Paperfanatic

Mushrooms in the House?

2011-09-26T12:42:00.000+01:00

These are the mushrooms in question. They are flat birch ply which I have covered with yummy papers from My Mind's Eye. The mushrooms are from a company called Artemio and I got them through the wonderful Kerry in An Siopa Bui in Spiddal.

I think that they are fab growing out of the skirting boards, but a hole could be punched in the top and they could be hung as a wall hanging. All I need now is a little fairy to sit on one of them.

Sneak Peek #2 for GBCE

2011-09-21T14:49:00.001+01:00

Sneak peek of House is a Home

This project will be great fun. Choose either the "Wedding" option or "Letter to Santa" option (Sneak peek of Santa house to follow).

This option is gold and white. We will be using techniques like heat embossing on timber and chipboard, using dies and punches and making a small box of tags to go alongside this one.

I hope you all like it! As before checkout the GBCE website for details and times

2011-09-20T10:38:00.000+01:00

Great Big Craft Extravaganza Athlone

The GBCE 2011 is coming up rapidly and I have been asked to do a couple of classes again this year. The classes that I am teaching are both altered wooden items (my favourite thing to do!). The first class is a photo cube, but not just any old photo cube. This one is 6" x 6", and is for all the world like a 3d scrapbook page complete with a pocket for journalling tags and lots of other embellishments, all of which you will make yourself. Check out the sneak peeks below and go onto theGBCE website to find out all the details.

21st Birthday Cards

2011-09-08T15:07:00.001+01:00

I was recently asked to make three 21st Birthday cards for the same person. I have to say it was a bit of a challenge as I wanted each one to be quite specific and different. The young lady in question was an avid reader and in particular she loved the classics, Jane Austen, Daphne duMaurier etc. She had also grown up reading and watching Harry Potter and was lamenting the fact that it was now all over. The other thing that I was told about her was that she was "a bit of a hippy!" Armed with this knowledge I had to decide how to use it. I didn't want to do the obvious card for Jane Austen, elegant Ladies with parasols etc., so I decided to make a card that resembled a classic leather bound novel.

I made the cover using grungeboard which I ran through the Vagabond with one of Tim Holtz embossing folders. These are fantastic as they even emboss heavy card and grunge. I then used inks to colour the cover. The corners are metal as are the numbers. The hinge and book-plate are grungeboard coloured with metallic alcohol ink.

Inside the covers were covered with script paper and the central leaves were made using paper from the Attic paper stack.

The back cover was chipboard covered with Kraft cardstock and inked. The hinge was attached with brads.

The second card represents the magical Harry Potter feel without being too childish.

The background paper is from the Eerie Collection from Basic Grey. The birdcage was stamped onto Wendy Vecchi moldable plastic and heated to shape. I attached tit to a branch using Tim Holtz chain. The 21 is a wooden bingo piece coloured with Dusty Concord ink.

Inside I used the same paper but edged it with ribbon.

The third card was similar to this one below with some variations to the flowers. I forgot to take a photo of the actual one!

I hope you like them. Three different cards which hopefully suited the personality of the young lady in question.

Distressed Ballerina

2011-06-27T13:13:00.000+01:00

I was teaching last weekend at An Siopa Bui, in Spiddal. Four projects, one day, great fun! We started with a treasure cheat which we covered with paper and embellished. We then made a quick centre-stepper card. A break for a lovely lunch and then straight into a scrapbook layout. I had made the little hanging (above), as a kind of filler project. Just in case we had some time left. The ladies were very eager to make it, so we did a variation. The background is stunning wrapping paper which was the inspiration for the piece. I used Lord Tim's dress form die which was covered in lovely embossed scrapbook card called two scoops. The whole thing was sanded back to show the lovely flowers and the edges inked with both worn lipstick and dried marigold distress ink. The tutu was made using little circular doilies. They were folded and inked in the same colours, then ruched(?) and stuck to the dressform using strong d/s tape. A piece of pink organza was tied around the waist and a small spiral flower added. Some larger flowers were added to the top corner and the edges of the hanging were inked, et voilá!

This is the layout which we did during the day, quite simple but with lots of embellishment.

Kitchen Wall

2011-06-08T13:48:00.000+01:00

Once upon a time this range cooker stood on one wall in my kitchen. Almost 2 years ago we took it out and were left with this.......

Yes a large concrete un-plastered section on the wall. Normal people would have had a plasterer come in, level out the wall and paint it to match the rest. In our house it is seen as a project which needs to be mulled over and discussed for nearly two years. Until yesterday when I used lots of lovely scrapbook papers to make a beautiful collage which covers the whole wall.

To the top of the collage I added some botanical prints which came in a writing set from Martha Stewart. I had planned to use the colours shown as a base and to put my all time favourite papers on top, but for once decided that less is more! My good friend Mandy helped me out for the day and made the process a real pleasure. Thanks Hunny!

Grungy Monday 10 - A guest designer!!!

2011-06-06T12:42:00.001+01:00

I am so, so, so, excited to be guest designer for this weeks Grungy Monday challenge. This wonderful challenge is hosted by the fabulously talented Linda Ledbetter of Studio L3, in honour of our great and glorious inspirational leader Tim Holtz. The way this works is that we are given a link or product to inspire us and we get to create wonderful projects using that inspiration. I have been chosen to be a guest designer this week, knees quaking with trepidation, along with fellow crafter Marjie Kemper. So the technique/ project for this week is to use Distress Ink/ re-inkers in your project.

Now anyone who knows me and my work will know that I love distress ink. I am the most disorganised person on the planet but my distress inks are all labelled and arranged by colour. I also have individual sponges for each colour too! That is absolutely as far as my organisational skills stretch though, life is too short to do housework is my motto.

Anyway enough excited waffle. I was at a loss where to start with this challenge, as I use distress inks for everything, and I do mean everything. I stamp with them, stain with them and even watercolour with them, so you can see how it might be a problem corralling the brain to a single project!

I decided to use some paper from the crowded attic paper stash from Lord Tim of Holtz. The piece I chose was the one with the nursery rhyme pictures on. I love that paper and wasn't sure how to use it to best effect, so I decided on a wall hanging. I stuck the paper to some heavy card and inked the edges with peeled paint and spiced marmalade ink.
The old fashioned playing cards are from my stash and were lightly coloured with vintage photo distress ink.
The bingo card in front was made using the bingo texture fade which was coloured with walnut distress stain then sprayed with perfect pearls mist (heirloom gold) and edged with spiced marmalade. The second bingo card is from 7 gypsies and the 'Lucky' bingo card was from Jenny Bowlin. I inked this with mustard seed, spiced marmalade, barn door and peeled paint. It was quite bright so I swiped Snow Cap paint over the top and wiped back with a baby wipe. The 'be' is grunge letters on grunge blocks painted. The hanging ribbon is seam binding swiped with spiced marmalade and vintage photo and sprayed with perfect pearl mist. A bingo tile and 'play' word tag was added to finish it off.

