CCM Spotlight on …… Decoupage

This fortnight over at the Crafty Cardmakers Spotlight blog we are spotlighting decoupage. If you have never tried this popular craft but want to try there is an excellent tutorial on the blog by our very own Mandy.

We are sponsored for this challenge by Technique Junkie Newsletter.

"The Technique Junkie Newsletter was started in 2002 as a resource for Rubber Stamping Techniques. The Newsletter is published every-other month, featuring 15 or more stamping techniques in step-by-step format.

Each technique has a corresponding pictorial online, and a full page of inspirational artwork by the talented Technique Junkie Newsletter Designers. To date, over 600 Techniques have been published, by far the largest and most extensive library of rubber stamping tutorials available.

Our newest CD has over 79 cutting and embossing machine tutorials with over 850 techniques. The prize would be an Emboss or Die CD (Value $17.95). "

Now that’s a prize I would love to win.

My decoupage is from Reddy Crafts from their Faerie Poppets diecut decoupage range. Now there are some who think if you are not cutting then you are not properly decoupaging, but I say anything for an easy life! Having said that I have a friend who loves nothing more than cutting and sticking!

Anyhow I have had this little beauty for a very long time now, having bought her from Create and Craft ages ago, and then deciding that as there were other things I preferred she was relegated to the back of beyond in my craft room, so when Mandy suggested this theme I knew I had some lovely designs I could dust off.

The backing paper was from the same kit. I stuck the BP to some card and then pricked a Cosy Corner embroidery pattern on the corner and stitched it in three different colours of Joy Crafts Sparkle thread.

Stitching really is my first love, but it’s so time consuming. You need to choose a design and what it will go with, then prick it (which kills my hand) and finally choose your colours and stitch. Be aware if you want to stitch through card you need to be prepared to work with shorter lengths of thread as the fibres in the card can split the fibres in the thread causing them to fray back to the nylon filament that often runs through the middle of the fancier metallic and sparkle threads.

A few butterflies cut from some ribbon finish it off.

My Niece has her eye on this to give to her Mum (my Sis) for her upcoming birthday, so she will soon be fluttering out of my craft room.

I’m popping this into the following challenges:-

The Alphabet Challenge Blog – Up is for Up in the Air (Fairy and Butterflies)

Flutterby Wednesday – Anything Goes as long as it has a butterfly, angel or fairy

Little Red Wagon – Butterflies

One Stop Craft Challenge – Angels and Fairies

Crafty Creations – In Stitches

Sugar Creek Hollow – Sensational Stitching

Wee Memories – Anything goes

Mirror, Mirror ….

I had a good browse through all the lovely creative talents that make up Stitchy Bear Stamps on Friday and treated myself to some downloads. Some new designs by Delicious Doodles particularly caught my eye as I was looking for something a bit different.

The image I have used here is called Steampunk Fairy. I coloured her in with Promarkers and Copics and also shaded with Polychromos! That’s a lot of colouring, lol

Anyhow, having coloured her I was trying to work out how to put her onto a project so in the meantime whilst my brain was cogitating and going over some ideas I decided to cut a few of my new nestie tags out. I bought a lovely set for framing sentiments. I cut one of them out in this lush green card and it suddenly came to me how it would make a gorgeous vintage looking mirror frame if I turned it the other way up.

Now I had my idea. I used BPs from Artylicious from their Filigree Fusion cd which I printed at 8”square and then trimmed down to 6” square. Sometimes printing smaller makes things look overcrowded so it can be better to print larger and trim some bits off.  I distressed around the edge and then added some inks from a Big N Juicy inkpad and dipped the edges into Sheena Wow Holo powder and embossed.  I used the same holo powder to add some bling to the fairy’s wings.

I cut a strip of card to match the ‘mirror’ frame and layered some purple ribbon over the top.

I then had to flip the Steampunk Fairy so she is facing the other way and print, colour and cut her out to fit into the mirror, which I first backed with some silver mirri card. Unfortunately I hadn’t decided on this design when I first coloured her so I couldn’t remember what colours I used in her hair, but I figured it might look slightly different in a mirror anyway.

The sentiment I decided on I based on the Snow White wicked queen speech to her mirror, but as my fairy is only a dastardly DIVA not a wicked witch, I made my own version of the rhyme,

Mirror, Mirror Don’t be Shy …… tell EVERYONE how gorgeous am I. Poor grammar I know but ‘I am’ didn’t rhyme!

I printed this onto safmat. After it was printed and put in place I coloured up some gems to match the wording, and placed them inside all the Os. I put three buttons on the ribbon strip and added gems coloured in the same way to the holes the thread would go through.

I am entering this into

Haunted Design House's Macabre Monday – Dastardly Divas

Crafts and Me – Anything Goes

Scrapbook Sisters – Anything Goes

Wee Memories – Anything Goes

Alphabet Challenge Blog – U is for Up In the Air

Paper Crafting Journey – Up in the Air

One Stop Craft Challenges – Angels & Fairies

Do You Stack Up Challenge – Shine On (all the gems and the fairy’s wings)

Little Miss Muffet – Brads, Gems and Pearls

ABC Challenge Q is for Quilting/Sewing

Welcome to another exciting week of the ABC Challenge. This weeks, Challenge: Q is for Quilting or sewing, is being sponsored by Stamp Fairy. Be sure to check out the store because there are so many cute whimsy digistamps for all sorts of projects!

The winner will received a $9.00 Gift Certificate to use at Stampfairy.com!

Don’t forget to check out the DT cards whilst you are over at ABC as there are some corkers there.

I need, again, to apologise for the poor quality of my picture, light was dreadful and just didn’t seem to suit the colours on my card.

The BPs are Basic Grey Marjolaine, with a smattering of some gorgeous marble design paper from LeCrea.

Normally for a sewing challenge I like to stitch by hand a nice embroided motif or frame, but being a bit short of time I thought I would get the sewing machine out. Firstly it took me an hour to find the thread box. I had put it away somewhere really safe, but apparently the only person it was safe from was ME!

Next if it could go wrong, it went wrong. I broke a needle. The new needle jammed. The bobbin jammed. It was dropping stitches all over the place and breaking thread like there was no tomorrow. So instead of the fancy stitch I had decided to use I had to use a straightfoward running stitch. So I either need a new machine or I should stick to what I always do, prick a pattern by hand and embroider by hand.

Here is the card again in a slightly different light, no direct sunlight. The first one is too washed out and this one seems to be too dull/flat.

I’m entering this into a few challenges:-

Creative Cowgirls – Monochromatic Any colour (mine is clearly green)

Cupcake Craft Challenges – Monochromatic

Ladybug Craft Inks TLT - Monochrome

Crafty Creations – In Stitches

Digital Tuesday Challenge – Button Up

Crafts and Me – Anything Goes

Sugar Creek Hollow – Anything Goes

A quick bit of news before I go. I took Poppy to the Vet to be weighed so I could get the correct worming treatment and in one month she has doubled her weight! So I must be doing something right.

Dream Valley Challenges #3 Mother’s Day

It’s challenge time again at Dream Valley Challenges. Thanks again to everyone that entered our last challenge, we had some amazing entries! Check the blog later for our prize winner and top 3 pick.

On to this fortnightly challenge, it’s an easy one!

MOTHER'S DAY

As here in the UK it is almost Mothering Sunday we would like to see a MUM creation! Remember this can be anything, doesn't have to be just a card!

This fortnight we are sponsored by Digi’s with Attitude and the prize is $10 Canadian to spend in their online store.

I have some lovely memories of Mother’s Day, or Mothering Sunday to give it it’s correct title. Where I live there is a road called ‘The Avenue’ which has daffodils planted all along the verges and under the lime trees. For as far back as I can remember the local children would pop up to Church for the morning service and on the way home to come via The Avenue and pick Mum a bunch of Mother’s Day Daffs. You could see when it was Mother’s Day, one day the verges would be full to bursting of bright yellow flowers and by the Monday, mainly just the green leaves. In all those years I don’t think there has been a year when the daffs were not out in time.  Nor have I ever heard of anyone complaining at the kids picking flowers. In fact when I was very small my local church used to have buckets of daffs in the church and you would be encouraged to go grab your Mum a handful! Perhaps they were trying to stop us picking the ones outside!!

So onto my creation.

Well sadly I no longer have a Mum as she died in 2000, and I haven’t made a Mother’s Day card since, but this is a challenge so I sorted through some stamps to see what might be suitable. Unfortunately I couldn’t use the Sponsor’s images as my printer was broken at the time. Anyhow a Rachelle Miller stamp seemed appropriate so I stamped it onto watercolour card and coloured it in with Inktense Watercolour Pencils.

The papers are mainly from Artylicious’ CD Essence of Nature, apart from the one with the hearts and that is a digital paper I’m afraid I printed a while back and cannot recall what set it comes from. Apologies to the designer. Note to self, pencil in the name of something on the back when you print and store!