Zuzu’s Petals

I joined a tag swap last month and because I started one tag, I took a bit of a notion for making tags in general. From huge 10 inch tags, to 7 inch, 6 inch, and 5 inch. I won’t share all of them here though. There were too many lol. But here is a selection….

So let’s talk about a perfect spring wedding with a beautiful pop of color! Our spring wedding with Corinne and Dan was stunning! Embedded in the heart of Chicago’s skyline at The Skydeck at the Willis Tower, this wedding definitely left a memorable mark with helicopters and supersized games

Our fall Mystery Knitalong for 2014 has been revealed! Zuzu’s Petals is a clever and versatile accessory that you can knit in many different yarns. Jane choose this pattern from the bunch b…

Our fall Mystery Knitalong for 2014 has been revealed! Zuzu’s Petals is a clever and versatile accessory that you can knit in many different yarns. Jane choose this pattern from the bunch b…

I haven't been too well so not been able to craft, but, I am also a "blog-a-holic"so have not enjoyed seeing NOTHING on here for a week lol. I am cheating by just sharing some stuff I made for the craft fair next week... its nothing new or original. a rehash of stuff I've made and sold in the past but it lets you know I didn't just drop off the planet I guess lol :) Its just a couple of altered pocketwatches. The image in the second one is from ARTChix as are the little rose, the Eiffel tower, the german scrap and the metal "PARIS" charm inside. the key is a Tim Holtz one I think. I just have a box with keys in it so pick what ever seems to fit. I also forgot to do a giveaway when i reached my 200th follower a couple of weeks ago so i will get that sorted when I am feeling all better and back to crafting. In the mean time I hope you are all well and finding time to create when you want to. Z x

In Remembrance of Grandma Anna, her favorite flower was planted this spring. Now we are enjoying the beautiful colors as well as the s...

It's official. I've found my favorite venue in Chicago and it's called The Rookery . Have you seen it? It's an amazing little bit of architectural history and makes for the most beautiful backdrop for...

yes thats me. a total slacker when it comes to blogging. i have remembered to keep updating my facebook page and i have blogged for my design teams (which i have cut down to a very manageable minimum due to realising i had stopped crafting for ME and was only crafting cus I HAD to use certain stamps every week no matter if i wanted to or not.) But it seems the less I HAVE to do, the less I do. however, thats not to say I have not been crafting. I really have but its all been very repetitive. lots of boxes for a steampunk event in Birmingham at the end of the month. you have all seen my boxes before so not been blogging them so I dont bore the pants off you. lol. but as my blog is neglected and I am supposed to blog weekly (as part of my design team commitment to keeping an "active blog") I am now going to share some of my steampunk event "makes" for my we craft table. I havent been able to use my craft room for a few weeks so i cant make anything really fun and messy. its all very safe papers and stamping I am afraid. should be back in the craft room after its major reshuffle very soon though.) OK so here is a small selection of some of the boxes and tags made so far.... (the majority of the supplies came from Calico Crafts HERE )

I absolutely ADORE a winter wedding, so it pretty much goes without saying that I have fallen head over heels for this stunning Chicago affair by Heather Parker Photography . Yes, with a room all ag...

Mona just finished knitting up a new store sample for us. Zuzu’s Petals by Carina Spencer has “all the style of a shawlette without the fuss of trying to keep it around your neck!”…

I'm in a mixed media frenzy: Stampendous and DecoArt have come together to do a fantastic blog hop full of mixed media loveliness. We have been using an amazing range of paints and mediums from DecoArt along with the wonderful "Studio Multi Media" cling rubber stamp packs, Fran-tage embossing powders and Elements and the Creative Palette from Stampendous. When the supplies arrived with me, I immediately watched the cool youtube video Stampendos have provided on how to use the "Creative Palette". Next step was to try it out and make some backgrounds of my own.... I set some aside for future projects and then set about using one to make my first ever journal page. I had been watching the video of Prof Wangari Maathai (she won the nobel peace prize in 2004) telling the story of the little hummingbird. And I was inspired by it. My page was made to remind me of that inspiration and to remind me that I can only try my best and that must be enough.it may be insignificant but it is important to try. Imagine if we all put our minds to the same problem and did our best!!!! I selected one of my backgrounds and decorated it further with more of the stamps and stencils, using more acrylic paints. I hand painted on some grass and plant life then printed off a hummingbird image. I used more paints and some pastels to highlight the hummingbird then printed off my quote and glued it on too. I coated the whole page with DecoArt multi-purpose sealer. And for your interest, here is the youtube link to the story...

