Ooh, I could crush a grape!

This week over at  Less is More the challenge is ...

FEELING FRUITY

We would like to see fruit on your cards or fruit colours...easy peasy 'lemon' squeezy!

Well, I nearly threw in the towel - I don't have any fruity stamps or fruity coloured inks - but us Limettes don't give up that easily, a bit of thinking outside the box and this is what I came up with ...

Grapes are made from white cardstock which I inked up with Victorian Velvet and Dusty Concord Distress Inks and punched out in 1" circles. Also added a touch of glossy accents to each one as a highlight.

Wasn't sure whether to add the sentiment as the largest "get well soon" I have isn't that big, but I stamped it onto a spare piece of cardstock, then cut it out with a nestie, which gives it a bit more appearance. It's only lightly tacked on though, so I can easily remove it??

So thanks Chrissie & Mandi for "really" challenging us again this week!

Have  a good week everyone.
Suze xx

Just for Fun Fabric

This week's material challenge over at Just for Fun is to use "Fabric or Fiber".

Whew, wipe the sweat from my brow cause I'm back in my comfort zone, although of course it wouldn't be much fun if I didn't have a go at trying something new.

As soon as I found out what the challenge was I immediately knew I wanted to use some soluble fabric which I bought a while ago, but of course, hadn't yet used.

I made a "sandwich" with the soluble fabric and the "filling" was snippets of ribbon and fabric .....

I then free machined over it with a variegated embroidery thread .....

I trimmed off the excess SF before dipping the sandwich in some warm water.  This dissolves the SF but it leaves enough glue behind to help bind the fibers.

You can then either shape the fibers around a bowl or object if you want a shaped piece but I wanted a flat piece which I could diecut, so I placed it on some baking parchment and left it to dry.

My initial idea was to cut a Tim Holtz dress form from the fibers but I didn't do enough stitching on it (so the structure wasn't solid enough) so I decided to use it as a background instead.

I ironed some Bondaweb onto some fabric (to stabilise it for diecutting) and ran it through the Cuttlebug with the TH Heart Wings die. I then mounted it all onto a large tag (4" x 7") which I had distressed with Victorian Velvet & Dusty Concord.

 

So thanks ladies for encouraging me to dust off my sewing machine, I've had great fun this afternoon.

(and sorry it's been such a long post!)

Suze xx

Edit: I purchased the soluble fabric from a lady who had bought too much for her own personal use but I think you could buy it from any good fabric shop, or I found it here:
http://www.barnyarns.co.uk/Water-Soluble-fabric-c-1016.html
There are also a couple of videos about it on YouTube.

On The Road with Gingersnap

I've made a little collage type card for The GC109 Chestnut Theme Challenge  over at Gingersnap Creations. The theme is "On The Road" (with the additional option of adding a Steammpunk Theme).

The background is made up of three strips of DP
Steampunk Cog images are from Valerie Brincheck's blog "The Sum of All Crafts"
The bride and groom stamp is 'Wedding Wheels' by Stampin Up


Don't think Steampunk is really my style but hey ho, you've got to give it a go!

Thanks for visiting
Suze xx

Steampunk Type Tag

At Just for Fun this week, the challenge is to use metal. Well, it just so happened that the day before the challenge was posted I had ordered some foil sheets to play with (so I hope this counts as metal?!).

I've made a tag and it's way out of my comfort zone - my first attempt at Steampunk (I won an Octopode stamp from the lovely Sarah at La-De-Dah) and I also bought myself some alcohol inks to play with too. Here's the result .....

Stamped 'Steampunk Rupert' in StazeOn then coloured him with Promarkers.
Splodged some alcohol ink onto the foil and embossed another small piece of foil.
Added some red sequin waste and wrapped the tag in thin wire (which came out of wired ribbon).

He's a bit of fun and I quite like him.
Edit: My "lovely" daughter says "this is really bad!" and I should remove the post.  I'll remember that when we next go shopping!


Further edit - at the suggestion of my "lovely" daughter, I've trimmed the sequin waste. Have to admit, she's probably right! 

Thanks for visiting and have fun!

