Crafty Ann's Challenge #31 - Same but Different

Crafty Ann has certainly come up with an very interesting challenge to see the old year out and welcome in the new 2011! She has provided us with a free digi image for this challenge, you can get it here. We all have the same image and the challenge is to put your own interpretation on it. Get your thinking caps on and have a go!

My vision is a comfy study with desk and all mod cons and the Tropical Beach Egg is an elegant piece of furniture designed to enhance the room. It stands on a carpet made from Crafty Ann's Abstract Brown paper and the walls are decorated with the Abstract Blue paper. The desk, mirror, telephone and lamp are courtesy of my Cricut "Sentimentals" cartridge. The Egg has been laminated and cut out to give it a lovely shine.

I do hope you will join us on this latest challenge and look forward to seeing all your different creations made with the same image.

DragonsDream TIO #63 - Aspect of Trees

This is my first crafting outing since before Christmas and it took me a long while to get back into it!

I have used a Tattered Angels mask and a few Glimmer Mists to create the background. The stamps along the bottom are by Kodomoinc and the sentiment by Elusive Images. The lovely swallows are by Joanna Sheen. I mark in my diary the date each year when the swallows visit Redmoss. They nest under the apexes of the roof and have two or three families each year.
The ink is Brilliance Victorian Violet and Stampin Up Elegant Eggplant.

Thank you for stopping by and hope you will continue to do so. I love all your comments and thank you all for the lovely and supportive remarks you have left me throughout this year.

Cozy and Warm

A merry Christmas to all my friends in blog world and my best wishes to you all for 2011. At the moment we are in the grip of a mammoth freeze here at Redmoss but as you can see from the photograph, John and I are cozy and warm with our woodburner stove blazing away in the sitting room.

Unfortunately, it has been so cold outside, -20 some nights, that the submerged pump in the bore hole has frozen solid and so we have not had running water in the house for the past week. We always have bottled water for emergencies in the house and have been managing to melt snow and catch drips etc. to water the animals and flush the toilets. Bathing has become rather more of a ceremony - no more jumping in the shower. So much we take for granted.

The good news is that a thaw is on the way and so we hope to be fully functional by next week! The animals are coping well with the very cold conditions, the sheep even seem to prefer it. My horse Finn just stands about outside and waits for his meals to be brought to him twice a day. He has a large shelter with a bed made up for him but he prefers to stand outside and let icicles form on his mane and face whiskers. He is a very hardy boy with few requirements.

Best wishes to you all and thanks so much for all your support over the past year.

Crafty Ann's Challenge #30 - Anything Goes

Come on and join us over at Crafty Ann's Challenge as Anything Goes!

I have made a mini-accordian album. You can get full instructions on how to make it here.

I have used a lovely plaid paper from Ann's Black and White Collection and merely accessorised it with an orange ribbon and button and a couple of Nestie Blossom die cuts in white and silver.

The album is a present for my friend Anna who taught me how to ride my horse. The horses in the photos are her horses, Manny, Teddy Ruxpin, Rocky and Millie.

There is plenty of room in the album as you can use the reverse side as well. It would be great to showcase any art work - not just photographs and it is very portable being the size of a CD case. I had no problem making it so take that as a guarantee because I don't do difficult either!

Thanks for dropping by and I look forward to you joining us at Crafty Ann's Challenge Blog.

DragonsDream TIO #62 - Golden Haze

Totally fed up with Christmassy things, I have used this opportunity to get onto my soapbox! Trees (apart from family, friends and pets) are one of the greatest loves of my life. They certainly alter a landscape for the better and I wish more people who have the space for trees would plant them. We have planted a small, native species, 10 hectacre wood 8 years ago at Redmoss and delight every day at the bounty it brings. If you have the space - try it!

My tag has been coloured with Brilliance Galaxy Gold, DI Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo. Stamps are from IBrake for Stamps and Elusive Images. Tree templates from Tattered Angels provide the background.

Thanks for stopping by and do feel free to leave a comment - all are appreciated.

