Woohoo it's a Weekender :D

Hello there,

Just a quick shout out from me, I'm sat with my coffee ready to watch Create and Craft to see Leann Chiver's demo's with the brand new Die'sire Accordian die sets from Crafter's Companion

Here's another of my samples for the show:

I had the idea that these dies would be just perfect to send a picture journal card to someone who lives miles away, bringing families closer at Christmas!  I'd just love to see their face when they open it, we will be doing this again for our own Christmas cards :D

Here's what I used:

Style: Accordion Create a card

Die'sire Die’s used: Rectangle Accordion die with Fairy Lights overlay die

PLUS the inner scalloped edge die in the Accordion die set

Stamp set: Crafter's Companion Happy Holidays sentimental rubber stamp set

Cardstock: Crafter's Companion  Matt Black Card, Linen effect card

Collal All Purpose glue, Collal Tacky glue, Crafter's Companion red liner tape

Other bits: Red Pinflair Buff It, printer

A few more pics just coz I can lol

The pic's are of 2 of my children, and we had great fun in the garden messing around to get these pics!  Getting the sentiment held in a place we could see it in close up was hilarious lol

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you like this one as much as I do :D

Crafty hugs,

Sandie xxx

Challenges:

http://craftingfromtheheartchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ 69
http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ 237
http://deepoceanchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ 108
http://tuesdaythrowdown.blogspot.co.uk/ 254
http://inspirationdestinationchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/AG-no-43.html

Anything But A Card over at That Craft Place...

Hello again,

Over at That Craft Place Challenge the theme this fortnight is No Cards!  A theme that used to fill me with dread, but I think the uber talent of my design team must be rubbing off coz I don't shake anymore...I just panic a little lol

So here it is, my design team inspiration for No Cards!

I used 3 of the Creative Expressions Betty Stamp Sets to make this altered cube into a paperweight!

One sentiment from the stamp sets...

Pic shows the base of the paperweight!

I was super pleased with how this came out I can tell you and it is actually one of the samples I made for the Creative Expressions Stamp Launch at Stitches Trade Show earlier in the year but wasn't allowed to share at the time.

There are 8 Creative Expressions Betty Stamp Sets to choose from and ALL are available at That Craft Place (or any Creative Expressions stockist).
Don't forget that other Betty Stamps can be found at That Craft Place Etsy Shop in digital format along with the fabulous Sugar and Spice digital stamps.

Here's the what's for this one:
The base is a wooden block (mine measured 2" square and was one letter in a LOVE block set I had for years, possibly from Dunhelms lol) but its the size of a toddlers block so any block will work.
The block is painted with Pinflair Buff it, watered down a little and painted on, and then I melted Metal Magic and Shabby Green Frantage on the corners and down some of the edges.  Really there is no rules to this, just make it different!
I coloured 3 of the stamps up with Copics and stamped one of the sentiments.  All were cut down to a little under 2" square and I rounded the corners with scissors as it was too small for a corner punch.
I used gloss medium to stick them on (its super sticky) and the stuck a cheap plastic draw knob to the top and flat backed pearls to the bottom for feet!
Add a little cord to the top and then gloss the whole thing to seal the colours and paper together, it also makes the colours pop!
All the supplies used can be found at That Craft Place FB group or from their actual shop shop which can be found via the new gorgeous Website.... http://www.thatcraftplace.co.uk/

Here's a couple more pics...

I was so honoured to work with Lisa Ditzie Horton on the launch samples for the Creative Expressions Betty Stamp sets launch along with the design team and I will share some more of my samples soon :D

That Craft Place Challenge starts now and so get your thinking caps on and enter the No Cards challenge.

Happy Crafting :D

Sandie xxx

Challenges:
http://toptiptuesday.blogspot.co.uk/ three images
http://www.addictedtostamps-challenge.blogspot.com.au/ 141 ag
http://ema-ginationstation.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/AG-30.html 30 ag
http://artbymiranchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ 30 ag
http://avenue613.blogspot.co.uk/ 121 ag
http://buckwellscraftychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/buckwells-crafty-challenge-colour.html April colour palette in my images

Altered Heart for Easter...

