Astrid's Artistic Efforts

First Challenge at Snazzys

2012-01-30T11:19:00.002Z

Today the first challenge over at the Snazzys DT blog is starting. The theme is "Romance", very suitable for this time of year.
Each of the DT members have made sample projects to give you inspiration to join in and there is of course a fabulous prize to be won for one lucky winner. Here are some pictures of the sample I made:

I first covered a heart shaped box in Gesso and when that was dry in Titan Buff acrylic paint. The roses in the corners are from a paper serviette that i tore and then glued on with matte medium. I covered all the edges of the box with some Tim Holtz tissue tape and then stamped the words of a Darkroom Door word block stamp in vintage photo all over the top and the sides of the box. I glued lace around the sides and further embellished with one of Tim Holtz's dress form dies covered in various papers, a stamped andpunched out butterfly and some pearls from a Viva decor pearl pen. Finally I stamped the word block stamp in black archival, cut out three of the words and distressed the edges with vintage photo distress ink.

Hope you'll head over to the Snazzys DT blog and join in for a chance to win the fantastic prize!

Last Calendar pages and an announcement

2012-01-29T20:19:00.000Z

Some of you may remember that I was in the process of making a desk top calendar. Each page can sit in a little holder that I also made. Well here finally are the last 4 months:

September

October

November

and finally December

Here is a picture of all 12 months together

Now for the announcement:
Snazzy's has a brand new challenge that will run every month that has 5 weeks in it.
So starting Monday {as January has 5 weeks} one very lucky winner could win the same DT goodie pack that we've had to work with all month.
Here's a peek at the prize:

So make sure you hop on over to Snazzys DT blog tomorrow for all the details!

Final DT projects for this week.

2012-01-27T00:01:00.000Z

Here is my final little project for Snazzys this week, showcasing the beautiful Dreamer Collection papers from 7 Dots Studios

Next week the team will be hosting our first challenge, with a great price to win. Hope you will visit the blog to get the details. Just click here

Triptych using "Dreamer Collection"

2012-01-25T00:01:00.000Z

Here is a sneak peek of my second project for Snazzys. If you want to see more head over there by clicking here

A couple more freebies

2012-01-23T22:20:00.000Z

Here are a couple of new 8 x 8 background papers for you to use if you like. I think they would work well to decorate the top of a box or something.

The image on the second one is a freebie provided by Artfully Mussing.

Snazzys DT Project sneak peak

2012-01-23T00:01:00.001Z

This month we are featuring the amazing 7 Dots Studio "Dreamer Collection" papers and Creative Expressions "Tickets" stamps.

Here is a sneak peak of my first project this week:

Hope you'll take a look at the whole project and leave me a comment. All you need to do is click here

Wedding Card

2012-01-12T09:05:00.000Z

Here is a card for a wedding, it's a double diamond card. A bit over the top I think and not my usual style. I think I got a bit carried away...
Sorry for the bad photos, it was rather dark, so too many shadows...

Exciting News!

2012-01-09T11:17:00.001Z

I just heard that I made it through to the third round for the Spellbinders DT contest, I am so excited!!Even if I don't make it through to the final round I am very happy I got this far. For this last round we will be sent some of the new dies to make a project which in itself is amazing as they won't reach the market until well after CHA.Anyway keep your fingers crossed for me!!!

A quick Thank you card and a gift

2012-01-08T12:20:00.001Z

After all the festivities, I needed several thank you cards, here is a quicky I made yesterday. I also wrapped a little soap with bits and pieces from my own free printables. Next on my list of things to learn is how to make the soap!! Any tips, please be in touch lol.

More freebies

2012-01-05T17:36:00.000Z

I am hugely enjoying playing with some digital work. So here are a few more freebies for you to play with if you wish.

Most of the graphics from the Graphics Fairy, thank you!

3 more calendar months and shabby chic play

2012-01-05T15:46:00.000Z

Here are the next 3 months for my desktop calendar. Only 4 more to go pfew...

And here are some little shabby chic projects, I seem to be in love with that style at the moment

...

More shabby chic

2012-01-04T06:30:00.000Z

Here is another shabby chic tag I made.Graphics are from the Graphics Fairy.Stamps Tim Holz and some I can't remember...

Shabby chic

2012-01-03T17:15:00.000Z

A blog friend is hosting a swap in one of my art groups for a shabby chic mini book. Each participant has to make a skinny every month to the theme of shabby chic. This month the challenge was to use lace.Here is mine

Making lace flowers has become a new craze, love them. There is some lace around the bottom of the card too even though it's hard to see on the photo.

Some freebees

2012-01-02T23:05:00.000Z

It has been ages since I last posted some freebies so I thought it was about time I did again.Images used for these background papers came mostly from Dover and the Graphics fairy.

Hope you find some use for them.

Calendar, the next installment

2012-01-01T13:35:00.001Z

Happy 2012Hope you all had a good new years eve and that you will be able to keep any resolutions you may have made.Mine is to learn a new technique of some sort at least once a week.Here are my next two calendar pages plus a box to keep them in.April: I think this is my favourite so far

May:

And here finally the box to keep the individual cards safe

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T13:27:00.000Z

This is to wish all of my lovely followers and blog friends the most wonderful New Year!!!May 2012 be your best, most creative and above all joyful year!!!Thank you for all your support!

