A Grumpie b'day card

Who can resist these little creatures? For those that don't know about the Grumpies, please go visit their home at Smeared Ink and look at the collection. This image is from the original Li'l Grumpies set. The birthday card is for my best friend. She's definitely a girly girl but she adores the Grumpies. Pink is her colour of preference and it wouldn't be fair not to go with that. So in shades of pink with black, this double twisted easel was born.



I followed the sketches over on Midnight Madness, both the simple and the more ornate.
The Grumpie was stamped onto some pale pink CS and coloured with PMs. A frame cut out and wrapped in fluffy fibres of pink and black before sticking on. This mounted onto embossed and sanded black with pink core-dinations, edge distressed with two hot pink circles that were also embossed and the raised pattern rubbed over with black wax. Then onto shiny black card then pale pink.
The sentiment refers to the fact she has lost some weight and therefore not so "fluffy". That side has pale and dark pink ribbons with black brads across and shiny black with pink brads.. One of the circles highlighted with pink and black roses. Some pink pearls to finish.
The base is made up of similar CS to the main panels with the addition of two home made buttons. Made from shrink plastic with the mini version of the main grumpie stamped on and coloured with PMs. Sewn on with silver thread.

The whole thing mounted onto black cardstock.














There are a couple of challenges that I am entering this into.
Delicious Doodles - Make you own Buttons
Midnight Madness Challenge #92 - Sketch
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturday - Easel Card
Totally Gorguss - Black plus 1 other colour - pink
Card Making Mamas - Birthday
The Rubber Cafe - Fancy Folds
The Stamp Man - Curls and Swirls
Stamptacular Sundays - You've been Framed
Crafts 4 Eternity - Easel Card

New Baby

With Christmas and Valentine's day gone, blog land seems to have had a crystal ball out and there're a few challenges now for "New Baby". I say crystal ball because I have been asked to make no less than 7 new baby cards for the next couple of weeks. There must've been something in the water 9 months ago because of all of them are girls bar only one that we don't know yet. This is the first of the batch.
Using a new born line drawing found using Google.
The artist wasn't identified I'm afraid, so I can't give credit. I coloured the image using promarkers, smudging some pearlescent pink pigment ink round the edges and dots of stickles in the corners. This was layered onto pale pink pearlised CS. The bottom panel was pieced together using some baby papers (that were gifted to me by a friend a year ago when I first started making cards, so of unknown origin). Layered onto the pink pearlised and a scrap of darker pink paper. The "Sweet Girl" sentiment is from a selection of preprinted vellum sentiments.
The bouquet made from a selection of flowers from Crafty Feelings.
That's the bottom part of the card.
For the top part.....

I cut a circle from pearlised silver CS using decorative scissors to provide "grip" and stamped 6 baby images on it using stazon ink. Slightly coloured using pencils. Cut a hole from the top layers to allow those images to be seen (edged with silver peeloff) and secured with a brad.

Ribbon down the side and a "Ten tiny fingers.." stamp (Stazon ink) stamp. Finished off with some flock covered hands and feet brads that I cut the backs off and stuck on.
All mounted onto pink CS base.

I'm all pinked out now...... until tomorrow when I have to do another.


I am going to enter this into a couple of challenges
Scrapbook Sisters Blog - Baby, Baby
My Time To Craft - Going Round in circles - taken literally
Simon Say Stamp Challenge - Make Your Own Embellishment - The wheel to change image
Dezinaworld - Teeny Tiny - subject and stamps used
The Crazy Challenge - Baby Love
Die Cut Dreams - It's a Girl
Ooh La La Creations - Pink, Pink and more Pink

Glimmer and glitz

I'm still playing with the "sculpture paper" as detailed in previous posts. This is the last piece I made. This time in shades of green with copper highlights. I like the way it looks in different lights and at different angles.
I loosely followed the sketch over at Sweet Sketch Wednesday incorporating the folded frame as inspired by Tuesday Morning Sketches. I did adapt the normal square somewhat.

The copper glimmer mist came out to give a sheen to some pale jade green/turquoise CS. This was teamed up with some copper pearlised CS to make the card and the folded frame etc.
The sculpture paper was stuck on the copper CS base before the jade/turquoise green that I had cut 2 apertures from.

The folded frame is secured with copper brads and turquoise dew drops



The image is the "Jewelled Fairy" from Delicious Doodles. Coloured using promarkers with some pearlised paints to add some shimmer and a touch of glitter dust to the wings.







Some copper corner peeloffs with more turquoise and copper dewdrops top and bottom.

I am entering this card into the following challenges
Tuesday Morning Sketches - Folded Frame
Sweet Sketch Wednesday - Sketch
Delicious Doodles - Glitz, Glamour, Shimmer and Bling
Sparkles Forum - Fairies
Simply Create - Bold and Bright
Stamp Something - Funky
Stamp It Crazy - Free for all
Little Red Wagon - Misting - the CS
Totally Stampalicious - Glitz and Glamour
The Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Fancy Folds

Lots of Love

Another card for my little stockpile of emergency birthday cards. This time, following the sketch over at Sweet Pea Stampers with, of course, a SweetPea image from Ching-Chou Kuik
In shades of blue and purple with silver accents.

The image was coloured using promarkers with a touch of metalic paint here and there to highlight. cut out and mounted onto navy blue CS that I had stamped with the same image and heat embossed so that the swirly bits were that bit different. This in turn mounted onto silver to which I added the blue and silver handmade flower and some lilac dewdrops. a very light dusting of gold glitter dust to tie in with the hair.
The BP is homemade "sculpture paper" as shown to us over on the Smeared and Smudged forum by Terra. Backed onto the same silver and navy CS as the image. The sentiment was double heat embossed for depth and definition and the navy CS rubbed over lightly with a lilac pigment ink. All the panels were mounted onto silver then onto navy CS base. Silver fineline peel offs were used to give the impression of yet more layers. Then yet more dewdrops in lilac to finish.

Sweet Pea Stampers are having a DT call and this card has been entered into that as well. Anyone that wishes to try out - hurry on over - you've got until end of feb to enter.

Challenges that I am entering this into are
Sweet Pea Stampers - Their Sketch
In a Sweet Pea Dream - Anything Goes
Stamping Royalty - Mark It Up
Fab 'n' Funky - Make your own embellishment - the flower and the paper are home made

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to all that share that special day this week. The making of this card for Tellen's Place co-incided with our own Diva Joyce's birthday and this was made for her. I only hope she recieved it before the challenge post has gone up. I went "Girly" for this as I know it would be more appreciated.

The card depicts "Celebrate Paige"
coloured with promarkers cut out and attached to a pearlised card base with a holographic green stick-on border and a preprinted "Happy Birthday" topper

The card shape itself is a variation on the "stepper card". The centre panel being cut into an oval shape.
The card base is silver and panels cut to fit. The side panels are from a mag giveaway from last year and the bottom is from the "fragrant mint" collection over at Crafty Chaos Designs. Ribbons and flowers attached to co-ordinate.


Now it's your turn to show us your Birthday creations. The winner gets to choose Three images from the store.
Don't forget to go and visit the other Divas and see their beautiful birthday celebration creations.

OOPS Nearly forgot - There's a FREEBIE available on the challenge for you to use. No excuses now.



There are a couple of challenges I would like to enter this card into
Scrappekammeret Blog - Birthday
Karber Challenge - Birthday
Dutch Dare Card Challenges - Glimmer and glitz
Card Making Mamas - Birthday
For Fun Challenges - Birthday

Smeared and Smudged Valentine Blog Hop

The challenge went up in the forum Smeared and Smudged
"We are going to be doing Valentine’s Day Blog Hop Smeared and Smudged style! What exactly does that mean? It means we are challenging you this hop. The challenge is to create something Valentine’s Day / love themed, but there is a catch. Because we are Smeared and Smudged you can not use any of the following:
No hearts

No red or pink

Nothing ‘cute’ unless you make it uncute of course :)"

The gauntlet was thrown down.

Next poser then was "What to do?" Well the brain cell rattled about a bit for a few days and I very nearly didn't put my name down for this. Then Terra started up the mixed media classes again with steps to making "sculpture paper" out of kitchen roll. One of the pieces I made up was ideal for altering a box I had in mind. This also fits in with another of the challenges over at the forum set by our own fair Jane, "to make or alter a box and fill it".
Are you sitting comfy? This is a long post. Well a lot went into it.

So the project was started.

It's a valentine gift to ME. I used scraps left over from making my wedding dress. Our wedding anniversary was the 11th Feb. the 14th was fully booked up.

The paper before cutting to fit looked a bit like this - the light wasn't the best.

Painted with acrylics black with purple and a silver metalic rub on the ridges.

I made a flower from some of the dress fabric (yes, I got married in purple) adding a silver and black button in the middle and some smaller silver grey, purple and black chiffon roses sticking these to the box top after a final rub round the edges with the metalic rub-on.

Some more of the dress fabric round the edges and black velvet ribbon with some bobbles on to neaten.

The box base was coated with gesso and when dry, black acrylic paint stippled on to give a stone effect with some more purple paint in fine lines to (hopefully) make it look like marble.

Ok, so that's the outside of the box.


Inside
Some more of the dress fabric was used to make a cushion. This was to provide the resting place of my first home made piece of jewellery.


Various beads and the 6 discs have grumpies from Smeared Ink stamped onto shrink plastic. coloured slightly with amethyst promarker.








All 6 of the mini original grumpies have been used, these are just 2 of them.

