finally a bit of time for me.

With the longer days there just seem to be so many things to get done and no time to relax lately. Yesterday I finally had a bit of time to catch up on some much needed crafting time. They have so many wonderful layouts ready to be jacked this month over at Scrap Jacked I could not wait to dive in and get something done. For this layout I chose to jack Bec's. I knew I wanted to use this pic but had a hard time selecting papers with the colors in the photo. all my dance related papers are pinks, purples and such. I finally decided on Basic Gray Marrakesh with a added misc background music paper that matched nicely. The flowers are die cut from recycled inky paper towels using Tim Holtz Tattered florals die. (one of my favs). the brads are mostly all from BG too. The doily was spayed using the same Dylusions ink(or at least I think so) that was on the recycled paper towels. I tend to lay the towels down under my spraying surface and use them to mop up excess when spraying then save them for projects like this. I just love there texture and such.

Well aside from another layout (which I will share later)for the SYAO challenge I was not able to get much else done before having to take on my role as family chauffeur for afters school activities. Today I have to work on a little project for my friends daughters birthday. Hoping to finish and share that later then maybe do another jack from Scrap Jacked tomorrow before work. One can always hope right?

Thanks for stopping in and have a wonderful day.

Tuesday's Challenge at TIOT

This week the Theme at Try it on Tuesday is "Easter" or "New Life/Spring" they go together so well. I chose more towards spring as I had wanted to make this for quite a bit now but did not have the theme to fir it to and spring I though would work well. I cut the box from card/folded and put together to form a 3D birdhouse. Before taping it together I stamped on the sides with Tim Holtz stamps. Once together I added some Flowersoft to the stamping and then some paper Prima flowers and leaves. The gems were a final touch to the flowers. The birds are from an old stamp(the name is worn off so I am not sure who made them but I love them.) I stamped and cut the image separating the doves. I put one on the perch and the other inside with some feathers and cut up sewing pattern paper .

The roof of the house is done by cutting up bits of craft card and gluing them down(no need to be precise as it adds to the effect). To get it to look like real wood planks I brushed with a sponge in a downward motion with Brushed corduroy distress ink. I love how it turned out. Finally I added the lace trim. I used a light grey Promarker to create soft lines in the white card before my stamping to create the effect of planks.

Here is another view. Now if you head on over to the Try it on Tuesday Challenge Blog you can see some more great inspiration from my teamies and then join in the fun. Hope to see you there. Thanks for popping in and have a most wonderful day. Angela

Time for another challenge at The Stamp Man

The new challenge is ready at The Stamp Man and this week we've got a Bingo card for you to work with this time.

Green	Fabric	Polka dots
Flowers	Circle	Numbers
Swirls	Metal/metallic	Ribbon

Make us something using 3 of the elements to make a Bingo line, lines can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal, anything else goes!! Don't forget there's a £10 Stamp Man voucher to be won for one lucky person. for my row I chose Green, Flowers, Swirls.

And here is my journal page I did.

I covered the background with Forest Moss distress stain then again with a wash of white paint. I then used peeled paint and forest moss stains on my mat and spritzed with water then dipped my page in it. once dry I stamped the Aspects of Design Rose around the edges without a block so as not to get the corner lines of the stamp. I used Black Archival to to this then heat set it. I then used a paint brush and mu distress stains to paint in the roses. Last I added the swirls but from Tim Holtz flourish die brushed with Walnut distress stain. The journaling on the page is hand written.

Now if you head on over to The stamp Man Challenge blog there are some more great inspirations from the team to get you started. We cannot wait to see what you do. Thanks for stopping in and Have a great day. Angela

Aspects of Design Rose stamp

Black Archival ink

White paint (blank canvas by Claudine Hellmuth)

Tim Holtz distress stains (Fired Brick, Spun Sugar, Walnut stain, Peeled paint and Forest Moss)

Sakura black pen

Where does the time go?

It seems like there are just not enough hours in the day anymore to accomplish all that needs to get done and still have time for crafting. Why were things so much easier in the UK. It seemed that I had much more time to craft and get everything done even though I was working more. ?? I don't know. Anyway, I did make a bit of time for some crafting today. I got this page done again just in the nick of time for the SYAO challenge. This is week number 7's sketch.

And here is my take....

the picture is of Belle feeding the humming birds at my dads. She had to stand very still for quite a bit to get them to come around. If you look close you can see the one heading to the feeder she is holding.

The papers are from Prima Song Bird collection. The tree is make using an old Prima foam stamp. I cut out the leaves by hand from scrap paper and sprayed them with Mistletoe Tattered Angels mist.

The birds are cut from the Song bird paper and placed around. Here is a close up of the tree and birds(above).

Below is a close up of the quote(came from an old sticker sheet sorry I do not know the name). It reads "Life reveals her beauty one precious miracle at a time" I used a bit of inked tuling over it and added the ribbon roses(Tim Holtz) on that. I am happy with the end result. Of course it took me half the day though.

Tomorrow I have some volunteer work in the morning at my daughters school then in the evening I am starting a Zumba class with a friend of mine. I am very excited but I have no idea what to expect. I hope it is not too crazy. I have been missing my walks we used to do in England so some exercise would be a good thing.

Hopefully I will have a bit of time to do some crafting catch up in between tomorrows activities. I heard it is supposed to rain a bit so I can skip the laundry for a day and spend it crafting instead.

That is at least until school lets out.

Now I am off to do some much needed blog reading and catch up.

Thanks for stopping in and have a wonderful day. Angela

Wonders in Watercolour

"Wonders on Watercolour" Is the theme over at Try it on Tuesday this week for our first challenge in the new format. You can create anything you want as long as it stays within the watercolour theme. This week we are sponsored by or friends over at One Stop Card Crafts.

For my project I chose to create a tag for Spring. I covered the background with watercolour paint then stamped the mushrooms using Dylusions stamps. The mushrooms are painted with watercolour paint. The rabbit is from Tim Holtz stamped and cut out on white card and colored using Watercolour paints.

The butterflies are also from Tim Holtz. I painted the stamp with the watercolour paint then spritzed with water and stamped on white card. They are then cut out and put in place.

Now if you head on over to The TIOT blog you can see all the great inspirational works from my team mates. Then we cannot wait to see yours. Don't forget to check out the new challenge rules too.

Thanks for stopping in and have a great day. Angela

This Fortnight over at the Stamp Man Mrs Stamp Man herself Jill is hosting the challenge and the Theme is Vintage. I love anything vintage from lace to flowers. Anything and everything. I chose to do a card for this project because I just love this Rose Corset stamp from Stampendous. The border is done using my Napkin Collage kit then edged with Oakleaf Gold Moonglow powder and Fusible webbing.
The Corset is colored using Tim Holtz Distress inks then covered with Crackle accents and Glossy accents.

Now if you head over to The Stamp Man Challenge blog you can see some wonderful inspirations created by the rest of the team. We cannot wait to see your creations, and don;t forget one lucky person will win a voucher for The Stamp Man online shop.

Thanks for stopping in and have a great day. Angela

Materials used:

Stampendous Rose Corset Stamp

Tim Holtz Distress inks - Peeled paint, Old Paper, Tea Dye, Victorian Velvet, Spun Sugar

Glossy Accents

Ranger Crackle Accents

US Artquest Napkin Collage kit

Fusible Webbing

Moonglow EP Oakleaf Olive Gold

old lace

It's been awhile...

Its been awhile since my last post. Between the family and I being poorly and not enough hours in the day the time has just flown by. I am of course late with everything this week but my head being the mush that it is lately moving fast is not an option at the moment. I am partaking in this challenge online called SYAO which stands for Scrap your XXX off. I'll let you fill in the blanks. We have to make a layout based on a sketch once a week and it must include items and techniques from their list. We have 1 week to make the layout or we are out of the running. Of course I am just making it by the skin of my teeth this week. I thought I would share my layout as I am really happy with the way it turned out and it incorporates some of my favorite things which is what our post is about on TIOT this week.

This week over at Try it on Tuesday we have announced our new DT members and they have all shared some of their favorite things in a project with you. We have also revamped the challenges and layout of the weeks so be sure to hop on over and check it out. We hope the new changes will help to optimize the fun in the challenges. Please do also check out the new DT member blogs they are looking forward to meeting you. Our new challenge will begin next week , we hope to see you there.

And now for some of my favorite things. I am showing off some of my favorite techniques and things to use. I love creating layout and other projects with photos. Prima flowers are a top on my list of favs although cost prohibits me from buying too many. Distressing is another love whether it is with inks or paper edging I just have to do it.
I love adding texture to my work with fabrics and laces and I am a pushover for quotes. I love collecting them. You never know when one might come in handy. My stamping has become another fav although hard to see here. I stamped the pattern making paper with music before adding it to the layout. Paints are fun too, I like adding a touch in some way to may layouts. I added some grey Dylusions paint with a credit card just to the right of the main collage.
And my final favorite is not a technique but my inspiration. My daughter. She is so beautiful and gives me some type of inspiration in life itself each day. whether it is a photo or from a conversation she is a very important part of my creativity.

Hope you enjoyed some of my fav's. Now if you head on over to the TIOT blog you can see some of my new teamies favs too. You can also follow the links on the sidebar to see some favorites of the rest of the team.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day. Angela