Thank you!

PTW this week asked for a Thank you card and I’ve used a painted paper towel, paint, washers, staples and fibres.

 

As I’ve used quite a lot of paint on this card, I think it’ll fit in with Saturday’s Workout too!

Fiona’s Inchy by Inch challenge this week is to make a Thank you Inchy because of the fab blog candy on offer from Tandastamps - a whole sheet of Inchy stamps - woohoo! Here’s my abbreviated Thnx!

Thanks for looking!

My last CJ entry (I hope!)

A couple of years ago, I really got into Circle Journals and scrapbooking in a big way. That lasted for 2 CJs and the second one still isn’t complete! We had a break in the chain, a couple of books went missing and well, it put me off. Plus, the cost of posting these Journals every month is just silly. I’m glad I experienced the whole CJ movement, but I wouldn’t do another one.

Here are my final 2 pages, for Cat’s DGD Kemi-Lea. Her book is for her granddaughter and the theme is Disney. My first thought was… dismay! I’m not a ‘Disney’ kind of person, just in case you hadn’t noticed! But then I had one of those ‘lightbulb moments’ - Pirates of the Caribbean is made by Disney and I have been madly in love with Cap’n Jack Sparrow since the first film was released, so I knew I could do this one justice.

I scanned 2 of the DVD covers, printed them out and proceeded to tear them up, burn them and wax them! Yay!! Or should that be Yo Ho Ho?!!

The tearing of edges is par for the course for me, pretty painless in fact! The burning I learned from Lisa Vollrath - using lemon juice and a heat gun - really!! It’s so simple and very effective (See HERE). My covers look like faux treasure maps, don’t they? I do enjoy working with wax and instead of using ordinary candles, I had a root around in one of my boxes and found another of those rolled beeswax candles.

I discovered that by cutting into the candle I could peel away a thin piece of it and then working with pieces of candle and my tiny travel iron, I placed the candle on the card and melted it, spreading it around with the iron. You have to be quick with attaching things to the hot wax, but I managed to fix a ring pull, a coin, some tiny beads and a few scraps of burlap with very little trouble.

The best thing with these thin sheets of wax is that there’s no waste, you tear or break off what you need and any not melted goes back into the wrapper with the rest of the candle. It smells lovely, has a gorgeous golden hue and would probably sell as an interactive cold remedy - honey & lemon pages - hehehe!!!

18 is a State of Mind…

I altered this notebook today for a friend’s son. It’ll be interesting to see what he makes of it! Front cover (handmade clay skull embellie):

The inside cover with a waxed “State of Mind” clothing tag…. on one of the ‘Irresistible’ backgrounds I made during this month’s GPP Street Team Crusade #21 (’make wax rubbings).

Inside back cover using an atlas page…

Back cover using handmade black paper, metallics and a pic behind the star chipboard aperture, spritzed with glimmer mist and glazed!

 

Orange and yellow!

That’s this week’s theme at 4×4 Friday. I made 2 freestanding plaques because I was playing with the textured cuttlebug background technique I’ve seen Adrienne, Carol and Annette showing on their blogs. I didn’t have time for the complete process with tissue paper, gesso and paints, so this is the abbreviated version which has worked out rather well (IMHO!):

I cut my 4×4 from scrap card and stuck the Crafty Individuals pic in the centre. I then tore up (shock, horror!) my embossed cardstock to make 2 yellow and 2 orange strips for the frame. I spritzed with Walnut gold glimmer mist (Tattered Angels) and rubbed metallics (red) over the raised areas. Added a MaVinci art quote stamp, 3 little gems and a glass bead flower/star. This one is going to Annette (who won the NGS Art Lottery, lucky thing) as a thanks for being so very kind and sending me all those goodies to play with.

This one was made in much the same way, except I smooshed Frayed Burlap distress ink over the CB raised bits and then spritzed very lightly with the glimmer mist. I used one of my clay embellies (Stonehenge) and stamped the word Monuments on the diary scrap with those tiny Studio G alphabet stamps. Neat, aren’t they?!

Quote tag!

The girls at Weekend Taggers told me there’d be a quote tag challenge coming up, so here’s mine for this week! It brings back wonderful memories of my Mother - it was her favourite thing to say when I was down… “Laugh and the World laughs with you, Cry and you cry alone…” I’ve used one of my favourite Diva Impressions stamps - the Circus clown - because it seems so very appropriate!

Very distressed, very shabby-chic and I think I’ll make a pocket-card to pop it in! Have a lovely weekend, despite the typical “Wimbledon weather” we’re having at the moment!

ATC swap

Nancy asked me if I’d like to do a swap with her and I took the plunge!! Look at the lovely ATCs I received from her. I chose “Once in a Blue Moon” (the middle one) and we decided on a ‘Mystery’ theme to make 2 ATCs to swap - using Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes as subjects.

Aren’t they great?!

Beads galore!

This Thursday, it’s all about… Beads! I have a strong affinity for beads and I use them everywhere! I think they’re fun and once you get used to attaching them to your creations, there’s no turning back!! So this is what I do to relax: I knot bracelets and chokers!

