Monday 28 January 2013

Shabby Frock!

We've got rain here now - all the snow has disappeared too. We managed the walk this morning without getting wet though - just as we walked back in through the gate it started to rain - so that was good timing!
In a complete contrast from the last couple of posts  I sat yesterday and fiddled about with the distressing tool and sewing machine.
The Fifth Avenue pad  paper pack has about a third left in it and in trying to keep my promise to myself to 'use up before you buy more' I decided to use a few more sheets and some of the odd half pieces which were too big to throw away.

The light here is seriously bad so the photo is not the best.

The dress form was slightly larger than the card so I chopped off the bottom,and simply positioned it a bit higher at the back and glued it!

I used Antique Linen on the shape then covered it with an off cut of the paper.

The lace skirt is a very old scrap from my stash but I thought it looked good with the circular shape. After glueing it I put some cream seam binding ribbon around the middle, tied it and stuck on a blingy pearl and crystal embellishment.

The flower was made using cut out nestie shapes, then sprayed with a little water scrunched up  and assembled together with a brad. I dusted a little bit of Diamond stickles over it for a wee bit of sparkle.

The 'Beautiful' was a free stamp from a crafting magazine.

The papers and the cotton scalloped edging stitched,and some leaves, a die cut corner and a flourish again cut from scraps added. 

Finished with a few pearls and decorated the inside with some more of the papers.

Challenges -
Sugar Creek Hollow - Lots of Layers
Inky Chicks - Bingo Board and I chose - Flowers, Lace and Pearls
Sweet Stamps - Pearls and Lace
Incy Wincy - Pearls and Lace
Cards Galore - Anything Goes
613 Avenue - Anything Goes

I'm off for a little walk through blogland - have a great day whatever you're doing. x   

Saturday 26 January 2013

CAS Sketch

It's week 104 at Less is More and this week were were given a CAS sketch to follow. I have never been very good at interpreting sketches but what could go wrong with this one?
Quite a bit if you're me!
  
The rules were -

we ask that the card stays in this orientation ie that the band remains in the horizontal plane, in the lower part of the card and that it takes up no more than 1/3rd of the height of the cardbase.

Simple eh??? Not for me it wasn't - I have absolutely no idea why I made such a mess of this - perhaps my mind wasn't quite on CAS today - I have two rather fussy and fancy things half finished on the desk and all kinds of  other 'bits' relating to my life in general whizzing round in my head - in truth, the finished article doesn't bear any resemblance to how I imagined it to be and to cap it all I then didn't make a good job of stamping the sentiment which looks a bit blurred despite me using Versafine ink!

One of the problems with LIM is when you look at all the 'wow' creations that people produce every week, yours look just naff!!!
But naff or not am sharing it anyway!! 

I used cream linen textured card and an embossing folder from the Oriental set I bought a long time ago for the main background. 
I also embossed a border die onto the same card. 
Crimped some maroon cardstock and put it behind the cream border die, added a bit of maroon ribbon to define the flourish and finished with a button from my stash.
Matted it all onto maroon cardstock.

The pic is not the best either - the light here hasn't been very good since we lost the sunshine at lunchtime - I may have another go at this week's challenge as I've just had another 'light bulb' moment!!

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Bosom Buddies!

I have sat here for a couple of days trying to come up with something for this week's Less Is More challenge - which is 'Friends'.
I have quite a few stamps that would have fitted the theme but it was one of those - 'well they're OK but....' !!!
And I just wanted something that was a bit different - 
then I remembered these stamps - which were bought for 'Pink Day's' fundraising  - and this sentiment included the word 'friends' which scored another point!

Quick notelet card, basic layout with the stamp decoupaged and coloured with promarkers.

I added a tiny black pearl to the centre of the bra - and it's likely that I'll end up adding either a thin pink ribbon, or a pink line round the edge or more black pearls somewhere!

I made a few of these and think they would be good as little notelets so will make a small co -ordinated box and then pop them into the 'Pink stash'.

I've been a bit of a 'tidy or use it up' freak this week and haven't a lot of snippets to show for my projects - I roll from being uber uber tidy after finishing each thing to leaving piles of stuff laying about on the desk leaving me with the traditional 6" of space to work in and this week I had my 'tidy up' head on - so the little bits of card used for the notelets I hope will qualify me for my first entry to the Playground this week - have missed the snowball fights! LOL

If you've made anything from leftover scraps this week (card scraps that is not food scraps-!!) come across to Pixie's Crafty Workshop (the playground) - and bring your mittens!! LOL

 

Monday 21 January 2013

Late!

A snowy and cold day here - perfect for crafting - (any excuse LOL) - I love looking out onto the white garden - the field opposite has a white blanket over it and the only downside is the odd car that has come up the lane and spoiled the roadway with tyre marks!
Although we've managed to get out every single day for a walk during the last week, this morning the heavy snow falling beat us and we didn't manage it - forecast is for it to stop later so it'll be off for the crunchy march as normal!

Onto the card for today -
this is my very first card for the Design Team over at Crafty Cardmakers - I was delighted to be asked to join them and what a nice lot they are!

