Christmas in July

It is time to announce a new Crafty Boots Challenge, the theme for the next two weeks is one of my favourite challenges - 'Christmas in July'.

I must confess that when I sat down to make this card I was not feeling very festive, the temperatures have been pretty warm for the past few weeks, although it is even hotter in main land Europe, whilst I know that Design Team colleagues in Australia are enjoying their winter.  I would love to know where you are and what the weather is like at the moment?

The image is one from my vintage rubber stamp collection, I have managed to find the stamp on the internet, it is a PSX stamp called Poinsettia in Watering Can Mounted Rubber Stamp K-2373 Christmas Flower.  I coloured my image with Promarkers and I added some Glossy Accents to the holly leaves to give them  more of a waxy finish.

I mounted the image on green glitter card and some silver mirri.  The designer paper is from the DoveCraft First Noel paper stack and the flower and berries are from Wild Orchid Crafts.  The holly leaf trim is from my stash.

The lovely ladies in the Crafty Boots Design Team have been very busy making Christmas cards, please drop by and take a look.


Dionne

Sylvan Corner

I'm still trying to catch up with my posting, here is another of the cards I made for the recent Black and Crafty Boots White Challenge.

This card features another of my new Memory Box dies - the Sylvan Corner.

I started with a sheet of textured card and applied a light dusting of black ink around the edges.  Then I cut the corner die from a sheet of black pearlised card and placed it in one corner, I used a black fine line pen to add an outline in the opposite corner.

I had a few tiny dies left over from another project and I popped these on the card to add balance.  I mounted the card on some more black pearlised card before attaching it to the card blank.  The sentiment is from Kanban Craft.

Have a good day and thank you for taking the time to visit my blog.


Dionne

Classic Wedding

My lovely neighbours recently decided to tie the knot and I wanted to make them a special card to celebrate the occasion.

The digital image is from A Day for Daisies and it is called 'You May Kiss the Bride'.  I coloured the image with Promarkers and covered the bridal gown and veil with glitter.

I recently purchased a lot of digital background images from Esty, this was one of them - a match made in heaven.  I mounted the image on silver mirri and black pearlised cards.


Dionne

Butterfly Exhibit

Welcome, I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

We have reached the midway point in the current Crafty Boots Challenge.  The theme of the current challenge is 'Stars of Stripes'.  The last DT card I shared with you featured stars, so today I decided to go with stripes.

I have been splashing out quite a bit of late and invested in some new crafty bits, including this Memory Box die.  Regular visitors will know that recently I have been experimenting with creating my own backgrounds, I have gone a little further here, I created the design for the paper I cut the butterflies from.  Another recent purchase was a set of Ecoline inks and a some pipettes .  I used the red ink from the set and drizzled it over some heavy paper, I then sprayed some water on it and chased the little rivulets around the paper with my heating tool.  I got this idea after watching one of Pamellia Johnson's fabulous YouTube video's.

As you can see, I dusted a little ink around some texture card and added the butterflies to the centre, I then mounted the card onto some black pearlised card and, finally, I attached the whole thing to some striped paper from Dovecraft.  The butterfly sentiment is from Kanban Crafts.

We have two very talented Guest Design Team members joining our regular ladies this week, so don't forget to pop over the the Crafty Boots Challenges blog and take a look at their gorgeous cards.

Dionne

Daisy Chain

It is a beautiful day here and I want to make the most of it, but before I rush off I have a very quick post for you.

I have been experimenting recently with making my own backing paper.  I created this one with Stampin' Ups Night of Navy ink.  I put some ink on my craft mat and picked it up with a wet paint brush and brushed it onto a sheet of white card.  I then dipped my brush into the very tiny bit of Cherry Cobbler ink and splashed it onto the card.  Once the card was dry I stamped it with one of the stamps from the Tim Holtz 'Stampers Anonymous - Papillon' set using more Night of Navy ink.

I mounted the whole thing on some Night of Navy card before adding this lovely daisy chain lace and the sentiment - which is from Kanban Crafts

I hope that you have a fabulous weekend.


Dionne

Zentangle Dream

I am a great admirer of the amazing Zentangle art I see on Pinterest, but I never realised just how skilled these artist are until I tried it for myself.  The recent Crafty Boots Black and White Challenge gave me the idea to try my hand at Zentangle.

I sat down with a plain sheet of card and discovered my first problem, where to start and then I needed to find suitable patterns for my design.  This is actually my second attempt, I tried to cram too much into my first design, too many patterns and the overall effect looked like a lot of chicken scratches.

For my second attempt I took my inspiration from some of those artists on Pinterest and some of my other ideas came from my collection of stencils,  I think I need to practice more, but it is sometimes good to push ourselves outside our comfort zones - or so I have been told!

I layered my finished design onto white card and black pearlised papers.


Dionne

Once Upon a Time

The British summer has arrived, it's Wimbledon fortnight, last week we had record breaking highs and this week cooler weather and occasional rain is forecast.  Some things never change.

On the other hand, it is time for change at Crafty Boots Challenges with a new challenge starting today.  For the next two weeks we are asking you to share your projects containing either stars or stripes ... or both.

For my Design Team card I have gone with the star option, if you know what I mean.

The image is called 'Talking With the Moon' and it comes from A Day for Daisies, I coloured it with Promarkers and added glitter and sequins.

I mounted the image on pearlised paper.  The star themed backing paper is by DoveCraft and the wooden star shaped buttons came from my stash.  The 'Once Upon a Time' sentiment is a rub-on from Royal & Langnickel Brush.

My fellow team mates have been busy making inspirational pieces, please make sure you check out their designs when you enter your project into the challenge.

Good luck.


Dionne