Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #225

Hello dear friends and welcome!  So pleased you came by for a visit!

Here we are with Crafty Cardmakers' first Challenge for 2019.  Lin is our host and the Theme is 'Winter'.
This is really odd for me at the moment as we are suffering through a fairly intense heat wave right now.  Temperature at this moment is 36C and for the next couple of days it will be in the low 40's .. hot, hot, hot!!!!   Thank goodness for airconditioning!!  LOL!!

Anyway, our Challenge, as always, is for whatever you care to create.  It can be a card, a scrap layout, mixed media piece, home decor, whatever you wish to do is fine as long as it fits the Theme.

So, for my DT contribution, I have created a little Amigurumi Snowman!

He stands 5" tall and was made from a free pattern found at Amigurumi Today.

To display him, I created a very simple background.  Using watercolour paper, I stamped the snowflakes with embossing ink and then heat embossed them in white.

I then mixed up a little Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals with water to create the colour and simply brushed it on using more water to move the colour around a bit.  Colours used are Tiffany Lou's Blue and Danny Zuko's Denim

The splatters were created with watered down gesso.

A sheet of tissue paper was used for the foreground and I added a few berries and tiny pine cones for a little more interest.

I hope you like my little snowman and the background I created for him and that you feel inspired to join in with the Challenge.

For a ton more inspiration, and to link up your entry, pop on over to the Crafty Cardmakers blog and check out the fabulous creations by the rest of the Team.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge # 225 - 'Winter'

Thank you so much for stopping by and for any comments you may care to leave.  I read them all and appreciate each and every one!!


Have fun crafting!!
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #212 - Things with Wings

Hello sweet visitors and welcome to my blog.  So happy you decided to stop by.

It is time for a new Challenge at Crafty Cardmakers.  Glenda is our host for this Challenge and the Theme is Things with Wings.

I decided I was going to create a couple of ATCs but, what to use as my Winged Things??  Well, my fave Things with Wings are butterflies so .. why not use those??
Why not indeed!!

I used pasteboard as my base.  Pasteboard is similar to chipboard but it has a layer of white paper front and back and is a bit cheaper to buy. 

For a bit of texture, I scrunched up a piece of tissue paper and adhered it with Matte Medium.

To add the colour, I sprinkled Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals and then sprayed with water.  The colour used here is Danny Zuko's Denim.

 

The butterfly die used is the Vivienne Butterfly from Memory Box .. 

.. and the Magicals colour on this ATC is Tears on my Pillow Tangerine.

For a touch of extra interest I added some torn washi tape at one side ..

.. as well as the Threads and Borders die and a sprinkling of black prills.

The words were computer generated, then trimmed to size and edged with a Sharpie pen.  The doodling around the edges of both ATCs was also done with the Sharpie.

To check out all  the details of the Challenge and for some wonderful inspiration from the rest of the Team, pop on over to the Crafty Cardmakers blog.  I'm sure you will feel inspired to join in and can't wait to see what you create.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #212 - Things with Wings.

Thank you all so much for stopping by my blog today and a special thank you for the wonderful comments that were left on my last post.  I do appreciate them so much.

Have a wonderful day!

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #209 - Water

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  So happy that you stopped by.

The new Challenge is starting over at Crafty Cardmakers and the Theme this fortnight is - Water.  Josephine is our host for this one and, as always, you may create whatever you like as long as it follows the Theme.

Well, I thought I would be back full on crafting this past week or so but that obviously did not happen.  I think when I broke my wrist I also broke my enthusiasm and my mojo .. LOL!!  Just can't get back into it at the mo, but I'm quite pleased that I did manage to create something for my DT contribution even though it did take a few days to get done.

I created this very simple little card.

 This is not the first card I tried to make.  It is actually my fourth attempt.  I simply could not get the right effect for the background.  Yeah, I do think my mojo is broken or, at least, it's bent a bit!  LOL!!

The first two attempts were made with different inks and paints and didn't look very nice. So then I went back to my trusty Magicals and, although I did like the result on the third attempt, I then messed it up beause I wasn't really sure what I wanted to add to it.  Tried it with mermaids and dolphins but I  did not like how it turned out so, that one ended up in the bin as well.

I created this background by first spraying a piece of watercolour paper with water.  I mixed each of the colours with water to activate them and then put a few drops of each randomly on the page.  Then I sprayed over it with water again just to get the colours moving a bit more and this is the result.  The Magicals' colours I used on this background are Danny Zucko's Denim, Tiffany Lou's Blue, Azure Sea Asters, Sea Mint Green and Greased Lightning Green.  Don't you just love those names?? 

And I really loved how this background turned out so didn't want to mess this one up.  Still wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with it though until I found this quote from the movie Finding Nemo and then I knew I had to add a  fish of some sort.

After that, it all came together quite quickly.  I found the little fish on the net, printed it out and fussy cut it. 

I edged the fish and the quote with a black Sharpie pen and popped them up  on foam tape to give a bit of dimension.  I also went around the fish with more of the Danny Zucko's Denim to give it shadow and make it stand out a bit more.

The 'seaweed' is the Garland Threads Die by Altenew and I added some pearls to represent air bubbles.  I then used more of the Danny Zucko's Denim to add the splashes.

And here it is .. all finished!!!

