Would You Like to be an Astronaut...?

Well, a new challenge starts today over at Here Come The Boys... it's Monochrome!  A colour fan such as myself did see it as a challenge, lol, though once I realized "Monochrome" doesn't mean "dull" I was fine; even though I used shades of one colour (gold/brown - probably stretching the definition of Monochrome a bit there, to be honest!) I still managed to get a fair dollop of colour on to my card J

I used an image I found as a freebie colouring page here; this is Newton Firework - I  grabbed a couple more Newtons while I was there… they’re so cute! I coloured with Copics, it took about five minutes, lol.  Charisma Cardz challenge this time around is For the Guys, so I’m entering there, and Cards for Men has Animal Magic so entering there too.

This picture at least shows how shiny the gold is, lol. 

I like a nice sketch as a starting point, I've used this little beauty from Tuesday Morning Sketches for today’s card, rotating it 90°.
I thought I’d start with a coloured base, so nice and rich!  The patterned paper I've used is from the Basic Grey’s Indian Summer pad, the mat for the image panel and the stars are gold foil, it looks green in the main photo but is “very” gold IRL, some of the leaves on the background paper look greener-than-they-are-in the pics too - who knows why?!  

Cupcake Inspirations 

Creatalicious Challenges

Crafty Calendar has Browns and Creams for their challenge theme,  and Catch the Bug has Autumn Colours; Crafty Creations has Autumn Leaves, Crazy 4 Challenges has Leaves while Creatalicious Challenges and Cupcake Inspirations both have photo inspirations that are nice and autumnal with lots of leaves... like my designer paper! so I'm entering those. The Joanna Sheen challenge theme is Down in the Garden, while I'm pretty sure there aren't any teddies tied to fireworks down there, I'm equally sure there are leaves, so I'm in. 

I cut the image panel and mat with an Mpress die Curved Rectangles, I trimmed the top and the bottom of the mat as I feel there is too much difference in the size of the largest and second largest dies.  I embossed the mat and the plain coloured banners with Cuttlebug’s Forest Branches folder to add texture.  As always, I finished the inside to match the front.

The gold stars, which seemed the “right” embellishment for an Astronauts card, lol, were cut with MFT Dienamics Stacking Stars die.  My Mums Craft Shop has Stars as their challenge theme so I’m entering there, and Totally Gorjuss has Punches and dies so I'm entering there too.

Creative Craft Challenges, The Paper Shelter Craft Us Crazy and Simon Says Challenge all have Anything Goes themes, so, you guessed it, I’ll be entering those as well.
Well that's it for today's card, why don't you pop on over to the Here Come The Boys blog and check out the rest of the Design Team's inspiration... there's plenty of scope in Monochrome let me tell ya!  Why not have a go at the challenge yourself, there's a great prize to be had - don't forget to make your project suitable for a boy or man though :-)
I'll be back soon with another offering, until then Happy Crafting, Donna.... and Newton the Astronaut J

Sometimes Life Makes You Think Thanks

Well I finally managed to grab a few minutes "me" time and decided to spend it crafting... it really is a case of learning to ignore the ironing, lol.  My Mum and Dad have both been quite unwell recently, and while taking them to hospitals and various appointments I realized how often there were people to thank, it got me thinking about Thank You cards and how few I have in my stash; so here's one!

Totally Gorjuss has Thank You as their challenge theme, so I'm entering there.  Allsorts Challenges have Inspired by a Song  as does The Crafty Pad, I love the Randy Newman song "You've Got a Friend in Me", I don't know if it's the same song that was in Toy Story - my kids were "before" Toy Story, lol. 

