Happy Halloween.

I have finally managed to recyle

The Docs Whisky bottle.

 

From this

 

To this.

 

 

Botle has been painted first with

Tucan Terracotta Matt  tester pot, then

PVA Glue and black Acrylic paint

Assorted embellishments all from my stash. 

 Labels and pumpkin cat

Are free downloads from here.

 

Entering into the following challenges:

Rhedd's Creative Spirit # Halloween or not.

Seemacrafts # Halloween.

Crafting By Designs # It's Halloween.

The Crafter's Cafe #88 things with wings(Bats on bottle).

4 Crafty Chicks #218 Anything goes.

Altered Electrics # Anything goes.



Inspiration.

Inspiration time again

for my Butterfly challenge.

The current theme is

Emboss your Butterfly

You can use either wet or dry embossing.
Pop on over and play along.

I have chosen to use embossing folders on this card.

I had such fun making the scarecrow card that I have made

another Gatefold card.

 



Apart from the ribbon detailed below

 everything else was  from my stash.

I used two different embossing folders.

Sizzix  656982 Butterfly thinking of you set

and a freebie embossing folder

that came with Paper Craft Essentials magazine some time ago. 

Pink and lavender card stock for the bases

layered up using white card stock.

The pink ribbon was on my desk from where I had cut it

off the neck of a jumper.

(The bits they sew in to attach to the hanger)

Pink butterflies were cut from the left over  card

using a Tonic Die  'Butterfly Blooms' 293720 set

I ran through the embossing folder after die cutting

and attached using PVA adhesive.

I have a huge 1tr bottle of it sat on my desk

to use up!

 

Entering into the following challenges:

The Pink Elephant #274 Anything goes.

My Craft Creations # Anything goes.

Crafty Cardmakers #126 Cut it out Die cutting.

Through The Craft Room Door # Anything goes.

Simply Create Too #73 Shop in your craft room .

Penny's Paper-Crafty #201 Anything goes.

Aud Sentiments #118 2 or 3 word sentiment.

Pixie's Crafty Workshop #148 Use up your snippets (pink ribbon).

Scribble and Scrap #30 Anything goes.



Scarecrow

I fell in love with this stamp

as soon as I saw it.

I bought this little chap

last year  when Miss Di and I

were at the NEC

and he has been waiting patiently for his

first outing!

Decided to make a Gatefold card.

Stamp is by Circadesign 'ED-IM-03'

Coloured with my Promarkers.

Background given a light dusting

of green pearlescent  chalk.

cut out using Spellbinders 'Marvelous Squares' die.

I cut the cardstock to my own measrurements.

Just spuddled  (not sure that is a real word but it's

what The doc says I do all day)

 around  until I was happy with the sizes.

Design paper is  by Nancy Watt

a freebie in making cards mag 2012.

I found the autumn sayings  on the web.

Used my bitty leaf punch again but quickly stuck

the snippets onto the other card on the opposite page.

The front flap over has a tag in a pocket 

to write a message on the reverse before sending

I thought both of these sayings summed up

Autumn.

A close up of the stamped image.

I love his pumpkin head.

I turned the bird into a Robin

and chose autumn colours.

Entering into the following challenges:

Love to create  #139 more than one fold.

The Sisterhood of Crafters: Fall colours.

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #282 Autumn/Halloween/ thanks giving/bonfire night.

Brown Sugar #117 Anything goes.

Sister Act #80 anything goes.

Stampin  Sensations # Warm autumn colours.

So Artful # Leaves.

Crafting Musketeers #18 Autumn colours.

Sparkles #61 Fall, autumn colours.

Buckwells  Crafty Challenge #1 anything goes.

Jelly Park friends  # Autumn fall. 

Proof!

Snippets begat Snippets!

O'h yes they do!

I have definitive proof .

Indeed I do!

Having made the Neon lights Christmas card

I was left with the snippets below.

I was so determined to use up all my scraps

that I made these cards.

I made use of the post notes to make the backing

for the tags and to use as extras.

Silver card blanks where in my stash

 and I cut 3 Large in half to make the 6.

I used my Sizzix Alphabet and Britannia word dies

to make the sentiments.

Coated everything in a mix of SU fine glitter

in either silver or gold

and added a few matching gems here and there.

I used ds tape for the straight lines

 which the glitter stuck to (erm like glue)

and PVA glue on the lettering.

Well that's gotten rid of those pesky snippets I thought.

Honestly

I only took my eye of the ball for 5 nano seconds.

They can mutate!

