Craft Us Crazy - Anything Goes!!

Hi everyone - well this is the last day of February so on to March and a really early Easter - talk about time flying!!  Anyway it is time for another Craft Us Crazy challenge.

Our challenge theme we have for you is everyone's favorite... ANYTHING GOES!! So come and color us inspired or let us celebrate your holiday with you!!! And don't forget to check out the awesome prizes being offered by the ever so talented....

owned by the lovely and sweet Krista Smith

and please check out the Saturated Canary Challenge Blog

Krista is offering TWO DIGI STAMPS to one of our winners!!!!!

I have used one of Krista's stunning images for a shabby, distressed type of card but I kinda like it!!

I have used the beautiful 'Isabella' stamp and coloured her in with Copic markers.  I have used some papers from my stash that I had in a bargain bundle and added some Core'dinations card to the background too.  I distressed the edges and added ink in Barn Door and Gathered Twigs.  I made the flower with the Tim Holtz tattered florals die after spraying my paper with Dylusions spray so it matched and layered them up and used a hitch fastener as the centre.  I used a Blossom Bucket heart by Studio 490 to hide in the flower ;o)  The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley.  I added a few pearls in the corner and did the inside of the card to match.  

Please pop over and join in on the challenge for a chance to win a couple of fab digis (You can't have enough Saturated Canary!!)

Back soon

xxx

Craft Us Crazy challenge

 Hi everyone, well it is time for the Craft Us Crazy challenge again!

Our theme for Challenge 37 is USE YOUR FAVORITES!!! Be sure to let us know what your favorites are!!

We have a great new sponsor for you this challenge...

well, it is a difficult one to choose my favourite as I have so many and they tend to change on a daily basis!!  So I have used a few of my favourites on this card including using dies and making faux flowers;

I used a black 8 x 8 base card and cut out a large circle aperture and added acetate to cover it.  I then used patterned papers from Kanban to cover the card front.  The butterfly is a Tim Holtz alterations die (Fanciful Flight) which I cut out in black and for the stained glass effect I used some clear packaging and added alcohol inks to make a mottled pattern.  I stuck the butterfly onto the 'glass' window of the card so that the light will shine through when the card is standing open.  I used spellbinders to cut the foliage and also the flowers which I covered with microbeads before rolling them up. I heat embossed a sentiment and added this to the top of the card set on some more Spellbinders shapes.  I did the inside of the card to match including sticking some foliage over the back of the aperture to cover up and glue.  I then added a few gem swirls on the front.  Finally I added some faux stitching with a metallic marker.   just love the contrast between black and purple and I really love the butterfly ;o)

Don't forget to join in our challenge this week, we love to see what you make too!

xxx

Using up my stash!

Hi all, well it's a pretty dreary day here and I am still recovering from some horrid flu type bug so am feeling a little fragile.  Anyway, I thought that i should probably start to use my mountains of craft stash rather than just keep adding to it!  My favourite thing is rubber stamping but I also have lots and lots of other paper crafting things that I have bought in the past thinking 'well I could use that', and 'oh I love that' and my favourite 'well it's too good a bargain not to buy' LOL. As a result I can barely move in 2 craft rooms and with all the other crafting things I do (knitting, sewing, painting plus a multitude of other things I have on my to do list) I really need to use some of it - plus I think my husband may divorce me if stuff piles up too much more!!

So I thought I would share a couple of small projects using some Tilda stuff that I have had for an age (although it was really hard as I just love the paper pad LOL).  The first thing is a card;

Different for me as there is absolutely no stamping, plus there is no matting and layering - just the papers which I edged with an alcohol marker.  I just love the floral brad in the corner (that was difficult using that - I really don't want to use the others I have now - what if I need them for something in the future and they're all gone????).  Anyway, I love these colours so thought I would do a little gift bag along the same lines;

Again no matting, just the edging with a marker.  I really liked these but they've been bought now so I won't get to keep them (am I the only one who finds it hard to part with the things they've made?  It's not that I think they're amazingly brilliant - I think it's just because I spend so much time on some projects that when they get given away, or sold etc it's hard to think that someone may just throw it away).

I hope you like my Tilda things - However, I still have mountains of stash to use so have lots to do!!

xxxx

New challenge at Ladybug Crafts

Hello folks :o)  Well can you believe it is February already!!  This year is going to go soooo fast!!  

Anyway the first of the month means a new challenge on my Ladybug Crafts store blog .

This month the challenge is;

Valentine's Day and/or Love.

