Monday 31 December 2012

Happy New Year to All!

Hi and Happy New Year to all you lovely crafty people.



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Happy New Year!
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This little post is to wish you all a very Happy New Year.  Especially to my colleagues on the Craftymess, Crafty Emblies , Stamping Dragon and Cards Galore DTs. You have all been amazing inspiration and have made 2012 a really creative and productive year for me.  Thank You!

If 2012 wasn't a good year for you, then I wish you a happier and healthier 2013.  If 2012 was good for you then I wish you continued success and happiness.

Just about to knuckle down and get back into my crafty routine and hoping that 2013 brings  a project I've had in mind to fruition.  Fingers crossed :-)

Again I wish you all a fabulous 2013, filled with joy and peace.



Angela x 















Tuesday 11 December 2012

It's Been So Long Since.......

 I blogged !


Hello and welcome to my crafty blog.

Can't believe that my last post was dated the 18th November !!!!.  But a lot has happened  since then and I am just about getting back into the swing of things.  We moved back to Ireland on one of the worst  wintery weekends we've had in Germany for, oh  I'd say at least, 12 months. 

I read somewhere that moving house is up there with the most stress laden events in life, like say...Death in the family and Divorce. Moving house is stressful and add to that stress moving country too, in what seemed like the depths of winter, I 'm all for pushing  house moving up the in the rankings a tad.  Won't be doing that again anytime soon.

We are almost settled in what will be our home for a few months until we find our new 'dream' home. Good news is that with this new fangled mobile internet connection thingy  normal transmission should be restored quite soon.  I just need to find a home for all my crafty bits in what is a very scaled down area ( I love a challenge) and start crafting again.

Must apologise  to my colleagues on the DT's I belong to as I had no idea it would be such an exercise to get the networking  thingamajig set up. It's not perfect yet, but I'm hopefully that the clever techy-type that will be here tomorrow between  1 and 5 pm will sort us out.

Fingers crossed.


Thanks for stopping by to read my blog. Looking forward to reading your comments.

Angela x


Sunday 18 November 2012

Shabby Chic - Crafty Emblies Challenge #5

Hello and welcome to my crafty blog.


Todays post is my DT project for the new challenge starting today at the  Crafty Emblies Challenge Blog and the theme is Shabby Chic.
Our sponsor for this challenge is
Crafty-emblies

and the winner of the challange get a voucher to spend on the lovely embellishments created by the owner Judie and her husband Pete.

For my project I chose to alter a bisquit tin.


I covered the outside of the tin with some vinage paper I got with  issue 111-Christmas   Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine . I decorated the top with a strip of lace and wrapped some pink gingham ribbon around the lace.  I then used three different patterns of Washi Tape to create a band about a third of the way down the tube.  As the paper had a musical theme to it, I added some of the delicate 'notes' created by Judie at Crafty Emblies  and adhered them using a hot glue pen. I made a pink star bow and adhered a red ribbon rose to the centre. This was then tied to the tinto add a little drama.  To finish I added some Butterfiles punched out with a Martha Stewart punch.


Take a trip over to the  Crafty Emblies Challenge Blog  and take a look at the lovely projects created by my very talented teamies. Don't forget to join in the challenge for a chance to win that voucher.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and read my blog. As Always your time and comments are appreciated.

Angela x

Saturday 17 November 2012

Pick a Country - Craftymess Challenge #22


Hello all and welcome to my crafty  blog.

My post today is my DT card for the new challenge at the  Craftymess Challenge Blog and the theme is 'Countries' chosen by Teamie  Nicky.

Nicky



Our sponsors for this challenge is  Sassy Studio Design and they have supplied the DT with some of their wonderful sassy images to coordinate with the theme.

 Sassy are offering the winner digi images of their choice.


My cardbase is a standard A6 made with white cardstock to which I have matted a piece pink patterned paper and added a strip of cream lace along the bottom. I chose the Japanese image and used Copics and Sprectrum Noir pens to apply the colour.  The sentiment was stamped onto the same pink paper and punched out. This was then adhered to a punched scalloped circel and popped up with dimensional adhesive.


I tried not to crowd the image and resisted adding too many embellishments.

Please pop along to the Craftymess Challenge Blog  and take a look at the wonderful work on display from my DT teamies and be inspired to join in.


Thank you for taking the time to pop in and read my blog.  Your time is appreciated and I love getting your feedback.


Angela

Saturday 10 November 2012

Cozy - Scrapbook Page- Just a Scrappin' #27

Hello and welcome to my crafty blog.

Today I am taking another bite at the challenge set by  Just a Scrappin`'   as I felt I was wide of the mark for the layout criteria.

Stripes, Strips, Autumn colours. It was all there, but I got carried away by all the nice colours and settled on strips and forgot about the stripes. :(


And here is my second attempt. Using some digital kits from Bella Gipsy,  I remebered to include the stripes and made sure to get the Autumn feel to the layout. Hope this page passes the test :-)

Thank you for stopping by to read and comment on my crafty blog. You time and comments are much appreciated.

Angela x






Friday 9 November 2012

Scrapbook Page - Just a Scrappin' challenge #27





Hi all and WOW...two posts on the same day!

Been busy with various projects and this one is a scrapbook page I want to enter into the  Just a Scrappin' challenge number #27, use Autumn colours and stripes.


This page was made using a combination of digital kits and centres around a photo taken of yours truly and hubby at a wedding in 2009.  

I quite like the way the colours match the photo and the neutral background helps to pop those colours . I used thick strips of  digi patterend paper to create the striped effect and they helped to create depth with the layers.




I'm quite new to digital scrapbooking but I am eager to learn and I am working with a basic version of Photo-shop until I get good enough to invest in an upgrade.   Really love the versatility you get with digital and what a great choice of downloadable kits to buy or the freebies so generously offerd from some sites. Love It!


Again, thanks for stopping by to read my crafty blog. Please feel free to leave a comment. I love hearing from you.

Ax

Altered Book - First Attempt.


Hello all and welcome to my crafty blog.

My post today is my first attempt at an Altered Book.  My son showed me some wonderful art based on 'carved' books where the artist had created whole scenes by simply cutting the pages in a book.  I say 'simply' but I know it takes skill to create this kind of art and it is ,sadly,  a skill I do not possess :(

There are other 'altered' books where the a piece from the centre of the book has been cut out and the remaining recess / frame  is used as an aperture to display a varity of objects. Some are simple and others, a myriad of details and textures to interest the eye.

Anywhoo, this is what I thought I could achieve with a very old book and also  incorporate some of the wonderful wooden embellishments that my friend and DT teamie Judie creates and sells in her in-line shop Crafty-Emblies

 I started by opening the book about 1/3 into the pages and using a box-cutter and a steel ruler set about 'carving' out the centre of the pages to a depth I gauged deep enough to take the items I had selected to go into the recess. I then glued the pages together to make sure that the 'frame' was sturdy and didn't weaken when I added the objects.

I then distressed the pages with various inks and embossed random areas with copper embossing powder and set the powder with a heat tool. Some judicious sanding with rough sand.paper and curling the edges helpd to create the worn effect I wanted.

Some Tim Holtz grunge-board arrows which I had inked and painted with some shimmer paint were added to the wooden cogs  to add interest add. The wooden embellishments can be inked, painted or distressed, but I wanted to see the colour of the wood in contrast to the other elements I was hoping to use.




I went through my stash and looked for bits and pieces that already had a grungy look and took some time to place them in the book. A handmade flower and a popped up butterfly added extra interest and colour.

This kind of art can be controversial as the destruction of a book , as I did above, can cause distress.  In my defense, this was a very old book, already destined for the rubbish heap, when I rescued it for use with other crafty projects. 

 The colours catch the eye and the eclectic mix of objects seem to interest anyone I've showed it to. So far they are mostly family and friends....so what  else are they going to say!

I am  pleased with the outcome and this is definately something I  would try again....when the right book comes along.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by to read my blog and leave a comment.  You time and comments are appreciated.

Angela x






Crafty-Emblies

Sunday 4 November 2012

Nursery Rhymes - Craftymess Challenge #21



Hello and welcome to my craft blog.

I am blogging today about my DT card for the new challenge starting over at  Craftymess Challenge Blog  and the theme chosen my my teamie Moira is Nursery Rhymes. We are sponsored for this challenge by the wonderful Crimson Cloud.


Our sponsor for this challenge is......



Crimson Cloud
They are offering the winner 3 pkts of  die-cuts of their choice.
"Crimsoncloud.co.uk is owned by Linda and Melanie, and is a mother/daughter venture - a way to indulge their joint passion of cardmaking and papercrafting. 

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Mary, Mary quite contrary how does your garden grow?
With cockle shells and silver bells 
and pretty maids all in a row, a row,
And pretty maid all in a row.


The Mary Mary image for my DT card  was downloaded from a site offering free printable images. I coloured the image using my trusty watercolours and matted the finished image onto a piece of white card  that was slightly larger than the image to create a frame.  I popped this image onto a MemoryBox die-cut decorative frame using demensional adhesive and matted the frame to a 4x4" piece of polka dot patterned paper.  I added some bling to the corners and threaded a strip of organza ribbon behind the image and tied a flat-ish knot. The layers were then adhered to a 5x5" tent fold mauve card base. The 'Hello Sunshine' sentiment from Verve Stamps was added to finish.

Mine is just one of the DT projects to be seen on the  Craftymess Challenge Blog  . The DT have produced some beautiful interpretations of the 'Nursery Rhymes' theme to inspire you. Take some time to pop over to see the blog and join in the fun. Looking forward to seeing your work.


Thank you for taking the time to drop by and read my blog. As always your time is appreciated and your comments mean a lot.

