Status Update and Some Sneak Peeks!!

Hi everyone!!  

Sorry I haven't been around for a while but life has been very hectic lately.  I do appreciate that quite a few of you are still visiting here even though I have had nothing new to share and I would just like to thank you all so much for dropping by.   

I have been very busy with other things lately and haven't had a lot of time for crafting or blog visits.  I do manage to get a couple of minutes here and there and I have tried to catch up a bit but, of course, that just doesn't work if you can't do it regularly.

  I have had family over here visiting and then other family members dropping in for a couple of days on their way to other destinations and it's just been bedlam in our house.  Enjoyable bedlam though ... we have had a great time.

Also Hubby and I have been to Melbourne for 10 days and have only just returned home.  It was lovely catching up with friends and more family and, hopefully,  I will  have some photos to share soon but I have to edit them first.  Have discovered my phone takes better photos than my camera which sucks, but hopefully I can edit the fuzzy ones and I may be able to show you some of them at least. I hope you'll be interested!!

Going away again in a couple of weeks.   Going on a cruise to New Zealand and will be gone for 2 weeks.  We are so lucky to have live in house and dog sitters.  This time we will be totally off the grid.  We don't take laptops and we even turn our phones off when we get on board.  In the meantime, there are lots of other things to do and to catch up on so probably the only crafting I'll be doing is my Design Team Projects which need to be posted while we're away.  So, there is new stuff in the pipeline and I do hope you'll pop back once in a while because, eventually, I will get back to normal (I hope)!

Thought I would just show you a little sneak peek of a couple of things I have been working on.

DT project for 2Crafty Chipboard  ...

... and one for Meg's Garden.

These will be going up in a few weeks.  I will try to get some other things done as well but not sure how I'll go.    I hope you will bear with me and continue to drop by.  I really do appreciate you taking the time.  In the meantime why not drop in to the 2Crafty and Meg's Garden Blogs and check out the wonderful projects  both Teams have been posting up.  You won't be sorry.

Thank you all so much.  Take care and God Bless.

The Last of My 2Crafty October Shares

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  So pleased you dropped by.
I am back to show you my third and final October reveal for 2Crafty Chipboard.  This one is a another feminine card but in a more mixed media style.

2Crafty products used: Interlocking Grid Panel Word Circles Set 1

The background on this card was actually created for an Art Journal page but, as I never finished the page, I thought it would work well as a card instead.   I simply added some strips of Prima's Cartographer paper and machine stitched around the edges.

The Word Circle was painted with Acrylic Paint and then sprayed with Pearl Glimmer Mist.  Unfortunately the shimmer doesn't show very well in the photos but it looks quite pretty in real life..

I cut a piece from the Interlocking Grid Panel and also covered it with Acrylic Paint and Glimmer Mist.  Added some thread and micro beads for a little more texture.

A piece of gauze, some flowers and gold stamens ...

... add to that a pretty bow ...

... and my card is complete!

I really love working with 2Crafty chipboard pieces.  They are Australian made, of excellent quality and there are so many fabulous designs to chose from.

To check out all the marvelous creations from the rest of the Team HERE is the link to the Blog. To take a look at all the wonderful designs 2Crafty Chipboard has to offer, HERE is the link to the site. And remember, to find a 2Crafty stockist near you, send an email to salesat2crafty@optusnet.com.au
Thank you so much for visiting and enjoy the rest of your day! Take care and God Bless. oxox

2Crafty October Shares # 2

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  So pleased you came for a visit.  Hope you're having a wonderful day.
I have the second of my 2Crafty October projects to show you today.  This one is a masculine Step Card.

2Crafty Chipboard used: Asst. Arrows Chevron Bits Gears Compass Chicken Barbed Wire Small

All of the chippies were coloured with Kaisercraft Red Gum and then I randomly added Lapislazuli and Silver to the Gears and Arrows.   I also randomly added some clear embossing powder.  I wanted these pieces to look aged so didn't want them shiny all over.  As you can see, I also curled some coppery wire around the arrows.

