Winter Arch

This week the theme over on Gothic Arch Challenge Blog is winter.
Here is mine.Thanks for stopping by :)

Christmas Traditions

I made this Arch for a forum challenge. The brief was to create something Christmas themed, without using anything Christmas specific - so no Santas, no Reindeer - you get the idea lol.
My thinking behind this piece was to create a Christmas Eve scene. I thought the little Paper Wimsey boy sitting with his teddy was perfect, it looks like he is listening out for the sound of Santa's Sleighbells ting-a-linging! In the background is a little clock showing almost midnight, on the 24th. I added a little white acrylic paint frost aound the edges to add a hint of winteryness. You may be wondering why I chose to add the word Tradition to the little hanging piece, well, when I was a child, staying awake as long as possible on Christmas Eve, and listening out for Santas bells was one of the most exciting times of the year for me and my siblings, and even as we all grew up, it became a little tradition of ours to stay up together on Christmas Eve.
I still love Christmas Eve, possibly even more so than Christmas day, its so full of excitment and anticipation...and hard work too. But I am in denial. Its all going to go fabulously rofl. Well, its better than getting stressed out isnt it lol.

This is my entry for this weeks Saturday Stampers were the theme is Christmas with a twist. The twist being that we use NO Christmas products, papers or stamps in our creations.
Thanks for looking :)

Gothic Arch

This weeks Gothic Arch theme as chosen by Nellie is Chocolate..."Chocolate is a girls best friend". How could I resist!
I decided to go with a "Chocolate Box" feel, I found this background paper in my stash and it reminded me of the stuff they put inside boxes of chocolates so it was a perfect place to start. I then found the little vintage poster I used in the background, changing the word "soda" to read "chocolate" fountain. I just love this Paper Whimsey image of the little girl, I thought she was perfect for my Chocolate Box Arch. I added a little sparkly gold ribbon over one corner and embelished with a couple of flowers.

Thanks for looking :)

Wednesday Stamper

This week over on Wednesday Stamper .....

We all know that “diamonds are a girl’s best friend”. This week we’re challenging you with DIAMONDS. Whether you choose the diamond shape or the diamond itself is entirely up to you!!

I made this for the challenge. It is a hanging, so it would make a much better picture if it was actually hung but I'm afraid we have have a few technical problems - mainly being that my 2 year old daghter stuck something in the lead port were the camera gets connected and shorted it! I'm waiting for my hubby to connect a new one then it will be buisness as usual lol.

To make this I used Basic Grey "Scarlets Letter" papers, finally having the courage to cut into them after hoarding them for several months! Stamps are Crafty Individuals for the main image and Cats Life Press for the Friendship quote.
The chipboard scrolls ( which I got from Scrapz ) I painted with copper paint and added a little patina using metalic rub-on. I then added a few highlights to the piece using white acrylic paint. I decided not to colour the main image - a first for me lol, I just felt the image was more striking left black & white, and it worked well with the background papers.

Lastly, I just want to say a HUGE Thank You to everyone who visits and takes the time to comment on my blog. THANK YOU!!!! I appreciate it hugely.

Winter Wonderland

I have made this gothic arch for an inter-forum swap with a "winter" theme.
As this weeks theme over at Saturday Stampers is also Winter, this is my entry for this week.
To create the background I used water colour paints with a hint of irridecent H20's mixed in for a hint of sparkle. I also used Basic Grey rub-ons, snow flake brads, white lace, tear drop crystals and stamps from PaperBag Studio's and Art Journey.

Friendship.

I have made this hanging as a gift for my forum friend Seona. I used K&Co paper and stamped onto vintage text paper taken from an old book. I added the word Friendship using my Dymo, attached a piece of soft green ribbon using antique brads and added some vintage lace at the bottom.
The stamps used are PaperBag Studio's arch and the little girl is from The Queens Dresser Drawers.
This is my submission to this weeks Wednesday Stamper as the theme is Children.

Saturday Stampers

I made this tag for a swap with a "pink ladies" theme. I used foreign text to create the background, pink papers from Daisy D's and the stamped image is from my favourite stamp sheet from Paperbag Studio's. I used an assortment of pink embelishments, including lots of pretty pink ribbon, I tied knots in one piece of ribbon as a sign of Rememberance.
As this weeks theme over on Saturday Stampers is Pink Ribbon ( in reference to this month Breast Cancer Awareness month) I'm using this as my entry :)

For Carrie....

I made this card for Carries Birthday using K&Co papers and Paperbag Studio's stamp. The butterfly I added using 3-d foam to give dimension under the wings but it looks rather flat in the photo.
I just want to add, the green and pink paper in the background isnt part of the card - it was a bit of a blooper on my part taking the picture on top of the paper pad, but my desk was so cluttered i couldnt find a space anywere else lol.

Art Doll Challenge.

Ive been neglecting my blog recently, life has been a bit chaotic with family stuff, and then there was the hastily made decision to redecorate the entire downstairs before the christmas trimmings go up ( 1st december if you were wondering lol ) so I decided to make use of these wee small hours I'm spending with Jack while he makes up his mind if he is tired enough to go to bed, and blog a couple of recent creations :)
I made this polymer clay art doll for a forum challenge. I used my prefered polymer clay - Fimo (prefered only because its the only polymer clay I can source locally lol ) an art doll face mold and I collected a selection of fallen leaves from the garden. I spent a few minutes kneading the clay to a workable state, then rolled it using a 6" brayer - I really do need to remember to buy a pasta roller lol. I cut a art doll template from textured card, and lay this over my sheet of rolled out clay and cut around it with a craft knife - the texture of the card was transfered to the clay giving it a nice, bark like finish. I then made the face cab using some left over scraps from the body. The tricky part was making the leaves, I wanted to get the clay rolled as thinly as possible, but only having a brayer meant I was finding it difficult to keep an even thickness.When I was happy with the rolled clay, I lay a leaf onto it and pressed it into the clay, transfering all the texture and details to the clay. I cut around each leaf with a sharp craft knife. Once I had a selection of leaf types and sizes I lay them over the art doll, to create a feeling that she is a little Wood Sprite hibernating for Winter - it didnt turn out exactly as I planned, I was struggling for time as Jack was unwell - but I'm sure one day I will get to create the little wood sprite currently hibernating in my imagination :)

I would like to thank the lovely Gillian for my Rocking Girl Blogger award! Yes Gillian, I am extremley slow on the uptake, but better late than never as my mum always says :)

I now need to nominate five other girl bloggers for this prestigious award, but as soooooo many of my favourite bloggers already recieved their shiny pink trophy i'm gonna need time to think.

One blogger springs to mind, the fantabulously funny Amy . I love Amy's blog, she always makes me smile :)

I made this card for no particular reason other than I really wanted to play with my new stamps from Paperbag Studio's and Art Journey. I used Glimmer Mist to create the background, applying with a paintbrush direct to the card and spraying onto the foreign text. This card has quite a mournful lonely feel to it which wasnt my intention at all, I'm not quite sure what happened lol.

For Nellie

I have made this card for Nellie. I used my new Art Journey stamps and water colour paints to colour the image. The back ground is a flower stamp with yellow chalk ink. I have been experimenting with using colour recently in my effort to use less brown, and I love the yellow and green together - such cheery colours. I think I'll be using much more colour in future :)

Poetry Challenge

This weeks theme on Saturday stampers is Poetry. I made this bookmark using stamps from PaperArtsy and Stampington & Company, the background is Adirondack colorwash and Glimmer Mist.

Birds Tryptich

This weeks challenge on Wednesday Stamper is to create a Tryptich.
I made this using The Birds Nest stamps from Oxford Impressions, and I took inspiration from the work Audrey Hernandez did with these stamps for the Oxford Impressions gallery. I had a lot of fun creating this piece as I really enjoy working with water colours, and it was great to use so much colour on a piece! Although there is still a lot of brown lol.

Wings Tag

I have made this tag with my favourite new PaperArtsy stamp. I used a black tag and applied a little moonshadow mist and acrylic paints. I stamped the image on white card using black ink and i applied a coat of clear embossing powder to the image to add texture. I coloured it using water colour paints - I was really tempted to use browns as these are the colours I seem to find easier to work with, but I decided to try and create a more feminine look. I gave it a spritz of red Glimmer Mist and added a piece of acetate cut into a tag shape. I used a Dymo to add the quote "we each have only one wing, in order to fly we must embrace."
I really enjoyed making this piece:)

Happy to be.........

Scrapping again!!!! I havnt done any scrapping for so long I didnt know were to start! I bought these K&CO papers over 6 months ago, so I decided its time I stopped hoarding fab papers and started using them!
I got out my box of photos and thought this one of Jack - then only 5 days old - worked well with the blues. It was hard work choosing which papers to use and how to arrange them, I wont divulge how long it took me to make my mind up!!! I'm quite happy with the results, tho its not as "scrappy" as I would have liked, but I can always do more work on it in the future as and when I find the right thing for the job:)

TMTA Man

The theme this week on TMTA is Men. This is my entry I made using Adirondack colorwash and a new stamp ( which ive been dying to use! ) from Tin Can Mail.

Happy Birthday Ladies!!!!

I have made these Birthday Cards for two forum friends who celebrated their Birthdays yesterday.
I used Adirondack colorwash to create backgrounds on both cards. The first card I made using stamps from Paperartsy, the main image is Queens Dresser Drawers. The second card is made using a stamp from Crafty Individuals.

TMTA Metal

Metal Art involves metal foils or embossed folis, sheet metal and metals of all kinds. This means there should be something metalloid somewhere on your ATC this week. It doesn’t matter if it’s used as a highlight only or if your whole ATC is made of metal. We are curious, and look forward to see your ideas!

I decided to take the TMTA challenge this week. I made this Atc using Eggplant alcohol ink applied to foil tape, a water colour background using Eggplant Adirondack ink and a stamped image coloured using water colour pencils. The stamp is by Zettiology.

Paris Atc's

I have made this set of Paris themed Atc's for a forum swap. I have struggled to find time for crafting recently, and tonite was no exception, but I was determined to find a 30 minute window of opportunity - and so here they are lol. I used Adirondack inks to create a colour washed background with a variety of stamps from Crafty Individuals, All Night Media and and unknown source. ( i'm forgetful lol ) The images are from a collage sheet.
This Atc is for the swap host Mandy.

Memories Tag

I have made this Tag for a swap hosted by Gillian.
I used Moon Shadow Mist to create the background, this is one of my favourite recent purchases, I just love the olde worlde walnut stain. The immage is taken from a collage sheet.

Asia Inchies

I have made these inchies for a swap on a forum. I used Adirondack colorwash, colorbox inks and red perfect pearls. The main image stamp is from CherryPie stamps.

Green Pepper Press #11

Green Pepper Press Street Team crusade #11 is........


Time to make some noise and play some music on your site! You can be all fancy and embed an auto play video, or a click-and-play video, or just offer links to videos/music you like. It's a great way to express yourself and for us to get to know you better.


OK. I'm a complete technophobe, so no fancy video's from me - just links to some of my most favourite tunes.
Its only right I start with Greenday as they are my all time favourite band, and the only band ive ever seen live - and they rock!!! This song Basket case is the first greenday song i heard when i was 17 - and Ive been a fan ever since.This song is called Time of your life and I just love it. This is Minority and it so reminds me of being a teenager lol. A couple more great songs of theirs are Jesus of suburbia and this is Holiday ( contains swearing) sung live at Milton Keynes which is great to see as my husband took my eldest son Michael to the gig and they got right up to the front - however it should have been me! I got the tickets as a gift, but I found out soon after that I was expecting twins so my plans were thwarted lol....there'll be a next time I'm sure.

More favourite songs....well were shall I start, I have eclectic taste in music and it all depends on my mood....I think I'll go with the Dandy Warhols "Get off" as I just love this song! This is another all time favourite, Patience by Guns n Roses , I was so into GnR when I was at High School, had a huge poster of Axl on my wall......them were the days lol....I soon progressed into other rock music and Metallica were a favourite. The Levellers are another cool band I still listen to, as are The Stone Roses . This song by Hoobastank is one I just have to play LOUD!!!! I love it! This is what i'm listening to in the car right now, heres another great one from MCR .
When I was a kid my mum used to let me play her records - so I totally love golden oldies - especialy Neil Diamond , T Rex...... more T Rex.... Queen and BoneyM .

OK, I think thats enough for now lol, but I think I may throw in the odd tune now and again in future - its been fun lol :)

Rustic Angel

Ive been playing with air-drying clay this week, seeing how it compares to polymer clay - and its a whole new kettle of fish! You need patience to work with this medium as it takes several days for even a small piece like this to dry out, but I thought it was worthwhile as I love the rustic finish to this little Angel. I have tried to make a piece to attatch her to - but so far have failed miserably! So here she is - an Angel waiting for a Home.

The face, wings and tiles I made using moulds, the body and heart are hand made.

