamped image I embellished it with Tim Holtz cogs and spinners, a word tag a small pair of binoculars and a key.
A quick easy little make and a perfect man present.

Items I Used.

Tim Holtz Tissue tape
Game spinners
cogs
word tag
K and Co metal kay

Explosion Of Colour By Gillian Simson ....

2011-11-19T07:30:00.003Z

For this months challenge "Explosion of Colour" I decided to go for a retro look using papers from the Basic Grey Ambrosia Collection (Citrus, Zest & Clementine) & Pink Paislee (Hocus Pocus -Haunting). Stamps are from Paperbag Studios (Newsprint House, Doorway, Scratched Circles & Cross Stitch). I used Archival Ink (Jet Black) to stamp with.

The current Happy Daze challenge is An Explosion of Colour. You have until Midnight on 30th November when one winner will be drawn at random to win a £15 voucher and free P&P to spend in the Happy Daze shop. Maximum of 3 entries per person & you must use at least one product which can be purchased in the Happy Daze shop.

You can enter by blogging you address to the linky widget here,
emailing your picture to info@happy-daze.net
uploading your photo to their facebook page

A celebration of colour by Ruth

2011-11-17T07:00:00.000Z

This months challenge is an "explosion of colour" and is one I have really struggled with.

I love colour as much as the next person but I like my colours to compliment and co-ordinate, finally after a period of crafters block I was inspired by a photo on Pinterest.

I cannot claim the credit for the Colourful Doiley Bunting idea, but I did come up with the idea of using Cosmic Shimmer Chalk Mists all on my own!

The transformation from cream to gleam was instant and incredibly satisfying...and my bunting looks as bright and kitch as a 50's Tupperware party......which is exactly how I wanted it to look!

Cosmic Shimmer Mists are available in a huge range of colours from only £2.95 each.

You can enter this months competition and find the rules here, to have a chance of winning a £15.00 voucher to spend in the HappyDaze shop.

A Medieval Christmas By Paula Tidman

2011-11-15T09:29:00.000Z

The current Happy Daze Challenge is 'Explosion of Colour', so I decided to make a tag in bold colours. I used distress stains in Wild Honey & Barn Door to create the background. I used gold embossing powder for both latin scripts and around the edges of the tag. I stamped one of the houses from the Artistic Outpost whimsical melange in black embossing powder, then cut out and added the digital image of the Madonna and Child. I used one of the hinges from the Tim holtz elements and covered with Inka gold. I dyed some ribbon with the same distress stains and added some fibres from my stash.

The current Happy Daze challenge is An Explosion of Colour. You have until Midnight on 30th November when one winner will be drawn at random to win a £15 voucher and free P&P to spend in the Happy Daze shop. Maximum of 3 entries per person & you must use at least one product which can be purchased in the Happy Daze shop.

You can enter by blogging you address to the linky widget here,
emailing your picture to info@happy-daze.net
uploading your photo to their facebook page

explosion of colour by Joanne Wardle

2011-11-13T07:13:00.005Z

For this month's challenge theme I have made this one layer card, using stamps from Jo Capper-Sandon's range at Stampotique. These Splatter stamps are perfect for the theme. I have used distress inks for the colour.

An Assortment Of Boxes By Carol Fox

2011-11-09T13:29:00.018Z

I am seriously in love with these little boxes that Moira has in the shop. I have done a few of them this week as I have had four commissions for these little boxes and I have done a couple for an upcoming Victorian Market I am booked for.
So I am sharing some of them as my DT piece today to show how easy it is to get so many different looks with them just by different paint and stamping techniques.

This box I altered using Glimmer mists and Gold leafing and embossing powder and rubber stamping.

On this one I used a basic cream paint crackled over the plain box using PVA glue, when dry I rubbed over it with Victorian Velvet Distress ink, before adding rubber stamping. Finally spritzing it with Glimmer mists.

This one was simply coloured with Distress stains in Wild Honey and Fired Brick, after rubber stamping I smudged Pitch Black Dabber around the edges to age it a bit.

And lastly my favourite. I used the PVA crackle paint technique on this again, rubber stamping a "spell" around the four sides before embossing in gold. Add the large fairy charm under the pocket watch dome on the lid. The handle is the Pocket watch winder and I have added four fairy crowns for feet on the box.

Items I Used
Small wooden boxes
Small Crowns
Cosmic shimmer mists
Paint Dabbers
Paints
fairy charm
Embossing powders
Distress Stains

Finally don't forget the current challenge is an Explosion of Colour, so if you have made something bright and beautiful this month using any product that the shop stocks have a look at the post on the blog to upload your picture.

Row of Houses By Helen Chilton

2011-11-07T09:34:00.001Z

Stamps used: Artistic Outpost: Whimsical Melange,My Favourite Book,Birds of a Feather,Ephemeral Backgrounds.

Other Materials
Distress inkpads: Victorian Velvet; Frayed Burlap; Stormy Sky
Distress Stains: Stormy Sky; Spun Sugar; Shabby Shutters; Scattered Straw
StazOn inkpad: Jet Black
Buttons, charms, lace and ribbons.

I’ve made up five row houses, stamping the two from the Whimsical Melange plate as is, and then using the ruler and the scroll stamp to vary them. I’ve then masked them all off and stamped the main images from the Bird plate, masked those off and added in some more backgrounds.

Then I’ve added all the twiddly bits! For the rows of beads, I’ve taken a bracelet, glued it down with Crafters Pick the Ultimate glue (wonderful stuff) and then cut the string when it’s dry – an easy way to get a long row of beads without them all falling off!

A sprinkle of reindeer dust....by Ruth

2011-11-03T14:34:00.001Z

Now that I no longer feel guilty scrapping a year in arrears for my christmas photos I can take the time to relish new papers and look back over last years hectic moments. I indulge in a bit of misty eyed memories and forget all the chaos soon to come again.

I loved the maturity of these Pink Paislee papers, they remind me of a Scottish hunting lodge, and with names like Apple Cider and Bonfire it's no wonder they look warm and cosy, ideal for cardmakers too.

"Come Fly with Me" was inspired by the wooden lazer cut Reindeer Antlers from the Happy Daze shop.

(I have been wanting to use it on all sorts of christmas projects and now wish that I had ordered more than one!)

I gessoed him first then inked him with brown distress ink and added a layer of fine white glitter. All are available in the shop in varous shades. A row of Platinum Liquid Pearls around the edges, emphasises the road sign shape.

The black flower was left over from my Pink Paislee Halloween banner kit. And I am one photo less in my stash at last!!

