HOWDY DO!

Hello again peeps. I hope you've all had a good week. The weather's taken a bit of a turn hasn't it? I feel so sorry for all the flood victims again.

Anyway, this week is challenge #136 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and our theme is for a male. Easy peasy eh? Just make a card (or summat else) for a bloke or a little boy. Our sponsor this week, for the last time ever, is DIGI DOODLE SHOP. Judy is closing down in a weeks time and I wish her and her mum all the best for the future. I used Bodytot Cowboy for my card this week and my papers are from the Fancy Pants 'Country Boutique' pad.

The leaves are a Cheery Lynn die, I did my own sentiment and the ribbon and mesh are from my stash.
After I'd coloured his shirt, I really didn't like it much but didn't want to do another image and it took me some time to figure out what I could do. Anyway, I got my blender pen out with a skinny nib on and just drew some straight lines to give him a checked shirt. I think it's worked quite well. What do you think?

Entering into:
HOOKED ON CRAFTS #24 - Cards for Men.
PAPER SHELTER #83 - Anything goes.
SIMON SAYS STAMP - Anything goes.
CREATIVE CRAFT CHALLENGE - Anything goes.
DEEP OCEAN #35 - More than 2 colours.
PARTY TIME TUESDAYS #87 - Anything goes.
THROUGH THE CRAFTROOM DOOR #37 - Anything goes.
DIGI MAKEOVER #55 - Anything goes.
MAKE IT MONDAY #108 - Anything goes.

IT'S JUST THE JOB...

Coooeeeee! everybody. I hope you've had a good week. I can't believe it's Wednesday again already. Is it just me or does time really pass quicker when you get older? Oh well, not a lot we can do about it is there? lol.

This week over at I ♥ PROMARKERS the challenge is all about Occupations. We're sponsored by Nitwit Collections and all the DT used Nitwit papers. I chose to use papers from the 'Live and Learn' collection and my image is from the fabulous Kenny K. The sentiment is one of my own, the fence is a Cheery Lynn die, the ribbon has been in my stash for over a year and I just used 3 eyelets to finish it off.


While I'm here, I must show you this pic of my grandson. I'm actually doing a scrapbook layout at the moment of him asleep on the stairs the other week, and last night, my daughter posted this of him yet again, pmsl. He quietly sneaks out of his bedroom and ends up here! Bless him.



Entering card into:
CREATIVE CRAFT CHALLENGES - Anything goes.
OLDIE BUT A GOODIE - Use ribbon.
PASSION FOR PROMARKERS #167 - CAS.
SASSY CHERYL'S #133 - Die Cuts.
THROUGH THE CRAFTROOM DOOR #36 - Anything goes. WINNER
CARDS FOR MEN #19 - Going digital (image and papers).
HOOKED ON CRAFTS #24 - Cards for men.
MAKE IT MONDAY #107 - Anything goes.
TAMMY'S SCRAPIN CORNER #28 - Anything goes.
SQUIRREL AND THE FOX #26 - Anything goes.
TUESDAY ALCHEMY #32 - Colour challenge. TOP PICK

WHAT'S COOKING?

Another week has flown by and it's time for another challenge at
I ♥ PROMARKERS. This week, challenge #134 is all about cooking and our sponsor is again the fabulous JOANNA SHEEN with a £10 spend as our prize.


I used this fabulous BBQ digistamp from Just Inklined (love their digi's)and I think this guy's such a fun image. I've had him for ages but never had the chance to use him. My papers are from one of my new pads (yes, ONE of them..I'm addicted to 6 x 6 pads), Teresa Collins' 'Sweet Afternoon'. The sentiment is one of my own and I used the Cheery Lynn gate and corner dies.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm hoping to be able to get more scrapping done and I've been playing with my Robo too. I cut some gorgeous things yesterday, so have to find something to use them on now.

Entering into:
LADYBUG CRAFTS #1 - Anything goes.
ONE STOP CRAFT #198 - No floral embellishments.
BEARLY MINE #52 - Anything goes.
CREATIVE CRAFT CHALLENGES - All about the boys.
SWEET STAMPS #82 - For the guys.
HOOKED ON CRAFTS #24 - Cards for men.
MAKE IT MONDAY #106 - Anything goes.
CREATIVE INSPIRATION PAINT - Birthday.
DREAM VALLEY #40 - Something old (image) Something new (papers).
THE SQUIRREL AND THE FOX #26 - Anything goes.

DOWN THE BEACH.

It's been a while since I did any scrapping, but as I've made any cards I needed to make, I thought I'd do a couple of layouts of my grandchildren from my trip to Cyprus back in May. My papers are all Echo Park. Mia's layout used 'Paradise Beach' and Aidan's is 'Splash'. I know they don't particularly look like holiday layouts lol, but I'll get round to those too sometime, I'm sure.

There's no journalling on Mia's layout, which is rare for me, but I don't think it really needed any.


I totally love these pics of Aidan, and this layout definitely called for journalling which is:


Looking at you staring out to sea, these photos make me think that you look like you have the weight of the world on your little shoulders. Where do you go to Aidan? Where do you go in your dreams? Do you travel to distant lands with mystical creatures or is your little brain still not big enough to take you anywhere other than where you are now? How much do you know about what’s out there? Just because you can’t talk yet, it doesn’t mean you don’t know things. Do you dream of pictures you’ve seen, or dogs you’ve played with or your mummy and daddy or your Grandma? Who do you see in your sleep Aidan? There is so much in the world and you know so little. But, you will discover and learn all manner of things as you grow up. Your learning won’t stop when you’re a man either Aidan, life is one big learning curve and there is always something new to discover. Most importantly Aidan, I hope you learn to love. Love your family and your friends. Love nature and animals. Love books. Love life, Aidan………1st May 2012 - Cyprus.

Entering into:
GEM OF A CHALLENGE #54 - It's a Boy Thing.
ONE STOP CRAFT #198 - No Floral Embellishments.
JELLYPARK - All about the Children.
JACKSONS DIGITAL EXPRESSIONS #21 - Anything but a card.
BEARLY MINE #51 - Anything but a card.
INSPIRE ME FRIDAY'S #75 - Anything goes.
PAPERCRAFTING JOURNEY - Anything goes.
MY MUM'S CRAFTSHOP #73 - Anything goes.

HANG OUT THE BUNTING...

for challenge #133 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS, which is, as you've probably already guessed, to use bunting. It seems to be a really popular thing on cards at the moment. Our fabulous sponsor this week is LILI OF THE VALLEY and the prize is a £10 voucher to spend in store.


I chose to use this cute image and colour it with mostly the Spring Promarker pack, as the colours just fitted perfectly the papers I'd chosen. They're from the absolutely gorgeous Prima 'Sun Kiss' collection, I just love the little bees. The frame is a Lea'bilities die, the butterfly is Cheery Lynn and the border is a Martha Stewart punch. The sentiment is one of my own and I just added a few pearls to finish it off.

Entering into:
CELEBRATE THE OCCASION #78 - Include a Bee.
DEEP OCEAN #33 - Things with wings.
PAPELITOS #10 - Anything goes.
PAPERTAKE WEEKLY - Anything goes.
THROUGH THE CRAFTROOM DOOR #34 - Anything goes.
TUESDAY ALCHEMY #30 - Anything goes.
CRAFTY CARDMAKERS #74 - Winged things.
TAMMY'S SCRAPIN CORNER #26 - Anything with wings.
MAKE IT MONDAY #105 - Anything goes.
LADYBUG CRAFTS #1 - Anything goes.

GOING DUTCH!

There's a new challenge blog out there: THE CANARY BLOG and if you follow them and commit to their challenge this week, you can have a free Krista Smith image. I love Krista's images, so had to have a go. I chose to go CAS for this one. I cut the Cheery Lynn french lattice and stuck it to some plain white card and then cut my image with my Spellbinders Floral Oval and that, as they say, is that, lol.

PASS THE CIGARS..

