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Saturday, 24 April 2010

Well, I tried ....

I needed to make my Easter inchies for the April BF swap and decided to use a bunny digi image to print on to shrink plastic - mmmmm - cut the shrink plastic as carefully as I could, but this is how they turned out:

I think these need to go in the bin.

So, I had another go with a different sheet of SP - decided this time to make them a bit smaller than an inch so that I could mount them on to card so that any wonkiness would be more disguised - not sure that I've achieved that because at least one of them looks exceedingly wonky!!

Sorry, girls, not my best ... but I tried!!

Thursday, 22 April 2010

Black beauty

This month on BF forum the theme for the ATC swap is 'black' - I really enjoyed doing these.

I used some black card as a base - it wasn't too black so that the stamping and embossing shows up nicely on it. I used the Hampton Art corset stamp that I received as a prize a while ago, stamping in versafine onyx black and heat embossing with fine detail.

The lace strips down the side are from some lovely velvet lace that I received as a RAK/swap - I have to confess that I can't remember who it was from. I wrapped it around the side, securing in place with my ATG700 adhesive gun, which, of course, showed through the holes, so I sprinkled black glitter on - I wish I'd thought of this in the first place because I would then have put more adhesive under the lace, but nevermind.

The sparkly black letters are PM - having got the idea to use them I found that I have five of every letter I needed, except K, so for the one on the bottom right the K has been cut from an R. I then added three gems at the bottom of each ATC.

I'm quite pleased with the results. I'm linking this for:

Caardvarks: 'monochromatic challenge'
KL stampin' n scrappin 26': ''bling it on!'
ABC: 'S is for sparkle'
Stampotique 5: 'it's a girl thing'
Magical crafts 13 'something for the girls'
Sunday stamper 100: 'free as a bird' (sorry, no bird - well, not the feathered king!)
Dragons dream TIO 35: 'emboss it' (I don't know whether this will count or not, as strictly speaking it's an ATC, not a tag, but similar size)
Pixie dust studio: '19 tag you're it'
Paper cutz 37: 'tag' - I'll incorporated my ATC/tag on a card when I get it back from the swap
Fab n funky 20: 'get it all out!' - neglected stash - the black lace
For fun: 'anything but a card'
Penny's: 'open - anything goes'
Scrappy frogs: 'pick 3' - I've picked: embossing, no colouring, lace
PaperPlay 16: 'no patterned paper'
If the shoe fits Fashionista Friday 31: 'inspirational challenge' - picture of Marilyn Monroe - I've gone for glamour and black
Simple doodles 15: 'inspire others'
Town scrapper: 'let's hear it for the girls!'

Wednesday, 21 April 2010

WOYWW day today

Wednesday seems to come round alarmingly quickly - and I didn't actually join in WOYWW last week, so the fortnight's gone very quickly - and there hasn't been much crafting here lately, partly because of John being quite poorly - glad to say that he is now much better than he was.

Anyway, back to WOYWW - if you like having a nose at other people's crafting stash, then this is for you - go over to Julia's blog and join in the fun!

The first photo shows a pile of papers which have been taken out of the rack to be sorted - ha ha ... been there like that now for a day or two and no sign of sorting yet.

In the foreground of this picture you can see some of my recent stamp purchases. I got the three wooden stamps yesterday when I went to a craft shop fairly near to me which, sadly, is closing down, so I bought some Christmas stuff half price and got these stamps 3 for 2 - two of them are Magenta stamps - I just love them and couldn't resist. The clear stamps with the elegant ladies arrived in the post about an hour ago.

There's nothing much at the other end of the work surface except a box of acrylic stamps and a CD that you can't see - 'the very best of Lesley Garrett - I've been playing this recently - had it for Christmas and had tucked it away and forgotten it, so nice to get it out and have a listen.

It's a lovely day here. I'm trying to get more exercise than I have had for the past few months, so am determined to go out for a walk again today, but might combine it with a walk around Bromley shops (Kaz's good suggestion!).

Monday, 19 April 2010

Pink patchwork

When I saw Everybody art challenge 86: 'paper patch' and the theme of One powerful hour this week is 'patchwork', I remembered that I had some Rayher rose patchwork & stripes in pink, suitable for a new baby card.

