Gloria in Excelsis Deo - Reason for the Season

Hello crafty bloggers! So lovely to see you here today. Your visits make my heart sing with joy!

Today I would like to share a project I made for Stampendous with the beautiful Manger Family stamp. 

My DT Sisters have also been sharing their inspirational Christmas projects this week. So if you are stuck for inspiration for your Christmas makes you might like to check out the projects on the Stampendous blog.

With all the buzz of Christmas gifts shopping, Santa, jingling bells and stuff, I sometimes forget what Christmas is actually all about. Don't you think this stamp is just perfect for capturing the spirit of the 'Manger Miracle'?

As you might know I'm not much of a 'colouring' stamper but I thought it might be helpful to share the colours of the Spectrum Noir markers I used for colouring the image.

The background was inked with distress inks and the bottom of the image was sprinkled with Pearlized Mica Fragments. As my adhesive for the mica I used E-Z Dots® Mini Permanent from Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L.

To create my Manger I used natural and copper brown raffia, mounted over white Crafty Foam Tape. For the Star of Bethlehem I used a Maya Road chipboard star and a 3D Foam Star which I decorated with Champagne Crushed Glass Glitter.

My sentiment panel was stamped with the stamps from the Excelsis Deo Perfectly Clear set (available via your local retailer) and die cut using a die from Marianne Designs. My poinsettias and pine cones were cut using Spellbinders dies.

To fix my embellishments in place I used lots of Dodz™ Small and DODZ™ - 3D. I was inspired by the Very Vintage Christmas challenge at Our Creative Corner so apart from the image, I kept the design and embellishments in the neutral colour palette.

To 'age' my design I used Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls mist. I just love the shimmer and the golden glow it adds.

I've used a lots of raffia, burlap and cheese cloth to add texture and capture the atmosphere of the Manger :).

I hope you enjoyed today's inspiration and thank you so much for all the comments you so kindly share. Have a wonderful week!

Big crafty hugs




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Our Creative Corner - A Very Vintage Christmas
Live & Love Crafts #18 - Stardust
Country View Challenges December - Bah, humbug!
Fashionable Stamping Challenges #62 - In the holiday spirit
DeaArt Inspiracje XIII - Kartka świąteczna z motywem religijnym

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Let’s Play with Monte Paper Mill – Movie Night Layout

Hello lovely bloggers! I thought it would be nice to pop in today to bring you the second day of the fabulous blog hop with Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L and Monte Paper Mill!

Today I'm playing with MPM Take 2 Collection papers. This is a lovely collection, full of great vintage film/movies related images. I've decided to make a scrapbook page with a photo of old film tins piled up, that we came across during out recent trip to Prague. My inspiration for this layout was a sketch from the November Sketchbook365 Challenge and it kind of evolved from there :).

I swapped the sides with the photo and the tag element and for my tag element I reused some clothing labels :).

I also used the packaging from the flowers to embellish the layout - the see-through doily from Prima flowers was just perfect for that!

I used different kinds of adhesives on my layout:
- Crafty Power Tape
- MyStik™ Permanent Strips Dispenser
- Black 3D Foam Squares
- E-Z Dots® Mini Permanent 

I am also 'wearing' some adhesive on the outside! Can you see those little foam triangles from the new 3D Foam Pennants set? I covered them with the most beautiful Stampendous Teal Mica Fragments and trimmed around the edges. It's so easy to apply the mica fragments onto the 3D foam shapes - be careful through, it's very addictive! :). The zipper and the tiny lace flowers came all the way from a charming flea market in Ghent.

One of my flowers lost its centre so to fix it I adhered a pearl over a sticky dot from DODZ™ - Medium pack. As my dot was bigger than the pearl I sprinkled some Fresh Green Glass Glitter over the excess.

To adhere all my flowers and embellishments I used DODZ™ - Small, DODZ™ - Medium and DODZ™ - 3D - lots and lots of them! Fancy having a guess how many I used in total? Leave a comment below and the closest guess will get a little crafty treat from me :). I will announce the winner next week.

Thank you for visiting today! Be sure to visit and comment on every post this week to get a chance to win a fabulous Blog Hopper prize package!

