LOC card and candle

I had a chance the other day to take some time out and make a birthday card for a birthday on the 27th, so I took the opportunity to break out my new  Layers Of Color  stamps.  
                                                                                                          
I was so keen I used images from three sets!

I started with a dark green card base, and chose a lovely lemon card to go over that for the design base and embossed it with the Cuttlebug Textile Textures embossing folder before sponging the edges with Memento Pear Tart Ink.

The lace is some that has been in my scraps box forever... I think it was my late MIL's stash!! 

I chose the flower and leaf image from the Flowering Gems set, stamped them with Memento Tuxedo Black on white card and  painted them with Twinkling H2O's - Love using those paints as they are so versatile and give such a lovely sheen.  The half pearls are by Kaiser, and the very small dots around the centre of the flower are made with dimensional glue. 

I started with three leaves surrounding the flower, but it looked odd, so three more were added.  They are attached to the underside of the flower, which is popped up on dimensionals over the lace.

The bee is from the Granny's Jewellery set - again painted with Twinkling H2O's and then I used clear rhinestones to glam it up.  I only adhered it to the card under the body so the wings are slightly raised to make it more realistic.

I finished the card with a wee corner stamp from the Flutterescent set.  I painted the butterfly in one of the shades of pink I used in the flower, and mauve.  The final touch were the two sets of three gold rhinestones in opposite corners.  I decided against a sentiment on the outside of this card as it was already so busy.

Next I really branched out and tried my hand at stamping on a candle - well, transferring stamped images to a candle - although not perfect, I decided the end result was good enough to give as part of the gift to go with the card.

I stamped the images in chalk and dye inks, coloured them with chalks and then positioned and adhered them.  The candle has been wrapped in cellophane and tied with a pink bow since this photograph was taken.

The final touch was that I stamped the flower once more on white card in pink ink and coloured it with chalks, popped the centre with dimensional glue and cut it out to use as a gift tag on the parcel.

I think I am organised for Christmas... we are sharing the main meal Christmas Day with my DD's in-laws, who we have been friends with since before our offspring met!  We are basically having a quiet family Christmas, with folk staying around to help us paint the house.... no beach expeditions for us!!

Thank you for calling by - I really treasure your comments, and wish you all the very best for this special season when we celebrate the start of God's plan of redemption - the birth of His son Jesus. 

3-D this time

Life has certainly been moving faster than me these days!! What with the fine weather finally arriving and the garden needing my attention, and DH painting the house and needing my assistance at times, papercraft has come a poor second!! 

I made time late yesterday to decorate some gifts.  Last year I learned how to make caramel sauce by boiling condensed milk, in its tin, for three hours...hmmmmmmmmmm very yummy. 

The tins are then decorated and presented as a gift, or part of a gift, with instructions as to what it is and how to use it, and if you need more, how to make it!

I decorated the 'blue' tin by adhering some blue satin ribbon at the bottom, punching a border on the white card (cut to measure), covering the card with a piece of (recycled) sparkly ribbon, and embossing Merry Christmas in silver along the top edge.  The card was then attached with double sided tape and the rhinestones adhered for a finishing touch.

I then popped it in a wee bowl, included chocolates and instructions, and wrapped them in cellophane and added beads and double bowed the ribbon to present as a gift.

The red tin started with the same method, and I then embossed stars and Christmas crowns with halogen silver for some added sparkle, and added gold rhinestones on the punched border.

I omitted the bowl when wrapping this gift, and used silver beads and red ribbon. This one will be added to a box of wee gifts.... 

I decorated this large round box for my friend as a work-box for a project she will be starting in the New Year.

Here is the box - name embossed in silver and decorated up, so the many males in her house cannot mistake it or be tempted to 'borrow' it :-).  The paper is some I have had for YEARS and finally cut into it - it is like the polished shell of the Paua (a shell fish unique to New Zealand, related to the abolone)  I added a ribbon (again recycled) some flowers I have had for 18 months and pearls and I am really pleased with it, although I don't think the photograph does it justice.

Thank you for  calling by - I love to know you have been, and your comments really 'make my day'.

Christmas Blessings to you all.

Split Image Christmas Tree

I made this card some days ago, and as I have lost my mojo in a big way at the moment, I thought I would display it now.

I first used this technique (split image, or double negative) years ago, and recently it was featured on a Stamp TV video tutorial.

The stamp is one I bought approximately 10 years ago - the first year I made my own cards.  It is from kiwistamping - the folk who own this business are responsible for my subsequent addiction to papercraft!!

I used silver embossing powder on the blue cardstock, and gold on the yellow card, cut the two images in half and mounted onto the red before filling the circles in the design with clear stickles.

I then  cut and embossed a  piece of chocolate wrapper with my classic rectangle Nestie and put it slightly angled onto the white card before mounting the image panel over it onto the white base card - don't know why it is showing pale blue!!   Oh the vargarities of technology!

To finish the card I added three gold stars bottom right.

Simple and quite quick to make - the secret is in cutting both pieces of card to the same size before stamping, allowing a wee bit of what I call 'wriggle room', stamping the image in the centre of each piece, and then splitting the image at the same place.  If needed, you may then trim the finished piece down to the size you want, but it you are a wee bit off centre with one of the original stamped images, you can 'wriggle' your way out of it at this point. Experience speaking here :-).

Thanks for calling by - I love reading your comments and knowing that you have 'called'.  Have a great day!

White Angel

I finished the Christmas cards yesterday whew!! and today I made a card that has been wombling around in my head for the past few days.... based on various challenges. 

Initially inspired by the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge, (which also required an image of something that flies related to Christmas in it), here, developed by the Stamping Sisters In Christ challenge (to use a gift image, remebering that Chirst is the greatest gift of all), #15 and refined by this weeks SCS Limited Suppies challenge- to use white and one other colour, and only one layer!! 
I think I may have 'disqualified' myself from the latter as I used too many layers :-).

The three panels at the back of the card were embossed with the floral textures folder through the cuttlebug - (where would I be without that machine!) The wee gold embossed gift images are from kiwistamping, the. 

The vellum layer was stamped and gold embossed with part of a wreath, a fine line classic stamp from Inkadinkadoo,  I handwrote the line 'Glory to God in the highest' after cutting the quarter circle with the colcuzzle.  The oval was cut and embossed using the no4 large scalloped oval nestie, and the line inked with my gold pen before removing the nestie.

The wee angel from Anita's was also stamped and embossed on vellum and adhered in the centre only so I could lift the wings for some more dimension.

I really enjoyed making this card as it was a 'just for fun' card - no pressure to make it for someone or some event :-)

Thanks for calling by, and I do treasure your comments.  I trust you are having an awesome day.
God bless.

A card made from a RAK - well almost!!

I haven't uploaded anything for several days, so thought I would pop this one up as a tribute to Lovely Linda who supplied many of the elements in this card! Thank you Linda.

The silver background is a pie-plate put through the cuttlebug - Linda and I both appreciate re-cycling - the image is also part of the RAK, and I coloured it with chalks, but added a wee bit of sparkling ink on the bonnet edge and to highlight the seams of the jeans, oh, and on the boys hair!

The ribbon is silver - despite how it shows in the photo, and the sentiment, and the edge of the sentiment base, is emobossed in silver.  I finished the card with the five silver brads.

Thanks so much Linda for your generosity with the RAK.  I really enjoyed this image and it was great to pair it with the CB'd foil.

I have been busy making my Christmas cards, and am about halfway through them.... :-)

Thanks for calling by, and I so appreciate knowing you have visited.  Do have a wonderful day.

Flowers for my Favourite Aunt

I made this card for an Aunt of mine who has her 82nd birthday next month.  She is a real live-wire and also loves her garden, so this card 'fits' her perfectly.

I put the dp through the cuttlebug using the D'Vine swirls, and it broke the surface of the colour, so to hide that, I covered the swirls with Kindy Glitz, love the result!!  I sponged the edges with versacolor  Raspberry ink.

The flowers are a set of three - same flower but different sizes from kiwistamping, and I painted them with twinkling H2Os, using hints from Lovely Linda's tutorial about colouring.

The leaves I cut from green paper, crimped them, and then touched them on an Adirondack Bottle Green inkpad.  Not obvious, but it adds amazing dimension!!

As can be seen, I mounted the flowers at different levels - the largest on a full sized dimensional, then I cut one in half to mount the medium sized ones (very fiddly, be warned) and the smallest flowers were simply mounted with double sided tape.

The butterfly is one from Hero Arts which I love using. Again it was painted with Twinkling H2O's.  I decided that there was enough sparkle and dimension not to add any pearls or anything more!!

Thanks for calling by - I love to know that you have called and really appreciate any comments.

Have a blessed day!!

Vicki has candy!!

Click here to see Vicki's Candy - it closes on 30th November so be in quick. 

Butterfly and Flower Thanks

I made this card for a specific person and now realise that it also 'qualifies' for the SSCC#14 - giving thanks!!  I do love it when things work out like this.

The dp is a floral design that my Daughter-in-love gave to me, and this is the first time I have used it.

The lace is a couple of strips put back to back - some from my late MIL's stash!  The sentiment is from Kiwistamping (a great one for flower thank you cards). I used a nestie label die to cut out the label and then threaded some red stitched ribbon through to cover the gap between the two pieces of lace.

The flowers were some from a bargin shop, with Kaiser half pearls in the centre, and some stamens that came in a mystery parcel from England earlier in the year.

The butterfly is by Hero Arts, embossed and then painted with twinkling H2O's. There are actually three butterflies folded and layered together which gives wonderful dimension, and does not squash flat when posted - always a bonus.  I finished it off with three very small pearls and one small half pearl on the body.

I do love it when you call by and leave a comment - it is a real blessing to know you have been. 

Have a blessed day.

Banner - HHN23

I made this yesterday afternoon - I am running a week or so behind with these challenges - a series from Splitcoast Stampers on the Names and Attributes of God. 

I used some designer paper that I have had on hand for some time for the background.  I was tempted to add some texture to it, but decided that there was enough depth to it not to warrent that!

The title and sub-title are computer generated, and once I placed them on the page they looked very stark, so out came the Whisper Mossy stone inkpad and the sponge to soften the edges, which continued throughout the page!

The ribbon is one that I have used on every page on this challenge to give some visual continuity.  The three dots are a gold dimensional glue to represent the trinity.

I have chosen to hand write the scriptures from very early in the challenge, in the hopes that one day my family will cherish this project and the personal touch of my writing as much as I have enjoyed doing it.  Is that being vain??  Hope not!

Thanks for calling by, and I do treasure your comments.

Watercolour Tree

I was asked to make a masculine birthday card, for someone I had no information about what they liked etc... a bit daunting, but out came the good old standby, the Stampin' Up set Lovely as a Tree.  Because I initially selected a dark green background, and intended to stamp on a pale green shimmer paper, I chose to work with watercolour crayons on the stamp.  The result was not quite what I envisioned as I set up the stamp, but I was still pleased with the result.  I stamped the greeting with bottle green on the same paper, then mounted both images onto a brown card of which I only had scraps.  I was working to the sketch challenge on crazy4challenges so decided to grunge up the scrap of swiss dotted card I had on hand with espresso ink for the background piece.  So far so good. 

Then came the change from green to red background, and I was still dissatisfied as the card looked bare. Photo corners was the next thought, but as I have none and did not want to experiment making them, I then went to the cuttlebug vintage corners, and ended up using what I call a looped edged square, but I placed it so just the edge was showing.  After assembling all this I was still not content, so the corners got pierced - ah , that's got it.  project completed.  Just hope my customer likes it too!!