The card had a basic patchwork pattern on it, but I added the faux stitching using a HOTP stamp with lzybells sugar candy pigment ink. The 'shakers' - the rattle and the Bs of BABY - were from a sticker collection that I bought long ago.

The card is also for these challenges:

Creative craft 11: 'shake it baby!' - shaker card, with the added challenge of baby related
Flourish timeless 62: 'shaker card'
Charisma cardz 15: 'monochromatic'
Etsy inspired 84: 'cose dolci' - quite a few patchwork items
Your next stamp 14: 'stitching real or faux'
Allsorts 48: 'in stitches'
Sweet stampin' 22: 'in stitches'
Crafty pad 67: 'stitching'
Lucy's cards 9: 'stitching'
Res-Q: 'take a mental health break' - use pastels and an image that makes you smile (cheated a bit here because it's not an image, but the stickers make me smile - the thoughts of a new baby girl certainly make me smile)
The craft garden April challenge: 'pastel colours'
Paperplay 15: 'stickers'
Faithscrappers UK: 'design team challenge' - 'The idea is to take the following photo and create something to express your response to the resurrection.'

I concentrated on the pink in the picture and 'new life'.

Sunday, 18 April 2010

I'm back after a bit of a lull ...

This card is for this week's sketch on Just Birthday and Christmas cards:

and also for colour challenge 28 on ColourQ:

I made a criss cross card that formed a pocket into which I put a card with a sentiment (plain to write a personal message on the back).

I used a Charmed download from the Sugar & Spice range called 'butterfly kisses', so this is also for today's challenge on Dottie's world: 'pocket it!'.

The card is also for:

Pile it on: 'spring'
Magical crafts 13: 'something for the girls'
Stampin' sisters in Christ 35: 'make a card with flowers on it'
Crazy amigo: 'favourite background stamp' - the corner swirls - Rhona Farrer stamp
Creative card crew 48: 'happy birthday'
Fab n funky 19: 'use a neglected stamp' - I haven't used the 'wishing you a very happy birthday' stamp for ages
Cute card Thursday 108: 'touchy feely!' - the flowers are very tactile
Meljen's designs 3: 'add those 3D elements' - the flowers
Daring cardmakers: 'getting in a flap' - not sure whether this is OK because the 'flaps' have been stuck down
Stamp something: 'something layered' - a few layers here with two cards used and cut to make the criss cross, added papers, the flowers are layered - and, although the image is a digi, stamping was used for the sentiment and swirls on the insert card
Lots to do: 'alcohol inks' - I used copic pens to change a white flower to a (2 shades of) pink one and also to alter a blue one to turquoise
Crafty angels 30: 'my favourite things' - BG papers - I used 'mellow', 'lemonade' and 'Indian summer'
Penny's: 'anything goes'
Papertake: 'cutie pie'



Thursday, 15 April 2010

Postcard from Paris

For Sunday postcard I was going to do something different and then decided that I could cut down what I did for this post - so now this one is 6" x 4":

Spring birthday

This card is for the Taylored expressions sketch 108:

It's also for:

Curtain call 25: 'only orange, green galore, yo yo yellow, pixie pink'
Cutie stampers 50: 'orange/green'
Creative card crew 48: 'happy birthday'
Gingersnap GC49 chestnut theme: 'the good earth'
Paper cutz 36: 'use three patterned papers' - the birthday paper is DCWV, the paper on the right is K & Co and the bottom paper was free with a magazine
Raise the bar 13: 'let's spring for it'
Lily-boo too April challenge: 'spring colours - yellow, pale green and blossom'
Pollycraft 39: 'pink and brown + green'

Dream

This was supplied for the Soartful 'embossed on white' challenge this week :

I decided to use a couple of clipart pictures from Publisher and layer them on to the white embossing, using transparent fade and diffuse glow to show through the layers in varying degrees. I then printed it out so that I could stamp with the Chinese 'dream', scanned it back into the computer and then digitally added the 'dream' text.

I'm also linking this for:

Rainbow lady's 98: 'red, black and gold + a touch of oriental' - I know this challenge has really finished, but today's isn't up yet, so perhaps I'm just squeezing in with this.

