Annalise's Shawl

Welcome

A change of craft today...  a project that has been on the go for some years - eight to be more accurate!

I had barely started a shawl for my daughter, very early in her pregnancy, when my son and his wife announced that they too were expecting a wee one... as a shawl takes me approximately nine months to knit, they understood that it would not be ready by the time baby was born.

I did start it that year, and plodded away on an off over the years, but with RSI, carpel tunnel and cubital tunnel issues, it had been a while since it had seen the light of day

This year they announced that they were expecting a baby in September... so when I was recovered from surgery in March I started off again.  And finished it only two days after Annalise was born.

I seem to work best with deadlines!!

The shawl was knitted on 2.5 mm circular needles in 2 ply wool - a lace weight.

                   The pattern was actually a tablecloth in a Burda magazine published in 1993

Although it looks complicated, it was basically one pattern repeated 47 times in the bulk of the knitting

I altered the edge pattern a wee bit, and once it was washed and blocked, it had a pretty scalloped look to the edge.

Near the end each round took me close on an hour, but the cast off took me nearly three hours. There were 1,410 stitches on the last rounds. 

I am linking this to:

Word Art Wednesday Challenge Weeks #354 - 355 - Anything Goes

Crafts Galore Encore September Challenge #55 - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations Challenge #375 - Anything Goes

Crafting From The Heart  Challenge #221 - Anything Goes

Grunge Mounted Scripture

Welcome

My apologies for not being around blogland much these past few days - but I have good reason this time - wee Annalise was born into our family on Saturday, and I have been getting my share of Grandma cuddles :-)

I chose to mount this wonderful scripture, which is a freebie over at Word Art Wednesday this week, onto a grungy style background so it would be an acceptable card to give to a man

I decided to mount the scripture on some corrugated card, that I had taken one surface off.  I left some of the torn paper on it, and also was careful to leave a smooth section in the centre of the panel so there was some purchase for the adhesive when I mounted the scripture panel.

I then smooched over some gesso, gold Inka Gold Paint and some Finnibar Art Alchemy wax in Fire Ruby.  I discovered this recently at a craft fair and love it!!

I used the gold paint to edge the scripture panel, and also flicked it over the base card, which is a recycled card I purchased from a local printer.

The final detail were the gold and bronze glitter tapes and a piece of coarse twine tied around the main panel - I did not realise it was a perfect match to the corrugated card until it was too late :).

I am linking this to:

A Inky Mess Challenge #24 - Anything Mixed Media Goes

A Perfect Time To Craft September Challenge #9 - Anything Goes

Classic Design Team Open Challenge September - Anything Goes

Crafts Galore Encore September Challenge #55 - Anything Goes

Crafty Girls Challenge #50 - Anything Goes

Colour It, I, Show It Off September Challenge - Anything Goes

D.L. Art September Monthly Linky - Anything Goes

Mix It up Challenge #17 - Anything Goes - option of layering

Polka Doodle Challenge Blog Week #38 - Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media September Challenge - Messy

Dimensional Balloons

 Welcome

This card was made in a hurry - my mojo was running low and the order I was working on was running close to time, so I unashamedly cased a card from a magazine, using the stamps and some of the paper that came in that magazine.

I used a kraft layer under the image panel, rather than the colour suggested, and taylored my sentiment to fit the 'order'.

The dimensional balloon was constructed slightly differently, as I stamped on both sides of the layers, and ended up having two more layers that the original

I also die cut the clouds from Whimsy Stamps stitched cloud dies, and added three, not two, to the card.  The base of them was shaded with some grey chalks to add some realism to them

The inside was finished with another stamped balloon, and a Scriptural sentiment added.

I loved how this card came together and the overall look of it when I had finished.

I am linking this to:

A Bit More Time To Craft Challenge #76 - Anything Goes

Craft Rocket Challenge #52 - Boys or Men

Southern Girls Challenge (with Team Trace) - Spots and Dots

C.R.A.F.T Challenge #483 - Sport

Little Miss Muffet Challenge #198 - Anything Goes

Paper Shelter Challenge #354 - Add a Sentiment

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #76 - Anything Goes

Tuesday Throwdown Challenge # 410 - Add Texture

Digi Chooseday Challenge Week #38 - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday Challenge Weeks #352 0 353 - Anything Goes

Guest Designer for Cute and Crafty

Welcome

I was recently given the privilege of guest designing for the Cute and Crafty Blog, the theme was Kids, and the sponsor is Fred She Said Digital Designs, and I chose to work with the design 

Emma Blowing Bubbles

She was coloured with my Faber Castell Polychromo pencils

I lightly coloured the bubbles to reflect the colours in her frock, then put a thick layer of 

Glossy Accents over them for some sheen and dimension

The sentiment stamp was from a magazine set, and was stamped in a mixture of inks to try to get the right shade of purple.  I finished the card with a strip of purple rhinestone either side of the sentiment.

Thank you Tabitha for inviting me to design for you - may your blog and challenges continue to thrive.

I am linking this to:

Whoopsie Daisy Challenge - Anything Goes with the Option of Purple

Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenge #1837 - Anything Goes

Dream Valley Challenge #186 - Girlie

Crafting From The heart Challenge #220 - Anything Goes

Colouring In Scrapland September Challenge - Anything Goes Opt Easel Card

Artistic Inspirations Challenge #207 - Anything Goes

Aurora Wings Challenge #71 - Inspired by a Song - I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles

Jo's Scrap Shack Fun Day Friday Challenge #251 - Anything Goes

Crafting With Dragonflies Challenge #113 - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday Challenge Weeks #352 - 353 - Anything Goes

Seas The Day

Welcome

I made this card for a young woman recently - she lives near the coast, so I thought this seaside theme appropriate.  

The images were from a magazine set, and I stamped and white embossed them, then coloured using  watercolour paints.  The 'foam' at the edge of the water is white flock, and I also added chunky glitter to the water to hint at the sun reflecting off it.

The sentiment was white embossed on snippet of  black card, hand cut to a banner, and layered over a blue banner, also cut from a snippet

The top corner were three snippets cut into banners, and with some heavy twine tied around

I decorated the inside with three strips of washi tape, also banner cut to echo the outside banners.

(My apologies on the fuzzy photos, the card was sent before I realised they were so poor) 

I am linking this to:

Give A Crafter A Cookie Challenge #102 - Anything Goes

Little Miss Muffet Challenge #197 - Anything Goes

Through The Purple Haze September Challenge - Use Bright Colours

Through The Craft Room Door Challenge - Anything Goes

Polka Doodles Challenge Week #37 - Anything Goes

The Paper Shelter Challenge #353 - Embossing of any kind

Creative Moments Challenge #152 - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations Challenge # 374- Anything Goes

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #76 - Anything Goes

Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge #334 - Anything Goes using snippets

Exciting News, Flowers and Scripture

Welcome

Before I share my news I want to welcome Becca Morris Sadler as my latest follower - she has a blog here if you would like to pop over, say hi, and admire her work.

My news is that I have been invited to be part of the Word Art Wednesday design team.

 I accepted and this is my first card for them!!

The background for this was made sprinkling Lindy's powders on water colour paper,  then spraying them with water.  They give a lovely, iridescent, sheen to the background.

The stamped images, from Darkroom Door include florals and leaves, and were painted with a wash, made from the same powders, and then fussy cut.  They also have a slight sheen.

I gave the flower the some dimension by rubbing the centre over a soft pad, then glued some gold micro beads there for added texture.

This scripture is the freebie over at Word Art Wednesday this week, and I mounted it, slightly off set, over some black card.

This photo gives some idea of the shimmer - I also added dimension to the leaves by scoring them on a soft mat, and then only attaching the stem to the card.  

As I will be using this for a friend's birthday, I stamped the sentiment on the inside, and added a strip of very sparkly washi tape (Part of a RAK from Mia of Craftartista)

I am linking this to:

Artistic Inspirations Challenge #206 - Anything goes

The Paper Nest Dolls September Challenge - Anything Goes

Dragonfly Dreams September Challenge - Anything Goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge #89 - Anything Goes

HeARTful Stamping Weekly Challenge - Anything Goes

Jo's Scrap Shack Fund Day Friday Challenge #250 - Anything goes

The Flower Challenge #24 - Anything Goes

Digi Chooseday Challenge Week #37 - Anything Goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenge #1836 - Anything Goes

Little Miss Muffet Challenge # 197 - Anything Goes

Birthday Cats

Welcome

I had an birthday that I wanted to mark, that I did not learn about until the day before, so I made a very CAS card, knowing that the recipient loves cats - she has three of her own, which explains the theme, and she recognised the representation of each of them here on the card!

The cats are part of the Feline Good  stamp and die set from the Project Bin, a wonderful RAK from Kelly the Sandcastle Stamper.

I stamped the cats on snippets of card, coloured them with chalks/pastels,  then die cut them out and mounted them over the grey panel, (another snippet) which had been embossed with the folder from the Mini Crazy Cats set by Tim Holtz

The smaller background panel was one I had stamped using rubber bands around a block, first with Memento London Fog ink and then VersaMark ink and silver embossed

I cannot recall which stamp I used for the sentiment, which was simply stamped in black ink.

I am linking this to:

Digi Chooseday Challenge Week #36 - Anything Goes

Pixies Snippets Playground Challenge #334 - Anything Goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge #89 - Anything Goes

Crafting By Designs September Challenge - Anything Goes

2 Crazy Critters Challenge #18 - Anything Goes using a creature

Dragonfly Dreams Challenge - Anything Goes

Simon Says Monday Challenge - Stamp on it

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #75 - Anything Goes

Crafty Sentiments Challenge - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday Challenge Weeks #350-351 - Anything Goes

Caught !!!

Welcome

I made this bridge card for a fisherman's birthday

The back ground paper is from a pack I picked up at a local Warehouse (a cheap variety store), and looks delightfully like a cloudy sky - the best for trout fishing.  The clouds are Whimsy Diecuts, and I drew the birds in myself.

The fish stamp is locally made by Hastings Rubber Stamps, 

as is the fishing rod.  I embossed that with copper ep, then threaded some silver filament from the end of the stamp to the fish's mouth.

The  sentiment, by another New Zealand firm, was embossed with gold ep.

The fish was silver embossed and painted with twinkling H2O's, and mounted over a snippet of muslin/gauze

The bridge part of the card was cut with some (unidentified) stitched hill dies, the green to represent the banks of the river and the de- bossed and inked panel the water.

I am linking this to:

Aloha Friday Challenge #126 - anything Goes, twist - include an Animal

Crafts Galore September Challenge #55 - Anything Goes

Crafty Friends Challenge #91 - Anything Goes

Digi Chooseday Challenge Week #35 - Anything Goes

Creative Knockouts Challenge #261 - Something To Say

Jo's Scrap Shack FFC# 249 - Anything Goes

Always Happy Birthday September Challenge - Happy Birthday

Polka Doodles Challenge Week #35 - Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar September Challenge - Unusual folds

Word Art Wednesday Challenge Weeks #350-351 - Anything Goes