If you like this little tag and holder and feel in a crafty mood, you can find a tutorial on how to fold the holder hereIncidentally, if you fold it out of 6 x 6" paper it comes out just the right size to hold an ATC.

February and March

2011-12-29T15:22:00.000Z

Here are the next two months for my desktop calendar, see post below.

Desktop Calendar

2011-12-28T20:34:00.000Z

Here is a little project in progress, a desktop calendar:
First I created a little stand

It has 4 slots into which you can put a 4 x 6" card for each month.
Here is January

And here you can see it slotted into place

So far I have only done January, I'll show the other months as and when they get done.

Of course you can use this stand also to display any other 4 x 6 card. The design is my own, if you want a description, email me!

Last Christmas project and HAPPY CHRISTMAS

2011-12-22T17:49:00.000Z

Here is the last of my Christmas projects. In our extended family we always do a "Secret Santa" thing for boxing day, whereby everyone gives one present to one member of the the extended family.

I got one of my sisters in law and decided to wrap her gift in an altered gift bag as I know she appreciates crafty projects.

I'd like to use this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones all the most wonderful Christmas!!!

Clever idea

2011-12-19T17:59:00.000Z

What's so clever about this you may wonder, just a tiny little square ornament, not very special at all.... Well, move the bead and.... tadah...

Suddenly your little square has become a star shaped 3D ornament, clever or what?
You can find out how to do these here

I decided I am going to make these a part of my Christmas table,a little gift for each guest:

Here is another version, made out of 2 sided paper:

Finally, here is a fancier version, using a Martha Stewart punch around the page punch set:

I think I actually prefer the simpler versions...

Beware, these are addictive... just as well as I am making 12 of them for my Christmas guests...

Two present ideas

2011-12-18T00:01:00.003Z

Today I will be showing two other little projects on the Snazzys Design Team Blog
Here is a little sneak peek:

Snazzy DT Project featuring MME Kraft Funday Collection

2011-12-17T00:01:00.001Z

Today it is my turn to show a project using the wonderful My Mind's Eye Funday collection papers, stamps and embellishments.
I made a little Christmas gift box

Full details like usual can be found on the Snazzys Design Team Blog

Exiting News

2011-12-16T09:27:00.000Z

I am finally back from my travels and can't wait to get back into my craftroom. Hope to get round to you all just as soon as I can.

Now I have some exciting news to share....
I made it through to the second round of the Spellbinders Design Team challenge!!!
You can see all the information here

I could not believe it when I got their email. Almost all of their present DT are going for it again also so I know the competition will be stiff!!!

Travelling

2011-12-13T03:50:00.000Z

Good morning dear blogging friends.

Just to let you know that I am travelling through India for a few days on the way back from visiting my son In Australia. I have very little internet time, so will not be able to comment much for the next few days but will catch up with you all when back.

Thank you for all your kind comments, they are very much appreciated!!

Another Christmas Tag

2011-12-11T16:34:00.002Z

Here is another Christmas tag, have not posted one of these for a while....

The image is a Dover freebie which I digitally altered to fit the colouring of my tag.

Box card/mini layout

2011-12-08T16:24:00.005Z

This is an 8 x 8 mini layout or box card, I love these type of cards, and wanted to challenge myself to do something in a lay out style as actually I am not really a scrapbooker.

I love how the raised rim makes it possible to really embellish the frame...

Altered Box

2011-12-05T16:15:00.006Z

Here is an old cigar box I altered in true mixed media style. Adding paints, Gesso, Tattered Angels Glimmermists and lots of little embellishments

This is the front:

I am going to use it to keep some of my mini books in....

Monthly Calendar for December

2011-12-01T07:58:00.000Z

Wow, can you believe it is December already? I have now been doing this monthly Calendar thing for a year and a half....
Anyway here is my December spread, if you click on it you will get a better view...

I created the background for this page with the help of Gesso, Walnut ink and some paper serviettes and stamping. I then embellished with die cuts and glitter. I wanted the whole spread to have a Christmassy feel.
Here are some details

All the details about this challenge can be found at the blog of Kate Crane
There you will also be able to find links to the inspirational spreads of all the other participants.

Second DT project for Snazzy's

2011-11-30T00:01:00.001Z

Today it is my turn for my second DT project.

in

I decided to make a tag card

For great inspiration from the other DT members, hop over there and take a peek:o)

DT project using Kaiser craft

2011-11-28T00:01:00.000Z

Today it is my turn to post on the Snazzys Design Team Blog
I created a shabby recipe booklet.
For details of how I made it, just pop over to the blog. I'd be really happy if you left me a comment there lol

Over the top little box

2011-11-23T14:46:00.000Z

Here is a little Christmas box. I think I went a bit over the top with embellishing it....
It was just the perfect project to use up all these bits of left over Christmas paper. (Sorry in places it went a bit messy, - it's quite fiddly to make. I think if I did it again I would make a better job of it...)

