Summer Birthdays

Hi,  it's time again for a brand new Craft-Room Challenge!  The past two weeks have flown by so quickly and the entries for the Altered Paper Dolls challenge are quite stunning and very creative - it will be so difficult to pick a top 3!  Good luck to everybody who entered.

Now onto the next challenge - Summer Birthdays.   I love this time of year - we have baby rabbits in the park nearby.  I made an easel card and used a LOTV image - two little girls sitting on a wall in the sun with some flowers that they've picked.  I coloured the image with watercolour pencils, which I don't use very often but thought they might work well for this challenge, and coloured the background with pastel shimmer chalks. I added some punched flowers with clear distress stickles to finish it off.  I hope you like it.

So, get creating - we'd love to see your entries!  There's a £10 voucher to be won in the random draw, to spend in the Craft-Room Online Shop - all you need to do to be eligible, is link up your entry and display the Craft-Room logo in your side-bar, with a link back to the shop. 

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:-

The House That Stamps Built - Watercolour

Good luck!

Maria x

My Odds and Ends

Hi, what a gorgeous day it's been here, considering it forecast rain!  This is something I made last night but haven't had chance to post it on as I've been at my mum's all day.  I wasn't sure what it was going to be really until I started.  I used a few left-over bits and pieces lying around such as the flower, butterfly and the lace.  I used DI on the background, and I bought some TH tissue tape from Craft-Room which I was itching to use so, having seen what Craft Stamper magazine did with a few stationery items, I had a go myself and covered a bulldog clip, finishing it off with a bit of fresco finish metallic glaze - I also used this on the butterfly and torso.  I also saw what they did with a paper clip in CS mag so had a go at that as well, with some Sepia Glossy Accents.  The chain around the torso is from a broken piece of jewellery (I have a tendency to occasionally take apart unbroken ones!) and the punched paper pieces were a mat that I had punched and not used.  The flower is has been inked and covered in crackle accents, with a snappy thingy added to the centre.   I used an edging tool to rough the edges a bit, matted it and mounted it on a page from a chipboard album. 

All in all, I'm really pleased at how this has turned out, considering most of it is from left-overs, lol.  I do hope you like it.

I'm entering this piece into the following challenges:-

Class Act Insider - Vintage
Inspire Me Fridays - Anything Goes
Sew Many Cards - Punch It
Totally Papercrafts - Say It With Dies Or Punches
Delicious Doodles Challenges - Things That Flutter
Make It Monday - Anything Goes

Maria x

Baby Girl Card

Hi there, this is an easel card I made recently for someone who's just had a little girl.  The clothes on the line were cut on the Cricut, using DCWV Nana's Nursery paper/card.  I think it's on the cute side, with little clothes.

I'm going to enter this card in for the following challenges:-

Make It Monday
Scrap-Creations
Southern Girls Challenge

See you soon

Maria x

Welcome Gracie

Hi, it's nearly Friday - at long last!  I've made this card for a friend to give to someone.  The criteria was pink check or gingham and flowers, and this is how it turned out. I aimed for a window with a box of flowers underneath, as a sort of welcome to a little girl.  I used a punch and some clear rock candy stickles for the flowers,  acetate for the window, the sentiment was done on the pc and the blind was some white embossed paper.  There's a little spun sugar DI here and there as well.  I hope you like it.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Make it Monday
Make My Monday
Scrap-Creations - Anything Goes
Top Tip Tuesday - Open Challenge

See you soon

Maria x

Craft-Room Challenge: Altered Paper Dolls

Wow, what a fortnight the Craft-Room Challenge has had!!!  223 entries in their first ever challenge - it was a huge success!  The entries were so impressive with really beautiful and inspiring creations.  Their next challenge is Altered Paper Dolls, which will run for two weeks.  This really was fun to make as I haven't made a paper doll in a such a long time.  Once I got started, that was it.

I thought I'd try something along the lines of a bit spookyish (but not too spooky). I used the Cricut to cut the two basic pieces and used Distress stain, stamps and trims.  The veil came from some new net curtain I had for the front room window (but not any more!) and I used a bottle top with a paper flower for the head-dress  The spiders were made from acrylic gems with flowersoft wire for the legs, which I coloured with a black promarker.  The face was a download from the internet, with added eyeliner and white on the eyes, and I darkened the lips some more.  I hope you like it.

Have fun making your doll, and good luck!

I'd also like to enter my altered paper doll into:

Make it Monday

See you soon

Maria x

p.s. That's a tissue, printed with £20 notes, in the background - not real ones!

A little wall hanging

This is a little wall hanging, using Tando chipboard, I made for my mum recently  - I do love wall hangings!  The Tando Chipboard is from the Craft-Room online shop, the stamps I used were Creative Expressions "Vintage Sewing", and the papers, fragments and ruler ribbon are Tim Holtz.  The little scissors brad is a Woodware one.

I hope you like it and thanks for having a look.

Maria x

My First Home Made Stamp!

Well, I have finally unpacked and set up my new stamp maker which I bought 2nd hand from Ebay.  After blood, sweat & tears (and 3 attempts in the bin, lol), I found out where I was going wrong and finally have my first home made stamp.  It's not perfect, or even nearly, but it's a start.  I also made the flower on the card by dying a white cotton coaster (10 for £1 in the Pound Shop (I think there was 11 in mine!)) with some tattered rose distress ink diluted down.  As for the home made stamps, hopefully they will improve with practise (and a large order of stamp sachets from Julia at Craft-Room!)

I'm also going to enter it into "what is on your desk right now challenge".

Maria X

It's Friday at last!!!

At long last it's the end of the week, and time to chill out a bit.  The weekend is just not long enough!

I made this tonight with some GCD papers (Paris Nights) inked around the edges with black soot and a little creamy white metallic rub on stuff, and Perfect Pearls to paint the dress and the small wooden flower.  The metal panels are made from Artemboss coloured foil which I scrunched and flattened back out and dabbed some black Stazon on the raised bits - I'm really pleased with how they turned out.  I do hope you like it.

I entering this card in:

the Artistic Stamper Challenge, Monochrome Plus One

Thanks for taking the time to have a look and enjoy your weekend!

Maria x