For the greeting, I first coloured these two arrows and then wrote on them by hand before clear heat embossing them.  The Chicken Barbed Wire was coloured the same as the other chippies but was not heat embossed.

Tied this little cog on with some twine and added the chunky arrow.  I really love how this turned out.

The Chevrons were added to the side panels to match in with the paper.

As I said at the start of this post, this is the second of my October reveals for 2Crafty.  There is one more to show you and I hope to do that in the next few days.

I really hope you liked my card and that I have inspired you to get some 2Crafty Chipboard for yourself.   They have the most fabulous pieces and a huge range to choose from.

To find a stockist near you, just send an email to salesat2crafty@optusnet.com.au,

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

The Sherlock Book by Watson for Meg's Garden

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  So pleased you came for a visit.
I am here to show you what I have created with Kerry-Jean Watson's awesome Sherlock Book Kit.  This fabulous Kit is available from Meg's Garden as either a fully printed version or a digital download that you can print for yourself.  HERE is the link to see the video of the Book Kit.

I am basically a card maker and I was in need of a Crafting Diary to keep track of Birthdays and Anniversaries, etc. and also Design Team Deadlines, and so that is what I decided to make with my Kit.  Yes, I do have all that information on my computer, but there is nothing like having it all on hand in a pretty book is there??

For the front cover I did some stamping and stenciling and splashed a little paint around as well before adding the embellies.  Most of the embellishments you can see came from Meg's Garden.  You can purchase some fantastic 'bundles' that contain beads, ribbons, metal embellies ... everything you could possibly need to beautifully embellish your Kit, and they come in an assortment of colours too!!
The film strip frame came from my stash and the photos inside it are actually photos of some of my past projects for Meg's Garden. The quote was found on the net.  I wanted to incorporate some craft quotes into this book so you will see the odd one or two scattered around on different pages.  

The tabs you can see peeking out from the side of the book are part of the Kit.  I simply wrote the months on by hand and then glued them to the edge of the journal pages.

The book measures 5.75" x 7.75" and all the pages were distressed and inked with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink and then glued to sheets of Kraft Cardstock.  Punched some holes with my Crop-adile and bound it together with seam binding.  The binding  was also coloured with Distress Ink in Gathered Twigs and Walnut Stain.  

Here's a closie of the charms ...

... and another of the quote and the flower cluster.

I wanted this book to be more than just a Diary.  I also want to use it as an ideas journal so I made a couple of small booklets and some tags in order to record things like interesting sketches, color palettes and great techniques.
Making the booklet was very simple.   I just cut some kraft cardstock and some  plain sheets of paper to the size I wanted, folded them in half and then simply punched two holes in the crease and pulled some twine through and tied it with a bow.   I then covered the front of each booklet with some of the paper and used a fancy paper clip to keep them closed.

Following are some shots of the embellished pages or you can just go straight down  to the end of this post for a walk through video which was made by Kerry-Jean Watson the creator of this awesome Kit.  I don't make videos as I don't have the equipment and I am so pleased that Kerry-Jean offered to do one for me.  Thank you KJ ... you rock!!  

... and this is the back of the book.  The gorgeous stains you can see are actually on the paper itself.  The only changes I made here was to distress and ink the edges ... Looooovee  those stains!!

Here is the walk-through video!!

I do hope you like my little Diary and that I have inspired you to get one for yourself!!  Why not pop over to the Meg's Garden Blog and see what my Teamies created with this awesome Kit.  You will be amazed by the variety!!
HERE is the link to the blog and HERE is the link to the Shop!

Meg's Garden Products used:
The Sherlock Book Kit
Camel Bundle
Sage Burlap Ribbon
Seam Binding

Thank you so much for visiting and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!
Take care and God Bless.

2Crafty October Shares # 1

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog! 