The little box maybe doesn't look like much, but it opens in a really clever way and I was rather intrigues by the construction. It is just perfert for holding a few choice chocolates

A tutorial on how to make a box like this and a really pretty example can be found here

Little 4 by 4 easel

2011-11-18T15:36:00.001Z

I got this sweet little Waltzing Mouse stamp set the other day and then never used it because I got side tracked into other things.
Anyway, here is a small little easel( sorry I took the pictures when it was dark already so they are pretty bad...

I coloured the image with a mixture of Copics markers, coloured pencils, acrylic pain and of course some glitter...

Using up leftovers

2011-11-15T09:41:00.001Z

After all my Christmas cards I had quite a few bits and pieces left over and decided to challenge myself to use them. Here are three tags:

The stamps used are little peg stamps from Rubberstamp Tapestry. Not used those for ages, they don't seem to be very fashionable right now (isn't it funny how you get fashions in crafting also...)Ah well, we can't use Tim Holtz all the time can we now. I do like him ( a lot) but sometimes I think there is just a little too much TH stuff out there. (It's fine you can scold me if you want lol)
Anyway here for the detail:

The last one uses Bo Bunny paper and the stamp that came with the December issue of Craft Stamper.

.

More Christmas

2011-11-13T16:35:00.001Z

Here is an ornate sort of Christmas card for a male person in my life who certainly is not into anything cute or vintage images..... So no ribbon or flowers or anything this time. Still, I think it kind of works....

It's yet another easel using pion papers and embossingfolders etc.

Yet another Easel

2011-11-11T18:40:00.001Z

Here is another easel card, love making these as they are quick and simple yet just a bit more special then just a folded card

Here it is open and the inside

Easel Christmas card

2011-11-09T18:32:00.001Z

Here is another easel Christmas card, using Pion Design papers and Bo Bunny.

Here is the card open and the inside

A few Christmas projects

2011-11-08T15:25:00.000Z

I have rather fallen in love with the mood of a Scandinavian Christmas this year. I love the designs and papers from Vivi Gade and the Pion Design papers.
Here is a collection of projects I have been working on:

This is a collection of little folded boxes and stars.

And here a couple of quick cards.

Monthly Calendar for November

2011-11-01T15:36:00.000Z

Well, I decided that for once I would really be on time... I don't think that Kate Crane who hosts this challenge has even put up the link yet, but hey, I can always add it later.
Happy November everyone and here is my page:

And here is October all filled in

To do the background for November I used mainly Distress Stains in Stormy Sky, Weathered Wood and Vintage Photo, to give that gloomy November weather feel. Like usual I used some paper napkins and a TH stamp, The image on the right was in my stash, it's probably Graphics Fairy, the little steampunk boy is a freebie from Land of Nod studios.

Thanksgiving card

2011-10-29T20:57:00.000+01:00

Here is a card I made for the Graphics 45 Challenge. You can find details on their blog.

It's a new kind of easel/tag card.

This is the card with the easel bit down/closed.

Here is it standing up

And here finally is the tag that slides inside the card.

A piece in progress

2011-10-28T15:59:00.000+01:00

In August I was the lucky winner of the amazing Tara Orr 's giveaway. I won the most amazing amount of stash, amongst it this little Bo Bunny album

Not being American I felt I wanted to alter it so I made it into a little wedding album with photo's from my son's wedding. I had great fun creating the backgrounds with paint, mists, inks, stencils and stamps. I am not really a great scrapbooker but I did enjoy embellishing the pages, here are some of them:

Second Snazzys DT project featuring Kaisercraft and TH products

2011-10-27T16:11:00.000+01:00

Here is a tag I made for my second project for our DT.

More details can be found on the DT blog (see post below for a link)

Snazzys October Project

2011-10-24T00:01:00.001+01:00

Today it is my turn to present a project over at the Snazzy's DT blog. This month we are featuring Kaisercraft products. If you want to see how I made this and see some other cool projects by my fellow team members, please head over there by going to Snazzys Design Team Blog

Look what the postie brought

2011-10-21T16:16:00.000+01:00

Well today is my big day (don't ask, it's one of those with a zero in it)...
I want to say a big thank you to all my blogging and facebook friends who sent me good wishes from all over the world. Thank you also for all the beautiful cards!!! (you know who you are).

I could not resist though showing this wonderful surprise package that arrived to day in the mail from my dear friend Cindy
Is n't it amazing?

Crafty Christmas tags

2011-10-19T20:38:00.000+01:00

While working on some bigger art projects which I cannot yet show, I have been relaxing doing some crafty Christmas projects in between.
All stamps from Waltzing Mouse.
The strips to make the stars with come from Vivi Gade. A tutorial of how to do these, can be found here

New kind of slider card

2011-10-14T16:42:00.000+01:00

This time of year always seems to bring out the card maker in me. I just love making different kinds of Christmas cards. Usually I don't really like what I call "cute" cards, but I could not resist these new digi stamps from Mo Manning. Papers are Vivi Gade and Pion Design.

As you can see the main image is like a large tag that slides inside it's holder. When you pull it out you see the Christmas sentiment (Waltzing Mouse).

Here is another sample with the same idea.

Here finally is a simple easel card using the same stamp

Fashionable Stamping Challenge 6 "Anything but a card"

2011-10-11T15:38:00.000+01:00

Here is my contribution to the latest challenge of Fashionable Stamping Challenges. I created a tealight gift box. A tutorial for this can be found here

I used Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden papers for my box and stamps from Waltzing Mouse stamps plus various spellbinders dies.

Here is a little tag still to fit in the pocket of the left side

Yet another birthday card

2011-10-10T13:19:00.000+01:00

Autumn seems to be the time for birthday or so it seems.
Here is another card for a crafty friend whose birthday is coming up soon.
All images(apart from the central sentiment one) are either hand drawn or die cut. I let myself be inspired by the awesome American illustrator Tasha Tudor.
Here is a picture of the inside of the card

Birthday card for a crafty friend

2011-10-09T11:28:00.000+01:00

This is a gift card for a blogger friend. I am also putting it in for Waltzing Mouse challeng 68.
Can you tell I like WM stamps? Though I have to say only the little tag has a WM stamp on it, the others are all stamps I had in my stash already and I can never remember where they were from....

The papers are old Graphics 45 bits that were still lying around. I think they are both from the Botanica bella range though the green may have been from the Renaissance collection.

Waltzing Mouse Challenge 67

2011-10-07T16:23:00.001+01:00

This week the challenge at the WM challenge blog is to create an ornament of some sort.
As I have fallen in love with Scandinavian style Christmas things I made this Danish woven paper heart.
Papers are from Vivi Gade and the stamps from Waltzing Mouse.

Last week I was really lucky as I was picked the winner which meant I could choose a set of WM stamps. How lucky was that!

Vintage Notebook

2011-10-04T15:00:00.001+01:00

Here is a little note book I created. I made it with stamps I have had for a very long time. I think the main image is from Oxford Impressions, but I'm not sure.

Here you can see both what the cover looks like and the inside pages. They all have this little digi stamp on that I created myself from a Dover freebee.

Monthly Calendar page for October

2011-10-01T20:02:00.001+01:00

It's amazing how time flies by! It's October already, so time for the next monthly calendar page. Here are some pictures of my pages for this month.

For those of you who don't know, this is a challenge hosted by Kate Crane of the Kathrynwheel. You can find links to many more pages over on her blog here

The embellishments are a mixture of real dried flowers and leaves and die cuts. Images are from Seneca Ponds crafts and digital collagesheets.com

DT Project

2011-09-26T00:02:00.001+01:00

Today it is my turn to show a project on the Snazzys design team blog.
Here you can see a sneak peak. To see the full project and see some amazing projects of other DT members go to Snazzys Design Team Blog

Waltzing Mouse Challenge 66

2011-09-25T22:09:00.000+01:00

I just recently discovered Waltzing Mouse Stamps and I have to say they are brilliant! Today I decided to participate in one of their challenges where you had to follow a sketch and use at least one of their stamps.

Papers are from Bo Bunny and Pion Design.

Fashionable Stamping Challenge 5 "Vintage"

2011-09-25T16:58:00.000+01:00

The theme on the new challenge blog Fashionable Stamping Challenge is "Vintage". Of course I could not resist...

This is a simple easel Christmas card. Papers are from Pion Design and the stamps used are from Katzel Craft (main image), Stempelglede and Waltzingmouse Stamps (sentiment). If you want to see other entries go to fashionablestampingchallenges

Box card

2011-09-23T17:07:00.000+01:00

Work is rather stress full at the moment and I find that doing crafty card projects is just the perfect de-stresser. As it is my daughter's birthday next week and she wanted vouchers for her favourite clothes shop I decided to make her a gift box/card, just a little more exciting than just handing her an envelope...
I used Melissa Frances papers and stamps by Crafty Individuals and Tim Holtz.

This is the outside of the box.

This is what you see when you open the card.

Here you can see the inside. I made a little pouch to put the gift token in.

This finally is the little tag I made to go with it.

If you want to know how to make the box, there is a great tutorial (and a way more beautiful box )here

Easelcard/notecard holder

2011-09-20T14:06:00.000+01:00

Inspired by all the beautiful papers that are around, I don't seem to be able to get away from making cards at the moment.
Here is an easel card that is also a little note card holder:

This is what the card looks like closed:

I have used papers from Bo Bunny's Father Christmas Collection. The stamp is a Tilda stamp by the Swedish company Panduro. A tutorial for this card (as well as many other projects) can be found here

Last of the witches ATCs

2011-09-19T09:59:00.002+01:00

Here is the last of the series of witch ATCs created for the VPI yahoo group swap.
The background was created with multiple layers of paint, stamps, texture paste and vintage book pages.

The image is from a Lunar Girl collage sheet, the witches hat from a freebie from Constance Taylor, you can find it on Flickr. Finally I challenged myself to embellish with little bits of scraps that were flying around my very messy craft table...
I am also putting this in for the Simon Says Stamp and Show

3 Halloween ATCs for a swap

2011-09-13T21:08:00.001+01:00

This year I find it really hard to get in the mood for Halloween, but as I had signed up for a swap in the VPI yahoo group, so I had to get going.

The one with the ribbon at the bottom has a freebie image from Land of Nod studios, the other two have images from a collage sheet I purchased last year.

Pion Design Papers Christmas Card

2011-09-12T14:18:00.000+01:00

Just recently I discovered the stunning papers from the Swedish Company Pion Design. In the UK they are available from Dies to Die for. They are just the most beautiful, soft papers.
Here is a Christmas card made with the papers which I am going to put in for the Swedish (I think) Challenge Blog "Sketchy Colours". Here are some more views from the inside etc.

The tags are from the paper collection. I followed the sketch pretty much using nestability die cuts and flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts and my local craft shop. The little angel image was flying around in my stash...

Crafty Individuals September challenge "Hanging About"

2011-09-04T21:13:00.001+01:00

The theme for the crafty Individuals Challenge this month is "Hanging about".
This is the first time I am taking part and I decided to make a heart shaped hanger.
I free cut a heart shape out of cardstock. Coated it with Gesso, inked the edges, then used one of the Crafty Individuals swirl stamps around the edges. The image is from one of their glossy A4 sheets.

Clicking on the title of this post will take you to the Crafty Individuals blog where you can see more creative entries.

Gingersnap Creations Chestnut Challenge Babes and Tots

2011-09-03T22:05:00.000+01:00

Pfew, I only just made it still for the Chestnut challenge over at Gingersnap creations. The closing date is tomorrow (September 4). I got this cute little image on a collage sheet by Digital Daydreams on Etsy. I altered it a bit and then used it as the vocal point on this Christmas Card.

This is the outside.

And this is the inside. The papers used are from Bo Bunny Etc and Father Christmas ranges.
More information and great examples can be found here

Spicy Supply Challenge at Ginger Snap Creations

2011-09-03T15:24:00.000+01:00

Some of you may have noticed that I was chosen to be the Ginger Muse for the month of September over at the Gingersnap Creations blog.
One of the challenges this month is to create something with baby wipes.
Here is a tag I made

Baby wipes were used for a background scrap, the embellishments on the left and the ribbon at the top.

Normally I only use wipes for spreading paint around or sometimes for cleaning stamps. Playing around with it like this was great fun. I discovered all sorts of things. Once they are dry they take ink and sprays beautifully. I found I could not die-cut them with punches, but other dies work beautifully, though you have to be very careful with intricate dies. The most exciting bit was to discover that when you dry the sprayed wipes and/or die-cuts with a heat gun, they crinkle and shrink (do it in a well ventilated room, as the fumes are probably not too healthy). This gives a wonderful crinkly grungy effect. I loved the fact I could even use strips to tie bows like a ribbon. Die-cut leaves look almost real when they are dried and crinkled a bit. I am sorry this does not really show up in the photo.

If you have not played with baby wipes yet, give it a go, it's great fun.
You can add your pieces here under Spicy Supply Challenge and even be in with a chance to win a prize.

September monthly calendar

2011-09-02T08:26:00.000+01:00

It's that time of the month again, monthly calendar time!
You can find out more about this here
Here is my filled in August page

And September all ready to go. I created it with my usual technique, a mix of Golden acrylic paints, gesso,stamping and paper napkins

Black shrink plastic

2011-08-31T06:40:00.000+01:00

Today I am doing a review on Blank Shrinkplastic over at the Snazzys Design Team Blog
If you want to see more head over there.

First Christmas Cards

2011-08-29T18:52:00.000+01:00

I know it's only August, but these are the last days of my holidays and I was in the mood for using some of my vast collection of scrapbook papers, so here are my first creations.
If you are interested in how to do the start card, you can find a good tutorial here starcard. It's in German but Google translate and the pictures will probably help.
This is the card closed:

And here it is open.

Here is a simpler card made out of a piece of 6 x 12. If you want to know how to make it, email me.

Altered envie for mail art swap

2011-08-23T20:58:00.004+01:00

Here is an altered envelope I created for a swap in one of my art groups.
The Background was created with acrylic paints, distress stain in wild honey, a paper napkin and some gesso. I then added details with papers and stamps from Bo Bunny's new etc range, - love that line of papers. The images of the cute guys are from Altered Artifacts on Etsy.

This is the back

And this is the front

Back at last

2011-08-22T14:07:00.004+01:00

Got back from two fabulous weeks in Ireland last night. Had no internet there at all, so really look forward to visit you all!

Here are a few pages from the smashbook I worked in while away. A couple of journal entries and a couple of sketches of some of the characters we saw.

Also wanted to let you know that today I posted my first design team project for the Snazzys Design Team Blog

Here is a sneak peak. Hope you will go and have a look, they have fantastic products.

Off on holiday

2011-08-03T13:27:00.003+01:00

Tomorrow I'll be off to Ireland for 2 and a half weeks. I probably won't have much access to the internet.
Every year I toss about what and how much in the way of art materials to take. Usually I play in a journal. This year I thought I'd make my own Smash book, just to see whether I like using that sort of thing.(They seem to be very popular right now).The plan is just to use "finds" i.e. tickets etc and scraps. I made different sections for my smash book, one for notes, one for ideas, one for things to keep. one for sketches and a few more including a "random" one for anything else. I had great fun making my book with may different kinds and types of paper, a load of pockets and spaces for tags and things to stick in of course.
Here is the cover. The image I could not resist using is a freebie from my wonderful friend Terri, you can find her website here.
See you all when I get back on the 22nd.

Monthly Calendar Journal August

2011-08-01T13:47:00.004+01:00

As many of you know, Kate Crane hosts a monthly calendar challenge. I have been doing this for over a year now and it is great fun. You can find out more on Kate's blog here
Here is my July page all filled in:

And here is my August page ready to go

For this page I started to put Gesso all over, then used many layers of Golden fluid acrylics, blended with a baby wipe.The paper out of which I punched the circles was created in a similar way but then I stamped all over them. As they were quite dark I added more gesso and paints (Titan Buff). The imagery was created with the help of a paper napkin. August 2011 was stamped as were some of the other details on the page. I set myself the challenge not to use any digital images this time.

Card for Fashionable Stamping Challenges

2011-07-31T18:06:00.002+01:00

As I was in the mood for creating a card today I thought I would join in with a new challenge blog fashionablestampingchallenges
The theme this week was easy, "Anything goes". No digis are allowed, so really stamping only.
I used a Bo Bunny Time Piece stamp set and created my background with distress inks Victorian Velvet, Chipped Sapphire and Weather Wood. I also used a Stempel Glede stamp and a Judikins stamp embossed with clear embossing powder for the background. The Lock and Key are part of the time piece set. I grunged them up with distress stickles and various colours of Perfect Pearls.

My first post for Snazzys

2011-07-31T09:00:00.001+01:00

Today is the first time I will be posting in my new job as DT member for Snazzys. Here is just a little sneak peek.

To see the full post and also see the great projects of the other DT member hurry along to the Design Team Blog
Hope you feel inspired and have a wonderful Sunday!!

Exciting News!!!

2011-07-28T09:15:00.003+01:00

This morning I can finally reveal that I am a proud Design Team Member for a wonderful company called Snazzys
This family run business is owned by Val and Don who will shortly be opening a brand new online shop.
Today our new design team blog has been launched by Gillian our DT leader
Over the next few days each of the DT members will be introducing themselves to you with some of their projects. The other two members are Paula and Lesley
If you don't know their work yet, go check them out!!
To see the new blog and keep up to date with the Snazzys Stamping and Scrapbooking shop, go to the new blog right now, you'll find them here: Design Team Blog
Hope you'll come and visit us and leave a comment. I will be posting on Sunday the 31st

Wedding Lay Out

2011-07-27T12:43:00.004+01:00

I am not really a scrap booker but often admire the work of some of the amazing scrapbookers out there and I certainly LOVE many of the wonderful scrapbook papers that are available.
Having said all that, I did want to create some LOs from all the hundreds of wedding photos we now have of my son's wedding, so here is the first one....

The papers I used are mainly from the Prima Botanical Collection with some elements from Pink Pailee's Butterfly Garden and Bo Bunny's Gabrielle papers. I was amazed how colour wise they pretty much all fitted together.

Wedding Day

2011-07-25T20:45:00.005+01:00

As some of you will know, it was my youngest son's wedding this weekend.
I don't usually post personal photos on my blog but thought I would make an exception this one time as I know some of you would like to see some of the photos.

Two pictures of the happy couple.

Two proud families, the Australians on the left, the Scots on the right

The Australian bride among the members of her new family, brother in Law, father in law, uncle and cousin all wearing the traditional Maclean kilts

A truly Scottish wedding as you can see.

Wonderful post

2011-07-20T21:59:00.005+01:00

Today I received some amazing post. 3 ATCs as returns from Marion who organised a great swap this summer called Mona and Friends.
This one was from the wonderful Martina

The next one was from Fiona Randall. I did not know her work at all, so it was great to get to see her work this way.

Finally the last one is from Xela

Aren't they just great. I really want to thank Marion for organising this great swap and sending me these wonderful returns!

Steampunk themed book card

2011-07-17T17:26:00.010+01:00

Been busy creating a "book card" with a steampunk theme. A book card is a card with a cover and a kind of shadow box inside. I found the idea for this on the blog of a brilliant Swedish blogger that also does quite a few videos on Youtube. You can find out more here
I decided to put this card in for one of the challenges over at gingersnap creations. The theme there is cogs, wheels and watch parts. It's the spicy supply challenge which closes on August 7, just in case you are interested in playing. I used papers from Graphics 45 Steampunk and Renaissance collections. The gears are chipboard pieces from Imaginarium Design, a brilliant Australian company. I coloured them with distress stain in vintage photo and then used perfect pearls and some vintage photo embossing powder on them to give them the metal effect.

