Tuesday 31 October 2017

Something Poetic......

At Eclectic Ellapu this month, we are giving you full rein to create as the challenge for November is

 'Anything Goes'!

My garden is currently in full bloom - it is very much a spring garden as a summer garden needs too much water and work! Here is an example of some of the flowers taken today.


Don't you love flowers!

Back to Eclectic Ellapu.....

I decided to use a small canvas ($2 shop find) which is about 4 x 2 inches.
This is because I saw a similar canvas multi-media in Craft Stamper magazine using the free stamp from that month - my canvas is bigger, the colours are different and Tracy Scott got her white to stay white but mine soaked up the spray and just went light blue!
Her canvas says "we are all a little fragile" and I think it was that that drew me to it first!

My sentiment is from a new set from stampin' Up called Here for You 


It is full of sprays and paint (Dylusions -such beautiful stuff) 


I added some gold flake and then some glitter to the centre of the flower - got it everywhere of course! Some flitter glue smooched about the canvas and along the edges allowed me to bling it up to another level - I drew the stalk and leaves, and painted them with Dylusions paint.

This stamped and Copic coloured flower head was the Freebie from Craft Stamper. 


I made it over two days to allow for drying time
I tried to photograph it in the sunlight but it was just too blingy!


You have a month to enter over at Ellectic Ellapu
Off you go!

Monday 23 October 2017

Final October post for Unstampabelles Challenge #73

Tic Tac Toe 
TWIST journal about the decision making process

     RIBBON


                LACE


            STRING


   BUTTONS


              BLING

            BRADS

   FLOWERS


           DIE-CUTS

          STICKERS


There is also a random number prize on offer:

I got stuck of the Ribbon-Lace-String line and made a card with those three things on it for the challenge. I saw something similar on Pinterest so had a go at making my take on it:


I have a number of dies and punches for hearts - this was a SU die - and I tore a page from a Mills and Boon I have especially for this sort of thing, and glued the thin paper to piece of big double sided tape (Stacy tape?)

I then sort-of pleated the lace around the edge of the heart and used lots of small bits of double sided tape to keep them in place (the sticky back of the heart also helped)


I used Helga glue to position the string around the edge


Then I got some papers from my huge box of co-ordinating papers that I thought would suit the colour of the page paper and layered it, distressing the edges and adding a bit of TH ink as well


The sentiment is die cut from a piece of scrap and the ribbon is SU ribbon wrapped around yet another piece of scrap


I also tried to make a flower with some more lace and ended up gluing the paper flower over it - I did think of adding several more buttons and making it ribbon-buttons-flowers but I couldn't find any with that aqua colour and didn't think of colouring them myself at the time!! duh


I lifted up the second heart so it hovered over the first  using dimensionals 

I could add some aqua bling too (lace-bling-diecuts) I guess but I was done!

Still in Spring here so we go from 30 to 18 within 24 hours, but there has been a few showers so the garden is happy! The photo I am sharing is of a Pelican - we often have them here all through the year now, and thy always make me say "whose beak can hold more than his belly can!" whenever I see one - one of those Dad sayings that seem to stick for ever......love his blue feet!


Pelican Pete on Duty at Binalong Bay boat ramp thanks to Ranee Lloyd from Formerly Known As Vintage.

www.instagram.com/ranee.lloyd 

https://formerlyknownasvintage.com/


Saturday 21 October 2017

Let's use a Kit

Hello Peeps - hope you are all well and fit! A few years ago I had the incredible privilege of flying to the remote south west coast of Tasmania for a few days and staying on a magnificent private motor sailer there, fishing and swimming and exploring. We were two of maybe 25 people in the area, 10 of whom were on the boat with us. We flew to and from Port Davey. Today's photograph is from the entrance of that area - Bathurst Harbour. Wild and beautiful.


The epic, incredible view of the Breaksea Islands, guarding the entrance to Port Davey and Bathurst Harbour, from a Par Avion Wilderness Tours flight.
For our tips on exploring the Southwest National Park, see:
http://hobartandbeyond.com.au/news-posts/lost-world-four-ways-explore-southwest-national-park/
Image: instagram.com/clickedbynic | clickedbynic photography

On to crafting.......

You may know that I am a Demonstrator for Stampin' Up and spend far too much money on their products (because they are so good) so when they put out some card kits a few season's ago I was curious. However, I was a bit sceptical - OK for the beginner I thought. Then they did a tin of tags for Christmas and it was so good I had to have it. The tags made up very quickly and were nearly all used up last Christmas so I got left with a cute tin (how sad is that). Put to good use now of course.

They were sooo good and quick

This last month there was a new lovely kit available and it teamed nicely with their new blender pens - yes, they have bought back the alcohol ink pens: better and same colours plus three new colourways. So of course I got it - called Colour Me Happy there is a stamp set and a kit containing all the material that you need for the making of 16 cards: 4 of each type x 4 different cards, plus their envelopes.


I made them up - all 16 - in an afternoon.



They match their envelopes in both size and colour.


Lovely bits of bling and a gold tape
Sentiment pieces were die cut ready for use once stamped


This one I will use for the latest challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies
where Hilde is asking that we use

#92: Just Designer Papers and a Sentiment - no images. 




Monday 16 October 2017

Tic Tac Toe again!


Spring has Arrived in Tassie!

This cute little lamb at Ross is getting pretty good at this whole walking thing.
For more info, see:



However,  this time I am thinking of Christmas (it was cold here today) and decorations and I was on Pinterest OK so I cannot be blamed for this as they just  appear on the screen and I was just tempted to make it.....

Hum hum..... as I was saying, I made a Christmas decoration today for the latest  October challenge at Unstampabelles, which is 


Tic Tac Toe 
TWIST journal about the decision making process

     RIBBON


                LACE


            STRING


   BUTTONS


              BLING

            BRADS

   FLOWERS


           DIE-CUTS

          STICKERS

I went for Ribbon, Lace and String this time........

Yes, there is a prize


I started with a polystyrene ball and a ball of garden string.....oh, and some glue!


Put glue on ball, wind on string.....


Keep doing it until you get to the middle and turn ball over - keep going


Leave to dry overnight - then add a loop. The pin holds it in place. 
Meantime, pick all the glue off your fingers and fingernails......


Add a strip of lace,followed by a strip of ribbon... and then some baubles and bling!


Hung it on the lime tree


Another angle


and another (on the rhododendron this time in the sun) 


A final shot to see the bottom and sides more clearly


Cute, huh!

You have two weeks left to enter the challenge
Remember, no stamps please!






Monday 9 October 2017

Memory Lane and Tic Tac Toe

Do you remember playing those old games when you were a child? I have hazy memories of playing scrabble, Snakes and Ladders and Dominoes and of course Tic Tac Toe. With the latter you could draw up the grid on anything and play until a fight ensued between you and the opposition - usually a sibling. I have been drawn back to the past and childhood this week as I was working on my Uni assignment - a Biography of an ancestor. Hence I was going through old photo's and this one fell out of a pile and landed on my work desk. It was a sign! I went with it.





The game of Tic Tac Toe is slightly different when applied to this 
Challenge #73 at Unstampabelles but there is still a grid!

TWIST is to journal your process


RIBBON


LACE


STRING


BUTTONS


BLING


BRADS


FLOWERS

DIE-CUTS


STICKERS

In this game you need to choose a line up or down, or sideways, or even diagonally and make sure that each of the three items appears in your work. You cannot just choose three ie string, bling and buttons don't work as there is not a straight line drawn between them but buttons, bling and brads work!

I went for Flowers - Die-cuts and Stickers!


My diecuts ARE  mostly flowers, plus there is a crochet one added as well. 


This is me at age 6? maybe 7?
It is on the home farm called 'Seaview' and I am holding the grey cat known to us as 
Smoky, the Mama Cat.


I kept it clean and simple as well - as the photo was black and white I could use  strong colours too.
I added two stickers and some rub-ons


 The main page is white Bazzill. 


It was fun remembering that part of my childhood and Smoky. 
It had to be at least 60 years ago.... 


Now, your turn - just remember - NO STAMPS.

You can enter HERE


WOW… what a capture of a sunrise from Clifton Beach, on the South Arm Peninsula, thanks to Alex McAndrew (sitting on the cliffs) who says:

"I over-appreciated the sunrise and didn't make it back dry."

www.instagram.com/_alex_mcandrew


Saturday 7 October 2017

Time to get them checked........

.....the boobies, that is! Breast Cancer Awareness Month is upon us and it is time to go and get them squeezed between the two cold plates of metal. Small pain for big gain each year! I feel like a lump of hamburger meat being man(woman)handled onto a BBQ plate and then they twist it and squeeze it and you have to hold still and not breath (as if you could breath while that is happening) and then release! Other one now! Oh Joy, Oh Bliss!!!





wants us to make a card for Breast Cancer so here is mine, using the specially made for us in Australia Breast Cancer stamp set - Ribbon of Courage. There is a great die set with this too but I chose to just stamp this one.


I used some SU white card with an embossed image of flowers as a background and embossed it some more using white embossing powder on the ribbon and the word 

COURAGE


I used some of my TH Distress ink Oxide to add three colours to the card with the help of s water spray and  paintbrush. I also added some Pickled Raspberry ink over some areas to highlight them as well.

Polished off the inks with a tissue when card was dry.


Layered up with some pink on pink card and added three heart sequins,


It looks better than the photo's do - at a distance you can hardly see the ribbon and word but as you come closer they begin to pop.



Remember, 


and then go to Crafting with Dragonflies for the new Challenge