Sunday Postcard Art

I feel truly honoured this week, not only was I invited to host the challenge over at the Tagalong Challenge Blog by Mandy....she also invited me to host the new challenge over on her other blog "Sunday Postcard Art"...I've admired this blog for quite a while now and enter the challenge as often as I can.
This is my postcard.....the theme is "Anything Goes"

I have used my fabulous "Casablanca" stamps for my postcard (4"x6"), they are by Oxford Impressions.
Hope you like it...do pop over to the blog,would love to see you enter the challenge ....you can find it HERE

Tagalong Tag....

Happy Boxing Day everyone...hope you are all having a lovely christmas...
I was delighted to be asked by Mandie to host the challenge this week over at the Tagalong Challenge Blog...the theme is Anything Goes.
This is my Tag....

I love this Tag,even though I made it,lol...I think it's because I used a set of my favourite stamps,The Paper Boy by Artistic Outpost......the background I coloured using distress inks and  grungy stamp, by Kaiser Craft.

Do pop along to the blog and have a look, there are always some fantastic entries...you can find the challenge here....HERE

"Let It Snow"

A seasonal theme for this fortnightly challenge at Rhedd and Rosies challenge  blog...The team have made some stunning creations, well worth popping over there to have a look.

This is my contribution, a set of wooden cubes....

I love altering these cubes, first I paint them, then add card on all sides. I then added the Christmas theme papers to all sides, using  glitter and embellishments as I go along.

The top cube is the one that I added the Glitter Snow paste to, just tapping it a bit with a palette knife to rough it up a bit...like frosting on a christmas cake,lol.

These are now being used as part of my christmas decorations in the lounge, I must say they look lovely on my television unit...

Why not pop over to the blog and enter the challenge,there's a lovely prize up for grabs...you can't find it HERE

Tiny Angel Tag

I should be ashamed of myself...I've not blogged for well over a week. But, to be fair,I had nothing going on in my head,craft wise that is.
Today however I popped over to Mandy's fabulous Tag Challenge Blog and decided to create a Tag.

The theme is "Tiny Angel", so think of cherubs,little children with wings etc. I had just the right image for this too, I love this little angel child. The tag shape and trees are from Tim Holtz dies, I rubber stamped the crackle background all over the tag and the fern like images around the edges.

The background page I have used just for photographic purposes is Graphic45, it's actually a free pad I picked up with a craft magazine...I only bought the magazine for this pad,lol.

You can find this fabulous challenge HERE

Seasons Greetings/Winter Theme

Well,here I am back again with another challenge. This one will run for 4 weeks and the prize will be a mystery...in fact the winner will receive the contents of the gift box,which in effect the value of 2 prizes...so well worth entering the challenge.

This is my Dt make for their theme which is Seasons Greetings or you can just go with a Winter Theme.
I decided on making a Christmas themed altered peg, adding embellishments and vintage postcards.

You can find the challenge HERE hope to see you over there...x

Using Old Stash...

Time again for another fortnightly challenge over at Rhedd & Rosie's...a good theme too,chosen by teamie Fiona...."Use Old Stash"

For my Dt project I used an old internet promotional cd, which is at least 4yrs old. I had a rummage around in a few old biscuit tins and found a stack of envelopes with decoupage pieces that I had already cut out,so I chose this pink set of flowers,I added the gems to add a bit of sparkle.
The sentiment is a stamp,which must be 2yrs old now, the rest of the embellishments are from my stash.

Moira, who is one of my lovely teamies,has sponsored this challenge and is offering a fabulous prize...who wouldn't want to win these gorgeous goodies?

You can find the challenge  HERE  if you fancy entering...hope to see you there xx

Pretty Altered Dress Form

Picture Heavy Post.

A few weeks ago my friend Tonya,who owns the CraftyHands Craft shop locally to me,asked me if I would alter a dress form for her shop,she wanted one to put on display.
Due to other commitments at the time I wasn't able to start it straight away, but that was ok as it wouldn't be going in the shop until after the New Year, maybe as late as Spring Time.
I had some free time over the weekend and decided to make a start and ended up finishing it altogether,lol.

                                                   

                                                         

                                                 

                                                   

I gessoed the dress form and painted the stand in white acrylic paint. Then I decoupatched the dress form with the floral tissue. Once completely dry,I then gave it an all over coat of matt modge podge, leaving it over night to completely dry.
The pleated organza and lace was added using hot glue, as well as adding the lace around the neck.
Finally I added the feathers,flowers and stick pins to finished the dress form...once that was finished I mounted it on it's stand and then added the embellishments to the base.
I chose the orange flowers as I wanted the whole piece to "pop", this colour seems to work better than the reds,pinks or blues.
I took this over to Tonya today and she was thrilled with it, its safely in her office for now until she displays it in the shop.

Gibson Girls Postcard

Well,when I saw this postcard challenge I thought I should try and enter it, especially as I have a few gorgeous Gibson Girls Stamps that really don't get used enough.
Panic has just set in as I just checked the challenge and it runs weekly,why I thought it was fortnightly is beyond me, head in the clouds as usual.

The background is from the 6"x6" Romance Novel paper pad by Prima, which I glued on to my postcard ( 4"x 6" ) I then used other pages to cut out the flowers and the telegram and the letter piece,they were both stamped using the script stamp from the Gibson Girls set.
The girl I stamped on thin white card, I coloured her using a damp brush and distress ink pads, then cut her out and positioned her over the telegram.
I am really pleased with the way it looks, I do so love these stamps.
The Sunday Postcard Challenge can be found HERE

I love Inchies....

A few weeks ago I was asked by a lovely lady if I would like to do an Inchie swap with her. I jumped at the chance as I've not made any in ages.

I did actually make 10, there are 2 with flowers on and they were down stairs on my work bench as I'd forgotten about them.

There was no particular theme so I made up a mix of different ones..

The lady has now got the Inchies so I am able to blog them....I so enjoyed getting back in to these, what with running 2 challenge blogs and doing my dt work and commenting on the entries there I have missed doing my own thing, if you know what I mean.

The Inchies I received are stunning and all of a christmas theme too.

I have the offer of another swap in the New Year...which isn't that far away now is it!

A Very Non-Christmas Tag!

I decided to make a start on 3 Christmas Tags this afternoon...I'm running out for time as they are for a swap and should be in the post by 2nd Dec. I got as far as cutting the tags with the big shot and ended up making this Tag!

Just goes to show I am nowhere near Christmas in my head, so I am consoling myself with the fact we are still in November and once December is actually here everything will be fine...I live in hope!
This tag is for the tag along challenge, I am ashamed to say I have not entered for a while and decided to remedy that today.
The background Crackle Stamp is by Indigoblu and the Label/Butterfly stamp is by Inkylicious. The image and embellishments are from my stash.
The theme is "Lots of Bling", not sure my Tag will qualify as regards lots, there is some, still so long as I enjoyed making it, that's all that matters don't you think?
You can find this lovely fun challenge  HERE

A bit of Sparkle & Bling....

CraftyHands are having their 3rd Challenge starting today...such a great theme too.
Not just a great theme,but a fabby prize on offer as well...
As head of the design team I get to make a little something for your inspiration...and here it is.

This is the Tag that I made using one of the images from some I bought recently at the NEC. They really are gorgeous, reprinted from old photographs,even down to the crinkles and cracks as you can see in the 2nd photo.
So I added my sparkle to her neckline and to the band in her hair as well as the flower...the bling  on the sides of the tag and some stunning lace that my team mate and good friend Moira gave me.
Do pop over for a look, may be enter the challenge, the prize is worth winning.
You can find the challenge blog  HERE

Christmas is Coming!

A fabulous prize is on offer over at Rhedd & Rosie's Challenge Blog this fortnight. The challenge is to make anything you like so long as you use 2 or more elements from their list.
As I am head Dt over there, as well as being the owner, this is what I created...

                                       "My Angel Canvas"

CRAFT SHAPES TORBAY is sponsoring the challenge and they offered some MDF Christmas Shapes for the design team to use. I used mine to make this altered canvas.

This is the prize on offer...Craft Shapes Torbay have just recently launched their fabulous configuration house,which is 32cms tall!  Well worth entering the challenge....

                                        The Prize

You can find the challenge here at......
 http://rheddandrosies.blogspot.co.uk/.....

Make it Sparkle

Well, this is the theme for the challenge over at Visible...the lovely Helen and Mark would like to see some "Sparkle"
I did start this project last week,but then I felt unwell and crafting was pushed aside...however a course of antibiotics has me feeling so much better,so I feel more able to craft.
 Here is what I have made as my entry in to the challenge....3 Vintage Cubes.

All the stamps,(backgrounds,words,clocks) are all Visible Image Stamps...gorgeous to use and very versatile 

The light here today isn't good, I did use the flash on my camera,but it didn't really pick up enough of the sparkle, I ended up with more of a glare from the glitter. As a last attempt I took the photos in the kitchen,there was a better light from the window. You may need to click on each photo to see all the glitter...I  must remind myself how far glitter travels...just found some on my roast potatoes, must have been on my clothes when I popped the potatoes in the oven,lol.
Hope you like these cubes...you can find the challenge here
http://visibleimage.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/make-it-sparkle-visible-image-challenge.html

A Vintage Challenge

So another challenge has been set over at CraftyHands challenge blog..as admin there I was delighted to see so many entries for their first challenge.The winner has been chosen the 2nd Challenge is now up and running.

The theme over at CraftyHands is Vintage and I decided to make a mixed media canvas,using lots of vintage lace...I decided to keep the colours light so the lace showed up quite clearly. The Glimmer Mists I used are Raspberry and Silver,although the silver looks kind of purplely blue in the photo! To add highlight, I used the Platinum Viva colour gilding wax.

Please do pop out and have a look at the blog and at the really gorgeous vintage makes that the team have created...you can find the blog here...http://craftyhandsdevon.blogspot.co.uk/

Birds & Blooms

Time again for a new challenge over at Rhedd & Rosies...a great theme this fortnight, "Birds & Blooms"
The theme was chosen by teamies Zoe who wants to see at least one bird and 3 flowers on each entry.

Being the owner and head teamie this is what I created for this challenge...I have had this birdcage for well over a year now, shame on you I hear you say, lol. I only came across it while looking for something else!
It was just perfect for the theme...all I did was add a few flowers and die cut leaves and bead trim, coloured the bird with inks, lightly stamping it with a script stamp, although that dosen't quite show in the photos.
To finish I added the sticky back pearls...I love the autumnal look to it too.
Please do pop over and have a look at the challenge...the other half of the blog, Rosie, is offering a stunning Vintage Paper Pad...I'd rather like it for myself to be honest,lol.
The blog can be found here.....
http://rheddandrosies.blogspot.co.uk/
See you over there ...xx

Black & White & taking a break

Here we are, my last design team piece for Ellapu's challenge blog for this year. I'm in the Pink Design team so we finish next saturday, the purple team will then post their last challenge next week.....but we will all be back in February 2014, which isn't that far off really.

The theme for our challenge was chosen by fellow teamie Elaine and she chose Black & White.
I couldn't get my brain in gear at the time,so when in doubt, make a card...so I did and this is it. One of my favourite stamps, I call it my "happy" stamp. This is an aperture card that I popped the stamped image in, then using a mini flower stamp I randomly stamped all over the card in black ink.
To finish I added the ribbon and the flower.....why not pop over and join in the fun.
The challenge can be found here....http://eclecticellapu.blogspot.co.uk/

A little break...

It's that time again to have another challenge over at Eclectic Ellapus. This will be the last challenge for this year as our boss lady is insisting we all take a break from our hard slog,lol.

       For this challenge I altered a hard backed canvas.....

in to this, a sewing themed altered canvas with a pocket.

I was inspired recently by a swap I was involved in, I had so much fun making 2 stitching pockets,that I thought I'd take some elements of my design and see how they would look in a canvas. Even though I say it myself it looks pretty cool. The buttons tabs were rubber stamped and I stitched the buttons on...the threads were from my late mother's sewing tin, the tape is some twill that I aged. The lace is very vintage....the sign is a die cut with a stamped image in behind it. The flower,which matched this perfectly was given to me in a craft swap.

If you fancy entering an altered art challenge,you will find it here...

.http://alteredeclectics.blogspot.co.uk/

Altered Beer Mats

I've just been going through my photo album of all my craft makes and came across the 2 Altered Beer Mats that I made for a swap in the UK&Ireland Craft Swap Group on facebook.

The swap started mid September and after a week or so we were all given our swap partners...by the end of September I had already finished mine so posted them out,so until my swap partner received them I couldn't post them here.Of course she did receive them,but me being me, completely forgot to post them to my blog. That challenge ended on the 15th Oct.
My first beer mat is made up using bits and pieces around a lovely vintage image I printed out. The image was then sealed with modge podge and then the whole piece was gessoed twice,dried and then coloured using glimmer mist sprays.
The second beer mat was made using the very distinctive Graphic45 Papers...this one is The French Country Garden...to be honest I just love these papers and images and I have put away a couple of the pages and images that I will never use, will just look at them from time to time,lol.

Some Halloween Atcs

My head has been all over the place recently what with home life and crafting, that I totally forgot to take a photo of my Halloween Atcs that I made for a swap.....

Fortunately,Sue,who runs the Atc Swap group displays all the atcs that arrive, so I was able to use her photo. I usually swap 5 atcs, but I'd made so much Halloween style stuff that by the time I'd made 3,that was enough.lol.

New Challenge Blog & DT Call.

I am so pleased to announce the First Challenge of a brand new challenge blog. I felt very honoured Tonya, the owner of my local craft shop wanted me to set a challenge blog up for her. It's an anything goes challenge blog,well except for complete digital creations, although digital stamps/images are acceptable. The challenges will run every 2weeks on a friday and it's also a Prize Winning Blog, so each challenge will be well worth entering.
So do pop over and have a look and maybe enter the challenge, you will find it here....

                   http://craftyhandsdevon.blogspot.co.uk/
( There is currently a design team call out,so if you are interested,do pop over to the blog for details.)

As one of the admin in the blog,I am also the head design team member, so I have made something rather special for the first challenge....along with the other 2 teamies.
This is my Altered Cube, it measures just under 4" and was cut by my friend's husband from one of my fathers fence posts that was being replaced,but seeing it was still in good condition,we had it cut in to cubes!

Each side,including the top and bottom have been decorated with Graphic45 papers. To finish I added metal embellishments and the bun feet.

A Chunky Halloween Atc....

Another new challenge has been set over at Rhedd & Rosie's, the theme this time is "Anything Goes" and was chosen by me.

This is my design team make, its and a wooden Atc block. I've not altered one of these for ages and thought this theme would be a great reason to use one.
You can find the challenge here....http://rheddandrosies.blogspot.co.uk/.....hope to see you enter the challenge.

Stormy Skies

Stormy Skies indeed,its been dark wet and miserable here today, the wind is howling like crazy too. So I took my self off to my craft room and made this Stormy Sky Atc...also made other things,but that's for a later posting....

This is the first time out for these fabulous stamps, they are by Artistic Outpost, I actually won this set, "Beyond The Sea" in their blog challenge which they run every month...so this little Atc will be entered in to their current challenge here....

http://artisticoutpost.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/artistic-outpost-october-referral.html

There is a lovely swap just for Atcs, so I will be entering this atc in to their challenge here...

http://funwithatcs.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-98-3-stamps.html

The requirement is to use 3 Stamps...so the ones I have used are the Lighthouse, the Script and the Birds.

October...the month of "Halloween"

My goodness,this week has just flown by again...the days don't seem so long now we are having darker mornings and evenings. Then next weekend our clocks go back by an hour....I do so hate losing the daylight, much better to keep the clocks on our "summertime" ah well, may be one day.
Anyway,enough of my ramblings and on to the new challenge over at Ecletic Ellapu's Challenge Blog. It was May's turn to choose the theme and she has chosen Halloween...do pop over to the blog and have a look at the fabulous work by the talented design team, some gorgeous and spooky makes there, lol.

For my team entry I have altered a peg...for effect I have added  a wooden ghost which I painted white, also some spooky die cuts.From the off cuts of paper I have made a couple of  books and tied them to the peg...the bottles I filled with different dyes and water to compliment the theme of the peg.

You can find the challenge here...http://eclecticellapu.blogspot.co.uk/

A Stitch in Time Pockets

Picture heavy post....
I am at last able to show you the 2 stitching pockets I made for a swap. The group is over on facebook, UK&Ireland Swap Group. The Stitch in Time Pocket Swap was posted and I thought I would join in. Now my swap partner has received them I can publish the photos.

                                       Pocket One

The pockets had to be no smaller that 7" x 5", you were allowed to make them larger if you wish.They also had to have at least 2 inner pockets to hold the tags and sewing pieces.

Pocket Two

These are the large Tags, 3 for each inner pocket, all with a sewing theme.Each one was also stamped with a sewing image on the reverse.

                                                         
 These are the 6 small Tags, again 3 for each inner pocket and stamped on the reverse.

These are the sewing themed goodies that went in to the inside pockets, by the time I had finished,the pockets were virtually bursting at the seams,so I made some punched holes down the sides of each pocket and tied mini bows to ensure they would stay strong enough for the goodies....unfortunately I didn't think to take photos of the pocket once they were filled...which was a shame as the little ribbon bows looked so pretty.

My swap partner was pleased with them,which was a relief as this was my first go at making these....I have in turn received hers and they were stunning...to say I was over the moon would be an understatement.