SDC 157 Xmas in July

Over at the brilliant Stampotique Designers Blog it is Gez’s turn to choose the challenge. Here is what she has to say:

Hi Gez here, I am delighted to be your hostess for this weeks challenge.

It's never too early to start thinking about Christmas right?!! ;-) I thought it would be nice for us to spread a wave of festive cheer throughout Blogland!

Every year I set out with good intentions and imagine a great big stack of handmade Christmas cards all ready to send out nice and early in December, in reality I think it's happened once! So, lets do it together! Dig deep and crack open the Christmas stash box early!!

This is a fun challenge, I hope you enjoy it too!

 

I went more for the general Xmas on my first attempt. Wanted to make a folder to keep all my Xmas information in.

I am one of those people who starts making their presents for the next xmas in January so i need a place to keep track of the presents i have made. This folder should have been completed by now but i haven’t sourced the metal section to add to the spine. Have found this place in the UK if anyone is interested where you can purchase your own o ring mechanism, mine are on the way!

My idea is to use divider cards to mark out different categories and i will have a pretty filing system just for Xmas.

 

The card i have made for the challenge is here.

  

Used Heads from Stampotique as my main image. The background was made from a Gelli plate print and the font is a very old set and not sure where from, sorry.  Love stamping onto kraft card and i love how this has turned out.

  The Heads are part of Santa’s helpers team and they want to see if you are on the naughty list.  They decide how naughty you have been so you might end up with something after all! Each one love their job and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, especially in July when all the fun starts.

Thanks for dropping by, looking forward to your comments.

xxx

UK Art Swaps–Pendant

A few days ago in this post i showed you how i had played with DecoArt paints to decorate some ceramic heart pendants.

 

At the time i wasn’t too sure what i would do with them, here they are finished.

Front and back views of pendant one.

Pendant two.

Made this one into a bag charm.

One of these will be will be sent tomorrow for the swap, the other two are being put away for Christmas presents.

Looking forward to your comments, thanks for dropping by.

xxx

Q&L Imagination or Logic

Over at the Craft Barn Blog this weeks words are Imagination or Logic.

The quote i found is from Searchquotes and reads:

We especially need imagination in science.

It is not all mathematics,

nor all logic,

but it is somewhat beauty and poetry. 

Maria Montessori.

Made my iCard using Serif Craft Artist Professional software and digi kits. Used Steampunk Inventor and a few other bits and bobs from other kits.

The Front

The Back

Have manipulated many layers, shading, playing with translucency and resizing of objects to create this effect. I can print this out onto my iCard sized substrate and add further shading around the edges using Distress Inks another time.

Looking forward to reading your comments, thanks for dropping by.

xxx 

SOC4 Week 6

It is the last week of Summer Of Colour Challenge 2014 and this weeks colours are really hard, again!  Thanks to Kirsten who has definitely challenged me every week and i hope i have risen to each and every challenge.

This weeks colours are

Raspberry, Tangerine and a pop of lemon.

 

This weeks page has been created with Serif Craft Artist Professional digital software.

There has been lots of layering, resizing images and changing the colours of some of the images to get the colours as close as i possibly can to this weeks challenge.

This page can be used as a card base, a scrap book background or printed onto fabric. Love the versatility of Serif Craft Artist and it gives me another way to craft when my hands don’t  want to play.

I am sorry that i wasn’t able to leave comments on Facebook, Google +, Instagram or Flickr accounts as i don’t have accounts with these places.

Thank you to Kirsten who has made the last six weeks fun and opened my eyes to pink as a crafting colour lol.

I have recently been diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my hands and am hopeful that crafting will keep them active.  Thank you to all of you who have wished me well and left the most wonderful comments.

Hope to see you all next year.

xxx

Playing With DecoArt Paints

I really appreciate the paints from DecoArt, they are easy to use, full of pigment yet easy to mix with different mediums. I did get a tad confused when looking to replace my current paints as there are so many different types of coverage.

Recently i purchased some of the Media paints and Mediums and also some of the Multi Surface Satin Paints, i have just ordered some more as i have been typing this blog lol.

Earlier today i was playing with ceramic and glass surfaces to see how the paint works on them.

First a base layer of Eggplant, multi surface paint.

When dry i added a layer of Interference Paint and then Seed Bead Textured Paste from Galleria.

