Creative Expressions dies

Hello folks - hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day earlier this month!

I am going to share another card made for Bizzy Bec's Store Blog challenge for May

"Anything Goes"

Again, I used a die from Sue Wilson - Bec's has access to all the latest ones and can get them for you - just contact her.

This one comes from the 2018 Australian collection and is called 'Sydney'.

You can die cut it with or without the outer die which makes it very versatile indeed. 

I chose to use the outer die which cut the lacy die from the card completely - if I had chosen to leave it off, the lacey bit would be incorporated inside the card.

I used the same colour scheme that I did earlier in the month for Bizzy Bec's May challenge and the smaller of the two flowers I made then.

Details on this can be found below.

This card uses a lot of layering and I hand marked the stitching around the edges of all the mounts!

This time my background colour is Coastal Cabana 

and the DP used is a piece of 

Quick Quotes Paper - By the Bay QQP-BY400

The pearl bling lifts it beautifully.

Cream, White, Coastal Cabana and Bermuda Bay Stampin' Up card

extra White card for Chrysanthemum

Bermuda Bay ink (SU) on sentiment

Art Alchemy Metallic Wax - Mint Sparkle (used on flower )

Sentiment stamp from Waltzing Mouse 

Quick Quotes Paper - By the Bay QQP-BY400

Sue Wilson Australian Collection die set - Sydney CED8104

Cottage Cutz die - Leafy Foliage  (CC4x6-012)

blue pearls

This gives you an idea of the shimmer created by the wax on paper idea I had.

There is still time to enter the challenge 

We would love to see your work. 

Gift bag: Challenge #89 at Unstampabelles

Happy Mother's Day to all who mother others!

Hope it is a great day for you  and well celebrated....

Yesterday I went for a drive and ended up at Kettering and lunching with my big brother.

Afterwards, we wandered down to the Marina and I took this shoot with my phone!

It was a beautiful but cold autumnal day.

This Monday morn I have a little gift bag to add to the DT contributions 

at Unstampabelles

where the current challenge is 

"To Have and To Hold"

What better way to do that than with some glamour. 

So the TWIST this month is 

To use some ART DECO Glamour!

Remember, you don't have to do the TWIST to enter

BUT ..... what is a challenge without a CHALLENGE!

I started off with a recycled small black bag

I added an image from DoCrafts Papermania Art Deco set

I also added a gold feather from D'Lish and another I die cut myself

plus three bits of bling!

The same image smaller and on the back of the bag

Up close of image and feathers.....

Hope this excites you to make something for this challenge.

You have three weeks to do so.....

May and a New Challenge at Unstampabelles!

Hello Peeps -welcome to all the new Followers too!

Isn't this the prettiest way to experience a cold morning?

Autumn does it well..... 

Amazing sunrise colour as the morning mist cleared on the Pieman River at Corinna, Tasmania.
Thanks to Peter Dowling for a pretty special photo.
www.instagram.com/father_richard

Who doesn't love a Celebration?

This month you can let loose over at Unstampabelles and create something for a 

Celebration as the challenge is 

"To Have and To Hold"

The TWIST is to do so in an Art Deco Style!

If you go to Unstampabelles, you will find information about what exactly is Art Deco

Using this information, I created a card:

I kept it very simple and used some lovely Art Deco paper that was lurking in my stack

(thanks to a friend who wanted me to find something - I had to search all my papers!)

I had also a lovely Art Deco inspired die from Spellbinders - 

Contemporary Diamonds

I die cut the decorative strip using gold card

The centre of the strip has a vanilla diamond with the word 'dance' 

in an Art Deco script. This is a rub-on.

Dancing always happens at a Celebration!

There are some small vanilla coloured pearls added

Simplicity and line.....

Why not go and see what the rest of the DT have come up with for this challenge!

Unstampabelles,

You have a month to enter. 

Remember, No Stamps - even for sentiments

Mothering Day in May

Hello Peeps and especially Hello to all you Mums out there.

Happy Mother's Day

today I am showcasing the card I made for Bizzy Bec's latest challenge for May

"Anything Goes"

 I thought it was only natural that I should make this about making Mums.......

.....chrysanthemums, of course!

However, mine is made in Mint Sparkle!

I should have rounded up the petals a little more!

This is how I made the flower using a Sue Wilson die 

Finishing Touches Chrysanthemum - CED1472

I took a sheet of Whisper White card and using s small sponge, began to rub onto this a small amount of Art Alchemy Wax - Mint Sparkle

As I went over bits already done it darkened down. 

It gave the paper a gorgeous metallic sheen.

When I was happy with the colour I die cut two sets of flowers out.

Then I took a sheet of cream card and die cut the Sue Wilson Striplet die - Floral Meadow

I made the mums by layering up various sizes and tried to get them to round inwards a bit more than they did.

I die cut  a Cheery Lyn Tropical Flourish - B127 (it's and old one, I know) from the same sheet of white now bluish green card.

Then I cut some leaves using the Cottage Cutz die - Leafy Foliage die from Bermuda Bay card (Stampin' Up card and colours).

When I assembled this, I added a sentiment from an old stamp set from Waltzing Mouse, stamped in Bermuda Bay ink. 

The mint green dots are from D'Lish

Because I didn't glue allthe panel down - just the edges - the Striplet has more depth and in sunlight throws shadows behind. Also in the sunlight the flower is shining and shimmering but it does not show in the photo's - sorry. 

Why not go over to Bizzy Bec's and see what other delights the Design Team has to offer - in addition, check out the store. Always good to support a local Australian store too!

Last week for the Challenge at Unstampabelles for April

Firstly, Happy Easter!

Secondly, the Unstampabelles challenge for April runs until midnight on Friday

....so there is still time to enter!

I decided as Easter is fast fading into a chocolate haze behind us, I would make a 

nothing for no reason card, a have a conversation card, a hi how are you type of card.

Of course if it had to have critters, they may as well be some of the crazy Australian ones we have. 

The fast disappearing koala......

The animal on the national coat of arms that we eat.....

Oh, yes, the laughing kingfisher 

and the spiny ant eater or echidna

You have seen that background paper before - Dylusions paint smeared onto white card with a baby wipe,then bokeh'ed up a a bit with some white ink........

The card opens out to make this

Very Vanilla is the card base

I used lots of scraps from the stash pile.

(She says virtuously) 

Why not enter your critter in the challenge?

Bizzy Bec's and Wild Things!

Hello, today I am on the Bizzy Bec's Store Blog with another card made using the Darkroom Door stamp set Fine Flowers.

This time I simply stamped the images onto watercolour paper

I used Tim Holtz sprays - sprayed onto my glass sheet - and then spritzed with water. I picked up the resultant colour in a fine paintbrush and had fun. 

Once the colouring was done I flicked a loaded brush onto the paper and also spritzed a bit of water around to get a nice smudgy background.

I took the Darkroom Door sentiment stamp Wild Thing and used washi tape to mask off the line above and below the words 'wild things' before inking. After peeling this off, I carefully laid a piece of the card onto the inked words and pressed gently with my fingers until I was sure I had transferred the ink. I layered up slightly off and tied it with twine. My doodle around the piece of old DP was with a fine black pen. I added some sequins for sparkle. 

Darkroom Door - Fine Flowers Vol 1

Darkroom Door sentiment - Wild Things

Tim Holtz Sprays Crushed Olive, Fired Brick, Wild Honey

(or use the inks by pressing pad onto glass or similar and then spritizing with water) 

String

Card and paper from my stash

Sequins

Watercolour Paper

Fine Paintbrush

White square card blank from Regal Press

Krazy Kritters are midway through the month at Unstampabelles

Well, Hello Peoples

Getting close to Easter isn't it!

Hope you have a great break over this festive season and don't eat too many things that are bad for us - not chocolate of course, that is not bad for us - you can eat as much of that as you like......!

Can you hear the Kookaburra laughing from here?

Today's 'Through the Lens' feature showcases 17yo Tasmanian photographer Lily Pursell from Lily Pursell Photography.

Over at Unstampbelles, we are asking that you bust out some crazy creatures and put them on a bokeh background. There is an explanation of the word bokeh here. 

As it is so close to Easter, I thought I would use that theme for my midway creation

A tag for Easter

What is more Easter than a chicken!

I started with my SU ink pads and sponges and a variety of circle stencils

I used as my background a piece of paper from a 2016 booklet that came with a craft magazine

It had the animals as well in the same pack - I did the fussy cutting.

Not all bokeh has to be white so I started playing with colours similar to the ones on the background

I did end up going white thought - mainly because my sponge was still full of the pan pastel white I used last time.

My last stencil was home made - punches and card stock......

Then I made a grave error - I cut the sheet up, thinking it would fit on a card

I then decided to make a tag using a recycled tag that had a cat collar on it once.

I had to reattatch the pieces and there is a line as a consequence!

The tag is covered in card SU Soft Sky

then in the treated paper

The sentiment is stencilled on also using black ink

Different angles give different colours.

There is a bit of ink sponged on edges too for a grungy look. 

Tied to the cat cage out in the sun - it is a big tag

but you can see the kritters are raised up

I added some crystal dimension to the balloons but you cannot see that clearly here

It also has a shimmer from the pan pastel and is quite cute. 

What have you created?

You can enter it 

HERE

Who say's Dinosaurs are only for boys....

How stunning is this early morning autumnal sky. 

I spent a lot of my childhood looking at the southern end of this island off the Tasmanian coast. 

Love this state.

Mmmmm....wonder if there were dinosaurs on Tasmania?

(Google search follows....)

Dr Steve Salisbury is a palaeontologist at the University of Queensland and says that although dinosaur fossils have not been found in Tasmania it is believed that dinosaurs did once roam around the state.

Apparently our rocks are too old????

A magical view of Maria Island from Spring Beach at Orford thanks to Maree Woolley

www.instagram.com/mkwoolleyimages_

 Well, I made a dinosaur card for a girl (but it could also go to a boy)

I purchased a magazine in 2017 and it had a booklet of images and background papers which I carefully placed in my stash! Yes, you never know when this stuff could be useful. 

I tore out a page and glued it to a sheet of white card and let that dry before fussy cutting out the dinosaurs.

To create the background, I used a sheet of the paper from the booklet.

It was already a bit bokeh but I played around with creating a sort to jungle effect to blur the background further.

I used a variety of stencils and Tim Holtz inks.

I finished it off with a bit of glamour with the Pastel Pan Pearl Medium - yummmm

I also added some of the pearl medium to the cut-out dinosaur, as well as some glitter glue and some pearl drops - she is very smart!

I think I should have outlined (s)he in some black ink perhaps or pink ink - purple ink?

What do you think? 

Let me know.

Some fancy cutting of the jungle paper from the booklet and a sticker for the sentiment, outlined with a black pen completed the card.

(S)He is eating some of the leaves.....

I had another dinosaur so cut that out too and created this one.

White stickers, another smaller dinosaur cut out and stuck onto that background paper I had already mentioned is a bit bokeh, some dimensionals - those jungle leaves, which have a patch in the middle removed,   have a sort-of bokeh feel to them too, don't you think?

Dino has a mouthful of leaf.....

The little one behind (Mite) is saying "Do you think he-saur-us?"

Why not go over to Unstampabelles, where the challenge is

Krazy for Kritters 

TWIST Bokeh Backgrounds

See what the DT have made and have a go yourself!

Bizzy, Bizzy Me at Bizzy Bec's!

I have just become a team member of the Bizzy Bec's Store and Challenge Blog. The April theme is 'Anything Goes", which is always very popular.

I am waiting for a parcel to arrive from WA (apparently Tasmania, according to Australia Post, is soooo very far away, postage takes forever) so I delved into my stash and lo and behold, I have some Darkroom Door stamps (Bec has these at her store!) and an itch to use my Dylusions Paints to create a background.

Firstly, I smooched some paint onto white card, using baby wipes as they make cleaning up a cinch.

I covered a whole 12 x 12 sheet so I have some other pieces to use later. 

Once I finished, I misted some water on it as well. 

I then grabbed my Darkroom Door Frame Stamp and black ink and selected a piece of the treated paper to stamp this onto - almost like looking through a window. 

I then used Versamark to stamp two daisies from the Darkroom Door Fine Flowers's set and 

embossed it with white embossing powder

I tried a variety of ways to colour the flower petals but ended up doing them with Copic pens

I then cut up/out the small rectangles

I took a piece of black card from my scrap pile and stamped the frame stamp again, this time using Versamark. The I carefully layered the rectangles over the corresponding ones on the black card and stuck them down. 

This got layered onto orange and thn green card and a black card blank. Some yellow twine was wrapped around and then I realised I didn't have a sentiment. 

I found one I liked in an old stamp set that I think was from Annabel Stamps (remember them?)

I thought I had it lined up perfectly - ooops!

Hope you like it! It sorta glows. 

Darkroom Door Frame Stamp

Darkroom Door Fine Flowers Vol 1

Dylusions Paints -blue, orange and light green: ask Bec to order them for you

Baby Wipes - the cheaper the better

White Embossing Powder

Versamark Ink

Yellow Twine

Copic pens for colouring flowers

White, Black, Green and Orange card - I used Stampin' Up card

Sentiment Stamp - (old) clear Annabel Stamps