ATC Block

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog!!  Hope you've all had a good day today and that the weather has been nice in your part of the world.  It's been absolutely beautiful here in Adelaide, almost like summer again.

Today I'd like to share an ATC Block  that I made.  I first saw one of these on Astrid Maclean's blog and I really loved the one she created.   She has made a couple more since then and they have all been gorgeous.  Any of you who visit Astrid's blog will know about her amazing creations.  Her work is stunning!!

Anyway, on one of her comments on my blog, she told me about Jenny Marples of 'Pushing the Right Buttons' and how she uses a lot of mixed media on her cards so, of course, I had a look and fell in love with her creations too.  Well, Jenny also makes ATC Blocks and I totally fell in love with one of hers and could no longer resist the temptation to make one of my own.  I'm afraid I pretty much copied Jenny's  because I loved it so much.  If you'd like to take a look at hers, HERE is the link, and HERE is the link to Astrid's Blog for any of you who haven't been there before.  Take the time to check them both out, you will not be sorry.  They are both awesome artists and create the most gorgeous things!!

So, here is my block.

 The block was made from paperboard and measures 3 x 3 on each side, and the papers I've used to cover it are from BoBunny's Weekend Market Paper Pack.  I've had these papers for a long time and never got around to using them.  I'm so glad I still had them in my stash because they were perfect for this Block.  The colours were just what I was looking for.

 The leaves were cut with my Silhouette except for the autumn leaves, they came from  Meg's Garden.com.  The flowers are a mix from different retailers but I have no idea what brand they are.  All the edges, including the leaves, were inked with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

 The chipboard Trellis is the Moroccan Shape with Cutouts from Imaginarium which was heat embossed with Whispers Metallic Embossing Powder.  It does actually look like bronze but that doesn't show too well on the photos. The cutouts were coloured with Versa Colour in Gold, Silver and Bronze and then clear embossed.

 View from the top.  Added a few gem sprays from Magnolia Ink to the flower cluster.  The chipboard tag is from G45 as are all the other chippie labels.

 A closie of the cluster on the front ...

 ... on the right side ...

 ... on the right corner ...

 ... and on the left side.

 A view of the inside.

I enjoyed making this block so much that I am definitely going to make more of them.  Have no idea what I'm going to do with them, although I do think that they would make a lovely little gift when filled with chocolates or sweets of some kind.  They could even be used as Birthday Card replacements although they would not be easy to post.   Perhaps just for ones that get hand delivered.   Hmmmmm!!!  Might have to consider that.  Would give me a wonderful excuse to make more, not that I need an excuse!!  LOL!!

Well, I hope you like my little ATC Block and I want to thank Astrid and Jenny for giving me the inspiration.  I absolutely loved making this!!!  Gotta make More!!!!!!

I have decided to enter this into the Challenge at 613 Avenue Create 

Thank you so much for visiting and putting up with my nonsense.  I do hope you enjoy what's left of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

Melanie's Card

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. 

Today I'd like to share a card with you which was not actually made by me although I did help a little.  This card was made by my darling 11 year old Granddaughter.  Her name is Melanie!!  We did actually start this card a while ago and, as she was here for a sleepover last night, we finished it this morning.  She chose the design, she chose the papers and the embellishments and she did most of the work herself.  I just helped her with some of the techniques 

and here it is!!

The design was taken from a card I had a picture of in my computer.  I must have found it a while ago because now I Pin the ones I like. Unfortunately I do not know where it came from or who made it. If anyone recognises it, please let me know and then I can acknowledge it.  The papers are from Kaisercraft's Magnolia Grove 6 x 6 Paper Pad and the flower is from Prima.  All the distressing and inking was done by my GD.  

The butterfly was cut using the Dragonfly Die from Magnolia Ink.  

The fancy label was cut from cardstock and then from a sheet of the paper and then they were glued together.  The Nestaboard Label was painted with white acrylic paint  and then stamped with the greeting in Versafine Vintage Sepia.  It was then clear embossed ( I had to give her a hand here because I had a bit of a problem with letting her use the heat gun )  Overprotective Nanna much??

The inside was lined with more of the KC paper and  edged with Martha Stewart's Doily Lace Border Punch.  Simply showed my DGD how to use it and then she did it herself.  

A view of  the layers ...

... and all done!!!
I am a very proud Nana right now (actually I am always a very proud Nana ) ... I think she did a fabulous job.  As I said, all the  selections were made by her, I simply gave her a few choices.  Most of the work was also done by her.  I did do the die cutting as she had a problem getting it through the machine and I did the heat embossing, but other than that, it is all hers.
She rocked it!!!!!  She was also very excited when I said I would post it on my blog so, if you enjoyed it please leave her a little message.  We both would love that.  Thank you.

I do hope everyone enjoyed a Happy and Blessed Easter and thank you so much for visiting.
Take care and God Bless.
Marg & Melanie oxox

A little Spring in my Step

Hi everyone and a very warm welcome to you!!  Hope everyone is having a wonderful day and that the weather in your part of the world is being kind to you.  We've had quite a lovely Autumn day in Adelaide today.  Nice and sunny with the temperature in the low 20s.  Could handle a lot more days like this one.

So, with our weather heading into winter, I thought I would take a step back and make a spring card.  Does that seem a bit on the silly side?  Well, I just felt like making something bright and sunny, and this is what I came up with.

 Have I told you that I really like making step cards???  Yeah, I think I might have mentioned that!!

 This one is a variation of my previous Crossover Step Card design.  Instead of using the pocket for tags, it has been closed and simply become part of the card itself and the crossover has been done in a double layer.  The papers were border punched with Martha Stewarts' Doily Die Border and some lace was inserted in between.  The papers used are a mix of Pion's Flower Frames and Maja's Vintage Summer Basics and I've done some stencilling with texture paste as a bit of added interest.  

 I've also tucked a few branches in between the card layers here and there.

 Added a couple of Vintage Brads at the bottom ...

 ... and here is a sideways closie of the flower cluster to which was added a twine bow.

The inside was lined with a sheet from Prima's Ledger Pad Paper pack and I made the pocket from a scrap piece of the Maja papers.

Thoroughly enjoyed making this card and it came together really quickly.  Love it when that happens.

I've decided to enter this one into the following Challenges -
Allsorts Challenge Blog - Spring Flowers
Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

Mini Books and Box

Hello everyone and welcome once again to my blog.  

So lovely to have you visit and I hope you are having a fabulous day!!

Today I'd like to share with you a set of Mini books and the File Folder box to keep them in.  This is a design download purchased from Marion Smith Designs and it was great fun and very easy to put together.  The download includes templates for most of  the required pieces.  The only things you need to measure out for yourself is the outside cover of the File Folder, but she gives you all the necessary information to make this very easy to do.  Marion actually has a video tutorial on this project and, if you'd like to take a look for yourself, you can find it HERE.

The papers I've used for the outside of the box and for the covers of the mini Books are from Prima's Engraver A4 Paper Pad.

The pattern includes this concertina fold for both sides of the box.  It is simply a matter of printing it, cutting around the outside and then scoring the fold lines. 

The back view.

I haven't done a lot of decorating on this.  As a matter of fact, I've done very little.  This is the cluster on the top of the box.  The large gardenia was originally white.  I've simply coloured it slightly with some watered down Tea Stain Distress Ink to make it blend in better with the papers.  The skeleton leaves were cut with my Silhouette from green cardstock and I've coloured those with Walnut Stain Distress Ink for the same reason.  I've also added in some paper and fabric flower buds and some autumn leaves.  The autumn leaves and the gardenia are available from Meg's Garden HERE.  The paper bud is from Magnolia Ink and the fabric buds are from my stash.  There is also a small green gem spray from Magnolia Ink but that is a bit difficult to see here.

For the cluster on the front I've simply used the same skeleton leaves, some small Kaisercraft Roses and a white gem spray.  

The open File Folder showing the mini books snuggled inside.  You can also see the Velcro I've used for the closure of the folder ... 

... and here are all the little books.  The base of each of these is a print out and then you simply cover them with the papers of your choice.  You don't even need to measure your dp as there are templates for that too , including those for the flaps.

Just a closie of one of the books.  You can make up your own mind as to what kind of closure to use.  

This is the inside of the book.  You simply punch the holes through the cover and the paper and then thread through some twine and tie it off.  So simple!!

I've glued an ornate metal plate on the front flap and used Velcro to hold the folder closed.

This was a fabulous little project to make.  Really easy to put together.  The only fiddly bit was attaching the concertina sides to the cover but even that was not really difficult.  It just came together really well and I'm certainly going to make more of these.  I think they would make a lovely little gift.
Sooooo, I'm thinking you might be wondering what I'm going to use this for?????  Well, I needed somewhere to write down  all the bits and pieces used on the cards I make so that when I write up my Blog Posts I'll have all the information at hand, and that's what these little books will be for.  Am I clever or what?????  Actually I just have a pretty bad memory and am sick of having to get up a dozen times or more to find the name of what I've used on a specific card or project.  LOL!!
Will be so much easier now.  That is if I remember to write it down!!!!!

Thank you all so much for taking the time to visit and I do hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Easel Card with Meg's Garden Damask Collection

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  Hope you are all having a wonderful day.

Today I'd like to share with you an Easel Card created with Meg's Garden's stunning Damask Paper Collection.  These papers were designed by Denise Boddey and have such a lot of fabulous detail on them which are perfect to use for card making or scrapbooking just as they are, but are also simply wonderful for fussy cutting.

Here is the card closed.

 All of the paper elements used here were taken from the papers.  Some are from leftover pieces from the 12 x 12 sheets and some from the Mini Pack.  I will leave a list of Meg's Garden products at the bottom of this post.

This is how the card looks standing up.

 I hand sewed around the edge with some embroidery cotton, added some strips of my favourite Washi Tape and dabbed a little gesso on the edge.  I like to add little touches like this simply to make it more my own.  The flowers were fussy cut twice and then slightly curled and layered.  I fussy cut the labels from another sheet of the paper and mounted them on some card for extra dimension and strength.  The chipboard flourishes are from a single piece which was coloured and clear embossed and then cut into pieces to fit in with the cluster.  The frame was also coloured and then clear embossed.  Unfortunately when I did the doodling on the frame it was quite late at night and I was very tired, hence it is not very well done but, having used a Sharpie, it also could not be removed.  One lives and learns doesn't one!!  LOL

 I've used a wooden flourish to anchor the card when standing and the small labels were fussy cut from the Mini Pack and mounted on some card for dimension.

 Just a closie of the labels.  Even though these are quite small there is still a lot of detail on them.

 A view of the inside of the card ...

 ... and some closies of the front.

 The gorgeous vintage brads used for the flower centres are also available at Meg's Garden.

This card almost didn't get completed.  I had all the elements laid out ready to stick down when I saw a card made by one of my Teamies (Heather Jacob no less) and she had used almost the same elements that I had.  Shock!!!  Horror!!!  In the end though, hers is very different from mine so I am glad I went ahead with it anyway.  

List of Meg's Garden Products -

Blue Belle Jardiniere 12 x 12 Paper - P6380

Blue & Green Damask 12 x 12 Paper - P6368

Framboise Fleur 12 x 12 Paper - P6371

Damask Mini Paper Pack - S120

Small Rectangular Parisian Frame - fr005

Vintage Brads - vpb

Thank you so much for visiting.  Please take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

Cherry Blossoms

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.

Well, here I am again and with yet another Art Journal page.  For someone who really only does these once in a blue moon, I've been quite prolific lately.  I've been experimenting because I could not get the hang of using gesso to seal the pages  and stop everything from seeping through the paper.  Every time I tried coating my page with gesso first I seemed to lose all the colour once I started spraying.  Used a few different brands but all I would be left with is the shimmer and not much colour at all. Well, this time I coated the page with watered down gesso and, when dry, sprayed with watered down acrylic paint and the colour actually stayed on the page.  Woo!! Hoo!!

Once the paint dried I was able to spray with Distress Inks as well, and it all worked.  I haven't quite got the effect I was after, but I'm hoping that will come with experience.

As stated before, I coated the page with watered down gesso and while doing that I added in a few cotton threads for a bit of texture. The orange  colour is the acrylic paint.  I simply mixed some Vermillion with Ochre Yellow  until I achieved the shade I wanted.  Then, when that was dry I also sprayed with watered down Broken China and Mustard Seed Distress Inks.  You can just see the watercolour type blotches on the side.  That was the effect I was trying for.  Hopefully, one day I will get it all over. 

 Used Urban Artist  'Mt. Fuji Blossom' Stencil with some homemade texture paste, coloured it with watercolour pencils and highlighted with a white gel pen and a black sharpie.  Then went around the blossoms with a black watercolour pencil and a wet paint brush so they would stand out a bit more.  Not sure if I should have done that actually as it turned out a bit messy.

Unfortunately I forgot to do the stamping before I did the stenciling so the surface wasn't exactly smooth and the stamps didn't work too well but, I'm just going to say it adds character to the piece. LOL.  The stamps used are Kaisercraft's Tiny Dots and a Chinese or maybe a Japanese Script stamp.  It is also a Kaisercraft stamp but I haven't got the name of it I'm afraid.

 I searched the net for a Confuscius quote, but they were mostly quite rude except for this one which I quite liked.  'Wherever you go ... go with all your heart.'
So, there you go, I finally managed to do an Art Journal page that didn't seep into the back of the paper and make a mess of the next page.  Yay!!
This will actually be the last of my Journal pages for a while.  I have also been making cards as usual, but I can't show any of them here just yet as they are mostly DT projects although I've also been working on a project I purchased from Marion Smith Designs and I will be showing that in the next few days so do please come back and take a look at that.
I thank you so much for visiting and enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg