Halloween Grab Bags

Wooow.

I have such a busy day today, I have been finishing my grab bags for this evening and filling them with goodies.  Later I have my pumpkins to carve and somewhere I have to find time to do the shopping.

Here are some of my brag bags:

I made 8 in all.  I bought a pack of plain brown bags and orange and black tissue paper.

To make my mummy I started with a 6" x 6" square of black card.

Next I cut circles white from white card for the eyes and coloured black pupils with a marker pen.

Next I tore stripes of white card and distressed the edges with Photo Finish.

Finally I glued the strips to the black card and left space for the eyes.

Once the mummy was attached to the bag I die cut Halloween images from black card and stuck them to the bags.

I hope you have a happy Halloween with lots of treats and no tricks.


Dionne

Christmas Herald

You could be forgiven for thinking that the current challenge at Crafty Boots Challenges is Christmas because all of my DT makes have been Christmas cards but that is just my way of getting a few more cards made, the theme is actually 'Music'.

Here is another of my cards.

My herald is the White Rabbit from Lewis Carroll's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This IndigoBlu stamp is not easy to colour, so instead I decided to highlight some of the features by adding a little red glitter to it, then I layered it on gold mirri and red glitter card.

The sentiment is one of my favourites from Stampin' Up.

Dionne

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is almost over and the other day I realised that I had not made any cards to help awareness of Breast Cancer.

I am sure none of use really need telling how important it is to check ourselves for lumps and to get regular checkups once we reach that certain age ... and that includes the men too. Making cards could not be easier with these free McMahon Five Design digital images, sadly their on-line store has closed and the images are no longer available.

This little cupcake was designed to give hope - I know this because it said so on the ribbon, however, I covered the words with my fabulous pink glitter.  I then layered it on some gold mirri card.  I also cut a gold butterfly using one of my Marianne Creatable dies and added a few pink flat backed gems. The paper is from my stash.  Finally, I added a few appropriate words.

Help stop breast cancer for good and help make change happen.

Dionne

A Little Romance

It was recently our wedding anniversary and I wanted to make a sophisticated card to give to my husband.  I have been playing with a really lovely Indigoblu heart shaped stamp, which I thought fitted the bill beautifully.

I stamped the heart using Midnight Muse ink and mounted it on silver mirri and Midnight Muse card.  As you can see, I then mounted it on white card, leaving enough space along two sides to wrap navy blue organza ribbon around the card twice.  I then made some loops from the ribbon and placed a small navy blue rose at the centre.

The sentiment came on and off the card so many times I lost count and at the very last minute I took it off again!

Dionne

Thank you for the Music

The weeks seem to be flying by at the and before we know it will be Christmas.  In the UK the clocks went back this weekend, giving us an additional hour but, to be honest, my internal clock is all over the place at the moment.

It is time for another challenge at Crafty Boots Challenges, the theme for the new Challenge of 'Music' was chosen my my best bud and team mate Lisette, aka Mrs Beez.

Yesterday was not one of my best and it was a perfect reminder that I need to be better organised.  I could not decide on my project from this Challenge and I spent some time researching ideas.  One thing seemed to be a given, I was going to need several sheets of sheet music.  In fact, I saw some in a craft shop last weekend, but I did not buy it because I thought it would be easier to print some.

Well, that was the idea, however, yesterday morning I realised that my printer was out of ink and I could not print any music or the digital stamp I wanted to use.  I spent a large part of the day searching through my stash looking for some music, a stamp, anything, something I could use.  I eventually found the tiniest piece of music and I had an idea thanks to a card I had seen on Pinterest but there was not enough for any mistakes.

I used a couple of Christmas bauble dies from Stampin' Up to cut the sheet music and two pieces of gold mirri card.

I glued the sheet music to one of the gold shapes and gave it a layer of sparkle using a clear Wink of Stella Brush pen - sadly the camera has not really picked up this subtle shimmer.

I then cut two pieces of red ribbon, using one for a loop and the other used to tie a small red bow.  Once the ribbon was in place I sandwiched in in place with the other gold piece.

Finally I mounted the bauble on some white Centura Pearl card and stamped a Christmas greeting with red ink.

As always, the rest of the Crafty Boots Design Team have been working hard to inspire you, so why not pop over and take a look for yourself.

Good luck with your entry.

Dionne

Blue Star Candles

Good morning

Christmas will be here before we know it and this year I am making an early start on my preparations.