Altering cigar boxes is one of my fave things to do, and I hadn't done one for ages, but I've just hosted an altering swap, so of course, I had to get one of my boxes out again.


I started by painting the whole box with a coat of gesso.


Knowing that I was going to cover the box with paper, and choosing a burgundy red colour paint, I only painted around the edges.


I cut my chosen papers to size, but they were too pale for what I wanted, so I got my distress ink pads out and inked the paper until it was much darker.


Then, I stuck all the paper on the box. I used a matte gel medium to stick it all down as I think it sticks better than other glue for this type of thing.
When the inside was done, I glazed it all over with a gloss gel medium and let it dry before doing the outside. This is nearly the finished inside, the only difference is that once I'd added the fastener, I put a strip of lace across the top of the lid to cover the brads.


I decided that I wanted to collage the lid so I rooted through my stash to find bits that I thought might go. There's some text pieces I tore out of an old book and inked, some Tim Holtz adage tickets and the rosettes are made from the Tim Holtz die. The heart and large bottom right image, I got from ebay some time ago and this is the first time I could bring myself to actually use them lol, and the key and corners are from my fairly large collection of both. The postage frank is chipboard that I painted. I also found a couple of rolls of 7gypsies tape at the bottom of my box, and as it was a deep red, I thought a bit of that would go rather well too. Once everything was stuck in place, I glazed all over the outside with my gloss gel medium to enhance the colours and add some protection. Finally, to finish it off, I added some cream lace all around the edge.



I hope you like it. Pity that I had to part with it, lol but it now resides, happily I'm told, in Yorkshire. :o)

Entering into:
JACKSON'S DIGITAL EXPRESSIONS #20 - Anything goes. TOP 3
SHOPPING OUR STASH #66 - Use your fave things.
SCRAPALICIOUS - Anything goes.
LEJ DESIGNS #18 - Anything goes.
PARTY TIME TUESDAYS #83 - Anything goes.
THROUGH THE CRAFTROOM DOOR #33 - Anything goes.
MAKE IT MONDAY #104 - Anything goes
CRAFT MY LIFE - Not a card.. FEATURED & WINNER
AMUSING CHALLENGES - Anything goes.
CATERED CROP - Distress it.

GOING RETRO!

Time for challenge #132 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and this weeks theme is everybody's fave again...ANYTHING GOES. Nightmare for us DT's though with the shed loads of commenting, pmsl. Our sponsor this week is DIGI DOODLE SHOP and all the design team used one of her images. I chose 'Bell Bottoms'.


She's a bit bright and in your face, but colours were bright back then. I remember I used to have a bright green satin jacket, green and yellow bell bottoms and bright yellow platform sandals and thought I was the dog's wotsits, lol. I was in the WRAF at the time and remember wandering around camp in them.

One of the reasons I coloured her trousers red though, is because I also had a pair just like them. The best thing though is that I made them myself. I was at school, so about 14 or 15 and it was the first pair of trousers I'd made and if I say so myself, they were excellent and I wore them to death, lol.

The papers I used for this were from my new pad, Basic Greys 'Konnichiwa' and the white and orange die cuts are using a Marianne Die. The leaves and blossom were using a Memory Box die, but to be honest, I didn't have much of a clue how to put the flower together. Layering the petals was obvious, but I reckon I could have shaped them better or chose different layers. Still, next time eh? I must do something about my photography too. In real life, the skin tones look darker and there's plenty of shading, but it never seems to show when I upload!

Entering into:
EMERALD FAERIES #30 - Punches and dies.
EVERYBODY ART #202 - Anything goes.
JACKSONS DIGITAL EXPRESSIONS #20 - Anything goes.
WHOOPSIE DAISY - 2 Patterned Papers.
LEJ DESIGNS #18 - Anything goes.
PARTY TIME TUESDAY #83 - Anything goes.
MAKE IT MONDAY #104 - Always anything goes.
BASIC GREY #75 - Anything goes.

JUST ZOOMING BY..

I've not had much time for crafting or visiting blogs this last fortnight, but I have had a fabulous two weeks with my gorgeous granddaughter, Mia. She's gone now and the house is very quiet, but I can get back to normal and craft away to my hearts content. Mind you, we did do a bit as she loves to craft too.

Anyway, onwards. Challenge #131 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week is Transport and our sponsor is the fantastic PAPER SHELTER. Oooooh, I love her stuff, you must take a look if you're one of the few that have never heard of them. I used her super cute giraffe in a car and my papers are Basic Grey's 'Oliver'. The sentiment is one of my own designs.


There's really not a lot to this card and this was in fact, my 2nd attempt... mojo seems to have gone missing, or maybe it's with all the toilet roll tubes Mia and I were painting and sticking together, lol.

Entering into:
THE PAPER SHELTER #78 - Anything goes.
BASIC GREY CHALLENGES #75 - Anything goes.
JDE #19 - Anything goes.
BEARLY MINE #49 - Anything goes.
PAPELITOS #8 - Masculine.
SASSY CHERYLS #129 - Happy Birthday.

A BIT OF THE OLD STUFF...

Sorry I'm a bit late with my posting this week but I've been out every day having a fabulous time with my gorgeous 5 year old Granddaughter, Mia.


Isn't she just gorgeousness itself?

Anyway, challenge #129 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week is VINTAGE. One of my favourite styles. We are sponsored this week by our very own lovely KAREN and the prize is a selection of beautiful bead pins.


For my card I used an image from 'Free Vintage Digital Images' and my papers are from the Glitz 'Pretty in Pink' pad. The sentiment is one of my own and I just added a few pearls and a bit of lace to finish it off. Not much more to say about it really, lol.

Entering into:
PAPERCRAFTING JOURNEY - Anything goes. (ends 12th Sept).
DIVA BY DESIGNS #47 - For a female.
FRESHLY BREWED #108 - Birthdays.
JACKSONS DIGITAL EXPRESSIONS #17 - Anything goes.
PAPERTAKE WEEKLY - Anything goes.
CRAFT YOUR PASSION #122 - Anything goes.
FASHIONISTA #5 - Birthday
MAKE IT MONDAY #101 - Anything goes.
PIXIE DUST STUDIO - Vintage.
CRAFTS AND ME #96 - Use a digi.
CHALLENGE UP YOUR LIFE #75 - Everything goes.

'AVE A BEER!

Not a lover of beer myself, but I wouldn't mind a pint of Cider ~ preferably Strongbow, lol. Won't be much crafting time for me for the next week or two as my daughter and grandchildren are coming today and when they fly back to Cyprus, my granddaughter is staying with me for a while. Woohoo!!!!!

Anyway, this week over at I ♥ PROMARKERS, challenge #128's theme is SPOTS & STRIPES. Our sponsor is the lovely JOANNA SHEEN with a £10 online spend up for grabs.


My papers are from Glitz 'Vintage Blue' and my image is from Papelito. Can't wait to use a couple of the other freaky images I've got ha, ha. I used a Martha Stewart deep border punch and some buttons to finish it off and the sentiment is one of my own.

Entering into:
OSAAT #124 - Use a digi.
BEARLY MINE #46 - Anything goes.
JDE #16 - Anything goes (optional sketch).
PARTY TIME TUESDAYS #79 - Anything goes.
STAMPING BOUTIQUE #44 - Anything goes.
KABOODLE DOODLES #130 - Birthday.
MAKE IT MONDAY #100 - Anything goes.
PAPER PLAYTIME #80 - Anything goes.
PAPER PRETTIES #50 - 2 or more DP's.
TWISTED TUESDAY #17 - Free for all.
DIGI DOODLE SHOP - Let's get stripey.
PAPELITOS #5 - Anything goes. WINNER

INK PAD STORAGE UNIT

Fed up with rooting around in a plastic box for the inkpad I wanted, I've been playing with my mountboard again. If you want to see how I made it, you can find my tute at MAKE SOMETHING NICE.

LET'S PLAY TAG!

