Its Crafting Time DT Challenge - Embossing Folder

Inspired by last weeks success with shrink plastic and gilding flakes, I decided to make something sparkley!
The theme for the DT challenge at ITC this week is embossing folders; at papercreationsink it is 'April Showers Bring May Flowers'; and at crafts4eternity' the theme is spring.
Combining all of these I came up with my ATC design.

The background is Tim Holtz Core Dinations card in 'Faded Jeans'.
I have embossed it using 'Drip Drop' universal embossing folder from Craft Concepts'.
The flowers are cut from the same coredinations card using 'Rose Creations' Spellbinders dies. The flowers have then been embossed with 'Polka Dots' embossing folder by Crafts-Too. The leaves are from the same die set, cut in card from my stash.
In both cases I have sanded the embossing to reveal the paler core.
The flowers have been coated with Crafters Companion 'Spray and Sparkle'. This makes them a darker shade and a bit sparkley.
The drips have had lines of 'Diamond' Stickles down them.
The little girl in the rain is a Paper Mania stamp, 'Rainy Day'. I stamped it in Archival 'Jet Black' onto shrink plastic, allowed it to dry and then heated it to shrink. The back has been coated with Indigo Blu mega-flake 'Winter Dawn'.
The little bow and blue gem are from my stash.


This really reminds me of running about in wellies in teh puddles when I was little, right down to the bobbed hair and 'proper' coat!

Designed for DT challenge: http://itscraftingtime.blogspot.co.uk/

Also entered in challenges at:
http://papercreationsink.blogspot.co.uk/ - 'April Showers Bring May Flowers'
http://crafts4eternity.blogspot.co.uk/ - 'Spring'

Pink Flowers

I was so organised this week... Made card for CFC49 on CAS-ual Fridays, took photos for WOYWW... Forgot to transfer them from camera, fell asleep and missed all of the deadlines...

Oh, well! So, imagine my surprise when I discover that this weeks challenge is something with flowers or trees - bingo!

So here it all is then...

CFC50: Spring is here so show us your Clean And Simple creations
with flowers or trees.CFC49: Create a CAS card using the sketch

bloglink - http://cas-ualfridays.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/cfc50.html

OMG!

Help me please! I need adult conversation!
I have spent all day with 20 year 11 students in a small, dark room completing coursework...
The last few just wont go home! I have been here for 7 1/2 hours!!!
The girls are now rating the male teachers....
Argggggggggggh!!!!

Charming Nature

Being Sunday, and having actually got ahead of myself with the Crafting Time DT challenge, I thought I would go visit Less is More and see what they are up to...

Week 64 - How Charming

As we are being sponsored by The Ribbon Girl this month, we thought that we would have a challenge whereby you could use some of the products you might find in her store.

She has a mighty array of charms, perfect for that subtle embellishment on a Clean and Simple card, plus all manner of wonderful ribbons and trims.

Just as we don't always make One Layer Cards, we don't always want to make cards completely devoid of embellishment, the key is to keep it minimal... to enhance not overpower.

SO our theme this week is

How Charming!

Make and/or use a charm on your project

To start this off, I took a blank C6 card and embossed just the front with a Crafts-Too embossing folder (Sweet Flowers) just to give some interest to the palin white card.

I then made the charm by stamping a piece of clear shrink plastic in black Archival using a very old botanical stamp found in a stash at school when we were clearing out. They came from a company called Sweet & Maxwell Limited and we think they probably date back to the '50s.

I then carefully dried the ink on a low heat setting, and then shrunk the piece down. I had two attempts at this as the piece is quite large and it got stuck together the first time! I trimmed the shape whilst it was still hot.

Once the piece was cool, I painted the back with FlitterGlu (Indigo Blu), allowed it to dry clear and then dipped it into Crafty Notions Gilding Flakes (Autumn Rose). This really highlights the black stamping and it is interesting to see the lines of the glue coming through.

I attached it to the card with Pinflair Glue Gel.

The final part was to gild a piece of card and over stamp with the sentiment (from stash).

So, the challenges that I am going to enter this into are:

http://simplylessismoore.blogspot.co.uk/ - week 64 - How Charming

http://sentimentalsundays.blogspot.co.uk/ - challenge 99 - Celebrating Earth Day

Its Crafting Time DT Challenge - A Stitchy Situation...

After last weeks ATC minibook, I decided it was time to try something simple. I found these cute digis of neglected (and slightly disturbing!) rag dolls on Smeared Ink and thought they would make a great focal point.



I printed them out onto some medium weight card and coloured them with ProMarkers.

The backgrounds are bright pink Bazzil textured card, cut to ATC size. The top layers are black card from my stash.

Each of the black layers has been punched using Tonic Studios edging system punches.

The corners have been punched with a Tonic 5mm corner rounder.

The black bobbly ribbon is from a selection at Its Crafting Time.

The flowers are from a Spellbinders die (I was going to use a flower punch, but it got stuck!).

The last little bits are a few sticky gems from my stash and a few 'stitches' drawn in with a black ProMarker with an ultra fine nib attached.

http://itscraftingtime.blogspot.co.uk/ - Punches

Although these are designed for the 'Its Crafting Time' DT challenge,

I am also going to enter them into:

http://www.smudgyantics.blogspot.co.uk/ - 'Bingo' - flowers/black/ribbon

http://atcswithattitude.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything goes with faces

... and sometimes somebody manages to point a camera at me...

Its Crafting Time DT Challenge - 7 Gypsies

Anyone who has been awake for the last month, watching TV or reading newspapers, might have noticed that it is 100 years since the loss of RMS Titanic. I was looking at the lovely 7 Gypsies stuff that I have for this weeks challenge and noticed that there are several sheets in the pack (Camden 6x6 2-sided paper variety pack) and realised that this was a link between the two things!

So, I went hunting for images on the tinter-web and found lots of fascinating stuff. I was most inspired by the images of the people on board, both those who survived, and those who didn't.
I started with a brand new pack of 7 Gypsies ATC card blanks in cream. I added various papers from the Camden pack; ripping, tearing and inking them. The pictures I screwed up, wrinkled, tore and inked to add to the aged look.

I have used 7 Gypsies cloth reinforces in the top right corner of each, then punched through and joined all of the cards together with a book ring.

The only non-7 Gypsies additions are some Graphic 45 cardstock stickers 'Destinations'; and daisyd's cardstock stickers 'Gypsy harvest Scroll' (spot the link!).

 

 http://itscraftingtime.blogspot.co.uk/

(and not a butterfly in sight!)

Steam Punk Birthday

I made this card for my brother-in-laws birthday today. He is a keen (read: completely nerdy and more than a little obessed...) role player and general all round mad bloke (lovely with it!). I found the digi on Smeared Ink (http://www.smearedink.com/) and loved it. It is printed on a light weight card and coloured with ProMarkers. The googly eyes are coated with Glossy Accents. The background papers are from Graphic 45. The front mat has been embossed using 'A Touch Of' cogs mask. I have then inked over it using Tim Holtz distress ink to highlight the cogs. The smaller mat above and behind has been embossed using the same mask, but this time has been inked in clear and then embossed with WOW powder. The gold card cogs and clock face are from Kanban. The metal cogs and clock hands are from Tim Holtz. Although it's difficult to see, the top right corner has been stamped with a cogs border and then flittered (Indigo Blu).

I am going to enter this card in the following challenges:

http://atcswithattitude.blogspot.co.uk/                Anything goes, inspired by cogs border

http://www.smudgyantics.blogspot.co.uk/          Anything goes, using a Smeared Ink digi

April Sketch part 2 - Its Crafting Time Design Team challenge

Easter Dresses

Isn't she cute!!!

   
When I was a little girl, every Easter I had a new outfit, often a dress sewn by my Mum or one of her friends, Lesley. It always had a knitted cardigan and lacy socks to go with it. This tradition continued on with my sister, though we found her dresses in Spanish markets as well as the beautiful clothes made by Lesley (she used her son Nathan to model Lucy's dresses as they were much the same size! He now plays sessions with a very well known Welsh rock band...). Even now Grandma sends a small amount of money at Easter for us to go and buy a new top. This is what inspired these ATC's, along with the Kanban topper set.   

The background papers are Paper Adventures 'Iris Bear', overstamped in Memento 'Grape Jelly' using the Indigo Blu bodice stamp form 'Sewing Mends the Soul'; and, Glitz 'Beautiful Dreamer'.

The ribbon across the middle is teh tape measure stamp from the Indigo Blu set, stamped in 'Bamboo Leaves' and embossed with Blonde Moments 'Suet Gold Lustre'.
All of the die cuts are from the Kanban 'Shop Elements' collection, these are the 'Frou Frou Girls'.
Lastly, I have a added a button to each from
                                              my stash.

http://itscraftingtime.blogspot.co.uk/

Craftastical!

You have to go visit theis blog! The most georgeous freebies....

http://www.craftastical.com/

Green - Less is More challenge week 62

Back to the clean and simple now. I have been doing lots of complicated stuff recently and I wanted my next project to be simple. This is a house warming card for a friend who has recently downsized.

 

The challenge:

This week we have another Colour challenge for you and to give it a slightly different twist we would like to see

Three Shades of Green.

For this you could use one ink but use it in different ways to create different shades, for example direct stamping, then secondary stamping, dusting, stencilling, maybe inking directly from the inkpad. This would create different shades of the same colour or you could simply use three different greens.
There is such a variety of mediums you could use too... paper, pencils, chalks, inks, paint, markers, etc., etc. It's not a one layer week, so let your imagination roam...but remember that WHITE SPACE!

