CCM 128 Distress It

For the next two weeks at Crafty Cardmakers we want to see your ‘distressed’ projects.

We are sponsored by Di’s Digistamps and also by Woodware Craft Collection.

I used a brand new freebie stamp set from Card Making and Papercraft to make my card. I stamped her in black and embossed with clear powder. Having distressed the edges of the mats, and all the layers, which were some purple bark mirri card, and two different paper packs Memory Box Viola, and Wild Rose’s Butterfly Garden; I frantaged randomly. I also die cut a Memory Box branch die in black and embossed a few times with clear powder to give it a shine. Finally I daubed some Pebeo Gilding Wax around the edges. The top layer of paper was waste from when I die cut a mat for another project from the centre. I used a MS bracket edge punch to give a bit of shape to the top and bottom. I liked the way that bits of the paper underneath were able to peep out from more than just the edge, and it used up an otherwise useless piece of paper!

The two resin butterflies, and flowers are all from my stash.

I am entering this into:-

A Crafty Mess – #1 Anything Goes
Addicted to Stamps – #92 Lots of Layers
Craft For the Craic – #10 Birthday
Crafty Hazlenut’s Patterned Paper – Nov: Anything Goes
Ecclectic Ellapu - Favourite Colour Combination
My Besties Spain – #5 Anything Goes
Scribble and Scrap – #32 Always Anything Goes
Seema Crafts – Nov: Monochrome
Sisters of Craft – Nov: Anything Goes
Treasured Times Stamps – #29 Anything Goes

DV 95 Anything Goes

Our challenge at Dream Valley this week is a nice easy Anything Goes one. We are sponsored by Dilly Bean Digi Stamps and we were lucky enough to be given some of their images to work with. I chose Kiki Mermaid.

This is my first ever Art Journal page!!

Because of my ME I often want to start something but lack the energy, and then there are times that it has taken me so long to prepare something (in this case I gessoed my watercolour paper before adding Aquatints to it) I sit staring at the white space scared to start in case it all goes wrong and the time it has already taken me is wasted. But on this occasion I dived in, no pun intended.

So I added a layer of aquatints and when they were dry I stamped various underwater themed stamps from Sheena Douglass and Designs by Ryn (the bubbles) randomly across the page. I also coloured in the two seahorses and the fish with the wide tail with copics.

Kiki I had already coloured with copics and I scanned her in, already coloured and printed her out in two progressively smaller sizes, one of which I flipped round first. I fussy cut her out and glued her to the background. I had to draw her curly wurly on her tail in as I couldn’t cut that thinly and I didn’t want areas of white around it. If you get the digistamp you will have a proper curl on the bottom of her tail.

I printed the text on my pc and cut it up and stuck it down. I edged lots of things in black, and also added some glamour dust to some of the weeds, all three Kiki’s tails and the seahorses and fish tail. Finally I went all around the edge with Pebeo gold gilding wax.

I am entering this into:-

All Crafts Challenge – Oct/Nov: Anything Goes
Allsorts Challenge – #285 Anything But a Card
Altered Eclectics – Anything but a Card
Art Journal Journey – Inspired by the Masters (Titian, who was known for his mythological paintings amongst other works – mermaids are of course mythological)
Crafting Musketeers – #19 Anything But a Card
Crafting When We Can – #82 Use Your Markers
Imagination Crafts – Nov: Anything Goes
Ladybug Crafts – Nov: Bright Colours
Rhedd’s Creative Spirit – Nov: Anything Altered Art Goes
Scrap It Girl – Nov: Paints, Watercolours or Gelatos
The Corrosive Challenge – #212 Girly
The Crafting Cafe – Nov: Not a Card
Vintage Stamping Challenge – #26 Anything But a Card

ABC X Xtra Special

Our challenge this fortnight at ABC is X for Xtra Special, we want you to create a card for a special person or occasion. We are sponsored by Kenny K.

Mine is a very special thank you to a friend who saved my Daughter’s job!

Having told my Daughter, when she went for her new job that it was fine she didn’t have her own bank account, they suddenly changed their minds literally at the 11th hour. They gave her about 5 days to sort out an account or risk losing her new job, and all after she had already worked her notice at her old job!

My friend dropped everything to drive her 40 miles to the only place that would open her an account at very short notice and without picture ID.

It seems that these days in the UK if you don’t have a passport because you don’t do or haven’t done a foreign holiday and don’t drive, and therefore don’t have a driving licence you are persona non grata as far as Banks are concerned! Anyhow this is a thank you for the friend who literally went the extra mile to help my Daughter out.

