March Art Draw - Fly the flag!!

I did say I would upload this Thursday but I think I may just as well do it now and turn off  the pc - I'll only end up in a rush if I start playing on here in the morning!!

This month we have a piece I made last year but I think we still need to  be a bit patriotic every now and then!! It's a slide mailer made using stamps from the Indigo Blu 'Pomp and Circumstance' (I think that's what it's called anyway) stamp set. The stamping on this front section is a resist technique using brilliance ink on glossy card which was showcased in Craft Stamper Magazine September 2012. It gives a very nice finish.

For the inside I put a little bit of poetry and decorated with roses - well, she is an English rose after all!!

I was trying to see what I could with the stamp set so the back is more of the same and I masked the various images to get them all grouped together.

 This one won't take up a lot of space on your desk or shelf so if you would like a chance to win it then leave a comment here on this post to be included in the Draw. International players are welcome, please feel free to link from your own blogs (if you tell me you have done so I will put you in the draw twice).

Closing date will be 9.00 pm on Sunday 31st March.  Thanks for playing, see you soon!!
(Please don't worry if your comment doesn't show straight away, moderation is on and I may not be around to deal with it for a couple of days)
 

What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday

Goodness these weeks do fly.

It's Wednesday again and time to go on our weekly bloghop courtesy of Julia Dunnit of Stamping Ground. Start there if you want to find out what is going on.

This is me today. Fairly calm and orderly. I have two projects on my desk, one is a bird cage thingy I am making for Mother's Day and the other is a birthday card for my sister using a Lily of the Valley image I bought a few weeks ago.  Struggling with the papers now. When will I learn to choose the papers before I colour the images? I find it much more difficult the other way round, nothing ever seems to match. Oh well I'm sure it will work out.

So that's that. If you have time to leave a message today I will return the favour. But I won't be here after Thursday morning, off to catch some sun, so although you are welcome to visit any time I may not be able to visit you after today. Hope that makes sense. Have a good day everyone!!

Try It On Tuesday - 'Time Flies'

I often think this should be my personal mantra as I am more often than not rushing around chasing my tail and  playing catch up. The downside of our busy modern lives is that we often forget to live in the moment. So this fortnight's Try It On Tuesday theme is one close to my heart and I wanted to try and make something  a bit different for my DT project - and for once I made time to do just that!!!

I am a sucker for buying the latest bits and bobs and never getting round to using them, so there are a fair few art parts languishing in my craft room. 

This piece is a mixture of art parts, grungeboard die cuts, various cog die cuts (because I can't decide which one to buy I buy them in bundles ready cut from ebay. That way I get all the styles whereas I couldn't justify buying all the different dies .... could I?).
I have then treated them to a bit of Distress EP, paint, ink and metallic rub ons. I had great fun putting all this together and even found a place for one of my mini bottles.

 

 

Our sponsor this month is Really Reasonable Ribbons who are offering a $15 gift voucher for our February challenges winner.

So come on, let's see what you can make with this theme - I am anticipating it will be a very popular one! You can enter any project as long as it follows the theme but please remember to link to only 5 challenges in total if you wish to be considered for Top 5 and the Prize Draw at Try It On Tuesday.

February Art Draw Winner.....

is FUSCHIA.  I have your addy Lynn so I will be at the PO tomorrow. Just er... got to find a box or something (really should think about this in advance!!) Thanks to those who joined in, I know it might not have been to everyone's taste. I am going to upload next month's Art Draw on Thursday morning before I get off -  and this is just a little one, you don't need a whole wall for it!!

Best wishes, Cindy

Bee Mine?

A bit late for Valentine's but there are still a few challenges out there not least one of my favourite's The Octopode Factory Friday Challenge. A heart? An octopode image?  (not essential!!) Well it had to 'bee' this one.

I thought I'd mix it up with the Out of A Hat Challenge which is to alter a matchbox. More  decorating than altering in my case because this is made up from a template, nevertheless this was fun to do and gave me an excuse to use my pink bubblegum dylusion spray - yum!! The larger than normal size meant I could actually make something to go inside (I really struggle to find things small enough with regular sized matchboxes).








However if you like altered matchboxes do go and have a look at this one which I did a few years ago now - love this!! I wonder if it is still intact.

And just because I can, I'm also linking this in with the Artful Times 'Anything with colour'. I think it might qualify!!

Crafty Individuals Challenge 'For my Friend'

Well I really didn't know I was going to make this when I sat down at my craft desk today. Everyone has gone out and left me on my own (am I bad to want to shout 'hooray!'?) so after some necessary housework I  thought I'd sit and play. Nothing I really had to do today, but I had this challenge from Crafty Individuals in the back of my mind.

