Let Sparks Fly!

The latest challenge from the Purple Team over at Eclectic Ellapu is "Let Sparks Fly", and you have the whole of November to enter something to fit this challenge.

As I have just started making Christmas cards, I thought I should continue in the theme, and make something that both fit the theme and added to the collection. I have another new bundle from SU called Star of Light so cutting out intricate star dies never got easier.

I cut two stars and glued the more intricate and sparkly one onto the other blank

I then took my sheet of Kaiser paper and randomly (yes, me doing random!) stamped some blue stars 

Then I stamped and embossed some cosmic swirls in Egyptian Gold EP

The sentiment was embossed in black because I didn't think the plain ink would stand out on the gold card - the words are very clear for a polymer stamp. 

I mounted the paper onto gold card and then onto a cream blank

All the photo's above were taken in sunlight but the faded the colours so I took another one in shade

This is a better indication of the colour of the paper. but you loose the sparkle effect - it really is quite sparkly!

OMG - I made a Christmas Card!

I am a past mistress master of procrastination. This means I have put off making my Christmas cards for this year in favour of looking at Pinterest or other similar important sites.......but then I suddenly realised that I had to make something for Hilde over at Crafting with Dragonflies: what was the theme? It was Helen's turn to choose, and her theme was

Spots and Stripes

so I made a Christmas Card!

I used a new die and stamp set from Stampin' Up and some of last years SU papers to  make it. 

The set is called Merriest Wishes and is simple gorgeous.

I used glimmer card to make the  ornament but it is hard to photograph on a dull day

Simple and easy to post. 

One down and how many to go?

Probably about 119.....

Cheers!

I will leave you with some more eye candy

A picture perfect Spring day at Lewisham and Dodges Ferry by greg Faull

To Quill or not to Quill - that is the Question!

Unstampabelles current challenge #62 finishes at midnight on Friday 28th, so just before it finishes I had a go at ........QUILLING!

Before showing you my latest masterpiece  project, this photo floated into my FB account last week and I felt I had to share it - my elder brother took it from a helicopter  flying over Cradle Mountain last week. Why he was there and who paid for it are questions that have not been answered, but the photo is quite spectacular, so I shared it with you! Yes, it snowed last week. Mostly Cradle is in cloud so any photo of it is amazing. 

So, on to Quilling.....

Yes, quilling - winding tiny strips of paper around and then creating something out of the mess shape you have made. It is satisfying and sticky and messy and I am very much a newby. I have a go every now and then, and have some supplies purchased last year and I do keep the Masterclass sheets from various mags if I think I can make it, so off I went to the cupboard and dragged out all the stuff!

Here was a chance to use that quilling comb! I found out something that it could do apart from chase lice- make the leaves.

So I played around and made some leaves, and several sizes of quilled flowers and circles and stuff - how Meg makes those fringed flowers I do not know! You have to put those leaves on their edge - glueing them was a joy. So was creating the 'fringe' by cutting tiny slits all along the edge of a strip of thin quilling paper BEFORE you twirl it all together

I think my card is too small or the leaves are too big

It doesn't look anything like the picture I was following but I am happy enough. 

The sentiment is die cut (IO Dies)

Might do some more now- as long as it doesn't involve fringing!

Unstampabelles

Off you go........

I might enter this in these challenges:

613 Avenue Create: Anything Goes with a twist of gold and green - yep

The Outlaw Challenge - Saturday's

Great Impressions: Anything Goes

Making up cards using a freebie stamp set

I promised myself that I would not buy a craft magazine for the freebie unless I was going to use the said 'freebie'. So far I have lots of things in my stash and only a few things made but I am trying.

In an effort to avoid making Christmas cards I have made up a set of cards using a stamp set, an embossing folder and a stencil - yes, all from the one freebie! As my mojo has gone lagging I used the suggested cards to make these up but I did add to each one. Gradually my mojo started to jump in so hopefully I can get a good afternoon of crafting in this week!

Here they are - you have already seen several

Getting tired and sloppy stamping

Inked the EF strip and fussy cut the pink flower and leaves

Used kissed stamp technique to get layered colours in flowers, and vellum overlay to tone down the bight colours

It is a tag card

Stencilled paste and tinsel - like this effect

Pate was tinted with inks before applying to stencil

You have seen this one below

Ink stencilling and overstamping

A second paste one on shimmer card

As they are copies from the magazine I will not enter them in any challenges.

Decoupage - why do I sweat at the word?

Over at the challenge blog Unstampabelles, there is a chance to get outside your comfort zone, and to be a bit on the edge and create something that you wouldn't normally create.........in other words......

Challenge #62

Outside Your Comfort Zone Twist: a different edge

 TWIST have a different edge!

Make of this what you want as long as no stamps are involved

The prize!

I have a long standing antipathy with decoupage sheets........