I love decorating candles with stamped images and these two were so quick to do.  This stunning stamp is from Stampin' Up.

Adding stamped images to candles is so easy, simply stamp your image onto tissue paper, then, after roughly cutting out the image, place it onto your candle.

Cut a strip of baking parchment to wrap around the candle to hold the tissue in place and to give you something to hold on to.  Use your heat gun to gently melt the skin of the candle and watch the tissue disappear into the molten wax.  Take care not to over heat the wax, you do not want it to run.  The wax will quickly set again once you remove the heat.

I finished these candle by adding some pretty navy blue polka dot ribbon to the top and bottom and holding it in place with small silver pins.

Dionne

Bewitched

In the UK Trick or Treat and Halloween fancy dress is not as popular as it is in other countries but it is slowly catching on.  For the last three or four years I have made Jack O'Lanterns and decorated my home and as darkness falls I eagerly await my young visitors on All Hallows Eve.  Sadly, it seems that most of them have not got the hang of fancy dress, but they are improving.

The current challenge, or should I say challenges, over at Crafty Boots Challenges have been inspired by this time of year, there is a choice of theme, either 'Autumn' or 'Halloween'.

Today I have an Halloween card to share with you.

I  coloured a Prima Doll stamp with Promarkers and I made my own witches hat (between you and me, it looks a little better in real life than it has come out in the photo).  I wanted to make the card all about the witch so I kept the background very plain and mounted it on some rich brown glitter card and added a sentiment and three tiny pumpkins.

The pumpkins are from real plants, I think they are seed pods of an exotic plant, these were a gift from my good friend Lisette, aka Mrs Beez.  They are really amazing but I am afraid I have no idea what they are called.

There is still plenty of time for you to enter your favourite project in the Crafty Boots Challenge.


Dionne

Pink Letter K

Good mornin'

Busy day today but I have just got time for a quick post.

I purchased an 8 inch MDF letter from Barry on ebay.  I gave it a coat of Gesso and, once that was dry, I painted it baby pink using acrylic paint.

I also purchased a bag of mixed pink buttons from ebay and used these to cover the painted letter, just look at the shapes and textures that came in my mixed bag of buttons.  

Finally, once everything was dry I cleaned any excess glue from the surface.  

Dionne

Golden Wedding

Some very dear friends recently celebrated there 50th Wedding Anniversary, by any standards that is an amazing achievement, and to be totally honest they really do not look old enough to have been married so long.

I love this IndigoBlu heart stamp, it embossed really well, lots of very fine detail.  I mounted it on some gold mirri card but I could not find any matching mat gold card, so I created my own with a Promarker.  The glittery organza ribbon came from my stash and I made the sentiment on my computer.

I really am very impressed with this stamp and plan to use it some more, so do not be surprized if you see it again in the near future.

Dionne

It's my Birthday!

Actually, that isn't true, it was my birthday yesterday.  I had a wonderful day with hubby, doing just what I wanted to do - he let me loose in our local craft shop.

I had a couple of really lovely surprizes in the post yesterday, cards from two of my fabulous Crafty Boots team mates.  I was so thrilled and they are so gorgeous I wanted to share them with you.

I decided to post them in the order I opened the envelopes in, so no one can read anything into the order I have put them in.

My first surprize was from the lovely, and seriously good with a Copic pen, Zoe.  Just look at her amazing shading in this card.  I wish I could do that.

Next out of the envelope was a card from my very good friend Lisette, most of you will know her as Mrs Beez, along with her trade mark bee stamps.  Take a look at the fabulous layering here and her eye for detail.

The eagle eyed amongst you would have spotted that I swipped these photos from their blogs, shhh, don't tell them.

My birthday surprizes did not stop with these lovely cards, the postman delivered another treat today, two pots of Cosmic Shimmer glitter paste, thank you so much Mrs Beez.  I am such a lucky girl.

I hope you have a good day.

Dionne

Falling Leaves

Hi

Doesn't time fly?  People are already telling me how many weeks there are until Christmas and the days are noticeably shorter.  The leaves are falling from the trees and before we know it Halloween will be upon us.

It is also time for a new challenge at Crafty Boots Challenges, this challenge celebrates the time of year with a choice of themes.  Your projects can either be inspired by 'Autumn' or 'Halloween'.

I love the changes the trees are going through at the moment with the leaves turning amazing colours and soon the local children will notice all of the seed pods hanging from the Horse Chestnut Trees opposite and they will be doing their best to bring them down so they can play conkers.

It will not surprize you that my Design Team card tries to capture the changing colours of autumn and the falling leaves.

I scribbled all of those autumn colours onto some white card and then stamped it with some of the leaves from a set of leaf stamps that I have had in my stash forever.  I also punched some leaves from the card using a X Cut punch.

I did not have any pumpkin coloured card so I made my own by colouring some more white card with my Promarkers, then I layered up the leaf images.

Finally, I embossed some white card and cut this in two, reversing one section, so that the pattern is in relief.  I used some matching ribbon to cover the join.

Please hop over to the Crafty Boots Challenges blog and see what else the Design Team have made and, where you may notice, that I have also made a Halloween card - which I plan to share with you in a day or two.

Finally, a quick reminder that Crafty Boots Challenges is looking to add two or three new people to it's Design Team.

This is open to anyone and is an exciting opportunity for someone who has never worked on as part of a Challenge Blog Design Team before and wishes to take their crafting to the next level.

If you think this is just what you have been looking for and would like to know more please click here. The deadline for applications is Sunday, 26 October 2014.


Dionne

Altered Notebook

Apologies friends, I am having to repost this because the original post seems to have picked up a virus.  Fingers crossed this is the end of it ......

Yippee, the weekend is almost here.

I thought I should share another of my steampunk projects with you today. The current challenge over at Crafty Boots Challenges is 'Gold' and this altered notebook seemed to be the perfect project.

Regular visitors will know that I recently bought two of the Sizzix layered Bigz dies, the ones with the texture fades embossing folders ... the bee and the dragonfly.

For this project I used the bee die. I started by covering the cover to a small notebook with some thick hammered card which I had painted that with bronze metallic acrylic paint. Once the paint was dry I ran it through a honeycomb embossing folder.

I then painted more sheets of card with different metallic acrylic paints and die cut the cogs and my bee. (You may have noticed that I went back to the bee with my gold paint and picked out his stripes.)   I used two cog dies sets, these were a Robert Addams set and a X Cut set. I also used some very small metal watch parts to add to the cogs and to decorate the bee. I also added a few flat backed gems to the decorations. Finally, I added black ink smudges.

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend.



Dionne

The original post received the following comments:

4 comments:

1. 
   Kathie11 October 2014 at 01:53

   Hi Dionne I think your notebook looks totally amazing and I love your colours and embellishments. Sorry for being so dumb but how did you cover it so perfectly over the wire spine as you've made an amazing job??? :-)
   I look forward to hearing from you.
   Hugs
   Kathie
   kathiezkardz.blogspot.com/

   ReplyDelete
   Replies

   
   Dee's Craft Room11 October 2014 at 12:16
   Hi Kathie
   
   Thank you so much for your lovely comments. Yours is a very good questions and perhaps I should go back and put something about it above.
   
   Actually, making the new cover sheet is not quite as difficult as you might imagine, it just takes a little 'crafty' shopping. When you buy your note book you need to buy the sort with gaps in the spiral binding. Then, once you are home, you have to gently pull the spiral apart so that you can slip the cover out.
   
   You can then re-cover the cover with your chosen papers. Before inserting the newly decorated cover back into the notebook you have to make the holes for the wire. (These days I use my Cropadile to do this but, before I bought mine, I used the hole punch from my eyelet set.)  Once the cover is back in place, gently squeeze the wire back together.
   
   I hope this helps and you have fun altering your notebook covers.
   
   Dionne
   Delete
   Reply
2. 
   Lisette Baker12 October 2014 at 08:37

   I think I like this one the best!!! So glad Kathie asked her question as I was wondering about that too (you must have so much patience ) and thought you might have one of those binding machines.

   ReplyDelete
3. 
   Pamellia Johnson13 October 2014 at 12:02

   Wow Dionne, this is fabulous! I think you might have sold me on purchasing that bigz die! Love all the metallics and the honeycomb background! hugs :)

   ReplyDelete

Jolly Birthday Wishes

I hope that you had a wonderful weekend, Monday morning again, how quickly they come around.

I have a few reminders for you this morning before I share my card with you. First, I wanted to remind you that Crafty Boots Challenges are looking for Design Team Members, have you ever thought of joining a Design Team and sharing your handiwork?  It can be great fun and you would make some amazing friends.

