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

Thankyou

Well, first off a big THANKYOU to Avril for thinking of my and my little blog and nominating me for this award.  She is one of my fellow DT members at TioT and it's really touching when someone thinks of you and tries to help you.  

This award is designed for blogs that have less than 200 followers.  Once the award has been accepted, the idea is to pay it forward to 5 other blogs that you like to read and follow and hopefully encourage others to visit, read and follow them too.

To accept the award, you have to ...

• Thank the person who gave it to you and link back to their blog
• Post the award on your blog
• Give the award to 5 others Bloggers with less than 200 followers and leave a comments on their blogs telling them they've been nominted.

I have just realised that most of the people I follow have over 200 followers so I couldn't nominate them, which has been a bit of an eye opener for me!  I probably need to post more often but I often make things that aren't linked to a challenge so it's hard to see how anyone will see them so I don't post them.  I think I'll just post them anyway and see how it goes!!  

Anyway, I am nominated the following 3 people (hope that's allowed?).  They all make lovely things so I hope you take a few minutes to pop over to them and consider becoming one of their followers.

Suze
Kaz
Cathy


Alexa 

x

Balloons

Our challenge for this next fortnight at TioT is Inventors, Inventions and/or Steampunk.  

I have a fascination with hot air balloons and so this challenge allowed me to go to town with lots of different ones floating about in the sky.

I started by stamping my card with some keys and my dream stamp to create the background.  I converted a photograph taken on my recent trip to Cornwall into monochrome and then downloaded my hot air balloons from the Dover Book of Old Transportation onto a sheet of acetate.  I coloured the balloons with Sharpie pens and used Helmar 450 to fix my acetate to my image.

The large balloon was stamped and coloured with pencils and I used some red crystals to highlight the strings.  The rosette was cut using an alterations die to which a couple of cogs and ribbons were added.

Check out the rest of the TioT DT entries as they are really inspirational and will hopefully get your creativity fired up to join in the fun!!

Genuinely Jane Studios are our sponsors for this challenge and they are very kindly giving a Gift Certificate of $25.00 to the monthly winner.  

Remember you can only enter your work into 5 challenges including ours if you want to be in with a chance to win the prize.

Genuinely Jane Studios produces dozens of different styles of natural birch wood albums and mini-albums for scrapbookers, mixed media artists and altered artists. We also offer complimentary products including paints, inks, adhesives, glitters and much, much more.

Have a great week ... the sun is shining here in Poole and the sky is blue so maybe the summer is finally here?!!

x

I am entering this into the Colour Challenge at SSSS  as kindly suggested by Terry!

 

Petite Chaises

OK ... so I definitely get the prize for Airhead of the Week!!  Despite being ill last week, I had (rather unusually for me) got one of the DT projects ready and finished well ahead of time.  

For those of you who are regular visitors, you will know that I had ALL DAY yesterday to focus on crafting.  Well, despite this, I managed to entirely forget to upload these little lovelies onto the TioT website.  I even made a note to get this page organised and STILL my pea-like brain didn't register that they weren't uploaded.  That is until midnight!!  I jumped out of bed having had one of those awful OMG moments and uploaded it.  But alas, too late!  So I definitely win the Airhead's Crown!

So, the theme this week at Tiot is Recycle It.   What a great challenge ... I'm sure we all have lots of things which we can re-use in our projects.  Certainly I have a box of tags on pins and chains from clothing, gorgeous packaging with punched designs from Prima blister packs and ribbons and feathers from boxes of chocolates.  I even have an outer wrapper which came on our newspaper which is made of vellum or similar which I thought would come in useful.  So, crack open your box of 'kept' items which you thought would come in useful one day and make that day TODAY!!

My project is a recycle of Champagne tops.  I know what you're thinking ... and Yes, it was a tough job drinking all that fizzy but I take my creative responsibilities VERY seriously!!!  

I re-worked my tops to make little chairs with backs and sanded some of the black coating on the wire back to the bare metal.  I then used alcohol inks to tint them lightly.  I used a coat of shellac and some god leaf to embellish the seats.

The cushions were cut from cotton and sewn on my new machines (which is a dream to use unlike it's predecessor!).  I filled them with a little soft toy stuffing to plump them up and hand sewed the final seam.  I then stamped them with miniature images on both sides using Stazon.


Ooh ... and before I forget (don't let me get started on that again!!) all eligible entries to our challenge are entered into the prize draw to win £10 store voucher for Crafty-Emblies who are our kind sponsors!  

Please read the rules so your gorgeous creations are not disqualified! 



I hope this project tempts you to up-cycle some of your stash or if all else fails, drink loads of champagne and make some cute chairs!!!

I'm entering my little chairs into the Craft Room Challenge - In the garden Anything But a Card as these do remind me of the little cafe chairs we all love to perch on with a cuppa in the summer!  

x

 

Pomp & Pageantry

Good Monday Morning Everyone!

Today I am hoping to get all day to be creative which is a great prospect as I've a lot I want to get achieved.  However, when DH left for work he announced he may be back mid-afternoon to work from home (oh dear!) so that will put an end to my plans as we share a workspace currently ... say no more!! 

Anyway, I decided to get started and have a play with my alcohol inks  - I always love the vibrancy of their colours but I'm not always sure what to do with what I create on 12 x 12 scrap pages.  I do use them on metal which is great but I want to expand their uses on cardstock.  So, I hatched a new plan (in the middle of the night!) and had a play using my inks and clingfilm with some heat and Voila! 

I decided to couple my inking with my Indigoblu stamps so I can enter both the Alcohol ink challenge at Artful Times and also the Words and Phrases challenge over at Indigoblu.  

Well, got to dash and make a start on my next project whilst I have the house to myself!  Hope you are all having a good Monday too!

x

 

Mother's Day

I saw this wire-work idea and was really keen to try it myself.   I am fascinated with birds' nests eggs and so the wrapped wire conjured up a nest in my mind which had to have some lovely eggs perched on it!!

I hadn't got any wire in my stash of the gauge I would really have liked so I had to make do with this thinner one which worked fine which was very easy to work (and hence very easy to mis-shape!!).

I painted my background on watercolour paper using acrylic paints and then acrylic inks and spritzed water.  I stitched my heart to the background with embroidery silk.

The eggs were tinted with alcohol ink onto which I glued the small wording printed from my computer.

The title was stamped with Lost Coast Designs alphabet in Staz-on Timber Brown and then distressed with Vintage Photo and Peacock Feathers.

I like this wire idea so there may be more to come ...

I'm entering this into the first challenge at the new site Country View Crafts blog - Challenge 1 - Pick 'n' Mix 


Enjoy your week ... xx

Easter Bonnet

Can you believe Easter is almost upon us?  The start of this year seems to have gone by so fast.  However, as I sit looking out this morning, the snow is falling and the ground is white so the prospect of spring flowers and hill top walks seem a million miles away.  That's British weather for you!!!

So, looking forward to Easter, the TioT challenge this fortnight is Easter Hats and Bonnets.  As a non-cardmaker and with my kids too old to dress up in suitable outfits for a scrap page, I was mulling over how I could meet this challenge.  My stash has a lack of anything I could remotely link to this subject so I was facing a dilemma.  

But, luckily for me, I have a very artistic hairdresser and we usually chat about out arty endeavours during my regular appointments.  At the end of last week, I was telling him about my quandry and he planted the idea of a car bonnet.  That was the inspiration I needed and as soon as I got home, I set to work on coming up with how I would interpret this idea.

I covered a large tag with black cardstock and ran it through my Big Shot to emboss it with swirls and birds.  I downloaded my image online and then used glitter Gelly Roll pens and Distress Markers to create my Easter design on the bonnet. 

I added some tissue tape and some chicken wire (Dusty Attic) and wound wired natural florists raffia at one end.

The photo was mounted onto white cardstock which I added pink sparkly doodle around the edge before fixing down using two black photo corners (and glue).

I wrote the title onto masking tape, coloured the letters with the Gelly Roll pens and then plattered them with indian ink.

The bird was from a florists wholesalers.

I hope you enjoy my take on this subject and look forward to seeing all the great work everyone comes up with for each challenge.

