Thursday 28 March 2013

Kitty Lane Part 2


This card was fun to make - the girl with the pampered dog, who had tied her up with a twisted lead! Obliviously a Princess! The dog - not the girl!


My sentiment comes from Stamp-It and I found that to match the image before I constructed the card. Lace, big flowers, pearl brads, and a crown (wooden) button! There is no top of the girl - so she is not cut-off by me! 



Challenge:
Nutcrafters: Spring flowers
Lady Anne's Challenges: anything goes

The next card is almost my favourite - it is obviously for a male and it is a Bon Voyage card - the plane gave me that idea - and I had stamped it twice and cut out the man and layered him up for some dimension. The sentiment is computer generated and then cut up - the image is very 50's to me so I used some expressions of slang from that period. 



The image is mounted onto a piece of card that is covered with distressed ink, and the background papers are all from the same 6 x 6 pad mentioned before - Lush by Kaiser. 



The small suitcase is a charm from my stash and there is string and bling from Annabelle. 




 Challenge:
Simon Says Stamps: anything Goes
Rhedd and Rosie Challenge: Vintage or shabby

Been to Melbourne and Kitty Lane

In the 'olden days' saying you had travelled to Melbourne meant you had been on a big adventure to the big city, probably shopping. It was exotic and expensive. Still can be expensive but it's just like trotting over the street now - however, we flew over on Sunday morning for a quick overnighter and visited my MIL who has been a little under the weather.  She is slowly improving, and  just before we left Melbourne I discovered a new shop at the Forest Hills Shopping Centre selling Kaiser stuff, so a bonus!

It was my MILs friend's 100th birthday on Tuesday.  I made him a card and posted it before we knew we were travelling there, so didn't get to see him, but I hear he had a good day.  Two parties and lots of attention - what more could you want! Happy Birthday Cyril!


I found both the image and the quote on the web - the image I coloured up with Copics and the sentiment I printed out using  the computer, and the inside also. My DH badly wanted me to use a centurion, and as I didn't have a stamp that was suitable (??) I had to resort to searching on the web!  So, the image is not mine and I am very grateful to the artist for putting it on the web. 



I will enter this in the following challenge:
Tip Top Tuesday:  a funny card



I told you I would show you the cards I made for Kitty Lane using her lovely stamps when I knew they had arrived.  She has contacted me and told me they are there and she sent me the photo of the Lady with Flowers card, which I had missed taking!  Thanks Kitty. All the cards are made either with the beautiful pearl card or linen card that Kitty sent to me or with SU card and the images are all coloured with Copics. You will probably need to go get a drink and settle back down for a look. So ........here they are, all seven! 



SU embossing folder and coordinations card; flower from Prima; die cut; blue lace; stamped sentiment - old one from my stash.


I will enter this in the following challenge:
The House that Stamps Built: Repeat Impressions DCC327 ~ Spring Flowers.
Inky Impressions: Spring Flowers



This card uses a Martha Stewart punch for the HB, some background dots and strips paper in orange from Echo Park; the doily I had used to spray through as a mask, using Copics and air system; Annabelle ribbon and bling; the watch stamp in Momento London Fog is a freebie one and the sentiment is from Inkadinado, and I used the SU markers to ink the stamp so I only stamped the first line. This was then cut to create a banner. The to and you are from a WMS set. 


Both the bird and the clock face are stamped twice, cut and coloured and then layer for some dimension. I also used my Smooch paints for some shimmer on the clock hands and metal bits. 

I will enter this in the following challenge:
Inky Linky: Anything Goes

This stamp is a lovely wishing well scene - and I decided to put it into a different folded card.  It is a restful scene and good for a person who loves gardening. However, here my camera could not decide what to focus on!



 This is the card - it has a frame around the aperture and some die cut sentiments.  The banner sentiment has been created on the computer and printer.  The flowers and die cuts  and brads were added to the outside (inside?) and the image was put inside (outside?) so that it had some depth.


 This is on a slight angle so you can see the way the front is sitting out of the card.  When posted, this lays flat by pushing gently on the two side pieces and to stand it up you gently pull them back out. I used a 12 x 12 sheet of card (not sure whose) from my stash which is double sided.


 Here is a shot of the distance between the front and back of the card.

 Challenge:
Through the Classroom Door: anything Goes
Simon Says Stamps: Anything Goes


My third card is  using a commercial card blank which had a lattice already cut into the front panel. The stamp is a beautiful one - I have coloured this up twice now, and it looks so pretty.  It is a chair, with a basket of flowers, some more flowers around in pots and on the ground and a watering can. I made this a Mother's Day card.  I added three butterflies (SU Die cuts/embossed)


Again the sentiment stamps are from Annabelles and I added some bling. I tried to let the beauty of the stamp shine through and kept it simple. 


