Monday 31 December 2018

A Calico Review by Julie Ann

The eve of another new year and we wait for what 2019 will bring! Have you made a list of resolutions yet, or maybe chosen a theme for the year ahead? Whatever the year has in store, I hope it allows you some creative time. This is a time to look ahead, but also to reflect on the things we enjoyed about 2018 so I've selected my 3 favourite Calico projects from 2018 to share with you today.



Spring seems a long time ago now, but here's a reminder from March 2018 that daffodils will be peeking up again in not so many months from now! This was a tag art doll that was so much fun to create with Calico Craft Parts.



Then, still in the realm of the art dolls on tags, I created this little twig keeper! She is definitely my favourite make from 2018. She hangs in my studio, offering me twigs to use in my projects and generally brightening things up.



For my final choice, I move forward a little into the Summer of 2018 and a stack of storage boxes for all my bits and bobs. These were not only lots of fun to make, they have been really useful too.

 I'm going to include a link below to Calico Tags, House kits, Storage Boxes and Dolls because these, along with a multiplicity of exquisitely crafted and detailed decorative shapes, have proved a wonderful resource for me over the past year! Do take a look at the amazing range of shapes and kits stocked by Calico and the exciting opportunities they give for creative projects. I can't wait to see what new designs Helen has in store for us in 2019!

Thank You so much for the kind comments you have left over the past year. They have meant so much to me and Thank You to Calico Craft Parts for all the inspiration their products have given me and the opportunity to create and share here on their blog. I do hope that 2019 will bring you joy, creativity and good company. Happy New Year!



Saturday 29 December 2018

A short review 2018 by Kerstin

Welcome crafty friends!

An eventful year lies behind us and a certainly exciting year 2019 lies ahead.

The right time for an short review. 
 Now I have been a design team member at Calico Craft Parts for 7 months, 
time flies by, luckily the ideas never went out and I am still with a lot of joy and energy.

 Door hanger -  Out of Order

Our summer was very hot and
the yearning for a cool and relaxing place was very big. Whenever I see this project, I think of fresh sea breezes, delicious ice cream and a wonderful beach life.

 

 

 Altered Frame - Balloon Time

I love the vintage style, everything is a bit dated, is not noticed by many and has so many stories to tell.
Old faded colors, torn structures and as a special eye-catcher, a balloon in 3D optics.



Shadow Box - Nemo's Memories

I'm sure you know the awesome stories from Jules Verne with Captain Nemo under the sea.  I will always be an avid fan of the marine world, fascination and adventure at the same time, and with all the wonderful wooden shapes to discover here, it's always an exciting adventure to put new ideas into projects.


 
If you do need any further inspiration, then look no further than our blog to see all the wonderful creations from all the very talented Design Team members.
 Thank you for stopping by  and many thanks to everyone who took the time to leave me a comment on all past posts shared ... it means a lot for me!
 A special thanks goes to my friend Claudia for your translation help!
 English isn't my native language, so please don't be surprised today, perhaps a little bit weird mode of expression, I have prescribed Claudia vacation :-)
 
Hope you've all had a great time and looking forward
 to the next exciting year 2019! 
 Creative Hugs from Kerstin  

 



Thursday 27 December 2018

Tis the Season Gift Box by Jennie

Hello and welcome on this third day of Christmas! 


I am sorry I don't have three French Hens to share with you but I do have a seasonal gift box which I thought would be useful to house a small present for the New Year.



I really love these book/box kits and enjoy that they can be covered in mixed media products or papers.


For this one I have used a combination of both.



The box is very easy to trace around to get the papers to fit well.



The inside box was painted with a watery green acrylic paint and then stamped lightly with a woodgrain stamp. Just a highlight of a woody grain is enough to make it look like the real thing!



The outside of the box was first given a coat of gesso, another coat of white acrylic paint and then covered in DecoArt Crackle Paste. A very watery layer of water soluble die inks came next.


The Christmas Holly Wreath and Bow fits the front of the book perfectly. I painted this with ordinary red and green acrylic paints which I then crackled with DecoArt Crackle Paste.


