About Me

My photo
Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
I have been crafting since May 2008, when in desperation to find an unusual birthday card for my Mum, I gave up looking in the shops and decided to have a go at making my own. I soon realised that crafting is addictive and I haven't brought a card since. In 2011 I completed my certificate in papercrafting as a result of the work I did as part of the course I started entering challenges on line and in magazines. I applied for design teams and also started making samples for Ooh La La Creations for their shows on Create and Craft. I have now completed my Diploma in professional crafting and most recently been runner up in the Papercrafter of the Year 2013 a competition run by Papercraft essentials magazine, I don't have a particular style I like to use elements from lots of styles and techniques, although I do love all things vintage. In 2014 I started to move more towards scrapbooking to take care of the huge family archive of photographs that were stored in my attic. I have continued cardmaking and Scrapbooking through 2015 and 2016 but have also become interested in off the page projects. I hope to be able focus on these in the future.

Monday 24 November 2014

Christmas at Ooh La La Creations

Firstly I want to say what amazing projects were entered in our more than one fold challenge. To see if you were a winner please check out Ooh La La Creations Challenge Blog.

This time our theme is .......

Christmas

Having been rally organised this year all my cards were finished when I came to work on this project so I had time to do something a little different.


I used the CD Yuletide Wishes and The image is 'Christmas Angel' I also used one of the patterned papers from the folder.

It really is easy to make but looks very effective.


To make the candle you will need the following.


A plain white pillar candle (I got mine in a budget shop)
White Tissue Paper - I just use the sort you buy for packaging although some craft shops sell tissue specifically for printing - but this is more expensive
A piece of A4 card
Double sided tape 
A pair of Scissors 
Greaseproof Paper 
A Heat Gun 

1.Attach the tissue paper to the card using double sided sticky tape around the edges - this is so that it will go through the printer.

2.Select the image and print it onto the tissue paper and leave it to dry I used a sakura gel pen to add some sparkle to the image (the wings and the flowers at this stage)

3. Once the image is dry trim round the edges to release it from the card, I also clip the corners off the tissue so that it blends into the  candle better.


4. Wrap the image right side out round the candle and wrap a piece of grease proof paper over the top, leaving enough paper to fold into a 'handle to hold onto whilst heating. 


5. Use the heat gun on high and hold over an area of the image until the wax begins to melt and makes the greaseproof paper transparent.


6. Continue to heat until the whole of the image, and the edges of the tissue paper are coated in a layer of wax - the whole image will be visible through the grease proof paper.

7. Carefully unwrap the candle and buff gently over the image with a soft cloth.


The candle can still be lit as the wick will burn down the centre of the candle leaving the image in tact.

To make the box I measured the height of the candle and added about an inch to this measurement and I scored lines 4 inches apart to make three sides of the box. I then cut a separate panel for the front the same height as the rest of then box but 6 inches across.

I used a die to cut an aperture in the front piece and then added a piece of acetate behind the panel Then scored the panel at 1 inch and 5 inches to allow a fold to fix to the back of the box.. 

I added panels of my backing paper mounted on gold card inside the box and around the outside.

The lid is made from a piece of a card 6 and a 1/4 inches square and I scored each side at 1 inch from the  edge this gives a nice cosy fit for the box lid.



I then placed the candle in the box with my angel looking out through the snowy window.



The measurements for the box are not exact as they will vary depending on teh size of candle you use.

I am entering this into the following Challenges.

http://thatcraftplaceblog.blogspot.co.uk/ -Anything Goes
http://www.throughthepurplehazechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/  - Anything Goes


Monday 10 November 2014

More than one fold at Ooh La La Creations

Hello everyone and firstly thank you for all the entries into our Witching hour Challenge. I had a really difficult time picking the top three but to see if you are included please check out the results on the Ooh La La Creations Challenge blog .

Whilst you're there check out the fabulous projects from the DT for the new challenge of

'More Than One Fold'

This time I have chosen to work with the gorgeous Nursery Times CD which can be purchased from the Ooh La La Creations shop




I learnt to make these boxes at this years Summer crafting and they are so easy yet have a real wow factor when complete, with beauty of folding flat for posting.



Just use the template below printed to fit a piece of A4 card Cut on the solid lines and score on the dotted lines .


Choose your images and stick them on the surfaces of the main box making sure that they wiyll be the correct way up when the box opens. 

Use the two strips inside the box to create platforms for further images or embellishments. Fold the strips into a 'z' shape to ensure that the card will still fold flat for posting.




Monday 27 October 2014

Join us for the Witching Hour over at Ooh La La Creations

Hello everyone, firstly huge thanks to everyone who entered the Inspired by Nature Challenge at Ooh La La Creations over the last fortnight. There were some really stunning creations posted to the blog and great to see what different aspects of nature provide you with inspiration. You can see who the winners are at Ooh La La Creations Challenge blog 

It is my turn to choose the challenge and given the time of year I have gone for


The Witching Hour.

It isn't restricted to witches, but to all the ghosties and ghoulies and long legged beasties and things that go bump in the night. So put on that pointy hat get out your magic wands and lets see what Halloween inspired magic you can come up with.

For my DT project I took inspiration from some old photos from my student days, It was a Halloween Party hosted by my best friends Mum and her friend at the Nurses home where they lived in the middle of woods miles from any where so the location got us in the mood immediately.


I started off by spraying a thin layer of Cosmic shimmer Mists onto plain Black card the intention was to cover most of the card with papers and design elements so as to leave just a hint of the misted card showing. Whilst that was drying I cut the photographs using nestabilities plain hexagon dies as some of them had lots of redundant background. That done I set to work going through the various Ooh La La CDs in my collection to find suitable papers and embellishments.

The veined orange paper and the peach polka dot paper (used for the letters) was from the 'Say it With Words' CD from the folder called 'Witching Hour'

The white paper which I made into spider webs using a Martha Stewart Circle Edge Punch is from the 'Faithful Friends' CD from the folder called 'Brewing up Trouble'

The witches are toppers from the 'Femme Fatale' CD in the 'Silhouette' folder.
The bats are also from the 'Femme Fatal' CD in the 'ATC' Folder.

You can Purchase the CD's from the Ooh La La Creations Shop

I added a few bits and pieces from my stash:
The border strip and journalling cards are from Graphic 45's Once Upon a Time collection.
The 'Spells' and 'black cat' toppers are from Graphic 45's Steampunk Spells collection.

The little Pumpkins round the title the tiny bat and the small spider are from a pack of Halloween table confetti and the large spider in teh top left hand corner has been liberated from a decorattve spiders web - all picked up from my local supermarket last year in teh post Halloween sale for a few pence.

Once I had all the bits and pieces together it was just a case of playing around with layour on teh black card until I was happy then sticking everything down.

I have entered this project into the following challenges
http://cdsundaychallenge.blogspot.co.uk - Silhouettes

http://crazy4challenges.blogspot.co.uk - Photo Inspiration 

Monday 13 October 2014

Inspired by Nature at Ooh La La Creations

Thank you so much for all your lovely entries using bows and ribbons last time to check to see if you have made the top 3 please visit the Ooh La La Creations Challenge Blog 

This time we want to see your creations

Inspired by Nature 

As soon as I saw this challenge theme I knew what I was going to do as my DT project. The last holiday myself and hubby took with my parents before Mum passed away was to Cornwall in 2007 and we took the chance to visit the Eden Project whilst there. I took lots of photographs and go a bit arty lying on the floor to snap pictures looking up through the canopies of the trees in the rain forest zone. I also took the picture of the large bee sculpture outside the bio domes and it was just waiting to be scrapbooked using the Bee Happy folder from the Everyday Occasions CD.



I chose two background papers from the CD the one with the bee hives from the Bee Happy folder and the one with the swirls from the Humming Bird with Trumpet flower.

I used a quick card in the Bee Happy design to use for my journalling and added a Humming bird which I cut from the topper for the Hummingbird with trumpet flower design I cut 4 of these and decoupaged 2 humming birds the other is on the page next to the title which I die cut.











I finished the layout off with the addition of the flowers which I picked at random from a bag of these flowers I have in my stash, after all nature is fairly random and i wanted to try and recreate the different colours in the wild flower meadow that is the centre photograph in the group of three. I picked up a bag of buttons and flat backs from hobby craft that included the bee hive which I stuck to the front of the card and the bees and pink heart which I placed in amongst the flowers. I added the ribbon banner pieces because at Eden they have the most amazing banners on flag poles around the site and although the ones at Eden are deep crimson and purple I wanted the yellow and green to reflect the Bee in the Photograph and the Green of the leaves in in the smaller pictures.













Monday 29 September 2014

Use a Bow at Ooh La La Creations

Hi There, well what great male themed card we had for the last challenge. You can check out if you have won at Ooh La La Creations Challenge Blog.

This time our theme is use a bow - so get out your ribbon, lace, string and twine and  see what you can come up with.

I made the following card using a digi stamp from digi stamps 4 joy and backing papers from the Shawn Jenkins collection CD

I needed a card quickly for my stepdaughter and her family who were moving into a new house. Made with just 1 days notice - her dad forgot to tell me she was moving.





It really was a quick and easy card and she loved it.

Monday 15 September 2014

Birthday Boy at Ooh La La Creations

Hello everyone firstly thanks for all the lovely CAS cards last time to see if you are in our top three go and check out the Ooh La La Creations Challenge Blog .

This time our theme is Birthday Boy so lets see all your male themed Birthday cards.



I used a pyramage sheet from the Boys to Men CD but changed the colouring to Sepia toning on my graphics programme. The tickets are from the Say it with Words CD. The striped backing paper is also from the Boys to Men CD and I added a plain blue strip that had been wrapped with a paler blue ribbon and two pearl buttons to finish.

Both the CD's I used can be purchased from the Ooh La La Creations shop

Monday 1 September 2014

Clean and Simple at Ooh La La Creations

Hello There firstly thank you for sharing all your wonderful fancy folds with us last time to check out to see if you made our top three check out the Ooh La La creations Challenge Blog.

We have gone from one extreme to the other this time with the theme for the next fortnights challenge being

Clean and Simple

I used one of our older CD's 'Silhouette Magic' to come up with this pretty card.



I just printed the image off and made my sentiment from one of the blank tags on the disc. I used pearl paper in pale blue and pink for the matting and layering and added a grey polka dot ribbon and three pearls to finish.

Monday 18 August 2014

Fancy Folding at Ooh La La Creations

Thank you to everyone who entered our scenic challenge last time there were some lovely entries to see if you are a winner checkout the Ooh La La Creations Challenge Blog.

This time the challenge is .....

Fancy Folds

So here is The card I created using images and papers from the 'Say it with Words' CD


The card folds flat for posting and then opens out to reveal the word Love inside.



Monday 4 August 2014

Scenic Inspiration at Ooh La La Creations

Thank you everyone who entered our vintage challenge last time there were some gorgeous entries and you can find out if you are our winner on the Ooh La La Creations Challenge Blog. This time our theme is .....
Scenic

I have always loved taking landscape photographs and amongst my favourites are some I took at Tintagel in Cornwall on the very first holiday myself and my husband went on together in 1990.


I kept the layout simple as I wanted to ensure the photographs were the main focus of the page. I used a seagull backing paper from the Kidiwinks CD and the image of crashing waves is from the Dreams of Tranquility CD I repeated this image from the Goddess of the tides folder to make the Journalling card. I finished off with some chevrons and arrows cut from papers from the same folder and added 3 pearls to finish.

Monday 21 July 2014

Vintage at Ooh La La Creations

Good Morning and thank you for all the lovely Easel cards you entered into the last challenge you need to check out the Ooh La La Creations Challenge blog to see if you are a winner or in our top three.

This time our theme is Vintage.....

Here is my project.


I found this old photograph in the back of one of my Mum's photo albums and had no idea who the lady in the picture was. Having removed the photograph and turned it over I noticed my mum had written the word grandma on the back so that would make this my Great Grandma. Sadly my Mum is no longer with us to ask about her but my Dad has confirmed this was Mum's Maternal Grandma so meet great Grandma Higginson.

For the layout I used a cream base card and inked the edges with brown ink and I added a rub on to the  bottom left corner. I then printed off several patterned papers from the Yesterday's memories CD. The striped paper was a bit of a happy accident it should have been a vintage green colour which can be seen right along the bottom edge but the yellow in my printer ran out during the process so it ended up predominantly blue. I rather liked the way the green had faded away at the bottom so decided to use it anyway distressing the edges with a pair of scissors and brown ink. I added a smaller rub on to the bottom right corner.

I cut the other papers into different sized panels and distressed the edges in the same way as I did for the blue paper. Having found the vintage tear drop lace in my stash I also found the lovely deep pink coloured velvet ribbon and threaded this through the lace.

The photo of Great Grandma was mounted onto two scraps of card which had also been distressed.
The title panel is one of the CD and I added the text before printing it off,

Finally I went through my embellishments box and found various buttons and some resin and paper clay flowers, which were used to create the cluster effect around the cameo, something I picked up from a beading company along with the metal flowers and leaves. To balance the design I added a lovely metal corner to the top right of the blue paper panel.

Monday 14 July 2014

Sun Sea Sand and Ice Cream

I have recently gotten more and more into scrpabooking and have been enjoying taking part in teh challenges over at Colour Stories Inspiration. Each week we are given a colour scheme, elements to include and Inspiration for the journalling in the form of a case file - The rest is up to us.

For the month of July they have teamed up with Artastic - Inspirational Challenge blog to produce the following case file


I found some old polaroid photos of myself with my parents and family friends on holiday in Italy in 1979. They were somewhat faded and so I scanned them into photo shop and managed to clean them up with colour correction and used them to produce the following page. 



I used all of the five colours required by the scheme, I then made a canopy border by drawing round the outside of two tag dies from a set of nesting dies to form a scalloped edge and hand cut these and layered them up. I included the spots on the smaller of two canopy layers and also on the washi tape stripes. I added some vintage transportation images from Graphic 45. The hot air balloon had the word Italia on it so it seemed really appropriate. I added a banner to this which when pulled concertinas outwards to reveal my journalling about the holiday. I have included various details such as visiting Venice and the Island of Murano to see the glass makers workshops, tasting pizza for the very first time (It wasn't commonly available in England in 1979), also the mind-boggling number of flavours of ice - cream at our favourite cafe which is pictured. i finish on the tale of me bringing the entire main street in Jesselo to a standstill by having full blown hysterics when a wasp crawled down my cleavage - I had discovered 12 months previously that I am highly allergic to wasp stings and swell up alarmingly if stung. Fortunately on this occasion my Mum and her friend Phyllis managed to get rid of the wasp before it could sting me. I was left very shaken by the whole thing and somewhat embarrassed when I realised everyone had been looking at me a situation soon remedied by My Dad and his friend Harold taking me for one of the afore mentioned ice cream sundaes.
I used a art Deco die set to cut the letters for my title as I felt that the inspiration image provided was very Deco in style and wanted to include this element in the page.

I have entered this page into the challenge on the ARTastic blog as well as on the CSI page.

Monday 7 July 2014

Easel Card challenge at Ooh La La Creations

Good Morning every one and thank you so much for entering our last Let them eat Cake Challenge. To find out if you are the winner or in the top three go over to the Ooh La La Creations Challenge Blog.

This time we want to see all your Easel cards so without further ado here's mine


I used papers from the Shawn Jenkins collection CD these are from the Cupcake Cream folder. I matted the papers onto brown card. I also fussy cut one of the cupcakes from a topper to make the stopper inside the card. 

I love using the page curl papers from Ooh La La as they lend their selves so well to lining the base of easel cards and in this instance I used the page curl over another matching patterned paper. Because this card is intended for my grand- daughter who lives the other end of the country I have to post it so to cut down on teh bulk I actually did the layering of the page curl papers on the computer before printing so the base is just one layer of paper but because of the fabulous design of the paper it looks as though there are two layers.


The front of the card folded flat for posting. I added some clear glitter to the frosting on the cupcakes in the topper and a little button in the shape of a cupcake is the finishing touch.

Monday 23 June 2014

Let Them Eat Cake at Ooh La La creations

Good morning and thanks to everyone who entered the male themed / Fathers' Day challenge last time. There were some gorgeous entries and you can see the top three over on the challenge blog by clicking the link http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/

This time it is my choice for the theme and the photograph of my grandson Brandan, taken just after he had clearly wrestled with a tricky bit of chocolate cake gave me the inspiration for the theme. so without further ado the theme is

Let Them Eat Cake 

We are looking for cake themed projects, any type or size of cake will do as long it is cake and lets be honest it is a good way to enjoy calorie free cake using it in crafting so here is that photo and my project .



