Wk 5 @ Full Deck Challenge

Altered playing card with the prompts zig zag and dark green. I stumbled across a You Tube video of lovely lady who was making a circular pocket for her journal and decided to have a go making one for this card. Love how it turned out. 

FDC4 wk 3 & 4

Bit late posting these so am doing a two for. Up first is week 3 - postage stamp, clock and ticket. I love how this turned out, such a cool and calm looking make. It wasn't what I envisaged before I started, but when I started rummaging around my stash, it sort of all fell together. 

Week 4 -  person, texture

I had watched a video about how to make a little book holder for the playing cards and she had done a plain cover. 

This was the result when I was trying to shut my brain up at 11pm the next night, I thought that one of the altered playing cards would be nice as a cover with a title and Live long and Craft popped into my head - so I had my person prompt. Up I got and I sat and did the background, finally shutting my brain up! Finished it off the next day. 

Full Deck Challenge week 2

Week two for Full Deck Challenge birds - fibres - gold - stencil with texture paste - black splatters - butterfly - orange.

I went looking for a suitable blue tit image I knew I had but found this one first, along with a quote both from design sheets from Gecko Galz and decided to use them.

The original quote is "There is no exceptional beauty without some strangeness in the proportion" but it wouldn't fit so I chopped it up. The backing paper was too bright, as you can see from the photo, so I attacked it with a green scourer, careful not to rub through it.

Finished it all off with a black promarker round the edges of the cars.

Full Deck Challenge

Over Christmas I was thinking about what I wanted to change in the New Year, one thing was to craft more, now this has been a recurring theme for the last year or two, with me going great guns at something and then falling by the wayside as it stressed me out so much I didn't get anything done SO I wanted to start something small, and random with not much pressure or full on commitment needed by me because, boy,  can I pile the pressure on myself! (with no help from anyone.)

Flicking round You Tube, I came across a video from shanouki art launching her Full Deck Challenge over on Facebook - this felt like a sign, I knew I had to join in, I've already got a (nearly) full deck of cards lurking in my stash. 52 weeks of prompts/themes to pick from, use 1 or them all, no set design - back to basic crafting with what I've got -  exactly what I needed!

I'm literally taking it one card at a time, not trying to do too much or too complicated. One  card is done and I'm happy at how it turned out and how I feel.

Prompts used: squares, hot pink, numbers and butterflies.

Thanks for reading

AMANDA xx

So this happened

After a rather long absence from blogland, I'm back - revamped my blog over the last few days, decided the old style was too cluttered and I needed to have a simpler layout. So here we are!

Not saying I will blog as frequently as I would like, as work and life get in the way but as I am starting to craft more - I'm thinking more crafting will mean more to blog about. Literally watch this space!

Amanda x

D is for....

Over at Butterfly Spot challenge Blog, the newest challenge is 'D is for Decoupage' which I haven't done in a very long time so I was keen to do decoupaged daffodils - one of my favourite flowers, but not being able to find my sheets I had to rethink what I was going to do so I have went with option 1) 3 of the chosen colours - Daffodil, Dusky Pink and Dairy Cream along with Die cut and Butterflies.

Tomorrow I am off to a 'Slow Stitch' 2 hour class so I am looking forward to that - I started a new project of embroidering a stamped butterfly on hessian which I want to turn into a mixed media piece.

 Amanda xx

Things with Wings

Been busy with my work - planning fundraising for our charity partner Together for Short Lives 'Love your local hospice' week and then straight into Marie Curie The Great Daffodil Appeal, and tomorrow it will be putting items together for random acts of kindness for Mothers Day and also a hamper for FB giveaway for a local mum. I love my job!!

Needed to craft today as first the Yahoo app wouldn't work (ended up deinstalling it and then reinstalling it) AND then the laptop wouldn't let me on as apparently it had had one to many wrong password attempts and unexpected restarts - it hadn't - and I had to wait 2 hours before trying again. Arrrgghh!!!

(Am back on now and made sure I am fully backed up, just in case!)

Now these were supposed to for the Gecko Galz miniature embellishment challenge over on FB, but as it turns out were neither miniature or featured floral. So Things with Wings it is! 

Loved doing them, the randomness of the embellishments was very therapeutic. 

Amanda xx

B is for

Over at the Butterfly Challenge blog, the letter is B and a shaped card. 

I choose - buff green, baby pink and Bluebell, with a Birthday greeting and of course, the most important thing - butterflies!!

The paper stock was from a Card Making Magic Kit, The Secret Garden by Christina Griffiths, which was free with a magazine. I think the butterflies came from a previous prize by Mrs A. over at the Butterfly Blog and finally the White Pearls by Phil Martin.

Amanda xx

Anything your heart desires

 Gecko Galz (Facebook) challenge - anything goes project - just had to use a heart somewhere on it. I wanted to make my oldest friend a Birthday card so used this as my inspiration - though I ended up forgetting where I put the card, so had to send her a shop bought one!! And yes I found it afterwards, but at least I now have a spare - and the Galz choose my card has the winner of that theme, so I now have a new digital sheet to play with.

 

Amanda xx

Butterflies

Suddenly felt crafty, so made two cards today. One for a Facebook challenge which I will post separately and this Butterfly card which I have done for butterflyspot challenge blog

I have used 3 colours - Apple Green, Nero Blue and Apricot,  a Happy Anniversary sentiment and of course, butterflies.

The sentiment was actually silver, so I used a green promarker to colourise it.

Amanda x

Lets eat Cake!

Crafting is sporadic due to health issues, Pernicious Anaemia flare ups have been really bad over the last couple of months, coupled with the fact that a doctor I have never met, or spoke too (dr surgery merged) has decided because as my B12 level is 2000 I am not deficient, never mind its a false high as I get injected with it every eighth week (for 20 years) and it shouldn't even be re tested for that reason. 

Quoted 'NICE' guidelines to the receptionist who duly sent a note to the Dr, Dr now is insisting I am not B12 deficient and never have been.....never mind the fact that she missed my iron and folate levels are actually showing  as deficient as well from the same blood test... off to the doctors I go, armed with 'NICE' guidelines.... my illness, my life.

Anyhoo, back to crafting.

Over on Facebook, Gecko Galz asked for  "invitaion/celebration of afternoon tea or birthday party".

So I went with the traditional 'Let them eat Cake' theme.

Thanks for reading!

       Amanda 

Black and White

 Well this happened today.

Created for Gecko Galz Papercrafting Challenge Group over on Facebook. The theme was Black and White with a pop of colour. 

Recipe - Love Potion Craft Kit

Paper sheet number 4, turned black then copied and placed to so the music fills the right hand side.

Paper sheet number 2 turned black, cropped, edges roughened

image number 3, cropped, flipped to look right, copied and turned black.

Heart from copy of image cut out and placed over original image.

You know you've reached

a certain age when you see a nice tunic top in a colour you love AND its a sale item AND (this is the best bit) it's got pockets!

Yep, realisation hit hard this afternoon. I had to go have a sit down and extra shot cappuccino.

Still, I can hold my head up high - my childhood friend turns 50 tomorrow, where as I am still 49 and 3/4s. 

Got home and decided to bake, and make some feng shui Chinese coins for work, to celebrate Chinese New Year.

(Also when you think you posted this comment on Monday 24th January and realise today, a week and 1 day later - you hadn't!!)

Timed Out

It was either the naughty step or time out, so I opted for time out.

At the time I didn't know how long I would be out for - my work/home life decided to collide spectacularly. 

Yeah, you try typing that with out spell check. 

New fangled laptop 0 Me 1.

Anyway, I didn't know whether I was coming, or going, I lost my grip on my Depression, sneaky little shit kept throwing its dummy out.

And my crafting (amongst other things) turned into a chore and a beating stick.

Something had to give before I ended up back there, in 2006 trapped in my office, not being able to just open the door and walk through. Severe Depressive Episode it was called in the new fashioned way, the old fashioned way? A nervous breakdown. 

Nah, nadda, nope.

Been there, got the tee shirt.