TFL

Alice Arch By Carol fox

2011-11-02T10:19:00.008Z

Any of you who know me well will know that Alice and I have a bit of a thing going on....shhh dont tell the Hatter. I have had one of the arches from the shop in my draw for ages and I was digging around in there the other day and I came across it, so here it is given the Alice treatment.

I have given it the PVA crackle treatment added vintage book pages (from Alice in Wonderland of course)and then some applied some gold leaf(gold embossing works just as well if you don't have gold leaf). The Tim Holtz Book Plate was given a rub with viva Inka gold to make it more gold and then once the Tim Holtz adage word was added I filled it with clear embossing powder.

The Tim Holtz style rose is made by colouring the cut flowers with distress inks before shaping and then dipping them into UTEE in a melt pot. If you dont have a melt pot you can just use clear embossing powder. I then rubbed them over with clear stickles for a dew drop look.

Stick it all down using lots of multi medium and then stand somewhere to admire.

I used

Wooden arch
Tim Holtz things
Inks
Multi medium
Inka Gold

The current challenge is "an Explosion Of Colour" for all the details and the link to upload your item have a look here, or there is a permanent link in the side bar.

UK Scrappers Blog Hop

2011-11-01T13:32:00.002Z

The details for the blog hop can be found on the post containing the monthly challenge details. This LINK will take you to it, and please scroll down to the bottom of the post for the details.

A Winner is Announced

2011-11-01T11:08:00.009Z

I have done the Random Number Generator for the Entries for the October Challenge. There were 16 in total, for some weird reason the linky Widget did not like this month very much and would not show some of the entries on the linky Picture, but I can see them all on the links page and after I added in the facebook entries in their date uploaded position.
The lucky winner is number 14 By The Sparkly Fairy (Emma). If you want to email me at waynemonster@gmail.com with your name and email address and I will pass the details on to Moira who will send you your £15 voucher to spend on lovely things in the Happy Daze Shop.

This is a list of the other entries as it was a shame that a lot of them did not show in the linky list as there were some great uploads for this challenge. If you click on the links it will take you to the page. ( if the link doesn't work copy and paste it into your bar)

1.http://anikraft.blogspot.com/2011/10/halloween-candle-trick-or-treat.html

2.http://annescardchallenges.blogspot.com/2011/10/magnolia-peace.html

3.http://lisasparkleandstamps.blogspot.com/2011/10/colonel-mustard-in-hall-with-dagger.html

4.http://bumblebeesandbutterflieswithbrenda.blogspot.com/2011/10/halloween-diorama.html

5.http://anikraft.blogspot.com/2011/10/halloween-atcs-and-new-stampotique.html

6.http://blueboxbabe.blogspot.com/2011/10/un-petit-peu-spooky.html

7.http://teacraftsandcats.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/magnolia-tomic-challenge-5/

8.http://cardcreate.blogspot.com/2011/10/black-white-craft-room-challenge-dt.html

9.http://lucystruecolours.blogspot.com/2011/10/gingersnap-creations-challenge-ravens.html

10.http://craftietimes.blogspot.com/2011/10/whoopsi-daisy-lets-do-christmas.html

11.http://craftietimes.blogspot.com/2011/10/free-and-easy-whoopsie-daisy-challenge.html

12.http://nettyscraftings.blogspot.com/2011/10/hiya-its-paint-party-friday.html

13.http://lucystruecolours.blogspot.com/2011/10/mr-forrest-farmacist.html

14.http://thesparklyfairy.blogspot.com/2011/10/witching-hour.html

15.http://kraftypieces.blogspot.com/2011/10/31st-october-2011-halloween.html

16.http://lisasparkleandstamps.blogspot.com/2011/10/its-halloweenpickled-souls-anyone-its.html

Thank you to everyone who entered this month and I hope to see lots more of your lovely entries for the November Challenge which is "An Explosion Of Colour" the full details of which can be seen in the post here.

November Challenge - An Explosion of Colour

2011-11-01T01:10:00.016Z

Our November challenge theme is "An Explosion of Colour" so I've gone for this bright and cheery Pendant. I used a vintage collage image but you could also use one of your own photos.

Materials
Large Bezel - I used a Bow Bezel
Small bezel
Resin - I used Lisa Pavelka Magic-Gloss, you could also use Glossy Accents
Stickles in a colour which co-ordiantes with your image
Image - use a stock copyright free collage image or photo printed with a laser printer onto smooth paper - not photo paper, or an image from pre-printed paterned paper
Matte or Gloss Medium
Inka Gold Paint in a co-ordinating colour
Bail
2 x Jump rings
Chain or Ribbon to hang

1. Print the image to the size you need to fit the large bezel.

2. Print the image and cut to fit the bezel. If you are using an oval or round bezel press your nail all round the image to bed it into the edge of the bezel, this will give you the shape to then cout out. Do not worry if it does not fit perfectly as the stickles will hide any messiness

3. Glue the image into your bezel and coat it with the medium.

4. Squeeze a line of stickles all round the inner rim of your bezel

5. Fill your small bezel with a layer of stickles to cover the base. Leave both bezels to dry - this is best done overnight

6. Pour resin into your large and small bezels to fill them up. If using Magic-Gloss place under a UV lamp for 15 minutes. You may add additional layers if desired to create a dome effect. If using a two part resin leave to dry overnight. If using Glossy Accents be very careful about bubbles, if you get any prick them out with a wire or end of a paperclip. Also if a layer is too thick in Glossy Accents it may not dry so do not use a bezel that is too thick or do it in layers. Glossy accents will also need overnight to dry

7. Take the Inka Gold paint and using a piece of Cut n Dry Foam or cosmetic foam, rub a little colour or colours into the bezel.

8. Attach the bail with a jump ring and thread your ribbon or chain.

9. Attach the small bezel filled with stickles and resin to the bottom of your pendant and you are done!

To enter our challenge create a piece of work on the theme of "An Explosion of Colour". It could be a card, a layout, an altered object etc. whatever you like. Then either:

Blog your entry and use the Linky widget below to link to your blog entry
Load to the Happy Daze Facebook Page
Sent a pic by email to info@happy-daze.net

The challenge will end at Midnight Thursday 30 November 2011. One entry will be drawn at random to win a £15.00 Gift Voucher plus free P&P for the Happy Daze shop. Maximum of 3 entries per person. Entries must use at least one product which can be purchased in the Happy Daze shop

And a big welcome to any vistors from the UK Scrappers Blog Hop. If you are participating in the UKS blog hop, you may have come here from Fiskarettes . After checking out our project, go to Scrap Paper Scissors to see the next project, and see the thread on UKS HERE to see the full list of links and info on the prizes!

