Happy Birthday!!

Good morning. It's very wet here today!! Supposed to clear up later - but certainly feels like Autumn is kicking in!! Just a quick post today - a card made for my niece Amy who turned 21 last week!

I started with an 8x8 white card blank - and decided that this beautiful image from Crafter's Companion's Camden Town CD would be just the thing!! The large image is from the decoupage section, while the two smaller ones are the Create Companion. The tag is the Tag companion - much reduced in size!!

The matching papers are also from the CD. As always, I used Die'sire I" Alphabet and Number dies for the name and age!! A little glitter glue on the roses added some sparkle. And I finished off with ribbon, buttons and pearls from my stash!!

Back soon
Cxxx

The Mirror Crack'd - Mixed Media Challenge #2

Well, lots to say in today's post!! Firstly, having been running more regularly over the past year, I took part in what could be considered my first real race - the Bournemouth 5K Speed of Light. I finished in almost exactly the time I predicted when I filled in the application form. And am really rather pleased with myself!!

By the time this blog goes out, my OH and my stepson will be well into their own running endeavours as they both run the Bournemouth Marathon. First ever marathon for Sam - and first in 27 years for Steve!! I am sure they will both do well, although at the time of writing, they are both moaning that the sun is out and it will be too warm!!

Now, onto other crafty matters!! Today sees the launch of the second mixed media challenge over at The Mirror Crack'd. Before I go into that, all of us on the team have been over the moon at the number of entries that we had for our first challenge. It is great to know that there are so many of you out there interested in mixed media.

So, our second challenge is 'Body Beautiful' - projects featuring the human form eg hands, faces, mannequins etc. This gave me the perfect opportunity to do something I have been wanting to do for ages - alter a papier mache mask - and of course it had to be an elaborate one!! 

I started with a slightly watered down gesso to undercoat the whole thing, and provide a base to work on.

I then painted the face part with Do Crafts Artiste Acrylic Paint in Sea Spray - and the top with Lagoon. 

Next, I used 'Pringle' Deco Mache paper and applied it across the top half with Matt Mod Podge. 

Using Creative Expressions Mini Swirl stamps, and Aged Mahogany and Peacock Feathers DI's, I stamped onto single ply napkins. I didn't use totally smooth ones, as I wanted to add a little more texture.

I tore the napkin into pieces, and applied the to the top half of the mask with Mod Podge - the Peacock Feathers over the paper, and the Aged Mahogany on the rest.

You many notice under the left hand side of the face part that there is a slight pinky colour. I orginally used some texture paste through a stencils, then tried adding some gilding wax but didn't like the effect - so covered it all up with paint!! Anyway, I then added some dots of Flitterglu. After leaving them to set , I then added Copper Thunder gilding flakes.

I forgot to take photos of the next few stages - so here we have jumped to the finished mask. I used more of the acrylic paint, and created the band at the bottom of the headdress - using the Paint Fusion technique of picking up two colours on one brush.

I then used more Flitterglu and gilding flakes around the edges and apertures of the mask, and to separate the face from the headdress. Because the texture paste was still showing through, I added some pearls to cover it up. More pearls on the headdress, along with the Turquoise Filigree embellishment from The Works completed the look.

Whilst there are definitely some things I would do differently, overall I am pleased with how it turned out!! 

Make sure you pop over to The Mirror Crack'd to see the other amazing inspiration from the team. Then you have a whole month to get creative. Really looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

I would like to enter this into:

Anything Goes with a Twist - Twist = Anything Goes!!!

Take care,

Cxxx

A little bit of Monkey Business!!

Well maybe not quite monkey business - as my niece would no doubt correct me - Orang Utans are not monkeys but from the great apes!! And as this is her birthday card, I'd better get it correct.

OK - so maybe you think an Orang Utan is a strange image for a 14 year old girl's birthday card!! But it's perfect for her (and actually I wasn't the only one to give her a card with one on) as ever since she could show a real interest in anything, orang utans have been it. She loves primates in general - but her big love has been 'the old man of the forest'. She has her annual pass to Monkey World - and of course an annual adoption of one of their gorgeous residents. 

So, when I saw this digi stamp called 'Stuffed' on the Just Inklined website, I knew it was just what I needed. I printed it onto Neenah Solar White card, and coloured it with my Spectrum Noirs:   TN3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9; Banana - GB1, 3, 4, 6;Hands/Feet/Lips - FS1, 3, 7, 8, 9

I'm not convinced that the face is quite right - but she was chuffed to bits with it - so I'm happy with that. 

The base card is Creative Expressions, the long apricot coloured mat is from a Kanban mini book kit - and was already scalloped. The orange card is from my stash - and I embossed it with Spellbinders Grand Dainty Dots MBossability Folder. The scalloped square behind the image is Create & Craft Textured Effect card, cut with a Spellbinder Nestie. 

All the edging is Rusty Hinge DI, and the letters and numbers were cut with Crafter's Companion Die'sire 1" Alphabet and Numbers dies. I finished off with ribbon and buttons from my stash!!

I would like to enter this into:
A Creative Need - Yellow and Orange
Kitty Bee Designs- Fall Colours 

See you later!!!
Cxxxx

A change of colour!!

Back again with the last of the trio of wedding cards. This time we had a change in colour - following the black and gold which they had used on the invitations.

I went back to Valeriane Digital and she didn't disappoint. This time I have used a combination of Wedding Gold and Damask in Black and White.

For matting and layering, I used some satin finish gold card, and matt black card. The largest butterfly is Spellbinders Wings of Hope, while the smaller ones are all Crafters's Companion Die'sire Essentials - Beautiful Butterflies. Each one has three layers - gold card, black paper and gold paper.

The sentiment was made on the computer and the mats and layers were cut with a combination of Spellbinder Ovals and CC Die'sire Essentials Ovals. Some gold ribbon and pearls finished the whole look. 

Back soon,

Cxxx

Wedding Hearts!!

Hello - back again with the second of the trio of wedding cards. The customer had seen some of my other wedding cards - and we decided to go with the fab Dreamweaver Heart Rose stencil. And to use the same colour scheme as for the previous card.

To colour the embossing paste I mixed DoCrafts Artiste Acrylic Paints in Dusty Rose, Tea Pink and Burnt Umber. I added this to Dreamweaver Pearlescent Paste, and bulked it out with some structure paste from Lidl. I do this because adding paint to the paste makes it runnier - and this can then squidge under the stencil.As well as the Heart Rose stencil, I also used a Dreamweaver 'Congratulations' stencil.  The papers are from Valeriane Digital - Coral Damask. 

The base and box are Centura Pearl Fresh White, and I embossed the large Centura Pearl square mat with Embossalicious 8x8 Floral Vine folder. I also used the Chantilly Lace corner to emboss the end of one of the oval mats.

A whole host of different Spellbinder dies were used for matting and layering - Grand Squares, Grand Scalloped Squares, Grand Ovals, Grand Scalloped Ovals, Ovals, Scalloped Ovals, Mega Ovals, Mega Scalloped Ovals and Circles. The heart itself was cut with a Splendid Circle, while the flowers are from Bitty Blossoms, with leaves from the Foliage set. The little hearts at the top are XCut!!

There were a few photos to include on the inside of the box base - and the inside of the lid included another of the hearts. The finishing touches include organza ribbon, Creative Expressions Hat Pins, pearls, and pearl hearts.

I would like to enter this into.

Crafty Sentiments Designs - Bingo - Embossing/Die Cuts/Flowers

The third and final one coming soon....

Cxxxx

Farm-themed Wedding Card!!!

Good morning!!  Am back today with the first of three wedding cards that I made for a family to give to their daughter/granddaughter/sister. The wedding was at the weekend - so I hope it all went well for them. 

The brief was very detailed, so I had a lot to work with. Firstly, the colours were taken from a picture of the bridesmaid's dress. I was really fortunate in that Valeriane on Etsy had a set of digital papers called Coral Damask that worked perfectly. I did a little colour picking on the computer to make the single colour papers for matting and layering, and for the tractor, fence and animal silhouettes.

As you can tell, the theme was farming, so I used my Craft Robo and the cutting files from Bird's Cards for her Tractor card. I didn't need the base - just the tractor itself. The picket fence is from another cutting file set - this one is really old - from CraftRobo Megastore - which sadly no longer exists. I found the silhouettes for the horse, pony, dog, pig and sheep at Silhouettes Free.

The base card and matching box are made from Centura Pearl Fresh White - which has a slightly more ivory tone than the Snow White. I also used it for matting and layering, and for the embossed 'field' (for which I used Crafter's Companion Vintage Floral A4 Hessian Folder). 

The circles are cut with Spellbinders Grand Circles, Decorative Grand Circles and Scalloped Circles. The decorative centre is Die-D-Lites Medallion One. The cream resin flower embellishments are from Do Crafts. The sentiment for the card was printed on the computer and cut with Spellbinders Ovals and Scalloped Ovals.

The inside of the lid and base of the box have collages of photos of the the bride and groom from when they were little - and also of their animals. And as ever, the finishing touches are ribbon and pearls!!!

This card really challenged me as I wanted to produce something elegant enough for a wedding, whilst including all the elements that I was asked to include. I think I have achieved it - and I know the customer was very pleased with the result.

I would like to enter this into:

Make My Monday - Die Cuts and/or Punches

Dragonfly Dreams - Let's Celebrate with Jewels or Pearls

Back tomorrow with the second one!!
Cxxx

CCM&M #124 - Triple B Challenge

Good afternoon!! It's challenge time over at CCM&M - and this fortnight new team mate Pamelia is hosting. She would like you to pick three different items from the following options to put on your project: butterflies, blue, birthday, banners or buttons. So that's three different items - not eg 3 butterflies. 

My card is a birthday card (that's the first of my B's). I've also used blue - and some buttons. This card was for my friend's son this past weekend.

The image is from Crafter's Companion's Angelica and Adam CD - one of the Create Companions. The papers are also from the CD. I love the combination of blue and green - but I know some people think they don't go together! I used Crafter's Companion 1" Alphabet and Number dies to cut the name and age, using the same dark and light card used for matting and layering. 

A bit of ribbon and a couple of buttons from my stash finished the whole thing off.

Make sure you pop over to the CCM&M blog to check out the work from the rest of the team - and get more inspiration. Then start work on your project. Don't forget - it's Triple B - so three DIFFERENT items from the list. We look forward to seeing your projects.

I would like to enter this into:

CD Sunday - Birthday Card for a Male

Will hopefully be back soon.

Cxxx