2Crafty Chipboard November Project #1

Hello everyone and welcome to my Blog.  So pleased you dropped by. My turn again to show what I have created with 2Crafty's gorgeous chippies and this month it is a Positivity Journal.  For those who have never heard of this, a Positivity Journal is a book in which you can record all the positive things that happen to you that you may like to look back on.  For instance, if a stranger opens a door for you or simply smiles and brightens your day.  Or, you could keep a record of what you did on your Birthday or on a friend's Birthday or just going out to dinner with your partner or with friends.  So, when you are having a bad day, you can look at your little journal and remember all the positive things that have happened in the past year. I have created this little Journal as a Christmas present for a close friend.  As she expressed delight in the one I am making for myself I thought I would make her one as well. I really hope she likes it.
2Crafty Chipboard used Frame Ingrid's Funky Arrows Funky Heart Swirls Ornate Buckle ATC Masks Funky Leaf Swirls Heidi Vine ATC Georgian Frame

My friend is not really into fussy, frilly things, so I have made this fairly clean and simple.  I have done a bit of stamping and used my favourite stencil (extensively  LOL!) but there is not a lot of embellishment apart from the chippies of course.

 Did some stenciling with Distress Ink and texture paste on the front cover and embellished it with the stunning Ingrid's Frame.  This is an absolutely gorgeous piece that I really wanted to keep to use on something for myself but it fitted so beautifully on the cover that I just have to let it go. (Drat!!)

The frame was coloured with brown acrylic paint and then lightly swiped with Versa Color Polar Blue and Sage.  I then covered the whole piece with Glossy Accents.  I added the little flower spray for a touch of colour.

This journal is an Accordion Book.   I found this design on a post by Kimi Blundell at  'Unique Scrappiness'.  She also has a fabulous step by step tutorial on how to construct it.  If you wish to take a look HERE is the link.

The book is held closed with some magnets and this is how it opens.

The inside front cover has a little pocket into which I have placed a couple of little booklets.

The front piece of the 'accordion' has some tags on top of which I've placed the cute little chain of hearts which is part of  the Funky Arrows set.

Coloured this piece with red nail polish (yep! red nail polish ... works a treat!) and swiped the edge with Versa Color Gold.

There are a lot of tags in this book as this is where all the positive memories will be written down so I have created belly bands and pockets to hold them all.  The tags are simply cardstock on which I have glued some gorgeous 'Vintage Lady' images which are available from Meg's Garden.
Over the belly band on the first page I have placed one of the Funky Heart swirls.

Coloured the Heart Swirl with Versa Color in two shades of green and red and then swiped the edges with a little gold.  It was then clear heat embossed and dabbed with a little gesso.

The pocket on page 2 has the Ornate Buckle which was coloured with Distress Ink in Spiced Marmalade and Gathered Twigs.

It was then lightly embossed with Metallic embossing powder.

Another set of pockets on pages 4 and 5 and here I have used the ATC Masks.

I tried a little experiment here and used some coarse texture paste on this piece before colouring it.  I really like how it turned out and I think I will be doing this again.  To colour it, I used two shades of Versa Color blue and then used Versa Magic Midnight Black on the edges.  It didn't really stand out very well from the page so I used some blue watercolour paint to create the shadows behind it but I might have gone a bit overboard with that.  LOL!!

So, now the pages open in the other direction and here is where I used the Funky Leaf Swirls.

Again, I have used Distress Ink to colour this piece.  I don't have a lot of paints, etc. to colour things with but I find the DI works well with almost anything and the chippies take to the colour really, really well.

I've used Fired Brick DI and then edged with Versa Color Midnight Black and lightly heat embossed the edges as well.

This page has the Heidi Vines.  This is a piece left over from a previous project.  I really love that these chippies can be cut into little bits and pieces and still be viable to use on so many different items. 

I snuck in a little flower  here simply because I can.  In a book like this you can't really use embellishments that are too dimensional as it will make the book bulky and awkward, that's one reason I love using the chippies as they are nice and thin.  Used Versa Color and stamped this piece and then popped some glossy accents on as well.

The final pages!  The end flap is attached to the cover and made into a pocket to hold some more little booklets.

The Georgian Frame is simply coloured with Black Soot DI and edged with Versa Color Silver and Gold.  It is also covered with glossy accents.

Well, I do hope you like my little book.   In the next few days I will be doing a second post on this project to show the pages underneath all the tags and the card made to go with the book.  I do hope you will come back to take a look.  In the meantime, why not check out all the other amazing projects created by the rest of the Team.   To visit the 2Crafty Chipboard Blog HERE is the link and, to take a look at all the gorgeous 2Crafty designs available, HERE is the link. and remember, to find a 2Crafty Stockist near you simply send an e-mail to salesat2crafty@optusnet.com.au
I do hope I have inspired you to try 2Crafty Chipboard for your own creations.  Thank you so much for visiting! Take care and God Bless.

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.