ICSketches #45

It's time for IC Sketches 45 and here's my DT card: Materials used: Papermill card, KI Memories paper, Unity stamp, Marvy pens, Cuttlebug embossed DCWV cardstock, Studio G sentiment stamp, Crafty Notions Rainbow Drops, Nestabilities die-cuts. Lace from stash.

Recycling old jewellery - IACW

Here's my post from the It's A Creative World blog today:

Back in the 90's (and the days of being a rock chick!) I used to wear huge dangly earrings and various bracelets and bangles. I kept them all in a tin with various other bits and bobs that I didn't want to throw out. Today I found that tin again:

I decided to try and use some of the jewellery on craft items and first up I made a card and used part of an old earring as an embellishment.

I cut off the dangles from the bottom and also the actual part that goes through the ear before glueing the rest of the earring to the centre of the flower. For my next project I started with another earring and this time used a variegated perle cotton to cover it in blanket stitch: When this was finished I threaded some more perle cotton through the ring at the top and added beads to it before removing the ear-piece. I then added the earring to a textile ATC I'd made as an embellishment.

Have you got any old costume jewellery lying around that you could use? I'd love to see the results if you do.

(EDITED TO ADD) Materials used for card: Papermill card, HOTP papers, Delish Designs background stamp, Stampbord, Distress inks - black soot, mustard seed, worn lipstick and dusty concord, black Versafine ink, Crafty Individuals stamp, Prima flowers, Crafty Notions Rainbow Drops. Antique lace, beads and earring from stash.

Materials used for ATC: antique white felt, dyed silk fibres, KARS metallic thread, Anchor variegated perle cotton, old earring and beads.

My ATCs

I've decided to set up a seperate blog for my ATCs here so they're all in one place. If anyone fancies traqding with me then my email link is on both blogs. Of course you may hate them in which case I'll just keep them LOL!!!

Another ATC and one in progress....

Well, it's nearly the end of the month and I still haven't completed a single layout! Hopefully that will change tomorrow as I've just cleared my desk in (hopeful) readiness! I've felt a bit disillusioned with my scrapping skills recently and fallen back on the cardmaking and started needlework/textiles as the creating bug was still present. I finished another ATC yesterday:

I used some gorgeous hand-dyed evenweave, machine stitching and French knots in silk thread, perle cotton and stranded cottons. The whole piece is backed with a lovely deep satin -like fabric.

In progress at the moment is another tiny piece to be used for an ATC:

Not sure about the "tufting" at the bottom of this one and think I may have to trim it to make it less bushy! I also need to try and blend the silk fibres at the top a bit more as at the moment the top looks like an afterthought (which of course it is!!).

Di's card sketch November #4

Here's my card for Di's card sketch yesterday. It was made for a couple who got married last week. Unfortunately the groom has cancer which is why I went for a more classic and subdued style of card: Materials used: Papermill card, DCWV Luxury Stack papers, Scrpaworks Rubz sentiment rub-on and a Prima crystal. Ribbon and pins from stash.

Been playing...

....with felt, beads and things LOL. Here's a couple of ATCs I made:

For this one I painted the canvas with three different Shimmerz paints then sewed on various beads and backstitched a border.

For this one I started with a piece of antique white felt then added various wool and silk fibres using my fabulous new Clover needle felting tool. I then added a few beads, sequins and decorative stitches before using blanket stitch around the edge.

ICSketches #44

It's Tuesday so it's time for ICSketches #44 and I can show you the DT card I made with my new Artistic Outpost stamp. If you join in with us this week at ICSketches you could win a prize of 3 digital stamp images from Squigglefly. Don't forget to check out the rest of the DT cards: Materials used: Papermill card, K&Co Addison, Artistic Outpost stamp, black Versafine ink, Distress inks - mustard seed, peeled paint and broken china, Prima flowers, Distress Stickles, K&Co Amy Butler sentiment stamp. Vintage trim and glass button from stash.

New stamp !!

I bought some gorgeous Crafty Individuals stamps from Artist Trading Post and made a card yesterday but can't show that one yet as it's for this week's ICSketches card so here's the one I made today: Materials used: Papermill card, My Mind's Eye paper, Distress inks -peeled paint and shabby shutters, Crafty Individuals stamp, black Versafine ink, All Night Media inks, Fancy Pants ric-rac, Prima flowers, Distress Stickles, Crafty Notions Rainbow Drops. Lace, black guipure lace butterfly, vintage glass button and beads from stash.

