Mexican Bird? haha!

Hi everyone!!!!  Something totally different for you today my lovelies.  I just adore all those luscious 'Mexican' colours......they are so vibrant and really make me smile!  So when I saw that *OUR CREATIVE CORNER* was using them for this months challenge I couldn't resist ;-D  Using a mix of acrylics and Neocolor 2 I have painted a journal page.

The colour palette...

The background has been sprayed through stencils then covered with clear gesso.  I love the feel of this on the paper!  It gives a brilliant tooth for other mediums and of course it stops the colour underneath from moving.  The funny & fat little bird is drawn freehand and coloured with the Neocolor2 crayons.  Doodling and a quote finish it all off.  So much fun to do this for myself!  The inspiration for the bird came from an online class from Tamara Laporte. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit and I hope you like that I am showing you a different side to my crafting, HUGS xxx

Crafty Individuals Masks!

Hellooo again!  Did you know that Crafty Individuals are selling their own masks & dies now???  Such interesting shapes which go perfectly with their gorgeous stamps!  Over at The Craft Barn Blog we are playing with these this week :D  I chose the Gilded Birdcage mask to have fun with.  We are also going with an Autumnal theme/colourway.  Firstly a card...

I used distress inks over the mask for the background then added some crackle stamp & grassy leaf border in Versafine sepia.  The bird is a Tando mini which was treated to the distress inks as were the leaves.

**********************

Here is my Calendar page to match...

This time I used the mask as a stencil and just drew around the shape with a fine black pen, adding white pen to some areas. Everytime I look at this page all I can see is St Pauls Cathedral...perhaps its time I went for a return visit to climb all those steps :D  I have to say that although this mask is very delicate in design its incredibly sturdy and withstood my scrubbing brush!

From The Craft Barn:

Crafty Individuals Bird cage Mask

Tando Creative Mini Birds

Impression Obsession stamp: Craquelure

Artemio Leaves

PaperArtsy Hot Picks 1005

Versafine Vintage Sepia

...and this weeks special offer is MUST HAVE if you love Crafty Individuals!

20% off selected Crafty Individuals stamps. 

From CI-017 to CI-250 included

use code CRAFTY20 at checkout

Thank you so much for popping by, HUGS xxx

Vellum at The Craft Barn

Its must be years since I worked with vellum!  While, for some, its a fantastic material...I have never really got on with it too well.  So imagine my slight dismay when I was asked to use some for this weeks samples over that The Craft Barn Blog!

I worked with white vellum and coloured it with alcohol inks (really effective)  before die cutting it into a tree.  As you all know, vellum is tricky to stick down so I sewed it on hahaha  A bit of stamping round the edges and a quote finished it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week also sees the return of the Craft Barn Calendar Challenge, where we show you a month each week right up to Christmas.  You will end up with a fabulous handcrafted calendar for yourself or as a gift.  Take a look over at the Craft Barn Blog for the link.

Here is my January entry.  I used bought blank postcards as a base for them and plan to bind them all together with my BIA.  Here is my January page...using vellum again as we will be using the same materials as on the blog...

This time I have stamped Leonardo DaVinci onto the vellum & stapled him to the card...ouch!!!  The stamp is by Katzelkraft, love it.

I used from The Craft Barn:

Card

Vellum

Alcohol Ink

Sizzix Tim Holtz Bigz Pine Tree

Distress Inks

calendar

Vellum

Katzelkraft Vinci Vitruve

Distress Inks

StazOn ink

Anita's calendar

The special offer for you over at The Craft Barn this week is...

10% off WALNUT HOLLOW metal tool kits: Beginners & Mini Tool Kit.  Use the code VELLUM10 at checkout

 

Thank you for popping by, HUGS xxx

Yellow & Green

Hellooooo!  Thank you all so much for your lovely comments about my altered book below :-D

Today I am showing you a simple tag that was made for Tando Creatives ~Challenge for April~ , which I am in charge of this month.  Loads of lovely prizes on offer if you fancy a go :-D  I haven't made a tag in ages and really enjoyed doing this!!!

Spray inks for the background and the Tando butterfly was stamped then decorated with fine glitter.  I sprayed the white lace to match & added the quote.  eeemples hahaha!

I am also entering this tag in a new challenge blog over at ~ARTFUL TIMES~ and I wish them well in the future.

Thank you for taking a looksee at my tag, HUGS xxx

*NEW* Tando Challenges !!!!!