CD Sunday Challenge - Three Of A Kind

How about a bit of sunshine and playing on the beach? My favourite Seraphina mice have an outing this weekend to the seaside.

Backing paper and sentiment are from the CD and the flowers are from FloraDoodles.

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a comment - all are greatly appreciated.

Rainbow Lady's Challenge # 130 - Christmas Food/or Drink

My 4 x 4 page shows a delicious and lip-smacking roast turkey, accompanied by obligatory roast potatoes and a bottle of red. The digi stamp is by anonymous and the image has been coloured with crayons and then covered with Glossy Accents.

The holly stamps are by Elusive Images and have been embossed with dark green ep and the berries are red Pearlidoodles. The tree stamp is by Crafty Individuals and has been stamped in DI Scattered Straw, the same colour as the background.

Thanks for visiting and please feel free to leave a comment, all are appreciated greatly.

DragonsDream TIO #61 - Sir Tim Inspired Embellishment

I'm dreaming Northern Lights this week, watching them dance and shimmer over the forest in the frosty night sky. We see them quite often, when the conditions are right, in my neck of the woods.

Trees are courtesy of Sir Tim's embossing folder, the calendar is from I know not where and the sentiment stamp is by Graphicus. My flower has been bugged, folded and scrunched, coloured with DI Barn Door and covered in Fired Brick Distress Stickles as has the button in the middle.

A scrap of music paper and a word charm and my tribute to Sir Tim is complete!

Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to leave a comment - all are appreciated very much.

CD Sunday Challenge - Christmas Sparkle

I just don't believe how easy this card was to make! The image is a background scene from Card Creations Art Deco which I printed out onto the thickest card my printer would take. I used lots of Glitter Glass for the snow on the bridge and ballustrade and crystal glitter for the overhanging branches in the trees. The sentiment is computer generated.

I took 20 photos to try and depict the sparkliness and winter frostiness that the original card conveys. This was the best one and only shows a little of the sparkle. The real life one has turned out magnificently and did not involve any skill other than cutting out, glueing and glittering. It is so good, I shall be making some more! The added advantage is that it will travel by ordinary stamp as the card is not more than 5mm thick!!

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave a comment - I appreciate them all.

Hungry Mouths to Feed

Here are just a few of my regular bird visitors enjoying a meal. Unfortunately we have now run out of bird seed and my supplier has none in stock either because all her deliveries have been held over due to the freezing conditions.

At the moment they are being fed on soaked lentils and barley and also boiled potatoes - as that is all I have. Let's hope the supply wagon rolls in next week!

Is Mine Bigger Than Yours?

This icicle is around the back of our house, outside the guest ensuite.

Are there any bigger ones out there?

Rainbow Lady's Challenge #129 - Christmas Animals

This is one of my favourite stamps as it shows a deer in a natural setting. The landscape gives you plenty of opportunity to experiment with colour and depending on what you do with it, you can get quite different looks. It was one of the first stamps I bought from Stampin' USA in those heady days when we got $1.80 to the £1. For this card I have used coloured pencils and OMS.

The backing paper is a freebie from Bearly Mine and the paper mount is from Graphicus. The sentiment is computer generated and the ribbon a gift from my friend Gladys.

Crafty Ann's Challenge Blog #29 - Sketch

We have another sketch challenge over at Crafty Ann's and I decided to make a Christmas card with some of the lovely tartan papers she has in her shop. The digi image is the Snowman Bauble decoration which I have coloured with crayons and OMS and then clear embossed. This has been matted onto a circle cut with nesties and then onto the green and navy tartan paper. The red card has been cuttlebugged with the Argyll embossing folder and a border of dots added to the bottom. Two die cut stars have been added for embellishments.

I do hope you will take part in the challenge at Crafty Ann's. It is so refreshing to be given a challenge that gets your mind thinking over the possibilities!