I hope you're still with me because the rest of the girls I KNOW have some awesome projects lined up as well. Please go visit.
The list is
Terra
Tori
Alison
Lady B
Helen that's me
Kymberly
Berenice
Kelli
Lisa
Dianne
Teri
Rebecca
Steph
Jane
Sugar
Kapree
Black Dragon
Alex

I am entering this into the Smeared and Smudged forum feb challenge set by Jane
Other challenges
Little Claire's Designs - Anything Goes
Simon Says - Anything but a Card
One Stitch At A Time - One Year Birthday Bash - Make It Pretty

Frenzy for HDH

A flesh eating frenzy. Not every day one is challenged to make some form of artwork to represent that. So after nearly a week to think about it, I finally came up with this. A page in my art journal.

The background paper and the bottom left are two from the "Creature Feature" papers set from Crafty Chaos. The top picture is from a blog kukumelu.wordpress.com, found after I did a little searching for pics of Shiva. Some of the followers of that Indian diety do practice cannibalism. Scavenging rather than killing for their meat on the whole, many making their homes in graveyards.

The two other images are from Tellen's Place, Grunthor at the top and Eyegore at the bottom
Both coloured with promarkers with a bit of added red acrylic paint.

A few little mites added to the pic for good measure.





I am entering this into the challenge over at Haunted Design House challenge #78 - Flesh Eating Frenzy

Blue Love

Dark Valentine is the name of the image from Delicious Doodles that I have used for this special Valentine card. Coloured in blue and purple pencil and smudged round it using blue pastel.

I'm still having light issues and out of loads of pics these were the best out of the lot.

I have used the sketch over at Anything Goes Challenge Blog. The panel behind the image started off life as black, grey and white to which I distressed with Stormy Sky DI to make blue. The two panels behind that are a "dirty violet" colour. These I embossed and rubbed pewter metallic paste over the raised bits. All panels were matted onto cornflower blue before sticking onto a dark blue with white flecks then amythyst. The horizontal panel is an off cut of the base CS that has navy ribbon added. Navy, powder blue and lilac buttons piled up and sewn on.

The heart is a die cut that has been double heat embossed in pewter to hide the fact it was red.
The little crystal letters (dovecraft) spell "I'm blue without you".
All this onto a lilac card base.

I am entering this into the challenges
Anything Goes challenges - their sketch
Delicious Doodles challenges - Valentine's Day
Digital Tuesday - From the heart
Stamp It Crazy - Valentines
Raise The Bar - Valentines with no pink or red
Make it Colourful - Shadow and Depth. (Although I'm late for last week, I think this still covers the challenge
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Valentine

New Start

A dear friend has recently moved home. I have wanted to share this before but of course needed to wait until it was recieved or lose the surprise.
It was made entirely for this person. Incorporating bits of her and going forward into a new life. If you know this person all the elements would make sense and I'm pleased to say she was happy with it.



For the main image, I have used two digi images from Delicious Doodles. The skull is actually the poinsettia skull slipped in behind the rose corner. These were both coloured using promarkers, before decoupaging different layers for the rose. With a bit of DI to "age" the white bits.







The butterfly panel is pink/black core-dinations. Embossed and sanded with one corner pinned down with a sparkly brad from stash. The lace is older than I am. A bundle given to me over 30 years ago. The torn papers and little journey elements recieved in a RAK.
The black velvet ribbon was pleated and stuck down. With 3 different types of black ribbon along the bottom of the butterfly panel.

All distressed and stuck onto pink then black card base and finished off with some black gems for that bit of bling.



There are a couple of challenges that I would like to enter this into
One Stitch At A Time - Do it with a digi - there are 2 here

Tellen's Place has gone Stripey

Yes, merry bloggers, it's the turn of stripes this week that we want to see on your projects.
Terry and the rest of us Divas at Tellen's Place, have made a few things to show you and hopefully inspire.
The winner gets to choose THREE images from the shop.
Don't forget to go visit the other girls and leave some love.
For my project I went of my normal track and have not turned to the dark side, but then not entirely girly either. Sitting on the fence with a foot each side.


Lots of stripey paper. Mostly from DCWV citrus range but with scraps from my bit box. The black stripey and hearts papers were in a fab RAK from a blogging friend. You might notice I cut a couple of the entwined hearts out to show the stripes underneath.












I threaded a narrow black ribbon through one paper to add more dimension. The flowers and buttons are from Crafty Feelings. The hand made paper heart from another RAK. Even those buttons are striped.
The image itself is coloured with promarkers.
So, come on in and show us your stripes, Please.

I am entering this into the challenges at
Timeless Flourishes - Button Up
Tuesday Throwdown - Buttons
Diva Coffee Break Designs - Pink, Red and Grey

Valentine for My Dude?