The wonderful thing about distress inks is that they are so versatile. I think my favourite is Vintage photo, although each of them has a special place in my heart. Any piece of cardstock can be altered using the inks, they blend beautifully and can even be made into ink sprays using a re-inker and water in a mini-mister.

So go ahead and take up the Grungy Monday challenge, I promise you will be delighted you did.

What's the best discussion group on the entire Yahoo Groups roster? Why, it's All Things Tim, moderated by the fabulous Miss Gloria, and populated by the coolest group of Tim fans on the planet. If you're not a member there, you're missing out on some awesome friendships, not to mention all kinds of insider tips and great ideas for making your Tim-themed art even better! Gloria has created a photo album especially for Grungy Monday, and you're welcome to upload your art there and learn from the work of other members. It's free, it's fun... get on over there!

A Banner and a card

2011-04-25T16:28:00.000+01:00

Apologies in advance for the photo quality. Still have not located the elusive camera battery charger. You get the idea of the banner from the first photo. I was over at a friends house on Friday to do some crafting, and decided that we needed a little project. So, armed with Vern the Vagabond and the sewing room die, we set about creating a little banner, based on one I saw on the Maya Road site with the word create on it.

This is one of the dress-forms and spool and button. Each one is slightly different.

The papers that I used are October Afternoon- Thrift Shop. Oh how I have loved these papers. Alas I am coming to the end of my stack and am already in mourning.

This week is my Mum's Birthday, she loves to stitch and sew, so I used the dress-form yet again to make a card for her. I must say I was unsure about buying this one. I didn't know if I would get enough use from it, but it has earned a place in my heart already. I am entering the card and banner in the Simon Says Stamp and show challenge. The theme is buttons this week.

Time

2011-04-22T16:07:00.000+01:00

This is a mini-canvas that I am entering into the Simon Says Challenge. The challenge was to use a Tim technique. I went a bit mad on the techniques here. I have stamped clocks all over the canvas, then painted a large portion of the central area with crackle paint. I then masked areas with the clocks and cogs masks and inked with distress inks and a blending tool. I then die-cut the little rainman figure with grungepaper, shiny card and plain card. The grunge man was painted with black paint and sprayed with Perfect Pearls mist, (heirloom gold). On the plain card I inked the man with vintage photo and the blending tool and over-stamped the sentiment from the set using the same ink. I edged one side with vintage photo distress stain. On the shiny card I just ran the vintage photo and walnut stain distress stains over the top and got this lovely effect, sort of like a colour wash. I ran around the edges with vintage photo distress stain and finished off with a little clock in the top corner. Sorry the photo isn't great, I can't find my camera charger anywhere and had to use Hubby's phone.

Vibes and scribes

2011-04-17T14:59:00.000+01:00

I love to discover new crafty shops. It's that entering the unknown, wondering if it will be one of the good ones or if it disappoint. Well I found a new shop yesterday in Cork city called Vibes and Scribes. It did not disappoint on entering. The original shop was a bookshop, however, now they have a huge craft supply area, catering for every craft imaginable. There are still books of course. I don't think I have ever seen so many craft books in one place. There is also another area which sells fabric and ribbon. A treasure trove! You will find them on Lavitts Quay in Cork or at www.vibesandscribes.ie

Galway Extravaganza and Guess what I got!

2011-04-11T14:07:00.000+01:00

I am back from a wonderful two days teaching at the Galway Craft Extravaganza. It is always a pleasure to teach classes for Kerry from An Siopa Bui in Spiddal, she is full of enthusiasm for all things crafty. I was teaching an altered lamp and shade class, and a layout class entitled All things Tim.

Both classes went really well and I met some wonderful women. Thanks to all of them, they made the classes a dream to teach.

The highlight of the weekend was getting my very own Vagabond! Yes. I have it, and it is gorgeous. Off to play with it now.

Some Cards

2011-04-04T12:28:00.000+01:00

This is a little Thank-you card that I made last week using a fab new paper pack from Pink Paislee called 'Sweetness'. I didn't have to do much to it other than add some rosette and flowers and a little faux stitching.

One of the flowers is made from tissue tape and the other is made of ribbon.

The card above is the Mother's Day card which I made for my mum. As you can see, I am loving rosettes at the moment and florals. The paper here is from Prima and is called 'Madeline'.

Lastly a very simple card using Graphic 45 papers.

Rabbit Canvas

2011-03-31T19:26:00.000+01:00

This an altered canvas that I did to enter the wonderful Grungy Monday Challenge. The canvas itself was a printed one with flowers and such like on it. There were also little clocks on it which gave me the inspiration do use the little rabbit from the Spring Sprung collection by the great Lord Tim of Holtz, the man in whose honour this challenge has been started. I used all of the techniques which he used on the tag which you can find here. I painted over some areas of the canvas with snowcap paint dabber. I then masked off the canvas using the wheels and cogs masks and sprayed with vintage photo re-inker and perfect pearls mixture. The flowers were made from grungepaper, two of them were covered first. The edges of the canvas were painted with the fab crackle paints in tattered rose, old paper and broken china. I dulled the colours down a bit with vintage photo ink.

The bunny was stamped on grunge and heat embossed. I painted over him with the snowcap and added a little crown. I think a crown counts as a hat doesn't it? If so I can enter this into the Simon Says challenge which is all about hats.

The art letters are done using the grunge blocks and alphas.

Hope you like it!

Little Vintage French White Farm House On The Prairie Give Away!

2011-03-30T11:35:00.001+01:00

Believe it or not all of these bits and bobs are up for grabs on this wonderful blog. Check it out.

Monochrome Thank-you Card

2011-03-21T14:02:00.000Z

I have promised myself that I will try to remember to take pictures of cards as I make them and post at least some of them. This is one that I made as a thank-you for a friend in the UK. The card was edged with a punch from x-cut and inked up with pumice stone distress ink, over-stamped with one of Lord Tim's flourishes. I embossed some packaging using the postcards embossing folder, (again from Tim, are we noticing a trend here?) and cut out the oval postcard symbol. I painted the back of it with snowcap paint dabber from ranger. The paper is from the shabby chic stack by, yes you guessed it Tim Holtz as are the stamps used on the little postcard.

This is the inside of the card which was completed in a similar fashion to the front.

Feast or Famine!

2011-03-16T16:55:00.000Z

You know the old saying 'It's either a feast or a famine'? That's the way I am with blogging. I will not blog for ages and then I blog twice in one day.

I just had to show you these boxy, hangy things that I made. The one on the left is made with the Lord Tim of Holtz's configurations box in the small size. It is for a baby girl and is covered in the papers from the Shabby Chic paper pack, tissue tape around the edges a little tattered rose crackle paint and Voilà.

The one on the right is a traditional wooden version with fixed openings and a clasp on the side. The papers are from the Lost and Found pack and again tissue tape paint and ink.

A close-up of the pink one. Those little socks were my little girls when she was born. How cute are they?

WOYWW

2011-03-16T11:29:00.000Z

The letter"L" and the letters S and K and paint and mess, but not as much as earlier, had to clear a space to work on. The letter is about 8" tall and is covered with papers in a patchwork fashion and then all of the edges were done with tattered rose crackle paint.

If you are wondering why I have a photo of my desk here, pop over to Julia's blog where she will tell you all about it.

Curiosity Box - At Last!

2011-03-14T17:04:00.000Z

I'm sure you are all well aware that the great and glorious Lord Tim of Holtz was teaching at a wonderful Paper Artsy event in Newport Pagnell last month. I was one of the Golden Ticket holders and happily toddled off to be inspired by the Master himself. I spotted him on the Thursday evening when I arrived at the hotel and very nearly wet myself with excitement. My D.H. was with me at the time and broke into gaels of laughter at the sight!

Anyway I have posted the lovely project which we made in the morning session already and I thought I would share the final pictures of my finished project with you. What a project, such fun to make and what a way to make four hours disappear almost instantly.

Some close-ups of the details. The transparency has a little battery operated tea-light behind it. Clever idea eh? I will be using this idea again methinks. The little bottles are filled with beads, pen nibs and other bits and pieces. The little cage has a bird charm attached.

You can just see the faux printers blocks which spell the word Tim. The clock is pointing to 2.00pm (the time of the class) and there are two other blocks which make up the date 2011.

My little lady has a skirt made from a flower folded in half and tied around her waist and she has a lovely metal wing. All in all I had the most fantastic day and found the great man himself to be quite lovely.

Arsty Crafts Project

2011-03-11T12:00:00.000Z

This is the project which I made in England at the Artsy Crafts Day. I really enjoyed making something new and using new products and techniques.

We painted paper, used ink sprays. Cut metal and used the fantastic new Fresco paints from Paper Artsy. Leandra and Lin made the class a pleasure to take.

Dress Form

2011-03-06T19:53:00.000Z

Hi everyone. I thought I would post this dress form that I finished today. I covered the form with decopatch paper in gold and white crackle pattern. The bottom edge is decorated using some vintage trim which was in a sewing box passed to me by my mother-in-law. The box was a treasure trove which had been her mothers. The piece around the waist also came from this box and is a section of a hand laced collar which has then been painted! It is truly stunning. I used some trim as a dangling necklace, added lots of tissue paper flowers cut using the tattered florals die and added some wings cut with the fanciful flight die. I also added some vintage sequin thread to the neck and base. Finally a pin with a 'Muse' tag to finish.

The flowers were sprayed with cosmic shimmer mists and perfect pearls mist. I painted white paint over the muse tag and then wiped it off, to highlight the word.

The back of the dress form was finished with a satin bow and a paper flower.

A detail of the flowers and the decopatch paper used to cover the dress form.

Artsy Craft Day with Lord Tim!

2011-03-01T22:36:00.000Z

A picture of me with the man himself. He was so lovely.

I asked him to pose with my two 'Flat Pack' friends!

This is the box which we made in class, it was gorgeous. We got bags full of lovely goodies to fill them with and wonderful, funny tuition along the way.

WOYWW 08/12/2010

2010-12-08T10:05:00.000Z

The Mess (including all of the supplies on the couch)

The storage solution

I have had this wooden chest of drawers for ages, it has been in my attic for about 6 years. I finally got it down yesterday and painted it and decoupaged the drawers. I think it looks great and fits into what I like to call "Heap Corner" really well. I just have to fill it with some of the contents of my very messy desk.

Some of the 12 Tags

I had a great day on Sunday with my good friend Mandy and my 9 year old daughter Olivia. I bet you can't even work out which ones Olivia did, she was amazing and so focused.

So I have started the great clean-up and hope to continue today. If you are wondering why I am showing you my desk, hop over to Julia's blog where all is explained.

Inspired by Tim Holtz

2010-12-02T10:42:00.000Z

This is a tag that I did having been inspired by the great Lord Tim of Holtz on the Ranger website. I just love that birdcage and the pewter crackle paint.

Sorry It has been so Long

2010-11-01T10:25:00.000Z

Hi everyone, sorry that I haven't posted in ages. I have been so busy that I just haven't had time. I started classes locally with some lovely ladies, teaching them card making techniques. It's going really well and continues at least until Christmas and hopefully beyond.
I am also gearing up for the Christmas markets making and painting, and gluing and stamping. Photos will follow I promise.
In the last week I also taught four papercrafting classes in various libraries around County Wicklow. Lots of children came and had fun making flowers and origami boxes.
Three mornings a week I volunteer at my younger children's Primary School which is such a pleasure. Children have a way of changing your perspective on life don't they?

So that's a small selection of the reasons which I have not been blogging, but a new leaf is being turned as I speak I promise.

all my best
Karen

Craft Extravaganza

2010-09-28T08:34:00.000+01:00

What a great week-end of crafting and laughing and making new friends. I really enjoyed my first real teaching experiences and would like to thank all of the lovely ladies who took my classes. I have added photos of the wonderful birdhouses which my masterclass made. Each one is similar but unique. Fantastic work.

Sneak Peeks for GBCE in Athlone

2010-09-14T22:53:00.000+01:00

It's only a couple of weeks now to the Craft Extravaganza in Athlone. I thought I would share a couple of pics of the wooden birdhouse which I will be altering in a class. The class is a master-class for 2.5 hours and should be great fun. The wooden blank has been beautiful to work with, and the papers and dies which we will be using are awesome.

This is a close-up of one of the little birdies about to enter his new home.