Thanks for calling by - I do enjoy your comments.

Scripture Christmas Card

This card is literally a scripture card - the distressed paper is part of a page of the Gospel of Luke.  I found a second hand new testament in a local thrift shop and decided that I could use it for more than reading.....

The stamp is one of my original christmas stamps from Kiwistamping, a local firm.

The rectangle was cut, embossed and stencilled with a nestie rectangle - I used Whisper Ink - Mossy Stone.  I then crushed and generally distressed the scripture page and used some Tim Holtz distress Tea ink...When I attached it , I deliberately left it looking scrunched and dimensional.

The image was stamped in memento black ink and painted with Twinkling H2O's before being mounted on a slightly larger circle of gold paper.  I used dimensionals to lift the image.

The background paper was from a pack I bought at the Warehouse (equivelent to Micheals), and I sprayed that and the base card with LuminArte Shimmering Mist paints.  I was not worried about the slight blotching as that gave the impression of stars, always essential on a Christmas card :-).

I loved creating this card, and I hope you enjoy it too.  Thanks for leaving a comment to let me know you have visited - I am blessed by your calling in.

Layers of Color bird

I so enjoyed the Friends of Faith blog hop over this past weekend, and also the free digi stamps that Layers of Color gave away.  I love the bird and used it straight away!!

I chalked the birds to colour them,  glitzed them up with some stickles on the dots and flower centres, then popped them up over a lime green organza ribbon - note to self, remember that this ribbon melts when heated as when trying to dry stickles in a hurry!!

The gray/green card is a scrap I had stored, and once I had things together, I decided that it needed some more detail, so I did some 'faux piercing' by making dots through the piercing template I have, in the top left and bottom right corners of the grey/green layer.

The sponging on the edge was sponged with a Memento olive ink.


The greeting was stamped and embossed with gold ep

This second photograph gives a close-up showing the dimnension and glitz and the 'faux piercing'.

Thank you for calling by and for your encouraging comments.

Have a great day.

SNR A Faith Perspective Blog Hop

Welcome to Scrapbook News and Review Magazine's A Faith Perspective Thankful for Friends Faith Blog Hop. Today, we're out in force on the internet -- showing our faith and giving the glory to God. United, we stand as Christian paper crafters and blog owners to make a presence on the internet for all to see. We're celebrating the theme of friends and we're happy to share our projects with you based on the verse:



"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. " Ecc4:9-10a




If you're just joining in on the fun, you can find the start of the train here: SNR A Faith Perspective - if you are enroute, you should have arrived from Chelsea Cook's blog

First, we would like to take a moment to thank our generous co-sponsors: Layers Of Color, Gina K Designs Stamps and Sweet and Sassy Stamps. Together with Scrapbook News and Review Magazine, these companies have donated some wonderful prizes for today's blog hop.

Prizes? Oh, yeah! There will be three lucky grand prize winners for today's event.


To enter, simply hop to the blogs of all of the participating staff members of Scrapbook News and Review Magazine, take note of the staff member's name, and leave a comment on their posts. Then send us an email at this address
 listing each of the staff members who participated in today's hop. It's that easy. All entries must be received by Monday, November 16, 2009 at 12 noon, EST and three winners will be randomly chosen to win.


What are the prizes?


One $100 gift certificate from Layers of Color Stamps AND a 6 month subscription to Scrapbook News and Review Magazine.


One basket of goodies -- four stamp sets from Gina K Designs and a 6 month subscription to Scrapbook News and Review Magazine.


One set of digital stamps from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and a 3 month subscription to Scrapbook News and Review Magazine.


In addition, every participating staff member of Scrapbook News and Review Magazine will offer a free one-month subscription to the magazine to one of their lucky visitors by simply leaving a comment on their blog. That's a lot of chances to win, so let's get to the Hop!


