Flowers - Just for Me!

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

I have another card to share.  Haven't really been in "the crafting zone' lately and was getting a bit down about it but things have picked up again and I decided to make something 'just for me'.  Didn't care if it was good or bad, just wanted to get my fingers dirty so to speak.   I had started another Art Journal page but got stuck and it's still waiting for me to finish it so, in the meantime, I made this card.

The papers I used are from Meg's Garden's 'Gentlemen's Collection' and, though they are certainly wonderful for masculine projects, they also work just as well for feminine ones.

Did a little bit of stamping  with a text stamp and black archival ink and also added a bit of texture through a stencil.  I actually wanted to drizzle some paint over the papers, but had a lot of trouble getting it right so used the stencil instead.  Also sprinkled the background with watered down Black Soot D.I.

The wooden flourish is from Kaisercraft.  Coloured it with Distress Inks and lightly swiped it with gesso.

The large flowers are from Kaisercraft, the small roses from Meg's Garden and the rest are from my stash.  The metal leaves were lightly swiped with gesso.

The ticket was fussy cut from Prima's Engraver Collection, edged with Distress Ink and, again, swiped with gesso.  Love that gesso!!!

The inside was decorated with some strips of the same papers and stenciled with Tea Stain D.I.

I may have to make a few more of these 'random' cards just to perk up the old 'mojo'.  It didn't take a lot of time to do and I just went with the flow and did whatever I felt like.  Must say, I thoroughly enjoyed the process.  Sometimes you've just got to please yourself!!

Thank you so much for visiting and I do hope you like my little floral make.  I'll probably give it away to someone but, for the moment, it's there to remind me why I love crafting so much.

Take care, lovely people and enjoy the rest of your day.
God Bless.

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

Art Journal - 'Bubbles'

Hi everyone and a very warm welcome to my blog!!

I have been procrastinating over this post all day, trying to make up my mind as to what to share with you.  I have a few projects on the go at the moment and couldn't decide as to which one to do first but, finally, the decision has been made. 

I would like to share another Art Journal page.

 I've called it 'Bubbles' for obvious reasons but haven't yet found a quote to put on it.  Not even sure if I want one for this page.  I just enjoyed the process and am not really fussed about any words for it but, you never know, I may come across something someday that will fit.

 The background was created by putting  different Distress Inks on my non-stick mat and then just placing the page on the top.  This seems to be the best process for me.  I have tried so many times coating the page with gesso and then using sprays for the colour but it just never works, so I think Distress Inks are going to be my 'thing' as far as my Journal pages are concerned anyway.  The colours I used are Fired Brick, Mustard Seed and Walnut Stain.

 The large circles or 'bubbles' were stamped with BoBunny's Stained Texture stamps on a separate piece of paper the smaller ones were hand drawn.  They were then cut out and coloured and then glued onto the page and edged with a black and a white pen.  The smaller ones were also stamped with another BoBunny Texture Stamp.  I also place some washi tape in two of the corners.

 Used TCW's 'Mini Grandma's Doily' template in opposite corners and went around some of the edges of the design with a white gel pen.  Did some stamping with Kaisercraft's Crackle stamp and used TCW's Mini Circle Explosion template as well.  The floral stamp around the edge is also from Kaisercraft but I don't know the name of it. 

 And that's about it!!  A fairly simple page although it did take a while to do, mainly because I'm never sure which direction these pages of mine are going to go.  As I said at the beginning, I procrastinate, in all manner of ways (sigh).  

Thank you so much for visiting.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Washi Tape and a little bit of Texture.

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.

I've probably said this before but, usually, when I make a card I know pretty much what design and embellishments I wish to use, but with this card it kind of happened bit by bit.

 

 I've had a die cut of a tattered clock in my stash for quite a while but never really found the right place to use it.  I usually found something else which was more appropriate.  Then I saw a tutorial by Gabrielle Pollaco where she used one of her flourishes as a mask and decided I wanted to give that a go.  So I placed the clock on a piece of white cardstock and inked over it with a Versa Color stamp pad in Cinnamon and really liked the result.
( Unfortunately I can't find the tutorial but HERE is the link to Gabrielle's Blog if you wish to have a look. )

Then I went to look for a piece of lace and found my Washi Tape.  I really liked the colours and the text on it so decided to use that instead.

 I did a little bit of doodling ( inspiration by Heather Jacob, although you can't see it too well here ) and also some stamping around the edge of the cardstock ( inspiration by Sandie Edwards ).  I then distressed the edges and mounted it on a deep grey card base.  Then I had to decide what embellishments to use and, of course, chose flowers.  ( Loooove my flowers.  LOL )  These flowers are mostly Kaisercraft but there are a couple of small Prima ones in there as well. 

I felt the centre was a bit bare so I added the chipboard tag.  I also added the small pearls and some tiny dragonflies to the cluster to fill it in a bit and used some liquid pearls to decorate the tag.
I used some texture paste and a template to add a little extra interest to the sides of the card and peeled back the cardstock to add  a dragonfly in the corner.

As I said before, this card came together bit by bit.  Each time I added an element something else came to  mind.  I'm quite happy with the result.

That's all for now lovely people.
Thank you so much for visiting and enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg