Craft for the Craic - Favourite Christmas colour

Hello there :)
Its been a while since I last blogged - but I had so many things happening that my crafting time was very limited, suffice to say I was having fun and I might blog about it at a later stage but for now -  I'm back

Over at Craft for the Craic this months challenge is 'favourite Christmas colour' This year I settled mainly on a blue and white theme with a little bit of sparkle thrown in. I think its safe to post this now as the majority of the cards should have been delivered by now  

 I used a combination die-cuts, acetate, stamps, watercolour paper, colouring pencils, glitter pens and self adhesive glitter film. Once all the tools were assembled,  I divided up the tasks- die- cutiing and stamping one evening, Cutting out and colouring a 2nd evening and then assembling on the third evening. Here's the finished article

 I used a 'grass' diecut for the icicles - used both the intended cut and also the waste pieces, on some of the cards I used the glitter film, other i used just plain white card stock.

 For the large snowflake - I used a die-cut, cut it twice and creted 2 semi-circles that were joined using double sided tape. To finish it off I added a single snowflake and topped it with a gem. On some of the cards I coloured the tips of the flakes with a blue pan pastel.

The angel image - I loved this, Stamped on water colour paper, coloured using a combination of pencils, glitter-pens and I finished off the wings with the glitter film

The reallly sweet thing about this stamp was the fact that she had a front and back - twice the effort but an unexpected surprise for the receipient - so that made it the extar effort  worthwhile. Once all the bits have been prepared - they were glued onto the acetate and attached to dark blue card.

As always thank you for dropping by, I hope you like what you see.All that remains for me to do is to wish each of you  a very Happy Christmas and peaceful new year.

See you 2015

Pixie

Craft for the Craic - Something for a child

This months Challenge over at Craft for the Craic - was something suitable for a child. This is my take on the challenge. Simple enough but then....... 

 Pull the dogs tongue and

Peek-a-boo

This was made using rather stiff card - that was to allow for the movement of the ears when the the tongue has been pulled. Its not jus for Kids you know - there are some adults that have seen it that enjoyed it a bit too much :)  And in case you were concerned  - no puppies were hurt in the making of this card.

Hope it made you smile today and as always - thanks for dropping by

Craft for Craic - Something with Circles

This months post was to include circles... So I decided I wouldn't use paper on this occasion and i'd involve other family members.. so Mammy Flutterby came up with the pattern for this

I started by casting on 40 stitches. Knit one row, Purl one row. On the next row- knit one stitch, wrap the wool around the needle and knit 2 stitches together (If you want different coloured points on your flower - this is the row to change colour on). Purl one row, Knit one more row and cast off. You end up with something like this  

Bend it over so the cast on and cast off rows are touching and sew them together

When the sides are sown together - a natural curve develops 

Use this curve to stitch it as shown below 

Thats the basic pattern.

Obviously by increasing the number of stitches and\or rows the flower size will also increase.

 In the picture below the same basic pattern was used to create the leaves- but when sewn together rather than follow the natural curve, the two ends were stitched together and sewn in a straight line to create the spine of the leaf.  

     Once the basic pattern is used - have fun add buttons in the centre,  put a pin in the back and use it as a broach or scarf holder,  Attach the to a hair band or bobbin or just put them on a chain or ribbon and hang them from a bag

I did say that the family were involved in this blog post. I can take absolutely no credit for the next part but I thought you might like to see them as they fit perfectly with the circle theme. This gorgeous selection of 'cakes and biscuits' came all the way from Australia - a huge thank you goes to 'Auntie Flutterby'

 

The pattern can be found on the following link

Thanks for dropping by .. Now anyone for a cuppa and a treat ?

Fairies in Time DT- Fairy Party

This is my very first post for  Fairies in Time blog team and its been kindly sponsored by Dilly Beans

I used this gorgeous  image

Coloured her using watercolour pencils markers and promarkers.