I have also entered this tag into Challenge 51 - Easter Bonnet over at Out of a Hat Creations.  I hadn't found this blog before but it looks like a lot of fun so I'm diving in!!

Enjoy your crafting ...

xx

Closed

This layout is based on Wheal Peevor tin mine which is one of the many abandoned mines to be found all over Cornwall.  Their shape makes them very striking against the skyline so I decided to enhance this further using Lightroom.

I used my Gelli plate to create my background paper by adding the black and white pattern and the  purple and pale grey bands.  I then used an Artist Cellar stencil with molding paste (Golden) to create two panels in opposite corners.  Once the paste was dry I rubbed Viva Decor paste and gilding wax into them to give them colour and shimmer.

I printed the poem onto tissue paper and glued it to my layout with Mod Podge.  I have to confess its a lot easier if you have a set size and place for tissue paper items as my first couple of attempts resulted in torn paper!  Large areas of tissue are certainly tricky customers!

Anyway, once it was down, I moved on by stamping the window onto vintage map paper which I tore and inked with black soot.  The hinges which were cut from grunge paper, painted with black acrylic paint and rubbed with silver Inka-Gold.  The barbed wire (Dusty Attic) was painted black and touched up with a little copper Inka-Gold for a rusty effect.  The Owl is from PaperArtsy Hot Picks which I stamped and coloured with pencils.

I cut the flowers from vintage book pages using the tattered florals die by Tim Holtz.  I inked it up with broken china and black soot before adding a black crystal brad.

The black crystal swirl is by Prima and I added this with the stamped journalling ticket and my flower.  I perched my crows and added a key (Seven Gypsies) to complete this page.

This was the second of my three layouts which I entered in the National Scrapbooker of the Year 2013 competition in which I was a runner-up.

I am entering this page into Challenge 43 - Swirls at Fashionable Stamping.

Have a great week.  xx

Dandelion Clock

Time Flies.

Well, it couldn't be a more apt challenge this week at TioT!!  

Having just gone back to work after being a full-time Mum for a very long time, I'm running to catch up and time is definitely flying for me!  No time for commenting and visiting everyone's blogs (BIG apologies!) and a lot less time for the gym (oh dear!).

But, I love this new challenge so I guess I just need to speed up (LOL!)

So, back to the ART!  I love this challenge as there are so many ways to interpret it from clocks and wings to dandelions and growing families.  Whichever way it speaks to you, grab your stamps and inks and join in the fun ...  We love to see all the beautiful work you create.

This piece is part of a new journal I started to create on Sunday at an art journalling workshop.  I had a whole day to play with paints, tools and inks which should be heaven but I have to confess ... I was completely out of my comfort zone!   Having no idea where I am heading with the subject of my page and just creating backgrounds feels too random for my brain and stresses me out!  So, asI really want to embrace this way of creating I have set myself the challenge of continuing this journey and finishing the journal.  I think I will learn a lot on the way so wish me luck!!!

This page started off with adding a couple of tags and then painting it all with gesso into which I stamped some flowers and alphabets.  I then added a coat of Lumiere paint in Halo Pink Gold.  Some vintage papers and stamping came next before adding some Tattered Angels Glimmer Glam in Golden Goddess and Lipstick Pink. I highlighted around the tags with a black oil pastel which I blended with my finger.

I added the stamped images using Black StazOn.  The journalling was printed onto masking tape which had been painted with gesso.  I used Adirondack colour wash to colour them and some white acrylic ink which was largely removed with kitchen paper.

The cogs and clock face are vintage bits from old pocket watches.

I keep looking at my page ... I think I'm happy with it but it's away from my usual style so I'll see what everyone else makes (feedback welcome!)

Wherever you are, hope you are inspired to find time to stop the clock and enter in with the fun!

xx
 

Love

Love is in the air ...  With Valentines fast approaching are you feeling the lurve?!!

Our new fortnightly challenge starts today at Try it on Tuesday  ... and we are all about Celebrating Valentines Day (include a heart).  Dust down your cupid stamps, your bows, arrows and hearts and see what loving you can create!!

I really enjoyed making my DT entry for this challenge.  I managed to snatch 2 hours on Sunday afternoon to get creative having had a back to back weekend schedule of football and rugby.  Normally this would result in me only getting my act together at the point my slot was over but not this week!  With the excitement of going to see Ronan Keating that evening (great concert and nice eye candy!) I cracked on and achieved my goal!!

I embossed the stamps for the background in white before using distress inks in a combination of pink, purple and turquoise shades.  A quick spritz & flick with water and a little gathered twigs around the edge completed it.  I cut the flourishes from grungeboard and painted them with Byzantia paint.  The heart is also grungeboard which I embossed with script before inking with pink & purple distress.  I then added Silver Fox embossing powder which is quite coarse so gives a lovely texture.

The crown is hand cut from a vintage book and I stamped 'Love' using old printers letters painted with acrylic paint.  The material strips were stamped using archival and spritzed with Shimmerz Sea Foam.  I crinkled the muslin up and dried it with a heatgun.  I didn't expect it to retain the crinkles but the spray ink has given it a bit of body and it's actually quite solid which was great!

I used a domino covered with part of an old playing card and UTEE'd for my other embellishment and stamped a little butterfly to my gorgeous girl.

Hope you feel like getting into the love game and want to have a play along with us!  x

Don't forget our great sponsor for this challenge 

who are offering a £10 store voucher!

I'm also entering this into Fashionable Stamping Challenge 40 - Show Some Love.

Thai Boats

I love to change the artwork on our walls at home to keep it fresh and I also love to have reminders of our holidays.  I love delving into mixed media techniques and I decided to make a canvas of these two Thai fishing boats tied up on the beach at Kata.

I stuck my head in a couple of technique books to try and get some initial direction before heading off with absolutely no idea (same as usual) LOL!!!

I planned to make this for a guy we met at Christmas in Phuket who has an apartment at Kata Beach, but I've decided to keep this one and make him another as I want to put it up on our wall!! 

The canvas measures 12" x 18".  I painted a coat of gesso first before starting to add my paint colours.  I used glass bead gel to create my circles.  It has taken a few days to finish as there were several delays to allow it to dry.  I bought acrylic inks to experiment with and they are really fun to use.  Their colours are so strong and they act like a resist when dry.  If you spray them with water as they run, they fan out and create gorgeous effects.

The sand was poured over regular gel which I applied with a palette knife and pushed the fragments of glass and shells into.  I used rock candy crackle for the bottom and side sections into which I sprinkled turquoise seed beads.

I nearly had it all completed but felt something was missing so the addition of the fish was the final step before I was happy with it.  I re-tinted the fish with acrylic paint to blend it into the canvas and then used a spritz of heirloom gold perfect pearls to give a little sheen to his scales.

I wasn't planning on entering any challenges with this project, but I've just come across the Eclectic Paperie Get Altered Challenge which is to 'Using Canvas' ... and it seems a waste not to take part!!

Right ... off to get the hammer and put up a new fixing on the wall.  We are back to wet & grey today with a chance of snow so this will help me to remember sunnier days!  x

Canvas Houses

Wow - the sun is shining today and we have blue sky and puffy clouds!  Seems to have been grey for so long that whilst it's still cold, it's a gorgeous sight and lifts my spirits.  Everything seems so much better when the sun shines!

This fortnight at Try it on Tuesday the challenge is for your project to include stitching - real or faux.  I love adding stitching to my projects although my sewing machine does not feel the same so we have a rather tricky relationship!!  Fortunately for my machine, this project was a hand sewing one so it could stay sulking in the corner ...

We are very lucky to be sponsored by Crafty-Emblies who are offering a £10 store voucher to the winner! 

 

I made these canvas houses for a good friend of mine who wanted to use them to promote the kits she was selling.  The canvas came pre-cut and I also had the string, beads and some stuffing supplied.  

I started by sketching out the design for each house in pencil before using acrylic paints to create each one.  They are painted on both sides but I forgot to photograph the backs before parting with them so I can only show the fronts which is a shame as the pink house has a flowering creeper growing all over it but you'll just have to imagine it!  

