ATCAS – Challenge #9 – Hosted by Harriet

Posted on March 23, 2013 by baileyrosy

Hello gorgeous girls and PF my ” special friend ” ! Greetings from freezing cold Thessaloniki, what happened to spring ! looks like we might miss it again this year and go straight from winter into summer. Actually this was my way of introducing our new code word at ATCAS which has been chosen for us by the lovely and talented Harriet, so can you guess what it is….

My lovely Cameo came to the rescue once again cutting the frame and supplying the little birdies up the tree, the sentiment is also from my darling cameo. What did I do… well I coloured it of course and did a smidge of layering and behold another cameo creation.

While the machine was revved up and raring to go I made another quickie

It’s a bit naff really but I made it so you’re seeing it !!!! I added the one tiny bloom to the tree to give the impression of the onset of spring , sorry that’s the best I could come up with. If you want to see some really inspirational spring creations why not wander over to ATCAS to see what the talented ladies have come up with, nothing naif about them !

We also have a wonderful new sponsor to introduce to you for this challenge.

It is our privilege to welcome Stephanie from Clearly Besotted Stamps who is most generously offering two of her wonderful stamps sets to our CAS perfectionist

Well worth joining in the merriment don’t you think !

Would just like to leave you with a photo taken at my studio at the weekend with a couple of crafty friends

That’s me in the middle can you guess what they are trying to do to me ?

Hope you all have a super weekend and look forward to catching up with you all

Take care

Marie

Get Creative March 20th Card Sketch Challenge

Posted on March 20, 2013 by baileyrosy

Hello lovely ladies !!!

Thank you all so much for your healing hugs and get well wishes I’m pleased to announce that after nearly two months of being ill and miserable I’m finally feeling well !!!!! Yes the mange has finally deserted me and gone in search of pastures new . So without further ado I’ll get straight onto the subject at hand which is the new card challenge at Get Creative , yes you heard right, no whingeing or moaning or feeling sorry for myself rest assured this will be one quick post !

Our lovely leader Irini has created this wonderful sketch for us to follow

Here’s my take on the sketch

The image was created with the aid of my Cameo and cut into four, coloured with Copics, I stamped and die cut a little butterfly and coloured also with Copics , glossy accents added hither and thither, don’t know if you can see the thither but if you look closely you will see it !

Four tarty crystals in the centre and a touch of layering and there you have my little kitschy card. This photo does not do it justice it’s ever so classy in real life, honest !

The winner of our challenge will join us as guest designer for May.

Do pop over to Get Creative and see what the other DT members have come up with and welcome our guest designer Meletini who has created two fabulous cards for us.

That’s all from me folks off to Pilates, something I haven’t done for two months now so wish me luck !

Take care
Marie

Addicted to CAS Challenge 8 Code Word ” Wings “

Posted on March 9, 2013 by baileyrosy

Hello lovely ladies would just like to thank you all for your well wishes and your patience, unfortunately I am still suffering from ” the deafness ” and ear pain and my spine is still giving me jip !!! I’m so fed up of being miserable and grumpy I do suspect that could have a lot to do with not being allowed to partake of the gin !!! Do forgive me for not getting round to you all but there are some of you out there that post everyday and although I love your blogs I’m struggling to comment on everything that you do !

Over at Addicted to CAS we had a fabulous response to our Masculine challenge and I know Sue has had her work cut out it choosing her winners, so many amazing entries, you really do make it difficult for us and WE LOVE IT !!!

This week my old ( very old ) blogging friend Florence of Florence and Freddie fame is our hostess for the next fortnight. I had the great pleasure of ” virtually ” meeting Flo when I first started blogging a couple of years ago and since then she has been the bain of my life ( no not the Suze Bain from Cant Stop Crafting ( inside blogger joke here sorry ) She has ridiculed me and my hobbies ( drinking ) on many an occasion and has even tried to steal my pets Bailey and Rosy !! but despite it all I forgive her as she is one talented and very funny lady and has really made a difference in my blogging life over the past few years , so thanks Florence and you can rest assured this is the last time I will ever be nice to you !!!

Here is what the lovely Florence has chosen as our code word for the next fortnight

Tons of scope here, could be cars, birds, butterflies birds or angels, anything with wings so come and see what this miserable so and so came up with

Sorry about the photo’s the weather here is rubbish and this is the best I could do !
Now this looks like a real simple card ….well it is CAS after all but it was a little time-consuming to say the least.

I made the frame and cameo myself by first of all making molds of both of them . I bought the original items from Hong Kong only to find both of them in a craft shop here in Thessaloniki !!!! Once the molds where dry I got out my Ranger melting pot and added white UTEE and a little blue To Dye For ink by Suze Weinberg, once melted I filled the mold and within a few minutes in had cooled and I just popped it out, it’s not by any means perfect and this is about my fifth attempt but the great thing about the melting pot is that if you’re not happy with the result you can just fling it back in the pot and melt it again, I can tell you a lot of flinging went on. Right onto the angel cameo, I used a new to me product called i clay which is similar to air dry fimo only it has much more elasticity . I once again filled the mold with this fun stuff and popped it out and left it to dry overnight.

The little cameo is perched upon this lovely die cut by Spellbinders Decorative Labels Eight. Sentiment courtesy of Inspired by Stamping and Stamped with SU Marina Mist ink.

I see that our sister blog at Addicted to Stamps and More is also looking for a CAS card this week, anything so long as its CAS so will be joining in there too

We do hope you can play along with us at ATCAS and do please pop over to see the fabulous inspirational pieces by the rest of the DT .

We are generously sponsored by All that Scraps

Right am off back to bed I’m positively exhausted .

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend

Take care

Marie

Get Creative March 5th Card Challenge ” Create a Card with an Envelope On

Posted on March 5, 2013 by baileyrosy

Hello lovely ladies and welcome to another whingeing post from my sickbed !!!

Yes four weeks on and am still feeling unwell and miserable, I now have contracted a lovely virus from my ever so generous husband which apart from having flu like symptoms has rendered us both deaf in our left ears and in quite a bit of pain. If it didn’t hurt so much I would laugh as trying to communicate at the best of times with Mr P is a chore but now we are both deaf ….actually now I come to think of it I finally have a legitimate excuse for ignoring him . Of course him being a man ( well that’s obvious ) he was off to the doctors like a flash and taking antibiotics within five minutes !

Anyway enough of my boring medical chat and on to our new challenge over at Get Creative. Our lovely leader Irini has once again come up with a great theme for us , she is asking us to create a card with an envelope on it or in it ! I really loved the idea but unfortunately being the miserable so and so that I am and feeling so sorry for myself I just couldn’t get motivated and so wasn’t too happy with the end result .

Onto a piece of Design Paper I stamped this lovely SU script with sepia archival ink and distressed the edges, made a tiny weeny envelope with my Cameo and added a folded tiny doily and a wooden heart to close it.

Using a lolly stick I ran over it with one of those lovely wheel stamps from SU and then punched holes in either end with my crop o dile and added a couple of eyelet’s and some thread. A touch of sepia ink was added to the edges and there you go another rubbish card from me and the bugger took ages to make too !

Do pop over to Get Creative to see what the rest of the DT have come up with and also welcome a new member to our card team Erina, She makes the most amazing cards I’ve been a huge fan or her work for ages and as a bonus she is a thoroughly lovely lady too.

We have a wonderful sponsor this month

Paper Stories

On a lighter note I was pleased to get top three at the Craft Room last week for my handmade embellishment see here if your curious its been ages since I won anything but to be fair it’s ages since I entered anything so it did cheer me up no end.

Before I go I would like to leave you with a couple of photo’s of the “pets ” . I share my craft room with my good friend Stavroula , well you have all met her mad cat Mr Ziggy well here is another member of the gang Ronin her lovely Jack Russell who also happens to be Rosy my little porkers boyfriend.

Here they are enjoying a tender moment !

This is my Bailey who looks like a little angel here but don’t let this doe like face fool you he is the boss in our house and even though he is just a tad over two kilos he definitely rules the roost !

Take care you all and hope that by my next post on Saturday I will be well on the road to recovery !

Marie

ATCAS – Challenge #7 – Hosted by Sue

Posted on February 23, 2013 by baileyrosy

Hello lovely ladies !

How time flies ( not ) when you’re stuck in bed without the aid of a laptop and gin has been banned by the doc due to the taking of horrible woozy inducing medication !

I have once again escaped from the confines of my bed to schedule this post as my lovely Mac has found a new home in my craft studio which is no longer on the premises !

Its time once again for a new challenge at Addicted to CAS and the lovely and talented Sue is hosting this fortnight’s challenge, so line up in an orderly fashion at the bar and you will all be served in the fullness of time, no pushing there at the back that means you too Darnell !!

Sue has chosen for us

I really thought this was going to be a toughie but it came together so quickly

I love this stamp even though I don’t know the maker is, What a surprise ! I lost the packaging some time ago so if anyone recognises it I would love to know who it is as I would love to see what else they make !

The frame and the sentiment where cut with my Cameo and popped up with foam for dimension and that’s it, super simple.

We are once again being sponsored by

I would just like to thank everyone that has embraced Addicted to CAS over the past few months not only do we have the most wonderful ( read crazy,nutty ) leader Kylie but the rest of the DT are all simply fabulous and thoroughly nice gals,( except for that baileyrosy who to be honest is a bit of a hypochondriac and I have heard that she likes a tipple from time to time) Enough said why not pop over to Addicted to CAS to check out those lovely ladies for yourselves and why not take part as our wonderful sponsor has lots of gorgeousness for the giving !

I see that the Craft Room is also on the look out for “Something for Men ” and as I so enjoyed playing along with them last time thought I would give it another go.

Right am back off to my lair but before I go here’s a photo of Ziggy the cat who shares the studio or should I rephrase that and say that I share the studio with him, he’s always on my desk especially when I have something drying his favourite is glossy accents and the sticky mat from my Cameo, can anyone spot what Mr Zig is wearing …..

Answers on a postcard please.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and thank you all for sticking with me…

take care

Marie

Get Creative February 20th Card sketch challenge

Posted on February 20, 2013 by baileyrosy

Hello lovely ladies !

It’s the 20th of the month and time for our final challenge for February over at Get Creative . Our lovely leader Irini has given us this fantastic sketch to work with

Come and see what I made :-

I recently bought the Majestic Elements Nestabilities dies from Spellbinders and couldn’t wait to play with them, because of the intricate design spellbinders recommend the use of freezer paper or something similar, I used baking parchment together with the cardstock in order for the paper to release more easily from the die . I loved the result so much that I decided to use the parchment instead of the card. On the larger of the two pieces I stamped this pretty doily from the set Delicate Doilies by Inspired by Stamping with Deep Purple Archival ink and then added another layer of parchment on top , I really love how the stamp shows through. I made a couple of rosettes with some lovely SU design paper and added a little flower to embellish the centre .

Here’s another card I made following the same sketch

The DP is from the Pixie Glen collection from Prima and I used Spellbinders Decorative Elements dies to cut the frames, the beautiful crocheted broach in the centre was created by our leader Irini and is from her Etsy shop Get Creative Embellishments. I added a couple of sticks pins which I coloured with Copic markers in order to match the paper

The winner of this challenge will come back as guest designer in April

Please pop over to Get Creative to see the fabulous inspirational pieces by the DT, you have until the 27th of February to upload your card .

Have been having a few health problems this week and have been confined to bed one of the disadvantages with my studio not being at home is that I have been unable to blog or comment the past few days . My iPad is very selective and so have not been able to visit you all. In order to schedule this post I have left home to come to my studio in the pouring rain in my PJ’s and a very long coat to hide my indecency ! Fortunately it’s not too far but I do look a bit like a homeless old lady !

Take care and hopefully I will catch up with you soon

Marie

Craft-Room Challenge Handmade Embellishments Make Your Own

Posted on February 14, 2013 by baileyrosy

Happy Valentines Day !

For those of you that celebrate I wish you all a super romantic evening with your loved ones and for those of us that don’t I wish you a super romantic evening with your loved ones !!!!

Just thought I would pop in with a quick post as I see my lovely friend Maria of Made by Maz is hosting this fortnight’s challenge at the Craft-Room , she is asking us to make our own embellishments and this is what she has to say :-

I do love to see handmade embellishments adorning your creations, so I thought it would be an ideal theme for this fortnight. You can make whatever you like, from whatever you like, as long as it is decorated with some embellishments which you’ve made yourself

Sorry about the backgrounds but I wasn’t able to crop them out , so please excuse hubby’s clothing in the background . Mr and Mrs P can be seen here modeling the heart I made. I cut a piece of heavy card stock with this scalloped heart by spellbinders and then two pieces of red felt which I sewed together and filled with…..cant remember the technical word so I will just call it “fluff” and closed it up. The white heart on top was a little more complicated, I made my own resin mold from a pretty heart I bought from Hong Kong and then filled it with Fimo. After a few minutes I popped it out and left it to air dry overnight. I made a hole in the paper and added an eyelet and threaded some red ribbon. The Fimo heart was then glued to the felt and the felt to the card and a couple of stick pins added for good measure.

I really enjoyed making this and it looks quite pretty in real life even though my sewing is a little naff so don’t look to closely !

Its been an absolute age since I took part in one of the Craft-Room Challenges and do hope my heart fits the bill, why not pop over and see what the DT have come up with to inspire us all there are some fantastic and inspirational pieces .

Right that’s all for me am off to Pilates

Take care

Marie

ATCAS – Challenge #6 – Hosted by Shana

Posted on February 9, 2013 by baileyrosy

Hello lovely ladies !!

Welcome to another challenge at Addicted to CAS firstly let me say that I was flabbergasted by the amazing response to our previous challenge, we where totally blown away by your wonderful entries . I was so inspired by your beautiful work I kept saying to myself ” now why didn’t I think of that ” on more than one occasion

Our next fortnight’s code word has been chosen by the lovely and talented Shana and here it is…

I have to say this gave me a little trouble, due to the fact that the mojo is a missing and I don’t have anything sweet in my stash but with the aid of my trusty Cameo everything worked out in the end.

I used my Cameo to create Mr and Mrs Candy corn, no mean feat for me as I’m rubbish at working with digital images and layering and such, I do wish I had my wonderful blog friend Faiths expertise, she always manages to create some wonderful cards with the aid of Photoshop or other digital programmes and am totally in awe of her talent . The sentiment was also generated by my Mac and then cut out with this lovely bubble die by Xcut.

We are once again sponsored by the lovely and talented Beverley from Uniko Studio please pop over to ATCAS for more information and find out what the wonderful prize is and to see the amazing an inspirational work by the rest of the DT.

On another note I have to say am feeling a little anxious this evening as my young son Ari who is 17 and his band Chinese Basement have a rather important concert this evening in Athens performing before 2500 people and unfortunately I was unable to attend so I wish them the best of luck.

Right you have gotten off again lightly with another short post…….but beware I wont stay this quiet for long …..

Take care and have a wonderful weekend

Marie

P.S It seems that a few of you don’t know what Candy Corns are but from the little research that I did they are candies /sweets which are very popular in America especially around the time of Halloween, hope this helps but to be honest have none of you ever seen these little candies with faces on before !!!!!! ( me either ) lol !

Get Creative 5th February Card Challenge ” Love is in the Air “

Posted on February 5, 2013 by baileyrosy

Love is in the air every sight and every sound, love is in the air……..do ya remember that one !!!! It’s especially for the old fogies, Suze Bain and Florence being two of them. Don’t know about you but will most probably be singing that all day.

It seems like you can’t go anywhere in blog land without their being a heart or love challenge of some sort at the moment and why should we at Get Creative be any different…. our crazy leader Irini has decided to put a twist on our challenge and she wants us to create a card for our loved ones but without the use of RED OR VARIATIONS OF THE COLOUR OF PASSION !!!

Come and have a peep at what I came up with

well no colours of passion here unless you have a gold or glitter fixation ! I used my spellbinders hearts die to make the black and white scalloped hearts, the lovely Cameo was called upon to cut the fancy heart which was then blinged up with two different gold glitters. I made a right old mess in my studio I can tell you glitter here there and everywhere. The doglets once again looked lovely in the glittery coating as did Ronin the dog and Ziggy the cat. Yes , we now have four pets in the craft studio , I really must try to get a group shot of the little creatures but it’s usually bedlam in here and that’s without the little mites being in attendance.

We do hope you will join us at Get Creative , pop over and see the fantastic inspirational cards by my team members , we have been sponsored this month by:-

The 3 little pigs

they are offering this fantastic set of little embellishments

they are a little larger than a 1 euro coin!!!!

how amazing is that!!

Short post from me today as I know you have tons of blogs to visit, comments to leave and crafty projects to create!

Enjoy your week and I will be looking out for your lovely cards

take care

Marie

CAS-ual FRIDAYS CFC88 Love Letters

Posted on February 2, 2013 by baileyrosy

Hello lovely ladies !

Hope you are all well and in fine fettle this lovely Saturday morning/afternoon/evening. I’ve just finished taking my Christmas decorations down in my studio , yes I know its February but they were sooooo pretty I just couldn’t bear to part with them !

Actually if the truth be known ( which it is now ) I had made tons of gorgeous and very intricate vinyl snowflakes with my Cameo and adhered them to the black glass wall which runs the length of my craft studio. The little devils refused to assist me in their removal and clung on for dear life !!!! It’s taken days to get the rotters off , I’ve broken all my nails,my plastic ruler and my nerves are a jangling all over the place. Once I’d removed them all I had to scrape them off the wooden floor !! That vinyl sure is sticky ! another couple of hours spent on my hands and knees !!! and then I remembered that I had plastered (tastefully) my shop window with intricate vinyl hearts for Valentines ,Nooooooooooooooo ! I must delegate their removal !!!

Anyways…….

CAS-ual FRIDAYS has a great challenge this week

Its been ages since I took part in one of their challenges and as I love my hearts thought I would play along

My lovely friend cameo once again comes into its own

I cut strips of coloured vellum and placed it in alternate rows behind the hearts and then matted with more lime vellum and popped it up onto black card.

Another simple Cameo creation with a lovely sparkly pink heart

This is all I could manage to make as my lickle fingers are sooooo sore from all the scraping, excuses , excuses, I know !

Do pop over to CAS-ual FRIDAYS to see the magnificent inspirational work by the DT always a source of wonderment to me, and so many fabulous entries…..

Before I go……