Mum & Dad.

Apologies for being missing in action but I needed some serious quality downtime to complete the project below by last weekend. Sunday was my parents (both on the same day) Birthdays and I wanted to make them a Family Album of old photos. I had anticipated it taking me 3 whole days but in the end took a solid 8 days to produce as the pages grew from being a mere 7  to 14 thus making 28  sides in all to decorate! I finished the book 2am Sunday Morning. Talk about cutting it fine!!  

 

 

I have only used up my hoarded stash. You can't see from the photo but the front is covered with a lid from a cake box with an acetate insert which I placed over the design paper and sentiment. The flowers were all created using my trusty rose creations die by Spellbinders and the leaves using a die by Die-namics which cuts a lovely leaf shape showing the veins. I used my promarkers and chalks to colour them.

The book pages are 6" x 6" and made of  thick card covered in various designs papers.They span 135yrs of family photos which is partly why the book took so long as I had to look up my genealogy files to check dates for each photo and verify the people. The lady above was born in 1880 and the photo is circa 1895.

I haven't used the original photos(as I needed to cut them down to fit the pages) just scaned them into my computer and printed out on cream cardstock. Some of the sepia ones I have enhanced with coloured chalks. The Gentleman in this photo is my G.G.Grandffather. Taken circa 1865



The boys in this photo are all wearing lace collars for their family portrait so I used some old lace to trim the picture with. Dates born 1906 - 1912.

This is my G.G. Grandfather on the other side of the  family.He was born 1825 and owned an Inn in Somerset. Not quite sure why he has the gun or dog. Maybe he just  liked to make sure the regulars paid for their beer!!!!

This is his Granddaughter my Grandmother who Sis and I get our love of dressmaking from.





I used lots of old buttons and beads up . This button is actually two. I cut the shank off the brass one so that it would sit in the bottom one and then stuck them togther and covered in glossy accents. Because I made more pages than intended they  were too thick to use the book binder clips I had in my stash so I used chain threaded through with bits of ribbon instead and made  ribbon ties held on by buttons for the closeure. (This is just a selection of the pages from the book as others are of living people and can't be shown.)



Happy to report that Mum loved her book and Dad did in his own way too.

 

I would like to enter my book into the following challenges:



Pixies crafty workshop: Use your snippets #44.
Challenges 4 Everybody: Anything goes.
Make it Monday Party:  Ladies that  craft.
Anything Goes: Anything goes.
LEJ Designs: Anything goes. 
Shopping Our Stash: Flowers in 3D.
Twisted Tuesdays: Free for all with no twist.
Fab 'n' Funky: Die cuts or punches.
My Mums Craft Shop: Bold and Bright
That Craft Place: Tic,tac.toe. (dies,border,buttons).
Love to Create: Lots of Layers.

Making Friends.



This was the second card that I made for my swap partner in  Australia. The theme was black & white  with a hint of colour.  I have used another of the digi images from  Dover Publications  'Silhouette Designs' CD-Rom & book.(Only 149 more to go).

 

I printed the image onto thick card stock and adhered to red card stock leaving a small border of the red showing. This was then matted to the card front. The dog  has a matching collar made from a snippet of red ribbon.  The sentiment (which I wanted to keep simple)was printed onto the card stock first  and then reput through printer to download the image above it.

The next swap is to make two cards in pink. Yay! .My fav. These are already on their way again to Australia and once received will show you the card designs that  I made.

As I have used an incy wincy snippet up  am posting to Pixies Crafty Workshop  #42.

Also the following challenges:

Penny's Paper - Crafty: Girls,girls, girls.

Southern Girls: Tie a ribbon round it.  (ribbon collar on dog)

Cupcake Crafts: Two's company. (Lady with dog)

Challenges 4 Everybody: Anything goes.

Electric Ellapu: Anthing goes

2 Sisters Challenge: Anything goes.

 



Rainy Days.

The Theme over at Tag Tuesday this week is Rainy Day. I remembered that in my  Sunbonnet Sue quilt block  book there was a design with an umbrella so thought I could adapt it for a bit of paper piecing instead. The bit of lace just happened to be on  my desk so used that as the hanging.  The background paper was a freebie from a magazine and all the rest is snippets. Even the buttons are snippets! You know when you die cut flowers out you get the little circles from the centres? Well I keep those too!!!!  Oh yes. Nothing wasted here so coloured them with a pro marker to match the umbrella and then glued them in place.



 

 

Finally a bit of  glossy accents applied with a puddle at the bottom and here's my finished tag. 

 

As I really have used snippets popping over to Pixies Crafty Workshop #42 to play.

Also the following challenges:

Cute Cards Thursdays: Paper Piecing.

4 Crafty Chicks: Tag your it.

Moving along with the times: Tag it.

Penny's Paper - Crafty: Anything but a card.



 

Halloween Tag.

The Theme for this months tag over at The Altered Paper is Halloween. My tag is already on its way to my swap partner in America. I have decorated this tag on both sides as I couldn't make up my mind which images to use as I liked them all. The backing paper and transparent stickers are by Creative Memories and been in my stash for ages so thought it was high time they were used.  The pre coloured digis are freebies that I found on this site here.

