Happy!

Just a short post tonight, a tag which was sitting on my table just waiting to be used.  I had mopped up excess Dylusion ink with it and when I noticed a challenge with the title "Happy" I knew it would be just right!

So, this is what I came up with - "Karin" from Stampotique with her lovely smile!  I stamped her twice on a separate piece of cardstock, colouring and cutting out both images.  I glued the first image down, and with the second image, cut around her dress and popped it up using dimensionals.  I then stamped 'happy' and went around the edge with a dauber and 'stormy sky' distress ink, and finished the tag with some yarn.

I've entered "Karin" in the Stampotique Designers Challenge.

Happy crafting!

Butterflies and more .....

Butterflies   Beautiful little insects with gorgeous colours in different shapes and sizes, that occasionally fly into our garden (or would if we had any flowers to tempt them)!

I don't often put butterflies onto cards but on these journal pages suddenly there they are, fluttering around enjoying the warm weather.

There are three different butterflies on this page, all are from SU "Summer Solstice", "Cottage Garden" and "Elementary Elegance".  I used chipboard letters as stencils and sprayed around and through them using the Dylusion Inks and then when dry, outlined them to give them more clarity using a white Sharpie pen.  Lastly I doodled around the edges using a dot/dash pattern.

And more ....  by the time this page was finished it felt very busy with so many colours and stamps all mixed together, but I really like it!

I started off by trying to carefully add colour without it seeping through to the next page which was primarily pink.  So with a little spritz here and there and drying between colours all was good, until I used one too many colours on a still damp bit, and it seeped through!   Aaah,  not what I wanted happening, I would have to think about how to go about fixing a turquoise/yellow blob on a pink page!

But back to this page, I started inking a set of stamps from Stamping in Style  (SMP038) which is a bit vintage with poppies, script, butterflies and a bust, randomly here and there.

Next I added the large flower stamp from Dylusions "how does your garden grow" and painted inside the petals with Lemon Zest and the centres with Bubblegum Pink.  With the smaller flower from the set I stamped and coloured the border.

After a bit of thought on how to 'fix' the pink page, I decided to gently spritz some yellow and turquoise through a dotty stencil in three different areas and was quite happy with the result.  You can see the original  page with Ruby Rainbow on an earlier blog post.

I'm really looking forward to the new Dylusion inks, stencils and stamps which were released at CHA recently, arriving soon in our stores.  They look like lots of fun and my Dylusion journal is just waiting .... ! 

Happy crafting!

50th Birthday Card

This morning I thought I'd show one of the Belated Birthday cards which went in the mail last weekend.  Unfortunately I was in such a hurry to post them, I forgot to take a photo of the second one.

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I quite often find masculine cards hard to make, so I decided I would go with a collage style using stamps from Tim Holtz "Warehouse District".  There are 12 stamps in this set which makes co-ordinating easy-peasy!  I used Vintage Photo as the main colour with splashes of Stormy Sky and Peeled Paint, all Distress Inks.   Because I wanted this to be subtle,  I added the "50" to a few little gaps; and then to finish, mounted the quote onto dimensionals.   I love how easy it is to create an aged look just by daubering around the edges of cardstock.

The second card was made using the same techniques but using SU "Clockworks" instead.  Silly me for not taking a photo, oops! 

And now for something completely different .......

I have a begonia which came from my grandmother many years ago, which flourished until my cat knocked it off the window sill and it has struggled ever since, but a few weeks ago it put on a beautiful display so I thought I'd share it .......

I've always felt I have to keep this plant alive and it is a struggle at times, but it reminds me of grandma and her love of flowers.  She always had a vase of flowers in the house cut from the garden. She planted annuals of poppies, pansies and petunias and my favourite, snap dragons.  Always love to play with them and tell them how pretty they are, they have a nice perfume too!  Anyway, enough reminiscing .......

Happy crafting!

Butterflies in my Garden

I feel as though all I'm posting is my little Art Journal using all the lovely Dylusions inks and stamps from various companies, so I hope I'm not being too boring!  But hey, I'm having such fun getting inky and playing and loving how each page turns out, especially when I don't have anything in mind when I start - it just happens!

