Cacti!

I bought these today from Bunnings. (Seems like Bunnings is my favourite place to shop - no, not really.) I had a look in Big W during the week, but the cactus plants they had weren't this size and frankly they looked a bit dead.

What am I going to do with these pretties??

Watch this space!

Crafty Rach xo

Buzzing with creativity!

I decided to look back through my craft cupboard tonight to see if there were any projects that I had left that were almost finished. All I can say is wow!! I have a lot of stuff!! And a lot of unfinished projects!!

I'm absolutely buzzing with excitement because at least I can see a couple of craft products coming together before the weekend is over.

Crafty Rach xo

Cross-stitch - A Cure for Insomnia?

I thought it might be time to share with you another type of textile creation - my cross-stitch designs!

I had tried cross-stitch when I was younger, but I didn't really get it. I knew one of my best friends had been cross-stitching for her entire life, but I never understood this fascination. In 2010, I went on a holiday with a group of friends and watched one friend cross-stitching a design of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. Honestly, I thought it looked like a great way to pass time. And, it looked like it was another crafty outlet for me!

Having something to show for what I did with my down time was appealing to me as I had been battling insomnia for months (and still am to a degree). I was seriously over spending night after night tossing and turning in bed, reading boring books/junk mail or watching infomercials on TV - so I commenced cross-stitching!

For months I have been stitching various designs, sometimes up until 5am - much to my doctor's dismay as staying up until all hours simply because "I need to stitch its nose", "Just one more row", "It looks weird without this colour, I'll finish this section and then go to bed".

I was a woman possessed. My walls in my house were filling up with the latest and greatest cross-stitch designs from kits I have had posted to me from all over the world. Even my dreams have been filled with cross-stitch conquests that at times seemed impossible to do! I have settled down now, but it has taken at least a year to reach that point! My local framer has definitely accrued more business through me, framing some of my completed designs too! Not a cheap hobby!

Here are some of my "littler" designs that I have finished. I will gradually post my other completed designs over the coming weeks/months.

  

  A house-warming present: One of my first completed cross-stitch designs. Mounted and framed by myself. Painted the frame in Magenta paint, with iridescent medium painted over the top.

Glazed with gloss varnish.

  

Birthday card: Made for my mother in-law's birthday this year.

Loved how the design just "popped" with the colours used.

(One thing to remember for next time - measure the design so it fits within the card aperture!)

Another birthday card: Cupcake!! (Says it all really!)

 Crafty Rach xo

New Inspiration

Just a couple of pics of inspiration for my latest craft creation. I'm sure it has a proper botanical name, but for now, I will call it a Flame Tree. This impressive and beautiful specimen was once part of my grandparent's garden. It's coloured in my favourite colour palette.

Stay tuned!
Crafty Rach xo

A Jewellery Box - Fit for a Princess

Another late-night wander through Bunnings helped me arrive at this next crafty idea for my Niece's fourth birthday. I was sure she probably had jewellery boxes, but I was determined to create one that she will hopefully keep for a very long time!

M is a little girl who loves the colour pink and lives in pink outfits, decorates her hair in pink accessories and walks in pink shoes everyday. I thought it would also be special to personalise this jewellery box for her (hence the letter M), especially seeing as she has a younger sister (my youngest Niece is so cute!!). I know she will take care of it as best as a four-year-old can, but just in case, the jewellery box is made out of pretty heavy and sturdy pieces of MDF wood.

I also found these cute diamante-style pink heart jewels at Lincraft that  I thought I would use for decorating once finished (see above).

Using my best magenta, pink and white paints (Derivan Matisse) and mixing these with the iridescent medium, I created colours that would be for the base design and decorating trim. I also used masking tape to ensure my lines were straight and minimised paint-bleeding.

At first I was going to paint a checkerboard design on the lid of the box, but decided on not doing that in the end as the way in which I was measuring the individual squares (using the width of the masking tape) would not have created an even design. I ended up doing this:

 Lid and "M": Masking tape used to create a boarder around the lid. "M" painted in metallic Magenta paint.

Inside: Painted with metallic Pink paint.

 Box: Masking tape placed at very top and very bottom. Created line gap in the middle, painted with metallic Magenta paint in keeping with the other trims of the box (around the bottom of the box and the outside of the lid).

 All three jewellery box elements: A work in progress.

Box and Top: Painted with metallic Magenta trims, metallic pink boarder (top), and metallic white background (top).

Ok, I experimented with the iridescent medium to create metallic white. Honestly, it didn't really work. If anything it just added more volume to an already viscous tube of paint - which caused application issues (like streaking, bubbling and glugginess). I was a little bit disappointed when the paint dried as the surface wasn't smooth as what I hoped it would be. I felt the box was missing something.

A couple of days before the big birthday, I stumbled across another decorative medium in Spotlight's art and craft section:

New paint medium: Jo Sonja's Opal Dust

I decided to coat the metallic white painted areas with the opal dust to bring them out a little more, as well as hide some of the paint blemishes. Finished the box off with a gloss varnish to preserve the paint and the glitter on top. I also cut a piece of glitter pink felt for the inside of the box, so that scratches are kept to a minimum.

And here's the finished product!

I have a few more projects that I will be blogging about in the next couple of days, so stay tuned!!

Crafty Rach xo

Ok, I realise I've been a bit slack lately with putting up pictures of my latest creations. I will be posting up more bits and pieces by the end of the week. How exciting!!

What to give to a friend who has everything?

Last year, I had a house warming party to go to. I knew I was in a bit of strife as I had no idea what to buy for a present. What do you give a friend who has everything a house needs? (I knew my friend's collection of practical goods and gadgets had started a long time ago!)

Instead of stressing and buying something last-minute (and then regretting it later), I decided I would create something that my friend would enjoy, as she'd always said how much she liked my art work. My "project brief" parameters were:

• this gift needed to be different - something her house didn't have
• it had to be pink.

Knowing this, I found myself wandering the art/craft shelves of Bunnings Warehouse late one Thursday night. In amongst all the pre-cut MDF craft wood items, I found a wooden tissue box cover. I've typically seen tissue box covers covered in arty/scrapbooking-type paper, or some sort of material, or crocheted in wool with perhaps a cupie-style doll on top. *shudders* I have thought when looking at these types of decorated covers that the tissue box underneath is better off being plain!

Again, I initially painted the tissue box cover with a base coat of acrylic white gesso - sanded down when dry. I find this really does help to keep the colours from seeping into the wood, maintaining their vibrancy.

I decided to paint a striped pattern, using Derivan's Matisse Structure acrylic paint colours "Titanium White", "Metallic Gold", "Magenta" and "Magenta Light". I varied the widths of the coloured stripes with the help of masking tape and a ruler. The beauty with using masking tape is that it keeps the painted colour in the area exposed, protecting the other spots covered by the tape. It also helps keep those stripes nice and straight! There were a few areas that needed touching up once the paintwork was dry, but that's to be expected.

I decided to embellish the front of the tissue box with three wooden hearts, one big, two small. I painted these using "Metallic Gold" and "Magenta". I also applied a Gel Medium to the front of each heart which gave a thick, buttery appearance. I'm still not sure how to use the Gel Medium properly or what its true potential is. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know!

I attached the hearts to the front of the cover using a hot glue gun. I have found that Bostix is the best when it comes to this type of glue.

To preserve the paint on the tissue box cover, I applied a couple of coats of Polymer Gloss Varnish.

And here's the finished product!

I'm pretty sure it satisfied the project brief! My friend was very happy with her gift!

Looking forward to completing the other tissue box covers that are in my craft cupboard at the moment!

Crafty Rach x