Once dry, I half stitched them up before stuffing them using the filling supplied plus some additional soft toy filling.

I painted the beads to match each house and plaited some of the string before threading the beads.  The strings were then glued into the houses to ensure they stay put and the bottom sewn up.

They are a really fun project so long as you remember to punch the holes with a bradle rather than try to get the needle to do the work.  My thumb was testament to my mistake on the first one where I hadn't realised this was the way to go!!

Hope you get some sunshine in your day too ... xx

Runner Up!!

 

 

I decided to enter the annual competition run by Scrapbook Magazine to find the Scrapbooker of the Year.  The competition required three layouts to be submitted by the end of October.  I spent a lot of time creating my pages and was really pleased with them so I was feeling cautiously hopeful that they would be good enough.

Finally, at the end of November I got a mail to say that I was one of the nine runners up!!  I don't know how many entries there were but probably quite a lot as it's a one of only two dedicated scrapping magazines in the UK.   I am really excited to have been selected and so this is the first of the three layouts which I can now publish on my blog!

And this is the stash I won!!

 

I used many different techniques to create this page - too many to list, but this was the start of my new idea to try to get the photograph to blend into the background.  I did this using a combination of molding paste, paints and inks and white embossing. 

The flower sprig is by Prima but the other flowers were cut from old music and an old magazine page (the colours of the advert were perfect for my scheme) using the Tattered Florals Die and the Tattered Flower Garland Die.

I'm going to enter this page into the following challenges so I hope they all like it too!  x

Fashionable Stamping Challenge 38 - Surprise Us, 
My Mum's Craft Shop - Anything Goes, 
Opus Gluei - Challenge 147 Free For All, 
Simon Says Stamp and Show - The Totally Mad (Anything Goes) Tea Party
Stamping for the Weekend - Anything Goes.

Hope everyone has had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year and that your 2013 is everything you would want it to be.  x

Dream

I decided to go for an oversized tag for my DT entry at Try it on Tuesday.   The challenge this fortnight is a Lucky Dip so you can choose four items out of the following:  Die Cuts, Ribbons, Pearls, Sentiment, Stamped image.

We are being very generously sponsored by Delicious Doodles who are offering 4 digi stamps of your choice to the winner of December's challenges.  So, if you get a crafty moment during your festive time, why not see if you can get lucky in the Lucky Dip?!!!

 

 

  

This challenge left me a bit spoilt for choice ... too many options for an indecisive like me! As its still the Christmas season, I was really tempted to go with a Christmas project.  But I am about to head to sunnier climes (can't wait - UK weather is not to be recommended lately!) and all my Christmas activities are behind me, so I have focused on 2013 and my up and coming wedding anniversary.  

Cards for men ... don't we all struggle with them?  My hubcap is not a fisherman, golfer or tennis nut so images along those lines are pretty much closed.  I have found that my best plan is to go for hearts and a suitable colour palette.

I started with a manila tag which I gave a couple of coats of gesso to.  I added some vintage music and book pages and gave it another swish over with the gesso.  Once dry, I stamped the border, heart wings and keys before attaching the die cut card hearts which were painted with red acrylic.  

I left if to dry before coating the entire tag with matte Mod Podge and attaching scrunched up white tissue over it all.  

The dreams pane was cut from card and gessoed.  I dry brushed pitch black acrylic and used a skewer dipped in black to add depth.  It was 3D mounted onto an identically sized piece of card which I had covered with vintage book pages.  The panel is finished with pleated tissue tape along one edge.

I gave the hearts a lift with some Dylusions red acrylic and rock candy distress which I applied with a spatuls to give loads of texture.

The key is made from Ten Second Studio metal.

My favourite flourish (Lost Coast Designs) and a little Black Soot distress kept the monochrome style true and I just had to bravely take hold of my pen and write my sentiment.  It's a little hard to read in the photo but it says:

"When two hearts meet

and fly together

the key to your dreams

has been found."

I guess after nearly 20 years, this must be true.  We got engaged after 6 weeks and married a year later.  He's not always my soulmate (Man ARE from Mars!) but our hearts are definitely joined ...

Have a fantastic time whatever you get up to this December ... x

My Girl

This is my first DT piece as a new member of the Anything But a Card team.  I am so excited to have been asked to join the talented group of DT gals and love that there is such a wide range of projects created for each challenge.  Scrapbooking, altered art, canvases, bags, boxes  ... the list goes on and on! Why not take 5 minutes to check out the fantastic projects that have been made and see how inspirational they are!

So, I am continuing my scrapbooking journey of creating a blended style.  I chose to have a play with a box of gorgeous oil pastels I purchased some time back but hadn't really got to grips with.  They are so soft and creamy to work with that I can't believe I have had them languishing on a shelf for so long!

I used them to create my heart and blended them out with a sponge dabber before sealing them with Judikins micro glaze.

I cut the lacy edge with a Martha Stewart punch and mounted my photo onto that before blending it into the page with molding paste and vintage book pages.  Once dry, I spritzed it all over with Shimmerz Sea Foam and Chalkboard Peacock.    I used some liquid acrylic (Golden) to add finishing blends to the pasted area.

White acrylic painted through sequin waste added the textured dots and I stamped the hollyhocks (Donna Downey stamp) with black Archival. 


I stamped and cut out the dragonfly was stamped and colouring his body with Stewart Gill Byzantia paint which has the most gorgeous sheen.  I used a silver ice stickle for the wings.

The final touch was to tint some of the flowers to match the colour scheme and stamp my title.

I hope you are all finding time to complete all your crafty projects at this busy time of year.  I'm enjoying everyone's blogs and seeing all their gorgeous creations.  I'm nearly done now for 2012 as we about to leave for Christmas and New Year in the sunshine!  I hope to still pop by everyone's blogs whilst I sit with a pina colada (lol!) but I may not be able to leave feedback to please bear with me!!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas and New Year and a big thank you to everyone who leaves me such kind and thoughtful feedback.  It means so much and inspires me to keep moving forward in my creative endeavours! xx

 

Wicked Wednesday ATC

I don't usually do ATC's ... actually that's not true ... I have never done an ATC before in my life!!  I had to google to find out what size they need to be!!  Is that bad? 

Anyway, I might not be an ATC veteran but I am a big fan of Stampotique and I follow their blog and marvel at the gorgeous work that their DT create.  My kids buy me the small stamps for mother's day and my birthday which makes them extra special and they always stamp so beautifully they are a joy to work with.

I have been focusing on other avenues recently so haven't had chance to enter many of their challenges but I checked out the blog this week and found one based on Wings so I really wanted to put a mini project together and join in the fun.

So, I turned my tree (Daniel Torrente) on its side to create a branch for my little tired angel (Jill Penney) to rest against under the stars. 

I didn't want to cut and mount my branch so I stamped it in archival and then carefully created by background around it with a combination so water, distress stains, a heat gun and a paintbrush.  The stars are created from two sizes of crystals and the words are  Stampotique.

I coloured my branch with pencils and mounted my angel carefully with silcone gel  before adding some final border lines around the edge.

Hope you like her! x

Woodland Scene

For this card, I used lots of alterations dies.  I am, by default, a scene maker and find myself connecting stuff together to create a story so I decided to start by die-cutting lots of images and colouring, inking, adding snow and embossing them and see where it took me.

I covered my card with vintage dictionary paper and I must share this funny story with you ...  I chose a page at random from the dictionary - my only criteria was that I didn't want a page with any images.   I trimmed the white edge and placed in on my craft sheet ready to ink with distress stains when I glanced down to find that the page I had chosen had a definition of fornicate on it!  Definitely not required!!  Fortunately the flip side was far less racy ... but just glad I spotted this before I had to judiciously place some of my trees!!

So, I covered my card with the text and embossed the snowflakes in white glitter before pouncing the card on my craft sheet with Stormy Skies, Tumbled Glass and Picket Fence distress stain.  I added the snowflakes which were cut from glitter card using 3D silicone glue.  25 was inked with Evergreen Bough and a flourish stamped and embossed with Silver Fox Enamalz over the top.

I coloured the fence and deer with vintage photo distress stain and used white Enamels Accents for the spots on the deer.  The snow is flowersoft.

I fixed all the elements down using different heights of 3D glue ... job done!

I'm entering this card into Play Date Cafe PDCC160, Simon Says Snowflakes Challenge,   Sweet Stampin' Dies & Punches Challenge and Stamping for the Weekend Challenge 23 Let it Snow.

Hope you are all having time for your Christmas Crafty Projects. x

Santa Card

OK ... starting to enjoy this Christmas crafting lark and Christmas card making more specifically!!  It's more of a surprise to me than anyone else.   The only snag is that I've left it rather late in the day either to get necessary supplies or to have the time needed to really get going - oops!!  (Note to self:  start earlier next year!!)  Big thankyou at this point to David and Brenda at Craft Obsessions for hunting out my order at short notice and nearly crashing their website in the process!! Thanks guys!! 

So onto this little card.  I covered my card with a lovely script paper which I overstamped with some flourishes by Dusty Attic.  I used some vintage music paper which I stained with Festive Berries and Gathered Twigs distress stain which I then flicked with water to give it texture.  I then embossed a more complicated flourish design over this with Gold Sparkly (Cosmic Shimmer) which is hard to capture with the camera.

The image was down loaded, edges distressed, curled and inked with a little more Gathered Twigs (what a great brown it is!)

The poinsettia is a mini Tim Holtz Alterations die cut from vintage paper and inked with deadazzles for the centre.  The leaves are cut from Glassine paper which was scrunched and inked with alcohol inks.

Anyway, can't stop ... got another card to make!! xx

Christmas Bird

I've had to succumb to making some Christmas cards so this is the first one Hot off the Press!!  I bought the mini cardinal die some weeks ago as he was SO cute but when I saw his big brother, perched on this twig ... well it was a must have item!

I covered my card in vintage music paper which I inked with vintage photo and peeled paint and I stamped the holly with gathered twigs.  The bird is cut from chocolate co-ordinations paper so I sanded him down to reveal his red core and dry brushed some red acylic paint to brighten him up.  The spruce foliage was painted with acrylic paint and a little glitter added.  I used polar white flower soft for my snow.

The pointsettia was cut from vintage book pages, inked with festive berries and painted with Rock Candy distress.  The centre is beadazzles,  The holly leaves and spruce foliage is cut from Kraft Glassine which I inked with alcohol inks. 

I used tissue tape to create the ruffle and some pearls and gems to finish it off.

I'm going to enter this card into the following challenges:  Fashionable Stamping 'To Die For', Gingerloft 'Leaves' and Totally Gorjuss 'Anything Goes ... with Glitter'.

Starting to feel a bit festive ... hope your Christmas plans are coming along too ... x

Quarr Abbey

This is my first post as be DT member of the Try it on Tuesday blog - which is very exciting!  I have joined a fabulous group of talented ladies so be sure to go and take a look at some of the gorgeous creations they have made for this challenge. 

This fortnight is "Let's get Inky'!  What a great initial challenge for me as I always struggle not to get inky!!  The other bonus is that if you are not a Christmas crafter (and I am not!) this challenge is still right up your street.

We are sponsored this month by Delidious Doodles who are offering 4 digi stamps from their store - so don't miss you chance to be a winner!

I'm really excited to post this layout as I have been working hard on my techniques and style but am only just able to start posting my new creations ... so watch this space!!  One of things I really wanted to achieve was a more seamless end result and so I've been getting through a fair bit of molding paste and acrylic paint lately and taken over the house whilst they all dry out!

This photo is of the ruins of Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight which actually now forms part of a farmhouse garden.  There are great views over the ruined walls towards the mainland.

I used molding paste with a stencil to create the bricks and more paste and inks to blend out my photo.  I decided to be quite bold with my colour scheme by adding the pink but I really like the end result.  

I used acrylics and shimmerz inks for my background and added flourishes with a Lost Coast stamp.  The bird and branch is by Maya Road and the flowers and butterflies are Prima.

The sheep stamp is part of an Artemia farmyard set (that I had no use for but fell in love with!) from a little craft shop in Cornwall.

Hope you are all having a great week ... x