Sadly time to say goodbye ..... Jennie

Hello to you all and welcome to this my final post for Calico Craft Parts. I have been on the team here since January 2017 and have had a wonderful time creating alongside my lovely team mates and friends Louise, Lesley, Julie, Claudia and Kerstin.

Sadly I have had to make a decision to leave but because my life is moving into a new area - my handspun textiles - and I need time to explore and experiment what I can achieve in this medium (before I get too old!).

I have, and always will be, a lover of Calico Craft Parts. I love being able to create something totally unique from the lovely kits and embellishments which suit everyone's style. Today I thought I would share a few of my most favourite of the Calico Craft Parts products.

Gibson Girl

February 2017

My Gibson Girl has to be one of my absolute all time favourites. She sits on my desk! I have made other art dolls but she has not been supplanted yet!

Objet D'Art

November 2017

The Beer Mats have been one of my favourite go to pieces. I love that you can throw so much at these wonderful mixed media boards and being able to use some of the smaller steampunk and mini pieces.

Make A Wish

July 2018

The fabulous range of ATCs has also been one of my go to pieces for a project. I have a huge collection made over the last two years. This is a favourite - made when I really had lost my mojo after a long holiday and which got me back on track!

Dolls House Play

May 2019

And then there are the wonderful kits - always a joy to create with and open to so many wonderful ideas and techniques. This is one of my favourites. It really was like playing dolls houses!

I shall really miss the team and all your wonderful comments but I am also very excited about starting something new. I will still be around creating in mixed media so do hop on over to my blog now and again to see what I am creating and of course I will still be in touch with many of you on social media.

As always thank you for joining me today and thank you for all your love, friendship and supportive comments during my time here on the team.

Jennie x

Live The Dream

Let's Go to the Beach by Jennie

Hello and welcome!

I thought I would celebrate the summer by making a beach themed banner using some of the fabulous smaller mini MDF pieces.

I just love the Mini Sheets of themed MDF and I think the To the Beach is one of my favourites.

I wanted a washed out beach colour so brayered my paints onto the banner and beach hut.

I added a little pop of colour by painting the lifebuoy red. And ..... the seagull is hiding the East part of the compass which I managed to snap off while painting (I am very heavy handed at times!).

It was fun to use some of the lovely sea shells I manage to collect on our sailing holidays around the West coast of Scotland.

A great fun project which is a lovely reminder of summer even if the weather is not that great!

Thank  you for joining me today and happy crafting!

Jennie x

Live The Dream

Calico Craft Parts used:

MDF Flag Shape Bunting

Beach Hut with Life Buoy

Mini Sheet (Style 1) Nautical Motifs

Mini Sheet (Style 2) Nautical Motifs

Mini Sheet Seagulls

Word Elements Travel and Exploring

Decoupage Box Storage by Jennie

Hello and welcome to you all!

Today I am sharing a project made using two of the cube boxes which I have made into a double drawer standing box by adhering the cubes to a fancy edged plaque.

I have decoupaged napkins on the front of each of the cube boxes which were then crackled with Deco Art Crackle Glaze. The rest of the pieces, including the plaque, were painted with chalk finish paint.

I then glued the two boxes together and then adhered them to the plaque. I have to admit that this took quite a bit of pressure! but by using some heavy books and a good quality thick wood glue it has stuck well!

The final touch was to add an Art Deco Ornament.

I have kept everything fairly simple as I know that by the time it finds itself next to my sewing machine the boxes will be full of all those little bits and pieces that lie around and the little shelf on top  of the cubes will be great for storing small scissors, buttons and pins and two little books I have for keeping notes.

By using different style napkins this could easily be made into a lovely little storage box for the kitchen or for your craft table!

Thank you for joining me today and happy crafting!

Jennie x

Live The Dream

Calico Craft Parts used:

MDF Cube Storage Box Kits

Fancy Shaped Blank Plywood Plaque

Art Deco Ornament Style 1

But First Tea by Jennie

Hello to you all and lovely to be back here at Calico Craft Parts sharing another project.

I really loved these large tea pot and cups and thought they would be perfect for  little mixed media ornament for the kitchen dresser.

The boards were coated first in gesso and then texture paste added for a little dimension.

I then clustered some embellishments around the saucer of the cup and added the butterfly. Everything then got a coat of white gesso, including the flowers.

I love this technique as I can use some of the very small pieces of flower and leaf clusters.

Watery pigment powders came next - I just keep spritzing and adding colour until I am happy. Different elements take up different hues of the colour, especially the flowers.

The Word Element was dry brushed with white gesso and once everything had dried I added some silver micro beads.

Quite a cute little ornament which could also be used on the front of a (largish) birthday card.

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

Jennie x

Live the Dream

Calico Craft Parts used:

MDF Teapot Shape 

MDF Tea Cup and Saucer Shape

Mini Butterfly Shapes (Style 2)

Mini Heart Shapes (Primitive)

Word Elements (Steampunk and Vintage)

Blues ATC by Jennie

Hello and no I don't really have the blues, just messing about with blue pigment powders!

This little ATC and frame has been sitting on my desk for weeks now so I thought I really ought to make something with it.

I always seem to have little pieces of the fleur-di-lis fence left and this is just a perfect size for an ATC.

As you know I always love how the MDF takes all the product you can throw at it.

The tiny slim label holders are just the perfect size for the ATC frame. I spend alot of time looking through my stamps for words that fit! I have scraped a bit of the paint back so it looks a bit rusty.

And a butterfly tucked into the fence both to hold it up! and to add a bit interest in the corner.

As always thank you for joining me and I hope my latest ATCs inspire you to create with these wonderful mini elements.

Jennie x

Live The Dream

Calico Craft Parts used:

ATC Wood Blank and Rounded Frame

Fleur De Lis Wood Fence Panel (Style 4)

Sheet of Mini MDF Butterflies (Style 3)

Sheet of Mini MDF Label Holders

Summer Sunshine ATC by Jennie

Hello and welcome to you all. 

We seem to have had some lovely weather just lately which put me in the mood of summer sunshine.  I am not normally a "yellow" person but thought I would give this colour a little outing for a change in one of my favourite ways to craft - on an ATC.

I have layered my ATC with a rounded rectangle shape to give it a bit of interest. I love the way the MDF will take anything thrown at it. This was really yellow when I first added the pigment powders so it took alot of water to get them thinned down to a colour I was happy with.

One of my favourite go to Calico Craft Parts pieces ...... the lovely keys.

And not forgetting the little tags which are always so useful.

A bit of fun and a simple ATC which my friends seem to love in lieu of birthday cards! It is always lovely to see these miniature art pieces adorning a mantlepiece long after the birthday.

As always thank  you for joining me today and happy crafting .... and I hope the summer sunshine continues!

Jennie x

Live the Dream

Calico Craft Parts used:

ATC Wood Blank

Rounded Rectangle Shape

Ornate Key (Medium)

Sheet of Mini MDF Tags (Classic)

Dolls House Play by Jennie

 Hello everyone and welcome to little Dolls House play from me today.

I thought it would be fun to turn one of the little shrine kits into a tiny dolls house with a summer feel.

And some lovely summer elements inside.

I wanted to create a real flaky paint feel to the inside of the dolls house and started with some tissue tape on the back wall. (I should add that this is my favourite technique at the moment ..... one I pulled together after experimenting with some new products ... however I am sure someone else out there has also done it).

There is not alot of space to work in but I managed to get some stamping in there too.

 I then added DecoArt Crackle Paint with a palette knife and when fully dry and crackled I added water pigment powders to fill in the cracks. You can see how the tape resists the paint and powders to give a really flaky effect.

There is no tape on this part of the shrine but I love the way the pigment powders get absorbed into the cracks. One of the mini label holders was perfect for the top of the shrine.

A mini butterfly nestled amongst the muslin and roses.

And a few more smaller bits and pieces for the top shelf.

I added some feet to the bottom of the shrine by way of mini circle plaques, but my little girl does now look as though she is floating off the ground!

A lovely little project which was really quick to come together and will delight my little grandaughter I am sure ...... and Nana had fun too!

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

Jennie x

Live The Dream

Calico Craft Parts used:

MDF Shrine Kit (Small)

Sheet of Mini Label Holders

Sheet of Mini Butterflies Style 3

Mini Circle Plaques

Dressing Table Tray by Jennie

Hello and welcome to another of my "useful" makes!  Today I am using a printer tray and some rather swish Art Deco ornament shapes which I thought looked like handles!

I really love the fact that so much of the wonderful MDF pieces at Calico Craft Parts can be utilised in so many different ways.

I started with the inside of the printers tray giving it a crackle finish using DecoArt Weathered Wood over acrylic paint. I was then able to layer a lovely napkin over of the top and the crackle still shows through.

I then glued the tray together and painted the outide in the same acrylic paint adding a Word Element onto the front of the tray. I always edge everything in gold metallic paint to try and give it a shabby feel. However my hand is not that steady these days and so I am always going over the edge!

And then the Art Deco Ornament "handles" were painted lightly to retain the etched pattern and stuck onto the sides of the tray.

Somewhere to keep all my little bits and pieces of jewellery on the dressing table - so useful !!

I also plan to make another tray for the sitting room table to hold some small candles and artifical flowers. There are quite a number of different Art Deco Ornaments which can be used as "handles" - so plenty of choice!

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

Jennie x

Live The Dream

Calico Craft Parts used:

Printers Tray Kit Base

Art Deco & Nouveau Style Ornament Shapes - Style 13

Word Elements - Apothecary

Botanical Tea by Jennie

Hello and welcome! It is always lovely to be back on Calico Craft Parts creating with new products.

And you can't have failed to see that we are all creating with the new Tea Caddy! I have used the medium sized caddy and some botanical tissue paper to create a caddy which can be used for leaf tea (my husband is a great tea drinker and loves  his different blends). Apparently this medium size will take a full 250g bag of loose tea - he has tried it already!

The outside of the box was first given a few coats of gesso - I have kept the inside clear of any products so as not to "taint" the tea!

I measured out the botanical tissue paper to fit right around the box and painted it on the reverse with blue paint - not being too careful as I wanted different shades to show through. When dry I stuck it onto the box with multi matte medium and left everything to dry overnight.

I used a tea-themed layering stencil to add a bit of texture.

Then the whole box got a coat of DecoArt Crackle Glaze. It is quite a big area to cover so make sure you have enough!

I found some glass door knobs in our local hardware store for £3.

Finally I added DecoArt Gold Metallic paint around the edges and to highlight the stencilling. I still felt it needed something else so glued metal tape around the edges. I am not sure that this is quite what I wanted as it is rather brassy! but it might fade with use.

I really love these new tea caddies and love the way my fellow teamies  are showing very different ways of decorating them!

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

Jennie x

Live The Dream

Calico Craft Parts used:

Medium Tea Caddy