Upcycling and Katzelkraft

Happy Saturday to you, Over at the Craft Barn we've been playing with Katzelkraft stamps. Here is my upcycled project, a chocolate box from Christmas..........the box will last longer than the choccies LOL

I painted the box with gesso first to prepare it to take paint, I used Fresco chalk finish guacamole outside and little black dress inside.


The cat is cute and in white shrink plastic, I've used it on the key ring. The chain for the key ring came on a clothes tag. Now I have somewhere to store my glitter pens.

Keep an Eye out because next week on the Craft Barn website there will be a discount (YIPPEE!) on shrink plastic   Just click the link to check it out!!


I made a CAS card with Katzelkraft stamps, this time with a male theme, I love the Old Gent on his bike :0)

I used
Katzelkraft stamps,
Fresco Chalk paints in Guacamole and Little Black Dress,
White Shrink Plastic,
The Craft Barn has more of the stamps used in these projects and more this week, well worth checking out if you have a minute or two. Thanks for stopping by, see you again soon, Gay xx

Charming Moi?

Well maybe not but I try :0)
Welcome to a very soggy, wet Coffee towers. The coffee is piping hot and delicious pull up a chair and join me.
I hope your day is going well?
The weather lady said this could be the wettest drought you've ever experienced LOL

The challenge over at LIM 64 with the lovely Chrissie and Mandi  is...............

Our theme this week is 

How Charming!

Make and/or use a charm on your project

I made an oriental card, it's a very long time since I got these stamps out but I've always loved them. They were from eBay so I've no idea what make or manufacturer.

My charm is made from a large chinese bead  and some  more beads from a broken bracelet threaded onto a piece of gold wire.

The diamond shape is on the easyscore board, I scored the two diamonds and cut the centre out then drew around the cut out to make my shape in black card. Embossing the shape and using rubbing paste gave it a little interest I then trimmed down. 

It was a nightmare to photograph because of the low light. Using different coloured backgrounds gives very different results but a bit of sun would have helped, It always does :0)

The potograph of my day out was at RHSWisley no-one guessed it :{ Never mind:0)

Thank you for joining me today, hugs Gay xxx

Doodling more doodling?

More doodling!! That is the challenge at the Stampotique Designers Challenge  this time. I am scooting in a little late !
Welcome to you, trusty reader and crafty buddy! Alright no more waffle, you've heard enough!

Love this little guy 'Rocky' and here he has a friend/ brother. I struggle most with cards for chaps. Here is another example, for goodness sake I started with magenta, how did it end up a male card? AAAnyway the background is Pan Pastels and my new fad/find washi tape and of course the scribble is me.



I have a small pic of what I got up to on Friday, anyone know where I was?

Want a clue?
Loads of  Vert l'inspiration doigts to be had at this place and it's in Surrey, that's two clues

 We had the best day, my friends and I, dodging the downpours and eating cakes!!!
Enjoy your week, Gay xxx

Crafty Individuals?

Welcome to Saturday, I hope you are well :0)

Hi Folks, Happy weekend :0) Todays post is short and I hope sweet!
Crafty Individuals stamps are just great and at the Craft Barn Blog we've been playing again:0)

 Here is my card using these lovely stamps, over on the CB blog there is more information and I pose a question:0)

 I hope you have a great weekend whatever you decide to do, Gay xxx

Doodling oh yes?

Hi there my crafty buddies, Today I have been catching my breath, I have had some very busy days!
Here is my doodling card for LIM 63, this week Chrissie and Mandi asked us for a one layer card with some doodling on it

I drew the flowers and then watercoloured them but I used Dylusions ink spray, yummy colours folks. This one is bubblegum pink! Sentiment stamp is from an old Hot off the Press clear set.






One of the busy days I had was a brilliant trip to Alexandra Palace on Sunday, Chrissie LIM and I drove up together and we met some wonderful Limmettes for lunch

Absolutely gorgeous ladies,
from the left, bottom row Valerie, Vicky and Jenny
top row from left , me next to Chrissie
Sylvie, (Gibmiss) was there too but had disappeared by the time Chrissie grabbed a poor unsuspecting gent and persauded him to do the honours with her camera!!
I was just a little tense as my silly Sat nav had played up on the journey in to London and I was expecting it to do the same on the way home and I wasn't wrong it went wild and reset itself when we were in the middle of central London LOL Oh I can laugh now but I was Stressed with a capital S. It became an awfully long journey home.



