Diamond Painting

We've completed two diamond paintings between us now and have well and truly got the bug. I've found it to be a great mindful activity through these difficult times and have already ordered another two for us to do. 

This one used almost 16,000 "diamonds" and the resulting picture looks fabulous up on Jessica's bedroom wall. 

We've tried both round and square drills with these kits. The square drills were much more time consuming and fit so tightly that they were a bit of a fiddle. I ended up using tweezers rather than the pen for attaching them. On top of that, there were a couple of different cuts of drill with the surfaces looking very different and I couldn't decide whether that bothered me or not! The circular drills are uniform and much more forgiving in the application so we could make much faster progress. Not surpisingly, the new kits are both circular drills!

Having completed the kits, we've now got millions of them left over and I can't bring myself to get rid of them so I have to think of creative ways to use them up. Cue more card making and tiny mosaics... :)

 

Foil and Fingerprint Cards

We had cause to make birthday cards for twins a couple of weeks ago and wanted to make them matching but not identical. With left over foil from her Galt Foil Art set rubbed onto double-sided adhesive, Jessica created a cake and some balloons. We then added fingerprint flames and more balloons before stamping the birthday message.

Super simple but Jessica was realy pleased with the results...

An Old Favourite of Mine

Our second Crafterzoom craft was my choice; I decided to return to a spot of quilling with a beautiful kit from Past Times. This was comprehensive and easy to follow but this was a much longer project. We met a couple of times online and both completed the project in our own time after that. Worth every minute though. I just love the intricate detail you get in a quilled card and this was a delightful pattern to work with.

Having rekindled my enthusiasm for this craft, I was also keen to revisit the production of paper roses using quilling techniques so I went on to create an anniversary card for my long-suffering husband.

I had only ever made roses one way before but this time I tried three different techniques for making them. The folded roses are my favourite but the different styles added a bit of interest and Jessica insisted that I also include some fringed flowers. It was my first attempt at making fringed leaves, which were incredibly satisfying and the results were very effective.

 

Coffee Stencil Thank You Cards

One of the many disadvantages to having a birthday close to Christmas is the huge number of thank you cards you have to make and write in a short space of time. It will get easier as Jessica gets older and more confident with her writing but this year it seemed to go one forever!

I had cards printed for Christmas but we made the cards for thanking people for birthday presents. We tried out something new and were pleased with the results. We used coffee stencils on the cards, filled them with PVA glue and then sprinkled with copious amounts of glitter. They were simple and effective and I suspect we will be using this technique again.

Foil Art Cake Card

Jessica created this birthday cake card using ripped double sided sticky tape and some spare foil sheets from our Galt Foil Art kit. The process worked really well and I'm now planning some similarly simple Christmas card designs. It's never too early to think about Christmas as a crafter - particularly for one whose child has just started school!

Birthday Cards

We have quite a few family birthdays in August so Jessica has been busy creating some beautiful cards this month. I am responsible for the cutting out but I do as I'm told and Jessica takes over once she has all the shapes she needs. Here are four of her most recent makes...

Mixed Media Buddleia Card

One last thank you card for Abacus on Jessica's last day. She used ink pads, paint, stickers and crystals to create this impression of a buddleia flower head to say a final thank you and goodbye to all  the staff who have made the past fifteen months at Abacus so enjoyable. Farewell!

Fingerprint Thank You Cards

I can hardly believe that Jessica's time at preschool is coming to an end this week. She's made some fabulous friends, many of whom will stay with her through her journey into Primary school, and she's had some really caring teachers who have helped her to flourish and ensure that she's ready for the next steps. 

With so many people to thank we haven't gone over the top this time but Jessica and I have tried to make some lovely things for her teachers to remember her by. I'll share them over the next few days, starting with these fingerprint cat cards...

Jessica's fingerprints were a bit little for her to be able to draw the faces on the cats so she asked me to do everything but the tails. She's always loved a crazy cat tail! She used ink pads to do the fingerprints and to stamp the "Thank You". I absolutely love these cards and they were so quick and easy.

