Dreaming

Hi, a very quick post this evening.  I hope you've all had a lovely weekend.  The Stampsmith's current June challenge is closing in a matter of hours so, after moving my craft room to yet another room, I've spent ages today trying to find my SS stamps!  With most of them found, I managed to finish my entry.

Their current challenge is Boxes, Books or Bags, and their Guest Designer this month is Paula Tidman from Ephemera's Attic (who makes the most amazing bags, by the way).

I altered a notebook/journal from Ikea, which cost about £4 but, as it was nice and thick with unlined cream pages, I thought it would look nice with a facelift:

I used Melissa Franced dps for the covers and inked the edges with Vintage Photo.  Beautiful Lily was stamped onto Ranger Stamping Paper with Coffee archival ink - I made the mistake of reinking this inkpad a couple of weeks ago, and discovered that it was way too wet to stamp my photo image so, after inking the stamp up, I ran a clean brayer over the top to remove some of the ink, and it turned out really well.  Once dried, I used Old Paper DI over the whole image, and Vintage Photo round the edges.  I roughed up the edged and tore across the bottom, then a few creases here and there to age it a little, then mounted it onto a scrap of Kraft which got the same treatment, then onto a scrap of cream muslin, and attached to the top half of the cover.

A heart shaped doily covered in Old Paper DI was glued to the bottom half of the front cover, some lace was attached to the spine with a bow in the centre and some washi tape on the back side of the spine.  More lace on the top and bottom, some cork letters (edged with Walnut Stain DI) attached down the right side, and a trail of flower trim from the top around to the bottom.  The TH sentiment was put in a frame and Magi-glos was added over the top and cured under a UV lamp (a last minute addition so not enough time for Ice Resin, which I would much prefer).  Some burgundy flowers were added for a splash of colour and a couple of TH words here and there.

I'd like to enter this into a couple of other challenges:

It's All About The Vintage - Distress and Tear
Crafts and Me - Anything Goes

I hope you all have a great week and the weather picks up a bit.  It's really windy here in Manchester this evening, and it's now pouring down with rain as well - I hate the wind, I'd rather have snow, lol!

This wasn't so short after all!  Thank you for dropping by, I really do appreciate your visit.

Take care

Maria xxxxx

Yellow and Blue Make Green - Craft-Room Challenge DT

Hello, what a busy fortnight it's been, and it's time again for a new challenge over at the Craft-Room.  The entries into our Summer challenge were fabulous, I have the tough task of choosing a top 3!  This fortnight's challenge theme has been chosen by our wonderful and very talented leader, Zoe, and it's a colour challenge:

Yellow and Blue make Green

We are going to be quite strict with this one, you may only use the colours Yellow, Blue & Green.   If you are not using a support of those colours then it must be white, and the ink you stamp in must be either one of the three colours or black.   No other colours to sneak in please.

This challenge took me out of my comfort zone completely as I don't tend to use a lot of bright colours, but I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed getting really messy and inky, as it seems ages since I've done that!  I didn't think the stamp was really my kind of thing, but I actually loved using it, so I may have to treat myself to a couple more from this range :-).

I created a wall hanging using a page from an mdf book:

I coloured an A4 sheet of Ranger matt-coated card with distress inks in Evergreen Bough, Scattered Straw, Stormy Sky, Squeezed Lemonade, and Iced Spruce.  Once covered, I spritzed with water, dried, added more ink, then spritzed again, dried, etc, until I was happy with the result.

I covered the mdf page with some of the coloured card, and stamped the CI bunnies (CI-372).  I then stamped them again onto a different part of the card, cut them out and attached over the top.  They were stamped a third time on plain white card for the crowns, which were coloured with Scattered Straw, then I added a bit of sparkle with a Sakura clear glitter pen.

The sentiment, also coloured with Scattered Straw, is by Dylusions, and the foliage is by Indigo Blue and Hero Arts.  I dyed some seam binding in the same DIs to hang this from.

Our very kind sponsor for this challenge is:

who have the most amazing selection of stamps, dies, masks and other crafty essentials.

If you would like to join us as a Guest Designer, don't forget to add "GDT" after your name when you enter, and our lovely Mervi will be in touch with you very soon.

For some more inspiration, please pop over to the Craft-Room Challenge to see the fabulous creations by the rest of the Design Team, including a gorgeous creation from our Guest Designer this fortnight, Eemeli.

Unfortunately, my time has been very limited lately.  My daughter and grandson now have a little place of their own and moved out just over a week ago, so, as well as trying to help her, I have also been relocating my craft room (yet again) - each time I do this, there is more stuff to shift, lol!  I will miss them very much, but I should also have a bit (or a lot!) more time!

Thank you for visiting, I really do appreciate you taking the time to drop by and comment.

Enjoy your week, whatever you are doing, and take care.

Maria xxxxx

Here Comes Summer - Craft-Room Challenge DT

Hi, two (very lovely and sunny) weeks have flown by and it's time for a new challenge over at The Craft-Room.  We loved seeing what you made with your scraps in our last challenge - isn't it amazing what gorgeous creations can be made from left over pieces!  It was my turn to be the hostess this fortnight, and due to the time of the year with some of you thinking about summer holidays, and maybe even having just come back from one, I decided on the theme:

Here Comes Summer

You can make whatever you want, be it a card, scrapbook layout, 3d object, altered item, in fact anything at all which makes you think of summer.  The choice is yours.

Whenever I go on holiday, I can never find a beach bag the right size - I only want a small one for my bottle of suntan lotion, sunglasses, a little coin purse, some water and a couple of other bits n pieces, but they all seem to be so huge!  So, as I can't find one, I decided to have a go at making my own instead:

I used some thick canvas for the outside of the bag and added a trim of Laura Ashley fabric with some lace attached, and a bow made from SU seam binding.  On the front of the bag I used a Crafty Individuals stamp, and also a Bournemouth postmark from a different CI set.  I was unsure as to whether to use TAP for the image, or to stamp directly onto the fabric - I eventually decided to stamp straight onto the fabric as I thought the image would look nice a bit faded.

I even lined this bag in the same Laura Ashley fabric as the trim, lol:

I used some cream broderie anglaise trim to finish the inside seams, and inserted a zip across the top - the zip didn't really go to plan but I did manage to get it in and conceal it.  The straps are a thick cord which have well been stitched on so they're going nowhere!

If you fancy joining us as a Guest Designer, just add GDT after your name and our lovely Mervi will be in touch with you.

Our very kind sponsor this fortnight is:

Liz Welch from Rarebird:

Click on the banner to visit Liz's shop where you will find lots of Friendly Plastic 

and some fantastic products and accessories to use it with.

The Design Team, along with this fortnight's Guest Designer Linda a.k.a Eemeli, have created such stunning projects to inspire you, so please do pop over and take a look.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your week, and thank you so much for dropping by - I really appreciate it.

Maria xxxxx

Some Vintage Glass Glitter........Friday Ice Linky Party

Hi, I hope you are all ok.  You may remember that a little while ago I shared a bag charm with you (here), the main feature of it made using gilding flakes with Ice Resin.  I'd like to show you another one I made at the same time, as a gift for a friend, but this one has been made using some Vintage Glass Glitter from SU:

The heart bronze heart shaped bezel was part filled with glass glitter which was then encased with 3 layers of Ice resin.  I added a SU vintage style brad in the centre, which was also encased underneath the resin.  The heart was then used as the main feature of a bag charm, which was made as a gift for Vicky over at Crafting Clare, who runs the Stampers 6 club - she is such a lovely person, who VERY patiently waited for my order month after month!  Thank you Vicky :-).

Here is a picture of the full bag charm:

I'd like to link this up to the Friday Ice Linky Party over at the Vintiquities Workshop.  Please pop over and take a look at the stunning cuff bracelet Thespa has created, using antique lace and, of course, Ice Resin.

Click on the logo to take you there!

I do have another, slightly different, one of these to share with you in the future - it was also made as a gift a few weeks ago, but as it was only posted today, I am unable to share it with you just yet.

Thank you for your lovely comments and best wishes - my bumps and bruises are starting to heal, although I still have a lovely one on the back of my head, and a very sore foot and hip.

Enjoy the sun this weekend, and thank you for dropping by, your visit is really appreciated.

Maria xxxxx