They always make me sweat at the thought of making something reasonable with them.

I had a sheet from Crafty Bob's called a Scalloped Pocket card designed by Robyn Cockburn

It had white roses on it

I needed scissors and patience and good hand-eye coordination......perhaps at this stage I should say I am right hand predominant, and  I have a missing index finger on my right hand (over 50 yrs ago)  and a realignment of my thumb several years ago............I know, excuses, excuses........

2012

So, making something like this is always a challenge.....

But I did it.....

And it had a scalloped edge

And a pocket!

and it mostly goes together......

A gift pocket card!

#68: Lets Go Floral for Crafting with Dragonflies

Crafting with Dragonflies have a new challenge starting this week, and it is all about flowers! We all stamp them, and roll them, and fussy cut them,and even stencil them - so let us see your work.

Here is a real flower to begin with!

A Camelia from my garden last week when the sun was shining!

Another flower - this one taken up on top of Mt Wellington this afternoon

An alpine flower of some kind - the wildflowers are out all over the mountain, and there is even a bit of snow from yesterday still hanging around right on the top - the combination was too good to miss

My flowers on my card this week are hand stamped and fussy cut - but not natives.

I think they are Dahlias?

I inked the stamps and them rolled the edges in a darker ink for a two tone effect.

My stamp set is  a freebie set that came with a magazine last month - Floral Blooms

The inks are all Stampin' Up

The background stamp is also an SU stamp and the card is all from SU too!

A bit of bling and a mount to help the illusion.

Two toned leaves......

After I finished this one I used the stencil that came with the free stamp set and some white texture paste. I smooched some ink onto my glass plate and mixed it into the paste (SU inks) - 3 different colours, two for the flower and one for the stem and leaves. I carefully pushed the pasted into the stencil, and scraped off the residue, starting with the lighter colour in the middle and adding the darker colour at the edges of the bloom. Repeat technique with stem and leaves - peel off stencil carefully and sprinkle with fine glitter; let dry.

I had enough paste and ink for two attempts

Now to make them up into cards when they are dry!

OK - off the Crafting with Dragonflies to see what the rest of the team have come up with!

For September's Winner's Post at Unstampabelles

It's time to announce the winners over at Unstampabelles, and so I have made another attempt to work outside my comfort zone, and create something a little different. I used the assistance of a canvas creation at Craft Stamper magazine, to get going and then sort of did my own thing.

I have a lot of stencils. I don't use them very much. Last year I did a multimedia canvas at Paperific (which I gave to one of my Granddaughters) although I am not sure she likes it. I did make it with her in mind so the colours were chosen for her. I enjoyed the experience, and getting dirty, but did not repeat it when I got home, so lost the 'touch' and knowledge. Hence the use of a magazine article to get me going again. 

Before I  reveal what I made, here are some more photo's from last week's excursion to the Botanical Gardens - an outside shot and inside the Orchid house.

I love the wild flower look of this patch

These are definitely not wild flowers!

Anyway, back to my canvas

The magazine said to stamp an image onto tissue paper. As this is for Unstampabelles, I stencilled it on instead with TH Distress Sooty Black and a sponge.

It got several layers to make it really black. Then you tear carefully around the edges and use sealer to apply and then sealer again over the top. 

The same rules applied to other images, and I wanted to add birds, so I drew them and cut them out of card. The city skyline is a die. I had added Dylusions paint to my canvas - a mixture of white and blue to create a background; I glued the girl on and then stencilled on some texture paste to create one bird - too close to her head and too big I then realised - and then another smaller one on the RHS. I also masked the girl and spread texture paste for the city skyline behind her.

The article said to add lots of texture paste at the base, and to comb lines through it like grass, but I chickened out and just added a little bit and sort of drew through it with the end of a paintbrush. I also added some silver shimmer to her dress, and stencilled some dotes, words and squares sort of randomly - I don't do random very well. I used TH paints and inks to colour up the skyline, grasses, and birds but ended up scraping off the larger bird, and replacing it with three from Scrapmatts, to which I had added black ink as well. I also darkened the other bird and decided to leave it there.

It looked dull. So I added a gold 'hat' - nope!

In desperation, I tried some flowers. They worked - sort of......a bit like my Botanical flowers above in a sea of green.

It looked better anyhow. They have pink ink on them but it is hard to see on the smaller one. 

Next time I would use texture paste for the body and ink for the background perhaps, but it seems to work not too badly. 

I think that background is Paris.......

The edge is the fact that I painted around the edges and onto the sides, plus the grassy edge.

Anyhow, that was entirely outside my comfort zone.

I want to be artistic but am not really gifted that way, so just remain frustrated. 

You can go to Unstampabelles and see the lovely things DT members have made to get further inspiration and then have a go at something outside your comfort zone too! There are some nice entries already and you have to the end of the month to join them.