Christmas Past .... By Gillian Simson

2011-10-28T08:00:00.001+01:00

Using the inspiration from one of my favourite vintage Christmas Stamp Sets by Tim Holtz, I started out by covering this Wooden Door Sign in Distress Stain (Weathered Wood), then added a layer of stripes with Distress Stain (Picket Fence), once dry I then added a further layer of Distress Stain (Faded Jeans) then wiping over with a baby wipe to give a more soft/blended feel to the sign. I stamped the background text in Archival Ink (Manganese Blue), I then stamped the Father Christmas Image, the Snowflake Image and Merry Kiss-Mas quote designed by Jo Capper-Sandon for Stampotique in Distress Ink (Chipped Saphire). I then added Picket Fence Distress Stickles for a frosted/snowy look.

The current Happy Daze challenge is Christmas or Hallowe'en. You have until Midnight on 31st October when one winner will be drawn at random to win a £15 voucher and free P&P to spend in the Happy Daze shop. Maximum of 3 entries per person & you must use at least one product which can be purchased in the Happy Daze shop.

You can enter by blogging your address to the linky widget here,
emailing your picture to info@happy-daze.net
uploading your photo to their facebook page

Air-mail delivery! by Ruth

2011-10-27T07:00:00.000+01:00

When the postman delivered these 12x12 papers I knew I had finally found the answer to last years Christmas Eve photos.
I love the detail on these Pink Paislee papers from their
Father Christmas collection.

This one is called Air-Mail and has a perfect vintage cosy feel and plenty of space for decorating and embellishing.

I sprayed the background with Meadow colour wash spray to dirty it up a bit, added a couple of layers of notelets and old book papers.

Alphabet stickers found in the Basic Grey sale, a blue ticket from the Parisian Anthology range and a shabby handmade muslin flower spritzed with a red and green colourwash, finished off with a couple of vintage buttons.

If you wanted to make a flower like this you could easily start with the ready made Mistable Flowers by Pink Paislee and fray the edges a little.

Don't forget this months challenge is either Halloween or Christmas something to suit everyone as the saying goes..x

Hark The Herald Angels By Paula Tidman

2011-10-25T09:42:00.000+01:00

Another christmas decoration from me, this time a hanging. I recycled some card and glued both sides with pale blue paper from my stash then cut out a large heart shape. I randomly stamped and embossed snowflakes and pine cones with white embossing powder, then tinted with versamagic dewdrop chalk inks in pixie dust, sea breeze and aegean blue. I stamped Lost Coast Designs Hark the Herald Angels in archival ink onto glossy paper and tinted with the same versamagic inks. I added some white guipure lace, bead trim and a few embellishments from my stash. I punched a hole each side and threaded through some seam binding to create the hanging.

The current Happy Daze challenge is Christmas or Hallowe'en. You have until Midnight on 31st October when one winner will be drawn at random to win a £15 voucher and free P&P to spend in the Happy Daze shop. Maximum of 3 entries per person & you must use at least one product which can be purchased in the Happy Daze shop.

You can enter by blogging you address to the linky widget here,
emailing your picture to info@happy-daze.net
uploading your photo to their facebook page

Christmas with non-Christmas stamps by Joanne Wardle

2011-10-23T07:23:00.005+01:00

You don't always have to buy special Christmas stamps to make your Christmas cards. Sometimes you just have to look at the stamps you have in a different way. This general tree from Stampotique, can easily be made to look wintry with simple colouring, and the addition of white flower soft or glitter. The tiny bird from Jo Capper-Sandon's range can easily be made to look like a robin redbreast with the appropriate colouring

Death bangle by Julie Dandy

2011-10-21T22:31:00.005+01:00

Can't find the perfect jewellery to go with your halloween costume? or do you want something just a little bit different to everybody else's??

Then pick up some of these amazing wooden bangles from Moira at just £3.55 for a set of three!!! :D

They have a lovely smooth surface so are very easy to colour.
I coloured mine by rubbing on Viva decor inka gold and polishing it up.

I then stamped white tissue paper with images from these fabby Pink Paislee Phantom stamps .

I glued them on with Claudine Hellmuth matte medium being careful not to get any on the front of the image as I wanted to tint the images with distress Spiced Marmalade ink pad.

I lightly spritzed patches of the bangle with Cosmic shimmer mist - just a little warning though, the pigment is very strong in these and stains very easily.....I have very purple hands right now!!!

I glued on some little patches of grey lace with the matte medium then when dry smeared on some distress stickles in Spiced Marmalade and Chipped Sapphire.

When everything was dry I sponged on more matte medium to seal everything in place.

You could make bangles to match all your outfits with these very affordable bangles :D
Now for some close ups....

Hugs'n'spooky snogs,
Julie xx

Halloween Microscope Slide By Carol Fox

2011-10-19T09:33:00.001+01:00

This week I have used two pieces of memory glass to make a little hanging decoration. I did a little collage to fit the glass and then sandwiched it between the two pieces with UTEE to make a faux solder. I did not have the colour UTEE I wanted so after it was set onto the glass I added a quick tap over with a paint dabber in black to make it a bit more gloomy looking. I also used this on the small charm at the bottom and the jewellery connector that I have used at the top to hang it from.

There is still plenty of time to enter the current challenge, all the detials can be seen in the blog post here.

Spooky Book Time by Helen Chilton

2011-10-15T10:30:00.002+01:00

Stamps used:
Artistic Outpost: Whimsical Melange; My Favourite Book
Pink Paislee: Phantom

Other Materials
StazOn inkpad: Jet Black
Distress Stains: Weathered Wood; Milled Lavender
Distress inkpads: Weathered Wood; Milled Lavender
Coloured pencils
Patterned paper: Prima: Moulin Rouge

Here I’ve used both Artistic Outpost and Pink Paislee stamps to create a spooky card for Hallowe’en. The house is stamped and then coloured with the Distress Stains and stamped with the Distress inkpads. I’ve then used the Phantom stamps to add all sorts of detail. Although the My Favourite Book stamps are not for Hallowe’en, I’ve used Hallowe’eny colours and given her striped tights and added the number 31 to the book cover. She’s also got an owl sitting on the back of her chair.

The current Happy Daze challenge is Christmas or Hallowe'en. You have until Midnight on 31st October when one winner will be drawn at random to win a £15 voucher and free P&P to spend in the Happy Daze shop. Maximum of 3 entries per person & you must use at least one product which can be purchased in the Happy Daze shop.

