"Animal Magic" for CCT...and "Animals" for CC

Here's my card for the Cute Card Thursday challenge "Animal Magic"....
and also for the Charisma Cardz challenge which is "Animals"
I've made a "New Baby" card which is for a lovely couple (Sophie and Jae) who are celebrating the safe arrival of their dear son "Leeland"
I coloured the stamping with watercolours.
Imagine if babies were really delivered "parcel post" by hedgies !
I hope you like it and thanks for looking x

"Silhouettes" for Wednesday Stamper

Here's my ATC for this weeeks challenge at Wednesday Stamper which is "Silhouettes".
The stamps are "Fantasy Fairies" from Dovecraft.
When I'd finished I realised I'd put "Flowers and Fairies"...but theres only one fairy (duh!)...so you will have to pretend the rest are hiding!
Thanks for Looking x

2 Butterflies for Arty Girlz !

This weeks challenge from Arty Girlz is "Butterflies".....and as I love butterflies I've made 2 pieces for the challenge....first a small altered tin ...and secondly an ATC.
The lid of the tin was covered with the gold foil that had originally been inside. I put the foil through a CB folder before I glued it onto the lid...the rest of the tin is covered with ribbons, flowers and butterflies.
To make the ATC I laid down blocks of colour then stamped daisies over them. I edged the flowers with gold pen and put black dots along the daisies and stamped "bliss" on one of the colour blocks.
And finally I added the ribbon and butterfly.
I hope you like them both... and thanks for popping in !

Sketch for Papertake Weekly Challenge

Papertake Weekly Challenge have a brilliant sketch by Dawny P for us to follow.
Here is my card made using a Joanna Sheen CD.
The photo is taken at an odd angle again, I'm afraid, so that I could cut out the flare from the mirri board
.....I hope you like it !

"Elegant" for Think Monday Think ATC

The theme at T.M.T.A. this week is the letter E...so here is my "Elegant" lady ATC for my entry.
The jewels are nail art ones and the rest is pretty much my usual inky thing !
I tried to make something that looked sepia....hope you like her !

Tea Time for Gothic Arches

Our theme at Gothic Arches this week is "Tea Time".
It set me thinking about all the traditions surrounding the humble cup of tea...one of which, in our house, is " one spoonful for each person ....and one for the pot"
.....and woe betide anyone who forgets and makes tea like "dishwater"!
Of course, now we think "teabags" instead of "spoonfuls" so even traditions get updated !
Thanks to The Graphics Fairy for the image of the woman....
.....and thanks for dropping in !

Altered CD for SaWo

Oooo I loved the challenge at Saturday Workout this week because we have to alter a CD.
I put an old CD on the top of a small heatproof (pyrex) bowl, silver side up, and blasted it with my heat gun pushing the softened CD down into the shape of the bowl with the end of a wooden spoon...its NOT a good idea to poke it with your fingers as you wont believe how hot this gets!
...then when I was happy with the shape I let it cool down.
I put a circle of card in the bottom to cover up the hole...and then heated up the dish again and embellished the inside with glue,embossing powders and beads.
When it had cooled down again I covered the outside with silver paint.
I hope you like my little dish!

Circles and Swirls forTag You're It !

Heres my tag for this weeks challenge at Tag You're It which is to put some circles and swirls on your tag.
The flower is from a Shabby Princess free download.
I hope you like it !

"Labels" for "Theme Thursday"

Well I was going to make a more conventional piece for the challenge at Theme Thursday ...especially with the beautiful labels download they have given us.. but a bit of news this morning sent me off on a different track. Apparently we have to stop throwing away so many clothes and I am of an age where NOTHING was thrown away...everything was rehashed and re-cycled to death !
With that in mind and remembering my mums sewing box, filled with every scrap she'd saved, I set about making a collage of my own bits and pieces. My pink and silver label is a clothes ones and is folded behind the threads (which I've put on the material I've used)
I put the padlock and chain on to remember the fun of punk fashion and I left loads of "threads" seeing as that is a slang term for clothes.
So.... "clothes are what you make them"....using all your bits and pieces.... a touch of ingenuity...and a dash of style !
(... One thing no one can accuse me of is having style Lol lol lol....!)

I hope you like this bit of fun....and please click on pic if you want to see a bit closer

Lovely Award from Pascale

I am so chuffed to get this award from Pascale...thanks mate !
I would like to pass this on to Dawn, Rosie, Annette, Faye and Cynthia...yes I know some of you already have this award but I wanted to say a big thank you for all your help and support.....xxx

Card for "Truly Scrumptious"

Welcome to a new challenge blog... Truly Scrumptious
Their first challenge is a sketch so here is my card.
Sorry aboout the strange angle but it wasn't until I finished it that I thought..gold? pearlescent? glitter?...uh..oh...what about taking a photo?...so this is the best I could manage !
Thanks for looking...!

"Wire" for "Arty Girlz"

Here is my piece for this weeks challenge at Arty Girlz
The small pic shows the shapes used to make the necklace. (The silver spiral in the small pic is wire, wound round a pencil...if you cut in a straight line through the top of the spiral it makes jump rings.)
This piece is totally impractical...but fun to make !

"Mardi Gras" for "Gothic Arches"

Here is my arch for this weeks challenge at "Gothic Arches" which is "Mardi Gras"
I made the background with a mixture of pigment and alcohol inks, and metallic paint.
The image (which I've altered with metallic paint) is courtesy of The Graphics Fairy
The "gems" are tiny nail-art ones.
I hope she has a good time at the carnival !

Tomato Puree (Paste) Tube Makes!