I've used the adorable Wryn and Mo image from Tiddly Inks, coloured with Copics and Prismacolor pencils.  The Tiddly Tuesdays challenge is to "Make It Like Asa"; I used the layout and the same girl-with-friend  sort of image as my inspiration. Corrosive Challenge has Animal Companions as their theme, so I'm entering there.  Fab'n'funky's Challenge is to use something Starting with F, I have Friend but I also have Flowers, so I'm in there too. The purple flowers are from my stash, the small lemon ones are punched (a Carl punch, I think) then given some shape with a ball tool and Stickles centres. Stampin' for the Weekend has Feeling Floral and Digital Tuesday has Say it with flowers, so I'm entering those as well.  Gem of a Challenge has a very particular set of challenge parameters: Use Lilac, Lemon, Two Butterflies and a Bow... I have 'em all, so I'm in, lol.  Tying that miniature bow for Wryn's hair was a challenge in itself!  
The larger purple butterfly started life as a pink one with silver glitter, I recoloured it (and the originally-white pearls) with Copics, I was really surprised how readily everything took the colour.  The swirls "under" the floral arrangement are stickers that I got on a sheet from my LSS (not so "L" any more, all my Local ones have both closed and I do have to travel a bit to get to one now, sadly)  They started life as white too, I wasn't sure if the glitter would dull down when I recoloured it, but no problem.

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge and That Craft Place both have Bling it on as their challenge themes, I have bling aplenty; as well as all the glittery goodness the Kaisercraft Made With Love paper has foiled hearts on it, and the image mat (cut using Nestabilities Labels Eleven) is lilac foil card from my stash, I'll have to get more of this stuff, if only I could remember where I got it, lol.  

The small lemon butterfly is from Martha Stewart's 3 in 1 Butterfly Punch, I used more of the Stickles from the punched flowers as a body.  I used the largest of the three punched butterflies on the inside of the card.  I'm going to post a pic of my card on Sassy Cheryl Show Me Thursday, where they like to see what you've been up to - it is infinitely more interesting than all the waiting rooms I've been in the last couple of weeks with the old folks!  Creative Craft Challenges, The Paper Shelter, Craft Us Crazy and Simon Says Challenge all have Anything Goes themes happening, so I'll be entering those too.

Well that's it for today, it's been fun to "play" on Blogger, but I feel a bit guilty now!  Hopefully, things are settling down a bit here.  I'll be back in a few days, until then Happy Crafting, Donna

A Couple More Bookmarks!

Well I have been busy busy busy here... not much of it in a good way; my folks are in their eighties now and needing more attention health-wise at the same time as becoming less independent, which means more time input from my sister and I, though as my sister is in the throes of moving 350km into the country it essentially means more time input from ME! My MIL is 84 too, and brought her own bit of drama to our lives this week; but at least it didn't involve three trips to hospital like my folks!  
There's plenty else going on in the family too, which I'll explain soon.  On top of that my husbands work ute, the only vehicle we've ever bought new (at twice the cost of any other we've had) has developed a major fault - with a $5000 repair bill - 7 weeks out of warranty (still inside the 100,000km cutoff) so we've been faffing about at mechanics then "in negotiations" with Nissan... who have decided to come to the party and repair it, Yay!  They can't get it done until next Monday though and we can't drive it so we've had to organize a loaner (can't hire cars with brake controllers for the trailer!)  All in all, busy busy blegh!
What I'm trying to say is I haven't done a lot of crafting, I did manage a couple more magnetic bookmarks, which I love because they don't take long and they use scraps - of which I have A LOT! Here is a link to the basic bookmark, I've just adjusted dimensions to suit my scraps!
The first one uses an image I bought a couple of years ago from DZ Doodles, which I can't find a link too, so perhaps they're "gone"; anyway he's Toby Turtle. I coloured him with coloured pencils... not Prismacolors just regular pencils - I coloured this before I had any Prismacolors, they're not as good, but okay for an early effort. I added some stickles and gloss to his flower (and gloss to his eye)  The Corrosive Challenge theme is Animal Companions so I'm entering there.
The paper is from Kaisercrafts Chapter One pad (and another scrap from my stash), the dew drops are from Pebbles and the ribbon is from my stash. That's it!  The Pink Elephant has Monochromatic as it's challenge theme, I hope there's not too much "orange" on this "green" card to disqualify it.  The Cupcake Craftroom has Pretty Pastels, so I'm entering there too.
For the second bookmark, I recycled an image from a card sent to me by Danni, who won one of my Candies earlier this year.  It's Wryn from Tiddly Inks, I think she was originally coloured with Copics, I added Prismacolor shading and highlights and Gold Stickles to her wand and crown. 
The paper for this one is from Kaisercrafts Hippy Girl collection, the floral background has some nice glittery accents, so I added some Diamond Stickles around her wand to match.
The sentiment is from a set I got in BigW... I can't remember the brand, I stamped it with Versamark ink and embossed with Irridescent Sparkle EP.  There's loads of sparkle on the stripy paper panel too, the edge of which I punched with Fiskars Apron Lace punch.
The inside uses more of the Hippy Girl paper, and that's all :-)  Colour Me Copic has Fall Colours and The Crafty Pad has Autumn Colours as their challenge themes, so I'm entering there Creative Craft Challenges has Anything Goes so I'm entering there too.
I'll be back in a day or so... barring disaster... with something other than a bookmark - though I am starting on my Sticky-Note-cover-stocking-filler-thingys so you may be glad to see a bookmark soon, lol.
Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna 