Big crafty hugs

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Other supplies:
Spellbinders - Shapeabilities Foliage
Flowers - Prima Marketing, Maya Road and Petaloo
May Arts - String Burlap Ribbon

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For Goodness' (Keep)Sake! Stampendous and Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L Team Up Week!

I am really excited today because two of my favorite companies have teamed up to play together this week - Stampendous and Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L!

And as tradition dictates there is a blog hop and there are prizes, not forgetting about the heaps of amazing inspiration! I hope you can join us for this week long fun and remember to leave some love as you visit the participating blogs to be in with a chance of winning.

As I it happens I am hosting the first blog hop post on Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L's blog today :-). Please visit my post here for the full list of crafty supplies and techniques used in this project.

There are lots of photos here today so grab yourself a cuppa, make yourself comfortable and let’s begin!

You might recall the canvas cover for a mini album I made recently for Stampendous blog collab with Maya Road. And since I made the cover it was about time I also did the album's pages scrapping the memories from our summer holidays this year.

The inside chipboard covers were decorated with papers, adhered with E-Z Dots® Permanent around the curved edges and filled with E-Z Runner®.

My project features lots of stamping and different ways to use your adhesives as embellishments. This technique is called 'wearing your adhesive on the outside'. It's surprising how many creative ways you can find to turn your regular adhesive into an embellishment!

I

Throughout my album I used a generous bunch of Stampendous stamps:

Cling Better Travel and Fresh Bloom, Perfectly Clear™ stamps Smashing Notes, Soaring Sentiments, Butterfly Charms, Air Travel, Baggage Claim, Elegant Borders, Tiny Alphabet.

I also used those cute little Keepsake Envelopes. They come in different sizes and you can punch holes through them and use them as separate pages in your album.

For my pages I used fabulous papers and stickers from Say Cheese collection by Simple Stories.

One of the places we visited was a magical Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. After we came back to the UK I found in a charity shop some jigsaw puzzles featuring the castle - what are the chances of that happening?! I used the puzzle box as a backdrop of my photos here.

I also used beer mats and little envelopes I collected during our travels.

I also used lots of 3D foam shapes decorated with beautiful Stampendous glitters.

The photo above shows the highlight of my trip - browsing a mahoosive selection of ribbons and laces at a flea market in Ghent. I spent ages and a fortune while looking through these, my poor hubby! lol

Phew... if you are reading this that means you survived my photo story - congratulations! :-) 

Don't forget, each day is a new chance to comment to win one of three prize packages! (note that stamp designs & glitter colors may vary). 

So here is who’s playing today:

Asia King (yours truly!)

Kristine Reynolds

Stampendous! Impressions

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L

Thank you so much for visiting today and I hope you have a fabulous crafty week!

Big hugs





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Stampendous and Maya Road - big blog hop!

I don't know about you but I am really enjoying this week's creative journey with Stampendous and Maya Road. If you haven't checked all the inspirational projects yet, be sure to have a peak - you won't be disappointed. 

And who knows, you might win some fabulous crafty goodies too if you leave some love and let us know you've visited! (nb. winners need to have a US shipping address).



For today's blog hop project I decided to play with this fabulous canvas binder. I am going to turn it into a mini album with our holiday's photos. I haven't decorated the pages inside yet but no doubt I will very soon! 

And here's how I decorated my album cover.

1. Supplies list 
Stampendous: cling Luggage Labels, cling Jumbo Peruvian Lily, cling Jumbo Hollyhock, cling Wander Lost, Typewriter Alphabet clear stamps; Black Crushed Glass Glitter, Pink Micro Glitter, Sunflower Micro Glitter
Maya Road: canvas binder, Ruffle Blossoms, Trinket pins
Other: Dreamweaver Summer stencil, Translucent embossing paste, Inktense pencils, acrylic paints, paper flowers, ribbons, Glimmer Mists, decorative masks, texture paste, DODZ 3d (Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L)

2. Colour the entire canvas cover with Inktense pencils.

3. Spritz the cover with water and using a wet brush blend in the colours. 

4. Spritz some Glimmer Mists onto the cover through a flower mask. Allow the cover to dry (or dry it with a heat gun).

5. Randomly stamp Luggage Labels onto canvas with white Distress Stain. For a more washed out look stamp the labels onto slightly damp fabric.

