GC87 - Tea Bag Template

For this challenge over at Gingersnaps I cut 2 coordinating papers with the template, die cut some lace, and sandwiched the two papers back-to-back with the lace in between so that the edges were neat. The lace and paper edges have been inked with *Victorian Velvet*. Then I cut some *pages* from a watercolour block, inked the edges to match, and tied them together with pink ribbon, before fitting 4 pages into each inside crease of the tea bag. The first page has been *love* stamped and the rest left blank for notes. Used 2 tiny pieces of velcro as a clasp. Added some floral rub-ons on the front and back, and then died some prima flowers to match, layered them to make one flower and added a gem as a centre piece. That was it.
I will do this one again with different papers to try to make a masculine one.



The tag has been made for the Gingersnaps Yahoo group recipe challenge. The ingredients were 1 crown, 1 red, 1 sparkle. The tag has been cut from a biscuit box, distressed with antique linen and stamped with a text in the same colour. Then I stamped the head with archival ink which I clear embossed, used a TH texture fade folder to emboss the crown, using the same biscuit box but with the gold side outside this time. I swiped the crown with black archival again and stuck on some jewels as befitting a crown. Then I added a red ribbon with a glitter flower in the middle, and the tag was finished.

It was, as always, fun to make, especially as I had a visitor over the weekend and 2 days of no-crafting, so definately had withdrawal symptoms yesterday evening!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

A sheet of vintage Red Riding Hood Freebies

Yesterday I was sifting through my things and found these old Red Riding Hood Freebies. They are German scraps, found them long ago in an old book. If you would like the sheet, please download it. Click on the image on this page and it will take you to a larger one to download. Enjoy!
Have a great Saturday, and take care of yourselves!

GC88 - Coffee and Cream

For this challenge we had to use a coffee and cream colour scheme, a lovely combination, as I like everything in these colours which remind me of my fave beverage!
I used a large, square card in cream, which has been inked with antique linen distress ink and Adirondack *espresso*. Printed the image onto a square of cream coloured cardstock, also inked with the same colours. The background has been stamped first with a text in *espresso*, and then I added some small flowers in the corners. The image - from LaBlanche- has been matted onto brown cardstock. The wings and crown have been cut from a scrap of patterned paper in coordinating colours and fixed with foam pads. *Cherish* has been die cut using a *Bosskut* die.
Inside, I masked a scrap of cream cardstock with the *waste* from a cut-out heart and stamped it with my love stamp before matting it onto brown again. The sentiment is from *lavinia* stamps.



And this picture is of the coffee table which took up so much of my time and strength yesterday. 9 wooden pieces, 64 different screws, 20 rawl plugs,3 hinges, a handle, 2 metal tubes and 5 little rollers accompanied by another 20 screws had to be tackled till the table was finished. It is a modern one, to make a contrast to my mostly antique furniture, as I just need something new right now - and it has a big storage draw where I can put in all the crafty bits and bobs that I like to use when I am finishing things off while watching TV - now I can just throw them into the drawer, and everything will be tidy again! Well, that's the intention. Isn't there a saying about good intentions and which path they pave??

And the Rollodex on the left of the table is one I altered 2 years back, each card has been scrapped, mostly by me, some from friends, and it is a treasury or memories of nice papers used in other projects and sayings on all themes.

Have a good day you all, and thanks for looking!

The King....GC89 - Kings and Queens

This is my first attempt at getting majestic, for which I chose a lion, the king of beasts. The lion and window stamp is from LaBlanche. The tag has first been stamped with a diamond pattern in gold. Then I stamped the lion and window over it in black archival ink. I stamped the image again on a piece of scrap card, and cut out just the lion and window. I applied two layers of floral rub ons on the left of the tag to create the illusion of depth. Then I decoupaged the lion cut out and stuck it over the stamped background image. I added a crown brad. The brad was silver, but I painted it with my gold leaf pen, and added some *diamonds*. I used liquid pearls to add some texture to the masonry and eye. Put a scrap of braid at the bottom, and added a vintage, sparkly rose, and a piece of an old necklace at the top. Oh, and some mesh for the windows. I kept the colours a bit subdued this time, I like the *stony* air of the tag.
It made a nice break yesterday to make the tag after clearing up all day as I am expecting some new furniture. My flat hasn't been so tidy in years, let's see how long it lasts! I can actually sit at my desk again! And if you don't think it's really tidy - well, lucky you didn't see it before!




Thanks for looking and have a nice day!

GC86 - Spicy Supply: Coffee Filters, Take 2

Yesterday evening I made a second tag with the remains of the coffee filter flowers I had die cut the day before. Used all my *Glimmer Mist' remains to do this one, as the bottles were nearly all empty, and the result was this lovely grungy purple-blue colour. Sprinkled it all with gold embossing powder before heat drying and *crisping* the flowers up. The edges have been inked and curled a bit, too. The cardboard box tag has also been sprayed, embossed and then re-embossed with perfect pearly to give it some shine. I used some rub ons to put the roses and tiger onto the background, added a vintage child with wings picture, and the tattered flower and wings, with a metallic doiley as background. Used a gem stone, some pearls and a bit of stickles for the finishing touches, and that was it. It was, as always, great fun to make! And I did some clearing up yesterday!
Thanks for looking and have a good day!

GC86: Spicy Supply - Coffee Filters

GC86: Spicy Supply - Coffee Filters

For ths challenge we had to use coffee filters to make something. I got given some by a friend, who had bought the wrong size for her machine, and cut out some flowers using the TH *Tattered Florals* die. At first they looked very floppy and uninteresting, but after they had been sprayed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in terracotta, sprinkled with some embossing powder and heat dried, they stiffened up and twisted about and looked much better. Then I inked all the edges with a purple ink, stuck some layers together, added a centre of Prima pearls and really liked the result. IT's good to try out new things, even if you think at first that it's not so good! The tag has been made from a cardboard box, which has been partly peeled,clear inked and embossed with gold, bronze and silver powders, and highlighted with perfect pearls in pink and blue which have also been heat set. The lovely shimmer doesn't show up well on the photo. Added an image from LaBlanche, and a few other FAMT (flying about my table) bits and bobs, and that was it. I think I will have another go at playing with coffee filters this week if I have time!
Thanks for looking, and have a good day!

Hues of blues & Crazy or not?

This has been a great weekend. I stayed home, had time for myself – which means crafting, cooking, reading, listening to music – went to bed at more or less reasonable times and had some sunny walks through the frosty fields behind the house where I live. After weeks of cold and wet weather we have had a few days of frost paired with sunshine – the sky is blue, the birds are singing and I feel good.

I luckily remembered that I had some chicken breasts in the fridge, and started to prepare them for mydinner today. As I was standing by the stove I realised I was singing (to the tune of *I’m off to see the wizard*) *I’m off to fry my chicken, the wonderful chicken of Oz…dadum-tidum-tidum-tidum – the very best chicken there was!*
Sometimes I think I am a bit crazy, at times like this I am sure of it.
So what? As long as I feel happy with it!

I have been keeping warm at home by crafting, trying out a lot of techniques learned on *Gingersnaps* and other sites, making cards and tags and….and….finishing my third little canvas. The background has been painted with acrylic colours in indigo, cobalt and gold, with a bit of glitter sprinkled on while it was still wet. Then I decided to enter it into June’s challenge on *Dezinaworld*, which this week is *Hues of blue*. I die cut some flowers, birds and a cage using TH’s Alterations, and embossed the parts using a Texture Fade which I had inked with *faded jeans*. I also cut some flowers out of a dark blue, handmade paper and a gold bird and cage. Then the fun part came – playing with all the bits and bobs till it looked like I wanted, sticking them together and onto the canvas, and adding the final decorations – a button, some bling, a cameo and an old butterfly brooch, which has been fluttering about in my drawer for years waiting to be used!
I am quite pleased with the result, it is always tempting to alter things again and again, but once I start, I never stop, so I will leave it as it is!
I am also entering this into the following challenges:
Try it on Tuesday - Alter it with wings who are being sponsored this week by *The craft barn*





and The *Sisterhood of Crafters* - Anything goes