Quick birthday Card

A quick birthday card using my new Sizzix framelits:

                                          

The photo was taken on our artisan stand this Christmas.  You can see the Sizzix hiding shyly behind the card.  In fact, she was the Prima Donna of our stand, showing both the time and love that goes into every card.  Both men and kids just loved her.   Men kept asking us what it was for and kids just loved making those paper flowers.  Tim Holtz, on the other hand, was one great big success with women.  One big thank you to everyone who came to our stand, watched our demonstrations and ordered cards.

Tinsel Town in the Mediterranean

 A quick  post as we have started a production line in my craft room - dad and I.  Hubby prefers cleaning the dishes with a toothbrush rather than be in the craft room but who can blame him when he sees Dad covered all over in glitter - clothes, fingers, ears, nose, everywhere.  

the production line has become a bit of a tradition but this year it is even extra special as we will be participating in an artisan's fair this weekend, hence the silence since I landed.  Too busy crafting to blog! Sorry people. 

A different colour palette. 

   I just love my IPad camera.   It captures so much detail, like the linen texture of the gorgeous water colour paper I used to make the backing paper.  As times goes by, I've realized I like to make my own patterned paper with the little stash I have.  Everything is made from scratch even the letters, die cut with sizzix.  If this has piqued your interest, then come back later to see the finished results.

This is my messy desk this week, actually dad's desk.  Should have bought some A4 double sided sticky sheets but you have to be creative when there's none in your stash.  

Oh, oh, Dad is not happy I'm skiving from work.  Guess we have a new manager in Tinsel Town.  It's great to spend time with him.  Off I go but before, do head over to What's on your craft desk to see want other crafter's have been up to this week: http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/2013/12/whats-on-your-workdesk-wednesday-237.html

Christmas Cards 2013

Here's a sneek peak at some Christmas cards I am working on.  Recipe: Wassail paper bu Basic Grey,    paper lace doilies, First Christmas by Tim Holtz and yes, the freezer!  An old trick by many a seasoned crafter.  Stay tuned to find out how the freezer comes into play.

All hearts return home for Christmas...

The day has come where I have to pack and head home for Christmas.  Living in the UK is great but I miss home and my stash.  Although I realized I have gone a bit craft crazy while I have been here.  Just look at my suitcase, filled to the brim with crafty stash.  And where are my clothes do, you ask?  The clothes I packed are a dress and bed slipper.  Somewhere, somewhere underneath all that fabulosity is my dress.  The bed slippers?  Holding stickles and glitter glue.  I guess, it's the advantage of having two wardrobes, isn't it?  I intend to spend the next couple of days getting inky fingers and all messy with gesso.  See you tomorrow!

      

Dabbling and dabbing...

I don't have any new cards to show today, but I have been dabbling with my new stash.  How can you resist playing with a Nestie die you've been wanting for years, even if your Sizzix is miles away.  Don't ask me why I never got this before, my priority shopping list always takes second stage when there is a craft sale and I end up buying whatever is on sale rather than what I covet most.

This however, can lead to some serendipitous artistic moments.  Such as this one - my new found love.  Gesso and mixed media techniques applied to cardmaking.  Can't wait to go back home and dabble a little more.  I'm ordering a one litre tub of gesso to take with me.

Materials used:

Liquitex Acrylic Mediums (sample)
Mini Marakesh Template by Crafter's Workshop
Label 1 by Spellbinder's Nestabilities

I couldn't wait to get to my Sizzix and used
the die as a stencil and handcut the cardboard.

How could I have resisted a £1.50 price tag?  I'm already thinking of some fun techniques with watercolours for this particular stencil.  Talking about price tags, the Sizzix Mega Sale 2013 is now on, for any die cutting fans out there.  Santa has already been to town this year and ordered me some nice Sizzix Framelits.  Guess, I've been very, very nice...

WOYWW 231: The King

It's 'What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday' time which gives me a good excuse to blog again.  But hey, where's my desk?

I am sitting cross-legged on my new thick carpet, in front of a makeshift desk made from an Ikea Poang Footstool.  Never thought it would serve this purpose.  You'll see in the background my actual desk but hey, I'm quite happy sitting here.