Hello Again,

Well it's challenge time again over at That Craft Place Challenge Blog and this one had me a little flummoxed!  The theme is Easter or Spring.... but naughty Erin added the Spring after I had spent an age trying to come up with an Easter project as I don't make Easter cards!  But I'll get her back later and go back to telling you about my Easter make lol

So, Easter really does mean different things to different people, faiths and cultures and even between members of my family, so I decided to go with the more religious side as my OH and youngest daughter would love it and sometimes the rest of us forget that!

As I was way outside my comfort zone already, I decided to go for a mixed media make and really hang myself out there!  So here is my make incorporating The Cross on the hill...

Handmade twisted wire Cross, altered with paint and Pinflare Buff It

Front View

Side view to show the 3D effects

Here's the how's - but I thought I'd add my first ever blogland tutorial...

MATERIALS: Everything I used to make this can be purchased from the wonderful Lisa Horton at That Craft Place.  I will add the products used under each picture, so you know when I used them :D

MDF or greyboard heart base; coat with Gesso and then I used matt medium to make the paper mache hill (I used pages from an old book ripped up into approx 2x2 cm square'ish shapes).  You may notice my very expensive paint palette! hehe See I never throw if I can reuse...packaging makes a great palette!

I then added strips of spiders web material, for its texture (mine is only green so you could see it, it will be painted so it doesn't matter what colour you use) and I roughly cut a cloud shape from lace.  Both were stuck with the matt medium.

Now the fun bits....after putting another covering of Gesso to everything, I then painted the 'hill' in metallic green liquid acrylic paint 

Then I used a dry brush to swipe across the sky with blue acrylic paint.  The blue was toned down by adding a touch of brown acrylic to the paint as I wanted a 'moody' feel to the piece.  By dry brush I mean, add a little paint to a dry brush then on scrap paper swipe the brush to take off most of the paint, then when there is very little left swipe across your piece.

I then added red acrylic, toned down with brown acrylic to the whole piece.  Again, it was dry brushed so not to add too much and so it also picks up the texture of the materials.

Finally I added Pinflare Buff It in antique silver (use it the same as gilding wax) to parts of the sky and hill.  I just picked out bits that I wanted to highlight to show depth and texture.  Build this up to suit your design, a little at a time.

This pic of the finished piece shows the Buff It a little better, just touches that pic up the light.

The bubbles you can see where a happy accident!  I used a heat gun to dry layers as I am soooo impatient and the Gesso bubbled leaving this effect (because I'd heated it too long in one place lol), however, I love the effect it left!

And there you have it...

I really enjoyed this and my OH and daughter were totally delighted with it, and the mood the colours create so I am a happy crafter :D

Don't forget to hop over to the main blog to see what the rest of the uber talented DT have made to inspire you, you can get there HERE

Happy Crafting :D

Sandie xxx

Challenges:
Deep Ocean challenge - #100 Easter/Spring
Create and Inspire - #18 ag
Inspiration destination - 26 ag
Simply papercrafts - #1 ag
Creative Fingers - #73 ag
Scribble and scrap - #41 ag
613 Ave Create - #117 ag
Creatalicious challenge - #73 ag

This one is special....

Hello again,

It's the start of a new challenge over at That Craft Place Challenge Blog and it's Anything Goes which is a favourite theme for many of us crafter's and us on the design team...it meant I could share a piece with you I made for someone special.

This project was a present for my big Sister (Brenda) and a lot of time and love went into it as she is exactly that...my big sis xxxxxx

There's always good things to countdown for, holidays, Christmas, nights out with friends, family time and its good to be able to check of the days sometimes so I made her a chalkboard to do just that...

Here's the how and what's:
Frame: Sometime ago I bought the frame in Wilko's sale, it was all scratched up but it didn't matter as I wanted it for my 'I'm gonna do something with that' basket!
Additional elements: From That Craft Place - Flowers (regular crafty flowers take paint really well once you've gesso'd them), grey board scraps and butterflies
Paint: That Craft Place - gesso, silver acrylic, ranger distress daubers in eggplant and mushroom, Pinflair Buff it in gold and then DecoArt gloss medium to seal everything together.

After having fun with the hot glue gun to stick on all the extra bits, creating dimension I covered the whole lot in gesso, then silver acrylic and then 'dusted' with the distress daubers and buff it to add an aged look.  The 'chalk holder' (that I am secretly very proud of lol) is made from an off cut of greyboard, roughly cut into a triangle and then glued in place so that the point of the triangle is at the bottom creating a pocket for the chalk!

Here's the close-ups:

I really hope you liked visiting my blog today and letting me show you round my crafty make for my big sis x

Don't forget to follow me by clicking the links on the top right sidebar and make sure you pop by the That Craft Place Challenge Blog to see what the rest of the uber talented design team have come up with for Anything Goes :D

Crafty hugs

Sandie xxx

I would like to enter my make into the following challenges:
Lil patch of crafty friends - #3 AG
Glitter and sparkle - #133 AG
The Pink Elephant - #283 AG
Use your stuff - #170 paint
Not just cards - #11 AG
Inspiration destination - #11 AG
Scrap and craft challenge - #1 AG
Creative fingers - #65 AG
Scribble and scrap - #37 AG

Monochrome Challenge at That Craft Place...

Hello Again,

It's time for a new challenge at That Craft Place Challenge Blog and this time the theme is monochrome!  I am growing in confidence with my colouring but monochrome still scares me so I hope you will be kind when you take a look at my DT inspiration make!

I have gone for golden sepia tones so I could keep my normal skin tones!  Just a little cheating lol

Here is my monochrome inspiration:

I totally adore it now its done, and you'll have to trust me that the lustre of the gold is far more impressive in person!

Here's what I used:
Image: Sugar Jump by That Craft Place Etsy Store
Other supplies:
Coloured with my Graph'it Marker pens
300gsm super smooth card for my marker colouring; gold Pinflair Buff It; Creative Expressions edge die; Craftwork Cards paper pack, Postcards from Paris; wooden small frame; mini pegs and bling; ALL available from That Craft Place

Here's how:
A simple design that grew and changed as I made it!  I'm sure you can all relate to that lol
I cut a 8x8 card base down to 6x6 (again so it still fits the envelope when I hang over lol) and on white card I cut two pieces of 6 inch white card with the edging die and over laid then on the base so they hung over (if you have an A4 die cutting machine you could do it all on one piece of card!)
I then cut the backing paper (from the gorgeous paper pack Postcards from Paris) to 6 x 6 inches and glued it to the front of the design in the centre of the two edges.
I then then layered the edging die cuts up by using both edge cutting pieces of the die and cutting one more white and two Kraft card pieces for each side and then layered them on slightly off set.
I added vintage linen distress ink to the sides and then the totally awesome gold Buff It by Pinflair (not covering everything but more in a random style)
The image is layered on Kraft card and then white card and again I went to town with the gold Buff It (I adore this product as you can see lol)
Then I added the mini pegs, put mini hearts on the pegs and on the card in a random fashion and then I covered the wooden frame in gold Buff It.  Once done I added the sentiment by glueing it to the back of the frame and raised it up on the card at a fun angle.
The final touch was to add the postcards to the top and these are just hand cut from the off cuts of paper and tucked in adding height.
Top Tip: my glass cutting matt is vital when I do these over hung designs.  As I start to build out and over the base card I always have it laid on my matt in the marked section for 8 x 8 inch (my matt has size marking for various card sizes).  It ensures that I don't go too crazy with the size especially if the finished piece is for posting :D

Here's the close ups:

Thank you so much for popping by and I really hope you have enjoyed my crafty inspiration today.  I would very much appreciate it if you followed my blog (buttons on the top right sidebar) so you don't miss my next crafty make :D

Useful links for this make:

That Craft Place - shop full of lush crafting goodies
http://thatcraftplaceblog.blogspot.co.uk/ - Challenge Blog 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/271008489659989/ TCP Facebook Shop!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/184329015068367/ TCP Natter & Chatter 

Happy Crafting :D

Sandie xxx

Challenges:
Lil Patch of crafty friends - #1 AG
Scrappers Delights - #37 AG
Word Art Wednesday - #164 AG
Buckwells Crafty Challenge - January AG
Imagination Destination - #14 AG
Crafty Catz weekly challenge - #260 AG
Craftyhazelnuts patterned challenge - January AG
Scribble and Scrap - #35 AG
CCC Digi Creations - #16 Digi/embellish
Loves Rubber Stamps - Something old, something new; New edging die that I am totally in love with and old cardstock