I did make this into a card but am not really sure what sort of occasion I could use it for so, I'm thinking, I might just pop it into my art journal.   'Cos, with that quote, it's kinda uplifting and supportive and I think it's kinda cute and, I want to keep it!  So there!  LOL!!

I hope you will pop on over to the CCM Blog and take a peek at the fabulous inspiration by my Teamies and, maybe, link up your entry.  Would love to see how you interpret this Theme. 

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge # 209 - Water.

Thank you so much for stopping by and for any words you may care to leave for me.  I read every one and really appreciate you taking the time.

Have a wonderful day!
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

ATCs - A New Addiction

Hello sweet visitors and welcome to my blog.  So pleased you decided to drop by.

I'm sharing something new with you today.  Well, at least it's new for me.  I have been busy creating some ATCs and, I have had so much fun with it,  I think I have a new addiction!  

Like everyone else, I have seen these around for a long time but never really felt the need to try my hand until now.  I've been watching a few videos, which is not unusual in itself but, I've been watching videos about ATCs.  I think I can blame Anne Redfern for this.  LOL!!  She mentioned her love of ATCs a few times recently and it got my curiosity aroused.

So, I watched a few videos and thought I would give it a go, and these are the result.

  I must tell you that these are not my own design.  Quite a few of the videos I watched used these techniques and I simply followed them.
The inspiration for my version came mostly from Shira Manor so these look very much like hers.  Here is the link to her video.

 So, basically, I made a Masterboard, and then cut it up into ATC sized pieces.  I ended up with 6 ATCs and the scrap was used for the collage.
I didn't take any photos of the process because, if you're interested, you can see it all on Shira's video.

 The substrate is watercolour canvas paper.   The layers started with a few papers from Simple Stories 'Documented' paper pad.  These were torn into strips and adhered to the canvas paper.

The next step was to add masking tape and washi tape.  Unfortunately I couldn't find the masking tape.  It has disapeared into our domestic black hole I think, so I used plaster tape instead.

Next came some stenciling with two different stencils and texture paste.  Before the paste dried I applied white embossing powder and heat set it.
Unfortunately, embossing powder is not my friend.  I can never apply it cleanly.  It just seems to stick to everything.  Even when I have rubbed the area with a resist pad, it still sticks and it is really hard to get it off the places I didn't want it to go.  Hence you can see it scattered everywhere.  Still, I don't really mind the look of it here.

So, once the embossing was finished it was time to add the colour.

I used a mix of Lindy's Stamp gang Sprays and Magicals. 

 The colours used in the Sprays was Sea Grass Green and Cape Cod Coral and

 in the magicals I used Tears on my Pillow Tangerine and TiffanyLou's Blue.

Once all the colour was dry it was time to chop up my Masterboard and, as stated before I ended up with six ATCs but, so far, have only completed these three.

The scrap was cut into smaller pieces for the collage and, once I got the arrangements to my liking they were simply stapled together but, before glueing them to the bases, I added some twine underneath.  I added a metal button to each ATC and then went round all the edges with a Sharpie pen.

Found some quotes on the net, printed them, cut them out and also edged them with the Sharpie.

The final step was to glue the quotes to the base.

A final look at all three together.

This was so much fun!  I loved getting messy preparing the Masterboard.  Should say, I was not really impressed when it was done but, once I got it all cut up and once my ATCs were assembled, I am really loving these.  Also, putting that black edging all around made a big difference to the look.  I love them!!! And I'm definitely making more of these.

Thank you so much for stopping by.   I really appreciate your visit and hope I have inspired you to try making some ATCs for yourself, if you haven't already.  Check out all the amazing videos, I'm sure you'll find something you haven't tried before!!

Have yourself a wonderful day!
Take care, stay safe and God Bless.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #205 - Love & Romance

Hello everyone and welcome to my crafty space!  Hope you are having a wonderful day!!

The new Challenge has started over at Crafty Cardmakers! 
Marlene is the host for this Challenge  and the Theme is Valentine based, so it's all about Love and Romance!
As always, anything you care to create is fine as long as it follows the Theme!

So, once again, I have created a card.
This is not really a Valentine's card though.  Hubby and I have been married for 50 years (yeah!  I know!!  I can't believe it either!  LOL!!) but we have never celebrated  Valentine's Day.  Just never felt we wanted, or needed to, so, this card will simply be used to send a little love to a rellie or maybe a close friend on their birthday. 

The background was created with some texture paste through a mini 'Art Is' stencil by the Crafters' Workshop.

Once the texture paste was dry, I sprinkled on a little LSG Magicals powder in Rizzo's Rowdy Red and then sprayed over that with water.   I love the way it splatters everywhere and I love all the different colours you get with this technique. 

Topped it with my usual cluster of gauze, diecuts and flowers.

The sentiment was printed with a label maker and then mounted on a piece of chipboard.

Once it was all assembled, I swiped the cluster with a little gesso and added some stamping along the edge!

Unfortunately, the stamping was not very clear and I must have hiccupped while doing it!  LOL!  Still, I don't mind that it's a bit messy.  It is handmade after all, so not meant to be perfect!!

Do go on over to the Crafty Cardmakers Blog and check out the fabulous creations by my Team Mates.  You will be inpsired to join in, I'm sure!!  Looking forward to seeing what you create!!

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #205 - Love and Romance.

Thank you so much for stopping by.
Have yourselves a wonderful day!
Take care and God Bless.
Marg oxox