You can enter by:

blogging and entering a link using the Linky Widget here,
emailing your picture to info@happy-daze.net
uploading your photo to their facebook page

Pretty Spooky Banner By Ruth Philips

2011-10-13T09:25:00.003+01:00

Pink Paislee have done it again with their new and exciting range of Halloween papers and embellishments.

The Phantom Happy Haunting Banner comes as a pack of letter cards, two spooky skull cards and two crepe paper rosettes to finish it off.

I made my banner by using calico (curtain lining) folded in half and stitched. I distressed the edges with scissors and painted the middle with Claudine Helmuths black and white Gesso. An old credit card came in handy to smudge the stripes evenly across the material.

Lace was glued along the top and eyelets added with a crop-o-dile.

5cm wide strips of black crepe paper were ruffled on my sewing machine and glued behind the letter cards. I trimmed them down so you could still see the paint behind, tied them all together with some re-purposed ribbon and voila......it cost less than a shop bought one and will certainly last a lot longer!

HAPPY HAUNTING EVERYONE!

A Victorian Christmas by Paula Tidman

2011-10-11T09:38:00.000+01:00

This christmas decoration uses Artistic Outpost Sleigh Ride stamps. I die cut six shapes from thick card using the Tim Holtz cabinet card die, which I glued together to make the frame. I stamped the image of the two children and masked, then over stamped with the trees. The image was tinted with distress inks & the frame was painted in red studio acrylic paint. I screwed a hinge onto either side of the frame and finished with stickles and gold corners like these.

The current Happy Daze challenge is Christmas or Hallowe'en. You have until Midnight on 31st October when one winner will be drawn at random to win a £15 voucher and free P&P to spend in the Happy Daze shop. Maximum of 3 entries per person & you must use at least one product which can be purchased in the Happy Daze shop.

You can enter by blogging you address to the linky widget here,
emailing your picture to info@happy-daze.net
uploading your photo to their facebook page

a "Stella" Hallowe'en by Joanne Wardle

2011-10-09T01:40:00.005+01:00

In previous posts I have used Stella Sitting on various props, and have used masking to achieve this. I know that a lot of people find masking a bit too "faffy", so for this card I used the simpler "cutting out" method!!

I just stamped Stella, the broom and hat, onto white card coloured with pencils and cut them out.

I made the moon background by cutting out a circle mask (by drawing around the inside of a roll of sellotape), then applied black soot and pumice stone distress inks with a cotton wool ball. I
removed the maks, applied a litle more pumice stone ink, for clouds. I stamped happy (from Happy unbirthday) and old english Hallowe'en. I glued Stella and her accessories in place.

All of the Stamps are from Jo Capper-Sandon's range from Stampotique Originals.

Hocus Pocus earwire by Julie Dandy

2011-10-07T22:17:00.008+01:00

hi everyone, this week I am sharing a cute little piece of jewellery for Halloween or just for anybody with a secret dark side ;-)

It features the brand spanking new Pink Paislee Phantom clear stamps :D

They are super cool and not strictly for Halloween with the cute little cameos and bird cage.
I stamped them on to shrink plastic using a black promarker as I found archival ink too wet, particularly with clear stamps.

I added lots of beads, chains and a cute little vial coloured with red alcohol ink.

Here's a few more pics for you with a little bit more detail :D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

A Haunting We Will Go By Carol Fox

2011-10-06T09:10:00.007+01:00

I should have posted this yesterday, but I was bad and did not get it finished to photograph it in daylight. But here it is better late than never....I hope.
I love Halloween, and when I saw the new stamps by Jo Capper-Sandon, I just had to have this funky little witch, as this witch is not for Halloween it can be used all year round. I just wish I had got the witches hat so she could have worn it while taking her pet dragonfly for a midnight run.
This started life as a beer mat which I first gave a coat of black acrylic paint. Then I masked it with a Tim Holtz mask and used Inka Gold In Orange Over the top, its the first time I have used Inka through a mask and I was very pleased with how it looked.
The Dragonfly and Stella were stamped onto card, cut out, coloured and then stuck on. I do like to mask but with my background being so dark it was not really an option.
Once they were in place I stamped the quote which is from The Artistic Outpost set Haunted Halloween, coloured it with spiced Marmalade distress ink and stuck it on.
I then applied Orange peel stickles to the background with my finger.
I have punched holes in the top corners to add ribbon to hang it by, but I didn't realise I was out of black ribbon utill I went to use it and only 6 inches of it rolled from the reel.
I have a little great niece who's birthday it is on the 30th October, I shall send her this for her birthday card, as my actual cards leave a lot to be desired.

For details of this monther challenge and how to enter it click on the link in the side bar.

Hocus Pocus by Helen Chilton - with pic this time!

2011-10-03T20:16:00.001+01:00

Little girl and frame: Artistic Outpost: My Favourite Book

Border Scroll: Artistic Outpost: Whimsical Melange

Pink Paislee papers: Hocus Pocus

I've turned the little girl into a witch by adding a witch's hat. The frame is stamped onto purple Hocus Pocus paper and edged in bronze paint that is heated to make it bubble. The scroll is stamped all round the edge of the card and coloured with pencils. The word 'BOO' is taken from the Book quote - I've just cut off the last letter!

Hocus Pocus by Helen Chilton

2011-10-03T15:14:00.001+01:00

Little girl and frame: Artistic Outpost: My Favourite Book

Border Scroll: Artistic Outpost: Whimsical Melange

Pink Paislee papers: Hocus Pocus

It's Christmaaaaaaaas (and Hallowe'en)

2011-10-01T14:00:00.015+01:00

On what feels like the hottest day of the year we are getting started on Christmas! the Design Team have been playing with Mini Bird Houses to create Christmas decorations. Helen Chilton has used Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden stamps and coloured them to look like Christmas roses. Red paint, gold embossing. layered up foliage and gold paint heated to bubble it up!

Paula Tidman has made icicles from parchment paper, Glossy Accents and glitter and applied PVA glue and acrylic paint crackle effect technique . There are 2 ways of doing this and it depends on your PVA which one works. The first method involves painting the base colour and letting tit dry fully. Then a layer of PVA and letting it dry - no heat gun - and when fully dry painting the top colour on and leaving it. The second method again starts with a base coat colour left to fully dry, then a layer of PVA and immediately while it is wet a layer of the second colour over the top. Leave to dry. To know which one works for you do a test of both methods first on some spare card. Paula has also added a charm to complete.

