This week I will be mainly using PINK……

Or maybe that should be in the past tense as this has already been  received.

Oh yeah, a girly, girly card. Loving this classy shoe image from Chloe’s Stamps.

It’s a birthday card for a friend, and I included an equally pink tag, just one layer with stamping.

I’m feeling all minimalist at the mo LOL.

Have a good day.

FRIDAY TAGS

Had that desperate urge to ink the other day so created these single layer tags – amazing how quick things can be when you are not faffing around with a ton of different elements. Nice and simple to pop in an envelope as well!!

I am linking this in to the challenge at Dragon Dreams Tag It on as I have just noticed the current theme is Nature..Time...Orange... – and these tags just happen to have all those things on them!

 

Have a good day, I’m off to make a man eating plant now.

Fancy Edges for Try It On Tuesday

Fussy cut it, punch it, die cut it or use decorative scissors to make three decorative edges – that’s the challenge this fortnight at Try It On Tuesday. Here’s mine:

I’ve made a large tag, with three layers, each of which has a fancy edge. One is made from a tonic punch and the other two are spellbinder edgeabilities. I particularly like the curvy one at the bottom. Coloured with distress stains (spun sugar) and then stamped and edged with ‘tattered rose.’ I used a bit of ‘vintage photo’ on the edges. A little bit of embossing with Rose ‘Frantage’ to add a bit of texture and shine. Leaves and flower from my stash. Quick spritz with something shimmery and voila. Well. you know what I mean!!

So try out some fancy edges on your projects and link them with Try It On Tuesday so we can see what you’ve done.

 

Happy Crafting!!

Birthday cards

Just thought I’d share a couple of cards I snuck in this week….
I bought some fancy edged tent  card blanks from create and craft – I think they are rather neat!!

And here is a a birthday card for a friend. I went digital with this one but decoupaged the flowers and added lots of bling!!

Well, it’s a grey Bank Holiday Monday here at the mo, but just a hint that it might brighten up. Till it does I am going to have a little snoop around to see what peeps have been up to. Have a good day.

Here AT LAST!! August Art Draw

I know there aren’t hordes of people waiting for me to upload my giveaway every month but I do hate to get behind schedule. But here it is, as promised, a handmade book/journal that you can record your innermost thoughts in, doodle or even just write the shopping list in. It’s up to you.

For the actual bookmaking process I used the tutorial here because after reading a few this was the one where it clicked. The cover style is very much a CASE of a Craft Stamper project but of course I can’t find it now. If it pops up I’ll give it credit. It essentially involves embossing folders and embossing powder to give a nice textural finish. The fancy fibres belong to a little bookmark I made to go with it.(BTW, I’m beginning to wonder if I ever really read these magazines, I’ve just flicked through about 7 lying around my craft room and am staggered by the number of projects I don’t remember AT ALL).

If you’d like to receive my efforts (be kind,it’s the first one I’ve ever made) then all you have to do is leave a comment to that effect on this post and I’ll pop you in the draw. International players welcome, and please feel free to link from your own blogs (I’ll put you in the draw twice if you tell me you have done so).
Because this is so late, I am so busy and there will be some time in the next few weeks when I won’t be around, this will in fact be the August/September Art Draw. The closing date will be 9.00pm on Sunday 22nd September.
Thanks for looking!!

What’s on Your Workdesk? Wednesday # 220

Really? It’s Wednesday AGAIN?? Didn’t we just do WOYWW yesterday? (If you want to know what WOYWW is go and look here.)

OK, here we go, here’s my workspace this week. Strangely tidy, I have just finished a card that was floating round last week. it’s waiting to dry and go in an acetate sleeve. Over to the left you can see my finished handmade book – it will be my giveaway for the month, I’ll post it tomorrow (Thurs) sans bulldog clips. I took Elizabeth’s advice and left the inside blank so the recipient can fill it up. The tag which looks completely staged in the photo (it wasn’t) I think is there because I promised someone a birthday gift – even if it wasn’t I shall finish it and send it off as I’ve now remembered. The rest is the same old same old. (Although before taking the photo I did remove the pot of soaking brushes which I realised had been there the whole week………)

I’m taking this photo Tuesday night as I have just enough energy left to sort this post and then do a 15 minute tidy up so my desk is clear for the morning as I have two commission cards to knock out. Not that you’ve asked, but Creepy House is still going well, today we made a 3 page book with a pop-up, a lift up flap, and a rather innovative (if I say so myself) creepy house with a revolving window. I had to make the house and stick it together with a brad beforehand (sharp implements were involved) so it was a little bit of a cheat – mum and I sat in the sun Monday afternoon and made up 30, she cut out the houses and I cut out the windows. I wish I’d taken some photos of the finished books (forgot), the 22 kids (aged 4 – 10) did really well in 50 minutes. It always makes me smile - the mum’s faces go into panic mode when I say what we are going to do but if the kids apply themselves they can do it and boy are they proud of themselves when it’s finished.

Saturday should be a riot, it’s our fun day, hopefully it will be fine so I can use some of the garden - the flying balls etc can get a bit much inside and some of the older readers wonder what’s going on. (Some just join in).. Oh just remembered I’ve got to coerce hubby into making a ‘splat the rat’ tomorrow, I think that’ll be a complete hoot if we can get it sorted. Anyone got a spare bit of drainpipe handy?

And yes, I am completely mad. But the kids love me. Grin.

Happy WOYWW.

Try It On Tuesday - Landscape

I’m offering this one up mid challenge as I’m a little behind at the moment.

The theme is ‘landscape’ - Oh easy peasy, I thought (!)  I would dig out my brayer and create a brayered landscape – oh such hubris!! I actually found this incredibly difficult and more than a bit of a challenge. Still, I’ve come up with two that I think are acceptable (but by no means perfect!!).

We’d love to see your ‘landscape’ ideas over at Try It On Tuesday.and you have another week until, the challenge closes so why not join in?? And I’m sure there are a few brayer masters out there who can put my attempt to shame!!

FUN IN THE SUN!! with CRAFTY CARDMAKERS

Well maybe if we in the UK keep plugging on about it the sun will come back out of hiding!! Fed up with these grey skies already.

So anyway here’s a cheerful DT piece using a digi image from our sponsors Saturated Canary. The embellishments are a mixture of stamped and digi images coloured with promarkers, background paper from DCWV.

In the hopes of encouraging the sun to shine for longer than 5 minutes, we would like to see something relating to summer fun, so that might be holiday related, or something in the garden, basically something you might do outdoors when the sun is shining that's fun, clean and legal!!

So hop on over to crafty cardmakers and join in with your sunny projects – at least we can brighten up our blogs if not our skies!!

A few offerings…

 

First a 4 x 4 made from the test piece for my Timmy Tags this month. Nearly threw it in the bin and then decided I could do something with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two ATCs made when playing with a couple of digital images. The mermaid was a download from A Day For Daisies. and the lovely lady is from Simply B. Beautiful selections on both sites.

 

What’s on Your Workdesk? Wednesday # 219

I have an itch that needs to be scratched. For a couple of weeks I have had a yearning to try my hand at a hand made book. Even though I have other things I should be doing (Including a belated 60th birthday card for someone I have worked side by side with for the last two years – there’s that memory thing again). Which is why you can see on my desk this week some ‘signatures’ I have cut and prepped ready to make. I’m not sure where it’s going, but it may well end up as this month’s giveaway as I don’t have anything else ready (grin).  The question is should I decorate the pages going inside(will take longer) or leave them blank. Decisions, decisions…….

Also on my desk you can see I’ve had my brayer out, but that’s all a bit secret squirrel. A couple of card ideas waiting for me to decide exactly what’s happening with them (like Julia they may just keep moving around for a couple of weeks or longer) and a pot full of soaking paintbrushes. Am I the only one who treats their brushes badly? I really, really, really intend to clean them up straight away (or at least before I go to bed) but every morning I come in and find yet another one I’ve covered in some kind of medium that is now stiff as a board. So I am trying to rescue these with a good long soak. Might work.

Creepy House activities are now in full swing – the children even seem to be reading some books!! I’m averaging 5 story time sessions a week and 25 – 30 children per craft activity . Last Saturday at work we started concertina books (not my finest hour lol) and today we did masks courtesy of Activity Village (without whose wonderful resources  I would certainly have had a nervous breakdown by now). Spiders on Thursday with the under 4s, bunting coming up on Saturday (simples) but we’re playing board games and Top Trumps as well, not entirely sure how that will go. Pop Up books next Tuesday are a slight worry at the moment as I have nothing prepped at all …..and,…….well I really can’t think further ahead than that.

Oh yeah, forgot to say hi, it’s Wednesday again – as if you didn’t know -  and we’re snooping. Just in case, all the info about WOYWW can be found here. Do go over and say ‘hi’ to Julia – she’d love to hear from you. Leave me a message if you have time and I’ll get back to you but no pressure, we all have a life.