I've called this page "Butterflies in my Garden" but in reality, our garden doesn't have any flowers out at the present time, so any butterflies are pretty scarce.  Poor little things would melt in the heat anyway!

I started with some background sprays, followed by a "Bingo" stencil, using the negative on the other page so nothing goes to waste.  Next the bottom border was added followed by individual leaves on both sides.  Looking in my stamps for a suitable butterfly, I came across SU "Summer Solstice" which also has a leaf which fitted perfectly with the Dylusion leaves. 

The yellow butterfly is the negative of SU "Beautiful Butterflies Bigz" die which I had kept from Stamp Camp last year, thinking it may come in useful - and it has, it fits perfectly!  I just kept the butterfly outline in place and stamped through it with the flower and doodled in the body and feelers.

I outlined the leaves and butterflies with my white Sharpie pen, and lastly added the little black and white border to the top edge.

My little 6" x 6" journal is almost full, just a few more pages and it will be finished, THEN I'll start on my Dylusion Art Journal which I gave myself for Christmas.  I just know if I start it now, I'll never finish my little one and I'd really like to have it finished.  I'm finding that I have to be very careful now the pages are being filled as when I start the other blank side, some of the ink is seeping through to the already finished pages.  I've had to 'repair' one page which resulted in another colour being added, but was happy with how it turned out.  I don't think this little book was designed for Dylusion inks, probably more as a mini scrapbook.

Thanks for stopping by and looking.  I always enjoy reading your comments!

Happy crafting!

Pondering Rainbows

Well, here I am back again.  This is the most blogging I've done in one month ever (well almost), which goes to show how much can get done over the long summer days.   My apologies to those of you reading this who live where it is cold and snowy!

Still having fun with Dylusions, I picked a page where the ink had seeped through from the previous page, and using the same colours, started playing.

I sprayed Lemon Zest and Fresh Lime before adding Crushed Grape through a raindrop stencil I recently bought (which has 3 different shaped raindrops), flipping it over to use the negative side on the opposite page.

The umbrellas, gumboots, legs and eye were coloured using ink directly from the bottle with a little paintbrush.

Lastly the border was added, colouring every other square with a white Sharpie pen.  The Sharpie pen was also used for a little more definition around the stamps.

Stamps used on these pages are Ruby Rainbow, Pondering Petunia and Around the Edge, all from Dylusion.

I was really pleased with the way the colours all blended together leaving small areas of white showing through, and just by chance, after the pages were finished, I realised the "eye" appears to be crying!

Happy crafting!

Summer Heat

When I'm playing with my Dylusions, I usually do 2 double pages each time, mostly because the book I'm currently using is only 6" x 6" and 1 page just isn't enough.  So when I was playing the other day I started a page using yellows and oranges and my Dylusion leaves.

I also used the alphabet stencil (really happy with) and a doily stencil (cheap at a $2 shop - not happy with) on the background and coloured the leaves with yellow, red and a bit of pink Dylusion inks.  Then my mojo vanished !

Yesterday I sat and looked at this page again thinking it looked like a hot summer day, and decided I would just add some words.

As we had just encountered the hottest day on record, I decided I would call the page Summer Heat and add Friday's temperature and the date as a diary entry.  Then I added a little bit of doodling to add a border around the bottom.  I guess my doily could resemble the hot sun through the leaves!

I'm heading off to work today (hope we get a delivery of new craft goodies) so I'd better get myself organised.  Thanks for visiting and your lovely comments.

Happy crafting!

Time Ticks Past - Tic Toc

Phew!  Yesterday the city of Sydney and suburbs encountered the hottest day on record - officially, a whopping 45.8C in the city and 46.5C in Penrith.  Last night a very welcome southerly had blown up dropping the temperature by at least 20 degrees.  Today is cool and damp, natures airconditioning is lovely.  Unfortunately so much of Australia has been in the grip of terrible bush fires and the heat and wind has been playing havoc for all those fighting these awful fires.