It's a Recipe... Easy as 1,2,3

A new challenge starts today over at Here Come The Boys... it's a Recipe - a nice easy one; we'd like you to use 1 image, 2 brads or buttons and 3 papers.  Here's what I came up with.

I've made a gatefold card, my blog mate Joey has been making a few of these recently and I thought what a good idea!  Paper Play Challenges has Fancy Folds for their challenge and My Time to Craft has More Than One Fold (but no easels!) for theirs, so I'm entering there.
I used the sketch from Sketch and Stash this time, you know I like a nice sketch.  I added "extra" panels to the front of the card so it overlaps more than a gatefold normally would.  The gold stars are on a "string", they're from the stash I bought earlier this year in Malaysia, the two brads are also from my stash, I think they are by Bella.
The image is Alf With Beer from Digistamp Boutique, so I'll be entering the Digistamp Boutique monthly challenge. Cards for Men wants to see our "digital images and paper", I'm not sure if this means both, I've used a digital image I'm going to enter there and see if it's enough :-)
 I paper pieced Alf's jacket, which I don't do very often, but couldn't find one challenge with paper piecing as the theme... no doubt they'll all come up next week, lol.  I've coloured with Copics and Prismacolor pencils, adding gloss to his eyes and Liquid Pearls to his lovely "frothy", which is an Aussie term for a beer :-) and his buttons.

The papers are from DCWV La Creme 12" pad and Kaisercrafts Le Chateau (La, Le, talk about The French Connection, lol) 6" pad, the paper on the  horizontal panel (which is the one I used for his jacket) has flocking on it, which I've discovered is even harder to capture in a picture than glitter!  The brown cardstock is Bazill. I softened the edges of all the paper panels with Bark Versamark ink; Crafty Calendar has Browns and Creams as their challenge theme, so I'm entering there.

I made the sentiment up on the computer, mounting it on a little hand cut tag, attaching it with a brad means it moves around - men like moving parts, even on cards, lol.  Paper Crafting Journey wants us to Use a Sentiment, Bizzy Becs has For a Male (include a tag) and Creative Craft Challenges has All About the Boys as their themes, so I'm in!  Bearly Mine Challenges have an Anything Goes theme... definitely in there :-)
That's just about it for today's card, why don't you pop over to the Here Come The Boys blog and check out the rest of my teamies creations... there's loads of inspiration to be found, and you can check out the great prize for the challenge, which is such an easy recipe it shouldn't even be called a challenge, lol.
I'll be back in a day or so, until then, Happy Crafting, Donna

Another Day Another Bookmark!

Well, before I go any further, I'd just like to say a huge hello and welcome to my Followers, new and not so new (no, I didn't say old, lol)
I have a quick post today; with the little magentic bookmark I made for my hubby, so he didn't get jealous of mine, lol.  Here's a tutorial for the basics.

Hubby really does live by the KISS rule, so that's what I used here - that's Keep It SWEET and SIMPLE, thank you! 

