Monthly Archives: July 2012

Addicted to stamps Sketch Challenge

Posted on by

24

This is a scheduled post and a stupid one at that as I will explain later. Hopefully I am sunning myself on the beautiful island of Lesvos or am partaking of the waters , and no, not what you are thinking that I am on the gin ( if truth be known  I am more likely than not on the gin ) this island is the third largest in Greece and well-known for its hot springs which supposedly have healing properties so hopefully I will return revitalized and rejuvenated and all manner of re things.

Over at Addicted to Stamps its time for our next challenge which is a sketch and no I’m not going to show you the sketch as I don’t want to confuse you as my card bears absolutely no resemblance to it ! Due to me being a very dizzy blond senior when I saw the email  with the sketch I only paid attention to half of it. Now for the past week or so I have had serious lack of internet and have been unable to access the Addicted to Stamps admin blog let alone anyone elses. So when I went to upload my card I saw that I had followed the sketch incorrectly but didn’t have time to make a new one so………. in order to share something with you here is my card ,please DO NOT USE THIS FOR INSPIRATION !!!!! head on over to Addicted to Stamps to see what the other members of the DT have come up with ( They can all read ) !!!!! and have followed the sketch beautifully.

 

I used Spellbinders dies to make the aperture and co coordinating Justrite stamp inked with Rich Razzlebury by SU a tiny weeny bit of colouring on the flowers with Copics ( I bought them so I’m using them ! ) The sentiment is also by Justrite stamped with  Marina Mist by SU and the oval is coloured with Pan Pastels. I think I have more blue on this one than I did in our Addicted to Stamps blue challenge,  oh dear !

Please excuse the lack of commenting on your blogs but I promise I will make it up to you upon my return , this is the first holiday I have had with hubby for a few years and as some of you may remember I spent a long time too- ing and fro -ing to the UK last year to support my dear friend Maria who lost her husband to Cancer at Christmas so was unable to take a little break with Teo. He really was a rock through it all , not only did he work continually in our business and look after our children and doglets but he was a huge crutch emotionally for me and I love him dearly.

Enough of the soppy chat, wishing you all well and will catch up as best I can upon my return.

Take care

Marie

Addicted to Stamps ” Clean and Simple “

Posted on by

36

 

Not only is our theme this week over at Addicted to Stamps entitled ” Clean and Simple ” but this post is going to be the same ! Due to my lack of internet over the last 24 hours and it taking me just as long to post this  I am keeping this super quick.  My nerves are frayed and jangled , not a pretty combination in anyones book ! ( I do love a bit of drama now don’t I ) so without further ado let me show you the CAS card I made .

 

 

I coloured my cardstock with Pan Pastels to give this lovely pale pink and blue effect. Cut the hearts with my Cameo and taking a lovely crackle stamp from IndigBlu and without using an acrylic block inked up the stamp and pressed it randomly on top as I didn’t want full coverage. The sentiment is from Stampin Up’s  Vintage Love set. Popped the hearts up with a little foam and there you have it CAS… I decided it looked a little too simple so  made a fancy heart envelope to go with it and coloured the lacy part with pink Pan Pastels .

 

Still not satisfied I made a tiny envelope again with my Cameo and embossed it and filled it with lots of tiny pink and blue hearts once again coloured with Pan Pastels , these little buggers took longer to make than the card as I had to colour both sides and they kept floating all around my craft room and disappearing when I sprayed them with my fictive spray. Needless to say the mutts were locked out during this process as they have been known to eat many a crafty creation which finds its way onto the floor !

 

There are tons of hearts still in the envelope but I couldn’t be bothered to get all of the little suckers out  !

Please pop over to Addicted to Stamps to see what the rest of the talented Design team have made for your viewing pleasure and thank you once again to all of those who played along last week, once again some fabulous entries.

Before I go just wanted to say that I will be missing for the next week as I celebrate my birthday on saturday 52 !!!!!! yes I know I don’t look it lol ! Hubby has arranged a holiday to the beautiful Greek island of Lesvos    for us , its been quite a while since we managed to have a holiday together so barring any health issues I will be leaving friday morning. Please excuse me in advance if my visits are a little erratic, this Island is quite mountainous and although I will have my I pad with me am not sure about the internet connection, I mean I can’t even get a good one slap bang in the city !

Wishing you all a wonderful week and especially to all of my lovely but very soggy UK blogging friends am off to the post office to mail you all a little sun !!

Ta ra

Marie

 

Addicted to Stamps colour challenge ” Blue “

Posted on by

31

If you have come here expecting to see more photos and hear more gossip about the terrible twosome and I dont mean Florence and Valerie ( although Valerie is still trying to stir it up ) then you will be sadly disappointed. I do feel the R & B saga has run its course at least for the time being so you will just have to put up with plain old boring me ! Thank you all for your well wishes for hubby and I we are both on the mend well I am at least but you know what men are like and they do like to drag it ou a little now don’t they girls. Why is it that the male species when ill with something simple and petty always insist they are at death’s door and revert to being five years old. Now it is no fluke of nature that men don’t give birth can you imagine it ! they would be intolerable. We ” the weaker ” sex however can have a baby in the morning  be home in time to cook  dinner , clean the house put the washing on do the shopping and then ask  them how their day was,and still have the energy to listen to what a hard day they had at the office/golf or whatever  it is they get up to outside of the house. I’m not saying that my Teo is faking it I just think he’s enjoying watching rubbish TV in the morning and seeing how the other half live, his knowledge of the current soaps and tv trivia is a little alarming to say the least.

Over at Addicted to Stamps we had some fantastic entries  for our Christmas in July challenge last week, thank you all so much for joining us. To be honest we could do with a bit of a cool breeze here its soooooo hot  but it’s not the heat that’s the problem its the humidity and the mossies the little buggers are quite dastardly and are immune to every kind of repellent known to man. It’s not so much them biting its the buzzing noise they make in your ear  just before they dive bomb you and  take a chunk out of your wotsits! yes my wotsits are out in all their glory. Sorry for going off at a tangent , now if I was a man I would say it was due to the malaria after being bitten so many times but as I’m just a mere woman I will put it down to having too many things whirling around in my lovely little brain.  Right before you all start yawning and getting itchy fingers let me tell you about this weeks challenge which is a colour challenge and the colour is blue. Come and have a peep at my little ( actually it’s not so little ) creation

Yes the theme is blue !!! not white but it does have blue on it doesn’t it. I cut the frame on my Cameo used this lovely new stamp by memory box ( new to me ) I coloured the flower and stems with copic markers and then added glossy accents to the buds and matted it onto Marina Mist by SU. The first ever challenge a few weeks ago at Addicted to stamps you may remember we were asked to use markers on our cards well I had about 3 mangy ones as I never use them , so after that I went out and bought a ton of the things ( thanks Kylie ) aren’t they expensive !and you can’t just buy three colours now can you ! So I have been practicing, not that you can tell by this effort and I don’t think I will be ready in the immediate or even distant future to get a Copic certificate, not that I could get one here even if I wanted. Sorry off on that tangent again ! oh Malaria is a terrible illness.

Yes that’s it , one lousy photo from me and too many words,  so if you want to see some real talent why not pop over and see the wonderful inspirational cards by my fellow teamies a lovely and funny ( and I mean that in a nice way ) group of gals if ever there was one.

On another note some of the turncoats have suggested that the mutts start a blog of their own so if anyone one is interested …hands in the bucket !!!

Right am off now for a rub down with my various mossie repellents as the little blighter’s are nipping at my bits

Ta ra !

Less is More ” Gold ” and Its a Dogs Life !

Posted on by

40

I feel it’s time to draw a veil over the sad events of the past few weeks concerning Rosy and Bailey I was totally devastated after the lovely ( former lovely ) Lynne of Adorn jumped on the bandwagon and sided with Florence, Vicky and Valerie. Up until now I had held these  Fabulous artists in high esteem and of course artistically I still do but I feel they have betrayed our blogging friendship and have come down totally on the side of the mutts. For anyone who is not quite sure what this is all about please feel free to read my previous posts . Florence even had the nerve to leave messages for Bailey and Rosy on my blog for all of the world to see ! how could you Florence ! Anyway as I said I’m drawing a veil over the whole proceedings that and the fact that the mutts have taken pity on hubby and I due to us both being ill and have decided that home is where the hearth is ( we don’t have a hearth but you know what I mean ) there was a mention of learning another language and Rosy being a French Bulldog decided Greek and English were already difficult enough to master !