Joanne Wardle also used this crackle effect but added distress by scraping more of the top layer off with scissors before the paint dried fully but was tacky . Once dry, she added metallic rub on to the craem fror hifghlight and stamped Mistletoe by Jo Capper-Sandon for Stampotique Originals onto kraft card, cut out and attached to house, addeed Glossy Accents on the berries, a knotted piece of gold ribbon and filled the birdhouse with raffia.

Ruth Philps has gone for a table decoration with this Bird House in a glass case. She has decorated the Bird House with Pink Paislee Parisian Anthologie paper and lots of blingy stuff, and there is a wood fence nestled in there too.

Carol Fox has created a place name for the Christmas table. To create this effect cover the roof of the bird house with Tim Holtz Idea-ologyTissue Tape then spray it with Adirondack Colour Wash Spray in Cranberry and Perfect Pearls Mist in Heirloom Gold. Using Cosmic Shimmer Bronze Lustre Ultra Thick Embossing Crystals along the roof and base edges and also apply it randomly to the roof to give it a bit of glimmer. Colour a wood spool with the same colour inks and when dry attach to the bottom of the bird house for a stand using Claudine Helmuth Multi Medium. Remove the hanging cord and push a Tim Holtz Idea-ology Memo Pin into the hole and secure it with glossy accents. Colour 2 of the filigree corners with Inka Gold paint in Old Gold and attach to the front eaves of the house using Multi Medium. Using some wire and threading beads on as you go wrap the house with the wire securing it at the base and the Memo Pin at the top.Stamp and emboss a small quote to attach to the front of the house and place in the memo pin

Julie Dandy went for a Shabby Chic cuckoo clock. She removed the peg from the front of the house and covered it in Websters pages sweet season paper from the 6x6 pad. Any exposed wood was painted with Viva Decor Inka Gold paint in silver applied with a brush. This was also used this to colour the bronze coloured charms. Glue on the prima lace with glossy accents then add Rock Candy Distress Stickles all over the house to give it a pretty sparkle then glued on charms. Julie made the paper beads by rolling triangle shaped strips around a pokey tool then glueing the ends. These were strung on to eyepins and suspended them from chain on the bottom of the house. Add a few buttons and a cute hanging ribbon and the little bird house was transformed in to a pretty shabby chic cuckoo clock to hang on the Christmas tree

Moira also went went for a tree decoration, after all at only 6cm tall these are a pefect size to trim the tree. This Bird House has a vintage feel, using Inka Gold paints, vintage collage, some bauble trim, beadazzles and stickles. I think you can tell we had fun

And Christmas or Hallowe'en is the theme for our October challenge. It could be a card, a decoration a layout, gift box etc., whatever you like that fits either Christmas or Hallowe'en.

You can enter in one of 3 ways:

Blog your entry and use the Linky widget below to link to your blog entry
Load to the Happy Daze Facebook Page
Sent a pic by email to info@happy-daze.net

The challenge will end at Midnight Monday 31st October 2011. One entry will be drawn at random to win a £15.00 Gift Voucher plus free P&P for the Happy Daze shop. Maximum of 3 entries per person. Entries must use at least one product which can be purchased in the Happy Daze shop.

A Winner is Announced

2011-10-01T11:13:00.000+01:00

The Winner of our September Challenge is Marjorie's Owl. Congratulations. Send me your name and email address and I'll get a £15 Gift Voucher off to you

Sunshine and strawberry cheesecake in a box

2011-09-29T07:00:00.001+01:00

This week I have had the dilema of creating a gift for a friend who has six children!

I didn't want to take the easy route of turning the photos to black and white so I enhanced them all with Picnik (a photo editing free programme). This gave them all the same tones.

I made a photo cube from an old kit but you could easily copy it by cutting 6- 5x5 inch squares and punching 2 small holes in each corner for threading through. Make sure you pull your string or ribbon really tight inside the box.

I simply covered it with some of the Basic Grey SALE papers from Happy Daze and let their vibrant colours do all the talking. A few stickers, Prima flowers and jewel centres as minimal embellishments.

Quick, cheap and easy.....perfect for a recession at 45p per 12x12 sheet and you can't beat that personal touch.

Ruth x

The Sky is the Limit By Paula Tidman

2011-09-27T10:03:00.005+01:00

My Little Black Dress is definitely stamping. I have stamped on paper and wood and this time I decided to stamp on fabric. I frayed a piece of cream cotton then painted with white gesso to make it easier to stamp on. I used the Artistic Outpost Bluebird stamp plate which is so pretty. I used a combination of distress inks and watercolours to paint the image. I mounted the stamped fabric onto a piece of thick card that I covered in some paper from my stash, die cut an edge and added some lace an pearls to finish.

There is still time to enter The Happy Daze Little Black Dress Challenge. You have until Midnight on 30th September when one winner will be drawn at random to win a £15 voucher and free P&P to spend in the Happy Daze shop. Maximum of 3 entries per person & you must use at least one product which can be purchased in the Happy Daze shop.

You can enter by blogging you address to the linky widget here,
emailing your picture to info@happy-daze.net
uploading your photo to their facebook page

splashy dragonfly card by Joanne Wardle

2011-09-25T10:17:00.004+01:00

This as a really simple card I made with Jo's new Dragonfly stamp (again) from stampotique. I created the simple background by doing a very small spray of adirondack sprays in 3 colours. I then used the same blue spray with a paintbrush to colour the dragonfly.

Butterfly Notebook By Carol Fox

2011-09-21T09:27:00.002+01:00

A lovely quick and easy little project, using one of the Artistic Outpost set of stamps, Happiness, which can be found here in the shop.

I have coloured the background using distress inks and then over stamped it using the same colour ink and a background stamp. The Large Butterfly is from a very old collage sheet I have. The quote has been stamped in Jet Black Ranger ink and then I have used glossy accents to highlight some of the words. I stamped a large swirl as a filler on the bottom corner and then filled in any gaps with the Butterflys from the stamp sheet.

I have made my pad using a couple of bits of mount board and my Zutter, but this works just as well using a pre brought pad.

There is also plenty of time to enter into the challenge this month which is to use your favourite crafting item or technique on a project. Full details of how to enter can be found HERE on the blog.

Little Black Dress - London Underground Stamps by Gillian Simson

2011-09-19T12:43:00.001+01:00

This month the DT have been showing you their "Little Black Dress" artwork whether it be a technique, product or tool. My little black dress must have has to be Stamps. One of my many favourite stamp sets is London Underground by Artistic Outpost. Of course any black dress needs accessories, so for mine, I have chosen Distress Stains, Ideaology embellishments and a Wooden Arch

The arch was coloured using Weathered Wood & Faded Jeans, the stamps wered inked using Archival Ink (Jet Black) along with Distress Stains (Fired Brick & Faded Jeans).

Blog your entry and use the Linky widget below to link to your blog entry HERE
Load to the Happy Daze Facebook Page
Sent a pic by email to info@happy-daze.net

My Pretty Little Black Dress By Ruth Philips

2011-09-15T08:00:00.001+01:00

My little black dress must have is PAPER.....preferably patterned, sometimes textured, but always BEAUTIFUL!!

I have used My Minds Eye Portobello Road paper for this layout as it has all of those must have magical qualities about it.

A quality feel (a must have for paper strokers), intricate details and a splash of bling!!

(click on the photo for better details)

Just like a LBD all it needed was a few accessories from my favourite manufacturer of flowers and butterflies

Prima Marketing Inc and a touch of second hand vintage.

If you would like to enter this months challenge please click HERE for details.

Ruth x

Pearly Queen By Paula Tidman

2011-09-13T10:01:00.043+01:00

My sister has lived in the US for quite a few years now, and I know she still misses Blighty so I thought these fab Artistic Outpost Loverly London stamps were just the job for this folded card for her birthday, there is a good mix of images and text in this set. (see my blog for the tutorial link) The background paper is made by haphazardly applying watered down distress inks with a paint brush and stamping lightly with archival ink to achieve a faded effect. The pearly queen was coloured with watercolours and distress inks and of course a pearl necklace.

A triangular pocket was added to the inside of the card to store the bookmark. More images were stamped firstly onto the pocket embellishment and then onto the book mark (he looks very dapper don't you think?) which was then sealed with Ranger glue n' seal and finally a red tassel to complete.

my little black dress technique, by Joanne Wardle

2011-09-11T06:02:00.001+01:00

Anyone who has visited my blog will know that my little black dress technique is pencil colouring on kraft card and using my home made stamp positioner to combine stamps to make one layer cards.

I've used these techniques with some of my new favourite stamps from Jo's new collection from Stampotique.
Stella and dragonfly are both fantastic stamps to use individually, but combined I think they create something quite magical.
To achieve this effect, stamp Stella first, then create a stella mask from a post-it note, use a stamp positioner to make sure that the dragonfly is in the correct place and stamp the dragonfly.
colour with pencils, and add the quote also from Jo's collection.

Dreamy butterfly tin by Julie Dandy

2011-09-09T09:55:00.006+01:00

Well, I was already to share a cute altered domino necklace with you this week until I checked the blog and spotted that Moira and Carol had already beaten me to jewellery pieces!!! LOL

But never mind, it spurred me on to finish this sweet little tin instead :D

It started life as one of these plain little silver coloured hinged lid tins.

I covered the lid with Tim Holtz tissue tape in a random pattern to create a collaged effect. I used alcohol inks sponged on to the tape to colour it, then used a fine brush to add colour to the butterfly.

When it was completely dry I gave it a couple of coats of Lisa Pavelka resin - this is the stage that it has sat on my table for for about a month, not the resins fault as it was cured, I just couldn't decide where it was going next!!!

So I set it in front of me last night and stared it out for a while.

Then I had a look in my cupboard, then stared some more!

Then it hit me like a lightening bolt and I reached for my jewellery making boxes and hunted out the perfect metal leaf charms and lush lucite flower beads (I'm not sure what lucite is but they do look like plastic to me haha :D)

I added some pearls, buttons , lace and some teeny alphas and bobs your uncle - one sweet little tin that would be great to give a tiny gift in or just as a gift on its own .

Pop on over to Happy Daze to see most of the products I used on this project.

Hugs'n'snogs,

Julie xx

Little Black Dress, By Carol fox

2011-09-07T12:06:00.000+01:00

Not a dress, but the challenge theme this month is the craft item you could not live without, in my case I cannot live without any of them, so I just dug through my wonderful stash from the happy daze shop and got to work.

This week I am still in love with the multi-medium and distress stain technique so I have made a little gift box using the stains, inks and medium to decorate it.

I co-ordinated the theme of the box to tie in with a pendant I have made using some the the charms and Tim Holtz ideology pieces for sale on the site.

First of all the box. I made the basic box using a box maker and a fairy sturdy card. I cut a piece of card to fit the lid, I first of all inked this using distress inks in chipped sapphire and spiced marmalade. I then choose my stamp. I have used the quote from the Artistic Outpost set Happiness. I put a small splodge of Multi medium onto my craft mat and then "inked up" the stamp with this before stamping it onto the inked square. I them heated this to dry it. Once dry I took my distress stain in dusty concord and applied this over the square of card ensuring that it had a good coverage. The multi medium resists the stain and the quote will show though in the distress ink colour, I love this bit, it's like magic.

I then glued the square to the lid of the box and inked the sides and cut edges of the square with the same distress inks and stain. I then thought it all looked a bit flat so I took my favourite stamp a basic crackle background (great for a filler), inked it up in the spice marmalade and randomly stamped it over the lid and sides.
The Pendant I have used one the large butterfly's as a base for this. (these are so popular that as soon as Moira gets them into stock they are all sold again, so do sign up for the email alerts to be informed when they come back into stock so you don't miss out as they are gorgeous)

I added a Tim Holtz ideology cog to the centre of the butterfly and topped this off with a reclaimed watch cog from my personal stash. I then attached chain to the top parts of the butterfly, adding Tim Holtz Ideology cogs and game spinners as shown, using jump rings to join them all together to form an interesting and decorative chain for the butterfly. This was really quick to make but it looks so effective that it could have taken you hours.

All the DT members are trying on their little black dresses this month and as usual this is linked to the monthly challenge and you can find all the details of this here.

Jewelley is my one of my Little Black Dresses by Moira Sutton

2011-09-04T15:47:00.000+01:00

The challenege theme for Septemebr is "Little Black Dress" meanimg that stamp / technique / tool / material you can not live with out. I simply cannot reduce my loves to just 1 so in this post I'm featuring 2 - jewellery making and metal. The giant bottle top has a piece of Ten Second Studios metal which I've embossed with a Bingo pattern, a couple of charms from the Tim Holtz Ideaology Adornmnets Charms and some beadazzles complete it and it is filled with resin.