Whoooooo!!!!!!  Tando Creative have started a ~CHALLENGE BLOG~ :-D  and there are PRIZES up for grabs!  Its going to be a monthly challenge so loads of time for you all to have a go and the great thing is that you don't have to use Tando products for this...good eh?  We are going to be showing the DT work in stages so this week there are 3 for you to see, including mine and the theme is...

'GO WILD'

You can interpret the prompt any way that you choose, I chose to make up a 4x4" canvas using my Tando elephant.  He has been covered with GA then alcohol ink dropped in while still wet...soooo easy!  BUT...like I said no need to use our products for this challenge so go on...have a go.  Look ~HERE~ for the list of prizes you can choose from, its huge hahaha!

So pop over ~Tando Creative Challenges~ for a looksee at everything and please join in my lovelies!  Thank you for taking a look at my bit of wildness today , HUGS xxx

Craft-Room Challange 4

mmm...just scraping in with this I think!!!  This challenge is all about lovely butterflies.....how can anyone not like them, they are so beautiful aren't they?  I have done a journal page for this one...

The butterflies were stamped &Elusive Images) & coloured with Inktense watercolour pencils.

Thank you for fluttering by today, HUGS xxx

VANILLA SUGAR CHALLENGE - HANGING HEARTS x

Hello from a pretty white Cornwall!  Thought we weren't going to get any more but I woke to white stuff this morning.....again haha

As its the 1st February its time for another VANILLA SUGAR....Sweetly Handmade CHALLENGE for you.  The object of these challenges is to make gifts for friends, family & home....or in my case a bid to get some Christmasing out of the way ahead of time hahaha!  The theme this month is

HANGING HEARTS

Please, please pop over to the blog to see what has been made.  There is a huge variety of hearts using so many different techniques its a joy to look at!!!  Here are mine...

I have one of those hanging elephant strings and have wanted a heart one for ages so I made my own!  Each heart is about 2inches long.  I would have made it longer but I only had a few scraps of the fabric I used!  I think I shall be making more of these in different colours!

This one is a large wooden heart that I got for 20p in a charity shop!  The paper is by Creative Imaginations and has gorgeous love birds over it as well as hearts & text.  The pic is one my daughter took while hubby & I sneaked a quick kiss under her misteltoe at Christmas :)

Again...do pop over to have a look at the DT work as its really lovely.  Hope you get a chance to join in this one.  Its a MONTHLY challenge so plenty of time.  Thank you for looking today & I hope you are all warmer than me! HUGS XXX

Bubbly Funk August Challenge

Hello there!!! Hope you all had a lovely weekend xxx

Remember last months challenge over on the Bubbly Scrumptioous Blog??? Well there is a new one and the theme is

MONOGRAMS

As well as there being a new theme for August there is now going to be a prize every month...this month there is a cute Sugar Nellie stamp!!!! The challenges now have their own blog all to themselves...take a look here. Or just go through my Bubbly Scrumptious blonkie and then you will see CHALLENGE BLOG on the header!!!

Here is my entry for Augusts challenge...

I have accumulated wuite a few 4inch chippie letters and found one that is my Mums initial, so this is for part of her Christmas present!!!

Do pop along and have a go too!!! Thank you for visiting, HUGS XXX

Bubbly Fun Challenges #5

Hellooo....as promised...a reveal hahahahahaha!!!!!

As a DT member for Bubbly Funk I organise a new challenge every month. This month the challenge is......

FROM YOUR GARDEN!!!!

This can be anything from leaves, twigs to amazing photography. You can do anything you wish for these challenges as long as its craft related.

Until the end of July there is some AMAZING BLOG CANDY to be had for one lucky entrant so pop over here to see what we are about and give yourself a chance to win £75 worth of lovely stash!!!


Here is my entry....I was going to do some printing with leaves till I found some lovely moss that had dried out in the sun! It made a perfect nest for my bird!!!

Thank you for taking a look, have a great week, HUGS XXXXX

SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT - TAGS - CROWN!

Today from Something Completely Different its the last week for tags....I shall miss these & hope that they come back in the future! But I can't wait to see what they do next week!! Anyway the theme this week is.......CROWNS.

I immediately thought of the Queen of Hearts. Not Princess Diana but the original who made a load of tarts and then that naughty knave went & stole them...remember her???

The image is a clipart off tinternet(isn't she lovely, not like Alice's Queen at all hehe). I added a chippie heart coloured gold and some pretty beading I have. I then wrote the 1st 2 lines of the nursery rhyme round the edge.

