Happy Christmas!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I know we did. It was so nice to have a bit of joy for a change.  We had a wonderful day here although a bit of snow would have been the topping on the cake. 

Here is my project for the Stamp Mans Bleak Mid Winter challenge. It is an ATC.

I used the US Artquest Napkin collage kit for the bird. I just loved the images that came in the tin. 

The tree stamp is from Tim Holtz Winter Sketchbook set. It is colored using Distress inks and white paint.

Now off to catch up in blog land and around the house. 

Have a wonderful day.

Angela 

New Challenge at TIOT

Time for another challenge over at Try it on Tuesday and our wonderful sponsor is  Delicious Doodles, 

Our sponsor for December is Delicious Doodles, who are  generously offering our monthly winner, their choice of 4 Digi stamps from the store.

This Fortnights Challenge is  a 'Lucky Dip'. where you have to pick 4 items from our ingredients list to use then let us know what which you chose to use.

Ingredients to choose from are:

Die cuts

Ribbon

Sentiment

Pearls

Distressing

Stamped Image

 Here is my project. It is a mini Acrylic album I made as a gift. Its a little Gingerbread house themed book.

The mouse is a stamped image cut out and colored with Promarker. the flowers are Maya Road with pearl trim. the little sparkle disks reminded me of gum drops so they fit the theme.

 The ribbon opens to reveal more hidden space for pictures and journaling.

 Love the little mouse image reading the book.

these are diecut flowers and stickers above on the roof trim.

If you look carefully you can see the little mouse wishing upon the Christmas star.


Now if you pop on over to the TIOT challenge blog you can see more projects from our wonderful design team and join in the fun with your project. We cannot wait to see you there.

Thanks for stopping in and have a wonderful day. Angela

Such a long time

Wow I cannot believe it has been a month since my last post. It seems like so much has happened and changed. Right around my last post we were headed for Florida and South Carolina for a much needed vacation and family event. Unfortunately Hurricane Sandy hit home while we were away and family tragedy struck just before the family gathering so it was more of a stressful event than relaxing as thought. We wound up with family gathering for a loss rather than a birthday celebration. When we finally arrived home a week later there was much to clean up and although our house and small development was spared any major damage or flooding the areas around us were not. Family and friends lost homes and belongings. I remember my first drive through one area heading to a friends house it was such a shock. all the debri around and the garbage piled high on the sides of the roads. not a pretty site. Many areas were without gas and electric for such a long time and some still do not have it. It was nothing fun to come home to. 

Things now are returning to what they call a "new normal" I guess it is about as normal as it will be for quite awhile. It is so hard seeing places we grew up in completely destroyed. I felt so guilty being away during the worst of it and then again with being one of the lucky ones when we returned. Most time since has been focused on clean up and trying to help where possible so no time for crafting. In fact I did not even walk into my craft room till last week. It was in the same messy state I left it before vacation. But with my darling husbands birthday fast approaching and an idea for a gift in my head my daughter and I had some work to get done. So into the craft room it was to brew up this villians themed hat made of paper. My husband loves Disney villians and while away saw some beautiful hats on display so we decided we would make him our own version for his birthday. Here is how it turned out. 

 the frame of the hat is entirely paper. It is then coated and layered with photocopies of various villians and layers of paint, crackle, gloss, Gaffer tape, sprays, inks, glitters and such.

My daughter and I had alot of fun making it and are really pleased with the result. My husband loved it. It felt so good to do a little crafting again.

Well now I gotta run, More to do around here but I will be back soon I promise....

Thanks for stopping in and have a great day. Angela

Challenge for the Stamp Man

The challenge this month at the Stamp Man is "Butterflies" so going with the mask theme(for some reason I am on a mask kick although this one was actually made before the one in the prior post)

I creates a paper mask and used layers of napkin backings from my napkin collage kit then embossed them. the butterflies are vellum embossed and colored using distress inks. The colorful butterflies are from my US artquest napkin collage kit. Don't forget to check out the Stamp Man challenge. It runs till the end of the month. thanks for stopping in and have a wonderful day. Angela

New Challenge and DT call at TIOT

I must say it has been quite awhile since my last post. Sorry they have been few and far between. My Mother in Law is finally on the mend and things are returning to normal or as close to normal as possible. My MIL still needs someone with her all the time in case of another episode should come on. this will probably go on until they can get a pacemaker in. so probably not completely normal till then but I did make it into my craft room for a few min this week. Just in time for the new Try it on Tuesday Challenge and the theme this fortnight is "Halloween"  I decided to make a mask for my daughters Halloween costume. Here it is:

