My Happy Mess

Well I wasn't happy when I made a mess with one of my Masks but it turned out OK in the end. I was demonstrating to my crafters how to use the new Masks that I'd bought whilst in the UK early last year. Well it all went horribly messy as the Mask split and the image was just a complete mess.

This is the Mask I used.

'That Special Touch' Floral Vines. I should have used low tac tape to anchor it I suppose but I didn't. It split and moved about . What a mess not only the stamped image but me too. Ink everywhere.....will my inked hands ever recover!! How not to use Masks crafters!!
 Very embarrassing too!

The distress ink used was Tim Holtz  Broken China which I sponged on with cut and dry foam.
What to do next with my mess.....throw it away...NEVER. I'm a crafter after all we never throw anything away do we.  It should have been binned of course as it really did look unusable.
Instead I decided to cut it up into 2cm squares and play around with it. This is what I ended up with.

I randomly placed the squares with thin 3D dots on to square card leaving equal spaces between each one. I then inked the edges of another square card and adhered this on to it. Then I looked through my stash to find a topper or embellishment that would match. Luckily I found  a greeting with the same background colour as the broken china. I placed it onto a piece of white card and rounded the corners with a punch then put 3D pads under it to give it a bit of a lift. Voila!! A mess retrieved happily.....well it's OK not one of my best but not bad.
                                                              This is the end result.

 

Sorry about the quality of the piccie. Lots of shadows as it was taken outside and the sun was a bit too bright.

Challenges: unstampabelleschallenges...... Dare to get dirty
                    paperprettiesblog.....PWC 299 Try a new technique

 

 

 

Tryptch and a freebie

Good morning from a cold but sunny Cyprus.......well it's cold here in the hills but I'm sure it's warmer for the tourists at the coast. That's one of the beauties of living here we have lots of micro climates so when it's hot and humid at the coast within a 10 minute drive you can be away from all that humidity and have a gentle breeze to cool you down......best of both worlds really. That's the Summer of course but in the Winter.....well I'll leave that for another day.

Over at Crafting with Dragonflies the challenge is to use a freebie digi image. You can use the one from the challenge blog or find one yourself. There are lots of lovely freebies out there. You just need to do a little searching and surfing. Don't forget to add the link for it too.

I have used a pretty image of butterflies from all dressed up challenges. Please click on the link to take you there. You won't be disappointed there are some lovely images on this site.

I coloured it with some lovely bright sharpies as I want it to be bright and cheery. If I want bright colours I love sharpies as opposed to felt tip pens. You get a neater finish and the colours are so bright....love them!! I'm sure I would have got a very different look if I'd use soft pencils so may try that in the future, it's such a versatile image. I added flat backed pearls to the wings of the large butterfly and the centre of one flower. Tear drop diamantes were added to the antennae.

On another craft site we were asked to make a Tryptch.......not for a challenge just for fun to send to a friend. So I went with this image and after printing at A5 size I divided it into 3 equal parts. I mounted each one on heavy dark green card stock and then placed it onto pale green card leaving a small gap between each piece. I edged it with a silver peel off border and corners to frame it.

I could have joined the thee pieces together with rings or ribbons but as I'm crafting on a tray on my lap at present........long story won't bore you.....It was safer and easier to mount it like this and my friend can do as she wishes with it. Either leave it as it is or join it together to hang on the wall....the choice is hers.

Do try to visit Crafting with Dragonflies to check out the rest of the freebies the dragonflies have used. You won't be disappointed.

If you want some yummy candy why not pop over to Floral Fantasy stamping-fantasies. and visit Brenda. She has a fab give away......you need to say in your post what your fave crafty item is.....mine are the bright sharpies I use when I'm colouring in so this was easy for me. Take a peep!!

Challenges:    notrealstamps........Things with Wings
                       sirstampalotchallenge.......Wings Fantasy Fiction
musecardclub.blogspot.-55......photo/colour inspiration

 

craft-roomchallenge.....color

Anything Goes

It's Anything Goes at (pin)spirational this week.

 

Sponsors are:

                                                                            Prize 3 digis

 

Prize $12 voucher

 

 

Prize 2 digis

 

'Anything Goes' is always a popular theme for a challenge so we're hoping that you'll all be tempted to join in. There are some great prizes up for grabs from our sponsors.

 

I had the honour of playing with one of our generous sponsors digis, A & T Digital Designs.

 

 

 It was the lovely 'apple 'blossom' digi. So pretty!! I coloured it with soft pencils and added flat backed pearls to the centres. I mounted it on a blue DP that I had in my stash. To finish off I added vintage lace across the bottom and pink flower sequins with a mini pearl in the centre. A larger pink floral candy was placed in the corner to balance with the 'Happy Birthday' sentiment I found in my stash. It was the perfect pink for the card....how lucky was I?

 

Now I'm sure you'll be tempted to join in at (pin)spirational this week so why not pop over and see what the rest of the DT team have chosen to inspire you. And don't forget to check out our generous sponsors. You won't be disappointed!!

Challenges: greatimpressionsstamps......Floral Images

 craftingfromtheheartchallenge......AnythingGoes/use Flowers

stampinfortheweekend.......Flower Power

                            houseofcardschallenge.......photo/colour inspiration CAS or classic&elegant
                                    
                                                                         

 

All About Spring

Good morning bloggers.

Spring is in the air!! Well it certainly is over at CD Sunday. This week it's Team A's turn again with Beryl choosing the theme and what a great one it is too "All about Spring"

Now I know you'll have so many images to choose from on those dusty and not so dusty CD's that you'll have no excuse not to join in with their great challenge this week.