But the show was fun and I bought some Pan Pastels,  super colours! Today I've had a bit of play time. This background is with versamark ink with the Pan Pastels underneath and over the top using two new stamps, Impression Obsession. One is Cover a card Snowflakes and the other a leaf spray.






I've used my little Brother Labelling machine, love all the different lettering it does.


Have fun, hugs Gay xxx

Mosaics?

Hello my friends and welcome. Today I am joining the Craft Barn team and have made something with mosaics, two cards and a tag!




Here I used the Crafty Individuals books and sneakily cut up the tiles, they were perfect for this! In the centre of the tiles I've used diamond glaze. It makes them look a little more like tile.





My card , the rectangular one, can be used in either orientation, landscape or portrait. That can be useful depending on which sentiment you want to use. I think that these mosaic cards are universal, very general appeal although the rectangular one is slightly more masculine, perhaps?


I love the colours of these tiles mmm yum. Thanks for checking out my post !! Have a wonderful weekend,  Gay xxx

More details on the Craft Barn blog

Greens?

Hello my crafty friends, Today I've been making a card for  LIM62 Chrissie and Mandi require 3 greens and as they are  the divas we obey :0) LOL 

 Three Shades of Green.

 Here is a montage of the processes after the initial embossing

The card was stamped with the starburst in two colours of green (Versacolor ink pad limone), then clear embossed, I masked (1) to give a panel of colour which was two colours of green by Tim Holtz Crushed Olive and Peeled Paint. Over the top of that I stamped the flower in black (2) I masked and stamped twice more (3) but because I used a pigment ink I had to use a green mica powder to seal it and stop it rubbing off the embossed design (4)
Card candy from Craftwork cards, mine was silver and I coloured with copic pens.

I used stamps by Banana Frog sadly no longer in production :{
Mica powder, FX from Dreamweaver

I'm off to visit some lovely Limettes now, thanks for stopping here:0) Leave a comment and I can visit you too, Gay xxx

Gold leaf, Oh It's lovely

Hi everyone, I hope you're having a good Saturday!
This week at the Craft Barn we have been playing with gold leaf. I love this medium it's sumptuous and makes a project feel very special! After all it's a precious metal.


My card was made with metal leaf, red oxide and adhered with extra strong adhesive tape. That is a very easy way to get it onto your project fast and the lines are always straight. I used some sticky backed canvas and frayed the edges. Pretty colours from the acrylic paints











Click on the picture to see a larger image.




I made a box next. I stamped with Tim Holtz Book covers stamps onto acetate and added gold leafing to the stamped side of the acetate. I hope that will protect the stamping and gold leaf. The sentiment is stamped on the outside of the acetate just so that it reads correctly!!

So difficult crafting for chaps, I've said it so many times but I really struggle to make things they will use/like. This one I was pleased with, I really hope you like it too:0) Thank you so much for stopping to look! Gay x

I used

Tim Holtz stamps Book Covers, Purely Random.
Gold leaf in Oxidating Red
Claudine Helmuth Sticky Canvas

More details and lovely samples of gold leaf on the Craft Barn Blog

Christmas? We haven't had Easter yet!

Good Day to you:0)
Well it's snowing in the North, poor things. I heard one chap on the lunchtime news say
" I've still got a sun tan from last week!"
Tee hee!! No wonder we Brits talk about the weather so much !

Susan at Simplicity has challenged us, for OLW 85, to make a one layer card for Christmas but we shouldn't use any sentiment. So I had a play

Do you recognise this little guy? :0)
The stamps are Tapestry and a definite favourite, love their stamps. I can't find them on their site I think they are probably discontinued. :{
Apart from a little glitter gel pen it's simply masking and inking with distress inks! I hope you're warm wherever you are, thanks for looking Gay x

Spring is here, that's why they're forecasting snow !!

Hi there folks, Welcome here!
Yes! They ( the weather people) definitely said snow bbrrrrr. Thank heavens for Stampotique's Designer Challenge, we can at least dream that spring has sprung and stayed with us :0)

I've made a humongous tag, she's enormous LOL Bigger than DL and it was loads of fun!


I'd like to enter this card in the Happy Daze Challenge this month , it's all about water or watery products (available from Happy Daze that is) I used Cosmic Shimmer mist Pearl!! And of course the stamps :0)





I love the little birdy, he tags along for fun, she doesn't really need the leash but is frightened that he may get lost or wander off without it!

You can make the pictures bigger by clicking on them, that's if you're brave enough (Sarn!) ROFL!!

I used Stampotique stamps from Happy Daze
Cosmic shimmer pearl
Mask Crafters workshop from The Craft Barn