Yesterday, my DS#2 decided to use his Bridge Climb voucher he had received for his 21st birthday last year.  The voucher is good for 1 year and it only had a couple more weeks before expiring, so although the forecast was for high temperatures, he and one of his mates headed off early to climb to the top of our famous landmark.  They both really enjoyed the experience and were just finishing their climb as the temperature soared.

I was having a play with my Dylusions again a couple of days ago, having bought another colour, only 3 more to go and I will have all 12 colours, although I know another 6 colours have just been released, along with some new Dylusion stamps and stencils, which should be coming soon to our stores  - I hope!

 I was also playing with two new stencils on these pages, too.  One is an alphabet with a flower border, and the other is cogs and wheels, you know, clock bits.

The stamps came from different sets, the clocks from Stampin' Up!, the border from Dylusions and the letters from my stash.

These two pages were really about playing with my new stencils and ink and randomly stamping and inking - love what you can create by just playing!

Today I've been catching up with making a couple of belated birthday cards and have just popped them in the post box.  Just as well birthdays last at least a month, hee hee!!!

Happy crafting!


 

School Days (with Ted)

Towards the end of 2012, we got a new shop counter at Alice in Paperland, which is so much nicer than the one we did have....... anyway, this counter has a glass display corner which is just wonderful for displaying some of the new goodies that arrive.  Yesterday we decided it was time to change our display using "Class Act",  one of  January's paper collections from Kaisercraft.  This collection is perfect for school pages, from little people just starting out to all the way through to big people at the end of Year 12.

So, I took one sheet of DSP home yesterday and had a play with it last night, and took the finished bits'n'pieces back this morning to add to the display.

One of my little furry friends came with me and asked if he could stay in the display counter, so he could show off his new backpack, pencil case and lunch box.

 One of the things I like about Kaisercraft papers is that on the other side of the edge that gives you the paper collection name, code number etc., is a border strip that co-ordinates with the paper.  The ruler strips you see on the three items above are from that edge border.

If you happen to be in the vicinity of Rydalmere, why not drop in to Alice in Paperland and have a look at all the wonderful goodies she has in the store.   She is located at 6 Bridge Street and is open Monday to Saturday, from 9am - 4pm. 

Happy crafting!

Doctor Who - TARDIS

From viewing some sneak peaks on other blogs, I understand there is a phone box image in SU's Sale-a-bration Catalogue which will be available soon, and when stamped and coloured blue, resembles the TARDIS from Doctor Who.  So, that got me thinking and I decided to challenge myself by coming up with a TARDIS using cardstock.

My first version was a bit tall, my second version was bigger but still too tall, however my resident Doctor Who guru gave his approval to the third version.

Cardstock is SU Night of Navy, Whisper White and edges daubered with Basic Black ink.

All I need to do is to be able to print just a wee bit neater, and I just realised I forgot to put the handles on the doors, oooooopps!  On well, I'm sure the sonic screwdriver would be able to open the doors if necessary!

Anyway I was happy with the end result but need some more Night of Navy cardstock before I could make any more.  My resident guru is off at a Doctor Who meeting tonight and I'm sure if he took some along with him, they'd sell like hotcakes!

Happy crafting!

Never-Ending Card

Here I am again ready to show the second version of the Never-Ending card from yesterday's class.  As there were 10 ladies in the class sitting at two tables, it would have been disastrous if I hadn't had two cards made up.

Card Front

First Flip

Second Flip

Card Back

These cards are reasonably easy to construct.  The card size we made in class is 14cm x 14cm but so long as you start with square cardstock, you can make it any size you want.  The height needs to be double the width.