I must say Springtime in the UK is something I miss here in Cyprus. I've never seen any of those delicate little snowdrops here in Cyprus that you find growing everywhere in the UK. They struggle through the frost and snow and seem wave to us and say 'Hello Spring is here!'.....I love them.

The CD I chose for this week's challenge is Holly Hill Pond by Joanne Sheen. There are some delightful images on this CD.

The card was made for my best friend who loves blue and flowers so I thought this would be perfect. The image, DP and the ribbon strip are all from the same CD. That cute little bunny image is 'spotlighted' .....a technique I'd not used before but I think it's effective.

Now it's your turn and don't forget to take a peak at Springtime over at CD Sunday and see what the rest of Team A have created to inspire you. Don't forget you must use a CD for your creation and tell us what it is.
Have fun!! And look out for other challenges you could enter with this one. Phewwwwwwww if I'm lucky I might just catch the Mod Squad challenge....Flowers.

Challenge: modsquadchallenge....... Flowers
                   acreativeneed........Wild Thing.....bunny
                   greatimpressionsstamps.......floral images
                   abc-challenge......F is for Flowers

Vintage style altered tin

Good morning everyone, Can't believe it's Wednesday already and time for another challenge with Dragonflies.

This time we were challenged to alter a tin or jar and give it a Vintage look. Now I just love altering stuff so I was jumping for joy with this challenge!! The sponsors, Digistamps4Joy, gave us digis to play with and I went with a lovely lady. This led me to alter an empty coffee tin that had been put to one side for times such as these...........never throw anything out cos you don't know when you'll need it. How many times do crafters say this!!

The lady made me think of boudoirs so I set about altering the tin to put on my dressing table. I thought I'd put some of my costume jewellery in it.

                                                                               Before

After

 

I used broad white florist's ribbon around the outside. I had a broken string of pearls so I  looped some around the tin. Tied organza ribbon around and fasten it in a large bow. I had recently been sent some lovely crocheted flowers in a swap, which was ideal for a vintage look. I adhered one to the middle of the bow and added a pearl to the centre of the crocheted flower.

 

Close up of digi used

 

 I printed the digi on to a circle of white card and matted it on to a paper lace doiley. Some clear hearts and flowers from my stash were added to bling it up. Finally a tiny pink organza rose added for her corsage.

 

The sponsor .digistamps4joy has generously offered  $10 for first prize. So what are you waiting for go and pop over to crafting-with-dragonflies. and check out the challenge and take a peek at what the rest of the dragonflies have altered.

 

This is a fun challenge so go ahead and have some fun!!

 

Challenges: alteredeclectics........Alter something

allwayssomethingcreative.....'pimped' #68

fussyandfancy.......Vintage #106

pennyschalleng.something old.....pearls..Something new...crotched flower

whimsyinspires.......Something new....crotched flower

pileitonchallenge.....#5 add ribbon

 

Bookmark and Envelope

Time for another challenge over at (pin)spirational. This week's inspirational photo is a display of books.

We have three sponsors this week:

prize is 7 digis

 

 

prize $12 gift card

 

 

prize $5 gift voucher

 

Haven't they been generous....thank you so much.

 

The picture made me think of bookmarks. I'm an avid reader, when I'm not crafting that is, and I go through lots of bookmarks and can't resist buying new ones. So I thought I'd make one as a gift to go with a recent book purchase for a friends birthday. She loves sunflowers too so the digi I chose from Bugaboo stamps was perfect.

 

 

The digi is 'Sunflowers stained glass'. I coloured it with sharpies as the colours are so bright and perfect for sunny sunflowers. I printed it out twice and cut out one single sunflower to add to the yellow envelope. The envelope was my own design and made from a pack of brightly coloured plain craft paper. The sentiment 'Happy Birthday to you' was from my stash. For the bookmark I added the digi to some floral card from a pack I bought at Lidl's store. Yes we now have Lidls here in Paphos or The Lidl as the Cypriots call it. I added gold satin ribbon and some sunflower buttons.....well they might be daisies but hey ho they matched!!

 

If you want to be inspired and join in this week's challenge go over to (pin)spirational and see what my teamies have created. Some fab designs!!

Have fun!!

 

Challenges:

 sparklingblackrose-craftmylife.........Anything but a card

digisketchchallenge.......use the colour green or sketch....I went with the theme green

 mimchallegeblog....anything but a card

Ribbons and Bows

Good Morning to all my followers and fellow crafters in Blogland. It's Sunday again.....doesn't the week fly by!! It's time for another challenge over at CD Sunday and this week it's the turn of Team1 and we've been challenged by Jenny to use ribbons and bows plus a CD of course.

I went for a recently acquired CD by Katy Sue it's called Fabulous Giftware. There were some lovely little gift bags on it which I thought would be perfect to put jewellery in for my grand daughters.....just the right size.

They are so pretty and I know the girls would love to have one of these 'dresses'. The gift bags were so easy to make up from one piece of card. After making up the bag I punched two holes and added matching eyelets and ribbons to close them. The bows just finish them off I think.

 

I hope you'll find time to pop over to CD Sunday and join in the challenge. Jenny and the rest of the team have produce some fab inspiration for you. So go on have fun and get out that ribbon. But don't forget you must also use a CD to qualify for the fab prize.

Happy Crafting!!

Challenges: 
crafterscafeblogchallenge.........Ribbon or Lace #48
pileitonchallenge........add ribbon #5