You Show Me Yours Challenge

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.

There is a new fun challenge that has just recently started up.  It's run by Lucy Muraca from RedChiChi and it's called 'You Show Me Yours'.  Lucy sends out an image to each participant and they use it to create whatever they wish.  It sounded like a bit of fun so I thought I would join in.  Here is the image.

A beautiful photo isn't it?  Here is the card I created with it.

I wanted something a bit dramatic so I chose Black and Gold as my colours, and I flipped the photo because it just didn't look right facing the other way.  The papers are from Kaisercraft's Timeless Classics and from G45's Communique.  All the papers were distressed with a Prima Distress Tool and edged with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

The chippie is from Imaginarium, I coloured it with Midnight Black Versa Magic Chalk Ink and then edged it lightly in Gold Versa Color.

The doily and the gauze piece were both white so I coloured the doily with the Midnight Black Versa Magic and the gauze was coloured with Tea Dye Distress Ink.   The doily was cut in half and I used one piece here ...

 ... and the other piece was pleated and used under the flower cluster.  The large flowers are from Prima, the small roses are Kaisercraft and the other two are from Magnolia Ink.

 The small metal clock is from my stash and the label underneath the photo was fussy cut from Kaisercraft's  Timeless Classics Collection.

I was actually persuaded by Heather Jacob to enter into this 'Challenge' and I felt a little intimidated with the wonderful creations she and the other participants submitted but, I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed myself with it.  I've never taken part in a Challenge before, but I don't think this will be my last.  I loved it.

For further details of this Challenge  go to Lucy's Blog HERE.


Heather  - Art and life
Emma -   Just a Girl with Ideas
Jennifer  -  My Creative Journey
Patricia  -  Between the Sheet
Kerry-Jean - kjwstudio
Christina - myembellisheddaydream
Helen - texturesandtales
Annette - annette-momentintime
Lindy - justanotherday

Hope you've been inspired to join in.  Thank you so much for visiting and enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

Box to Hold a Mini Album and Smash Book

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.

I'd like to show you the box I constructed to hold a travel mini and a smash book I'm putting together to hold photos and mementos from our New Zealand Cruise.

I got the idea for the box from Astrid MacLean at Astrid's Artistic Efforts.   You can find her blog HERE.  She has lots of wonderful creations to inspire you.

 

I constructed the box from 2ml thick card which I purchased from my Newsagent.  It's much like chipboard but it's covered with white paper and it's quite cheap.  You can get a huge sheet of it for just a couple of dollars.  After putting the box together I covered it with G45 paper from their Communique collection and edged it with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  I love this paper, the colours are so gorgeous and it has so much detail on it that I didn't have to do any stamping.

The vintage map and the Tikis are free images from the net.  The Tikis I printed to the size I needed, fussy cut them and mounted them on the same card that the box is made of to give them extra dimension.  The map is just mounted on a tag tied with a piece of the gorgeous ribbon I received from Sandie Edwards.  You can find her blog and more wonderful inspiration  HERE.  The  Title was cut from black cardstock using my Silhouette Portrait.

The larger flowers I used are from Kaisercraft, which were lightly edged with gesso, and the smaller roses are from Prima.  I placed them on a piece of gauze which was randomly coloured with Vintage Paper Distress Ink.  The leaves I've had in my stash for some time and the small gold spirals were made from some long stamen pieces that I found at one of our cheap outlets.

The 'Tattoo' was another free image from the net.  With the image I was able to make a cutting file for my Silhouette Portrait so it was really easy to cut out the shapes.  (I love this machine, it is so versatile.)  Once the Tattoo was glued to the box I went around it with a soft black pen to blur the edges a little.

More images from the net.  Printed to size, fussy cut, mounted on some card and edged with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

I really enjoyed putting this box together and it was so simple.  I've also made another smaller one to hold some tags and I've taken photos along the way so I'll do a post on that shortly.

Here is the box with the Mini Album and the Smash Book inside it.
Now I really need to get serious about sorting out the photos and mementos to finish off these books.   I have started, but it's a slooow process. 

Thank you so much for visiting and have a great day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

Tag No. 6

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.

Well, I know I had some cards to make but I enjoyed these tags so much I just couldn't leave them alone so here is No. 6 and probably the last one for now.

I went very green for this one but I do think this is my favourite.

Cut the tag shape from white cardstock and coloured it with Shabby Shutters, Mustard Seed and Faded Jeans Distress Ink.  Cut the doily with my Silhouette Portrait, trimmed off a piece and coloured it the same as the tag and then glued it to the back.  I then stamped the piece with some different Kaisercraft background stamps using Memento Tuxedo Black.  

The lovely quote is from the net but I don't know who actually said it.  I printed it onto some cream cardstock and cut the shape using Couture Creations Nesting Ovals.

Here is a close-up of the flower cluster.  The large green one is a Kaisercraft which I recoloured with some watercolour paint and then edged with gold Versa Color.   The other flowers I've had in my stash for ages and have no idea where I got them from.  The metal butterfly and leaves I found at Spotlight in their craft section.  Most of the elements were glued down with Helmar 450 and, after sticking the butterflies down I placed a small drop of glue in the centre and then dropped in the beads.  I like how that looks but perhaps I should have made some antennas for them too.  Have to remember that for next time.

