Just to Say.....

...it is not Fall (Autumn) here but Spring!! 

Here is my tub of tulips - they survived their drowning!

The orchids are still in full flower.....

Note the Boronia flowering next to them 

However, over at Eclectic Ellapu we have a new October Challenge - we challenge you to make something about Fall!

I made a card BUT I did colour up the papers to die cut the leaves......

I started by locating as many pieces of paper that I had where I had mopped up paint or spray and which might look autumnal....

I die cut out some leaves but didn't like them that much by themselves so decided to do a new sheet

A$ Whisper White with Brusho's and similar added 

I sprayed with water first and then puffed on the paint powders

I kept doing this until I was happy with the look and then ran a paper towel over the top to mop up the excess and dried off the card with the heat gun.

I then die cut out some leaves using a die I had acquired as a freebie

Even the sentiment was part of it.

One of the pieces of card I had unearthed earlier has a nice muted look to it so I used it as the background to my leaves. When I attached it to the card blank I ran a fine black pen around the outside edge to define it a bit.

I did the same with the sentiment

The die set had acorns so I added them also

Some leavesare stuck directly to the background and some are lifted on dimensionals

I wanted a literal 'fall' of leaves. 

Here we have mostly non deciduous trees - they shed all year around so a tree which sheds after the leaves have changed colour all at the same time is always  a bit of a wonder for us. 

After saying that, because the English came here in the early 1800's and settled onto Aboriginal land, they planted lots of trees from home here as well so we do have places where this amazing 'fall' of leaves occurs in Autumn but on the whole we have native plants around us. 

So....where is your Fall item?

You have a month to enter it at 

Eclectic Ellapu!

A little bit CAS:#114 Crafting with Dragonflies

Crafting with Dragonflies has a new challenge leading into October - the make a CAS card.

I used the Stampin' Up set Serene Garden - it comes in a bundle with stamps and matching dies.

I coloured this one with the new SU watercolour pencils Set 2 and a water brush

The card is just SU Whisper White - it doesn't pill with water if you are only doing a bit

The sentiment comes from another SU set called Love What You Do

I ran the edge of the card mount around the paint end of the SU marker to put a faint edge onto the card; and added three dots of pearl to complete it

I ran the edge of the card mount around the paint end of the SU marker to put a faint edge onto the card

You have two weeks to complete a CAS card and enter it in the challenge!

See you there!!!

Crafting with Dragonflies

Last Week for Challenge #83: Buttons and Washi Tape

Hello Peeps - hope you have had a good week. This typifies our week here in the south of Tasmania

This morning’s sunrise from Blackmans Bay thanks to Katy Morgan who says:
A trifecta of cracking sunrises. The last three days have been spectacular something different every morning. A place close to home this morning to watch another sunrise in.
www.instagram.com/katypotaty77

Well, this has been an interesting challenge fort Unstampabelles, if only to show us that people don't have buttons anymore or perhaps just don't like using them.

I have made a card this week for some inspiration for you all - trying out a technique I have seen a few times but not done before.

Here is a blast from the past - my old Fiskar's big circle punch!

This suits my hands to use better than other punch types

I used some old DSP from SU (Carried Away) and punched out a few circles

This meant all the circles were going to meld and match

As I had the camera handy this time I took a few more shots than usual.

I had to mark where the cross pieces were on each circle and then carefully score and fold to create the square

Then I took a piece of mount (SU Whisper White) and measured where to place the washi tape

I used two different ones

Then I placed the squares into the middle and glued them down

I played with lots of buttons and finally settled on this combination

Some are SU buttons and some are jumper buttons!

 Once glued in place I added this to a card

I decided to keep the sentiment inside

My take on using buttons and washi tape!

Hope to see your work over at Unstampabelles!

You have a week to enter.

Tags for Christmas: #83 Button Art plus washi tape for twist at Unstampabelles

Well Hello Peeps - guess what, playing with buttons is apparently too hard for anyone as there are NO entries for the Unstampabelles September Challenge yet. NO ENTRIES! I cannot believe that - what is so difficult about using a button?

Here is my mid week inspiration for the challenge

A set of four tags for Christmas

I started with a sheet of four tags

I added two strips of washi tape across the bottom 

I used this as the foundation to glue on the buttons

I then drew the birds around the buttons

This idea is not new - I used a card I saw on Pinterest as the basis of the idea

I hand wrote the sentiment and added the To and From

And then some SU ribbon

before snipping through the tags to separate them 

It took me about 20 minutes to make the four from scratch so guess I could make 20 in about 30 minutes.....

Always a rainbow in a storm - when time is limited, make something quick!

Here is another rainbow in Hobart - Spring weather here so lots of rainbows.....

Rainbows and stormy skies over the Hobart waterfront ⛈ ☔️ 🌧www.instagram.com/emilybarwinski

So, off you go and get creating using your buttons!