WOYWW 8/09/2010

2010-09-08T11:09:00.000+01:00

It's that time of week again folks. If you don't know what I'm talking about checkout Julia's Blog where she explains all. Anyway! I have spent two days organising my workspace. I know it still looks pretty untidy but believe me the stuff in the foreground is all being used at the moment to create a lovely birdhouse which will be the class project I will teach at the GBCE in Athlone in a couple of weeks.

This is a little close-up. It is still a work in progress, lots more bits and bobs to add. I just love the new Sizzix 'Birds' and I just got my hands on Picket Fence crackle paint too.

I thought I would show you my ultra organised bureau which I have converted into my Cuttlebug station. What do you think?

SImon Says Stamp and Show

2010-08-29T12:24:00.000+01:00

This is a mirror that I started a long while ago and have just finished. It is a 20th Wedding Anniversary gift for my DH. I am entering it into the wonderful challenge at Simon Say Stamp and Show. This week is T!m Holtz inspired! As he is my absolute crafting idol this was no trouble at all.

I covered the frame with paper which a friend gave me. I made some flowers from grunge paper. The large one was embossed using one of Tim's texture fades, sprayed with a mixture of tattered rose and vintage photo from a mini-mister, then swiped with fired brick and finally touched with Perfect Pearls gold. BTW the ticket says Trust not Rust. I added a photo from our wedding day into a memory frame and added a metal tag.

In one corner I added a metal picture corner. I just love these and use them sparingly. You can just see in the corner of the mirror a little fragment with a calendar from August, the month of our wedding.

I then added some of the lovely metal numbers. I used tea-dye and vintage photo distress embossing powders to these to give them an aged appearance. I also added a Love key and some butterflies. Et Voilà, a Tim inspired mirror frame.

WOYWW

2010-08-25T12:06:00.000+01:00

Hi WOYWWer's! Sorry I'm late, but I got the chance for a lie-in this morning and grabbed it with both eyes. On my desk today you can see the new toys that I am about to play with. I am using the die and Texture Fades for a class that I am giving at the GBCE in Athlone on 25th September. The class is called 'All about Tim'. I am so excited about it. In the background is 'DD' (named by Mandy and Betty), my gorgeous needle felted bear which was made by an extremely talented lady Dorothy Dinsmore. In the background you can also see my new little green tote. I have been looking for one of these for a while and happened to spot one in Tesco last week filled with children's gardening tools. The kids were happy with the tools and I was happy with the tool bag.

A close up of 'DD'

You can download these sheets on the Ranger website to help you organise your colours.

I'm off to check out everyone's desks now.

WOYWW 04/08/2010

2010-08-04T11:08:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone welcome to WOYWW, hosted by the wonderful Julia. Those of you who saw my desk last week will be amazed to see the actual desk here, as opposed to everything piled up on it like last week. I still have some little houses waiting to be altered. The card in front is one a made as a sample for a sketch challenge in our monthly craft club. Shock, horror time I have used papers from my 'Lost and Found' paper stack. I also used my new 'Bingo' texture fade folder. The ribbon on the right has little red birds on it, I used it last night to make a hanger for a lovely fabric birdy that my friend Mandy gave me yesterday. It is now hanging in my kitchen.

Isn't it just lovely? I just love those little gingham wings.

This is the complete overview of the desk, somehow from this view it doesn't look quite so tidy. The ever faithful glue and heat guns on the side. The large wad of papers on the right is actually a letter stand which contains my have to have at hand, pieces of card and paper and stamped images and embossed card and, you can see where I am going with this right?

Anyway, pop over to Julia's blog and take a look at all the other lovely desks.

Design Team Call

2010-07-30T10:13:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone. I just thought would let you know about a DT call over on Emma's page. Check it out and check out her lovely shop for great crafting goodies.

WOYWW

2010-07-28T13:55:00.000+01:00

Be prepared for a picture heavy post here.

This is my desk on this lovely summer's Wednesday. Those of you who have visited before will not notice much change in my methods (lots of mess, everything piled up, seemingly total chaos). The little house in front is a ladybird house which has been painted and is ready to be transformed (see photos below of the one I completed the other day). The ribbon rolls on the desk are there from another couple of projects completed yesterday, they are cork boards which I made for my two little girls (pictures also below, I told you this would be picture heavy.

This is the ladybird house completed and transformed into a little key house. I don't know about you all, but I can never find my keys, so hopefully this will solve the problem.

These are the notice boards.

This is a wall hanging that I finally finished, it has been on the desk for about 6 weeks I think. I just couldn't think how it would go together. I finally cut the original piece in half and used my gorgeous Tim Holtz on the edge die for the bottom edge. The paper is from K & Company. The bingo card is from Jenni Bowlin. I made the door of the house using one of Tim's Fragments and a piece of the 'Lost and Found' paper, (OK a confession here, I didn't use a piece of the paper itself, I used a piece of the cover sheet from the paper pad, I can't quite bear to cut the paper yet).

This is the little wooden birdhouse that was sitting on the desk for ages too. I was unsure how to finish it having used crackle paint on the roof and rock candy crackle on the rest of it. My good friend Betty has just taken possession of a great punch from Stampin' Up (the bird, wing and branch), This is a really sturdy punch and easily punches grunge paper! Joy of joys. So I punched out the little bird and sat him on the perch. The scalloped border was done using a Martha Stewart punch. The rock candy crackle paint was rubbed over with shabby shutter ink.

Phew! That was a long post, I hope you stayed for the entire thing and enjoyed it. Pop over to Julia's blog to learn more about WOYWW

Thank-you Card

2010-06-30T11:58:00.000+01:00

This is a thank-you card I made for the girls' teacher. I have used all things Tim Holtz on it. Including the edge die, the embossing folder, stamps and distress inks. I used the edge die, then folded it back and used it as a stencil.

You can just see the shape behind the bird.

You can see where I also used the edge as a stencil to ink up the inside of the card too. Not quite the traditional Thank-you card, but I think she liked it.

WOYWW

2010-06-30T10:54:00.001+01:00

Ok everyone here it is. Last week if you visited you would have seen me at my best. This week alas I am back to my old untidy ways. I had some friends over yesterday so everything was moved to the kitchen and just dumped back on the desk afterwards. The mirror as you can see has still not been finished, but I did get a card made.

The card sits atop one of my fave pieces of equipment, my Woodware paper trimmer. Off to check out some other desks. For more information on this great experience check out Julia's Blog

WOYWW

2010-06-23T15:31:00.000+01:00

This is what's on my desk today. Some unfinished projects. A wall hanging thingy, a mirror and a cute little birdhouse.

