the crop challege and a day crafting

each month a group of us set ourselves a challenge to make a piece of altered art. The last couple of months carol has given us items to alter, jenga pieces, a domino and a puzzle piece. So this month i gave everyone a 2 inch bottle cap And this is what i have come up with. I don't think its quite finished. The small frame is painted in fresco guacamole, crackle and snow white fresco paint. The crackle gives it a shabby chic look. I also painted my maya rd chipboard dress form and wings in the same way. The text on the frame is a Tim Holtz stamp, the button and saying are from papertrey ink stamp set.
I also attended crop just outside woodbridge today and i enjoyed it. The hall was a really good size so there was plenty of room to spread out and all the girls were very welcoming. I got a page layout done and spent time on this bottle cap piece.

Tando creative challenge

Tando creative have a challenge on there blog and the the theme is GO WILD. My first thought was an animal in a cage, but i had a stampotique stamp i hadn't used and decided to go with the title wild child. The house is from a Tim Holtz die covered in graphic 45 paper, distressed with Tim Holtz black distress ink and mini stamp. I then cut an aperture and snipped with decorative scissors and the cage made from wire my title was made with my dynamo machine and then a bat added to the top of the house. Check out the tando creative blog DT for there take on the challenge.

back from holiday

Got back from my holiday and so not a great deal of crafting has been done. It seems to be that when you get back from a holiday you need another to sort out all the washing. We went camping in north Norfolk, we had relatively good weather with a couple of rain storms. The week we got back it was our little boys birthday so there was loads of wrapping of parcels, organising party bags and of course baking for the party on the Saturday, and to top that the brownies were on pack holiday so for two evenings (the same weekend) i helped get them organised with there beds and support my other guider who was spending the whole weekend with them.

But i have had time to make a birthday gift for one of my crafting friends. I bought a paper mache suit case from a local craft fair at Bramford. Used wild honey distress stain on it and brushed corduroy distress ink. I painted some chipboard with paperartsy fresco paint and stamped my newly purchased phrenology stamp on to it and cut it out. Coloured it in with DI's and added the large eyes (stamps used were from Wendy vecchi). I cut out a butterfly stamped some polka dots on it and made a rolled flowered rose from Graphic 45 paper. The rose ribbon is from maya rd and the number token i found at the same local craft fair. Finally a stamp added.

fathers day cards and altered art

As you know today is fathers day so i made two cards one for DH and the other for my Dad. The photograph card is for DH, using some old paper i had in my stash. The other is made from crate paper toy box collection, a spellbinder die was used to make the lip of an envelope, a button and the stamps used are from papertrey ink. Next is a couple of pieces of altered art. My friend carol gave us two challenges a domino and a puzzle piece. Originally i painted the domino but then decided to cover it in graphic 45 steampunk paper. Embellished this with Tim holtz stamps (i got from a qvc tsv) added a butterfly and a pen nib. I then cut out a house shape with a TH alterations die, covered this in paper, and stamped images and text from the TH stamps and 7 Gypsies stamps and the gave it a coat of glossy accents. The puzzle piece uses graphic 45 Alice papers, a squashed bottle top which i have tried to make into a fob watch, using patterned papers, an acetate watch image, TH spinner and watch piece and bead. I have then stamped an Alice image on to paper and adhered to puzzle piece. Stamped do not disturb ( from my 7 gypsies set) and again coated in a layer of glue.

box and card, plus a layout

First up is a card and a pillow box made for a friends birthday. All the paper used is from crate paper's emmas shoppe. I have used a spell binders die to make the pillow box lip and i also recreated this on the card to give it an envelope feel. I have used a die-namics rose die to make the small rose on the bottom and then added some bling to give it a bit of sparkle. The dies are a thin steel die and will go through a big shot or cuttle bug machine. You then just roll it and it makes a little rose.

This is the page i was working on at the last papermaze crop. I have used some bright paint to make a border around the edges and some paint splodges. I then stitched a border in black thread. The paper used is from Cosmo Cricket and it a really old line but i love the bright colours. I still think there is something missing from this page, i keep looking at it and I'm not quite happy with it.

Nat and Dans wedding gift

Its been along time since i blogged so i thought i would show you what i have been up to. I recently attended a work colleague's wedding reception and as you can see from the post below i made her a card. So i thought i would make her a keepsake box,a brag book and a envelope to put photos in. I found a kraft box from paperchase and decided that i would paint it with paperartsy fresco paint (not that you can see much of that from the photo). This is one of the best paints on the market, it has a chalky finish making it great for a shabby chic look. I then covered the box in MME patterened paper used the T/H book plate to make an emblishment containing the date and the left over oval is used on the handle. Then made aflower with T/H tattered floral die and some smaller punched flowers around the large flower. Tags, buttons, a pin, ribbon, rub-ons and bling. The wedding couple is a stamp i have had for a long time that i use timeand time agian on wedding cards. I then coated the top of the box in modge podge, which in fact sealed the glitter on the paper.

Here is a pic of the cover of the brag book and an envelope decorated and this contains photos i didn't use in the book. The large butterfly is a sizzix die

This is one of the pages. It concertinas out and make a total of ten pages to decorate. Again i used MME paper, and some stickers and stamps.

On the first page i have made some roses out of a martha stewart flower punch and a circle punch. You cut the circle to make an open wheel and roll it up to make a rose. I have also used tags and stiched each of the pages

Then the final pages i turned my images in to black and white. Used papertrey ink die to cut the butterflies. Added rub-on's and found the lyrics to the first dance and printed these on t a trancparancey.

I hope she likes it ..... Hopefully i should be able to show you some pages and cards that i have been doing. I promise i will be a better blogger

a card and an altered art challenge

this card has been made for a work friend that gets married in may. Paper used is from my minds eye. The small butterflies were cut from a paper tray ink die and stitched through the middle. The large butterfly is a sizzix die and the flower is from a paper pack of flowers. I have used some Tim holtz tissue tape and lace as a border. Her theme is butterflies and blue for her wedding so that's why i have come up with a vintage shabby look.
Finally a friend that i go to the Bramford crop with set an altered art challenge. She gave each of 3 small jenga pieces. Originally i had it in mind to do a trip tic, but after i painted then with the snowflake fresco paint from paper artsy i decided to attach them together with T/H tissue tape.

I found some old 7 gypsies paper and painted it with the fresco paint and then stamped my image on the top, made a frame from chipboard, painted and then stamped with a text stamp
I set the image in the frame and covered it with beeswax and buffed, small watch parts were added and distress inks and stains to the edges to add splash of colour.

On the back i added distress inks and stains. Stamped a pattern to the edges and stamped my watches on to patterned paper. Adhered to the block, used beeswax to give an opaque finish and watch parts for dimension

the top is again watch parts with small beads placed on the top and wire connecting them together.