Paris album

Here is a Paris themed album that I made using Prima ~ Madeline papers and chipboard stickers.

I've used a Teresa Collins ~ 7" x 13" white scalloped album as my base and painted the edges with various colours of PaperArtsy ~ Fresco Finish Paints until I got the colour just right! 

I decorated some mini manilla tags.

Added a KaiserCraft ~ Manequin.

Some vintage flowers.

 

Finally, the back of the album.

I am entering this in at the following challenges:

• bring on the May flowers ~ Inspiration Journal
• Mother's Day or anything girly ~ Shopping Our Stash

Thank you for looking.

Keeley

Heureux Anniversaire

I am terribly late with last Friday's challenge at Crafts 4 Eternity which is to use: Hearts, Glitter & Pins. I will keep this short and sweet as I am sooo tired, but you still have a couple of days to join in.

Some of the photos are rubbish ... sorry blame the weather.

I used Making Memories ~ I Do papers.

The image is a collage sheet by PaperArtsy which I edged with stickles, as I did also for the printed circle transparency.

I added some bling and lace from Prima and Webster's Pages. I didn't like the pin having a pointy end dangling, so rummaged through my Mill Hill beads stash and found some colours to match. Popped them on there, then put some glossy accents on the end so that they wouldn't fall off.

I used my new Magnolia tag die, to make the little tag poking out.

Thanks for all your lovely comments recently, which I really do appreciate. I will be round to leave you all some love just as soon as I get some spare time. Hopefully soon!

Thank you for looking.

keeley

head over heels: Day 5 ~ Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas 2010

Hello there, it's almost CHRISTMAS!! I can't quite believe that it is Christmas Eve tomorrow. I'm feeling a bit blah at the moment with some nasty cold/flu virus. I've had it for a few days now but hoping to recover in time for THE BIG DAY!!

I'm not even sure I like this one. This is my take on Tim's Day 5 Tag. I was quite liking the tag until I went to do the enamelled number thing, which is when it all went wrong. I was using the white pearl paint as I didn't have the colour he uses and it didn't quite have the same effect. I kept adding layers of UTEE and heating it and ended up in a right old mess, not to mention scalding my fingers a few times. Then when I added black paint dabber, it looked nothing like enamel. Sooooo, I heated it all up again and scraped the whole lot off. 

Then I pressed the numbers into a white ink pad and embossed from there and used brown ink to make match the rest of my tag more.

 

I've put a layer of spotty fabric underneath the numbers.

The image stamp is PaperArtsy ~ At Home: Plate 2. The papers are from My Mind's Eye ~ Lost & Found collection.

I'm going to enter this into the following challenges:

'anything goes': Papertake Weekly, Simon Says, Allsorts.

'something with a tag or pocket': Stamp Something.

I just want to wish everybody who visits my blog a Very Merry Christmas! I will be back again in a few days with my Day 6 tag.

Thank you for looking.

keeley

a little bird's tale: Day 3 ~ Tim Holtz 12 tags of Christmas 2010

Hello

Well this is my 'official' 3rd tag of Christmas, although of course it does not follow a Christmas theme ... again.

For my tree I used a Tattered Angels ~ Garden: Blossom Trees stamp. This image has a little bird's nest filled with eggs so I rubbed some Scattered Straw Distress Stickles into the nest and highlighted the eggs with Star Dust Stickles.

For the tag I used Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint and Pine Needles Distress Ink and Walnut Stain for the edges. The script stamp used was by Paper Artsy. I just love this technique and will use it time and time again ... so thank you Tim.

Here is a close up of the bird cut with the Tim Holtz ~ Caged Bird die.

Unfortunately, I cut off his branch before I decided that I wanted to keep it, so stuck it back on again but forgot to ink the edges. Ho hum. I used Pink Paislee ~ Anthology scraps for the bird which acted as a great resist for the alcohol inks.

The 'a little bird's tale' tag was cut from Heidi Grace papers of the same name and also used thes as my background papers.