It’s from the Cut, Mat, Create paper pad by Heartfelt Creations, which I have been hanging onto, and finally have cut into. HC is one of my favourite companies for paper and accompanying stamps, dies etc.

The lovely diecuts are from the Raindrops on Roses collection’s dies, and the butterfly is from the Sunflower Collections stamps.

I am entering this into:-

Craft Hoarders Anonymous – For All that You do Thank you
Crafting By Design – Give Thanks
Dream It Up – Nov: Thankful and Thoughtful
Hambo Hoedown – Thank you Card
Jo’s Scrap Shack FFC – #66 Anything Goes
Little Red Wagon – #263 Monochromatic
QKR Stampede – #113 I’m Thankful For … (see post above)
Quick Quotes – #45 Gratitude
Sister Act Card Challenge – #83 Anything Goes
Stamping Royalty – #254 Being Thankful

CCM 127 A Touch of Charm

Our current challenge at Crafty Cardmakers is A Touch of Charm, so basically as long as it has a charm attached/incorporated, that will be fine.

I finally got the Tim Holtz Layered Bee die and texture fade combination I have been lusting after for weeks! I die cut it from yellow Bazill card, and having run in through the texture fade embossing folder I coloured it’s thorax, stripes and legs with black copic pen. I added some soft orange to it’s wings to give dimension, but as I then added a layer of soft acetate, glittered with glamour dust you can’t see with the way the light hit the card that the wings have this additional colour! So I don’t really know why I just mentioned it, lol

The Beehive, honeycomb and the two shrink plastic bees on the hive are all from an Xcut die set called Bee Keeping, which was a perfect match for the Layered Bee die.

My paper is from Heartfelt Creations Sunflower pad, and my charm was plain silver, but I added a couple of copic shades so that it would more like the centre of the sunflower that was already on the paper.

I distressed around the edges of the paper and two mats, and stamped a few small bees that I got from Art Journey.

I am entering this into:-

Digi Designs – Colours of Autumn
Dragon’s Lair Designs – Autumn Colours
Fresh Brewed Designs – Nov: #1 Autumn Colours
Glitter n Sparkle – #110 Autumn Colours
Going Grey with Scrap Creations – Make It Sparkle
Meljen’s Designs – #235 Autumn Brights
OSAAT – #223 Anything Goes with Distressing
PDE Linky Party – Autumn Colours
Scrappy Hands – #25 Autumn Colours
Try It On Tuesday – Colours of Autumn

The Mirror Crack’d #03 Christmas Decorations

I should have had this ready to go on 5th November, but I was waiting on some supplies to finish off, and then when they arrived I had just plain run out of steam. ME can be an absolute (insert whatever swear word you fancy here) at times!

My Christmas decorations are three words from Anna Marie Designs.

First I painted them all with Gesso. A few coats because the brown of the mdf just kept coming through. I then gave them all one layer of titanium white paint.

Starting with Snow…… I gave it a bit of a wash with a pale Turquoise Gelato, and then dabbed Martha Stewart glitter glue all over, before going all around the edges of the letters with the glue more concentrated. I die cut several trees, from green marbled glittery paper and then edged them with snow writer. I also diecut a Marianne icicle die a few times and layed that across the top of the word, before edging that also with Snow Writer. Before the Snow Writer dried I added Glamour Dust. Finally I layered a combination of artificial snow mixed with Stampendous Frantage Shaved Ice.

Next Santa….. I went all around the edges of the letters and the base with Red Buff It, and before it had fully dried I dragged some of it onto the letters themselves with a baby wipe. Boy does that stuff spread on a baby wipe. I also edged all these letters with Snow Writer, and added Glamour Dust. I diecut a few more trees, several different Reindeer, and a sleigh, and then I couldn’t find a Santa anywhere. I stupidly threw away a LARGE Santa stamp that I figured I wouldn’t use again, but which would have been perfect for stamping and shrinking! Motto of this is never throw it away, you can bet two days later you will want it! Anyhow, I found a cute transparent film sticker of a waving Santa, so I popped him onto white card and then cut him out and glued him inside the sleigh. I added more of the artificial snow/Shaved Ice mix, and also some red glittery pom poms, and two tiny parcel rosettes.

Finally my favourite, Noel. I covered each letter with a different pattern of paper from a First Edition Winter pack, sorry can’t remember it’s name and it’s been packed out of sight and I am too worn out to drag it back out again.