I layered her up firstly on a piece of dark purple card and then a light green card. Using a piece of acetate I wrapped it round the front of the card. Using a bone folder I creased the edges so it would sit correctly  on the card. Its difficult to see in the above photo- so the one below may show it more clearly 

 

 Using some flowers from my stash, I shaped them and attached them to the acetate using some brads. I finally stuck the layered up image to a card amd finished off with some gems, leaves and flowers 

 

As always thank you for dropping by and please head over the Fairies in Time blog and see what the team have created

 

Sisters of Craft - Anything Goes September Challenge

Sisters of Craft  Challenge this month is sponsored by my buddy Vince at Crafty Moments he was asked, encouraged .... ok then plagued to do something special for us and I think he out did himself. His blog is a place of happiness so please go it check out, the link is above and you'll be glad you did.

To see the gorgeous butterfly and bird digis he created and how my fellow crafters used them just go to the SOC blog page (again the link is above). I used one of Vince's previous creations, he's called

Aloysius Sick Dragon digi and when you see him, you'll know why I just couldn't pass him

I used Vince's pre-coloured image and layered it up on diecut shapes. Using the smaller I die-cuts and same colour scheme, I printed and stuck the Get Well sentiment and attached it by means of a gold coloured chain. 

I created a small pocket between the layered up image and main body of the card- into that I slipped a well known cold 'cure'  

 From the side image shown below - you can see how the main card was created. I took a packet of tissues and wrapped an A4 sheet of paper around it, just to create a template- from that I then i made the final version of this. Naturally no creation is complete without a bit of ribbon, bling and a butterfly 

On a personal note - this is my last blog for Sisters of Craft :( ... Ladies its been a blast, thank you  for having me and building my confidence to believe I could do this.

As always thanks for dropping by and hope to see you back again soon

Craft for the Craic - An Item you've never used before....

Good Morning :)  An easy challenge I thought to myself ... Ohhhhh how foolish I am. I took a look in my
craft area and staring back at me were a whole lot of 'items' I'd never used (hanging my head in shame now). There are so many choices and just so little time - New beads, material, wool, stamps, inks, digis, dies, stencils, I could go on..... and  thats not including the 100s of ideas, techniques and folds  in my head that will never find their way onto paper. With my brain a mass of confusion and bewilderment - I set out to the task in hand and this is what I came up ...

Its a butterfly themed card and co-ordinating Happiness Kit gift box.

So the card was made using a stencil and and some glitter frosting paste. ( Both were items that i hadn't used before). The glitter paste was easier to use than i had anticipated - I'm pretty sure there are U tube clips and technical documents out there explaining how to apply it .... The easiest way for me to explain it - I applied it in the same way that i would butter a slice of toast!!!!! Using a palate knife I started at the top of the stencil and using the pink paste - spread it across the stencil. I swapped over to the purple paste and finished off covering the stencil. Its far from perfect  but the medium is quite forgiving - I helped the drying process by using a heat gun on the back of the card. I stuck some clear gems in the centre of the flowers to finish it off 

Then I tackled the Happiness Kit - I really cant take credit for this idea as something similiar was sent to me many years ago, but I have adapted it for here.  I loved it and its a very simple thing to do. The Box was made from very stiff card. I stamped and die cut the butterfly. Added the flower embellishments ( Again all new items  that were on their maiden voyage). I typed up the 'Happiness Kit' tag on the PC, co-ordinated the colours to match the project, printed it, cut it out  and stuck it on with a glue stick.

Inside the box is a strange little collection of things

  But the explanation for each item has been typed up and stuck on the inside of the box. Its a lovely way of saying I thought of you, If someone is  having a tough time it might just make them smile a little 

    

I hope you like this project and now I dont have to feel so guilty about  the unloved and un-used craft items as I've incorporated quite a few into this blog

Thanks for popping by and hope to see back again soon

Time 4 Scrap - Autumn Colours

Ok so this is a n new adventure for me, Its my first post for the Time 4 Scrap blog team. The suggested theme was Autumn Colours and I was lucky enough to have this gorgeous digi to work with

 Shes called Berrylicious and is created by artbymiran,  available in two variations with and without the grapes\berries. As the theme here was Autumn- I coloured the berries in various shades of browns and oranges - I attempted to make them look more like acorns

  

The leaves were fun to do

 ....and i'm not suggesting that you do this but let me say that the starting materials or 'papers'  for the leaves were found  in my local hardware shop in the paint sample cards section.... but shhhhhhh dont tell. 

