Winter Snowflakes

My project this week is inspired by the beauty of snowflakes.

I took an old cd, covered it both sides in paper by Two Peas in a Bucket,

then decoupaged a mandala image from Dover into seven separate layers.

I used Silver Stickles, Clear Rock Candy Distress Stickles

& a clear stardust Sakura pen to add icy twinkly highlights

& finished with clear gems.

I punched a hole through the top, using a Crop-a-dile

& threaded through organza ribbon to make a loop,

so it can hang near my craft desk this Winter.

Shabby Christmas Decoration

I've recently been organising my various craft areas & looking through past craft projects I've made.

One which I really enjoyed making was my Mandala, which can be seen here.

I decided to use some of the lovely Cosmo Cricket Christmas papers

to make a shabby Christmas flower decoration to hang up.

An old cd was covered in paper, front & back, then edged with a Krylon 18ct gold leafing pen.

I punched a hole through the top, using a Crop-a-dile, then added the ribbon.

The flower shapes (using templates from Inspire Me) were cut out,

then scrunched & edged in Distress Ink (peeled paint).

I drew black lines around the edges to give each flower definition,

then the layers were built up using Pinflair Glue Gel.

I added a gold coloured brad to the centre before securing to the cd base.

Being me, the reverse had to look as good as the front,

so I used a Cosmo Cricket chipboard greeting to secure the ribbon, using glue gel.

I cut freehand the holly leaves & made the berries using a small circle punch.

Edges were inked as before.

Bluebird Mandala

This is my Mandala for Jean's first monthly challenge.

The challenge was to make a mandala with seven layers - no other rules.

Mandalas can mean many things to many people,

but my understanding of them is that they represent life

& those aspects of life that are important to us,

so they are always very personal.

I knew mine would have to be based on nature

& I wanted to use words.

I decided from the start to use a cd as the base,

so this dictated the scale of my project.

I used papers from the Shabby Princess Vintage Florals range

& adapted templates from Inspire me.

Mandala

Jean has begun a monthly craft challenge, to stretch our creative imaginations.

The first challenge is to create a mandala.

The first week has already passed & I have only just started to formulate ideas.

* My mandala must be based on nature, where life starts & ends, where inspiration is found daily & where my heart is at peace.

* It must be about words, rather than images. Words are so powerful.

* My colours must be neutral, warm, comforting & blend well together.