DragonsDream TIO #60 - Time Flying for Christmas

Time is certainly galloping along towards Christmas! For my tag this week I have taken inspiration from Clarity's Barbara Gray and made a picture inside a stamp. The large clock stamp is by Stampin Up and I just know it will become one of my favourites. The clock outline has been stamped and embossed in black and the pictures inside have been created by masking and sponging colour onto the card. The tag has been coloured with DI Barn Door - thank you Sir Tim for finally making a decent red!

Thanks for dropping by and please leave a comment as I do enjoy reading them all.

CD Sunday Challenge - White Christmas

This week's challenge is a bit of a busman's holiday for me as we have been snowed in since last Thursday! I am getting a bit fed up of the snow stuff already.

The backing paper is from Rob Addams' CD Let It Snow and is the feathery pattern of frost on glass. The image is by Elusive Images and has been embossed with glittery white ep over a brayered background (Kaleidacolour - Baby Powder). This has been mounted onto a piece of very pale blue card which has been stamped with Crafty Individuals Snowflake plate and embossed.

A white chiffon ribbon completes the card.

Apologies for the very poor photograph but it gets dark up here in the frozen north very early and artificial lighting is not ideal. Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to leave a comment - all are much appreciated.

Rainbow Lady's Challenge #128 - Thanksgiving

I have been able to use my lovely vegetable stamps from Stamp in the Hand for this card. Each vegetable has been stamped off the page first so that the colours are muted. The backing paper is by Bearly Mine and the sentiment stamps are from Stampin' Up. I have used a piece of real hemp rope for the trimming together with a re-cycled button. All the inks used were Distress Inks, Forest Moss, Peeled Paint,Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick and Frayed Burlap.

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave a comment - all are appreciated.

Bah! Humbug! # 46 - Feeling the Blues

This card didn't turn out at all like I had planned! In fact it is nothing like my original idea. This is not unusual for me at all.

I have used the lovely Trees embossing folder by Sir Tim and my new corner dies from Marianne Creatables. The sentiment is one of my favourites and is from Creative Expressions. I have used plenty of crystal glitter on the trees and corners to give it some festive bling and mounted it onto silver and then royal blue card.

Thanks for stopping by and do leave a comment - I enjoy them all. I shall miss the Bah! Humbug! challenge and look forward to it returning in the New Year.

DragonsDream TIO #59 - Colours for Christmas

I hadn't a clue what to do for this challenge until I was watching a programme on TV about Lincoln Cathedral and I was totally bowled over by the superb stained glass windows. So, I thought I would try to depict them in my tag. I have used the Embossed Resist technique but have ironed off the clear embossing so the tag is totally flat.

The medallion stamp is by Papermania and the Peace stamp is by Elusive Images. The cord is very posh lilac gardening twine bought from a very expensive shop - that was all I could afford! A bit like going to Harrods and buying a carrier bag to say you have been.

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment - I enjoy reading them all.

CD Sunday Challenge - Shabby Chic

Shabby Chic to me means lots of textures, fabrics and styles all thrown into one together with overblown floral designs.The backing paper is beautiful pale pink roses from Joanna Sheens RHS set over which I have put lace and wide satin ribbon. The flowers are just simple punched shapes that have been cuttlebugged with Swiss Dots folder and coloured with Victorian Velvet DI. Pearls had to be on the card somewhere too!Hope you like my card this week and thank you for all your comments which are much appreciated.

Two Challenges

I don't normally enter a card in more than one challenge but John has been bedridden for most of the week with a bad back and I know I will not have any time to make separate entries. My Christmas card is for
Bah! Humbug!#45 - Lovely in Lilac and
Rainbow Lady's Challenge#127 - Edge It.

The base card is pale lilac, the patterned backing paper is from The Lilac Garden and the fabric weave paper is from Joanna Sheen's Secret Garden.

The edging across the card is made with the newest border punch from Stampin Up. The bauble is a free stamp from Crafts Beautiful magazine and has been embossed with Moonglow Imperial Crown two tone embossing powder and glittered with Jones Tones. The ribbon was a gift from my friends at Bah! Humbug!

I do hope you like my card and please feel free to leave a comment - I appreciate every one.