I absolutely ADORE a winter wedding, so it pretty much goes without saying that I have fallen head over heels for this stunning Chicago affair by Heather Parker Photography . Yes, with a room all ag...

just as the title says. I’ve been on a lovely Finnabair weekend of mixed media heaven... We did 4 projects then today I did a shadow box at home inspired by the clock we did on the course.

There's only one way to describe this wedding: glamorous. Absolutely glamorous. Planned to perfection by Shannon Gail Weddings and Events , it features an amazing gold cake from Bittersweet , adorable...

On Tuesday I showed you this cool video on how to make fab backgrounds using the Stampendous Creative Palette... and I showed you one way to use them as a background for a journal page. This little canvas was made, using more of my home made backgrounds. I made my backgrounds using a mix of DecoArt Media Fluid acrylics, Traditions acrylics and Americana acrylics (sometimes I mixed them together just to see what worked with what.) I tore some of the backgrounds in to strips, added some extra stamping with the Stampendous "Sheet music" stamp and the " musical definitions" stamp. Then I stuck them to my canvas in rows for an even more varied look. I then used DecoArt modelling (texture) paste through a Stampendous "treble clef" stencil. while it was still wet I added some Fran-tage embossing powders and used the heatgun. I also added more of the texture to the corners. when it had dried I used the Stampendous Music background stamp on the texture. I glued on some Fran-tage elements (in this instance, little mica chips in pretty colours.) I then cut a heart from another of my preprepared backgrounds and stamped the music on to it using white paint. I used DecoArt media fluid acrylic paint as it has a super high amount of pure pigment, I gave the whole thing a coat of the new DecoArt Mixed Media "Clear Crackle Glaze". When it had dried a painted over it with some transparent quinacridone gold, left it for a few seconds then wiped it all off again with a damp cloth. The paint stayed in the cracks. :) last but not least, with a clean damp cloth, I applied DecoArt metallic lustres to the edges of the canvas. Thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of the blog hop Z x

I know, it is becoming repetitive but all other projects this last couple of weeks have been for design teams so I can’t post them here. So here is my latest journal page.

Well the postman arrived with my order of wooden boxes of various sizes and shapes at 2pm and by 3:30 I had decorated two and added them to my shop. i get so excited by new stuff that i have to go make something NOW.... lol. However the two heart shaped boxes below are really just rehashed variations on the cheese boxes. its a tried and tested design of mine that i can now reproduce without getting stressed out. the ribbon is so pretty it does all the work.

So let’s talk about a perfect spring wedding with a beautiful pop of color! Our spring wedding with Corinne and Dan was stunning! Embedded in the heart of Chicago’s skyline at The Skydeck at the Willis Tower, this wedding definitely left a memorable mark with helicopters and supersized games

Further adventures for Nigel. I have taken him to the far east to recover from the trauma of scary clowns and fearsome lions.

source

I have taken a real notion to be working with fabric recently. I decided to make a fabric book as i have seen so many gorgeous ones on the internet and always wanted one. I dont have a sewing machine so it was sewing by hand and fabric glue. but it was fun and i do love it, even if its not as accomplished as some of the wonderful ones i have seen elsewhere. i have added some essential oils to it too so that it smells good when being handled. I cant show all the pages as some are reserved for a Design team piece using "artistic stamper" stamps. (you will spot a few of the number stamps stamped on to fabric throughout the book.). my Calico and the "new" lace was all from calico Crafts, as were the buttons. the strips of silk ribbon are from the artistic stamper. the rest of it is vintage and reclaimed fabric and lace from my own little collection.

Some day they’ll go down together And they’ll bury them side by side To few it’ll be grief, to the law a relief But it’s death for Bonnie and Clyde. Source: Bonnie Parker, “The Story of Suicide: The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde.” We were so thrilled when we were asked to be a part of

