Altered Box for Meg's Garden

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  So nice of you to stop by.

Hope your day is going well and that the weather is being kind to you.

We are getting the most wonderful rain in Adelaide at the moment.  It has been coming down steadily since yesterday morning and, apparently, there is a whole lot more on the way.  I absolutely love it.  It's coming down nice and steady and everything smells and looks so fresh and new. We really needed it too.  It is wonderful!!

I have a new project up on the blog at Meg's Garden.  It is a small altered box and here is a little sneaky peek for you.

For more piccies and all the details please visit Meg's Garden Blog HERE and perhaps, leave a little comment there as well.  That would be lovely and much appreciated..

Thank you so much for visiting.

Take care and God Bless!!

oxox Marg

Cards for Meg's Garden #2

Hello everyone and a very warm welcome to you all.

I hope you are having a fabulous day and that the weather is being kind to you.

I am here to share the second card from my Meg's Garden DT project.  

 The base of the card  is a pastel pink cardstock  and, as with the previous card, the papers used are from the 'Dreaming in the Meadows' Mini Pack.  For this card I machine stitched around the edge to create a bit of a frame for the design.

 The die cuts are Couture Creations 'Starburst Doily Die', and 'Oval Nesting Dies' and Marianne Creatables 'Frame & Swirls'.  The banner was cut from the cardstock by hand and layered with the same paper.  The floral sprigs were cut with the 'Honey Blossom Sprig Die' from Memory Box.

 The gorgeous flower is the Ivory Primula to which I've just added some autumn leaves.

 Just a close-up of the sprigs and the gorgeous design on the Meg's Garden papers..

 For the inside I've simply cut two strips of paper and edged them with Martha Stewart's Doily Border Punch.

This card and the one in my previous post are similarly constructed and yet are very different.  When you find a design that you love, you can use it again and again and by just changing the paper or adding or changing a few elements, your cards will look very different and no-one would know they are actually the same design.

Meg's Garden products used

S118 - Dreaming in the Meadows Mini Pack

325iv - Ivory Primula Flower

Why don't you pop over to the Meg's Garden Blog and take a look at the awesome projects created by my Teamies.  You can find it HERE.

I am so pleased you dropped by and thank you so much for visiting.

Please  take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Feeling Blue ... but in a very Happy Way!!!

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  So happy that you popped in for a visit!!  

I'd like to wish all my Aussie peeps a very happy Australia Day!!  Hope you all had a great time.

We had a lovely day here.  Hubby and I went over to a friend's house for a BBQ and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!!  

Today I have another card to share and the reason I added the 'Happy' to my title is that this card is made with product from two prize wins!!!  The first, of course, being the gorgeous Pion Design papers which I've had for a while now, and the other is the prize I won from Scrapmatts through Helen Tilsbury's Blog Hop a while ago.  I actually received these chippies as I was making this card so they came in very handy.  A big THANK YOU to both Helen and Scrapmatts for my amazing Blog Hop win!!!!

You can find Helen's Blog HERE and Scrapmatts HERE.

Now, I should have been making more masculine cards but felt the need to do something 'pretty' so I made another feminine one, with flowers, of course.    

Here 'tis.

As stated before, the papers are from Pion Design.  I have thoroughly enjoyed creating with these.  The patterns are very subtle but oh so pretty!!  Unfortunately it doesn't really show up very well on these photos.

I love the ripped paper look, so went for that again here.  Distressed the edges but, as I didn't want them to look aged, I didn't bother to ink them.  I just crumpled them up a bit and did some doodling  around the edges with a white gel pen. 

 I used a scoreboard to create the lines on the base paper to give it that corrugated look as a bit of added interest and then cut a doily in half and inserted that between the two layers of DP.

The flowers are a mix of Prima, Kaisercraft and Ribtex and the leaves were cut on my Silhouette.   There are also some Magnolia Ink gem strays tucked in between.  Placed some gauze underneath the cluster as well, it just softens the outline a bit ...