It's my wedding anniversary next week. 3 years. Second time around, for me. The challenge over at Dude Time Doodles meant I could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Make him a card and follow their sketch. It wouldn't be me to make him a mushy card. He'd think something was wrong with me. This image from Bonibleaux Designs fits the bill to a tee. He supports Hearts Football Club here in Scotland and their colours are maroon and silver grey. If the light here were better you'd see this was made in those colours. I hate this time of year for the light. Hopefully when the birthday fairy comes visiting, I might get a lamp that mimics daylight. I can dream can't I? Ooops off subject!! But you get the idea, hopefully.

The papers are from the mans range from Papermania from last year in the maroon and some silver grey plain paper from stash. Layered onto some maroon then onto some matt silver CS for a base. The heart shaped brads were green. I sanded that colour off to leave the silver base colour showing through.
The image was coloured with promarkers with a touch of DI round the edges.

I am entering this into the challenge over at Dude Time Doodles - Their Sketch

Angel or Demon?

This is a work in progress that I am posting now as the challenge that I made it for closes tonight.
The major part of the work is done, just need to decorate the outside of the little book I made.
It depicts the notion that in "All in all good people there is a little bad, and all bad people there contains a little good".
The pages can be viewed from front to back or back to front depends on your choice. It ended up being a similar thing to Lyn's (Blackdragon) project but didn't start off that way. Was only when I looked back again at the DT inspiration that I realised what I had done.
Anyway
page 1 showing the Demon in the pits of fire
page 2 The demon at the start/end of transition
3.The acetate layer on the demon 4. The 2 acetate layers with angel
5. The acetate angel over pic.










6. The fallen Angel











and finally the Angel in full wing Details
Images "Hades" and "Zhenix" from Tellen's Place Designs all coloured with promarkers on the card and DI on the acetate layers. Card from stash. Feathers were salvedged from a dream catcher that daughter left behind when she moved out.
All the pages were sewn together to form a book.
If I get the rest finished before the deadline I'll amend this post then. In the meantime I am entering the WIP to the challenge over at Haunted Design House for their challenge #74 - Angels and Demons

Delicious Doodles meets Smeared Ink

This week, the challengeover at Delicious Doodles is being sponsered by Smeared Ink, who are launching a few new lines of digis. I just happen to be a member of the forum @ Smeared and Smudged and have a few of their stamps. Both digi and rubber. So I combined images from the two companies.
This week there is a sketchy to follow (loosely). Any theme.

My card comes in two parts,
The Front With the Grim Reaper from the Delicious Doodles collection and Holy City rubber and "It's about Time Pocketwatch" digi from Smeared Ink.
The Reaper is already a pencil drawing but I adding more painting it with distress inks, then adding a bit of ink distressing round it. The stripey paper was recieved in a fab RAK. I couldn't find another paper I wanted to use to back it all with so did some soot stamping with a couple of the Holy City stamps. The little time pieces added to follow the sketch. The web ribbon was from Bunny Zoe's Crafts . All this matted onto black paper then a grey textured CS base. The sentiment painted in.
The Inside
Features one of the new images from the Smitten range of Smeared Ink. The BP is from papermania with some satin ribbon taped down to break it up. I felt the regency look matched the image. This again was painted with DIs and backed on a piece of purple CS
I am entering this into the challenge over at Delicious Doodles - Sketch
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Anything Goes (GDT)

Hearts

It's Friday again. Means another challenge over at Tellen's Place. This week the challenge is for you all to show us your hearty creations. With Valentine's day only 10 days away, I know this won't be hard to do for you all. The Divas have done their usual and made some fantastic projects to inspire ... if you needed it.
For my example I used the two goth love birds. Coloured using pencils adding a little chain detail with silver gel pen and ink distressed round them. Backed onto black. The heart paper is from the Halloween Bride set from Crafty Chaos. Slightly changed digitally to make the hearts a pink colour.
The was then layered onto a dark purple paper from that set, ink distressing again with black then onto plain purple paper. The roses are hand made using some 2tone chiffon, the same material being used for the "ribbon" detail at the bottom. I attached the chain length with brads to tie in with the image adding a "forever" heart that was left behind when my daughter moved out. A relic of those teenage BFF gestures. All this was backed onto a black CS base.
That's about it for my card. Don't forget to visit the other Divas and leave some love. Then post your heart projects for us to come and see. The challenge winner not only gets to choose 3 images from the shop but gets to be Guest Designer next month.

I am entering this into the challenges
Digi Doodle Shop's Best - Valentines
Creative Card Crew - Pink and Purple
Stamp It Crazy - Pink, Red and Black
The Creative Cowgirls Challenge - Love is in the air
Digis by Phooka - Love is in the air
Crafty Creations Challenges - My love is like a Red Red Rose
Creative Inspirations Challenge - Valentines/Love
Creative Inspirations Paint - Hearts