Faith, Hope & Crafts

Hello Friends I got out my  Brusho's last night and had a wee play around.  I was feeling a little stressed so I wanted to make a mess and get into my happy place and craft. I made a few cards and this is one of them.  I have wanted to get this stamp out for a long time. So I finally did and I think the Brusho's worked perfecly for the sea scene. I used two colours of Brusho the sea green and turquoise.  I water coloured the mermaid and the dolphin, then went over them with Matallic Gelatos to give that silvery wet water look. I really love this stamp set from Unity. It is one of the designs from the lovely Phyllis Harris called Depth of Life . I Love her work so much. I have a LOT of her stamps they are just stunning.  This one is so unique too I don't think I have ever seen a dolphin and mermaid stamp. I hope you love my card as much as I do! Thanks so much for stopping by today. Mandi xox

  Hello Friends  Happy Friday!! We made it through another week yay! This is our 3rd week in Maine and we just love it here!  I stamped some images and got out my water colours and took them to the beach yesterday. I sat on some steps and painted as the tide was coming in and the waves were crashing in on the rocks right in front of me. It is a wonderful feeling to just drive 6 miles down the road and be at the beach. I can't tell you how much my soul just loves being around water. It is so soothing! Where I am from in Scotland I am surrounded by water so living in New York for the last few years was a huge adjustment for me. It was something I never quite got used to. So I am so happy to be close to the ocean again.  I  used this stamp I have not used this one before. It is called  Beautiful Place by Donna Downey. I love it!! I went with beachy colours as you can see. I kept the tag pretty simple.  Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today. 

Hello Friends I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. It's a beautiful day here in Maine! We went to the beach this morning. I have so many beachy themed crafts  running though my head that I want to make. However I was in the mood to make another distressed jar so I did! I got this glass jar for free and of course since I am Mrs Upcycle I was going to use it to craft with. Since its Summer and I wanted to make a nice bright yellow one this time. This is so easy to do so please have go at it. Even if you think you do not have a crafty bone in your body, you can totally do this.  I started off painting my glass lightly with a coat of  Buttercup acrylic paint and left it over night to dry. Then I stamped it with Versamark Ink and sprinkled some white embossing powder on it and heat set it. Now be careful as the glass heats up fast. It is best to not be holding it. I sat mine on a shelf while I was using my heat gun and then left there to cool. Once it was cool I took m

Hello Friends I am back with another texture tag!  Also to remind you to come and join us over at the Craft Stamper Challenge Blog if you have not already. As you know this month our theme is texture. So I used embossing powder and some stitching to create the texture on my tag. You can pretty much use anything you want that will give your project some texture. Remember you must also include stamping somewhere in your project.  I started out with my tag and sponged two different colours of distress ink Dusty Concord and Picked Raspberry. I went over the top with a  Tim Holtz Burlap stencil using the same two colours on opposite corners. Then I used a musical note distress stamp on the other two corners. Once it was dry I stamped over the top with this lovely heart stamp from Unity called  Follow Your Heart . I used Versamark ink and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. Next I used my border punch along the side and strung some purple hemp through the hole

Hello Friends I  am just popping on to show you my lovely upcycled box that I painted this morning. I bought this wooden box from the thrift store for $2 and gave it a make over.  Well correction my husband bought it. He accidentaly broke my other wooden box that stored all of my essential oils. He did promise to get me a new one. Now I don't know if you know anything about essential oil storage but they are expensive. I think my last one was around $40.  So when I when I saw this at the thrift store I grabbed it. My husband was happy to pay for it at $2 ha!  It looks handmade it has some nicks and imperfections on it but it all adds to the character and I was going to distress it anyway. I made a paint wash using Robin Egg blue acrylic paint and water. Thin the paint out until it is quite runny when you paint with it the wood texture still shows through. It left a nice wash and the knots of the wood were still noticeable.  When it was completely dry I stamped all ove

Hello Friends Welcome back to another Craft Stamper Challenge.  This month our theme is take a technique and that technique is texture. I started out with a Kraft tag and I used an  Anna Griffin Elaborate Quatrefoil Embossing Folder on it. I then highlighted the embossing with  Eggshell Paint and Gold Color Shine . Next I added some lace fabric to trim it out.  I used this lovely angel stamp from Unity called Maria Girl . I really was not sure about my colour scheme on this one so I kept it pretty monochromatic with the cream and kraft. I stamped the angel separately and fussy cut her out then painted her wings to give them some more texture. I then added some lace around her wings and a gold heart to her rosaries.   I hope you will join in with us this month and create a textured project. You can use lots of things to add texture like embossing folders, embossing paste, heat embossing, fabric, stitching these are just a few ideas for you. We have a fabulous prize up

Hello Friends It’s been a wee while since I have blogged but we just literally moved house 6 days ago.   Not only did we move house but we also moved state. We now live in Maine!! I can’t actually believe we live here. My husband was offered a job here, so he took them up on their offer and here we are. The beach is literally only a few miles down the road from where we live. You know how much I love the beach right? That is a whole other blog post though. When I saw this stamp on the Unity website I knew I had to have it. You can find it here  Change is Never Easy . This sentiment spoke to where I am at in my life. Do you ever see a stamp that speaks to you? I do!  I made this card the night before we moved house. I know what you are thinking. Like I had nothing better to do but make cards ha! I was packing away my craft stuff and just had the urge to make something with this stamp.  I   don’t really consider myself a creature of habit. I usually embrace change and don’t re