Suze xx

Mojo Monthly Mini Book

Sarah at La-De-Dah has set up a new blog page "My Mojo Monthly". It's a very inspirational read with plenty of ideas and lots of encouragement!  It's not a challenge, rather a place to share creativity.

Something I've had on my "must do list" for quite a while now has been to make a "mini book".  I've been very much inspired by Valerie (Bastelmania) who makes gorgeous books, so this is what I've done and I've gone with Sarah's idea of trying to use up some of my scraps and bits & pieces.

I'm quite a methodical and orderly person so I immediately realised I couldn't just stick things on the pages any old how, I needed to make it with someone in mind, so I've made it for a friend who now lives in Switzerland.  She's originally from Taiwan but she was the first friend I made when we were living in Malaysia. She loves her tea so I'm sending her some Scottish teabags.

Okay, enough waffling, here it is ....

 Li & I at the floating market in Bangkok

an oriental page

and a Scottish page

my lovely kids

I have to say, this may be a new addiction! It was great fun to do (although I didn't realise just how time consuming it would be - deciding what to put where and there are a lot of pages to fill!). I'll definitely be making some more of these though.

Thanks Sarah and Valerie for the inspiration.

Happy crafting and creating everyone.

Suze xx

"Less is More" Challenge

"Button or Ribbon" is the order of the day over at the Less is More Challenge this week. I have to say I rarely use either (can't tie a bow to save my life!) but I guess that's what a challenge is all about.  I'm sure there'll be some lovely creations this week but my one is definitely plain & simple.

I've made a couple of baby cards, the pram is a cuttlebug embossing folder which I've just matted onto paper and embossed cardstock then mounted over the ribbon.

A blue one ...

and a lilac one ...

Might try something more adventurous later in the week if I have time.

Have a great week everyone.
Suze xx

Spotlight on Circles

A later entry than usual this week for the Less is More Challenge as we were away for the weekend, plus it's taken a day and a half for me to think of an idea and produce something. The theme this week is "Circles (more than one!)"

I wanted to do something different, so this is my first attempt at the 'Spotlight' technique and I don't think I've got it quite right!

My first attempt, the circles are too small and don't have enough impact
















My second attempt is better, though still not quite right.

Should I have spotlighted a whole flower (rather than just part) or maybe it would look better with just one large 'spotlight' (which wouldn't be allowed for this week's challenge!)??


Image is Kanban, stamped in Versafine Sepia.
Sentiment Papermania
Coloured with Promarkers and Sakura pens.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of your week.

Suze xx

'Arty' or a 'Scrappy Mess'!?

Okay, don't laugh, this is me trying to be "arty".

At Just for Fun this week the challenge is to use 'Corrugated Card' and as this is an inky/get messy challenge blog, I've tried to create an 'aged' piece but I can tell you this is harder than it looks.

I tore some of the paper off of the corrugated card, then gold embossed a chinese dragon onto it.  I cut it out with a circular nestie (had to roll it through 3 times), then aged and coloured it with various distress inks.  I mounted the dragon onto another piece of card, which I had aged with torn strips of paper and various inks.  Added a chinese coin and some raffia.

Thanks for visiting and I don't mind if you have a giggle - after all this challenge is "Just for Fun"!

Suze xx

Acetate Flower

This week over at Just for Fun, the challenge is to use Acrylic/Plastic.

I cut some Tattered Florals from embossing folder packaging, embossed one with Swiss Dots & one with Victorian Fleur.

I then went over the embossed patterns with a gold paint marker then painted over with acrylic paint.  The flower centre is a bottle cap filled with beads.  Hope it fits the challenge!

I'm not sure if I'll leave it as is and just hang it on some ribbon, or use is as a tag/card embellishment later.

Thanks for visiting.
Suze xx

Blogger Template

Excuse me while I faff about with my blogger page. It's been annoying me that my followers have been 'disappearing' recently, but I've discovered that if I change the template, I can see you all again.

Will have to reorganise things a bit though, please bear with me.

Suze xx

Hey There Little Lady

I'm entering the "I Love Promarker Challenge" this week, as it's a "Clean & Simple" week, which I find much easier to do than lot of layers and embellishments.