I've just hosted a tag swap and the brief I gave was to make 2 tags with a vintage and/or distressed theme. These are my two that are now winging their way (well, in the back of a post office van) to 2 other places in the country.


Each tag is 6" tall. They were covered with some paper from a huge K & Co pad I've got. Everything was inked with distress ink pads Walnut Stain and Brushed Corduroy. I stamped the honeycomb grid and the birds using another of my new Kaisercraft Stamps (sheesh! I love Kaisercraft). Hope and Dream are Tim Holtz tickets and the boy is a Tim Holtz Ideaology 'Lost and Found' sticker. Dream and the chipboard key (inked with walnut stain) were crackle glazed. The text strips I did myself on my pooter and the other bits were from my stash.

Entering into:
TUESDAY ALCHEMY #24 - Very Vintage. TOP 3
JACKSON'S DIGITAL EXPRESSIONS #15 - Anything goes. DIGI WINNER
CRAFTS & ME #94 - Anything goes.
SIMON SAYS STAMP - Anything goes.
TOTALLY STAMPALICIOUS - Texture.
ANYTHING GOES #72 - Let's not be square.
PAPERTAKE WEEKLY - Make your own.
SHOPPING OUR STASH #61 - Something new.
STAMP N' PLUS #2 - Anything goes.
ART WITH NO BOUNDARIES - Anything goes.

GOING FOR GOLD!

It's challenge #127 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and this week we want to see Gold, Silver and Bronze on your cards. Just the one or all three, whatever is fine. Sponsor is DIGI DOODLE SHOP with a $10 spend for our winner. The DT all used one of DD's images.

I chose to do something completely different for me and used one of the Fancy Frame digi stamps. Apart from the colouring and cutting out, it's a very simple card. Backed with gold sheen card and with a gold ribbon from a chocolate box, I think and that's it. I added my own sentiment inside the frame. I know just who's birthday this is for too. ;o)



Entering into:
DIGI DOODLE SHOP #117 - Anything goes.
MAKE IT MONDAY #99 - Anything goes.
PAPER PRETTIES MONDAY CHALLENGE #49 - CAS.

UP THE AMAZON...

Well, not the river of course, but Amazon online marketplace. I love Amazon and get loads of stuff from them including lots of books and I always throw the packaging away. But this time, I thought I'd do something else and I turned one of the cardboard book box/envelope things into a folder. First, I opened it right up and painted it all over with gesso.


I took a ring binder and placed the holes where I wanted them and then took it off to paint it. I also made a spine from mountboard to stick on when it was finished - a: for strength and b: to cover the brads attaching the ring binder.



Using acrylic paints, Dylusions inks and stencils and digi images from Octopode (enlarged to 8") and Ten Two Studios I decorated it. I bought a pad of ready prepared canvas sheets and then added them and now I've got myself a nice, bright painting book.

FRONT

INSIDE

The flap on the bottom right has been stuck down to make a pocket.

Entering into:
DIVA'S BY DESIGN #44 - Anything goes.
PERFECT SENTIMENT #41 - Anything goes.
CRAZY AMIGO'S - Free theme.
JACKSON'S DIGITAL EXPRESSIONS #14 - Anything goes with colour medium.
ART WITH NO BOUNDARIES (JULY) - Anything goes. FEATURED
MAKE IT MONDAY #98 - Anything goes.

GOING ROUND IN CIRCLES.

Time for another challenge over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and this week, #125 it's CIRCLES, so we want to see lots of the round things on your card. Our fabulous sponsor this week is NITWIT COLLECTIONS. Now, I rarely, if ever use digi papers but of course, I had to this week and I must say, they print out exceptionally well. The papers I used for my card are 'Buds and Blossoms Too'. It's a nice play on words 'cause not only is there floral papers in the collection, there's also buds i.e. friendship papers! Best buds...get it? lol. If you've never been to Nitwits, you really should go and look, there's a massive selection of papers and kits.


I sat Tilda on a bit of ribbon that I'd wrapped around the mat, the sentiment is one of my own, the leaves were cut on my Robo, I made the flower very simply with 2 punches and I finished off with a few pearls and brads.