The image is Teacher's Pet from Inktegrity... and he's a Freebie!!  I've coloured with Prismacolor pencils and added some gloss to the apple, nose and dog tag. The paper is from Kaisercfrafts Up Up and Away pad, and the brown pattern is flocked, which adds a bit of interest.  More paper from the same pad for the inside and a strip of grosgrain ribbon to finish off.

The Stamptacular Sunday Challenge theme is Anything but a card, so I'm entering there and Papertake Weekly's is Things that make you go Aaw - which this does, so I'm entering there too.

One Stop Craft Challenge has No Floral Embellishments and the Cutie Pie Challenge is to use No flowers at all, so I'm entering there too.  Finally Gem of a Challenge has A Boy Thing as their theme - and the Bearly Mine Challenges theme is an Anything Goes, I'm in!

That's it for today... I know, I said it was a quick post, and for a change it actually is :-)

I've got a lot going on at the moment, not a lot of it craft!  I do have another couple of bookmarks which I've made for my son's upcoming art show.  I am trying to finish some art work to donate (the proceeds are for charity) but as always time is my enemy.

I'll definitely be back on Sunday with a card... the post is scheduled, lol.  Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna

Not a Card....

Just for a change, and because I still want to "create" but have a  burgeoning stash of cards, I've made a couple of bookmarks... one for me and one for  hubby; today I'll show you "mine"!!

This is a magnetic bookmark, I found a tutorial on YouTube, Here, and jigged it around to suit what I wanted... it's very easily "jigged", lol. I made the back longer than the front to show off some of the paper from the inside.

One of the best hints is to not use too strong a magnet, I've used pieces of magnetic tape, and that's enough to still clip "closed" over a couple of pages. it works a treat.  

I've had this fabulous Saturated Canary image What The Librarian Reads in my stash since Krista released it, waiting to be used on a project... I figured that a bookmark was appropriate :-)   Bearly Mine Challenges and Stamptacular Sunday Challenge have Anything But A Card as their themes, so I'm entering there.   I've coloured with Copics and a touch of pencil, with lashings of gloss on her glasses and her mug.  I fussy cut the image then glued it directly (no foam pads, you don't need dimension when you're fitting a bookmark between the pages of a book, lol) on to a panel of cream backed patterned vellum (the pattern doesn't show in the pic) cut using an impress Curved Rectangles die.                     The paper is from Basic Grey's Indian Summer collection... autumn is my absolute favourite time of the year, we're heading towards summer here in Australia, so it was kind of poignant using autumn-y paper :-) 

I'm not the only one that likes autumn, Cute Card Thursday, Without Words, Paper Play Challenges and 2 Sisters Challenge all have autumn themes, so I'm entering there.  The Pink Elephant has Use Patterned Paper... easy peasy, I'm in there too!

The only embellishment on this card is the gros grain ribbon, I ran it around to the "inside" of the bookmark and then glued a piece of the patterned paper over it to cover it and the magnet, I covered the very back simply because I wrecked the card by inadvertently gluing it to my work table! I thought the dots on the ribbon  tied in with the so-much-more-subtle dots on the paper, the Joanna Sheen challenge is Going Dotty, so I'll be entering there.  The One Stop Craft Challenge is No Floral Embellishments, no floral embellishments here, I'm in - and The Cutie Pie Challenge is no flowers AT ALL, I've checked and there's no flowers here, only leaves, so I'm in there too!

Even though this bookmark is for me, I think it fits the Back to School theme that is running at Di's Digi Designs, The Secret Crafter and Crafty Creations so I'm entering there and I know it fits the Anything Goes challenges at Papertake Weekly and My Mums Craft Shop so definitely entering there!

Well, that's it for MY bookmark, my hubby's is super simple but as I haven't taken a photo of it I'll be back with it another day.

My son Chris is involved in a fund raising activity at the moment, actually, he's always involved in some fund raiser or another - last month it was the City to Surf "fun" run, which involved running 12 kms and didn't float my boat at all, lol - this one is art based, I'm donating a couple of my paintings and thought I'd make a couple of these bookmarks to go be sold for a gold coin donation; last year Chris sold a couple of his paintings for $600 each! I'm sure not everyone is in the position to donate that, but everyone can afford some loose change.