Book Mark

I have made this bookmark for a swap with a theme of "citrus collage". I really struggled with this brief as these colours are way out of my comfort zone. The papers are Tim Coffee Birthday from K&Co, the stamp is from Queens Dresser Drawers.

Art Doll

I have made this Art Doll - my first of many! - for a forum challenge - we were to make an item that could be hung, and theme was Inspiration. I hope this Art Doll conveys love and contentment when she reaches her new home :)

TMTA Asia

This weeks theme on Think Monday Think Atc is Asia. I have made this Atc using Adirondak colorwash sprays to create the background - this is my first time of using them and i just love them! I used colorbox ink chesnut for the stamped image, the stamp is by PSX, the image is from an Oriental Atc images pad.

Buttons Atc.

This weeks theme on Wednesday stamper is Buttons, which happens to coincide with this weeks Daring CardMakers theme of Haberdashery, so I have made this Atc as an entry to both. I decided to try something different and use very delicate colours which was a challenge I really enjoyed, I will definetly use them more often. I added buttons and cream coloured lace to finish it off. The stamps are PaperArtsy and Crafty Individuals, the inks are versamagic.

Gillian's card.

Ive made this card for my friend Gilian's Birthday. I used stamps from Crafty Individuals and coloured the main image with water colour pencils.

Daring Card Makers

This weeks challenge over on Daring Card Makers is "to somehow incorporate text into your cards, not just one word, but a portion of text".

Rain rain go away, come back another day! My kids have been singing this quite a lot recently as the UK has been deluged with rain lol. When I chose this art-e-zineimage I thought the rhyme fitted in perfectly.

I have altered this slide mailer using acrylic paints and rub-on's and added a strip of black velvet ribbon to the front left side. Its my first attempt at altering a slide mailer, and i'm so relieved that its done! I am unsure of the maker of the Belly Dancer stamp.

Think Monday.....

This weeks theme over on Think Monday - Think Atc's is Children. I have made this Atc using one of my favourite stamps from Queens Dresser Drawers, and it is coloured using versamagic inks, water colour pencils and wax crayons. I have added a wax crayon to the little girls hand to suggest she is responsible for creating all the colour in her life. Inspiration for this idea is courtesy of my 20 month old daughter Chloe, who just cant resist scribbling on any available surface - including herself!!

Red Atc's Swap.

Red is the theme of an Atc swap I have joined. The first atc is made using a stamp from The Queens Dresser Drawers and is coloured with versamagic and coloured pencils, the background is a scribbled as I wanted to make it seem that the little girl had created her own world. The second Atc is made with a stamp from Crafty Individuals and coloured using versamagic and watercolour pencils. The third is again a stamp from Crafty Individuals and coloured with colorbox chalk ink.
This Atc is the same stamp as above from Crafty Individuals , the white background script is a stamp from Paperbag Studio's. I coloured the background using colorbox chalk ink.

Wednesday Stamper.

I have made this card as my submission to Wednesday Stamper. I coloured the card using colorbox inks and created the chequer board effect - as seen on police uniform - by cuttting squares from a sheet of foam. I added the antique brads as they reminded me of old fashioned buttons. The stamp is from The Queens Dresser Drawers.

So Many Cowboy's.....

.....so little rope!! I made this card for a design challenge using a template. Having never used a template before i really struggled with were to start , and my inspiration came in the form of a little bottle of Copper coloured paint! I found this image on art-e-zine and colour toned it using colorbox inks and splatters of copper paint, I then applied a layer of glaze. I created a distressed background using alcohol inks and leaving large areas of blank card which i coloured again using colorbox inks. I used an old paintbrush to apply splatters of copper paint to the whole surface. The copper wire across the card is from inside an electrical flex.

Tag Book.

I have made this Tag Book for a forum swap. The theme was open to personal choice , and we were to use a variety of embelishments and colours. I have used no stamps in creating this , choosing to use images from art-e-zine instead. The background was made using alcohol inks.

Hat Inchies

Theses inchies are for the latest swap hosted by Joanne. She chose Hats as the theme , and as it coincides with this weeks Wednesday Stamper theme ive decided to submit them. I used versamagic chalk inks , a script stamp from Paperbag Studios which i stamped in white versamagic. The main image is a stamp from Queens Dresser Drawers.

A Portrait of Friendship.

I have made this, my first Domino Book using wooden Dominos aprox 3"x2.5". I covered them with card coloured with alcohol inks, then for the inside I used VersaMagic chalk inks and stamps from Crafty Individuals and Paperbag Studio.