Lost Coast Dancer Silhouette

Hi, this is a very short post (for a change :-)) as it's way past my bedtime!  This is one of the stamps that I bought from Port Sunlight - it's by Lost Coast Designs, and I thought it was beautiful when I saw it (I'm quite pleased actually, as Craft-Room is going to stock a few of the Lost Coast stamps).  As my card stash has gotten quite low, I need to replenish it a bit so thought I'd make a card with this stamp:

The plain background has been covered with Tattered Rose DI, then overstamped with Darkroom Door Damask background stamp in Versafine Smokey Grey.  The background to the dancer is just in Tattered Rose.  I stamped her in Versamark then embossed with Wow embossing glitter in black twinkle, then went around the edges of the image with more Tattered Rose and a little Black Soot.  The "fabulous" sentiment is also embossed in Black Twinkle directly onto the background (can't remember who it's by, but from QVC quite a while ago).  I then mounted both the background and the image onto pearlised grey card, then black.  I cut the black card blank down a little, width ways, so that it was narrower than the image/background - just for something a little different.  I then punched a hole in the top and tied some black ribbon.

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

Papertake Weekly - Get in Shape (use 3 different shapes)
Tuesday Throwdown - Think Pink (#70)
Crafty Cardmakers - Anything Goes (#53)
Creative Inspirations Paint - Embossing
Wags 'n' Whiskers - Handmade (I made my own pink/grey background paper)

I hope you like it.

Maria x

Ella Bella

Hi

What a dully and rainy day it is in Manchester!  Perfect for crafting though :-) so I thought I would share this card with you, which I've made today.  Having received my order from Julia at Craft-Room yesterday, I was itching to try out this new stamp which I've bought, Ella Bella - this was definitely a "have to buy" stamp for me, lol.  I also went to the Happy Stampers Festival at Port Sunlight yesterday and bought far too many goodies, gilding flakes being one of them - which I also had to try out!  Put these two together and this is what I came up with:

Now, I've never, ever used gilding flakes before but having seen the samples at Port Sunlight, I just had to get some - I'm lovin' them already!  I used FlitterGlu to stamp the image onto black card then put the gilding flakes on.  I then went over the image with a scoochy sponge (a very rough sponge) to take the excess flakes off.  The sentiment is a LOTV one stamped directly onto the card blank, which I also used the gilding flakes on.  I mounted the image on to grey pearlised card then put onto a black card blank.  And that was it!  I to kept the card very simple so that the image was the focal point.

I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out, so I hope you like it - I'm going to enter it into the following challenges:-

Secret Crafter- Anything Goes, as long as it twinkles (does this come under "twinkling"?)
Mark's Finest Papers - No Designer Paper (#76)
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Use a Silhouette Stamp
Ladybug Crafts Ink - No Design Papers (#40)

Maria x

Felines - Craft-Room Challenge DT Project

Hello there!  I'm back from my holiday in Crete, and raring to go (well, I'm getting there).  I had a fantastic time, and even made friends with the little lady in my project!  After a fantastic response to our last theme of Anything Christmas, it's now time for a new challenge over at Craft-Room -  for the next fortnight our theme will be Felines, as chosen by our extremely talented DT leader, Zoe. There's a £10 voucher to spend in the Craft-Room Online Shop to be won in the random draw, and we will also pick a top 3.  Full rules are available to view here, and don't forget to check out the the samples made by the rest of the team, as they're fantastic.

This is my project - my first scrapbook page (I'm trying to remember when I last made a card!!!).

I don't generally scrapbook, but decided it would be nice to try it out and do something nice with my holiday photos, and I just couldn't resist starting it off with this beautiful little lady.  She is about 5 months old and lives with her brother (and owner!) in one of the apartments where we stayed - both kittens were born blind but it didn't seem to be a problem whatsoever for them, and they had such beautiful and gentle natures.  It was amazing watching them play together  - you would swear they could see! 

She tried to share my sunbed on a regular basis ...

made herself comfortable ...

very comfortable ...

and then chilled out!  Isn't that what holidays are for?

The papers used are DCWV, the frames are inked up with Fired Brick Distress Ink, and the little captions with Scattered Straw - inks available from Craft-Room.  Sentiments have been done on the PC, apart from the main glittered one which is from a DCWV border.  The starfish are from Crete (yes, I even found a craft shop in Crete, lol)!

I can't wait to see the entries for this challenge, as I absolutely love cats (I have four of my own!), and hope you enjoy making yours as much as I did mine! Good luck!

I'm going to enter this project into the following challenges:

Crafty Boots Challenge - Zoo or Animal
Gingerloft Challenge - Orange
Inspire Me Fridays - Anything Goes (#26)
Cute Card Thursday - Animal Crackers (#184)

Maria x 

Another Vintage Tag

Hi.  I'm still on that sunbed, lol! 

This is another tag I've made:

The background was done the same as the last tag - I love how each one is so different, yet with the same colours.  The torso was stamped on TH Shabby Chic patterned paper then cut out, inked with Tattered Rose and Pumice Stone around the edges.  "Fabulous" stamped in Timber Brown Stazon, some dangly trim and TH tissue tape added to the bottom of the torso (and the bottom of the tag) along with some sparkly gems.  The sentiment has been mounted onto some alcohol inked glossy card and, along with the word strip, is by HOTP.  Some frayed cotton twisted with a TH pin through, and some dyed rose trim, to finish.  Tag, rose trim, and tissue tape from Craft-Room, but I'm not sure where the torso stamp is from.

I'm hoping to use these tags on altered books, at some point in the future.

Hope you like it.

Maria x

A Vintage Tag

Hi, this is a very short post as it's scheduled.  Hopefully I'm lying on a sunbed at this moment in time, topping up my tan, on the beautiful island of Crete :-)!

This is a tag I've made using Distress Stains, which I've not used often:

I've used Walnut Stain, Antique Linen and Spun Sugar Distress Stains on the tag, then sprayed it with water, swooshed it about, then dried it with a heat gun.  These are the only three colours I have at the moment, lol!  The image is a transparency from a sheet that someone gave me, so I'm not sure where it's from - I've layered it onto some paper so that it stands out a bit.  Text stamped on the background (Timber Brown Stazon), roughed up the edges then went around them with a little antique gold rub on.  I've used alcohol inks on a small offcut of thick glossy card and stamped "escape" in Timber Brown Stazon.  Some dyed seam binding twisted round with a TH pin through the middle and a few gems attached to the pin.  Some liquid pearls, a heart and a Dream ticket to finish, with some frayed broderie anglaise along the bottom.

Tags, inks, distress stains and seam binding from Craft-Room Online shop.

Hope you like it.

Maria x

Vintage Christmas Hanging - Craft-Room Challenge "Anything Christmas"

Hello again, it's time for another Craft-Room Challenge - the weeks are flying by and it will soon be Christmas!  The Home Decor entries were stunning - it will so tough picking a top 3!  This time, the challenge has been chosen by the lovely Julia, and the theme is "Anything Christmas" -  I'm sure that you're all ready to start (if you haven't already!) on your Christmas cards & projects so this is a perfect time for this theme.  There's a £10 voucher to be won in the random draw, and a top 3 will be picked - check out the "Pesky Rules" here and above all, have fun!!!

My DT project for this challenge is a little wall hanging (yes, another wall hanging, lol!) "Counting the Days to Christmas":

The idea is to simply tick off the days to Christmas.

I've used some chipboard, cut to size with a craft knife, for the two pieces and covered them with paper from Papermania "Silent Night" collection.  I've inked the edges with some Old Paper and a little Pumice Stone DI, and some gold metallic rub on.   The background to the image, sentiment and calendar part are also inked in Old Paper as a base colour - on the main image, I've also used Weathered Wood for the sky.  The Crafty Individuals (CI-254) image is stamped in black Stazon and the buildings are coloured in neat Distress Reinkers Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap and Weathered Wood.  I've used a little Jones Tones glitter on the stars, then matted the image onto some cream cotton which I've frayed around the edges, then the image, sentiment and calendar are matted onto black, finely corrugated paper/card.  The calendar is attached to the main piece with black ribbon, and I've used the same ribbon to hang it, and a little metal snowflake to finish.

All inks and chipboard are available from Craft-Room Online shop.  Sentiment and calendar are done on pc.

I hope you like it.

I'm also entering this into the following challenges:

Bows and Berries - Glitter
Gingerloft Challenge - Vintage or Distressed

Maria x