Monochromatic White for Xmas

Hi, no you're not seeing things - I really has posted two creations in two days!  My blog may be a bit like the buses this week - you don't see one for ages, then they all come at once!

It's coming up to the end of the month which means that The Stampsmith November Challenge of 'Monochromatic White' (using at least one Stampsmith stamp) is nearing to a close.

As you know, I love The Stampsmith images and recently decided to take part in a couple of swaps over at The Stampsmith Group, this one in particular being a mystery swap, as no one knew who their card was coming from until it arrived.  My card went over to lovely Darlene in Canada, and it really was a mystery as I didn't even put a note in to let her know who it was from!  You will also know that I don't make very many cards so this was a bit of a challenge in itself for me:

I stamped a panel of pearl cardstock with a Christmas background stamp and some Versamark, and embossed with Wow Sparkling Snow ep. Across the top is a layer of beautiful embroidered trim, with some twinkling cotton trim lying beneath but just peeking out.  The snowflake flowers are made from the same twinkling cotton trim with some sparkly gems in the centres.  Some feather trim, gems, a small tag, and a flourish die have all been added, along with a sentiment.  Veronica Lake has been stamped onto glossy cardstock and the edges embossed with the Wow Sparkling Snow ep, then mounted onto white pearl card.  Although not shown, I also made a gift sleeve which ties with ribbon in the middle, from Kraft cardstock. 

I'm really behind on visiting your blogs at the moment, so I do apologise for that, but I will be catching up over the next couple of evenings.  Thank you for the lovely comments you've left for me.

I'd also like to enter this into the following challenges:-

Crafty Bloggers Network - Anything Goes
PanPastel UK - Frosty and Bright

Bye for now!

Maria  xxxxx





I hope you like it

Oooh La La - Anything French - Craft-Room Challenge DT

Hi, I hope you're all well.  Hasn't the weather gone so cold!  Wow what a record number of entries we had to our last challenge over at the Craft-Room! Mervi has her work cut out choosing just three favourites, however it's now time to move onto the next theme.  This time, the very talented Debi (who does vintage so beautifully) is our hostess for the next fornight, and she has chosen the theme of:

Oooh La La 

(Anything French)

I couldn't make my mind up for what to do for this one, but in the end I opted to create a fabric wall hanging which, I kid you not, has taken me ages to make.  The intention was to create the window of a little boutique (in France, of course!):

This is made from natural untreated canvas and some Laura Ashley fabric.  The base piece was dyed a light brown then spritzed with some SU glimmer mist (this is gorgeous, and gives a lovely twinkle on fabric, in the right light!).  Various stamps were used with Coffee archival ink to create a background.  The dress forms were also stamped in archival ink and cut from canvas, glued down onto hessian and then stitched in place.  The most difficult part of this was working out in which order to put everything together, lol, as I'm definitely  no seamstress!  I attached a pole through some doubled over carpet webbing and hand sewed to the top of the hanging. I've backed this with natural canvas so that the stitching can't be seen, and strung some burlap twine to the pole from which to hang from.

I've managed to get a half decent picture now outside in the daylight, but this is much nicer in real life.

All the stamps used on this are by Oxford Impressions, from the Dress Forms and Corsetry plate, which is one of the ones that I recently treated myself to (we have to be nice to ourselves now and then!).  There are so many stamps on each plate, the possibilities with these are just endless - I love them already, and can now see why Lynne from Adorn likes them so much - she makes the most stunning creations using this range.  The inspiration for this came from a project in the OI gallery (thank you!).

Our challenge this fortnight is very kindly sponsored by:

 There will be a prize for one winner chosen by random draw!

(see challenge blog for full rules)

If you would like some inspiration, please pop over to the challenge to see the stunning creations the other DT ladies have made for you, you won't be disappointed.

I can't wait to see your french inspired creations!

Before I go, I would like to enter my wall hanging into the Rogue Redhead Designs current challenge of "Uncard", i.e. any project that is NOT a card

and also a few others:

Crafty-Embelies (#5) - Vintage/Shabby Chic
The Artistic Stamper - Anything Goes
Creative Inspirations Paint - Anything Goes
Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge - Anything But A Card
Joanna Sheen Challenge Blog - Anything Goes Excluding Christmas

Bye for now, and enjoy your week!

