Always and Forever

Hi

Just a very short post this evening.  Unfortunately I have been absent for a couple of weeks due to a family bereavement, but I hope to be back shortly.

As you know, I was thrilled to be asked to be a Guest Designer at The Stampsmith Challenge & Blog, and this is the second project I created, inspired by the song "Always & Forever" (do you remember the song?):

A small mdf wedding keepsake which has been covered in a mixture of Kraft cardstock and co-ordinating dps by Melissa Frances.

The main image on the front cover is from the plate "Thank Heavens For Little Girls" - it has been trimmed to fit inside the bronze frame, then covered with Ice Resin.

The inside of the third page features another Stampsmith image from the "Wedding Bells" plate, which sits behind a painted and crackled chipboard frame:

There are two pockets in the album for special mementos and a Kraft frame, which I've left open at the top, for a special personal photograph to be slipped into.

Various charms and embellishments have been added to the front page - all the pages can be seen in the photo collage below:

There is still plenty of time to join in the challenge - just create a project (using at least one Stampsmith stamp) which has been Inspired By A Song.

I'd to say a big "hello" to my new followers, and also a huge thank you to all my regular visitors for your continued patience - it really seems to be one thing after another this year.

Maria xxxxx

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

Enjoy Life's Moments - Craft Barn Calendar

Hi, hope you're all enjoying your weekend.  A very short post this evening as I'm still feeling a bit under the weather - I decided during the week that I would do my best to enter the latest challenge over at the Craft Barn, and as Week 1 closes tomorrow, I had to get my skates on and finish my entry:

Click the pic to visit

It runs for 12 weeks, and you can either make a complete calendar each week or one month of your calendar per week, following the weekly theme - I've opted to make a complete calendar each week.  Week 1's theme is Vellum, not my favourite crafting material at all to be honest which is why I've not used a lot, so here's my entry:

I thought it would be nice to make some simple, free-standing, vintage style calendars for small gifts at Xmas from the larger mdf offcuts I recently acquired.- it can't be bad if I'm saving money AND recycling :-)!  Choosing a green, pink and white colour scheme, this one has been gessoed and painted with green acrylic, Melissa Frances dps were used, along with a TH on the edge die.  The lovely young girl with the kitty is a Stampsmith rubber stamp (Dave thinks she's scary, lol) and I've tinted her dress with a water-based marker - she is edged with glass glitter and matted onto white patterned vellum and embellished with a handmade ribbon rose topped with a sparkly stone..  The calender is matted onto pink vellum, and some little decorative hearts added along with some pink ric rac.

This one is about half an inch thick and quite weighty - I've used Tim Holtz Tissue Tape around the edge. 

I've finished it all off by edging the front with Inca Gold in Platinum.

Unfortunately, I had to take the photos inside as it had gone dark, so I may take them again tomorrow to show the colours better.

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

Alphabet Challenge Blog - R for Recycle, Repurpose
Simon Says Stamp - Glimmer & Sparkle
Shopping Our Stash - Go Green (use green or recycle - my main colour is green and I've recycled mdf)
Crafty Bloggers Network - Anything Goes
Anything But A Card - Shiny, Sparkly, Blingy (I've used Glass Glitter around the image)
Vintage Stamping Challenge - Anything Goes


I do apologise for not getting round your blogs and commenting very quickly these days, life still seems to be manic with a baby in the house, but I would like to thank you for your continued lovely comments and for bearing with me - I really do appreciate it.  I also have a few new followers, so would like to say hello to you:-)!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Maria xxxxx