Thank you so much for looking. Why not go & take a look at the site as there are some lovely ideas from the DT to inspire you. HUGS XXX

BUBBLY FUN CHALLENGE #4 - CUPCAKES!

Hello again!!! I have to apologise to you all as I have only just thought to put these challenges onto my blog!!! Over on the Bubbly Scrumptious Blog I organise a new challenge on the 1st Sunday of every month. This month the theme is:

CUPCAKES!

This can take any form that you like and anyone can join. If you take a look ~here~ you will see our Design Teams take on the theme. One even did some cooking!!!!!

I made a cupcake pincusion for my take on the challenge. It started life as one of those cardboard cups you have for take-away! I cut it down and stuck concertina'd paper all round and edged it with ric-rac which I had sewn some beads onto. I cut a large circle of fabric for the top and (after adding a beaded flower & a button) I ran a thread round and stuffed it! A bit of glue and pushing & shoving and there was my cupcake made. Darned useful it is too hahaha

It would be great if you would pop over to take a look at the challenge and hopefully we can encourage you to have a go! Thanks for taking a look today, have a great weekend, HUGS XXX

BUBBLY FUN CHALLENGE #2 - FELT BIRD!

Hello on a dull Monday morning!!! Over on the BUBBLY SCRUMPTIOUS BLOG there is a new monthly challenge to make a felt bird! It can be used in whichever way you like as long as there is a felt bird in there somewhere!!!

Well, I had to have a think about this one but while I was sewing the little birdie I glanced at my needle case and decided that after 40 something years it was time it was retired to my memory box!!!!! I can't believe that I still use this little book which I made when I was 6!!!! The wording was my first attempt at embroidery and the little duck was one of those that you used to be able to get to sew onto baby clothes....ahhh!

The new little bird is a die cut spotty felt, which I love. I cut a separate wing and then added beads to the lot. Sadly the little eye doesn't show up too much but is better irl. The bird is stitched onto tie-dye fabric and the pages inside are felt again.

To see more little birds made for this challenge pop over to HERE for a looksee, the DT have really done a lovey job on these!!! This challenge is open to anyone so...go on...have a go!

Thank you for looking and have a glorious week XXX

Basic Grey challenge #28

"This week we have a fabulous sketch for you to follow, which was designed by our fabulous Design Team Member Rica, feel free to rotate, resize and flip the sketch or even all three if you want to :), you can also add any more embellishments etc that you would like to, but remember to use at least one item from basicgrey somewhere on your creation, and most of all have fun :)"

I have to say that I have been itching to get back to these and the chance to have a play with my BG paper pads!!! For this challenge I squished the sketch up a bit so that it would fit onto a square card!

I used paper from a MARRAKECH 6x6 pad and the stamp is from Lost Coast Designs, which I thought went very well with the theme of the paper. I edged the image and the 2 strips and scalloped piece with gold krylon pen, though that deasn't really show in the pic. The rest were edged with a matching green chalk ink.

Thank you so much for taking the time to have a look XXXXX

EASTER EGG HUNT!

My lovely buddy Gez sent me a couple of largish matchbooks and more or less challenged me to make something with one or both !!!! Took me a while to work out but I have managed to come up with something Gez!!! X

I have made an Easter Egg Hunt folder thingymajig!!! I am also using this one as my entry for the Easter Competition over on the FISKARETTES BLOG. There are some great prizes so please enter if you can X

The 'book' is covered in a mix of green & orange BG papers and doodled round in white. I had an egg stamp from last year and used this to create watercoloured images for the front & insides. All the letters are rub-ons, sorry...don't know who by.

It all opens out to show 8 coloured lolly stick with a shrink plastic (er yes....I was brave hehehe) egg on the top. There are clues written on the backs of the sticks. The idea being that the clue on the hidden stick will lead you to the next stick and so on till you find your prize. Which of course just has to be choccy eggs!!! Couldn't resist making a special little bag for these.....oh and I found a good place to store the spare ones too hahahahaha

Thank you so much for taking the time to look and please feel free to leave a comment XXX

DCM - FEELING GREEN?

It is Jozza's turn to set the dare this week:

"The dare is feeling green. I want to see lots of green on your cards in any shade you like. You could even do a double dare and make a green themed get well card. It's up to you. We can't wait to see what you come up with...."

mmmm....green is not a colour I normally use as the main colourway, it just reminds me toooooo much of my old school uniform :(. So this was a good challenge for me!!! My sister, on the other hand, loves greens and is daft about frogs (its a long story hahaha) so I made this card for her.

