Am I in Dylusions here?

The answer is a resounding YES! I have been playing with these lovely paints......

I only have a few.....

I was making something else - you will see that much later, not today - and had some paint that needed to be mopped up or it would be wasted, so created these top two sheets, just using the red, yellow and orange.  I then at a later date stencilled/stamped them with black and blue as you see.

The yellow/green/blue one was created initially at the Paperific exhibition I went to, except for the  face, words and the sentiment, which I added yesterday.

I got them to a certain stage and then ran out of ideas until a very clever fellow artist Dee Fox pointed me in the right direction - this one I added some white highlights with a gel pen and the sentiment, and then mounted it onto black and a blue card blank.

The second one I am not that happy with but it is made

I NEEEEEEDDDDD a crackle stamp or stencil........

I have a big crackle stencil which I used as a sort of stamp for the middle one by dipping it into the paint and pressing it onto the card

The third one has used two Stamp FX stamps - strange things of orange on a heavy clear plastic back but they work beautifully

The doodle feather got some work with a white gel pen and some perfect pearls.....

The only reason the sentiment is added there is because I tried to stamp it directly onto the card, and stuffed it up so had to cover up the mess......I love the way the feather seems almost three dimensional......coming through the chicken wire.....

So, I learnt some more and had fun and made three more cards!

I will add this one to 

Just Keep on Creating: anything goes!

Good Morning Sunshine.........

......the earth say's Hello.......

No, wrong song! 

That was Good Morning Starshine!

Wikipedia tells me that 

"Good Morning Starshine" is a song from the second act of the 1967 musical, Hair. The song is performed by the character of Sheila.

Talking of starshine, look at this!

Aurora + Bioluminescence + Betsy Island, Tasmania from Wed night, 7th October.

by Ian Stuart

We have had some amazing displays of the Aurora in the last few weeks - who needs the sun when we have this to see!!

However, the current Challenge #51 at Unstampabelles is 

 the SUN - rising or setting, but always with 

a twist of GOLD! GOLD! GOLD!

The prize for this month is this embossing folder

So, I thought of the rising sun, and did this

I used Stampin' Up Champagne glimmer paper and lots of glue!

I have a few word dies now and used them to effect too

The papers all come from a co-ordinating booklet from Graphic 45 Home Sweet Home and I found the pattern for the rays on Pinterest

It's a bit obvious for the sun but it was fun to make and it looks really sparkly and effective in the sun itself! Why not go off and have a go yourself?

at Unstampabelles

I will enter this in the following:

613 Avenue Create: anything goes

Suzy Bee's Blooming Challenge: anything goes with a twist of beginning with S - yep, that's the Sun

Polkadoodles: use a die cut - the words are die cut

"You're Weird Muriel!"

The other night the movie Muriel's Wedding was on TV, and I stumbled across it half way through and watched it to the end - still makes me sad, her poor Mum.......21 years ago this was first seen. I saw an interview also of Toni Collette a few days later - she looks a bit more glamorous than she did then - and it was mentioned to her that it was 21 years ago; she was gracious.......said it meant that she has worked continuously since then, so it was really the start of a great career. Anyhow, the famous line "You're weird Muriel" was uttered there and is now a part of the lexicon of Australia's life. 

One of my Granddaughter's says this to her friend - and to anyone else appropriately - and so when I was thinking of what I could make for the current challenge at 

Crafting with Dragonflies

where the theme is: to use something not usual on a card - in other words, recycle

I thought of the swing labels from some recently purchased clothing, which for some weird reason I could not thrown away. 

How could I use them on a card? 

I had a brain wave, and because the movie was still sitting in the top layers of memory in my brain, the phrase "You're Weird...." ran through. I immediately grabbed the stamp I had purchased from TYPO quite a while ago and not used - and began to plan! 

Before you choke on your wine/gin/coffee/tea or drink of choice, I did not pay this for the said scarf - I was in fact given the scarf when I purchased some other things while on holiday's in Canberra - must have been a good customer to be given the scarf!

The name of the clothing label also appealed  - as the wife of a man whose whole career was in the 'smutters' or clothing business - he travelled in ladies clothing - I thought it was a great label for clothing, and I emphasized the name by adding threads of pink and white twine to the label.

I also had a Julie Nutting doll stamp not used yet, so she got stamped up and coloured in and I paper pieced her dress and added some extra colour with the Copics as well. She was put onto a black label and the threadz label layered on top of the black label and under the girl.

I coloured the girl's hair blond, as I thought this card would be a good card to give to Georgia - who is blond in all the photo's I have seen of her: a friend of my Granddaughter, and my Granddaughter agreed Georgia would like it and took it, thank goodness! Hope Georgia does get it and does likes it! I have embossed the background for some more texture and added some bling, and the sentiment and mounted them onto a black blank card. 

I have been told since that Georgia does not have blond hair naturally - and my response was: who does? Mine would be a very pale imitation of its current colour if I did not do a little dying (dieing) occasionally - with lots and lots of silver highlights!

I think I am a probably a bit weird - I certainly have a slightly twisted sense of humour - so this sentiment is so suitable for me to use - perhaps the reason I purchased the stamp originally !

Why not go across to 

Crafting with Dragonflies

see what the other's have used in their recyling adventure

and then look around your space - what is there that could be usefully used?

Better than putting it into landfill!

I will enter this in the following challenges:

Crafting with Friends: anything goes

Creative Fingers: anything goes

Crafty Girls: Anything Goes

In the Pink: 1, 2, 3 = 1 image; 2 tags; 3 bits of bling!

Southern Girls: Let's Celebrate - being Weird! and Friends; and Granddaughters! 

Hello Mr Sun!

Guess what - summer really is coming - we have just moved to Daylight Saving and had our first day of total fire ban! It was a balmy 29 degrees yesterday, dropping down to about 23 today before rising again tomorrow! Definitely know when summer is coming when the garden sprinklers are on, the air smells of smoke and the light lingers in the evening......

So, Unstampabelles has moved to it's latest challenge for October

#51: The Sun! It can be rising or setting!!

The twist is Gold! Gold! Gold!

There are lots of ideas running through my head (yes it is a bit empty in there) and my idea's are outstripping my abilities. I made a card - well, several - but yo don't have to make it a card - a journal page, a canvas, an off the page item, a scrap page, something recycled........anything will be acceptable as long as NO STAMPS please. 

There is a prize

I was reading a recently purchased magazine called Quick Cards, and an article by Tracy Grundy, who was using stamps by Marianne Design called Doodle Sun. As you know I am into Zentangle a bit and I really liked this idea straight away. Problem is - no stamps can be used for this challenge. Bright idea - I googled sun images until I got one that looked like the image in the photograph

I enlarged it to suit my card and carefully suing my black Micron Pen I drew around the edges of the rays and the circle in the middle, and then tangled in the yellow spaces. I was really pleased at how it all turned out.

I carefully diecut a circle big enough for the centre, drew in a face and coloured it up a bit, and added a gold holographic piece of card behind it. I mounted firstly the face and then the sun, after fussy cutting it out, onto a piece of white card using dimensional circles and a Copic pen to outline the edge in orange/gold.

My sentiment was a direct case of theirs - but not stamped, simple written

Again, orange copic pen around the edge and then some of the gold paper under it 

I added the white card to a muted old gold mount and then all to a white card blank

Above in the direct sunlight and below in shade

Thanks to Marianne Stamps and to Tracey for the idea

Why not go over to Unstampabelles to see what else is being used for inspiration this week, and then have a go at creating your own Sun inspired project for the challenge!

All Hallow's Eve, apparently is this month!

This month at Eclectic Ellapu - Purple Team, we are saying go spooky!

Halloween/ Horror/ Dark

Now, we don't actually do Halloween here in little old Tassie - or I don't - but I know it happens out there somewhere in the big wide world, so I made this to celebrate All Hallow's ............or Halloween.

I wanted to make the card with the concertina base, and thought I could do it without looking up the instructions.......so, several tries later I got this!

Always pays to read the instructions first!

No, it is not a proper concertina card - it is a fixed-up sort-a-type of mistake......but I got some layering going....

However, I used a piece of the card I had experimented on with the Dylusions paint last month as a backdrop, and some die cuts, and the cobweb which comes from SU's newest catalogue.....and I found this little spidy in my stash......

Angry bird owl is coloured with Distress markers and fussy cut out

Sentiment is handwritten 'cause I couldn't find my one-and-only Halloween stamp set....

I know it looks a bit strange but I kinda-like it!

There are some amazing things on display over at the Eclectic Ellapu site, and the Purple team are waiting for you to show us what you can create for the October Challenge

Halloween/ Horror/ Dark

Final week for September Challenge 50: Unstampabelles

Challenge 50: Unstampabelles

Boys will be Boys

The twist is to say what you thinks makes a good male card

I made two cards because I didn't really like the first one and ended up  not liking either. 

Oh well.......

It started Ok with embossing a piece of SU card and then using some yellow string and SU DP paper scraps to make some flags and a banner.  I have a small banner punch but didn't remember until I had finished making this! Consequently these are made by hand.

