A short post today ………..whats that,  do I hearing cheering and whooping in the wings  ! Shame on you !! Am feeling a little under the weather and really should be ” under the doctor “(  this was a phrase that was used a lot when I was a young gal ! ) It seems that bloggers bum has returned with a vengeance , too much sitting in front of my Mac is causing me a little discomfort in the back region , maybe I should call it bloggers back then !

Anways…………..after a longgggggggg absence I am finally entering a little something into one of my favourite challenges,  Just for Fun,  that trio of craftyliciousness  have this week as their theme ” Medieval ”  !!!! Von the jamming queen is the culprit what a fertile imagination she has,  and I will be asking her to call upon it when she sees my box !! So let me show you what I mean ….

Well this I suppose could be construed  as  ” Asian ” but I’m  asking you all to use every ounce your your imagination and move it on over to the Medieval category !  It  looks like a card but it is in fact a box with a glass top which was a real so and so to photo. This was the only shot I could get that didn’t have my gorgeousness reflected in it !  For the base I used magic gold card  ( well that’s what it called its self on the package ) I stamped the card with my favourite SU text stamp and then embossed with clear embossing powder, such a waste as you cant see it ! I then inked up my Harlequin embossing folder ( that’s the medieval part ) with black Stazon ink and passed it through the Big Shot. For the dragon I used for the first time this Dreamweaver stencil and coloured it using gilding flakes………never again, I thought glitter was bad this is far worse it actually floats !!! normal breathing just transfers these little flakes to the other side of the room so I had to hold my breath while I was making this portion of the card . The background is filled in with black glitter and the overall image is KITSCH AS CAN BE !!!!!. the black porcelain flowers just arrived yesterday all the way from Hong Kong  !! and add to the overall kitschyness  of the box. One thing is for sure I will never,  ever be using gilding flakes in the near future,  that coupled with glitter makes for one big mess , two blingy mutts and one cranky crafter. It also took me three attempts to make the image so there is an abundance of the stuff still hiding in all manner of crevices in the crafting cave !

So much for the short post ! Just writing about it and reliving it has given me a headache ! Do pop over and visit the gorgeous girls at Just for Fun  they have some wonderful pieces of inspirational art to drool over and inspire us with.

Right am of for a lie down, the boss has given me the day off to rest and recuperate so am away to do just that.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Marie

Evenin All ! Do you remember that catch phrase ! Well anyone in the UK over a certain age ah hum … like me,  might just remember it , answers on a tag please to my email address ( just kidding )

Over at Crafty Cardmakers its time for a new challenge which has been set by the lovely Jack , she has asked us to use beads on our cards,  sounds simple eh.! I personally had a little difficulty with this one . Am not really a beady person so all the more reason for giving it a go ,  in fact I gave it several goes all of which ended up in the bin,  except for my DT card.

We are kindly sponsored for this challenge by The Stampman (and Lady of course!) who are offering the winner a £10 voucher for their store, you can spend this online, in the shop or if you’re lucky enough to see them at a show! They have a ton of items in store, enough to tickle any crafty taste buds.Another of our new Sponsors Di’s Digi Downloads   who are offering a 10 dollar gift voucher .

Yes its back ! the pokey tool has been mysteriously returned to its rightful place , I know how concerned you all where about it , well at least Vicky alias Crafting Claire was . Lately I have been playing with my new Cameo which has just been returned to me  it was unwell and had to be returned to the UK to visit the die cut doc. I had had it only for a week when it refused to produce the goods , it arrived a few days ago so have being making lots of little intricate designs with it. ( see previous post ).  Horror of horrors upon its return my pokey tool did a runner and I was left using a cocktail stick to weed out the negative pieces,  no fun ! I accused my youngest son Ari of being the culprit as I had seen him eying it up suspiciously lately and asking a lot of questions about it. The funny thing was that I didn’t confront him with it but I mentioned it on my blog , which he doesn’t read  or so I thought !  The next day the Mr Pokey was back on my desk as if by magic! so………..

When I saw this morning that Chrissie and Mandi at Less is More where asking us to ” Cut it Out ” it seemed like fate had intervened , not only was my Cameo working but my pokey tool was back in my possession .  I had made several cards this morning but only managed to photograph one as my little doglett Bailey was taken ill and I had an emergency dash to the Vets ( all is well now ) upon my return mother nature had taken its course and turned the lights down low so couldn’t get decent photos .

Would also like to link this to Cas-ual Fridays who are asking us to use black and white and not a hint of another colour ! Think this first one fits the bill !

Hope this is not too over the top ! My lovely Cameo and gorgeous Mr Pokey are responsible for this creation,  looks easy but believe you me my full bin is testimony to the opposite,  getting the right measurements and layout is a tad tricky if you are dense like me !

Good morning from a freezing cold Thessaloniki !

So have fun and get Creative.

It seems that Tag Tuesday may just become an addiction! Another one ! I had such fun not only taking part but seeing all of the beautiful entries , such stunning work. If you haven’t been by  then I urge you to pop over , you will be amazed and inspired. I was really impressed I can tell you but that’s more than can be said for my dogletts Rosy and Bailey who where banned from crafting den due to copious amounts of glitter and glue attaching themselves to every object in the room. When they where finally admitted entry they still managed to get all blinged up even after I had hoovered ! If you have ever seen a porky French Bulldog and a tiny weeny pinscher sporting glittery fur and depositing it all over the house then you can well understand why they where locked out in the first place !

The theme this week is ” Snow, Sports and Games and  for my tag  I decided to go in the opposite direction and steer clear of the sparkly stuff, that and the fact that the other ladies do it so much better !

This is quite a large tag and as you can see my icicles are defying nature and growing out towards the side , I am using my ” artistic license  ” here, I  did try them in more natural positions but well, they just looked too” normal ” I used some foam dots between the layers to give the illusion of dimension. The whole tag was created solely with the aid of my Silhouette machine not a stamp or even a jot of glitter in sight !  The sentiment such as it is  and for those of you like myself suffer from bloggers blindness is a compilation of  words relating to the theme, snow, ice, skating , sledding, you get my drift  ( pun intended ) . Anyways hope you like it !

Am also linking this to Paper Creations Ink who are asking us to use die cuts/punches on our work 

Just one more thing the greenery is not part of the tag …… what you had guessed that already, of course , silly me !

Right am off to visit you all and ooh and ahh at your wonderful creations

Until next time……….

Marie

The day did not start off on the right foot  we had an earthquake this morning in Thessaloniki at around 5.30 am,  not a big one but enough to wake us and move our bed around a little. Now anyone who lives in areas where earthquakes are prevalent will tell you that it is not so much the shaking that is scary ( and I’m talking about the buildings here not me ) its the loud noise it makes. Needless to say didn’t get much sleep after that waiting for the after shocks ( there where three ) .  On to happier things !!

Today is my first Design Team piece for Crafty Cardmakers and  I am so excited to part of this wonderfully talented team of ladies and gents ( well gent actually ) nice to have a guy on the team.

Our challenge which has been chosen by the lovely Fiona is  ” No Floral Embellishments ” Fiona has this to say : You can use flower backing paper, flowers in your image but NO floral embellishments of any kind, (  so please read the small print lol! ) my words not Fiona’s 

Our fantastic sponsors are :  One Stop Card Crafts who are offering a ten pounds gift voucher and Digi Doodle Shop who are offering a ten dollar gift voucher which can be redeemed at their stores.

So without further ado here is my DT piece

Take care

A great big hello to you all !

Just popping in quickly as I am in a bit of a mess here ! Having decided to try a few new techniques ( and of course I have chosen the messier ones)  I am surrounding by an array of projects  which are spread out all over the place at varying drying  stages. Rosy and Bailey my two dogletts have been banished from my crafting oasis and are sitting outside my door moaning and scratching to get in. Now they would normally be in here sleeping soundly at my feet but the little so and so’s have been known to eat a couple of my projects in the past, feigning sleep they wait until I leave the room and then pounce ! I am taking no chances this time ” three times bitten four times shy ” I know it should be once bitten but I fell for their cunning plan on three occasions ! Anyway I digress ……..

I discovered a few days ago a fabulous new challenge group called Tag Tuesday who every week will be inspiring us to make a tag,  their theme this week is snow. I urge you to pop over and check it out as it is packed full of very talented ladies ( didn’t see any guys ) and amazing inspirational creations . I have to say I was a little intimidated at first but what the heck, nothing ventured nothing gained so I decided to do a little venturing.

I also discovered ( I’m doing a lot of this lately )  another very interesting group of gals DYSU challenge blog who have Let it Snow as their theme,  they have also very kindly provided us with a gorgeous photo to inspire us .

Sorry for the poor photos just getting dark here in Greece so had to stick the tag in the plant pot near the window to try and throw a little light on it !

The base is grey card which I smeared with Gesso then added a layer of UTEE mixed with a little glitter. I used the same process on the die cut snow flake curtsey of my Silhouette . I was going for an icy look so added only one layer of UTEE this gives a sort of crystal effect not that you can tell from my photo. I embossed the white card  and added glossy accents to the branches and then covered them with glitter . The stuff is everywhere ! No doubt I will have two very blingly dogletts as soon as they gain entry into my crafty den which by the sounds of them will be any minute now as Rosy the porker of the two is throwing all her weight against the door !!

Right am off now to get the Vacuum and remove some of this fairy dust from my surfaces. Will be by later for a nosey at all your fabulousness !

Don’t forget to visit Tag Tuesday and DYSU lots to see and be inspired by

Take care

Marie

HAPPY NEW YEAR !! excuse me for the belated new year wishes but I have just returned from a little sojourn to the hot thermal springs in Poza Northern Greece  ( more of that in another post ) ) but first I am literally bursting to share with you some exiting news ……..I am now officially a Design Team member for Crafty Card Makers,  yippty doo  !! I was so excited when I I found out a few days ago that I did a lap of honour around my living room dogs in tow yapping and squealing ( the dogs not me ) although I did let out a little squeal I must confess. I would just like to thank Lin for giving me this opportunity to be part of this fabulous team and I look forward to working and learning from the other talented members. Our first challenge goes live on the 9th of January so I do hope you will pop over and visit and maybe even take part.


More fabulous news over at Get Creative,  this is what our fearless and fabulous leader has to say :


we were so ecstatic with the participation in our October challenges that we are going to start of the year with another month of challenges similar to that of October. Every few days there will be a new theme either for cards or layouts chosen by the design team you will have  up until the 31st of January to upload your entry. The winner will be chosen by the Design Team and the prize will be :
………………………………………..

Now doesn’t that sound like fun !! and I get the month off too !!! Believe you me there are some exciting challenges this month so I do hope you find time to take part.




Last but not least and this has nothing to do with card making its just a shout out from a proud mum. My sixteen year old son and his band Chinese Basement will be making their Television debut tomorrow evening on national Television  on one of Greece’s most popular satirical programs called Radio Arvilla  so for any of my Greek followers who watch the program please tune in if you fancy a little alternative listening .


Well that’s all from me and not a card in sight ! Look forward to catching up with you all now things are back to normal and am so pleased the new year has started on such a great note !


Take care


Marie