I've also been missing my best friend as she has been pretty poorly lately and not getting out much - just the usual coughs and sniffles but never ending as so many colds have been this year. I've left it a bit late to send her a get well card as I am seeing her tomorrow before we go off on holiday - yay!! Sunshine (I hope!!). Her very favouritest things are beach huts, (you may recall I made this card for her birthday last year) and I just happen to have that CI stamp with beach huts so somehow this came together. Went old school, used my water colour pencils to colour for a subtle effect. It started ATC sized but then I decided to mount it on some other card, triple emboss it and add a magnet to the back so it can be a fridge magnet.  Quite simple, but I hope she'll like it.

QUICK REMINDER - FEBRUARY ART DRAW CLOSES MONDAY 25th AT 9.00 PM.

Purple, Orange and a butterfly....

is the recipe for the current Dragon's Dream Tag It On Challenge. Well I had my tags out, it would be rude not to. Here's my entry, using dylusions, Distress Inks, stamps, grungepaper butterflies and bakers twine - I think I was more than a little influnced by the previous tags with regards to layout but if it works.........


See ya soon, Cindy

Tags of 2013 - February

A pretty tag by Tim this month with a few Valentine overtones - sinking heart, I can't do a CASE on this tag (is that the correct terminology?), don't have most of the bits. So will need to deconstruct the tut to see exactly what all the elements are.

1.  Main image, stamped, coloured and decoupaged - what to choose?
2.  Distress background, that's OK, but may change colours depending on other items.
3.  Embossed and sanded kraft core as an embellishment - just need to choose something appropriate
4.  Custom cash key embellishment - perhaps I can use one of my 'medals' again.

5. Tissue ribbon -I know I won't be able to manufacture this without tearing - think I'll stick with stamping my vintage binding
6.  Finishing touches!

Mmm. First stop - stamp collection. There must be something there (!). I'm not feeling that loved up, Valentine's is long gone after all, and my gaze turns towards my oriental collection. Perhaps this lady with the lamp? She hasn't had an outing for a few years and I've never  tried decoupaging her before. She doesn't have a background as such but I'm sure I can find something to add.

My embossing folders aren't screaming 'oriental' at me but I've pulled out a couple of foliage ones and I do have some stencils - maybe I can emboss with them?

I like the red of the original - maybe I'll keep that, but I'll have to use inks, I don't have stains in those colours. Right. All my bits are gathered, off we go!!

Oh me likey!! Might not be quite what I usually expect from a Tim inspired tag but isn't going off and making it your own half the fun?

Here are  the finished tags - remember I'm doubling up ready for a giveaway next year. I managed to emboss with my bamboo stencil through my bug - perhaps not as deep as I would have liked but I am incredibly pleased it worked!! Not too sure the stencil is as happy as me however - it may have got a little bent in places - oops! My little medallions look cool too with their stamped chinese character (which means??!) finished off with glossy accents. All in all a very satisfactory evening's play.




 

WOYWW # 194

Goodness, where did that week go? Very apt considering the project on my desk which, ah, unfortunately I can't show you yet.It's cunningly disguised as a piece of A4 paper. Oh all right, I've left one of the flowers out so you can see.
Yes I've been inking and grunging and stamping and embossing.... a DT project which is ALMOST finished and which will be unveiled next Tuesday. Other than that, even more stamps to be cleaned than last week and I still haven't covered that 'heroes' box.

Here's the main thing on my desk this week, a new printer. A purchase which has required some re-jigging of my craft room as it didn't look very secure on the jerry rigged paper storage cabinet the old one used to sit on (aka a cardboard box). I truly hope I have made a good choice although I have yet to give it a thorough work out.




Why am I telling you all this?
                                            What is WOYWW?

                             Seriously, where have you BEEN?

 It's a weekly wednesday world wide WIP on your desk bloghop that is hosted by the wonderful Julia Dunnit of Stamping Ground - hop on over for the full story and to join in.

I'm taking a picture Tues night as it's work for me tomorrow so be prepared once again for a late visit.  Maybe even later than usual as I won't be home until after 9 and our pesky new computer set up at work doesn't like us to visit ANY SITES AT ALL (in fact I think the powers-that-be would prefer it if we just turned them on and stared at them all day. Actually opening a programme,sending an email, looking up information - we are an information service - well that's asking a bit much......)  so I only have limited lunch time browsing as I give up after three 'you can't go here's'. However,  I'd love to know if you stop by, and will return the favour if you let me know you've been. Have a great day!!
 

Finished cards...

Here are the finished cards I was working on earlier in the week. The boots come from a serif digikit which I re-sized in Craft Artist 2. The first one came out way too big (!) so I used that for a friend's birthday coming up later in the year and reprinted for the commission 21st card.

The shoe stamp is from Stamps by Chloe and the papers were from Craftwork cards - I only had just enough!! The brief was for a very fashionable 90 year old who likes her bling and was known for her heels -  it's a bit bright for me but it was fun to make.