Challenges:
Nutcrafters: Spring flowers
Simon Says Stamps: anything Goes

The next stamp is again a garden scene but so useful for so many things - birthdays, especially male; bereavements; thinking of you's.............



I used a Verve stamp set for sentiments and background, and distressed everything I could.  The background paper is from a 6 x 6 pad from Kaiser's Lush collection - lush indeed! I add some embellies from SU - the small clip, a metal button and the typewriter pin is from Prima's Vintage collection. The ribbon is SU's new one. 


Challenge:
Rhedd and Rosie Challenge: Vintage or shabby




Sunday 24 March 2013

Using Kraft with Gingerloft

Hello peeps!

I have made a card today for Gingerloft and the Challenge there this fortnight is to use Kraft card - so I did!


I used two of the images from Gingerloft - flowerfield and gardengate. I printed them both twice onto Kraft card and then got out my Prisma pencils and the Zest, and some paper stumps and coloured up the images.   I used the second image of the flowers for the butterfly only, and after fussy cutting this, I coloured it using my Smooch paints for some extra shimmer on the wings! I layered it onto the other butterfly with a dimentional.



The fence was coloured once and then I cut out the bits between carefully - first with scissors and then with a craft knife.  I also coloured up the two end posts and rails on the second image, and cut them out as well, to extend my fence! I mounted the fence over the flowers using dimentionals.


The die cut is Memory Box and the sentiment is from SU, as is all the card.  The papers are from Happily Lost by Lillybeedesign.  I added some bling to complete it and some string. 

I will enter this in the following challenges:
Nutcrafters: Spring theme
Simon Says Stamps: Spring/Easter

Saturday 23 March 2013

Rockin' with the Lollipop Ladies

I have made two cards for this challenge - one is as I said on the site - overcooked with too much thinkin'!

have a new challenge this fortnight - Rock candy photograph and the theme is Music: 
because Rock is a type of music, right? 




Guest DT spots are able to be won each fortnight
and our sponsor this fortnight is: Mad for Markers*

(thanks to Sammi).
A choice of 3 of her M4M digi stamps.
So cool :-)

Prize will only be offered if 7 or more entries partake in the challenge.
This is an Australian Challenge site and deserves to be supported - entries have been a little low lately so no prizes have been won, but people have had a chance to be a guest on the DT and have taken this opportunity up! You have to be in it to win it, folks, so why not have a go!


Red card folded for base (SU), black mounting and the yellow card which is embossed with the music AFTER being stamped with the sentiment (tried to do it before for the first one - ooops). Some bling added and the sparkly guitar which is embossed onto acetate and fussy cut out. Male card!

I will enter this in the following challenges:
Creative Card crew: anything goes
Love to Create:  Masculine card - not anything goes as I originally put!!!


I made two cards as I have said and had an idea going around in my head for a while about how I would approach it, but I am sorry I did because sometimes I tend to overthink things and need to just stop and do - this was one of them!


My idea was grunge and male......so I used soft colours and tried to grunge them up! Duh! I used an embossing folder and sanded to coordinations card to show the circles for the background.  I then took two pieces of kraft card that I had previously coloured up with Distress inks and overstamped them with various stamps from Verve, Stampin' Up and a freebie set of cards from a magazine. Too many! Then I stamped the guitar onto acetate and embossed it with ebony sparkly embossing powder and then fussy cut it out.  Managed to drop it with some sticky strip attached onto the background card, and it tore when I tried to lift it up - so basically it is where it fell!



See what I mean? 




Wednesday 20 March 2013

Exciting News and more sneak peeks.......

What is the exciting news?  Only that I am now on the Design Team for a brand new challenge blog



This team is just getting organised and our first challenge will be at the beginning of May.  I will let you now before hand and I hope you will all join in.  Our leader is Hilde and she has a fabulous blog here that is well worth visiting!

Here is some detail from her blog:


Our challenges will be fortnightly, alternating between cards one fortnight and and a craft project on the other.
If you would like to sponsor us, please do not hesitate to contact us.
I am also hoping that this challenge blog to be a blessing to others, because I am located in Sydney, Australia, I would love to help some of our local charities, and am open to ideas.
This is going to be a family friendly challenge, so no raunchy, rude or crude, images will be allowed.
I hope this all makes sense. I would love to hear from you. If you have ideas, suggestions, or want to be part of it, please leave a comment  and email me on (Hilde) on: thegrasslady@gmail.com


I have 'met' the other girls on the DT and boy, I think you will be blown away with their talent.
    
Now, the other thing - sneak peeks:  I have completed seven cards for Kitty Lane, and have posted them today. I have already put two up - see here - and will put a few more sneak peeks up here now and when I know they have arrived I will start to show them in full.  Kitty Lane makes the most amazing stamps, and she has donated two of her stamps to the stash that is building at Dragonflies as loot for ............(Oooops, nearly let the secret out!)........................just ignore that last little bit, eh! The stamps are rubber clings and they are of a high standard, making beautiful clear crisp outlines.