The challenge this week is 'Belated Birthday' - and if you're anything like me you'll need a few of these in your stash for those 'forgetful' moments!

Mo Manning Digi (poor sad wabbit), coloured with promarkers, cut out with a nestie and layered onto another scalloped nestie frame.
The papers are from My Minds Eye, layered onto a burnt orangey cardstock.
'I'm Late' Sentiment is from TLC again cut out and layered onto a frame.
The bottom sentiment I printed out onto the pc and then glued it onto a fancy tag.
Finished off with a bit of orange ribbon and a clock from my stash - inside co-ordinated to match.
I deliberately kept the layout straightforward and didn't use a lot of embellishments as I wanted this to be a card I could use for a man if necessary!

Come and join us this week - we're sponsored by Milk Coffe Digital Stamps AND Sir Stampalot - how cool is that - two prizes?! 
We all need to have cards like this to hand -just read the challenge rules and follow the theme - simples!

Other Challenges -
Whoopsi Daisy - Use a Digi
Created With Love - Anything Goes


Thanks for paying me a visit today - stay warm!

Friday 18 January 2013

Friends

Fab snow here today! Went for a walk this morning - crunched along the canal bank to the village - snowed all the way there and back - and it was just LOVELY!!

Share for today is a vintagey shabby contribution which actually didn't take long to make - 
Prima Botanicals papers stitched and layered.

Two lots of cream lace from my stash

A crochet 'doily' layered with some flower petals, a piece of seam binding ribbon and finished with a vintage style pearl button.

I tucked a vintage postcard behind the doily and a smaller one behind the flower - both were cut from the same paper pad

Tucked another small flower and two pearl pins behind.

The sentiment was stamped onto some cream card using Vintage Sepia Versafine and cut out with a fancy tag die.

Some more flowers and flourish die cuts alongside the sentiment and finished with a die cut corner.
The inside is decorated to match. 

Challenges -
Stampin Sensations - Friendship
4 Crafty Chicks - Pearls
Divas by Design - Girly
Nutcrafters - Flowers
Sparkles Forum - Die Cuts and Flowers
Winter Wonderland- Vintage
Stampin for the Weekend - Girlie
Pretty Little Ribbon - Flowers and Ribbon
Natalie and Amy - Favourite Things -Found it quite difficult to choose a particular favourite cos I LOVE all my stash - But I do like lace, die cuts and pearly pins!

We've had a little mishap here this morning - I am married to 'Inspector Gadget' - he loves techie things - and today he  has unfortunately broken the screen on his new phone - this is not quite a major disaster as his precious phone still works  but it is enough of an accident to make him seriously annoyed! (Not least because it's likely to cost about £100 to fix!)
 If you've got snow - stay warm and snuggly -  and thanks for visiting today!

Tuesday 15 January 2013

Tale of the Tatty Doily....

So there I was looking in a box for something and saw this poor pathetic round scrap of paper, curled up and torn all tatty at one edge...

After extracting it (carefully) the sorry state revealed itself as a paper doily - was about to screw it up and throw it in the bin and then had one of those 'light bulb' moments...remembering something I saw on Pinterest.. (I confess to becoming a bit of a Pinterest addict - don't look at much except all things papercraft, mixed media, textile collages etc etc - in fact now I've discovered Facebook as well I don't know how I've got time for anything.............LOL)

So (Pin)knight in shining armour to the rescue of the poor crumpled doily, out with the guillotine and off with it's head.... well the tatty part of it anyway.

Some bits of brown and white cardstock, and some circular and scalloped nesties cut out for the centre, with some bits of die cuts (using a Memory Box  die) all stuck to the centre.

Finished with a bit of string (don't know why - it just looked like it should be stuck on here), a punched out butterfly (suitably blinged) and a sentiment stamped with Sepia Versafine.
Oh and found a bit of the cut off die lying forlornly on the desk so stuck it on the bottom corner!

I didn't get to join in the games at the Playground last week - this week I made it without having to send (another) note with a left handed signature on the bottom asking to be excused!

Couple of challenges -
Red Carpet Studio - Butterfly Effect
Brown Sugar - Butterflies
Make my Monday - Die Cuts and Punches
Hiding in my Craft Room - Scraps Saturday


It's a cold and bright day here - already been for my first walk this morning as I'm desperate to shed a few pounds (did I say FEW???) - another walk scheduled for after my calorie counted meal but a play in the craftie space in between!
Have a great day! x 

Sunday 13 January 2013

Exercise

The challenge this week over at Less is More is Sport or Exercise - quite apt really after Christmas Pud and choccie!

I found some time last night to make this card - I'd already made up my mind that I wanted to use this Mo Manning image because as with most of the things that come from the pencil's of Mo, they make you feel happy - (bit of a theme going on here - can you guess I've been feeling less than cheerful of late as all I seem to be doing is wanting to make 'happy' things?).

Enough ramblings - the 'one layer' theme although I've become a teeny bit more proficient at still makes me apprehensive but am happy to say I managed to position, print and colour without any mishaps!

I coloured Mummu with a mixture of promarkers and watercolour pastels.

The sentiment was originally from TLC and I really wanted to use it but had to change the fonts because the original didn't sit quite right. 

I finished it off with some polka dot green ribbon - I treated myself to lots of spotty and gingham ribbons before Christmas for Christmas cards etc - and this is the first one I used....now in January!!!

Other challenges -
Hotshot Craft - Clean and Simple
Card makin Mamas - Anything Goes
Card Crafters Circle - Summer
Glitter n Sparkle - Use a Digi

It's very cold and frosty here today - perfect excuse for not moving from the craftie space! Enjoy your day and thanks for coming to see me today! x

Wednesday 9 January 2013

Happy Days

I am still chopping and changing between making cards and making (a lot) messy with inks and paints. Perhaps it's the time of year and I have post Christmas blues - or maybe because I have little bits of sad news from various people just recently, but whatever it is I can't seem to settle to do anything for any length of time.
I did though finally finish this -a 10" x 8" canvas.

I needed to do something to lighten my mood and thoughts of a warm summer day taking in the sounds of birdsong and just enjoying - well   life    really - to make you smile - and this is what I ended up with.

The canvas background was done using acrylic paints.

I used modelling paste for the 'clouds'. I painted a few stalks and pink frothy flower heads in the grass and then spent some considerable time tearing and sticking paper napkins for the flowers bottom left side and the two butterflies. 

The birds were stamped, cut out then 'mod podged' and the dragonfly is made from mountboard,coloured with Cosmic Shimmer and embossed. (He's quite iridescent 'in real life'!) Further up the left side I stamped with one of my favourite (and old!) blossom stamps, painted the flowers and added the stamped birdcage which has been covered with glossy accents and has a metal 'chain'.

The bare footed girl was done from a template - and the papers are by K and Co. The 'skirt' is individual panels and once all stuck together I put some lace underneath before assembling her, then I went round her outline with a black pen. 
(I am not proficient enough nor have enough confidence to draw a face (!!) but I don't think it detracts from the overall piece - at least I hope it doesn't.)

The 'Happy Days' words were stamped onto tissue paper. 

Challenges -
Take a Word - Art and what it means (and it means Happy Days to me spent making a mess!!!)
Ruby's Rainbow - Smile (and warm summer days do that to me)
Inky Chicks - Anything Goes
Crafters Cafe - Anything Goes
Lexi's - Anything Goes
Creative Creations - Anything Goes

Thanks for looking and if you've left me a comment, I really appreciate it and hope that my little canvas has you thinking of lazy summer days. x

Saturday 5 January 2013

Quick post

The rain has finally stopped and the sun is shining so am off to take advantage of the dry weather - quick post for this week's Less Is More challenge which is Black,White and a touch of another colour.

I may have overdone the 'other colour' so will no doubt have to sit on the naughty step but the card didn't look right without something to define the two colour areas and highlight the flower - the pink seemed to make the flower stand out more.

So grossgrain ribbon it was -  added to black cardstock clear embossed with a paisley pattern, the flower is from Personal Impressions and I used Spun Sugar DI.

Popped a pearl in the middle - wanted a black one really but couldn't find one big enough in the stash and didn't have time to colour this one.. may remove it later and put some liquid pearls in the centre instead?

Hope you too are all looking out onto blue skies and will catch up with you all later. x

Wednesday 2 January 2013

Fabric Collage on Canvas

I have felt completely 'carded out' since just before Christmas hence the 'altered bottle' and once that was finished I began to think about other things to do. 

I have saved some other different shaped bottles to play with, I have a fabric book which has been half finished for almost a year - (2013 resolution - FINISH IT!!! LOL), but I didn't feel like completing something half started and whilst having a rummage through my stash, found this scrummy vintage image -
which cried out to be adorned with lace and shabby fabric!

I stared with the image as the focal point, stitched it onto some fabric then edged it with some vintage cotton lace before stitching it onto a piece of frayed hessian type stuff which probably was given to me at some time by Maureen when she was trying to get me to sew.....!
The canvas is quite large - (12" x 10")  and after covering it completely with some cream cotton fabric and lace edging the top and two sides , I found a large broad piece of cotton which sat nicely on the bottom, then embellished this with more lace and some ric rac braid.
The crochet doily measures almost 3" across and seemed to just 'fit' as the backing for the layered fabric 'flower' and after putting a bit more lace on the piece I finished it with a vintage button,some fabric flowers died with Distress Inks and a gold and pearl tiny heart. 
Finally I stamped onto a scrap of muslin and stuck it onto the right hand side. -the words are a collage of 'Somewhere in Time, Mystery, Wonder, Serenity' and the like...

I am really pleased with how this tuned out and am already part way through another smaller similar project - (it saves me tidying the bits of lace and stuff away!)

Challenges -
City Crafter - Vintage Girl
Stamptacular Sunday - Doilies Galore 
Fashionable Stamping - Anything Goes
IDIC - Use a Doily
2 Sisters - Anything But a Card
Ladybug Crafts - Anything But a Card
Live and Love Crafts - Something Old (most of my lace and the doily)
Sparkles Monthly - Anything Goes

Thanks to everyone who visited me in 2012 and I hope you will stay with me through 2013. Have a great day whatever you're doing. x