To all

I have finshed all my shopping, wrapped the presents and cleaned the house ready for the family to stay. I'm totally exhausted and christmas day isn't here yet! Kieran appers to have a cold and a barking cough and after a visit to the Dr's he's now on a course of antibiotics.
I do hope that everyone has a great christmas with their family and i wish you all a happy and healthy new year!

my christmas wreath

This time of the year its hectic and with a 2yr old my crafting time is very limited. So this year i decided that i would only be making cards for my parents and gift wallets for those i have bought vouchers for. I never really to make anything altered for myself and when i read Christine middlecamp's blog retrospection i decided that i would give her Christmas wreath idea a go.

i painted an embroidery hop and small pegs with acrylic paint and glued my pegs to the wooden frame. I didn't buy a large 12x12 frame like Christine's which has meant that i have not been able to put ATC's on some of my pegs. But i have manged to fit 5, the paper used is a combination of old Christmas k and co and October afternoon patterned papers, love elsie chipboard buttons, bling. a tando journalling piece, glitter thickers, 7 gypsies stickers. old paper chase felt embellishments and red bakers twine attached with T/H tiny attacher.

If you don't mind working with tiny pieces of paper and want to use some scrap it works well, plus i can take the ATC's off and add new ones when i want.

blog give away

The Fabolous lin brown from lbcrafts has a tim holtz stash give away. So hop on over to her blog and make a comment. Her work is inspiring.

Sarahscards challenge

Well its really busy here getting christmas stuff underway and i've had that stinking cold that has been going around. Anyway i went to a lovely crop at the weekend run by Anna and friends at henley. I had a great time and managed to complete 1 1/2 layouts (thats good for me) This layout has come about using the sarahs cards sketch thats on the blog. I used cosmo cricket and a small amount of october afternoon papers. Jenni bowlin letters and numbers, maya rd trancparancy and Pink paislee elements. The edges of the papers were distressed with tim holtz pumice distress ink.

SCD wings

this months scd continues with an anything goes, but this weeks theme is wings. So i have done a tag this week as time has just flown by. I covered my tag in DI, mustard seed and broken china (one of my fave colour combinations) Used some glimmer mist and Dylan's die mist, to give a splattered look. I then stamped my stampotique stamp and wings on to book paper.

I knew where abouts i wanted him to go so i re stamped him on to a piece of scrap paper and made a mask. I decided that i wanted him trapped in a cage so i stamped my Donna Downey stamp over my mask. Peeled of the mask and adhered my book paper stamped image. Added bling to the bottom of my cage and finally added some words. These are cut out from Donna Downey stamped sentiment and the word fly comes from a paperartsy set.

SCD houses

On SCD this month it continues with an anything goes, with this weeks theme being houses. So looking at what time i had available this week, i decided to show a piece of work i did along time ago. A couple of Christmas's ago i bought 3 crafty friends a small canvas and this what i came up with. The use of dictionary paper, BG papers, technique tuesday stamp, acrylic paints, white pen and chipboard frame. This was the first piece of altered art i had ever done or tried. We each decide to keep our pieces rather than giving them to each other, it inspired us all to try something different rather than our 12x12l layouts, which means we have experimented with new products. BUT................ after reading carols blog about her brothers accident and still having time to create such a wonderful piece. I felt really bad that i hadn't sat down and made time to make something. So i made a little house from chipboard and covered it in 7 gypsies paper. I then covered a slide mount in patterned paper and placed an image behind it. I then cut out captions from the black patterned paper and highlighted with my white pen. The wings are Maya Rd chipboard pieces and these were dipped in embossing ink and covered in snowflake embossing powder and adhered to the slide mount. The number stickers are from kaiser craft and small key embellishment added. Finally black distress ink applied to the edges I hope you like what i have come up with this week and I'm also sending lots of hugs to carol and her family. I do hope your brother gets better soon.

waltzing mouse stamps challenge

Waltzing mouse stamps have a vintage tag challenge and this is what i came up with.
My Santa image is from a bo bunny stamp and my background papers are from kaiser craft.
I used my spellbinders nesties on the top of my tag and again for the sentiment at the bottom. The sentiment is from a WMS set as well as my eyelet stamped shape on the top. I added a lace trim and cut out a poinsettia from hand and attached it with a brad, pins added for decoration and finally stitched with my sewing machine

yellow and green

This weeks colour theme on SCD is yellow and green. Now if your an Ipswich town football supporter this combination of colours would totally offend you, but as i hate football, i had fun putting this tag together. Papers used, are from crate paper and couple of basic grey rub ons.

