Monday, 25 September 2017

You Colour My World

Many thing colour my world. 



Sunrises, sunsets, family, grandchildren, nature, animals, hubby, crafting, photography.....(there are lots more but I thought I better get on with the blog)

I get a kit from D'Lish Scraps once a month and this last one had a wooden piece saying "You colour my world" among lots of other beautiful goodies.  I thought I would use it to make something for the last week of the Unstampabelles challenge.

The theme is set(s) of three

The TWIST is to use cardboard

(There is a prize on offer as well)

The D'Lish kit was rainbow colours, although the wooden piece was 'au naturale', so I went with the rainbow theme as well and coloured it up as a rainbow.


I noticed immediately that the spelling of the word 'colour' was the same as mine (and half the English speaking world) but my spell checker tells me to loose the 'u' - the American spelling. I am not a good speller - never have been - and I am a bit dyslexic as well so spelling checker is my friend most of the time but not on this occasion: for some reason I thumb my nose to it for some words. I think it is because I actually know how to spell colour and so having the machine correct something I DO know is insulting!

Anyway, enough ranting......as I had to use cardboard, I found a spiral booklet with cardboard covers and set to work, forgetting to remove the spiral beforehand as usual. I painted it with some of my new white gesso. 


Then I flicked some of my new Pixi Powder onto the wet surface. I ended up also dragging my brush through the powders to get them to spread and cleaning off the excess on a spare piece of SU DP star card (you can see it in the background top right).


Only then did I think it would be useful to remove the spiral and black leaves inside!
Dumb, huh!


Now, I got a bit carried away with things then, and so did not take photo's of the next few steps.
Here is what I did:
  • texture paste clouds on front cover - I thought the paint was dry but not dry enough apparently and the yellow paint was drawn into the paste. Oh well.....
  • I glued card inside both the covers to cover over the paint edges and neaten them
  • I painted the sentiment white and let it dry for 24 hours
  • I sort-of worked out a mathematical grid at an angle to add colour to the sentiment (feeling quite proud of self here at that moment) and then added TH distress inks to the top of the white gesso. I did so well that I had to add red again to the right hand end.......
  • When dry, I went over it all with Wink of Stella clear - you can see it in some lights but not in the photographs very well
  • I glued the sentiment and the button on the cover, added the bling and then put the whole thing back together again - tried to wipe off the white paint from the spiral but I had left it too late....



I added some things from the kit - the rainbow twine (love this!) inserted through a plastic button and tied to the spiral; a tag with some washi tape and another button from the kit.


I then added most of the rest of the kit to the leaves inside - one item per leaf - to set it up for photographs to be added later


There was a beautiful big purple doily in the kit so I quartered that, and had four pieces to add.


It actually doesn't look too bad in real life - and I thought it might make a good gift for an expecting parent or grandparent......... as a brag book perhaps.

It is colourful and joyous and so it achieves its purpose.

Also, it has three bits of bling on the front cover.
There are twelve leaves (3 x 4) inside....
...and it took me three days to make it!

You have a week to make anything that fits the theme of three, and if you want to have a go at the twist, use some cardboard - just DON'T use any STAMPS please.

You can enter HERE at Unstampabelles






Saturday, 23 September 2017

My Stars! It's time for another challenge.......


This time Hilde wants STARS!!!!


There are so many beautiful photographs out there of the Milky Way and the Southern Cross.
This one is from Google!

My star card is a little different.



You know, I have so much washi tape and I love it but I don't Know what to do with it!

Finally, a car using some........


Some simply punched stars to match the shapes, a stamped sentiment in black.....


The DP card it is attached to is from SU and also has stars on it!
It is the same DP I used before - you can colour over it and it makes a great look but again, 
I kept it simple here!

Nature says it best!


Snow and an aurora… what a combination from Wilmot in north-west Tassie thanks to Jai Moyle.

www.instagram.com/jaimoyle_photography

Monday, 18 September 2017

Another Christmas card.....

Hi Everyone! Another week has flown bye - we have had a fleeting visit from our son (always nice) and the elder Granddaughters to dinner plus their partner's. The two lad's played football (Australian Rules) finals this weekend - one went on to the Grand Final after a very close game, and one lost a Grand Final after a very close game. I was watching both matches at the same time on my computer and later TV through son's tablet being streamed- my goodness, my old heart cannot take such excitement!  I found myself moving my shoulders and body with every mark and kick as well, and am a bit stiff today as a result!!!! In addition, I was messaging both granddaughters (who were at the respective games) and when one of the lads did something spectacular (or not) there was a flurry of texting going on! It was fun but tiring.

All over for one but another game to get through next week now. Once that was over, I watched on FB a video of the youngest Granddaughter (13) in ACT, playing a piano piece for her Spring Concert. Grandson (11) lost his Under 15 Hockey final yesterday morning but is playing his Under 13 Game this morning - no news on that one yet! It's all go for us this weekend! What would we do with social media, eh?

In addition both older girls went to their Soccer Team's Best and Fairest Celebration last night (they play in the same team), and the elder girl won the B & F, with her younger sister one point behind, while the younger one kicked the most goals for the season! Two more trophies to be displayed!

Talking of display's here is one that happened at the North West end of the island last week:


WOW… what an ‘out of this world’ photo from The Nut at Stanley thanks to Leanne Marshall who says:

It was great to see her again (this refers to the Aurora, known as The Lady). I was just down from Highfield House - at the lookout on the road down to Godfrey's Beach.


I love the milky way - the stars on the top right - I see them every clear night out my kitchen window...and love them. So full of mystery and colour and light. 