The floral ribbon trim is Webster's Pages.

I'm popping this in at the following challenges:

'anything goes': Creative Card Crew 

'use a die cut': Little Red Wagon

'add texture': If the Shoe Fits

Thank you for looking.

keeley

may your days be merry and bright

It's Christmas this week at Crafts 4 Eternity, with the requirement also to use a Santa image.

 

I've used papers from the Bo Bunny ~ Noel collection and I've embossed the edges with gold embossing powder.

I've used a PaperArtsy stamp to emboss the gold baubles and the strip of holly.

Image: Magnolia ~ Cool Santa coloured with copics and added some stickles.

The baubles and sentiment are Bo Bunny ~Noel chipboard stickers. I embossed the edges with gold, spritzed them with glimmer mist, punched a whole in the top and added some gold lace.

I am also entering this in at the following challenges:

'embossing': One Stop Craft Challenge.

'square cards': Crazy 4 Challenges.

'create in 3's': Little Red Wagon. I've added 3 embossed baubles.

'anything goes': Cute Card Thursday.

'ribbon, lace & flowers': PaperPlay Challenges.

Thank you for looking.

keeley

man's 50th birthday

Hello all! I hope that everyone is ok. It's been quite a while since I last blogged. I went away on holiday to the very lovely Spain for a few weeks. Took the rain with me and then brought it back home again it seems! 

We stayed here for a few days at the start of the holiday, with a friend who lives there.

6km from the nearest town, surrounded by olive and almond groves. Some just planted!

So peaceful and quiet. Bliss!! And the sun shone the whole time we were here!

After our stay here, we headed south to civilisation (and rain). Fortunately, I had my ipad with me so was able to have a quick surf of the net whilst topping up my non-existant tan! LOL! 

So, on to my card. I wasn't going to blog this, as I don't think it is as exciting as I wanted it to be! But as I've been quiet for a while and my mojo is scrabbling around for some inspiration, I thought I'd show this, as an example of how NOT to do a man card! LOL!

I've used papers from the Tim Holtz ~ Vintage Shabby pad.

The 'Happy Birthday' sentiment was stamped from individual letter stamps by Paperartsy, which I embossed.

The metal '50' numerals are Tim's of course. I enjoyed hammering those brads into place :-)

The birdcage stamp and die is also by Paperartsy. I embossed the image and added some of Tim's ball chain.

I just love birdcages and when we were on holiday we kept passing this shop which had a really old vintage brass birdcage in the window and I stopped and drooled down the window looking at it every day. I wanted it! It had no price tag on it though and I didn't dare ask! 

Then one day, we were in my favourite jewellery shop and I saw my OH buy a little charm. He said it was a Christmas present, but then on the last day of  our holiday he gave it to me! Woohoo!

It's a birdcage charm for my Thomas Sabo charm bracelet. The bottom opens up to reveal a little bird. So cute!

Whilst I'm here, I will enter the following competitions with my card:

'numbers': Simon Says Stamp & Show and Creative Belli.
'something to celebrate': Stamp Something.
'neutrals plus one colour': Gingersnap Creations.


Thank you for looking!


keeley

peace ... joy ... love: Day 2 ~ Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas

Yes, I know. I am running way behind with my 12 tags of Christmas already, but I did say it would take the whole month ... I wasn't joking!

I am entering this into the 'Christmas' themed challenges at Stamp With Fun and Creative Card Crew.

OK, so this is my version of Day 2, it should have been simple but it drove me crazy! LOL! Tim's version can be found here.

My problems started when I did not have an ornate frame (first ingredient) or anything close to it! My 'frames' were few and far between so after experimenting painfully, I finally decided that it didn't have to be a frame ... I could create a border instead.

I used Winter Border stamps from Inkadinkado. I'm not really overwhelmed with the whole process of using distress powder and then rubbing ink on and wiping it off. I like to have a clear cut image, I don't really like the vagueness that is the end result of this method. However, having said that, I am quite pleased with my overall end result.

I don't really like the dark red and green Christmas colour combo that TH used, but wanting to keep vaguely with it and knowing there would be gold in there, this is what I used.

Somehow it created an orangey effect which is much more my colour scheme.

The 'Peace Joy Love' stamp is by PaperArtsy.

I used the same flourish stamp (if it can be called that) as for my Day 1 tag, from Little Yellow Bicycle.

As you can see, I did not add a metal flower as I don't own any so created a layered paper flower but did add a Tim Holtz ~ Long Fastener to the middle. Couldn't bear to crush it with a hammer though, so didn't!

For the flicky gold bits I used Gold Alcohol Ink. It didn't create big blotches as seen on the TH tags but more of a fine mist, which for my tag I think I prefer. I don't know if this effect was down to the ink or the brush I used, as the brush seemed to absorb a lot of the ink.

My metal corners ... don't even talk to me about that! I didn't have the TH ones, but did have some PaperArtsy ones. Unfortunately however, they do not sit at 90 degrees, so however much I bashed them, they didn't sit true. So having hacked uselessly at the corners of my tag a bit to get the metal corners to fit, I then pulled them off and used my Round-It-All to make the corners look pretty again.

Thank you for looking.

Keeley

having a {me} day

remember {good times} in Paris

Today I am entering into five challenges.

The sketch {which I spun on it's side}: Sketch Saturday.

Other challenges:

Distressing: Magnolia Down Under Challenges and Just Magnolia.

Borders {of which I have many}: Theme Thursday.

Red and black: Creative Inspirations.

Click on photos to get a better view.

Papers: October Afternoon ~ Good Cheer: Gingerbread and Falling Snow.

As I was using Christmas themed papers I was intending to make this a Christmas card, but changed my mind at the last minute and used the less obviously Christmas sides from this paper collection.

Image: Magnolia ~ Tilda in France. Coloured with Copics.

Embossed images:

~ Tim Holtz ~ Paris Film

~ Crafty Individuals ~ CI005

~ PaperArtsy ~ MN45

                             

Other items used:

Martha Stewart ~ embossed diamond edge punch for the left vertical.

Stickles for the distressed edges around the images.

Mini black brads for decoration.

Scraps of red and cream lace.

{good times} epoxy sticker.

Ink for inking the edges.

Thank you for looking.

Edited to add: I am so excited! I won first place at Magnolia Down Under Challenges with this entry. Thank you so much girls for voting for me!

Keeley

having a {me} day

believe ... an inchie Christmas

I just love, love, love the fortnightly challenge at Ready Steady Stamp and the current challenge recipe is given below:

I am also entering this into three other challenges.

At Theme Thursday the theme is to use 'script or writing'.

One Stop Craft Challenge has a challenge to 'use diecuts'.

Finally, the challenge at A Spoon Full of Sugar is 'Christmas'.

For this creation, I was very much inspired by the Inchie Collage technique kindly shared at Gingersnaps Creations. So thank you! This is my take.

I dug out some of my Christmas stamps ~ Tim Holtz and Paperartsy. After stamping them out and inking up the paper, this is what I ended up with (click on photo for a better view).

TIP: After stamping the images, let them dry before adding the strips of ink colour. I smudged the first strip I did, so quickly heat set the cardstock before carrying on. Apologies for the upside down paper, I didn't even notice until I went to view my photos!

The next step was to cut the card into inchies. I don't possess a square punch so I decided to cut my inchies using the square cut on my cricut machine. This meant that I couldn't hand pick my inchies, but it was quite fun to leave it to the randomness of the cut!

I cut the whole sheet and then chose the inchies I wanted to use. For each inchie I either crackle glazed them or added glossy accents.

When dry I mounted them on to chipboard. I initially tried to do this by cutting the chipboard with my cricut using my extra deep cutting blade. However, it kept cutting the square too short, ie it wasn't an inch all round. Haven't a clue why so if anyone can tell me what I did wrong I would be grateful! Nothing ever seems to come out right when I use the extra deep cutting blade. So I mounted my inchies onto chipboard and cut them out by hand. I then inked the edges with a silver paint dabber. I didn't use all of the ones I made up as I completely changed my mind about how my finished piece would look ... as you do.

The next part of the recipe required me to use masks on a background. I really liked the idea of having snowflakes in the background.

As I didn't have a snowflake mask, I decided to make my own. I cut three different snowflakes from my Speaking of Winter cricut cartridge and placed them randomly on  a sheet of pink Bazzill. I then used blending foam to blend the white ink over the masks.

I repeated this several times, moving the masks around until it ended up like this:

Having done this, I was then able to arrange my inchies on the square to suit.

I cut a piece of corrugated card and applied some white gesso. I took two diecut brackets which originally were white and glittered but the perfect size. I applied some silver paint dabber to them, so now they have a nice texture to them. The 'believe' panel in the middle was a section of a Tim Holtz stamp.

My final piece looks like this:

                   

Thank you for looking.

keeley

having a {me} day

22 minutes past 1

Uggggg! I shouldn't even be writing this post, I should be sleeping. So this will have to be quick. This entry is for TWO challenges.

At Mixed Media Monday the challenge is to 'pick an image or colour scheme that evokes a particular time of day to you and develop a piece around it.' I've chosen 22 minutes past one ... in the MORNING. The black is for dark ... it's night time, the white is for light ... the lights are on. Pink is for colour ... I'm crafting :-)

At ABC Challenge the challenge is 'D is for diecuts' I used a diecut piece of cardstock which forms the basis of this book, together with a die cut clock and grungeboard keyhole. PS Thank you ABC for including me in your top 5 last week!! It is much appreciated and being well thought of always inspires the mojo!

I'm not sure where the love theme fits in at 22 minutes past one in the morning! The book is created from a Teresa Collins tag. I used the scalloped die cut to form my cover and the shape of my book.

I decorated it with bits and pieces from my stash ... an acetate die cut clock, heart shaped button, pink and black flowers with a gem stone brad. The keyhole is a diecut piece of Tim Holtz grungeboard which I coloured black and pink.

I had to have a loving couple image to go with the papers and this is taken from Paperartsy ~ Architecture: Plate 2.

I am behind on catching up with my blogs due to 'real life' interfering, so I apologise for my delayed comments.

Thank you for looking at any time of day.

kat

having a {me} day

so lovely ... purple ice ballet princess

There is a fabulous sketch at Just Magnolia this week which I am using.

I am also entering this into TWO other challenges.

At Theme Thursday the challenge is 'to use purple as one of your main colours'.

Use It Challenges have a recipe challenge: Use a new technique (see my tag), use a virgin stamp (I have never used this one before) and use papers you haven't used before.

Here is my card:

All papers used are from the Crate Paper ~ Katlin collection. I layered them up and inked the edges with purple.

I created the tag by cutting a piece of acetate with my cricut. I then tried a technique which was new to me. I inked a swirly seat horizontally for Tilda to sit on using a stamp from Paperartsy ~ Squiggly Ink: Swirls & Curls 1. I then added some swirly circles using stamps from Paperartsy ~ Squiggly Ink: Swirls & Curls 2. If I did this again I think a purple ink would look better, but I didn't have any which would stick to acetate. On the back of the circles I added some crystal stickles and I added purple twilight paint to the edges with a paint dabber.

The image is Magnolia ~ Pink Tilda Ice Ballet Princess and I coloured her with my copics. This is the first time I've ever coloured one of these images where all the clothes are the same colour.

The 'So lovely' sentiment is a rub on by We R Memory Keepers. I rubbed it onto purple cardstock, stuck it to a piece of chipboard and then cut it out.

Flowers are a mixture of Prima and Hero Arts. The jewelled brads are by Papermania.

Thank you for looking.

kat

having a {me} day