I do not know why but I have always loved masks. they seem to mesmerize me. This one is started with thick card then sprayed with Dylusions Granite ink. The pattern is created using a template and Dylusions Mica spray.It is then layered with clear embossing powder and melted. The cobwebs are done using Tim Holtz Halloween stamps and white Stazon ink. 

 the decorations are done using used kitchen roll(used to sop up the Dylusions ink). I brushed it with embossing ink then embossed clear. one in place I then added layers of Frantage black powder and melted in place. I like the effect almost like snake skin. the bats are hand drawn , inked black and embossed with black embossing powder.

Here is a closeup of the webs and bats. the mask itself is pretty sturdy as to withstand an evening of Trick or treating. Everything has been double secured in place using Glossy Accents. 

Now onto the DT news. the Try it on Tuesday DT is looking to add some new members to our team. If you love crafting and haveing fun doing it then TIOT is for you. We are looking for crafters with different styles and mediums to join our existing team. If you would be interested just join in our challenge this fortnight and put the letters DT after your name in your entry. We hope to see you there. 

Thanks for stopping in and have a lovely day. Angela

Still here....

Wow I cannot begin to tell you what a crazy month this has been. I am really hoping October will be much better. As I write this I am once again fighting a sinus infection complements of the fall weather and wonderful allergens in the air. Time has just seemed to get away from me with the start of school and start back at work along with all the other daily trials and tribulations.  Today was the first day I have been in my craft room in I don't know how long. Of course I had to put everything away because I left it such a mess then just piled atop it for the last month...It did feel really good though to get inky once again.  

This week over at TIOT is the next challenge for the month and the theme is lots of layers. I had started this a bit ago but only got as far as stamping a few images and gluing the book pages together. Today was the day to finish it up.

I loved these fairy stamps when I saw them and wanted to do something whimsical. The background is layered with torn book pages , stamped acetate images and gesso. The outer frame is pattern paper by Basic Grey. the butterflies are also stamped and colored using promarkers. 

Now if you head on over to TIOT you can see the rest of the teams wonderful projects and enter yours. Can't wait to see you there. 

Thanks for stopping in and have a wonderful day. Angela

New Stamp Man Challenge

Its time for the next challenge over at The Stamp Man and this fortnights theme is "Summer Sizzlers - Use Hot Colors" Here is my DT project:

I had made this card for a friends birthday. For my card I used Distress inks for the colors. The butterflies are stamped from Tim Holtz Springtime stamps then colored with Distress inks and embossed. The edging used Tim Holtz winter sketchbook for the branches and urban tapestry for the leaves.  

Now its your turn to show us your Hot color creations and link them up over at The stamp Man blog where you can also find some more wonderful inspirational projects from my team mates.  We cannot wait to see your creations.   

Thanks for stopping in and have a great day. Angela

back from holiday

We are finally back from our holiday. It was quite an adventure taking not just our daughter but her friend also to Disney. We are not quite used to having 2 Tween girls around. One has always been quite enough. But when all was said and done they had a great time. Of course mom and dad need a vacation from the vacation. LOL.

On a creativity front things have been pretty dry lately. School starts tomorrow so hopefully the days will be mine again. Yippee.... I am still keeping up with the Paper Secrets SYAO challenge if only by the skin of my teeth. We are into week # 31 now. It was really hard being away and then just getting back but I managed to finish this weeks challenge. Here is my take on the sketch:

Sorry about the photo. It is late and the flash kept over lighting sections. this was the best shot I could get. 

For my items I used: 5 handmade flowers(using Washi tape(the little budded ones)), papers - BoBunny(5) and MME(2), Handmade banner(bunting), fabric(sheer), Ribbon and Twine.   I also used Doily, gems and Prima flowers.  For my technique I used Border Punch.

The pictures are of one of our former Fosters Niki who came back to stay overnight while her new forever family went to a wedding. It was so nice to have her visit. She is such a little doll.

Well thats it for now. Hoping to have a bit more time back after tomorrow. 

thanks for stopping in and have a fantastic day. Angela

SYAO 29

This weeks Paper Secrets SYAO entry. 