I used a mixture of papers from my scrap box and did my usual scruffy stuff. I got the frog by drawing round a die-cut that was given to me yonks ago. I couldn't resist the cupid eyelet for the mouth tho or the googly eyes hahahaha!!! The greeting is pc generated.

Thank you for taking the time to have a look at my frog XXX

DCM - ORIENTAL SPLENDOUR!

This week it was Sue's turn to set the dare, she says:

'I would like you to make a card with an Oriental influence and the ‘Take Away’ I referred to is the twist in the tail.

When ever Oriental is mentioned most people, including myself immediately reach for Red and Black so I’m taking them away from you and removing them from the pallet of colours that you can use on your card.

So to recap:-I dare you to make an Oriental themed card which doesn’t use Red or Black.'

If you fancy a go at this take a look here! for lots of inspiration.

I was really pleased when I read what the dare was as I am not keen on the B/R combo on Oriental cards only romantic cards for my fella hehehehe!

As I still had my DCWV Far Eastern pad out from my last post I used that again. The stamps are of the Willow Pattern and come in a pack from Kodomo Inc. All the inking was done with Rocket Red Gold which went with the apricot colour in the paper perfectly. I added a bit of green, which matches the green on the stems. A bit of ribbon and voila!!!

Thank you for taking a look XXX

ORIENTAL 'YEAR OF THE OX' MINI-BOOK!

I made this for this month's Fiskarettes Competition. The theme was Oriental and as this is the year of the Ox and my daughter was born in one of those years, it is a gift for her. That is if she ever gets back to the UK hehe....she has visions of being snowed OUT!!!!!! But then...there are worse places to be stuck than Singapore eh?

I digress as usual...sorry X

This little book is 10cm x 13cm, a nice size to work with. The covers are covered in a gorgeous paper I bought in London from a bookbinders....always worth visiting these places as they have beautiful Japanese papers for a good price....this one has gold leaf on it!!!

I then decorated with Bazill Bling and some Chinese coins & red ribbons. Then I had to go and do a daft thing.....I dropped my gold dabber right onto the lettering...ARGHHHH!!!! So that is why it has ended up looking very grunged hahahahaha

The pages are black and I used parchment to print the blurbs on, which I mounted onto gold. The pages are edged with gold Krylon pen.

Thank you for taking a look at this little book. I would like to add that there are some lovely entries for this competition so please take a look. XXXX

Big art adventure - Give me a Sign

The challenge on this weeks Awfully Big Art Adventure was to make a sign with a word (I used 2) for you to think about this year. I have chosen the words: Love Life. I for one sometimes get bogged down with life in general and I think that looking at this everyday will make me stop and think just how lucky I really am!

This is the first time I have used a canvas and I have really enjoyed this little project! I painted the 6"x6"canvas with Distress Crackle paint in weathered wood. As it didn't crackle very much I sanded it down a bit to add more interest hehe. The little bird is my stamp of the moment by Dimension Fourth, which I glittered. I also glittered the heart to match. The chippie letters are coloured with a copper marker pen. mmmm....the marker pen was a bit hard and rubbed them up a bit but I quite like that effect!

Thank you for taking a look-see XXX

Here you are!!!

Due to popular demand ( or rather nagging hee hee) here are some of the pages that I made for my Christmas Journal.

4th and 5th : prompts were: What would be your perfect Christmas and Advent Countdown (I made a little book to note all my BF Secret Santa gifts in!) Can you spot the lovely countdown that Di made for me?

18th and 19th : prompts were: Christmas Dinner and Send a letter to Santa

24th and 25th : prompts were What do you believe? and of course Christmas Day

I hope you have enjoyed your peak into my little book XXX

Smille's Christmas Journal

Over the last 37 days I have been a busy bee following Shimelle's Christmas Journal prompts. It has been so lovely doing something for myself and kept me sane while making all those last minute cards and presents. I haven't blogged any of the pages as I wanted to keep them private but here are a couple of pics of the finished book. If you have the time this Christmas it is so worth doing as Shimelle really make you look at Christmas in different ways.

I know its a bit of a tease really and I am sorry about that! I used the Bubbly Funk kits from November and December for this so that it all pretty much co-ordinated. Nothing is typed, all hand written and lots of doodling practise took place hehe.

Thanks for popping by and taking a look. X