CCM Challenge #85 - Blooming Images

Our latest challenge has been set by Marie (MI). She has chosen the theme of 'Blooming Images'. She would like the flower to be the main image - no people, landscapes, trees, or people holding flowers - just flower images. The flowers could be in a vase - or it could just be the flowers.

Please ensure your card has only a flower/flowers as the main focus in order to qualify for the winner or Top 5 slot. 

We are sponsored by 

CRAFTS AND ME
with the choice of 3 digital stamps from their extensive range

 

and we also have on offer this fabulous die set, which has been very generously provided by a mystery donor! 

 Use these 26 clip and phrase dies to create tags & cards, party & wedding details, scrapbook pages, school projects, journals, home decor and more!

I chose to use my favourite daisy Paint Fusion stamp set from Sheena Douglass. I have them all, and although I don't use them so much these days, I do still love them. I started by using a wet on wet technique on the piece of shaped mount board (I picked this up at one of Sheena's workshops). All the paints I used are Eco-Green, and I used Clam Shell over the top of the brown mount board. Whilst that was still wet I brushed some Lime through it - not loads, but enough to add interest to the background. As I am a bit impatient, I dried it with a heat gun. 

I stamped the leaves and flowers onto the mount board using a really old Ink It Up olive green ink pad - I prefer to use a natural colour rather than black as then it tends to blend in with the paint. The leaves are painted using Zucchini and Lime. 

I started by painting the daisies in Clam Shell, and then a second time with Lime. This was to try to give a depth to the daisies - and to keep the colour tones similar. The final coat on the petals was White. Using a small stencil brush, I added Sunflower to the middle of each daisy, and a little Mulch to add dimension.

Once the paint was dry, I used a little Bundled Sage DI around the edges. I have to confess to now having ALL of the DI's - including the seasonals. I was given a few for Christmas, and then I splurged on the rest. I am a bit of a one for having complete sets. I currently have the Picket Fence pen, and am now eyeing up the rest of the DI pens!!! 

The cream base card is from Craftwork Cards - a 148mm 'Top Notch' square. I started with a square of lime green Bazzill Bling (sorry - don't know the colour names) and cut the corners off so you can see the detail of the base card. On top of that I use plain cream card from my stash,and rounded the corners with my X Cut corner rounder. The next layer is from My Mind's Eye - Lost and Found (if I recall correctly). Into this, I cut a decorative border using one of the inserts from Spellbinders Ric Rac Edgeabilities. To make this stand out, I stuck a piece of brown Bazzill behind it. The yellow layer is Bazzill, and the next brown layer also has the border cut into it. The final mat is the lime green again. 

Around all these layers, I wrapped some cream organza ribbon from my stash (Celebrations) and tied a bow. The cream and brown pearls are the finishing touch - I'm really into pearls at the moment - they're much more subtle than gems. 

For more inspiration, pop on over to the Crafty Cardmakers blog. The DT have been busy and have produced some great work - the range is as diverse as we are, so there should be something to inspire you all.

As for me, I shall return to writing reports for my lovely little Year 3's. It's VERY frustrating as it's half term, the sun is shining outside and my garden has been sorely neglected. But I know that if I don't knuckle down and do them, I shall regret it later. So I will be disciplined and get on with it. 

I would like to enter this into the following:

Craft Us Crazy - Use your favourites (the daisy stamp)

Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Flowers and Pearls 

Until next time.

Cxxx

Challenge #84 - Vintage Love

This week's challenge come from Kylie. She would like to see a project that incorporates the theme of Vintage Love. Your project must be Vintage and show at least one object that reminds people of love. Perhaps a picnic basket, gold locket, love letter etc etc. Hop over to the Crafty Cardmakers blog for some inspiration photos, as well as the ever brilliant DT projects.

                                        

We are sponsored this time by Di's Digi Downloads who are offering a $10 gift voucher, and also by Hobby Art.

For those who read my last Challenge blog, you will know I was lacking in inspiration. Not just for that Challenge, but for crafting generally. When I first saw the theme for this Challenge I was stumped. But, inspiration truly does come from strange places. My niece is learning about WW2 in school at the moment and, as I have carried out a lot of work on the family tree, I had been looking through the war records of two of her great-grandads! And it reminded me of this photo:

This is my Dad's parents' marriage photo, taken on 19th July 1941. And what better for Vintage Love, than a wartime wedding!!

I imported the photo into Serif Craft Artist, where I used a background from the 40's Wartime digitkit, along with the photo frame. I really liked the contrast of the red against the muted tones. I edited the photo to make it more sepia to keep with the tones from the hessian style background.

I added the note onto the red journalling block using the 40's alphabet, and tucked the aged tag (from Swirling Memories digikit) behind it. The ration book embellishment, gorgeous red flower and buttons all came from the 40's kit, while the ribbon was from the British Street Party digikit. The final touch were the swirls - of course from Swirling Memories.

I'm really quite chuffed with this layout. I know I've already said it, but I just love the red against the muted colours. It sort of reminds me of my Grandad who was very much part of the British Legion and always was involved in selling poppies. I have distant memories of my sister and I helping to assemble them in my grandparents lounge.

Make sure you pop over to the Crafty Cardmakers blog for more wonderful inspiration.

Back soon!!

Cxxx

Crafty Cardmakers' Challenge #83 - Belated Birthday!!

Happy New Year to you all - yes I know I'm over three weeks late, but better late than never eh? And that's the theme for our first Challenge of 2013 - Belatedness - in this case Belated Birthday!! 

The challenge to you comes from our lovely Kim, and it is to create a card for a belated birthday. You can use any image, Stamped or Digi, but your card MUST include a sentiment indicating that the card is for a belated Birthday, for example - Sorry I missed it, Have a very Happy Unbirthday, Better late than never, Your birthday came, your birthday went, here's the card I should have sent!! See what you can come up with to amuse us, or just a straightforward belated birthday wishes will do, but remember it does need a sentiment as outlined above to qualify. 

We are sponsored for this challenge by Milk, Coffee Digital Stamps

with 5 images for our winner

I have to admit that this is the first time I've crafted since the last challenge and am feeling both rusty, apprehensive and lacking in inspiration. However, I was determined to have a go to try to get myself motivated again!! I'm not sure how successful I have been, as I am not overly happy with the result. 

  

I decided to go with just stamping the message and making it the focal point. My original inspiration for the colours came from Craftwork Cards Bohemian Glitter selection. Sadly to say, none of it made it onto the card, as things did not go to plan. Anyway, I used Forest Moss DI with my Forever Friends Script Alphabet stamp set, and stamped onto Crafter's Companion Neenah card. This all went to plan!!

To cut out the sentiment, I use the largest die from Spellbinders Majestic Elements Marvellous Squares, with of the Grand Labels 1. I wanted to cut outside the square to create a border, as there are some gorgeous little details on that die that can only be seen if used as the inside of a frame.

Everything had gone fine up to this point, and then I decided to do some stencilling with DI through the dies. The border went well with Bundled Sage, and then I started with Victorian Velvet on the message area. I think that 'heavy handed' is the term I would use, and once I had started there was no going back. And when I had finished it was no longer a possibility to use the Bohemian Glitter card as the colours were just not right.  I suppose I could have started again, but I put it down and walked away. When I came back I decided that I should persevere to see if I could salvage the work as I didn't have the energy to try again. 

So, I sprayed it with Crafters Companion Iridescent Glitter Spray, and mounted the message part onto foam to raise it slightly. The border is cut with an old style X Cut Border Die called Rosa. The card is from my stash (Bazzill and DCWV), as are the white satin and organza ribbons, and the pearls.

I'm sure we all feel a bit ho-hum about our work sometimes, as I do today, but hopefully you will take some inspiration from it and have a go yourself!! Even if it seems somewhat daunting to start with. Take some time to visit the Crafty Cardmakers blog to look at the inspiration from other DT members - there are lots of different takes on this one - there's sure to be something to get your creative juices flowing!!  One thing we would respectfully ask is that you read the blog rules before entering, to avoid any disappointment. 

So, I will sign out and go have a look for some crafting inspiration - there's got to be some lurking around  here somewhere!!

Cxxx

Challenge 81 - Inspired by a Song

Sorry for the delay in publishing this post - but better late than never. Over at Crafty Cardmakers this time, we have a challenge that is inspired by a song. It has to be said that even some members of the Design Team were challenged by this. The song is called 'Time in a Bottle' - and for full details of this, the challenge itself and the prizes on offer, please pop over to the Crafty Cardmakers blog. This challenge will run until 7th January - so plenty of time to get your thinking caps on - and be creative.

We are sponsored by our very own Kim who is offering the selection of goodies shown below. And also by Milk Coffee Digital Stamps.

I chose to focus on two lines from the song:

If I had a box just for wishes

And dreams that had never come true

I love working with boxes, and used the larger of the three Papermania Bare Blanks Nesting Boxes for this project.

I have decoupaged boxes before - with a variety of materials - but this time decided to try out the Decopatch papers I had seen in The Range. Lots of them are animal prints as many of the blanks are of animals, but I found this gorgeously vibrant pink, orange and gold patterned paper and decided that was the one for this project.

In the past I have used watered down PVA glue but this time I used Decopatch Glossy Glue. The good thing about this medium is that it dries much quicker than PVA which allows you to work much more quickly as you are not having to wait for a side to dry before carrying on. I used the Decopatch paper on the outside of the box, and ordinary tissue paper on the inside. The advantage of the tissue paper is that, once it is wet, it will mould very easily into the corners of the box.

To decorate the top, I cut four small Romantic Rectangles from Bazzill cardstock using my Spellbinders dies. I then cut off the legs of some gold, pink and orange brads, and fixed them on with silicone glue. The finishing touch was the metal photo corners. All of these were from my stash. As I decant it all into plastic storage boxes, I have no idea where the brads or photo corners came from originally!!

The song continues:

The box would be empty

Except for the memory

Of how they were answered by you

I'm not really sure how I feel about that. I agree that many of mine were answered when I met my husband, but I think we all have wishes and dreams aside from the type that can be fulfilled by having another person in your life. And although we all go through tough times I like to hold on to the hope that, however low I feel at times, the wishes and dreams I still have, will one day come to something. Otherwise - what is the point? 

On that note, may I wish you all a very Merry Christmas both from myself and the Crafty Cardmakers team!! I look forward to seeing all your entries - pop over the Crafty Cardmakers blog for more inspiration. They are all fantastic projects - and go to show just how diverse a team we are!!

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:
Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything Goes

Glitter n Sparkle - Use Metal (Brads and Photo Corners)

Cxxx

Challenge #80 - Christmas Photo Inspiration

Our Challenge this fortnight, hosted by Fiona, is a photo inspiration challenge. Make a card or project inspired by the following photo. You can take inspiration from any part of it really, from the actual image or from the colours.

We are sponsored again by

DI'S DIGI DOWNLOADS

$10 GIFT VOUCHER

and also by

CROP STOP

$15 Gift Certificate to the Crop Stop Store 

I chose to take the colours of the photo for my inspiration. I love the turquoise - but what caught my eye was the gold on the chairs. So I used those two as my main colours whilst bringing in a little white too.

Whilst looking for new ornaments for my tree, I came upon this turquoise sparkly snowflake ornament - and I knew that I wanted it for this project. It is rather large so I used an 8" square card - but it is rather light and doesn't make the card 'front-heavy'

I kept the glittery feel with white glitter card. I have a tonne of glitter card - I used to love using it all the time - but haven't done so recently - so there was plenty there for me to get stuck into. I used it to cut two Spellbinders Lace Doily motifs. These were laid on top of each other - one as a square and the other as a diamond. This provided the background for the snowflake. I also used the white for the scalloped square.

The gold card is from my local market - it's fairly lightweight card, but I love the fact that it is matt instead of shiny. I cut the small square for the snowflake using a nestie, and the large square was edged with the Classic Scallop Edgeability, and an insert from Decorative Inserts 6. 

The turquoise card is from the Create & Craft Pastel Textured Cardstock pad - I have both the brights and pastel and love them both!!  It was edged with an insert from the Classic Ric Rac set.

The wide ribbon and matching bow are from my stash - bought in Lidl several years ago. And the pearls are from Diamond Occasion - I have all sorts of colours of pearls from them!!

Take a look over on the Crafty Cardmakers website as there is loads more inspiration there from the rest of the fabulous Design Team.

Take care

Cxxxx 

Challenge #79 - More Than One Punch or Die Cut

Our challenge this time is hosted by BettyC and she would like you to use more than 1 punch or die cut. You can have a combination such as 1 punch and 1 diecut as that equals two, or two punches, two diecuts. You can use more if you wish as long as there is at least two in combination or two of either on your creation.



We are sponsored by Hobby Art with this fabulous prize of two stamp sheets. And by Milk Coffee Digital Stamps who are offering 5 digital stamps.
                                                  


This week's challenge was right up my street as I love die cutting with my Spellbinders. I had thought my creation would be an elaborate affair. But when it came to it, I actually went for something much more simple and restrained.

The base card just under 6" square and is from Craftwork Cards. The two mats are My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Papers - the largest cut with a simple square die - and the smaller with a scalloped square die. The pattern in the scalloped square was cut using one of the inserts from the Classic Triple Scallop Edgeabilties set. 

The flowers are cut from red card using the two largest dies from the Bitty Blossom set, and the letters with the X Cut DieLicious Rome Alphabet die. 

The finishing touch was a little bit of sparkle in the border with Cosmic Shimmer Aqua Twinkles. Overall, a really rather restrained card for me!! 

Pop over to the Crafty Cardmakers blog for more inspiration!!

Take Care,

Cxxx

Challenge 77 - Autumn or Autumn Colours !!

This week's challenge is set by the lovely Josephine who says 'There are always so many Hallowe'en challenges around! So instead of creating a Hallowe'en card I would like to see something that depicts the Season of Autumn, or maybe Harvest Festival, Guy Fawkes, Diwali or some other festival that happens in the Autumn. If your theme is a lesser-known festival, please tell us about it in your post! But remember, this is not a Hallowe'en challenge!'

We are sponsored this week by Milk Coffee Digital Stamps.

Well, it's been a while since I've been here on Blogger - pretty much a whole month!! I would so love to have more crafting time, but planning and marking has pretty much taken over my life in my temporary teaching post!! Ofsted is looming - and an air of urgency has entered every aspect of school (and home) life!! 

So, it was nice to sit down on Sunday morning and craft. To be honest, it also meant I could get my husband's anniversary card made at the same time. We will have been married 8 years on Tuesday, and we had a beautifully sunny autumn day for our wedding - with all the leaves looking so vibrant. The colours of the card match the colour theme of our wedding - burgundys, yellows and oranges - so this challenge seemed a perfect way to create his card.

I started by creating a heart template on the computer, and printing it onto 300gsm card. I then cut it out, folded it and inked it using Antique Linen, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Aged Mahogany, Brushed Corduroy and Vintage Photo DI's. I didn't want a blended look, so literally splodged the foam onto the card - both back and front.

I then gathered together all my foliage dies - they are all Spellbinders and from a variety of sets including Foliage 1, and Spiral Blossoms. I also rummaged through my scraps box to use up smaller pieces of card - rather than cutting into anything new. I embossed them all for texture, and inked some whilst still in the dies.

These were randomly stuck onto the card to create a 3D textured effect - just like piles of leaves on the floor!! 

The finishing touch was the little plaque (cut using Spellbinders scalloped long oval) which I printed on my computer, and inked with Aged Mahogany whilst still in the die. !!

I am pretty pleased with how this turned out.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Challenge Up Your Life - Autumn/ Halloween

Sarah Hurley Challenge Blog - Autumn

Hopefully be back soon.

Cxxx