A "nod" to the 1930's by Ruth

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

A new way to make an old book cover by Ruth

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

A celebration of colour by Ruth

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 sprinkle of reindeer dust....by Ruth

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



Air-mail delivery! by Ruth

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

Pretty Spooky Banner By Ruth Philips

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!

It's Christmaaaaaaaas (and Hallowe'en)

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.

Sunshine and strawberry cheesecake in a box

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

My Pretty Little Black Dress By Ruth Philips

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

Messing with Mistables by Ruth Philps

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

Oh I do like to be beside the Seaside by Ruth Philps

This stunning Layout features papers and ephemera from Pink Paislee's Butterfly collection and some divine sequin trim.

"Oh I do like to be beside the Seaside" 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 Wednesday 31 August 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.

Dangly Things Challenge Piece - by Ruth Philps

I am a magpie for all things pretty, old or broken and my challenge piece is made from just that, broken and old bits of jewellery and the odd bird!

The beautiful birdcage is a tempting new stash item from Happy Daze made by Prima as part of their Vintage Trinkets Range.

 I used antique bronze findings to attach all the bits together.

 Fortunately the birdcage trinket comes in a pack of pairs along with four little birds, so I can make a matching necklace and earings too!!

You can still enter the Dangly Things Challenge HERE, to be in with a chance of winning this months prize.

A quick fix with Websters Canvas Ribbon

I have been playing with my pack of Websters Pages Hollywood Vogue papers and decided to have a go at using up the Fabric Ribbon that they make to match each line.

I started with a pair of sandals that the bling has fallen off and glued a
strip of the canvas ribbon onto it.

I stitched it on with a sewing machine (I think I need a leather needle in future!!).

I made my lace ribbon flowers by threading fine wire through the edge of the lace and pulling it tight, it's quick and easy.

A hot gun to attach the flowers and voila....one new pair of sandals.

I have started on a matching bag too......yippee I have lots of canvas ribbon and lots of ideas. What do you like to make with it?

Glamour, beads and tassels by Ruth Philps

I found this little tin in a charity shop it had a cute but very faded picture of a vintage postcard on it. It was clearly in need of a little TLC so I soaked the sticker off and scrubbed the tin to remove any dust and grease.

The Art Nouveau lady is taken from a Pink Paislee collage sheet from the Butterfly Garden Collection. She is surrounded with Ranger Liquid Pearls.

The trim around the bottom is similar to Guipre Lace and a large assortment of jewellery findings can be found here along with beaded tassels here.


Tassles are off course "Dangly Things" and could be used as your entry for the current competition over HERE