I am back to share my October DT creations for 2Crafty!  I have three of these to share with you so I will spread them out over the next few days.

  This card is fairly clean, in other words, there is no inking or stamping or masking.  I usually end up doing one or more of those but, funnily enough, I didn't feel this card warranted any of that.  I actually liked it as it is.  Go figure!  LOL!

2Crafty Chipboard used:

Flourish Adornment Set 5

Frames Tiny Kathleen

The papers are from Kaisercraft's Now Boarding Paper Pad and, as you can see,  I just did a little stitching around the edge.

I wanted the flourish adornment pieces to stand out a bit from the rest of the card but I didn't want a lot of colour so they were very lightly brushed with Wild Honey Distress Ink.   Then one piece was placed at the bottom of the cluster ...

... and the other piece at the top.

I usually like at least a few layers on my cards so you can see a paper doily, some gauze and a small tag with the Tiny Kathleen Frame placed over the top.  The frame was coloured with Versa Magic Cloud White and clear heat embossed and I then added a Tim Holtz word Band to complete the card.

The pretty flowers are from my stash and I just added some delicate stamens to complete the cluster.

Decorated the inside with more of the same papers  and left space for the sentiment on the die-cut.

Hope you like my card and that I have inspired you in some small way.   My next reveal will be posted in a couple of days, hope to see you back here then!

In the meantime, why not check out the 2Crafty Blog for more inspiration from my Teamies and take a look at the gorgeous chippies that are available from 2Crafty Chipboard.

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

And remember, to find a 2Crafty Stockist near you, send an email to:

salesat2crafty@optusnet.com.au

'Blue' - Masculine Card # 4

Hi everyone, welcome to my blog.
A special warm welcome to my new followers, so pleased you decided to join me on this creative journey.

So, as promised, here is the last of this group of masculine cards, and this one is quite 'grungy'.
This was actually the first card I made of this particular group of cards and the inspiration for it came from the September Challenge Mood Board over at Our Creative Corner.  I had intended to enter this card in the Challenge but, once it was finished I wasn't sure it actually met the criteria and, by the time I had made up my mind to enter anyway (today), I was too late.  The Challenge has closed.  Ah well, better luck next time.

This was the Mood Board ...

... and my inspiration came from the picture in the bottom left hand corner.  Loooove the textures!  If you enjoy Challenges, why not take a look at Our Creative Corner.  They have some wonderful Challenges and also great inspiration from the Design Team.

The papers are a mix of Prima's 'Craftsman' and 'Engraver' papers and I also used a sheet from Kaisercraft's 'Garage Days'.  I love tearing my papers to size, but this time I did cut them and then distressed them with a Prima distressing tool.  The plastic mesh you can see below is more of that gutter guard I told you about in a previous post.
The tiny clock and the circular paper clip is available from Meg's Garden.  Check out the Website.  Meg has the most fabulous papers and embellies for sale.

Slathered some Clear Rock Candy Crackle Paint on different layers for texture and, of course, also swiped gesso in random spots for the same reason.

Love that little metal light globe below but cannot remember where I got it from and have no idea what brand it is ...

... the same as with the metal cog.  I have tried to tidy up my supplies a bit and I keep finding these awesome little treasures but no information as to where they were purchased or what brand they are.  

A shot of the layers ... just because ... !

The inside was lined with more of the same papers and I made a pocket and tag as well.

The back of the tag was left blank so I could write my message.

This card was made for my youngest son's birthday and I am pleased to report that he loved it!!!  But then, I guess, he wouldn't dare say otherwise!!  LOL!!

(Next time I decide to enter a Challenge I will have to make sure I check the closing date.  LOL!!)

Thank you so much for visiting.  I hope wherever you are that your weather is as gorgeous as ours.  We are experiencing the most delightful spring days at the moment and I am thoroughly enjoying it.  Now that I've said that of course, we'll probably get rain.  LOL!!

Do take care and enjoy the rest of your day.
God bless.