For my list items I used: Chipboard(letters - altered), Ribbon(brown satin), Pattern papers(MME-3,misc-1),  Staples and buttons(MME).  For my technique I used Distressing.

The pictures are of my little nephew Albert at a family gathering. He was so darn cute going in the box after the ball then trying to carry it out.

This is for SYAO week # 29.

On a side note, I just realized the date and realized I did not pull the winner for my August Blog candy. So very Sorry. Now without further ado the winner of the Prima pack is:

Alison (Butterfly)

Alison,   Please email me your mailing address and I will get your package out to you. 

A big thanks for all the wonderful comments and hello to all my new followers. I look forward to getting over to all your blogs shortly. Sorry summer has just gotten the better of me with the kiddies off of school and so much to get done. I will be by shortly though I promise. 

Have a wonderful  day . Angela

Another Layout

Last Friday my friends and I got together to scrap a bit so I managed to catch up on a few layouts. This is one I did For Paper Secrets "August Song Lyrics" Challenge. I have always wanted to use this song for a layout but just never sat down and got it started. This challenge made me do so.  Another added bit to the challenge was to use Echo park items if possible so I used Echo Park "Paradise" papers.  Here is my layout:

I used inspiration from the song "In My Daughters Eyes" by Martina McBride.   Here are the lyrics...

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light and the
world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me gives me
strength when I am weak
I find reason to believe 
In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand
around my finger
Oh it puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart
has had enough
It's giving more when you feel like giving up
I've seen the light
It's in my daugter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future
A reflection of who I am and what will be
Though she'll grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I'm gone I hope you see how happy
she made me
For I'll be there
In my daughter's eyes

It is one of my favorite songs and really hits home with the lyrics since my daughter was a miracle to begin with and within the first 6 month of her little life helped me to get through one of the toughest tragedies of mine. I remember spending the hours just staring into her little brown eyes and all the sadness of the day would melt away.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day. Angela

SYAO #28

I really loved working with this weeks sketch for the Paper Secrets SYAO challenge # 28. I cannot believe that we are over half way through the year already.  There are still quite a few of us in the challenge. I cannot believe I have hung in this long. Here is the sketch for the week:

and my take on the sketch is below.

For my items on the list I used :  Butterflies(stamped), Buttons(MME), Flags/banner/pennant(MME), Pattern papers(MME - 4) and staples. I also used Rub-ons(Reminisce), Film Strip(Tim Holtz).

For my technique I used both Paint and Punches.

Thanks for popping in and have a splendid day!

Angela

New Stamp Man Challenge

Its time for another Challenge at The Stamp Man and this fortnights theme is "Precious Metals" to tie in with the Olympics. 

 Here is my project. I did the cover of one of my journal books.

I forgot to take a picture of the cover before starting so here it is being covered with Gesso.

The flower is cut using TH die and napkins then embossed with Frantage aged copper.

  and this is the inside page I did awhile ago just to show you which book I was using. 

I really love this one. 

So now if you head on over to The Stamp Man challenge blog you will find some fab inspiration from my teamies and we are also welcoming 2 new members to the Design team so be sure to check it out. 

thanks for stopping in and have a great day. Angela

TIOT anything Goes

If you are looking for the "Where Bloggers Create" Party look here ---->

 The new challenge is up at TIOT and this fortnight the theme is "Anything Goes". 

Here is my project for the challenge....

It was a quarky little box I created to look like a shop window. 

I used Chocolate Baroque stamps and layered fabrics, embossing , card and more. The scissors , buttons and button bowl are al done using shrink film. I also used pins, patterns, thread and glossy accents.

We also have a great quest designer Viv joining us over at TIOT this fortnight. Be sure to stop by and say hello.  And don't forget to check out all the wonderful work from the rest of the Design team at the Try it on Tuesday Challenge blog. We look forward to seeing all your wonderful entries. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day. Angela

SYAO #25

If you are looking for the "Where bloggers create party" you can catch it on my side bar --->>>

Here is a layout I made for the SYAO week #25 over at Paper Secrets. 

I cannot believe 25 weeks have gone by already since I joined in the challenge and that means I managed to get 25 layouts done! 

For my layout I used CI and MME papers, MME journal card for title, White Bazzil, Prima flowers, Lacey Ribbon, Prima pearls. The pictures are from our trip to Hawaii at Easter.

