TOTALLY PAPERCRAFTS CHALLENGE #14

How I love sketch challenges. They make my little crafting world so simple. The only nightmare is finding papers and images, and as I have a 'bit of a stash' of both, I can generally manage that bit!
Anyway, check out this weeks challenge for Totally Papercrafts (link is in my sidebar) and take it from there.
I've used some matt yellow card for the 6"x6" base and covered the front with some papers from my stash, cut as per the sketch. I actually don't have many stamps that are suitable for circles which is surprising considering I have 5 drawers and a Tim Holtz folder full of the things. Another sort out to come me thinks LOL. Anyway, I found one of the right size in the Inkadinkado, Morphic Bugs set, so I stamped it using Stazon - I know, naughty girl using Stazon on an acrylic stamp, but I did carefully clean it afterwards, and not with Stazon cleaner either! - then highlighted a few bits with a white Inkassentials pen. I then re-stamped the image on acetate with coffee bean Brilliance and cut out the body and wings bits. I stuck these over the first image with glossy accents and used a bit more to stick some bedazzles on the body.
I cut the circle with a Fiskars template and shape cutter and edged it all with the Brilliance pad. Some 3D foam gave it a bit of dimension as it did to the little greeting.
Whilst making this card I also had a rummage through some of my papers and stamps and tried to decide which I will take with me next week. It didn't work out too well as I couldn't decide. Oh well! there's still another 3 days to gather bits together.
However, I have decided on some items that I intend to give away as blog candy, if anyone is interested that is. The 24th May would have been my precious Toby's 20th birthday, so I think that may be a good day to spread a little happiness.
If you would like to be in with a chance of winning some surprise candy, please leave me a comment on any of my posts from now 'til midnight 23 May. I will write each name on a piece of paper and on the 24th pick a winner.
Thanks for looking folks.

SPRING - renamed SUMMER BLOSSOMS

2 challenges for this little card;
Copics Colour Challenge # 62 (follow the link in the sidebar)
Bo2 - robins egg blue
BV02 - prune
YG03 - yellow green
and
Lili of the Valley Challenge #52 (follow link in the sidebar)
Here comes Summer

I used a white base card cut to 6"x6". The lovely blue hydrangea paper is by Magenta and was perfect for my Martha Stewart hydrangea edge punch. Over this I used a strip of sticky back dotty paper and covered one edge with DCWV ready sticky lavender ribbon. The lavender flowers are from Prima and gorgeous, and the little branch 'leaves' are cut with another ME punch from some bright green paper.
The main image is a Sarah Kay stamp - Spring Blossoms, hence my re-naming the title to suit the LOTV challenge! I used the required Copic colours plus ones either side of them to create the shading. I then cut it out with a nestability frame and my Big Shot before shading the edge with Dusty Concord distress ink and 3D-ing it to the card.
I love this little image and often wonder what this little girl looks like. I wonder if its Charlie Dimmock???
Off to have another wonder what crafty bits to pack for this trip away in the van. I hope DH has a fabby time at this flying thingy so I can have 'me' time with the bits I take! Don't often have quiet time to myself so I am looking forward to that.

IT'S BEHIND YOU

I am not making anything at the moment!! Shame on you, I hear you all saying. Truth is, I've lost my mojo completely and all I can think about now is what to pack to take away with me next week.
DH will be happily playing with his planes and helicopters at the modellers week in Flamborough, whilst I shall be sheltering from the wind and broken blades which no doubt will be cascading down! I thought I may catch up on my sadly lacking stash of ATCs so will pack goodies to make some of those. At least we are on a proper camping site for this event and will therefore have electric hookup. That means I can take a heat gun and my new melt pot, which DH bought me.
So, as it's WOYWW again and 'cos I'm not up to anything, I thought I would let you nosey in another couple of cupboards. These are behind me when I craft and are full of things both useful and not so useful. The latter will be sorted one day and I hope to give some away as blog candy to anyone interested. Watch this space for when I get back at the end of May. Here goes then.

A BIT OF A BUZZ

Quickly made this little card for the following 3 challenges:
http://copicscolourchallenge.blogspot.com - week 52 - YG00 mimosa yellow, RV13 tender pink and V91 pale grape

http://totallypapercrafts.blogspot.com - week 13 - 4 embellishments, 3 papers, 2 ribbons/lace, 1 image

http://dareu2digistamp.blogspot.com - week 36 - flowers - floral digi image, patterned paper, punched shape/border or embellishment

FRONTS AND BACKS

I now need to move on with other bits of crafting which have been neglected for the last 2 months, Atcs for one. Also, we are going away next Tuesday for a couple of weeks and I need to think about what to take with me so that I can happily craft whilst DH and buddies are running around a field and the beach flying planes and helicopters.
Here is a picture of the finished fronts of my chunky grungebook pages.



and here are the backs.


Thank you Heather for organising this super swap.

I'VE COMPLETED THEM

The last page is finished. What an amazing journey I have had (note the words, that's a Tim phrase). When Heather suggested this chunky grunge book, I was excited at the thought of it all, but when the list of page titles arrived and I gave them some thought, I wondered if I had bitten off more than I could chew. However, with 4 months to go to the deadline, I've done them. I'm not bragging about that, it's just that when I have something on my mind, It just has to be sorted or I spend every waking moment thinking about it and that drives me mad.
Well, here it is, 'It's only words'.

I have actually made a little book. The front is mountboard, the inside page is card and the back cover is grungeboard. The grunge and card allow some flexibility so it can be carefully opened.
No difficult techniques were used - I can't do difficult. Every page is distressed with crushed olive, weathered wood and brushed corduroy inks but the front has a splash of walnut stain re-inker, and the back is spritzed with a perfect pearls concoction. The letters have been painted with a black dabber and then either crackled with rock candy or covered with bits of print.
I used my Crop-a-Dile to make the holes before x-stitching with faux leather string to bind the pages together. The hinge fastening is distress embossed to look like rusty metal. One of the best bits is the brass hitch fastener which was machined specially by my hubby.

The middle page is covered with the item name of some of Tim's products which I have cut from the packaging. Unfortunately, the photos of this page are awful so you may not get the effect.
Now I have completed these pages I will try and photograph them all together and let you have a nosey. I really have had a ball, so roll on the next challenge.

ONLY ONE MORE TO MAKE

I've made another chunky book page - yippeee!! - so now I'm on with the last one.
To quote Heather 'please feel free to use lots of embellishments/textures/fibres on the front of your pages', so I have! Just hope these books close.
Anyway, here is 'heart and soul'. Nothing like it was going to be.
Note Tim's gorgeous swirl page edge die, it's amazing. The best bit is, when you have cut the page edge, you end up with a gorgeous border from the bit you cut off. I distressed the whole page with various inks and edged all around with a gold pen. The swirls are embossed in gold. I made 2 grunge flowers, always tricky especially the tiny one, and the frame has a stamped heart under the embossing which is from one of Tim's ATC stamps. A bit of wire and beads, a few embellishments and job done.

SILLY ME

Having just been taught how to link posts to other blogs (hope I always remember!!!) I went and gave my WOYWW post of today the same title as the one I did on 7 April.
Silly me!
Anyway, I have had nearly 30 comments, none of which have been recorded on the post, so I just wanted to thank all those crafters for having a look and being kind enough to think that my little space is worthy of their thoughts.
Here's another peak, this time of the shelves under my wall cupboards. Not so neat here me thinks.

IT'S WOYWW ONCE MORE

Now this week has definitely only been about 5 days long. Not being able to use my computer properly has been awful. I would never have believed that I would become so reliant on one, but I have! These 2 photos show the single wall cupboard which is next to the double one I showed last week. It holds my old red Sizzix, embossing folders, brads, eyelets, gems, flowers, bows, flower soft, gilding flakes, etc.

Anyway, here are a couple of pics of my little work room for you to muse over. If you want to join in by showing the world what you are up to or let us all see your crafty space, follow the link here.

These are a couple of photos showing the wall next to my wall cupboards. Can you spot the tag that Tim Holtz made for me spurred on by a special friend, Lindsay Mason. It's angled over a photo that I'm not allowed to blog, shame. The little drawers hold everything imaginable from 1p/2p, embossing powders, glitter, charms, buttons, flowers, brads, curtains hooks! etc.

Thank you for looking. I'm off now to peek at everyone else's space. xx

YES

At long last, the most wonderful Dave has sorted my computer.
I have - with his help - changed my blog background, sorted a couple of blinkies, learnt how to re-size the fonts and he has also got the speed back. I was so worried I may need another computer, but he has worked miracles once again.
THANK YOU Dave, the best IT person I know.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

JUST WANTED TO SHARE..........

I just wanted to share this nightmare with you.

After tea last night, I cleaned the kitchen worktop - as you do, but look what greeted me when I cleaned it again this morning!!!!

Volcanic ash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS. this post has taken from 7.30pm last night 'til 10.00am this morning to load!!!!!!

A 3 CHALLENGE CARD

At last I've managed to get on the net after trying for days. As soon as I get on, it kicks me out so fingers crossed for this post.

This little card meets these challenges:

Copic Colour challenge #60 Click Here

B93 -light crockery blue or BG93 - green grey

E47 - dark brown

Y23 - yellowish beige ( I used Y21)

Lily of the Valley challenge # 51 - a sketch click here

Totally Papercrafts challenge #12 - spring click here

I hope that if you click on the post title you will be ushered to the relevant blogs, but if not, their links are in the side bar of my blog.