The domino has been coloured with Brilliance Ink which dries on dominoes if heat set. It has been over stamped in StazOn, and sealed with versamrk and clear embossing powder. A charm from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Adornments Charms completes it.

For details of how to enter the current "Little Black Dress" challenge" click the link in the box in the right hand column.

September Challenge - My Little Black Dress by Paula Tidman

2011-09-01T18:40:00.000+01:00

We all have that favourite ‘ little black dress’ crafting product / stamp / technique / tool that we use more than the others, the ones we couldn't be without and would replace f we lost or damaged. For some it might be an old friend used many times and others a new discovery. I have a bit of an obsession with stamps and one of my favourite sets is Labels by Lost Coast Designs. I have used them many times and this time I have made a simple notebook.

I stamped and masked the images & coloured with distress inks. Then glued to some card and cut to size.

"Little Black Dress" is the theme for our August challenge. You can enter in one of 3 ways:

Blog your entry and use the Linky widget below to link to your blog entry
Load to the Happy Daze Facebook Page
Sent a pic by email to info@happy-daze.net

The current challenge ends at Midnight Friday 30 September 2011. Any type of work based on the theme is fine. One entry will be drawn at random to win a £15.00 Gift Voucher plus free P&P for the Happy Daze shop. Maximum of 3 entries per person. Entries must use at least one product which can be purchased in the Happy Daze shop.

We have a Winner

2011-09-01T10:14:00.002+01:00

The winner of our August Challenge is Lucy Edmondson!

Congratulations Lucy and a £15 Gift Voucher is on its way to you

Welcome to Zetti Town by Annette Goatley

2011-08-27T13:12:00.000+01:00

This is my final piece as August Guest Designer for Moira at Happy Daze and I want to thank Moira and her Designers for their great support.

The Background was created from Acrylic Squishings (see my blog post from 23 May for a demo). Stamps by Teesha Moore and are available at Happy Daze. Stamped the buildings twice onto card that had been brayered with the Big and Juicy Ink Pad. The arms and legs were stamped with Archival Ink. Cut them all out and created Zetti Town.

Have a great day, Hugs Annette x

Messing with Mistables by Ruth Philps

2011-08-25T07:01:00.002+01:00

I have been playing with the new Mistables Range by Pink Paislee today.

Each of the cards have a different background taken from the mistables 12x12 ink resist paper pack. These are a really heavy quality paper that will take a fair amount of abuse should you so desire..!!

I smudged Ranger Distress Inkpads on them to match the Websters Pages die cut shapes and simply added a pretty mistable journal tag to each.

This card has a detachable mistable fabric flower that comes attached to a hair slide.....the perfect colour for christmas and a cute present too!

I used Cosmic Shimmer Mists in bronze and then red, ensuring that the bottom petals were darker to create depth.

The versatility of these backing papers alone make them an all time favourite in my book. Yellow is such a hard colour for me to work with and yet I found that when I smudged it onto the bolder resist papers it worked fine.

Tip: when covering large areas of resist papers rub any excess inks off with a tissue to bring back the sheen.

Happy misting

Ruth x

Products used were:

Mistables Paper Pack

Mistable Journal Tags

Mistable Fabric Flowers

Mistable Fuzzy Stickers

Naughty can be Nice By Paula Tidman

2011-08-23T10:01:00.006+01:00

Not sure what these two lovely ladies have been up to. I'll leave that up to your imagination!
I used a wood jewellery box which I painted in white matt emulsion then I used Lost Coast Designs Naughty can be Nice stamped in archival ink. I used victorian velvet & dusky concord distress inks to rub over the box. The image was coloured in with water colours, but you could easily use distress inks. I finished the box using a a button and trim from my stash & a chain tassel.

by the seaside by Joanne Wardle

2011-08-21T08:00:00.004+01:00

I made this piece for this month's challenge theme beside the seaside.
I've made a really simple piece using starfish and words by Jo Capper-Sandon for Stampotique, and mesh from Scrolls Work.

I finished it with a scrap of blue vellum, a scrap of sandpaper and a few dots of liquid pearls

From Paris with love.... by Julie Dandy

2011-08-19T22:37:00.003+01:00

I begged Moira at the trade show in February to buy these cute little bags and it took some convincing let me tell you LOL :D

I have been meaning to do something with it for ages but it has been playing hide and seek with me for a while, but I finally caught it :D

I used Claudine Hellmuth studio paints watered down in a mini mister to colour the bag to start with as it was very white!!

I stamped Artistic Outpost Paris Exposition stamps on to tissue paper with Archival ink and tore around the images before gluing them down with Claudines multi matte medium.

I built up the colour with different colours of the watered down paint drying in between each colour. The amazing thing about these paints is they are waterproof when dry.
I applied some of the archival ink with a sponge to distress the edges a bit then gave it two generous coats of the matte medium.

When dry I added distress stickles randomly with my finger then when dry glued on the lace with the matte medium (its not completely dry in the pic sorry!!!)

I added a Zazi flower and madrigal flower which I only had in white, so I spritzed it with the pink paint :D

I'm really pleased with the finished bag and will definitely be using it :D

Moira has some fab offers on the site at the moment so head on over to grab yours :D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

P.S. Woopsie!! I missed off these fabby Glitz stamps!!

Love Potion #9 By Carol fox

2011-08-17T09:11:00.002+01:00

Using one of the lovely new Artistic Outpost plates, Apothecary I have altered a bottle to make a love potion bottle.
The bottle was coloured using Alcohol inks. I shaped some of the Filigree corners to fit around the base of the bottle glueing them to hold them in place. Once they were set in place I rubbed some Inca Gold over them.
I added charms, beads and chains to the bottle as shown.
Now for the yummy rubber stamps, I stamped the Witches potion image onto shink plastic, punching a hole and cutting it out just outside of the border before heating it, when shrunk I rubbed old paper distress ink over it. I attached it with a jump ring to the top of the charms.
I stamped the receipt image onto thin cream paper, adding the love potion #9 and the 60c images. I then inked the recipt with a pale yellow ink. I then screwed it up and inked it over the creases using old paper to give it a very aged and distressed look,like it had spent many years in a coat pocket.
Finally I added the love potion #9 image to a small tag to identify the contents of the bottle as it would never do to confuse the potion to win your true loves heart with a bottle of poison.

"Dancing in the Dark" and "Freedom of the Dance" by Annette Goatley

2011-08-15T20:23:00.000+01:00

'Dancing in the Dark' was created by painting on Photocard with Acrylics, which was an interesting experiment and I like the effect its given.

