Use a Die Cut for the Crafting Muskateers Birthday!

Hello again,

It's the 2nd Birthday for the Crafting Muskateers Challenge Blog and we are launching our May challenge today too!

The theme is Use a Die Cut and there are 2 fabulous sponsors this month too...The Hobby House and JGD Crafts!  Both are gorgeous craft shops so please pop on over and join in the challenge to be in with a chance of winning some goodies.

Being a Design Team member has its perks, one of which is we get to play with some totally amazing stamps.  As you know I'm also on a couple of other DT's and when I joined the totally awesome That Craft Place team their challenge was sponsored by All Dressed Up Digital Stamps so I got to play with this darling image, but I was too late to hook it into the challenge (which was ages ago and I can't believe I had forgotten about this gorgeous stamp!), so I thought I'd show her with the Crafting Muskateers for the first time...

Little Flower Girl from All Dressed Up

Coloured in Copics

Matching insert as always

I used this card for a commission make and the recipient was very happy too :D

Here's the what's and how's:
Image coloured with Copics on Super Smooth card (That Craft Place)
Papers are from The Works!  some interesting stuff in there if you dig around :D
The letters are a stamp set I had in my stash and I punched them in 1" circles (Xcut punch)
Then pearls and ribbon of course and a bit of matting and layering using my current fav die set (the theme lol)...sorry its here again lol MFT Dienamics Pierced Circle Stax Set

Here's the close ups

Thank you for popping by and do go over and take a peek at the rest of the teams inspiration and join in this months Use A Die Cut challenge at the Crafting Muskateers Challenge and wish them a Happy 2nd Birthday, don't forget to enter too x

Happy Crafting :D

Sandie xxx

Challenges:
http://lilpatchofcraftyfriends.blogspot.co.uk/ 9 ag
http://glitternsparklechallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ 135ag
http://a-step-in-the-darkness.blogspot.co.uk/ 20ag
http://avenue613.blogspot.co.uk/ 122 playing the twist, feminine
http://www.ribbongirls.blogspot.co.uk/ May, for a Mum
http://alldressedupchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ 34 ag

Alter It...a challenge best tackled by two!

Hello again,

A word of warning - this is a picture heavy post, even for me! lol

It's a new challenge at That Craft Place Challenge Blog and the theme is 'Alter It', not really in my comfort zone so this looked like the perfect challenge to get reinforcements...in the shape of our youngest daughter, Tilly Jayne :D

Now Tilly is 7yrs old and when I tell you that the only bit's I did for her was to cut the paper at the beginning and hot glue the pearl string, you will understand my amazement and I've got to say a tiny bit of jealousy too!  Just how crafty is she going to be!

Well....here goes!
Our pen pot/desk tidy tutorial (Tilly was so excited when I told her we were going to do a tutorial, it was so cute!)...

1. Use a Pringles tin (empty of course) and cut on a diagonal approx 13 cms from the base (at the highest point)

You will need 2 coordinating papers, one 12x12.  Cut a strip from the 12x12 paper measured to your highest point (so in ours, it was 13cms).  If you have double sided paper your good to go, but as we didn't we added a strip both ends at 5cms wide to make the ends double sided.

2. Cut the coordinating paper to fit the front (lowest point) of your tin at approx 10cms wide

 Glue in place and cut off the excess.

3. Cut the front to approx 1cm above the curve of your tin and then cut down 1cm and feather the edges (see pic), then stick the feathered bits down.  

4. Cut the long piece in half.  Glue the inside of the paper BUT on the double sided end only glue the bottom and have a line of glue approx 5cms in (so there is no glue on the front end if that makes sense lol)...

 The 7yr old face-bombing at this point is optional but hey, go with it! lol

5. Wrap and glue the other half (they will overlap at the back but this adds strength) and trim to 1cm above the top, and once again cut down, feathering the edge, then push over and glue.  

 You can see why no glue on the ends in these two pics....

6.  Use a pencil or small paint brush to roll back the two ends at the front, revealing the 2nd paper underneath

7. Line inside with old book pages, we used a thesaurus that has been used for so many things lol

The decorate to your hearts content!

I love the rolled back front because it gives a focal point, but also gives a lot of possible looks using embellishments, so you'll want to make it again :D

Right...enough waffling, now you can join my pain and guess which one is mine!

Right image: Is mine....Left image: is Tilly's
Wow right!  or left in this case!

Here's a couple more pic's if you can take it...scroll past if you've had enough pics lol but I wanted to showcase the work as I promised I would, she is going to be so happy when this post is seen :D

Remember, this one is mine, the pink one above left is Tilly's!

 Proud and jealous Mummy day :D

All supplies, apart from the Pringles (although if you ask nicely Lisa might get you some lol) are available at That Craft Place.  Stocks of flowers and lace do change with the times but Lisa is always crammed to the rafters with  lushous goodies so you will be able to fill ya boots :D

Don't forget to check out the main blog to see what my uber talented teamies have made and to enter the challenge...just click...

That Craft Place Challenge Blog

Happy Crafting :D

Sandie xxx

Challenges:

Open Minded Crafting fun - 34 recycled
Allsorts Challenge - 306 bingo; lace, flowers, pearls
Wednesday wordart - 178 ag
Inspiration Destination - 28 ag
Crafty Catz weekly - 274 2 or more patterned papers
Crafty Hazlenuts Patterned paper challenge April
Creatalicious - 73 ag
Sisters of Craft - April ag

New Release Friday...

Hello Again,

I love Fridays, especially when there are new releases to showcase!

Today I'd like to share with you a set of new digi's by Rosey Hearts called The Creeps...

Each one is sold separately so I'll name the ones I used:

The Creeps Tilly
The Creeps, Shrunken Headhunter
The Creeps, Bunz

Using My Craft Studio (I really need Serif!) I put the images together to form a little group, here's my make...

The Creeps - remember they are individual images, only available separately 

Scraps for inserts...

I really did have great fun with these images.
The sentiment is mine, made on the computer and printed on Kraft card.
Putting it together was simple, I layered burlap, rik-rak and ribbon across the centre; The backing paper is My Minds Eye and the die cut is a new set from Creative Expressions.  The corner die cuts were all one piece...the centre die from the set, I trimmed it up to make the corners and the top embellishment.

Here's the close ups:

Don't forget to hop over to the main blog to see what the New Release Designers have come up with for Rosey Hearts, you can get there HERE
The Rosey Hearts shop can be found HERE

Thank you for stopping by, it really does mean a lot to me and I totally love reading your comments each time :D

Hope to see you again real soon, happy crafting :D

Sandie xxx

Challenges:
Crafting from the heart - #52 ag
Not just cards - #15 ag
Craft your passion - #253 ag
Create and Inspire - #18ag
Simply Papercraft - #1 ag
Creative fingers - #73 ag
613 Avenue Create - #116 ag
Get Creative Challenges - #11 Must use a die cut

Ribbons and Pearls...A challenge begins...

Hello Again,

Its the 2nd of the Month so it's challenge time over at Crafting Muskateers Challenge Blog, as always it's a Monthly challenge and the theme this time is Ribbons and Pearls, so make sure you add some ribbon and pearls to your make.

Our sponsor this month is Crafty Ribbons who generously provided the DT with some gorgeous ribbons to use (total lushness!) so I have included them in my project...

Layered design to frame the central image

Gorgeous green and ivory spotted ribbon from Crafty Ribbons

Here's the how's:
The image I chose to use is Balloon High by That Craft Place Etsy Shop and I have coloured her with my Copic's.
She's then matted onto the green paper I have used in the backing and then again on white to frame her.
The backing is a simple cross layer's design.  Top Tip: if you cut your card down by 1" you can then take a horizontal mat across your card and have it hang over by 1/2" either side!  This gives structure and an interesting feature to your design!
The backing papers are all from American Crafts, and the base layer is actually green foiled but it doesn't really show in the pic's.
I have used the added horizontal structure to showcase the beautiful ribbon from Crafty Ribbon and I have used a pearl slider (from That Craft Place) to add detail.
As a final 'pearl' addition I used a pearl string along the bottom of the second layer.
All other embellishments are from That Craft Place

Here's the close ups:

Matching paper inserts, I use the off-cuts when ever I can to avoid waste!

Shabby Green Frantage again!  There is nothing I won't cover in Frantage!!!

Balloon High by That Craft Place

Sentiment is also from That Craft Place Etsy Shop - scrabble tiles

Added dimension by simply gluing the sentiment at either end and pushing it up in the middle!

I rolled these embellies in Antique Silver Buff It and the rolled it in a small pile of Frantage, then heated with the heat gun!

Thank you so much once again for taking the time to visit and if you don't already follow me please click the buttons before you go.  I love reading all your comments so if you could leave one of those too that would be ace xxx

Don't forget to hop over to the Crafting Muskateers Challenge Blog to see what the other DT's have been up to and too enter this Months challenge - Ribbons and Pearls

Happy Crafting :D

Sandie xxx

Challenges:
Sisters of Craft - March, AG
DigiDesign Resort - 28/2 Birthdays
One stitch in time challenge - #231 AG with Birthdays
Crafty Hazelnuts Patterned Paper Challenge - March
Brown Sugar Challenge - #135 AG
Creative Craft Cottage - #34 include a sentiment
Creative Knockout - #78 lots of layers
Make My Monday - 2/3 Girly Birthday

Singing in the Rain - it's a movie themed challenge...

Hello again,

It's challenge time over at That Craft Place Challenge Blog and the theme this time is Movie Inspired! 

Oh my, don't know why but I did stress over this one!  Then it dawned on me I had already coloured the perfect image that screamed a classic film!  So here's Whatever The Weather featuring the gorgeous Sugar and Spice by That Craft Place (Etsy Shop)...

Sugar and Spice - Whatever The Weather

Match the insert papers...

Here's the what and how's:
Image: Whatever The Weather by That Craft Place, click the name to take you to the Etsy Digi Store;  Coloured with Graph'it Marker Pens this time on 300gsm super smooth card from That Craft Place
Papers and stuff: All the brands used are available from That Craft Place shop; papers are Papermania, used for the die cuts and the insert too; Die's used are Di'sire and I've added flowers and lace trims.  The sentiment is an old one from Craftwork Cards.
Top Tip: layer lace and trim over one another, adding both may seem a waste but gives added detail to your finished project :D Also, check out stationary shops for funky paper clips, its often cheaper than some of the named crafty brands!

Here's the close ups:

The theme is 'movie inspired' and so it's Singing in the Rain for this gorgeous image...

Thank you so much for stopping by and please don't forget to follow my blog so you don't miss my next post :D

Here's the links again from this post so you can check out the shop and what the rest of the uber talented DT's have been up to....
That Craft Place Shop
That Craft Place Facebook Group Shop! yes they sell on FB too :D
That Craft Place Challenge Blog

Happy Crafting :D

Sandie xxx

Challenges I'd like to enter:
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - #4 AG
Papertake weekly - hearts and flowers
Inspiration Destintion - #20 AG
Sister Act card challenge - #93 AG
Crafty Hazlenuts Patterned paper challenge - February
Scribble and scrap - #38 AG
613 Ave Create - #111 AG
Digidesign Resort - lots of embellies
Crafting for all seasons - #95 have a heart
Bunny Zoes Crafts challenge - for the girls

Its got to be Love!

Hello again,

I have a gorgeous image to share with you today for the start of the new challenge over at That Craft Place Challenge Blog and the theme is Love/Valentines

You know me, I'm not the mostly girly of girls but using a fabulous image is the best way to get into the mood, so I chose Keep A Secret Betty Boots by That Craft Place (Lisa is just amazing!)

Here she is:

I really loved the final look of this one...as some of you know I've not been feeling the best lately and even harder on myself than usual but this one did the trick and made me smile :D

Here's what and how:
Image: Keep a Secret, Betty Boots from That Craft Place Etsy Shop
Coloured: Copic colours are; for the skin E000, E00, E21, E11, E04 and for the hair E53, E53, E57 and E59, sorry the reds where experimenting with my new pens so I don't have the final colours.  She was printed and coloured on 300gsm super smooth card from That Craft Place
Additional items available from That Craft Place as follows:
Backing Paper: My Minds Eye paper pad, also used for insert
Dies: Spellbinders Adorning Squares
Burlap, flowers, ribbon, MDF shapes and Frantage (loooove Frantage!)
Small bottle filled with small gems for fairy dust, which is good for wishes as we all know!
And bells!  The bells were from a Christmas Decoration I picked up from the Range last week at 70% off and I off course chopped it up and its now in my lovely stash!

So, this is my Love make and the bells actually make a fabulous sound when you shake the card!

Here's the close ups:

Thank you so much for stopping by and I would love it if you would follow my crafty blog (buttons on the top of the right sidebar) xxx

Don't forget to hop over the the That Craft Place Challenge Blog to see what the rest of the uber talented design team have been up to!  I am so loving being on the DT with them xxx

Happy Crafting :D

Sandie xxx

Challenges:
Papertake weekly - It's all new (new copics and die)
Whoopsie daisy - January AG
Creative Inspirations - #296 AG
The sisterhood of crafters - AG with a twist (new stuff) (copics and dies)
Inspiration Destination - #16 AG
The Papershelter - #186 punches or dies
Fab'n'funky challenge - #242 what new (copics and dies)
Scrap and craft inspiration challenge - #1 AG
Suzy Bee's blooming challenge - #63 AG twist of sparkle; gems, and bottle of sparkle
Crafty Calendar Challenge - January, whats new; (copics and dies)