A 'Correspondence' Anniversary Card

Hi everyone!!!  Thank you so much for visiting.   I'd especially like to welcome my latest followers, so pleased you're coming along for the ride ladies, I hope you will enjoy it.  I'd also like to thank those of you who take the time regularly to leave me such lovely comments.  You have no idea how much I enjoy reading them and how much I appreciate your support, so,  Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

It is my turn again at Meg's Garden so here is my latest DT project.

I have a card to share made with the new 'Correspondence' papers designed by  Kerry-Jean Watson.  I was very privileged to be one of the first to have the opportunity to use these papers.  They are so pretty and a real dream to work with.

The papers I've used on this card are all from the mini paper pack and the only alterations I've made is to distress the edges and add a little doodling.

 Did some stitching around the edge and added some stamens and small twigs between the layers.  I've also added a few pearls here and there.  The metal heart was recycled from an old necklace that was no longer being used by it's owner and I was lucky enough to be given some of the pieces.

 The flowers are mainly from Kaisercraft except for the berries which  are from my stash.  The gem spray is from Magnolia Ink.

 The wreath is the Memory Box Bramble Circle Die and the small sprigs were punched with Martha Stewart's Autumn Branch Punch.  In the lower left corner you can see I've added a few Micro Beads.  The greeting was printed on my computer and simply matted on some cardstock.

 The inside was decorated with some strips of the paper which was border punched with M.S. Doily Lace Punch ...

... and here is the full frontal!!!   

As I said at the beginning of this post, I was very privileged to be one of the first to use these papers and I thoroughly enjoyed creating with them.  I know for sure that I will be making many more projects with these lovely papers.  

Thank you so much for visiting the blog today and do take a minute to check  out all the gorgeous products Meg's Garden has to offer.  Believe me, you won't be sorry.  HERE is the link.

Take care and God Bless.

Marg oxox

Positivity Journal - Revisited and Recycled

Hello everyone!!  So pleased you're here for a visit and hope you are having an enjoyable day!

At the beginning of the year, Astrid Maclean from Astrid's Artistic Efforts posted about a Positivity Journal she had started to create.  The purpose of this Journal was to record one positive thing that happened each and every day.  Just little things like someone opening a door for you or giving you a smile.  I thought this was a wonderful idea!  To have a little journal with just positive things in it so that when we get a bit down and think that life is just a bitch, we can look at this little book and see the positive things that do happen to us each day.  If you'd like to visit Astrid's original post on this project you can find it HERE.  My Journal became a little different from Astrid's in that I actually record events in mine.  Things like going to the movies, or a family picnic or even going to lunch or dinner with a group of friends.  Simply recording ordinary activities that we thoroughly enjoyed and want to remember.  So, I created my book and posted about it and started creating the pages for it and it did start out looking good.  Unfortunately it turned into a bit of a disaster!!   The book was too small!  After inserting a half a dozen tags it was bulging at the seams and, each time I created another page  using a wet medium everything just leaked through all the pages.   I was tearing my hair out and actually gave up working on it.  Anyhow, the other day I was cleaning up my Craft Space (Shock!! Horror!!) and came across an old Manilla Folder and I had an Epiphany!!!  Instead of throwing it away  I could use it to make a new Positivity Journal.  So that's what I did and here it is!!

The pages measure 6 x 3.5 inches and, although there are only 5, each one is a pocket that will hold 4 tags.  So I can actually keep 20 reasonably sized tags in this booklet which should give me plenty of room to record on.

 I found some scrap designer paper to use for my pages and will simply decorate each one before sticking them into the booklet which means, no more leakage!!!  Woo!!  Hoo!!

 For the first page I used Chipped Sapphire and Walnut Stain Distress Ink on the background and also gave it a quick burst with Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Spray in Cape Cod Coral.  I then used KC's Crackle and Flutter stamps with Memento Tuxedo Black Stamp Pad.  The butterfly and the grass stamps are from a free set that came with a Get Stamping Magazine.  Both were coloured with water colour pencils and the tufts at the end of the grass stalks were created with Flower Soft Citrus Crush.

 The little bit of texture was added using TCW's Mini Tile Texture Stencil and some home made texture paste.  The little frame is Imaginarium's Brackets on Oval Frame which I simply coloured with acrylic paint and then lightly swiped with Versa Color Gold.

 On this page I've used Broken China and Walnut Stain Distress Inks.  The paper is actually a yellow base and so the blue of the Broken China turned greenish.  I love it!!  The background stamps are from Prima and the Washi Tapes are my favourites from Tim Holtz.