Angela xxx

Thursday 1 November 2012

Silhouettes - Cards Galore Challenge- November



Hi all and welcome to my crafty blog.

my post today is my DT card for the Cards Galore Challenge Blog   that is starting today for the month of November. The theme this month is Silhouettes and the lucky winner will receive a 'Mystery Prize'!

My DT piece is a hybrid card, using both digital and paper elements.The silhouette is a cut-out made of yours truly a long, long time ago. I came across it , typicially, whilst  looking for something else and I decided to use for this months theme.  The problem was that the paper was very thin and a bit fragile. I solved this problem by scanning the silhouette into my PC and using  photoshop software I created the digital silhouette. I made two oval frames from complimentary coloured digital papers and 'placed' the scanned image onto the frames. I then added a rectangle of another contrasting digital paper to help pop the image.  The card base is some light brown cardstock matted with a blue paper with a fine polka dot pattern and a blue organza bow. The silhouette was then mounted onto the base using demensional adhesive. A white embossed corner flourish and three small flowers made from the same paper, decorated with pearls complete the card.




I am finding that I like using the combination of digital and traditional methods in my crafting.This allows me to use my computer, photoshop, my Cricut and my imagination ... and that can't be bad!

 We had a bumper response to our 'Anything Goes' challenge. The entries counted 266!!!! Unbelievable! And we were so pleased to have reached a new audience and gained some new friends for the Cards Galore Blog. Thank you all for your support.

Please pop over to the  Cards Galore Challenge Blog  to see the wonderful DT projects created by my extremely talented teamies and don't for get to join in the fun.


Thank you again for stopping by to visit and read my blog. I look foward to reading you comments.

Angela

Wednesday 31 October 2012

Scrapbook layout - 'Shelling Out' - Lasting Memories

 Hi all and welcome to my crafty blog.


today I am posting my entry for the  Lasting Memories 'Shelling Out' competition  LMCB #112 running until  the end of the week.

My layout for this challenge is a photo taken of my husband taken on a trip to the local ski slopes. Sitting in the sun, enjoying some wonderful Apfel Strudel with Hot Chocolate and 'shelling out' again for lunch. LOL.  Wrapped up well on the ouside and making sure the inside is warm too.  The rum in the chocolate will take care of that.

This is a digital scrap-page made using photoshop and one piece from a digital kit.




The wintery background is a photo taken by my husband on one of our wintery walks and treated in Photoshop with some of the speciall layering techniques and given a colour to match the digital backing paper.  The snowflakes are simple cookie-cutter shapes, also given some special features from photoshop and  inserted in different sizes onto the layout. I then created my text and popped it up on some warm yellow  beveled ovals. The title was added to finish.

My husband is a bit neglected in the scrapbooking creations  I make and I thought it was time to make amends. He liks it  :-)



Thanks for stopping by to read my blog and leave a comment.  I love hearing from you and your time and comments are appreciated.

Angela x


Monday 22 October 2012

Under the Sea - Crafty-Emblies New Challenge



Hello my crafty friends and welcome to my blog.

Today I am posting about the start of a new challenge at the Crafty Emblies  challenge blog and the theme, chosen by our talented teamie  Lisa  is 'Under the Sea'.

The challenge, run by the  Crafty Emblies on-line shop, is also sponsored  by Crafty-Emblies and prize on offer to the winner is voucher to spend in the shop to the value of    £10.00 !



Crafty-emblies

My DT piece for this challenge is a tag. 

I used my Tim Holtz  'Alterations' tag die to cut the shape from some DP with a sea -floor design. This was then adhered to a larger piece of kraft card and this card was trimmed to create a larger tag with rough edges. I adhered some fine blue sand and blue pebbles to  the bottom right-hand corner of the tag using Glossy Accents and added some shells between the 'rocks'.






 Using Vintage Photo ink I distressed  some pieces from an old newspaper with the shipping times and tore and scrunched it to  fit the bottom of the tag. I also added a star fish cut from the same DP. Crafty Emblies  angel-fish with gems for eyes were then added to the tag. With some bakers twine I made a net to create that 'Under -the-Sea' effect. A shoal of stamped fish and a stamped compass were also added to the top of the tag.
  



To finish I made a string of three turtles and three green glass beads which was added to some dark blue gross-grain and cream satin ribbon to complete the tag.



Please time to take a look at the  Crafty Emblies   challenge blog to see the wonderful creations from the DT team and maybe  join in with us too.


Thanks for taking the time to visit and leave a comment. Your time and comments are much appreciated.

Angela xx





Saturday 20 October 2012

541 Entries, 2 Happy Winners and 1 New challenge!

Hello all and welcome to my crafty blog.

Wow! Craftymess Challenge Blog hit the jackpot with our last challenge. 541 entries was the total on the final day.  Phew! It was hard work but so worth it.  We reached a new audience and gained new followers and fans from far and wide.  We are a little weary but delighted at this fantastic response.  Thank you to all who have supported us in our  'Anything Goes' challenge.

And now it is time for the new challenge starting today at Craftymess Challenge Blog and the topical theme is 'Haloween'. This is the chosen theme from teamie Tracey.

