Handbag-shaped card

I made this initially for the Sunday Stampers challenge at Hels and only realised some time after I'd completed it that I'd forgotten all about the theme which is 'Imagine' this week. I didn't see how I could easily incorporate it so made a tag for the challenge

x

Sunday Stampers 63 - Imagine

The theme for Hels Sunday Stampers challenge this week is 'Imagine'. I spent ages making a handbag-shaped card for this yesterday, but almost as soon as I started I'd forgotten all about the theme. It was only some time after I'd finished I suddenly realised I hadn't taken the theme into account :{ apart from sticking a tag or lable on, with some text to include 'Imagine' (which I didn't feel would fit the bill) I couldn't see a way to incorporate it so decided to make a new piece. In the event of not having anything else in mind I made a tag - I think that's a good maxim for a stamping challenge - 'When in doubt make a tag' What do you think? LOL Anyway I was inspired by Linda E and as a result by Wendy and Hels herself for the tag (and also the handbag!) I don't have any of the flowers that they've used so cut my own. I've embossed the tag with the Cuttlebug 'Mesh' folder, though I actually put it in the wrong way round so this side looks more like snakeskin. BTW in case you don't spot it 'imagine' is the second word in the text ripped out of a book I bought for just this type of thing :)

Self-cleaning toilet!

I recently had a holiday in Lake Garda and am in the process of sorting out the photos, so will post some soon. In the meantime I thought I'd post this. On the way back from Lake Garda we travelled (by coach) through Austria and Germany. We stopped at a restaurant in Germany and when I saw the self-cleaning toilet I just had to video it LOL Well it was completely new to me! A great idea don't you think? :)

Bag for my little sis

My little sis was 60 last week {:O and myself, my big sis, brother and niece bought something between us. As a little extra I made her a bag. I'm into making bags at the moment :)

Another mermaid

My friend was 50 last Saturday so I made her a mermaid ;)

Sunday Stampers - Pretty

The theme for Hels Sunday Stampers challenge this week is Pretty. I coloured gloss card using Adirondack ink pads then stamped and embossed with white detail embossing powder. The stamp is a lovely Sugar Nellie stamp by Leanne Ellis called 'Fly Free'. I used Studio G Alpha stamps for the 'pretty'. These are a great buy at only £1 - although I can't believe I've just seen them at £3.99!!!

Sunday Stampers - Home

The SS for this week and last is 'Home' I didn't manage to get anything done for it last week but have made up for it by doing 2 this week LOL. One is a lovely little house stamp I've used on a tag I made some weeks ago on a crafty day with friends Rachel and Maddy at Rachel's house. The lovely Calv was there too and did a demo on ink blending. The lovely little railing and gate stamp is from Circa Designs http://www.unmountedstamps.co.uk/default.aspx The other is my lovely Fairy House stamp that I won on Hels blog some time ago ;)

Tote bags

I made some new curtains and decided to recycle the old ones by making some tote bags. I've only made a couple at the moment but have dyed some more of the fabric in readiness to make more. I say 'dye' but it's not actually a dye, but acts like a dye and is ready to use. The 'dye' being Dye-Na-Flow by Jacquard which can be used on both natural and synthetic fabrics.

Recent cards

Here are some cards I've made recently. I bought the DCWV Safari Chic Stack recently as I didn't have much in the way of patterned papers suitable for men's cards and as a result am finding it much easier to be inspired when making men's cards.

Thanks for looking :) xx

Ooh I haven't blogged for ages!!

I have been busy though ;) Some of the things I've made recently I'll hopefully be able to post next week as 2 of them are winging their way to friends. I've also been to Lake Garda recently and will upload some piccies at a later date. For now though I'm posting some recent cards and a felt peg-bag. I bought some pieces of merino wool - already knitted but cut up pieces from a fab fabric shop in Dewsbury http://www.fabworks.co.uk/ I felted them in the washing machine and made up the bag, I also used some of the wool for the flowers which I felted onto the bag using my needle felting machine
http://www.pfaffsewingmachinesdirect.co.uk/pfaff_embellishers.htm

The beauty of this machine is that you can make things without sewing - for those who 'can't ' sew. I did stitch the orange piece of felt to the blue, but the back seam was made just using the felting machine. I did this 'cos I couldn't be bothered getting the sewing machine out again after felting the flowers on LOL

xx

Sunday Stampers week 60 - Wings

The theme for SS this week is wings. I've done something a bit different - trying to be a little more creative :-} I painted a lolly-ice (well that's what we call them in Liverpool!) stick with acrylic paint, added a bit of silver transfer foil [though it's not showing up very well and it looks black in places - looks like the stamping has a black line through the middle :( ] and stamped with black Versafine. I've used friendly plastic for the hair but it's so old it was very brittle and didn't behave very well when I heated it and tried to manipulate it. The wings are German scrap and think I got them from Artchix I used wire for the skirt. I've uploaded the 2 pics 'cos the one with the creamy background shows the foil better but the colour isn't correct - she has a silver face
:)

Fisherman - for the Cloth Doll Group

The theme for the latest challenge at the Doll Group is 'Fish'. Chris who runs the group brought several patterns in for us to choose from, or we could use a pattern we already had, or desing our own. The one I picked is a fairly simple pattern - the man's body is incorporated in the fish, so I only had to do separate arms, legs and head. The pattern is 'The Fisherman' by Julie McCullough I didn't have enough suitable fabric in one colour so dyed my own. I've used sheer fabric for some fins and embellished the fish with some transfer foil (I may add some sequins yet). I've added glitter to the man and decorated his 'finny feet' with micro beads :)

Rocket-ship cards

I downloaded Dan's fab freebie rocket and made these two cards - thanks Dan ;) Will put greetings on as and when :)

Sunday Stampers week 59

Hi, over at Hel's the theme for The Sunday Stampers this week is Moons and/or Walking. The background on my effort this week has been done with alcohol inks on gloss card. The moon stamp and the birds are both Clarity Stamps (I love this moon stamp) and the tree stamp is from Lavinia x

Fantasy Horse

I've finally finished the fantasy horse I started last year for my granddaughter. The pattern is Lunarus by Laurilee Taylor. It can be made as a Pegasus or Unicorn but my granddaughter wanted the horn and wings lol The fantasy horse on the pattern has been adorned with flowers and my granddaughter wanted some so I made a few felt flowers for the mane and some at the top of the tail (not showing on my pic) Lunarus originally had a wire armature but I didn't feel it was necessary for my version especially as I made it smaller :)

From that to this

I've been playing, dyeing fabric. The trouble is when I do this I forget to protect my clothes. If I'm wearing something 'good' I will take it off; but I've got dye on my dressing gown - only on one sleeve. I did use a swing-bin liner with handles as an apron a little while ago but think I need something with sleeves in as well :-/ Perhaps I'd better make something!!

I want to make some of these purses so decided to dye some fabric myself. I used Jacquard Dye-Na-Flow to dye the fabric whish is great as you just use it straight from the bottle. It works on natural and synthetic fabrics which is another plus. I then used a Markel Artist's Paintstick (which is oil paint in stick form) for the flower design. I used a piece of wallpaper with a raised flower design which I placed under the fabric and rubbed the paintstick gently over the top - I'm loving these paintsticks at the moment. I also used my Swiss Dots embossing folder for the little dots on the fabric - again just placing it under the fabric and rubbing the paintstick over, how great is that ;) The original fabric is more creamy than it looks here x

Blog candy winner

Yippee I've won some blog candy from paper-and-string check it out, she makes wonderfully cute things from felt. It came in this fab little felt box too ;)

Cupcake Craft Challenge 38

The theme for cupcake this week is numbers. Mine is actually sqaure - it's just the way I photographed it :-/ I think this looks better 'in the flesh' it looks like it needs lightening up here maybe with a bit more white :~* Thanks for visiting ;)

Friday Sketchers 50

This is my entry for this week's Friday Sketchers challenge ;)

Sunday Stampers week 58

The theme for Hels' challenge this week is 'Happy Birthday'. I've made a card suitable for a young girl using my Lavinia 'Fairy House' stamp which I won from Hels a few weeks ago and I love this stamp :) I coloured the image with watercolour pencils initially and went over them with 'Perfect Pearls'. The background paper is DCWV 'Blossoms & Butterflies' There's a bit of a shadow on the card due to the brad and scanning rather than photographing the card - 'cos it's quicker LOL x