When the texture paste was dry i added Treasure Gold over the top, it isn’t easy to see but in real life it looks fabulous.  Not too keen on the design here, just playing can design something better next time.

 

The ceramic hearts look great after they have dried and had the Treasure Gold added.

The middle heart shape shows what the reverse of the ceramic hearts look like.

I will be making the heart shapes into either necklaces or brooches for another swap.

Looking forward to your comments, thanks for dropping by.

xxx

UK Art Swap–Embossing

Have made two book marks to share over at UK Art Swaps Yahoo Group.

The challenge was to use at least three embossing powders.

Used Fired Brick and Walnut Stain Distress Embossing Powders, this was the first time i have used them, i have had them for years, ooops and the last one is Verdigris by Personal Impressions. I am liking the shiny verdigris colour between the mat DI colours.

Found a very old stamp set from 2006 by Royal and Langnickel called Leaf Decor Stamps, can’t believe i found them still available on their web site!

Used Versamark clear pad and White WOW embossing powder and then stamped over the image to create a shadow using Archival Ink. did this at both the top and base of the book mark.

Added ribbon which i heat set into the embossing powder, added a hexagon shape and then a rub on which i coloured with Treasure Gold, White Fire and Aquamarine.

Cut another layer of kraft card, inked it up using DI Tea dye, added some text from an old book, coloured this with the same ink then adhered the panel. Coloured the edges using Black Memento ink.

I am liking the grungy look of the bookmarks, hope you do too.

Looking forward to your comments, thanks for dropping by.

xxx

Inspired by Keren Baker

I am a huge fan of Keren Baker’s style of crafting, she makes CAS cards and projects look very easy. Over at the Paper Artsy Blog this week it has been her turn to play. I loved what she created here.

My version hasn’t turned out as well but it is the first time i have played with this technique, should get better as i practice more.

Used three colours of Distress Inks at random, i like to do random every now and again, you discover what does and doesn’t work. Seedless Preserves, Chipped Sapphire and Spiced Marmalade.

Used a That Special Touch leaf stencil as i don’t own the one Keren used. Added too much ink and water to the stencil as when it was spritzed with water it looked nothing like Kerens image lol. Used it anyway and i think it looks okay so far.

Took some of the excess and used on the reverse of the card, this is what it should have looked like, much more subtle. Dried the ink off with a paper towel which removes some of the colour and made them a little more pastel.

Used Darcy Wilkinson’s stamp set EDY07 coloured with Inktense Pencils (this price is amazing for the 72 tin, i am not being sponsored by anyone to say this, they are usually around the £100 or more mark).

Glazed the flower basket with clear Rainbow Glaze, added some washi tape of birds and the world and used just one word from EDY07 set as thought it would be too much to add the whole sentiment.

Have kept the card flat as made for a birthday which is coming up very soon and have to post it.

Thanks for dropping by.

Looking forward to your comments.

xxx

SDC 155 Newspaper or Magazine

Magda is our hostess this week and here is her Stampotique challenge!

Hello everyone! It's Magda. I'm back to work after my holidays but still have time for some relaxing. I'm sitting surrounded by books and magazines. Today I would like to ask you to use a newspaper or magazine in your project. It can be a small piece, some images from magazine to make a collage or you can use whole page as a background. Have fun! Can't wait to see your creations!

I used these circles from a Micro Mart Magazine article and some text from an old book.

Wanted to make something clean and simple, decided to make a medium sized Artist Trading Block (ATB) using the Eileen Hull Sizzix Die.

Not used any inks or stamps on the thick board, keeping it simple. Cut out the circles, glued in place. Added a layer of Rainbow Glaze over the top, added a black circle around the shape, added a heart on each circle and a stem or line.

Haven’t stuck the block all the way down as i want to add some little love affirmation cards inside. Haven’t made these yet but will do very soon.

The above image is the base of the box.

Added some gold glittery gems under the circles and some ripped washi tape to ground them. 

Thank you for dropping by, looking forward to your comments.

xxx

Xyron X4

While sorting out my crafty stash i came across an old cartridge from Xyron. I have a very old X4 which is a 4 inch wide, hand held machine. 

I took the cartridge apart, you can see all the different parts in the above image.

The main reason i did this is because brayering is very popular at the moment and there on the cartridge is a small roller that can be used as a type of brayer.

