PPC 101 - Get out those Mists

Hello everyone,

A warm welcome to my blog's newest followers - so glad to have you along!  I hope everyone has had a great week, and that wherever you are, you are keeping warm.  It is Friday (hooray!) and time for a new Playing in Paradise Challenge over at Scrapbooker's Paradise.  Before telling you all about the current challenge, I want to thank everyone who participated in our 100th challenge celebration.  I'm glad you could join us and I loved seeing all your wonderful creations!

This week, the talented Jessi is hosting and she would like to see you using some wonderful sparkly shimmery pearly sprays on your project.  As always, you can make whatever you like using any product you like so long as you follow the theme and create a new project that has not been previously posted.  And, as always, there is a fun prize up for grabs, so be sure to check out the challenge for all the details.

We recently went on vacation to Hawaii Island, so for my project this week I made a thank you card for my aunt-in-law who looked over our house while we were away.  Mahalo is Hawaiian for thank you.

I couldn't resist using the Tropicana line from Kaiser Craft once again - it is so gorgeous.

Supplies:

Paper - Kraft and black Bazzill, Tropicana DP by Kaiser Craft.  Edges were inked with vintage photo DI

Image - Tropicana stamp by Kaiser Craft stamped on 300g hot pressed watercolour paper and coloured with Distress inks (pumice stone, peacock feathers, stormy sky, walnut stain, antique linen, tumbled glass, peeled paint, forest moss, pine needles and black soot) and I made the water shimmery by adding some Lindy's Stamp Gang Glitz Spritz in Royal Peacock Feathers to the ink before painting it on.  I think the sparkle shows up if you click on the photo to make it larger.

Other - Tropicana die cuts, Tropicana stickers (for the letters), MS punch around the page, pearls, sea shell buttons, fibers and Tim Holtz film strip ribbon

If you haven't been already, please pop over to Scrapbooker's Paradise Playing in Paradise challenge to check out the wonderful work the team has created this week.  Then get spritzing and link up your creations.  I'm looking forward to seeing your projects!

Before I go, I would love to share some photos of my favourite sights from our Hawaiian holiday:

At the volcano, the glow of lava lit up night sky. 

The amazing Akaka falls - the photo does no justice.

The gorgeous Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens had some breathtaking sights.

And no tropical vacation is complete without watching the sun fall behind the ocean.

If you are still here (and awake), thanks so much for popping in and for taking the time to leave a comment.  I appreciate each one and love having the chance to visit you too.

Hugs and Happy Crafting!

Dawn

PPC 100 - Let's Celebrate!!!

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all well and getting ready for a fantastic weekend!  It is Friday, which means it is time for a new Playing in Paradise Challenge over at Scrapbooker's Paradise.  However, this is no ordinary challenge - it is our 100th, so we are having a celebration!!!  I hope you will join in the fun with us!

For our 100th challenge celebration, our theme is 'Let's Celebrate Together!'  So, this week we would love to see your celebration projects.  It could be any type of celebration - birthday, birth, wedding, anniversary, graduation, etc. 

For this challenge, I decided to make a celebration card: 

These little mice really know how to celebrate!

Supplies:

Image - House Mouse (coloured with Distress Inks) and I think the sentiment might be from Inkadinkado (embossed with black embossing powder).  I went over the glass with my clear Copic atyou spica marker for a really fine glittery look.
Paper - White card, coloured with Distress ink and stamped with a couple of stamps from a Stampin up set.
Other - velvet ribbon from my stash for framing the image and wired sparkly ribbon from my stash to make a party bow and confetti.  I used fabric stiffener on the wired ribbon to help it hold its shape and prevent it from getting squished.

To celebrate our 100th challenge, we have some amazing prizes up for grabs!!  I wish I could be in the running for these!   We will have three lucky winners this week and each will receive a fantastic pack of crafting goodies!! 

Be sure to pop by the Playing in Paradise Challenge to check out the gorgeous projects my team mates have created and, of course, to see the awesome prizes that are up for grabs this week.  Then come celebrate with us - I am looking forward to seeing all your celebratory projects!

Hugs and Happy Crafting!

Dawn

Journaling at Creatalicious

Hello everyone!

Thank you so much for sticking with me during my internet woes.  I still have really slow internet that crashes with each blog I visit, if I am lucky enough for it to load all the photos.  I cannot tell you how relieved I am that I took the time to load all my photos and start each post for the projects I would need to post while I am away.  If I get to leave three comments per day, I consider it a success at the moment, but I promise I will visit everyone and leave lots of love for you as soon as I get back.

Today sees the start of a new challenge at Creatalicious Challenges.  With the new year upon us, "this is an excellent time for us to renew our hope and to look back to our plans. The perfect time to balance what we had achieved and what we want from now on. So, for this month it would be nice to use any kind of JOURNALING in a craft project. Let's write down what happened last year or what we want for the next one!!"

For this challenge, I cheated just a tiny little bit.  I used paper with journaling on it to create an altered journal.  So, the true journaling will be inside my project.  To go along with the theme, I used a journaling image and a TH journaling tag.

Supplies:

Journal - from a dollar store
Paper - I think it was Bo Bunny, though I'm not 100% sure
Stamps - Magnolia, Tim Holtz odds and ends
Colouring - Distress inks
Other - frame created with Cricut Elegant Edges cartridge, metal flower from stash, feather and doily from stash, lace from Kaiser Craft, TH film strip

As always, we have a fabulous sponsor each month.  This month we are sponsored by The Trincket Track, and one lucky winner will receive a $20 coupon to spend in their store!

 

Here is a little bit more about them:

 

Welcome to The Trinket Track. The home of the cutest little trinkets around!

Here at The Trinket Track we aim to provide a variety of crafters with a wide selection of embellishments for scrapbooking and cardmaking. Love to make your own accessories and embellishments? No problem, we have you covered too with a selection of beads, ribbon and other little trinkets - look

out for more DIY materials in 2013!

We hope you have an enjoyable shopping experience down the track!

For ideas on how to use our embellishments visit the blog

www.thetrinkettrack.blogspot.com

 

 

If you haven't already, pop on by the Creatalicious Challenges blog to check out the amazing projects from my talented team mates.  I hope you will be able to join in the fun with us!  You have a month to create your projects.  I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Hugs & happy crafting!

Dawn

PPC 99 - A Place in Time

Aloha!

It is Friday and time for a new Playing in Paradise Challenge at Scrapbooker's Paradise.  A huge thank you to everyone who entered our challenge last week!  I loved seeing your creations using something new.

This week we would like to welcome the talented Linda to the team.  Linda is hosting this time around and she has chosen 'A Place in Time' for the theme.  So, we would love to see your projects that capture a special moment that you cherish or a time that you are looking forward to.

Our challenges are open to everyone and there are no product limits or requirements to enter.  All you have to do to link up is create a new project following the theme.

Last summer we booked a Hawaii get away and I have been soooooooo looking forward to it ever since.  For this challenge, I made a journal to take along and record all the special moments on our trip.

The journal is made from scratch using 8.5x11 card, folded in half and stitched together.  The cover is made of chipboard and covered with beautiful papers and die cuts from the Tropicana line by Kaiser Craft.

The beautiful images are also part of the Tropicana line.  I wanted to create distressed punched frames for them.  However, distressing a delicate punched edge usually causes it to break and I wanted to keep it intact.  The answer - TH Kraft Glassine.  Punch your border, then crumple and ink.  It creates a beautiful distressed look, but is very strong and durable, so it does not break and tear.

Supplies:

Vanilla card, needle & thread, chipboard, Tropicana DP, die cuts and letter/number stickers by Kaiser Craft, hemp twine and wood beads knotted to look like a fishing net and floaters, sea shell & starfish buttons, MS punch around the page, TH kraft glassine, paper doily, Distress inks.


If you haven't already, pop by the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog to get inspired by the beautiful creations the rest of the design team has made.  I hope you will join in our challenge this week.  As always, there is a fab prize up for grabs.  I'm looking forward to seeing your projects featuring your special place in time.

Thanks for popping by and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.  I am still having problems with my internet connection, so I am really behind on comments.  However, I very much appreciate your comments and will get caught up with visiting as soon as I get my internet back. 

Hugs & Happy Crafting!

Dawn

Cold and Frosty at Christmas at Sweet Stampin'

Hello everyone!

Well, I have been an exceptionally bad blogger lately.  I am away from my internet at the moment and the service where I am is really poor.  I just wanted to send out a quick apology for not being able to return visits as quickly as I would like.  I do appreciate all your comments and I am trying my best to get back to you.  However, the internet crashes after loading each blog or two and I have to reboot the router/modem each time to get it back.  I promise I will visit, but it will probably take a while until I get back to my internet.

WOW!!! We had an overwhelming number of entries for our introductory challenge at Christmas at Sweet Stampin'! A big thank you to everyone who entered and helped spread the word about the new challenge.

I am very happy to announce that it is only January and I already have a Christmas card done! Hooray! It will be so nice to have a dozen cards complete before December even arrives. You could too - all you have to do is enter our challenge each month.

Our theme this month is 'cold and frosty.' Easy peasy!  Here is my card:

Brrrrr!  This little mouse looks so cold!  Our lights get hung before it snows or not at all.

Supplies:

Paper - scrap from my stash
Stamps - House Mouse stamped on 300g hot pressed watercolour paper using black Stazon and sentiment is by Amy R - Snowman Sayings
Colouring - Distress inks
Other - pearls, lots of glitter, picket fence crackle paint, Stampin' Up retired snow flake die

This month we are sponsored by My Mom's Craft Shop and one lucky winner will receive a £10 voucher to their store! 

If you haven't already, pop by the Christmas at Sweet Stampin' blog to see lots of gorgeous cold and frosty inspiration.  Then get out your glitter (or whatever makes you think cold and frosty) and join in the fun! :)  I'd love to see what you create!

Hugs,

Dawn

Some Exciting News and Something New (PPC98)

Hello everyone!

First, let me send a big welcome to my new followers; I'm very glad to have you along!

Did everyone have a wonderful holiday season?  Did you get lots of new crafting toys?  I hope Santa was really good to you :o).

Today I finally get to share some news!  I am soooooo super excited to have joined the talented Playing in Paradise Challenge team at Scrapbooker's Paradise!!!!  For those not familiar, this is a weekly challenge that  begins each Friday.  It is open to everyone and you can use any products you like to create any papercrafting item that your heart desires; just follow the theme.  Each week, you play for a fun prize and a chance to guest design - but only if you want to :).

I get to play host this week for my first challenge - no pressure at all :)!  With the start of a new year and the holidays being just behind us, I thought it would be fun to use something new on your creation.  Whether it be something you received as a Christmas gift, a Boxing Day find or something you just had to have before Christmas but the hustle and bustle of the season prevented you from using it, dig it out of its pretty packaging and put it to use!

For this challenge, I decided to alter a frame.  I had a hard time capturing this one with the camera; it looks so much better in real life.

I started with an unfinished frame and gave it a coat of white paint.  I used Bo Bunny DP from the beautiful Gabrielle line.  I purchased this paper the day it arrived in stores, and have been hoarding it ever since.  It was just too beautiful to cut into.  

For my something new, I tried out some Stampendous Embossing Enamel in shabby blue.  I love the blend of colour and texture it adds with just a hint of sparkle.  It is very easy to use too - just swipe on some embossing ink, pour on the enamel and heat (from the underside of your paper) to melt.  I missed that little detail and when I started heating it, all the coarse chunks of enamel flew everywhere.  Of course, reading all of the directions usually helps :). 

Supplies:

Misc - Unfinished wood frame, magnets (so it can be placed on the refrigerator)

Paper - Bo Bunny Gabrielle, edges where distressed with distressing tool and inked with DI walnut stain and antique linen

Stamps - Kaisercraft Texture Flutter stamped in brown, CTMH sentiment and TH flourish embossed in white

Dies - Spellbinders Wonderful Wings (for the larger butterflies) and Cheery Lynn small Exotic Butterflies

Other - lace from my stash, Stampendous Shabby Blue Embossing Enamel, Picket Fence crackle paint (applied under the torn bit), paper doily, self-adhesive pearls

If you haven't already, pop over to the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog and check out the gorgeous creations the team has made for your inspiration.  Then dig into those new supplies and join in our challenge.  I can't wait to see what you create!

Hugs & Happy Crafting!

Dawn