This is the inside

and this is the inside

and finally a side view.

Charms for a swap in my art group

2011-07-13T10:15:00.000+01:00

My friend Wanda is hosting a charm swap in one of my art groups. The charms are to be made with stamped shrink plastic. I made three so far, they were great fun to do and a great way to use some of my larger stamps which I don't use very often

Alternative to a birthday card

2011-07-12T09:00:00.000+01:00

On Sunday it was my little nephews 3rd birthday and I just did not have any suitable cards. Then I had the idea of an alternative, a decorated letter for the beginning of his name which is Benjamin. I think he liked it, although how much a 3 year appreciates these things is a question of course. In any case I had great fun making it and his mum and gran certainly did like it:o)

Monthly Journal Prompt for July

2011-07-11T13:27:00.001+01:00

My friend Roc posts a journal prompt every month, (you can find a link to her blog along my sidebar). For July the prompt was "If you had 3 wishes, what would they be?"

Well, of course all of us have lofty wishes for world peace, happiness for all, no more hunger in the world, those certainly are wishes that I carry in my heart everyday of my life. Journaling however, is also something personal, so I decided to journal about more personal wishes for this particular prompt.

The background was created with the usual, - acrylic paints, gesso, old book pages, stamps, stencils and spray inks,wax creations, charcoal pencils and pens.
the colourful words from Tumblefish Studios at Deviant Scrap
The images came from Altered Artifacts. The border came from a sheet created by Gail Smith from Shabby Cottage Studios

Please click anywhere on the picture to see more detail.

Thanks for visiting and have a great week

Shrine dedicated to womanhood

2011-07-07T22:08:00.006+01:00

I have been learning how to make shrines from Christina Zinnia Galliher in one of my art groups Roses on My Table. (She is an amazing mixed media artist who also offers a class at Artful Gathering)
The shrine is made from foam board, covered in tissue paper, different acrylic paints and then embellished. I am planning to make 4 shrines, dedicated to the 4 different stages of womanhood, maiden, bride, mother and wise woman. Traditionally in ancient Celtic religion each of these stages had it's own feast day, the maiden or virgin on February 1 was Imbolc, the bride or temptress on May 1, Beltane, the Mother on August 1, Llamas and finally the wise woman or witch on the eve of October 31, that's the one we all know as Halloween of course, its old Celtic name was Samhain. This shrine is dedicated to the stage of the young innocent girl. The white roses are for purity, the other bits symbolize the innocence of childhood for me.

One last thing I wanted to tell you about, a new art blog is going to be created, please see below

You can find out more about it here

Teepee card

2011-07-05T19:04:00.004+01:00

The other day I found this great tutorial on Youtube on how to make teepee cards. You can find it here

These cards are great as they are eye catching and easy to display, yet you can send them flat in an ordinary envelope.

I used paper from the Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden line. The stamps used were from Stempelglede and Crafty Individuals. After stamping I cut them with the largest of the Spellbinders nestabilities labels Four die. Here you can see each of the three sides.

Monthly Calendar Journal for July

2011-06-30T22:39:00.004+01:00

As many of you know by now, Kate Crane of the Kathryn Wheel, hosts a monthly calendar journal challenge. I have been doing this for exactly a year now as I started in July 2010. It is great fun and I highly recommend it. You can find out more on Kate's blog here Sorry the picture is so bright, really in reality the colour is much nicer. Please click anywhere on the picture to see the detail. Background and squares were all created with acrylic paints and various stamps, mainly Tim Holtz.

Gift for a sick friend

2011-06-28T13:14:00.003+01:00

One of my art friends is battling with health issues. A group of us decided to put together a special gift for her. Each of us will create a page which will then be put together into a special book of well wishes for her. As I know she loves vintage I created my page in vintage style. The background was created with tissue, texture paste, gesso, acrylic paints and a paper napkin.

2011-06-27T17:04:00.001+01:00

My computerwas invaded by a horrible virus which meant that I have not been able to post anything for several days. Thank goodness it is finally sorted. So here is a page created for my friend Roc's monthly journal prompt.
The theme this month was "If you had super powers what would you do?"

You can see what other artists have created in our flickr group
here

Shabby chic Dress form and a freebee

2011-06-22T22:20:00.004+01:00

I have been somewhat obsessed with dress forms lately, but then you seem to see them everywhere just now. I was delighted when I found this wonderful little mini workshop on how to create them yourself. There are several videos and lots of photos and clear discriptions, and as far as online workshops go, it is pretty cheap. Details can be found here.

Anyway, here is my first attempt, - I can feel a new addiction coming on lol..

I have also created a new background, please feel free to use. This could be used to create the top of the dress form.

The images on this sheet are mostly from ephemera by the Graphics Fairy (Thank You!!) which I have turned into digital brushes.

Postcard swap"hand drawn faces"

2011-06-20T19:10:00.002+01:00

In my art group there is a monthly postcard swap. This month the theme is "Hand Drawn faces". I used a mixture of Caran'dache water soluable crayons, water colour pencils and acrylic paints. The background was done with lots of different layers, torn vintage paper, paper napkins, gesso and golden fluid acrylics.