HAPPY WOYWW!!

Birthday!!

A simple little card for a friend. The birthday stamp is from Anna Marie Designs.

And an ATC/BRAK sent with it. Still giving those JOFY stamps a work out!!

(I noticed the ink smudge after I’d taken the photo – sorted before it was sent!)

 

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday - #218

It’s Wednesday again. I am between projects at the moment – for which read there is so much crap out I really can’t start anything new until I put something away. But rather than show you a photo of this mess I thought I would share something that caught my eye when wakefulness lured me into my craft room just before dawn.

Before the eyes focussed, for a moment I honestly thought a slug had crawled onto my abandoned coffee cup. Then I realised that this is how I lose stamps. At some stage my cup has become temporary storage for a cling stamp. Several days ago judging by when I was working with it (and the state of the coffee cup, sorry about that LOL).

I do not recall doing this (I don’t recall doing quite a few things these days, it is a slight worry).

So whether this is the kind of crafty housekeeping that makes you cringe self righteously or smile in sympathy it’s one of the many things you can find at WOYWW. All the details can be found at Stamping Ground. And yes Julia, I look forward to your treatise on the nature of ‘it’ and why ‘it’ has a need to be rushing around all over the place quite so quickly.

Today I shall be at work, so visiting desks late. At work I will be prepping masks for an activity next week. Even though yesterday I was prepping pop-up books because I thought that was the activity for next week. Interestingly the children who turned up for the activity yesterday thought they were making the masks. Mainly because that is what I had written on the programme. All but two were too polite to query why they were making cone witches when they had come to make masks. I obviously changed the order of events in my head but neglected to change the advertising. Well that’s my story. So much for being super organised. Still I think they had fun.

And I now know that masks are a popular choice judging by the 34 children that arrived.I had prepped for 12. (No child went home witchless).

I told you I keep forgetting things. What day is it again?

Tags of 2013 - AUGUST

Yep, don’t faint. Thought I’d have a go at these early in the month for once.

Tim’s tags are here. This month’s technique challenge is essentially masking and stamping (with a little twist using distress ink pens or in my case watercolour pens) and Tim chose a travel theme for his tags. Whilst the technique is one I am familiar with I had a bit of trouble finding stamps that were large enough and ‘strong’ enough to be the main focal point (There’s an excuse to go shopping if ever I heard one).

 

First off I thought I’d have a go using my Mme Berthe stamp with a selection of Paris stamps – but would she stamp clearly? Oh no. This is the third and fourth go – in the end I had to paper piece her on to the tag to get her to show up at all. I used the same archival ink pad for the arc de triomphe and that stamped just fine. Go figure. I decided she’s really a bit too sketchy for this technique and I’m not entirely happy with all the elements in this collage so not the best result.

 

Then I tried this bottle just to have a practice as by now I was beginning to think I had forgotten how to do this properly!! Turned out quite well but I’m not really sure what it's all about, just used random stamps. Mind you by this stage it was nearly driving me to drink.

Finally I thought I’d have ago with some paper artsy stamps that I have used before for this technique, and I’m quite pleased with this one - except I stamped ‘journey’ crooked and then when I was adding ink to make the main images ‘pop’ a bit more it all got rather too grungy for my taste. With hindsight, what I should have done was a bigger collage and then cut out the tag, I can’t seem to get the layout right at this size.

Flickr Tags: Tim Holtz,Tags of 2013

So that’s the best I can muster - I give up!! And if you’re keeping track, wobbly stamping notwithstanding, this will be the one going into the January giveaway as it is the closest to the technique. Have a good Tuesday!!

We have a winner!!!

The winner of the July ‘bunting’ is Sally who I don’t think has had the uncertain pleasure of receiving anything from me before!! I know you are in France at the moment having a wonderful time but I have left a message for you hun, no worries send me your addy when you get back.

And here’s the ‘fancy’ card I had to make yesterday. Not as fancy as I expected it to be as I decided I had to just get on and do it, the poor girl is leaving on Saturday and nobody has signed the card yet!!

Brief:-  designer handbags, fast cars and bling. I did it white (nice centura pearl card, no rubbish!) because someone told me white handbags are no longer ‘naff’. But what do I know?

I did make a nice box though (well, I put together a pre-cut one – so glad I discovered these they are so worth the money!!). So, that’s me up to date, not that that’ll last. Grin. Happy Crafting.

Technorati Tags: Handbag card,Giveaway