It's hump day Wednesday and downhill all the way to the weekend!

Morning readers,

It's been an ABSOLUTE age since I did any scrap booking and it kind of showed when I set out to record my recent attendance at Craftathon 2018 .... it's a little BUSY. I swear that I USED to know when to stop adding stuff but .... no longer, as you can see. Not sure whether it was because I had new stash or whether it's just that I have lost the knack!

My layout, such a long time since I scrapbooked that I just kept adding stuff -
after I KNEW I should have stopped! Oh well!

Materials used:

• Costco double sided 300gsm paper
• Computer generated journalling and printed photographs
• Hand written journalling and doodling
• Stamping using various images, letters and inks - see  below, in my defence .. the stamp set was new and I wanted to ink as many images as possible from it!!!!

STAMPS: Bo Bunny "To the Point", PaperMania Leftovers Alphabet,
Creative Expressions CEC 897 "Loopy Textures and elements", Hero Arts LL927 "Conversation and Dots"
INKS: Versafine onyx black, Memento tuxedo black and rosebud
Black pitt pen and a white gel pen

I'm sure that you have all spotted one of the latest trends in papercrafting ... the Artist Trading COIN ..... I thought it was high time I had a go at these too. There don't appear to be many rules other than they should be 2½" (6.35cm) in diameter, the only other limits are your imagination. Decided that I wanted to go colourful and deployed my Pro Markers - first time in an age .. only to discover two had dried up (tulip yellow and lime ...... guess I'll be heading to The Range tomorrow, to see if they sell from open stock).

My batch of Artist Trading COINS

Materials used:

• On white water colour card I brayered the paints below till I was happy and then set aside to dry. 
• I computer generated an Artist Trading Coin backing sheet which I then die cut in to a circle, slightly smaller than the 2½" recommended as the universal AT Coin size
• I die cut 2½" circles from pearlised grey card and, once dry, die cut the next size circle down, from my water colour masterboard
• Using the circles design from the Paper Artsy set I randomly stamped the circles using the white pigment ink and, again, set aside to dry
• Using the MFT dragons set and matching dies I stamped and die cut my dragons, using Pro Markers to colour
• Using the Recollections monsters I stamped and fussy cut, using my Pro Markers to colour
• To finish off I added some stickers to my trading coin

STAMPS: MFT BB-37 "Magical Dragons", Recollections "Monsters", Paper Artsy ESA02
PAINTS: Fresco Limelight, zesty zing, bora bora, Deco Art festive green and vivid violet
INKS: Memento tuxedo black and Color Box white pigment ink
Tim Holtz Idea-ology sticker book "chit chat"
Not Shown Pro Marker alcohol markers to colour and Circular dies

I'll be entering these for the following challenges:-

1. Passion for Pro Markers - challenge No. 449 - BEAR-R-US ... just the monster carrying his (or her) bear!!!This is the top left of the 4 AT Coins
2. Crafty Sentiments - June 19th challenge - ANYTHING GOES
3. Through The Craft Room Door - June 19th challenge - ANYTHING GOES
4. Lemon Shortbread - challenge No. 70 - ANYTHING GOES

And the backing for my trading coin?

I enjoyed making that batch so much that I made more of the same .... except the photos didn't come out so well but ... here they are, think I'm done, I'm "dragon" my heels now!!!! har har

Welcome to another blimmin' Monday!

Morning readers,

Since I returned from the annual Craftathon pilgrimage I seem to have done more journalling than in the entire year to date! Today is no exception either . . . . Some friends and I challenged one another to do a journal page for the one word prompt of SUMMER and here's my take .... starting with a nice warm toned background.

My journal page

And a closer view of the image section

Materials used:

• A page from my Crawford and Black A5 journal (£1 from The Works) on to which I brayered the two fresco paints giving a summery background
• I stamped the Fiskars sentiment all around the outer edge of the page and a further three sentiments from the same set using the archival black ink
• Fiskars and Cloud9 images and sentiments also stamped using the archival ink
• On to a snippet of white card I stamped the girls in the car, using the black ink, colouring with the polychromos pencils before fussy cutting out and using the matte medium to adhere to my journal page
• Using the water soluble pencil I drew a line around the girls in their car, using the water brush to blend and add shadow
• Using a couple of pieces of low tack tape I "masked off" the bonnet (or hood) of the car and stamped the traffic light directly on to my page using the archival ink and coloured using the inktense blocks and a water brush