The mirror is hopefully going to be a present for hubby on our 20th wedding anniversary. It will look tidier when I have decided which of the pieces to stick to it!

You may have spotted the little box in the background and wondered what it was. It is my box of distress ink sponges. I coloured a tab with each of the colours, cut some cut 'n' dried foam and stapled the label to the foam. I now have all of the colours at my fingertips.

Father's Day

2010-06-21T12:54:00.001+01:00

Sorry people, long time no blog. I hope to get back on track from today. Although the sunshine does beckon! Every sunny day is a bonus in Ireland, so we need to catch those rays when we can.
This is the card that I made for my husband on Father's Day. He flew away to England yesterday, hence the theme of the card. The card is distressed with vintage photo and brushed corduroy ink, over-stamped with brushed corduroy and walnut stain.
The tags are made using two different techniques. The green tag is distressed with peeled paint and shabby shutters. It was then swiped with espresso paint and finally the edges were embossed using vintage photo distress embossing powder. The brown tag is coloured with scattered straw, tea-dye, vintage photo and brushed corduroy inks. The stamps are Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous and the whole tag is dusted with some Perfect Pearls in Heirloom Gold.
I am entering this card in the My Partner in Crafting Crime Challenge #4.

Flower Wreath - Finished at last!

2010-03-23T17:53:00.000Z

For those of you who have seen this wreath lurking in the background on some of my previous posts, this is the finished product. I am happy with the amount of flowers on it at last. I kept seeing empty spots when I held it up that I had to fill. I ended up making some smaller flowers and putting them around the sides.

This is a close-up of the top of the wreath.

I also made this one today. It has a much more muted colour scheme and I wrapped the wreath in a dark green Hessian ribbon first to take the blank look away. It meant that I needed a lot less flowers for this one than the last. We live and learn eh?

What's on your Workdesk Wednesday

2010-03-10T11:31:00.000Z

Well it's Wednesday again and as you can see by the shocking state of my desk, I have been busy starting lots of projects. I must say that not a lot of them got finished, but we will battle on! In the foreground are some tags, The orange one was inspired by Linda Elbourne in the latest issue of Craft Stamper. She used just one colour of distress ink to create a complete piece. My flower heart wreath is still languishing in the background and I have also started to alter a bingo clipboard. This needs lots more work.

I was crafting with friends on Monday night and everything that I brought with me is still piled up on the side of the desk.

On a tidier note, this is one of my storage areas, complete with Regie Pie puppet. and one of my 'Wishing' Bird Houses.

And this is another storage area. Hope you enjoyed your visit.

St. Patrick's Day Badge

2010-03-09T13:10:00.002Z

This is my entry for the Tuesday Taggers Challenge this week, and for Paper Cutz Challenge #31. I am making St. Patrick's Day badges at the moment, so I thought I would enter one of them. This is the badge attached to the wearer. It is a ribbon rosette with a paper rose in the centre and some lovely green Hessian ribbon at the back. It is attached with a standard badge pin.

This is the badge as it comes on the tag.

This is the back of the tag. It says Happy St. Patrick's Day in both Irish and English.

An Alternative St. Patrick's Day Badge?

2010-03-08T11:23:00.000Z

I love St. Patrick's Day but I hate the tackiness of lots of the badges, decorations and other paraphernalia that goes with it. So this year I have decided to make my own badges and here is the first one. The rose in the centre is made using Sasafrass paper and the rosette behind is just a little ribbon. I backed it with a punched flower and a badge pin et Voilà! I am going to make some more over the next few days, so watch this space.

Regie Pie- He's my new guy!

2010-03-08T11:14:00.000Z

This my dear bloggers is the marvellous Regie Pie- One eye go Bye! Isn't he great. He is one of the Grumptys. I got him yesterday at The Crafty Market which is held every month in the Dublin Food Coop in Newmarket Square, Dublin. I fell in love with him and all of his pals and had to bring one of them home with me. Myself and my good friends Mandy and Betty took a trip up to Dublin yesterday to check out the Crafty Market. We all loved it. A great atmosphere, lots of wonderful crafty people selling their wares, fab organic food at great prices and even a belly dancing display and some live music thrown in. Well worth a visit if you happen to be in Dublin on the first Sunday of the month. We couldn't resist dropping by the Cath Kidston outlet in Kildare on the way home.

I got these lovelies and a new cover for my ironing board! What a lovely day we had.

The Stampman Fabulous giveaway

2010-03-05T13:46:00.001Z

Look at this fab giveaway from the Stampman. Imagine winning these? You can choose the ink pads or the re-inkers. Those of you who have seen my recent post know that I have already got my ink pads, but I have all of my fingers and toes crossed that I win the re-inkers.

Gingersnap Creations- GC44- Random Redhead Challenge

2010-03-03T13:43:00.000Z

Well Gingersnap is 1 year old. So of course we all need to celebrate. I have made this card for the challenge. It is my first easel card, (I know I must be the only person on the crafting planet not to have made one of these before now) and I am giving it to my son who is 15 today. Boys cards can be so difficult to make sometimes. I have used some of my new Di's, bundled sage, forest moss and a little pumice stone, to colour the background. I overstamped in the same colours with the Stampers Anonymous swirl and made a little collage type background with the other stamps from the set. I re-stamped the gorgeous birdie and stuck him on with some silicone glue. The paper is some old stuff from my stash which was a pinky-beige colour but I got at it with the trusted inks and adjusted it.

What's on your workdesk. Wednesday.

2010-03-03T12:21:00.000Z

I have decided to join Julia today. I love seeing what people are up to and how messy their desks can get. As you can see I am really untidy. I have been trying out my new distress ink colours and some crackle paint and corrugated cardboard. Behind the inks you can see the paper flower wreath that I am working on. I have also just finished decorating my ink storage tin (see picture below).

You can just see my little tote which has some of my re-inkers in.

I pasted various bits 'n' bobs onto the tin and then dragged some 'Lettuce' paint over the top.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of all of my inks together.

A Piece of Jewellery

2010-02-17T00:08:00.000Z

This is the first piece of jewellery that I have ever made. I used the 1.5" memory glass from Ranger. The image on this side was stamped onto an alcohol inked background on glossy cardstock.

The image on this side was stamped directly onto the glass with olive stazon and then triple-embossed.

I didn't have any of the lovely memory glass frames so I had to improvise a bit. I backed the second image with glossy cardstock as for the first image and then stuck them together using glossy accents. I then embossed a couple of layers of gold around all of the edges to finish them off. I stuck the jump ring on with glossy accents too (not so sure how long it will last) and hooked another couple of jump rings through that. I finally added the chain. I don't think it's too bad for a first try. I do wish we could get Tim Holtz supplies here in Ireland more easily, then we wouldn't have to make do.

Tuesday Taggers -Time

2010-02-16T23:50:00.000Z

This is a tag I made for the Time challenge over on Tuesday Taggers Blog. The background was an experiment with some distress ink re-inkers in tattered rose and vintage photo mixed with water in mini misters. I sprayed them onto my craft sheet, then pressed the tag on top. I then stamped lots of clocks all over in Frayed Burlap and edged the tag with Walnut stain.

The pocket watch was stamped onto kraft cardstock and triple-embossed. I then tried to dust some mica powder onto the edges, but as you can see it ended up being blown across the surface. The cogs are ideology and the little flower is from the stash, (of course the flower also got a quick spritz with the mini-misters too).

This is a better angle on the flower.

One World One Heart

2010-02-15T18:12:00.003Z

I can't believe it! I have one two fab giveaways from two wonderful artists on the One World One Heart world tour of blogland. The first was from the lovely Julie over at http://mycuriousteaparty.blogspot.com, check her out her work is a-maz-ing! The second is from a fantastic digital artist called Mendy over at http://dutchiem.blogspot.com/ Art Adventures. Thanks to you both. I am thrilled.
But this event was about connecting with other crafters across the world and it was fantastic. I will definitely take part next year.
Edit to post: I have just been notified that I have won another gift, from Alicia at Altered Bits Altered Blog (http://alteredbits.wordpress.com/). It is a fantastic sheet of collage images.
I have been so lucky!
Another Edit to post: The lovely Angie from Texas, http://angiehallhaviland.typepad.com/, just contacted me to say I had won some goodies in her giveaway too. This just gets better. As my yummy goodies arrive I will post them on the blog. I know that those of you who didn't get involved this year will be itching to get involved next year.
Yet another edit to post: I have won another gift. This one from http://christineannettedesigns.blogspot.com/. She creates wonderful Blog backgrounds, headers and buttons. Watch this space for my prize.

Using up those paper scraps

2010-02-14T14:59:00.001Z

I have been inspired by Deanne over on Quirky Boots, ( http://deezkatz.blogspot.com/2010/02/offcuts.html) to use up those scraps of paper that are lying around. As I have a big thing for Tim Holtz and his Grungepaper roses, I thought I would use the scraps to make some of these.

The cherries and orange tinted one are grungepaper covered with Jenni Bowlin paper and edged with distress ink. In fact I distressed all of the edges. The other flowers were old K & Company papers.

I can't remember where the reddish papers came from. I have lots more flowers punched out ready to be assembled.

My Funny Valentine

2010-02-05T10:52:00.001Z

This is my entry for the Creative Scrappers Challenge sketch #89 and Stampin' for the Weekend Challenge. I have used the 'Bloom and Grow' papers from My Mind's Eye and some free My Mind's Eye papers that I got with a magazine last week. The image is stamped with Vintage Photo distress ink and lightly water-coloured using the same ink.

I have added a little lace trim here and there. The little wooden hearts are coloured using Tattered Rose distress ink and stamped using Vintage Photo. The paper hearts are cut out using Nesties and my Cuttlebug.

I have distressed all of the paper edges to give it a more vintage feel.

Amazing Blog Candy

2010-02-03T15:56:00.000Z

This is an amazing candy from a super Blogger called Jacques. Pop over to his blog at http://jacquesmagnolias.blogspot.com and take a look around, you will love what you see. The candy is available until 22nd February.

Pastel Green and Blossom

2010-02-01T19:05:00.000Z

This is my entry for this weeks Passion for Promarkers Challenge. I am new to the whole promarker thing, so I thought I would do the challenge to get used to using them. Other than Blossom and Pastel green, I used spice and cinnamon for her hair and ivory and blush for her face. The boots are lilac. The papers are Melissa Frances.

Blog Hopping

2010-01-31T00:36:00.000Z

I have had such a wonderful few days travelling around the world on a Magic Carpet Ride, and as the song says it is "A whole new world". This has all come about because of a wonderful blog event called 'One World, One Heart', which encourages people to check out an array of fab crafting blogs all over the world. If anyone is interested got to the founders blog on this link, http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/one-world-one-heart.html. The idea was started in 2007 by Lisa and has grown as the years have gone by. Everyone listed on Lisa's blog is giving a prize to all bloggers who leave a comment on their posting. I must say I have been astounded by all of the stunning works of art from across the globe and am on a mission to visit as many blogs as I can in the time of the event. I have two more weeks left. So thank-you to all of those generous bloggers out there who have given of their talent to us all. I will definitely be taking part next year.

Creative Scrappers Challenge #88

2010-01-25T16:43:00.000Z

This is the LO which I did using this weeks sketch. I always mean to do this challenge, but the week gets away from me. So this week I sat down first thing and didn't get up until it was done. I am really happy with it. I like to work with sketches because the take all of the worry about composition away.

I used Sassafrass Lass Papers on Coredinations Chocolate box cardstock. I then added some trim from my stash and some twine to the top of the LO. The buttons were also from my stash.

I distressed the edges of the cardstock and papers and did some Faux stitching around all of the pieces.

Bah Humbug Challenge #3

2010-01-25T00:33:00.000Z

This is my entry for the latest challenge from Bah Humbug, 'All that glitters'.
The image is stamped in black and then glittered using my Quickie Glue Pen and some ultrafine glamour dust.
I have inked the edges of the card with worn lipstick and peeled paint distress inks. The papers are I think Fancy Pants from last year.

Christmas Joy

2010-01-13T10:38:00.002Z

My sweet daughter (8years old) only wanted a Nintendo DSi and 'Christmas Joy' from Santa. I think the joy was there on Christmas Day, but I made these letters for her as a reminder of that special feeling. I bought the letter blanks from Hallmark and covered them with papers from K and Company. The little gingerbread people are cut from some ribbon from my stash.

She really loved this and it has pride of place on her bookshelf along with a couple of angels and fairies which she also got as presents.

Bah Humbug Challenge #1

2010-01-10T17:02:00.000Z

For my entry to this great new challenge Blog, I decided to do a layout. I used some Christmas paper bags and some ribbon which came wrapped around pyjamas that my daughters got as Christmas pressies.