I wanted to share a birthday card I made for a friend who sometimes finds life difficult, so I wanted to encourage her in her faith.

I based the layout on a Splitcoast Stampers challenge.  The stamps used were A Scripture from Our Daily Bread Designs and an SU Stem sayings.  The papers were some from an unnamed pack.  I stamped the main image in Brilliance Pearescent Thyme and sponged the edge of the lemon card base in Memento Bamboo Leaves. 

Three half pearls either side of the reference complete what has basically been a simple card.

The next stop on this blog hop is: Rita Barakat.

Thanks for calling by, and I pray this has blessed you.  I would love it if you have time to leave a comment!! :-)

Another page done!

And I am 'caught up' on the challenge - just in time for the new post on Monday next.

This went together quite quickly after a few hiccups with the printer - basically the coloured ink has run out and what I had hoped would be gold printed purple!!  worth the try - I think.

This meant that I stamped the word peace using my Plain Jane alphabet and embossed it with gold - then cut that out with an oval Nestability, and mounted it on a layer of gold paper (that started life as a chocolate wrapper) also cut with an oval scalloped Nestability. 

The root word for Peace in Hebrew is shalam, which has developed into Shalom, thus I used that for my etiology.  The Scripture is from Romans 1:5 which so accurately spells out where we find our peace (that passes all understanding)

Thank  you for calling by - please leave me a comment and let me know you have visited.

Challenge - His Hoy Name - Sanctifier

This is part of a challenge I have been doing all this year over on Split Coast Stampers called His Holy Name, where we study the names and attributes of God and then create (a scrapbook page) to illustrate it.

I seemed to put this page off for ages before I settled down to work on it.

The more I studied the more I realised that it is God who does the work - our role is to be obedient to Him so He can be seen through us.

The three ribbons represent the Trinity - God the Father who desires us to be sancitifed, God the Son, Jesus, (also known as the Word in scripture) who is our example and the Holy Spirit who prompts us as to what is required of us.

I used an embossing pen to write the title, and a gold pen to write the verse and the sub-title.  My study notes and other verses are tucked into the back of the page holder that I keep and display the page in.

Thank you for visiting, and may this page be an encouragement to you.

Not Blue - not purple, lavender!!

Today I am showcasing a card that 'qualifies' for a three challenges - SCS Sketch Challenge 252 and Ways to Use It 242 as well as Stamping Sisters in Christ Challenge #11 (SSCC#11)

The base of this card sat for days before I finally got it all together with a few changes - subsequently I have some different pale violet ribbon and a bow sitting on my desk in my oddments container :-)

I don't know the origins of the dp, but it fitted really well with the burgundy base card.

I was thinking of a couple in our church when I stamped the image, as they are currently in a difficult season.  I used the Pearlescent Lavender ink, and then realised that it did not 'go' with the original ribbon I had cut for the card.  After a fossick in my draw, presto, here is the right colour, but wrong width, so the ribbon was folded in three - it gave a better colour that way too.

After stamping the image, I then used the same ink to sponge the edges of the panel.  Still a bit bare, and in my oddments container I found these flowers that I had already inked with the lavender ink for another project that changed mid-stream, but were perfect for this one.  I added the pearl in the centre of each one and volia, a completed card!!  DH really likes this one!

thanks for visiting, and may your day be blessed.

Four decades to celebrate :-)

I was asked the other day to make a birthday card for a fortieth birthday.  As I do not know the person concerned,  I asked the person who requested the card what colours the recipient liked.  The outcome was that I had to work with colours that I do not normally put together - burgundy, with cream and green accents............... hmmmmm.  Not my usual spectrum.  I am not happy with the photo quality, but this is the best I can do - especially as the card is now with the customer!!


I started with a pale lime green/yellow base, and used an SCS sketch for the layout.  The card behind the dp is a burgundy, and the dp is in shades of green, mushroom and cream. 

The feature panel was stamped with an SU stamp, finest flourishes, using watercolour crayons spritzed and then stamped. I then sponged the edge with a yellow ink to soften the look of it. The pearls were added and things still did not look finished... I then spotted the irridescent white flowers (a RAK from my friend Linda)  on my desk and presto, the finish was there!  I put a wee touch of dimensional gold glue in the centre of each flower just to finish it.

The greeting was stamped and embossed with gold ep, the 40 was a rub-on, and both panels were rubbed along an embossing pad and embossed with gold ep.  I finished the card with a gold ribbon across the bottom - unfortunately it does not show well in the picture :-(.  

The customer was very happy with the finished article, which is really all that matters.

Thank you for visiting - please leave a comment - I love knowing that you have been.

Something to show...

I finally have completed some cards - I am only posting one at this point.  This fits the SCS Sketch Challenge 249.

It took several attempts before this was finalised.  The colours have not photographed all that well, but it does give a reasonable idea of what they are like.

The image was one I received in a RAK from Linda (Lovely Linda on SCS), and I painted her with watercolour crayons, heat set them, and then a layer of oyster Twinkling H2O paint to give it a sheen.  Then for some sparkle I added clear Kindy Glitz on both her shirt and skirt - after all, a girl must have her bling.

I sponged around the edge of the image panel with yellow ink, then mounted it on a bright blue.  The yellow panel was CB'd using the d'vine swirls folder, and then sponged with a slightly darker yellow ink to give even more dimension. The fence was another part of the RAK, in a lovely glimmer gold paper.  The ribbon and brads were added and the card still looked too 'heavy' for a dancing girl, so out came the angelina fibres, and yellow panel was heated to lift it and the blue fibres added... yes, not all my cards are constructed smoothly!! 

The the gold fibres were added before I adhered the dancing girl!  The sentiment was gold embossed in the bottom corner using gold ep.

I have tried to show the sheen of the H2O's and the glitter in this picture, as well as the glimmer the angelina fibres give - they move with the slightest breath and give a lovely finish.

Thanks for visiting, and I do appreciate your comments, and knowing you have been by. :-)

Finally! a card!!

Have had a very busy week and finally managed to get to the studio the other day, but did not finish this off until this afternoon. 

We have had a long weekend here and we had family staying, as well as doing a day-trip yesterday to the beach.  All very enjoyable but one can't stamp and entertain at the same time - although one can chat and knit at the same time, so the shawl is growing.

The image I used is a rose from Kiwistamping - one of my original stamps and one that I still use regularly.  I embossed it with gold and coloured the stem and leaves with watercolour markers,  then went over that base with twinkling H2O's, and coloured the rose with the paints too. 

I then sponged the edges with warm red chalk ink before mounting it on the darker card, and punching the edge with a fiskars punch.  The next layer I embossed with the CB using the textured textiles folder - I sponged the edges and then decided to keep going and sponged all the embossing, and found that I needed to run the edge of the paper over the ink pad to give it some definition.

I then assembled the card, added the pearls and finished it off by putting a layer of dimensional glue to the flower.

I deliberately wanted to keep the sentiment discrete, so used a pink ink (Magenta by Versacolor) and embossed it with clear embossing powder.

I am very pleased with the result.   We have some more wet weather coming up so hopefully I can get some more craft work done this week.

Friendship

I was asked at church this morning to make a card for on of our members who has not been well, and is now "in care" in another town. 

She has also been part of a small group who knit for Operation Cover-up, a part of a larger organisation, Mission without Boarders, who supply blankets for orphans in Romania and other impoverished European countries where there is acute poverty - some of the blankets go to poor families as well as to the orphanages. 
It is this group who have asked for the card.

Getting  back to the card, I started with a scripture stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs and built the card around that.  I stamped that in Pearlescent Thyme ink, then cut that out with a Nesties, embossed it and then sponged it with Memento Bamboo ink, mounted it on a scalloped Nestie in red. 

The ribbon has two layers - the red is over a gold on, which makes it really sparkle.  The flower made of is three layers - they are from Layers of Color and were part of a RAK from Linda (Lovely Linda on SCS) and held together with a yellow brad.

The sentiment (from Kiwistamps) was embossed in gold.

His Holy Name - word 20

Over on SCS there is a challenge running this year on the names and attributes of God - something that I am really enjoying.

This is my 20th scrapbook page for the challenge - Bread of Life.

This is way out of my usual 'style' - if I could be said to have a style.  The Angel Wings are from Layers of Color (Part of a Rak from Linda aka Lovely Linda on SCS), the stars are also from her.

The angel wings are mounted on dimensionals and I added some Kindy Glitz to them as well. The wee bow is in the ribbon that I have used on all the pages, as part of the giving some continuity to the book.

The stars are grouped in threes to reflect the Trinity, and I framed the page by sponging some ink around the edges.

I have so enjoyed these challenges and feel i have learnt so much from them.

Thank you for reading this - I am blessed when you leave comments :-)

First time at Midnight Madness

This anniversary card is intended for a third anniversary, but my DH asked me if it was for a Ruby anniversary due to the red rhinestones, and the fact that there are four of them!!  Grrrrrr.       I got really messy making this - the joys of sponging all the white with ink (Brilliance Pearlescent Lavender) on the lace, the scalloped nesties and the the edges of the of the lemon card .....                                                This was the first time I have worked with the paper lace, and it was fun - great to know that I can make it whatever colour I want to to co- ordinate as needed. I glued two strips back to back to get the width that I wanted.             It is a simple card, but the rhinestones really sparkle IRL.The sketch is part of the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #23 for this week - (see here)

Thank you for visiting :-)

Baby animals

This is one of the cards that I had underway the other day - inspired by the Sketch Challenge on SCS (SC250) and the Layer Of Colours image of the giraffe that I received in a RAK from my Australian friend Linda (aka Lovely Linda on SCS).

The other two images were cut from some DP that was a gift from DD last year and although it does not show, they glisten when you get the light on them.  The gold textured fibre was from my DIL.

I popped the giraffe up on dimensionals to really make him  focal point, and I also covered the saddle and roller skates with dimensional glue to add some 'extra' to him.  

I just had to finish it all off with some piercing - my favourite extra which does not detract from the main image.

Here you can see the gleam on the gold, and some of the 'glisten' on the cut out image.!!

Thank you for taking an interest in my wombling :-)

A Baby card

Another wet afternoon spent in the studio - only one card completed, but some others enroute - this one is for a challenge over on Stamping Sisters In Christ Challenge #8 for a baby card... it has rather unconventional colours, but then it makes it appropriate for anyone. 

The main image was part of a RAK from my dear friend Linda in Australia (Lovely Linda on SCS).  I chalked this image, which was a challenge as the brown chalks I had were not the shades that I wanted, so I had to mix and match and re-colour several times.

I then found that I could just cut it out with my largest Nestabilites rectangle, so promptly did so, then mounted it on a  scalloped rectangle cut with another nestie.  The brown was a scrap that I had on hand, then the next green strip was put through a swiss dots cuttlebug folder.  The yellow was a part of a card that was killed as it went wrong - nothing is ever wasted - then mounted on a very dark brown.

The word congratulations was embossed with gold to give some emphasis.

I am quite pleased with this card - the afternoon was actually quite productive and the next few days should show this.

Thanks for visiting and please leave a comment - they are all appreciated.

Tuesday's tattle :-)

Nothing to actually show today - the days have been taken up with mundane things like housework!!
What craft I have done has been either knitting, or today it was cross stitch.

The project I am working on is an autumnal scene of 62,000 stitches.  It is one that I have had 'on the go' for over two years, but this year has shown some progress as I spend most Tuesdays with a friend, deliberately working on it.  The story behind taking on such a
project is that my DH saw the picture in a catelogue, and liked it, so I rashly said I would stitch it for him.....  It is a Mystic Stitch design called Autumn Peace (http://www.mysticstitch.com/detail.aspx?ID=82)

As DH is not in the best of health, it is a bit of a standing joke between us that I may not finish it before he departs this life!!

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Sunday Afternoon results

Its been a couple of days since I have written - I had a good excuse yesterday as it was my birthday :-) I had an awesome day and was thoroughly spoilt by both close and extended family. One of the really great things was that some stamps I had ordered from Our Daily bread Stamps arrived.

I did get some knitting done and some studio time yesterday, that I used to prepare a box for a gift to be given later in the week. I not only covered the box, but added some stamping odds and ends to go in it.

Today I was experimenting with my new stamps and completed a couple of visiting card sized items for the church 'blessing basket' used to acknowledge birthdays and other special days. Oops, should have rotated these before I uploaded them :-) I am sure a little neck exercise won't hurt. You can tell I am a novice!!

I then tried for some challenges with a thank you card which is needed after yesterdays spoiling. The layout was an Our Crafty Corner challenge as well as the theme of thanks for the Crazy 4 Challenges , and it also qualifies for the Stamping Sisters In Christ Challenge.

The darker green was put through the cuttlebug with the Fantasic Flowers folder, and then I used some twinkling H2O's in oyster to highlight the design. The bunch of flowers was silver embossed and painted with twinkling H2O's again, and after cutting and embossing the square I then sponged the edge with some lavender ink before removing the nestie. The label was a shapabilities ribbon label, again sponged with the lavender and the green ribbon was threaded through the card, and the wee bow made the finishing touch.

So that has been my creativity for the last two days - that is apart form the usual creative cooking that I do - i.e. the quickest way to present tasty food! I am a bit of a lazy cook - otherwise known as 'throw and hope' cooking.

Thank you for taking the time to read this - I love reading your comments when you have visited.

Thanks and birthdays

Today has been wet and cold, a great day to be inside and crafting :-). I spent time in the morning knitting, and another cm has been added to the shawl, then this aftenoon was out to the studio and a couple of cards were completed - playing with new papers that I received this week.

The first was made using some handmade paper from a Trade Aid store - I tried it several ways before I settled with mounting it on white and then dark brown. Despite the thanks label - cut with a shapability - and ribbons it still looked rather stark, so I got the chalks out and coloured the flowers, and was happy with the result!

The next card used some metallic fibre/paper that was also in the gift - I sponged the edges of the card with chalk rouge ink and Adirondack Espresso ink. Next was the metallic layer, then some lace and ribbon, then a cuttlebug embossed layer (using the textile texture folder - do love that one) then the white, which was cut and embossed using nestabilities. The angel and greeting were embossed with gold, and I added some twinkling H2O paint to the wings of the cherub. I popped this up on dimensionals, and added the silver brads as a wee feature . I must admit it looks better IRL, but as the day was wet and dull, I had to take the photoraph inside under a halogen lamp and flash - not the best conditions.

thank you for taking an interest in my world and creations. Please leave a comment - they are always appreciated.

Today's creativity

Today has been quite an interesting day creatively - I have bitten the bullet and created this blog, and learnt how to put a 'blinkie' on it! (Thanks Linda)

Craftwise I have added 1cm to a baby shawl that I am knitting - in three ply wool. It is a lacey one so I have to concentrate - there are currently 640 stitches on the (circular) needle, so it is a long way to unpick if I make an error. Thankfully I have been able to correct a few previously with 'creative' knitting :-).

I have not been into the studio to make anything in the papercraft area, but I did get this card done yesterday. The main images were stamped and the fish silver embossed for emphasis. The silver background was a pie plate embossed with the cuttlebug d'vine swirls folder. The layer behind that again was some metallic fibre given to me by my DIL.

Thanks for reading my blog, and I do appreciate your comments and knowing that you have visited.