Monthly bird journal page "Zetti"

2011-06-16T22:31:00.003+01:00

The theme this month in one of my art groups' monthly journal page swaps is Zetti bird. Well, anybody that knows me a bit knows that Zetti is not really my thing, but hey, nothing like a challenge and I really want to do this page swap for the whole year, - so here is my zetti bird.

Most collage bits are from various Crowabout sheets on flickr, thank you to Nancy Baumiller and others!

Mona and Friends annual ATC swap

2011-06-13T16:20:00.003+01:00

These ATCs were done for a swap which the wonderful Marion from Bockel 24 is hosting. It is an annual blog ATC swap with the theme Mona and Friends. The aim is to make 3 ATCs with altered portraits of women by Rennaissance artists. You can find out more about this swap here

I decided to do all three of my ATCs with portraits of Angelo Bronzino. Though each one was a quite different portrait, they all have a similar look. I decided to alter mine in a sort of Gothic style, but not dark Gothic as I don't like that apart from at Halloween time.
I created the background with old papers, gesso, acrylic paints and inks. The images were altered with bits from two Paper Whimsey Gothic sheets and some bits from free collage sheets from Pringle Hill Studios and Paper Scraps. Thank you ladies!

New ATCs for a swap

2011-06-12T17:44:00.004+01:00

Here is a set of new ATCs for a swap in one of my artgroups.
The theme is "Botanical". My ATCs became so bulky I had to make little envies for them again.... Here they are all ready to go out in their envies

And here are the actual ATCs

I used Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden papaers for the background of the ATCs and Tim Holtz papers for the envies.

Fabulous Candy

2011-06-10T18:46:00.004+01:00

The wonderful Moira from British Stamp and Craft online shop Happy Daze is offering some fabulous candy on her new blog.
You can check it out here

Last of the Life is Like projects

2011-06-07T22:11:00.003+01:00

Here is the last project for the challenge in my artgroup. It's an altered envelope (in case you were wondering). I feel quite proud that I managed to stick to my resolve not to use any collage images but just stamps.

Next to projects in mail art swap

2011-06-06T16:27:00.003+01:00

Here are the next two projects for my mailart swap on "Life is like" quotes, - a postcard and a tag. Now I only have the envelope to do.
These two are in a more "blingy" style, so a bit different from the last two. I set myself the challenge to only use stamps, papers inks and embellies but no collage images for this swap.

Art Group Trade

2011-06-05T20:21:00.002+01:00

In my art group there is a trade for making cards with quotes on "Life is like". We have to make an extra long skinny (3 x 7) an ATC, a postcard and an altered envelope. So far I have done the skinny and the ATC.

Blogger is being a pain!!

2011-06-02T11:42:00.002+01:00

Like many people I think I am now also starting to experience serious problems with leaving comments on certain blogs. I just tried leaving comments for people that linked to the June calendar challenge (see post below) and found I could not leave comments for about half of the people. I found the same last night with several other blogs. Does anyone know what the H is going on? - this is sooooo fustrating and such a waste of time!

June monthly Calendar

2011-06-02T11:03:00.003+01:00

Some of you will know that Kate Crane has been hosting a monthly Calendar/journal challenge for quite some time now. I have been doing this challenge for a year now (I think I found out about it in July last year). It's great fun, doing just a tiny bit of journaling each day. Details of the challenge can be found on Kate's blog here. There is a link there to the flickr group too. If you haven't done so yet, check it out. It's great to see everyone's individual styles.

Happy June veryone and thanks for visiting like always!

Set of tags

2011-05-30T18:37:00.003+01:00

Having been away for most of the month of May, it is great to finally be back home and have some time to create.
Here is a set of tags I made with the free to use collage sheet posted below. I added embellishments, some stamping and a handmade charm to each tag.

New Giveaway

2011-05-14T15:28:00.004+01:00

I thought it was high time for another freebie, so here is a sheet of tags for you, one is a jpeg the other a png. (With many thanks to the Graphics Fairy for the use of her wonderful images).
Individual tags are 2.5 by 4.5 ". Enjoy!

Monthly bird journal swap

2011-05-13T22:51:00.002+01:00

The theme in my art group's monthly bird journal swap was "quote". Here is my page for May, - I love this Chinese proverb....

May Monthly Journal Prompt

2011-05-13T19:58:00.003+01:00

I am back home at last from having been away for work and sadly on Monday I am off again until almost the end of the month. What I miss most is my art space...., and visiting all my bloggy friends, for there has been very little time for that also...
Anyway, in one of my art groups there is a monthly journal prompt, not an easy one this month, - the theme was: What would you do if you were not afraid? Well this is all I could come up with...(Please click on the image to see the detail)

May monthly calendar page

2011-04-27T14:28:00.004+01:00

As I am going to be away from home for the most of May, I did my May monthly calendar page a bit earlier this month, just to have it ready in good time.
For those of you who don't know, quite a group of us are doing this every month. More information can be found on Kate's blog here
I am such a hopeless photographer, I think you'll have to click on the picture to see some of the detail.