October Giveaway – Hang about, what do you mean I have to finish it myself?

Well only a little bit!!
Here it is, I have made a little door hanger using my Julie Nutting art dolls and some Papermania Capsule papers (Spots and Stripes Festive). Here’s one side:
and here’s the other.
But here’s the thing, I couldn’t decide what to write on it. So I thought rather than stress about it any longer the winner could decide what they want, so it could be their name, someone else’s name, ‘Keep Out’ or ‘Only enter if bearing coffee’ – you get the drift. I might even add a few flowers but I thought I’d  better hold off till I knew how long the word(s) might be.

A simple little make this month but hey, it is what it is and I have been busy. Will try and do something extra special for November. If you want to be in the draw, leave a comment here (with your desired captions if you have thought of them, but not essential) before 9pm on Sunday 27th October.


Overseas players welcome, and if you let me know you have posted on your own blog I will put you in the hat twice.
That’s all folks!!

November Art Draw - A bit of Christmas spirit!!

Well I suppose we had to mention the 'C' word sometime soon! In an attempt to be more organised and get this month's offering out to the winner before the festive season is over, I have  a Christmas themed project for November.


The item in question is this festive wreath, much influenced by samples I have seen using Mr Holtz's dies. These ones however are from Marianne Creatables. The wreath is not very large, being about 8" across but hopefully someone would like this in their craft room or home.
 The art draw will run until 9.00 pm on Friday 30th November. If you want to play please leave a comment on this post to that effect - this will secure your name going 'in the hat'. Feel free to link from your own blogs and if you let me know you have I'll put you in the draw twice. Overseas players welcome but please make sure I have a way to contact you should you win as posting dates might be tight for overseas delivery.

I think that's all for now, and err.... merry christmas??
(Anybody know how many sleeps??)

July Art Draw - Altered Canvas

or just a plain old canvas lol never sure about the altered bit.


Here is the finished item.







Isn't that little snail boy just gorgeous? He is a digital stamp from the Octopode Factory. I started the background to the canvas a la Christie Tomlinson but ended up going my own way. I added (yet more) scruffy flowers as 3D elements and various bits of rub ons etc for texture. The trouble with these layered backgrounds is deciding when they are finished or when they need just a little bit more - hope I have got it right.

Anyhow, if you would like to be in the draw for this canvas then the rules are simple, just add a comment on this post and I'll pop you in the draw. Add a link from your own blog and I'll put you in twice. International players welcome.

I'll close the draw on Saturday 28th July at 9.00 pm.

I'm uploading a little later than anticipated because my OH and I went to DD's 'graduation' from the Fashion Retail Academy today (passed with Distinction!!) and rather than brave the rush hour traffic home we went out for a meal. The college put on a lovely afternoon and the students' work on display was just jawdropping. There are some really talented young folk out there. and I am very, very proud of my darling Chelsey.

So hope you will join in this month, see you around, Cindy x

May Art Draw - 'May I' share this project.....

I am sharing the May Art Draw with this month's challenge at Scrap our Stash. This project has been made with items that have been languishing in my stash for quite a while. Even the Clearly for Art which I have been using lately (it's all gone now!!) had been stuck in a file for over 6 months and I thought I had better use it up before it got mistaken for a sheet of acetate!

For the "MAY I?" Challenge you have to complete your project by getting inspiration from someone elses blog and that is what I did   for this month's draw. The item on offer is this altered wooden box which has been made over using some great techniques demo'd on one of my favourite altered art blogs 'Zuzu's Petals'. To create her wonderfully textured boxes and canvases Louise uses fusible/fantasy film and in response to requests from followers she generously posted a tutorial here.

I found this great fun, although I had some problems getting the film to 'stick' initially. Also although Louise did suggest that we "heat the holy crap out of it".... I may have taken this a little too literally - some of the film looked decidedly singed when I was done (nothing a touch of gold paint or metallic rub on couldn't fix LOL).

It was totally coincidental that I had also been making some rather yummy metallic looking flowers and this one really seemed to go with the box so I decided to stick it on the top rather than add lots of small embellishments like Louise has. However I have another larger box to do that may well get a lot of extra layers!! To finish off I put one of my Tim Holtz tags of 2012 inspired butterflies inside. It's wired in but the recipient could easily take it out and use it on a project.

The box is quite small, no more than 2.5" x 2.5", but if you like blingy texture and would like the chance 'win' this box then leave a message on this post before 9.00 pm on Sunday 27th MAYand I'll put you in the draw. Overseas players welcome. Please feel free to link from your own blogs if you have the technology (as per last month, if I see you have I will put you in the draw twice but no pressure!!). Alternatively maybe you will be inspired to follow the tutorial and have a go, I'd love to see what you do!!

