Unity Be Inspired challenge

I used the colours for the Unity Be Inspired challenge for this card. This is a very 70's tree I think! Image coloured with Promarkers, die cut with Spellbinders Nestabilities, ribbon is grey satin from Crafty Ribbons, and some grey buttons from stash.

I used the Blossom Stackers stamps for the shapes behind the sentiment, the tree and sentiment are an Itty Bitty set Thought of Who.

I have entered the following challenges:

Unity Be Inspired - see above for details.

ABC challenge - E for embellish.

Feeling Crafty - dies or punches.

My Time To Craft - buttons and bows.

WOYWW #230 and Christmas card, and prizes I won.

This is my first entry for the Unity be inspired challenge, which has a colour and/or sketch inspiration, and you need to use Unity stamps. I love this cute snowman (snowperson?) and sentiment and this little set is called Just Skating By. I followed the sketch and the colour scheme, and I stamped my patterned panel using the row of stockings from the Winter Tortellini and Spinach soup set by Jillibean Soup. I stamped the stockings in several of the colours, the image is coloured with Promarkers, and metallic Promarkers, and I added some twine, die cuts are Spellbinder dies, and the pale kraft card is one of the colours in the swatch below. The twine is so I can enter it into the Less is More challenge too, and it fits with the sketch.

Challenges entered:

Unity Be Inspired - see above details (ends Nov 13th)

Less is More - CAS and use twine or string (Saturdays)

Christmas Card Challenges - optional to add bows (Saturdays)

I love Promarkers - anything goes (Wednesdays)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenges - Anything goes.

I haven't taken part in Tea on Tuesdays or What's on your workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW), hosted by the lovely Julia Dunnit at The Stamping Ground,  for a few weeks, it was getting too much and I couldn't visit back. I was involved in getting donations of goods for the Made in Bradford on Avon Community Hub fundraising auction, and I organised, about a week before the event, a surprise family meal for my parent's 60th wedding anniversary and made them a special card, and organised a cake to be made and the family to choose their food in advance apart from Mum and Dad, then on top of all that I had a week where I had to diet for hospital tests (I'm fine, need a small operation at some point), go to the auction, and then go on holiday. I had to keep the Quirky challenges going, cover for a sick teamie, and make for them too. Since my holiday in Torquay, I had a few days before I went down with a nasty virus which won't go away, so I almost hesitate to join in at WOYWW in case I don't get to visit back.

I did take photos of my desk last week, but then was too ill to bother.

While we were away I visited Trago Mills and got some stash, and I prebought tickets for the Sincerely Yours show in Taunton which we visited on the way home, I bought a ticket for Shaun too because they were only £3 prebooked, and if you prebook you get free tea and coffee all day long, Shaun came in a few times for his tea then sat in the car, and I didn't get a drink at all, didn't like the polystryrene cups and would have to just have water and use my own herbal tea bags, but I had a bottle of water in the car. I was surprised how many stalls were at the show, there was a whiff of the farm the whole time because the livestock market was next door full of livestock waiting for the market the next day! 

I needed replacement cutting pad, shim and rubber mat for the eBosser and have wanted the metal shim, which seems on first use to have possibly solved the problem of Sizzlets not cutting, and in the Oyster Crafts bargain bin I got Sir Tim's book volume two. I got some bargain cello bags 50p per pack, and some Decopatch, and some round foam pop dots.

The calendar was from Trago, I thought that would be cheap but have seen it cheaper online since! At the show I bought stencils, the far one was the first I saw of droplets, but I realised that it wasn't quite the one I wanted when I saw the next one, and it was 4 for £10 so I had to buy 3 more (didn't I?), and I was worried I had bought a duplicate but I didn't. I bought some Mega Flakes, and some Penny Black stamps that were 40% off, some ribbons, my first Clarity stamp (they are a bit expensive and I just chose one for now also I don't know where I am going to keep it with that handle attached). I think that is a pack of envelopes, or it could be the inkjet canvas.  

More bargain stamps and stamp sets, and a pastel blue Promarker, and some Kroma Crackle (the Indigo Blu man gave me an instruction set for this but failed to tell me I also needed Slap it On so I can't start using it yet) and one full price stamp from Woodware. I can't remember if I got the Cosmic shimmer at the show or from That Craft Place lol. 

Here we have some reduced price Crafts Too dies, acrylic inks which came from Trago as did the 3d glue dots, another stamp, more ribbon and adhesive spray.

Some Christmas paper mache bauble shapes (to decorate) from Trago and Creative Cardmaking mag with free Dreemees stamp set and papers etc.

Here is my prize from the lucky dip from Cardmaking and Papercrafts magazine (thank you C&PM). Another PB stamp in this little lot too, I have shared some of this with Mum, she got the peel offs so far and might get some more yet.

This is my gorgeous glass butterfly won on Facebook and made by the talented Justine Hadfield  from Warminster who had a Facebook Giveaway that I won (thank you Justine). (My prize is now hanging from my craft room light next to my glass star, which I also won in a MIB raffle last year, and which matches the butterfly colour beautifully).

This is the stamp I won from Oak House Studios for commenting on their blog posts (thank you Lynnda Worsnop), I was randomly picked out of the commenters. 

 All three prizes had arrived when I got home from Torquay so I had LOADS of happy post!

This is stuff I bought from ebay and some lovely rubbah from Unity Stamps which were at a bargain price, and there are dies to match that I bought in the UK. 

Finally here is my messy desk, hardly touched due to being ill, the smal ink pad drawer is out of it's unit and on the desk, I was using several colours to make the card at the top of this post. My ATG need to be refilled. I haven't put everything away yet either - surprised?

This was my desk last week on Wednesday, with images I coloured while in Torquay ready to go through the eBosser, I took all my Promarkers in the Art Bin, images, and a portable craft light, the hotel lighting is not bright at all, and the light I purchased from Indigo Blu in Newbury at the Artstamps exhibition was perfect because the light swivelled to shine where you needed it, great for reading too, even Shaun was using it.

Finally this is some home made raw chocolate, which I was pretty pleased with, have eaten and put on weight this week, but then there was the takeaway, and the crisps and a few other things - I wasn't well, and the healthy snacks had run out, and I didn't feel a lot like cooking.....back to the plan this week, even if I'm not feeling good, I am stocked up with fruit and veg now, despite Sooty who after years of being good and not touching the fruit bowl on the coffee table, helped himself to and ate nearly a whole bag of pears! Today he stole carrots from my veg box too! He is not allowed fruit, but he loves it. Oh boy did that go through him!

Quirky Magic

O.K. I know - it seemed like a good idea at the time! The challenge this time is Quirky Magical Moments, and the sponsor is Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps. I used an image supplied by them called Fairy Moon which is so pretty.

I had a great idea for using this image, I knew I had some inkjet film in silver and gold and I printed her onto that, then matted her on black glitter paper and silver holographic star card. I heat embossed the brads with silver tinsel powder.

I decided that the image should be glazed as it damages very easily, so I got out the Krylon Triple-Thick Crystal Glaze and sprayed it last night. When I looked this morning it was nice and shiny but not all over, there were patches that looked dimpled. So I sprayed the patches, when it dried the patches were nice and shiny and the rest dimpled! So I sprayed it twice more and gave up, it will have to do. Where did I get that glaze I wonder? I need some more. If it was the USA I won't be able to get it from there again!

Then I attempted to take a good photo, I tried with lights all on, only main light on, box on the floor photo from above, out of the box on a stand in the room, that was bad - it reflected me! Finally I tried scanning it, total disaster! So I am showing you the first two photos I took, and you can see the reflections of the inside of the mini photo studio in the silver printed panel.

If you want to see more great examples and join in the challenge hop on over to Quirky Crafts right now.

I have entered this card in:

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Anything goes to celebrate their birthday, ends Monday 8th or Tues 9th I guess.

more Quirky Number crunching

Believe it or not I managed to make two more cards to show you, I have added them to the Quirky Challenge blog post too.

I just love this cute turtle from The Stamping Boutique, I coloured him with Trias and Promarkers, cut him out with Nestabilities large labels 8 and added a mat of polka dot paper I got free with a magazine. Heat embossed Happy Birthday in gold (before I attached the image and ribbon - I find the ribbon melts if you get a heat gun near it lol), added some Crafty Ribbons polka dot sheer green and black ribbon, and die cut the numbers with Embosslits, they don't match because in between cutting the numbers and the letters I managed to break my Vagabond and one of the dies is jammed in it (again, and I am very upset about it and waiting for a response from Sizzix on what to do, think it was my fault this time) so out with the trusty Big Shot and carry on cutting!

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
 Joanna Sheen challenge blog called "Going Dotty" which closes on 13th Sept
ABC challenge Wishes which closes on on Friday 14th Sept.
One Stop Craft Challenge - no floral embellishments which ends on Saturday 15th Sept.
Papertake Weekly challenge - things that make you go awwww. Ends next Tuesday 18th Sept.

This card was a very quick make with a Doodle Dragon Studios Freebie of the week, which is still there I believe. I printed the colour version for speed and I added the text, the banner is blank for your own text. Again freebie papers with a magazine.

Number crunching challenge

Quirky Challenge time again, and Diane picked numbers.

I picked out this Paisley Peacock image from one of our sponsors, The Stamping Boutique. I love this image but it is very detailed and tricky to colour (so don't look too closely). I wanted it to be sparkly so I started off painting it with mica paints then I couldn't do the tail part, you would need a very fine brush and steady hand for that. So I got out my Sakura Gelly Roll metallic set and used that, with a mica paint background. I think I need some metallic Promarkers! Cut the peacock out using a Nestabilities label die. The embossed panel is using a folder I bought at a show and Coredinations Whitewash paper sanded, I am not sure who it is by now. Happy Birthday is a Stampabilities stamp, heat embossed in gold, cut out again with Nestabilities long rectangle die and scalloped die. Gold edged ribbon from Crafty Ribbons, and letters and number cut out with Sizzlet alphabets to spell Bel8ted (belated for those not into text speak and I am not a big fan but it works for this card).

Stamping Boutique are giving 3 images away so you too could own the Paisley Peacock or other images of your choice!

Our new and exciting sponsor this time is Doodle Dragon, who will be giving $10 to spend in the store.

Just pop on over to Quirky Crafts Challenge blog for more great examples and to enter your project (which must contain numbers) now.

First signs of Spring

It is definitely Spring like here today, in fact it is almost like Summer with the lovely warm sun for a change.
The challenge is on at Quirky Crafts, and you need to make a double Z fold card or a 3d project with hidden element of Spring which was set by Diane who regularly challenges us to do some paper engineering! A link to instructions on how to make this card is on the Quirky Crafts Challenge blog.

I made a double z fold card a long time ago and so I had to use the instructions, even then it took me several attempts to work out the best way of making this, and ending up with straight edges that met in the middle! I used my Fiskars rotary trimmer with the scoring blade, and I eventually worked out it was best to have the bulk of the card on the trimmer bed, so that it didn't skew. The sponsor this time is The Stamping Boutique, and you can win 5 lovely digi images from them. I used digi images from The Stamping Boutique called  Spring, and Cynthia Fairy and the Carrot Thief. The papers are by The English Paper Company, and all images are coloured with Trias and Promarkers. I die cut Spring with a Nestabilities labels die and added a Lakeland flower - Lakeland don't do them now. I added some wide organza ribbon in pale green, I think it was from Ribbon Oasis. I may add Happy Birthday or Happy Mother's day to the card at a later date when I decide what it is for.

Quirky Crafts Challenge 39 - recipe by Cazzy.

Yep, it is my recipe, and the recipe is mainly black and white with one accent colour and LOTS of punching. So get out your punches and go wild. We are still taking names of people interested in joining us on the design team permanently or for a guest spot. Also the winners of the last challenge have been announced over on the Quirky Crafts Challenge blog. We have also introduced an exciting new feature of Inlinkz, which is public voting so anyone can go vote for their favourite three cards at the end of the challenge and we will have a public and a DT favourite as our winners.

Here is my DT card:

This wasn't the card I had in mind to make, it just sort of happened. I was moving a box of stamps and spotted the Inkadinkado angel stamp still unused, and thought I would try it. I tried it in white on black too using embossing powders and after several attempts with different powders I got a good image, so watch out for the next version of this card. Next I went to look for punches and suddenly found the musical note punch, perfect for the angel with the trumpet. Instead of holly or snow, I ended up using a deep border punch by Martha Stewart to make the black lace, and punched out snowflakes in silver, which became my accent colour, with an Xcut punch. I cut the angel and matting shapes with Nestabilities large labels die set. Finally I looked for a sentiment and found the Peace stamp in a Hero Arts clear set, stamped and embossed in silver and die cut with the same large labels set. I also corner punched the gate fold corners. I had problems getting this photographed, even with a mini photo studio. Here is another version:

Not sure if that is any better to see, it is on a small easel that I cropped out.

 

Quirky Crafts Challenge 28 - Chocolate and Cream

The challenge on Quirky Crafts this fortnight is a yummy colour combination, Chocolate and Cream. I have used a set of stamps I bought probably a year or two ago and haven't used until now, with some chocolate scented embossing powder also bought at the same time. The whole room smelt of chocolate, and I normally avoid perfumed products as they make me sneeze but I had to try this stuff.

I am going to enter this in the ABC challenge which is U for use your unused stash! I think it qualifies (well anyone that knows me knows that I have a great deal of unused stash so I could carry on creating tons for this challenge).

The stamps are Gelatines (these are little sets of stamps that come in the cutest little storage tins), stamped with Versamark brown ink and chocolate scented embossing powder, die cut the chocolates and box with Spellbinders Nestabilities, edge and lace punched with Martha Stewart punches, the sentiment, also from the Gelatines set, reads Man cannot live by chocolate alone - but woman can! Also the word bliss in the centre. I think I could get a cream die cut greeting in the bottom right corner too as this could be for a thank you, birthday or other occasion.

Quirky Crafts Challenge 25 - sketch

The challenge this week over at Quirky Crafts is to follow Lyn's sketch. The challenge is sponsored by Nikki and she has lots of cupcake designs and some other designs, some of which you will see on the Quirky Crafts Blog this week. I have used a digital download called Starry cupcake for my card. I coloured it with Promarkers, and decoupaged the cake, added Stickles to the stars, the paper is by DCWV, the cup cake ribbon is from Crafty Ribbon, can't remember who's brads they were, scalloped border is done using a Martha Stewart doily punch. Sentiment is from an MSE clear set, and the mini cupcake is from a Hero Arts clear set. Die cut shapes are cut with Spellbinders Nestabilities dies. Sorry is it a bit dark, I used my new mini photo studio again but the first time I used it I managed to break a lamp bulb while trying to put it away, and I haven't managed to replace it yet but finally I think I have found the right ones and they are on the way, so this photo was taken with only one of the two lamps working, (which is how I feel personally right now - 50% functional).

This is the sketch to follow: 

Quirky Crafts Challenge 21 - Valentine's

Challenge 21 on the new Quirky Crafts blog begins today and the theme is Valentines/Foreign. It is sponsored by the Cutting Cafe and the prize is from there.

You can make any craft project on the theme of Valentines, Foreign or Foreign Valentines to enter and win three downloads of your choice of digi images from Cutting Cafe.


The card I made is a gatefold, and this was not what I set out to do, it was accidental due to the wrong crease but then I decided it would work even better than I had planned. The birds are a bit big to be hiding in the love tree but that is the idea, open the card and find the birds.
The great thing about digital images is that you can resize them to suit your design. I used the tree on the front and cut some of the hearts out to decoupage them, also to overlap the edges of the long rectangle cut with Nestabilities. All the images and sentiments used on this card are from the Cutting Cafe. I wondered if it was a bit too plain but decided to leave it like that as I like it.

Sugar Bowl sketch

I was trying to join in with the previous Sugar Bowl challenge and didn't make it, but I have managed this sketch which I turned around. I also added a bloom as it looked a bit bare. Here is the sketch:

and here is my card which I am also entering in the Passion for ProMarkers girlie challenge:

A is for Angel

There is a new challenge blog: the ABC Christmas Challenge blog, and I thought maybe I could get ahead with the cards for next year (not sure how long I will keep it up). I found this image that I had stamped in white Stazon on black pearlescent card. You can see all the colours in the black picked up by the flash, I only used black and white card and a strip of red inside the card to show the cut outs. The dies used on this card were Spellbinders Fleur de Lis pendant and petite border sets, and the square is from a Nestabilities set. I am not sure if this works with such a big image, and I did consider added a greeting but decided it was better without. I added an angel charm that I got from Caz in blog candy. What do you think?

There is also a say no to word verification campaign going on, I turned verification off long ago and moderate instead, and how often I have left a comment on a blog, pressed back or closed it, only to see the verification flash up and my comment is lost, and I don't usually go back! Also sometimes the verification word is either unreadable or doesn't work at all. I have seen spammers still leave unpleasant comments on blogs with only verification but with moderation only you can choose to reject them and they do get the message.

Quirky Crafts Challenge 19 - Yellow

The first challenge of 2010 over on Quirky Crafts forum is Anne's Yellow, make a creation including yellow in the design somewhere.
The challenge is sponsored by Debbie Moore of The Crafty Pad, and I used Debbie's Roshell duck digital image to create an A4 calendar which opens to reveal birthday and Christmas reminder sheets for 2009.
Debbie has donated two stamps as the prize that the winner of this challenge will get. So get your yellow stash out and get crafting, any craft project can be entered and you have two weeks to enter.

I enlarged the Roshell image (which is one of the big advantages of using a digital image, apart from not having to store and find them) and printed it on printable pearlescent card which was a bit tricky to colour, but I used my ProMarkers and Trias to do this. I cut the images out with the Victorian Fiskars blade and mounted in on blue pearlescent card which I also mounted the calendar months on and cut the letters and numbers from with Sizzix Lollipop dies. All paper is Papermania and is from a stack issued a few years ago. Blooms are all Prima, gem brads are Dovecraft, blue pearl domes are Papermania, grossgrain polka dot and blue ribbons are from Crafty Ribbons. Calendar was from Crafty Devils but I cut it up, Birthday and Christmas reminders were created by me in Word.

I think it looks really nice on my wall.

This is the inside with a  Christmas card and gift list on the left and birthday reminder by month on the right.

 

I also made this birthday card for my son, the stamps are Cherry Pie Art Stamps and I thought it would remind him of his honeymoon which was partly in Dubai where he saw camels, he said "why have you made a card with camels on in the middle of winter", so it was lost on him slightly! I also stamped some matching wrapping paper, but it didn't photograph well and is gone now. Sentiment is from a Daisy and Dandelion stamp set.