Hope you are enjoying your summer. It is still way too hot here. Not used to the heat, I so miss my English weather. Stopped to look at pools today. Maybe I can talk the DH into getting one. 

I can dream can't I.......LOL

Off to take Miss Belle to dance now. Have a wonderful evening and thanks for stopping in.  Angela

Try it on Tuesday "So very British"

If you are looking for the "Where bloggers Create" party you can click on the link to the side of the page-->

This fortnight at Try it on Tuesday the Theme is "So very British". 

For my DT project I decided to create this teacup.

The cup and saucer are done using my Napkin Collage kit from US Artquest. the napkins are ones that I found in a little shop in England. The napkins are layered over a mesh frame I created. I then coated them with US Artquest glue and trimmed the edges with silver glittered ribbon. The handle is made using a wire sandwiched between 2 pieces of ribbon. The ATC was one I had made previously for the Stamp Man. I just wanted to use it for the photo. 

Now if you head on over to the Try it on Tuesday challenge blog you can see some more great inspiration from the rest of the Design team, then its your turn to show us your Bristish inspired projects. We cannot wait to see them. 

Were bloggers create 2012!

Wow I cannot believe it has been a year already since the last "Where Bloggers Create" blog hop.  If you have not joined in the fun yet you do not know what you are missing. 

So much has changes in that time at least for me. We moved back to the states from our lovely home in England. I really miss it so along with my nice and bright craft room I had there.The weather is been a big change for us too as the weather here is horribly hot and sticky. I used to love crafting with my windows open but lately we have had to have the air-con on to stifle this heat.

 This year I will be showing you my new space in our house here in the states, the northeast coast to be specific. So as you walk in you are of course greeted by our Lovely Lab Sun and our latest foster Mona, a 2 year old black shepherd mix. Yes that is another change from last year. We have become foster parents to lots of furbabies. Most only stay a few weeks but occasionally we get one like Mona here who has been with us for months. It has given us such a sense of accomplishment to be able to aide in saving some of these poor soles. All they need is a little extra time till the perfect family comes along. So we try to provide them with all they need until that time comes. Just look at those sweet faces. Bet you would not guess who the trouble maker of the 2 is?

So before we begin may I offer you a cup of tea or perhaps a slice of cake? 

My new craft room is just down the hall and to the right. Please do come in.....

On the door hangs a very precious gift given to me by the wonderful children and staff at the school I volunteered at in England for a few years. It really was a joy working with them.

This is the view as you walk into the room. Much smaller than my old room and darker too. Could use some more windows for sure but at least it is mine(or at least mine and my daughters as we share the space together for our crafting needs. it gives us some much needed bonding time especially now since she is getting older and moving onto other things ) I do so love the wood floors instead of carpet. They make cleaning so much easier.

My desk is the one with the back towards the window(with the black cardi on the chair) and my daughters is the one facing the window. We face each other as we work making conversation easier while we work together and share ideas.

This next picture shows the view to the left of the door. This is where we have our sewing and miniature work area and some altered project storage.

Behind the curtain we keep all the sewing stuff such as fabrics and accessories.more fabric are stored in totes in the bottom of the closet just behind the basket shelves.

 We also store extra paper boxes and misc craft supplies in the bottom. the rack contains assorted ribbon and yarn spools as well as other sewing paraphernalia.

This green hutch holds our alterables such as books, wooden boxes, slide mailers and lots of other things. It also holds a selection of our Stickles, Smooch inks and liquid pearls.

This is the view now looking from Belles Desk over to mine and out the window. To the left here is another shelving unit housing our Emphemera, Magazines and misc art supplies. (not sure why I missed a picture on it but will try to add it later. )(you can see it in the above picture of the corner.)

Favorite projects and inspiration up above.......and below

Here is a shot of the project shelves that are on both walls facing each other. This room used to be Belles nursery so it had some nice shelves already existing. It also had this nice molding on the wall that I use to display projects on also. Up on top of the shelf of the bookcase are all my old cameras from my 35 ml to digitals through the years. Not sure why I kept them all.

Now continuing around the room we go around to my desk

Not normally this neat as there are usually multiple projects being worked on. We just happen to be away this week so I hate to leave it messy when away and not working on anything. 

I like to keep my distress inks, and other most used items close at hand.  To the right of my desk is a rolly draw holder with scrap paper sorted by colors. My clip it up sits atop of it. 