I used my leave shaped die and cut out some samples. They still appeared slightly flat ... so using my hougie board- I added some veins to them and then shaped them using a bone folder. Finally to give them a more authentic look I inked the edges of them and across some of the veins

Using a combination of glue, sticky pads and padded double sided sticky tape ( the sort that comes on a role,) I attached the leaves to the front of the card  at various angles and heights. Finally I threaded some leaves together and hung them from the card - this was to appear as though the leaves were falling  



Sisters of Craft- Anything Goes Challenge-August Challenge

This months sponsors are Scrappers Delight

I chose the rainy day digi - I liked the simplicity of it

I made a triangle star card  and used much bolder colours than i would usually use- chocolate, green and vibrant pink. The digi has been coloured using water colour pencils, glitter pens and the edge was high-lighted using pan pastels. Clear gems were added to the points on the triangle - I put a layer of the chocolate paper under the gems to cordinate. Using a brad that I attached a gem to - I added the flower.

I love the drama of this when its opened out

Thanks for dropping by and hope you like todays post

Craft for the Craic- July Challenge - Favourite colour

Now this challenge should have been easy and yet I struggled with it ... why ??? I couldn't decide what my was my favourite colour..eventually I settled on a purple theme and here it is

I started by stamping the background, the card itself is white but a hammered finish to it. The ink I used is Brilliance archival pigment pad that has a trio of colours in it - pink, blue and purple and when stamped, theres a lovely sheen on it. The stamp is a hero arts one - of dandelion 'clocks' . The main image looks a bit more complicated than it is - below are step by step instructions on how to create it.

I used some double sided paper- plain on one side, patterned on the other. I cut 8 circles approx 2 inches

I placed the pattern side up. 

 Folded it in half - so the plain side was facing towards me.

 Folded it in half again (so now its in quarters) 

 Taking the curved edge, fold it back as shown above- turn it over and do the same on the other side

 Open the circle out- it should look like a semi-circle on one half and  have a point on the other

 I folded in it in half as shown above - that was really just to create a score mark that i would use for the next fold

This bit is the fiddley piece - but  fold as shown above

Do the same on the other side - Repeat for all 8 circles 

To put it all together - I cut a 2 inch circle from plain white card, with a pencil I drew 8 equal slices on it 

 ( so it looked like a pizza ). I then stuck each of the petals onto the 'slices'. To finish it off I popped a pearl  in the centre and  co-ordinated it with 3 pearls on the left side of the card 

For fun I  made a second flower, using the same folds - but i reversed the paper, so for the first petal - I laid the paper down with the plain side facing me, when folded in half - the  pattern was on view  

To finish it off - i didn't flatten down the folds quite so hard

- below shows the two flowers side by side, both look quite different 

 Thanks for stopping by and hope the post inspires you to try it and have some fun paper folding

 

SISTERS OF CRAFT - JULY ANYTHING GOES CHALLENGE

Our July Anything Goes challenge is now underway and 
our sponsor for this challenge is

Aurora Wings

You know how sometimes you look at 'something' and you think - I know exactly what I want to do with that. Well thats how I felt about this gorgeous Whimsical Fuchsia Sprite. I just couldn't wait to get started

I printed the image and started colouring it with pencils, pan pastels, promakers and my water colour markers. Having coloured it half in - I thought it would be just perfect for layering up. I coloured each layer and shaped it before adding  

Then using my Tonic Punch and Stamp Set - I created  my fuschia flowers in papers that matched with the tones used in the sprite.

Once all the elements had been collected and prepared : Image, flowers, swirls, background and frame- it was just a case of positioning them and sticking them down ( I used both glue and double sided tape).

When it had dried and I was sure they were competely secure - I placed them into the frame 

I dont often enter blog challenges but this month have entered it into :

http://craftingbydesigns.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/month-long-anything-goes-in-july.html

http://laineyscraftyspace-justforfun.blogspot.ie/

http://fairieschallenges.blogspot.be/

http://cardsgalorechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/use-stamp-or-digi-stamp-somewhere-on.html

http://fairytale-challengeblog.blogspot.ie/

http://4kraftygirlzchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/