I have made a card for a Valentine and I have used some fab Studio 490 stamps from the 'Art from the Heart' stamp plate;

I made the background by putting Radiant Rain colour concentrate in Egyptian Gold over some black card, I then dried it with the heat gun.  I then put it through my embossing machine with a stencil to emboss and then put versamark over the stencil to mark the pattern.  I removed the stencil and tipped on Ranger red tinsel embossing powder.  I heated this and ended up with a really rich red and gold background.  I stamped the heart with Flitter Glue and added gilding flakes (the colour I used was Morris Dance ).  I did this 8 times and then cut the hearts out.  I folded each one down the centre with the gilded pattern facing inwards.  I then started to stic  them together to make a sort of heart fan.  I cut out some Spellbinders shapes in black and gold mirror card and then stuck my heart fan on the top.  I stamped and embossed the sentiment which was from the same stamp set.  I wrapped some black ribbon around the front of the card and added a bow and some stick pins .  I then did the inside of the card to match.  My husband really loves this card (which is a pain as now he's seen it I can't use it as a Valentine's card LOL) and I hope you like it too.
Don't forget to pop over to Ladybug Crafts blog and take part in this months challenge ;o)

xxx

Craft Us Crazy Challenge

Hello ;o)  

This post is a little late due to the

 Craft Us Crazy Challenge
running a bit late due to some power outage problemss - however, challenge 36 will be up and running very soon.  Anyway, onto the challenge;

Challenge #36

January 31 - February 13

Use your Cutting Machine and/or Favorite Technique

Sponsor: The Cutting Cafe

I have used my favourite techniques of distressing with ink and also watercolouring with distress inks;

I used two stamps from Kanban and stamped them in Brushed corduroy distress ink and then heat embossed with a holographic powder to give it a little sparkle.  I then used the same ink and lightly water coloured the image.  The papers I have used are from Papermania and they are inked around the edges with Brushed Corduroy ink to tie it all together.  I cut the image out with a nestie and layered it up on the papers.  The little clock charm is from Creative Expressions and the little foliage brad on the big bloomers is from the Idea-ology foliage range.  I added the beautiful thick and stripy ribbon and a couple of stick pins.  To finish I did the inside of the card to march (actually if I'm honest I did the inside of the card first which is what I always do LOL)  This is an 8 x 8 card and I have to say I was quite pleased with this one.  What do you think?

Don't forget to enter the Craft Us Crazy challenge (which will be up real soon I promise ;o))

xxx

Valentine Craft Us Crazy challenge

Hello there ;o)  Well it's time again for the Craft Us Crazy challenge again!!  

Our challenge theme we have for you is VALENTINE's/LOVE and/or USE THE COLOR RED!!

For this challenge, we have a brand new sponsor.

DIGI DITTO

The winner will receive 5 stamps/images!

I have gone for red this week and also the love theme - hard to believe we're moving towards Valentine's Day.  So, here is my card;

The stamp is a large wooden one that I have had for ages - it came in a bag of end of line wooden stamps and I have never gotten around to using it before.  I stamped it and heat embossed with lava black cosmic shimmer powder so although black it has a gorgeous red sheen to it.  The papers are from a pile of papers that were also bought as a job lot - they are really pretty and I love the birds on the patterned paper.  I edged them with a Copic marker.  I added some spellbinders die cuts and made two peony type flowers with white tissue paper and sprayed them with luminart radiant rain in persimmon.  I rubbed a walnut stain distress pad over the tops once I had dried them.  The little hearts are made from lava black powder again melted in my melt pot and tipped into a little metal heart cutter.  I added a few faux stitches to finish and did the inside of the card to match.

Please join us over on the Craft Us Crazy blog for the challenge, we love looking at your fab entries ;o)

xxx

Birthday card for my husband

Hi everyone - well I have had an 'eventful' start to the New Year and I have to say I hope it hasn't set the tone for the whole year LOL.  One of our doggies was quite poorly over the New Year and so we have had a couple of trips to the vets and a hefty bill, then the central heating stopped working and we were without heat for a weekend (which isn't too bad when you consider some people have to live with no heat but I am spoilt and the cold makes my condition flare up!) and my husband has had toothache pretty much solidly since a trip to the dentist over a week a go but can't return until next week as they are waiting for an inlay to be made!!  So, hopefully that's the drama over for the whole year LOL

Anyway I thought I would share the card I made for Steve's birthday which was on the 23rd December as I was really quite pleased with it and he loved as he has an obsession with donkeys - he just loves them so I used a fab Meljen's designs digi which I've been saving for the occasion for ages;

The image is coloured with Copics and I added a little glossy accents to the eyes and the hearts.  I used papers from Dovecraft layered on Kraft cardstock and distressed (with my fab Zutter Distrezz-it-all, which I love) and inked all the edges.  The ribbon is from Creative Expressions and is just lush and in this brown it is just as suitable for a man's card.  The sentiment and bunting stamps are Anna Griffin and I heat embossed with pearlescent green powder and then cut out and inked the edges.  I added some drops of cocoa brown cosmic shimmer glue to the edges.  I did the inside to match but I haven't shown that here as I only got a chance to take a photo after I had written it so my scruffy scrawl would have ruined it somewhat LOL.

I just love this little donkey ;o)

xxx