Not changed their colours as yet but the knowledge is out there I'm sure .

It is only a question of time.

Be very afraid!!

 

Entering into the following challenges:

Rudolph Day#  Make 2 or more cards.

52, Christmas Card Throw down # Stash challenge.

All Sorts #282 Christmas.

Polkadoodles #43 Christmas fun

Crafting By Designs # Get ready for Christmas.

Everybody  Art  #297 Little flag.

Pixie's Crafty Workshop #148 Use your snippets. (I'm really trying to Miss).



Koi Carp

 

The background on this card

is another piece that  I made using

The Faux Pearl Technique.

I hade used  an Emerald Acrlic Silkies paint

by Imagination Crafts this time along with

green/blue/purple distress inks.

It has ben sat on my desk for the last 2 weeks

as I couldn't make up my mind how to use it.

I had first thought to use it as a sky background

but the more I looked at it the more it started to look

like under water  murkiness!

I have also had a challenge in mind  waiting for me to  come up with an idea

and it  finally all came together late last night.

 

The Koi Carp is a stamp by Sheena Douglas

'Koi and Water Lillies.'

which I inked using DI in 'Vintage Photo' onto some

really old scraps of thick paper so old it had turned a yellow colour!

I painted using water colours which have a metallic mix to them

and fussy cut. I went round the edges using  a grey green marker pen.

The bubbles effect is made from my Ryan art stamp 'Water Droplets'

stamped with black  Stazon  ink straight onto the background.

The sentiments are silver peel offs that I have had for ages.

The top one says  Wisdom and the bottom Courage.

I mounted  the koi up just slightly using 1mm sticky pads

and matted onto navy and then grey pearlised card.

IRL the card has a lovely gloss and sheen to it.

 

Entering into the following challenges:

Artful Times #66 Go green (background and fish are shades of green).

Crafty Card Makers #125 It's only words.

Paper Minutes #344 Maritime.

Craft Room  # Make your own background.

Pixie's Crafty Workshop #147 Use up your snippets (aged yellowing card).





Embossed Butterflies.

Hopefully Blogger  is now going to let me post.

I couldn't do a thing last night.

Don't know if the storm had anything to do with my connection.

We lost a tree in the high winds though.

The odd thing is that neither I nor The Doc heard it go.

One minute it was against the sky line and when we next looked

there was just a blank space where it should have been standing.

It didn't cause any damage but missed the base of the water fountain

by about 6".

Fortunately The Doc had  already drained it down and put the top half away

for the Winter so only the base was left standing 

 on the concrete paving slab.

The little birds were a tad confused this morning.

They were sat on the fence looking for their seed feeders and water container

which had been hanging in the tree.

We  had moved them to another part of the garden but it took them

a while to get orientated  and find them.

So that's Friday's job lined up to cut the tree up and dispose

of the remains down the tip!!

 

Moving swiftly onto the post that should have gone live this morning and didn't!

The new theme this fortnight

for my Butterfly Challenge

is to Emboss your butterflies using either the dry or wet method.

(i.e. embossing folders or pastes and other wet mediums)

These are the two samples I came up with for you.

 

I have used both methods on this card.

The embossing folder is by Crafts - Too

called 'Butterfly Frame'.

The  butterfly is by spellbinders which I die cut onto a snippet of brown Kraft card.

Only because it was handy and I wanted a fairly substantial base.

I used Indigo Blu Flitter Glu and then dipped in their Mega Flakes.

I love the names of their products.

this one is called 'Manchester  Tart '

and is a mixture of copper/gold/silver.

I burnished by rubbing well with the scrubber pad

and was pleased with the result.

I added dark orange gems to the body and also a few randomly

on the embossed base.

The yellow insert is another Spellbinders die

'Deckled Rectangles' S4 - 202

and the sentiment is by SU 'Pretty Petites'.

Pink and yellow card stock  and ribbon from my stash.

Entering into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamps # Anything goes.

Creative Card Crew #73. Bows.

Through The Craft Room Door # Anything goes.

Pixies Crafty Workshop #147 Use up your snippets (odd bit of Kraft Card.)

 

 

Having used up the bit of Kraft card on the card above

I suddenly worried that I had none left

but a quick delve in the cardstock drawer  turned up

one whole sheet left and another pack unopened.

Phew!

The base is the Kraft card sheet cut down slightly

so I have some offcuts again now for the snippets pile.

I have used a butterfly stencil by Imagination Crafts

called 'Buterfly  Flight'.

I placed the stencil over the yellow card and stamped

with Versa Mark Watermark stamp pad.