I spritzed a little cosmic shimmer peacock green on my background and cut out the circles from my patterned paper to make a frame for my focal image. The stamp is from crafty individuals and coloured in with scattered straw and wild honey DI's. The folded banner on the bottom is made from green patterned paper and black clear prima tape and attached with the tiny attacher. To finish off, i went round the edges in black distress ink to make my colours pop out

This weeks theme colour on SCD is orange and black. So Halloween was my inspiration. I used some rusty pickle Addams family papers. I started with making a chipboard frame with a sizzix die and covered it with the orange papers and distressed the edges in black distress ink. I then made a lace border on the inside with a Martha Stewart lace punch on black and coloured spot paper crumpled it and adhered it to the frame The inside paper was run through T/H embossing folder and i then lightly rubbed my T/H distress ink over the top. My door and hat image were printed on to ink jet transparency and placed on to white card which makes it really pop out. The character is a stampotique stamp colored in distress inks and highlighted with a water colour pencil. The pumpkin was cut from the patterned papers and adhered along with my bling as the door knob. The bats and trick or treat are from a walzting mouse stamp set.

SCD autumn colours

This months scd challenges are based on anything you want to do, a layout, card. ATC whatever grabs you. So after seeing that this weeks theme is Autumn colours i had couple of things in mind. First is a chipboard frame cut from a piece of chipboard using a sizzix die - frame. The background has been run through a wood grain embossing folder by papertrey ink and brushed over with Distress Ink. The leaves were from Tim's new leaves die plus an old small sizzix one i had. The leaves were stitched using the sewing machine and the sentiment was one form some October afternoon stickers.
The pins used are T/H and the small owl and branch are from a paperartsy stamp set. The old cotton real has been primed and painted with tim holtz crackle paint.

The tag was done in a similar way, run through an embossing folder and distress ink used. The owl is a bit of a cheat. At ally pally i bought some chipboard pieces from lbcrafts, one being an owl so i used it as a template and used up my scrappy bits of paper. All the papers used for these projects are from crate papers restoration line. Its been a really busy weekend here and so this has been posted a little late. Our son was taken into hospital and this is the first chance i have had posting it. I made the projects on Saturday when all was well, but Saturday night thing got bad and he got worse. So he was admitted, but were home now and he is feeling better but we need to keep a close eye on him.

SCD and ally pally

This weeks theme for SCD is Birds. So after being inspired by the art from the heart stand at ally pally i came up with this. I have used Dylan's acrylic paints that are so fantastically sheer and wonderfully bright, with the a blue dye ink and T/H black distress ink.

The paint was applied with an old plastic library card, and the different circles were done with a top from a mister bottle, a mask and a dotty stamp. The bird is cut from the bird and cage T/H die and the two small birds are from a basic grey stamp set, i stamped the crown and added the bling to give a bit of sparkle. These are not colours i tend to use and i totally love the random background effect. Here are some of the things i bought from ally pally, I've always like the stampotique stamps, so i bought these three, i may have to have some on my Xmas list though

The Dylan paints form Art From The Heart. She did some fab demo's and her paints are so sheer. So i had to buy and in the end i bought 3 paints and 3 dye based mists.

Finally i decided to but the T/H tiny attacher and the cogs mask (because i just love the clock face) Paperartsy dies 2&3 and the flower stamps and kaisercraft dollie and lace stamps.

I did by some extra bits like the small prima stamps which are such fab value for money, some of the collection elements chipboard that LBcrafts were selling and some 7gypsies stickers. Did spend too much money, but i'm going to have fun playing with all these bits.

inspiration and SCD Arches

After searching the net for some inspiration i came across Dina Wakley's blog and her work is just fab. She uses paints, pastels,mists and lots of other mediums, to create her unique art work. So this week with SCD theme being stars i decided to use some acrylic paint, masks, mists and my wendy vecchi stamps.

I started by painting my base with butterscotch paint and a small amount of pool paint. Once dry i placed my large star mask and used my white acrylic paint to make it pop from the background. Then i used my small star mask, but when i spayed glimmer mist on it but it bleed through so i wiped it off, but it left a mark so i used this to my advantage and used my black and white pen to draw around them. I stamped one of my wendy stamps on paper used my T/H distress inks to colour it and adhered to large star. But i still felt it was lacking something so i used some red acrylic paint to it as well and some crafty notions white mist. I then stamped some small dots on the edges with distress ink and my sentiment in black. Finally after some very mucky hands swiped my edges in black distress ink

SCD Arches

This months challenge shape are arches with this weeks theme being LACE. I had an idea of what i wanted to do, but time ran away with me this week and so i quickly put this together.
The background colours consist of Tim Holtz distress inks - milled lavender, dusty concord, victorian velvet and tattered rose. The button, dress form and word stitch come from a crafty secrets stamp set and the rule is from a new 7 gypsies set i treated myself to last week. The lace was adhered to the rule with strong adhesive. My cotton reel is from the small maya road chipboard embellishment's, painted in brown paint and distressed, pink embroidery thread wrapped around and two dress pins added. Hope you like my offering to this weeks challenge.