I have just realised that I have posted them off  (the cards, I got to keep those lovely stamps!) and didn't photograph one! Hopefully I will be able to get Kitty to do that for me as some stage!  Here are th eother four:

Sprung!

....is wishing, well........


Rose are - pink!


Bon Voyage! 










Monday 18 March 2013

More Quilling for Unstampabelles

I had another go at quilling - don't really think it is my forte! However, I had another great tutorial from a magazine and thought I could make a tag at least. I die cut one using the SU Big Note and then quilled some flowers and stuck them down - saying it is a lot easier than doing it!




Ignore the leaf that is floating and the flower with the detached petals (top one)! 

I then made a little pot and popped it up over the stems, and added a punched  label with a Verve stamp sentiment to create a Thank You tag for a present. Yes, I forgot that you shouldn't use stamps for this challenge but it was floating on the desk and so I used it.  There are lots of great stickers out there (and in the stash) or run-ons that would have done the trick, but I used the stamped one by mistake.  I didn't realise until I was blogging and it was too late to change it then. Hopefully (ssshhhhh) Merry won't notice and I won't get into trouble - you won't tell, will you?

I then added a piece of ribbon that was a freebie from a mag and has been floating in the ribbon stash for a while. Another bit of old tat gone.


Simple and different.

If I can do this, you can have a go also and enter at
for March - Quilling! You cannot be worse than me and it can be quite addictive and fun.  You get a bit gluey but that's half the fun! There are plenty of tutorials out there - just put quilling tutorials into the search engine and up they pop!




Monday 11 March 2013

Gingerloft is Going Green



This image from Gingerloft intrigued me, so I decided to work with it for this
  Green Challenge

 

Firstly I printed it off onto some XPress Blending card, and left it to set.  I coloured it up using my Copic pens and die cut it using a Spellbinders die. Before I took it out of the die I sponged it with Momento ink (New Sprout).  I did colour up the clock face that is under the chipboard piece, but decided not to use it when I found that this Heidi Snapp clock fitted it perfectly - another piece of old stash used! Yeah!

I knew I had a sentiment somewhere saying Tempus Fugit (time flies) - a freebie from Craft Stamper magazine - and another saying Carpe Diem (seize the day)  - from Verve - so I spent some time searching through my index folders of stamps to locate them, and them stamped them up on a piece of scrap card.  I stamped the watch in Momento London Fog randomly, and then the sentiments in SU Wasabi Green ink. I trimmed these and mounted them onto a scrap piece of green card.  I have a huge stack of 12 x 12 card and papers - must use them up! 


I used another piece of the scrap green card to die cut a Tim Holtz clock.  I searched through the various paper pads I have acquired to find a suitable background paper and came across a Basic Grey - Lauderdale pad with some good ones. Mounted one small piece onto some more of the green card and then layered it all onto the green DP and some green Bazzil folded to create the base card. 

I added a brad to the chipboard clock and some leaves got from Meg's Garden. I put a bit of bling in there too. Finally (several days later) I added the green flower. The photo below was taken in a duller light than the top one (which gives a better idea of the true colours). 



Hope it tickles, as Claire says!

I will enter this in the following challenges:
Challenges4Everbody:  anything goes
The Squirrel and the Fox: Autumn or Spring - this is Autumn



Saturday 9 March 2013

Kitty Lane

I forgot to mention the more of about Kitty Lane in my last post!  Guess what - that very good manufacturer of rubber cling stamps in Australia and who currently is selling her goods on eBay has asked me to make her some cards to showcase some of her stamps!

 She sent me a bundle of gorgeous papers and stuff,  and seven stamps! I am in seventh heaven! I have made up several cards to date - I will post them when I have sent them to Kitty as she deserves to be the first to see them but here is a little sneak peak.......





More later................................

Daisies for the Lollipop Ladies this time

The challenge at Lollipop Ladies this fortnight is

Daisy Lollipops

With the additional challenge of Stripes
Guest DT spots are able to be won each fortnight
and our sponsor this fortnight is: Forever Markers & Craft Supplies

(thanks to Jane).
The prize is a Pink SMASH book with tag book!!!

Prize will only be offered if 7 or more entries partake in the challenge.

                                         



My contribution to the challenge this fortnight is the following:


Daisies!

I used the Heartfet Creations (Spellbinders) stamp and die set to stamp up and cut out the flowers, except that I ended up cutting out the smaller ones by hand. I started by following the video instructions on Stamp Embellish Create put up by Andrea for using mixed media in card making.

