My first post for 2018

Hello everyone and welcome!  

Sorry I haven't been here for a little while but I took a bit of a break over the holidays just to recharge the batteries, so to speak.  So, as this is my first post for 2018, I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and hope this year turns out to be your best one ever!!

It's taken me a while to get back into feeling creative again.  This card I am about to show you took ages to complete but, once I got a taste of crafting again, it just took off like a rocket and now I've got six of them waiting for a blog post!  LOL!!  It really was nice to get back into my craft room.
The papers used on this card are from a 6.5" x 6.5" paper pad by Kaisercraft  called Rose Avenue. A really pretty collection with pale blues and pinks  with a bit of green thrown in as well.

A few bits of pretty lace for interest and texture and I cut the top layer of paper with a Tim Holtz MM die.

I very rarely use such large flowers on my cards but I really love this one.  It's made by Little Birdie and I really love the almost grungy look of it.  A great contrast, I feel, to the delicate papers behind it.

There is a bit of gauze tucked in underneath the cluster and, of course, I had to add some prills and micro beads.

I do love those pretty papers and I also love the bottom layer peeking through the die cut.  Adds such a lot of interest I feel.

Before I go I would like to thank all of you for all the encouragement and support you gave me in 2017.  For all of the visits, and for all of the lovely comments I received, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I really do appreciate it all.  Thank You.

And, thank you also for your visit today.  I love that you came by to take a peek.
Take care and God Bless.

 

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #202 - Christmas

Hello everyone and welcome.  So pleased you dropped by, especially at this busy time of year.

The last Challenge for 2017 has gone live at Crafty Cardmakers.  June is our host and, surprise!, surprise!, the Theme is Christmas!!

As usual, anything you would like to enter is fine, as long as it is Christmas themed.

For this card I have used more of the papers from a 6" x 6" pad by Craft Smiths.

Instead of adding lace, I used some white cardstock which was edged with the Deep Edge Floral Vine border punch by Martha Stewart.

Placed some scrunched up cotton underneath the cluster for more texture and there is a small die cut doily hiding underneath there too.

Added micro beads and glitter to the flowers and, of course,  I scattered some prills around the card as well.

The chipboard pieces are by Scrapmatts.

I hope you are inspired to join in with our final Challenge for the year.
To have a look at the fabulous creations by my Teamies and to link up your entry

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #202 - Christmas
Please read the rules and take note of the 15 Challenge limit.

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

A Masterboard Christmas

Hello sweet visitors and welcome to my blog.  Hope you are having a wonderful day!

A big welcome to my new followers too!!  Thank you so much for joining me.  I hope I can pass on a little inspiration now and then.

Today, I am sharing two more Christmas cards made with my Christmas Masterboard.  I really enjoy these Masterboards and am definitely going to do more of my cards this way.   It's a lot of fun  creating them and it saves using up my DP.  Although I still have so much of that I don't think I will ever get to use it up, LOL!!!

These two cards are almost identical so I thought I would share them together.

The poinsettias were made with a die from Poppy Crafts and the Pine Branch die is from Impression Obsession.

  The sentiment on Card 1 was printed, punched out and covered with an epoxy sticker ..

,, and on Card 2, I used a simple gold sticker.

Added a few prills and micro beads although I wasn't really happy with the result on card 1.  I think the colour is wrong but, once they are down, it's impossible to get them off again.

Was a bit happier with the result on card 2 .. but still, not quite what I wanted.
Should perhaps have used green.

Inside Card 1.

Inside Card 2.

Card 1 full frontal ..

.. and, Card 2.

Not quite sure about using the red cardstock base.  I think they may have looked better with a white base.  Still, I'm not unhappy with them so I guess they will do.

Have you started making your Christmas cards and decorations yet??  
Dare I say there are only about 8 weeks to go??  Scary isn't it??

Thank you for stopping by to take a look.  It's always so nice to have you visit and, whatever you are planning to do, make it a great day my friends.
Take care and God Bless.
Hugs xx

1 Master Board = 3 Simple Cards

Hi everyone!!  So lovely to have you drop by.

Hope you are all having a wonderful day!

I've been spending some time watching videos (don't we all??)  on You Tube and came across one that I found really interesting.  It was made by Eileen Godwin of Eileen's Crafty Zone and she was demonstrating how to create a Masterboard.   There's actually two videos and HERE is the link to the first one if you're interested.   There, you will see the link to the second one as well.   I thoroughly enjoyed it and was inspired to have a go.  