That's it for now, hope  you like what I have made. I have a little more information to impart re making the flowers so will probably do a post about them when I have a minute but, unfortunately, decorating calls!!

See you later,

Cindy x

February Art Draw - it's Luvverly!!

If I do say so myself. Not often I'm tempted to keep my giveaways and fob you off with something else but am quite pleased with the way this turned out ...... but I'll stick to the original plan, especially as I already gave you a sneak preview before I went away.

My original inspiration came from two projects in February's Craft Stamper Magazine - 'Their Hearts Connected' by Louise Crosbie (AKA Zuzu) and 'A Splash of Paint' by Trish Latimer. The minute I saw them I knew I wanted to make something similar and get very painty and inky!! I had already decided to do something romantic with hearts using my canvases - it is February after all - and originally tried a red, and then a red and purple colourway (you may remember the red canvases from waaaaaay back).


Somehow it ended up too harsh looking so I softened it with gesso, some pink and added a touch of turquoise and I like it much better.

I really like using canvases 'backwards' for the possibilities they give as a kind of shadow box and I had two hanging about waiting for a project. The only trouble was they are quite small - about 7 x 10 cms - so finding teeny tiny things to go inside was a bit of a challenge. For the main message on the front which I wanted to be clear I stamped on to tissue first and then adhered with gel medium - I always find this works really well.

I did wonder at one point if I
had over mixed my metaphors so to speak as I seemed to have some funky paint effects going on and then went all vintage with a cherub and some tiny paper roses - but I decided  the colours held it all together.






And at last a use for one of those little corked bottles!! Bought them a year ago and they have been languishing in my stash ever since. Filled it with tiny silver stars as I couldn't find any tiny hearts in my stash.





Anyhow, enough of my waffling. If you would like to enter the Art Draw then leave a comment on this post before 9.00 pm on Saturday 25th February.

International players are very welcome. It always seems a bit cheeky to say this as I am not very good at any of this technical linking stuff but I would be very happy for you to link from your own blogs  - the more the merrier.

Finally, as I have been catching up in Blogland I have noticed there are a lot of challenges out there to do with Valentine's, hearts, romance..... there's definitely something in the air. So I'm linking this project to Snazzy's Design Team Blog Challenge # 1, Love/Romance. There are prizes!!! I've also linked in to the Link Party at Cindy Adkins' blog if you would like to join in as well. It also fits the theme for a new9ish) challenge blog  that I have come across - 'art with no boundaries'

October giveaway

This will be a quick turnaround as it's a topical - well halloween - theme and it would make sense to get it in the post to the 'winner' before it's all over.

It's actually designed to be a photo frame (I think) so you could easily replace the image I've used with one of the kids (or yourself!!) in appropriate Halloween mode.

All I have to do now is find a box to post it in!!

Usual 'rules' apply, leave a comment on this post before 9.00 pm on Sunday 16th October. International players welcome, feel free to link from your own blogs. Thanks for looking!!

One Stamp, 10 ATCS......

Well here it is at last. This is my AUGUST GIVEAWAY, but this month there's a little a twist and you have some work to do to enter ......



First, let me explain how this came about. As you may have seen, I made my first coaster book last week, and it got me thinking that it would be a nice way to present some ATCs - I don't know about you, but I hate that they end up in albums hidden away and am always trying to find ways to get them out in view without them ending up just looking, well, like a load of ATCs stuck on a shelf. Next thing, I bought a ridiculous amount of stamps, for a ridiculously small amount of money (so small I went back for more but haven't got those yet). This is a serious addiction now, having almost got over the paper fetish (yes I am one of those people who just likes looking at it, hates to cut it) I am now obsessed with stamps. Anyhow, really liked the stamp used on the front of this book but it's a kind of over and done with stamp - it's not really suitable for piecing, once you've stamped it that's it - or is it? So here was the challenge, to make a set of ATCs, using that stamp as the focal point for each one. Well in all I made 10, and the book only holds 5, 4 if you don't count the one that is stuck on the front. Here's another one.



So here's the thing, if you would like to win this little presentation book you need to hop over to my FLICKR gallery and tell me by leaving a comment on this post which 4 you would like to have included in the book if you are the (lucky) winner. The others I will probably keep for a meet I'm going to in October. I might even make another book lol. Be interesting to see which one comes out top.



