CraftnDen ATC swap March - bit late...

Because of life I'm a little late with my March ATC swap for Craft Den but I will be taking them down to Lynne on Tuesday.  If you want to join in hop over and see what the theme will be for April or even better become a follower of Lynne's blog and you'll never miss them or any of the wonderful classes she runs.

The theme for March was Birds of a feather. I was going to go with flying birds but I decided to go with the colloquial ones instead and add feathers.  All 5 are the same.  I've used an image from Dezinaworld and feathers from an old boa.  The stamp is from a set that came with a magazine, inked with DI.  The little pearl is from Home Bargains.

Hope you're having a great weekend.  Weather not too bad in Sheffield today.  Half past 7   in the evening and I'm sat looking a blue sky with scattered clouds.  Spring may just be arriving and about time too.

Crafting When We Can Challenges #18 - Steampunk

Hi all, this fortnight over at Crafting When We Can Challenges we have a theme of STEAMPUNK and our awesome sponsor is Sassy Studio Designs.

We were given a couple of images to use so I have decided to use one now and one later in the week when I can get to my Craftrobo to cut out a card.

The image for the card below is called Steampunk Josephine (Nov 11, 2012).  I designed the card on CraftArtist using background images and embellishments from Dezinaworld adding drop shadows for dimension and then colouring in Josephine with Copics and Promarkers.

Short and hopefully sweet post today as I'm off to battle with some more clothes alterations for High Green Musical Theatre Group's up and coming musical review.

Hop over to CWWCC and show us your interpretation of Steampunk.  I can't wait to see it.

  

Crafting When We Can Challenges #16 - Just the two of us

The challenge for the next two weeks over at CWWCC is Just the two of us.  You must use 2 images on your project.

Our Sponsor this challenge is the wonderful

Crafty Ribbons

They are offering a surprise to the winner

I have used a scrap page I made in the CraftArtist program.  It is of my son, last year, standing next to 'Sir Haydn' one of the engines on the Tal-y-Llyn Railway.  We had an hours drive to get there from where we were staying but we couldn't pass up the chance to go on the engines that inspired the Thomas the Tank Engine stories.  It was these stories which started my son on his love of reading.  We have books, comic and Ertl engines, plates etc by the bucket load, we even have a signed copy of a story written by Rev Awdry's son Christopher.  

The papers are from Pascale's free paper challenge, the metal cogs are from Dezinaworld, June is now offering her collage sheets free, all you have to do is send her an e-mail stating which you want and she will send it to you.  There is also a button if you wish to make a donation.  

As you have to have 2 images on your project and the card I was originally going to post will have to wait until I've checked something with the provided of the image this page will have to do.

Hop over to the Crafting When We Can Challenges blog and leave your wonderful creation with the blue froggy.

CHALLENGES

Our Creative Corner - Boys and their toys

Shopping our Stash 47 - Masculine theme or boy colours

Anything Goes 64 - Anything Goes

Delicious Doodles 17 - lots of layers

Craft Your Days Away 43 - Use metal on your project

Dezinaworld Spot Prize Challenge is back - Yaaaahh!

June at Dezinaworld is starting up the Spot Prize Challenge again.  You don't have to use Dezinaworld images but June would be really happy if you did, and it doesn't have to be a digital project as long as it follows the theme which this month is 

BLACK AND LIME

I love doing the Spot Prize Challenge as it lets me play with my Serif CraftArtist.  I only wish I had half the talent of June and her DT  I find their work amazing and get great inspiration from them.  Anyhoo here is my project for BLACK and LIME

The image and background paper are from Dezinaworld and the lace and butterflies are from digi kits in the CraftArtist software.  I have played with the colours, material depth and feathering.  Don't really understand how they work but I like the effect.

Crafting When We Can Challenges #4 - Christmas Come Early

Thank you to all who entered last week challenge, I hope you enjoyed the bingo card as much as I did.  

This weeks challenge is 'Christmas Come Early'.  I'm hoping this will give me the kick start I need to start mine earlier this year.  I am one of those who tend to leave it until half way through December before I start, then I have to post them 1st class to make sure they get there and that cost me a fortune last year.

Our sponsor, Tickled Pink Stamps, let us choose our own image for this challenge and I chose 'Lil Victorian Christmas Lolita Kellita' I think this is such a versatile image and cannot only be used at Christmas.

Our Sponsor this week

Tickled Pink Stamps

This week my card was a joint effort by my daughter and I.  When my daughter saw the image she just had to have a copy to colour in.  She used Promarkers and chose the colours herself.  I decided to try watercolouring in my image, big mistake, the inkjet edges bled an spoilt the image so as my daughter had made such a good job of colouring in her image I asked if I could use it.  The background papers are from Dezinaworld and look much more vibrant IRL.  I used stickles to highlight the flourishes and lights.  I think this image is so versatile it could be used for loads of things, get well, happy birthday, love you.

Hop over to the Challenge blog and join in I'm sure in the next 2 weeks you'll be making at least 1 card you will be able to enter.

Happy Yuletide

Here is my first Christmas card.  I know it is digital but I think I may do a hybrid card, which means dissecting the items and printing them out separately and then putting them back together to make an actual physical card.  Or I may just try printing it out onto card and seeing how that looks or I may do both mmm thems choices!

The background is from Dezinaworld as is the gorgeous image which June is giving away as a 24hr freebie, there are 9 free images on the sheet and they will all make gorgeous Chrismas cards.  Hop over and grab the page before it disappears back into the shop.  The rest of the embellishments are from the CraftArtist package.

I hope you're having a great week and can't wait to hop around and see what you have created.

Don't forget Crafting When We Can Challenges are having a DT call.  Hop over and check it out we have some awesome sponsors lined up.

Dezinaworld Spot Prize Challenge - GOLDEN

Another entry to June's Dezinaworld Spot Prize Challenge, this month the theme is GOLDEN.  This can be interpreted however you wish.  I have gone for 'Golden Moments'.  Any time my children are having fun together is a 'golden moment' I have digitally scrapped a time when the children were playing on a beach in North Norfolk near Cromer.  I know I don't have a picture of them together as they were digging holes in the sand.  I have used one of Dezinaworld's pictures in the middle of the pages because it reminds me of my kids and I think it suited the theme, you don't have to use any of Dezinaworld's images but if you do it makes June a very happy bunny.  I have used my Serif CraftArtist program.  I am really enjoying this software and I am in the process of adding some of my photos to make embellishments to go with my pages.  I've done loads of pages and when I have enough confidence in them I will post them here.

                                                                                                           

Dezinaworld Spot Prize Challenge goes Monthly!!

Hi everyone, here is another entry to Dezinaworld's Spot Prize Challenge.  June has changed this challenge to every month so you have plenty of time to enter.  You don't have to use on of Dezinaworld's images but if you do it makes June really happy and being the generous person she is you will find she gives away a lot of freebies for you to use if you wish.  You don't have to use digital either it's just at the moment it is easier for me to use my computer than get all my equipment out (ohh err) to craft with paper & pen.  Anyhoo the theme for June is Green & Purple.  I have used the background and image from collage sheets from Dezinaworld and the flourishes, butterfly, flowers etc. are from the Serif CraftArtist CD.  I really love playing with this program and learn something new everytime (that's when I can find out where the pallets and things have disappeared to, naughty wandering fingers pressing things they shouldn't).

I hope everyone had a great weekend and didn't get too wet.  We managed to miss the showers and only got the sunshine.

Just playing around at Dezinaworld Spot Prize Challenge

Just a quick post so I can enter the Spot Prize at Dezinaworld.  The challenge is to take an everyday object and change the colour to something it isn't. ???? I've confused myself now but if you look at the picture I think it will make sense and June explains it so much better than me here

I've used a steampunk frame, woven backing paper, ducks and steampunk heart and hat from different collage sheets from Dezinaworld, the flower is one I made for an ATC a while ago.  I put them all in Paintshop Pro and played around with the colours.  I made his hat pink but I think I should have used blue but I can't be bother to change it now.  Off to enter this before I forget.  Happy Crafting everyone.

Dezinaworld Spot Prize Challenge - Nursery Rhyme, Childrens Story e.t.c

This is my entry for Dezinaworlds Spot Prize Challenge.  The image is from Dezinaworld and I have coloured it with my £2.99 pearl paints from The Works.  The moon has been painted then I have gone over it with a yellow Sakura glaze pen.  The stars are from my stash.

I had some trouble with the sea, it's too green.  I tried to make it a bit more bluey but it didn't work very well, the pearl paints don't blend very well but it gave a bit of a shadow which is what I wanted.   As you can guess I went for "The Owl and the Pussy Cat.  The boat is a pea green and the sky is darker IRL.

I was discussing with a friend today how I find it difficult to put lots of "things" on my cards, if I can't see a connection between the embellishments and the theme of my card I can't bring myself to put them on.  I am going to work on this but it may take a while.  You'll know what I mean if you look at the entries to Dezinaworlds Spot Prize, they are little works of art and I don't envy June trying to decide who the winner will be.

Hope everyone is having a good week, I'm off now to see if I can find any reviews for the CraftArtist digital craft/scrapbook CDs Create and Craft have as the Pick of the Week.

Dezinaworld Spot Prize Challenge - Charming

Just a quick post tonight.  Trying to get my entry into the Dezinaworld Spot Prize Challenge. (Made my card for last week got my days wrong and missed the challenge).

The image is a freebie from June's Art Freebies section on Dezinaworld.  The heart is from Poundland, it came in a set of three, a heart, circle and small rectangle.  My OH cut off the lip on the back where the photo goes (he comes in handy sometimes).  The frame was originally a distressed silver but I went over it with the Sakura calligraphy pen and made it gold I also went around the edge of the image with the pen.  The little flowers are from my stash and the stamped flowers used in the border are from somewhere (can't remember, I've had it for years).  The ink in 'wild honey' DI, sponged on and them flower stamped on top.

JUST A REMINDER

DETAILS ON SIDEBAR

Dezinaworld Spot Prize + Create4fun #77

Just a quick post this time.

I am entering the Dezinaworld Spot Prize.  The theme this week is Under The Ocean and I knew exactly what photo I wanted to use.  As I seem to have lost my mojo for making cards I have been doing some digital scrapbooking (all my nesties etc. have gone missing since Christmas, I think OH must have packed them away when we moved everything around to make way for the tree and I haven't found them yet).

All the backing mats are photos I have taken, I have played around with them in several programs as I know how to do some things in one program and other things in a different one.  I have used Paintshop to make the greyscale background and colour photo.  I made the mats greyscale to even out the colours of the different pebbles and sea which were all from different beaches.  MS Publisher to layer everthing up and MCS software to cut out the round shape.

CHALLENGES

Dezinaworld - Under the Ocean, the fish are from the ocean as are the pebbles

Create4fun Challenge #77 - a sketch by Willykk

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Dezinaworld Everyone Wins Prize Give Away Challenge

I've finally made my card for Dezinaworlds Everyone Wins Challenge.  June is very kindly giving everyone who enters this challenge a prize.  You have to use one of June's images but she has loads of freebies in various styles.  I used this image for a wedding card.  My OH's cousin is getting married and I thought this would be perfect for them.  It used to have French writing at the bottom which said, Bonne Fete, which I think means Happy Birthday so I cut that off.  I have used various silver papers, which I got from 'Home Bargains' for 89p.  There is a holographic one which I used at matting and a mat silver with little glittery spots for the main mats.  I coloured the edge of the card with my silver Sakura pen.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out and I hope you like it too.  I will be adding a Wedding sentiment when I find one.  I've never made a wedding card for someone before.

CHALLENGES

Dezinaworld Everyone Wins - Use one of June's images

Friday Sketchers #130 - Sketch 

One Stitch at a Time #41 - Celebrate in Style, Bling It Up

My Mum and Me

This is a LO of my Mum and Me.  It was taken on my 18th Birthday and I was presenting my Mum with a bunch of flowers for organising my birthday party.  At the time I wanted to have a 21st party not an 18th but I am glad my Mum persuaded me as just over a year later she died of Cancer.  This is one of only a couple of photos I have of my mum as when my OH & I moved from the house I was born in I seem to have lost all the old family photos.

I am entering this LO into DEZINAWORLDS SPOT PRIZE CHALLENGE - Mother and Child.  Hop over and join in any project is accepted as long as it a new post and follows the  theme.  June is also have an EVERYBODY WINS CHALLENGE just follow the link to find out all the details.

Dezinaworld - Everyone Wins - Prize Give Away Challenge

I have copied this from Dezinaworld's blog, hope you don't mind June.  June sells (and gives freebies) of a fantastic eclectic mix of images and collage sheets and her DT is awesome.  Here are the details of her most recent challenge.

I am thrilled to say that I am almost at the 300 followers mark with this blog and would like to say a huge thank you to all my followers and also I would like to celebrate by  issuing you all a challenge with a difference. The difference is EVERY single person that joins in the challenge will win a prize to spend in my store. YEP you read it correctly . I may be mad, but I am a happy soul and love to give back and have fun so please join in and get yourself a prize just for doing what you love most ...... creating.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO ...
1/ Create a piece of art  ... CARD/ATC/ANY PAPER CRAFTS or other physical art ( Sorry no digital this time ) Using a Dezinaworld  Image - If you havent yet purchased any you can use any of the many DEZINAWORLD FREE PRINTABLE  IMAGES HERE 
2/ Make sure you are a follower - If not, then add to follow
3/ Make a post on your blog mentioning the 'Everyone Wins Challenge and  a photo of your creation
4/ Please tell all your friends so they dont miss out 
5/ Enter by adding your details to the inlinkz box below
  -----Deadline is 4th December ----- 
And last but not least .... have fun, I will also be making a feature of theTOP 12 creations on the main Dezinaworld site.

Hop over to Dezinaworld now and join in the fun.  I will be posting my project later, I need to think and that takes a long time.  Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Don't tell my OH about this!!!

Just a quick post I've been playing with Photoshop and my pictures. I'm too mean to pay for digital scrapbook layouts so I've been having a play.  These aren't exactly fantastic but I really enjoyed playing and am learning new things daily.  The title of the post is because if my OH knows I have posted this LO he wouldn't make me a cup of tea for days.

The photo was manipulated in Photoshop Pro by my daughter who was 10 at the time and I have made it into a transparent .GIF so I could put it onto a Creative Cottage background.  The lipstick and brooches were from a collage sheet I won at Dezinaworld I cut them out changed the colour and made them into .GIFs and added them as embellishments.  I was supposed to be entering it into Dezinaworld Spotprize Challenge 'Hot pink and silver' but got the dates wrong and missed it.

These are photos are of my daughter when she was in the panto 'Frankenstein the Panto' in January this year.  She played a school girl, a ghost and a bat.  The papers are from Creative Cottage.

Dezinaworld: Spot Prize Challenge - Ice Maiden

This is my digital entry for 

Dezinaworld: Spot Prize Challenge.  

This is a new style challenge and you have a chance of winning one of Dezinaworlds fantastic collage sheets.

The theme this week is 'ICE MAIDEN'.  When I showed my OH what I had done and asked if he got what I meant he laughed and said it was definitely what he would call icy.

I tinted the image blue using my computer.  It is bluer than I wanted but I'm still getting used to a new program and don't know all the ins and outs yet.  The image is off the Wedding collage sheet from Dezinaworld.

I hope this is OK for the challenge as June was suggesting a start  to Christmas cards but my warped sense of humour instantly thought of this.

**edited to add Passion for Promarker challenge**Just Inspirational Challenge #3 + Sunday Sketch & Stamp #32 + The Pink Elephant #76

I have made this card for 3 challenges.

Just Inspirational Challenge #3 - theme - Vintage

Sunday Sketch & Stamp #32 - sketch by Ger

The Pink Elephant #76 - colour theme - Brown

Passion for Promarkers #61 - Distressing

This card uses Tinker & Co download papers and an image by Dezinaworld.  I coloured the edges of a 6 x 6 card with a chocolate coloured ink, edged my patterned paper with the same ink (hard to see on photo but it did make a difference).  Layered my Tinker & Co patterned paper onto a dark brown paper from a Papermania 12 x 12 coloured card pack. Coloured my image twice (coloured my image once before inking edges of card and then picked image up and got inky fingers all over it, must put baby wipes closer) stuck on some card candy coloured with my new Promarkers (must remember to enter PFP challenge) and Bobs your auntie's husband.  I didn't know if I could pull this off but it looks really good (she says modestly).

Off to do my linking before I forget, lots of running around this teatime with kids.