Lexi’s Creations 93 Summer Holidays

Hi it’s challenge time again at Lexi’s Creations and we are sponsored by Fairy Dust Crafts with a choice of 5 digis from the Fairy Dust store, and our theme is ‘Summer Holidays’. I am beginning to wonder if we are actually going to get a proper Summer here in the UK, as up until about two weeks ago I really needed my heating on, and today it feels like that again. Anyhow, just in case we ever get hot, this is my vision for the Summer.

The image is a House Mouse stamp I have had for ages but, to my shame, I don’t believe I have ever coloured it up before! It’s called Beach Cooler. I coloured it with my promarkers and then stamped it a second and third time, so that I could decoupage up the flowers and add a couple to the top corner of the image.

I went over the ice cubes and the thermometer with diamond glaze. The thermometer doesn’t look all raggedy with the naked eye, but it’s amazing what the camera picks up! the starfish and small shells are real shells. I wish I could remember where I got them from.

The backing paper is from Joanna Sheen’s House Mouse CDrom. There is also a digi of this same stamp on that cdrom, but I already owned the lush wooden stamp, and it’s one of the few makes I haven’t removed the wooden blocks from, as the coloured images on the front are just too gorgeous to throw away.

I did actually turn this into a birthday card for someone, but I had to remove the shells as they hadn’t a hope in hades of making it through Royal Fail without being completely shattered and so instead I put a further sentiment, which like the top one I printed onto Letraset’s Safmat, where the shells were. It also made it nice and flat for posting!

I should like to enter this into the following:-

2 Sisters Challenge - #149 Summer Fun

Brown Sugar Challenge - #47 Summer

CD Sunday challenge - S is for   ….. Summer and my digital element is the backing paper which came from the House Mouse CD

Creatalicious - #52 All About Summer

Designs By Lisa Somerville Bloggers Challenge - At The Beach

Di’s Digi Designs - Show Us Summer Fun

My Creative Moments Wordplay Saturday - June : Summertime

Scrappy Frogs Challenge - Summer Vacation

Speedy The Fox and Friends - #165 Beach

The Corrosive Challenge - #177 Summertime

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CCM #94 Steampunk

This fortnight at Crafty Cardmakers our hostess Julie has chosen Steampunk as her challenge to you all. If anyone needs a definition of Steampunk we have something at Crafty Cardmakers here .

I was very lucky and won a prize from Stitchy Bear a couple of weeks back and as part of it I chose ‘Steampunk Sally’ from Delicious Doodles. I have coloured her with promarkers, copics and sakura sparkle pens.

I made my own background paper by stamping with versamark onto plain white copy paper, with some stamps from Papermania’s Chronology range and also a couple of smaller stamps from Kanban’s Jasper range. I then dusted over with a Big N Juicy Inkpad in mauves/blues.

The layer with the pocket watches on is an Embossing Folder, which I inked up with the same Big N Juicy Inkpad.

I frantaged over the embossed paper with the embossing powder from the Purple Frantage Encrusted Jewels kits, which are imported by one of our Sponsors, Woodware Craft Collection and stocked by this week’s Sponsor, The Stampman, and that’s where I got them from.

I also frantaged a metal filligree corner with the same powder as I used on the watch paper, but with the addition of the turquoise from the Encrusted Jewels Kit and some random purple powder I had.

The two clocks are Marianne Dies, and the cogs are Papermania Dies. I cut them all out of velum because I realised that the paper I had worked hard to create was going to be completely obscured if I cut them from paper instead.

Finally the two boots are also a Stampendous product from Woodware and The Stampman called Click Heels. It has a sentiment beside it, but I only wanted the boot. I stamped it twice onto clear shrink plastic and then coloured it with promarkers on the back. You cannot colour where you stamped as you need really to use Stazon to stamp onto shrink and the promarkers would dissolve and smudge the ink if you coloured on the same side you stamped.

As you can see, the stamp would have been fabulous for a steampunk card all on it’s own, but I wanted some embellishments and I wanted something a little different from watch parts, although the boots are covered in watch parts.

I really enjoyed this, but I had messy fingers and a very untidy craft space by the time I had finished. Originally I coloured the mark beneath her lip but I added a gem to look a bit more punky.

I am entering this into the following:-

Country View Crafts - #4 Die cuts

Crafting Musketeers - #2 Use a Stamped Image (my focal image is digi, but I used a stamped image to create the shrink plastic boots)

Crafty Friends Challenge - #3 Use Your Favourite Colour Combo

One Stitch at a Time - #168 Use a Digi

Paper Creator Crafts - #10 Make It Sparkle

Paper Makeup Stamps - Digi Makeover Challenge #93 Punches/Dies

Sandy’s Crafty Creations - Anything Goes with Embossed Backgrounds

Simply Steampunk - Clocks/Timepieces

Sparkles Monthly - #45 Steampunk or Vintage

The Squirrel and The Fox - #146 Use Something Metal

ABC P for Pretty In Pink

Our challenge to you this time at ABC is P for Pretty In Pink. We are sponsored by My Favourite Things with a $25 gift voucher for their store!