Frosted designs: 'dream'

Salt: What is home?

It was Ruth's turn to choose the topic for today's Salt challenge - you can read what she wrote here and also see the lovely handiwork of the rest of the team.

One of my memories of childhood is the framed version of this statement over the mantelpiece in my grandparents' front room:

'Christ is the head of this house, the unseen guest at every meal, the silent listener to every conversation'.

Thinking through this challenge, this seemed to be a good response, hence this LO. I tried to find a picture of John and me eating, but the only photos I could find were taken in restaurants or on holiday, which would defeat the purpose of doing the LO about 'home', so I've had to make do with a photo of us just sitting together (which was actually taken in my mum's home, but at least it's not a restaurant background).

The background paper is SEI Madera Island, which I scalloped around the edges with my rotatrim and the smaller papers with the photo are BG ambrosia. The flowers are Craftime ( seem to be using these quite a lot atm - I'll need to replenish stocks).



Why not go over to Salt and have a look at this fortnight's challenge and perhaps it will prompt you to make something that you can share with us by leaving a comment and a link to your creation.

Wednesday, 14 April 2010

Merci for Paris in purple

Some time ago I won the Viv la France digi collection from Dezinaworld and have used a couple of the items to create this for a few challenges:

Twisted Thursday
51: 'adventures in Paris' - use the word 'merci'
Hand full of stamps 23: 'digi it'
Dare U to digi 35: 'metal' - the Eiffel Tower is one of the most spectacular metal constructions in the world
Charisma cardz 14: 'thank you'
Hanna and friends 39: 'scene'
Paper sundaes 13: 'make a scene'
Cooking it up with Katie 15: 'use a digi, add some purple, use something 3 times' - the 'merci bien'
Penny's challenges: 'anything goes'
Incy wincy 38: 'something magical' - Paris is such a magical place and hopefully this LO is too

Keep it simple sweetie

This card is for the inspiration challenge for Divine Diva 25:

and using this sketch for Don't waste your Thursdays 28:

It's also for:

Stampin' royalty 15: 'keep it simple sweetie'
Crafty creations 63: 'limited edition challenge' - only 1 designer paper (Anna Griffin), 1 image (PM coloured with copics), 1 embellishment (gold ribbon - yes, it's gold, but doesn't look it here)
Fab n funky 19: 'use a neglected stamp' - this hasn't been used for a long time


Tuesday, 13 April 2010

Best friends forever

'Best friends forever' is the name of the Sarah Kay stamp that I've used for this card - it's one that I was part of my prize from Sunflowers & Dragonflies, which you can see here.

The card is for these challenges:

Nutty nutshells 13: shaped card - 'doiley card' cut from my cricut wild card cartridge
Copic colour 59: YR16, BG49, E18
Copic creations 25: 'flowers'
C.R.A.F.T. 45: 'recipe: a free hand plus buttons'
Corrosive 59: 'textures'
Crazy challenge: 'don't call me flat'
Cuttlebug spot: 'bling bling' - I used my cuttlebug to cut the die buttons
Mixed media Monday: 'hello dolly'
Paper popsicles Mossetrack Monday: 'stitching' - faux stitching around the scallops
Papertake weekly: 'cutie pie'
Creative cottage: 'buttons and bows'
Delightful sketches: 'buttons and bling'
Pals paper arts 37: 'flowers'
Stampin' royalty 14: 'tempting turquoise, so saffron, taken with teal'
Fun with shapes and more 48: 'extraordinary card' - a different shape - the cut pieces are the glittered die cut buttons (Ellison thin die)
Sew many challenges 10: 'let's see some stitching' - faux stitching around the scallops
Simple doodles 15: 'inspire others' - any project, any stamps
Something completely different week 46: 'letter B' - bling, buttons, bow
Stamp something: 'stitch something' - faux stitching around the scallops
Our creative corner: 'bows'
Totally Gorjuss 25: 'texture'
Paper jewels 3: 'sewing and buttons'

The papers are Anna Griffin, the flowers are Craftime and the buttons were cut from Craftime glittered paper.