The cute digi  images  were supplied by our sponsor for this challenge http://robynsfetish.com/ and I chose to make some belly-bands for chococlate bars as Trick or Treat sweets to hand out on Haloween.

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Robyn's Fetish Digi Stamps & More...


As the  Robins Fetish images were digital and I needed to make quite a few, I decided to stay with the 'digital' process and use photoshop to add colour to the images. I chose colours that are normally associated with the ghoulish time of year and used the 'paint-pot' icon in photoshop to drop the colour into the Robins Fetish  images.  The best fun was the Mummy, as I got to work through perhaps, 50 shades of gray :-$. Once I was happy with the colouring, I cut the shapes out leaving a thin white border.

The bands were made using some black cardstock with a strip of orange cardstock with a fancy punched border. I added a strip of DP with a Haloween motif to finish the bands and then popped up the little Haloween monsters on some demensional adhesive.

Make a visit to the  Craftymess Challenge Blog  to see the wonderful DT project ranging from cards to banners and goodie-bags. Great inspiration for your Haloween decorations.

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Robyn's Fetish Digi Stamps & More...


Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps And More is proud to sponsor this challenge.

Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps And More, a division of I Did It Creations, was created and is
owned by Robyn Weinrib.  Robyn offers a wonderful variety of digital stamps and digital papers, designed to meet the needs of all digital paper crafting addicts for every occasion.

Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps And More is happy to award the winner her choice of 5 digital stamps.



Thank your for your vist and your comments. I lvoe hearing from you and your time and comments are much appreciated.

Angela xxx

Wednesday 17 October 2012

CG SCrapbook Challenge - Autumn


Hello and welcome to my crafty blog.

First, apologies to my teamies at CG Scrapbook Challenge Blog for not getting my post up in time for the beginning of the new challenge. The new challenge started on the 15th October and the theme is 'Autumn'.

We were very fortunate to have some lucious digital kits from Stamping Dragon to help create our pages, either as digital layouts or in a printed format and scrapped in the traditional way.


And here is my page and it's your truly :)).
I am always finding scrapbooking 'victims' amongst my family and I thought it was about time I put my self in the frame so to speak.



This month prize is very kindly sponsered by
Thank you very much.
Paper as well as digi scrap goes, any kind of scrap goes, as long as your LO has a photograph on it and follow the theme.
The challenge is open worldwide and will run till the 13th of november.
And here is what the Design team has created for this month inspiration:
We have all used digi kits from our sponser Stamping with the Dragon.
you can find the kits here & here. 

I went for the 'Less is More' style and the papers and elements in the Stamping Dragon digital kit  were ideal for using with this old photo. The muted colours and and vintage embellishments really suited the 'feel' of the subject and popped the photo out from the background. After all I wanted to be sure 'I' was the centre of the attention.

I think I've caught the bug for digital scrapbooking. I like the way you can manipulate the papers and move, resize and rotate the elements to suit the layout.


Please take time to visit the CG Scrapbook Challenge Blog  and check out the DT's layouts for inspiration and join in with us in this Autumn challenge. Anything goes but  your layout must contain at least one photo. Looking forward to seeing your entries.


Thanks for taking time to visit and comment.  Your time and comments are greatly appreciated.


Angela x

Saturday 6 October 2012

Anything goes - Craftymess Challenge 19


Hello and welcome back to my crafty blog.

The first part of my post is to announce the new challenge starting today over at the Craftymess Challenge

The theme is Anything Goes and  was chosen by  teamie Sandra. Judging by the response we had from the last challenge we have a lot of wonderfully talented followers and I can't wait to see what they can produce for this new challenge. Our sponsors for this new challenge is Crafty-Emblies 

 My 'not so' minibook :)

 My Anything Goes DT  piece is a scaled up version of the mini-book which is normally cut from a 12x12 inch piece of paper. I had some cream A0 sized paper from which I cut a square that when folded produce a 5x5 inch book. The book-covers were cut from some light card and covered with some antique style paper and I inserted  a deep red ribbon between the covers to act as the closer for the book. The edges of the book cover were distress with some Vintage Photo ink and a little bit of Versacolor Blazing Red ink to warm up the background and tie in with the red of the ribbon. I also used a light rubbing of Vintage Photo ink on the edges of the pages to add  to the aged look. I adhered  some Crafty-Emblies flourishes to some corners on the front cover and distressed them with gold ink. Some flat-backed pearls were added here and there for a little bit of bling. I finished the book by threading a cream silk tassle and a Crafty-Emblies key to the ribbon and tied a lovely full bow.  I am pleased with the result.

Please take some time to pop over to Craftymess Challenge and check out the DT projects there. The Anything Goes theme is attractive to all crafters. Doesn't matter what your preferred craft is, please take a peek and join in. AND don't forget the chance to win the prize from Crafty.Emblies.




We have a fabby Sponsor for this challenge a £10 Voucher from Crafty-Emblies.