Shopping!!!

I went out today to a fab craft shop that my neighbour gave me a voucher for and had a fab time spending it!!

Beads and buttons for papercrafts and sewing/textiles.

Glittery stuff, Crafty Notions Rainbow Drops and more bugle beads. I also got some more Angelina fibres and a couple of Catslife Press stamps.

In the post this morning these stamps I ordered arrived along with some sheets of EZ-Mount and my blending solution ready for when my alcohol inks arrive (hopefully tomorrow).

After going to the craft shop I also visited the Hobby Warehouse which is wonderful and came out with some fab bargains of 13 books on sewing, papercrafts and Dover clip art.

That's a lot of my birthday money gone now but I've loved spending it LOL!!

ICSketches #43

It's time for ICSketches #43 and this week if you participate you could win a gorgeous kit put together by DT member Alecia. Don't forget to check out the other DT ladies' cards for this sketch! Materials used: Coredinations Whhitewash cardstock, K&Co McKenna papers, Papermania stamps, Creative beginnings embossing powder, Distress inks (old paper and aged mahogany), Nestabilities die-cuts, Prima lace and flowers, vintage glass button, HOTP brad, Crafty Notions Rainbow Drop. Safety pin, charm and rhinestones from stash.

IACW - Going with the Flow

Here's my post from It's A Creative World this week:

Recently I've found myself being drawn to some of the fantastic textile work on show on the internet particularly the work of Stef Francis which I find inspirational.

All of my previous embroidery ( saying that, I haven't done any for 10 years) has always been fairly "regimented" up until now - cross stitch was always counted, needlepoint was always preprinted or counted from a chart. I decided that I wanted to try some more textile/needlework but without a chart in site.

I started by buying a few "inspiration packs" of threads and fabrics and then sat down with them and a "book of stitches" to see what I could do.

My first item was just a test using a very fine fabric and various threads to get back "into the swing" of having a needle in my hand again!

At the moment this is only about a 3 inch square section of the fabric but my aim is to fill the entire piece (about 12 inches square) with different stitches over the coming months but keeping them in the same colour scheme to make a "sampler".

Using just one skein of a variegated perle cotton I've been working on this piece of evenweave. I started off with the centre "Byzantine stitch" and then added stitches around it. My plan for this piece is to complete a 2 inch square piece and then incorporate it into a fabric ATC.

My final piece I've worked on is this felt ATC:

I cut a piece of felt to ATC size (2.5" x 3.5") and then used gold thread in my sewing machine to attach fused Angelina fibres to the felt base. I then used random hand stitching around the edges and then attached beads and sequins by hand.

Expect to see more needlework from me in the future as I'm really enjoying myself just "going with the flow".

If you have any textile work to show or a blog/site to share be it yours or someone elses' please leave a link either here or on my own blog. I love to see the huge variety of work out there!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Can you believe this photo was taken 40 years ago!!!? Yes, today is my 40th!! I've had some fab pressies - the new Daughtry CD from the kids and Neil bought me the new Europe album and a gorgeous silver necklace. I've also got a neat Pure One mini DAB radio for the kitchen and a bottle of Creme Caramel Bailey's from Mum and Glyn. I've had quite a bit of money too so have been online and ordered some alcohol inks and all the paraphernalia to go with them, some 8.5" x 11" albums and some stamps. My neighbour also bought me a gift voucher for a local craft shop so hopefully I'll be off on Monday to spend it! Tonight I've bought a ready prepared Chinese meal to cook and then after the kids have gone to bed I shall be relaxing with my man and enjoying a drink (or two!).

Di's card sketch November #2

Here's my card for Di's card sketch this week. This card came together really quickly but still looks good (well I think so LOL!): Materials used: Papermill card, transparent window sticker from garden centre, Dovecraft adhesive ribbon, American Crafts chipboard Thickers, Prima crystals, ribbon and pins from stash.

ICSketches #42

This week over at IC Sketches we're being sponsored by The Greeting Farm and we all had digital images to work with - mine being the Unicorn. If you take part this week you'll be put in the draw to win a fab stamp set from The Greeting Farm. Also, don't forget to check out the other DT girls' blogs to see their fab work! Materials used: Papermill card, Deja Views cardstock, Heidi Grace paper, image from The Greeting Farm, Caran D'Ache watercolour pencils, HOTP fabric flowers, Stickles, HOTP brads, Crafty Notions Rainbow Drops, vintage Letraset dry-transfer lettering, black gel pen.

ICSketches #41

I haven't updated for a few days as my dear MIL came to stay on Friday and left this morning :( It was Jamie's 10th birthday yesterday so we had a party tea last night (just family) and had a great time. Today it's Tuesday which means it's time for another of Dawn's fab sketches over on the Inspirational Card Sketches blog. This week the blog is being sponsored by DigiStamp Boutique and Sally-Ann provided the DT with digital stamp images. I chose to work with the oh-so-cute Olly.

Olly was printed 4 times on to brown patterned paper, brown, green and white paper and then the various elements cut out and layered. The white card on his tummy was chalked.

Materials used: Bazzill cardstock, DCWV papers from the Green Stack, white, green and brown paper, Deluxe Designs chalks, Rob and Bob Studio clips, Scrapworks Rubz alphabet rub-ons, black gel pen and organza ribbon, pins and ribbon flower from stash.

Don't forget to check out the other DT girl's blogs to see what they made this week!

Di's card sketch October #4

It's Wednesday so time for Di's card sketch: Materials used: Papermill card, DCWV paper, Distress ink, Green Tara flower, Stickles, Creative Imaginations chipboard snowflake, Dovecraft brad, pink ribbon from stash, Dovecraft adhesive ribbon, vintage Letraset dry-transfer lettering, black fineliner pen.

ICSketches #40

It's Tuesday so it's time for the new sketch at ICS - this one is #40. This week if you play along you could be the winner of some fab stamps from Michelle at The Pixie Cottage.

Don't forget to check out all the DT cards - links to their blogs are on the right or find them listed at ICS.

Materials used: black Papermill card, Heidi Grace paper, vintage cotton lace, satin ribbon, pink sequins and beads, vintage embellishment, K&Co die-cut, Heidi Grace sentiment stamp, black Versafine ink.

ATCs

I've been playing with distress inks and Tim Holtz stamps and have rediscovered a love for making ATCs so expect to see lots more in the future:

Materials used: Distress inks (peeled paint, tea dye and aged mahogany), Tim Holtz stamp (from Flights of Fancy set), image from Ebay CD, Prima flower, rhinestone and cotton trim.

IMaterials used: Distress ink (milled lavender, worn lipstick and shabby shutters), Prima stamp, black Versafine ink, Distress embossing powder (milled lavender), CraftWork adhesive lace, MM tiny alphabet stickers, pearl from brad.

Di's card sketch October #3

It's Wednesday so it's time for another of Di's fab card sketches : I used: Papermill card, Jenni Bowlin papers, CraftWork adhesive lace, K&Co Amy Butler stamp, black Versafine ink, Prima flowers, Papermania vinyl stickers, HOTP brad, Crafty Notions Rainbow Drops, black Sakura pen.

ICSketches #39

After taking a break from Inspirational Card Sketches last week (due to attending FIL's funeral and having MIL to stay afterwards) I'm back with a card for this week's fab sketch #39.

This week we're sponsored by

Doodle Palace and if you play along with the sketch you could win 4 free digi-images. Don't forget to pop along to the other DT ladies' blogs to see their fab work and leave them some love!

Anyway here's my card which I had great fun making:

I used white card embossed with a Fiskars embossing plate to make the moon and used black soot distress ink around the edges. The dark blue card was lightened around the moon by using white chalk ink. The rocket image from Doodle Palace was printed on to watercolour paper and then coloured using Caran D'Ache watercolour pencils. The planet is from a digi-doodles set by the fab Kate Hadfield and the stars are acetate ones covered with Stickles. There are also Stickles dotted on the background and then the starburst under the rocket is embossed stamping.

Materials used: blue Stardream card, white Papermill card, Fiskars embossinjg plate, Black Soot distress ink, white Colorbox chalk ink, watercolour paper, rocket ship from Doodle Palace, planet from Kate Hadfield, Heidi Swapp acetate stars, Stickles glitter glue, Fancy Pants Fresh Mod stamp, Creative Beginnings embossing powder, Creative Imagination alphabet stickers.