Entering into:
ATCS/CARDS WITH ATTITUDE #18 - Anything goes.
FAT PAGES WITH ATTITUDE #18 - Anything goes.
FUN WITH SHAPES AND MORE #113 - Summer Birthday.
MAKE IT MONDAY #97 - Always anything goes.
INSPIRE ME FRIDAYS #67 - Anything goes.
JACKSONS DIGITAL EXPRESSIONS #12 - Anything goes.
STAMP N PLUS #2 - Anything goes.
MEMA'S CRAFTS - Anything goes.

SAME OLD SONG AND DANCE

This week, I am proud to be guest designer over at GUYLOU'S INIMITABILITY and the theme is something that relates to music or dance. The prize is a $10 gift certificate to spend in store and a guest designer spot too. I combined two of Guylou's images to make my card - "Karaoke Chuck" and "Serena Plays her Guitar" both of which are available from the store HERE.

I used some musical papers that were in my stash which I inked with Walnut Stain distress ink. The clef and notes I cut on my Robo, the 'flower' was cut with a Tim Holtz die and I finished it off with some black gems, a doily and a strip of ribbon.

Entering into:
CRAFTY CREATIONS #178 - Free for all.
PENNY'S CHALLENGES - Anything goes and blog hop.
CELEBRATE THE OCCASION - Happy Birthday

HIS MASTER'S VOICE...

Hellooooo!! Happy 4th July to all our American friends out there.

It's challenge #124 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and this week's theme is MUSIC. Our sponsor is the lovely JOANNA SHEEN with a £10 spend in store for the winner.

I recently bought a few new stamps and amongst them were 3 Kaisercraft ones, this one included. I love them as I really like an eclectic mix of images in one. As soon as I saw this one, I thought of the little dog that used to be on the old gramophones.


My papers are from the totally gorgeous Blitz pad 'French Kiss', the lacey border is a Cheery Lynn Die and a Tim Holtz die made the flower. I cut the music note on my Robo and then finished it off with a strip of ribbon and some black gems. I'm often not enamoured by some of my finished cards, but I actually like this one, lol.

Entering into:
LEJ Designs #10 - Fabulous flowers.
EMERALD FAIRIES #27 - Birthdays.
CREATALICIOUS #35 - Anything goes.
CUPCAKE CRAFTROOM - Layers.
MEMA'S CRAFTS - Anything goes.
JACKSON'S DIGITAL EXPRESSIONS #11 - Anything goes. FEATURED
PAPERTAKE WEEKLY - Anything goes.
STAMPNPLUS #2 - Anything goes. TOP 3
CRAFTY BLOGGERS #1 - Anything goes.
MAKE IT MONDAY #96 - Anything goes.
VICTORINE ORIGINALS #37 - Birthdays.

FANCY A GLASS?

Hiya peeps! Another Wednesday already and another challenge over at I ♥ PROMARKERS. This week it's #123 and it's everybody's fave - ANYTHING GOES! I can hear the huge sighs of relief from you all, lol. You didn't like last weeks 50's theme did you? ha ha. Our sponsor is DIGI DOODLE SHOP with a $10 spend in the store. I used the image 'Glass of Wine' available from the store.


My papers are from the Glitz pad 'Vintage Blue'. I've also used 2 Cheery Lynn dies, flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, seam binding, pearls, pins from our lovely Karen and the leaves were cut on my Robo.

Entering into:
CREATIVE CARD CREW #13 - 1,2,3. (1 image, 2 pins, 3 papers)
JACKSON'S DIGITAL EXPRESSIONS #10 - Anything goes.
CELEBRATE THE OCCASION #68 - Birthday.
PARTY TIME TUESDAYS #74 - Anything goes.
LOVE TO CREATE #21 - Anything goes.
BUNNY ZOE'S #25 - Girls, girls, girls.
ALLSORTS #160 - Any die will do.

BLOOM.

My latest art journal page. To me, this phrase says 'make the best of what you've got' so I've not decided yet whether to put a bit of personal journalling on or not.
Background done with acrylic paints, including some stencilling with a plastic veg bag piece, stamps by Elusive Images and a little bit of colouring with Inktense pencils.


Entering into:
MAKE IT MONDAY #95 - Anything goes.
ART WITH NO BOUNDARIES - Anything goes. FEATURED
INCY WINCY - Anything goes.
LOVE TO CREATE #21 - Anything goes.
STAMP AND CREATE - Bold and bright.
TAMMY'S SCRAPIN' CORNER #16 - Anything goes.

A JOURNAL JOURNEY

A couple of years ago, I handmade and bound myself a book. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but in the end, decided to use it as an art journal and I really liked the Rusty Pickle paper I'd used to cover it. I did about 2 pages and then forgot all about it.


This last week, I decided to take up journaling again but now, I really didn't think the cover was suitable as styles have changed so much. So...I altered it.

Front Cover.

Back Cover.

Now, I love it, lol. I so enjoyed doing the cover, that I've also done a couple more pages as well. All my backgrounds were done with acrylic paints (have yet to try spray inks) I used brushes and my fingers to blend it. Paint has also been flicked and thrown on to make some of the marks. I took the bull by the horns when I decided to doodle and hand write things too, lol. I'm not sure if I like that part, but hey! it seems to work OK. :o) Images by Dyan Reavely and Ten Two Studios. I also used some background stamps by Andy Skinner.


This 2nd page has Sylvia Plath's Mirror poem written on it. My fave all time poem and I'm sure one that many of, as we get older, can relate to, lol.


Entering into:
JACKSON'S DIGITAL EXPRESSIONS #9 - Anything or Altering.
CRAFTS AND ME #89 - Anything goes.
SIMON SAYS STAMP - Anything but a card.
TANDA STAMPS #198 - Splish,Splash,Splat. (plenty of that here, lol).
ART WITH NO BOUNDARIES - Anything goes and/or Performing Arts.
MAKE IT MONDAY #94 - Anything goes.

BACK TO THE 50'S

I'm suffering here. I had to have a tooth out this morning and it was a difficult one. The anaesthetic is wearing off now and boy, am I sore.

Anyway, it's challenge #122 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week and the theme is the 50's. Our sponsor is LETRASET with a pack of Promarkers for the winner. Not having a lot of imagination, I really struggled with this, but then...Just Inklined provided some free images, including this one of Liz on her bike. I thought maybe she was happy about being queen (then thought, maybe not) but as I couldn't think of anything else, I put the date 1952 on some bunting and that's pretty much it, lol.

You should pop over to the blog and have a look at the rest of the teams cards though. They've all come up with some brilliant takes on the theme.


Entering into:
CRAFTS AND ME #89 - Anything goes.
INKY IMPRESSIONS - Red, White and Blue.
OLDIE BUT A GOODIE - Banners or Bunting (embossing folder is old).

WHAT A HOOT!

A week or so ago, I spent the day with my grandchildren and I took them to a little wildlife park that I discovered while googling for somewhere to take young children. Mia's 4 and Aidan is 2. Anyway, we had a lovely time and this is the first of my layouts from that day.


Entering into:
HAPPY SCRAPPERS #2 - The Great Outdoors.
INSPIRE ME FRIDAYS #63 - Anything goes.
FOREVER FRIENDS #38 - Anything goes with an animal.
LITTLE MISS MUFFET #37 - Loads of layers. (not sure if LO's are eligible)
FRESHLY BREWED #100 - Anything goes.

VIVA LAS VEGAS

Well, it looks like the weather has taken a turn for the worst again doesn't it? What happened to Flaming June? Still, I did manage a full day's gardening on Sunday. I also managed to fit in cooking a dinner. So what? you may ask. Well, at 5.30 I dished up this lovely looking (and smelling I may add) casserole, only to bite into a solid carrot and potato. My oven broke half way through cooking!!! lol. Microwave meals for a while now methinks, lol.

