Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Tick Tock, Time for...

Hello everyone!

I'm back again with another project!  I was so excited when I was invited to be a guest designer at Top Tip Tuesday that I guess I got a little overzealous and I made two projects!  The theme this fortnight is anything but a card.  The talented DT have come up with some beautiful projects, so please pop over to check them out.  I hope you are able to join in!

For my second project, I created a clock for my crafting room.  Sometimes I get a little carried away and stay up a little late crafting, so now I have no excuses!  We'll see how it goes... 
Supplies:

Clock - paper mache box, clock parts (movement and needles available at Lee Valley )
Paper - 300g hot pressed watercolour paper, basic grey dp
Stamps - Magnolia
Ink - Images where stamped with black stazon and coloured with Distress ink (antique linen, walnut stain, bundled sage, pumice stone, tumbled glass and black soot)
Other - box was painted green to match the dp, flowers are from pretty petals and where inked with antique linen, ribbon, lace from Kaiser, large wood beads for feet (which where painted white with watered down acrylic paint), Stampin up antique brads, and finally the clock face - I could not find one that I both liked and that was the right size, so this one is computer generated, printed onto acetate and layered in front of the image.

Here are a few more angles:



I would like to enter my clock in the following challenges:

Magnolia Down Under - anything but a card
Magnolia-licious Highlights - lots of luscious lace bloghop
Scrapbooker's Paradise Playing in Paradise Challenge - Fabulous Flowers
Simply Magnolia - Use two image stamps
ABC Challenge - N for neutral

Thanks for visiting and for taking the time to leave a comment!  I appreciate all your comments and love to visit you back!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Hugs,

Dawn

Book Worm

Hello everyone!

I hope you are all well!  I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of my blog's new followers - I am thrilled to have you along! 

I have some very exciting news to share!  I was invited to be a guest designer for Top Tip Tuesday!  A huge thank you to all the wonderfully talented gals at TTT for allowing me the opportunity to join in with them - it is truly a great honour.

So, without further ado, this fortnight the challenge over at Top Tip Tuesday is anything but a card.  We were given images from Robyn's Fetish to play with and I chose her book worm image for my scrapbook layout. 

When I picked the little bookworm image, I thought he would be perfect to make a paper piecing pattern for a page featuring my two year old, who just loves to 'wead.'  This is a great way to use your digi's and it really allows you to adapt them to your creative needs.  So, how did I turn a digi into a no lines paper piecing?  You'll have to pop on over to TTT to read all about it...

Supplies:

Paper - bazzill card and echo park dp
Image - book worm by Robyn's Fetish
Other - edges inked with DI chipped saphire and stormy sky, glossy accents applied to the yellow letters which were cut with SCAL2, yellow ribbon, white paper ribbon and string are all from my stash.  I started out with a sketch and adapted it, but unfortunately, I cannot remember the source:(

Please do check out what the TTT design team have created - it is sure to be a feast for the eyes and an opportunity to learn a few new tricks too!

Thank you so very much for popping by!  I hope you will be able to join in the fun at TTT - you have two weeks to create a project and there are some great prizes up for grabs!

Hugs,

Dawn

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

An egg-cellent impression

Hello peeps!

First, a warm welcome to my blog's new follower!  I'm so very glad to have you along on my crafting adventures!

I hope everyone has been well!  Things have been busy around these parts.  We had some company from out of town and my husband had the opportunity to play in a hockey tournament with ex-NHL players which filled up most of last weekend.  But it is now back to business as usual, so I finally have a project to share.

This is a little Easter decoration I made using Magnolia mini stamps.  The first time I saw these, I just knew they would make the cutest little Easter eggs.  I wasn't sure if I would actually be able to stamp the images on eggs, but a couple dozen eggs later... (well not quite, but almost :o) )  I am nothing if not persistent and this technique does take practice.  You should be able to spare yourself at least a dozen of those eggs by following the tips at the end of this post.
Some details:

The basket was recycled.  It started out a pale straw colour which I was not fond of, so I painted it white with acrylic paint cut with a bit of water.  The cloth is recycled scrap cloth from old curtains.

Stamps - Magnolia mini chickens, mini Hello Tilda and mini Tilda with eggs in her apron all stamped with black Stazon and coloured with watercolour pencils.

Dies/punches - Magnolia Doohickey for leaves and Cheery Lynn Designs for butterflies, Martha Stewart edge punch for handle

Other embellishments - flowers are from Magnolia and Pretty Petals, pearl pins, flat back pearls, Distress stain in picket fence used on butterflies and leaves, and I think that is all.

I would like to enter this decoration in the following challenges:

Magnolia-licious - photo inspiration
Magnolia Down Under - Easter
Simon Says Stamp - Use your favorite tools (I have many, but on this I used my favorite edge punch and my favorite dies and big kick, and paint brushes - which are probably my favorite tool of all)
Cupcake Craft Challenge - sewing box (use something you would find in a sewing box - I have used pins and fabric scraps)
Deep Ocean Challenge - masking or use more than one stamp
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
Sweet Stampin' Challenge - spring or Easter
Craft Us Crazy - Anything but a card/altered item
Top Tip Tuesday - Easter and/or Animals - my tip is for stamping on eggs:

Start with clean, full, room temperature eggs.  It is very important that the eggs are at room temperature because the slightest bit of condensation will completely ruin your image.  The next trick is to use unmounted stamps - just the rubber.  You need to be able to mould the stamp to the egg.  Foam and wood will prevent you from being able to do so.  The final trick is to use small/narrow stamps.  The wider the stamp, the more difficult it is to get the full image on the egg.

To stamp, ink up your rubber and place it in your hand, gently cupping it in your palm like so:
Then roll the egg, starting from the bottom of the image and working your way up to the top.  As you do so, make sure that the sides of the stamp also contact the egg by squeezing your fingers in to gently cup the egg. 
Practice, practice, practice!  It is difficult, but worth the effort!  Once you have your image stamped, you can drain the eggs by piercing a small whole at the top and bottom of the egg.  I used a large syringe to drain mine.

That's all for now.  Thanks for popping by and thank you if you've taken the time to leave me a comment.  I love reading them and it gives me the chance to stop by your blog too.

Have a great Easter!

Hugs,

Dawn