Scribbles!

The rain today gave me the perfect excuse to sit and start on a small order of cards -as if I needed an excuse after having being deprived for so long.....

Monty is the great grandson of one of the ladies at the Club -and having bought this Mo Manning image a while ago - simply because I liked it!- I thought I would use it. As I am not 'child friendly' at all, I hope it isn't 'too old' for a 3 year old!

I imported the image into a graphics program and then added what I hope are kiddie type letters for the greeting.

Printed out and coloured with Promarkers - and I confess I really enjoyed colouring this little man - his facial expression is priceless!
I mounted him onto some blue cardstock.
The backing papers are from the Nitwits 'By the Sea' and 'Land Ho' collections and the two small tabs secured with brads on the left were added as I thought it looked a bit 'plain'!
I don't possess a Cricut or similar machine, nor do I have any alphabet/number dies so the number was hand cut - (Not perfect but passable!)
The two 'crayons' are from the button stash and the inside is decorated with the same papers.

Challenges -
Red Carpet Studio - Going Digital
My Time to Craft - Spots and Stripes
Fashionista -  Birthday
The Cupboard Trilogy - Birthday
Crafting Cafe - Here Come the Boys
Sweet Pea Stampers - For a Child
Gem of a Challenge - Male Birthday

Thanks for visiting - happy crafting! x

Flying In!

It has been soooo long since I have been able to actually DO any crafting - but finally the new craft room is almost finished and  I am able to access some of my stash - not all of it yet as I still have some re-arranging etc to do but the shelves and storage spaces are all done and now all that is required is for me to organise where I want everything!

I did however find enough inky stuff and some stamps to make a quick card - and it was good to get some ink on my hands!

This pic may be a bit dark - am still trying to find the best spot in the new room for taking photos!

I masked off a portion of the card and sponged on some Distress Inks in Mustard Seed and Scattered Straw.

Then leaving the mask in place stamped the flower heads and double embossed with White embossing powder.

Removed the masking tape and over stamped with a Crushed Olive DI, then simply scored two lines down either side.

The sentiment stamp done in Versafine ink and to finish off I drew a tiny butterfly shape in the top left of the panel with a white gel pen.
It's not a spectacular effort to be honest, but it looks quite pretty!
I was given an order yesterday for 3 children's cards so will need to get my mojo up and running quickly!

Challenges -
CAS on Sunday - One Layer Wonder
Crafting When we Can - Keep it Simple
Opus Gluei - Wings
Penny Black& more - CAS

Am happy to be back in the swing of things and looking forward to catching up with everyone later! Thanks for visiting. x

Crafty Cardmakers DT - Steampunk

Aren't the weeks passing quickly?! It's time for another challenge at Crafty Cardmakers and this time Doreen decided on 'Steampunk'.

Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! I really like Steampunk - trouble is I never seem able to do it!! Consequently I have one single set of stamps that could loosely be interpreted as steampunky grungy..... I wanted to do something other than a card which just taxed my brain cells even more...
In the end I settled on a digi stamp which I coloured with distress inks and messed about adding thin strips of metal for the balloon 'ropes'. 
Image completed - what was I going to do with it???
It gathered dust for a while on the desk and then I found a small 3" x 2" canvas.

Here's the finished article!

I used the reverse side of the canvas and started by gluing on bits of torn tissue paper round the frame. Once dry I painted it with gold acrylic paint then blasted it with a heat gun till it 'bubbled'.

When cool I randomly ran some mica powders and metallic rub over it.

The background embossed bit and die cut cogs were a present from 'Steamy Queen Maureen'. I used some gold mica powder on the background and added a large metal fastener to the middle of the cog.

The 'Beware of Airship Pirates' was an internet download and it just appealed to me as no one was likely to hijack this mad balloonist!
 

Hope you will all have a go at our challenge this week- as always there's some great prizes up for grabs - From Di's Digi Downlads and The Stampman - just please please make sure you check out the rules before adding your creation.

And if you're struggling like I was pop over to see my teamies to get some inspiration!
Challenges -
Seemacrafts - Mixed Media
Sparkles Monthly - Steampunk or Vintage
LOC - Steampunk
Our Creative Corner - Recipe (and I used Canvas for my fabric,Metal - balloon and fastener and Paints) 
Sugar Creek Hollow - Mixed Media

Thanks for calling in - have scheduled this to post as I am still busy getting furniture etc for the house! Will pop by you all later. x

Happy Broadband!!

British Telecom finally got their act together and connected us yesterday with our broadband.... not before time I might add......!
So here's the news from here - we are settling in well in the new home. Lots and lots to do and for the last two weeks it appears that all we've done is wait for deliveries of one thing and another. The end isn't really in sight yet but we're getting there slowly!
Think I might feel better when the electrician has been and put up the new lights - bare light bulbs are singularly unappealing aren't they!! And my blinds and curtains should be here in the next two weeks - although the view is fantastic (see previous post down page!), I would like to be able to shield the new sofas from the sun!
One downside is that my craft stuff is still in boxes and is likely to remain so for at least another week as the office/craft space hasn't been kitted out - although it is ordered and expected this week - then all dear husband has to do is assemble all the desks and shelving!! (Not much eh?????!!!!)
But -
want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has commented on my scheduled DT posts and now I am back in business with the internet I will be along to visit you all properly!
A quick share with you all with one I made earlier -
used black pearl card as a base, added some torn and distressed K and Co papers for the background.

The Steamboat stamp was stamped onto co ordinating paper with Verasfine ink and mounted onto the same black card.

The fan shape at the bottom was done with a punch and I used the black circle off cuts on the image and on the tag!

The sentiment was a freebie (I think from TLC).

The ribbon here has shown up much lighter than it actually is - it looks white in the pic but trust me it's definitely cream!

Still lots of man themed challenges about  -
City Crafter
Crafty Sentiments
Loves Rubber Stamps
Tip Top Tuesday
Ladybug Crafts
Crafters Cafe 

Off to grab a coffee and a trawl through blogland! x

Crafty Cardmakers DT - Father Day/Inspired by a man in your life

Our latest challenge at Crafty Cardmakers is being hosted by Feebs, who has chosen the theme of a  'Father's Day'.  Let's see anything you've created for or have been inspired to make by the father figure in your life. It could be anything from a card, a scrapbook page, a knitted scarf or a piece of altered art. It does not have to be specifically for Father's Day but let us know the inspiration behind your work. 

Please ensure you let us know the inspiration behind your work to qualify for a winner or Top 5 slot and don't forget to check out those pesky rules before you submit your entry! Two fab sponsors again this challenge - THE PAPER SHELTER - with a $20 gift certificate  and Woodware.
Here is my take on Feebs' challenge - 
I created this card in tribute to an elderly family friend, who was a loving, generous, warm hearted man with the most endless supply of patience when I was growing up and a great sense of fun! He also was the smartest dressed person I knew - I can never remember seeing him without a stiff collar and tie. I saw a similar card to this on someone's blog a long time ago and remember thinking right away that I could have sent it to him if he'd have still been with us.
Basic textured black cardstock for the  jacket. 

I covered the collar, lapel and top of the pocket with black velvet like fabric - this seemed a good idea until I actually tried to do it - after a lot of fiddling about I actually managed to get it looking half decent - thankfully you can't see the underside of the lapel as it's stitched!!

The paper for the shirt and handkerchief is from the 'Man About Town' stack.

I stamped and embossed the pocket watch twice and then glued together with a couple of circular layers in between to give it some substance. The 'glass' face of the clock I did with glossy accents although it doesn't show very well.

The 'chain' was a bit of something I saved at some time and I tucked it inside the top flap of the pocket and secured it with a brad.

Finished off with a silver and black button from my stash. 
I want to say a big thank you to those of you who are still stopping by and commenting - I had scheduled my DT posts as I still have no broadband connection (5th June!!) and BT Openreach are about as much use as a chocolate fireguard at the moment.  
So I am really late linking this into the challenges this week but have managesdto get a wireless connection-
My Sheri Crafts - Fathers day 
Sugar Creek Hollow - Fathers Day (and I hope the vintage watch is enough)
Sweet Stampin' - Fathers Day 
ABC - Masculine 
Love to Create - Fathers Day
Ladybug Crafts - For the men