Anyway, onwards. I am honoured this week to have a GDT spot over at JACKSONS DIGITAL EXPRESSIONS. *inserts big smiley* This week they have a challenge theme 'Inks & Such' so I used plenty of inks on my birthday tag. The image is one of Robert Jacksons that I chose as part of my prize last week. These images are really all African American but I've coloured my lady white (only because I don't know how to colour any other skin tone, lol).


My background is done with my distress ink pads and then run through my bug with T.H's bingo embossing folder. The corners are stamped with a Paper Artsy stamp. I did the text strips myself, printed them off and then inked them too. The image is coloured with Promarkers. The other embellies were in one of those Jolie's packs that must have been in my drawer for about 6 years and I've never had a use for it. I've still got the slot machine left too, lol. Do you remember when these packs were the best thing since sliced bread? How tastes change eh?

Entering into:
MAKE IT MONDAY #93 - Anything goes.
LEXI'S CREATIONS #67 - Birthday.
CRAFT YOUR PASSION #114 - Anything goes.
SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW - Anything goes.
CRAFT PUNKED #23 - Birthday. WINNER
GUYLOUS INIMITABILITY - Large tag. WINNER
INSPIRE ME FRIDAY #62 - Anything goes.

WHAT ARE LITTLE GIRLS MADE OF?

It's week #120 over at I LOVE PROMARKERS and this week the theme is all about little girls. Sugar and spice and all things nice!!!! Hmmmmm, maybe lol. Anyway, you have to make a card (or other project) for a little girl. Our sponsor is LILI OF THE VALLEY and the prize is a £10 gift certificate.


I had a little trouble with this card. First off, I don't have any LOTV stamps, so a google search sent me to ebay and found me a pack of 20 that had been a free gift in a magazine some time ago. God knows what card they've been printed on, but it's appalling and certainly no good for Promarkers. The colours bled really badly and it took me an absolute age to lift all the mess with my blender pen. It's also a little TOO pink methinks, lol.

I have used dies by Memory Box and Cheery Lynn and the papers are from a pad that a friend bought me 4½ years ago for my baby Granddaughter layouts. Some flowers, ribbon and pearls finished it off.

Entering into:
CRAFT ROOM CHALLENGE - Birthday.
JACKSONS DIGITAL EXPRESSIONS #7 - Anything goes.
OLDIE BUT A GOODIE - Anything goes. (papers are over 4 years old)
PAPERTAKE WEEKLY - Anything goes.
CRAFTY BOOTS - Anything goes.
MAKE IT MONDAY #92 - Anything goes.
MAKE MY MONDAY #52 - Birthday with pearls.
OOH-LA-LA CREATIONS #106 - Make it girly.
CUTIE PIE CHALLENGE #19 - Die cuts and punches.

WHAT'S IN THE BOX.

Following on my Andy Skinner's Book of Secrets workshop, when I made THIS, I've altered another box. I had a few problems with this one, the paint just wouldn't do what I wanted it too, lol. Bad workman - blaming tools springs to mind, ha ha.

I used Decoart Traditions and Americana acrylic paints in Red Iron Oxide, Deep Burgundy and Glorious Gold. Gesso and Texture medium gave me the textures. The stuff on the lid are some Tando Creative compasses and cogs I had left over from my last box and Tim Holtz cogs from his Ideaology range. The red text tape is 7 gypsies gaffer tape and the paper inside was a piece buried in my stash (both of which I've had for a couple of years) which I inked with Ranger Distress Ink 'Aged Mahogany' and the stamps used are Andy Skinner's 'Steampunk Accessories' and 'Tempting Textures'.








Entering into:
JACKSONS DIGITAL EXPRESSIONS #6 - Anything goes with some Tim Holtz. WINNER
BUNNY ZOES #24 - Anything goes.
QUOTH THE RAVEN #9 - Red death. (not sure it fits the challenge, but it IS red?)
JUST KEEP ON CREATING #2 - Anything goes.
SCRAPALICIOUS - Alter something.
EVERYBODY ART #195 - No cards.
TOP TIP TUESDAY - Use something old (papers and gaffer tape).
FASHIONABLE STAMPING #22 - Steam Punk.