The little twiggy pieces on the side are actually from my garden.  I was trimming some dead bits off one of my plants and decided to keep them and use them in my clusters.  Luckily they are totally dried out so there shouldn't be any problems with it.  (I hope)

  The chipboard button is from my stash and was actually a last minute addition.  The top of the tag seemed a bit bare so I added the button to fill the space. 

So, now I have finished my tags.  I was going to make a cover and turn them into a small album but I've decided to put them in a box instead.  I will keep the box on a shelf in my craft space and then pin whichever tag I'm in the mood for to the front of it.  I've actually made the box but I haven't decorated it yet.  I may do a little tutorial on how I put it together.  See how I go.

 Thank you so much for stopping by and do enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Just a Card

Hello everyone and a warm welcome to my little blog.

I have a card I'd like to show you.

It's fairly plain and simple with not a huge amount of work done.  I took some plain pale grey cardstock, used a border punch on one edge and then a template and a Versa Color Stamp pad in Cinnamon to add a tiny bit of colour in the middle.  Then did a little doodling around the edge with a felt pen.

 Made a slit close to the top right corner, curled  the edges, added a small piece of dp and curled that as well.  Tucked in some leaves, a couple of Kaisercraft flowers and some tiny pearl beads  and attached a small key underneath.

 Created this flower cluster with Prima and Kaisercraft flowers and then attached a few pearls around it for a bit of bling.  I did a bit of doodling on the leaves and gessoed the edges of the flowers as well.

 I stamped the sentiment on a piece of  cardstock and attached it to the back of a small Imaginarium frame.  The frame was lightly coloured with Versa Color Cinnamon.

 This card is going to a friend of mine who sort of likes girly things but doesn't really like them to be too fussy so I hope she likes this card. 

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Tag No. 5

Hello sweet friends and welcome to my blog.

I'm back to share with you Tag No. 5.   I was actually intending to make 8 of these tags for my little journal but I might have to restrict myself  to 6 because otherwise I feel the journal will be way too bulky.  Then again I might do two journals, who knows?

The doily was cut from kraft card with my Silhouette Portrait, I then inked it with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and edged it with Walnut Stain.  I also stamped it lightly with a script stamp from Kaisercraft.

 The paper doll and her dress were cut out with my Silhouette (Looove that machine)   It was a bit fidly because I had to resize the doll and then had to resize the dress as well to fit her, but it worked thank goodness.  The shading on the pleats and petticoat was done with a felt pen.  I also put some stickles on the waist band and the shoes for a bit of bling.

 The quote is, again, from the net and I thought how true it is.  We all pass on our own little bit of creativity through our blogs and, hopefully, someone will get some inspiration or benefit from it.

 The large flower is one I made myself although it wasn't quite the right shade, so I sprayed it lightly with Sugar Plum Fairy Glimmer Mist.  The small roses are Kaisercraft and the leaves were also cut with my Silhouette.  One reason I love this machine is because you can easily change the size of  the item you're cutting which you can't do with die cuts or punches.

 The clock was printed on my computer, glued onto a couple of pieces of cardstock and then fussy cut.  I edged it with copper Versa Color and then ran a thin line of Glossy Accents around the edge.

The light beige cotton lace is from my stash and the darker one is from Bo Bunny.  

So, tag number 5 is done.  If I'm only doing 6 then I only have one more to make, but I'm really enjoying the process of making these tags so I may not be able to stop at that but, we'll see.

Once again, thank you so much for visiting and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

I also wish to thank again all the lovely people who have left such kind comments for me, I really appreciate your support.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart, I love you all.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

A Bit of Grunge .... and a Tag Revisited

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.

First up I've got a card to show you.
The inspiration for this card came from a layout by Heather Jacob.  HERE is the link to her blog.  You'll have to go back as far as March to find the actual layout.   I loved the colors and the arrangement  of the elements on this page and felt it would be very adaptable for a male card.

I'm pretty sure that the papers are all from Kaisercraft but I can't remember which collection.

 I creased the papers up a bit  and lightly painted with gesso for extra interest, then cut a Prima Nature Garden tag in half and placed a piece underneath each side so that just the edges are showing.  The clock below was a print out from my computer.

This clock was cut with my Silhouette Portrait.  I did some doodling and lots of distressing.

The small brad is from Kaisercraft.

 The chipboard penny farthing is from Scrapmatts.  I coloured it with black chalk ink and then brushed over it with silver Versa Color.  The tag underneath the bike was traced from a G45 Curiosity shoppe tag.  Using kraft card, I drew around the edges and then it was simply fussy cut and edged with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and covered with a piece of designer paper.

 Made a little tag for the greeting which is tucked underneath.

Voila!!

I enjoyed making this card, and I really appreciate the inspiration and the ideas that I get from visiting other people's blogs.  Not just from Heather but from everyone out there.  Love it!!!

Now for my second item.
If you've been here before you'll know that I've been making some tags for a journal I'm putting together.  This idea came from AstridMaclean.  HERE is the link to her blog, you'll find lots of wonderful inspiration there as well.
I've made four tags so far but changed my mind size wise after making the first one so decided to re-do that one to match it with the others.
Here is the original tag ...

... and here is the new.

 As you can see, they are basically the same with just a few small changes.  I am supposed to be taking a break from making these tags because I have lots of cards I need to make but, I enjoy it so much that I'm still sneaking in a bit of time on them now and then.  (I have the tag making bug)  LOL

Thank you for visiting and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg