THE HUNTER QUEEN.

I recently took part in an 'inspiration swap' whereby you sent somebody something that was to inspire them to make something with it.  It could be anything from a die cut to a strip of ribbon or paper.  Or, as I was sent by my buddy Alison, some spanners and a hex key!!!!  Hmmmm, I thought, what am I going to do with spanners???  Well, 4 days ago, I finally came up with something.  This is The Hunter Queen and she stands 16 inches tall.

Everything was painted using acrylic paints and I used some techniques that I've learnt from my ANDY SKINNER workshops - the rusting from TimeWorn and her body and skirt panels from Book of Ruination.

 Her spear is a barbecue skewer with a bit of string tied round.  The spanners were rusted with acrylic paint and some texture medium.  I cut the vine using a Cheery Lynn die on the fantastic Grunge Paper.  Tim Holtz tissue stuff is what I covered the bottom of the dummy and the stand with. Her body strap and buckle were also made with Grunge Paper but her shoulder pads and skirt panels were made with ordinary card stock.  The crown is also Grunge Paper, painted and then rubbed with Treasure Gold waxing paste and finished with a few little gems.

Entering into:
CRAFT MY LIFE #5 - Anything but a card.
HAUNTED DESIGN HOUSE #165 - Skeletal remains. WINNER
ALLSORTS #204 - Anything but a card.
CREATIVE INSPIRATIONS PAINT - Anything goes.
THAT CRAFT PLACE - Altered item. (dress form)
CDAC  (June 30th) - Anything goes.

JUST PEACHY!

 I recently made this for a crafty buddy of mine.  I did a file folder class at a retreat and forgot to take the prize with me, so I asked Cath if she'd like some stash or something made by me.  She likes 'pretty' so I used the pink and peach shades.  The little bag holds  the post it notes, bookmark, pen and a couple of blank cards I made too.  I have no clue who the papers are by as I just went to the craft shop, chose them and used them without taking any notice of manufacturer.

 

Entering into:
CRAFT MY LIFE #5 - Anything but a card.
CRAFTY CREATIONS #219 - Pink and 1.
CRAFTY RIBBONS #44 - Anything goes with a ribbon.

SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW.......(sing everybody, you know the song, la la la).

First I'd like to say hi and welcome to my newest followers, Anne and Sarah.  It's lovely to have you.

It's week #165 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and this weeks theme is ' A Square Card  With Something Round On It'. Our sponsor is the lovely PINK GEM DESIGNS.  All the design team used images by PGD and I chose to use 'Rainbow Chloe'.  Now, on many occasions, myself and other teamies have made a card but actually forgotten that we have a theme to follow, lol. Duh!!!  This week, it was my turn to forget.  But..I figured that although this is an easel fold, it's actually a square card and for the something round, I stuck the buttons on.  They were an afterthought, but hey ho!  They work, ha ha.

When I got Rainbow Chloe I knew exactly what I wanted to do with her.  A couple of years ago, I'd bought the rainbow/clouds shape from The Cutting Cafe and have never used it.  It's actually a card template, but I resized just the one half in Photoshop to fit my card. I also cut extra clouds and stuck the top layer on with 3D foam. The rainbow paper is from a years old K & Co pad which I found completely by accident  when I was looking for a paper for something else, and I thought it was perfect for this.  The top 2 little clouds and the butterfly are Memory Box dies and the sentiment ticket was from the now gone, Crafty Pad.

Entering into:
ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE #42 - Make your Mark.
CRAFTING BY DESIGNS - Anything goes.
PENNY'S PAPER CRAFTY #124 - Anything goes.
SISTERHOOD OF CRAFTERS - Free for all.
BEARLY MINE #83 - Digi Days.
MAKE IT MONDAY #137 - Anything goes.

TIM HOLTZ TAGS - APRIL 2013

This is my take on Tim Holtz's tag for April.  As always, you'll have to go to HIS BLOG to see the techniques used.  I had to improvise a few things again.  I had no distress paints so I used ordinary acrylic paint and bottled metallic ink.  It worked OK I think.

I also had none of the transparent film he used, so I used ordinary heat resistant acetate which enabled me to shape the dragonfly wings a little.

