Saturday, May 31, 2014

Do the things you never thought you could do...


 

Inspired by the The Color Room and CASE Study colours and use of thread, Wida's CASE Study offset angles, teal blue sentiment and large stamped image, and the Take a Word "Book" Collage Challenge. I so wanted to add some machine stitching to this collage, but my machine didn't want to play, so I went with a flight line of thread instead.

In case you are interested, the process went something like this (with drying in between each step):

  • Used gel medium to stick down the old fairytale book pages;
  • overlaid with whitewash;
  • gel mediumed the Cosmo Cricket Junk Drawer strips;
  • laid the Tim Holtz mask letters in place and spread a layer of modelling paste over the top;
  • stamped this gorgeous Darkroom Door butterfly on tissue paper and gel mediumed in position; 
  • once dry, repositioned the masked letters before overspraying with Prima spritzes in soft gold, soft teal and soft red;
  • coloured the butterfly with the soft teal spritz then decided it needed a deeper colour;
  • infilled the butterfly and "Fly" letters with gelatos; and
  • added the thread butterfly trail.

Friday, May 30, 2014

Bookmark it with a KIS!


With the cold weather creeping in, it's a perfect time of year to curl up with a book!
I couldn't resist creating a bookmark from a page of a book for this fortnights Keep It Simple challenge. Combined with paper piecing from my paper scrap bag, stamped with this gorgeous Little Red Riding Hood character by Avery Elle, and die cuts from Mama Elephant Landscape Trio and Lil Inkers Small Stitched Sunshine, on this purpose built bookmark die cut from Paper Smooches.


Remember to stop by the blogs of the Keep It Simple DT for some more 
FABULOUS bookmark inspiration.
Love to see how you are inspired this fortnight!

Playing along with All Crafts Challenge Anything but a Card, and 

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Stuck?! Out...




Couldn't resist playing along with this months Stuck?! Sketches with this gorgeous sketch, and fabulous prizes from Scrapbook Circle and Polly Scrap Kits.  What better photo to scrap for a Stuck?! Sketch, than a pirate with his tongue Stuck?! out LOL!

This is another of my PhD (Project half Done) projects - another set of photo, papers and embellishments which have been gathering dust for about 7 years. It's been so long since I distressed papers that I forgot I needed to wet the edges first! Papers are a combination of Junkitz by Teresa Collins, Rusty Pickle and Scenic Route, with the textured skulls by Tim Holtz and a Hambly rub-on pirate ship.  The lovely Sam came to the rescue with the perfect Scrapware chipboard title.  The skulls and title were inked in Momento Ink Wedding Dress then covered in white metal melts and heat embossed.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

A PhD in Sketchabilities...


I had put this photo, papers and chipboard together about seven years ago - so this definitely classified as a Project half Done (aka PhD)! Getting back into the swing of scrapbooking is more difficult than I thought, but made a whole lot easier with fabulous sketch challenge sites like Sketchabilities!  How can you go wrong with this fortnights fabulous sketch...
Inspired by the single cloud above DS head, with a selection of (very old) papers from Basic Grey, Fancy Pants and papers and embellishments from Sassafrass Lass, I added the Pink Paislee wooden letters, Lil Inkers Stitched Polaroid die cut frames, texture pasted some clouds and added splatter to bring the layout into this decade LOL! 

Still feel a bit squeaky scrapbooking wise, but glad to have another PhD completed!
Playing along with All Crafts Challenge Anything but a Card too!

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Never too old to get distressed & dirty...




 


Had the most fun getting distressed and dirty at a Surreal Creations weekend scrap retreat with Ruey, Michelle and Jorja!  

Playing along with One Little Word - Will, with this piece. At the moment I am at a cross-roads, and I need to take a deep breath and summon the will to set a new goal and dream a new dream, and with it find the courage to turn that dream into reality.

Learnt an important lesson creating this mixed media piece - always dry your layers first!  I had forgotten to let the first coat of gel medium dry over my die cuts when I started adding my first layer of colour, and everything kept reacting from there, but in the end it was worth it! This was created using layers of heavy watercolour paper die cuts, colour sprays, gelatos, Twinkling H2O watercolour paints, a chipboard butterfly covered in Metallic Melts embossing powder, Darkroom Door script stamped on the poppies and base layer, Heartfelt Creations dimensional die cut flowers also covered in Metallic Melts embossing powder with gold highlights and this gorgeous Verve sentiment stamped on white tissue paper and adhered with gel medium to make it disappear into the background layer.  

If you're feeling daunted about mixed media, don't be - it's all about experimenting and letting yourself get distressed and dirty LOL!

Thursday, May 22, 2014

I Spot a FUSION...


As soon as I spied this fortnights FUSION photo, I knew I wanted to use this gorgeous spotted birdie paper from Prima - it was just a matter of trying to remember where it was hiding in my stash LOL! 

I was inspired by a FUSION of the sketch and this fabulous inspiration photo, drawing on a combination of the red and white polka dots, woodgrain, bird and the food theme, by incorporating a doily into my card (thanks Cecilia!). The patterned papers were a combination of old papers from my stash, together with this super cute Paper Smooches die cut sentiment.

How will you be inspired by this fortnights FUSION - will you use this fabulous sketch, or pull inspiration from this gorgeous inspiration photo or BOTH?!? 


How to join in the fun...
1. Play with just the sketch challenge.
2. Play with just the inspiration photo challenge.
3. Or you can create FUSION by combining BOTH challenges into one card.
4. Use the challenge graphic and link back to Fusion in your post.
5. Please read the other considerations on the Our Rules Page before playing along.

Can't wait to see how you will be inspired by this fortnights FUSION!  
The Design Team have some FABULOUS creations to inspire you!
Please check the linky for the days left to play with us!

P.S. Today is Washi Day...


Looking outside - the sun is shining brightly, or at least it's trying to, and we are in the midst of the longest run of warm May days on record!

So despite the fact it is Autumn, I thought it was a perfect time to create a Springy Happy Birthday card using this left over washi tape flower, and adding washi tape letters and side strip too. The die cut flowers are from Simon Says Stamp and sentiment is Paper Smooches.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Keep It Simple - Can You Sea What I Sea!



This weeks fabulous Keep It Simple inspiration is Maritime!  I created my sea background using watercolours and laying my stencil over the top whilst it dried. I love this gorgeous Verve nautical sentiment and sailing boat, paper pieced with MME weathered wood patterned paper and watercolour red flag, and backed with some more of the weathered wood patterned paper.

Remember to stop by the blogs of the Keep It Simple DT for some more 
FABULOUS maritime inspiration.
Love to see how you are inspired this fortnight!

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

A CASE Study in Washi...


So wanted to play along with CASE Study last week with the fabulous Wida as Muse - but ran out of time - so an extra effort to make the deadline this week, with inspiration from this gorgeous card...
I was inspired by the colours, the window (mine became a circle), use of washi tape and die cuts. The background panel was created using strips of floral washi tape (just right for playing along with Simon Says Stamp Spring Flowers), die cut with Lil Inkers Stitched Rectangle and Stitched Circle (just right for playing along with Virginia's View Stitching Challenge too). The Simon Says Stamp daisies are also My Minds Eye washi tape on cardstock and die cut.  I wanted to go for the trifecta and create the sentiment from washi tape, but none of my washi was as perfect as this tiny polka dot paper from Lawn Fawn. The My Favorite Things sentiment was also cut from Lil Inkers Stitched Circle and inset.

As washi is such a central feature, I'm playing along with 
Paper Crafter's Gallery Idol just for the fun of it too!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Happy Mother's Day!


Hope all the Mum's in your life (including you!) have a FABULOUS Mother's Day!

I've spent a few hours crafting today, mostly playing with watercolours and nothing has turned out as I envisioned - perhaps that's the problem with watercolour, you have to go with the flow, literally, LOL.

Playing along with Avery Elle's Mother's Day Challenge, this card was created from a panel of watercolour created using Twinkling H2O Poppy and LuminArte Bougainvillea, die-cut with Avery Elle Rounded Diamonds Die, with this gorgeous Avery Elle Love Notes sentiment stamped in Versamark Watermark and embossed in Gold. Three colours, three rounded diamonds and three layers were used on one third of the card to play along with CAS-ual Fridays Three Thirds Challenge too!

Off to enjoy some afternoon tea with my family - after a lovely breakfast cooked by my DD :)


Thursday, May 8, 2014

FUSION & Plan Bee...

This fortnights FUSION card started out as a watercolour card - and totally did not turn out as expected - so, quite literally, it was onto Plan Bee, LOL!


The bright yellow and black stripes in the photo on the far left just reminded me of a big bumble bee! The yellow stripes were created by stamping Avery Elle's Brushed in Momento Luxe Dandelion ink, over-stamped with this super cute Paper Smooches Giddy Bug bee, and The Crafts Meow Thanks Bee to Thee sentiment, then added some googly eyes and polka-dotted ribbon from my stash.

How will you be inspired by this fortnights FUSION - will you use this fabulous layered sketch, or pull inspiration from these bright floral photos, or BOTH?!? 


How to join in the fun...
1. Play with just the sketch challenge.
2. Play with just the inspiration photo challenge.
3. Or you can create FUSION by combining BOTH challenges into one card.
4. Use the challenge graphic and link back to Fusion in your post.
5. Please read the other considerations on the Our Rules Page before playing along.

Can't wait to see how you will be inspired by this fortnights FUSION!  
The Design Team have some FABULOUS creations to inspire you!
Please check the linky for the days left to play with us!


Saturday, May 3, 2014

A-very Little MUSE...

I loved the simplicity of Gillian's Muse Challenge card this week, but find I tend to go more rather than less, so I took some inspiration from the gorgeous pink colour, baby theme and Lil Inkers stitched border die.  Featuring Avery Elle's Storytime stamps by Heather Campbell, stamped in brown ink for a baby card, with an added swoosh of watercolour to get in the mood for next weeks Online Classes Watercolour for Cardmakers class - and Keep It Simple Watercolour Challenge!

Gillian's Muse Inspiration Card

Friday, May 2, 2014

Keep It Simple - Watercolour...

Watercolour is all the rage at the moment. I'll be joining in the fun with the Online Classes Watercolor for Cardmakers starting on Monday. Co-incidentally this fortnights Keep It Simple Challenge is... Watercolour, so hope you get a chance to play along!

Believe it or not, this card started out as a panel of watercolour paper dry embossed with Stampin' Up poppies! I filled in the poppies with watercolour paints and Twinkling H2Os, before overspraying with Sunflower Gold to add highlights and spread the colour.  I didn't LOVE the panel as a standalone panel, but I thought it would create a cool background to fill the negative space behind my diecut bird, which I then popdotted and added a Lil Inkers Stitched Rectangle. The Memory Box Woodland Branch was diecut from watercolour patterned paper. The Papertrey Ink Wet Paint "Happy" sentiment was inked with Distress Inks Wild Honey then misted with water before stamping, similarly the "Birthday" sentiment was inked with Distress Inks Barn Door then misted with water before stamping, as the smaller letters ran quite a bit, I overstamped the "Birthday" sentiment so it was easier to read.

Remember to stop by the blogs of the Keep It Simple DT for some more 
FABULOUS watercolour inspiration.
Love to see how you are inspired this fortnight!


Thursday, May 1, 2014

P.S. Hello Sailor!


Playing along with this weeks Paper Sooches Designer Drafts with this versatile sketch as inspiration, the Paper Smooches sailboat became my tag layer. Papers are from Fancy Pants and Simple Stories, with this gorgeous Paper Smooches sailbost paper pieced and a sequin star added to the sail. With the Lil Inkers Stitched Polaroid die cut and these cute stitched Basic Grey letter stickers (thanks Joy!), I'm playing along with Virginia's View Stitching Challenge.