I've had this flower fairy stamp for ages and think that this is the first time I have used it. I used the Copics to colour her then distressed the edges with bundled sage ink. The base paper is from K & co and the flower fairy card is from my stash as is the ribbon. The lovely little flowers are Prima. I tried to colour a gold peeloff greeting using a green Copic but it didn't come out too well.

I'm glad I've got this far tonight. Let's hope it loads now.

AARGHHH!

If this little note actually posts, it will be a miracle.
I am having enormous problems with the internet just now and simply want to throw my computer out of the window! I have been unable to enter any challenges this week which is very disappointing because I am in the swing of them just now - AND - I've completed another chunky page which I can't show either. Only one more page to do which I've decided will be as involved as all the others put together, watch this space, could take me the rest of the time up to the 31/8 deadline to finish that one.
Thank goodness for our 'computer Dave' who, hopefully, will come round tomorrow evening to sort this problem for us - DH is having probs too and has given up on his computer and gone off into his workshop!!
Wish us luck and hope to catch up soon.

WEDNESDAY AND WOYWW ONCE AGAIN

Don't these Wednesdays come around quickly?

I look forward to the Copic Colour challenge every Wednesday but where the other 6 days go is beyond me. Anyway, Wednesday now also means 'what's on your work desk' where you can join in and post photos of your crafty area and give other crafters an idea of what you are up to.

Because the link to WOYWW in my sidebar is hard to follow (thanks to IE8) have a look at: http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ if you want to join in.

I thought my little space looked similar to last week so decided to give you a little look inside one of my wall cupboards. There's glues/tapes, Sakura pens, Xyron, wire/cutters, Prima flowers, light box, brads etc, crop-o-diles, stationery, beads, silent punch/setter, treasured swapped ATCs etc. etc. But what is on the doors is the best bit - Toby keeping an eye on that bloomin' parrot of Heathers!!!

ANOTHER DONE, 2 MORE TO GO

Another of the chunky book pages that is. I've taken ages on this one because it proved quite tricky. Heather said we could interpret the themes any way we wanted, following Tim's lead of course, so I used his gorgeous white rabbit stamp and turned him into the one from Alice in Wonderland. This theme is 'the timekeeper'.

I'm showing off one of my new edge dies from Tim's alteration range, it's fabulous but wait for the next one!

The base is mount board, which the die just laughed at because it cut through so easily, whereas the top layer is card. I used Tim's clock mask together with 2 peeloffs as masks and distressed both layers. I really wanted to do a pink and green page and this theme fitted those colours well. I then stamped the flourish before removing the masks. A quick squirt of ink and perfect pearls and the bases were done.

I stamped the rabbit 3 times and used silicone to 3D the bits together. I gave him a green stickles scarf, pink stickles inside his ear and rock candy distress stickles on his coat. I couldn't find my pompoms anywhere, so he has a cotton bud tail! A couple of black sticky gems for his eye and nose, and he was done. I stamped the watch onto shrink plastic and when 'shrunk' added glossy accents to give the appearance of a glass face.

I used my computer to print the 'I'm late, I'm late' saying onto printable acetate, which I edged with a glue pen and some ultra fine glitter. The chain was taken from a clothing label attached to some clothing my precious grandson got for his birthday. Thanks for that sweetheart.

I ran round all the edges with Victorian Velvet distress ink after having completed the back - no pic of that though!

Thoughts are in my mind for the next one which I will 'play' with over the next few days.

HEATHER'S MARCH ATC SWAP

Just look what I found behind the door when I got home this afternoon. My amazing cards from Heather's Butterflies and Dragonflies ATC swap from last month.

From left to right:

Pink Butterfly by June Benton

Fly Away by Heather herself

Dragonfly Girl by Alison Brandist

The sparkle on these cards is so delicate and how amazing that they all chose to use pink and blue - or was that Heather matching up the swaps??

I think they are fabulous. Thank you girls.

HELLO TWEETIE

This weeks Copic Colour challenge #59 calls for the use of these 3 colours:

YR16 - apricot

BG49 - duck blue

E18 - copper

I don't have the copper pen as it isn't a ciao so I used E29 - burnt umber instead.

The papers are from the We R Memory Keepers, nonsense stack, the little girl is a Sugar Nellie stamp, Manga Girl #2.

Fun to do and I could think of several little and not so little girls who resemble her as well!!!

TAKE FLIGHT

Here's a look at the chunky page I made yesterday - Take Flight.

I used alcohol inks on this one, which I blew with a can of air, to get the 'messy' effect. The butterflies are grungeboard which I coloured with distress inks (correction, I used Adirondak paint dabbers) before drawing some veins on with a fine nib pen and adding some distress stickles and bedazzles. The body is an ideology spinner.

The little leaves are grungeboard and I used crackle paint over them. The metal flower is from my stash, coloured with alcohol inks and stickles. I used one of Tim's 'splodgy' stamps, the 'fly' bit from a stamp I bought from the Artistic Stamper and 'wings' from a set of Wendie Rhodes stamps. A bit of fibre and a metal butterfly later and the page was done.

ITS WOYWW AGAIN

It' difficult to take a photo of my work area. You need binoculars to find it! Anyway, here is a sneak at my next chunky page which as you can see, hasn't taken off at all just yet.

I think of what I may end up doing, get all the bits out ready, then generally put it all away again 'cos what I'd thought of was rubbish. This page is Heart and Soul. May just wait for a few more bits of stash to arrive before I take it any further.

The link to WOYWW is at the top on the side bar, but as I mentioned before, it's not uploaded properly and I am unable to do anything about it since I upgraded to Internet Explorer 8. For me it's rubbish and has messed up so much. I think I may have to delete it 'cos I've uploaded it twice now without success. Never mind. Try this instead;

http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/

ANOTHER SNEEKY PEEK

I finished another chunky page today - take flight.

That's 6 done, 3 to go. I was so apprehensive when I received the list of subjects, but as I given them more thought, they have come together reasonably well. However, I am now on with #7, ideas are in place for #8 but #9 started off ok but has hit the hard times. Good job I got on with them because the end of August will be on me before I know it.

This photo is the front to - I dreamed a dream.

Once I have all these pages completed, I may just go back over them and see if they need re-doing or anything adding.

ANYTHING GOES

From today, Pollycraft have altered their challenges to run weekly. Hop over to their site and click on the link at the top of the page or type this in your search bar:

http://pollycraftchallengeblog.blogspot.com/

Today's challenge, #38 is - Anything Goes

Couldn't be easier could it? I made this memory box for a little girl I know and thought it may just be enough to enter. I started off with one of those brown papier mache boxes you can buy from hobby shops, mine came from Hobbycraft. Having tried Adirondak paint dabbers on it, I soon realised that the box was too big and I would need dozens of dabbers, so a trip to B&Q (several actually) saw me buying about 6 pots of tester paints! They worked a treat, and I have loads left.

I stamped the little girl image and coloured her with watercolour pencils. Then I added some patterned paper, gorgeous ribbon, Prima flowers, painted grunge letters and a little angel charm which is inscribed with 'made for an angel'.

The whole thing was a huge effort because it took me a week to make and cost a fortune in the end, but I think it was worth it. Hopefully it will hold many treasures and memories which, when looked at in years to come, make the owner happy.

WITH A LITTLE FLOURISH

There are 2 challenges this week that I can enter one of my chunky book pages into.

1) Sunday Stampers - Lace (check out the link to Ink on my Fingers in the sidebar)

2) Allsorts - #46 No patterned paper (again, the link is in the sidebar)

I used distress inks over Tim's flourish mask then stamped a swirl stamp using another distress ink and then brushed over it with perfect pearls. I then spritzed with water and by doing this the ink 'bleeds'. As soon as the required effect is achieved, a quick blast with a heat gun sets it. I then made a chunky tag in the same way.

I die cut some flowers out of material and grungepaper, inking over the grunge one, gluing one of the material ones to a grunge flower and inking over that too. I again, inked a grungeboard swirl and then assembled the whole thing adding embellishments and some LACE.

I love the effect of distress inks, perfect pearls and spritzing. The lovely shine is amazing.

COPIC COLOUR CHALLENGE #58

I keep having a go at the Copic Colour challenges in the hope that my colouring gets better and maybe one day I may just have my efforts picked out.

Challenge #58 was to use the following colours:

R17 - lipstick orange

Y13 - lemon yellow

YG21 - anise.

I only have R17 as the others aren't ciaos so I used Y11 and YG23 instead. The lovely little girl is a sugar nellie stamp called 'curtsy'. The background paper was part of a bundle I bought from Cardcraft plus - now Inspirations -in Preston, when they used to sell the misprints or test papers in a great big box for about £6. Alas, no more. The green was also from there and I've used a Martha Stewart deep edge punch on it. The gingham glitter card has been in my stash for years but the frame I used to cut it and the image is part of the new goodies I bought from Harrogate. The flowers are Prima apart from the roses which are from a wholesale warehouse locally, and the leaves were bought from a craft shop in the centre of Chester ages ago.

I leave most of my cards without a greeting so that when I come to send them, I can include one particular to the recipient.