Keep Your Heart Open

For those of you who came for a desk snoop yesterday as part of WOYWW 206, they will have seen this page in progress.

I started this page at a class, continued it at home but then left it to one side whilst I deliberated what was missing.  Yesterday I decided that it had to be finished and to crack on with it no matter what!  So, now I'm happy with it and I can pop it on my blog for everyone to see - yeay!!

 

The inspiration for this page was my big bunny Bruno.  
 

Petie

We got our first English Lop, Petie, in September and as soon as I saw him I loved him.  He was the most gentle rabbit and he loved to be held.  Sadly, he died on the day we returned from our holiday at Christmas and we were really sad.  

Bruno

I went back to the breeder to get another big rabbit and I chose Bruno.  However, its always hard to open you heart to a new pet when you are missing one you just lost but he's won me over with his gorgeous personality and kind nature.  


I decided to draw a stylised version of him and colour
him in the distress inks.

Relaxing in the garden

The background was created with dylusions spray inks and stencils.  

To be honest, I've shied away from the spray inks as they are quite messy and my workspace is rather small with my computer, carpets and white blinds to consider (not exactly ideal!!).  However, for this page I flooded the paper and then splodged it down on my craft mat and it was such fun that I'm actually keen to give it another go!  The only problem is that now the edges of at least half my new art journal are red!!!

I added quite a lot of texture stamps and other bits and bobs to create background interest before sitting my rabbit on some old sheet music, tinted with Distress Ink.

I cut my heart and added some wings and doodling and then finished the page with the paper banner edges and the title.

Investigating the camera

I am entering this page into the Craft Room Challenge to stamp your own background and also as a new entry in the Creative Corner blog as it's Anything Goes so my rabbit should be OK over there!!

Have a great week whatever you are up to.

xx

Tulip Bookmark

Today it's my son's 15th Birthday.  It's obviously a great day for him but it's always really special for me too as he was my first child and as corny as it sounds, it just feels like I had him yesterday.  I can't believe I'm a Mum to a 15 year old!  ( Sure all you Mum's out there know exactly what I mean!!)

His birthday list is very short this year which means he only has a couple of gifts to open and the remainder of his budget he is saving.  This is great as he has money for things he may want later in the year but it's not much fun getting an envelope of cash is it? 


However, the one thing he did want was a bookmark.   

He is an avid reader and his mulberry paper bookmark we bought in Thailand some years ago is almost worn out.   

He saw a really cool one make from recycled electronic boards at the Natural History Museum but it was a bit chunky to sit nicely in a book.  So, he asked me to make him one.

I did a class at the weekend at the Stamp Attic with Kate Crane which was fab.  She got us drawing and to my surprise, I found I could draw better than I thought. So I decided to base the bookmark on 'Tulip' who is Max's rabbit which he has had since he was a tiny baby and which has been his favourite soft toy his whole life.

Tulip has always been the special toy and he has travelled the world with us.

My regret is not knowing this in advance as I would have loved to have thought to take photos of him on our travels as it would have made a great album.

I created my background using dylusions inks and stencils.  Added some stamping and painty bits & pieces before covering most of it up!!!  My rabbit was drawn and cut out and painted using distress inks.

I wrote a note from Tulip on the back which will amuse Max and then I ran it through my Zyron machine to protect it and make it last a bot longer!  I punched a hole so I could add the tassel and it's all ready.

I've yet to make his card and cake so better press on!!

Have a great day ...


 I am going to enter this bookmark into FSC Challenge 'Sentimental'.  When I popped by and saw their challenge, I thought this must be meant to be as it couldn't really get more sentimental for me (it nearly made my cry writing the note on the back as it brought back all the times he was a little boy!!) Oh ... I think I need to 'man-up'!!

x

Magical Card

A little card featuring doodling and a magical castle which I've made just for fun.  I hadn't used this stamp in a while and fancied a bit of a magical moment ... so what better thing to do?!! 

The background was created with Dylusions inks and white Indian calligraphy ink.  The spotty border was stamped using a Differentcolors stamp which I cut down to a narrow size before doodling around the edge.

I coloured the castle with distress markers which I love (one of my best recent purchases!) and I finished the card with a Stampotique flower stamp to which I added silver sparkly centres.

Hope your day has had some magic too ... 
 
x

Dreaming

Everybody loves to dream don't they?  

This week at Gingersnap Creations the challenge is GCSP11: Once in a Blue Moon Challenge - Things The Leap.  

I started off with frogs ... and then quickly got stuck! Having got no frog stamps or anything else really froggy or leapy I was fast running out of ideas until I realised that 2012 was a leap year!!  

Ta Dah!  Jasmin (Stampotique) popped into my mind as a dreamy kinda girl who may well be thinking of popping the question on February 29.  I inked my background with Dylusions sprays and them spattered white calligraphy ink randomly across the tag.

I used a Crafters Workshop meadow template with Stuart Gill Byzantia paints to create a very muted meadow for Jasmin to lay in.

The date was stamped using original printers letters which I then cut out and I created the ring with a jewellery jump ring and silver stickles.

I think this week's challenge will definitely get you all thinking.  Check out the other DT's take on it and get hopping into your stash!

Have a great crafty week ... xx

Never More

The new theme at Gingersnap Creations is the famous poem, The Raven, by Edgar Alan Poe.  The word 'nevermore' features many times throughout the verses and so as a play on that, I decided to split my word up as my poor man is definitely Never More!!!

I used stamps by Tim Holtz and Green Pepper Press to create the grizzly scene and I inked and masked the background with distress inks and dylusions sprays.  A splat of gold acrylic grunged it up a little more before the swirls (In My Words by Fancy Pants) were added.

I used an ideology acrylic chip for the title and a skull charm to finish it off - lovely and creepy!!

As Halloween is upon us, why not see what gruesome images you can find in your stash and join in the fun?!!

Keep craftful (is that a real word - I'm not sure?!!)

x

On the Road

The theme for this week's challenge over at Gingersnap Creations is On the Road.

I started off thinking about transport and cars and briefly toyed with an idea using the Old Jalopy die by Tim Holtz but then my mind started to come in on the idea of the road of life and this photo lent itself perfectly to this theme.

It was taken in 2004 of the children ready to go to their new school. They all look so small and I don't know where the time has gone!

I created a road using Dylusions sprays and Glimmer mists with a variety of masks.  The hearts were free cut from my test spray page and the line of stars was the mask I cut to use in the road so nothing was wasted!

The tag is hard to read in the photo but it says "So the day arrives when they stand in their new uniform ready to start out ON THE ROAD to gaining an education and growing UP.  An important moment for us as parents and for them.

I'm really pleased with the simplicity of this page and hope you like it too.  :)

Tag Thursday

 

What is it about today?  I've got the tag bug and cant stop making them!!

A couple of days ago I received parcel from Art Journey with some GORGEOUS stamps.  Normally, I'd get them straight out of the packet, mount them up and start stamping but creativity is running low (and time to create even lower) due to our imminent housemove :(  It'll be OK once it's done, but at the moment I'm the wrong side of done (if you know what I mean!).

Anyway, I decided that these stamps were too lovely to wait, so I've made these tags.   The backgrounds were created with Dylusions inks and I misted two of them with Marshmallow Glimmer Mist just to set off my stamps.

The shells are all stamped and painted with watercolours and are from Art Journey.  I love the urchins as they can be cut up into sections so are really interesting. 

The tag on the left has fish which I cut from the packaging of a fancy box of chocs I was given as a gift. The fatter fish are Art Journey.

My mermaids are, of course, Stampotique.

I will be mounting these onto cards tomorrow to use for some thankyou notes I need to send.

Hope you like my efforts ... I'm off to bed as it's late ... must remember to shut the cat in the Laundry Room or I'll be back here at 5.30am LOL!!

Grungy Monday 07

I've finally found time to enter Linda's Grungy Monday challenge ... having gained an extra hour in my day today, due to being woken by a naughty cat at 5.30 (trust me ... he's not so cute when he's pulling the carpet outside my door!) and decided to use the time to make my tag. 

The challenge this week was to use Tim Holtz's  Distress Colour Ink Blocking technique.

I inked the background using the technique and then spritzed it with water and removed some of the ink to soften the effect.  I stamped the music on the side with a Versamark ink pad and painted violet mica powder over it. 

The birds and nest are from the Artful Flight CMS 069 set and the sentiment from Stuff to Say CMS110.

I sprayed the lace lightly with Dylusions inks and added a stitched heart button and fibres. Not a bad job just as the kids start to emerge for breakfast ... must diary another 5.30 slot!!

The Mount

St Michael's Mount is one of the most iconic landmarks of Cornwall.  We visited it last year and it really is an amazing place.  The island is connected to the mainland by a causeway at low tide but once the tide comes in, it becomes an island again and is accessible only by boat or amphibious vehicle.  

On my recent visit to Cornwall, I was rummaging around some old curiosity shops when I came across some old cigarette cards with images of Cornwall from days gone by.  One of them was of The Mount which inspired to get scrap my photos of it.

I converted the smaller images to black and white and gave them a slight blue tint and then I boosted and tinted out the main image to contrast it.  I used Dylusions inks and a mask to create the bottom area of the page.  The title was printed from old printer's blocks which I also sourced during trip to Cornwall.  A couple of shells from the beach and a starfish complete the page. 

Ready to Fly

My big boy is about to become a teenager so I made this card for his birthday.  He's turning into a gorgeous young man but he is still as stubborn as a mule so this old background image had his name all over it!!  I think he will find this amusing and it brought a smile to my face when I put his wings on!

The background is misted with Dylusions inks in Amber, Vanilla Custard and Cyan.  I then embossed the harlequins and used acrylic paints on various items eg ruler edge, glue stick lid to create circles and lines.

The beach huts are by Crafty Individuals and are stamped onto acetate.  I downloaded the wings from Graphics Fairy and curled them a little.  Job done.  Just the cake to organise but that's tomorrow's task ...