I used one of their Pure Innocence images, which I coloured with my Prisma pencils and OMS. The papers are from Wild Rose Studio’s Annabelle’s Garden pad, apart from the one that the parasol has been cut from and that came free with a craft magazine. The diecuts are all from Marianne. The tree is really a Christmas tree but I hoped that with the pink metal gems it might look like a blossom treat. It’s not showing up here, but her boots, the heart and handle of the watering can and the heart on her bib are all coloured with a Sakura sparkly pen.

I am entering this into:-

Alphabet Challenge Blog - I for Image

Country View Crafts - #4 Die Cuts

Crafty Catz - #187 Let’s Go Pink

Creative Corner Challenge - Girly Girl

Emerald Fairies - #44 Dies/Punches

Hiding In My Craft Room - #102 Die Cuts

Paula Holifield Crafts - ALBC Something Sweet

Scrap It Girl - June : Die Cuts

Sister Act Card Challenge - #11 Anything Goes

Sweet Stampin’ - Something Sweet

Lexi’s Creations 92 Father’s Day or Special Male Birthday

I am so sorry I am two days late with this. I got my dates muddled up and forgot.

Our challenge at Lexi’s Creations this fortnight is Father’s Day or a special male birthday. You can produce anything you like, it doesn’t have to be a card, as long as it fits the theme.

My card was created for a special friend and as soon as I saw the Mo Manning image Johann I thought of my friend, as apart from a straggly beard, which I coloured in, it looked very like him!

I don’t remember where my stripey paper comes from, as it was just loose in a box of odds and sods. The separate panel to the left of the image though is a piece of plain white cardstock run through an embossalicious folder, whichI had pre-inked with green and then I went over the areas raised by the embossing with orange DI.

I made the piece behind Johann with various DIs and an inkduster. Johann is coloured in with my promarkers. The guitar is a keyring, which was loosely attached so it could be removed for a small gift.

I had a different idea in mind before I ended up with this, and I am still not sure which one I like best

What do you think? I did eventually end up with the one on the easel at the top of this post.

I am entering this into:-

Cards for Men - #12 Boys Will Be Boys

Craft Your Passion - #166 Father’s Day/Masculine

Creative Creations - #12 For you Dad/Masculine

Eureka Stamps - #43 Father’s Day

Get Inky - #6 Creations for Boys/Men

Kaboodle Doodles - #175 For Your Favourite Guy

Ladybug Crafts - June : For the Men in Your Life

Platypus Creek - #34 For the Boys

The Crafter’s Cafe - #17 Father’s or for a Male

The Crafting Cafe - June : Here Come the Boys

CCM 93 - Father’s Day plus midway reminder for Challenge 92

As I made a mistake over at CCM with the challenge dates I have decided to extend Challenge 92 Tri Shutter Card until Sunday 9th June, but we also have a new challenge today so you have the choice of two, or you can enter both.

So onto today’s challenge, which will run until 16th June.

‘As it's Father's Day here in the UK on 16th of June Feebsy would  like to see anything you've created for or have been inspired to make by an important male figure in your life. It could be anything from a card, a scrapbook page, a knitted scarf or a piece of altered art. It does not have to be specifically for Father's Day ( I don't want you spoiling a surprise for anyone) but let us know the inspiration behind your work.

We are sponsored by The Paper Shelter with a $20 gift voucher for their fabulous digi store, and also by Woodware Craft Collection with a £12 to be spent at any of their Retailers.

Now Feebsy wanted to know the influence behind our project so this is mine.

I made this card for my SIL, as he is the most important male figure in my life since he took over the role of protecting, nurturing and inspiring my beautiful Daughter. Sadly she didn't have the same fabulous male influence that I had in my own Dad, and until Steve (my SIL) came along she was actually a bit lost. He completes her and I am so happy they found each other. He collects Native American Art and figures and so I put a lot of effort into creating this card for him.

I started with the Dreamcatcher Element of the Card by stamping onto some gorgeous bronze handmade paper this lovely native american chief. I then die cut it with a spellbinder die, and then matted that onto black card. The whole thing is matter onto another layer of the bronze handmade paper (which has a consistency much more like card anyhow and was quite sturdy. To the back layer I added beaded feathers, like you see on the Dreamcatchers available to buy. I made these myself by firstly making some paper beads from some bronze handmade paper that had a gold design on it. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures at that stage, but basically you cut a very long thin triangle of paper and roll it from the thick end to the thin end, securing with glue at the tip only. Into those beads I threaded feathers, which I had first stitched bronze thread into the top of so I had something to secure them to the base of the Dreamcatcher with.

The base of the card was created by stamping with a sticky inkpad onto the same black card that I used for the layer in the Dreamcatcher element and then embossing with Stampendous Stamp’n’bond embossing powder, which is one of the products brought to us here in the UK by Woodware, our sponsor. It’s a fabulous product because it means you don’t have to gunk up your stamps with any of those flitter glu products and once heated it becomes adhesive. I then spread guilding flakes over the stamped area and buffed it off until all the detail of the stamp was revealed.

The scrolly stamp I used has a distressed feel to it. But I have used the stamp’n’bond on very detailed images with excellent results.

I matted that layer onto the same card as I used in the Dreamcatcher and then that layer was matted onto some equally gorgeous handmade bronze paper/card with a fabulous bark feel about it.

I added the Dreamcatcher layer so that Steve could remove it if he wanted to and add to his wall.

I am entering this into the following challenges:-

Brown Sugar Challenge - #44 Masculine Birthday

Country View Crafts - #4 Die cuts

Crafting Musketeers - #2 Use A Stamped Image

C.R.A.F.T. - #209 Male

Glitter ‘n Sparkle - #35 B (My handmade beads)

Ladybug Crafts - June : For the Men In Your Life

Paper Crafting Journey - Masculine Cards

The Artistic Stamper - Makes For Men

The Crafting Cafe - June : Here Come the Boys

Sweet Pea Stampers - May : Birds of A Feather

Dream Valley 58 Sports

Today at Dream Valley we want to see your creations on the theme of Sports. We are sponsored by Di’s DigiStamps with a $10 voucher for her fabulous store.

As you can see I went down the ‘cute route’ as I don’t really know anyone sporty to send a card to, nor do I have many men in my life who seem to be what most sports themes are aimed at (everyone say ahhhhhhh! lol)

The backing papers and image are from the Joanna Sheen House Mouse Triple cdrom, and as fishing is a sport, I picked this image from amongst the dozens of gorgeous images on there. The only small criticism I have is that there were no plain backing papers to put behind the patterned ones and co-ordinate with the edged toppers. So I just put the image into my graphics program and bucket filled in the border colour to create my own backing paper for matting. I then cut the centre out, so as not to waste ink and printed it.

The patterned edge idea I pinched from a show on Create and Craft which they did with their own pre diecut edged cards. I just used my own already bracket edge cards and cut out a flourish close to the edge to form an even more decorative border.

You can see the pattern a little better in this one. Best of all, it all folded flat into a standard stamp size for posting! I forgot to take a pic, but the birthday sentiment was put on the back of the card as there is not an inside to this card.

I am entering this into the following challenges:-

Challenges 4 Everybody - #21 Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar - June Things With Wings

Di’s Digi Designs - Things With Wings

Digi Galore - Anything But a Square

Ecclectic Ellapu - Anything With Wings

Hobbycutz Challenges - #7 Flowers/Roses

Robyn’s Fetish - #162 Use A Digi

That Craft Place - Dies and Punches

The Hobby House - #1 Anything Goes

The House That Stamps Built - DCC522 Fur, Fins or Feathers

 

ABC O for Open

Our challenge at ABC this time is a nice easy one, it’s open, as in Anything Goes! We have two prizes on offer from our Sponsors who are The Paper Shelter and Marker Pop.

I made my card with The Paper Shelter’s Healing The Dragon set of digistamps. There are separate digis of each of the elements and then one final one in a ‘scene’.

I would love to take credit for the fabulous colouring, but TPS generously supplies coloured images with all of it’s digis, and this was their precoloured image. I printed it onto watercolour paper and then inked around the edge to tone it in with their paper pack, Let’s Make a Picnic, which I used for the background layers. I cut them all out with my Go Kreate dies. I added a couple of stamps sentiments and the corner is from Memory Box, Dartington Corner. Flowers from my stash.

Sorry about the quality of the photo but I forgot to check it before I mailed out the card, and it was a bit on the bright side. The image below is a bit of jiggery pokery with my graphics program to highlight the image itself.

This went to a member of my team over at Crafty Cardmakers who is hopefully well on the way to recovery following surgery.

I am entering this into the following:-

Catch The Bug - June Anything Goes

Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - #40 Fantasy

Crafting By Design - Anything Goes

Crafting When We Can - #45 Punches and/or die cuts

Crafty Calendar - June Things With Wings

Die Cuttin’ Divas - #117 Shaped Card

Lady Anne’s Challenges - 4th Anything Goes Challenge

Paper Creator’s Crafts - #9 Anything Goes

Robyn’s Fetish - #162 Use A Digi

The Paper Shelter - #114 Shaped Card or Easel