Little Gift Box

Hi All,

Oh lordy, what a lazy crafter I've been - it's four weeks since I  last posted, oh well, I've no excuses really, just haven't had the inclination! (actually I've had severe insomnia which probably hasn't helped but fingers crossed I'm getting over that now).

Anyways, the reason I'm here today is for the new challenge over at Crafty Cardmakers and More.  Our hostess is Fiona who has chosen the theme "A FLORAL PROFUSION" (create something which showcases your handmade flowers).

I've made a wee gift box ....

I made two flowers to adorn the box ....

I used this tutorial for the ribbon flower and the cream felt one was made with the Tim Holtz tattered pine cone die. The felt leaves are TH Garden Greens die.

Our sponsors for this challenge are ...

Crafty Sentiments Designs

I'd also like to enter my wee box into the Let's Craft and Create challenge, which is "Punches and Dies".

Hope you're all enjoying the spring weather, it's been a bit of a mixed bag here, still a bit cool for my liking, though hubby and I had a lovely little walk round Castle Fraser last weekend ...

ever get the feeling you're being watched!

think this must've been an old cold store

Sorry for the long post - I guess it's either a feast or a famine!!

Thanks for popping in.

Take care

Suze xx

Three Different Techniques

Hi All,

Monday has come around again and it's time for a new challenge over at Crafty Cardmakers.

Sharon is our hostess this fortnight and her challenge is to use three of the following techniques on your card or project ...

Embossing (wet or dry)

Distressing

Masking

Making your own flowers

Paper piecing/patchwork

Shrink Plastic

I used embossing, make your own flowers and shrink plastic

Tim Holtz dressform diecut from textured kraft card

Flowers made using a Martha Stewart punch and cardstock inked with various DI's, with a touch of stickles and bling.

Leaf is a Stampin Up diecut

French script stamp is Stampin Up, embossed with gold

Stamped 'Love' onto shrink plastic with Stazon then shrunk with my heatgun

Mounted onto DP and gold miri

Our sponsors for this challenge are

Milk Coffee Digital Stamps with a prize of 5 digis

and

Sir Stampalot who have donated a Stampendous Fran-tage Mica Frantage Kit

I'd also like to enter my card into the following Challenges ...
Artful Times - #29 - Blooming Marvellous
Let's Craft and Create - #69 - One for the Girls

Okay that's me for today, sorry haven't been around much lately, life seems to have taken over again - trips to the garage with squeaky brakes, the optician to replace my son's lost glasses and shopping for new footwear for him as his feet seem to have grown overnight from a size 8 to a 9 1/2! ... blah, blah, blah ... never a dull moment in the life of a housewife! Lol!

Thanks for popping in, hope you're all well.

Take care
Suze xx

Fabric ATC

Hi all,

Well did you all remember to wash you face in the dew this morning? Ah well, neither did I, so the wrinkles are still there!

I've something a wee bit different for you today.

When I saw the current challenge over at Anything But a Card was "ATCs", I knew immediately that I wanted to have a go at making a fabric ATC.

I'm also entering into the brand new challenge blog Our Creative Corner - "Anything Goes"

I've gone for a very simple design but if I have time I may do another one and have a go at fabric stamping and inking.

I started with a calico base then I added the semi circle (which is actually a light gold fabric). 

I then stitched around the semi circle with a variegated thread.  

The foliage is from the TH pinecone die and I stitched around this too to define it a bit.  

The butterfly is also TH.  

I then added some tiny circles punched from copper sheet.

I then zig zagged around the edge in the variegated thread.

It was nice to have a play on the old sewing machine for a change and doing something as small as this meant I could get it finished!! Unlike all the half finished sewing projects I have lying in bags and boxes in my craft room!

Okay that's me for tonight, thanks a lot for popping in.

Take care
Suze xx

A Springtime Bird

Hi everyone,

Happy Sunday,

I've got a little springtime birdie for you today.

I used the faux airbrushing technique using Peacock Feathers and Stormy Sky DI's

Tim Holtz Caged Bird die, using gold miri card, embossed with Victorian Fleur EF

Stampin' Up sentiment, tag punch and bird punch for branch, kraft card

Hessian 'stuff' and glass seed beeds

The inspiration for this card came from the following challenges:
Craft Stamper 'Take It, Make It' Challenge - Faux Airbrushing Technique
Less is More Challenge week 112 - Use Beads and 
Addicted to CAS #9 - Spring 

That's me for today - short and sweet! I got a new washing machine fitted this week so I've been washing like a mad woman and now I've a ton of ironing and I'll have to at least do some of it or the kids won't have any uniforms for tomorrow! ... dashing away with the smoothing iron ....

Thanks for taking the time to come visit.

Take care
Suze xx

Antique Engravings In The Frame

Hello Crafters,

I had great intentions of going out today but it's such a dull, grey day here in Aberdeen I thought I'd switch on the heating and spend some time in my little crafty room.