Crafty Ann's Challenge #28 - Inspiration Picture

I had a good look at Crafty Ann's inspiration picture and decided that I wanted to go with the beautiful colours and the linear design.
I have used her Blossoms Sheet and printed it out over the Magenta and Lilac Polished Stone backing papers. The blue is also from the Polished Stone collection. The bowl is made from white paper, run through the Cuttlebug with the Tiny Mosaics folder and coloured with Memento Desert Sand ink. The foliage is a Clarity stamp and paper punched fronds.
The cream backing paper is Ann's Embossed Flowers - all the papers have been printed onto glossy 160 gsm paper and have a beautiful sheen.

I do hope you like my simplistic interpretation of the inspiration picture and thanks for stopping by. Please feel free to leave a comment - I do appreciate them.

Crafty Ann's Challenge #27 - AND THE WINNER IS .....

As it is Crafty Ann's Challenge Blog 1st Birthday each of the Design Team are to pick a winner from the comments left on our blogs. I had 7 comments and the winner picked out of the hat is



ROSIE



Congratulations! You can claim your prize of 1 digi stamp or 1 pre-coloured sheet of your choice, by e-mailing Ann at craftyann@hotmail.co.uk

There will be a NEW CHALLENGE tomorrow!

CD Sunday Challenge - Lavender and Lace

I have used Hinny Bop's Blissful Butterflies CD to make this card, the image and both the backing papers. I framed the image with a frame made from oval Nesties and punched out a couple of the butterflies from one of the backing papers with my Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly punch. It seems a perfect fit! The sentiment and the tiny flower and butterfly images are in Brilliance Victorian Violet.

Thanks for visiting and please feel free to leave a comment - all are appreciated.

Bah! Humbug! - Reindeer

I thought I would have a change this week and make an easel card.The entire card is made with freebies with the exception of the gold glitter pearlidoodles that I bought from the local craft shop.The main image is by Nina J. May and I sized this to fit Labels 8 Nestabilities -1. I used crayons and OMS to colour the image and Sakura Stardust pens for the coloured lights and parcels.The bp is from Bearly Mine. The reindeer is mounted onto a backing card which has been spritzed with Glimmer mists and cut out with the largest Labels 8. The sentiment is by Crafters Companion.I apologise for the poor photograph but it has been so dark here today. Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to leave a comment - all are appreciated

DragonsDream TIO #58 - The East

My inspiration for this tag came from playing about with Eco Paints and some stamp purchases from Ally Pally. The paint colours are Lake, Rose and Pomegranate that were painted in rough stripes and then squished together with another similarly painted piece and then buffed to a shine. The result reminded me of a very stormy seascape.

The stamps are by Kodomainc called Sea Story and the large wave by Stampscapes.

I enjoyed making this very much and was delighted with the result. Thank you for stopping by and please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Rainbow Lady's Challenge #126 - Lest We Forget

The stamp for my Rememberance Day ATC is by Crafty Individuals. It is stamped in Stazon onto parchment and is coloured in, from behind, with Marvy Markers. I have mounted it onto rainbow holographic paper, then onto black and then red cardstock.

The forget-me-not sentiment is by Flourishes.

LEST WE FORGET

CD Sunday Challenge - The Natural World

Fancied having a go at a masculine card this week and as fishing is very big in this neck of the woods - what better than a trout (or is it a salmon?).

I have used Jayne Netley Mahew Part 2 CD for both the image and the wonderful backing paper. This is the first time I have used buttons on a card (they are recycled from one of John's old shirts!) and have threaded them with linen twine and mounted them over a pheasant feather.

I do hope you like it and thanks for visiting. Please feel free to leave a comment - I do take on board what you say.

Bah! Humbug! #43 - Fancy Folds

This card is called an Exploding Diamond card and I got the instructions here. It folds down to a 4 x 4 square and would be very useful for all sorts of occasions. It lends itself quite nicely to be turned into a cracker card. My only suggestion when making this card is not to use too thick card stock and not to score the card at 6", just mark it with a pencil.

The image is from Crafters Companion and the backing paper is from PaperArtsy called Rum N' Raisin.

Thanks for stopping by and do feel free to leave a comment - all are appreciated!

Crafty Ann's Challenge Blog #27 - Christmas Card Non Traditional Colours

To celebrate the 1st Birthday of Crafty Ann's Challenge Blog - there will be a prize for one lucky person who leaves a comment on this blog post. The winner will be chosen on 18th November. There are prizes to be had on all the Design Team's blogs pay a visit and leave a comment!

As I always enjoy making a picture, what could be more Christmassy than a pink Christmas tree on a cold winter's night!

I have used Crafty Ann's Christmas Tree digi image, made three trees slightly different sizes and printed them out onto Ann's very vibrant Magenta Polished Stone backing paper. Each tree has been severely Stickled and decorated with black and magenta sequins. The white background paper has been torn into hill shapes and mounted onto black card. Jones Tones glitter onto Pearlydoodles (as per Lavinia Stamps) creates lovely raised sparkly stars. One of Ann's sentiment tickets completes the card.

Leave a comment and get a chance to win a prize and I hope you will join us over at Crafty Ann's Challenge Blog. Where there are even more prizes to be won!

Rainbow Lady's Challenge - Make a Picture

I am delighted to be chosen as Guest Designer on Rainbow Lady's Challenge Blog this week and I do hope you will join me and Make a Picture.


This card started out as a play session with a brayer and rubber bands wrapped around the roller. I used Adirondack Woodlands ink pad and glossy paper. I really liked the 'primitive' look the brayering made and decided to enhance this by using simple outlines on the landscape. The houses and trees (Stampin' Up) are stamped in Staz On so they would dry quickly and not upset the brayering. The picket fence (Clarity Stamps)is stamped using the Woodlands pad.



Because I liked the simple rustic look so much I continued it with the backing papers and brad detail. The backing papers are freebies from StampTV. The sentiment is computer generated and die cut with Nestabilities Labels 4.



Have a go and make a picture - it is very satisfying and very addictive. I look forward to you taking part in Rainbow Lady's Challenge this week!

Autumn Card

The autumn colours in my part of Scotland have been spectacular this year. I wanted to make something for my October card swap with Creating Rainbows forum that reflected the lovely bright autumn foliage.

I have used the Jacob's Coat technique and coloured the base cream card with various autumn colours and then stamped the large tree stamp from StampCamp with VersaMark and then clear embossed it. Chocolate Chip (Stampin Up) is a very dark brown dye ink and I rubbed this all over the image and then wiped off the areas that were clear embossed. This showed the foliage colours through.

As distressing was part of the card swap, I tore the edges of the image and coloured them with a lighter brown ink. This was mounted onto another piece of card that had been similarly coloured and overstamped with a willow stamp from A Stamp in the Hand and the sentiment from I Brake for Stamps.

I do hope you like my card, I really enjoyed making it and it does reflect the superb colours this year.
Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to leave a comment - I enjoy them all!

Bah! Humbug! #42 - Presents

For this week's challenge I had an opportunity to use my latest Cuttlebug folder Flourish Frame. I think it is really attractive - just a little difficult to find something small enough to fit inside! The backing paper is by Artylicious - Seasons Greetings and the stamps were a freebie in a Do Crafts magazine. The parcels were coloured in with Sakura Metallic and Stardust pens.

Thank you for stopping by and please leave a comment - I appreciate them all.

What a surprise!

I received this marvellous piece of artwork in the post on Thursday from my friend Jill who makes the most wonderful art canvasses and altered art. Amongst her many talents is art journalling, something she has only taken up recently but shows prodigious talent at.

This halloween piece is made of Gesso Board - very similar to Stamp Board but without the china clay finish. The surface is more textured and sealed with gesso.

Do visit Jill's blog over at http://ladycatfern.blogspot.co.uk it is well worth looking at some of her older posts too to see what a wide variety of artwork she enjoys. It is often a source of inspiration for me.