I have used the roller as a brayer and it works quite well, it will only go in straight lines but it is good if you are using permanent inks and you don’t want to ruin your only one.

You can also use the circles shapes to draw around, the oblong shapes to create a border, by drawing inside them and the two stick shaped items you could attach onto a larger base and use to store your washi tape.

Thanks for dropping by, looking forward to your comments, am hoping to read how you have upcycled items from your crafty waste.

xxx

SOC4 Week 5

This fantastic challenge hosted by Kirsten over at TwinkleTwinklelikeastar has flown by, we are on week five of six!

This weeks colours are,

Red & Royal Blue

with a Smudge, Splash or Pop of Light Blue.

Very vibrant colours as you can see and a major issue for me as i really dislike red and vibrant.

I think i have risen to the challenge, let me know what you think, lol.

Found some square pieces of board when i was clearing out some old

crafting kits, these squares are

3 & 3/4 x 3 & 3/4 inches. Took three of them, masked off the centre of each one and sprayed with London Blue Dylusions spray, next i did the left side with After Midnight and then the right with Cherry pie.

This is how they looked after the initial spraying, i like the way the sprays have worked.

Used a stencil to take away some of the colour, it has worked but it is very, very subtle.

Added She Script and tried making flower shapes with the base of a fennel using Lake Wanaka Fresco Paint, not too disappointed it is what it is.

Stamped over the fennel shapes with a freebie rose stamp from Craft Stamper using Archival Ink then coloured with Promarkers. Used the blender pen to remove some of the petal colour, used a Sigma broad tip white pen to add some highlights to the petals and added Treasure Gold to add a tad of bling.

Will add words to the panels when i use them on something.

Hope you like how i have used this weeks colours, it was tough so got it out of the way asap.

Thanks for dropping by, looking forward to your comments.

Would like to say ‘HELLO’ to my new Followers, Thank You for following my Blog, i really do appreciate it.

xxx

Q&L Challenge 13 Path or Horizon

Over half a year has passed since we started this journey with The Craft Barn and their Q&L Challenges. I am enjoying taking part and exploring more and more quotes and lyrics, thank you to all who are taking part and have contributed to my knowledge gain.

This weeks Challenge is to use the words Path or Horizon, found this sombre quote here on a site called Board of Wisdom, there doesn’t seem to be a reference to who the quote belongs so going with Anon.

"Ever the sun traces its path from horizon to horizon,

and ever the moon follows,

and ever the days roll past without care for the lives they grind away,

one by one.

Try though they might,

no being escapes death forever.

To all, there is an end."

I am going to create my iCard using Serif Craft Artist Professional 2 this time as i am struggling with my hands again, it will be printed out and adhered onto the iCard.

The front of my iCard, i wanted to keep it very simple so there are only 3 elements used here, the background which i coloured brown, the border with a reduced transparency and the quote using Courier New as the font.

The back of the iCard with the same images but with the transparency reduced to 75% showing the Challenge details and the date of creation.

Thanks for dropping by, looking forward to your comments.

xxx

SDC 154 Travel/Vacation

Loving this weeks theme over at the fantastic Stampotique Designers Blog.

_{This weeks challenge is from}

_{Kathi Rerek, who says}

It's the summer here, which means it's the perfect time for a break from your everyday activities, like school or work! My challenge this week is Vacation and/or Travel!

There's a lot of latitude (pun intended) with this challenge! I can't wait to see what you all create!

I chose to work with a Postcard as i like working with this size of substrate.

Love to decorate both sides.

Underwhere loves Dragonflies, he likes to travel to different continents to find rare and as yet undiscovered species. He has a huge rucksack which carries all his supplies, magnifying glass, field note book, pens and watercolours so he can paint as many as he can document.

This time Hare decided to stow away in his rucksack as a surprise, i hope they don’t get caught at customs, now that would be a right faff trying to explain how your beloved friend decided to join your travels… 

I will be posting this to someone very soon, hope you like!

Thanks for dropping by, looking forward to your comments.

xxx

SOC4 Week Four

Am really enjoying the weekly colour challenges over at TwinkleTwinkleLikeAStar blog.

This weeks colours are:

Pink & Apple Green

with a Smudge, Splash or Pop of Dark Green.