Entering into:
Tim Holtz Tags of 2013 - April.

A WEDDING

I've recently spent two months scrapping a wedding album for my daughter Nicola and hubby Jonny so I thought I'd show you a few of my fave pages.  Originally, I was going to stick with neutral shades, but I knew the minute I started, that I had to use some colour and non-wedding papers instead and I think I made the right decision as Nic and Jonny love it.

This is my absolute fave page.  I don't know why, but I LOVE this (even if I'm blowing my own, lol).  I cut the title and the top left flower on my Cameo.  Cheery Lynn heart die and Marianne bird.

Anyway, that's it for now.  Maybe I'll show you some more next week.

Entering into:
613 AVENUE CREATE #16 - Anything goes.
CHALLENGES4EVERYBODY #18 - Anything goes.
CORROSIVE CHALLENGE #172 - Life's special occasions.

PRETTY PASTELS

Just a quickie post from me this week.  It's week #164 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and the theme is pastels.  Our sponsor this week is THE PAPER SHELTER and the prize for our winner is a $10 voucher.

I wasn't sure about the black music notes on this, but my teamies liked them, so I left them. The notes were cut on my Cameo along with the paper bow.  I used 2 Spellbinders dies and a Cheery Lynn.  My papers are Basic Grey 'Lily Kate'.

A BIT OF EMBOSSING..

I'm debating whether to tell you what I was presented with when I got up this morning????  Suffice to say that my dog wasn't well in the night.  Right through the bungalow from one room to the next from both ends.  YUK!  Bet that's made your day hasn't it? Ha, ha.  Can the day get better?  Hmmm, I shall see.  I am off on a craft retreat this weekend, so today I should start getting all my stuff ready.

Anyway, it's week #163 over at I ♥   PROMARKERS and this week's theme is embossing.  Heat or dry, it's entirely up to you.  We have two great sponsors. J & C CREATIONS and INKY IMPRESSIONS and the DT all used Inky Impressions images.  I used two, 'cause I couldn't decide which one to use. Umbrella Lili and Angelica Crafting.  For both cards, my embossing was done on the card itself.

The papers used on Lili were Echo Park 'For The Record' and on Angelica MME 'Fine and Dandy Girl'. On Angelica, I also used a Martha Stewart border punch, a Spellbinders corner die and a Cheery Lynn greeting die. The shading around the image was done with a pan's pastel.  Lili's raindrops were done with liquid pearls.

Entering LILI into:
CRAFTY RIBBONS #42 - Anything goes with ribbon.
CRAFT YOUR PASSION #157 - Water, water everywhere.
PAPER MAKEUP #83 - Water.
PAPER GIRLS #29 - April showers.
SQUIRREL AND FOX #41 - Inspired by song/movie (Raindrops keep falling on my head).
OPUS GLUEI #154 - Colour challenge (all bright or all pastel).
CATCH THE BUG April - Anything goes.
OSAAT #158 - Anything goes.
WAGS N WHISKERS #101 - April showers.
DRUNKEN STAMPERS #122 - Singing in the rain.

Entering Angelica into:
OPUS GLUEI #154 - Colour challenge (all bright or all pastel).
CATCH THE BUG April - Anything goes.
OSAAT #158 - Anything goes.
MY GRAFICO #148 - Anything goes.
MAKE IT MONDAY #135 - Anything goes.
BEARLY MINE #81 - Anything goes.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVE COLOUR?

This week over at I ♥ PROMARKERS, is #162 and the theme is What's Your Favourite Colour?  I'm not sure I've really got a fave, but I do like neutral tones, so that's what I've gone with.  Our sponsor is the fabulous LILI OF THE VALLEY and the prize is a £10 spend for the winner.

I used papers from the gorgeous 'Country Boutique' pad by Fancy Pants.  I cut the large frame from one of the sheets of ready printed papers. The border was made with an EK Success punch and the flower was punched from some matching papers.  Obviously, it was coloured with my Promarkers and the shading around the image was done with a Pan Pastel.  A few pearls finished it off.  Pretty simple really.

Entering into:
LITTLE MISS MUFFET - Anything goes.
DIGI STAMPS 4 JOY #64 - Anything goes.

ROCK YOUR BOOK.

With his Book of Ruination workshop, Andy gave us a bonus class - Rock your Book.  This is my first effort.  All the rusty bits stuck in the rock.  My craft room is fast being taken over by modelling paste, texture paints, plaster, bitumen and all sorts of other stuff.  Oh, and a few skeletons in the mix too.

RUINATION...

I am totally enjoying my 5th online workshop with Andy Skinner.  This one is called 'The Book of Ruination' and we've learnt yet more techniques to use in our altered art.  If you're in to this kind of stuff, you really should sign up for one of his workshops.

These are my first 2 projects.  The skelly had a bit of a rough time.  His suffered purple poison and the knife is still sticking out of his chest too!!!!  I think I rushed the inside of the book a bit, so might add something else or do it again.

This is already hanging on my wall.  I used one of those cheap MDF plaques you can get and used the same techniques as the book.  This one however, is finished better as the 'holes' are more prominent, as they should be.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!!!!!

Yeah right!  I don't think so, lol.  Aren't you all fed up of freezing, 'cause I know I am.
This week it's #161 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and our theme is Spring. Our sponsors this week  are the fabulous MARIANNE DESIGN and we welcome a new sponsor VISIBLE IMAGE. Both sponsors are offering 2 stamps to our two winners.

I wanted to try something different this week as I really didn't want to colour an image, so I thought I'd colour my die cuts instead.  I like the concept, but perhaps not the execution lol.  Dies are by Marianne and the corner stamp is by Dylusions.

TIM HOLTZ TAGS - MARCH

Here's my take on Tim's tag for March.  I thought I had a good stash of T.H. stuff, but I had hardly anything that he used for this, so had to improvise.

First off, I've got no movers and shapers, so I used a Photoshop shape for my bunny, saved it as a jpeg and then imported and cut it on my Cameo.  Then I used a nestie to cut the outer frame. My substitute for his tinsel bunny was flock, but then I decided to use micro beads instead.  I hand cut the grass from a sheet of paper that was actually a T.H. pad and as I had no metal flowers at all, I used a stick pin and some pearl sprays, but I coloured the pearls a bit with a Promarker.   I made the greeting banner myself too, just eyeballing the size and shape and then I used a rub-on word.
To be honest, I'm not that keen on this one, but as I promised myself I would do one each month, here it is.
Entering into:
Tim Holtz Tags of 2013 - March.

DistRESS IT UP!

Inspired by a vid I saw on YouTube, I've been stamping, inking and thoroughly enjoying myself.  I used stamps from LaBlanche, Elusive Images and Andy Skinner. The stencils are by Dylusions and the whole lot was coloured using my distress ink pads, the details being done with T.H. nibs.  Not much else to say really, lol, but it's been a massive change to do something bright and colourful without a Promarker in sight.  It's already stuck up on my wall.  I've also nearly finished my 1st and 2nd projects from my Book of Ruination workshop and with any luck will get my T.H. March tag done this weekend too.

And yeah, I know it's not Steampunk...but I wanted to use that stamp ~ so I did, ha ha.

Entering into:
MY GRAFICO #147 - Anything goes.
HOTSHOT CRAFTS #15 - Anything but a card.

WINK! WINK!

It's week #160 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS  and this week the theme is everybody's favourite again, Anything Goes.  So, as long as you use Letraset pens on your project, you can enter what you like.   We have two sponsors this week too so there'll be two winners.  J & C CREATIONS who are offering  a £10 voucher and CRAFTY SENTIMENTS who are offering 3 digi images.

For my card I used the Crafty Sentiment image 'Having Fun' from the Manga category.  My papers are from the MME pad Fine and Dandy Girl. The bunting was a strip of paper with a bit of fussy cutting.  I used a spellbinders die to back the image, a Cheery Lynn die that I cut up to make two swirls, a MS punch for the blue borders  and the sentiment is one of my own.

I've been playing with paints and stuff again as I'm doing the new ANDY SKINNER online workshop, 'Book of Ruination' and having great fun, albeit making a cock up here and there lol.  I'm also playing with my new LaBlanche stamps and distress ink pads and I still have my Tim Holtz March tag to make so hopefully, I'll have something else to show you soon.

Entering into:
CHARISMA CARDZ #11 - Die Cuts.
ADDICTED TO STAMPS #37 - Use Markers.
BEARLY MINE #78 - Anything goes.
TUESDAY ALCHEMY #52 - Anything goes.
MAKE IT MONDAY #132 - Anything goes.

BRUNNHILDE

Hellooooooo there.  Hope you're all well.  First I'd like to say welcome to my newest follower.  Unfortunately, blogger hasn't put them in order so I don't know who you are.  I'm glad to have you though.

This weeks challenge #158 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS is 'Anything but Square'.  That can be a bit of a challenge as square cards seem to be the norm for most of us at the moment.  Our sponsor is DOCTOR DIGI who has some really fun images, you should take a look if you've not seen them already.  My choice for this week was the very handsome lady, Brunnhilde.  Being a great fan of Opera, I couldn't resist her.  I had a plan - my card was going to be totally music themed, but somehow I went completely off track and ended up with this, lol.

Brunny is mounted onto 2 Spellbinders dies.  The flowers and lacy semicircles (large sunflower doily) are done with Cheery Lynn dies. (I absolutely love them). I used Marianne dies for my leaves and a Martha Stewart punch for my borders. The papers are from the divine pack from GCD studios 'Paris Nights'. Finally, I accented a few bits with some pearls and added one of my own sentiments.

Entering into:
CHEERY LYNN #70 - Doilies.
LITTLE RED WAGON - Get in shape.
THE PAPER SHELTER #102 - Punches and dies.
NUTCRAFTERS #38 - Something beginning with B.
CRAFTY SENTIMENTS - Pretty in pink.
CUTTIN' & STAMPIN' #9 - Use flowers.
PARTY TIME TUESDAYS #110 - Die Cuts.
TUESDAY THROWDOWN #137 - Lace and doilies.
CREATED WITH LOVE #31 - Anything goes. HONOURABLE MENTION
WHOOPSIDAISY - 2 patterned papers.

A4 MINI BOOK

I recently took part in a swap where we had to make a mini book from one sheet of A4 paper and this is what I came up with.  I absolutely love this idea.  There are only a couple of pages but they're a perfect size to decorate or put a photo on and they're brilliant for scrapbooking when you need a multi photo layout without cluttering up your page.  All of it was stamped...not a digi image or Promarker in sight, lol.  Any detail painting was done using distress ink.

I don't often give a supply list but I'm going to this time as it's quite extensive for a small project.
I used a double sided paper but actually forgot to write down what it was, lol.  It's plain on one side and striped on the other in shades of brown and cream which is visible inside the pocket and the back.
Other stuff:
Distress Ink Pads 'Brushed Corduroy and Black Soot'
Ranger Archival ink 'Jet Black'
Americana Antique White acrylic paint
Decoart one step crackle.
Tim Holtz...Ideology Chitchat
..................Adage Stickers
..................Salvage Stickers 'Lost and Found'
..................Paper String
..................Custom Fasteners
..................Masks 'Compass and Timeworks'
Crafty Individuals image
Stamps:
River City Rubberworks ~ Zettiology ~ Studio 490 ~ Stampers Anonymous (Tim Holtz collection) ~ Dylusions ~ Kanban ~ 7 Gypsies ~ Indigo Blu  and Andy Skinner.

After I'd cut and folded the book, I inked every page with the brushed corduroy as the paper was far too pale for what I wanted.  The little crackles on the background are done with an Andy Skinner background stamp, just bending it in my fingers and stamping randomly. The two cogs were painted and crackled and then I basically just got to stamping and sticking.

Entering into:
SO ARTFUL CHALLENGES (March) ~ Shades of brown.
MEMA'S CRAFTS (March) - Anything goes with a pocket twist.
ONE CRAZY STAMPER (March) - Anything goes.
HOTSHOT CRAFT #15 - Anything but a card.
INSPIRE ME FRIDAY # 98 ~ Anything goes.

PRESSIE TIME!

