Leprechaun Monster

This weekend just gone, I spent a lovely Saturday at my second Craftanoon which was just as much fun as the first one (except my friend wasn't with me as she was unwell - hope she's feeling heaps better soon).  As it's a distance away from home and I was just a tad concerned I'd get lost, my DH very kindly drove me there, and then spent the day Geocaching.  Unfortunately later in the afternoon there was a tremendous thunder storm which blew up very quickly with torrential rain which he got caught in and was rather sodden.  Luckily he had a change of clothes with him (but no socks)!  We crafters, on the other hand, were happily undercover in a community hall although we had to shut the doors as the rain was blowing in.  I haven't seen rain like it in quite a while!

So, what am I showing you today?  As today is Saint Patrick's Day, something GREEN I think!

Feathery Monster has decided he would like to be a Leprechaun although he's not going to be very lucky as he only has a 3 leaf clover (oops).  Never mind, he looks quite happy donning his top hat (hee hee).

The background is a blend of 'peeled paint' and 'peacock feathers' Distress Ink.  Feathery Monster is coloured with 'peeled paint' and a water brush, his top hat with 'peacock feathers' lightly sponged to build up the colour.  The 3 leaf clover is a heart punch (SU) and also coloured with 'peeled paint'.  A piece of washi tape for him to stand on and some googly eyes and he's all finished!

I'm entering the challenges at Stampotique Designers Challenge
                                             Wicked Wednesday ATC

Hopefully I'll be back again later in the week to show you what I was working on at Craftanoon.

On Friday I'm flying to Melbourne with "the Girls" from my Mother's Group for the weekend.  We are celebrating (although just a wee bit early) 25 years together this coming October, but trying to tee up 7 families with dates that don't clash means an early celebration.   I'm really looking forward to spending the whole weekend with these fabulous friends - eat, shop, chat, eat, chat, sightsee, eat, chat ........ get the idea? LOL !


Happy crafting!

Outside the Box with the Travelling Monsters!

Phew!!!  Those two rascally little monsters decided to take a sight-seeing tour between here and their final destination of Canada.  I'm sure they will have lots of tales about their adventures, but honestly, 4 WEEKS? Didn't I tell them to go straight there?  Oh well, I'm very relieved to know they have arrived safely!

So, Key Keeper monster is now in charge of his very own garden and isn't he chuffed about that?  And this is how it all came about.

For the second month of the Stampotique Swap, the theme was "Outside the Box" and with this in mind I set to work.

First up, I blended 'stormy sky' fading into 'peeled paint' Distress Inks, then spritzed it with water to give it a bit more age.  I then stamped some leaves to add a garden.  When I cut the ATC I left little tabs on both sides to attach the gates which are a length of fence cut twice and glued together for added strength.  I coloured the gate with Archival 'watering can' ink.

Key Keeper is coloured with water colour pencils, blending the colours together.  I gave him googly eyes and his key is gold Liquid Pearls.

To finish off, I wanted to attach a padlock to the outside of the gate, but although I looked I didn't have one.  Then my friend Jenni found one in her bits 'n' bobs which was just the right size and so the gates could keep this little monster in his garden!

The other little monster who was Key Keeper's travelling companion was Feathery Monster, who was most excited about his overseas adventure.

So, although they detoured on their way to Canada, now that they are there, hopefully they will behave themselves and enjoy their time on the other side of the world!

Happy crafting!
 

Mela and her Kitty

I was trying to combine two challenges again with this tag, Stampotique's challenge is 'Monochromatic' and Tagalong's challenge is 'cat'.  After looking at a few of the entries and thinking how well the variations of gray work with Stampotique's theme, I then had a rethink.    Since it is a colour I've never really done and I wasn't too sure where to start, I had a look through my tags that already had backgrounds but for whatever reason  I hadn't used, and found this yellow one which had been my demo tag at a recent Mixed Media class.  Hmmm ...... this will work perfectly.

The background was done using Distress Inks  'mustard seed', 'peeled paint' and a teeny bit of 'spiced marmalade', with another layer of 'mustard seed' to tie them all together.  A touch of stencilling and a teensy bit of stamped chicken wire, followed by a few drops of water (mopped) completed the background.

Mela and Kitty were stamped onto scrap ivory cardstock and using 'mustard seed' were gently coloured yellow.  To pick up a little more colour, Kitty and Mela's dress were dabbed with the Distress Ink tool in 'spiced marmalade' without any extra ink added.

A small piece of washi tape gives Kitty something to stand on while gently rubbing around Mela's legs.  They are both popped onto dimensionals.  A piece of SU ribbon finishes off the tag.

I'm entering this tag in this weeks Stampotique Designers challenge and Tagalong challenge.

Happy crafting!

March Calendar Journal

My apologies for not coming back yesterday, but since today is the 1st of March, it's a more appropriate date to show you my page, so here 'tis:

I chose the colours because I wanted a more autumn(y) feel to the page.  I must say I was pretty happy with how it turned out, especially after February's BLAH page.  I'm going to have to fix it because between January's 'summer' and now March's 'autumn',  poor February looks even worse then BLAH!

I started with spritzing water over the whole page, followed by  Dylusion Inks 'fresh lime', 'lemon zest' and 'cherry pie'.  The pages were then shmooshed together which gives a lovely blending of the colours and then dried off with the heat tool.

Next, using Distress Ink 'tea dye' and a stencil, I added portions of writing across both pages.

On the bottom corner using 'jet black' Archival Ink, I stamped "Relaxin' " and "Kitty", and in the top corner "Owl Tree", all Stampotique stamps.

The owls were given the eye treatment with little dots of gold Liquid Pearls as did kitty.  The days were punched using SU square 1 1/4" punch, and all letters and numbers stamped using stamps from my stash.

Thanks for visiting and hope you are having a lovely day wherever you happen to be.  Today's weather in Sydney is cool and damp, perfect for the first day of autumn. 

Happy crafting!