 

The hanging loop is made from string dipped in brown acrylic paint left over  from the little Italian  houses I made  and still sitting on  my desk.It was just long  enough to bend over and sandwich between the pages. (Everything has its use.) The black bow was one I had  made and discarded  as being too big but looks just right on  here.

As the string and ribbon are snippets I am playing over at Pixies  Crafty Workshop #41.

Also the following challenges:

Scrap Creations: Pumpkins.

The Poodles Parlour: Halloween.

Crazy 4 Challenges: Halloween.

Hooked on Craft: Halloween.

Heck of a Challenge: Spooktacular.

Great Impressions: Fall/Trick or Treat.

Scrappy Frogs: Fall/Halloween.

Crafty Calendar: All things Spooky.

 





Going Oriental.

 

It is Fluff''s  Godmother's Birthday today and as I know it has been received I can share it  with you. I rang the Godfather a few weeks ago to enquire on the favourite colour to be met by bemused silence. Finally after  an " Erm not quite sure about that" we  decided Turquoise would  possibly be a good bet.  ( Pleased to report the Godfather sporting a black eye has been adverted.)

I had it in my mind to do a card with a flower of some sort so an Oriental style card was born with a turquoise Chrysanthemum. The black/white silhouette design is from a Dover Publications CD-Rom and Book. I love the designs in there and am slowly getting through them (153 altogether). I printed onto beige cardstock and coloured the flowers and creases on the skirt using a turquoise promarker pen. The picture makes it look like I have adhered to a turquoise backing card but it is in fact just where I have created a box around the  design using the promarker and then trimming close up to the lines.  I made the flower from a combination of petals from The Spellbinders  Carnation Creations die and a Sizzix Embosslits die (654887). The corner was cut using Sizzix die 654470. I like  these corners.There are 4 different designs in the pack. The little blue squares are leftovers from cutting the corner. Waste not want not!! I then used an oriental style font on the computer for the wording.

Have used snippets of turquoise card stock for the flower / corner and snippets from snippets so am popping over to the playground at Pixies Crafty Workshop: #41

Also the following challenges:

Make it Monday Party: Always Anything goes.

Craft Mania: Happy Birthday.

By the Cute & Girly: Birthday challenge.

Whoopsiedaisy Challenge: Flowers Galore.

Fan 'N' Funky: No patterned paper.

Totally Gorjuss: anything goes.

 

 

Hats to You.

I have just recently entered a card swap and as it has now closed and my card has been received I am free to show you. There were several options you could choose to make your card from.

Colour Palette of: Chocolate Rose, Rosey Fushia, Blood Orange.

Sketch:

Themes: Hats or felt acents, Pirates and/or Parrots, Friends.

You could choose just one or a combination of. 



 

I decided on the Hat theme and to use the colour palette. I knew I had this digi in my collection from here and I also found the hat chart on the site too.I printed the chart out onto beige paper and used as my backing paper. I resized the digi and used my X-cut nestie

shape to cut out.



 

I used the colour palette for making the rose to go on her hat using  the Rose Creations Die  by  Spellbinders.  Here is a close up.

As I have used up odds of  paper for the rose and ribbon  I would like to enter into

Pixies Crafty Workshop: Use up your snippets.

And the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly: Anything Goes.

A Gem  of  a Challenge: For the Girls.

Sweet Stampin: Vintage.

Crafts & Me Challenges: My Sentiments Exactly.

Cutie Pie challenge: Use a Digi.

Penny's Paper -Crafty: Die cuts & Punches.

 

Flowers and Butterflies.

I wanted to make a thankyou gift to a dear blogging friend who when she found out I was after a very particular stamp not only sourced it for me but also purchased and sent it to me. What a star!! 

So what to make? Well I knew that Di loves pink, flowers and butterflies so I selected a few pink floral fat qtrs from my stash to choose from  and broke out a very well known carboard cat food box to cut the correct size elements I needed for my idea. 

A while later and all that needs doing is the sides to be stiched up, the top popped on and piping to be sewn all round the edges. 

Now I needed to make some flowers  so out came my off cuts of paper card (I never throw any pieces away however small as all bits will get used up) and made Roses in different shades of pink, size and style.

I couldn't leave it at that so out came by oddments of shrink plastic and I hatched a few butterflies too.

 

All finished and ready to go into the covered box.



Looks like three of the butterflies managed to escape!!

As Di has now received her box I would like to enter the following challenges:

The Crazy challenge: Handmade flowers.

Cupcake Crafts: Think Pink.

Lexi's Creations: Pink.

Use it Tuesdays: Use your scraps  (used oddments of paper card stock and shrink plastic).

Tuesday Alchemy: Anything but a card or tag.

Shopping our Stash: Go green or recycle something (recycled cat food box).

C.R.A.F.T. challenge: Embellishments make your own (shrink plastic butterflies).

Gingerloft: Stitching real or faux (box sewn by hand).

The Crafty Pad Designs: Floral.

Challenges 4 Everybody: Anything Goes.

Dream Valley: Go pink.

The Crafty Bloggers Network: Anything goes.

Craft My Life:Anything goes(crafts that are not a card or layout)