Firstly I took a piece of white card sent to me by Kitty Lane (more of that later) and it has a very nice weave texture.  I actually used a second piece as my folded card base and a piece of scrap for the sentiment. I didn't use gesso in this as Andrea does on hers, but Jo Sonia white acrylic paint. I allowed it to dry, stamped the flowers using StazOn ink (black) and then put it to one side. I then got my Derwent Inktence pencils and scribbled some basic colour into the flowers before I took to them with the waterpen. I got a very watercolour, painterly effect but the white acrylic also mixed into the muddle a bit. I went back and added some white paint over the colour as well, and then had to fix up the black lines with a fine marker as well.

I took another piece of the card with the paint on it and began to layer up some pencils, starting with lemon in the centre and moving to green on the outside.  After I had painted this in and let it dry, I layered on some distress inks - pine needle, peeled paint and squeezed lemonade.  This took a bit of playing to get an even spread of colour going.  Once I had die cut the flowers, I began layering them up, and drew in the stems and leaves  (watercolour) and went over black lines.


The flower heads are on dimentionals to lift them off the page.  The whole is mounted on some dark green card, and then straight onto the white base.  I added the three strips of washi tape to provide the extra challenge of stripes! The sentiment is just distress ink and a Stamp It stamp in StazOn ink. 


I enjoyed doing this - got inky hands and had fun but not satisfied with my painting skills - will have to get some Gesso and see if the effect is the same - I have texture paste: maybe I will try that! 

I will enter this in the following challenges:
Avadares: Spring or Easter
Joyful Stamper - Inspire me Fridays: anything goes
Art Impressions: anything goes
Cute Card Thursday: Spring Fever

Monday 4 March 2013

Quilling!



The March challenge over at Unstampabelles is of all things - quilling! I have not done this before - so a real challenge for me!

The sponsor of this is Jessica Theadore at Kazzaz Creations:
March 2013 - Quilling

The prize will be a Kaszazz Prize Packet. 

This is my card:



Late last year, Merry our bold leader at Unstampabelles gave us a list of possible challenges to discuss, and settle on. Quilling was one of them.  I though "No worries, I will have heaps of time to learn to do that".......and promptly forgot about it for a week or two.  Then I ordered some quilling strips and a tool from       a business in the North of the state (Regal Press), and when they arrived I put the tool away carefully in a safe place  - one I have not yet been able to locate! - and again forgot about it for a while except for saving some information about quilling from a craft magazine.  

Came crunch time - couldn't find the tool; decided I could use a bamboo stick, split on one end.  This would work quite well for someone with a more dexterous hand than me - I found it too small and fiddly to operate easily and became quite frustrated. After a quick visit to a local supplier (Image Plus - this usually means I go to buy one thing and come home with lots of other things that looks too lovely to leave behind!) I found the tool more user friendly for me, and made some sort-of-usable quills. After that, I looked on the internet, watched a few uTube videos and looked at a few images. I re-read the article in the magazine Papercraft Inspirations and liked the crazy birds they had created.  Not only did they have step-by-step instructions with photo's, they have testers in this magazine, and they had made some very crafty suggestions, and helpful remarks so I felt quite comfortable about making the birds.



I made the first one:



Realised he didn't have a head! Made another one:


Liked that enough to make another - found the glue dried very quickly, so you need to only put out a dab at a time.  I ended up very gluey.


Finally made these two critters into a card - the background DP comes from Prima Firefly Collection 6 x 6 paper stack. For the rest, there is  - MMI die cut of the bird cage, Memory Box for the music, a rub-on, a sparkly brad, small eyes and two tiles from my stash and it was complete. Phew!


The one below was taken in full sunlight




I will enter this in the following challenges:
Hiding in my Craft Room:  green
Allways Something Creative: Green and spring
Joyful Stamper: Anything Goes


Another part of this journey concerned the bits and bobs that came from my stash. In searching for the tool and getting some suitable non-stamp sentiments, I finally lost my patience (not that I have a lot) with all the ribbons cascading over the doors of the cupboard and getting in the way all the time when I open these up. I have ribbons in the wire drawers, and inside the cupboard and on the bookshelves in more wire drawers (colour co-ordinated), mostly on reels or wound onto strips of card.


The ribbons were in 1 to 2 metre lengths and were just hanging where the arrow is pointing! They were growing in number and had obscured the drawers of the double plastic drawer set on the top of the cupboard. So I fixed them!


I put nails into the top of the CD shelving unit and used dog-clips to attach to the nails and hold the ribbons. I can still see them, but they are not in the way.


When my husband notices them, he will also notice that I did not rule a line to bang in the nails symmetrically - bad me! It will hurt his OCD sole. The red crab I purchased in London 32 years ago.

In searching through the plastic drawers I also found some bits from the stash I had forgotten I had - like the tiles. So in a way quilling has been very beneficial, if a trifle long winded and expensive!