So, this is what I made.

I didn't take progress photos while I was making this (if you wish, you can see all that on the videos) and I even forgot to take a photo before I cut it up so I simply pieced it back together so you could see how my Masterboard ended up.  The colour was added with Distress Inks and I wasn't overly impressed with my colour choices at first but, started to like it more and more as it progressed.
The colours I used are Mustard Seed, Ripe Persimmon, Faded Jeans and Pine Needles.

I managed to make three cards with this masterboard and am really happy with the result.
They are all very similar but, still, a little different.

The first card measures 3.5" x 7".

I used similar elements on all three cards.    Had to use prills, of course, along with some micro beads.

The gauze has been brushed with gesso to give it shape and structure and the flowers were coloured with sprays made from Distress Re-inkers.

Got myself a Brother Label Maker just recently (been going nuts labelling everything I can in my Craft Room.  LOL!!) and used it to make the sentiment.  

Wrapped the twine around the panel on this card before tying the bow.

The second card measures 4" x 6".

 

  Larger flower this time and simply left it as is.  Another label from my maker for the sentiment.

 Didn't bother wrapping the twine around this one .. just added a simple bow.

The last card measures 4.25" x 5.5".

Same gauze, same prills and micro beads.

 Different flowers again, coloured with sprays made from Distress Inks.

I thoroughly enjoyed creating this Masterboard and then the three cards.  It was something totally different to what I normally do and I love the results.  As I said at the beginning, I didn't really like my colour choices at first but it turned out nice and bright and cheery in the end. 
Thank you so much Eileen for sharing your talent and for inspiring me to do something a little different.

Thank you all too for dropping in and taking a look.  I hope you will go over and check out Eileen's video and her work .. I think she is awesome!!

Whatever you plan to do today,  make it a good one and have fun!!

Take care and God Bless.

MM - To Bin or Not to Bin!

Hello everyone!!  Welcome to my blog with a special welcome to my new followers.
So pleased you decided to join me on my creative journey.

Hope you are all having a wonderful day!

I'm back to share another of my inky (or painty? LOL!!) cards with you.  This one was made at the same time as the clean and simple cards I posted a while back (HERE) but, as you can see, it is totally different.

Actually, after creating the background, I was going to throw this in the bin!!  Glad I didn't though because I really like how it turned out in the end.

When I was creating my MM cards, this was actually my first attempt.  I mixed the colour (Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals - Cocklebells Coral) and popped it into a bottle and sprayed it onto some watercolour paper.

Unfortunately, the sprayer didn't work correctly and so I ended up with this big blob in the middle.  Bumma!!!  So, I tried softening the edges by using a paper towel soaked in the paint and dabbing it on.
Blah!!!  Still didn't like it so, I put this aside, tried a different technique and came up with the other two cards.  Loved them .. but hated this and was going to toss it.

But then I had another look and thought .. mmm .. maybe if I add a bit of stenciling and tone that 'blob' down a bit and perhaps add a bit of gauze as well to soften the look.  

So, out came the stencil and the texture paste and ...  still not really happy but it was starting to look a bit better.

Maybe I should also add a little stamping!   Yeah .. I suppose that looks alright!  Okay, let's try the gauze ..  no, the white looks all wrong so .. colour it!  Still wasn't really happy but started looking for some flowers .. that would certainly cover up the 'blob'.

Well, it took ages to find the right one.  Small ones didn't work, medium sized ones didn't work  so I figured I'd try a large one.  Well, I had to go through a lot of my stash, but finally found this really large Prima  bloom.  It was white and, at first didn't look right either, but then I sprayed it with the same colour and, voila!, it looked fabulous!! (at least, I think it looks fabulous!!)  I really love how it didn't take the colour evenly and IRL it almost seems to glow!  Loved it!!

While I was hunting through my stash for the flower, I found some silver stamens I forgot I had so, I mixed them with some white ones, and decided to add those instead of leaves.  Had to add some prills too, mixed with micro beads of course, and a twine bow at the side ..

.. and, Voila!!!  So glad I didn't toss out that background.

You just never know what can be achieved until you try it.

Thank you so much for stopping by to take a look and, I do hope you enjoyed your visit.
Happy crafting everyone!!!
Take care and God Bless.