... and here is part of my prize from Scrapmatts!!  The gorgeous Happy Birthday chippie!!!  I simply coloured it a little with some Versa Magic 'Cloud White'.  The blue ribbon is from my stash.

 Here is a better look at those gem sprays.

So, there we are.  A feminine card 'happily' made with two fantastic give-aways from two totally amazing Companies.   Thank you again to Pion Design and Scrapmatts and also, of course, to Helen Tilsbury.  You made my day guys ... Thank you all ... you are amazing!!!

And thank you too, my lovely visitors for dropping in and letting me share this with you.

Please do take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Meg's Garden DT Project

Hi everyone, so pleased you dropped by and hope you are all having a lovely day

My next Meg's Garden DT Project is up on the Blog.  

Here is a little sneak peek for you.

For all the details please visit the Meg's Garden Blog HERE and maybe leave a little comment there.

That would be really lovely.

Thank you for visiting.

Take care and God Bless.

ox Marg

Me?? Scrapbooking???

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.

Well, this is a post I never thought I would be writing ... I actually did some scrapbooking today!!  What!!!  You say??  Scrapbooking  ... You????  Yep!! Me!!

We had our 11 yr old Granddaughter Melanie here for a sleep-over last night.  Because of the heat ( it was over 40 degrees here in Adelaide for the fourth day in a row) we decided to stay home today and create a scrapbook page of their dog "Sully" (Short for Sullivan).
It was the greatest fun.  I absolutely loved it and I think she did too.
So, here is our page!!

 The photo was taken not long after they brought the dog home which was about 6 months ago.  He's a lot bigger now, and I mean a LOT bigger!!  Anyway I showed my DGD (Darling Granddaughter) some layouts on my Pinterest Board and she chose a design made by Di Garling.  Di creates the most amazing pages.  This one is from a couple of weeks ago and, If you would like to take a look, HERE is the link to her blog.  Mel absolutely loved the tears in the paper and that is why she chose this particular page.

So the papers were chosen from the limited stock of 12 x 12's I have in my stash (I have no idea where they are from) and we used black cardstock as our base.  Melanie actually did the ripping of the paper and I really think she thoroughly enjoyed that too. So then we did some spraying with diluted 'Broken China' Distress Ink and some stamping, this time with 'Faded Jeans' Distress Ink, added a bit of Washi Tape and also splashed a bit of diluted "Brushed Corduroy' Distress Ink around the page.

The flowers are a mix of Dusty Attic, Prima and Kaisercraft and the chippies are from Little Birdie.  Simply coloured them with Versa Magic "Cloud White' and Versa Color "Lapislazuli.

The clock is from Scrapbook'n'Craft and was coloured with Versa Color "Lapislazuli and then mounted on some paper coloured with the same ink.

Our page didn't turn out anything like Di's original  but then it was never meant to.  We just used the basic design and I am happy to say that Melanie was very pleased with the result and was very proud as she showed her Mum and Dad after we took her home.  Unfortunately, we didn't have time to do the Title which will simply be the dog's name but I will get that cut out some time at a later date and then Mel can add it to the page.
This may be the only Scrapbook page I ever create and the fact that it was done with my Granddaughter really makes it very special for me.  It was a really fabulous day!!

Thank you so much for visiting and hopefully leaving a little comment so I can pass it on to my Granddaughter.   We both would love to know what you think.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

Side Step Card

Hello Everyone!!!  Welcome to my blog, I hope your day is going well.

The weather here in Adelaide today is beautiful, bright and sunny but not too hot, just the way I like it.  I do feel so sorry for those of you caught up in the extreme cold and terrible floods they are getting in the Northern Hemisphere.  It must be so difficult to get on with your life in those kinds of temperatures and conditions.  Let's hope it lets up real soon.

I have a side step card to share with you today.  Haven't made one of these in a long time, I do find they take a bit more effort, but I really do like them.

 The papers used are from Pion's Flower and Frames Collection.  I really love these papers, they are so pretty.  Lovely pastel colours and subtle patterns and so easy to work with.   Below you can see a close-up of the subtle images these papers have on them.  Love it!!  This time I've used the 12 x 12 papers which are double sided so the base paper and the top layer are cut from the same sheet, I've just used opposite sides.  The contrast is easier to see in real life.  As you can see, I did a little doodling with my white gel pen.

The piece of lace used here was the last little bit I had left and it wasn't quite long enough for the length of the card so I manipulated it to look like the edge of a doily sticking out of the side.  I've also used Memory Box's Honey Blossom Sprig Die again (love that die, I use it a lot) and placed a little bit of gauze and a couple of branches between the layers.  

The large flower is called Meadow and both it and the small roses are available at Meg's Garden.com.  The leaves were cut using my Silhouette (they are actually left overs from my Christmas cards) and I used some Perfect Pearls for the veins.  The small branches were cut with Martha Stewart's Twig Branch Punch and the music is Memory Box's Virtuoso Music Die. 

The metal embellishment was coated with gesso and then sprayed with Pearl Glimmer Mist.

This card took a little more effort only because you need to marry up the side panel with the embellies on the front and I had a little trouble with that initially, but I'm happy with the final result.

Thank you so much for visiting  and, hopefully, for your comments as well.
Please take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

Flowers and Twine!

Hello everyone!!!  Welcome to my blog!

I hope everyone's Christmas Preparations are going well.  Luckily for me, mine are done so I can relax for a few days and create something for an occasion other than Christmas.

The card I'm sharing with you today could be used for a Wedding.  It was made from the gorgeous Pion Design papers that I won just recently!

 As you can see, not a lot of colour to this one.  I think after all the Christmas cards I made I am coloured out!!  hehe!  There is actually a very subtle pattern on the top layer of paper but, unfortunately, the photos don't show it very well.  You can see it a little better in the next one but you really have to look closely.

 The papers were distressed and then I misted the top layer and manipulated it a bit to get it to the shape you can see and I also made a few tears which were then rolled as well.  The idea for this came from Patricia Basson.  She makes the most beautiful scrapbook pages where she rolls and manipulates her papers in the most beautiful ways.  I love her work and urge you to go and take a look.  You can find her blog HERE. 

The cluster is made up of a selection of flowers but I'm afraid I can't tell you where they came from as I've had these for a while.  I've mixed some tiny pearl stamens and some gauze in there too.   The two clusters are almost a mirror image of each other.  The strip across the centre of the card is simply another strip of the same paper over which I've added a strip of gauze and a twine bow.

 The inside was decorated with another sheet of  the Pion papers.  I fussy cut the lovely little frame which can be used for the sentiment and then just border punched a couple of strips from the same sheet and adhered them top and bottom.

 I have to say, I'm really pleased with the way this one turned out!!  I think I'm going to be sorry to give this one away!!  Ah well!!!  What must be done, must be done!

I want to thank Pion Design again for their wonderful Give-away.  These papers are absolutely stunning and I'm loving working with them.  Thank you!!

I'd also like to thank you lovely people for visiting here today.  This is a really busy time of the year and I know how hard it can be to find the time.  So, thank you so much!!  I appreciate it immensely!!

Please take special care over the holiday period.  Be safe and  God Bless.

oxox Marg

Art Journal page - Just Breathe

Hello everyone, thank you so much for visiting.

I have another Art Journal page to share with you.  I wasn't actually going to post this one because so many things just didn't go right with it and I almost tossed it in the bin.  It was my lovely friend Heather Jacob who persuaded me that it wasn't a total loss, mind you she hasn't seen the finished product so maybe she'll change her mind ... LOL.  

She actually loved the background and I must say I do too.   The base colour was laid down using Walnut Stain and Faded Jeans Distress Inks.  I used the Walnut Stain again to randomly stamp around the page with the Arty stamp and  script stamp from Kaisercraft.    It was the texture paste that was the first thing to go wrong.  I used the Crafters Workshop Mini Ledger Stencil and it looked great but as it was drying the paste started to bleed into the paper.   Not happy Jan!!!!  Won't tell you which brand texture paste I used but I just wanted to throw the whole thing out.  This was the stage Heather saw it and persuaded me to do some more and see what happened.  

I was going to cover up the script but then decided to leave it as is.  After looking at it for a while I decided it wasn't a big issue and I could live with it.  So I said to myself  'just breathe' and think of what to do next.

So I added some flowers.

 Cut out some random flower shapes, stamped them with a KC stamp and coloured them with a mix  of Distress Inks and Reeves Water Soluble Wax Pastels.  Must say, I do like how they turned out.

 I originally had some paper flowers glued to the bottom of the page but again, didn't like it, so took them off again and added the hearts which were also stamped with a KC stamp and coloured with Distress Inks.

I went around the edges of the flowers and the hearts with the Wax Pastels in black and went around the edge again with a wet paintbrush to blend it a little and that went wrong too.  I made a mess.  Tried to fix it but it didn't work too well so, again, I left it.  Take a deep breath I said to myself and keep going.
There really wasn't much more I wanted to do except perhaps add a few words.  Thought about it and decided to add what I had been saying to myself all along.  'Just Breathe'.

Coloured some paper with the Faded Jeans, wrote the words and cut them out.  I then edged the pieces with Walnut Stain and glued them to the page.  And, of course, when I outlined it with the wax pastels and tried to blend it, I did it again ...  made a mess.  But, you know what, I figure this page is just for me.  I haven't made it to give to someone, it is just for me to have a little bit of creative time for myself.  So, what the heck!!  Doesn't matter if I made a mess and, funny enough, I actually do like it.  Probably because it was a pain to put together, but now it's done I can look back at it and say 'so what' if it didn't turn out the way I imagined and 'so what' if no-one else likes it.  It's mine and I can look back at it and laugh at myself for taking it all so seriously!!!!

Done!!!  Finished!!!!
"Just Breathe' !!!

Thank you so much for visiting, hope you enjoyed it a little bit.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

Netting and Lace Ribbon

Hello everyone, I hope you are all having a fabulous day.  We have gorgeous sunshine in Adelaide after a night of wild winds and rain.  The weatherman just cannot make up his mind as to whether it's summer or winter.   He keeps flicking the switch every few minutes it seems.  Crazy!!

So, I am back to share another card.   Surprise!! Surprise!!  hehe!

This one has some netting incorporated into it and some gorgeous lace ribbon too.

I have seen the netting used in other peoples projects and really loved the look of it so decided to use it myself.  It adds a bit of softness to the card I think and I love that look.  To see where I got the inspiration from check out Dorota's Blog HERE  and Klaudia's blog HERE.  They both make the most beautiful cards.

 The papers I've used are Kaisercraft's On This DAy and I've distressed them quite heavily.  The lace is from my stash and I've glued it on with my heat gun, gathering it up a bit in the process.   The chipboard frames are from Little Birdie and I've actually used two different styles here ... an oval and a square frame.  The oval was used as is and the corner pieces were cut from the square frame.  I painted them with a mix of White and Mud Puddle Acrylic Paint and then coated them with Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint.  As they are such small pieces the cracks are not huge, as you can see, but they do give them a bit of texture.

 The main flowers are a little daisy spray purchased from Seriously Scrapbooking.  I really loved the colour mix and thought they would help to brighten the card up a bit.  The small rose is from Kaisercraft and the white spray and other little flowers are from my stash.  The leaves are my staple which I've cut with my Silhouette Portrait and then inked and doodled.  The doodling idea came from the amazing Heather Jacob, you can find her blog HERE.

 

 Lined the inside with some paper from my stash and a strip of the KC On This DAy paper on the side.

 And there it is!!  

I just want to say how grateful I am that there are so many of you talented people out there willing to share your art and give inspiration to others.  I love looking at other people's work and I get such a lot of my ideas from them.  Thank you all so much for your generosity.  I do hope that, along the way, I've inspired a few of you too.

Thank you so much for visiting and, perhaps, leaving me a little comment.  I read each and every one and love them all!

I am hoping too that, very soon, I'll be able to share some wonderful news with you all!!

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg