Circle journal catch up ... Tracey's page

This was the last of the pages to be created in our first circle journal ... For the lovely Tracey.

By this point the journals were suffering a little from being stuffed full of loveliness and so I and to start with a layer of paper to keep the pages in the book so I chose a soft pale blue patterned paper from Nitwit. Once I got that down I decided what to do!



Whilst deciding I searched the Internet and came up with the idea of stars and so decided to find a quote and round this I came up with the plan for the page. I masked an area off for the star and then started applying spray inks and them dp gesso and paint. Then I added the dimensional paint in the silver round the edge of the star and then created the other stars... 10 in total for each of the raggy doll sisters!

I searched my Scrap booking stash for letter stickers etc and found the ones I used ... Including the fab flocked ones! Then I handwrote the rest of the quote. Finally it felt like it needed a frame so I doodled the edges.





For the tag I decided to stamp and heat emboss in clear the star shape and then I swiped the distress ink over the tag so it was coated with the exception of the embossed area. I then added little star sayings and quotes I liked in between the stars. Then another doodled border frame.




With all the ink on the other side this side was quite messy when I turned it over so I smoothed out the ink a little and then added silver acrylic and bubble wrap painted with the gesso to add the texture. Then I added all the sequin black stars to the top of the tag and added the journalling.

I have yet to finish my journal but hoping to get to it very soon and then I will share with you my finished journal page by page... Probably just in time to start our next one.


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ATC ... Anything but a card

Sometime ago I joined an ATC swap that had a theme of collage and these are what I created for the swap. I was then incredibly late in sending them on because I lost the address and the forum disappeared for a while so I never got round to sharing but seeing the anything but a card challenge at Incy Wincy designs made me remember them and decide to share them now!






I created this in a she art style although kept the background fairly plain in pattern and bright pink! Then created my girl from the book print and patterned papers. The hair was then created from tissue paper and then doodles added!





First I painted the background using pale blues and white then I added the book print tree. Then I added the green leaves which were applied using a scrunched up bit of paper to keep them random. Finally added the sequin flowers.

I hope the recipient liked them as much as I liked making them... But note to self ... Be more organised in future for ATC swaps!

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The great outdoors!

Today I thought I would share with you a card I made at the weekend which is quite far from my usual type of thing!



It's a decoupage piece from a freebie craftsuprint sheet that came with a magazine. I often find these sorts of things a little formulaic and little room for interpretation off creativity but I did like the fun in this image so decided to make it into a card and added some card candi to jazz it up a little. As it was it was immediately picked out of the box for use by my mum so I must have been right about this image!

I am entering it into this weeks cupcake crafts challenge - the Great outdoors!

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Dogs and handbags

Seem more up cycled cards and this time one card becomes three!

I took a card sample kindly donated by a friend and chopped it into three toppers. The card originally was three by three of the little images so it was quite an easy thing to divide it this way. Then I layered them up with patterned papers and fancy card and added the sentiment die cuts etc.










Simple and even though i say so myself ... Good looking cards!

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Up cycling cards again ... Well done Lizzie Armitstead

Yes I am at it again with the whole up cycling of cards. And today in tribute of Lizzie Armitstead who won team GB's first medal of the 2012 games cycling is the name of the game!

Those who have been here before may recall that a friend of mine gave me some card samples from the card selling business she wrapped up and I have been making cards from them for the work box and others since. I also up cycle cards I receive either for myself and also a work colleague gave me some she her partner had received too! All lovingly recreated into new cards to be sent!

These two cards were actually created from one card front.







I trimmed the card front into the two panels and these then created lovely toppers. I chose green patterned papers to back them with slightly different ways of mounting them up and different sentiment labels applied. Both cards I think are suitable for both men and women so think they should be ok for the box of cards I am sending to my cousin for her work. And I think one into two isn't a bad thing at all!

I have some more up cycling to share with you probably next time I blog, but for now, sleep!


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Kate Crane taster class at Art From The Heart ... July

So I am a little on the late side in sharing this but that's cos I wanted to give the card before I shared it.

This is the card I created on the taster session we had with Kate Crane at art from the heart which kicked off our raggy doll weekend swapping our art journals.





We created the background using the wonderful Dylusions inks and some masks to create some effects and then stamped the leaves etc using the distress inks. Then the diamond pattern you can see was stamped using the distress again and this time using the perfect pearls mica to adhere to it giving it a wonderful metallic lustre on the pattern of the stamp. Never used these before and thought they were fun to use although I doubt I'll ever buy them due to the princess mess factor of my crafting!

Then we stamped the fab stampotique image separately ... I chose the fab monster and coloured them. I used a mixture of the perfect pearls and the Dylusions ink. I slightly over watered ... Hence the bleed effect although I love the bloodshot eyes of the monster! Finally added the mat and popped it onto the card blank and put the sentiment on top!

Very different from my normal style of card making but I LOVED it! I can recommend a class with Kate anytime as she was just delightful and made everything so easy!



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Busy day

After a very late night watching the Olympics opening ceremony ... Which I loved... With the hubby and the princess (who lasted until the end of the fireworks but missed Macca (she didn't miss anything in my opinion!) ) today was a bit of a chill out day... Well from the afternoon onwards it was!

This week is my mums birthday so the princess and I started work on her cards as we will see her tomorrow but not on her actual birthday. I will share what we made on Wednesday hopefully.

I then started on a whole host of other cards ... Some of them I have already shared with you ... Which are to fill a box to take to my cousins when we visit in a couple of weeks. She has asked me to do a box to sit in her office for sale and she will send me down the money collected and I can send her replenishments if there is a need to do so. Now whilst I intend to take some of the stock I have in the box in my office, I thought I needed to get some more done too as otherwise there wouldn't be a large selection for people to choose from.

These are two of the cards I made to start filling the box and I will share some of the others soon when I get around to blogging them.

I took the card I made at the SU party the other week and did another Case of that one...

I used the Bliss set of stamps from Stampin Up and the first one I did in the browns and rose red using the flower from the set I die cut the label and then stamped in the chocolate chip ink. Finally I added one of the flowers I got given in a birthday present from Lynn.



The second I softened the look completely and used the blushing bride pink with the rose red. This time I used the butterfly from the Bliss set of stamps instead and decided to stamp another one separately so I could layer it up and have it 'floating' on the card. I used some of the rose red seam binding the tie in the card and again die cut the label before stamping the sentiment. The final touches were the large pearls on the seam binding and the small pearl for the butterfly head in the floating butterfly.




I am particularly happy with the pinks one as like the delicate colours and softer effect... Sorry for the slightly blurry picture ... It's late and I should be asleep and not blogging so you can imagine the photography skills get even worse.

I have to thank Cal for showing us how to do this ... I see them all over Pinterest now and so it's great to know how to do this simple but effective technique ... Especially as its so fashionable at the moment!

Right sleep for me now! Thanks for popping by to see me!

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Stampin up card swap

I join in with a card swap using stampin up products every month and love challenging myself to do something different every month. Stampin up products always seem to bring out the clean and simple approach in my and this time was no different and as I now send two cards per month I decided to make them from the same stash but do each differently.

I used the hydrangea stamp from the Because I Care set and stamped it in rose red onto the whisper white card stock. I then used a mix of the dp papers in the pinks and purples and some coordinating big buttons. The sentiment I kept simple with a for you stamp.






One of these cards is making its way to USA at the moment, and the other to Australia. I love that a little creation of mine will be in someone's hands to use as they will and that I had fun creating them.

The other fun part is the receiving the cards. This last month was one from Australia again (you get a card from someone different from who you send to) and I got this lovely card ...



Such a nice idea!

If you wanted to join the swap just leave me a message and I will point you in the right direction to join in. What's more each month you can also join in surprise swap which means you might receive loads of cards from everyone involved! Now that must be something special!

Anyways... Happy crafting all!


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Five Kanban teddies

I must admit I am not so keen on Kanban stuff of the sort these cards are made from but I had them in the stash from something the princess made for her daddy last year so thought I would put them to use. I do love what I made but know it is well and truly not everyone's style.

The die cut teddies came with some outfits so I dressed them up using foam pads and then chose coordinating background papers and some card candi and in some cases craftwork cards die cut sentiments.

Sorry some of the pics are a bit rubbish ... Was a case of phone dying and needing to get some pics done and dusted.
















Hope you have a good day and thanks for coming to see what I've been up to!

Happy crafting!

Catherine


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Co-ordinating cards

Had a little play today with some papers from my stash of freebie paper packs from magazines. Unfortunately none of them have their names left on them but never mind!

I chose to use some cream card blanks to create the following cards...




As you can see they are all coordinating but each different.

The first one used my favourite stamp set, forever young from stampin up which I have not used for a long time. I inked it in Baja breeze from and stamped it twice. I then cut out the clock part and layered it up slightly using the pinflair glue gel rather than the foam pads as I didn't want it too raised. Then I added glossy accents to the clock face like a glass cover.

I layered the image up on a mat of the bluey green patterned paper. And then added the background paper and mat that with the same bluey green. I added the organza ribbon wrap. This ribbon is yet another save from packaging as the Works sell card blanks in a pack and the envelopes and cards have the ribbon tied round them. And I am never one to waste ribbon!
Finally I added the tag which I stamped the four frames fancy frame in the Baja breeze and then added the sentiment which I got from another su set. I punched it out and then added the shadow frame to the label. I do love this now I know how to do it! Thanks Cal!



The next one I decided to get the corner rounder out and also the top note die! I laid down a simple background layer and wrapped the organza ribbon again. This time I tied a bow separately and affixed it after. I cut the top note out of the blue patterned paper and then stamped over it using the fresh vintage stamp in Baja breeze. Then I used island indigo ink to stamp the sentiment from another SU set.
I then had to add some pearls to each of the points on the top note.


And the final one I decided to use the top note die differently and cut it to act as sides to the card. I added them onto the background paper and then did two wraps of the organza ribbon. I tied them both separately with just a knot not a bow as I thought they needed to be slightly more stark. I added the craftwork cards die cut sentiment label and then the two little blue pearls.



Loved making these cards... Hope you like them too!

I am entering this last one into the challenge at Stamp tabular Sunday challenge : use of die cuts
And ...
The two by two challenge at Abc-challenge with the use of the two pearls and the two ribbon wraps.


Happy crafting!

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A stampin up party and a case card

On Friday I attended a stampin up party, host by my friend Helen and demonstrated by my fb friend Cal who I met for the first time. It was a fun party with some great make and takes and some hints and tips and of course the opportunity to have a little spending spree which I did happily with some birthday money.

One of the cards we made ...




I decided on Sunday morning to make my own version of as I thought it was a fab technique and layout idea. So here is what I made...




This is a card I've also made for a swap I am involved in and is currently winging its way to costa rica of all places where I am hoping it will find a happy home!

In other news I've decided to tackle my weight which has been steadily increasing for a number of years so tonight have rejoined slimming world after a three year absence and tomorrow the new way of eating starts... So watch out ... Sme grumpy days probably about to start as I remember how much prep time this all takes! But hey health comes first!

Happy crafting all.

Catherine xxx

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Tidy up day

Today I decided it was time I got my bum in gear and did some well overdue tidying as I spent a good fifteen minutes looking for my cutting mat the other day before giving up and resorting to a chopping board ... And no that didn't work well if you were wondering!

Now I am not one of those lucky people who has a craft room but I do have a dedicated cupboard and some space in the under the stairs cupboard although I do have to share that with household things like lightbulbs, batteries, candles, ironing boards, clothes horses and when it makes it downstairs the vacuum cleaner! Given I have been increasing the stash bit by bit over the last year I have well and truly taken over and the starting point for today was just a massive mess.

So first things first was everything had to come out!

And so our large family room/dining room became completely swamped with boxes and bits and pieces. Three bin bags later ... Yes bin bags! ... All the rubbish was sifted out, piles were created and the cupboard cleaned (the princess helped with the mopping!). I have yet to sort out the drawers in my moving drawers and the stamps need a good sort out and cleaning session but I am now cream crackered! I have still got a considerable pile of "stuff" on the table to sort ... But some serious rest time required so I thought I would pause to blog with my feet up.

Here is a collage of some photos in the midst of the process and the end results...


Alongside all of the tidying the princess is making a canvas using some of the techniques that Dyan taught me at AFTH using a cheap canvas I found at the back of the cupboard and some of her paints ... I am so proud of what we have achieved especially proud that we also did this all with cheapie kids paint, a doily and some home made stencils and a canvas that cost about a pound. I know it won't last for ever ... But it has afforded some child care entertainment for maya on and off throughout the afternoon and we created something cute for our bathroom. Will need to spray it with fixative and maybe a coat of varnish but that's all that's left to be done.




And one with the proud artist!

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A new tree stamp

I have about seven tree stamps of different kinds but when I spot a new one in a shop I struggle to resist! And this was no different ... Especially as I have a magazine somewhere in my collection that had some cards using it.

Although I have yet to hunt out the mag to see what they did, what I remembered was paper piecing was one of the things they suggested so I immediately inked it up and grabbed some scraps of paper to make this beautiful card...



The stamp is from Unity .. Itty bitty stamp, and used some freebie paper from a mag set I've had for ages and a punched shape a friend gave me and the craftwork cards die cut sentiment. I also used some little green rhinestones I bought from the dovecraft selection at Wilkinsons this past week.




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Full circle

A couple of weekends ago saw the end to the first cycle of our circle journal. After ten months of creating pages for each other we have now finished our books with just the inside cover to finish ... Think I may add a pic of the group to finish it off... But more about that when I get there!

We met up in Harrogate (with two of the group missing due to personal reasons - you were much missed Janey and Tracey). I didn't take many pics during the weekend due to rubbish phone not working well so I have stolen from the girls who were good enough to take plenty of pics and generously share them... Thanks to you all!

So what happened ... Well we spent money in AFTH (of course) (I had three visits in one day, followed by a whole day there the next!), four of us had a mini taster class with Kate Crane (fab!), ate loads of food especially fab cupcakes made by Darcy and Marie, drank lots of wine, chatted non stop, laughed, cried and swapped our journals.

Here is a pic of me with mine...


I will do a full post with pics of each page all together soon ... Just need to actually take the pics!

We also did a full days class with Dyan where we each did a large canvas ... Again another post will be coming with this as the main feature ... But in the meantime here is me and my canvas ... Proud as punch!





I have to say it was a fantastic end to one journal ... But not the end to our friendship. We will be continuing certainly the friendship and more art journalling in one form or another and have already started to plan the next gathering.

I have one more photo to share ... Me and the moustache cookies that Lynn made ...
Daft photo moments all round!



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Thank yous

This past weekend saw me celebrate my birthday and despite being poorly in the run up to it I managed to have a fantastic time with friends and family dropping in for our open house party, complete with BBQ and bouncy castle for the kids. Despite the panics I had that it would pour down with rain as it had done all week in the lead up the sun actually came out and apart from a very small amount of spots of rain at 2pm it stayed dry.

Of course birthdays and party's means I get an excuse to do some thank you cards as people were so generous of their time and with their gifts... So on the Sunday when my princess was making thank you cards for the teachers I decided to make some simple cards using a SU set i have forgotten the name of...
Ooops!

I used some lemon and green card blanks for most as these are my least used card stock colours for other occasions and I stamped and used up scraps from my recently reorganised scrap box rather than cutting into new paper. I was so proud of myself for being sensible with the stash for once!




The eagle eyed amongst you will notice there is one card that's a bit different ... The blue and purple card. This is because I was one card blank short of the greens and lemons so used one of the 4x4 blue card blanks I have to finish off what I needed! But the design is similar and the same stamp set was used!

I am hoping for a craft night tomorrow evening as i have managed so little craft recently ... So watch this space my blogging addiction may resurface!

Thanks for popping in and happy crafting all!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad which means I probably haven't proof read the above and there is likely to be rubbish included that I probably should have thought about more! So please accept this post as it is and sorry that I didn't take more care!