SCD final torso

This weeks theme is 'of the sea'. So i pulled out some cosmo cricket papers (snorkel) for inspiration and found an image i liked and photocopied it. I coloured it in and cut it out. I then coloured in my torso with T/H scattered straw and chipped sapphire distress inks and used T/H compass mask and chalkboard glimmer mist as my background.

I then stamped my wave image on acetate, turned it over and coloured it in with alcohol inks and white stazon. Flipped it back over and covered it in Martha Stewart iridescent glitter. Finally added at the beach with my technique tuesday vacation stamps.

tag and door hanger

going to use this to attach to a baby gift for a work colleague and then it can be used as door hanger as show above. All done in chipboard and paper adhered. Patterned paper is from a K and Company mat stack. Papertrey ink stamps and embossing plate. Fancy pants pin and bakers twine added to button.

SCD Red and Black torso

This weeks theme is red and back and after much deliberation i decided to go for a Halloween style torso. For my background i used rusty hinge and barn door distress inks. I then used my spotty mask that i used on a tag and sprayed poppy glimmer mist through it. I then stamped black bats on my background with a new set of stamps i found from waltzing mouse. They are good value and they come from Ireland. Go and take a peek at www.waltzingmousestamps.com and their blog for inspiration. Anyway back to the torso, I found a witch image and cut it out and glued it in place, added some bling and used Tim Holtz distress paint Rock Candy on my background. I like the effect but it has covered my spotty glimmer misting. Finally i added my sentiment which is also from the same stamp set.

SCD Week 2 Torso

SCD are into week two of torso's and the theme is MEMORIES, so i decided it was about time i used some of my Tim holtz film strip that i bought at Ali Pali some time ago.
I printed of some small images that were on my PC and adhered them to the film strip. I then coloured my torso in a combination of rose, Victorian velvet and antique linen distress ink.
When i got the background colour i liked i stamped with some small dots in antique linen. The stamped images were from a vintage collage set and the clock from paper artsy set, which were stamped in timber brown. Glossy accents and a pink gem were added to the clock and the film strip adhered with staples. The flower was done in shrink plastic and adhered. The words say Create Memories. I'm not as pleased with this one and i still feel there is something missing???? but if i add any more I'll probably spoil it. Please let me know what you think

Sympathy card

my card for the waltzing mouse sketch challenge blog using some old k and co papers and butterfly punches

SCD Torso

This months SCD challenge is torso's, and this weeks theme is "a bit of bling" and this is what i have come up with The background colour is a mix of tim holtz distress inks (scattered straw, rusty hinge, wild honey and barn door) I used two stamps to make my background patterns, one from a basic grey set and the other from a papertrey ink set. I stamped it in timber brown and topaz ink and once dry sprayed with sunflower glimmer mist. Bling added to some centres of the stamped pattern and middle of the clock face. The flower is from a prima pack and the clock face was given to me from a good friend. Accented with a gold pin. The sentiment "time for a hint of sparkle" was printed of the computer and glued in place. Please take a look at the blog and see everyone elses creations.

door hanging

This week I'm spending the afternoon with a friend at her family beach hut and i decided to make a hanging piece of art,as away of saying thank you. The fancy shape is cut from a sizzix die which makes a mini album and the other shapes are hand cut out of chipboard. The papers used are from the fly a kite collection pad from october afternoon, but the banner is cut from a girls paperie line. The beach girl and umbrella shapes are from a cricut cartridge (a child's year) its been cut several times on different coloured paper and layered. Stamps used were from technique tuesday and october afternoon (cloud) All the edges were distressed inked with antique linen and then everything glued in place.

The @603 (number of beach hut) are from an American crafts chipboard line.

I used my cropadile to make the holes and attached the 3 pieces together with bakers twine and brown garden twine. I hope she likes it???

SCD challenge Tags

This months SCD challenge are tags. I have been meaning to do some SCD challenges but life has caught up with me and i have had no time, So this weeks theme is circles and i thought i would give it a go. My tag is coloured with scattered straw distress ink and the edges with rusty hinge. Whilst having a clear up of my scrap room i found a cuttlebug die, well 2 long thin ones (i believe they were a set) One a kind of honey comb pattern and the other are the flowers on the tag. SO i cut the honey comb one on a transparency sheet and turned it in to a mask and sprayed sunflower glimmer mist on it, its made quite a cool spotty background on my tag as you can see.The other circles are done with the top of a mini mister lid dipped on the rusty hinge ink pad and stamped on to the tag. Finally i cut my flowers and inked them with scattered straw, rusty hinge and barn door, stems are done with bundled sage and then adhered to my tag. The sentiment is a stamp from a Wendy Vecchi set. A simple tag this week with the background being the theme of circles.

its been a while......

since i last blogged (bad girl) but life has caught up with me. Work has been busy, last weekend we went on a camping trip, and its been my son's birthday. I haven't done any crafting, which i have really missed and because of work etc and i haven't been to any crops this month. So I'm kind of missing my crafting buddies.

As you know from previous entries i won a competition at sarah cards ltd and they asked me to do a 12x12 using this sketch and this is what i have come up with. I hope you like it its one of my favourite pics of our little boy this year.


I used kraft and black card stock as my background, fancy pants papers and rubons and some old chipboard letters i bought from QVC sometime ago.
I know the picture showing isn't great but i have to say i enjoyed the challenge and end result. At some point this week i must get back to my crafting especially some SCD challenges. We will see if i get any spare time this week to play.

Flora and fauna

SCD 3x5inch challenge this week is Flora and Fauna. So i covered a piece of chipboard with dictionary paper and then covered in a thin coating of GESSO, once dry i randomly applied some distress inks (spun sugar, barn door, brushed corduroy and antique linen) The patterned paper is from an old K and CO paper pad. This was stitched in place and gesso applied. The poppy images were printed on a transparency and adhered. Flourishes stamped in black ink and background dots stamped in distress inks. Lace stitched in place, tag distress inked and adhered, the heart was cut out of thin card painted and glossy accented. The title words are sticker from a 7 Gypsies sticker sheet. I have to say i got very messy, but quite like the outcome, and if i didn't like some thing i re -gesso'd or covered in distress inks.

ATDML bingo challenge

I decided to have ago at ATDML June bingo challenge. Basically they have constructed a bingo card with various components in order to complete a layout. So i picked the 2nd vertical line.

1.Use circles on your page - the sun shape, and hambly transparency, the compass, layered circles with brad.

2. Multi photo layout

3. Use paints or glimmer mists - well for the first time on a layout i used my Tim holtz compass mask and the new chalkboard glimmer mists. It appears as if the image is part of the paper, and i have to say i rather like the effect.

4. add something metal - well that my karen foster license plate and pink paislee brad

The papers used are pink paislee 365 degrees.

SCD Challenge 3"x 5"

This months challenge is 3x5 inches pieces of art work, with this weeks theme of being blue and white. When the theme was posted on Friday , i couldn't think what to do, until my friend Janet was doing a layout for her new grandson and it was then the idea came to me. Baby Boy!

So i covered my 3x5 in blue patch work fabric, stitched and spayed with chalkboard glimmer mist (mint). Painted some mesh white and stitched in place. My black and white image was an image i must have downloaded some time ago, so i scaled it down and printed it off on photographic paper and i then swiped it with some watered down blue acrylic paint and stitched in place. Stitched a lace trim on the bottom edge of photo. Added a couple of extra beads to my pin and a blue button and placed in the right hand corner. Added 3 pearl gems on the top left hand corner and finally stamped the title baby, (sassafras lass stamp) on to white card and distress inked the edges. Hope you like the end result

a small gift

this is a small gift i made for a friend who puts in my papertrey ink order, and wanted to make her something that said ......thank you. I used the artisan box template from papertrey ink and cosmo cricket papers from a QVC purchase to make the box. Inside i filled it with buttons, flowers and pins.

well i never.........

I won the paint challenge at Sarah's cards blog. I have to say all the entries were fab so i never expected to win. Plus I've just realised i made a typing error on my journal ling, put then instead of them so I'll have to lift this off and start again (a least i applied it with repositionable tape first time around).

paint challenge

this is a challenge layout i have done using paint. So i painted the edges of the photo's , splattered paint on the background, and painted on acetate and stitched and used a lid off a mister bottle to make the circles. The papers, stickers and chipboard pieces are sassafrass lass and a jenni bowlin bingo card. The challenge is for Sarah's cards blog.

SCD and guest designer

So this weeks theme is CROWNS and my friend Ang asked if i would be there guest designer this month. So this is what i have come up with. The Background is coloured in with broken china distress ink and the crowns are stamped with chipped Sapphire and its then had a liberal coating of rock candy distress paint. The Alice in wonderland image is a stamped on to white card and coloured in with wild honey and rusty hinge distress inks and mounted on to background using foam pads. (stamps are from stamp attack ) Finally i stamped the word crown on to some white card stock, inked the edges and then covered in glossy accents. Would love to know what you all think .

SCD challenge Twinchie no 3

This weeks theme is "PARIS". I have to say, this wasn't easy but i had some small round images on my computer and low and behold (if you look close up)there was one with a ladies head and the Eiffel tower in the background. So i decided to turn it into one of those prima pebbles by covering it in UTEE. The background is a couple of Tim Holtz acrylic stamps, stamped in brushed corduroy distress ink and a small cats eye ink pad (Merlot). The clock again is a transparency image, a small amount of dictionary page on the sides, and twine wrapped around the bottom.

This weeks SCD challenge

The challenge theme this week is flowers. So after much thought i decided to print off an image i had stored in my computer. I reduced to size and printed it on to a transparency, which give my image a film like quality. I covered my 2x2 inch base in dictionary paper, inked the edges in brown ink and a brown pen. When i placed my image on the top i found that you could see all the printed text underneath, especially on her face which i didn't like. So i found some off white acrylic paint and dabbed it on to the dictionary paper and placed my image. Not only did this give the effect i wanted but it also adhered the image.
The flowers in the corner were punched out of cream shrink plastic with Martha Stewart punch (a punch and stamp set) So once i punched three out (i wouldn't advice this as the shrink plastic is a little on the thick side and it was quite hard to Punch through, if you have a die cutting machine find a flower style you like and you can probably get the same effect), i used the stamp supplied to make the coloured centers, shrunk with a heat gun and slightly curled the edges before it cooled. (you will need asbestos fingers for this job LOL! ) and then adhered it to my 2x2 with glossy accents.

SCD Challenge

SCD have a twinchie challenge this month, with prizes to be won. A twinchie is a 2x2" piece of art work and this weeks theme is BUTTERFLY. I decided to have ago with some fabric and covered a piece of chipboard with a scrap of fabric, stamped an image on paper and coloured with distress inks and used my sewing machine to sew around the edges. I like the way it has made a frame for the small image. I then covered a chipboard butterfly in dictionary paper and applied the small butterfly rub on's to the fabric. Its a little chintzy, but i think it works well.

Hope on over to the blog and see what everyone else had made

I made this for a friend of mine for her birthady. The arch, stamps (new flora and fauna range) and metal are from paperartsy. The arch has be coloured with tim holtz distress inks and glimmer mists. The small house and owl are stamped on copper, puffed out and squiggled on with ten second studio tools. The clock behind the owl is stamped on card and distressed with the same tim holtz distress inks, and the branch the owl sits on is stamped on grunge paper.
The arch was then high lighted with a white pen and the word dream was staped on cream shrink plastic.

If this type of paper crafting excites you then hop on over to something completely different blog

(SCD) They set weekly challenges with a theme and anyone can take part. Next month they will be a year old and have some great challenges organised with prizes and guest designers

Cards

a couple of cards using the cash or charge template from papertrey ink

whoops forgot to add pic ....... here it is

An easter gift

I love this american craft site called papertrey ink, they make great stamps, templates and now diecuts. Every month they come out with new stuff. Well after much deleberation i decided that i would get some bits and i ahve to say that they are totally fab. The stamps are so versitile and are well worth there money. The only thing is it can be quite pricey with the shipping and customs.

The cheepest things are the templates thet you can down load they are $5 each and and you can use them time and time again. They also come with an instructions and idea page.

This year i decided that i wanted to create an easter basket to put mini eggs in for my mum and my hubby's mum. So i used the picnic basket template, one off papertrey stamp sets to do the button bird and scenic route patterened papers hope you like it

Must start writing on this blog!

I have decided that i must start writing on this blog. I hear you ask why i haven't before well........i don't know. Time maybe one isssue the other, i'm not really IT savy and i have to keep asking hubby how to do things which is a bit of a pain. My friend carol assures me that this whole bloging thing is easy and to be honest i do feel as though i could show case some of my work. I have a passion for scrapbooking, card making and i dabble in a little altered art.
I can't say that any of my stuff would grace any mags or be asked to do ant DT work, but some people like what i do, and i would also love to share with you my work and others that inspire me to work outside of my comfort zone.

I hope that you will enjoy reading my blog and enjoy seeing what i have created