Monday, 12 April 2010

Point to the stars

I actually made this card a couple of days ago, when it was still in time for SPCC colour combo 42: 'whisper white, elegant eggplant, basic black', but, unfortunately, didn't get round to blogging in time for the deadline.

It's also for Cards & Things sketch 27:


It's also for Stamp scrap & doodle 35: 'birthdays'.

I've used another of the images from the QVC music and dance kit and the base card is Majestic night club purple from PDA, which is a fabulously rich aubergine colour that reflects hints of blue in certain light.

A note of thanks

This card uses the colours for Easy breezy Kewl colour challenge 19: 'soft suede, kraft, bordering blue, bashful blue'.

It's also for Corrosive 58 sketch (unfortunately, this is another one that I've missed the deadline for - I'd made the card in time, but haddn't got round to blogging it):

I'm also linking for Charisma cardz 14: 'thank you'.

I can't remember what the background music paper is (it's a piece from my offcuts box - still trying to keep to one of my crafting resolutions) - the other items used are again from the QVC music and dance kit:

Time for Christmas again

Being April, this is the fourth Christmas club challenge on BF forum and for this Janice has supplied us with this super sketch:

My aim is to make 10 cards for the BF Christmas Club every month, so here goes with my April offerings (I didn't make them all today - just one of them and added finishing touches to others.

I had to resort to scans because a lot of the cards were reflecting too much with the flash, but you can get the general idea.

Supplies are a mixture of Kanban, Craft Creations, DCWV, PM papers and various embellishments, including DCWV and Dovecraft.

These cards are also for:

Crafty angels 30: 'my favourite things' - making Christmas cards! and Tellen's place 12: 'it's all about you'.
Practical scrappers challenge this week: 'glitter and/or bling -quite a few of the cards have reflective mirror card and/or glitter
ABC Christmas 'G is for glitz, with the optional extra of silver' - particularly the silver mirror card with layered glittered poinsettia
Alphabet: 'X is for Xmas'
The cards with snowmen and teddies are for Simon says: 'a card for a child'.


This card is also for Cupcake 86: 'childhood memories' (carol singing); also the next three cards are for Fab's big Christmas week 14: 'brads' - the big brads are either Dovecraft or DCWV - I can't remember which. They are also for Creative card crew 47: 'vintage' (there's no 'aging' to the card, but the images are vintage). Susie & Vikki's Christmas club 8 called for 'presents & gifts', which are here:


This one is also for Loonie 87: 'black, white, turquoise':



And the next two are for Fab's big Christmas week 13: 'tone on tone' and also Cute card Thursday 107: 'mono mania':



This one is also for Crazy challenge: 'don't call me flat' - the poinsettia is built up with four layers. Unfortunately, the scan doesn't show the reflective nature of the silver mirror card - and I tried to take a photo, but got myself and the camera reflected!

This last card is also for treehouse 44 colour challenge: yellow, lavender and a neutral:

Saturday, 10 April 2010

Wreck this journal

Lots of my crafting (or should that be 'crafty'?!) friends on Bubbly Funk forum have recently bought a 'Wreck this journal'. Having been brought up to respect books and look after them, it kind of went against the grain to think of getting a book and wrecking it ... but I ordered one and it arrived this morning.

I didn't think to take a photo of what it looked like to begin with. Since it arrived, I've broken the spine of it - that's one of the instructions, I chewed the corner of a page and I took the book into the shower with me - and then put it out in the sun to dry so that the pages have wrinkled a bit.

I now have no issues with wrecking this journal because that's the purpose of it. On the inside page it gives this warning:

'During the process of this book you will get dirty. You may find yourself covered in paint, or any other number of foreign substances. You will get wet. You may be asked to do things you question. You may grieve for the perfect state that you found the book in. You may begin to see creative destruction everywhere. You may begin to live more recklessly.'



If you haven't seen one of these yet, I'd recommend it (I think I'm already a bit 'hooked' on it - you can get it from Amazon - and if you have seen it and have been hesitating, then I'd suggest you get one and begin to wreck a bit ...

Friday, 9 April 2010

And here's another ...

I've used yet more of those die cuts from the 'music and dance' kit I bought from QVC (thinking it was a good idea at the time ...).

