Out of my Comfort Zone…………..BIG TIME!

When I was lucky enough to win the fab blog candy that Trish had up for grabs recently I was really panicking about what I had gotten myself into.

Getting myself messy with paint seriously isn’t my thing and the nearest I’ve come to Acrylics was way back in 2008 when I had a go at a chipboard cover for some glass slides I had painted.


Still, I did win this fabulous prize and I was determined to give it a go, so yesterday afternoon I sat myself in front of my computer screen and watched the DVD from start to finish.




It has step by step instructions for three amazing projects as well as a glimpse of some for Trish’s favorite pieces that she’s made and it was very inspiring to say the least, so no sooner than it had finished, I was at my table with canvas, paints and stamps at the ready.


Who would have thought that ‘slapping’ some paint onto a canvas could be so scary, Lol!

But two hours (and very messy hands) later I had this little creation in front of me.

I can’t take credit for the design really because I was following Trish’s direction on the DVD but the stamp I’ve used is different and comes from The Artistic Stampers Twenties Plate, so it’s not a down and out copy of her work.

I might have overdone the amount of paint I’ve put on it, as it looks rather thick to me, so maybe I should have sponged it on rather than use my fingers first time round but I’m still quite happy with it I think.


You should really go have a look over at Ink, Paint, Beads and see Trish’s creations for yourself because they are all amazing.

Thanks again Trish for the fab prize and for adding another string to my crafting bow.

Happy Crafting!

Sue

x

Inspirational Blogland

Yep, it has to be said…….blogland is just fantastic when your crafting mojo has gone AWOL.

I don’t know about you but every so often I set aside a little time to have a good catch up on my crafty friend’s blogs and others that I’ve made a note of to go back to after checking out the cards made for the DCM’s dare each week. There’s a wealth of talent out there and it’s amazing how you remember things you’ve seem, just when you need a little push in the right direction.

A few weeks back I was struggling to think of something to make for my friend Sharon as a birthday present. I already had it in mind to make her a set of three painted glass slides but I wanted to do something else a well. Then I remembered something that I had seen a while back on Simply Sue's blog. Sue had made a lovely little desk set which consisted of a large peg, a pencil holder and some post-it’s……..the perfect solution.

As it happens I brought some pegs when I meet up with Sue and some of the girls from Crafts By Carolyn just before Christmas but I run out of time and didn’t manage to get them done so this was the perfect opportunity to use them.

As it was Sharon’s birthday yesterday it’s safe for me to show you what I managed to do in the end.

These are the glass slides in their holder.


The Hydrangea was stamped onto the back of the glass slides and then painted with Twinkling H2o’s


I then made Sharon’s birthday card……..my first attempt at a flip-flop card……in her favourite colours and with some little Swarovski Crystals added to give it a nice sparkle.
The papers I used for everything were either My Mind’s Eye – Tres Jolie or Crate – Samantha.

Next it was the desk set, as inspired by Sue.




And finally……………..a box to put it all in.

There's a first time for everything!

Yep, there is a first time for everything...........I went to my very first crop yesterday.

It was a charity crop in support of the Make A Wish Foundation and was well worth every penny of the £20 it cost for the ticket. The price even included a fantastic goodie bag full of some wonderful things to play with, including a pile of 12 x 12 papers……not bad err!

There were classes that you could take part in and a fantastic raffle with loads of prizes and a top prize of a Craft Robo.
I was lucky enough to win something…..a Daisy D’s Purse and Booklet kit and some 12 x 12 papers to go with it.

Never having been to a crop before I wasn’t sure what to expect and had no idea what I should take but in the end I decided to do another page for my Family Tree album. In actual fact it was a photo that I had already scrapped but I wasn’t happy with it and decided to do it again.









As you can see it’s a layout of my Great, Great Grandmother.

I’ve used some of the Designer papers from the K & Co pad that Lythan gave me for my birthday. It’s just so perfect for my album so expect to see lots more of it in the coming months.
The lettering was cut on my craft Robo and the flowers were cut by hand from one of the sheets of paper that was all covered in glitter (very lush) and then layered using 3D foam. The only other things used were some Stickles glitter glue, a couple of Gold brads and some sheer Cream ruffled ribbon that was part of a kit from The Little Silver Hat.

Lythan was concentrating hard on her two layouts and I’m not even sure she was aware that I had taken this photo.



Later on in the day I did a class where I made this little chipboard book.

Anyway, all in all it was a good day, even if I did forget to take some lunch with me and I can’t wait for the next one!

DCM - It's about Time

Hi there, It's me, Kathy, here to dare you this week;
OK, Absolutely anything goes this week as long as it's on the theme of TIME."It's About Time" So you can use clocks, calendars, quotes, sayings, pictures, nursery rhymes, or altered art-type stuff, whatever takes your fancy - just take some time out to play and have some fun; remember, time flies when you're having fun!

Well seeing as Kathy over at Daring Cardmakers
has given us complete freedom to do whatever we like this week I thought I would do something a little bit different.
I needed to make an anniversary card for some special friends who have been married for 32 years (I think) so it seemed a perfect opportunity to have a go at making a Pyramid Box/card. (I hope they don’t see this)

I found the template on the Stampington site and resized it to fit onto a sheet of 12 x 12 card. There are loads of different templates on there so it’s well worth a look.

Outside of Box
All the papers used are from the Crate Avenue Collection that I brought from Funky Kits

I started by covering the four side triangles with patterned paper and then using a VersaMark ink pad I inked all the edges and embossed them in gold. I stamped and embossed a dandelion clock (Penny Black) onto each of the sides and then added the couple’s initials which were finished off with some Diamond Glaze. Finally, the last job on the front of the box was to stamp some small flowers onto the parts that would fold inwards when the box is complete.

Inside of Box
Much the same as the outside really but this time I inked the edges of the triangles before covering them with the patterned paper. The wording was printed onto cream card, the edges torn and inked before sticking them into the box and then each side was decorated with a verity of ribbons, flowers, gems, sequins, and buttons and finished off with some Stickles glitter glue.

Top and Pin
I cut the top from thicker card, covered both sides with patterned paper and then finished off the edges as before with gold embossing.
The pin is an old knitting needle. I coloured it using distressing inks, attached a glass bead to the end and hung several more beads onto ribbons which were tied to the pin along with a little tag. Indecently none of my beads matched the colours used for the project so these too were covered using my alcohol inks.

The only job remaining is to make two small holes opposite each other at the top of the pyramid for the pin to go through.