I am not a pink girl BUT after spending the day with Dyan Reaveley playing with Dylusions Sprays and her stamps i can say i am starting to think it is ok to craft with pink, i just won’t wear it or have it in my house, big step forward in my head!

Here is my attempt at this weeks challenge.

Made a journal for my neighbours little girl who is around 10 years old and loves pink.

Started off with a pink coloured piece of card which i sprayed with Bubblegum Pink Dylusions Spray, dried off with a heat gun then sprayed again with the same colour through a stencil, while still wet tuned it over and pressed down on the opposite page to get the reverse effect and to use up the ink that was still on the stencil.

Cut the card in half, stamped over the background with She Script stamp then added some washi tape.

Stamped out some of the flowers and one of the stems onto more card. I had some green card stock which i splattered with green ink to use as the base for the flowers.

Sprayed some Crushed Grape Dylusion ink through another stencil to add a little depth to the other pink page.

Cut out the images ready to assemble onto the finished page.

 

Added Holly Rainbow Glaze for the pop of dark green and also glazed the hair on the head i had cut from one of my other stamps.

Made the journal from white mount board for the cover and added copy paper, 120gsm paper and some navy blue card. The little girl want a scrap book album. Added the binding using The Cinch from WRMK.

The pink fluffy edge came from a Valentines day card i received many years ago and saved when i was clearing out some of my stash.

Looking forward to your comments, thanks for dropping by.

xxx

Saturday with Dyan at AFTH in Harrogate

Saturday morning arrived, OH and i had a good breakfast and set off for Harrogate and Art From The Heart.

The workspace is fabulous, loads of supplies around and feels like the room we would all want to have at home.

There were only 6 people attending,including myself, which made my day as i dislike large classes. Hello to Ella, Dee, Elaine, Liz and Ingrid, lovely to meet you.

When Dyan arrived i was immediately put at ease by her laughter and ease of style.

Had a few light bulb moments as Dyan was describing how to make a background a background and not too bright that you can’t do anything with it.

Learnt how to use 3 colours from the same warm or cool range. I know you might think this is basic but trust me i needed the reminder!

Learnt how to apply the Dylusions sprays so they wouldn’t bleed under the stencils, how to ghost the colours and how to add layers so they stay in the background.

Chose Lemon Zest, Fresh Lime and vibrant Turquoise for one set of pages and Bubblegum Pink,Crushed Grape and Postbox Red for the second two pages.

Used the ghosting technique to add another layer for the flower petals.

 

 

Chose to use one of the pink pages as a background, onto this we stamped sentiments.

Dyan asked us to stamp out the following images if we wanted to make our page like hers, which i did.

Sorry i don’t remember the name of the individual stamp sets these images came from.

Time to cut our flowers and other images out, Dyan played us this song which we sang along to the chorus and laughed,followed by The Bay City Rollers who Dyan has loved since she was a youngster. We requested a Dyan Play List on you Tube, keep a look out in case she posts one lol.

Lunch and time to see my lovely OH who helped me to make my purchases.

The paper in this journal is fantastic so treated myself to a larger journal which is going to be just for my dark thoughts,which will not be shared you will be glad to know! I realise that i need a place to vent not just produce pretty pages.

Dyan told us that this stamp set has been her biggest selling plate and she is finding it hard to keep in stock, some had been ordered especially for this workshop, yeah!

This set can be used for stalks and stems and more!

Chose to get this alphabet as i love the shapes and it’s larger letters.

Needed these!

Angel Boy

Underwhere

Hare

Happy Head Appliance Cube

Journal Block and Stencil

Lemon Zest and Bubblegum Pink Dylusions sprays

My first copy of Sew Somerset, a fantastic magazine, might look into receiving digital copies, easier to store.

Back from lunch and time to paint our images, we used Tim Holtz’s detail brushes and Dyan’s inks, never painted with these inks before, they are fabulous to paint with, something else i will do at home.

 

Time to assemble the final page.

I am getting to understand pink can be an ok colour…

The other thing i learned is that Dyan wants you to cut up her stamps and use them in different ways, she encourages you to be a rebel and think outside any barriers you might have.

Overall i had an amazing day, learnt a lot, enjoyed the class and have come back with a renewed mojo and determination to cut up and mess with my stamped images.

Thanks for staying the course, hope you enjoyed sharing my Saturday.

Would love to read your comments, thanks for dropping by.

xxx