And here's the card I made:

Not so bad, considering I left all my craft stash in Malta when I came to the UK and now have to make do with what I have (or rather not have).  Imagine, I don't even have a paper trimmer here yet.  Oh man, was it a challenge to cut that background paper with just a ruler, a mat and scissors?  No stamps or distress inks at all, nothing baby, nada.  Back to basics.  Hence, my new found love for decoupage sheets and stickers, they're certainly a godsend for crafters still building their stash.

I'm lucky, I know, to be able to indulge in a hobby when people out there are just struggling to heat or even keep their homes.  It's sad. Hence, let's remember that for some of us, our hobbies become our refuge from whatever life throws at us.  

I haven't done this in a very long while but keep visiting, I'll be putting some stuff up for grabs in the coming weeks.

ICHF Hobbycrafts Glasgow 2013.

How could I stay away from a crafty fair?  Last week, I spent an afternoon on a crafty shopping spree, not to say that a nasty elf didn't appear every time my Visa went swish swoosh.  In fact, I just couldn't shake this horrible elf off my shoulder, sitting there, counting pounds and pennies on the tip of his fingers.  I managed to nudge him off a couple of times as you'll see from the pic below but, mice, was he insistent all the way home?  Probably that's why I just couldn't blog about my trip right away.  He's gone now and while he's gone, I'm sweeping the net for new stash.  But first,  my fab new stuff:

Crafter's Workshop Stencils.  Bought for £1.50 or less 
in a bin sale.

Every Craft's a Pound: 12 items at £10.
 I got the tape, magnet sheet, flowers, tape, 
stamp etc.  The Ranger blending foam was 
from a different merchant.

Some more stuff.  New heat mat for dad and some bottle 
caps to tinker with.  Apparantly bottle cap art was 
the craze for some time but I seem to have missed it.
  Having a go at it now.  In the top right hand corner 
you can see the no shims mat. 
At £12.99, I hope it's worth it.  Will be testing this too.
It's supposed to keep your sizzix clear plates nice and clean.   

Dad and cardmaking

So Dad seems to have caught the craft bug!  He has been helping me carfting for some time now and has had first official lesson in stamping.  He got all his fingers inky trying different techniques but the one he liked best was heat embossing.  I couldn't take the gun out of his hands for a sec.  Mental note: buy a heat gun and heat resistant mat for pa.

Anyway, here is what we came up with:

 

The backpaper was die cut to shape and heat embossed.  The leaves and stalk were handcut by dad.

We took part in our very first  swap on two peas in a pod this summer and didn't want to spoil the surprise.  I still haven't seen mine but hope to send pictures of them soon.  It's a shame I couldn't get to open the parcel myself.  Love it when Mr. Postie brings me stuff.

Seasonal Colour Palette Challenge (June)

A new summer inspired card for the Seasonal Colour Palette Challenge (June) at Ranger Ink this week using Distress Inks: Chipped Sapphire, Stormy Sky, aged Mahogany and Pumice Stone.  Let's just say the colours portray more a British summer than a Maltese one. Spiced marmalade, fired brick and mustard seed would do better in that case, might have a go at that actually.

The stamped image was sent to me as a RAK so am not sure what it is but thought it fits the bill perfectly.  The seashell is from a San Francisco Bay and reminds me of a day collecting shells with my cousins when I was in the US.

And another one for Dad

Some of you may know, My greatest helper in the craft room is dad.  He is the one who greases the wheels of the production line on special occasions such as Christmas, Mother's Day and the like.  Here's the card I made especially for him.

I've had this Dovecraft stamp for ages but was put off from using it, me a bit wary of colouring it in, but I must say, it wasn't that difficult at all.  You'll certainly see more of this stamp especially since I come from a family of dog lovers.

My new craft resolution is to break the seal off the packaging of the stamps I've had lying around for ages.  I've challenged myself not to buy anything else until I have gone through them and used at least once.  There's quite a few, so this one may be difficult to keep.  Let's see, how long I can resist.