Alpha Challenge #09 - April Fools Day

So what else does one do on a Monday morning once a fortnight? YES - The Craft Barn Alpha Challenge. This time we have the letter "A" and I had a wealth of special days to choose from.

Ash Wednesday, Ascension Day, All Saints Day, All Souls Day and of course April Fools Day.

Assuming this will be the first page of the booklet I make up when I have finished the challenge I wanted something bright and colourful so I did a jester for April Fools Day although I just had to add all the other definitions onto the page too. Made a boarder of Christmas lights for the fun of it as well!

The background was sprayed with Dylusions. The jester was found on the internet and fussy cut and coloured with my one and only Pro-marker (which was a magazine freebie yonks ago). Buttons and bells Cosmic Shimmer PVA and gold stickles for the lights.

I think I managed a bright page and now on to the housework!

12 Months in View - May Calendar Pages

Thought it about time to get my MAY calendar pages ready especially as I needed somewhere to try out the latest challenge on 12months, fitting text into a shape and was all full up in April!

I made a flower stamp for the days, you can make one just the right size this way, although I didn't stamp them close enough the first time so had to quickly rub off as much as I could and re-do them! The middle of the rubber on the stamp kept picking up ink so I perfected it as I went along, all adds to the texture anyways.

I used stains, inks, paints and star sequin waste for the background. I used up already cut letters and coloured them with distress inks for the month title. I used one of the May quotes for the fitting text into a shape technique.

I started an ATC whilst I was at it as a place to try out the colours and stuff. I used up my favourite piece of pink ribbon on there and on the edge of my May page too. Page all ready for filling in and the May flower, I wonder what that will be - probably Blue bells now I have gone all pink!

Craft Club - Pearls

Ashtead Craft Club, my 3rd new craft club this month, were looking at pearly things this time. One table was using Liquid Pearls and Cosmic Shimmer PVA and the other Cosmic Shimmer powders. I opted for the former as I have just got into Liquid Pearls.

I bought my first one from Oysterstamps when I met up with some internet friends for the first time earlier this year, I started with Platinum Pearl. I received my next one in a surprise giveaway bundle, Royal Blue. I chose my 3rd from my Alpha Challenge win from The Craft Barn, Rouge and bought my last one actually at The Craft Barn for their re-opening, Onyx Pearl. I did buy a Cosmic Shimmer, coloured Pearlescent PVA last year as the Biggin Hill Sincerely Yours Show too (keep forgetting that one - LOL) that's in Olympic Gold - how could I resist that last year LOL.

Various techniques were demonstrated.
1) adding pearly drops to stamped images.
2) creating a pearly background.
3) making strings of pearls flourishes.

I did 3 of the first technique, all with varying success. I smudged the brown one so had to make a "feature" of the centres! The pink and blue ones were better so I had to be real careful transporting them home!

The pearly background (blue card) used Cosmic Shimmer PVA and splodged it on some background card using scrunched up greaseproof paper. After it was dry adding distress inks for colour and the PVA resisted giving a lovely mottled pearly effect.

I've not tried the flourishes yet. I just made the toppers and embossed pieces at the club and made the cards up at home. If anyone knows the make of the lovely dandelion embossing folder I am all ears. Loved that one. Think I "need" some pretty coloured Liquid Pearls now as well!

Love Letter

Been following an old university chum's blog about his game playing with his young daughter and as I like to play board/card games with my son too I have been investing in some new ones lately.

Have to say our mainstay game before this episode was Uno, then I bought Set for Easter and most recently Timeline (Discoveries) and lastly Love Letter.








Love Letter is well presented in a little red drawstring bag. The cards are well illustrated and the little booklet of instructions and backstory is great. The only criticism is the plastic bag the tokens of affection come in!

Had to rectify the situation so I altered a matchbox this morning suitable to hold these tokens. Yep much happier with the situation now.















As for the game, it only has 16 playing cards and they have various effects during the game making it intriguing, fun and curious all at the same time. It takes a little while to familiarise yourself with the cards and their effects but even my 14yr son likes the game. Had to start a game at breakfast which we'll finish just as soon as he gets in from school.

WOYWW #203 - Scrapping 2013

I scrap, then I tidy - that is just how it is. So here is my post tidy desk.

Scrapping was momentarily usurped by an addition to my 12Months journal and a sit in the warm sunshine (can't miss that as it is so rare in the UK!) but I managed to get it done before tea.


I have finally got into 2013 scrapping. I finished up my Christmas pages this week and they have been put in the album already.

 



The 2 on my desk are of a New Year's Day walk in the woods where a Sparrowhawk was spotted in the trees. Plus my hubby's last business trip to Germany over Valentine's and My Birthday!! Guess where he is again now?