Post your comments before 8.00 pm on Wednesday 26th August to take part. Winner will be announced that evening. Oh, and if you are going to be away or anything please let me know, kinda takes the wind out of my sails when I can't get hold of you to let you know you've won!! Don't let that stop you entering, it's just good to know and I'll try and pop over and leave a comment for anyone who enters as well, sorry have been very remiss at doing that but the time just gets away from me.

July Giveaway - 'Solitude', an altered CD

Well that just about sums it up. Lots going on at the moment so I have kept it simple this month with a wall hanging made from an altered CD. I wanted to use this image of a thoughtful vintage lady and one of these 'enchanted doors' from itkupilly and came across this quote which seemed to with these images...



Although I treasure my friends, both in the 'real' and in the 'virtual' world I am also very happy to be on my own - solitude is definitely a 'haven' for me. I was still playing with my layering when doing this and I have also been making wire wrapped charms for a swap over on GAS MAMMA (great fun, even if they do look a bit like caterpillers) and used one for the 'dangly' bit. So I hope you like the finished piece.



OK, if you have an empty space on your wall somewhere and would like a chance to win this altered cd, you need to leave a comment on this post before 8.00 pm on Friday 31st July. I will be away at the end of July, so the draw will be made on Saturday morning.

Please feel free to link to this post on your blogs, the more the merrier.

Cindy xx

Pay It Forward - Round 2

Back at the beginning of April, I asked if anyone wanted to take part in the PIF challenge. I had two takers and just thought I would share with you the items that I sent off.



First, for Belinda, I made a little pennant banner, similar to one I made as a giveaway. At the time I had been playing with some coloured UTEE and had various bits and pieces that I had coated or made with it so that kind of set the initial colour scheme, and because those things included a dragonfly and a flower, the theme as well.







I also used some shrink plastic to make the little birds and flowers, and made some jigsaw charms to dangle - do like a good dangly bit lol.

The second person to take part was Trudy, and for her I recycled (or maybe re-vamped is a better expression) an earlier piece to make a wall hanging. Anyhow this is how it turned out.



Now, the idea of the Pay It Forward challenge is this, I promised to send a little crafty surprise sometime before the end of 2009, to the first 3 people who left a comment on my blog.

BUT, to takepart ... they must continue the chain and offer to send a little something to the first 3 people who make a comment on a similar post on their own blogs..

My original post only got two participants, one of whom doesn't have a blog and who will be continuing with the challenge in a different way .... so technically two people can still take part. So, if you want to spread a little happiness around, leave a comment here to that effect and I will be in touch. Soon.

MAY GIVE - AWAY!! Enter here....

A day later than advertised as our main pc crashed yesterday - shouldn't really affect me as I have my own, but it's the master one which drives the network and most importantly the link with the printer which is how I get photos from my camera these days.... confused? well never mind it's pretty much sorted now, OH spent most of his Sunday rebuilding the d***** thing again .... he's getting quite good at it now.

So here we are...



I'm sure it is not obvious what this little objet d'art is so I'll explain. It's a little trinket box made from dominoes, covered with paper, painted, stamped and embossed. I do like to ring the changes lol. And because it didn't look that inspiring I made a teeny weeny concertina book to go inside as a little extra. I didn't say these giveaways would be anything useful!!



OK, you surely know the form by now, if you want to be included in the draw leave a comment on this post before 8.00 pm on Sunday 24th May. Please feel free to link to this giveaway on your own blogs and thanks again for visiting, ALL your comments are much appreciated even if I don't always get time to reciprocate.

Hugs Cindyxx

HAPPY EASTER and APRIL GIVEAWAY

Well, the long Easter weekend has finally arrived and if you are anything like me you have spent a lot of time this week out in the garden - it has been glorious!! This is a favourite time of year, as the garden starts to unfurl and everything is so full of promise - usually all goes to pot for this weekend but you never know!!



For the April giveaway I decided on a change of pace and this month's item should (hopefully) appeal to those among you who like a touch of vintage. As regular readers will know, I have been making a daily art card for a year and to vary things a bit I have occasionally made some 4 x 4 journal pages. I have put together 8 of these pages to make a little book (well I really did have to try out that bind it all I got for Christmas!!). They are all of vintage children and if you would like to see what you are getting you can look at the complete set on my flickr album here.
So if you would like to own 8 little pieces of art (lol) all you have to do is leave a comment on this post between now and 8.00 pm on Monday 20th April. The winner will be announced on the 21st.



I do hope a few new people will join in, so please feel free to advertise on your own blogs. Meanwhile, I would like to wish everyone a very happy Easter.

Cindy xx