I'm off to bed, though I'm in no rush as the dreaded night sweats (menopause is so much harder than I was expecting!) keep me uncomfortable all night and worried about disturbing hubby... though he's not working tomorrow so it's not such a concern as usual!

Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna

The Dog Ate My D!

Today I have the card I made for my Dad for Father's Day, which was last Sunday here in Australia. 

The cuter than cute Mo Manning image "Guilty Rocco" so reminded me of my son's dog, Kruza, that I just had to use it.  He's coloured (with Copics) to look  just like Kruza, who my dad absolutely adores (he IS adorable!) and on the odd occassion that he has cause to feel guilty, he looks a lot like this, lol. 

Here's a photo of him looking sad because he is tethered (he goes to work with my son every day and usually doesn't have to be tethered, so he couldn't see what he had done "wrong" on this day, I assure you it was for his own safety!)
The Secret Crafter has Animal Antics as their theme, so I'm entering there. Sweet Stampin' has Inspired by a Film or Song as their challenge theme;  I was inspired by a YouTube clip, Denver the Guilty Dog  (if you haven't seen this clip click on the link - it's the BEST!), and the so haunting song Please, by John Carrie and Moor Green. 
 I have lots of layers, my favourite "technique", Mo's Digital Challenge is Lovely Layers (using a Mo image) so I'm in there too.
I had to give Rocco (Kruza!) something to be guilty about, so I have him chomping a piece out of the chipboard letter 'd', I just cut it out with scissors then peeled most of the backing off so it didn't look too stuck on.  I've had these letters (DCWV I think) in my stash for ages, it's good to get them used up!  The buttons are from my stash too, though the jute is new :-) oh, and the ribbon is stash... you can see why I'm entering the Waste Not Wednesdays Stash challenge.

The papers are from Basic Grey's Oliver collection... and my stash!  I've stitched around everything; The Pink Elephant has Use Patterned Paper and Cute Card Thursday has Stitch It Up, so I'll be entering there.
I decorated the inside to match the outside using the same sketch as the front (which was from Papertake Weekly, #68 I think, I've missed the deadline for their use-any-sketch challenge, but I like to credit sketches)  The only embellishments on the card are the buttons, rather manly (imho) ribbon and Card Candi - the Cutie Pie Challenge is No Flowers, I'm in and By the Cute and Girly , Creative Craft Challenges and Gem of a Challenge have Men/Boy themes, so I'm in there too. 

Lovely Layers

Without Words is a new challenge where the image is the "star", this challenge should suit me well as I don't use a lot of embellishments as a rule. Their theme this time around is Autumn, I think the colour palette on this card gets me in... I hope my layers don't "get me out", lol.  One thing for sure, I can enter the Simon Says Challenge, the Papertake Weekly, My Mums Craft Shop and the Catch the Bug challenge as they all have Anything Goes themes.

That's it for my lovely Dad's Father's Day card, he has been falling over a lot lately (he is 83) so we got him a nice walking stick as his Father's Day gift, he already looked steadier going up and down our steps, I think it may be a confidence thing as much as anything else.  My mum, who is 82, is incredibly active (not just for her age, she's always been hyper!) so she is struggling with the concept of one of her nearest and dearest needing assistance - I think SHE has to make the adjustment or my dad will be doing himself some serious damage!

I'll be back soon with another "make", until then Happy Crafting, Donna

Here Come The Boys Teddy Bears Challenge

The theme for the new challenge starting today over at Here Come The Boys is "Teddy Bears" and I have a card that's "right out of the box" for my DT contribution... well, it's a "wobble" card, which at least makes me think of a Jack in the Box, so nearly the same!