I used Core-dinations Chocolate box papers as my base. The word 'Festive' was done by placing chipboard letters under the cardstock and sanding over the top. It turned out quite well.

The image was triple embossed and then edged with mica powder and embossed again.

I just loved the paper gift bags with the gnomes on. They came from Ikea and the other paper bag came from a local shop.

The Wishing House

2010-01-09T13:40:00.000Z

This is my "Wishing House"

I got the template from a website and finally got around to making it over the last couple of days. That's the beauty of being snowed in, you can craft away without feeling like you should be out somewhere doing something else.

This is a close-up of the eaves and roof tiles. I used the 'Bloom and Grow' papers from My Minds Eye. They were perfect for this project. I doodled around the opening and added a rub-on around the doodle.

This is the side of the house.

This is the back.

This is a close up of the roof tiles. They are individual hearts layered up.

The site that I got the template from was mjm-thearttart.com.

A card for a teenage boy

2010-01-06T16:49:00.000Z

This is a card which I made a while ago. I had a few scraps of paper left over from a LO and thought that they would be perfect for a boys card. I can't remember the name of the Paper Company but the papers were; Factory, Warehouse, Cog, Market street and Industrial Loft.. I also used some cream cardstock which I distressed with 'Mustard Seed' and 'Scattered Straw' distress inks.

The numerals are from the same range and I also used a rub-on for the wording. The envelope which you see in the background was distressed using 'vintage photo' ink and the fab Tim Holtz masks.

Christmas Decorations

2009-11-12T17:03:00.000Z

These are my wooden Gingerbread Men. The photo does not do the little guy justice. He is very cute. I personalise these with a name or greeting. I have even been known to add hairstyles to them.

New this year are these Gingerbread Cookies. Good enough to eat.

Some more cookies in the shape of little houses. Ideal for those little gifts for neighbours, or for a couple in their new home.

This is a large Christmas tree, about 10", which again can be customised as a family tree. I am trying to give more options than the simple country heart shape. I also have a wreath and a snowflake. I hope you all like them.

A Birthday Card for Emma

2009-11-11T21:34:00.001Z

This is the birthday card which I made for my niece Emma. She is 19 today. The papers are Coredinations and K & Company. The image peeking out from behind is a stamp I got from Dimension Fourth of a mouse with a cupcake. The 'E' is Grunge board letter inked in versacolour Raspberry and embossed with Tim Holtz Distress Embossing powder in Tea dye. Various trims, lace and ribbon from the stash.

The rub-on on the inside is also K & Company, from the Que Sera range.

2009-11-03T10:32:00.007Z

These are the 'Family Tree' wooden hearts which I made for craft fairs last year. They were 22cm in size which left lots of room for the the larger families, but which slightly dwarfed the smaller families. I am doing them again this year, but have decided to go smaller and have them at 11.5cm instead. I think this will give a better overall look. I have been beavering away madly in preparation for all of the upcoming shows.

My gingerbread men have grown this year from 10cm to 15cm! I will post a photo of them soon.

I have as any of you blog watchers will know, I have become a little bit obsessed with bird houses.

I have now made some Christmas ones. Some are snowy white and others are decoupaged sweet pictures and sugared. I love them.

Bird House madness!

2009-09-10T22:45:00.002+01:00

These are the little birdhouses that I have become obsessed with. There are six shown here and I have another six in the pipeline. It is starting to get out of hand, but they are so cute I just can't resist. One of the ones I am working on is more a bat house than bird house. I will post when I have it finished.

Crafty Creations Challenge #32

2009-09-09T20:42:00.002+01:00

This is my entry for the Crafty Creations Challenge #32. The challenge was to use an embossing technique on your project. As I am probably the only person in the crafting world not to have a dry embossing system of any kind, (yes this is really true people, not even a light box!) I have decided to get the heat gun out and use these great papers from my stash. I have used pink card as my base and layer up the hearts and skulls on a shimmering shocking pink paper. The font is a download from Dafont. The skull, wings and crown are Tim Holtz grungeboard shapes which have been embossed with the base colour and then had a couple more layers of UTEE added. Finally a pink ribbon added to one side.

Cupcake Inspirational Challenge #23

2009-09-07T13:29:00.003+01:00

This is my card based on the beautiful cupcake in a cup! I have used some skeleton leaf paper from my stash and layered up a Martha Stewart postcard on some whitewash coredinations cardstock.

The beautiful crochet flower was created by my Mum. She did this just by looking at a photo which I showed her. Now that is a talent! Any way I hop you like the card.

Sweet Sunday Challenge #34

2009-09-07T12:28:00.003+01:00

This is my entry for this weeks challenge. I had the decoupage made up for a while and I thought it would be ideal for one of our craft club members' birthday. I stamped and heat embossed the cardstock with cosmic shimmer embossing powder. I then added some purple satin ribbon and some lilac organza ribbon. I hope you like it.

Crafty Creations Challenge #31

2009-09-04T14:45:00.008+01:00

This is my entry for the Crafty Creations challenge #31. I had just finished a LO using these papers so they were close to hand. I stamped the owls onto various different papers and layered them up. I did the same with the sentiment. I'm sorry the first two images appear on their sides, they are actually portrait in my album! So I don't know what happened there.

School Days Paperplay Challenge #9

2009-09-01T10:12:00.009+01:00

This is my entry for the Paperplay Challenge for this week, entitled Back to School. I have used my new Sassafrass papers "Woodland Whimsy", which I think is perfect for Autumn and back to school. My Mum made the crochet flower and the ribbon and button are from my stash. I can't believe how much my kids have changed over the last three years!

Antique Anniversary!

2009-08-31T10:25:00.004+01:00

This is the card I made for my husband for our 19th Wedding Anniversary. Where did the time go? The image I used was from a pack of 7Gypsies Ephemera and the papers were the new Joyeux Noel pack from Papermania. The little ticket is Jenny Bowlin and I had the lace and trim in my stash. The pearls are K&Company I think.

Altered Album

2009-08-31T09:55:00.003+01:00

This is an album which I made for my niece on her 18th birthday. I used letter templates for the name and then covered the letters with some papers in her favourite colours. I over stamped these, in some cases using clear embossing powder over the stamped images. The label on the front of the box was triple embossed and stamped into with a flourish stamp. The letter "E" which is attached is metal which has also been heat embossed to echo the colours of the album. I stamped the box lid with flourishes all round. I was obviously going through my Rococo Period lol. The paper is mostly K&Co classics.

CIC Challenge #22

2009-08-31T08:47:00.002+01:00

I was delighted to see the challenge this week and have finally had the nerve to enter. I love these papers from Cosmo Cricket and have been looking for a chance to use them. A friend of mine has just finished building a house, so I think this would be perfect for her!

My Girl

2009-08-25T14:28:00.001+01:00

This LO is using more of my lovely new Sassafrass papers. I truly am in love with their work! How can we fail to produce masterpieces when faced with paper and cardstock like this. The photo is my husband with our first daughter Olivia. She was about 40 hours old in this straight from the hospital. He just couldn't take his eyes off her.

Songbird

2009-08-25T14:04:00.002+01:00

This is a LO I did the other day of my daughter Olivia. I chose the title of Songbird because that is exactly what she is. She sings all the time and has a lovely voice.
I have used the 'Fawned of you' papers from Sassafrass Lass. They had a sample LO on the back of the pack which was so lovely I adapted it for my 12x12 LO. I mounted it on brown cardstock and matted it onto a deep red.

The Cerise Pink Carpet!

2009-08-25T13:40:00.001+01:00

Yes it is this colour in real life and I love it. The hall wall so dark and dingy before and now it looks bright and modern. The lamp was a gift from my husbands boss. The colour is a perfect match. But don't you all think that we should be just a little bit more brave about our colour choices for home decor. Don't get me wrong I love neutrals and pale pastel colours, but I think that people in the 50's and 70's had the right idea about using way out colour. Cheer up your home and you will cheer yourself up. Especially as we face into the longer darker evenings of Autumn and Winter.

Mini Album

2009-06-11T15:56:00.001+01:00

This is a mini album which I created this week. I had just got some lovely new Regency papers and wanted to use them in some way. I love these colours. The backing papers for the most part are coredinations in browns and greens and I have also used the new whitewash cardstock. I hope you like it.

Little Indians

2009-05-20T09:42:00.000+01:00

I was recently trawling through my digital photos and found these photos of three of my kids taken in Gardaland two years ago. The layout designed itself from there. The fourth little Indian wasn't with us so I couldn't continue with the rhyme.

The printed papers are scraps that I had left over from some other LO's of that trip . The plain card stock is Bazill I think. The numbers are Thickers and the text is Mini Marks. The rub-ons are K & Company.

I hope you like it. Please leave some feed back if you like the blog I love to know what people think of my work.

Knight in shining armour

2009-05-18T12:27:00.002+01:00

I made this card for my nephew Max. He will be 6 soon. I used papers from the Once Upon a time stack from DCWV. I cut the image out, tinted it and highlighted with white Sakura pen. The alphas are grungeboard, inked and heat embossed. I am quite happy with this one, although not quite sure if it isn't a bit dark for a small boy.

Papertake Weekly Challenge

2009-05-10T00:20:00.005+01:00

I have decided to do a scrapbook layout for the Papertake Weekly Challenge this week. I have been too busy recently to do any scrapbooking, so I going to try to do at least one a week for the next couple of months.

I used some cream and raspberry cardstock as my base and added some patterned paper (from SEI I think), a pink tag edged with pine needles distress ink, some cut out flowers and chipboard numbers finished with crackle paint. I hope you like it.

Inspirational Card Sketches DT call

2009-05-09T10:01:00.007+01:00

This is my entry for the design team call.

I have used a piece of K&Company pink paper onto which I have layered bronze embossed paper, lace and other ribbons. I have then topped the image with a piece of 6x6 paper which I cut to make a frame. The alphas are metal and have been coloured using alcohol inks in gold and espresso. The tag was distressed and embossed using distress embossing powder. The flowers are punched coloured and layered to add the final touch.

I hope you like it.

Inspirational Card Sketches

2009-05-05T23:06:00.002+01:00

Inspirational Card Sketches ICSketches#15. The Card is made using some papers from my stash and a piece of hand distressed paper cut into an oval and stamped with one of my lovely leBlanche foam botanicals stamps. The embellishment is grungeboard and the flower was made from various punched flowers. This was a lovely sketch to use.

Mother's Day Card

2009-05-05T00:50:00.000+01:00

This is a card which I have done for the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge.

2009-05-04T17:15:00.000+01:00

This card was created for the Pink Elephant challenge TPE#13, Scallops and circles. As you can see I have taken the circles idea to heart. I have used Amy Butler papers from K&Company on a gate fold card.

2009-05-02T13:39:00.000+01:00

This card was created for the Pink Elephant Sketch Challenge TPE #12. The card is coredinations and the stamped image is from Basic Grey. The ribbon is from my stash. The photo osn't great but the scanner would have focused on the ribbon.

2009-04-27T20:18:00.000+01:00

This is my latest creation using my Amy Butler Papers. I just can't get enough of them. I had to do a card for one of my craft club members and so I used the Whiff of Joy sketch ( #27) to give me some inspiration!!

Whiff of Joy Challenge

2009-04-26T23:17:00.000+01:00

Whiff of Joy Challenge

South East Crafters

2009-04-26T23:10:00.002+01:00

It was great to meet up with other crafters in the South East of Ireland on Saturday. Many thanks to Laura for putting us all together. A fab day was had by all. I even managed to get some scrapbooking done, which was great.

2009-04-20T17:06:00.000+01:00

I have done this card for a couple of different challenges this week. The layout is from The Sweetest Thing blog. The colour scheme is from Colour Create which calls for a black, white and pink colour scheme. I have used the Whiff of Joy Melinda stamp for the layout and coloured her with waterbrush and worn lipstick distress ink.

Papertake Weekly Challenge

2009-04-02T16:16:00.001+01:00

On this card I have used Distress ink for the edges and also created a backing paper using distress ink and perlescent mica powder spray. The ribbon was a white organza which was also given the once over with a distress pad as were the flowers.

2009-03-27T12:24:00.000Z

The back of the card. I hate to leave the back blank, always add a little something.

2009-03-27T12:07:00.000Z

Amy Butler Lotus paper with a scalloped paper border and a grungeboard bookplate embossed in gold.

2009-03-27T12:04:00.000Z

THis is a card I made using the Amy Butler Lotus and broken china papers. They are just gorgeous.

2009-03-24T09:50:00.003Z

This is one of my cards. It is unfortunately sideways on the page. Bear with me this is my first blog and I am getting used to the controls etc.

I love to heat emboss and have used this technique here, as well as doodling on the already fantastic paper.

I will post more soon hopefully in the right orientation.