I stamped the Ballerina with Stars stamp by Lost Coast Designs twice, using Distress Inks on one, the other was stamped in Archival Black and painted with Glossy Accents which is attached to the background with foam pads.

I love this stamp so had to make another one which am calling 'Freedom of the Dance'..........

This time I used a Watercolour Postcard and painted a outdoor scene in Watercolours, a much softer effect than the dramatic 'Dancing in the Dark'. Then I got to thinking, as you do, this stamp would be perfect on some Christmas Cards and Tags, not to mention altered art..........but had better stop as my brain is working overtime..............lol Oh if only there were more hours in a day.............

Hope you have a great week and take care, Hugs Annette x

Does my new hat make me look fat? by Annette Goatley

2011-08-13T14:20:00.001+01:00

This time I smeared a Big and Juicy Ink Pad on my craft mat and squirted it with water, then laid my photocard over it and pressed lightly down.......Great effect don't you think.......... while this was drying stamped out this oh so vain Swimsuit Girl and Mr Carrot plus his Hat then coloured them with watercolour paints.

Glued it down onto one of my black journal pages after raising it all with foam squares. So a really nice easy project but I think it looks quite effective...........Mr Carrot is so cheeky you never know what he will get up to next do you..................

For detials of how to enter the current "Oh I do like to be beside the Seaside" challenge" click the link in the box in the right hand column.

Beside the Seaside - By Carol Fox

2011-08-11T09:35:00.000+01:00

The perfect mirror for a little mermaid to use in her underwater kingdom.
The mirror is one of the lovely blanks that are in the shop in two shapes of a heart and an oval.
I crackled a background using a purple and a cream acrylic paint, when this was dry I over inked it with dusty concord distress ink. This already look pretty good, but I wanted a bit of texture to it, so using a mask and Croco Colour in Blackberry I added a pattern detail to it. I also did this all over the back of the mirror and you can see from the photo how lovely the Croco works through a mask.
I went around the sides of the mirror with a thick coat of gold embossing powder.
The jewels around the mirror are from the shop, I do love these and the great thing about them is that they can be coloured with alcohol inks. I had to do this as I had a random colour selection of them, so using Raisin alcohol ink I did them all the colour I wanted.
The little seahorse is made from a mould with utee melted in my heat pot and then given a bit of a rub over with Viva Inka Gold to make it all gold and shimmery.
The theme for the new challenge this month is I Do Like to be beside the seaside and there is the prize of a £15.00 shop voucher plus free P & P up for grabs. So do check out all the details of how to upload your items by having a look HERE. You Gotta be in it to win it.

Bathing Belles by Paula Tidman

2011-08-09T09:30:00.002+01:00

I used a wooden curio house for my 'Oh I do like to be beside the seaside' challenge piece. I painted the house in matt emulsion paint and used a variety of stamps including Lost coast designs swimsuit girl and Scrolls work Julie & Sarah. The images were coloured in with promarkers and distress inks and highlighted with glossy accents.

Housework by Joanne Wardle

2011-08-07T08:00:00.003+01:00

I decided I needed to add some lost coast stamps to my collection and I had a browse of the happy daze shop and came across Housewife, which I knew I had to have.

I decided to make this card in chintzy housewife colours but with a not so housewife quote

Happy Daze Design Team

Light Flyer by Samantha Read

Drum roll please: Time to announce the winner of the January Theme.

February challenge: Love - A Technique you love to use

A Cracking Torso by Annette Goatley (nettyscraftings)

Alteroid by Samantha Read

A "nod" to the 1930's by Ruth

Imagine... altered wooden box by Julie Dandy

hidden message card by Joanne Wardle

Altered Domino By Carol Fox

Chunky Wooden ATC, Trying Something New By Carol Fox

' Grace in Simplicity ' by Annette Goatley

More Leonardo By Samantha Read

A new way to make an old book cover by Ruth

Leonardo Lovelies!

Mixed Media - ' Dance ' by Annette Goatley (nettyscraftings)

something new by Joanne Wardle

Polymer clay pendants by Julie Dandy

Steampunk Brooch By Carol Fox

December Challenge - Gifts, cards and Tags - Winner Announced

New Challenge for 2012 - Try Something New For The New Year

Party Time by Sam Read

Happy (or should that be Merry) New Year by Ruth

Shabby Calendar By Paula Tidman

Merry Christmas Everybody

Christmas Scrapping By Carol Fox

Childs Play by Netty Goatley

Another Configurations Box by Moira Sutton

A Tweet Christmas By Sam Read

A Cute Couple Card by Ruth

Winter Card By Helen Chilton

Shaker Tree Ornament & a card

Last minute gift by Joanne Wardle

Santa stop here...... by Julie Dandy

Creative Cardmaking

Still obsessed

A Shabby Gift

A Teesha Moore Christmas

November Challenge Winner

December Challenge - Gifts, cards and Tags

Please Welcome Annette Goatley

Cameo style Jewellery Set

Welcome to a new team member

We Three Kings by Joanne Wardle

Santas Christmas treat chest.... by Julie Dandy

Vintage Gentleman

Explosion Of Colour By Gillian Simson ....

A celebration of colour by Ruth

A Medieval Christmas By Paula Tidman

explosion of colour by Joanne Wardle

An Assortment Of Boxes By Carol Fox

Row of Houses By Helen Chilton

A sprinkle of reindeer dust....by Ruth

Alice Arch By Carol fox

UK Scrappers Blog Hop

A Winner is Announced

November Challenge - An Explosion of Colour

Christmas Past .... By Gillian Simson

Air-mail delivery! by Ruth

Hark The Herald Angels By Paula Tidman

Christmas with non-Christmas stamps by Joanne Wardle

Death bangle by Julie Dandy

Halloween Microscope Slide By Carol Fox

Spooky Book Time by Helen Chilton

Pretty Spooky Banner By Ruth Philips

A Victorian Christmas by Paula Tidman

a "Stella" Hallowe'en by Joanne Wardle

Hocus Pocus earwire by Julie Dandy

A Haunting We Will Go By Carol Fox

Hocus Pocus by Helen Chilton - with pic this time!

Hocus Pocus by Helen Chilton

It's Christmaaaaaaaas (and Hallowe'en)

A Winner is Announced

Sunshine and strawberry cheesecake in a box

The Sky is the Limit By Paula Tidman

splashy dragonfly card by Joanne Wardle

Butterfly Notebook By Carol Fox

Little Black Dress - London Underground Stamps by Gillian Simson

My Pretty Little Black Dress By Ruth Philips

Pearly Queen By Paula Tidman