I love how the final layer of DecoArt Antiqueing Cream really highlights the cracks.



A Gift Box for the Season!

As always thank you all for joining me today and best wishes for the rest of this seasonal time.

Jennie x


Calico Craft Parts used:


Monday 24 December 2018

CFCCPPs 2018 - Claudia's Favourite Calico Craft Parts Projects 2018

lol...it's that time of year again and I never know how to title this special kind of post.

Around Christmas the design team are to pick their three favourites among their own Calico Craft Parts projects from this year and share these with you in a short post.

Over here in Austria we celebrate Christmas in the evening on 24th December. So this is a prepared and scheduled post obviously as on the 24th I am found at home, busily climbing up and down our step stool, decorating our Christmas tree (in Austria the tree is put up on the 24th) ...





...and then heading over to the kitchen to finish the last dishes for our Christmas buffet (which mainly consists of small rolls, French Mayonnaise Vegetable Salad (an old recipe of my aunt's), mini Wiener Schnitzels my son and husband make, a delicious pastry, Salmon rolls or other delicacies my sister makes, sometimes also Egg Mayonnaise Salad as well or pickled herring salad (if there is still time), - and my sisters' wonderful Christmas cookies of course!).
No need to mention that we do not need to cook for the next four days after that... ;)


Back to the favourite projects! I admit picking just three is really hard - but pick I must and pick I did. So here they come:




I still love using and really loved making this ATC stand! It sits on my studio desk and is wonderful for displaying my favourite ATCs - which always is a good source for new inspiration too.


For the post with more images, the link to the storage and display box kit and the tutorial click HERE.









The second project I picked has been presented not long ago actually - but it definitely is my most favourite for 2018 - so it had to be among my Top3. I love all the beautiful Calico Craft Parts wood shapes I used on it, I love the forest theme (one of my favourite themes in general) and I am so happy and proud about how the finished pieces turned out!


For the post with more images, the list of craft parts used and the tutorial click HERE.







And last but not least I have picked this underwater shadow box I made for my son (who loves fishes and will maybe one day become a marine biologist). It was inspired by a pond in the Danube Wetlands National Park nearby where they have built an underwater observatory you can simply walk right in and see the pond through large windows from below the surface. We used to go there when he was a young kid and we just loved the spooky atmosphere and watching large carps and other fish pass us by.


For the post with more images, the list of Calico Craft Parts used and a full tutorial click HERE.



If you expected to find something Christmas themed and haven't already checked out my last project(s) from two weeks ago, simply click HERE and get a good dose of vintage Christmas decoration. And of course my wonderful teamies have created and posted some amazing Christmas projects too during the last weeks! So why not browse the latest blog posts on here... ;)


Wishing you all a

Merry Christmas 
and a
Happy New Year!




Enjoy the holidays!
Claudia
xxx





Saturday 22 December 2018

Mini notebook covers by Zuzu


I do tend to make my design team projects almost completely out of calico craft parts. But really, they are the most ideal embellishments for cards, scrapbook layouts, journals and tags etc.
I decided to share something I’ve been making that does just that. Uses the parts as embellishments. 
Whatever theme you’re  working to, there’s a craft part to enhance it. 
So here we are... Some quick simple stocking fillers. Mini kraft coloured notebooks that I jazzed up a bit with some left over scrapbbook papers and some craft parts. 
Most of the images I’ve used came from the front cover of the scrapbook papers rather than the papers themselves. I hate waste and they seemed to be the right size for my notebooks. 
The craft parts used are...
Snowflakes  I used one large one and a couple from a sheet of minis.
Star wreath (I cut mine in half...)




Thursday 20 December 2018

Hanging Icy ATC - by Lesley

Hi everyone. Lesley here. Two weeks ago, I made a little trinket box, I thought it would be a nice idea to make a little something to go inside.


The base is an ATC, which is a perfect size to fit into the box.


I used the same colour palette as the box, and used different shapes and sizes to layer onto the ATC to give it some depth.


I added a snowflake that I had left over from the lid of the box.
And finished it by adding a small piece of chain to hang it.


