There's a fairy at the bottom of my garden.....

and her name is Wendy Woo...... OK so I know the words to song are really "there's a worm at the bottom of my garden and his name is Wiggly Woo..." but for some reason I couldn't stop singing my version of it whilst making this card. I drove myself and everyone else in the house nuts with it :/ but hey it got the job done! So can you guess what this weeks challenge over at Polka Doodles is? Yep it's Fairies, Flitter & Fantasy. I do hope that you'll come and play with us, remember you don't need to use a Polka Doodles image, but we'd love it you did! Also you could win yourself some new stash.

This is what I've come up with this week - it's a stepper card with masses of cut out images (I sooo need to treat myself to a Craft Robo, there was way too much hand cutting involved in this card!) 

I started out by printing out the fairy and foliage from the All Around & Everywhere CD and the watering can, window & door (which is the window with the shutters chopped off) from the new Studio 12 Picknix Heavenly Garden Kit. I then coloured the images with Promarkers. Because I needed masses of foliage and believe it or not I do have something that resembles a life outside of crafting, I cheated and scanned the coloured image in and then printed out several flipped and resized copies. I then set about the gargantuan task of cutting everything out :/

The images are assembled onto a simple stepper card base using glue and pop dots (yes I really needed to add more dimension to the piece!). I'm not sure that my pictures show the Stickles on the wings or the Glossy Accents on the glass window - so you'll have to use your imagination.

Right that's me done for this week, so thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic weekend. I'm off to the Craft Barn on Sunday and I'm hoping to catch up albeit it briefly with the lovely Nikky Hall. If you spot me there, come and say "Hi".

Claire xxx

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

Bearly Mine - Anything Goes

Craft Your Passion - Things with wings

Creative Mondays - Mermaids & Fairies

Fashionista Challenge - Winged Things

Hooked On Crafts - All that glitters

Incy Wincy - Anything goes

Love to Create - Anything goes

Make It Monday - Anything goes

Whoopsie Daisy - Things with wings

Dream Valley - Things with wings

The Crafty Pad - More than one fold

That Craft Place - It's all green

The Squirrel and the Fox - Make it sparkle

I ♥ ProMarkers - Anything goes

Watch Out Postie There's Something In The Box!!!

Good morning to you all. It's time for another challenge over at Stampotique and this week's theme is Out Of The Box! Sadly it's my last week as GDT, so I'd like to thank Carol and the rest of the team for having me as it's been a complete blast and has made me try things that are shall we say "are a little uncomfortable" and that I perhaps would otherwise not have bothered with! :D

Now when I first saw this challenge my heart kinda sunk little and I wondered what on earth I could do! Then, as it does, inspiration struck and I thought I'd literally make something Out Of The Box! :D

So I've made DS his birthday card ready for September (oh get me Mrs Organised!!!), and this is what I've come up with - what do you think?

I used the sentiment stamp Don't Wait Open me Now! by Kristen Powers to create the stamp. The other images have either been carefully lifted from mail I've received, doodled or nabbed off of the internet! The card has been tied as though it's a parcel and when you open it, you find this Little Whisker Monster With A Sign  by Kira Nichols popping up inside!

This was a really easy card to make once I sussed out the basic popping mechanism and how to best place the monster so that the majority of him was on display!

The card base measures 6" x 6" and is made from Kraft cardstock. I've used some old papers by Basic Grey that I found in my stash. The glitter dots on the kraft card have been punched from the same papers, glued in place and then stickled. The image has been coloured with Flexmarkers and then accented with Glossy Accents and Stickles. I've used a white gel pen to write the message on the sign.

I drew the balloons and coloured them with metallic Promarkers before attaching them to some acetate. The stars are from a bag of table confetti and I've simply heat embossed them with some copper embossing powder. 

All I have to do now is keep my fingers crossed that a) I remember where I've hidden it and b) that DS likes it!!!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire xxx

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

PanPastel UK - Anything goes

The Crafty Pad - More than one fold

Crafts & Me - Birthdays

Inspire Me Fridays - Anything goes

Crop Stop - Let's hear it for the children

Anything goes - Polka Dot with a Birthday theme

Celebrate the Occasion - Happy Birthday

Make It Monday - Anything goes

The Cutie Pie Challenge - Anything goes

Fern The Forest Fairy

Yep me again! Don't worry I'll soon be back to posting once weekly - the house needs a jolly good deep clean so all excess crafting will come to a holt :(

Right, this post is gonna be short 'n' sweet today, cos the sooner I get on with things the sooner I can play!