Derwent Inktense blocks, Art Impressions SC0795, Fiskars 28351 and
Cloud 9 "travel" stamps, matte gel medium, water brush
Water soluble pencil
Not shown: Faber Castell polychromos pencils + Paper Artsy fresco paints banana and London bus

I'll be entering the above make for the following challenges:-

1. Creative Artiste - challenge No. 39 - ANYTHING (mixed media) GOES
2. Happy Little Stampers - June Mixed Media challenge - LAYERS
3. A Inky Mess - June challenge - ANYTHING (mixed media) GOES - this is my 2nd entry
4. More Mixed Media - June 5th challenge - ANYTHING (mixed media) GOES + optional use of PURPLE
5. Eclectic Ellapu - June challenge - ANYTHING GOES

   

Next, it's time for a Christmas card ... a pal of mine sets a JFF themed challenge each Sunday and this week  her chosen theme is SNOWFLAKES!

My card

  

The front, back and inside of my card along with the front and back of my envelope

Materials used:

• Cream A2/C6, 250gsm, card and matching sized envelope
• Two pieces of 300gsm cream card, cut to fit and one piece of 300gsm navy card, cut to mat
• Snippet of navy card die cut in to the wonky window shape and the centre die cut in to a snowflake
• Sentiment stamped using the blue ink
• Mini gemstones attached to the snowflake and stardust stickles to further bling up the card front
• Elsewhere on the card I used the Inkadinkado snowflake image, stamping in the blue ink

DIES: MFT-797 - Wonky Window and Impression Obsession 100-F snowflake
STAMPS: Precious Remembrance Shop "Holiday Wishes" and Inkadinkado 98250-LL
Ranger Archival cobalt blue ink
Papermania self adhesive faux crystal gemstones

I'll Be entering the above make for the following challenges:-

1. Allsorts - challenge No. 472 - USE AT LEAST TWO DIES
2. Crafty  Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge - challenge No. 390 - ANYTHING CHRISTMAS GOES
3. CAS Christmas - June challenge - MASCULINE
4. Christmas at Sweet Stampin' - June challenge - ANYTHING CHRISTMAS GOES
5. Happy Little Stampers - June Christmas challenge - ANYTHING CHRISTMAS GOES + optional twist of JOY (not used)

  

Welcome to the weekend ......

Morning readers,

As many of you will know I swap ATC's with a pal on the Isle of Skye, whilst we used to swap materials (and make ATC's from those materials) we decided to mix it up and try themes for a while. I've been working on the "technique" theme. I also love to use snippets and had this small piece left over after making a card using the paint and glue stick foiling technique; it seemed just perfect for an ATC .....

My ATC

And a closer view of the foiling, faux stitching and colouring

Materials used:

• ATC blank
• Snippets of card in dark brown, chocolate brown and white + a snippet of paint/glue/foil card from my post of June 9th .. if you want more details of this technique then see it here
• Dies from My Favorite Things  used to cut rectangles from the foiled panel and chocolate brown cardstock
• Unbranded silicone image and sentiment (sadly, bought in good faith believing them to be S.U.) stamped using black ink and die cut
• Pencils used to colour image ... I took the pink from the background and the deep red of the foiling as my colours for the colouring

MFT dies - 1185 stitched rectangles + 839 wonky stitched rectangles
SU "Beautiful You" lookalikes (which I bought in good faith) with dies
Memento tuxedo black ink and polychromos pencils (not shown)

Materials for the paint and glue stick foil panel include:
Fresco dolly mixture paint dry brushed on
Glue stick adhesive applied through the Dylusions stencil
and then the sheet leaf applied and burnished

I'll be entering the above make for the following challenges:-

1. Through The Craft Room Door - June 12th challenge - ANYTHING GOES
2. Southern Girls - June 14th challenge - ANYTHING GOES
3. Crafting With An Attitude - challenge No. 40 - ALWAYS ANYTHING GOES
4. The Crafty Addicts - challenge No. 49 - ANYTHING GOES

And now it's time to share another Christmas card with you ....