 The clocks are a free printable.  Unfortunately I cannot give you the Web Site because it's been closed down.  I stamped them with KC's Script stamp and mounted them on some paper board to give them a bit of dimension.

 Cut the heart from another piece of designer paper,  mounted it on paper board as well and coloured it with Fired Brick Distress Ink.  Used the Mini Tile stencil again and hand drew the small hearts with a white gel pen and coloured those with watercolour pencils.

So, my new Positivity Journal has been started.  As you can see I still have more pages to decorate and also still have to make the cover and the tags as well, so there is quite a bit to do on it.  This will be a project I will work on in between my card making for a bit of relaxation.  I loooooveeee getting messy with inks and stuff and this will be just for me so I can do whatever I want and not worry about pleasing someone else.  Fun!! Fun!! Fun!!

Thank you so much for visiting and I hope this post wasn't too long and that I haven't bored anyone.  Hope you all enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

A Little on the Shabby Side #2

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog, so pleased to have you here.

Well, I am back again to show the second of my little Shabby Cards.  Don't think I mentioned this in my last post, but this is my favourite of the two.  Once again I've used Pion's Flower Frame Papers and of course I've just ripped and torn and curled them as I did on my previous card.

As you can see the composition is quite different from the previous card but it is still only a fairly basic card and yet the tearing and curling of the papers make it look just that little bit more special.  

A mix of flowers with some added stamens and a gem spray.  The small blue rose was originally white, but I felt the cluster needed a little extra splash of colour so I used some Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink mixed with water and painted it blue.  I also added a little of the colour to the grey flower as well just to give it some extra shading.

Here is a better view of the blue rose.  The colour turned out a little uneven but I think that also adds to the interest.  The two flower clusters are basically the same.  

As in the first card, this one was also simply lined with strips of the same papers.

The mesh underneath the layers was actually a flower meant to be made into a Fascinator.  I'm not sure what it is made of but it feels a bit like straw although it is quite flexible.  I simply pulled it apart and ended up with lots of bits of mesh to use for texture.  The belly band is made up of paper with some gauze stretched over the top and then tied up with some twine.

I am really happy with the way these two cards turned out but this one is definitely my favourite!!  Hope you like it too!!

Thank you once again for visiting  and I would love it if you could leave a little note to let me know what you think of my shabby little cards.  I treasure each and every comment made and really appreciate you taking the time.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your day.  Please take care and God Bless

oxox Marg

A little Bit on the Shabby Side #1

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog, I hope you are having a wonderful day.

I'd like to share another card with you today.  I've been experimenting a bit with the way I construct my cards.  I've always loved distressing the edges of the papers I use on my cards.  I really love that look.  Rather than just leaving them flat and straight I like to mess them up a little, and, lately, I've been doing that more and more.  Well, with this card I took it a bit further.  Usually I cut my papers to size and then use a distressing tool, but this time I simply tore all the papers to the size I needed and then curled random parts of the edges quite drastically.  

This is the result ...

 ... and I love it!!  This card is fairly basic but with the added interest of the torn and curled papers I think it looks quite a bit more elaborate.  I've been seeing this technique more and more on different Blogs I've  visited and really, really love how it looks.

The papers used are from Pion's Flower Frames Collection.

 Here is a closie of the netting and the stamens inserted between the layers and you can also see I've punched the edges of the green papers in random places.  

 Did a little stitching, and the flourish is a die cut from Marianne Creatables .  I think it is from the Frame and Swirls Set but am not sure as I didn't make note of it.  The deep green flower and the netting came in the Temptations in Green pack from Meg's Garden.com, and the light green flower is from Kaisercraft.   The vintage brad in the centre of the flower also came from Meg's Garden.

 The inside was simply lined with more paper from the same Collection.

A couple of different views ...

... and I do hope you like my little Shabby card.  

I had fun with this process and I will be making more and more of my cards this way.  I did actually make two cards today and I will be showing the 2nd one in the next couple of days.  I hope you'll come back to check it out.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Meg's Garden - Birthday Card with 'Bike Cogs'

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.

Today I'd like to share my DT reveal for Meg's Garden.  It is a Birthday Card made with the Bike Cogs Mini Paper Pack.

These papers are awesome and absolutely perfect to create a card for my Grandson's Birthday as his favourite colours are green and black.

 So, all the papers used are from this collection, I haven't mixed it with anything else at all.  I have added a bit of doodling and some of that mesh tape that is all the rage at the moment.  I've also lightly brushed some gesso here and there and did a bit of stamping as well.  The cogs border is from Scrapbookncraft and I've added some die cut cogs and gears as well.  Some were cut from black cardstock and some from brown.  Brushed them with Versacolor in Silver and green to give them a bit of a rustic look.

The card style is one I saw at Astrid Maclean's Blog and I've used it quite a bit since, I really love it as it gives you so much  scope for decorating.

 Here you can see some of the crackle stamping.  Added some washi tape and wooden hinges  which were coloured with Versacolor 'Lapislazuli' and Kaisercraft 'Red gum'.

 The clocks are from Meg's Garden.   I've simply layered them together with an eyelet.  You can also see I've placed some cogs in between the paper layers.

 Just a closie of the cogs border ... the black and the white cogs peeking through underneath are all part of the pattern on the papers.

 The inside is lined with the same papers and I've added some doodling here as well and brushed on some more gesso.  The quotes are die cuts from KC.

Did just a small amount of stencilling on the front of the pocket which was made to hold a small envelope and card.

 The envelope will hold a gift voucher or perhaps some cash and the double fold card has a written sentiment inside.

The other inside flap also has some doodling and brushed gesso.

Full view of the inside ...

... and another full frontal view.
These papers are awesome and, although this card is obviously masculine, there are also designs  which could be used in a more feminine creation.  I loved working with them.
Thank you so much for visiting and I hope you enjoyed my Bike Cogs Birthday Card.
oxox Marg

Meg's Garden products used -
Bike cogs Mini Paper Pack - S121
Old World Time Ephemera Sheet - 1037
Old World Time Transparency - Tr 1037

ATC Block

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog!!  Hope you've all had a good day today and that the weather has been nice in your part of the world.  It's been absolutely beautiful here in Adelaide, almost like summer again.

Today I'd like to share an ATC Block  that I made.  I first saw one of these on Astrid Maclean's blog and I really loved the one she created.   She has made a couple more since then and they have all been gorgeous.  Any of you who visit Astrid's blog will know about her amazing creations.  Her work is stunning!!

Anyway, on one of her comments on my blog, she told me about Jenny Marples of 'Pushing the Right Buttons' and how she uses a lot of mixed media on her cards so, of course, I had a look and fell in love with her creations too.  Well, Jenny also makes ATC Blocks and I totally fell in love with one of hers and could no longer resist the temptation to make one of my own.  I'm afraid I pretty much copied Jenny's  because I loved it so much.  If you'd like to take a look at hers, HERE is the link, and HERE is the link to Astrid's Blog for any of you who haven't been there before.  Take the time to check them both out, you will not be sorry.  They are both awesome artists and create the most gorgeous things!!

So, here is my block.

 The block was made from paperboard and measures 3 x 3 on each side, and the papers I've used to cover it are from BoBunny's Weekend Market Paper Pack.  I've had these papers for a long time and never got around to using them.  I'm so glad I still had them in my stash because they were perfect for this Block.  The colours were just what I was looking for.

 The leaves were cut with my Silhouette except for the autumn leaves, they came from  Meg's Garden.com.  The flowers are a mix from different retailers but I have no idea what brand they are.  All the edges, including the leaves, were inked with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

 The chipboard Trellis is the Moroccan Shape with Cutouts from Imaginarium which was heat embossed with Whispers Metallic Embossing Powder.  It does actually look like bronze but that doesn't show too well on the photos. The cutouts were coloured with Versa Colour in Gold, Silver and Bronze and then clear embossed.

 View from the top.  Added a few gem sprays from Magnolia Ink to the flower cluster.  The chipboard tag is from G45 as are all the other chippie labels.

 A closie of the cluster on the front ...

 ... on the right side ...

 ... on the right corner ...

 ... and on the left side.

 A view of the inside.

I enjoyed making this block so much that I am definitely going to make more of them.  Have no idea what I'm going to do with them, although I do think that they would make a lovely little gift when filled with chocolates or sweets of some kind.  They could even be used as Birthday Card replacements although they would not be easy to post.   Perhaps just for ones that get hand delivered.   Hmmmmm!!!  Might have to consider that.  Would give me a wonderful excuse to make more, not that I need an excuse!!  LOL!!

Well, I hope you like my little ATC Block and I want to thank Astrid and Jenny for giving me the inspiration.  I absolutely loved making this!!!  Gotta make More!!!!!!

I have decided to enter this into the Challenge at 613 Avenue Create 

Thank you so much for visiting and putting up with my nonsense.  I do hope you enjoy what's left of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg