Merry Christmas

This is one of the many cards I made this Christmas, I think I ended up making about 50, so they had to be quick but still stylish, I think I achieved that with this card, which I ended up making a lot of, just changing the papers I used.

As this will be my last post for 2007 I want to thank everyone who has visited and commented on my blog this year. Your comments are all appreciated and I thoroughly enjoy reading them.
I wish you all a peaceful, happy Christmas, and a prosperous New Year.

Nellies birthday card

It was Nellies birthday last week and this is the card I made for her.

I used stamps from Art Journey and Non Sequitur - The Face Is The Icon Of Creation plate.


These last two cards are really posted the wrong way round as I made this one first and the acetate one evolved from this one. I think I prefer the layout of the swirls better on this one, maybe it's the size of the card that they work better on.

Hope you had a wonderful day Nellie.

a new favourite

I've made my first acetate card today and I have to say I love it, the acetate that is.

The main stamp is from Art Journey.
The background is alchol ink on glossy card.
The swirls I drew and cut out, then inked and distressed them.

Christmas is here

and over on Lisa Vollraths site there is a daily download on her Countdown Calender . I'm already thinking about what I can do with the images I've downloaded in the last couple of days.

What do you mean you're buying my Birthday cards

was the exclaimation I got from my soon to be 16yr old Son the other day when he overheard me mention the cards I'd bought for him. So after making me feel very guilty, kids are really good at that aren't they, lol, I tried my hardest to make him a couple of cards. My first problem was not having any materials suitable, so I went hunting through some digital kits I have stashed on my PC and came up with a couple of very suitable kits.

This first card is made from papers included in the cycling kit I downloaded from Epson. The bike theme is great as Adam is a bit of a mountain biker and loves nothing more that getting muddy. The lettering is all hand cut and the little sixteen tab is printed from the PC.




Adam is a bit of a budding musician, loves writing music and playing with his band, ok it's only a group of mates but they call themselves a band, so when I found this fab kit, called Future Rock Star on Two peas,
I knew it was perfect. Adam is a little vein so I thought using a photo of him would make a great card from his younger brother. I added the little cross stamp and hand cut the number.

These cards are both a bit of a sidestep from what I normally make, but I think they will be well received by the birthday boy.

a hanging

A hanging I've made for a certain someones birthday.

Alcohol inked background, image from the net and then overstamped with Papermania, making Memories and Crafty individual stamps.

I came across a new challenge, for me anyway, on the Created by Hand blog. It just so happens that their challenge this week is alcohol inks, what a stroke of luck, so I've posted this piece as my contribution.

I've been tagged........

by Anne, thanks ;o)







1. If you could have 100.00 worth of scrapbook paper or assorted embellishments, which would you choose?



I'd go for an assortment of embellishments as my large quantity of scrapbook papers are sitting gathering dust as I very rarely use them. I was going to say K&Co would be my embellishment of choice but again I have found myself using them less and less, so I think I'd opt for lots of beads, ribbons and nice little charms with my 100.00 worth thankyou.



2. If you had to choose between using only stamps or rubons, which would you choose?



Stamps, no question.



3. If you knew how to do both awesome cards and layouts but could only do one for a whole year, which would you do?



It would be cards, as I've only ever done a couple of LOs and they were in a paperbag book I made as a gift. I don't make cards often, except when it's someones birthday, most of the pieces I make are hangings or tags.



4. Would you rather own a scrap booking store or have your own scrapping room at home (can’t have both hee hee).



I would choose a craft room, the idea of not having to clear my stuff away when I've finished for the day sounds like my idea of heaven, but in my little house there sadly isn't enough room for me to have my own dedicated craft space so I have to make do with a small fold away table in my bedroom. I did suggest to my hubby that maybe bunk beds would free up more floor space which would allow me to at least have a permanent table but it was met with a few choice words on his part :o) lol



5. What is your CURRENT card making or scrapping style?



I'm not sure I have a style really, I go with the flow of where my mood takes me. Some days my work can be really messy, especially when I'm making backgrounds as the ink and paint can get every where, lol, but then other days incredibly neat. I think who I'm making a piece for has a large bearing on the style too, I mean I wouldn't make the same card for my Mom as I would an arty friend.



Here are the rules????..

Please answer the questions on your blog and tag 5 more people to answer the same questions???.make sure you list on your blog who you are tagging?.Thanks!



So now I tag:



Nellie - this is one of those blogs that will have you Ooooing and Ahhhing from the start to the end, Nellie is a very talented and also a very lovely lady.

Penny - Well Penny is a very talented lady who never fails to amaze me with the card creations she comes up with (and I've known Penny for a few years now so that's a lot of cards) , her work is beautiful and her embossing is to die for.

Joanne - now not only can this girl create wonderful paper pieces, she also knits fab stuff too (check out her knitted art doll ,BRILLIANT), Joanne is always up for a challenge, whether it's crafting or making the London eye from straws and egg boxes, she'll give it a go, lol.

Chris - another talented cardmaker, who has the most clean, crisp sophisticated look to her work, her tapestry stamping is probably some of the best I've seen.

Carrie - I've only been visiting the lovely Carolines blog for a few months and there is always something wonderful to look at and a great tuition on image transfers.

A sketch challenge

Made for a challenge where we were supplied with a layout sketch which we had to interpret in our own unique way.

Made using various stamps, a image from the internet and some K&Co paper.

Hallowe'en.......

is the theme over on Saturday Stampers this week. I did try and post this on Tuesday but my blog was playing games with me and wouldn't let me upload a picture, so anyway better late than never.

The piece is small, about 3'x2' maybe, made on a pearlised card with chalk inks over the top. I seem to be using that tree stamp from Corninsh Heritage way too often, must find a new favourite stamp, lol.

Hope you all had a good Hallowe'en.

Saturday Stampers

Kaz says:-

This week’s theme on Saturday Stampers is WINTER- so let’s see your christmas
and winter style creations!!

so here is my contribution for this weeks Saturday Stampers.

I'm dreaming of a black and white Christmas

Yes I know Christmas is still a couple of months away but I had the urge to make a Christmas card today, no idea why, lol. I fancied doing something a bit different, and although I do like this card I think it still needs a bit of reworking.

The angel stamp is from Crafty Individuals and the Holly Swirl is by Penny Black.

bits and pieces

Yesterday was Carries birthday, and this was the card I made for her. The image is stamped on a vellum type material and then overlayed onto a panel I'd coloured with alcohol inks and Krylon pen.


This piece is a Christmas decoration I made for a swap.



The main stamp is from Crafty Individuals .

Art doll

The monthly challenge was to make an Art doll. I've never made one before and did find it a bit difficult. I knew who the doll was destined for and as she is a busy teacher I wanted my doll to portray calmness and tranquility.

The background stamp is from Cornish Heritage. The lovely face was sent to me by Anjie.

She rises at sunset...

is the title of this piece. I made the background using inks in lots of shades and layers. As I used the tree background stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms I thought that I'd put this piece forward for this weeks Saturday Stamper.


The lady is stamped onto a thick vellum type material and shaded on the back to give the ghostly, ethereal feel to her.
This photo I took at a slight angle as I wanted to catch the golden glimmer showing through the trees.
I think this is my favourite piece that I have made to date.

Thanks for looking.

Another tag

The theme for this swap was Travel.

I made the background pretty much the same as the wings tag. This has an acetate overlay with a rub on quote on it.

Wings

This theme for this months tag swap is 'WINGS'. I love making my own backgrounds and that is exactly what I did for this tag. I like the satisfaction I get from taking a plain piece of paper and turning it into something quite nice.


This background I made by firstly screwing the paper up into a tight ball then added inks in different shades of green, gold and white, I then added some embossing powder, overstamped with a word stamp of unknown origin. I added some metalic rub-on cream all over the piece, it basically just held on the peaks of the creases.


The letters are from Basic Grey, they were covered in some basic Grey paper, and then messed up with embossing powder and the rub on creams.

Never ending circle

This months recipient for my circle gift is Kaz .

I have made a small hanging, about 3inches square. The papers are all K&Co, and I have used stamps from various companies, including PaperArtsy and Art Journey. The image is taken from the People and Places image book from Crafty Individuals.



To give the piece some texture I ran a glue stick around the edges and applied clear embossing powder, then after heating I added metalic rub-on cream in a copper colour.

Wednesday stamper

The theme, or rather challenge, on Wednesday Stamper this week is to use handmade or mulberry papers in your work.

I made the background for this ATC by gluing the base card, then scrunching and creasing different colours of mulberry papers into the glue. It gives a good texture, and makes your background a part of the overall design.

Birds 4x4

The theme for this weeks 4x4 Friday is BIRDS. Now I don't own any bird stamps but I did find this picture on my laptop in amongst all the random files I've accumulated over time. It is actually from a free digital scrapping kit by Rhonna Farrer, which I downloaded from TwoPeas.

The background is done with various inks, applied with scrunched up kitchen roll, and embossing powder.




I'd just like to say a big thankyou to all of you who take time out to visit my blog and all the wonderful comments you have left xxx

TMTA

Another first for me and that is taking part on the TMTA challenge.

This weeks theme is 'MEN'

Gothic Arch challenge

The theme for this weeks Gothic Arch challenge is 'Moon'

What do you think of when you think of the moon? Romantic evenings under the starry sky? A winters moon beaming on the snow below?Whatever your inspiration of moon may be we hope you will create an arch to reflect this.

I've never made an arch before and I have to say I really enjoyed it.

At last

Weeks ago Hermine put a background on her blog for us to share, at the time I couldn't join in the fun as I was without a printer :o( Well at the weekend we got a new and so at last here is the ATC I've made with the fab background, it is now packed and ready to wing it's way to its new home, I wonder who that could be :o)

Blue.........

is the theme for this weeks Wednesday Stamper .

I haven't taken part in one of these challenges for quite some time, what with family life, work and holidays taking over I just haven't had the time or the inspiration to make much at all. I was determined to make something today, just so I could have a play with some new stamps I got yesterday from Crafty Individuals . I thought I'd go for something quite simple to break myself back into creating so I went for a tag.

I have used chalk inks in various blues and silver, also clear and white embossing powders for the background. I'm hoping these pictures show the texture I've achieved on the background.

Hard to resist

The challenge this month was to make any piece you want as long as you used a flower in the reist technique. Not a technique I've done much of in the past so I thought I'd swot up on it but found there are quite a few different ways to do resist, so I went with the clear embossing powder way. I punched a flower shape from a piece of scrap card and used this as a stencil. I coloured through with my Versamark pen and the added the embossing powder, then over the top I added loads of different toning chalk inks. I really like the subtle effect this technique gives and I think it's one I'll be using again in the not to distant future.

I sent my piece to Louise, hope you like it mate.

Thinking blogger

Thanks Sam for the nomination :o) So now I have to nominate people who's blogs make me think. Crikey there are loads of them, so for now I think I'll just carry on thinking, lol.

The original Thinking Blogger award started here

New CD, also making more noise

I got myself Hand Built By Robots by the very talanted artist Newton Faulkner. WOW what a CD. This is the video for Dream Catch Me, see what you think.



As Crusade #11 over on Michelle Wards GPP blog is to make some noise on your blog I thought I'd share this with you too.

GPP crusade #11

Crusade #11 over on GPP street team is Make Some Noise.

I love music of all sorts and although rock is my first love there is a very special place in my music collection for the first record I bought at the tender age of 11 back in 1981, and that was Don't you want me by The Human League




and in total contrast the second song that I've chosen is Through Glass by Stone Sour, a favourite at the moment. I just love this track




and lastly I couldn't do a list of favourite music and leave out my all time favourite band, Bon Jovi. I have had a 20 year love affair with Jon and the boys, lol. How do I pick a favourite song of theirs, impossible, so I'll just share one of my faves

A circle of friends

I've been a member of a particular forum for a couple of years now, it only has a few members and each one of them is wonderful. Would I say they are friends? well if a friend is someone you can laugh with, tell your deepest fears to and know they will listen and know they will be there in your time of need, then yes these girls are in deed very special friends.

Recently on the forum we have started a circle, where we make something for one of the other girls each month. this month my recipient was Sheenagh I made her this little pendant, it is less than an inch square. I cut and layered the flowers and butterfly and then applied Glossy Accents over the top.

I apologise for the terrible picture

DCM - Photo finish

This weeks Dare is set by Tracie (Bondgirl) and is titled Photo Finish....


This week I want you to make a card for any occasion but it must include a photograph somewhere! The photo subject can be people, items, locations, flowers, absolutely anything so get snapping. Dont forget to check copyright if you are using someone elses photographs in your art work


This is the card I made for my Hubby for our anniversary. The photo was taken just after we met, 23 years ago
.

charm swap

I enjoyed running my first charm swap so much that I decided to do another with a different group of friends. There was no theme for the charms and I am amazed at the different work I've received so far.

Here is my offering for the swap, I used very small wooden dominoes for the base, alcohol ink background, micro beads and teeny stars set in a couple of layers of glossy accents.

Memories

This months tag swap is based on the theme of memories.I did find it hard to start with as we have so many memories in our lifetime but in the end I went with the idea of a childhood memory. I have tried to distress the overall look of the piece without making it look scruffy in any way, not sure if I succeeded, but I like the effect all the same.

Challenging time

The challenge was to make a hanging and my recipient was Nicole. I wanted something fresh and summery and these K&Co papers seemed perfect. The stamp is by Art Journey.

The main part is a large slide mount, covered in paper. The little piece at the bottom is a very small slide mount which I made into a shaker box.

Pictures to share

While I was in France I took loads of photos, mostly of the family, but I did manage a few arty shots, so here a couple I'd like to share with you for use in your art work, if you fancy them that is.

I'd love to see what you do with them so please leave a link to your work.

Just back from a week away.......

in France and it was brilliant. Went and spent a week at the camping site where my daughter is working as a childrens holiday courier. We hadn't seen her for 12 weeks so as you can imagine the reunion was rather emotional. She is having the time of her life out there, and I feel so much better knowing she is looking after herself properly.



I have been nominated for the Rockin' Girl Blogger twice, by Gillian and Nicole thanks girls :o)

Gillians birthday card

It is Gillians birthday today and this is the card I made for here. The background is alcohol inks, overstamped with a papermania swirl and a paperartsy dragonfly. The swirl was embossed in clear EP and then metalic rub on cream applied over the top. The girl image is from Art-e-zine.

Thanks for looking.

DCM- Beady Eyed

This weeks dare over on DCM is to use beads on your work



Well this week is my dare (Saffa). Its quite a simple challenge really. All I ask is that you make use of beads on your cards. They can be seed beads, big chunky beads or little sequins, whatever takes your fancy.



So here is my card

Thanks for looking :o)

Sketch challenge

I've just taken part in a forum sketch challenge set by Chris. I did find it difficult coming up with an idea using the sketch but managed something I was quite pleased with. The backgrounds are done with alcohol inks and a lot of blending solution.

Wedding wishes

A group of us have done a compilation book for a friend and her other half who are getting married, each person doing one page and an ATC. Here is my contribution, didn't get a photo of the ATC though.

The background is done with acrylic paints and then overstamped in a gold ink, which you can see if you look closely. The heart is also done in acrylics and stands proud of the background, so the ATC could sit behind it.

Pictures to share

I have quite a few old family photos and I after seeing so many people sharing their pictures for use in art I thought I would join in and share some of mine, so here is the first one, a photo of my maternal Great Grandmother. I would love to see what you make using this image so please leave a comment with a link to your art.

I will be adding more from time to time, so please check back regularly.