It's not October it's Octavia!

I'm really hoping that all of you can see this post cos if you can't it means I've completely messed up my blog! In my last post i mentioned that I thought it was odd that nobody was commenting on my work and that I'd discovered the reason for it was Google+. Basically Google+ comments will not allow anyone to comment on my posts unless they sign up for a Google+ account and to be honest I can't say that I blame anyone who doesn't sign up as it isn't a fabulous platform and if they have to use these methods to get people to sign up then I'm certainly not a fan! Anyhow I decided to leave the Google+ platform and they certainly don't make it easy, as I went to click leave they kindly informed me that all Google profiles will be deleted! Anyway, I decided that I'd leave anyway and see what happens - worse case scenario I have to start my blog up all over again! Hey ho!

Anyway enough of my moaning I'm here to tell you about the Graph'It Marker challenge this week which is AUTUMN COLOURS. Remember you don't need to use Graph'It Markers to enter, your project, it simply needs to fit the theme. You could win yourself some fantastic new pens if you're the lucky winner, so what are you waiting for? Get your entries in!

My inspiration card this week is using the beautiful Octavia from Polka Doodles. I coloured her with my GI's and then added a combination of a GI background and Distress Inks which I flicked lightly with water to give a faux bleach effect. I then added some Stickles for a bit of bling and glitz before assembling the card.

Graph'It Markers Used:

Skin 4115,4125, 4135,4155, 3110

Hair 3110, 3125

Dress 2105, 2110, 2140, 2170

Grass 8260, 8280, 8290

Butterflies 6160

Well that's it from me today. I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Claire x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Let It Snow! Chalkboard Christmas Card

Good morning. Firstly I'd like to say a big "Hello" to my new followers. Secondly I'd like to apologise to anyone who has taken the time to leave me a comment that I've failed to visit or reply too but I've had a little problem with my comments in as much as I don't get notification of them at the moment due to the wonderful Google+ taking control of my blog - grrrrr!! I thought you'd all runaway until I clicked on the actual comments tab at the bottom and a whole load appeared!!

Anyway, I've got a little card for you this morning that I made using what is quite possibly my most favourite stamp of the year, namely the Chalkboard stamps from Polka Doodles. If you haven't seen them you really should pop across to see the full range, they are totally lush and oh so very useful! Apologies for the rubbish photos. I took these in a hurry as the card needed to be sent off as a sample and as always I was running close to the knuckle for time!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Materials: Chalkboard Stamp, Spruce Branch, Sizzix Snowflake Die, Corrugated Card, Paint, Buttons and Frosted Berries.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

It's A Boy! New Baby Card

Just a quickie from me today. I wanted to share this cute little new baby card with you, made using the new Winston CD from Polka Doodles. It's really quick and easy and everything is from the CD with the exception of the new baby tag which I made using the computer. I think this would look super cute in pink too!

The image has been coloured with my Graph'It markers and the paper safety pins have been enhanced with a Sakura Silver Gel Pen and Glossy Accents.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Allsorts Challenge Blog - It's a Stitch Up
Brown Sugar - Anything Goes
The Stamping Boutique - New baby
Crafty Girls - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Digi Choosday - Buttons
PDE Linky Party - Stitching
Crafting From The Heart - Anything Goes
Crafty Bloggers Network - Anything Goes

The Creative Blog Hop

Good morning lovely people. You didn't expect to see me here today did you? Well I'm here to take part in the The Creative Blog Hop - not heard of it before? Me neither until my lovely friend Jenny from Dragonlew's Spot tagged me and asked if I'd like to play along! So off I went to investigate and decided it actually might be a pretty neat way of you finding out a little bit about me and what makes me tick creatively.

The hop asks a series of questions and I've tried to answer them as honestly as possible. So here goes...

1. What am I working on now?

Well I have several projects on the go at the moment none of which I can share any pictures of as they are kind of top secret. The only thing I can say is that one of them caused me to reach for the Tena ladies when I got asked! Whilst the projects for this request are really exciting it's kind of stressing me out at the same time as it's important that I get things right and meet the tight deadline!! All will be revealed in October!!!

The other projects are inspiration projects for my DT commitments. Oh and I almost forgot I am working on a little something that's just for me and that's learning to use my Distress Markers - but more on that another day!