It has been many a moon since I took part in a Less is More challenge but I do pop by every week to take a peep at all of the wonderful entries. Mandi and Chrissie do set such marvelous challenges and am always totally blown away by their inspirational pieces and those of the entrants. Yesterday was my first day back in my craft cave after a week of working all day and taking care of hubby, who now is on the road to recovery, thank you all for asking. Gold is the theme this week over at LIM a tricky colour to pull off but I see you have all managed quite superbly. I made a couple of cards and here they are……

I used my Cameo to cut out the feather, firstly onto heavy white card and used the negative space for the base. I then cut another couple of feathers with Gold mirror card . I popped up the card base with some foam and then placed the gold feather into the aperture , the sentiment am not quite sure who’s it is , I really must label things ! I had a couple of feathers and wasn’t sure if the card looked a little bare so I added a second one… what do you think one or two !

Right my next card am not really sure if I like it but I will let you all be the judge it was a bugger to photograph due to the reflection of the mirror card , well it is mirror card after all !

I made the heart from Fimo air drying clay using one of the silicone molds I made a while ago. When it was dry I rubbed over some gorgeous orange smelling antique gold paste by Pen Art it really does smell like oranges and I was really tempted to lick my fingers afterwards ! I used these fab frames from spellbinders to cut the apertures and then matted them up on foam squares to give dimension ,  a fab little resin flower in the corner and all done !

Please pop over to LIM to see the amazing creations and inspirational cards by Mandi and Chrissie and the rest of the LIM fan club. For all the tennis fans in the UK I bet there wont be much crafting done this afternoon as Andy Murray is playing in the Final at Wimbledon. Having missed all of the matches as Greek TV doesn’t show it I have spent all morning fiddling with my Mac and have finally worked out how to view it on line well at least I hope so !

No you’re not getting off that easily  ! I just wanted to share some photos of Rosy and Bailey, these are for the traitors, Lynne, Florence  Valerie and Vicky,  feast your eyes cos you wont be seeing anymore for a long time !!

Rosy feigning sadness !

Bailey, Rosy and hubbies foot all trying to feign sadness !

Rosy posing for the camera

Rosy not feigning sadness !! she was sitting next to hubby begging for cake and didn’t get any !

Right I’m off,  sorry for the photo heavy post ( I’m not really ) have to tidy up the craft cave before Wimbledon as we will be watching it on my Mac and I think hubby might have a relapse if he sees the mess in here.

Ta ra

Marie

Get Creative July 5th Card Sketch Challenge

Posted on by

31

I am a little miffed in fact I am a lot miffed !! and why you may well ask, well if the truth be-known certain so-called blogging friends have shown their true colours,  Florence and Valerie  being just two of the turn coats. It seems their allegiance lies with Rosy and Bailey my two little mutts and not only have they taken theirs sides but have been corresponding behind my back ,  Florence has even invited them to move in with her and Freddie in Malaga !!!!! you can image my surprise,  apparently seats have been booked on doggyjet and the little so and so’s are quite happy to go. There is one little hitch Florence as they are both under age they need an adult to travel with them so if you are prepared to come and get them then you can have them,  little traitors the lot of you !!!

On another note I would like to thank the lovelier and more honest blogging friends amongst you for all of your well wishes for our holidays unfortunately they were not meant to be. After arriving at our summer-house and spending the whole day cleaning it from top to bottom we had to return home as hubby was suffering badly with his back , let me just say I did the cleaning so it was not as a result of that ! He was unable to work in our shop so we packed everything up and returned back to base. Upon our arrival I also started having problems with my shoulder ( have  little problem with my spine and it flares up when I do too much housework ) its true it’s not an excuse. Needless to say we are both drugged up like two zombies but because I have use of my legs I drew the short straw , not only have I had  my holiday cancelled but  I’m working all day long everyday , looking after an invalid and two traitorous dogs !!!!.

Anyway……. over at Get Creative its time for another card sketch challenge and our lovely leader Irini has generously given the DT a little break,  so for July and August we will be having only one card and one sketch challenge.

This was the gorgeous sketch we were given to work with

I made this shaker card and I can honestly say I wont be making another one in the near future ! Why is it that the simplest of cards always seem to defeat me ! The treat cup  from SU that holds those pesky teeny-weeny seed beads was a real so and so to attach mainly because I was a meany and didn’t buy the matching circle punch . I thought one of  my Spellbinders circle dies would surely be the same size but nope no siree , trying to align the treat cup with a larger hole was very annoying indeed. As for the beads….. I think most of them ended up in the dogs as they kept escaping and spilling out all over the place  ( the beads not the dogs ) I stamped the love image using a  Waltzingmouse stamp which fitted perfectly in the aperture,  cut out a circle of orange felt with my Spellbinders and attached the sunrays which I cut with my Cameo, a couple of stick pins and there you have it. I also flipped the sketch cos the rest of the DT had made such wonderful cards so I thought no one would notice how mediocre mine was if it was upside-down !

 Over at Get Creative we have a new and extremely talented member of the card Dt Puccarina, apart from being an outstanding artist she also writes the most amazing blog posts and is a regular contributor to our challenges. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome her to the team and look forward to working with her.

Our sponsor for the card challenge is also a member of the Dt , Channa who has a fabulous e shop  Crafts and Pieces with lots of gorgeous goodies , I know cos I bought some lovely resin flowers from her recently,  just look at what our lucky winner will receive

Please do pop over to Get Creative to see the fabulous inspirational cards by the other DT members and who knows you could be our lucky winner. Right before I go after this marathon whingeing post let me just leave you with this photo of Rosy who after being told that her plans had been foiled and she was not going to live with Florence in Malaga decided she would try to smuggle herself into one of my travel bags but Bailey being only two kilos could not lift or drag her to the airport !!!!

Right off to work

Ta ra

Marie

Addicted to Stamps Challenge No 3 Christmas in July

Posted on by

26

Hopefully while you are reading this I shall be sunning myself at my summer-house in Halkidiki that’s if WordPress does its magic. There was a huge kerfuffle  ( no idea how to spell that neither does spell check…...Vicky ) in the crafting cave last week as the dogs got wind of my plans to replace them with felines. Not  wanting to point any fingers but I will anyway, I  think that Valerie of Bastlemania is the guilty party as she said she was going to send them an email  and spill the beans,  don’t  know how she got it as even I don’t even have it ! The beans have been spilled and now I’m left cleaning up the mess ! After much whining and growling and that was just me ,we have decided that if there is to be any future in our relationship then we need to get away from it all ( crafting ) and try to work through our feelings and see where our priorities lie. So I am packing up the doglets their toys and such like and leaving my crafty supplies behind for a few days. I have managed to smuggle the I Pad into one of my bags while they were getting their swim suits ready and hopefully will be able to do some sneaky commenting when they go to bed. Valerie if you tell on me I will be very annoyed !!!!l

I do hope we can work things out as I do love them dearly and this little break will give us the opportunity to explore our inner most feelings. Another thing is that many of you shared you feline experiences with me and its rather put me off……better the devils you know !

Goodness got all carried away with the R & B saga and nearly forgot to post my card !!!! Over at  Addicted to Stamps its time once again for our new challenge and our illustrious leader  Kylie has chosen a corker !! Christmas in July. My heart sank when I saw it I mean it’s about 38 here today and I had packed up all of my Christmas stash and of course I can’t find it ! Its most probably went the way of lots of other valuable crafting items in other words,  the bin,  so I am making do with what I could find .

 

I created the yellow ( well it is Christmas in July ) frame with my Cameo and  cut out the central circle with a spellbinders nesting die. Stamped old Santy Clause there with one of my lovely Waltzingmouse stamps and embossed with SU grey embossing powder. Framed the image again using red card cut with Spellbinders. Used one of my TH on the edge dies to cut the top piece of red felt and attached to the card, added some red pearls and a lovely yellow resin flower and that’s me all done !

This is especially for the visually challenged among us so you can see how naff my embossing is.

Do please pop over to Addicted to Stamps to see what the other talented and lovely ladies have created to inspire us all and thank you all so much for taking the time to pop by  it really is appreciated. Must dash as I have to finish packing and  find Rosy’s water wings otherwise all hell will be let loose. Did you know that French Bulldogs can’t swim ? If you are really well-behaved while I’m away I might just share some holiday snap of the mutts frolicking in the waves .

Ta ta

Marie