There's a card I made using a scrapbook sketch and a freebie die from a magazine. Also a pack of twinchies for a SWAP, both can be seen on earlier posts if you are interested.

So all I need say now is join the fun called WOYWW over at Julia's Place - NOW! - go on you know you want to!

ABAC - Twinchies

For a SWAP next month we were tasked to make TWINCHIES.

Oh something I had never done before so I set to....








I used some backing card I had previously made using the shaving foam technique with Dylusions. As it looked like water I just had to go with the water theme.













The fish die is from the Quickutz Refresh set. The branch from Tim Holtz's Autumnal strip die for the coral. I added some sticky ribbon and liquid pearls for the eye. 

So here are my little fishes, just right for the April Showers Challenge over at Anything But a Card.

CV Challenge #02 - Butterfly Dance

Just made a card using a scrapbook sketch and the new freebie die from Simply Cards & Papercrafts this month. Thought the butterfly aspect would gain another entry to the Country View Challenge for April.

12 Months in View - Firsts

I have made this April page to remember my "April Firsts" in the 12 Months challenge. I have already been to 2 of the 3 Craft Clubs I have found this month. I have also met up with 2 members from my UKPC internet craft group, one who I had known there for over 7 years. The circles on the page are from my new nestie dies and I think these will be as close to altering a CD as I get this month! The butterflies are from a freebie die I got on a magazine this week and their bling centres are gems from my latest nightie. Some had come off in the wash so I just took the rest off! So a bit of recycling there. Love the backing paper from the 2nd giveaway this month.

WOYWW #202 - Giggle

Hi and welcome to my desk this week for the infamous WOYWW hosted by Julia.

I've done some scrapping and have reached December 2012 at last.

My husband wasn't too happy with the title on his cycling page though!



The blue and orange ATC is made from left over pieces from my son's birthday page which happens to be on the Winter Solstice which I used for my "special day" for the Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge.

I made a Ballet ATC based on this "Word" themed SWAP card  I'd posted earlier in the week. The ballerina die is from the Craft Barn the other week, my feminine indulgence in a male oriented household.




I have done a page in my 12 Months Journal and a couple of cards for upcoming anniversaries.

Finally I received the big "G" as part of a monogram SWAP, and here's the "C" I made.

12 Months in View - Stamping

Thought I better catch up with the April challenges on 12 Months in View. There has been a technique challenge to use the same stamp in various different ways. Stamping is NOT my thing, but I had a go, even got out my Big'n'Juicy pad and brayer. Kinda wish I hadn't bothered with them really as brayering ink isn't me either! Have since popped my Big'n'Juicy in my SWAP box, it was annoying me in my drawer too!


Anyway, I made a splodgy line on my page so decided to cover it up with some sticky ribbon! But the ink wasn't dry enough so it wouldn't stick and even red sticky tape wouldn't stick. I left it and made dinner (something else I'm not fond of doing!).


The stamping techniques used are, clear embossing and inking over. Stamping with the Big'n'Juicy rainbow pad, but my favourite was stamping with Versamark and colouring over with chalks. I added Liquid Pearls, Stickles Glitter and Glossy Accents.

I finally fussy cut a flower from one of the giveaways and stuck it on the page. So I have caught up a bit now. Still need some old CD's to alter (none available at present) and to do a recycled scrapbook page, but perhaps I'll leave that one. I only have 2 pages per month on top of my calendar pages, so we'll see.

Alpha Challenge #08 - Winter Solstice

The Craft Barn's Alpha Challenge has a slight twist this fortnight. We have the letter "W" but need to have circles in the background.

There are quite a few "W" special days, like Ash Wednesday, Whit Sunday (Pentecost), Battle of  Waterloo, Wassailing Day, Whistable Oyster Festival and Weather Day, and numerous WORLD days of this or that. I plumbed for Winter Solstice as it is extra special as my son was born on this day.

Fortunately my dictionary had the "Winter Solstice" in its definition and I also highlighted "World" as the changing seasons affect us all one way or another. The clock segment is centered on noon in accordance with the definition and highlighted with golds to represent the sun along with the arrows pointing towards earth.

My circle background is of a compass (as it all depends on where you live on the globe) plus cogs and dotted with snow. Again nothing like I imagined, I just went with the flow.

Stamp Binders

Just received my second Tim Holtz Unmounted Stamp Binder in the Post. My other one was getting rather full. They recommend 8 pages a binder and I had about 12 and some of those were garbled together from odd pieces of acetate.









Have just realised that the pre-backed rubber stamps from Tim himself are rather thicker than the basic clear stamps so perhaps it wasn't too bad after all. Anyway I have bought another set of refill pages too. I'm not a great stamper so here are my stamps. I do have a few wood backed ones as well, but this is mainly it!

Also I have splurged out with my new distress paints and coloured my original binder blue and green. I intend to do my new one pink and yellow but not until I have had it a while I suspect.

I have made a new tag for my 2nd  one as well in the new colours. As my first one had my first name initials, my 2nd one has my surname initial (just in case you were wondering).

Well that is me, stamping and organisation.

Just need to sort out the things it has displaced on my shelf now! Problems Problems!

WOYWW #201 - Crafty Week

Hi there all you WOYWWers and oh my - what a crafty week I've had. Done quite a few things and even blogged SEVEN times since last week. Where shall I start?

My new purchases from The Craft Barn, included the "B & J" to be used for decopatch at a craft club, Distress paints (at last), an embossing folder and quite a few other things which you can peruse HERE.

I finished my mosaic tile and you can see a close-up HERE, along with the wooden drum set model I finished off for my son. I followed that with doing my Timmy Tag for this month it is HERE.

I did quite a bit for my 12Months in View Challenge, stamped and painted the Primrose - flower of the month on both my calendar page and zine and made up the little giveaway pocket for my tag. All HERE and more HERE. I've been adding new stuff to my desk tag for some weeks now and realised it had butterflies so perfect for the Country View Challenge so entered that HERE. Then I just HAD to enter the Ranger Colour Challenge with the Earth Day colours - HERE.

Then, having chatted to a lady at The Craft Barn  she told me of another local craft club so I went to that on Monday. I met a lady I used to work for, some 10 years ago and also it turns out my husband cycles with the wife of one of the ladies who runs the group. Small World. We did stamping through a shape, my cards are HERE.

Oh nearly forgot, my latest crafty piece, it is a second page in my Art Journal Round Robin. I had done a Good Friday page using the top decorated border from the Radio Times but then realised the Easter Sunday/Monday borders linked up and just had to do something with those too. Note the birds in the distance flying home in the Good Friday one, then flying to their nest of 3 eggs then the 3 fledglings in the last one. It just had to be done.

And I bought some envelopes to make mini albums with too. What a week, hurrah for Easter holidays.

12 Months in View - Pockets and Tags

Just made my April tag using stamps that were on a package from Germany this week, and half my new die cut tree and stamped tissue for the background and stuff.

Doodled on the little giveaway pockets too. I think I'll stick these pockets on my last page of SPRING in my journal.

Another New Craft Club - Tadworth

Gosh, craft clubs seem to be like busses at the moment, nothing for years and then 3 turn up at once! I went to my 2nd today, it is my closest and a spin off from the next one I hope to go to at the end of the month.

We did some stamped cards. Gosh they had LOADS of stamps to choose from. I just have one Tim Holtz binder full but have just ordered a second binder and am even debating de-backing my few wooden block ones?

Anyway we used the technique of stamping and or inking through a pre-cut hole in a piece of paper, cut using a Cuttlebug and Spellbinders. Then we added a feature over the edge afterwards.

Also the technique of using mini stamps and creating a sense of the shape by stamping over the edge.

I did better with the former as you can't really make a circle lopsided, but my heart was wonky so I have since cut that out and made up a card with it as a topper.

A really useful technique for a quick "flat" card.

Seasonal Colour Palette: April

Ranger are doing some great colour challenges and this month their colour choice reflects both Earth Day and the newness of life as Spring dawns. The earthy tones are Yellow, Green, Blue and Brown.I just wanted to do a simple card with flowers in these colours as they are a bit different to usual. .

CV Challenge #02 - Butterflies

OK, this little tag has been adorning my desk for a while and I keep adding to it as the mood takes me. It started as a shaving foam background print to which I added various left-over diecut/punched pieces. I doodled a bit and added some of my new products, like the stamping and the black stickles. Then I realised it had butterflies on it and was therefore perfect for the CountryView Challenge this month. Horrah.

12 Months in View - April Flower

The flower for April over at 12 Months in View is the Primrose from the Genus Primula. We had a super giveaway of some digital prints of pink primulas earlier this month and I made up the little pocket as I did for the March giveaway with the Daffodil. I had made a little tag last month using a Cotton Traders tag and it happened to fit in the pocket, so I have managed to find another 11 such tags (had to trim some) so am hoping for more little pockets throughout the year. The tag is awaiting an arty challenge this month.







I found I had a Primrose stamp so I have stamped and painted a clump of Primroses on my calendar page, added a title and some more of the quotes from our Spring handouts, from Shakespeare and Milton. I added a border to bring the two pages together.

I had used the spare paint from the left hand border on my April zine page and today I also added some of the stamped/painted Primroses, plus a poem by Sara Teasdale again from our Spring handouts.

April is coming along nicely, I like how I can do more than one challenge on my calendar page to build it up bit by bit.

Think it might just be done now though.