I had a few emails saying that people didnt have facebook so were missing out on the step by step on how i make my fusible film / fantasy film boxes and canvases. so here it is on blogger. One thing about blogger that stands out when you are loading a fair few images is, its irrational way of loading them, regardless to the order you upload them, it displays them in any order it likes. so I hope i managed to shuffle them around in to the right order.... so here it is .. 1/ Here is the stuff. it has a lot of names, it depends on the make really. 'fusible film'. 'fantasy film' 'glitter film' angelina or angel fibres... you will have to work out where you can get stock from easily and go with that, but they are all pretty much the same and it comes in lots of lovely colours. ( I get mine at the craft barn at the moment and its by Cosmic Shimmers) 2/ paint your canvas or box a base colour that reflects the over all look/ theme you are going with. I have a bit of a thing with either autumn forest colours, or deep see colours so todays example is going to be ocean related.. I painted my box with Deco-Art paint in a nice aqua blue. it doesnt have to be perfect as the over all 'end feel' is somewhat aged looking. 3/ I have chosen a film in aqua tones. bear in mind that these films have more than one colour going on in them. although this one is predominantly aqua, it has a lot of pink in it when tilted to the light. 4/ I smeared acrylic gel medium over my box. this is what your film will stick to. in this instance I have used golden (brand name) and smooth gloss, but regular and matt are fine too. stick with what you have. its possible that good quality PVA glue would do as a substitute but do a test piece on card or something first to be sure. 5/ now tear off a bit of your film and scrunch it up... 6/ place it on your surface. 7/ Cover the areas you want the film on.. in this instance i am covering the whole lid of a box.... allow the film to overlap in places as it adds interest and texture in the following steps.... once you have your surface covered its time to take out the heat gun. 8/ start heating up the film. you can have the heatgun on at full blast for this because you actually want it to melt the film. as it gets warm it will shrink and tighten up, sticking to your surface... 9/ don't be timid with it... as my mentor, Linda Baldock, always told me when she was telling me about this technique ... "heat the holy crap out of it".... concentrate on specific areas and let the heat melt holes in the film... you can also use the heat to shrink the film back from the edges. dont worry about the Gel Medium bubbling up, it will turn clear when it dries and its only adding more interesting texture to your item. 10/ here is my melted film lid... see the holes and also ridges etc where the film overlapped itself. so this is the basic first step... you can leave this as it is and just add embellishments or use it as a basic background... but if you know me, you know i like to keep adding layer upon layer so I'm far from done. 11/ I want to highlight the ridges and bumps to just make it richer and more obviously textured. so for this I am using "treasure gold, gilt wax polish". the colour I use is whitefire gold. if you dont have this you can use rub'n'buff, or gleams etc. any cream based metallic polish will probably work. if you have none then try a krylon pen.. press the nib on to a cloth and use the gold from that. but as every step on this is optional, dont worry if you dont have anything. just move on to the next step. i simply used my finger to apply the polish to the ridges and raised bits of the film at my discretion. 12/ you can see where i have added the gold polish as it hits the light. 13/ its not as "in your face" as that when the light isnt reflecting from it... here is another angle. again you can stop now and leave it as it is.. but I am not done yet...... 14/ I want to add even more texture. I am using some of the fusible fibres (angel fibres) and i attach it in the same way as I attached the film. I use the gel medium. but the fibres require a fraction of the heating. be warned that as this is not the manufacturers intended use, then i am heating it in a way that its not expecting. the majority of the "twinkle" will be melted out. i am going for a more organic look. if you want the twinkle to stay in then gently iron some pieces as per the manufacturers instructions and simply glue them into place. But i am heating mine with a heatgun and letting them melt. they become a bit plant and moss like.... 15/ here it is with the fibres melted on.... you can leave it like that... but I am not done yet. 16/ Remember you melted little holes into the film? well now I want to make a feature of them. because this is an ocean themed piece I am imagining the holes as rock-pools. fill some of the holes with glossy accents (you can use gel medium or PVA glue but the accents dry nice and clear and smooth like water)... once you have filled them, sprinkle in little seed beads etc.... let them dry... you can leave that step till last if you like but i like to get some of my other layers going over the beads.. so I am doing it now. 17/ I wanted a bit more variation in colour added to my surface and for this, i like to use alcohol inks... you can apply in the usual way but i like to wet the surface with blending solution (or use the cheaper version of "rubbing alcohol" which is fine as long as its not on glass as it seems to have a slight cloudy residue on glass. ) when the surface is wet I drip on my chosen alcohol inks... this time I used "stream". i tilt the surface and let the inks run across the surface. I also gave this one a slight misting with a mica based mist ( i used a gold one). 18/ so its looking pretty cool now. shiny and textured with some subtle colour variations . again, you can leave it like this. I just cant help myself, so I have more to add. 19/ I want to add some embossing powders. you can adhere the powders any way you like. i like to sprinkle them on right after the ink and mica spray, while its still wet (maybe give it another wee spray to be sure its wet enough) I used cosmic shimmers powders for this... a gold one (forget its name.. might just be "gold" lol.... and i used "Lapis jade". More heatgun and melting. concentrate the heat on the powders as you want them to melt down in to pools of lava like colour..... then let it cool. 20/ as a final touch, i sued a few dabs of "stickles" glitter. I think i used one called "ice crystal" or something. (I'm not very informative am I lol). you can see the effect of the stickles a little better in the next photo as it catches the light... I am actually contented to leave that as it is now and simply glue on my embellishments. I have just added a selection of metal "ocean" related charms etc. you can change your theme depending on colours and available embellishments. there now. after fighting with google, the images seem to be in the right order and there is my step by step guide as to how i do my film covered canvases and boxes. its still up on facebook too for those who prefer to go through it that way. thanks for all the interest you guys have shown and I hope this proves of some use. Z