Anyway, Paperminutes challenge 108 is 'film and television' so this is a card for any fan of Strictly Come Dancing.

It's like a gatefold card, but overlaps in the middle, which was just right for the two panels of dancing couples (excuse the paperclip on the first photo)



Just like buses ....

I hadn't shown a card for over a week and then ... two come along at once! Again, this one is very simple - nothing much involved except sticking!

This is another card made with some of the die cuts from a kit - irl you need your sunglasses on for these because, not only are the colours very bright, but are irridescent and very shiny. The background yellow card is pearlised.

I ddon't remember wearing any outfit quite like that in the 1970s but I do remember teetering around on platform shoes, despite saying that I'd never wear them when they first appeared on the fashion scene.

Boots and shoes are the theme for challenge 42 on Die cut dreams and also this week on Daring cardmakers the challenge is 'if the shoes fits'.

It's another one for Allsorts 46: 'no DPs'.

Challenge 2 for Meljen's designs is 'let's see some girly colours' - I think these are girly enough - well, they were in the 1970s. And Paper play 14 calls for 'shiny happy people' - this card is really shiny and the girl seems to be happy!

Crafty Ann
's 12 is 'let the sunshine in', so this seems to fit that - calls up images of lazy summer days.

There's nothing creative about this or the card shown below, but, hey ho, at least I've done something today.

PS: Lol! thanks to Joanne for pointing out that I had made a big typo and put 1070 insteadd of 1970 - glad it was only on here and not on the actual card!! (I've changed it now).

At last ... here I am again

It's been a week since I shared any crafting. I've done very little this past week, partly because I just haven't felt like it. A few days ago I decided I'd have more of a sort out of my craft stuff, but that hasn't amounted to much really - and most of it is already sorted anyway.

Sometimes I give in to temptation and buy kits from QVC thinking that they will help me make some quick cards for when I need them for selling for charity - and, tbh, they do sell quite well because the quality is good. The only thing is that you get sheets of die cut shapes that have to be taken out and they have all those annoying little bobbles that have to be snipped off - and by the time you've done that you could have stamped and made a few much more individually styled cards. So during the week I've been cutting bobbles off die cuts and bagging them up in the hope that I might just actually use them, although I'd far rather be playing with stamps.

In the thick of all this yesterday, I came across a challenge that was asking for a silhouette and I had just the right die cut set that fitted that, so this is for CCEE: 'silhouettes on the shade'.

As no patterned paper was used, it's also good for Allsorts 46: 'no DPs'.

I know that there is a blue mat beneath the main image and a bit of red for the waistcoat, but the rest is mainly black and white, so I'm linking for Lots to do 13 and it's a 'scene' for Hanna and friends 39.

And as this was part of a kit that was originally bought to use, but remained in the box, it's right for Flourishes Timeless 61 challenge.

Mind you, I can't really explain why he's holding an umbrella up when the moon is so full and the stars are twinling - a bit of poetic licence I think!

Friday, 2 April 2010

Altered Easter egg box

I finished my Easter cards, so decided I would do something else for the remaining Easter challenges that are still around.

These challenges all call for something to do with Easter, eggs or spring (more details by clicking on the links):

Corrosive 57
Magical crafts 11
Crafty angels 28
One stitch at a time
Mixed media Monday
Created by hand
Creative craft 10
Moxie Tuesday trigger
Fab n funky 17
Little red wagon 22
Penny's challenges
Cute card Thursday
ECP 9
Fussy & fancy 7
If the shoe fits Fashionista Friday 29
Res-Q
Challenge up your life 17: 'Easter - anything but a card'

and this also fits these:

Allsorts
45: 'rags to riches' - alter or recycle something
Creative inspirations 30: 'anything but a card'
Pink elephant 60: 'pastels'
The craft garden: 'pastels'
Crafty Ann 11: 'make something for someone special'
KL stampin n scrappin 23: 'boxes-n-baskets'

I altered an Easter egg box (I bought this for mum for Sunday). This is the original:



I opened out the box to make a template:



and used the template the cut around some Easter wrapping paper:



I then stuck the wrapping paper on to the original box template and did it up again, adding a few flowers (originally from Early Learning - a long while ago).