So get cracking with your entry and join in with us and don't forget to visit our Facebook page for more fun and frolics.

Second part of the blog is that  we have a fine and fresh day here and I am hoping to get out into the garden  later to get some Autumn clean-up done.  I am loving the rich colours that Autumn creates and I am hoping to get some inspiration to help me use the  free digi-kit  I've just downloaded from  Summertime Designs . It is full of wonderful colours and elements and I'm hoping to get working it with the kit a bit later.  


Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read my blog. I appreciate your time and your comments.

Hope you are having a good day wherever you are.

Angela x

Monday 1 October 2012

Cards Galore Challange - Anything Goes

Hello all and welcome to my crafty blog.

Todays post is for the new challenge starting today over at Cards Galore Challenge blog  with the theme of anything goes.  The challenge is sponsored this time by Meljen's Designs with a prize for the winner of  4 of their wonderful whimsical designs. 


I chose the house with a cherry for my card.  He's cute!


I started with a 5x5 inch white cardbase with a tent -fold. I then matted some plain green card stock together with some green with red polk-dots paper to the front of the card. A white doilly and some red ribbon was then attached for decoration. The image was printed onto white card and coloured with watercolours. I used some StäzOn bright green ink to distress the edges and roughed the edges a little. I then adhered the image to the fron of the card and finished the card off with the sentiment 'Sending Hugs'and 3 green gems.

Feel free to join in with us  in this ANYTHING GOES challenge. All crafts are welcome and we are looking forward to seeing what you can produce. Don't forget the prize waiting for the lucky winner is FOUR lovely digi designs from Meljen's.


and you can win x4 of their great digi stamps

Please do pop over to see the challenge site here and take a look at the fabulous DT projects there.


Thanks for stopping by to read my blog. Your time and comments are appreciated.

Angela x









Sunday 30 September 2012

Spooky ATC Tag and a Halloween Challenge

Hello and welcome to my crafty blog.

Todays post is my ATC sized tag for the challenge running over at Somewhere to be me , a blog written by my very talented teamie Sandie.

The challenge is to make something spooky for Halloween and I chosen an ATC sized tag that could be used to decorate some of those goody-bags for trick or treating.

The tag is actually a 7x2.5 inch piece of black card  folded in half with holes punched for the wobbly eyes to to show through. the folded card was adhered together to hide the backs of the eyes.  I have distressed the edges and rubbed over the cardstock with Vintage Photo ink to rough the surface up a bit. I have added a strip of ghostly BOO! paper and some cut-out scary pumpkins across the bottom. To finish I have slotted a piece of silver cord and rounded the corners. Spooky?  Well at the very least Kookie




Thanks for stopping by to read my blog. Your time and comments are appreciated.  Please take a few moments to check the  Somewhere to be me  blog and see the great work created by Sandie.

Thanks again.

Angela.

Thursday 27 September 2012

Twinchie - Santa Claus

 Hello and welcome to my crafty blog.

Today my post is about Twinchies.  Only just discovered these pretty much along with ATCs but only now started to make some.   Made in the form of a 2x2 inch topper, the aim is to minaturise your art to fit this small canvas.

 This is my Twinchies for the challenge running over at the very clever site called Show us Your Twinchies. Just have a look at the detail and the art you can get onto a canvas that small. Amazing!





I am trying to work myself up to getting some Christmas cards made, so if you want, I'm starting small. Mine is a 2x2 inch Santa Claus, coloured with Copics and some fine glitter powder to highlight his hat. The photo doesn't show the glitter but it does make the trim on the hat stand out.   I love doing this and I recommend you give it a try too.


Thanks for stopping and reading my blog. Your time and comments are appreciated.

Angela x


Sunday 23 September 2012

Crafty Emblies Challenge 3 - The Dressmaker

Hello and welcome to my craft my blog.

My second  post in two days is my DT project for the challenge at the  Crafty Emblies with the winner receiving a voucher for the Crafty-Emblies Shop.
  Crafty-emblies
The prize is £10.00 of goodies from our Store

The  Crafty Emblies  theme is 'The Dressmaker' and the Design Team have used the Crafty Emblies range of wooden embellishments to create projects with a dressmaking feel.

I've made my project using a old balsa wood box. I painted the outside of the box with white acrylic paint and distressed it, when the paint was dry, with some rough sandpaper.  I removed the dividers and lined the base of the box with backing paper and replaced the dividers after having used Vintage Photo distress ink to 'age' the wood.


I tried to create in miniature the shelves you might see in an old dressmakers shop. A mini Origami box here, a mini roll of cloth there. Ribbons, threads, mannequins, I even tried to make a mirror!



The Crafty Emblies sewing machine and iron were inked with StäzOn Jet Black ink and when the ink was dry I decorated the emblies with a gold fine-liner with a scroll pattern trying to create thae look of the old 'Singer' sewing machine .
The front of the shelves were decorated with a strip from a paper doilly and a length of old cream lace, and the little cupboard is a cut-out courtesy of the new IKEA catalogue.

