Awards x 2!!

I was delighted today to find that Jacki has sent me, not one but two awards which come with certain conditions.

1. Thank the person who awarded you and link to their blog.

2. List 7 facts about yourself.

3. Pass the award onto 15 ( I'm making an executive decision and saying 7!!) deserving bloggers.

Check out Jacki's blog, she is a very creative lady and is on a couple of design teams and we are on Gill's team and various blog hops together.

Facts about me:

1. I'm right handed

2. I will never go grey thanks to L'Oreal!

3. I love reflexology

4. My toenails are always painted!

5. I love getting comments on my blog :)

6. I love Elvis

7. I sang at the London Marathon

I'm sending the awards to the following bloggers, so please check out their creative blogs and maybe follow them :)

Linda

http://lindasrainbowcraftingcabin.blogspot.com/

Ikki

http://ikkiscuttlebugcupboard.blogspot.com/

Marianne

http://mariannespapir.blogspot.com/

Suzz

http://suzzstampingspot.blogspot.com/

Netty

http://nettyscards.blogspot.com/
Shirley
http://cardartetc.blogspot.com/
Marie
http://baileyrosy.blogspot.com/

Thanks again to Jacki for nominating me :)

Less is more Off centre Challenge

A little less scary this week with the LIM challenge! The theme is "off centre" and as usual there are some amazing entries and some were so early they must set their alarms for Saturday mornings :)
I decided on an oriental theme and chose to emboss some lanterns and Chinese words in gold. I wanted to add a little colour and used cosmic shimmer on the lanterns which shows up well on the black base card. I finished with   2 blue gems on the tassels.
Thanks for looking :)

Do It With Digi's Pixies and elves

The theme this time at Do it With Digi's is Fairies, Pixie and Elves. I had recently downloaded a vintage pixie/elf image from TLC creations and it seemed appropriate for the Easter weekend! Check out Paulette's TLC blog as she has some amazing digi's, sentiments and papers.
I used a square linen base card and stamped across the top with a branch from Sheena Douglass in Bundled sage and added some blossom with Mustard seed. I distressed the edges with Bundled sage. The pixie/elf and his Easter bunnies are coloured with promarkers and I cut out the image and mounted it on foam pads. The little rabbit I drew and coloured and added some cotton wool for his tail. I created the sentiment in Craft Artist.
Thanks for looking :)

RAK club

I received a lovely card yesterday from Bea as part of the RAK club. RAK stands for random act of kindness and Gill set this up so that once a month all the members will receive something nice in the post! Each month there is a theme and April's was to create a card to show something of where you live. Bea obviously lives in Scotland as you can see by the photo!
If you fancy joining our club then check out Gill's blog for details.
My card went to Leslie in Luxembourg and you can see what I created here.
Thanks for looking :)

Less is more Acetate Challenge

The challenge this week for the Limettes is to use acetate somewhere on a card. I've loved the entries with the split card, Mandi's being the first one I saw, and will definitely be using that idea in future. I decided what I was going to do quite quickly but the size of card and the placing of the sentiment had me foxed!! I like square cards but my topper didn't leave enough of the important (or dreaded!) white space so I've been fiddling and am reasonably happy with the outcome but not ecstatic so will await feedback ;)

I stamped my fairy with black brilliance onto white card and coloured with promarkers. I cut a piece of heavy acetate (packaging) to size and used alcohol inks to create a watery feel. I stamped the fairy again onto thin acetate and painted the reverse with cosmic shimmer and cut around the wings so that they would stand out. I attached the images with brads and then mounted onto the card with foam pads. The sentiment was computer generated and printed directly onto my card. I added a small ribbon knot just to balance  the proportions. I have posted 2 photos so that the wings can be seen raised from the card. The 1st photo is truer to the colours I used but it's difficult with acetate as everyone else seems to have found.

Thanks for looking and I welcome constructive criticism :)

Die Cut Dreams-Christmas scene

The challenge this week at Die Cut Dreams is to create a Christmas scene using Tilda and at least two more stamps. I had some Polkadoodle stamps that I bought a while ago and haven't used yet, but as they looked a bit wonderland I thought they would be appropriate. I stamped the houses and coloured with promarkers, then I masked them and stamped a tree from Jenny Mayes across the background in Bundled sage. The snowman and lamppost is also from the same Jenny Mayes set and I glittered them, cut them out and layered with foam pads. The only Christmas Tilda I have I coloured and gave her shoes so it didn't look odd her being outside in socks!! I glittered the trees for a snowy effect. I tied vintage ribbon in a knot around the card.
Thanks for looking :)

Bah humbug candycanes

This week at Humbug hall the theme is candy canes which was very opportune as while I was at Ally Pally on Saturday I bought a pack of Christmas paper that had one with candy canes on it and a stamp for 50p!!!!
Bit of a long sentence that, sorry:) Anyway using a 5" base card I tore some BP and inked the edges with Bundled Sage and added an embossed rectangle matted and layered on BP and red mirri. I used ink again to colour it and then topped it with some images of candy canes that I masked, coloured and glittered. I added some inked foliage around the edges and used a Christmas brad and die cut snowflake for decoration.
Thanks for looking :)

All that Glitters CBGM

The latest challenge over at Gill's is All that Glitters and a sketch to follow. Everyone probably knows by now that I like a heads up on a challenge :)
I started with a square base card and matted some magenta brocade paper from Debbi Moore onto black and then gold mirri. I used a quickie glue pen and glitter on the paper but it's not showing up too well in my photo :( The ribbon is organza from Mei and then the horizontal strip is the same brocade paper matted onto red mirri. The topper is a digi stamp that is coloured with promarkers, glittered and jewelled. The butterfly is dimensional and the bow has a pearl embellishment.
Thanks for looking :)

Less is more Week 10 One Layer Challenge Sentiment

Well here we are again, LIM Saturdays come round very quickly! I spent all afternoon at Ally Pally for the Big Stamp and Scrapbooking fair and wondered as I SPENT my way around whether I would find a nice sentiment stamp. No luck I'm afraid so it's back to the computer to generate my sentiment :)
In case it's not too clear in the photo it says:
Just like the butterfly you too will awaken in your own time
I used Scriptina font and made it wander across the card as a butterfly might! I stamped the butterfly and used a waterbrush to colour it and added 2 gems and a little sparkle! Hope that's ok Mandi & Chrissie?
Thanks for looking :)

ps. To make my sentiment dance I use Serif's Craft Artist and the text options allow you to manipulate the text into different shapes or paths. It's absolutely brilliant for cardmaking and scrapbooking and they do have a freebie version that you can download to play with.
http://www.daisytrail.com/free_stuff.html

I'm so excited!

So, my exciting news is that since I became involved in the Tartan Blog Hop Gill has invited me onto her design team!!!!!! I start in May and there are fortnightly challenges so watch this space. I was so excited that I have made my first project already :))

I am also a member of the RAK(Random Act of Kindness) club which Gill has just set up, where crafters send each other cards once a month so we receive something nice in the post as opposed to bills and junk mail! The theme this month was to depict something of your country (our chosen partner will be from another country)
and this is what I came up with:

 I used a red DL card base and matted and layered a copy of the London underground map onto black card and mounted a photo of the London skyline to the left. The red ribbon is slotted through the underground logo and a clear bubble and and arrow highlight the area that I live. The sentiment is printed with my Xyron and the London embellishment I bought last year in Michael's in Nova Scotia. If you fancy receiving a nice card once a month then click on the RAK icon on my sidebar or here.
Thanks for looking :)

Tartan Blog Hop

Hello everyone and welcome to my very first blog hop for Tartan Day on this the 6th April 2011 hosted by the very talented Gill McCall

I hope you enjoy browsing my projects as much as I have enjoyed creating them.

If you have just come across this posting while browsing around in blog land then feel free to hop along but if you have arrived here from

  

Haidee   http://created2bunique.blogspot.com/  then you are on the right track, if not then you need to go and start at the beginning with 

Gill  http://creationsbygillm.blogspot.com/

The theme of this hop as I’ve mentioned is Tartan Day – Gill has brought together a select few crafty people from all over the world to take part and for them to create a project, or projects, with an element of tartan on it.

This is a hop with a difference, as along the hop there are letters to find in the postings - not all blogs have the letters, but if you gather all the letters, then at the end of the hop you can assemble them to create a Scottish themed word. If you then return to Gill’s blog and enter the Mr. Linky at the bottom of the post (do not reveal the secret word yet). After the hop Gill will contact someone at random and ask them to email her with the word - if correct they will win some lovely candy.

Now on to my projects - I have created 6 projects for this hop. I know, I went a bit mad, it must be because it’s my first time! 

My first 4 projects are cards:             Click on pictures for a larger image                                                 

  1. My twisted easel card has a tartan base with an image of a thistle and the word Scotland as the stopper. The main image is an artist’s watercolour image of Edinburgh castle. The embellishment is heather and pearls.  A twisted easel is simply a square card with the front of the card folded diagonally and then a piece of card the same size as the front attached , see diagram, and the stopper is attached with foam pads so the card will stand up.

1. Twisted easel

diagram

                                                                                                                                                                                        

2. My anniversary card has a square deckle edge base card wrapped with red ribbon. The centre square is tartan, framed with gold mirri card on a black background and topped with a Scottie dog. These are available from Mei

2.Anniversary card

3. My birthday card is again a square deckle edge card and I made use of my cuttlebug (this is an embossing and die cutting machine) to cut out some shapes with Spellbinders  for the centerpiece. The swirl and the flower are also cut in the cuttlebug using Marianne dies. I’ve had my cuttlebug for 3 years and rarely used it but I’m now hooked and there is a great site for hints and tips here. I finished with a rose and a sentiment printed using my Xyron digital printer. Apologies for the shadow!

3. Birthday

4. My Christmas card has a stamped background of firs that I glittered to look as if it had been snowing. The little girl I coloured with promarkers( Letraset alcohol double ended pens that allow colouring without streaking) and paper pieced her skirt with some tartan paper. I glittered the lace on her cuffs and the jabot (ruffled necktie) as well. Her Scottie dog has also been glittered and some glossy accents used for his eyes and nose. I stamped the sentiment and added a tartan knot at the top.

4. Christmas card

5.My 5th project is a scrap layout to go into a family history journal that I am making. The background is a piece of tartan paper with torn edges that I brushed with ink for a distressed effect.

The map shows the Shetland Isles where my maternal ancestors originated from, (Lerwick) and I have used an acrylic bubble to highlight the town on the map. On  the luggage label I printed some info from the 1891 census with my family names written on it and used some string as a bow. The tartan oval hanging from the yellow ribbon is my maternal family tartan and name which I covered in glossy accents for shine.

5. Family history page.

  6. My 6^th project is a bookmark with memories of our trips to Nova Scotia. As that translates to New Scotland I thought it was appropriate!!

I used a digital programme to create this called Craft artist by Serif. I used tartan as the base and using frames from the kit I was able to insert 2 photos from our holiday in Nova Scotia. The top one is Prince Edward Island and the bottom one is Peggy’s Cove not far from Halifax NS. I mounted it onto dark green card and have attached an acetate cover and added a tassel for decoration.

6. Bookmark

So there we have it – my first blog hop ever and I hope you have enjoyed  it and I’d appreciate it if you could leave me a comment. If you do like what you see please explore the rest of my blog and I’d love you to become one of my followers.

There are a lot of talented crafty women on this hop and I hope you enjoy looking through their hop entries.  So now please hop on over to

Margaret http://diamondgirlcards.blogspot.com/ for the next tartan creative project.

Here is the line up in case you get lost along the hop. 

1.  Gill  http://creationsbygillm.blogspot.com/   --   

2.  Linda   www.thefruitofmyhands.blogspot.com

3.  Lisa G  http://lisagarrow.blogspot.com/

4.  Martha  http://pattisscrapingtime.blogspot.com/

5.  Vicky  http://the-artful-codger.blogspot.com/  

6.  Anita  http://www.anitaandbugs.blogspot.com/

7.  Ann  http://ann-icklehaggiscraftspot.blogspot.com/

8.  Amanda   www.scrapanddash.com   

9.  Debbie  http://debbiescrafttime.blogspot.com/ --   

10.  Haidee   http://created2bunique.blogspot.com/  

11.  Valerie  http://canonburycreations.blogspot.com/

12.  Margaret http://diamondgirlcards.blogspot.com/  

13.  Becky  http://beckscricards.blogspot.com/  --  

14.  Laura  www.makinprettythings.com

15.  Jenn   http://www.memorieswithjen.blogspot.com/

16.  Sharon http://craftyscot.blogspot.com/   

17.  Beckie  http://beckiedreyer.blogspot.com/  -- 

18.  Faith  http://faithfulecreations.wordpress.com/  

19.  Jill  http://thescrapoholic.blogspot.com/

20.  Lisa P  http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/

21.  Alethea  http://lilodesigns.blogspot.com/  --  

Good luck everyone and thank you for hopping along – don’t forget to come back to Gill once you’ve gathered all the letters, and enter the Mr. Linky for a chance to win some candy.

Pets

The latest challenge over at Gill's is Pets. Now I have two cats, both slightly mad, but I couldn't get a decent photo of them so I opted for some freebies that I got in a magazine before Christmas. I used a white base card and matted and layered pink card and snowflake paper on top. I made a frame in pink and mounted it onto the photo of the kittens and attached it to the card at an angle. The sentiment is a peel off mounted on a tag that I've matted onto silver mirri and I finished off with some pink stars.
Thanks for looking :)

Say it with flowers

A brand new challenge started this week to make cards for the St Luke's Hospice so that they can sell them and help with their fund raising. More information on the challenge and the hospice can be found here. The theme is Say it with flowers and I decided to use a large hydrangea stamp from Papermania. I inked it up with Stormy Sky and Shabby Shutters distress inks and matted onto grey card and then mounted on a square linen card base. I tied a knot with blue vintage ribbon and attached it to the stem of the flower. The sentiment is digitally produced and I added a few blue pearls.
Thanks for looking :)

Less is More Touch of Red

This weeks challenge at Less is More is a Touch of Red. As usual entries came in thick and fast on Saturday morning and of a very high standard! I know I shouldn't really look before I decide what I want to do but I can't resist and then there's the problem when someone else has had the same idea :(
So here I am having had a lovely meal at our local Thai restaurant and hoping it did the trick and inspired me!!
I used a free digi stamp, from I where I can't remember, and printed it twice so I could add one layer to the figure. The sentiment I printed on the computer and I added some red glitter to accent. I used red holographic peel offs to give the illusion of a mat.

I made a 2nd card using a stamp I bought in Lunenburg NS as a souvenir. I just added red ink to the roofs.
Thanks for looking :)

New background!

There are so many gorgeous backgrounds around and when I saw this I had to have it, you can check out the website here. I was taking photos of peacocks last weekend and loved this oriental theme :)