Challenge swap project

Christine (Paisley and Peackock Emporium) and I have done a challenge swap... basically we made a kit for each other - with a possible project suggestion. It was so much fun to source all the bits for her :)

We also included something we made for each other.. we called it "The Red Challenge". Red, because both of us like the same colours and find the colour red difficult to work with. I made an altered matchbox for her using red lace :)

Meanwhile my parcel arrived and Christine has made a video while she opened the box.. do watch because she is so funny :)

Award

Look what a wonderful award I received from my blogging friend Sussie at http://lotusblommansblog.blogspot.com/ thank you so much your so kind and I'm  honoured! I love your blog too!!

I have to pay it forward to 5 blogs that have less than 100 followers (I know I'm cheating ~smile~) ... so here we go... in no particular order...

1. http://paisleyandpeacockemporium.blogspot.com/
Christine loves to create Mandalas (like me) and is currently on a crafting journey... experimenting with her new hobby with excellent success I must say! She is a wonderful person and a good friend, we chat and laugh a lot together.

2. http://terrisbloomingideas.blogspot.com/
Terri is an artistic and creative blogger, her work is always well executed and I love all her different projects. She was my first swapping partner and helped me over the first hurdle of sharing projects with fellow crafters. She is kind and fun and we have become friends and crafting buddies :)

3. http://scrapaloes.blogspot.com/
Loes is a fellow Dutchie and an amazing crafter. I'm sure when she creates she shares a bit of her soul too. Her work is always jaw dropping!

4. http://debbie-thedolphins.blogspot.com/
Debbie is just amazing, she designs for magazines, Magnolia and so on... her techniques and cards are stunning. She amazes me every time with her creations!

5. http://faeriemooncreations.blogspot.com/
Theresa has such a fun blog... I'm always smiling when I read her posts. She creates wonderful art works and just spreads happiness!

Some pictures to share

Some pictures of our Easter walk... just close to our home...

www.flickr.com

Work In Progress

Off course I just love working with the colour turquoise....

This is a Mandala gift for a friend... I'm making slow progress... the mandala is painted with Cosmic Shimmer Iridescent Watercolour Paint and the edge of the frame with Lumiere acrylic paint.
 

I'm waiting for something I ordered - that is going to be added to the frame. Will post the finished project hopefully soon.

Wedding Mini

This is my very first mini album... my wedding album. We don't have many pictures because it was a simple and quiet wedding. We went to the registrar office in Edinburgh, 'dragged' 2 people of the street to be our witnesses and got married. This was July, 8 years ago.

I made the pages of the mini with the ATC die and used my favourite colour paint (turquoise) to colour the chest. After it was dry I used the Lyndy's Stamp Gang Moon Shadow mist to create a more vintage look. The chest is still a work in progress.. it needs some embellishments on the outside.

Materials I used are

Sizzix Bigz die - Artist Trading Card (656332)

Tim Holtz Paper Pad - Shabby Vintage

Sizzix Sizzlits Decorative Strip - Tim Holtz Mini Paper Rosettes &  Upon A Time Alphabet

Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations - Caged Bird (656634)
Paper Mache Treasure Chest
Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber - Pool
Lindy's Stamp Gang Moon Shadow Mist - Tawny Turquoise
Prima E-line flowers

Martha Stewart Craft Punch - Classic Butterfly

You can find some of the materials here:

Martha Stewart Punch, Papier Mache Treasure Chest at Samuel Taylor

Lyndy's Stamp Gang & Tim Holtz products from The Stampman

Act Of Kindness

Look what I received in the mail on Saturday, isn't it just adorable! Sussie was the winner of my OWOH prize and she sent me a thank you card. Also included was an ATC... I'm so excited about that because it's my very first received ATC!

Thank you Sussie for your kindeness, you are a special lady.

Altered Matchbox

What can I say... I'm mad about boxes... big... small... square... round... you name it. Today I finished work early and had some spare time to play. Altering this little matchbox was so much fun to do, I like doing little projects :) Red is not my preferred colour but somehow I loved working with it today, it matches this paper perfectly.

Materials I used are

PaperMania - Petal Elegance 1.6cm midi punch (PMA 258104)

Martha Steward Craft Punch - Classic Butterfly

Graphic 45 6x6 Paper Pad - Curtain Call

Cardstock/Paper - Red and Black

Reeves Acrylic Paint - Mars Black

Cosmic Shimmer Mist - Lava Red (to colour the seam binding)

Cosmic Shimmer Watercolour Paint - Enchanted Gold (for the butterfly)

Trim - Cream

Lace - Red 

Vintage Seam Binding - White

Paper Mania Adhesive Stones - Red

Tim Holtz Ideology - Hitch Fastener

Ranger Inkssentials - Glossy Accents

You can find some of the materials here:

- Most products are from The Stampman

Tim Holtz Kraft Glassine... Love it!

Glassine is a very thin and smooth type of paper which is air and water resistant. It is generally translucent unless dyes are added to color the paper or make it opaque. Source: Wikipedia

The Tim Holtz Kraft glassine paper is wonderful to work with, especially when you like the grungy / vintage look. It is perfect to emboss, stamp, ink, easy to tear - leaves a great edge - and looks even better when you wrinkle it. It feels a bit like wax paper.

I tried to make some flowers today and I think they look really good. I used a flower punch for the tiny flowers and the Tim Holtz Tatterd Flowers die (the smallest flower on the die) to cut the other size. You will notice how easy it is to cut this paper with a punch... it might even be good for the punch too as it is like wax paper :)

Materials I used are

PaperMania - Petal Elegance 1.6cm midi punch (PMA 258104)

Tim Holtz Kraft Glassine - 36 papers on the pad

Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations Die - Tattered Florals (656640)

Paper Mania Adhesive Stones - Jade

Ranger Inkssentials - Glossy Accents

You can find some of the materials here:

- Paper Mania Products - can't remember where I bought it :) 

- Tim Holtz Kraft Glassine and other products from The Stampman

Birthday Banner

Last year I posted an idea on youtube, a request to create a banner for a 50th birthday of a fellow youtuber in March this year - a secret project :) Ten people signed up and created their own banner, every one of them is unique. The birthday girl likes purple and butterflies and that is what we had as a brief... for the rest is was just enjoy and play :)

Here is the banner I made:

I crumbled up some tissue paper, sprayed it with the Cosmic Shimmer Mists and glued it to the chipboard to create a background. It's a great technique to create something different and it is very easy to do! For the wings I used the Sizzix Butterfly Die which I cut apart and only used the bottom part of the wings. It's one of my favourite dies :)

Materials I used are

My own banner template (freebie for you to use if you like to try the banner)

Tissue paper

Chipboard frame

Cosmic Shimmer Mists - Peacock Green, Purple Violet, Ocean Sunlight, Golden Mint

Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Dusty Concord

Tim Holtz Grungepaper

Sizzix Bigs Die - Butterfly #2 (656552)

Sizzix Bigz Die - Petal Card (654441)
Sizzix Sizzlits Decorative Strip - Tim Holtz Mini Paper Rosettes
Martha Stewart Craft Punch - 5 leaf branch

Lace trim, vintage seam binding

Bling, metal rose

You can find some of the materials here:

- Martha Stewart Punch and sizzix dies from Cutting Edge Crafts

- Cosmic Shimmer Glimmer mists, Tim Holtz dies and other products from The Stampman