Good evening, afternoon or morning depending where you are and what time you are reading this !

It’s evening here in Greece and I had planned to clear down my desk as I will be leaving for my summer house by the sea for a few days. I had not intended to take part in anymore challenges for a while and to have a bit of quality time with family before I leave…………but then I only went and took a peep at the Just for Fun challenge blog and what did I find but another fabulous theme ….yes another one and just too good to resist This weeks theme is  ” Fabric and Fibre ” Needless to say my desk, the floor, the sofa in my work room are heaving with lots of the above , so much for ” clearing down ” ! I will most probably end up just stuffing it all in a couple of paper bags until I return !

 

I am exasperated, flummoxed and in a bit of a quandary. Apart from spending half an hour writing my post and titivating it  I only went and posted it to one of the sites where I am a design team member and then accidentally erased it……so here I go again . !

The reason for being in a bit of a quandary is that try `as I might every time I attempt to do something inky and messy on the crafty front it turns out all CAS !  Why ? I don’t know ! I am messy, my desk is very messy and my house,  well pig and sty describe it very nicely . I’m a relatively new crafter and still finding my feet and my style but `I do oh so want to crossover as it where to the inkier side of the tracks .

One of my favourite challenge sites Just for Fun who incidentally have a great theme this week ” Precious Metal ” four lovely ladies who embrace all things, altered, inky and downright gorgeous have been putting up with my CAS creations for the past few months. I am trying so hard not to be so pretty ( they do not do pretty ) I do feel however that I am heading in the right direction , albeit slowly very slowly.

Take for example these two offerings ! I actually broke out the alcoholic inks ( private joke ) used aluminum, embossed it sanded it distressed it , dabbed and dibbed , used the ” pouncing technique ” ( don’t ask me !) and did all manner of things to it but as you will see they still look a bit CAS to me !

 A spot prize goes to anyone who noticed that the canvas is upside down !

So what should I do ? Fight the fight or give up the ghost ? I even thought about cheating and entering a piece of jewellery from my shop but where would have been the fun in that. !

Do pop over to Just for Fun to see what the amazing design team have come up with always inspirational .Once again there are some fabulous entries from their ever growing talented fans, definetly not to be missed.

Look forward to hearing your comments ( I think )

Take care

Marie

I have been a bit of a slacker in the crafty department this week or so it may seem, but it has in fact been just the opposite ! Right here come the excuses , firstly big birthday week Stavroula was on Wednesday, I was on Thursday and my oldest `Greek friend ( I don’t mean in years ) was on Friday which meant lot’s of cards and gift making this week ( I always leave everything until the last minute ! ) This accompanied with lunches and evenings out,  champagne drinking and a lot of excess in the food department have kept me away from you all ! ( what do you mean you didn’t know I was gone ! ) Husband took me out to get a couple of ” rig outs ” and to wine and dine me so I have been finding it difficult to get back into my craft room plus it’s over 30 degrees here and the outside world has been beckoning !

I also had great news this week when I learnt that  I had been appointed DT member for Sassylilsketches who not only have a great challenge blog for scrapbookers and card makers but a fabulous forum for all things crafty and creative, so another reason to celebrate.

What am I leading up to well, I feel like a bit of a cheat I only made two cards for Less is More this week who’s theme is  ” Button or Ribbon ” ( or plural thereof ) I usually make a few but hubby has been lurking around my craft room door all morning and has been enticing me by quoting dishes from my favourite seafood restaurant and reciting the wine list to me so……..sorry Mandi and Chrissie but I am weak and have given in to temptation and taken up his offer of lunch by the sea.

So here are my two very simple cards even by Less is More standards.

 

 

 

See ya !

Hi there ! Am I excited or what !!!!! Extra Extra read all about it !!!!  Whats going on…….well apart from my birthday tomorrow a new DT Post and the Get Creative July 20th reveal not a lot !!!

First Get Creative as it’s the 20th of the month that means we have a new card sketch reveal

For our sketch we were asked to use the Cherry Nest products that had been so kindly supplied for us by Elina Koutsouradi who also happens to be our guest designer for July. Here is my DT piece

Am using once again acetate so unfortunately wasn’t able to get a good photo ! The Cherry Nest products I used where the orange Polka Dot paper paper and the Pied De Poul . I cut out a section of my card with my Silhouette and printed the sentiment and image onto acetate, I then used the polka dot paper underneath to highlight the image .

Do pop over and check out the other fabulous DT pieces at Get Creative we have three challenges going at the moment and great prizes to be won !

Now onto my exciting news !!!! I am proud to announce that I have been selected by Katie and Cherie of Sassylilsketches to be a new Design Team member for their card sketch team !! This is not just another challenge blog ! they have an amazing forum where anyone can share not only their craftiness but anything else ( within reason lol ) that they feel would be of interest. It’s a great meeting place for like minded people and so much fun !

My first official DT sketch will be in August but decided to enter their current sketch challenge just to get my feet wet .

This is my card based on the above sketch. Crafty individuals papers and sentiment, which I embossed with Hero Arts gold embossing powder and some shells that I painted ., simple and summery !

Do pop over to Sassylilsketches have a nosey round and maybe join in a challenge or two !

I was going to leave you a few more piccies but Mr Blogger has other ideas and has decided enough is enough, obviously  didn’t like the look of them !

Wishing you a super fun day today I know I’m going to have one !

Marie

Hope you are all feeling splendiferous after your weekends crafting and are all in fine fettle for the week ahead . I myself am feeling somewhat drained , if you read my previous post then you will understand why.  I was a woman possessed for a few short hours when a strange inner voice goaded me into creating something with circles which happened to be the next days theme on LIM ! For those of you who have asked for next weeks lottery numbers please send a cheque for 1000 pounds  to the following address : Psychics R US  , Greece. no refunds given.

So Why am I telling you all this well when the voice ” came through ” I was in the middle of creating a project for this weeks challenge over at  Just for Fun, it was a particularly messy and inky project and I abandoned it in favour of ” the voice ” ( well it was very persistent ) After a long lie down and a large  G & T I carried on and completed my project this weeks theme being   ” Groovy Corrugations ” Check out Just for Fun for all the details. Gosh what a long segway that was !!

Now it has been quite some time since I have made such an inky mess ! there where upturned stamp pads everywhere , lots of the corrugated stuff and very inky hands and clothes! No surface was left untouched even the floor has some lovely DI stains ! I had so much fun and I want to thank Zoe for giving me a push in this direction hope you like the outcome cos I had a ball !

This is my first attempt at a mini book so I don’t want any laughing or pointing of fingers ! It’s supposed to be a bit grungy and distressed a bit like my face was after `I completed it but am having trouble getting there, I did try honest ! As you can see there is no escaping the usual flower but look !! it’s not in the top right hand corner  ! the therapy is working maybe by next week I can produce something without  a flower on it !

These are a few pages of the book , I wont bore you with all the details just suffice to say, I stamped, dabbed, ripped, painted, distressed more dabbing , gluing, un -gluing, gluing again, and so on and so forth I think you get the gist.

The men in my life quite liked it and thought it was a bit different from my ” Usual stuff ” although I do feel I have a long way to go before I can fully embrace this grungy look.

Please let me know what you think, well not exactly what you think cos that might make me teary eyed just sugar coat it a little bit.

Why not pop over to Just for Fun and see what the Groovy DT have come up with to inspire us all this week. Some fab entries form the faithful followers too !!

I would also like to enter this into the Make my Monday challenge who’s theme this week is Vintage Shabby Chic, torn or  crumpled, well it’s certainly torn and crumpled Fliss just don’t know about the Shabby chic part ! This is my first time with these lovely ladies so why don’t you join in too and we can be newbies together ! Thanks Fliss for the tip  !
Marie

My blog has been a whinge free zone of late ! I was known for it ! ( Whingeing I mean ) Not a thing to be proud of maybe but it was always with a bit of added humour or at least I thought so ! Well enough is enough I have been quiet for too long ! So cover your ears or your eyes or whatever you need to cover but be prepared !!!!!!

Last night as I was crafting past my bed time as you do (my bedtime is now officially 3.00 am ) I was working on a little project getting really inky and messy which I haven’t done for a long time ,when all of a sudden and I kid you not I got the urge to do something with circles !!!. I abandoned my inky mess and started creating , I couldn’t stop I was having so much fun ! there was this little voice in my head urging me on chanting circle, circles , circles, anyway at 4.00 am I finally called it a night or rather morning . To be honest I was a bit dizzy from all those circles and the little voice had packed in , it was most probably dizzy too !

Anyway you all know what is coming next……woke up late and grumpy and checked in to see what Chrissie and Mandi the BIG BOSSES at Less is More had in store for us this week. CIRCLES !!!
I did a lap of victory around my living room whooping and hollering like a five year old two dogs in hot pursuit barking and panting ! Husband who was enjoying a peaceful coffee on the balcony thought we had won the lottery! Didn’t even try to explain, just started snapping photo’s writing my blog I was on cloud nine , ten minutes it was done or so I thought…………Always read the small print ! Mandie and Chrissie want circles not circle ! plural it was even highlighted !

That my friends took place 8 hours ago and since then I have been trying to communicate with ”  The Voice ” to no avail it’s most probably in hiding ! Of course by the time I had finished my new circles I discovered I had a  light problem……too much of it ! I used acetate and of course the two do not mix , twenty photo’s  later of me and my I Pad reflected in the images !!!! It’s taken me all day to re do them I’ve got bloggers bum ,bloggers blindness, bloggers neck and all manner of blogger ailments and if I get told off by M & C there’s gonna be an awful lot of blogger crying going on I can tell you !

It is not obvious from the photo so let me explain , I cut a circle from my card , printed on to acetate a lovely circle within circle image and then matted it on to a beautiful piece of photo paper that I had printed an under water coral image.  ( told you it wasn’t obvious ) I added the circles at the side cos I thought I might get disqualified for lack of the circly things . Below is the card before I added the side panel .

 

Again more acetate ( anyone know of any acetate challenges this weekend lol ?) more die cutting and lots of circly circles and what not .

Variations on a theme , by this time I was losing the will and my vision ! I actually did some stamping on the acetate !

Now this has nothing to do with this weeks challenge although it is circles but maybe not very CAS  I just needed cheering up and something WITHOUT ACETATE . This happens to be an invite that I made for  a childrens party the party details are written inside on the leaf.

For those of you who stayed awake or even read the whole post thank you you are too kind and for those of you who left I don’t blame you ! Phew do I feel better after all that……….of course not !  but there is a big G & T with my name on it so am off to drown my sorrows.

Do pop over to Less is More where you will see some fabulous creations and inspirational pieces by the BIG BOSSES Chrissie and Mandi

Will pop by and see you all later

Marie

After an exhausting weekend it’s nice to get back to normal or as near normal as it can be in this house !
The ” Rock Star ” son has returned home after a very successful show in Athens they also had a half hour spot on the Radio and a promise of another large concert in Athens later in the year !

After catching up with all my missed sleep and feeling in a great and somewhat relieved mood I decided to enter the Craft-Room challenge who for the next fortnight has the theme  ” Butterflies ” Now who can resist a butterfly ?? Not me that’s for sure !

http://craft-roomchallenge.blogspot.com/
I stamped onto white card stock using metallic silver ink one of my new distress stamps , of course don’t know who it belongs to as have thrown the packaging away  ( as usual ) I printed onto Acetate an image from Designer Digitals and then edged it with very blingy silver lace. I made the butterfly by spraying the paper with perfect pearls and scrunching it all up then edged again in silver metallic ink. If that wasn’t enough bling I then added glitter to the top and bottom layers of the butterfly. The butterfly is a bit large for the card it is in fact a broach so can be detached from the card and worn.

For those of you that follow me regularly will know that I have a fixation for flowers and adding them to the top right hand corner of my cards have now  progressed to insects  but that corner is still looking so damn attractive ……..

I would also like to enter this into the challenge blog Stamp Something who’s theme is  ” Wings and Things they have some fab inspirational pieces to get you in the mood !
Also do pop over to The Craft-Room and see what an amazing job the design team have done, you wont be disapointed !

Bye for now

Marie

P.S Zoe was going to enter it for the Just for Fun challenge but I think the digi might disqualify me !

What a week this has been ! So much going on ! So little time for crafting, which is why my blog has been neglected this week, so do apologise for not getting round to everyone  but I had good cause !! 

My sixteen year old son took part in a three day music festival in Athens after winning a place with his band Chinese Basement . The festival is called school wave and it is open to students up unto the age of 18 who are in a band After various auditions  that took  place during the course of this year they where chosen as one of the 22 bands from all over Greece and only two were chosen from Thessaloniki and they where one of them ! This is a huge organisation and a great honour for them to play live in front of 6,000 people. My house this week has been full of teenagers to-ing and fro-ing and trying to get their CD ready . They have had it professionally produced and have paid for it themselves earning money by busking in their free time.  Can you tell I am one proud mummy !

Anyway………….Over at Less is More our theme this week is a  One Layer Card , ” Things with Legs ” Now I think you will agree that this is a very interesting subject and one that has immense possibilities ! I did in fact keep mine simple as I returned home from a wedding in the small hours 5.am to be precise so am feeling a little bit shaky, am always looking for excuses for my lack of talent lol .

For this I used various pigment inks , I just wanted to create a bit of a random background , you should see the ten other ” random backgrounds ” in the bin ! I used a Crafty individuals stamp for the main image using Stazon ink and boy does that ink Stazon ……….on my hands , on my desk, on my chair and  the dogs !!!!, they ran off with one of the ten failed attempts that missed the bin !

 

Will be round to see you all later on but I feel some  ” lying down ” coming on still very tired from dancing the Greek Version of  ” The Conga ” !!!

See you all later.

Marie

Well it’s the 5th of the month and you know what that means ? No not five days since the beginning of July  ( well yes and that ) what it means for me is The Get Creative card challenge is live and what an interesting theme are fearless leader Irini has for us this month.

We where asked to create a card with the above colour combination gorgeous colours I’m sure you will agree. Our sponsor this month is Cherry Nest online store who not only is offering two gifts to the lucky winners but they also sponsored the whole Design Team !!! How about that then !

 I made a picture frame out of cardboard which I covered with some lovely cotton material and distressed it a little around the edges. I stamped the back of the frame with SU French text in Pacific point ink and yes once again another flower in the top right hand corner ! Seems to have become somewhat of an addiction !! Help ! I used my big shot for the flower using the SU Daisy die cut with various papers the orange spotted one in the centre is by our sponsor Cherry Nest.

I thought I would share a couple of boxes with you that I made using two of the Cherry Nest papers