Not feeling very focussed on crafting lately and have been pottering finishing off old WIPs and re-organising my space as I took delivery of a new printer at the weekend. I feel sad to let my last one go as it started behaving immediately I gave in and bought a new one. There wasn't much wrong with it except unreliable colour printing (Look at the two boot cards!!), hopeless and very irritating when I'm trying to do digital crafting - a print head problem I think and it's not worth the cost to fix it.  It did seem to use a lot of ink though so I hope this new one will be better.

Right it's a lovely day so going to take mum out for a walk in the park. Time we both got out and blew away the cobwebs I think. Have a good monday.

WOYWW # 193

Welll Hellooooo There! Been AWOL for a few weeks but am home today so  thought I would join in and get round a few desks at least.

Here's mine:

It's been commission week so I have one completed card over to the right and another on my desk in progress. Not entirely sure about that pink or the flower just playing with the layout at the mo. Some art parts ready to be put together, a pile of hearts that I left out just in case I was struck by valentinitus but which can probably be put away now and of course the inevitable box of stamps-waiting-to be-cleaned-and-put-away although to be truthful there is not a lot in there. (Must cover that 'Heroes' box)As per, lots of scissors. No coffee cups? Ha, they're on the other desk next to the pc and out of shot.  (Just counted - 4, what a slob!)

Wonder why I am showing you my desk? To find out about the weekly wonder that is WOYWW hop on oover to Julia Dunnit's Stamping Ground to find out more and join in. I'll be in and out all day as I have a zillion errands to run (and a lunch date with my bestie so not all bad) but if you do leave me a message I WILL return the favour, but might be later this afternoon.

Happy WOYWW!!

Cindy

 

Try It On Tuesday - It's All About The Eyes...

This fortnight we are asking you to create a project where the main focus is an eye or eyes. I seem to be in the mood to work small this week so I've done an ATC using Distress Inks and various eye stamps I have (who knows why I have so many .. answers on a postcard please...). I have had this sentiment stamp for ages  - I think I bought it at my first ever trip to Ally Pally - and it always makes me laugh, and reminds me not to take myself so seriously. (Because, of course, there are no art police and no rules in art !!)


We have a new sponsor for February Really Reasonable Ribbons who are generously offering a $15 gift voucher to our winner this month.



Anyhoo, hope you can find time to play and join in with us at Try It On Tuesday. BUT (and it's only a little 'but' really) please, please, please abide by the rules of the challenge, (in particular only linking to 5 challenges in total) because it is such a shame when great projects can't be included in Top 5 or Prize draw because this has been ignored. Have fun!!

Cindy
 

Something Old, Something New...

 
No, it's not a wedding card, it's the challenge over at the J & C Creations Challenge Blog. for which I decided to maker this 'Time' themed ATC.

My something old were various 'Time' stamps and my something new was the key which was cut with a Marianne Creatables die LR0193 available at the store. Cut out on thickish card and grunged up with inks and distress embossing powders it looks quite the thing!

Thanks for looking!!

The February Art Drawing is lovely......

Well I had fun with this, even though it has taken me a week to put those 'finishing touches' to it.

Very little crafting time this week, work is starting to rev up and as usual I am woefully over committed. Must learn to say no....must learn to say no....must learn......

Anyhoo I digress. This month's offering is more crafty than arty and is once again an exercise in knowing when to stop. It is from an old Cosmo Cricket scrapbooking kit (love the papers!) and I thought it was about time I made up this particular piece. It is also not quite finished as you have to do that yourself - worked it out yet? It's an elaborate hanging picture frame (albeit for some rather small pictures) so you'll need to provide the piccies. It is quite large (each circle is approx 8" across) and not something I would be able to find space for in my home but might make a nice present even if you don't keep it for yourself.

If you want to be in the art draw then please leave a comment on this post. International players welcome, feel free to link from your own blogs (let me know and I'll put you in twice). We'll run this one until 9.00 pm on Monday 25th February.

And for those in the UK, a quick plug for National Libraries Day which is tomorrow. If you are lucky enough to still have a local library, use it or risk losing it. They'll be especially pleased to see you this week. This is not just because I want to keep my job, it's about the future of our society. Think on this, if all the libraries, with their considerable buying capacity, disappear and stop buying the printed word, at what point will it cease to be economical to publish books at all?  Do you only ever want to read books on your kindle or share a picture book with your child on a screen? Sorry, it is not the same. And don't think it won't happen. Printed newspapers are already under threat.

Rant over.

See ya soon and thanks for playing,
 

And the winner is.....

Shoshi. Have left you a message hun, thought I had your addy but can't see it anywhere (not renowned for my filing system).

Thanks everyone for taking part, looking forward to having another set of Timmy inspired tags to giveaway next January. How's that for forward planning?

Meanwhile, am putting the finishing touches to the February Art Draw.
Will be along early next week.

Here's a sneaky peek.


Back soon!!