I then embossed the image with Wow embossing powder 'Copper'

and also the small solid butterfly which is by Clearly Besotted'.

The sentiment is by Sheena Douglas from her

'True Colours' stamp set which I then die cut

with Spellbinders Lable 4. and popped up on 3D pads.

 

A close up of the solid butterfly just about shows

the lovely sheen from the copper embossing powder.

Entering into the following challenges:

Craft Hoarders Anonymous #18 Layer it.

Sweet Stamps #192 Anything goes.

All Sorts #281 Embossing.

One Stitch At A time #222 Anything goes with a butterfly.

Hiding In My Craft Room #170 Embossing.



 



Oops!

Having issues with Blogger.

It seems to think I'm logged on in several places all at once!

Will be right back when I have it sorted.

Don't go away!!

 



Baubles and Bows

I seem to be on a Christmas card roll at the moment.

This card is not my normal style

but thought I would give it a try out.

Must say I quite like it.

I stamped the baubles  and bows onto 

 off cuts of card and then fussy cut them out.

I matted up layers of red, green and white card

onto a white base card.

Baubles were glued on and then the banner

and the bows adhered using 3d  foam pads.

Simples!!

 

Stamps by Clearly Besotted.

'Signature Christmas additions'

'Mini Basic Banners'

Entering into the following challenges:

Clearly Besotted #14 Christmas.

One Crazy Stamper # Halloween/Christmas.

Crafty Hazelnuts #199 Use something forgotten or never used. (Brand new stamps).

Crimbo Crackers #67  Anything goes.

The Crafty Bloggers Network # Christmas.



Warmest Wishes.

Time again over at the Christmas Card Club

to show the cards we have made for
The next theme  chosen by Rita

'Christmas Reindeer.'
Now whilst I do have some nice Reindeer stamps
I was determined to use those little die cut snippets
from a day or so ago that I said looked
a bit like antlers!
So I collected up a few more odds and ends

An old Christmas card front

The left over card from cutting out the butterfly tag

2 ovals cut using my Fiskars shape template

Sentiment saved from an old card

Small snippets of white card stock

A few pearls

and oh yes the Antlers!

and got cracking.

I did use a few extras not shown here

as I improvised as I went along.

Acetate, blue card stock, glitter and Wink of Stella.

Entering into the following challenges:

Crimbo Crackers # Anything goes.

Sister Act #79 Anything goes.

Christmas Stampin all Yr Long #33 Use your imagination.

Pixie's Crafty Workshop #147 Use up your snippets ( I most certainly did!)

Crafty Hazelnuts Extra # Christmas cards only.

Think Pink.

Jingle Belles

are asking for  Pink Christmas cards

to promote Breast Cancer Week.

They are donating $4 for each card entered.

I found several other challenges too

asking for Think Pink

so I had a sort through my digi papers

and came up with this card.

Pretty CAS for me.

Design paper is by Bearly Mine from their

'Pastel Christmas Collection'

I printed off using 160gsm cardstock

and then adhered to cardboard packaging for extra stability.

I used double sided tape around the front edges,

peeled off and dipped each side in SU extra fine  glitter.

This gave me a lovely neat sparkly border.

I then matted onto a white base card.

The sentiment is my Britannia dies which I cut out

3 times each and glued together.

Using pva glue I covered the fronts and dipped in more

of the glitter.

When dry I used the pva glue again to stick to the card front.

Silver gem for the letter i and the card was complete.

 

Entering into the following challenges:

Jingle Belles # Pink Christmas .

Oldie But A Goodie #Christmas (digi papers bought Oct 2013,glitter Feb 2014)

Aud Sentiments #117 Anything goes.

Divas By Design # Texture. (Used glitter on ds tape)

Penny's Paper Crafty #199 Anything goes.

The Sisterhood Of Crafters # Think pink.

Crafting with Dragonflies #37 Pink cards for breast cancer( I used digital paper).

Suzy  Bee's Bloomin Challenge #51  Anything goes with a twist add pink.

Live And Love Crafts #28 Favourite colour pink.

Crafty Hazelnuts Extra # Christmas cards only.





Iv'e been Framed!

At the beginning of September

I spent a day having a painting class

with an Artist friend up in Suffolk

learning how to paint with Acrylics.

I did 3 pictures altogether but this is

my favourite one.

We went and picked it up from the framers today.

The Doc is going to hang it for me

but I couldn't wait to show you.

What do you think?

 



Bokeh Technique

As it is week 2 of  my current

Butterfly challenge #16

I had a look on the web to see if I could

find some inspiration for you

and came across The Bokeh technique.

I found a really good tutorial on

Splitcoaststampers by Lydia Fieldler.

 

So without further ado here is my take on the technique.

I hade recently bought some

Faber Castell Gelatos which was fortunate.

I used Metallic Melon  for the Butterfly

and SU ink pad Coral Calypso for the background .

Stamp is by Inkylicious 'Flutters2'

Sentiment by Hero Arts.

Die cut is by Sizzix 'Super Scallop Crescent'

I used 300gsm water colour card for the tag.

I raised the butterfly up on 3d pads

and even managed to cut round the Antenna

ribbon from my stash.

Entering into the following challenges:

The Shabby Tearoom#237 Show your shape.

Through the Craft Room Door # Anything goes.

Little Miss Muffet #96 Anything goes.

Pixie's Crafty Workshop # 146. Use up your snippets. (ribbon , watercard).

Dream Valley #92 Anything but a card.

613 Avenue  Create #93 Anything goes/optional CAS. 



Doctor's Orders.

I have been for my second session today with the Osteopath.

I have been pummelled , stretched and twisted

and under strict instructions to do no gardening or bending!

What's a girl to do but obey the Doctor.

The past week has seen me holed up in the craft pod

with a stinky cold and a bad back so I have been

catching up on everyone blogs

(well as much as blogger lets me  as he keeps hiding

my Readers lists and stopping me from following new peeps.)

 

This is a card I made from the left overs from

2 Christmas cards I made and showed last week.

The left over  part  of the aperture I cut on card No 1.

and some of the  little bits of fretwork from card No 2.

I matted onto red and then yellow card

and then onto grey card stock for the base card.

The background was made  using the Faux Pearl Technique

as explained in the original card post.

I spent ages playing around with the off cuts

and finally came up with this design

which I thought looked a bit 'Celtic'.

Looking at it now I see loads of crabs.

All the bits were stuck down individually

 using a paint brush and pva glue.

I know !  I'm a glutten for punishment.

I used some more bits up on another card

which I will post separately.

These are what was left over

I see loads of Reindeers antlers,

a couple of £ signs

and don't those bottom 2 look like

Lion Gargoyles from a stately home

or Egyptian Sphinx!!

Ok, ok . I 'll just keep taking the pills.

Entering into the following challenge:

My Craft Creations# Anything goes.

House Of Cards # A punch or a die or both.

Artistic Insirations #113 Make your own background.

Sister Act #78 Anything goes.

Hiding In My Craft Room #169 Super scraps.

Quirky Crafts #21 Frame it.

Scribble and Scrap #29 Anything goes.

Pixie's Crafty Workshop #146 Use up your snippets.

Pile It On  #41 Use 2 or more die cuts (Spellbinders Elegant Rectangles/Tonic  Chic Set.)

Crafting From The Heart #40 Anything goes.  



Neon Lights.

The challenge over at Merry Monday

is Neon Colours.

I couldn't think of a darn thing to use  for this

so was going to pass up on it.

Then I saw my pal Di had commented that she had

the same reservations and was going to resort to

rushing out and buying some post it notes in neon colours.

Just as I was reading this I glanced at my desk and lo and behold

what did I spy

Yes Miss Di your a life saviour!

Di even gave me some ideas too.

As the strips were only thin I pulled out my miniature punches

to see if anything fitted.

I found tiny Christmas trees and leaves.

Decided to go with the leaf punch and create a wreath.

I had a Christmas sentiment to use by Papermania

and whilst having a rummage in the ink pad drawer found a

stamp pad I had bought ages ago under the guise of

'That will come in handy one day'

Well todays THE DAY!

Also found at the bottom of a pile of stash some

bright purple and pink cardboard packaging I had also saved

for that rainy day

Well it RAINED TODAY!

So many hours later

here is my Neon Christmas Card.

I used a white card blank which I layered up

with purple and then pink cardboard

and finally white card stock.

Loads of leaves punched to make the wreath.

Ribbon and gems from my stash.

Entering into the following challenges:

Merry Monday Christmas #129 Neon colours.

Crafty Hazelnuts Extra # Christmas cards.

Christmas Card Challenge #45  Layered up.

Fab 'n'Funky#232 Anything with ribbon.

Top Tip Tuesday# Non-traditional Christmas.

City Crafter #232 Leaves.

Ooh -La La Creations #166 Use a bow.

Love To Scrap #39 Anything goes.

 





Still haven't repurposed the Whisky bottle!