This was a really fun DT project and it was a treat to work with something other than just paper and ink.

My Teamies at  Crafty Emblies  have created some really spectacular projects for this theme and they are well worth the visit just to see  the talent. I hope you like my dressmakers shop and  it inspires you to enter the challenge to create your own version of  'The Dressmaker'. Don't forget the £10.00 as the prize.


Thank you again for stopping by to visit and read my blog. Your time and comments are appreciated.

Angela xx



Saturday 22 September 2012

Starting TODAY!!! at Craftymess- Aged and Distress Challenge.


 Hello all and welcome to my crafty blog.


today I am posting about a  new challenge starting today over at the  Craftymess challenge blog.

The theme for this   Craftymess challenge is  'Aged and Distress' and  was chosen by teamie Rebecca

Our Sponsor for this challenge is


Crimson Cloud
Who are offering a fabulous 3pkts of DieCuts of your choice


"Crimsoncloud.co.uk is owned by Linda and Melanie, and is a mother/daughter venture - a way to indulge their joint passion of cardmaking and papercrafting.  
Linda, based in South Africa, is the designer - developing their exclusive range of stamps, die cuts, digital stamps, svg cutting files and card kits which reflect their styles of card making.
Melanie is based in Brighton, Sussex and runs the web based shop - only selling products that they have tried, tested and love using. New products are regularly being tested and added to the range.
For ideas and inspiration, check out the gallery on the Crimson Cloud website, or follow their blog on www.blog.crimsoncloud.co.uk with new posts and samples being added at least once a week."


 My DT piece is a tag inspired by the man himself Tim Holtz.



Taking the 'Aged and Distess' theme to heart, there's quite a lot going here on this standard tag.  Of course I started with the Tim Holtz die-cut tag and using Ranger distress inks in Vintage photo and Tumbled Glass I added a base colour to the tag. The corsette shape was inked with Tuxedo Black ink and Versamark Red ink and give a skirt  made with ribbon in wide wired blight brown and cream . The cogs and wheels were treated with silver embossing powder and black ink and covered with a birdcage cut-out from MemoryBox. The cage was spritzed with Vintage Photo ink to create a rusted effect. I then added some torn backing paper, a strip old news print and some flat-backed gems to the tag along with a red ribbon laced through punched holes. The tag was finished with a stick on sentiment and some yellow and cream organza ribbon.

I had fun getting crafty and inky with the  Aged and Distress DT project.

Thanks for stopping by to visit and read my blog. Don't forget to drop by at the Craftymess challenge blog and check out the fab DT work on display.

Your vist and comments are appreciated.

Angela x 



Thursday 20 September 2012

Get Ireland Crafting - A new Facebook page

Hi all and welcome to my crafty blog.

today my post is highlighting a new  ' place to share information about craft classes and workshops around the country' . a new Facebook page has been set up to inform crafters about classes and tutors around the country to promote crafting country wide in Ireland.  Check this page out to be informed about all the wonderful crafty stuff going near you.

http://www.facebook.com/GetIrelandCrafting

Thanks for stopping by,

Angela

Saturday 15 September 2012

Digi Scrapbooking and a New Challenge- CG Scrapbook Blog.



Hello all and welcome to my crafty blog.

Today my post is my  DT digital scrapbook page for the new challenge starting to day over at the  CG Scrapbook  Challenge blog .  Through my cardmaking I branched out into Paper Scrapbooking, making use of simmilar paper crafting products, just on a larger scale.  I'm relatively new to Digital Scrapbooking  and I still have a lot to learn, but this learning experience is fun.

Our challenge theme is 'PATCHWORK' and runs from today until the 15th October. The challenge is open to both Paper and Digital scrappers and this month we have secured the sponsorship from  Crafty-Emblies a super new craft supplier specialising in wooden embellishments.



Wondering what Katie will do next.


My layout for this DT has been made using a photo of KATIE, my cousins little girl, who is soooo cute in this photo I had to use it just one more time.

The page incorporated several kits including the background papers, overlays, frames, transparent embellishments and text. I don't have any specific software especially designed for scrapbooking so I am using Photoshop. Youtube is, for me anyway, a wonderful source of tutorials, hints and tips, and I can follow along with the demonstrations learning how to use the various tools and formats in creating my pages. For anyone new to digital scrapbooking there is also a fabulous array of freebie kits out there which can be used ( subject to the designers policies) to create layouts, with predesigned templates, digital stamps and embellishments. So initially you don't have to invest in a lot of digital kits to get started. Because I love paper and glue and ink so much I cannot see myself going totally digital. Digital Scrapbooking is another string to my crafty bow which I intend to use more often, creating hybrid cards and pages, and maybe have a go a designing some of my own....Let me think on it.

