A Tag for "More Than Words' first Mini Challenge!!

Hello everyone and a very warm welcome to my blog, so nice you dropped by.  

I'm here to share a tag I made to join in with the brand new 'Mini Challenge' at the More Than Words facebook site.  The challenge is to use the word 'Be' in your project which, in this case, needs to be a card, a tag or an ATC and then you have to share it on their facebook page.

HERE is the link

 and here is my tag.

The paper used are from 7Dots Studio.  I received them as part of a give away prize I won from Helen Tilbury at Scrap Addict.  Have always wanted some of their papers so I was so thrilled to receive these.  I know I've said it before but, Thank you Helen!  I love these papers.
I did a little stamping and added some texture paste through a stencil for a bit more interest.  Once the paste was dry I added some extra colour.

The two larger blooms are available from Megs Garden.  I really love these flowers .. they have such a lovely shape, are the perfect size for cards and small projects and it is so easy to change their colour to whatever suits your creation.  All the other elements in the cluster are from my stash.  Once everything was glued down, I added some micro beads.

 

The chippie frame is from Imaginarium. Gave it a coat of gesso and then painted it with white acrylic paint.  While it was still wet, I sprinkled on some micro beads and pressed them into the paint.
A few of them did come off but I am happy with the amount that have stayed on.  After I glued the frame to my tag, I added more micro beads  in the center. 

The quote was printed out on my computer and I simply mounted it on some cardstock, edged it with gathered twigs distress ink and, once it was glued down, added more micro beads.

I was going to punch a hole at the top to thread some ribbon through but have decided that I will turn this tag into a Birthday card so the ribbon won't be needed.

.. And there you have it!!  I am so pleased I was able to join in with the very first Challenge at this new site.  My mojo seems to have gone on holiday and I have been struggling to finish some other projects I started a little while ago.  I'm hoping that, after taking a little break and doing  other things (like this tag), I will now be able to go back and finish those off.

Thank you so much for visiting and do enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.

A Tag .. and Planner Update!

Hello all my crafty friends.  So pleased you dropped by and hope you are having a wonderful day.

I'm here to share a little tag I created.  I watched a tutorial by Tammy Tuterow and, although the basic technique wasn't something new that I hadn't tried before, it was something I hadn't done in a while so I decided to have a little play.  HERE is the link to the tutorial and ..
this is my tag.

I used a slightly different colour combo to the one Tammy used and she used clear texture paste whereas mine is slightly transparent.  Tammy also added micro beads and glitter while the paste was still wet but, unfortunately, I got called away just after I stenciled this and by the time I got back, it was too late to do that.  Ah well, such is life.  Maybe next time.

I did some stamping on the background with my two fave stamps.  'Arty' and  a Script stamp .. both from Kaisercraft.

The two white blooms are the 'Puffy Paper Flower' and the 'Azalea' which are both available from Megs Garden.  The Azalea was all white , I simply coloured the center with some watered down acrylic paint.  The other flower was part of a crafty gift from my dear friend Heather Jacob.  

The chippie is from 2Crafty Chipboard and I added a little 'Rust' to the Tim Holtz Word Band.  The Word Band is available from Megs Garden.

I didn't follow the whole Tute from Tammy  .. just the basic background .. and then it just grew from there.  Not sure yet what I will do with this tag.  I may even turn it into my next Christmas card .. that should be interesting,  LOL!!

Now, about my Planner.  In my last post I mentioned that I wasn't really happy with the dividers I made.  I was even thinking of perhaps making some mixed media style ones, although that was going to be a lot of work.  Well, I did decide to change them.  Luckily, I had only done January and February so there wasn't a lot to change.

This is the original January divider ..

.. and this is the new one.

I am so much happier with the new ones.  I had downloaded some Katy Pertiet  free printables (HERE is the link) which I was going to use as small labels inside my planner.  I  resized them using Photo Shop and then also changed the colour balance on some of them to match in with the coloured monthly tabs and now they are my dividers .. and I love them!!!  The best part is .. they took hardly any effort at all.

 This is the original February divider ..

.. and this is the new one.

Covered the back of the last weekly January page, and created a pocket to hold my stickers.   A lot neater than doing it the other way,

I do realise that February is not the start of Autumn but I really love this page and it matched in well with the monthly tab.  So March, eat your heart out!!  LOL!!

So, that's my new look Planner.  Every once in a while I will show you more of my pages.  I'm really enjoying putting this together.  I don't have to worry about inking or stamping (unless I want to of course LOL!!)   all I'm really doing is adding stickers and washi (or my facsimile) and then just journaling about the things that are happening in my life.  I love it!!  No stress, no hassles, I only do what I want to do .. like I said "I love it!!"

That's all for today sweet friends.  Thank you so much for visiting and do enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.

 

My first Christmas Card for 2016 and an Update on my Planner

Hello everyone and welcome to my Blog.  I hope you are all having a wonderful day.

I am in shock!!!  I have actually made my very first Christmas Card for this year  ..  I think I might be really sick and just don't realise it yet!!  LOL!!

For a long time now I've been  trying to convince myself that I should be making Christmas cards right through the year and I have finally listened!!  I actually found a Challenge site for making Christmas Cards and that has given me the incentive to get cracking on this.  The site is called Christmas Card Challenges (surprise! surprise!  LOL!!) and the current Challenge is Anything Goes!

HERE is the link and here is my card ..

Used some Kaisercraft papers on this one and actually popped it through my sewing machine to stitch the edges.

The chippie is from 2Crafty Chipboard.  I simply painted it with a paint dauber and, while it was still wet, sprinkled it with some glitter.

Used crackle paste through a stencil and again, while it was still wet, sprinkled on some micro beads.

The larger bloom is the Carabella Rose which is available through Megs Garden.   It was pink originally .. I simply sprayed it with a mix of acrylic paint and Cherry Pie Dylusion spray.

The inside with some blank space for a personal message ..

.. and my first Christmas card for 2016 done and dusted!!!  So now I just need to stay focused and make sure I make at least two per month.  Then, hopefully, I won't be so rushed at the end of the year.
With that out of the way, I thought I would give you a little update on my 2016 Planner.  I haven't done a great deal on it yet but I have completed the dividers for January and February and decorated a few of the January weekly pages.  

This is the January divider ..

.. and the full month on two pages.

The little plastic pocket was meant to hold some photos but, as I keep forgetting to take photos (Duhh!!), I have inserted a couple of quotes instead.

So, on the full month pages I will record appointments and reminders, etc.

and then on the week pages, I will write about  those in more detail and, hopefully, remember to take some photos and place them in there as well.  By the end of the year, I should have a really good record of what we actually did.  

Here is the divider for February.

 The plastic pocket here holds the strips and quotes I will use for that particular month.  I have decided to colour code each month to match with the tabs on the side.

I was going to purchase a whole heap of Washi Tape to decorate these pages but , as that would be quite an expensive exercise, decided to simply use strips of scrap paper from my stash.  A little more work but will look just as effective and I get to use up all of those pesky scraps!!

I should point out that I'm not really happy with those dividers and I may yet decide to create some art journal-like pages instead.  Will have to see how enthusiastic I am whether that happens or not.  LOL!!

That's about all for now folks.  Just a reminder about the Christmas Card Challenge Blog.  Why not join in and start making your Chrissy cards now.  Would save a lot of hassle at the end of the year!!  HERE is the link again.

Thank you so much for visiting and do enjoy the rest of your day.  Happy crafting everyone!!

Take care and God Bless.

Happy New Year and some Sneak Peeks!!

Hello everyone!!  

A very warm welcome to my blog and a very Happy New Year to you all!!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that 2016 will bring you everything you ever wished for.
  

I took a little break after Christmas so it's been a while since I posted last.  Have to admit, I really haven't done very much in the way of crafting so I haven't got much to show you.    I can, however, give you a little taste of what is to come shortly.
I've been bitten by the planner bug.  Shock, horror!!!

Have haunted Pinterest and You Tube getting as much info as I can and have started making my own planner with the help of some free printables.  I still have a lot of bits and pieces to get though .. things like page flags and sticky notes and pretty stickers, etc. so, at the moment there is not much to show you yet but here's a few sneaks.

  Some of the stickers and printable quote cards I have already got for myself.  
 

 Full month on two pages .. this will be for appointments  and reminders.

 A week on two pages for more detailed notes.
As you can see, although I have started using it, there is not much going on as yet.  It's looking very bland and uninteresting but, as soon as I get the rest of the stickers I'm after  .. look out people .. it will be very colourful and awesome  (I hope,  LOL!!)

So, as well as the planner, I have also started another little Mini Album.  This one is my next
 Megs Garden DT project and I am using their new 'Chantilly Cream' Collection.  Love these papers  .. neutral colours with lots of yummy vintage ephemera, perfect for my vintage/shabby chic Mini  Album.

Some sneaks ..

 

So, you can see, I will actually be adding some vintage photos to this album.  The photo above is of my mother and was taken in 1935.  Unfortunately it is damaged but still, a lovely photo.

Well, there you have it folks.  Hopefully I will get these projects finished soon and then I can share the full reveal.  In the meantime, among other things, I am also going to be creating some Christmas cards .. yep!!  you read that right .. some Christmas cards.  There is a great challenge site called 'Christmas Card Challenges'.  They have a challenge every week and, although I may not join in each week, I do want to make at least two Chrissy cards per month so that, by the time Christmas does arrive again, I will have made a really great start on my cards.   Looking forward to sharing those with you as well.

Thank you so much for popping in and do enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care and God Bless.