Sunday 30 August 2015

Acetate Tag Card, Holly & Berry, Female

I'd never heard of the Merry Monday Christmas Card challenge until yesterday, but loved the look of it so much that I've squeezed in a last minute entry.




As there was no time for ink I focused instead on adding texture and dimension!

I think I'm happy with it, but alas...  I know myself well enough to realise than any project I make in just the space of four or five hours (yes, I'm a painfully slow crafter) will inevitably be looked at tomorrow with a 'if only I had...'  At this point I normally pull it apart and salvage the usable parts or sometimes just add to what's already there.  It's not tomorrow yet, so who knows...  maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised for a change!

Supplies used:
Dies:  Paper Smooches 'Stitched Tag', Impression Obsession 'Pine Branch'
Punch:  Woodware 'Single Holly Leaf'
Embossing Folder:  Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes'
Other:  Red Button,  Raffia (Natural),  Morning Dew Drops (Clear)


Other challenges entered:

ABC Christmas Challenge 'Q is for Quantum Leap'
(B is for bows, D is for Die Cuts, K is for Keep it Simple)


Simon Says (Wednesday challenge) 'Anything Goes'





Have a good week...

Donna


Friday 28 August 2015

Picture Frame Tag, Bird on a Branch, Male/Female

Hello.  

It's almost time for another weekend and my daughter's back at school Thursday of next week... which means back to some sense of normality for me!

With so little time this summer, it's been difficult to enter craft challenges and play along, but somehow I've managed to put together a little something for the latest Memory Box challenge, 'Cool thoughts for Warm days'.
Seeing birds trying to shelter in the cold certainly makes me feel chilly!

I don't know about you, but in our house we take care of the birds that come and visit our garden...  a year 'round supply of food and fresh drinking water has brought many a nesting family to us over the past few years.
It's very comical watching the young ones call out for food and equally amusing as they learn to navigate our globe bird feeders.  Some of them never manage this feat (who knew birds could also have coordination disorder issues)?  ...but that's okay as we also have nut feeders which they can handle.




There were a lot of layers involved in putting this 10cm x 10cm tag together...  and it's certainly not clean and simple, is it?  But it's almost exclusively with just the one die making company
and that's very rare for me!!!

Dies used:
Memory Box Medium Snow Globe
Memory Box Woodland Branch
Memory Box Nestled Bird
Memory Box Puffy Clouds
Poppystamps Christmas Baubles

Punch:
Martha Stewart/All Over The Page 'Aspen Flurry'

Other:
Embossing Folder/Sheena Douglas Festive (Snowfall)
Acetate Sheet
Kraft Card
White Card (Plain & Textured)
Pebeo Studio Gesso (White)
Distress Ink (Walnut Stain)
Distress Marker (Walnut Stain & Picket Fence)
Ranger Crackle Accents
Paper String (White)
Brown Cord
Gem Embellishments (Clear)
Texture Stamp (stash)
Silver Thread (stash)
Silver Bell (stash)


As I've glued together several layers of card, this tag is sturdy enough to be kept as a little keepsake if needs be.

 I like this acetate window look...   enough that I think I may duplicate this idea for a gift box lid at some stage.
But maybe something with a little more colour next time!



House of Cards 'Metallics' challenge is still up and running so I'm squeezing this one in.  My metallics may be embellishment touches this time 'round, but that's ok :)



Other challenges entered:
Simon Says (Wednesday challenge) 'Anything Goes'.


Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #244 (Use some Silver).



Have a good weekend...

Donna

Christmas Tag (3D), Viviro Ornament, Male/Female

Hi everyone.

Thanks for stopping by today.

  Apologies for not posting for a while...  it seems that this Summer break has given me far less time for crafting than I had hoped.  If I get the time I'll explain some of the reasons why in a future post...

My tag today is another Christmas design.
Sorry, but that's what came to mind when I took my inspiration from Carol's card so that's what I've got.  They won't all be Christmas themed from now on in though...  I promise!!!

Here's my tag...




...  and here's Carol's design that was used as my inspiration this time around.


I've used the Viviro Ornament from Poppystamps (discontinued) as the main feature of this tag as it gave me the same scope as the white circle on Carol's card.  I also liked the fact that by using this die I already had the star shape echoed nicely from the original design.  (They may be snowflakes instead of stars, but that's good enough for me)!

Swapping gold for silver was an instant decision of mine as I rarely used gold in my work, yet as you can see it ended up featuring quite heavily on my tag...  and the pink shades of Carol's card became the die cut sentiment instead.

As for my background...  it's the black and white colouring of Carol's tag mixed with the chalkboard 'feel' of her pink shaded background.  I've even purposefully added the chalk board cleaner marks that I remember from primary school to echo the sharp, straight lines on Carol's stars.

Can you see from my photo that I've even managed to squeeze in a tiny little bit of texture using my long discontinued Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' embossing folder on the acetate layer covering the ornament?  (How's that for a long sentence)?  As well as providing me with a lovely finishing touch it meant that I could echo Carol's embossing on her card.

Come and join us over at Tag You're It.  
We would love to see you there and it would be great to see what design you come up with :)

'Bye for now...

Donna.

Oops...  I almost forgot!

As House of Cards still have their 'Metallics' challenge running, I'm including this little design.  It's a great way to 'meet' new people...  and I'm feeling a little out of the loop right now. 


Other challenges being entered:
Simon Says (Wednesday challenge) 'Anything Goes'


ABC Christmas Challenge 'Q is for Quantum Leap'. 
(D is for Die Cuts, F is for Frosty, N is for Not a Card and O is for Off the Edge).


Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #244 (Use some Silver)

Friday 7 August 2015

Dragonfly (Metallic), Happy Birthday, Male/Female

Hello.  
I wonder how you are doing today?  
Do you get the balance right between working hard and playing hard?  I wish I did...

When I saw the latest challenge by House of Cards with the cue word 'Metallics', I was very happy.  You see, I've been working on several projects at once recently as I'm trying to finish some designs, so I already had some metallic die cut leaves ready to go.  It was simply a case of coming up with an idea that worked...

Why am I working on so many projects at once?

Because there's this theory that I have a craft table somewhere...  but right now that's sounding more like an urban legend as it's buried away, hidden somewhere underneath too many half finished designs!  Come on...  confess.  I can't be the only one!

Here's my card...




I had a lot of fun with this design as I used some 'upcycled' elements - packaging from an embossing folder and from a disposable shower cap (of all things).  I don't know who came up with the idea but I've never seen something in a hotel packaged so beautifully!

Here's a quick rundown of the dies used:
Marianne Design Creatables 'Maple Leaves'
Elizabeth Craft Designs 'Dragonfly Silhouette'
Tattered Lace 'Retro Alphabet'

This is a simple card to put together, but I love the effect of the different textures combined with my trusty Walnut Stain Distress Ink and Paper Distresser Tool.  Giving the whole design some added dimension by targeting areas to glue and lifting edges just adds something 'extra' to this, I think.




As Seize the Birthday have an Embossing challenge 'Topper' to go with their 'Anything Goes' challenge this month, I did a two for one design special.  (In other words, I purposefully designed this card around both challenges).  Doesn't always work...  but I'm glad when it does :)




Other challenge being entered into:
Simply Create Too  (Challenge #91)  Anything Goes


I originally thought that this design might be suitable for men as well as women, but looking at it now I'm not so sure.  What do you think? 

If you have the time, I always value your comments.

Take care...

Donna