Well, the sentiment says it all on this one - had a go at the blackboard/chalk thing that is popular at the moment an hand wrote my sentiment.

I added the sequins to try and lift it and give it some sparkle.

Perhaps the flags should be allowed to flop over the blackboard? 

I was working with geometric shapes and strong lines and then being a bit messy while still keeping it simple as....

The second card started because I was showing someone how to diecut and diecut out this new Disire die in a scrap of green card - I put some black behind it to make the HB sentiment stand out. It grew from there.......

I had also purchase this new die (oh, alright, I purchased two packs -8 dies - off eBay because I couldn't find them at Paperific. They are from Memory box and I love them) and I had decided to test them out on a distressed style card. This was a practice cut on some orange card floating around....

I added the two things together.

I saw a card that used a flag with washi tape under it and so added that to the mix.....

Dirtied it up with ink and some pen marks and then added the enamel dots

I had to stop because it was getting more disastrous each step I took......not sure what will save it. Any suggestions?

The aim was keeping it simple, strong geometric shapes and a bit dirty/distressed

If you haven't entered this challenge yet, why not?

This is the random prize.

A Pink Christmas!

The newest Challenge at 

Crafting with Dragonflies

is 

Anything Goes!

I decided to use one of the many small images I have coloured with Copics and other mediums and not used. I think this one is from last year. So another Christmas card was born......

He is an image from Lily of the Valley and is stamped.

I also wanted to use my newest punch from Stampin' Up which is a poinsettia creator. I punch out 5 times I believe to get the right number of leaves, scored them in the middle and built them up.  I used a piece of DP called in bloom by artsy which has been in my Christmas stash for several years. 

Mmmm, need practice I think.......

I added lots of bling and some shimmer to the image but you cannot see that in the light I photographed it in

I added the bling late - this was it before, but I decided it needed a bit more???

Anyhoo------that was my story for this fortnight.

I will enter this in the following:

Crafting with Friends: Anything Goes

QKR Stamped: cats or dogs - he is a dog!

Blog Quick Quotes: Anything Goes

Southern Girls: whimsical, cute, fun

Stop Toolin' Around........

You cannot beat a good pun!

Males cards  - apart from being fairly simple and clean looking - often work well with a funny line attached, and if you can build the card around a pun - home and hosed, my friend!

This card being made for Unstampabelles Challenge #50 Boys will be Boys, for September has used a pun around the word "tool". 

When I was still teaching, and in particular teaching young teeenage boys, this word had to be avoided at all costs - who knew it had some much capacity to reduced a classroom of teens to sniveling, sniggering, giggling wrecks with no ability to concentrate left. I was reminded of this fact a few days ago when a young person I know, and who has just started teaching, inadvertently used the wrong word in front of Year 8's and they lost the plot. She will be scarred for life I suspect. 

Still, it set me thinking about my unfortunate use of "man's prehistoric tool" in front of a similar group and then reminded me of the many uses applied to that particular word when talking about males. I had some die that would be appropriate, so set to work. 

This is what I created

Showed it to hubby - he sniggered - they never grow up!

This is what is say's inside

So, punny or worse - add a funny line or crack a joke and you have created a good male card.

Why not make one today and then enter it 

HERE!

Second post for Unstampabelles Challenge #50

Remember that over at 

Unstampabelles

there is a challenge#50 called 

Boyz will be Boyz

This is the prize pack

The twist is to write a few things about what makes a good male card - to share the information around and help out those of us who are a bit too challenged by these cards. 

I recently came across the UK company called Acid Drops and Whatnots, and may have purchased a few things from them when my fingers accidently skidded on the keys......

Anyway, they were selling sheets of funny images and sayings to make up into quick cards

This is an example of one of them

I had one for males - so made two quick cards from them to show that making a male card is not always that difficult, if you think a bit outside the square, and use printed images

The images were even coloured for me!

You can get these images in stamps too - and I have some of them as well - but for fast action, these two cards took me a whole 10 minutes for both!

I grabbed the sheet of left-over paper on the desk from my last male card venture for last week....

The sheet itself cost me about $3 with the exchange rate, and I made in total three cards from it. I also used a blank card from a freebie pack for the tall one, and the other is recycled, so in all these two cost me just over $1.10 to make - bargain I think!

Again I have used that principle for male cards that I tend to stick to quite a bit - KISS!

Keep it Simple Stupid

Why not pop over to Unstampabelles and see what the other team members have created for their male cards as well, and also to check out our September Guest!