So I took a time out.

Tentatively typing I'm back.

Fingers crossed.

 

Featured Day @ Gecko Galz

 Today is my day to feature my Design Team project for the month of August over at Gecko Galz. 

I can't believe the year has gone so fast! Sticking with the theme of mermaids, the images are so pretty. I made three blank 5x7 cards.

I made the images ATC size and used a paint effect on the backgrounds in light blue, when I printed them, the light blue had turned into a murky grey so I grabbed a blue crayon and coloured over it, pressing lightly. Matched each mermaid with a square of mulberry paper and then added a piece of bling.

I hope you'll join our Merry Mermaid challenge where the winner will receive a $25 shopping spree at the Gecko Galz shop. The only rule is that you must use at least one Gecko Galz product, which can be something you purchased from the shop or a freebie. 

If you sign up for the Gecko Galz newsletter, you'll be able to claim a free collage sheet each month and get first claim on the weekly Super Sunday Deals! 

Why don't you pop over to the Gecko Galz blog to see all the fabulous designs by the very talented Design Team, don't forget to grab the free digi stamp on each post! 

We also have a Facebook Group where there are more monthly challenges for you to play in, each with a Design Sheet to win. 

 Amanda xx

Merry Mermaids

A new month means a new Customer Challenge at the Gecko Galz and the theme for the month of AUGUST is 'Merry Mermaid'. So why not play along - join the challenge with the chance to win $25 at the Gecko Galz shop! 

I used the Mermaid Dreams Junk Journal Kit for my digital page, with vintage pictures and embellishments, this kit is really versatile.

The backing ground is actually the two matching triangle corners merged together and the main pihcture placed on top, I just played around with the transparency on both items till I liked the result. I turned the mermaids into Sirens.

"In Greek mythology, The Sirens lived on a rocky island in the middle of the sea, possibly near Italy. They sang melodies so beautiful that sailors passing by couldn't resist getting closer to them. Following the sound of music, the sailors would steer their boats towards them or jump in the water to get closer. Either way, it always ended in disaster on the rocks."

 I hope you'll join in the 'Merry Mermaid' Challenge, where the Winner gets a $25 shopping spree to spend at the Gecko Galz shop. (The only rule is that you must use at least one Gecko Galz product... this can be one of the freebies, or, of course, you can buy at the Etsy shop). 

If you sign up for the Gecko Galz monthly newsletter, you'll be kept up to date with new releases, Super Sunday weekly deals and be able to claim a free digital collage sheet. 

If you pop over to the Gecko Galz blog, you will see all the fabulous designs by the Design Team - and maybe grab a freebie or two. 

If you haven't a blog/and or/ on Facebook, head over to the Gecko Galz Papercrafting Group where there are more monthly challenges, with the chance to win a digital collage sheet. 

 Amanda xx 

Feature Day @ Gecko Galz

So today is my day to feature my Design Team project for the month of July over at Gecko Galz. 

I turned an atc which I  had previously made for a Gecko Galz challenge, into a topper for a 6x6 card.

I teamed the Alice atc with some papers from The Craft Box, an Alice in Wonderland kit, they compliment each other perfectly, I don't want to give the card away!

I cut about one and a half inch of the front of the card stockas I wanted to put a paper on the inside of the card. Teh butterfly and Alice are on the edge of the front bit so you can tell its two layers. The butterfly was going to go on the flower but as the Alice embellishment is reaching up, I thought it would look cute as is if she might be trying to catch it.

I hope you'll join our Sea of Dreams challenge where the winner will receive a $25 shopping spree at the Gecko Galz shop. The only rule is that you must use at least one Gecko Galz product, which can be something you purchased from the shop or a freebie. 

If you sign up for the Gecko Galz newsletter, you'll be able to claim a free collage sheet each month and get first claim on the Super Monthly Deals! 

Why don't you pop over to the Gecko Galz blog to see all the fabulous designs by the very talented Design Team, don't forget to grab the free digi stamp on each post! 

We also have a Facebook Group where there are more monthly challenges for you to play in, each with a Design Sheet to win. 

