Blog overhaul

Just a very quick update. What do you all think of the new blog? I am loving it, however I cannot take the credit for it. I had it done by Judi from blue bird internet marketing. It now matches my Facebook profile tab Judi made for me. Next I am going to have some labels made to go on the back of my cards but right now I am very busy uploading photos of stock onto my facebook page. I have not had a great deal of time to do much crafting, however do have a few projects on-the-go which I really must get finished! Maybe I should have a Mid-year resolution, don't start something new until you have finished what you start!

One of the cards I have made, using my Bigshot and a new texture plate, love the happy birthday background (sorry about the Shadow) have not had many sunny days of late.

Happy crafting all and thanks for stopping by :)

Craft Swap

I am participating in the Craft swap happening at The Contemporary Handmade Alliance. I have been paired up with Anna from King Billy. After a few emails between Anna and I we both discovered we like purple :)
So with the colour Purple, and nothing to girly, pink or sparkly in mind I set about going through my stash and putting together some items.

I decided to use a Pink Martini kit I had, I am not sure where I got it from and not even sure the products are still around. I will list what I used at the bottom of the post. I really liked the Purple, lime and orange tones together. I have recently made a paperbag album similar to this one but in purple and lime. That one is heading the way of my sister...Psst Tracy post it tomorrow!

OK so once I had the colours worked out I decided on an Accordion Book by K&Company. The covers measure 16.5cm X 12.5cm while the inside pages (6 in total) are 16cm X 12cm. Just the perfect size for adding un-cropped photos.

When covering the covers I like to leave a nice size border, around 2cm extra each side. I mitre the corners to get a nice neat folded edge. I use PVA glue or Mod podge (whatever comes out the adhesive box first) to glue to paper to the cover and roll my brayer over it to smooth it out.

I paint a small border on all of the blank pages, I choose lime and then use double sided tape or a tape gun to stick down the card stock. A few of the pages I double matted, added some rub-ons, ribbons, brads and flowers. On the front cover I double matted a large rub-on "A few of my favorite things". The small flowers are Prima and I glimmer misted them (and my fingers). After I had taken these photos I decided to add a little bit more...

I used my Big shot with the Movers and Shapers "Baroque" die. I used three silver brads to turn it into a little booklet, with 10 pages which goes with the top ten page. Anna can use this to do some journaling or add some smaller photos.

Since I have taken these photos I have added a little more "bling" to a few pages, I will leave that off the Blog but will post more photos on my Facebook page once I know Anna has the album. I do hope you like and enjoy the album, I had a lot of fun creating it.

Items used to make album;

K&Company medium accordion book (230941)

My Mind's Eye double sided paper (ks1087, ks1072, ks1039 and ks1095)

Bazzill Basics cardstock, orange and purple

Kaisercraft paint, lime

Making memories flowers and brads (purple)

Prima flowers (small white)

Deja Views Rub-ons, My Favorite Things (RL-600)

Tim Holtz Alterations Movers & Shapers die (Baroque 656633)

Buttons, ribbons, brads, double sided tape and PVA glue.

Card Challenge (take 2)

This is take two of the card challenge being held over at Riverland Kaszazz Scrapbooking.

The Challenge is to make a card using only the products in the kits plus stamps, inks and punches.

I decided I was going to use a stamp from Hero Arts called "Love Birds" K4888 (if you want to use the same stamp) I stamped the black tag with white versa magic ink.

I then stamped the same image twice in black staz on ink on the white cardstock, cut the red cardstock in half and stamped the image again. I used my Fiskars border punch (sorry don't know the name) and edged the white card base, the tag and one piece of the red cardstock. I also trimmed the tag down to be the same width as the card.

I then lined up the red cardstock with one of the stamped images and the cut down tag next to it. Added the ribbon, this covered where the "love" was. With the remaining red cardstock I cut out a love tag, then stamped it again on the back to cut out the second love tag. Added the white stitching to match the ribbon. These love tags are then mounted with magic mount/sticky dots/3D mount anything to make them stick and POP. The last things added was the rhinestone.

Tools used other than items in the kit;
Hero Arts Love Birds stamp K4888
Fiskars border punch
Versa Magic, cloud white
Staz on ink, Black
Inkssentials Opaque pen, white
Brayer (for rubbing over stamp)
Double sided tape
Magic Mount

I hope you enjoyed my "How I did it" if you have any questions or would like to leave a comment please do so.