New from Stix2

We've just had some lovely new products from Stix2 which I thought I'd share with you. Firstly a new range of biodegradable glitter. These come in 8 gorgeous colours & are super fine, just right with Christmas crafting season just around the corner.
  

Another new exciting products are the MDF door hangers. These can be used in a variety of ways & for lots of occasions. You can go crazy with mixed media techniques as they can be coloured, painted, stamped, stencilled, heat embossed.... the possibilities are endless!!

Here are a few ideas I've come up with.

I've given the hanger a coat of gesso & then stencilled some stars using an inkpad. I  added some strips of Ultra Sticky Clear d/s tape. I've used the new glitters in silver, blue & pink. I went all around the edge of the hanger with the 3D PVA glue before adding more glitter. The unicorn embellishments were attached using the Hot Melt glue gun.

I've painted this one with black gesso & then stencilled using a metallic inkpad. The stud effect has been achieved with hot glue & the new bronze glitter. The stars are Stix2 die cuts S57363 Stars which I have coloured black & then applied some PVA glue & the new gold glitter.

 Lastly this one too has been covered with white gesso & then sprayed with Stix2's spray paints & left to dry. The wedding bells are again a Stix2 die cut,S57418 White Bells. I've placed them onto DS tape sheet (S57107) & then cut around them. Peel away the 2nd sheet & cover with the new white glitter. Edge th bells with blue ink. These Hangers could be used at a wedding venue to point the way for guests or even as a table sign.Just add some Stix2 white organza ribbon to finish(S57390).  

All new products available from end of July/August

Everything's Hunkydory !!

A few weeks ago I had a lovely surprise & was invited to write a blog review of some of the great products from Hunkydory. Well I didn't need asking twice did I? There followed a very enjoyable evening (or 2!) perusing their great, very easy to use, website.

Now I must admit that I haven't been very familiar with many of their products & was a little under the misapprehension that it was mostly Decoupage, cardstock, paper pads etc. How wrong I was! Anyone who knows me knows I love my stamps & I was pleasantly surprised to find a great selection of Hunkydory  own brand stamps. So below is my selection (that took a while I can tell you because I wanted it all!!) & following are the designs made from all the yummy products. 

For the Love of Stamps:-

FTLS379 A HOUSE BY THE RIVER £8.00 &

FLTS417 COSY COUPLE £4.99

8 X 8 PAPER PAD FOXY103 FOXY & FRIENDS £9.99

DECOUPAGE SHEETS HFFDEC907 907 LARGE SUNFLOWER £1.99 &

HIDEC905 A NICE TIPPLE £1.99

SHA211 HEART GATEFOLD CARD PACK £2.99

"A Nice Tipple"

I started off with "A Nice Tipple" decoupage sheet. The card is great quality, beautiful gilding & very easy to pop out. Lots of very nice usable sentiments for any occasion plus decorative strips to enhance your design. I made 2 cards from the set &  I always like to gently shape the pieces with a large ball tool on the under side & go around the edges with a black/dark marker pen. I used silicone glue to put the pieces together as you can match the design easier & vary the thickness in places too.

Here I used  6 x 6 card & completely covered the front with the background sheet which comes with the set. I then used some of the decoupage pieces, added a sentiment & one of the decorative strips to complete a very pleasing card.

For my 2nd design I used a 7 x 7 card blank & cut away half the front from top to bottom. I then used another  piece from the background sheet to cover the piece remaining & mounted the decoupage topper onto green card which I then attached to the centre of the card blank by it's left side. To the inside of the card I then attached a strip which had also come from the background sheet. To complete I added some sentiments & decorative strips.

Large Sunflower

Next I decided to stick with decoupage &  work with the very pretty & elegant "Large Sunflower". Again very good quality & beautiful gilding & lots of scope to make more than one design from this set- I made 3! 
I incorporated some of the very pretty & versatile papers from the paper pad "Foxy & Friends" which lent themselves beautifully to the summery, feminine look of the decoupage sheet. As before I shaped each piece & got rid of the white edges

I used a 7 x 7 white card blank for my first design & covered the front with one of the papers. they are double sided so complement each other very well. Here I've used the topper & finished with a sentiment strip & a circular greeting. 

 This design is simply the background card & I've used it to make a topper which I've mounted onto pink cardstock & the background paper is also mounted onto pink. Just a couple of sentiments & you've got a very pretty card. It's an A5 card blank. 
  

I've cut an aperture in a A5 card blank & attached a piece of paper to the inside. I then used the rest of the decoupage on the inside of the card, added some punched butterflies, sentiments & corner pieces from the background sheet & you have card number 3.

A House by the River

Now here's a confession! I didn't know that Hunkydory made stamps! I know.... how could I have missed that?! They have a great range of photo polymer (clear) stamps covering all kinds of themes. Again very good quality, fine detail & easy to use whether on an acrylic block or in your stamp platform. I'm a lover of scenes & also water colouring so "A House by the River" ticked all boxes. There's a lot more to choose from in this range too so do check it out as just perfect for the men in out lives.
I was working on a 8 x 8 white card this time & as I said I have water coloured the image. I stamped onto water colour card stock using Versafine Onyx Black. When dry I applied Versamark over the entire image & then covered with clear embossing powder which I then heated for a clean glossy look. The stamp set includes 2 useful sentiments one of which I've used at the bottom. I've used papers from "Foxy & Friends" again for this & to punch some small leaves which I have placed around the edges of the frame.   

 Cosy Couple

The second stamp set I chose is this cute & quirky one, I'm always on the lookout for stamps with a touch of humour & again Hunkydory did not disappoint. There are several other stamps in this range so if you're looking for stamps to raise a smile check these out.
I used this stamp in conjunction with "Foxy & Friends" paper pad & also a pack of pre die cut  gatefold heart shaped card blanks, 300gsm. Here again Hunkydory have a whole range of card packs in various shapes, sizes & themes & excellent quality.

For my design I used mostly papers to paper piece the stamped image & the paper pad has ideal papers for this technique as most have a small pattern. One word of warning is the inkpad which you use. The papers have a slight glossy finish so an ink like Versafine will not dry so I used Brilliance Graphite Black & just set aside for a few minutes then you're good to go. I coloured the hair, faces etc with coloured pencils. I covered the card blank itself with 
co ordinating papers & added a die cut greeting on the outside. The stamp set comes with a lovely sentiment which I've used on the inside of the card.    

You can see the variety of paper designs which you get in this paper pad which measures 
8" x 8", has  48 sheets (3 x 16 different double- sided designs) & 150gsm. Great for any occasion even masculine cards.

Lastly, the gatefold, heart shaped card pack. 

I have to admit I haven't used a great deal of Hunkydory products before but I've been delighted at the variety, quality & diversity of their products. Not only that but they stock a whole range of other brands too so you'll find everything  you're looking for at www.hunkydorycrafts.co.uk 

Thanks for stopping by & for reading my review. See you again soon.