It's week #157 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and this week's theme is Lace and Pearls.  We have two sponsors this week too, MARIANNE DESIGN and STITCHY BEAR STAMPS, so there'll be two lucky winners next week.
The Stitchy image I chose to use is called, would you believe...FLUFF, lol.  Sorry, it just makes me chuckle.    It makes me think of my late Dad, he called everybody's girlfriends or whatever 'bits of fluff'.  Bless him.  Talking about my dad, he's been gone 13 years and not a day passes that I don't think of him and miss him.  He would have been 90 today so a drop of whisky is called for in his memory methinks.

My dotty background was done using a 6" Embossalicious folder. I used 2 Marianne dies to cut the black frame and a Marianne clock die.  The black lace and pearls are from my stash and I did a computer generated sentiment. The pearls on her bodice are done with White Opal liquid pearls.

Entering into:
DIVA'S BY DESIGN - Anything goes.
ANYTHING GOES CHALLENGE #87 - Make it manly.
BEARLY MINE #75 - Anything goes.
CRAFT ROOM CHALLENGE - Something for a man.
CREATIVE CARD CREW #30 - Birthday.
OSAAT #152 - Use a digi. WINNER
DIGITAL TUESDAY #199 - Birthdays.
PARTY TIME TUESDAYS #109 - Anything goes.
TTCRD Feb 26 - Mar 4 - Anything goes.
MAKE IT MONDAY #129 - Anything goes.
MY GRAFICO #146 - Anything goes.
PINK ELEPHANT #188 - Anything goes.
613 AVENUE CREATE #8 - Anything goes

UNDER THE WEATHER.

Whether it's weather or feeling poorly, either way I feel sorry for you.  I'm blurdy freezing.   Anyway, time for another card over at

 I ♥ PROMARKERS (#156) and this week the theme is Four Legged Friends.  Ok, I admit, mice aren't everybody's friends, lol but I think they're quite cute.  The ones I see are frozen though 'cause my Royal Python LUVS them, ha, ha.  Our sponsor this week is  J & C CREATIONS with a £10 online spend up for grabs for our winner.

I don't think I've made a get well soon type of card before, but I just adore this Paper Shelter image.  This is  my second attempt at a card with it mind, my first was a bit too 'in your face' for my liking.  And, I think my lighting was wrong 'cause the shadow on the foam mounted mouse look a bit strong.  My papers are from a Teresa Collins pad called Sweet Afternoon .  I have used Cheery Lynn, Nellie Snellen and Lea'Bilities dies and an EK Success border punch (although most of the border's hidden).  All I used then was one brad and a computer generated sentiment.

Entering into:
CRAFTING FOR ALL SEASONS #46 - Dies and Punches.

LADY ANNE'S (3rd Apr) - Anything goes.
CRAFTING BY DESIGN - Anything goes.
PENNY'S PAPER CRAFTY #115 - Anything goes.
TTCRD #2013-8 - Anything goes.
HOUSE OF GILLI #50 - Anything goes + pastels.
DIGI MAKEOVER #76 - Anything goes.
MAKE IT MONDAY # 128 - Anything goes.

LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE GIRLS!

Another week, another I ♥ PROMARKERS card.  This week, #155 is all about the girls.  We want to see all your lovely, frilly girly cards.  Our fabulous sponsor is SATURATED CANARY.  Who doesn't just adore Krista's images eh?   For my card, I used the image 'Honey'.

My papers are from Kaisercraft and are left over pieces from a scrapbook layout I've just done.  Honey was cut out and mounted on a 'nestie' circle.  The corner die is my favourite Memory Box and the lacy oval and leaves are Cheery Lynn.  Lace  and blossoms from my stash.  Anyway, not much else to tell you so that'll be that, lol.

Entering into:

CHARISMA CARDZ - Anything goes.

CRAFT US CRAZY #37 - Show us your favourites.

DELIGHTFUL CHALLENGES - Frilly. WINNER

LADY ANNE (20th Feb) - Anything goes.

WHIMSICAL DESIGNS - 3, 2, 1. TOP 3

DEEP OCEAN #45 - Letter B (bunny and blossoms), although I may be stretching the theme a tad, lol.

PARTY TIME TUESDAYS #107 - 3 & 3 VIP TOP 3

SHOPPING OUR STASH #89 - Birthday.

TUESDAY THROWDOWN #134 - Anything goes.