Here is my inspiration for this week for Unstampabelles:
there is sparkle and light here too.....



The tree's are cut from a piece of packaging, and I pulled the top face off to show the crimping......


That lovely SU card with the stars - I really thought about adding ink to colour the sky behind but decided to keep it neutral. It is mounted on gold card. 


Playing with effects allowed me to add the snowflakes to the photo's!


You can go to Unstampabelles and see what else the DT have created

Then have a go yourself - just remember - no stamps please. 

Monday, 11 September 2017

Sometimes, things only have a job to nourish the soul......

.......and this time was one of them!


I was playing - and I was on Pinterest: a dangerous situation........
I saw a small basket made with a toilet roll - and had to have a go myself



It was going to be tiny 'cause toilet rolls are small


When I cut it open I saw this message inside - made me laugh!
Bet you didn't know that was inside your toilet rolls.
Notice that there are three cut strips either side?

It really is quite small - I used glue dots to hold each arm in place.
Now, what will I do with it?

I decided to try and cover it with some Pixie Dust (newly purchased) and not yet put away.....


The paper under the basket  is one I used to wipe up the residue - that will be used later, too juicy a piece to throw away......once I had covered it as best I could. This was done by simply puffing powder onto the little basket and then spraying it with a water mister until I was happy with the coverage. It nearly fell to bits until it dried so had to be handled carefully - hence no photo's of that stage. I added some ribbon as a handle....and then stuffed it with some flowers and pretty jewelled sticks.


There are three sticks, three pink roses and three blue flowers - and it is just pretty!
I did think I would dismantle it and reuse the flowers one day ..... but not for quite a time as I smile every time I see it now. 


So, for Unstampabelles and the current challenge 

#72: Sets of Three
TWIST use cardboard

Here is this weeks taking.....

You can enter HERE
In the meantime, Tassie has been hit by a cold front and many parts by a big dump of snow so there are some beautiful photographs emerging on social media. This was one of them.......



Waratah Falls... a stunning capture of Tassie at it's finest in spring thanks to Anne Sweeney.

Right in the heart of the township of Waratah, on the edge of the Tarkine wilderness in north-west Tassie, is Waratah Falls. An amazing large waterfall that drops down into a gully below. The Waratah river forms a lake in the middle of town, before plunging over the top edge of the plateau as a substantial waterfall … right next to the main road. What other town can claim a waterfall in the town centre?

You can also follow Anne via instagram:
www.instagram.com/annesweeney9566

Saturday, 9 September 2017

Special Occasions........

Hilde at Crafting with Dragonflies wants a card for a Special Occasion 
- what better occasion than a birthday!!!

So, I made a birthday card for a special person......one who shares a lot of my interests! Except I photographed it late in the day and the sparkle from the Wink of Stella pens does not show as well as it does under artificial light.


Of course, if you tried to dress like that right at this time of the year here, your drink would be iced without any problem and you would not need to worry about sunburn, while you slowly died of hypothermia!



This was taken on Friday morning - spring as we know it currently!!

So, on to my card for Hilde.....

I purchased this stamp at Paperific because it really touched my funny bone.......
I coloured it with my Copics....


I hope you appreciate my sense of humour - I know it is a bit warped!
The sentiment is from Stampin' Up


You can go to 


and check out the rest of the DT's cards 
and you have a fortnight to enter over there!

Monday, 4 September 2017

#72 Challenges at Unstampabelles to date.....

....and this one is all about using the rule of three in design or at least a set of three somewhere. I used both! The TWIST for September was to use cardboard. The trouble is that in some places chipboard can be cardboard in some places - and in others it can be wood! Just check that you are working with cardboard - used for packaging and crafting - and youshould be OK.

Mine came from Scrapmatts - and I also piggybacked on the design of the bauble by Josie (at Scrapmatts) to create a Christmas card using some chip/cardboard from my newly aquired stash of Scrapmatts stuff!


Ihave three sets of papers from a Kaiser kit; three bits of bling too!


My cardboard is this lovely die cut piece from Scrapmatts - the sentiment is also from them, as is the gold branch. It colours up beautifully as long as your red Wink of Stella doesn't run!


This is the prize!

A photo to finish of the aurora on the 1st September:


An incredible Lady Aurora in southern Tassie last night thanks to Chasing Light - Photography by James Stone who says:

Wow! What an incredible aurora display tonight, bright enough to overcome the moonlight and very active - all visible to the naked eye.

www.instagram.com/james_stone_photography


Friday, 1 September 2017

September is Upon Us ... Already!

At Eclectic Ellapu, the September challenge is to create an item that fits the theme of 


''Floral and Fauna and/or Nature''

I cheated a bit as I have been away for the last two weeks and frantically busy since I got back two days ago - so I  am using a piece that I made in a class at Paperific in Melbourne last week. 



I attended the class at Scrapmatts
The design and the bits were all provided by Sofie Rossides from Scrapmatts

She is an excellent crafter and a great teacher. 

We made a Christmas Bauble01
Sometimes it is just nice to sit back and let someone else tell you how to create and make something - this was my thing!



You can see how big it was with the peg as the comparison.


I will hang it on my tree with pride this year. 


Sofie provided everything, including a sheet of instructions if we wanted to replicate this. 
Yes,I did purchase some bits from the stall - lots of bits really.

Here is my haul from the day!

No automatic alt text available.

I may have spent a lot of money......

You can see some Scrapmatt stuff on the bottom left side and a bit at the top right.....

Anyway - let's see what you have come up with for September's challenge at