2. How does my work differ from others in my genre?

Wow this is a hard one to answer.... I guess that my work differs from others in as much as I play with paper, inks and stamps as most paper crafters do, but tend to mix things up with techniques and images from mixed media artists. For example the recent sardine tin that I show-cased has it's roots firmly in the mixed media arena but then I've mixed things up a little by adding a super cute decoupaged image from a pe-printed topper sheet. That is not what artists in either arena would expect to see!
3. Why do I create what I do?

I guess the easy answer to that it makes me happy!

4. How does my creative process work?

Ummm...basically I see something like an image, a scrap of paper or piece of junk and have to create! I don't tend to have a set process either. I know a lot people take their background papers and then colour images to match but I rarely do that as I tend to be drawn to an item or image and let that take the lead. One thing I am strict with myself over is not having a hissy fit if things go wrong which means that I rarely put anything in the bin. For example, if I've almost coloured an image perfectly and then ruin it at the last hurdle by going out of the lines or dropping a pen onto the face I'll simply cut it out and decoupage it. Life is too short to spend hours creating something and then because of a simple mistake you have a meltdown and bin it - almost everything is salvageable and some of my best pieces have the been the result of an accident!

The final part of this hop is to share some of the uber talented folk out there inspire me creatively. This was the hardest part for me, not because there isn't anyone who inspires me creatively but simply because there are too many of you! So without further ado I'd like to introduce my two victims both of whom are hugely talented and never cease to amaze me with their creations!

Louise Sims - I started card making 5/6 years ago when I was enticed or should I say "lured in" by a handmade card I had been sent by a friend. I loved the idea that someone had designed, made and sent me a card that they had crafted: it made the card even more special.
I am very lucky to be part of the Polka Doodles design team and adore the varied range of products Nikky designs. I also am part of the Pan Pastels and Dutch Doobadoo teams too. My aspiration is to be able to do successfully CAS card but I feel that this aspiration might be a long time coming as I am partial to an embellishment or two.

Carmen Wing - hi everyone. My name is Carmen and I have a little blog called Whoopidoo...ings. I love to play with Acrylics, Watercolour and Mixed Media. I also love books, fairy tales and all things spooky. I'd love for you to come along and say hello.

Hopefully you now have insight into me and my creativity? If there's anything else you want to know, please ask and I'll do my best to answer.

Claire x

PS If you pop back later in the week I might have a little something creative to show you all....

Graph'It Marker Challenge - Light Sources!

That's right it's time for a new challenge over on the Graph'It Marker Challenge Blog and this week we want to see light sources. So it can be as simple as you clearly identifying where the light source comes from or like I've done use a specific light source. I really hope you can join us as there's a fab prize up for grabs and you don't even need to use Graph'It Markers!

Before I show you my project I'd just like to take a second or two to say a big "HELLO" and "WELCOME" to my latest followers. If you ever have any questions about my work then please do feel free to either leave me a message on here or drop me an email. I always reply and definitely don't bite!

Right down to business! Don't all gasp, but I've made a card this week and my goodness was it a mission! I just couldn't get going with it and had for some reason or other managed to glue things into place before I'd fully decided upon a layout! Never a good idea!!

The sweet digi image that I've used is from the Hollybobs collection and can either be bought individually or as part of a larger CD collection. I coloured the couple up using my Graph'It Markers and then added Glossy Accents and Stickles to enhance the image. I used my new Tattered Lace Pine Bough die for the foliage and mixed them up with some holly leaves and flowers from my stash. The bottle cap charm was made by running a bottle cap through the Big Shot, lining it with patterned paper and die cut glittered numbers before coating generously with Glossy Accents.

Colours used:

Skin - 4115, 4120,4125, 4135

Hair -  1110, 3210, 3125, 3245

Clothes - 5220, 5345, 8150, 8250, 3245, 3230, 1270

Lantern - 9501, 9504, 9506, 9909, 1110, Blender 0000

Right that's it from me today. I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Claire x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

ABC Christmas Challenge - S for something festive

Inky Chicks - Anything Goes

Just Inspirational - Bows

PDE Linky Party - Stitching

Ladybug Crafts - Anything Goes

Tattered Lace Dies - Holidays

ABC Challenge - Tic Tac Toe (Stitching, Ribbon & Flowers)

Not Just Cards - Anything Goes

Altered Ribbon Reel -

This is another of the samples that I made for the release of the new Winston CD, you may have spotted it sitting on the counter alongside the altered sardine can. I warn you now there is picture overload on this post but I still failed miserably to capture it properly. It's not often I say this, but the photos really don't do this justice!

