Sweet bees of mine

Posted on by
8

Today we move into Week 2 of our Anything But A Card challenge over at Crafty Boots Challenges. There have been some terrific entries so far and so much creativity. I particularly love seeing how ingenious people can be when it comes to upcycling! I shall look forward to visiting all the new entries this week.

Today I am sharing a little canvas:

P1120400

I tend to hoard these small canvases, which is ridiculous given that they are readily available. First, I used a scrap of floral fabric to cover the canvas, including the sides. I used glue ‘n’ seal, applying a top coat to the fabric. Once the glue was dry I added a thin coat of gesso before using the tissue transfer technique for the stamped beehive. The topcoat of glue ‘n’ seal allowed me to use Promarkers to colour the image.

P1120402

I decorated the canvas with scraps of fabric and lace plus a little sentiment.

Wishing you a great week and thanks for buzzing by.

Angel

Posted on by
26

Another exhausting week and this time it isn’t work that’s worn me out but the Olympic Games! Every morning there’s been a new haul of medals for Team GB, it’s been beyond exciting. Hard to pick a favourite moment, there have been so many, but for me, as a lifelong fan of show jumping,  it has to be the magnificent gold earned by Nick Skelton. Unbelievably, not only does his win comes after he previously retired from the sport after suffering a broken neck, he was also riding with a hip replacement!

On the subject of things that are unbelievable (!) it is hard to believe that I have not got around to using the stamp that features on today’s project given that it has been in my stash for quite a few months now. So, without further ado, let me introduce you to Nina Angel:

P1120515

Isn’t she gorgeous? You will recognise her as one of the super-talented Magda Polakow’s designs for Stampotique. This card is my entry for the Stampotique Designers’ Challenge which asks us to use polka dots in our projects. I stamped Nina onto card and then added in some polka dots using Vintage Photo distress ink. There’s also little whispers of a text stamp in there too. I painted her using more Vintage Photo, mixing it up in places with a bit of Worn Lipstick. Using the same two colours, I painted a wash over the background.

P1120517

The papers are from Graphic 45’s Ladies Diary collection and have been in my stash for ages. There’s also a little bit of washi thrown in for good measure.

P1120518

P1120515

I just love how she turned out! I did think I might conjure up an Olympic themed project but that will have to wait for another day! However, if you’d like to get a fix of Stampotique meets the Olympics then check out DT member Kathi’s ATC which features on her blog.

As the Olympic Games reaches its conclusion, goodness knows what I shall do with all that extra time. Get in training for Tokyo 2020 maybe?! 🙂

Thanks for buzzing by.

 

Birthday Beez

Posted on by
13

A new week and a new Crafty Boots Challenge theme gets underway. Or the next fortnight we are asking you to share anything but a card with us – ATCs are fine, but no regular cards please. The first of my DT pieces that I’m sharing with you is this altered heart:

P1120408

I had great fun get covered in paint, although Mr Beez was not too impressed with the little (well, quite large if I’m honest!) spill that I had. Thankfully, the carpet that took the hit is being replaced very soon!!! In addition to lots of background stamps I have also used some of my Stampotique favourites – medium bee, large sunflower and Agatha text.

 

P1120384 P1120383

This is also my second project that I’m also sharing over at the Stampotique Designer’s Challenge Blog for the text background theme. I’ve actual used two different text stamps but you can really only see the typeface one clearly in the photo’s  and not the scribbly one!

P1120404

Today also sees me becoming another year older as I celebrate my birthday.  Have a look at the fabulous sunflowers that arrived from my lovely, not to mention very kind and generous, friend Dionne:

IMG_0191

Aren’t they stunning? Best of all, they make me smile every time I walk into my living room. For only the second time in my entire life I have to work on my birthday so I am looking forward to getting home tonight and having these gorgeous sunflowers waiting to cheer me up!

Thanks for buzzing by.

 

 

Alfie has arrived!

Posted on by
6

I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of my friends’ baby since I found out she was pregnant. Happily, little Alfie put in an appearance just over a week ahead of schedule 🙂 It will be a little while until I can visit so I posted my gifts and created a card to go alongside:

P1120368

This super cute elephant is one of Magda Polakow’s fabulous digi stamps and you get three elephants in the download. I added a sentiment and then coloured the image with Polychromos.

P1120367

I’ve used paper from my stash (originally from Stampin’ Up!) as a mat and also to create some little photo’ corners.

P1120359

 

I’m also sharing this over at Crafty Boots Challenges where we are starting week 2 of our use a stamp challenge.

Thanks for buzzing by, have a great week and I look forward to catching up with later.

 

Swinging on a star

Posted on by
27

Good Morning 🙂 I’m very happy to be back with you this morning sharing one of my projects for the latest challenge over at the Stampotique Designers’ Challenge Blog.  The theme is to use a text background – nothing not to like there! I opted to make a postcard and decided that this was a great opportunity to used the fabulous Great Moon stamp and to combine it with another favourite – Line Up.

P1120410

I photocopied  a page from a book called The House on Half Moon street and painted the night sky using Chipped Sapphire and Wilted Violet  distress inks. The moon was stamped from another book page and added to the background. I used extra stars from the moon.

P1120412P1120411

I had to create some bespoke little arms for the monsters.

 

The words were printed from my computer; a border stamp and some white pen finish it all off.

P1120374

This pairs up nicely with my previous project (click on the photo’) to find out more.

P1120222

After another busy working week, it was great to have to time to play craft. The only problem is that my hands are now covered in inks and paints that seem reluctant to come off. Hopefully I can get them clean, scrubbed and ready for cooking by Monday morning. I feel a bit like Lady Macbeth! If you’d like to see what I’ve been getting up to, you can check out some photo’s that are in the albums that are here.

Have a lovely Sunday and thanks for buzzing by.

 

Anniversary Balloons

Posted on by
6

Well I survived the first week of my summer work assignment – just! I know I shouldn’t wish my life away but I can’t help saying – one down, five to go! After an all too brief weekend, during which I mostly spent the time forcing my eyelids to stay open, it’s time to start all over again. It’s also time for a new challenge over at Crafty Boots and for the next fortnight our theme is “use a stamp.” We are allowing both traditional rubber/polymer stamps and digital stamps. I’m sharing an anniversary card I made for my brother and his wife:

P1120311

Sorry this is a little dark – the beautiful summer sunshine, rather ironically I think, makes it difficult to take pictures at the moment! I’ve used a lovely heart stamp from Rubber Moon and combined it with one of my favourites from Stampotique. Once I had stamped onto watercolour paper, I used a water brush and some Salty Ocean distress ink to create a wash background.

P1120310

I coloured the hearts with Polychromos and paper pieced them. The sentiment stamp is from Darkroom Door.

Wishing you a lovely week and thanks for buzzing by.

 

July ’16 with the Galz

Posted on by
6

This month’s customer challenge over at the Gecko Galz has the theme Sun, Moon & Stars. This happens to be one of my favourites so all my samples this month link with that theme.

Here’s the card that I made for the challenge – click on the photograph if you’d like to know how I created it.

P1120179

Next up is card using an image from the Sun, Moon & Stars collage sheet.

P1120336

P1120324

Using the same collage sheet, but a different image I also created a dimensional ATC

P1120322

Using a wooden ATC, I applied the image words and some Dresden trim and then gave everything a coating of beeswax.

P1120338

Whilst the wax was still warm, I added a sprinkle of very fine glitter.

P1120339

Once set, I dusted on some gold mica powder.

P1120341

Next up is card using some papers from the Curiosity Shop kit and an image from the Angel Darlings collage sheet. The words are from Lisa’s Altered Art.

P1120329

After distressing and inking the edges of the papers and the image, I raided my stash for braids , gauze and flowers.

P1120328

P1120331

P1120333

Next, I created a tag by making a digital collage using papers from the Hocus Pocus pack and images from the Paper Moon and Pixie Children collage sets.

P1120317

P1120314

P1120315

Finally, I have a free image to give away. Click on the photograph to see the full details of how I created this card.

P1120344

Right click on the image to save it to your computer.

July 16

Thanks for buzzing by.

 

Poppies under the sun

Posted on by
4

The start of a new working week and for me the start of my BIG summer assignment. This means work tends to take over my life and the summer just passes me by 🙁  Fortunately, this year I will at least be at home, rather than working away, for the first three weeks. Today also marks the mid-way point of our picture inspiration challenge over at Crafty Boots.

CB poppy field

I’ve made a card, recreating some lovely summer sunshine and poppies using my stamps:

P1120267

That adorable sunshine is from Rubber Moon. I stamped it onto watercolour paper and then painted it with Distress Inks. The poppies are from LC Designs.

I also made an ATC using the same sunshine stamp:

P1120278

I use watercolour paper and then mounted it onto stiff card. After stamping with Archival ink I again used Distress Inks and a water brush to add colour.

Hope you have a lovely day and thanks for buzzing by.

 

Hello sunshine!

Posted on by
22

Good morning and Happy Christmas…in July! Yes, it’s time for my annual summer celebration, the one that marks me out as being a bit of a fruitcake! I usually have a bit of a party on the 25th July but, as tomorrow sees me start my massive summer work assignment, this year it will be a little quieter. However, there will still be turkey, stuffing, pigs in blankets, mince pies and a Christmas tree 🙂

So what else would I blog on my day of unseasonable festivities other than a card that just screams summer?

P1120344

This is my entry for the current Stampotique Designer’s Challenge which has the theme of beach or sea. Naturally, I have both!!!

P1120345

I’ve used a fab image from the Gecko Galz and coloured it with Polychromos. I’ve chosen the lovely Jill Penney stamp to grace this exotic shore.

P1120346

The background image is also from the Gecko Galz – from the Seaside Splendour kit.

If you would like to get your hands on that palm tree image then be sure to buzz by my blog on Tuesday when I shall be giving it away 🙂

Thanks for buzzing by and enjoy your (Christmas) day!

Summer poppies 2

Posted on by
4

We have photo to inspire you for the new challenge over at Crafty Boots Challenges:

CB poppy field

Here’s the second card that I made:

P1120264

Now this was quick and easy to make. I stamped the flowers first, using green Archival ink and Stampotique’s Daisy Daisy stamp. Once the flowers were coloured in, I added a strip of paper from my stash and some matching red ribbon.

P1120265

Have a great day and thanks for buzzing by.