6. Add more stamping using Crimson Archival.

7. Apply diamond accents through a stencil with texture paste mixed with some acrylic paints.

8. In corners stamp the ornate swirl from the Peruvian Lily set with gold acrylic paint.

9. Emboss the word 'summer' with the embossing paste and decorate with micro glitters.

Allow to dry thoroughly. When dry outline the glitter word with Sepia pencil and blend in the shading with a waterbrush.

10.  Add more stamping to the inside cover flaps with the Hollyhock swirly border.

11. Stamp the sentiment onto paperned paper. Add all your embellishments and paper flowers. Apply some DODZ 3D accents and cover with black glass glitter. Add final touches with Liquid Pearls.

And here is the back of the cover.

Well then, I hope you've enjoyed reading this little tale about my 'summer sizzler' - I'd love to know if you have :). 

And these amazing artists have also prepared a visual treat for you so hop along and enjoy the Road! :)

Asia King (that's me!)

Cyndi Bundy

Jamie Martin

Janelle Stollfus

Jennifer Dove

Krissy Fossmeyer

Kristine Reynolds

Lea Kimmel

Stephanie Lee

Suzanne Czosek

Tenia Nelson

Tobi Crawford

Stampendous blog

Maya Road blog

Big crafty hugs





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Stampendous and Maya on the Road together!

Welcome to the fabulous & super creative collaboration week with Stampendous and Maya Road!

As always, there will be lots of inspirations for your art-hungry eyes and there are also some goodies looking for a new home, too! For a chance to win, hop along participating blogs and leave some love (NB. winners must have a US shipping address). The more love you leave, the bigger your chance of winning!

This is what I would like to share with you today. I've gone for an autumnal masculine look with this card with a touch of Steampunk, too!

And here's how I made my card.

1. Prepare your supplies: cling Clock Works and Jumbo Leaves (with free template) stamps, Decorative Buttons and Lucky Stars chipboard sets, cardstock, patterned papers, clear embossing ink, Coffee Archival ink, distress inks

2. Cut the card blank and your main paper panel to size. Using the leaf template as a mask start adding shading with distress inks. Build up your layers as desired.

3. Once your leaf areas as clearly defined over-stamp them with the Jumbo leaf stamp. Add more colour to your leaves with the distress inks.

4. Sprinkle your panel with Aged Silver, Aged Gold, Aged Scarlet and Aged Hunter enamels,  add some mica fragments from the Mica Kit and a handful of sequins and watch parts. Heat from underneath using a heat tool.

5. Using Boss Gloss or a clear embossing ink pad cover your chipboard elements generously with Aged Silver and Aged Gold enamels. Add another layer if needed.

6. Ink up your Clock Works or Tin Panel stamp with Black Archival. Reheat your embossed chipboard (one at a time) with the heat tool. Once the enamelled layer has melted immediately over-stamp it before it cools down. Repeat with the remaining shapes.

Layer all elements and add your embellishments as shown (ribbon May Arts, adhesives Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L).

Here's who's playing today:

Asia King (yours truly!)

Cyndi Bundy

Tobi Crawford

Tenia Nelson

Kristine Reynolds

Jamie Martin

Stampendous blog

Maya Road blog

Fancy another chance to win? 

How about a HIDDEN CONTEST??
We want you to visit us on Pinterest so here's how to enter -
1. Follow Stampendous on Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/stampendous/boards/
2. Follow Maya Road on Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/mayaroad/
3. Start your own board - call it whatever you like
4. Pin this week's blog posts to your board - BE SURE to put @Stampendous and @MayaRoad in the description of EACH pin. (that's how we'll count the entries because it emails us when you do that!)
5. Sit back and WIN - rahavit could not be easier!

Big crafty hugs

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Challenges for this card:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Embossed
Scrapki Wyzwaniowy #79 - Stars
Tando Creative - Let's Leaf It
Frilly and Funkie - Anything goes
13 Arts #10 - Sketch challenge

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