 Amanda xx

Sea of Dreams

A new month means a new Customer Challenge at the Gecko Galz and the theme for the month of July is 'Sea of Dreams'. So why not play along - join the challenge with the chance to win $25 at the Gecko Galz shop! 

I guess its safe to say 90% of the population has been dreaming of the sea these last few months - 

I'm definitely dreaming of the sea as we go away for 5 days next week, camping to the seaside!! Seahouses in Northumberland - expecting it too be windy and probably a bit chilly as Northumberland often is, but the campsite is by the beach/sea and I don;t care waht the weather is, though whether I have a paddle or not is debateable! 

My Customer Challenge sample is 3 digital atc's - my printer ink decided to run out, so I had to change what I was going to do, but I still loved doing them. Once I get round to buying ink I will print them out, as the mermaids decoupaged will look great I think.

Mermaid Dreams Junk Journal

I hope you'll join in 'Sea of Dreams' Challenge, where the Winner gets a $25 shopping spree to spend at the Gecko Galz shop. (The only rule is that you must use at least one Gecko Galz product... this can be one of the freebies, or, of course, you can buy at the Etsy shop). 

If you sign up for the Gecko Galz monthly newsletter, you'll be kept up to date with new releases, Super Sunday weekly deals and be able to claim a free digital collage sheet. 

If you pop over to the Gecko Galz blog, you will see all the fabulous designs by the Design Team - and maybe grab a freebie or two. 

If you haven't a blog/and or/ on Facebook, head over to the Gecko Galz Papercrafting Group where there are more monthly challenges, with the chance to win a digital collage sheet. 

 Amanda xx 

The Secret Garden

A new month means a new Customer Challenge at the Gecko Galz and the theme for the month of May is 'Secret Garden'. So why not play along - join the challenge with the chance to win $25 at the Gecko Galz shop! 

My design work for today - I used four separate images, lady, writing paper, seed packet and bluebird/clock. 

I put the seed packet down first, then layered the writing paper over it and applied a transparency filter till I got the writitng where I wanted it to show, then I put the lady over the top, I decided it needed a little something else so had a mosey round my files till I came across the pretty bluebird with clock, the colours would fit perfectly, so I fiddled around with a different transparency filter to get the look I wanted.

Love how it turned out, the colours are so soft and pastel.

I hope you'll join in 'The Secret Garden' Challenge, where the Winner gets a $25 shopping spree to spend at the Gecko Galz shop. (The only rule is that you must use at least one Gecko Galz product... this can be one of the freebies, or, of course, you can buy at the Etsy shop). If you sign up for the Gecko Galz monthly newsletter, you'll be kept up to date with new releases, Super Sunday weekly deals and be able to claim a free digital collage sheet. If you pop over to the Gecko Galz blog, you will see all the fabulous designs by the Design Team - and maybe grab a freebie or two. If you haven't a blog/and or/ on Facebook, head over to the Gecko Galz Papercrafting Group where there are more monthly challenges, with the chance to win a digital collage sheet. 

 Amanda xx 

Feature day @ Gecko Galz

Today is my day to feature my Design Team project for the month of April over at Gecko Galz. 

I decided to actually make something this time, not do a digital project, I recently purchased some Tim Holtz Distress Inks and having grabbed a copy of the new Indigo Blu box magazine, the large stamp  gave me the inspiration for my card.

topper from - Crazy Manniquins

backing paper - Journal Sheets

sentiment - Tim Holtz

I hope you'll join our Blooming Beauty challenge where the winner will receive a $25 shopping spree at the Gecko Galz shop. The only rule is that you must use at least one Gecko Galz product, which can be something you purchased from the shop or a freebie. 

If you sign up for the Gecko Galz newsletter, you'll be able to claim a free collage sheet each month and get first claim on the monthly Super Deal! 

Why don't you pop over to the Gecko Galz blog to see all the fabulous designs by the very talented Design Team, don't forget to grab the free digi stamp on each post!

We also have a Facebook Group where there are more monthly challenges for you to play in, each with a Design Sheet to win. 

 Amanda xx