I got given this empty ribbon spool by one the members of staff in Hobbycraft who said they just bin them and if I could make any use of it then I was more than welcome to it. So being the hoarder that I am I carried it home with me and shoved it in my stash of altering bits. I have to be honest and say that I'd almost completely forgotten about it until I went to retrieve the sardine can for the other project. That said I glanced at it and thought no more of it until I'd coloured up Sewing Etty and decided that I wanted to decoupage her! Being short of time I decided that I'd scan the image and print multiple copies, however, it changed the colour tone and it no longer fitted with the papers I'd chosen. So I sat and pondered for a while and then suddenly the ribbon reel came to mind and I knew exactly what I would do!

So I grabbed it from the box and sat the image on top of it and as luck would have it, it was the right size! So I set to work and painted the reel with Gesso and Acrylic Paints so that it resembled wood.

Once dry I glued the lace and pearls onto the reel and added some tape measure ribbon that I had in my stash.

I then cut out the image and layered it up before adding glitter and Glossy Accents.

I decided that I wanted the reel to be viewed from all angles so I created a "fabric" panel screen using papers from the CD and hot glued it into place.

I then added the image to reel and started to add various embellishments from the CD such as the hat, pins, scissors, bunting, birds etc...

Once they were in place I felt that the reel needed some 3D elements so I added some little wooden reels available from Polka Doodles.

By this point I was starting to run really short on time so I grabbed my mini flower punch that I seem to use on almost every project at the moment and punched an assortment of flowers from the papers I'd printed from the CD. I then mixed these up with some of the handcut flowers from the CD.

I had lots of fun making this project and will definitely be grabbing more of these reels for use in future projects.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes
Ladybug Crafts - Anything Goes
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Goes
The Mirror Cracked - Anything Goes
Crafty Cardmakers - Ribbons,Lace & Pearls
Not Just Cards- Antything Goes
Try it on Tuesday - Recycle It

Altered Sardine Can - Gone Fishing!

So did you catch the show on Create & Craft today? If not then you can catch it here or on Catch Up TV - it was an amazing show with plenty of lush samples from my teamies and a genius demonstration from Nikky Hall involving hot glue!!! Anyway, I thought I'd pop in and show you this fun little piece that I made for the show using the new Winston Collection from Polka Doodles.

There are loads of fun techniques I've used on this project and I have to say that although it was a touch fiddly in places, I had an absolute blast making it! I know this getting to be a habit but there are loads of pictures in this post so apologies if it slow loading!

As many of you know I love upcycling stuff that would otherwise be discarded in the trash. I'm always on the look out for odd tins, bottles and boxes and as a result have a quite a hoard! Anyway as soon as I saw one of the design sheets on the CD I just knew that I had to alter a sardine can from my stash. Now for those of you worried about the smell, don't be, simply wash it out thoroughly with hot soapy water and then soak it in bi-carb and hot water overnight and any smell will be removed.

The first thing I did was to create a "lid" out of card. I simply drew around the tin and then cut it to size.

I then hot glued some beads onto the base to make feet and then coated the whole thing generously with Gesso, along with the card lid. Whilst I waited for it to dry I printed out the design sheet from the CD, cut it out and layered it up with silicone glue.

Once the tin and card lid was dry I dabbed on some course modelling paste (if you don't have this try mixing a bit of sand or salt in with some fine modelling paste or gel medium) and again left it to dry.  I then covered the entire tin and lid in silver acrylic paint. I then added a thinned down coat of black acrylic paint to it and lightly swiped it over with a cloth so that there some areas of silver showing through. Before this dried thoroughly I added some Burnt Umber acrylic paint and some Burnt Sienna. I then left the whole to dry for thirty minutes or so.

I then printed some dotty papers from the CD and cut them to fit the tin to create the water. The bullrushes were freehand cut from scraps of paper and coloured with my Graph'It Markers. I then glued each of the individual elements into the scene.

Finally, I rolled up the lid and cut jagged edges into the sides where it was curled before gluing it into position on the tin. The key was an old corned beef tin key that seem almost impossible to find these days, so I made a mold and cast a few extras. This was then rusted up in the same fashion described above.

If you buy the Winston CD please do stop by and show me what you made - I love looking at other peoples creations. Alternatively, please feel free to share with all the other Polka Doodles fans on Facebook Page

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire xxx

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes
A Little Bit Crafty - Distress It
Crafts & Me - Time for Anything
Natalie & Amy's Challenge - Things with wings
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Goes
The Mirror Cracked - Anything Goes