It's time for another challenge over at Delicious Doodles and this week we have a 123 recipe for you. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not a recipe person - I find them way too restrictive. Anyway, I have managed to produce a card, but I can assure you there was much teeth gnashing, stash raking and paper shuffling in the process!

The recipe I used was 1 Designer paper, 2 Ribbons and 3 Images.

That's it from me today - see a real quick post! I hope you all have a great weekend.

Claire xxx

Materials:
Fern The Forest Fairy
Fairy Seats
Leaf Ribbon - May Arts
Web Ribbon - The Craft Barn
Designer Paper - Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen Renaissance Collection
Promarkers
Stickles
Glossy Accents
Little Claire's Fern Die

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Moving Along With The Times - Happy Birthday
Paper Play - Die Cuts
Sarah Hurley Challenges - Dimension & Texture
Crafts & Me - Anything Goes
Bearly Mine - Flowers
Papertake Weekly - Bingo Diecut, free, glitter
Bunny Zoe's - Girls, girls, girls

Vintage Sewing Book Card

Ahh Ha!!! You weren't expecting to see me today were you? I bet you're wondering what I'm upto? Well I'm super proud and rather excited to be able to tell you that I'm part of the Studio 12 Design Team and as such it's my turn to post over on the new Studio 12 blog. If you've not been over there yet, please do stop by as everyday one of the team post an inspirational piece.

Today I've decided to show you my final TV sample that I made using the new All Sewn Up Kit from the Studio 12 -  Picknix Collection 1. I've taken several pictures to try and give you an idea of what the book looks like from different angles (so apologies yet again for another picture heavy post!).

This is the front of the book (see this post for links to the tutorial). The image has been coloured with Promarkers, Flex-markers and Prismacolor Pencils.

I created the shop front window using a Memory Box Die and some Glossy Accents. The Dress Form is a pre-coloured element from the CD. The book is held closed by some seam binding which has been aged with Distress Ink.

Once you open the book, you're greeted by this little scene which has been created using a few buttons and lots of elements from the kit. I only used real buttons cos I was seriously pushed for time on this project, otherwise I'd have used the ones that come with the kit.

The tape measures have been printed onto masking tape. I love the effect that this gives as it looks really delicate, but it's actually really robust! I've then dusted the back of the tape with talcum powder (this stops it sticking together and also from sticking to the wrong place on the layout. Once I've got it in position I've used silcone glue so that the dimension holds.

I made the little fabric roll simply by creating a cardboard tube out of some kraft card and then wrapping some of the DP around it. The edges have been swiped with Distress Inks to make them pop a little. The little dress was created simply by cutting a semi circle of paper and then concertina folding (this forms the skirt) and drawing around the top of the dress form to create the bodice.

The sentiment has been printed onto white cardstock, aged with Distress Ink and then faux stitched. I've added Stickles to the words "Sewing" and "Soul".

Well that's about it from me today. I'll be back in the morning with my Delicious Doodles post.

Thanks for stopping by.

Claire xxx

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Crafts & Me - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - Bingo (Ribbon, Die Cut & Buttons).
Craft Your Passion - Flips & Folds
Make It Monday - Anything Goes
The Cutie Pie Challenge - Stitching
Gingerloft - Vintage
Sugar Creek Hollow - More is better
Inspire Me Fridays - Anything goes
Stampin With The Dragon - Anything goes

It's Not What It Seems!!!

So what do you think I've got to show ya all today? Another notebook? Wrong :D It's a faux book card!

I've seen a few of these book cards on my travels around the land of blog and eventually I decided to have a go at making one for my GDT project over at Stampotique. I'm going to give this to Hubby for his birthday - if DD doesn't nab it first!!! Anyway, here it is - really picture heavy post so my apologies!

I made the card base using this tutorial - there are loads out there, but this one is really clear and simple to follow. I kinda had a plan in my head as to how I wanted this to look, but there were a few things I hadn't decided upon as I wasn't sure they'd work or for that matter look right. So the card has been constructed in a completely bizarre manner and the actual concertina part was added at the last minute!!! :D

The first thing I did was cut the kraft paper to fit the book/card (I'll call it a book from now on, so that I don't confuse you or myself) and distress the edges by rolling them and inking them. I then added some faux stitching.

Before gluing the papers in place I experimented with my fastener, once I was happy I taped and glued the loop part in place and then added the kraft papers to the book. I poked holes where I needed the button to sit and then simply tied it in place.

I stamped several of the Leaf  images onto an old book page before cutting out and inking with Distress Inks. These were then arranged in the book and around the frame before trimming to size. I used my Spellbinders Foliage Die to cut some leaves and again inked with DI's before arranging them into the book pages. I also cut one of the leaf sprays down and attached it to the branch that Owl With Wings sits on, before colouring the image with pencils.

The background was inked using Distress Inks and then mounted onto the book and the back of the "pages" frame.

I gently swiped the book pages with Antique Gold acrylic paint on a baby wipe, this gives a really distressed look. The sentiment was computer generated. I've popped it out a little from the frame using black pop dots.

The quote was computer generated and then printed onto kraft paper, which again has been distressed and faux stitched.

So there you have it, one Faux Book. I really hope you liked this as I have another one to show you very soon! :/

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Materials:
Leaf by Jo Capper-Sandon
Owl With Wings
Kraft Paper
Card
Distress Inks - Spiced Marmalade, Scattered Straw, Forrest Moss, Broken China, Chipped Sapphire, Brick Red, Walnut Stain and Tea Dye

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp & Show - A Bit Of Brown
Make It Monday - Anything Goes
Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Nature
Stamptacular Sunday - Fabulous Folds
Hotshot Crafts - Distress Inks
Inspire Me Fridays - Anything Goes
Pixie Dust Studio - Birds

Life's A Beach!

Hopefully the scheduling widget hasn't let me down today! I'd like to blame Mr Blogger but I think it's more due to my incompetence!!

Anyways. it time for another challenge over at Polka Doodles and this week we want to see Summer! I think someone had the bright idea that if it won't come to us, that'd we'd make our own one! Now I really struggled with this challenge, totally lacked inspiration and kept going back to the same image which I've used a couple of times before. So after much umming and arrggghhhing I decided that I try and scrapbook a picture I took of my son when we were on holiday a couple of years ago. Now I say try, as I'm not a natural scrapper and therefore it's not something I find particularly easy. However, I'm determined that I will persevere as I have so many lovely pictures that are just sitting on my hard drive taking up space that it seems a shame not to do something with them. So here's my project for the week - what do you think?

Materials:
Sundae of Seasons
Studio 12 Picknix - Collection 1
Candy Doodles Collectors Edition
Stickles
Glossy Accents
Prismacolor Pencils

Whilst I hopefully have your attention I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you that Polka Doodles has a DT call out at the moment as does Studio 12. You can find all the details of how to apply and what's required by clicking on the links.

I hope you all have fab weekend (although the forecast is pants - again). I think we're going to be stuck indoors doing chores, but I might manage a little trip out to the cinema to see the new Snow White and The Huntsman Movie.

Claire xxx

PS Message for Marg - the link to freezer paper is here and the post with the tutorial is here

I'd like to enter this page into the following challenges:
{PIN}spirational Challenges - Shell picture
Craft Your Passion - Anything goes
Crafty Cardmakers - No cards, tags or ATC's
Creative Monday's - Summer
Fashionista Weekly - Simply Summer
Incy Wincy Designs - Use more than one digi
Make It Monday - Anything Goes
Catered Crop - Banners/Bunting
Quirky Crafts - Feature something you'd see in the sky!
Simon Says Stamp - Joy's Photo Inspiration

I got a little inky!!

Grrr to Mr Bloggies scheduling widget it failed :(

It's challenge time over at Stampotique and this week they want to see you stamp an image twice. I decided that I'd use this an opportunity to play with my inks and distress stains to produce a picture for my daughter's room. Despite a couple of hiccups, I'm glad that I choose to do this as it was a good learning curve for me!

I started off by stamping the image Stella onto my acrylic block, I then used the second impression from this to stamp onto the card. I then carefully stamped Stella directly onto the card. Both images were coloured with pencils before being covered with a mask. I then created the sky and water using Distress Inks. The grassy bank and reflections in the water were created with Distress Stains (I'm not sure why I haven't used these on more projects as they really are fab). Once I'd removed the masks I added more inks as and where necessary. To finish the picture was mounted onto some black card ready for framing.

This is the one that I did in rough, but decided that the image was the wrong colour and that it was a little too "moody" and not quite pretty enough!!! I also used tissue paper for the reflection and messed things up there!!! In addition I discovered that the card I was using didn't like modelling paste or spray inks!! I'm not going to throw the background away though, as I think I can remove the images with care and will use an image that will sit perfectly with the "dark" background, namely Smushasha.

Thanks for stopping by

Claire xxx

I'd like to enter this picture into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Anything Goes