I chose a lovely rich cream card as my base for this 12x12 page and then used papers and a trimmed down topper from the Shaun Jenkins Collection CD this is great for scrapbooking and card making alike as there  are some wonderfully versatile designs included.

The titles are felt adhesive letters picked up in my local Hobbycraft shop.

I layered several papers behind the photo and added a paper doily and three cupcakes made from Martha Stewart paper clay.

I typed some little phrases onto white card and trimmed these and added them around the layout. I used 'undercurrent' font and colour matched them to the colours in the papers using MCS elite.


I trimmed the Happy Birthday off the topper and added the image to the bottom of the page to mirror the three little cupcake embellishments. 

Oh and if you think the chocolate cake is messy wait till you see what he did with a chocolate pudding and a spoon.



Monday 9 June 2014

It's all about the Men at Ooh La La

Good Morning and once again huge thanks to all who entered our 'Bear it all' Challenge last time. we had some wonderful entries and the top three can be found over on the challenge blog by clicking the link http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/

This time we are looking for your Male themed creations and with Father's Day looming on the horizon I came up with this card fro my Dad.



I used papers from the bonus papers folder on the new 'Say it With Words' CD and that's where the sentiment tag came from too it is on there as a  blank tag in a variety of colours and you can add your own greeting. Don't forget to watch the launch of the CD on create and craft TV at 15:00 hrs BST on 9th June. The other CD I used was for the image and the border which are both from the 'Boys to Men CD' you can get yours from the Ooh La La Website.

I kept the design simple my Dad is 88 now and he doesn't do fussy.



Inside teh card I printed off a section of teh topper image at 8x8 and reduced the opacity. I added a die cut oval in my graphics programme and added a greeting that was in keeping with the image.

Monday 26 May 2014

Bear it All at Ooh La La Creations

Firstly thank you to everyone who entered our 'Quotations' challenge last time pop over to the Ooh La La creations Challenge blog to see if you are a winner.

This fortnight we want to see you bear it all so bears in all shapes, sizes colours and hues are the order of the day.

I used a quick card  and paper from the Boys to Men CD to create a scrapbook page about a Teddy Bears picnic some of us participated in. It all started when we found some old photos of us on a 'George Harrison' tour of Liverpool to mark his birthday. It had been pouring down in teh morning and whilst we waited for the tour bus we took refuge in the Beatles story and they had just taken a delivery of Beatle Bears so we all bought one of course the George Bears were very popular considering it was mainly George fans assembled and we took photos of the Bears at various landmarks in Liverpool which were related in some way to George. when we came across the photos we were remembering all the fun we had with our bears and our tour guide from that day Jackie Spencer came up with teh idea of the Teddy Bears picnic. We all met at Sefton Park Palm House a building that George donated money to restore to its former glory. So here we are with our bears on the day.



I included a copy of the lyrics to 'Teddy Bears' Picnic' and that's where I took the title from. 


Behind the picture of Jackie I have used the lovely Teddy Bear weave paper from the family picnic folder - I also included one of the quick cards from the same folder to show the Teddy's setting off on their picnic or they could be going home as 'tired little teddy bears'


We caused quite a stir on the day when visitors to the palm house rounded a corner to find us sitting on my Beatle blanket and partaking of such delights as veggie sausage rolls, home made scones (reference to the film Backbeat) Chocolate brownies (reference to George's appearance on The Simpsons') and of course Jelly Babies (because George once told a reported that John had eaten all his Jelly Babies and ever after fans used to throw Jelly Babies at the band when they played). It prompted may questions from visitors and of course we told them how George had donated a substantial amount of money to the restoration of the palm house to save it when it looked as if it would have to be demolished because he remembered visiting there as a child with his older brother Peter.

Monday 12 May 2014

Quotations at Ooh La La

Well we had some wonderful entries into our Faithful friends challenge the winners can be found on the Ooh La La Creations challenge blog.

This fortnight out theme is 'Quotations' so we want you to include a quotation on your card.

We on the DT have been really excited about this challenge as it has given us the perfect excuse for giving you a sneak peak of the New Ooh La La Creations CD 'Say it with words' which will be launched on Monday 9th of June at 3pm BST on Create and Craft.

It has something for everyone and is very versatile.However you'll need to tune in to see the show if you want to know more and see even more of the samples the DT have made for the show.

I have chosen to make a Gift and a card with matching tag and mini envelope from a folder on the CD called

'Believe in magic' it is based on a Roald Dahl quotation

'Those who don't believe in magic will never find it'




apart from some mirror card for the die cutting, a piece of acetate, some gold washi tape and cosmic shimmer pearlised glue everything else is from the CD.



The candle is a plain white pillar candle from a local pound store and I printed one of the topper images onto tissue paper then applied this to the candle with a heat gun.

The box is made from A3 card with a cut away section lined with acetate that has little gold dandelion clocks on it. 


I printed off three of the patterned papers from the folder on teh CD onto thin card and then cut these to line nd cover the outside of the box. I don't have an A3 printer so couldn't just print straight onto the card for the box. I reinforced the lid and bottom of the box with gold washi tape to give a neater edge.

I finished off the box front with 2 die cut dandelions and two sentiments and then added some single dandelion clocks to the front of the lid.


I used one of the tag shapes from the tags and sentiments folder and then added a 'ribbon' border from the embellishments folder and added the word Believe. The image I added using a digital punch feature in my graphics programme. The bow is also from the embellishments folder and I added more of the single dandelion clocks to the image and some dots of pearlised glue on the border.

The envelope just prints off from the 'believe in Magic' and is so easy to fold I added another Dandelion clock and sentiment to the front. The design on the front of the envelope is the same as that on the front of the box but with less opacity, the reverse is the same design but with full opacity so the design can be seen.


For the card I printed off the same 3 backing papers I used for the box. I kept the lovely yellow and orange paper as the main piece and matted it onto gold mirror card then gave it a spritz with gold mica pigment to give a really subtle sparkle.

I punched a fancy edge into the green paper to make a border and added a strip of the pretty floral pattern that reminds me so much of dandelion clocks - speaking of which I added a further clock to teh front with some singles working their way up the card, and added a sentiment.


I finished the card off by adding the printed insert from the folder.

So there you have it a sneak peak at the new Ooh La La CD.

Monday 28 April 2014

Faithful Friends at Ooh La La Creations

Good Morning, what a gorgeous selection of Easter/spring themed projects we were treated to last time to find out if you are winner you can go to the bolg at Ooh La La Creations Challenges.

Our theme this time is .......

Faithful Friends

I have returned to scrapbooking again for this one and used papers from the 'Faithful Friends' CD by Ooh La La you can get a copy from the on line shop 



Chester belonged to my Mother-in-Law and every year in late spring he would go with my hubby and myself to 'help' us get the caravan she owned ready for her to stay there for the whole summer. Chester loved being at the caravan.

These pictures were taken when he decided to help me plant up the hanging baskets for her little garden. Well I thought he was helping until I realised where I had put the table and chairs on the patio was the sunniest position in the garden. 


I cam up with the idea of the title bar having watched Mel Heaton put together a page about her dog on Sunday Scrappers on Create and Craft. I don't have a Cricut so I made a paper template in the shape of a bone and cut the bone shape from this paper from the CD before matting it onto pink and then green card. The letters are wooden and I coated each one with a Sakura glaze pen in green and once that had dried I added the paw prints in black glaze pen. 


I wanted a dark brown background as that colour always reminds me of Ches and whenever I see it I refer to it as Chester Brown. I also wanted to reflect the brightness of the day so used bright pink and green card from American crafts to make my mats an layers and to make the photo's pop.



The green plaid and paw prints papers are also from the Faithful friends CD.

I added a pleated strip from Bazzil basics across the centre of the brown page then added the various panels before embellishing the project.




The pink roses and the journalling tag are from Tilda and I made the hanging basket and the planter (Stephen's Mum had one just like it at the Caravan) using Jonna Sheen dies and off cuts of card. The flowers are cut using the mini blooms die from tattered lace as was the Ivy in eh hanging basket. I just used off cuts from other projects and then used a ball tool to shape the flowers. I added contrasting pearl centres. A picket fence runs across the bottom of one of the panels and I finished off with a smaller bone to match the tittle bar at the bottom corner. 