A couple of people asked how I made my malagro heart so I hope this explains.
1 First pic shows what tools you need and a clean tomato puree (paste) tube(cut off the top and bottom and split up one side to open) stamped with a simple shape stamp
2 Use a 2.5mm tool to emboss (from the stamped side) in the middle of the stamped flower using strokes like you would when doing parchment craft...the metal will stretch and start to bulge
3 Make a groove with the smaller ball tool beside the stamping then turn over to the front and emboss in the grooves to make them deeper...this gives a ridge
4 Cut out your piece and fill the back with silicone glue to stop it from collapsing when you apply colour...or whatever you want to do.
5 I've also shown some strips of freehand work and pricking...the silver strip was gold but has been coloured with a silver pen.
6 Finally here is my milagro heart before it was cut out and coloured with permanent marker.
(All work was done on a mat similar to a mousemat)
Well thats about it then...I hope you enjoy having a go !
FOOTNOTE....I cut out using large scissors as I found small ones leave a jagged edge...but its up to you... whatever you prefer.
If your metal is crinkled when you open the tube out run a brayer over it and the soft metal flattens down nicely.

"Love and Romance" for "Tag You're It"

Tag You're It have chosen "Love and Romance" for this weeks challenge so here is my "Love" tag.
The heart and background are stamped with "Layers of Colour" "Heart" stamps.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentines Day tomorrow x

"Fan" for "Rainbow Lady"

Well I'm a great fan of Rainbow Lady...but I don't think Cynthia meant that sort of fan when she set this week's challenge....so here's my (birthday card) fan... made for a very special someone who has a birthday soon.
I made the flowers from some printouts.....which were courtesy of Shabby Princess
I used a sheet of glitter and a sheet of gold card, plus a few white peel offs,some pearl hearts, a sentiment and a tassle....the hardest part of doing this was taking a photo....!
....I'm off to make a box for it now !
Thanks for dropping by !
...Forgot to say this will stand up because I've made a stand for it...out of gold card and then run through a CB folder.

Gold ! .........2 Challenges

Created By Hand and My Time To Craft both have Gold in their themes this week so here is a piece for both challenges.
Every time I hear the news it's all about money...so I thought I'd do a piece with that in mind !
The background is scrunched tissue covered with pearlescent glue.... then alchohol ink was drizzled on it and buffed when dry. The words are written on the computer.
The charm is a mix of bits from my "wotsit" box.
Thanks for looking !

"Flowers" for "Arty Girlz"

The challenge at Arty Girlz this week is "Flowers"
I've stamped a card 3 times with a border stamp and added punched and bradded flowers.
I fixed the ribbon around the card and held it in place with the sentiment.
I hope you like this simple card !

"Romance" for "Mixed Media Monday"

The theme at Mixed Media Monday this week is "Romance"..chosen and hosted for us by the talented Rosie
Here is my 4x4 for the challenge. I have made this from fabric,lace card and metal. I made the metal heart out of a piece left over from the previous challenge using my hand embossing tools.
I hope you like it and....thanks for dropping by x

"Milagros" for ABAA and" Metal" for Lots to Do

The challenge at the Awfully Big Art Adventure this time is "Milagros" They are mexican religious metal charms and can be hearts, arms, legs...well all sorts really.
We are allowed to make them of any material and I decided to make mine out of metal (a used...and clean (!) tomato puree tube) I also used embossing tools and a permanent marker. I first drew a heart on the back of the metal...and then just kept playing until I was happy with it. Great fun and it cost nothing!
I would also like to enter this for "Marvellous Metal" which is the challenge on Lots To Do
(Please click on pic if you want to see it a bit better x )

"Hearts" for Gothic Arches

With it being so close to Valentines Day it's nice to have "Hearts" as our theme this week at Gothic Arches.
I stamped the arch edges (and the heart) and then added the flowers and the ribbon....I finished off by edging with my gold pen (my fav thing at the moment !)
here is my arch for this week...thanks for popping in !

Borders for "Theme Thursday"

Here is my entry for this weeks challenge at Theme Thursday
which is borders.
I made my border using a gold Krylon pen.
A friend of mine is expecting the arrival of her first grandchild any day now so all the talk of babies has been the inspiration for this piece.
I do hope the expected grandchild is a bit more cheerful than this dear little mite!
(I drew along the edge of a paper tearing ruler to make the ziz-zag shape of the border )

"Red" for Rainbow Lady

This week Cynthia has asked us to pick a colour of the rainbow and, except for using black for stamping, we have to use only that colour.
Well nothing ventured nothing gained so here we go...get those sun glasses out guys.....!

Colour Create...#1 Challenge !

Colour Create have their first challenge which is to use the colours "Brown, Pink and Green"
I have made a birthday money wallet.
The flap is tucked inside the top of the ribbon slider.
I've decorated the inside much the same as the outside.
Good Luck "Colour Create" .....great challenge !

Red and White for "Arty Girlz"

Arty Girlz want us to use red and white this week so I thought I would make a card for a change.
I hope you like it !

"Distressed Gesso" for "SaWo"

The challenge at Saturday Workout this week is to make a piece with a distressed gesso background.
Well I've had a go at it and added a transfer done onto clear sticky packaging tape. I really enjoyed sploshing around and making a lovely mess !
Here's my ATC....and thanks for the challenge guys !
The "distressed Gesso Background Technique" has a tutorial on the wonderful Trish Bee's blog. You can read it here

Tag Your Arch for "Gothic Arches"

Here is my Gothic Arch for this weeks challenge which is "Tag Your Arch" and has been set by the wonderfully talented Gayle Page-Robak.
I put corrugated cardboard through a cuttlebug folder. I then scuffed the embossed surface with red chalk ink and then picked out the embossing (and the debossing on the tag) with a gold pen. I cut the tag to match the shape of the arch and then added the embellishments.
I hope you like it !