I have used a white card blank and stamped directly the 'Sweet Tweets' sentiment in Memento 'Pear Tart' and then embossed with Blonde Moments 'Suet Gold Lustre'. The bird houses and bird are stamped in Cottage Ivy, Bamboo Leaves and Pear Tart. They have been embossed with WOW 'Glamour Green' embossing glitter and suet gold luster. I cut the shape with an Xcut die then inked the edges with a mixture of the bamboo leaves and pear tart. The stamps are by Hot Off the Press. Oh, and there are 3 gems in the birds tail coz I can't do without bling!

Afternoon tea

So on Saturday we all got together for Christines birthday. The photographer was Richard, so the photos are a little wonky!
The cucumber sandwiches were not my favourite, but the scones and clotted cream were fantastic!








So, any way, I made Christines 'card' like this...

This started life as naked MDF from the Decopatch range at Its Crafting time.
I covered the fronts and backs of each piece with purple and blue papers from my stash (HOTP; Glitz; Paper Adventures). To finish the edges I wrapped them with Tim Holtz tissue tape with moths and words on.
The flowers are cut using a Donna Salazar die 'Rose Creations', by Spellbinders.

The butterflies are stamped in Grape Jelly, Sweet Plum and Lilac Posies Memento inks.

The swirls on the inside pages are Sheena Douglas 'A Little Bit Sketchy - Best Friend Swirls'. They have first been stamped in Grape Jelly then stamped again using Flitter Glue and covered with 'Winter Dawn' Mega-Flake.

The verse is 'The Warning' by Jenny Joseph; you know the one...
'When I get old I shall wear purple, with a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me.'

Lucy bought me the ribbon for Christmas and it seemed just right here. The tassle was given to me by friend Anna.

The final part was to add the butterfly keyring with a bow on to make it all link together.

I also made a box for it to go in using Cosmic Shimmer Misting Inks, but I forgot to take a photo!

Anyway, I liked the result, Christine liked the result, and the pink champagne was cold and dry!

A recipe for a really nice birthday tea!



Spring time birthday

Here is the card that my Grandma comissioned for my Aunts 60th Birthday.

                                                              

                                                                    Even I actually like this card!

The card blank is from Craftwork Cards. The blue paper with bunting is by Glitz and is called 'Afternoon Muse'. The kitty is a Lilly of the Valley design, coloured with ProMarkers (I think I have finally got the hang of the blending pen now!). The happy birthday sentiment is by Indigo Blu and comes with Aloysius the bear. The pink layers, flowers and bling are all from stash. The verse on the inside is by PaperArtsy. All stamping and inking is using Memento inks.

April Sketch - Its Crafting Time Design Team challenge

As my house is so tidy at the moment, I thought I would have a play with Serif CraftArtist to see what I could create using the April sketch by Pina at ICT.
I am in a bit of a pink mood at the moment! I think I am trying to keep hold of the spring feeling, inspite of the rain.

I have used a combination of digikits, the main one being 'Family Tree'.

I am still working on blending and drop shadows to give more depth.

Any advice greatfully received!

Addicted to flitter...

Thought for today:
'There is never too much sparkle in craft!'

Easter...

Mmmmmm....

   New toy...

      Lots of fun to

        be had...

New craft space in use...

There is a sneaky peak of a comissioned card on the table, but I can't put it on the site until after the weekend...

Easter Cards

I had great fun making these today! Simply using the Xcut dies for the mats was so much easier and I have got pretty edges!
I even worked out how to cut sizes that I don't have by re-alining the first cut back into the die and recutting. Very useful.
The Easter paper is from American Crafts (bought from QVC years ago). The backing papers are all HOTP designs. The little animal pictures are colour-ins from Lilly of the Valley (freebies with a craft magazine). I have used ProMarkers to colour them in.
The flowers and leaves on the two bunny cards are 'Rose Creations', a Donna Salazar die from Spellbinders.

A little bit blue...

I didn't like Friday. I have always gone to Mummies as soon as the last day of school finished. But she isn't there for me to go to. I was horrid to Colin and very stroppy... But we got over it together.
Saturday we spent lazing around together (having gone on a petrol hunt first...!)
Today, Sunday, I have been well in to getting organised.

This is the mess that is my living room. Much as I love my craft, this is a bit much! So, I have spent today clearing out my spare room which has become a dumping ground and not of any use. So, all the rubbish is gone. 2 bins are full; 6 bags of linen, curtains and old clothes have gone to charity; the old airing cupboard has been emptied and refilled with neat plastic boxes and the furniture moved. The grand plan is to find a big fold up table to go in there to do my crafting on, but one that I can put away when visitors need the room to stay in. This is all feeling a bit too organised, even for me!

The other project for today has been ATC's for the Crafting Time DT. The theme for this week is 'blue'.

Helen gave me some prints of sea side them stamps from the new Hobby Art range. I coloured them in using ProMarkers in shades of blue, using the blender pens to give a weathered look. I used ribbon and lace to give texture, then cut out the images and stuck them on using glue gel to give different layers. The trees and landscape are all from my stamp stash. The inks are all Memento. I used clear embossing powder on some of the stamping to give another dimension. The background paper is from Glitz, 'Afternoon Muse'.

http://itscraftingtime.blogspot.co.uk/