Collabor-ART Mystery gift swap

The wonderful Sarah Harris organized a mystery gift swap over at Collabor-ART. A wonderful blog where you can swap journals, canvases, mail art, etc.. and collaborate on arty projects. If you want to have a go click HERE for details on how to get involved. 

For the mystery gift swap we had to make an arty project and put it in a parcel with some crafty items from our stash, items that you don't mind parting with and recycling. One man's junk is another man's treasure as they say. Then with the parcel you receive from your mystery swap partner, take 3 items and make something from your new crafty bits.

So a big parcel arrived for me on Friday, full of wrapped up goodies.

Here are my wonderful new crafty bits, all laid out on my workdesk. I love the Prima crystals (lots & lots!), the stamps all of them, the alphabets, the papers, the paints....well everything.

Here is my beautiful handmade journal, I LOVE IT sooooo much. Thank you my secret gifter (I still have no idea who you are!)

Well I just couldn't wait to make something with my new arty bits.

So I got straight to work on the first page in my gorgeous handmade journal.

I used my new journal, the art butterfly stamp, and my making memories transfer letters for my 3 crafty bits.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to my mystery giver. xx

I will treasure it forever. Michelle x

Victorian Cats Canvas

This is my second design team entry for Try it on a Tuesday their theme for this fortnight is 'Lot of layers'.  Head over there and join in with the challenge for a chance to win a monthly prize.

I've also sent this little canvas to a mystery gift partner who I'm paired up with for Collabor-ART. But more about that with another post later this week.

You can just see my cat's tail sitting behind the painting at the edge of the table. She has to be in!

This canvas has lots of layers with a base of acrylic blue, white and teal paint. Then I added some texture from stencilled gesso (love the way the inks run over the texture). I used distress inks through a Dylusion stencil and used a text stamp here and there. I then dripped blue cosmic shimmer down the canvas (an essential bit of dippage!)

I stamped a crown stamp into heated Stampendous Frantage embossing powder and stuck down my Victorian cat image.

 I painted a tree directly onto the canvas and used liquid pearls for the cherry blossom. I added the cheeky sentiment and edged the canvas with blue and magenta paints.

This is one of my most favourite canvases, I'm so pleased my mystery gift partner likes it. 

Michelle x