Cut two cardstocks 14cm x 14cm.  Half each so you have four cardstocks 14cm x 7cm.  Score and fold each one at 3.5cm from each end so when folded they meet in the middle.  Flatten out and lay two cards next to each other in landscape orientation, then lay the remaining two cards on top in portrait orientation.  Turn the fold back and you will see a square (in the outer corners) bordered by the score lines.  Glue this square in all four corners being careful to line up the top and bottom cards.  I've used Tombow Mono Multi glue for this as I find it quite a good glue and it has both a fine and wide applicator.  Leave to dry for a few minutes, then carefully turn and fold along the score lines, discovering a new 'flip' each time you fold.  Keep folding in the same direction as it's very easy to get confused.  Decorate as desired being careful NOT to cover any score lines, otherwise your card wont work! 

Happy crafting!

Never-Ending Card

I've just returned from teaching my first class of 2013 at Pages 2 Scrap at Tuggerah on the Central Coast.  Ten lovely ladies all got to find out how to make a Never-Ending card using black cardstock as the base and the gorgeous "Birdsong" papers from Graphic 45.  We also used the co-ordinating stamps on ivory cardstock for added interest.   It is such a fun and easy card to construct, but takes a reasonable amount of time to decorate.   Anyone who receives one of these cards can't help but play with them as they are certainly intriguing.

Front

First Flip

Second Flip

Card Back

The card has four sides and after the last one, you flip once more and find yourself back at the front again.

 

As this one was in display in the shop, I made a second sample as it's always useful having another on hand, especially if there are a number of people in the class, so pop by again tomorrow when I'll be showing the other version.

Happy crafting!

2013 - Off to a good start!

At the beginning of January everybody went in different directions for a week.   DS #2 and #3 have just returned from 6 days of camp (and brought home lots of washing) I've just spent the last four days with my BFF and her family at my "home away from home" on the Central Coast.  DH headed to the cricket test match (Australia won!) and DS #1 had to go to work (oh well, someone has to keep the country ticking over).

My four days away were filled with crafting, relaxing, fish & chips at The Entrance, watching our favourite DVDs including Midsomer Murders, Keeping Mum, Mama Mia and St Trinians and did I mention CRAFTING?  My  BFF has a lovely big table and she has one side while I have the other.   I decided to work on my project, it's actually a 10 part book tutorial which Jane Tregenza is putting out each month using Graphic 45 paper collections.  I'd managed to get the first page finished months ago and since Jane posted Part 6 just after Christmas, I thought this would be a great opportunity to get going and catch up.   I am very happy to say that I finished another four pages and am now almost up to date, just need to pick up a few more papers and then I'll be able to start Part 6.

There were a number of birthdays in December and I try to make a card to suit each recipient, and since I've been on a bit of a Dylusion roll lately, here are a couple of cards that were posted off:

This one was made for my BFF's DD#1.  She thought it was great.

The next one was made for my dear friend, Karen:

and the inside stamped with "Karin" from Stampotique:

And lastly:

This was made for the daughter of one of my Mother's Group girls who was turning 21.

As you can see, I've also been 'on a roll' with the style of card I've been making, but they work and once the belly band is taken off, they stand and display well too.

So that's an update on what's been happening in my 'neck of the woods' lately.  I have to say it's been lovely being able to just 'play' instead of thinking ahead to classes (hmmm, got one coming up next week, eek) !!

Happy crafting!

2013 - A New Year Begins

Out with the old, in with the new - often said, but hey, a new day dawns just like every other day except this one has an added bonus - it's NEW YEAR'S DAY !!!

In our household, that means camp, cricket, friends, lazy days just chilling.  Phew!  Just what we need to recharge those empty batteries that only the end of a year can bring.  And 2012 has been draining ........

So, onward and upward to new creations, new projects, new challenges, new adventures, new ........ , so to start I've been playing with a double page in my 6" x 6" album:

Playing with Dylusions inks is sooo much fun and I've added my friend "Karin" from Stampotique as she has a lovely big smile and is just waiting to celebrate the New Year. 

The letters and numbers are a combination of two different stamp companies and the floating balloons are from an old discontinued SU "Birthday Best" (one of the first stamp sets I bought from them, an oldie but a goodie).

To finish this post, I just want to wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!   Enjoy the celebrations.

Happy crafting!