I've used a Sugar Nellie stamp "Dress up Maggie" which I purchased specifically to go with this sentiment from Waltzing Mouse (though this is the first time I've actually made a card with them!)

 

Stamped in Versfine Sepia, coloured with Promarkers and a touch of Sakura Gel pens.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Suze xx

Scottie Dog

It's the second Saturday of the month which means it's a one layer week over at the Less is More Challenge and the theme is "Something with legs".

Well I won't bore you with my tales of woe about all my failed attempts this week, but rather, here is my (hopefully acceptable) entry.

I'd also like to enter this card into the One Layer Wednesday challenge, which this week is "Clouds".

The Scottie Dog is from Inkadinkado Patterned Pets, black embossed and lightly coloured with Sakura Clear Star
Background sponged in DI Dusty Concord & Victorian Velvet (for the heather), Forest Moss (for the hills) and Stormy Sky (for the sky).

Have a great week everyone and thanks for stopping by.

Suze xx

Tim Holtz meets Stampin' Up

I'm not usually one for doing anything Christmas related at this time of year, however after seeing this post by Lynne Moncrieff who is on the design team over at The Stampsmith Challenge blog, I was inspired to have a go.

There's a chance to win a Stampsmith Voucher and on this occasion you can use any make of stamps.

Instead of a card I've made a hanging decoration and I haven't gone for traditional Christmas colours.

  

Stamps used: Stampin' Up 'Medallion', Tim Holtz 'Santa Letter', Hero Arts 'Magic of Christmas'
Inks: Versafine Sepia, Distress Inks Faded Jeans, Forest Moss, Frayed Burlap & Victorian Velvet

Thanks for taking the time to pay me a visit.
Suze x

Packaging gone Pink

For some odd reason, I've gone pink today ... I started off by making a fabric flower after seeing this post by Vicky at Blush.

I then decided to incorporate it in a late entry for the GC106 - Packaging Materials challenge over at Gingersnap Creations.

I've used a white mice sweetie tin (my husband's favourite - personally I think they're horrible, I mean they're not even real chocolate!)

I've covered it in Bo Bunny DP & embossed gold card, coloured and adhered my favourite Simply Sassy image (Hippie Chick), added a string of pink beads and the flower is adhered to a wooden stick (from one of those fragrance reed thingies).

A nice little pen pot for my messy desk.

Thanks for visiting.

Suze xx

An Angel ATC

This little angel was inspired by the 'scraps' I picked up at an art shop in Glasgow. I've seen Valerie (Bastelmania) use these a lot but hadn't seen them for sale in the UK. I remember playing with scraps exactly like these when I was a wee girl.

Stampin Up musical roller inked in Crumb Cake and Memento Angel Pink
Edges distressed with DI Victorian Velvet
Tim Holtz Body Form cut from DP
Bell tied on with linen thread
Quote is from Frances Goodrich

I'm entering her into these challenges:
Just for Fun challenge (Anything Goes)
ATC Challenge (Anything Goes)

Thanks for taking the time to visit and thanks again for the inspiration Valerie.
Happy Crafting
Suze xx

"Less is More" - Stampin' Up Medallion

First week of July and it's colour week over at the Less is More Challenge ...

sHADES of BLUE

Thank you Chrissie and Mandi for another great challenge.

It's my friend's birthday tomorrow and yesterday I made her a card using my new super duper Stampin' Up Medallion stamp. This is a pretty big stamp and I have to say it's not the easiest to get a solid crisp image with. I've tried all types of ink and paper (and stamping on a mouse mat etc) and the best results seem to be with Stampin Up ink and SU Whisper White card.  I made my friend a pink one ....

so I thought I'd just do the same again in blue but unfortunately I don't have any blue SU ink so the image is not as perfect as I would like ....

There's a space on this one for a small sentiment but I'm leaving it blank for the meantime.

Stamp - Stampin' Up Medallion

Inks - Versamagic Night Sky & Brilliance Sky Blue

Matted onto textured blue card stock

Thanks for taking the time to visit me and if you don't already enter into this challenge, please give it a go - you won't meet a nicer bunch of bloggers!

Have a great week everyone.

Suze x