It's been a few weeks since I've joined in with the Less is More Challenge but when I saw the theme this morning was "Frame It", I was inspired to do a little thinking outside the box.

Here's my card ....

I stamped and clear embossed several images from the Hero Arts Antique Engravings set then sponged over with Squeezed Lemonade, Peacock Feathers and Dusty Concord DI's.  I then mounted the images behind a Tim Holtz filmstrip die. DL card base.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

I'm also linking this card to Addicted to CAS #8 - Wings

Thanks for popping in to see me, I'll pop round to visit this evening and I'll see you again on Monday for the new challenge over at Crafty Cardmakers.

Take care
Suze xx

More Calendar Catchups

Hi all,

Hope I find you all well today. 

I'm doing another quick catchup with The Craft Barn Calendar Challenge ...

Week 5 - Paper Tape

I covered some card with Tim Holtz tissue tape then die cut the TH snowman. Added some colour with Promarkers and Distress Ink.  Added Glossy Accents to the hat & arms and added a touch of tartan for Hogmany. Made a snowy background with Stormy Sky DI and Glimmer Mist and added a little chipboard robin.

Week 6 - Felt

I silver embossed a Hero Arts background stamp, bought two Christmases ago and has never been used! Die cut two Sizzix Gingerbread Men with felt and added seed beed eyes and pearl 'buttons'.

Okay Dokey, must dash, see y'all later.

Suze xx

Buttons and Bows

Hi Bloggers,

I'm here with a late entry for this week's Out of a Hat Challenge which this week is to incorporate BUTTONS into your creation. Well, I'm not much of a button girl (except when it's the chocolate variety) but I've given it a go.

I was really struggling to find an idea though until I did a bit of googling and came across this YouTube video from the film "Son of Paleface".

Jane Russell's dress became my inspiration ....

I've used Tim Holtz dress form, mini rosette and filmstrip dies, a Stampin Up embossing folder, some ribbon and two buttons!

Okay, thanks for popping by, see ya later!

Suze xx

Doesn't time fly ...

Hi everyone,

I'm a happy challenge bunny today - I was half way through making my entry for this week's Out of a Hat Creations Challenge when I logged on last night and saw that this week's Artful Times Challenge also fitted perfectly with my little creation ...

The Out of a Hat challenge is to use either their chosen picture (or any other picture) as inspiration for your piece.  Now I'm not very confident with colour but to me this hot orange has the wow factor so I thought I'd give it a go  ...

The Artful Times Challenge is "Time"

The only orange ink I have is Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink, so I brayered a piece of card with it then stamped the Hero Arts butterflies in Adirondack Watermelon (had it for months but was still in the wrapper!).


I've toned it down a bit with dark grey - using the Tim Holtz Clock and Bird dies.






Hope you're enjoying your weekend.  Thankfully it has been a dry and mostly sunny day here today - I spent the afternoon doing a car boot sale to raise some funds for my son who is going on an expedition to Madagascar next summer.  Honestly, kids these days don't know how lucky they are - we'd have been happy going to a caravan for a week!

Thanks for visiting.
TTFN

Suze xx

A Bird for Three Challenges

Well it's Monday again and I should be tidying up after the weekend but hey, ho, thought I'd sneak this one in before I got out the hoover!

There are so many great challenges out there, it's difficult to find the time to join in with all the ones I'd like to, so today I've killed three challenges with one bird ....

Artful Times Challenge #2 - A Sea of Greens
Fashionable Stamping Challenges #20 - Embossing
Pan Pastel Challenge 15 - Add a Flower

I made a background with various distress inks, spritzed with Fireworks! Bamboo Leaves then stamped with a Stampin Up flower.

The bird cage is cut from some serendipity card (see post here), words are Paper Artsy embossed in gold onto vellum which I'd coloured with a Promarker, flowers and birds are Stampin Up punches, bling is coloured with a Promarker.

Thanks for taking the time to visit.

Suze xx

A Little Hanging Thingy

Hi everyone,

Hope you're all enjoying the long weekend - crafting and eating chocolate!

This week over at Out of a Hat Creations, the challenge is to "use up some of your stash".  Well, where to start! Lol!

I decided to do something with my craft foam (bought I think from the Poundshop, donkeys ago!).  I did a search on Youtube for inspiration and found this fab video ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7ycZLrOdHk&feature=channel

Basically, she heats the foam with a heat tool then embosses it by pressing a stamp into it and the other technique is just to heat emboss it.  I had a go at both ...

* The large heart is cut with a Sizzix die, heated then stamped into with a large Hero Arts lace stamp. I then inked lightly with Brilliance silver.
* The butterfly was cut with a Tim Holtz movers & shapers die (bought about a month ago, but never out of the packet!) and heat embossed with Cosmic Shimmer green EP (though it looks more gold).
* Also used is a TH mini rosette die, edged with Dusty Concord and a bit of ribbon from my stash.

Don't quite know what I'll do with it, it could either be a little door hanging or a box topper or something?!

Thanks for visiting.

Happy Crafting!
Suze xx

Final Time at JFF

Woe is me ... it's the final challenge over at Just for Fun ... all I can say is ladies, I hope you've got something else up your sleeve!?!?

In keeping with the overall masculine theme, this week it's "Distress Him".  I really didn't know what to do - so, if in doubt - do a tag!

Tag base is Tim Holtz paper, distressed with various DI's and a nailfile! Grungepaper strip inked with DI and stamped. Clock die inked with DI's. Umbrella man stamped onto acetate. Sentiment computer generated.





A huge thank you to Neet, Von & Zoe for such an inspirational and fun challenge and to all the other ladies who take the time to visit each week.


Finally,  in the words of the Von Trapp family .... so long, farewell ..... see you soon (I hope!)

Suze xx

Aagh!

I have a confession to make - I don't make masculine cards - I buy them! You can guess my "excitement"  then (not) when I saw that over at the Just for Fun Challenge, it's going to be "A whole month of Men" - thanks Neet! Lol!

This week the theme is "Black and White" and being one of my favourite challenges I just had to give it a go (and actually it wasn't too painful once I got started! Lol)

Tim Holtz Brick & Woodgrain Embossing Folders, with a touch of Black Soot DI
Tim Holz Umbrella Man Stamp
Tim Holtz Photo Strip Die
Sentiment is Personal Impressions (stamped on acetate)

Thanks for visiting and if you fancy a bit of a fun challenge this month, pop on over to JFF.
Take Care

Suze xx

Happy Birthday "Less is More"

This week we're celebrating the first birthday of the fab "Less is More Challenge".  This was the first challenge I ever entered and it really kickstarted my 'blogging' life and introduced me to so many great blogging friends - so thank you Chrissie and Mandi for all you hard work.

Now onto this week's challenge which is the colour "Aqua" ...

  

I was rummaging in the cupboards yesterday as my daughter wanted to do some felt sewing and I came across some turquoise wrapping paper - "that'll do nicely" thought I.  I embossed a La Blanche stamp with white EP and mounted it behind a Tim Holtz dress form aperture.  Sentiment is Hero Arts and the card is DL size.



The card on the left is taken with my camera but in real life the blue is really a turquoise colour - the photo below was taken with my phone - this shows a truer colour but not such a detailed image.












Thanks for coming to visit, hope you all have a great week - keep safe & warm!

Suze xx

Not a tag at all.

It's a friend's birthday at the weekend so I thought I'd make her a tag card to fit in with this week's challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays, but as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men .....

I just couldn't get it to work, so it's ended up not a tag at all but a swirly panel thingy.  So I don't have an entry for the challenge but at least I've got the card made!

Tim Holtz Flourish stamp, gold embossed
Tim Holtz flourishes die
Sentiment stamp is Studio-g (thanks Aileen), Versamagic Purple Hydrangea ink

It's so dark today I had to take the photo under my kitchen lights.

Thanks for taking a peek.

Suze xx

Another Harvest Mouse

The supply challenge over at Gingersnap Creations this month is "Raffia" and keeping with the overall theme of "On the Farm", I've made a tag...

I found the music sheet at The Graphics Fairy - mouse stamp is La Blanche
Black cardstock, lightly inked with Gold paint dabber
Tim Holtz Autumn Gatherings Die
Tim Holtz Rosette die
Liquid Beadz (nightmare to work with!)
Natural Raffia & a button

Why not pop on over to the Gingersnap blog - loads of inspiration and loads of fabulous tutorials.

Thanks for visiting & happy crafting!

Suze xx

Metal Mania!

Well Mandi and Chrissie over at the Less is More Challenge have certainly had my brain cells working today.

The challenge this week is ...

METALLIC

We'd like to see CLEAN & SIMPLE cards with something that has a METALLIC finish to it... ink, embossing, card, charms, actual metal... 

First I gold embossed hearts .....

 then I silver embossed stars .....

 then I copper embossed leaves ...

all very pretty but the hearts weren't very exciting and the second two don't quite fit the LIM style!

So I got out my alcohol inks and dropped some onto a foil plate, then I cut out with a Tim Holtz die then embossed with various embossing folders ... think this has a bit more impact!

(I'll try and get a better photo in daylight tomorrow)

Mountain Rose & Purple Twilight Inks
Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die
Victorian Fleur, Swiss Dots and a small 'love' Embossing Folders

Thank you all for paying me a wee visit.
Have a great week.

Suze xx

Pure White

This week over at Just For Fun, the challenge is "White on White".

I really liked the painted corrugated card that Sam used in her DT piece, so I've taken a bit of inspiration from that and created a tag.

A white card base, with 3 corrugated panels on top.
Tim Holtz dress form - I cut two and embossed one to use as a bodice.
Foam hearts and felt strips make up a 'skirt'.
Buttons around neckline.
The word 'pure' cut from Tim Holtz Vintage Market Die.

Why not join in the fun this week - but remember - it's strictly white only.

Thanks for another great challenge ladies and thanks everyone for stopping by!

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.

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

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