an enjoyable afternoon

I spent the afternoon yesterday just tinkering with my craft stuff, didn't really know if I was going to make anything but this card materialised. I started with the crackle background, done with two acrylic paints and PVA, a friend, Carrie, told me about.
The stamps are from Art Journeys, Smile plate.

Two posts in one day, whatever next

another set of tiles, these ones are for Karin, who's colour scheme was vibrant blues and greens, for some reason my camera didn't want to pick up the green very well but it is there honest.

a couple of things

I had the urge to make something yesterday so I got stuck in to the next set of tiles for our collaborative project and this time it was Pennys turn, her colour choice was hot colours/orange with blue accents, so I hope she likes these.

The background is acrylic paints and the stamp is from ISC.

After I'd finished Pennys tiles I wanted to make something different so had a look around the challenge blogs. The Challenge on Forever Friends was to use brads or eyelets and I have loads of these that I got way back when I first started card making as I just thought they were the coolest thing ever lol. I ended up using some eyelets that came with my Cropadile though as the others I had just were too small to get the effect I wanted.

Oh my word

I just logged in and noticed the date of my last post, it has been about six weeks since I posted, the worst thing is the fact that was the last time I sat and did crafting of any kind I think, books music and work all taking over at the moment.

The summer has gone by in a flash, I can't believe it has been six weeks since we went on holiday to Italy, two glorious weeks of sunshine and seeing our lovely daughter Sam, who is living the life out there on Lake Garda. After seeing her lifestyle it makes me wish I was a 21 year old again instead of a Mum with a 21 year old lol, makes me feel old, wouldn't mind so much but I'm not even 40 yet, that is a delight that I have coming up later this year, woopee (can you hear the sarcasm :o) )

I hope you are all enjoying the summer and the delight of knowing your little darling will be heading back off to school very shortly, in the UK anyway, I always loved the summer holidays when my kids were little but now the boys are 17 and 14 they are off doing their own thing with their mates, and fingers crossed we get a few more weeks of summer before Autumn sets in.

Pink and blue and a flower or two

is this weeks theme over on the Forever Friends blog.

Colourful

is the theme on Wednesday Stamper this week.

I've used acrylic paints for the background, seeing as they were still on my table from yesterday. The stamps are by ISC, Inka and Crafty Individuals.

Playtime

The challenge on Mixed Media Monday this week is simply to play, this is what they have to say

This week my challenge to you is to simply “play”! I think we often spend too much time worrying about the end results to sit back and enjoy the process. So this week, take some time to enjoy the process and have some fun!

I do like using acrylic paints and getting some texture into my creations, it can be very messy but also great fun. This is a bit of a wild colour combo, bright pink, turquoise and orange but I really like it.

The stamps I've used are from Non-sequitar, Inka, and ISC

Forever friends

The theme over on the Forever Friends blog is pink, brown and flowers.

I've never taken part in these challenges before but after having been sent a few FF images I thought I'd have a go.

A few things

I came across the Mind wide open blog some time back and have loved the images they have put up to be used in their challenges but I have never got around to taking part until now.

The image on this card is also from Mind wide open, I just loved the softness of the colours and the subtle pattern and despite loving the image I ran out of time to make something for the challenge, so I have made a birthday card for a lovely lady I have known since I first ventured into the world of crafting online.

And lastly I was very excited to find out my inchie cube had made it into Craft Stamper this month. It started out as a forum challenge set by Carol but it ended up with Carol writing and sending a piece into the magazine and luckily for us all it was published, so a big thanks Carol.

Here is a sneaky peek at my inchie cube.

The collabrative project continues

It was my turn to receive lots of gorgeous squares last month, I have them all tucked away safely waiting for inspiration to hit , I do keep getting them out to look at though :o)

This month is Audreys turn, and i must admit that I am very late with these, sorry Auds




All stamps from Crafty Individuals.

Another great giveaway

Wendy from Stamp Attic is having a giveaway over on her blog. Pop over and to her blog, leave a comment and you could be in with a chance of winning one of two copies of the latest Artful Blogging book from Stampington.

A girly giveaway

The lovely Galina is running a giveaway on her blog for no other reason than the sun is shining. Pop over and have a look for yourself.

Do you ever get the feeling time is running away on you

because that is exactly how I'm feeling at the moment. I'm not especially busy, I only work 4hrs a day and yet I have no time for creating, boring things like housework and cooking keep getting in the way of my 'Me' time. The last decent amount of 'Me' time I got was a few weeks back and because the sun was shinning I took myself outside and over the week read the entire Twilight series, very indulgent reading the first book in one day. I know these books are aimed at teenagers but I have to say I loved them!

I'm hoping normal service will resume shortly and I will be able to manage my time more efficiently and actually get and take part in a few of the great challenges that are around at the moment. So if you are one of the lovely people who visit my blog regularly, I apologise, but I will post something a bit more interesting than this waffle asap :o)

Childhood

is this weeks theme over on TGIF.

I've made my piece on a base of corrugated card that was recycled from some packaging. The use of the corrugated card is inspired by my friend Joanne, who has used it several times and always to great effect.

fairies at the bottom of the garden

is this weeks theme over on the Tag it on blog, a new challenge blog for me as I on;y heard about it when I was looking at Joannes blog earlier.

My tag is quite big, not sure on the size, but the background is done with chalk inks and a few sprays of Glimmer mists.

The wings are stamped onto acetate and coloured with alcohol inks.

The stamps are by ISC, Inka and Paperartsy. The diamond paper is by Crafty Individuals.

I've posted two pictures as I couldn't pick up all the colour and the glimmer with or without the flash, so one is with the flash the other isn't.

And the winners are............

the two winners are AMY who was the 14th person to post and JD who was the 8th. Can you both let me have your addresses so I can get your charms off to you.

Thankyou to everyone who took part, I enjoyed it, so may do another giveaway at some point, watch this space.

Another charm giveaway

I've come across so many great blogs due to Charm Day, and lilbulles blog is no exception, plus there is a great giveaway on there.

My charm giveaway

In honour of Amber Dawns International Charm Day I thought I make a couple of charms to give away myself. If you would like the chance of receiving one of these two charms leave me a comment and a link on your blog before 2pm GMT tomorrow (Wednesday) and I'll pick the winners by a random number generator.

If you pop over to The charm blog you'll find lots of other people who are doing something special for today.

A charming giveaway

Anne, whos blog is here is giving away a couple of gorgeous little bottle charms, pop over and take a look.

Lifes a beach

On the Beach is this weeks theme over on MMM

My piece is 3x3. The collage image is from Lisa Vollrath.
The paper is K&Co. The stamps are from a very old set, can't even remember who they are by.

Butterfly whispers

This weeks theme on Sunday postcard art is butterflies.

The lady image is from Crafty Individuals, the butterfly is from the internet and the stamps are by ISC and Non-Sequitar.

Mermaids pendant

I'm in the process of making a few charms for Charm day and this one kind of made itself as all the bits I needed were in one box waiting to be used. I think it's a pendant any mermaid would be happy to wear, and I know it may be stretching the theme a little but I thought I'd put it forward for this weeks MMM where the theme is Mermaids.

The background I've used is something I made a while back and haven't gotten around to using in a project yet, but I thought it was perfect for this photo.

International charm day

If you like making little pieces of art that you wear or swap then check out this blog.

This is what Amber Dawn, the host, has said

I am hoping to have as many people join us as possible!The more the merrier!And while you are at it, why not make some charms to share with people on April 28 in your part of the world!

Earth day......

is this weeks theme on Wednesday Stamper, this is what they have to say

Since 1970, Earth Day has been celebrated in many countries on 22 April. It is a day for awareness and appreciation of the Earth and our environment. Be it recycling, protecting the wilderness, the air we breath or harmony on the planet…….we look forward to seeing what you think of our Mother Earth. Use at least one rubber stamp in your creation and please remember to leave a direct link to your WS: Earth Day post along with your comment.

my 2x2 collage is made on a piece of recycled board. The background is acrylic paints.

The stamps are from Crafty Individuals and Paperartsy.

Hope it was a good one Jo

It was Jo's birthday yesterday and this is the card I made her.

The stamps are all ISC and thanks to Jo for the photos as I forgot to take any.

She's a vision in her Easter Bonnet

These are my contributions for the challenges running on MMM and TMTA this week.


This little collage, 2x2, is for MMM where the theme is Easter. When I was little I loved making my Easter bonnet for the school competition, and this little girl in her floppy hat made me think of this, strange what things bring back memories isn't it.

This is my ATC for TMTA, where the theme is EYES. The stamp I have used is from Paperartsy. The surround is done in foil, which is coated in alcohol inks, UTEE and micro beads.

Spring.....

is the theme on Dans ma maison this week

My piece is layers and layers of paint, embossing powders, rub on creams, Basic Grey rub on and stamped images from ISC.

Togetherness.....

is the theme over on TMTA this week.

you just know these girls have been friends forever, the first time I saw this pic the song Here come the girls came to my mind, lol.

Eggs.....

is the theme on MAMOT

The background on my moo card is done with oil pastels.

Thanks for looking.

The secret garden.....

is this weeks fantastic theme on TGIF .

My long time forum friend Jo is the host this week.

I made a couple of fairy doors some time back, here and here . the second one I sent to Joanne but the first I kept as I always wanted to do more with it and now I have. I removed the leaves and added a stone effect surround and then added something inside. I always felt these doors should lead somewhere a secret garden is the perfect place.

Wednesday Stamper-image transfer

I have only ever done a few image transfers, all of them using acrylic paints, so for this canvas I went with what I knew. I love this image of the little girl, she reminds me so much of my daughter when she was little, she would always hold her head in her hands and pout when she couldn't get her own way, lol.

The background is also made with lots of layers of acrylic paints and also the odd spray of Glimmer mists, oh and a bit of oil pastel here and there. I've used several stamps from all different suppliers, but the one that does spring to mind are the sequin waste and the ring which are both from Inka stamps

It's great having a craftspace back, it means I have room to play with all my craft materials and get to take part in WS challenges, as well as all the others out there in blogland.

more little squares

Joanne is the second person on the list of our collaborative project .

She chose sepia, creams and a touch of black as her colour theme.

the stamps used are Crafty Individuals and PaperArtsy.

Busy time for Birthdays

It is a busy time for Birthdays at the moment, both amongst my lovely forum buddies and my family so here are a few of the cards I've made for birthdays last week and this coming week.

This first on is for my Mum, whos birthday is on Wednesday this week. The papers are a combination of Basic Grey and Papermania. The stamp is a favourite of mine from ISC. The ribbon unties to reveal a hidden birthday message for Mum.

This card was for Paula
The papers are all Papermania, a pad I bought recently for the bargain price of 75p

and finally this card was for Joanne

Another card made with Basic Grey papers.

little squares

We have got a collaborative project running on the forum I belong to where we make three little tiles, 2x2 in size, for each of the participants. There are 8 of us taking part and we all choose the colour scheme we want to be used on our tiles. Chris is the first to pick her colours and she chose yellows and oranges, colours I don't often work with, but I'm quite pleased with the results.

One piece, two challenges

The challenge over on MMM is 'The written word' and the challenge on Created by Hand is to use blue and green, so here is my piece that fits both challenges.

long time posting

Where did February go? The days seem to be going by so fast I can't keep up. I haven't made much since my last post but this week I'm having an annual leave week, hubby and DD are both working and my two DS's are at school and college so that leaves me time to play. I did struggle when I started this morning, I seemed to of forgotten what to do, but after about an hour I got back into the swing of things. I've not made these cards for any particular reason other than to get a bit of a head start on any birthdays I have coming up.

This card is made pearlesent card and the Cuttlebug, very simple but I like the cleanness of it. I've put two pics up as one shows the detail the other shows the sheen of the card.

This little card I haven't decided if I like yet or not, or if it's finished, I keep looking at it thinking something is missing but can't tell what, any pointers would be welcome.

This card is my favourite of the three I've made, I just love it. The papers are K&Co, more of the finds I had just after Christmas when I had a clearout of my stash. The stamp is by Crafty Individuals

Sorry about the state of the photos, it is a very grey day here today so the light is terrible. I can't crop my photos either at the moment as I formatted my laptop at the weekend and I haven't found all the software discs yet, including my photo editing one.

TGIF.......books

My friend Joanne is the guest host over on TGIF. She has chosen the theme of books for the challenge this week. Pop over and see what Joanne and everyone else has come up with.

My book is little, only about 5cm x8cm, although it was fiddly to get the pages in I did love making it. The papers are all K&Co.