 I've used the gorgeous Teddy - Present image from Bugaboo, who's sponsoring the challenge this time around - with a prize of 7 Digis, yippee!  I coloured it with Copics, added some acrylic stars (from stash) then fussy cut and mounted it on an Action Wobble I got from Scrappy Go Lucky... actually I got my hubby to pick some up for me as it's 55kms from here and he was working in that area on the very day I "needed" one!  These things are way cool, and so easy to use.  Here's a picture of it wobbling... no mean feat and a two-person job one to wobble and one to click, lol

I've layered all the panels on blue card from my stash then popped the wobbler on top; The Paper Shelter has Lots of Layers as their challenge theme, lots of layers here, so I'm in!  The Secret Crafter has Animal Antics, teddy bears are animals so I'm in there too.

I stamped and embossed the sentiment and made it into a sort of banner using a square punch - I saw this idea on Debby's blog, thanks Debby :-) Divas by Design has Celebrate and Stamping With The Dragon has Birthdays so I'm entering those, and Pink Gem has "a Boy Thing" for their challenge, so there too.

 I used a sketch from Papertake Weekly this time, their challenge is to use ANY of their sketches this is #68, and isn't it yummy?   My papers are from Kaisercraft, Echo Park and stash; My Mums Craft Shop has 3 lots of 3 as their challenge, I've used three designer papers, three buttons (also from my stash) and three triangles so I'm in there, the Corrosive Challenge is Cute as a Button (cute image, tick, button, tick), so I'm in there and with all the stash I've used I'll be in Lisa's Waste Not Wednesday challenge too. 

By the Cute and Girly has For a Boy as their challenge and Simon Says Challenge, Paper Crafting Journey and Catch the Bug all have Anything Goes challenges, so I'm entering those.  

I finished the inside of the card using the same sketch, scaled differently.  Well that's it for today's card, hope you can hop over to the Here Come The Boys blog and check out the rest of my teamies makes... everyone loves a Teddy Bear, so why not have a go at the challenge too?  There's the chance at those fabulous 7 Bugaboo images too, don't forget!
I'll be back in a day or so with the card I made for my Dad for Father's Day, until then Happy Crafting, Donna

A Tie Father's Day

And now for something completely different.... It's Father's Day here in Australia on Sunday, I've made a card for my husband that's not exactly "appropriate" for Father's Day, but is like a play on words... more a play on theme, really, in that it is all about ties, the traditional Father's Day gift.

The computer generated sentiment says "A nice tie is a very traditional Father's Day Gift, what you decide to do with it is entirely up to YOU!"  

I made the template up for the tie myself, with the front being a full tie and the back "easeled" off it about half way down, it did make the card a bit prone to flattening out due to the extra weight on the  front, so I added a brad as a tie pin and used the stems of the brad to hold the card half closed.  I added some foam dots under the "knot" to give it dimension.
I also "made" the textured card myself, I wanted to get a textured fabric effect as a reference to the tie used by Mr Grey in the Fifty Shades of Grey book I have just finished reading (and telling my hubby about), which is the same book that inspired the fabulous Saturated Canary image that's on the inside of the card.  
  I stamped a grid pattern over grey card with black ink then randomly embossed with silver using the same stamp, then dry embossed the whole thing with Cuttlebugs Swiss Dots folder; Craft Your Passion has Emboss It as their theme, plenty of embossing here, I'm in!, and Saturated Canary challenge is Dotty, so I'll be entering that one too.

I added the border around the sentiment using double sided tape, hot fix powder and black diamond glitter, and a little silver embossing to shade the image panel (it stood out like the proverbial until I did that, lol.  Cutie Pie Challenge has Borders and Frames as their theme so I'm entering there.
The gorgeous Saturated Canary image "Grey Tie" is coloured with Copics, with gloss added to her eyes and her lips (that, again in reference to Fifty Shades) are being chewed!  More of the glittery border finishes it off.
Simon Says Challenge has an Anything Goes challenge, as does Paper Crafting Journey and Craft Your Days Away , so I'll be entering all those.
That's it for my hubby's Father's Day card, I'll be back soon with my Dad's card... once I've made it (yikes! Cutting it fine, lol
or on Sunday when the new Here Come The Boys challenge hits the deck.  Until then (whichever time it is, lol) Happy Crafting, Donna