Are you up for a surprise? FSC #39

Re-edited: Hurray! My project has been chosen as one of the top picks at Live and Love Crafts challenge! Yay!!

Ho ho ho! Merry After Christmas to you all! :)

It's time for another Fashionable Stamping Challenge and this time we ask you to SURPRISE US!. Yep, that's right. Whatever theme, project, occasion you'd like to share, we'll be delighted to see it - anything goes folks! But remember, we're big fans of traditional stamping so keep those digi images at bay! lol :).

In the spirit of a big surprise party, the Fashionettes are having a some fun too! We've decided to play a little Secret Santa game, making a project for a fellow Teamie. The trick is that no one knows who's making their gift. They will have to wait until Mr Postie delivers their package to find out (errr well, except Santa's Little Helper who drew the names from the Hat. And Yours Truly, that is!).

So without further ado, here's the project I made for this lovely and super talented lady and her name is... 

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Ha ha! Got ya! Did you really think I was going to tell you? Nope. You'll all have to wait for the Big Names Reveal until all Fashionettes have received their gifts :). Anyway, the project I made is an altered papier mache frame which...

...was first covered with printed napkins and then toned down with lovely pastel coloured matt emulsion paints. Then, the frame was generously treated with some lovely stamping using stamps from Prima Documentary script, Creative Expressions Swirls, Stampendous Leaf Sprig and Stempleglede Grunge Collection. Next, I added some accents with texture paste through a stencil and while the paste was still wet I sprinkled some Fresh Green crushed glass glitter (I must confess, I absolutely adore all crushed glass glitters from Stampendous!). Once the paste diamonds were dry I added some shading around them with a chalk pencil.

The edges of the recess were decorated with Stampendous Burgundy and Powder Blue colour fragments. The recess itself was first lined with layers of cheese cloth and lace for a shabby chic look. Then, I added a couple of patterned paper panels stamped with Paperbag Studios Dress Up stamp, Tattered Angels Clock and the lovely sentiment from the Stampendous Rose Thought plate. 

The girl was coloured using my brand spankin' new Spectrum Noir markers :). Don't you just love that cute little girl? I also used this stamp on this decoupage shabby chic heart project.

To embellish the frame is used a handful of lovely flowers (Prima Belle Fleur and others) and first treated them with white acrylic paint. I wanted to keep my frame in a wintery colour palette and white paint touches are an easy trick for a delicate 'frosty' look. I also added some punched snowflakes covered with Shaved Ice and some handmade moulded flowers from Frantage embossing enamels. If you'd like to know how I made them, make sure to check out my video tutorial here.

Well, I hope you like this SURPRISE inspiration from me. But most importantly I truly hope the recipient of my gift likes it, too! It can be quite 'nerve-wracking' making a handmade gift for another crafter, especially such a talented one :). And I cannot wait to receive the pressie from my Secret Santa - oh this is sooooo exciting!

So what are you going to surprise us with? Are you stuck for ideas? Hop over to see what my DT Sistas have created and your head will be spinning with new ideas!

May I also take this opportunity to thank you all my blogging friends for being so wonderfully supportive and for all the encouraging and beautiful comments you always leave. I'd like to wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year 2013, full of laughter, health and creative flair. Let's make this New Year super special - to show the World it was worth carrying on! :)

Big hugs




I am entering the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp - Anything goes
Live & Love Crafts #6 - Anything but a card 
Vintage Stamping Challenges #3 - Pocket full of posies
Stampin' For the Weekend #24 - Anything goes
Crafty Ribbons Challenge #35 - Blue and Green
DL.ART Thankful Thursday Challenge - Anything goes
It's All About The Vintage #34 - Lace Dream
Paper Crafting Journey - Anything goes
Divas By Design #66 - Anything Goes