Please pop along to the  CG Scrapbook  Challenge blog and check out the DT work. We have lots of talented scrappers from all over the place, using the traditional scrapbook methods and digital too.
    Crafty-emblies
The winner of this challenge receives a 10GBP voucher from  Crafty-Emblies   to be spent in their wonderful on-line shop. Check out the range of fantastic embellishments and fabby new stuff is added almost daily!


Thank you for stopping by to visit and reading my blog. Your time and comments are always appreciated.

Angela  xx

Saturday 8 September 2012



Hi and welcome to my crafty blog.

Today I am posting my DT card for the new challenge starting today over at  Craftymess  Challenge Blog.  I got to set the challenge for this fortnight and my theme is 'Vintage Paris'
.
Our sponsors for this challenge are Sassy Studio Design who have given the DT team some wonderfully delicious digital stamps to work with for our project samples.  

 
Sassy Studio Designs is a fresh new company. We have been designing and selling for 2 years now, and we have been kindly received into the community of digi stampers and crafters. I started designing images shortly after I started stamping, reason being...I didn't hardly like anything else out there I was a young adult woman at the time I was engaged, had no kids, I wanted fun sexy images that I would enjoy using and my friends and hubby would enjoy receiving. I designed images for 2 other digi stamp companies when my wonderful hubby kept trying to get me to go out on my own. So in June 2009 thanks to the few faithful followers I had, Sassy Studio Designs was born!  It has been a wonderful journey starting my own store. We have just grown so much these past months.I still try to keep
Lindsay Dyer: keep with my original philosophy and reason for designing stamps, make them fun and keep them sassy...and yes sometimes even sexy!
Lindsay

Here is my DT project for the Vintage Paris Theme






The  card was made with a 14x14cm cardbase covered with a pink patterned Eiffel Tower backing paper. I've used a black and white photo of the Paris Opera for background detail and to create perspective for the digi image.I wrapped some fine blue organza ribbon and some lace to the photo and adhered it to the front of the card.
My Fair Lady has been coloured with watercolours in blue and deep pink, and then cut out. The image was popped up on some dimensional adhesive and placed on the card. The result is very OOH LA LA!

Please take a minute to check out the Craftymess Challenge Blog. The DT have created some Tres French projects for you to enjoy :)

Thank you for stopping by toview and read my blog. Your time is appreciated and your comments mean a lot.


AngelaX


Friday 7 September 2012

My foray into digital srcapbooking!


Hi all and thanks for dropping in to my crafty blog.

Todays post is just for me and I want to share some of the pages I have recently completed using digital scrapbooking kits together with Photoshop. Being a papercrafter my earler scrapbook pages were paper based and that was good. But as digi-images gain more interest in crafting and scrapbooking; I though it was time to get to grips with this 'Digital' thingy before it gets too late.  I hadn't realised how easy it could be to learn and how the digital process, although the same as the paperbased scrapping, can add jus that something to a page that cannot be achieved with paper and embellishments alone. The pages below are representive of my progress through the 'self-taught' process and my initial skill set

I have been a subscriber to the Daily Digi website for a while now but not had much time to actually get into it. The Daily Digi  treats subscribers to wonderful Freebies from a host of designers and to tons of hints and tips for FREE! I like this site a lot now I've got the digi-scrapping bug and I 'm working up to becoming a real paid up member anytime now!




Kathleen and Tommy


 Nick and Nina



 Aunt Kay and sisters


I am pleased with the pages I have created. The are all personal and have special meaning for me and my family. The feedback from said family has been great and I think I am going to be a very busy scrapper putting this digi-scrapbooking  into action.


Thanks for stopping by to read my blog. I hope you like what you see and take time to leave me a comment.


Angela x

Saturday 1 September 2012

Cards Galore - Challange. Vintage Ribbons Lace and Buttons

Hi all and welcome to my crafty blog.


today posts is my DT card for the  Cards Galore  challenge Vintage Ribbons Lace and Buttons which starts today 1 September. Our sponsors for this challenge is the wonderful Scrappers Delights and the prize is a voucher to spend in their store!

Janice, from Scrapper's Delights, designed some fabulous vintage digital stamp, especially for the design team to use for this challenge. And what's more, from today you will be able purchase them from their store, Scrappers Delights store.

 

Who has kindly given us a $5 voucher for the winner to spend at there store!!!
 
 
My card was made using one of the specially designed digi stamps from the Scrappers Delights called Holly Hobbie Set 1.

The image was printed onto white cardstock and coloured using watercolour paints. I tried to keep the colours soft  to create the vintage look needed. I punched the image using a scalloped circle punch and highlighted the edges with Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass. The base card is a 5x5 inch tentfold card with blue-green patterned paper panel wrapped with a band of lace and adhered to the front of the card. I then used a Nelly Snellen die to make the deep pink scalloped circle and adhered it , slightly off-centre, to the card.  The coloured image was popped up on some foam adhesive and place in the centre of the card. To finish the card I stamped the sentiment 'Friends Always' from Verve Stanps onto a smaller scalloped circle and used it as the centre of a pink flower.