I store my quotes on my Cllip it up along with misc embellishments and flowers. I love collecting quotes of all kinds to use in my projects.

To the right of that along the wall are my Paints, Dylusions inks and paints(love love love these!!!, Stencils, Primas and chipboard items. Above the shelf unit on the wall is my Signed Tim Holtz Die I won.

I also store my adhesives and used kitchen roll papers on this shelf unit. 

On the wall above hangs a frame holding some special notes I found in my boxes while unpacking after our move back to the states last year. They were from a dear friend Sandra who helped me pack over the final days there. I miss Sandra, Anne and my other Yorkshire friends very much still. 

I hope to be able to get back and visit them soon. 

In back of my desk sits the window, the only source of natural light to this room. I also store my cut ribbons on hooks on the curtain rod. (can be seen better in first photo)

 Below the window sits another set of shelves containing my 6X6 and 8X8 paper pads as well as gems, brads, charms, ribbon snippets, baby wipes, heat tools, alcohol inks, dabbers and extra inking and painting supplies.

Next in comes my stamping corner. I so do love stamping! 

Here you can see a better shot of the ribbons on the window. The draw unit to the left holds misc sewing bits, tools and beading bits. For my stamps the wooden blocked ones are stored in square red shelves I picked up at a home store on sale. I store the remainder in baskets along with my Stampers Anonymous and clear stamp sets. The cd cases also hold stamp sets atop the shelf unit. Embossing powders are below along with extra adhesive tools, flocking /Flowersoft and more stamps. 

 Continuing along the last wall We have some more draw storage holding Pearls, Glitters, hand Punches, Christmas crafts and lots of pictures. On top is a tin of brushes and masks/stencils/doilies behind. There are also boxes of Brads, trinkets and buttons topped by my travel table top storage tote.

 The remainder of the wall contains Papers(sorted in holders by theme), Embellishments(also sorted by themes in folders), Boxes of beads, Travel totes, Albums, My diecut machine Embossing folders and dies, misc tools and saws, Dremmel, Drawing tablets, cutters and albums. 

The middle of the unit also opens to supply another desk top if needed. Great if one of belles friends is over.

Back around to the door you can see my Sewing table again which also doubles as my miniature work station. We store all the miniature supplies under the table. Our cardstock papers are stored atop the table with one of the sewing machines. My other machine is kept in the closet as it is very heavy and old.

Are you tired yet? I tried to make it just a little whirlwind around the room. Just a little bit more I promise We will be finished soon. 

Some favorite projects of mine can be found around the room maybe you spotted some....

 I love altering things from masks (above) to books (below)

Recycling materials for projects!

plastic packaging(above) and inky Kitchen roll(below)

 This is a layout project I did for Ranger's Melt art contest years back. It won first place. (I almost did not send it because my dog ate my original just before mailing it off. My daughter cried and begged for me to remake it, funny how things work out) The layout in the lower corner is another favorite of mine of some happy times spent in England exploring the countryside.

 Below is another layout of our final days in England last summer and the ending of an amazing 3 year journey. 

On the clips is a copy of Scrap 365 June 2012 issue, where my Beach Album was published. I just love this magazine along with its sister Craft Stamper so it was a complete honor for me. If you looked around the room you may have seen the original mini book .....Did you spot it?

This final project I will share today is sadly a re-work in progress....

It was broken last year during our move back to the states. This greenhouse was one of my first miniature projects I did over in England and one of my finest to date. I have not had the time to fix it yet but I will begin work very soon to restore it to its former glory as you can see it here. 

Now on a final note some items you can never have too much of......

 Kitchen roll, Glossy accents, Melting pots and perfect pearls Heirloom Gold just to name a few.....

Well I hope you have enjoyed your visit and do thank you for stopping by. 

As a little thank you for taking the time to stop in, I will be giving away some goodies including a 6X6 paper pad of Prima's Fairy Belle along with some great accessories to go with. 

Just leave a comment and your name will be entered in the drawing. Become a follower and you will be entered twice(if you are already a follower just leave a note in the comment) I will draw the winner on August 14th. 

A huge thanks to Karen at My Desert Cottage for once again organizing one of the best blog-hops. I thoroughly enjoy looking at all the fantastically create spaces each time. 

If you want to see some amazing spaces just hop on over there and join in the fun!

Have a wonderful day. Angela