My card

  

The front, back and inside of my card along with the front and back of my envelope

Materials used:

• White 12½cm square, 250gsm, card and matching sized envelope
• Two pieces of white card cut to fit
• One piece of navy card, cut to mat
• Snippets of card in white and navy
• Blue polka dot grosgrain ribbon attached using double sided tape
• Stars image and sentiment stamped using blue in
• Stardust stickles applied - to bling up my card

Dina Wakley stars images, Precious Remembrance Shop "sketchy Christmas"
Ranger Archival cobalt blue ink
Blue/white polka dot grosgrain ribbon
Stardust stickles - not shown

I'll be entering the above make for the following challenges:-

1. A Snowflakes Promise - challenge No. 52 - ANYTHING CHRISTMAS GOES
2. Christmas at Sweet Stamping - June challenge - ANYTHING CHRISTMAS GOES
3. The Merry Christmas Challenge - challenge No. 24 - ANYTHING CHRISTMAS GOES
4. Chrimbo Crackers - challenge No. 160 - ANYTHING CHRISTMAS GOES
5. CAS Christmas Card Challenge - June challenge - MASCULINE

Have a splendid weekend folks, whatever you plan to get up to

TGIF peeps!

Morning readers,

Ever had "one of those" days? My friend called me earlier this week, declared she was having a bad day and did I fancy joining her for a wander followed by a cup of coffee to cheer her up? Of course I did, always nice to catch up with friends and even better when it's an impromptu thing. We headed off to a local shopping centre as she needed to nip in to the bank ... well, guess what? CLOSED on Wednesdays? A bank, in a busy shopping area, closed on a Wednesday - who'd have thunk it? Frustrating to say the least still, we're no quitters we decided to have our coffee anyway and headed to a new (to us) cafe where the coffee was very tasty. My friend ordered "a snack" of chilli nachos ... when it came it was a plate and a half!! Delicious too - I simply HAD to help her out! Since we'd neither of us visited this coffee shop before we thought we should check out the other shopping opportunities in the area whilst there, a proper butcher (selling pheasant, venison and rabbit!) and an interior design store - very nice, filed away for future reference (nearer Christmas). Came out to discover someone had blocked her car in ..... but it was no trouble, everyone was so accommodating - quite different from some places! The icing on the cake of my friends "bad day" though? Stepping out of her car, having parked, and as we said our goodbyes a dear little bird decided to ... well, I'm sure you know what's coming next - all over her black (fabric) shoe! Noooooooooooooooooooo - we almost had to go out again!, but we both saw the funny side - that said, I'm quietly glad it was her shoe and not my own! Does that make me a bad person?

Whilst at Craftathon recently, one of my fellow attendees suggested we all do a journal page using the same one word prompt .. the word? SHINE and here's my journal page from that ......

My journal page

Materials used:

• A gesso'd page from my Crawford and Black A5 journal (£1 from The Works)
• Paper Artsy fresco paints (banana, squid ink) brayered over the page and set aside to dry
• Ranger Archival brown ink brushed through a cog and number stencil from Imagination Crafts
• Faber Castell glass bead glitter gel applied through a Stamposaurus sunray stencil using a palette knife
• Stampotique image stamped on to scrap paper using Ranger Archival black ink, coloured using Derwent coloursoft pencils and then fussy cut out before adhering to my journal page

As you can see, my glass bead glitter gel is super shiny/twinkly when dry!

I'll be entering the above make for the following challenges:-

1. Simon Says Stamp - Monday challenge - ANYTHING BUT A CARD

And now, how did the others journal pages turn out? VASTLY different as you can see below

Mine, Debbie's and Cherry's

And now, using a gelli plate background created at Craftathon, I've a birthday card to share with you all.

My card

  

The front, back and inside of my card along with the front and back of my envelope

Materials used:

• White 12½cm square, 250gsm, card and matching sized envelope
• One piece of white card and one of black, cut to 12cm square
• Gelli plate print card panel cut to 11½cm square
• Snippets of card in white and black
• Banner die used to cut panel from black card
• Silicon stamp and die set used to stamp my image (using black ink) and then cut to fit
• Pencils used to colour image
• Sentiment stamped using archival black ink

Gelli plate print using Tim Holtz and TCW stencils, Stamp Oasis iridescent red
Fresco banana and Pebeo iridescent pink paints

Silicon stamp set (sadly, a knock off of SU's Beautiful You) and Ranger Letter It "Birthday"
Ranger Archival jet black and Memento tuxedo black inks
Faber Castell polychromos pencils - not shown

I'll be entering the above make for the following challenges:-

1. Watercooler Challenge - challenge No. 174 - ALL ABOUT THE OCCASIONS
2. Addicted to Stamps - challenge No. 296 - ANYTHING GOES
3. Pause, Dream, Enjoy - challenge No. 24 - ANYTHING GOES
4. Aud sentiments - challenge No. 205 - ANYTHING GOES + A SENTIMENT
5. Cardz4Galz - challenge No. 73 - PRETTY AND PEARLY .. I went a bit lateral with this one and opted for the pearly paint effect, hope it doesn't disqualify me

    

Welcome to Wednesday .. downhill to the weekend!

Morning readers,

Please join me in welcoming my latest follower, Mrs A, thanks for following me and I hope you will visit again (as I know you have in the past) again soon.

It's been an absolute AGE since I did any journaling, I was at Craftathon the first weekend in June and having an absolute blast with good friends I've known since around 2008 so the page below just sort of grew organically as a result of the fun we were having .....

My journal page

Materials used:

• Page from my journal (Crawford and Black A5 sketchbook - £1 in The Works)
• Using an almost dry baby wipe I "swiped" the orange India ink over the page, which was not previously gesso'd
• Variety of stamps used, inked using the pink/orange/black inks

STAMPS: Fiskars "handwritten stamps", Paper Artsy Eclectica sets ESA01 and ESA02,
Creative Expressions letters, 49th and Market "Gabi's texture set", Kaisercraft mini grid
INKS: Ranger Archival jet black, monarch orange, vibrant fuchsia and PH Martin orange India ink

I'll be entering the above make for the following challenges:-

1. We Love 2 Create - challenge No. 9 - ANYTHING (mixed media) GOES
2. More Mixed Media - June 5th challenge - ANYTHING (mixed media) GOES

And now for a Christmas card ... a pal of mine has been setting a weekly JFF challenge on facebook and Sunday's theme was "6 Geese a laying" ... I have the FABULOUS Penny Black 12 Days of Christmas so .... had to be done! I deployed a technique I recently spotted whilst trawling that most useful of websites - youtube!!! only this time I used a Distress Oxide instead of paint. Have to say that I am LOVING this technique and thank heavens for finding a GOOD use for a glue stick!

My card

And a closer view of the image and foiling

 

The front, back and inside of my card along with the front and back of my envelope

Materials used:

• White 12½cm square, 250gsm, card and matching sized envelope
• Two pieces of white card cut to 11½cm and 12cm square
• One piece of navy card cut to 12cm square
• Low tack tape and a die cut circle, to mask off my panel which I then coloured using the Distress Oxide, applied with a mini blender and foam pad
• Once dry I applied glue stick adhesive through the stencil, using my fingers to ensure a more even coverage
• I then removed the stencil and applied the foiling sheet, burnishing thoroughly and then setting aside to dry properly before removing the foil sheet
• On a die cut circle I stamped the image using black ink and lightly coloured using polychromos pencils
• I used a scrap piece of white card which had already been die cut using a nesting stitched rectangle (from MFT - not shown) and stamped my sentiment in black, (using a Merriest Christmas to you (from the other PB set) inside the card and on the reverse of the envelope) before attaching to my card using dimensional foam tape

 

Penny Black sets "12 Days of Christmas" and "Giving and Receiving", Distress Oxide in candied apple and Memento tuxedo black inks, Tesco glue stick and sheet of bronze foil, Memory Box zippy dots 88568

I'll be entering the above make for the following challenges:

1. CASe This Sketch - challenge No. 275 - SKETCH - see below
2. Pile It On - challenge No. 143 - ALL SORTS OF HOLIDAYS
3. Stamping Sensations - June challenge - ANYTHING GOES
4. Cutie Pie - challenge No. 124 - SPOTS and DOTS - hope my glue stick foiling counts as spots and dots!
5. The Holly and The Ivy - challenge No. 30 - ANYTHING CHRISTMAS GOES

I also found out I got a TOP3 place over at Crafty Creations, thanks peeps, you're very kind. My place was secured by the little ATC below