I stopped swapping ATCs when I passed the 2,000 mark. you cant go on forever can you lol. And for 4 years or more, the only ones I have made since, were for the egypt folder i showed two weeks ago... I have not made any for swapping. HOWEVER (lol), I was on Trish Latimer's blog and noticed she had made an awesome painty background (the way trish does) for some ATCs and she was offering up a swap. Cant possibly let that one go by, so I asked if I could swap with her. I made three... I am also swapping with one of my other craft friends, Shelagh, and I have one spare. they are made mostly of calico and lace, with a card backing to keep them stiff. the image transfers were also done on bits of calico. Calico, lace, inks and rusty heart from "Calico crafts" Images from "Crafty individuals". Word stamps from "The Artistic Stamper."

Well I finished the last of the "pair" game pieces today. 24 pieces stained, stamped, images glues, distressed, gilt waxed and varnished.... all ready to go in to their presentation box, (shown below)... These sturdy little wood rectangles were just perfect for it. (going to have little game of it to make sure it works, although its more dependant on my brain working so I expect an "Epic Fail" lol). I am going to start on the rest of the dominoes tomorrow. (the wooden tiles are from Calico Crafts And the images are from ARTChix...)

Married in Texas at Kindred Oaks, Jennifer + Sean enjoyed each other, cute beer burros, amazing BBQ, and gorgeous garden-rustic style on their wedding day.

Yes, Its another Domino and its another Da Vinci piece from the set Vinci Vitruve (also available in the UK from the Craft Barn). I made this little book as the one I made two days ago sold the next day so I don't have one now. This one has a different look from the last one.

So let’s talk about a perfect spring wedding with a beautiful pop of color! Our spring wedding with Corinne and Dan was stunning! Embedded in the heart of Chicago’s skyline at The Skydeck at the Willis Tower, this wedding definitely left a memorable mark with helicopters and supersized games

Married in Texas at Kindred Oaks, Jennifer + Sean enjoyed each other, cute beer burros, amazing BBQ, and gorgeous garden-rustic style on their wedding day.

We love to shop, especially for plants, bulbs, seeds, and anything garden-related! Here are several of our favorite places to buy plants online.

Married in Texas at Kindred Oaks, Jennifer + Sean enjoyed each other, cute beer burros, amazing BBQ, and gorgeous garden-rustic style on their wedding day.

Still busy making things for a craft fair this month. a lot of it is similar to things I've shared before that sold well so I am making repeats... but I know not everyone catches everything depending how often the blog hop over here so am showing them anyway... I noticed on Anika's Blog that "Try it on a Tuesday" has a theme of Boxes on their altered art challenge. So I am entering this post. I am forever altering boxes as you know lol. Boxes are all from the Craft Barn.

Download this Petal Cartoon Png Material, Sakura Petals, Petals Flying, Petal PNG clipart image with transparent background for free. Pngtree provides millions of free png, vectors, clipart images and psd graphic resources for designers.| 7051992

Monthly Mixtape: Zuzu's Petals and Eggnog

With going a bit more 'part time' on some of my design teams, I have a bit more time to make things just for fun... So I altered a wee box, because I wanted to use my Key Lime chalk ink... and I made a tag , because I wanted to see if my masking fluid had gone off due to being 4 years old. I dont know if masking fluid goes off.. but I just wanted to see. Supplies list.... For the Box: box, chalk inks, artimo leaves, crackle stamp are all from Calico crafts. the colours used in the chalk inks are "key lime" "mango madness" "Spanish Olive". For the tag: Butterflies (from graphic 45 paper,) , chalk ink "Mango madness" and paint from calico craft. heary shape drawn around a calico crafts rusty heart. Stamp was a gift from my friend Val at bedecked beads. Large blank tag, and stamped journal words from' The artistic stamper'.