The DT at Cards Galore have created some beautiful projects using this and other digital stamps from the Holly Hobbie set. Don't forget to pop over here check these fab projects out .


Thanks again for stopping by to read my blog. Your time and comments are much appreciated.


Angela x

Thursday 30 August 2012

My new DT spot at Crafty-Emblies and Challenge number 2

Hi all and welcome to my crafty blog.

today I am posting about the great  news that I have a new DT place over at  Crafty-Emblies!

Crafty Emblies is a new company set up making wooden emblishments for crafters and what a wonderful array of clever and unusual pieces they have to offer.  Crafty-Emblies are also sponsoring this challenge with the winner receiving a voucher to spend in the Crafty-Emblies web-shop on lovely embellishing goodies !





This is my first DT project for the current theme 'Picture Perfect' which ask entrants to create their own Picture Perfect projectand explain why.

So how did I do. I try to reuse, upcycle or repurpose things I see about me in the house and see what I can come up with.  This is my cork-coaster picture frame made from , of course, a cork coaster, undiluted water-colour paints, flourishes, copper embossing powder, fibers and flowers.




I cut a square aperture from a normal Ikea cork coaster to create the frame. I then painted the frame with combination of paints to get a verdigis effect and when the paint was dry I distressed the surface with rough sandpaper. Randomly rubbing the frame with an embossing pad I heat embossed the copper embossing power and then distressed that too. I treated the fibers with Vintage Photo distress ink and wound it round the side of the frame as well as adhering two leaf flourishes to opposite corners of the frame.
The frame was finished with fabric flowers and an oval embellisment with the word HOPE on it.

I used this frame to feature a butterfly image which had been stamped onto a clear embossed  script background and coloured with water-based inks.

I quite like how the dark frame sets off the bright colours in the butterfly image. Not bad for a 'repurposed' cork coaster.

Thanks for stopping by to read my blog and don't forget to take some time to pop over to Crafty-Emblies  to take a look at the other DT projects and may be join in.

Looking forward to hearing from you, your time and comments are much appreciated.


Angela x

Monday 27 August 2012

Thank You - Copics graduated colour background.


Hi all and welcome to my craft blog.

Today I am posting a card I made using a technique I saw on the Papertray Hints and Tips Youtube channel, using Copics to create a background. This post was prompted by a post I've just seen  here on the blog of a DT colleague Debbi Taylor.

Debbi used Copics to create her background too.

I followed the demo quite faithfully and was careful to choose colours that contrasted and yet complimented each other. The key is in the blending and as Copics are alcohol inks they blend and mix very well. The white wooden butterfly was treated with the same colours and adhered using a foam adhesive. The stamp is an old one and I can't remember where from. The butterfly's  'flight path' was drawn in with a fineliner in black.

colours used were   G99,RV11,V06, V09,YG03
The card was made for of the daily challenges set on the FB page at Craftymess. 

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Your time and comments are appreciated.

Angela x


Saturday 25 August 2012

Craftymessers Challenge - Animal with a blue colours theme (no insects)

Hello and welcome to my crafty blog.

Today I am posting a couple of DT cards for the new challenge starting to day over at  Craftymess Challange Blog .  Our theme for this fortnight is Animal(s) with a blue colour scheme and this was chosen by our teamie at Craftymess  Gemma .We are being sponsored for this challenge by  Crafty-Emblies .
  


Crafty-emblies 

The prize for the lucky winner of the challenge is a voucher for 10 pounds to spend in the wonderful Crafty-Emblies on-line store.



So here are my DT contributions for this theme.




It's a PAW TAY!

My first card uses a digital stamp I got from Meljen Designs and I have always had a soft spot for this particular party animal !   The digi images come in a .zip file with two formats - b&w JPG, and transparent PNG. I like the JPG format as I can resize the images to suit what ever size 'canvas' I am using. 
I've printed the image onto white card and coloured it with watercolour paints.  I cut the image to fit into a Nellie Snellen eyelet circle die and created the frame. I printed a second image but this time only colouring the hat and balloons. These were then cut out and popped up on dimensional adhesives to make them stand out from the main image. My base card is 5x5 dark blue cardstock with some Stampin' Up backing paper and a blue ribbon matted to it. The card was finished with a printed sentiment cut and adhered to the same blue card stock.



My second card is a bit more sedate.
Again a 5x5" tent-fold card in light blue card stock, with the bottom 3rd of the card embossed with Swiss Dots embossing folder. I cut two sizes of  Spelbinders  Labels 4 and used them as a frame for the bear. The stamped image is a Bumble Bear I got free with a crafts magazine and I have used Copics markers to colour him. The card is completed with three stamped dandilions from   Stamps of Life  embossed in white and a blue pola dot ribbon and bow embellised with a pearl button.

Baby Boy


Please take some time to pop along to the   Craftymess Challange Blog  and take a look at the other DT work. We have some very talented people on our DT. Make a visit and be inspired to join in.


Thank you for stopping by to read my blog. Your time and comments are much appreciate.

Angela xx