vintage for men

Well I had tidied all my craft stuff away as we are going away for a few days on Monday and I have all kinds of jobs to do before then but when I saw Sugar Creek Hollow challenge for this week is make it masculine I couldn't resist getting a few bits and pieces out again ( the room now looks like something exploded in here !) The background is masked and stamped with a couple of stamps,all the pieces inked and torn , the galleon stamp nearly defeated me as for some reason I didn't seem to be able to get a good image, this is the best of a bad lot, I have stamped it without problems before but it just didn't want to play tonight !

Primary Colours

I wanted to keep this quite a simple card as it is for our two year old great grand-daughter who I'm sure will have it in pieces in no time ! The background happy birthday is done on the computer and the little girl is a free digi image and I think she came from Digital Two For Tuesday, I've had her quite a long time so I'm not sure.  I'm entering this on Gingersnaps childhood days challenge which this week is primary colours.

Buttons and bows

I've had this card made for a couple of days but didn't get round to posting it on here so I've nearly missed the boat with the Sugar Creek Hollow challenge which finishes tonight but I'll put in on anyway. Stamp is an old Hampton Art, papers were free in a magazine, ribbon from stash and buttons from my old button tin collections.

Help!

I made my first piece of digital art in Word and was really excited about it ( sad I know !) however now I can't find out how to upload it to my blog ? anyone any ideas for me ?  it shows as a word document in my pictures file and blogger won't accept it. If anyone can help would they e-mail me please..........

Rock star

Still not in a productive mode I'm afraid, I really want to do things but seem like I can't get any inspiration to actually start and make anything.  This little rocker is my card for Gingersnaps childrens challenge which asked for teenagers, she's rather a saucy one but I quite like her ! Everything is from the internet this time, Roxette is a digi from Make It Crafty and I found the background and other bits on google.

Keep calm

Well I have produced absolutely zilch the last few days, I have spent two nights making atcs but the first lot went in the bin after various disasters with them and the second lot are not much better ,couldn't bring myself to post them on my blog ! We have builders in next door who arrive at 8am and proceed to hammer and drill, shout and laugh loudly all day,they are a couple of nice guys really but I have had a permanent headache for days now, I have to tell you that usually the noisiest thing around here is the birds chirping in the garden, I just don't do noise these days !  We are going away for a few days next week and I hope we get a nice quiet room, fingers crossed !

Using more scraps

Using a few more bits from the scrap pile , the silhoutte grass was already white embossed on a piece of card and the bird already stamped on another. Coloured the grass piece with scattered straw and spiced marmalade DIs, cut the bird with a circle nestie and restamped and 3d'd the bird and flower,the green piece is coredinations, distressed and sanded, added some punched flowers and buttons.Think this fits a few challenges so here goes (hope I can refind them to link up !)

Stampinbsdesignteam - distressing
C.R.A.F.T challenge  - resist technique
Fashionable Stamping -handmade flowers
Stampman - summer colours

Scarecrows!

I have sat around this evening just blog hopping and thinking that I haven't got an original thought in my head as what to make next so I thought I would just post a few photos of our visit to Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival yesterday. It was a lovely day and we did manage to walk round the complete trail this time and it was so worthwhile, it gets better every year, these are just a few of my favourite ones, the Simples meercat even sang the tune too! .Its such a pretty place too, we had been for lunch in Grassington first and then after doing the trail we finished off with tea and cake in the village hall.

Scraps

The top photo is a pile of "scraps" on my table, some abandoned projects, some extra bits of stamped images and die cuts etc, whenever I stamp something I have to stamp it several times in case I mess up with what I'm making and when I'm experimenting with backgrounds ,ink etc also have to do lots,the piles just get bigger so when I decided to make this tag I just picked up pieces from the stack,the only extras I've added are the beads hanging from the cage and the brad at the top, the green layer was already stamped and white embossed so just coloured it with D.Inks wild honey and peeled paint.The bird cage is painted with picket fence crackle and the bird is coloured with vintage photo and then fired brick distress stickles. I'm entering it into a few challenges including Grungy Monday
All Things T!m

Grungy Monday - distress stickles
Simon says stamp and show - show us some bling
Sunday Stampers - White
City Crafters - must use scraps
Creative craft challenge - anything but a card

Fairies

While I had the box of old stamps out looking for the poppy stamp( earlier post) I saw this Stamps Happen stamp which I don't think I have ever actually made anything with. The problem with the Stamps Happen stamps was that the coloured picture on the wooden stamp block was so pretty they just sort of fell into your basket and then when you got home with them it was "well what do I do with this ?"  This was bought long before anyone was using DP on cards and its amazing what a difference
it has made to cards. Just recently I seem to have stopped using DP's much again and gone more into inky stuff and stamped backgrounds but I think I might try using some more of my old stamps with papers and see what happens. Saw that Make My Monday challenge is Fairies or Angels so am putting Fairy Sparrow on there. Doesn't show on here but she is decoupaged and glittered too.

Poppies

Had a box of old stamps out today as I was looking for this poppy stamp which I have had a long time,it was made by Funstamps, think they have been gone a long time now, I was never too keen on it as it had too many areas that were black and never looked right however with the lovely copic pens can now colour over all the black bits and I am quite pleased at how it came out. The DP was a freebie in a magazine and the word circle is Lily Of the Valley.Putting in on these challenges

Paper creations - Show Us Your Flowers
Make it Monday - Anything goes
Sir Stampalot- Anything you fancy

Boy amongst the men

This is another page for my steampunk book which is coming along very very slowly(only three pages so far !) and I'm also putting it in at the last minute for the fourth steampunk challenge on Gingersnaps creations which is Iron, brass and leather.  Found it quite hard this one until I realised I could use the colours of the elements, so I have used brass embossing powder on the rim of the clock and a brass coloured squashed bottle top, the leather is a piece of crumpled and distressed brown card and the iron is the cog coloured with pumice stone DI and partially embossed with metallic silver ep. The boy looks as if he has a hard life, I imagine him having to work very hard amongst heavy machinery as children did in the Victorian age.I got the image of him from Land of nod Studios, the clock from the Graphic Fairy and the works sign from Plush Possum studios. Stamps by Artistic Outpost and Graphic45.I'm also putting this on Try It On Tuesday which is anything goes

Lighthouses

I just don't know where the time goes, seems like I get up, turn round and its time for bed ! I've just managed to squeeze a bit of crafting in tonight and make a little card for the St Lukes Challenge which is seaside. I used an old Stamps Happen stamp which I have had for ever and a couple of little Anitas stamps at the bottom of the card.  Yesterday we went up to Fountains Abbey which is just a few miles up the road from us and had a lovely walk round the water gardens, its one of my most favourite places, so beautiful, calm and relaxing, finished the afternoon with cream scones ,also one of my most favourite things !

Vintage Christmas

Sugar Creek Hollow challenge this week is for Vintage Christmas, couldn't ask for anything I like more.  All papers and images are Graphic 45, Martha Stewart snowflake punch and the postage cancellation stamp is an old Hero Arts  I have had one of those days when I got up with such good intentions and I have done ziltch all day ! now I need to clear up the mess I have made in here before getting to bed. 

Its really the last post for tonight

Dragons Dream Tag It On challenge is about horses which gave me the opportunity to use this lovely
Cornish Heritage stamp, I have a very soft spot for this stamp as I have an original Harrison Fisher picture of this on my bedroom wall, its been in the family as long as I can remember, its in a lovely ornate wooden frame, it went to California with my sister who has sadly passed away and the picture came back to me so its doubly sentimental to me.

Precious

Another black and white card with Artistic Journey stamps, the flourish down the side is Stampin Up, I had to add the paper button in the corner as I got an ink smudge! I'm not good with black ink and white card but I thought I had managed quite well today until the card was all assembled and there was the smudge! Putting this card on Just For Fun Challenge which is Black and white

Friends

I haven't used these Art Journey stamps for some time but whenever I do use them I think I should use them more, they are ideal for black and white cards as they really don't need anything doing with them., the diamond pattern is Paper Impressions and Friend is Stampin Up, bit of black and white bakers twine to finish.I'm entering this for Secret Crafters Saturday challenge which Black and white.

Not the day I planned

Well I was not supposed to be at home today but things went pearshaped quite early this morning and I found myself with nothing to do. ( well I could have done some cleaning bu where's the fun in that ?)
so I have had most of the day to play. I wish I knew how to post pictures with text inbetween but I don't so there has to be four seperate posts, yes I managed to complete four challenges today ,just hoping I haven't missed the cut off dates.  This one is for Divas By Design which is birthday. The background is Tim Holtz Papillon stamps, the top layer is Elusive Images,all stamped with Chipped Saphire distress ink.By the way the wonky dark blue background is not part of the card, just what I put it on to scan it.

Steampunk Tag

Rubbish photo but the best I could come up with (scan was even worse. Anyhow its my tag for Grungy Monday following Tim's technique here. Used a piece of plastic packaging from my new nesties, embossed with dots and spots cuttlebug folder, Alterations cogs painted black and added a bit of Inka gold, tag coloured with stormy sky DI and stamped with various steampunk stamps.The metal cogs on the big cogs are from my bargain box of washers from the steam fair. I'm also putting this on Simon Says Stamp and show which is show a Tim technique.

Postage stamp tag

Haven't done a tag for Tag Tuesday for a while. I did make the decision to stop making so many tags even though they are of my favourite things to do as I never do anything with them,they sit gathering dust on the dresser and eventually end up stuffed in a box somewhere out of sight.   The challenge this week was to use a real postage stamp and for your tag to be about it, well our stamps these days are pretty boring but I knew straight away I would use Artistic Outpost stamps for my collage background.The tag was very quick to make but I did spend a lot of time going through a large box of used stamps that mainly came from my Dad, there are some very old stamps in there ,including an EdwardV111  (the one who abdicated) and lots of very pretty worldwide stamps but i don't like to use them (one may be worth as much as a Penny Black postage stamp - in my dreams LOL)

Camera v scanner or both for the bin !

Anyone who visits my blog often will know I always scan my cards as its quicker and easier for me and I have a good quality scanner which usually gives pretty good colour match to the original card.Tonight as I had made a step card I thought I had better try and take a photo , huh its taken me forever to get a halfway decent pic and then load it onto the computer and crop it etc, anyhow finally managed to get it on here. This is for Sugar Creek Hollow challenge which is as usual Vintage/Shabby Chic or Primitive and this week asks for neutral colours only. I haven't made a step card for ages so enjoyed making this one as it was such a limited colour palette I tried to add quite a bit of texture to it as well.  The pretty lady is from Dezina world collage sheet which was one of the sets I got for winning  the random prize on Gingersnaps. The quality of the images are amazing so I feel very lucky to have got so many of them !

By the Sea

Crafty Individuals challenge this month asks for bright colours, this piece really started off as an atc and then I made another and decided to put them both on a "hangy thing" Background is a CI seaside paper and the shell frame is cut from the cover of the paper pad. Gingersnap creations challenge is for Babes and Tots so hope this fits that theme. Friday we went to the big Steam Gathering at Pickering,lots of very smoky steam rollers etc, very steam punk ! took lots of photos and bought some bits and pieces, a whole box full of things which my husband says are star washers but they look like little cogs to me, some pop rivets and electrical connection bits, if I have to be dragged round tool stalls might as well find some bits for me too!  Actually it was a lovely day weatherwise and we had a great day out.

Missed the boat!

Well this has not been one of my best weeks, what with hospital visits etc and I don't seem to have had time to do any crafting.  I made the tag part of this card at the beginning of the week for just for fun challenge but didn't get it finished and missed the challenge finish.  Sugar Creek Hollow is make your own designer paper which I have my just randomly stamping various postale and Paris images. I think The Stampman challenge is still stitching and I have stitched the fabric to the tag on here and I'm also putting it on the new challenge Fashionable stamping which is anything goes but must use stamps.