Sadly Ches is no longer with us but he will never be forgotten. 


Wednesday 23 April 2014

Paper piecing with Fab N Funky

Once again thank you for all the floral delights for our Flower Power Challenge last week. Check out the Fab n Funky blog to see if you are one of the lucky winners or top three.

This week we are sponsored by

Buy Sassy Studio Designs
and our theme is paper piecing. 

I used Paris Honey to produce the following card. 


I wanted Honey to stand out so used muted colours for the background with lots of kraft and cream card accents.

The papers are digital ones from My Craft Studio Shabby Sweet Essentials and because they are digital there is very little wastage as the 'papers could be shrunk to smaller size and the image of honey could be placed in the right position for printing out. In fact the whole honey image and all the paper bits were printed on a single A4 sheet.  I coloured her skin and hair using Promarkers and spectrum Noir pens 
Skin Ivory FS1, FS3, Blush
Hair GB3, GB5 and Caramel.

I also coloured two a separate fringe section which I fussy cut and added to the image before adding the paper pieced hat. just to give her added dimension.

The background paper is from the same CD and I layered this onto Cream and kraft card before adding it to an ivory 8x8 blank.

The doily was cut using a tattered lace die from cream card stock but because it looked lost on the background I coloured it using distress ink in Victorian velvet. 

I added a border that had been punched using a Martha Stewart punch and added the die cut circles.

The flowers and leaves are cut using tattered lace dies and the Eiffel Tower using a Marianne die. the sentiments are done using the computer the font is undercurrent and it is one I like for creating little text bars for my scrapbooking.

I finished off with some pearls and gems.

Monday 21 April 2014

Struck by creativity at Through the Purple Haze

I seem to be on a bit of a roll with getting some of my digital photographs printed and scrapbooked at the moment mainly due to the fantastic inspiration over on the CSI challenges page 
the latest case file is shown below


so following the rules of having to incorporate all 5 colours ( or the closet proximation of all 5 colours from my stash) at least two pieces from the evidence list and at least one thing from the Testimony list I came up with this layout.


I have included all of the 5 colours. From the evidence list I used several of the things listed. I started with a floral background I didn't have any in my stash that was the correct colours so instead used a sheet of paper from Luminarte intended for use with twinkling H2Os. It has a resist finish with uncoated area that pick u the colours. So not having any H2O's I used distress inks instead and layered up brushed corduroy, iced spruce and stormy sky the edges were then distressed using a pair of scissors. I stuck this down onto a piece of light brown card. I tore and sanded a piece of dotted coredinations card stock in the lovely fresh green and stuck this in one corner. I used something unexpected for the image come on honestly how many of you reading this were actually expecting a photograph of a white Blackbird? 

I framed the image with a die cut frame and also framed a much smaller image of a black Blackbird using a frame made from Paper clay that had been painted with white gesso. 

I added 2 tags one already coloured that just needed a bit of distressing round the edges and the other I coloured with distress inks in the same shades as for the background and gave it a quick spritz with some luminarte gold shimmer mist. 


I added wooden corner flourishes and a wooden bird cage which had also been given the shimmer mist treatment. 

The title was easy I love using song titles or lyrics in my titles and as incomprehensible as the lyrics to my chosen song are it is still one of my favourite songs from the Psychadelic 60's and I was fortunate to see Gary Brooker (former Procul Harum keyboard player) perform it live a few years ago. I just used a computer font then cut each word to form a tile which I coloured with more distress ink. 


I hate throwing anything away so when we recently had a beautiful leather Chesterfield sofa's re upholstered after 20 years I kept the old leather and have used some of it for the flowers die cut using a Tim Holtz tattered flowers die. I added various metal Jewellery findings and gems for the centres and finished off with some metal bird charms.

For the testimony section I included 2 separate tags which I had added Journalling to one tag containing 7 interesting facts about the white Blackbird. for example it isn't actually an albino but a leutino because it does not have red eyes, but the normal colour eyes for a Blackbird it just lacks pigment in its feathers.

So that was my creativity this Monday Morning 
I am entering the layout into the  following challenges 

http://creativeknockouts.blogspot.co.uk/ - Furry or Feathery Friends