Post the result on 

UNSTAMPABELLES

Crafting with Dragonflies Challenge#113: Anything Goes

Look out! An Anything Goes challenge - just how many entries can we get in 2 weeks? Remember, it has to be a card. Crafting with Dragonflies is always only a card.

Now for some inspiration to get you going....

Here is a beautiful shot taken in Stanley, on the North-West coast of Tasmania and showing off the lovely night skies in the southern regions. This area gets quite a high rainfall so that is why there is a lovely green layer of grass. The rest of this country is not faring so well with major drought everywhere on the Eastern seaboard on the mainland. This is not my photo but i have lost the details of th photographer. If you know who please let me know so I can attribute it to the rightful person. 

I made a card for my youngest Grandaughter - she was 15 last week.

Enough said.

I used the Tim Holtz Crazy Cats as both of us have a cat

I forgot to photograph from the beginning but you can see that I stamped the images onto Whisper White and then masked them - I did this two ways: once by painting on the Masking Fluid and letting it dry and then using a paper mask as well over this to make sure.

I then used some water activated paint powders of various kinds to create a background

I sprinkled first and then misted with the water

I dried this off straight away with paper towel as I didn't want too dark a background

Then I removed the paper masks and rubbed off the liquid mask - you can see how white the cats re compared to the background.

I used my Copic pens to colour up the two cats and then stamped and cut up the sentiment strips

These came from Ranger. I have three sets of these slightly insulting and quirky Dylusions sayings - they make me giggle every time I read them!

They suited the situation best - she got a T-Shirt announcing she is 'Always Right' - even when she is wrong.........among her other presents. She is a lovely girl and very smart so I knew she would appreciate the humour. 

I do love these cats.....

So, Happy Birthday for last week Lily

Here is my card for Crafting with Dragonflies

Challenge#113: Anything Goes

Button Art in a Bag......

Hello people...

I have a new DT project for you for Unstampabelles

Apparently Buttons frightened crafters off as there are no entries yet for the month....

Anyway, I decorated a white paper bag - one I was given with something I purchased a few months ago, so the bag itself is being reused.

As it is Spring  I went with a flower scene

Firstly I used my luscious Dylusions paints and created a background on a sheet of Whisper White (SU).

I used TH Distress ink's to stencil on some foliage using a sponge

Then I raided my button stash - in the middle of this I knocked a lot of button's off my desk and spent the next 24 hours removing them from the claws and jaws of Weasley!!!! The upside of this was that I had to clean up a bit!!!

Once I decided on my buttons, I glued them down and let them dry for a day before attaching the panel to the bag.

I did think of adding twine to each button but quickly gave that idea away as my hands are not that capable at the moment of sewing. I did add some washi tape to the edges and co-ordinated the back with two strips also

I used two rub-ons for sentiments

OK, that's it.

You can make a card, a tag, a bag, a box  - recycle if possible too - and/or create a mixed media piece.....up to you and your style.

The photo I am sharing to say is black and white and shows off the idea that Spring is not all sunshine and blue skies. It was taken on the top of the mountain in the city and that is my bay there on the far left just off the edge from the bridge. Lindisfarne is the first bay with the boats in there and Geilston Bay is the next one up from there (out of the picture).

The hill in the far distance is Maria Island and Mt Maria

That is just near where I grew up and an hour's drive from the city.

The water in the middle is known as Pitt Water and leads off to the right into Frederick Henry Bay

The bridge is of course the Tasman Bridge

I love the cloud line in the forefront......hiding the top of the mountain.

Hobartian layers
www.instagram.com/digitaljippie67

Challenge #83 at Unstampabelles has arrived: Button Art with a twist of Washi tape!

Hello Peeps!

Hope all had a great Father's Day celebration - we had a lovely afternoon at our daughter's place

Weasley gave his 'dad' a t-shirt with a dapper cat and the word "CatFather" on it!

I didn't given him anything - he is not my Dad......

What do you  think of Spring so far?

It's certainly had a head start here this year......

We drove  up to Orford in the new car a few days ago and had lunch there before returning home!

Didn't see these guys there then but have seen their brothers/sisters around the bays here

They are pretty funny birds - "beaks carry more than their belly can...."

‘Pelican March into Spring’ by Warren Donnelly.
Orford in Tasmania
www.instagram.com/warren.donnelly059

Today I will showcase the newest challenge at Unstampabelles for September

83: September - Button Art
Twist - use Washi Tape

Random Number Prize on offer

I had great fun trawling through Pinterest and Button Art and came up with with a simple card to start

I used the contrast between black and white and die cut a fancy edge onto my Whisper White card

I found some buttons approx the same size and in rainbow style colours and added them

I added two different styles of washi tape as well to create a space to locate my die cut sentiment

I had a little difficulty as I glued the sentiment the wrong way around and so had to remove it and replace it - with the accompanying tearing of the layer under the sentiment.....

....but now time to create another!

Soft focus hides a lot

I think it looks a bit funky

You can enter your Button Art project 

HERE