I recycle braided/plaited belts for the thonging and use the lengths to knot these bracelets. The biggest problem I have had is finding beads to fit over the thonging. So, I started cutting up bead necklaces, given to me DD and friends and inserting them in between the knots. See the white beady thing at the top of the photo? I’ve added tiny beads to the top and bottom beads where the thread is - tricky! Today, I hope I find time to add tiny prima flowers to each bead and then that one will go off to my mate Jan, who’s agreed to be my test-dummy!!

By the way, do go have a look at the stunning examples the DT have made this week - Marina’s bracelet has an authentic “Wow” factor! Marina is their Guest Designer this week and also owns Cherry Pie Artstamps (yummy rubber!)

I also received fab post from Nancy, with whom I did a “Mystery ATC” swap, so I’ll post hers later - they’re fab! Thanks Nancy!!

Live it up, Sunshine!

Here’s my diamond-fold card for Wednesday Stamper’s challenge this week, inspired by Hermine’s fabulous card which I saw on her blog this morning. She has put a link to a video tutorial explaining how to make this simple, but cute card simply by making a few strategic folds and it’s so simple! So thanks Hermine!

Birdie and Pelican are my handcarved stamps and the sunshine image was cut from the middle of a sheet of freebie papers which came with a crafting mag. The beads are ceramics from my stash. Paper is K&Co. Scrap Pad to go by Brenda Walton which I seem to have had forever! To reinforce it a bit I cut 2 small panels of the olive green cs for the sides so it stands properly. Otherwise, it would’ve been centre-heavy (IYSWIM!).

I also got busy making another Arty-Farty Birdie Bag for my friend Leza’s 40th birthday next week. She took one look at mine last week and told me that’s what she wants for her birthday and picked her own image! It’s not the same, but it’s lined and has soft gold-coloured handles, taken from another bag that DD broke (= wore out!) and the lining has large butterflies in muted tones on it - bought from the Scrapstore. I just have to add a few beads and a bit of embroidery now. Here’s a preview:

I’m thoroughly enjoying making these bags and each one gets a bit easier (thank goodness!). I think the image I used for the transfer is one of Nancy Dooren’s, so thanks Nancy!

 

Thinking about Cake!

I can’t get cakes off my mind today! I used my Eat Cake stamp to decorate a tag to accompany some cards I was commissioned to make which I’ll be posting tomorrow and then by luck, I found a small packet of stickers I have never used, for this card, which will be my entry for Laura’s Layers of Color challenge this week. I took a powder blue card and added patterned vellum - from Anne’s blog candy - on which I stamped the lady (Diva Impressions) and added the stickers. A scrap of pink eyelash fibres, et voila!

I used Invisidots to adhere the vellum to the card. Not my usual style, but I do like how it turned out. Now for a really drop-dead gorgeous card which came in the post from Annette in Oz… OMG, I haven’t stopped drooling over it since it arrived!

 Isn’t it divine? Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!

Annette made a fab video tutorial showing how she transferred images to fabric using water and although I tried really hard to do it, mine just wouldn’t come out. I told her and we exchanged emails about the process, the photopapers she uses and whether or not it’s my printer’s inks… with the result that she very generously offered to send me some stuff to try out. I received this beautiful card, some sheets of photopaper, some images to transfer and some transferred by Annette to fabric.

I am overwhelmed by her kindness. The Blogosphere has enabled me to ‘meet’ some remarkable artists, from whom I learn so much and I am so blessed by their wonderful kindnedd. Thank you Annette, so very, very much!

Introspectively…

Step Outside Your Box Saturdays is definitely the most challenging of challenges for me. Every week Lisa sets us a challenge that, for me, takes us way outside our warm and fuzzy creative comfort zone. This week I found metallics very simple - I like bling in paint and I have the sprays and means (!!) to experiment now… Last week wasn’t so easy. This is what Lisa proposed:

Recently on Kristy Kristopherson’s blog she posted some pieces she did that had deep personal meaning to her. I also have a SIL who does assembleges and each one of them has some specific meaning, if not to her personally in general.  She did a peice on war not to long ago, she’s done some biblically driven pieces as well, Adam & Eve, etc. Now I’m not asking necessarily for you to share some deep seeded personal art unless of course you feel comfortable doing so, but making something that MEANS something, as well as being a fabulous piece of art.

So, I had all this cr*p to deal with - the bullying and bitching DD went through at school, their lack of response, the stress and the almost ‘feral’ rage of a Mama-Cat when her cub is threatened, etc. I had part of this image in my head. Getting it down on paper wasn’t so easy. I was very tired but I did find it cathartic. I expect the reason I have oversprayed it with the mists is symbolic, or maybe I don’t want you to see the ‘bare bones’? It doesn’t matter - I think I should share this… It’s about time I allowed my inner ‘adult’ the same courtesy as my inner child!

Here’s a close-up of the top part…

I’d be interested to know what you see - although I did write “Don’t mess with my family”.