Sunday 7 July 2013

Fabulous Frantage - & 77 Years of Hurt ...

... are finally over as Andy Murray has lifted the Wimbledon Men's Singles trophy - woo hoo and congratulations ... a fantastic day for British sport!!


(picture from BBC Sport)

I have spent this afternoon glued to the TV ... Murray put us through it with those 3 missed match points, but what a brilliant result in the end, and Djokovic was a great opponent and gracious loser.

Somehow in amongst all that excitement I managed to make a card ... and it is something completely new and different for me. I have for some time been admiring the shabby chic/vintage look with frantage and have been keen to have a go ... so I ordered a few supplies from Live & Love Crafts which arrived (very promptly!) yesterday.


Here is my first effort - I stamped my image and sentiment in "London Fog" Memento rather than black to give a softer look, distressed all my paper edges with my Tim Holtz distressing tool, liberally frantaged the papers and flowers, and did a bit of faux stitching.


I think I need more practice with the frantage (I think I went a bit mad!!) and I only have a certain selection of suitable embellishments to use with this vintage style; but we all have to start somewhere, and I'm not too displeased with this for a first attempt. I should mention also that the blue ribbon is nowhere near as bright as the photo suggests .. it is in fact almost the same shade as the tag!!


Stamps: Elusive Images;
Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers on flower; Stampendous "Shabby White" frantage embossing on papers and flowers;
Papers: Maja Designs "Sofiero" (from Live & Love Crafts);
Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; large pearl brad, pearl gems and charm from The Hobby House; iridescent blue ribbon from The Ribbon Girl; pink twine by Papermania; pink ribbon, rose lace and pearl spray from my stash;
Tools: Magnolia Doohickey "vintage tag" die.


Challenges:


Sparkles #45 - Steampunk or Vintage (I have chosen vintage)
Charisma #26 - Lace
Whimsy #61 - Ribbon & Lace
Creative Romance - Ribbon or Twine
Ribbon Girl (July) - Add A Bow
Creative Craft #13 - Stitch in Time
Try It On Tuesday - Show Us Your Metal
ABC - Q Is For Quite A Few (lots of layers)
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Anything Goes (2nd entry)


Well I think that's enough excitement for me for today ... back to work tomorrow after a week's leave, so my excitement quotient will definitely be heading south :-(

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Hugs,

Saturday 6 July 2013

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Christmas In July

 
Good morning everyone ... it's the first Saturday of the month, so it's time to welcome you to another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks so much to everyone who joined in last month's masculine challenge - don't forget to check the main challenge blog to see if you are a winner.
 
If you're anything like me, round about now is the time when you start thinking that over half the year's gone ... and what happened to the New Year resolution of making Christmas cards all through the year so as to avoid a last minute panic??
 
If that sounds familiar then this month's challenge theme is perfect for you ... yes, it's
 
Christmas In July
 
So time to get out those Chrimbo stamps and papers, and to start feeling festive!
 
This month we are sponsored by our regular sponsors
 
 
and
 
with a $20 store voucher.
 
In order to be eligible for either of these fab prizes all you need to do is to follow this month's theme and use a Penny Black image stamp, large sentiment or stickeroo as the focus of your project. Easy, right??
 
The rest of the DT have made some fabulous samples as always ... here is what I did.
 
 
 A fairly simple card from me this time ... I have to confess that following from having needed to reschedule one or two things earlier this week, I ended up edging it in between watching the tennis !!
 
Stamps: Penny Black "Lighting Up" (3762K); LotV "Christmas Sentiment Circles";
Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;
Papers: First Edition "Christmas Joy";
Supplies: gems from Papermania &The Hobby House;
Tools: X-Cut die-cut stars.
 
 
Challenges:
Cute Card Thursday #276 - Stars &/or Stripes
Sparkles Christmas #30 - Christmas Trees
Christmas At Sweet Stampin' - Cute & Cuddly + Non-Traditional Colours
Bearly Mine #93 - Anything Goes (2nd entry) 
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes (3rd entry) 
 
Thanks very much for visiting today ... enjoy your weekend and hope you can join in the challenge fun this month.
Hugs,

Thursday 4 July 2013

Lili's Little Fairies Team B Challenge - Red, White & Blue

 
Hello everyone and welcome to this week's challenge at Lili's Little Fairies. Thanks so much to everyone who joined in last week's challenge - fabulous entries as always.
 
This week we are helping our friends across the pond to celebrate July 4th with a colour theme of
 
Red, White & Blue
 
You can interpret this however you choose, so long as you stick to the colour theme as your predominant colours, and use either a LotV stamp or die cut as the focus of your creation.
 
This week we are thrilled to be sponsored by Crafty Ribbons
 
 
with a £10 store voucher :-)
 
 
The rest of the DT have waved the flag with their fabulous creations ... here's my effort.
 
 
Now I have to hold my hand up and say I did struggle a bit with this one, as I don't really go for this colour combo at all .... but I DO rather like it for Christmas cards. So here it is ... my third Christmas card of 2013 lol!
 
Stamps: LotV "Shine A Light" and "Christmas Grungy Messages";
Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; plentiful glamour dust on the image;
Paper: LotV "Nitwits - Frosty Christmas";
Supplies: ribbon from Hobbycraft; gems from The Hobby House;
Tools: decorative labels eight nestabilities; Cheery Lynn "Queen Anne lace" border die and "Lace Corner - Deco B" corner die.
 
 
Challenges:
(rotated 90 degrees to the right)
 
 
Craft Your Passion #169 - Red, White & Blue
Creative Inspirations #221 - Red, White &  blue
Kaboodle #178 - National Day or Flag Colours
(UK red, white & blue)
Cheery Lynn #87 - Christmas in July
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Bearly Mine #93 - Anything Goes
Stampin' For The Weekend - Anything Goes
 
Thanks for visiting today, and look forward to seeing your creations this week.
Hugs,

Tuesday 2 July 2013

Pretty In Pink

 
Good evening everyone, and welcome to that very rare event .. yes I've made a card!! As of those of you who know me well know already, I'm not doing much crafting at the moment due to family circumstances - I'm a bit short on time but moreso than that I have very little mojo.  However I'm on leave from work this week and not going away, so this afternoon I just felt like making a card - the first one in three and a half weeks!! So without further ado, here it is!
 
 
I sat down with no clear idea of what I was going to make, and just glanced at my challenge notebook to get a few ideas. I obviously haven't been entering many challenges recently, so I thought I'd try to make up for lost time today lol!
 
 
Stamps: LotV "Emma Rose Garden";
Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;
Papers: Papermania "Lucy Cromwell" (background) and LotV "Perfect Pair" (paper roses);
Supplies: ribbon and cheesecloth from The Ribbon Girl; lace from John Lewis; pearls from The Hobby House; sentiment from LotV art pad 7 (sentiments); daisy and small roses from Wild Orchid Crafts; white spray and doily from my stash;
Tools: large classic circle and scalloped circle nestabilities; Marianne Design "English Rose" flower and leaf dies; Joy Crafts "Floral Flourishes - Butterfly" die.
 
 
 Challenges:
Lili of the Valley (July) - Pretty In Pink (hope there's enough pink on there!)
I Promarkers #174 - Pink & Blue
Oldie But A Goodie - Butterflies
(old stash is my paper and rose die)
My Mum's #7 - Just For Girls
Crafty Catz #189 - Say It With Flowers
Dream Valley #60 - Make Your Own Flowers
Fab 'n' Funky #177 - Use A Doily
Crafty Ribbons #50 - Anything Goes With Ribbon
Simon Says - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Anything Goes
Crafts & Me #138 - Anything Goes 
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes 
 
Not sure when i'll be back again, but hope it will be before too long :-)
Hugs,