Mirror, diary and some tips

I thought, that I've done with Xmas pieces, but my son-in-law asked for a diary... I've made one and want to talk about some tips which you might find useful.



The first point is ageing. Everyone knows that I like vintage items so the matter of achieving ageing effect is very important to me. Usually I use bitumen and other patinations but sometimes they add blur to the image and overall effect could be too strong. Here I decided to age background of the item before I glue the picture. In this case the image stays very sharp but overall effect is vintage.

Another point is the inside of the covers. I get crackling using shellac/gomma arabic pair and I like to wash off the layer of gomma arabic with water. It means to be very cautious to avoid water getting inside. With this diary I've lost concentration for a moment and ended up with water stains inside the cover. To rectify it I use the napkin again. The best is to use a second layer. Here I use the same napkin.



And here is a different napkin completely to underline the opulent feel of this diary.



And this is a mirror. Nothing special, but I like this napkin! Here again I shaded the frame corners before gluing the napking.

I am famous!

It's a joke but not completely! In Wednesday's issue of local newspaper The Press there was an article about the beautiful shop which is run by lovely ladies and my good friends Anna and Jemma. This is Anna in the picture:



And in there they've mentioned my name specifically and presented me as one of their main suppliers, a very crafty person and so on! All very flattery! With a picture of one of my Xmas decorations! Isn't it great? This is a Link to the article. Of course publicity is a great power! The very next morning a lady came in the shop and asked about my works in particular and bought three(!!) of them! As you can imagine I am very happy with this!

Merry Christmas!

This year I've done with Christmas decorations early and decided to show the most of them in one post. To make a greater impact! I made some decorative boards with Xmas motives, both sides are decorated to prevent using them as proper chopping boards!



This is a back of it, the golden craquelure is not noticable I am afraid...



This one is very nostalgic, my friend told me that she remember the picture from her childhood...



I like this one the most - it's tiny and rather cute!



A few hearts and a plaque. I decorated all of them on both sides. I think it looks more festive (and more professional to this matter!).