Hot Glue and Pastel Thank You Cards

So, we opted for hot glue flowers and artists pastels for the next batch of thank you cards. Chalk works just as well but I have pastels by me and the colours are much more vivid. Jessica loves creating these pictures and they really don't take much time at all.

Marbled Thank You Cards

Having failed to post about the thank you cards we made after Christmas (which were inspired by a punched paper thank you card I saw on the Hobbycraft blog) we are now onto the production of thank you cards for the kind and generous people who have spoilt Jessica rotten for her fourth birthday.

This afternoon we opted to do some marbling on our cards, which we haven't done for a while. Unfortunately my marbling inks are past their best by some margin so our colour palette was very restricted and I don't think we'll be able to use the red again either but hey ho. Jess enjoys the marbling process very much so these were both fun and fast to make. Once the cards had dried she stamped the message on each one.

I wonder what she'll decide to do on the remaining cards we need to make...

Printed Pizza Slice Christmas Tree Cards

We made Christmas cards at Toddler group today and I loved the results! I'd put a few foam pizza bases aside to use for paint-printing. They turned out to be perfect for making Christmas trees. The children painted the foam pizza slices green using sponge brushes and then pressed them onto their cards to make a printed Christmas tree. Some children added baubles to their trees before printing while others did some finger painting straight onto their card to make the baubles afterwards. Either way they looked fab.

Robin and Baubles - more Christmas drawings

Another two gorgeous Christmas drawings created by Jessica for our Christmas cards this year. She did ask me to draw the outer shape for the robin but she has done absolutely everything else herself. I think they're pretty awesome.

Cards from Drawings

Jessica drew (lady) Rudolph and a Christmas Tree for me so that we could make them into Christmas cards. I scanned and reduced the images then printed them out multiple times. We mounted the images on red paper and stuck them on our card blanks. I love these so much that I'm not sure we'll be doing anything else this year now. Aren't they beautiful?!

Snowmen Cards

Next up are Jessica's snowladies (they have eyelashes). I love that she had to give them each a kiss on their cheeks!

Christmas Cards Started

The Christmas card production has begun this week in the Bradnum household. It's a long and slow process but we have started! First up this year we made craft tape Christmas Trees...

Tacky Tie Cards

We're making Father's Day cards at Toddler Group tomorrow. Having used quite a lot of paint and glue recently I thought we'd go mess-free this time so we're going to be making tacky ties using sticky-backed plastic and tissue paper. I've double folded each card and cut out a tie aperture in each. The children will cut or rip the tissue paper and stick it onto the contact paper before mounting it in the middle of the card. I love them. Here are Jessica's attempts...

Buddleja or Lilac Collage

This piece of Jessica artwork was inspired by a beautiful card I received for my birthday (thank you, Katie!). I'm afraid to say that she liked it so much that she started writing her name on it (sorry, Katie!) before I could get a photo of it for here...

Katie's card is embossed and then she has filled each circle in the design with various jewels and studs. It's stunning and gave me the idea to do a collage with Jess. I can't decide whether we've created a lilac or buddleja flower but either way I love it! I drew the general shape and punched out a whole load of circles then Jess got to work with her glue and stickers. She decided she liked them overlapping so we have a really full head of flowers. It was a great preschool craft. Thank you for the inspiration, Katie.

Toilet Roll Hearts Card

Jessica used a toilet roll squeezed into a heart shape to print some lovely pictures a few weeks ago. I used a few of them as thank you cards after her birthday and saved just one to use as an anniversary card for her Gran and Grandad. She wasn't completely on board with me using her favourite glittery pink card but she was very satisfied with the end product and I can always buy more sparkles!

Using Toddler Paintings

I rarely have a project in mind when we do some painting and the resulting sheets can hang in the conservatory for months before inspiration hits. Here are yet more examples of cards that I have made from some of Jessica's paintings. Like the jellyfish these were both created from shapes cut from her hand-print paintings. They make the most interesting prints and are so much fun to do. Although Jessica remains squeamish about getting her hands dirty she's perfectly happy to cover them in paint. It's a wonderful sensation tickling the palm of your hand with a paint-laden brush. Give it a try!

Merry Mario

I absolutely love our Christmas card from the Haighs this year. A brilliant use of Hama beads!