The theme of the current Challenge at Crafty Boots Challenges is 'Gold'.  This can be ink, embossing powder, mirri card, gilding flakes, or just gold coloured card or pens.

The card I have to share with you today is mounted on gold mirri card.  This adorable image is from Teddy Bo & Co ans is called 'Jolly the G ...... Jiraffe'.

After colouring the image with Promarkers I mounted it on various card and papers from my scrap box.

Now for something a little different and rather special. Last Monday I was delighted, and not a little amazed, that my good friend and muse Lisette, aka Mrs Beez, had tagged me in a creative blog hop. I know, totally amazing, especially when you consider how talented Lisette is.  Her other nominees, Hels Sheridan and Susan M Brown, are both super talented - exalted company indeed.  Please hop across to their blogs and see their wonderful work for yourself.

I am supposed to answers to a few questions:

1. What are you working on at the moment?

It is a very exciting time for me as it is my turn to administer the Crafty Boots Challenge Blog.  Before taking my turn I never realised just how time consuming this is, but it is great fun.  As you know, we are currently recruiting for the Design Team, this is very interesting and a great way to meet some very talented people.

I have just completed a series of projects inspired by some of the steampunk images I have been looking at on Pintrest.  I have only had time to post a couple of these projects, so please keep an eye out for the rest.

Next I think I should like to experiment with texture and use stencils, pastes, modge podge etc.

2. How does your work differ from others in your genre?

To be honest I do not think I have a specific style, I like to push myself and try different things.  My crafting has never stood still.  I have been making things for over 50 years.  Cross stitch was probably my first love but I also love working with paper and I make cards, scrapbook and alter objects.  I also make my own clothes and crochet.  I very recently learnt to knit and am currently making school uniform cardigans for my great niece and great nephew.

3. Why do you create?

In all honesty, I think I would find it impossible not have some project (or three or four) on the go, I need to be making things.  However, unlike most people who talk about why they make things, I do not find the process relaxing.  I find it exciting, total consuming and at times very stressful.

4. How does your creative process work?

In truth, I do not think I have a creative process.  There are times, when I am working to a deadline, that it comes out of pure panic but there are other times when ideas come to me in a dream - or at least that time when I am just waking up.  An idea will just pop into my head, of course, I often have to tweak the original concept to make it actually work, dreams are not always that practical.

This is the part where I am supposed to nominate two or three of my crafting friends to join in the blog hop.  I have decided not to do this, it just doesn't feel right.  However, I have made some really good friends through crafting and some of the most inspiring ones are in the Crafty Boots DT, I should like to thank them for their support, their inspiration and for all the tips and crafty gifts over the years.  There are three in particular who have always stood by me, they are all amazingly talented, they have very different styles but they all have such generous hearts.  I have struggled to decide what order to list them in so I have played it safe and I have gone for alphabetical.  So, very big hugs and massive thank you's to Gabrielle, Lisette and Stephanie-Emma.

I hope reading a little about me has not put you off visiting my blog in the future because I would genuinely miss your visits.

Have a great week.

Dionne

Bee ATC's

As promised on Monday, I am catching up with posting some of the steampunk projects I made last week, and the week before, when my laptop was out of action.

But, before I do that, just a quick reminder about the Gold Challenge over at Crafty Boots Challenges and the DT call they have out at the moment - it would be a great opportunity for someone who has never been part of a Design Team before as well as someone with more experience.

It just so happens that this project contains a lot of gold shades, so it would sit very nicely with the current Crafty Boots Challenge.

I painted some card with bronze coloured acrylic paint and, once it was dry, I ran it through a honeycomb embossing folder.  

I may have mentioned once or twice that I recently bought two of the Sizzix layered Bigz dies, the ones with the texture fades embossing folders - this is the Bee one.  I cut several bees from card in various metalic colours.

I raided my stash for anything I thought would work with the steampunk style.  I decorated my bees with an assortment of brads, flat backed gems, die cut cogs and watch parts.

Warning: if you should decide to use watch parts on any of your projects, take care of your fingers, there are some very pointy parts and they hurt.

The tiny watch hands made wonderful antenna, aren't they cute?

A little while ago I bought a bag of assorted die cut shapes, one of which was this key, the handle decoration made perfect head markings.

These are so much fun to do and I have grown very found my insectoid army.

Have a great day.

Dionne