Maria xxxxx

Live, Laugh, Love - Craft Room Challenge DT

Hi, as the weeks fly by, we get closer and closer to Christmas (in fact 45 days to go!) - I haven't even started my cards yet!  It's also time for a new theme at the Craft-Room Challenge - where does the time go!  Speaking of which, your Timepiece creations were absolutely gorgeous.  This fortnight, the very talented Mervi is your hostess, and the theme she has chosen is:

Die Cuts & Punches

see below for details of our sponsor

Die Cuts and Punches are things I don't use very often at all, so it was a good excuse to brush the dust off my very under-used Cricut and have a play:

I gave the 15 x 15 wooden box frame a few coats of chalky emulsion in Pale Mortlake Cream, sanding between coats and after the final one.  The recess of the wooden frame was lined in Melissa Frances dp and the back piece was overstamped with a SU script stamp.  I've then edged with Dark Walnut Stain, and added some shabby chic ribbon to the top and bottom of the recess.  The hearts were cut out using the Cricut, two of which were stamped and the third embossed using Swiss Dots, also edged with a little Walnut Stain.  They were mounted onto slightly larger hearts cut out of Kraft cardstock, then the Kaisercraft words were mounted in the same way and attached to the hearts.  A little heart was cut out of the ribbon to embellish one corner.

I've decided to make as many Christmas gifts as possible this year, so this will be the first (apart from my calendars)!

Our sponsor this fortnight is:

Liz Welch from

 

who is offering one random lucky winner one of her fantastic jewellery kits!

(see blog for challenge rules)

I'm really looking forward to seeing how you use your die cuts and punches, and if you would like a little more inspiration, please head over to the Craft-Room to see what stunning creations the Design Team has made to inspire you!

Crafty Cardmakers would like to see us use 1 Or More Punches Or Die Cuts in their current challenge, so I would like to enter my box frame.

Enjoy your week!

Maria xxxxx

Paper Tape

Hi, as promised, I'm back with my calendar entry for  Week 5 of The Craft Barn Calendar challenge.  The theme for this particular week was 'paper tape'.  I had a whole lot of fun doing this, tried a technique I'd never used before and even quite like the result!

Using Jane's technique for inspiration (she used this on Day 2 of Paper Tape week), I covered my piece of card in masking tape.  I didn't have any smooth tape, having finished a roll about two weeks ago (I wish I'd saved some now!), so I improvised and used general diy masking tape which has a bit of a texture to it.  Tearing little pieces off and layering them over my piece of card, I covered the whole piece then sprayed it with Walnut Ink Crystals dissolved in some hot water, and allowed the ink to have a good roll about all over the place, seeping into all the nooks & crannies, then I mopped up the excess.  Once it was dry, I stuck some lovely wide washi? tape across the middle of the piece of card.  The Stampers Anonymous/TH images were stamped onto Kraft cardstock with Coffee Archival Ink and then cut out, and the calender was mounted and attached.

I then used the same tape around the edges of the mdf block, bringing it around the front, then mounting the whole paper-taped piece onto the taped block.

I've backed the whole block with Kraft cardstock. I'm hoping to upload Week 4 at the weekend, along with Week 6, then I will be up to date!

I'd also like to enter this into the Eclectic Ellapu Challenge who have a theme of  It's A Vintage Thing.

Bye for now

Maria xxxxx

Green, Yellow & White - Week 3 Calendar

Hi, hope you are all keeping warm - it's gone freezing now!  My car was iced up this morning, I must've blinked and missed summer!

I'm a little (ok, maybe a lot) behind with my calendars for the Craft Barn Challenge Blog.  I was on schedule on weeks 1 & 2 but then lost the plot a little - it would be so easy to throw the towel in now but I'm determined to stick with it as I'm loving doing things I've never tried before.  Still on the mdf, here is Week 3.  I did consider putting Week 5 on this post as well, but you'd probably need a flask and a packed lunch to get through it, so I've saved that one for tomorrow. 

Week 3 - Green, Yellow & White

I made a card very similar to this for my daughter's 18th birthday back in July, and because I love this image so much I've used it again here, although this has some embossing  and a bit more colour:

The stamp came from Ebay and was one of those "must haves", I'm not sure who the manufacturer is though.

The image was stamped in Archival ink then masked and the sun filled in behind her.  The sun was then masked as well and the background inked with Iced Spruce DI - I love this cool shade of green.  The TH birds and Indigo Blu bush around the edges were stamped in the same DI with some of the bushes embossed with clear embossing powder and a couple round the top embossed with holographic embossing powder.  Torn paper was used to create the hill and a Hero Arts stamp used along the bottom, then it was all edged with a touch of black.  TH tissue tape was used around the edges of the pale yellow painted piece mdf.  

A view from the side

I attached the main piece of mdf to a smaller one (with a drill & two screws!), which was painted and tissue taped in the same way, to create an L shaped piece, and attached the calendar on the bottom piece.  The sentiment is by Dylusions.










There are a couple of challenges that I'd like to enter this into:

Anything But A Card - Challenge #5
The Stamp Man - Emboss It

See you tomorrow with Week 5 (you will be forgiven for thinking that I can't count, as Week 4 will come after Week 5!)

Maria xxxxx