Friday, 19 February 2016

Tag Card, Panda, Female

I've been busy sorting through a house full of too many things and decorating my dining room this past few months.  What is it about sorting that invariably means you end up making even more mess than you had to begin with?  It's a SLOW process...  that's for sure!

...  And no, I'm not finished.  Nowhere near as far as the 'stuff' goes.  Plus one of the pieces of furniture that arrived this week is faulty and has to be returned.  
So we have to wait for a collection date and the replacement to arrive.  Then wax the wood. 
Grrr...
Don't they understand that I'm taking over some of the dining area for my craft stash and making it an additional 'work' space?  

I guess they don't.


Anyhow...

It's Friday.  Time for another challenge at Tag You're It!

My tag for today is my first attempt at a tag card and my second attempt using a watercolour technique with distress inks.  It's not perfect, but I like it.  I am using some of my favourite colours, after all :)  




My inspiration for today's tag came from my fellow DT member, Kara Lynne Progreba (see below).




In keeping with the spirit of Kara Lynne's design, I've used an animal image that also has a flower, but to add some texture mine's be overlaid with die cuts from scrap packaging.  
I also have a butterfly on my stamp in lieu of the second critter on Kara Lynne's tag...  and I've opted for what looks like a similar colouring style and included the button to boot!



Supplies Used:

Stamp:
Crafters Companion Party Paws 'bamboo'

Dies:
Mama Elephant 'Tags A Lot'
Spellbinders/Nestabilities 'Deckled Rectangles'
Memory Box 'Fabulous Phlox' 
Memory Box 'Butterfly Heart'

Ink
Memento/Tsukineko 'Bamboo Leaves'

Other:
Ribbon
Button
Wooden Peg


Challenges I'm Entering...

 'Shaped Cards'



(The butterflies were punched out about 6 months ago - maybe more - and have been waiting in my stash ever since.  The flowers - die cut from scrap card - were cut about 3 months ago, patiently waiting for me to use them...  and the centre panel was a piece of scrap white that was only just big enough for my Nestabilities die).



Favourite fold or Shape and Why

(I LOVE tags because they 'hold their own' equally well as an embellishment or as a focal feature, whether that be a gift tag or a tag on a card.  This card 'tag' shows that there's even more diversity to tags...  plus they come in a multitude of shapes and sizes).


Challenge #43 'Red'

(I've used Red as my accent colour)


Challenge #413 'Warm Colours'


Challenge #286 'Friendship'


'Anything Goes'


'Warm Thoughts'

(I chose Friendship/Caring/Spring)


'Add A Tag'


Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge

(I'm saving this card to send to my daughter)...


I've chosen
Tags/Flowers/No Patterned Paper
&/or
Tags/Watercolour/Butterflies
&/or
Watercolour/Flowers/Colouring (any type)
&/or
Butterflies/Ribbon/No Patterned Paper




It was my first year anniversary earlier this month.  One whole year in Blogland!
To say a small 'thank you' to those of you that regularly stop by I wanted to offer you the chance to have this small selection of craft goodies sent to your home.




They are all packed up and ready to go.
Would you like them?
If so, leave me a message on this post (or send me an email) and I will include you in a random draw.

I'll give you all two weeks to think about it before I pick a random winner.


Have a good weekend...

Donna. x

Friday, 22 January 2016

Mixed Media Tag, Rustic House, Male/Female

I'm much later than I had hoped to be with getting anything finished, photographed and posted on this blog...  and I'm woefully behind on commenting again...  but truth be told I'm dealing with some stuff that's hellish right now.  I'll update the Autism section at some point soon to give more details...
All I'll say for now is it involves my daughter and in many ways we're going through a similar situation to the hell we faced five years ago.
Life can be so very unfair...

 I'm sorry to those of you I regularly stop by to say hello to.  I will try my best to catch up again...

*

I'm here today to share my DT take on Erin's tag over at Tag You're It.
Are you playing along?

I tidied up my craft area over the Christmas break so I could finally get back to something a little more 'messy' design wise.  A little bit of ink, some texture paste and my beloved dies were all that was needed for this quick and easy make...




Now normally I would get myself all 'het up' about that cloud at the bottom not being perfectly done.  But seriously, you go look up at the sky and find me a perfectly formed cloud.  
You found one...  Really???
In other words...  I can live with it.  Just this once.  And if I change my mind it will be very easy to place the stencil back over and reapply a bit of extra texture paste.


Here's Erin's tag...



I was initially stumped over what to do instead of that caravan (I have no vehicle dies or stamps) and toyed with the idea of a window, tree and cloud mini scene design...  until I had a rummage through my die cuts and found this house.  It's so basic and 'rustic' looking, but there's just something about it that I absolutely love.  And it has a door AND a window...  just like the caravan :)


Supplies Used:

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress 'Mowed Lawn'
Tim Holtz Distress 'Stormy Sky'

Stencil:
Memory Box 'Mini Clouds'

Dies:
Quickutz 'House'
Marianne Design/Craftables 'Tiny's Pinetrees'
Marianne Design/Craftables 'Tiny's Winter Village'

Other:
Texture Paste
Brown Twine


Challenges I'm entering...

Pixie's Crafty Snippets Challenge
(All snippets)


The Sisterhood of Crafters
(Something Old, Something New).
Although the Quickutz Die is old, it's new to my die collection...


Craft Rocket Challenges
(Challenge #7 'Clean and Simple')




Have a good weekend...

Donna. x

Friday, 1 January 2016

Faux Aperture, Bird on Branch, Female

Happy New Year!

I've made a quick 'no ink' card today that I'm planing to use as a 'notelet' or 'thank you' card later on in the year.  
Why?
Because I've learnt from experience that these are the cards I like AND need to have to hand...  




For those of you who may not have seen my last 'no ink' creation, my trick with 'no ink' cards is to add texture...  but as it's a quick make, texture paste is out of the question!
Instead, I focus on embossing folders and pair them with textured card stock (normally Hammer card).  Clever use of layers and adding sequins, gems or Dew Drops to my die cuts is normally all I then need to do.

Yes, I know a lot of you will gasp at the very thought of a 'no ink' card, but it looks ok to me.  
Am I wrong???


Dies used:
Memory Box/Open Studio 'Finnegan Fronds'
Memory Box 'Grove Branch'
Spellbinders 'Nesting Squares/Small'
Spellbinders 'Nesting Circles/Small'

Embossing Folder:
Tim Holtz/Alterations 'Birch Trees'

Other:
Black Gem
Flower Sequins
Foam Pads
Collall 3D Glue Gel


Perhaps it's because I'm still quite new to card making, but I like to 'know' that I have some cards/techniques/layouts that 'work' for me.  
Then I can recreate them in a fraction of the time that it took me to come up with the original idea.
Of course, this does mean that I end up keeping some of my cards simply to remind me 'how to'.
Does anyone else do that?


Challenges I'm entering...

Pixie's Crafty Snippets Challenge


(Anything Goes)


Cute Card Thursday
(Challenge #406 'Anything Goes')


(Crazy egg/Anything Goes #279)


(Challenge #103 'Anything Goes')




Wishing you all the very best for 2016...

Donna. x