I again went around all the letters with Snow Writer and also dabbed some onto some lovely Pine Cones I brought from Hobby Craft, which is where the darling Robin also came from. He is so dut, made up of hundreds of thin strands all glued together. I made his nest from natural fibres, some reindeer moss, some artificial floristry stuff and a couple of diecut twigs from the Marianne Pine Cones set. I also added the snow/Shaved Ice mix again, after I had added some gorgeous glittery berries, also from Hobbycraft. 10/10 to HobbyCraft. These berries were missing by mistake from my order, but she immediately sent them out to me by next day delivery!

I am entering these into:-

A Crafty Mess – #1 Anything Goes
All Crafts Challenge – Oct/Nov: Anything Goes
Alphabet Challenge – T for Traditional Christmas
Anything But a Card Challenges – #41 Anything Goes
Christmas Stamping All Year Long – #36 Anything Goes (couldn’t see in the rules that I had to stamp, but please yell out if that is the case and remove me!)
Completely Christmas Challenge – #37 Anything Goes
C.R.A.F.T. – #284 Winter
Craft a Scene – Trees, Trees, Trees (the Santa word)
Crafty Calendar – Nov: It’s All About Christmas
Crafty Little Fairies – Nov: Not a Square
Creative Card Crew – #74 Christmas Joy
Decorate to Celebrate – #87 Anything Goes
Delightful Challenges – Patterned Paper (Noel Word)
Jelly Park Friends – Nov: Merry Christmas
Jingle Bells – The Great Outdoors
Fun With Shapes and More – #169 Christmas Is Soon
Kraftyhands Challenge – Nov: Christmas Cheer
Moving Along With The Times – Sparkle and Shine
My Besties UK – Anything Goes and Christmas
Not Just Cards – #6 Anything Goes
Paper Girls Challenge – #67 Mixed Media
QKR Stampede – #112 Let’s Talk Christmas
Rhedd’s Creative Spirit – Nov: Anything Goes
Sweet Stampin’ Christmas – Oct: Snowflakes (Hope my snow on all three words counts)
We Do Doobadoo – #18 Enhancing your Dies

DV 94 Getting Ready for Christmas

Our challenge this time around at Dream Valley is Getting Ready for Christmas, and we are sponsored by Robyn’s Fetish. I have used one of their lovely digis for my card.

My background is a fabulous freebie embossing folder which came with Cardmaking and Papercraft and also had three lovely stamps and some paper as well, which I am sure I will be using on another card.

The Robyn’s Fetish image was printed on my pc and coloured with copics. I then ran it through the Cuttlebug Snowflake embossing folder and glittered the snow dots on top. The mat is from Spellbinders, and the sentiment is a Penny Black diecut, which I have cut twice and then split to fit around the card, with the addition of another la, la, la to balance it out.

I am entering this into:-

Animal Friends – #20 It’s Cold
Card Mania – #59 Use Your Dies
Come and Get It – Winter Photo (the snow)
Die Cut Divas – Any Holiday Spirit
Incy Wincy Designs – Inspired by a Song, Movie or Book (Deck the Halls)
My Perfect Life – Festive 48 Week 42 Anything Christmas Goes
Pile It On – #44 Feeling Cool
Sailing Pineapple – #20 Newsprint/Wording/Sentiment/Quotations
Sentimental Sundays – #231 Anything Goes
Whoopsi Daisy – Add A Sentiment

ABC W Water

Our challenge at ABC today is W for Water.  We want to see beach/ocean/water themed creations. We are sponsored by Marianne Designs with a surprise package and also by The Ribbon Girl with a £10 voucher for their store.

My card was created with several different dies. The bulk of the ‘seaweeds’ are different Marianne foliage dies, apart from the double one which is Sue Wilson’s Pine Bough! The mermaid is a Tattered Lace die, bottom cut from and and overlaid onto shimmer paper, and then fussy cut out. The top just cut from white card and coloured with copics. The circle is also  Marianne die. Background is from Sue Wilson and embossing folder that looks like seaweed waving in the current. The seahorses and crabs are Joy dies which I die cut from shrink plastic and then after they were shrunk I drew some detail onto them. Have to apologise for the poor quality of my mermaid’s facial features, but an artist I am not!!!

I am entering this into:-

4 Crafty Chicks – #218 Anything Goes
Art by Miran – #18 Anything Goes
Brown Sugar Challenge – #118 Anything Goes
CCEE Stampers – #1444 Let’s Make a Scene
C.R.A.F.T. – #283 Fantasy
Crafty Catz – #253 Anything Goes
Delightful Challenges – Swirls and Curls
Fairytale Challenge – #103 Photo Inspiration (obviously I was inspired by the water)
GraphIt – #44 Water/Ice and Blue/Purple
Inspiration Destination – #5 Anything Goes