I hope you all have a relaxing Christmas and a very Happy New year.
Thanks for reading,
L.xx

Ingredients used

Plain ATC blank
Mini MDF feathers, style 3
Square birch plywood plaque
Mini MDF snowflakes, style 1

Monday 17 December 2018

Angel of Peace by Julie Ann

Hello Everyone! I can't believe how fast the time is passing. Here we are again caught up in the Christmas whirl and I have another arch angel to introduce to you, Paloma.



She is a peace angel, created from a combination of a medium sized triptych kit, a bauble blank and various lovely Calico details.



You can view her from both sides - waking or sleeping - so when she is on a tree or a branch she can move in a breeze and still look interesting! My family have suggested that her sleeping face resembles the moon!



Paloma took shape in a similar way to my two smaller, arch angels. I just gathered doll parts; a simple circular bauble shape; some wings and skeleton leaves from my stash along with some other Calico Christmas shapes and off I went!



Paloma's body was the largest arched section of a medium sized triptych, painted with blended blues and purplish acrylics. Once these were dry I added some napkin tissue, fixed with fluid matt medium. It was that beautiful dove on the napkin tissue that made me decide this arch angel was to be an angel of peace and her name would be Paloma.



I used another napkin tissue bauble for her reverse; some tiny pearls; distress glitter and stamping of lace in blue ink.




Here you can see Paloma's waking face, a print-out of my own art-work. The tiny Calico snowflakes have miniature buttons at the centre.



I painted the sleeping face straight onto the bauble. With the 2 smaller angels I used birch plywood plaques for the heads. The bauble was a great alternative as there was a convenient hole to suspend her from.




These little plastic clips from the DIY counter are useful for holding the parts in place while the glue dries.



In this arrangement I have added the beautiful, new Calico Snowflakes.



As Christmas approaches, I hope that Paloma will touch your world with peace and joy and that you will have some quiet times in which to create. In 2 weeks' time I'll be back with a review of a year creating with Calico Craft Parts.
Calico Craft Parts used 
Arch Top Triptych, Medium size
Mini Angel Wings Wood Shapes, style 3
Mini MDF Christmas Snowflakes, style 2
Plain Round MDF Bauble Shape
Standard jointed Art Doll Kit, style 2, small
Mini MDF Christmas Mix Wood Shapes
Snowy Cottage Scene MDF Wood Shape
Steampipe Snowflake
Steampunk Clockworks Snowflake

Saturday 15 December 2018

Minialbum Merry Christmas by Kerstin

Welcome!

Kerstin is back with a new Christmas inspiration for you.
It's a mini album and it can be used as a very special Christmas card 
with a photo from your children, pets or whatever you want.


 Calico Craft Parts products used:


some close ups:


I used two different sizes for this mini album 
and I have connected them with a flexible paper snow star


The snowflake was created using a cutting die - 
punched out two times and glued to both fronts  of the houses


That's the side where you can write or stamp your wishes on.

''It's Christmas time in the heart
that puts Christmas in the air ''




 

 

 Thank you so much for stopping by! 

I would also like to take this opportunity to wish 

you and your families

 a wonderful Christmas 

 and a very happy and healthy 2019!

Kerstin


Thursday 13 December 2018

Christmas Angel by Jennie

Hello Everyone! and lovely to be here with you again for the run up to Christmas.


Today I am sharing a small project using one of the Standard Art Doll Kits.



I feel she looks more like a guardian of Christmas rather than an angel of Christmas! particularly the way she is sat upon this upturned cup! But I am sure she will find a place somewhere amongst the Christmas decorations around the house.



After giving all the art doll pieces pieces a couple of coats of white paint I made a dress out of bits of muslin and netting.



Sparkly papers for a top ! and a wand (rather than a trumpet!) made from a piece of fence rail !



Those gorgeous wings were painted in metallic gold to offset the white and I managed to find a face to fit from some whimsical papers bought long ago. Mind you those blue eyes are a bit piercing!



This was a really fun project to put together and she will join my little collection of Art Dolls after Christmas.

As always thank you for joining me today and happy crafting.

Jennie x


Calico Craft Parts used: