tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47792103709114631212024-03-13T04:57:29.176+00:00A Bit of Crafty GeniusOur little piece of the internet where a group of us crafty minded people share our thoughts!Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-76535617571121210742014-08-25T20:49:00.001+01:002014-08-26T14:48:59.817+01:00Creative Blog hop!Hello all!<br />
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This is going to be a quick one as I ran low on my time today but I was nominated to take part in the Creative Blog hop by my good (slightly weird) friend <a href="http://loopylass2010.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Lucy Gregg</a> :).<br />
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The Creative Blog Hop happens every Monday and hops from crafter to crafter. </div>
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We all answer the same questions and nominate 3 people to hop on to so here goes:</div>
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<span style="color: blue;">1 - What am I working on?</span><br />
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Lately I have been working on digital orders as besides a card crafter I am also a graphic designer. I currently have a few stencils to design and cut, some digi stamps to draw and some logos and business cards going!</div>
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<span style="color: blue;">2 - How does my work differ from others in my genre?</span></div>
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Hmm... I guess its very inky. I like a lot of flow and while I love the neat look of some other card crafters, I just always seem to get a little messy. Controlled Chaos I guess?</div>
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<span style="color: blue;">3 - Why do I write/ create what I do?</span></div>
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I have always been creative. I have always struggles to find my perfect fit, in life and career. However, no matter which way I turn there is always some aspect of creativity there. I love creating something beautiful from ordinary things.</div>
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<span style="color: blue;">4 - How does my writing/ creative process work?</span></div>
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Google and Pinterest are my best friends. I usually start by picking up a product I have that I want to work with or an idea and then looking up what has been done in the past. Then I build up from there and make it my own. As for writing, I tend to just spit out whatever is in my head and try and make it make sense! ;)</div>
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Ok so nomination time... I don't know too many bloggers so I have chosen 3 members of my digi stamp design team to nominate!</div>
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<a href="http://www.onemessymamma.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2198a6;">Lauren</span></a></div>
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Lauren makes the most wonderful crafty things. I have seen her create some gorgeous sewn stuffed toys as well as crochet (or knitting, not sure which but its awesome) and coloured cards! I know she is working on some new skills and when she masters them, crafters keep your eyes peeled because she is one to watch!</div>
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<span style="color: #2198a6;"><a href="http://www.flutterbytrina.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Katrina</a></span></div>
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<u><br /></u>Katrina and I have been facebook friends for a while now. She makes some gorgeous layered cards and has her own business page selling them. I think my favourite thing about her cards is the way she manages to arrange flowers on them so perfectly!</div>
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<a href="http://kelsmakes.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2198a6;">Kelly</span></a></div>
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Kelly joined my design team a little later but her work is fantastic. She does such a great job mixing colours, patterns and paper! She has done 2 gorgeous cards for me lately that I love!<br />
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Right, get to it ladies! I think your work is fantastic and everyone should see it! ;) Your turn for next Monday!</div>
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-16732502179239091822014-05-28T08:00:00.000+01:002014-05-28T08:00:03.587+01:00Indigoblu tag (DT post Jb Crafting Supplies)We are coming to the end of the month folks and let me just tell you, it couldn't have gone any slower for me! I wont go into detail but lets just say the process of this tag pretty much sums up my month.<br />
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As you know if you have been following, I received a lovely set of goodies from <a href="http://jb-craftingsupplies.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">JB Crafting Supplies</a> at the beginning of the month which included the fun stamp set from Indigo Blu called 'Take the time'. In it there was this eye stamp which I had seen on several different sets but always not a clue on how to use it. <br />
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This time, however, I came up with an idea right away to try and use it layered with several fades of black. Ive only ever done this with leaves so it was a really new thing for me. I had the idea that I would stamp on my tag multiple times without re-inking every time. The plan was to stamp the eye again on a piece of vellum and layer it on top. <br />
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j7Z6wJSwhMQ/U4Syq8wPTWI/AAAAAAAABSY/dSahfKZFIuA/s640/blogger-image-899272790.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j7Z6wJSwhMQ/U4Syq8wPTWI/AAAAAAAABSY/dSahfKZFIuA/s640/blogger-image-899272790.jpg" /></a>So that's how this tag started out. I stamped my eyes, (<-lol) and surprisingly the layout turned out well. The I took a few colours of distress inks and inked around the tag. Unfortunately once I had blended them on they lost a bit of their vibrancy and the tag wasn't quite as bright as I would have liked it to be. Anyway, I left it as is and continued with the tag. I tried to bring a bit of colour back into it with a couple of drops of dylusions and then also spattered it with some picket fence distress paint. <br />
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Once I had (supposedly) finished the base tag, I cut a tag from a piece of vellum and started working on that. I stamped my eye stamp onto the front and inked the vellum to try and bring a bit more colour to the tag. The stamp was not popping out as much as I wanted so I painted the back of it with white. I then tried to adhere the vellum tag to the front of my base tag as it wasn't showing as much of the background so I wanted it pressed right up against the base. In the end I was very unhappy with the finished result so I pulled off the vellum tag and scraped that.<br />
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Now to try and salvage the base tag! A few parts of the tag had been pulled off when I removed the vellum piece so I just covered those over again with a bit of distress ink and it was completely gone. The eyes were blending too much into each other so I chose to use a bit of white gel pen to fill in a few of them. I filled in the whites of the eyes on some and then just the reflection on others. <br />
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By this point I was beginning to be a little happier with how it was going. However, it was not to last. <br />
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Let me give you crafters a small piece of advice.... NEVER PUT ANYTHING DOWN!......EVER.<br />
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Im sure some of you have experienced this before, especially if your craft desk looks anything like mine but I have had several things go missing this month! And the very annoying this is, it goes missing right after Ive just had it in my hand! I put it down and *POOF* its gone! So remember when I said I have been working on this since the beginning of the month? Well its because I had misplaced my white embossing powder. I had a plan, and then the white embossing powder was gone. <br />
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<a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jXYr5Aycz4M/U4Sz6EcQrVI/AAAAAAAABSk/SvUokE3szJY/s640/blogger-image-1527996254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jXYr5Aycz4M/U4Sz6EcQrVI/AAAAAAAABSk/SvUokE3szJY/s640/blogger-image-1527996254.jpg" /></a>So I tried to improvise. I tried using a coloured embossing powder. I thought maybe a reddish orange would go with this. Well I was wrong. In the process I also didn't stamp correctly. So I had a very not pretty slightly hidden in the background, orange sentiment. Go me. :/ Well I tried to fix it with my white gel pen. I outlined the sentiment. Another big mistake! So now I had royally screwed up my tag. It looked horrible. By this point I had had enough and set it aside until this past weekend when lo and behold, I FOUND MY WHITE EMBOSSING POWDER!<br />
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Now I have the task of figuring out how Im going to salvage this tag! So I thought I would try and remove some of the embossing powder. I used my heat tool and a sheet of paper to try and melt off what was there. This really didn't work and mostly smeared the white gel pen. then I thought I would try and blend some black onto the tag in that area and emboss over it with the white. However, as I should have known, the embossing and the white gel resisted and it looked horrible. So I tried using some archival ink over the area and then blending with the black distress ink... Nope. The embossing took the archival ink but it just made the sentiment look shiny. Until I used the distress ink, then it just wiped it off. <br />
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After all of this I gave in and decided to use the traditional method of covering a mistake... Just cut a a bit of card, inked it up with black soot distress ink (I pressed it directly into the pad which left white bits and then I blended some over it to give it the grungy look) and white embossed the sentiment onto that. I mounted that onto a slightly larger piece of white card, and stuck this on top of the damaged area of the tag. To tie it into the rest of the tag even more, I splattered a bit more white distress paint over it and inked the edges of the tag with black soot distress ink.<br />
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My tag is finally done! Just like this month. Honestly I actually like the end result. Lesson to be learned here|: Don't always give up in the first round! The possibility to get better only ends when you give up.<br />
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Hope very much that your month was a good one and fingers crossed for me that next month is even better!<br />
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<br />Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-34906428196798856692014-05-27T18:08:00.001+01:002014-05-27T18:08:28.796+01:00Take the time tag! (DT post) JB Crafting suppliesHi my crafty friends!<br />
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This post is a little delayed on my page and you may have seen it before if you follow me at all over at JB Crafting Supplies. I am very proud of this tag though so I just wanted to share with my followers who haven't seen it. And if you want to be first to know of some of these weekly posts, head over to <a href="http://jb-craftingsupplies.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">JB Crafting Supplies Blog</a> and check back every week!<br />
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{And just a quick little note before getting started, I apologize for the disclaimer on the bottom of my pictures. I am trying out a watermarking app for my phone and have yet to decide it I want to purchase it or not!}<br />
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<a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-iQtIF7vj22s/U3u4R_X660I/AAAAAAAABRo/4kL8m56Xdgs/s640/blogger-image--2115919586.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-iQtIF7vj22s/U3u4R_X660I/AAAAAAAABRo/4kL8m56Xdgs/s320/blogger-image--2115919586.jpg" width="320" /></a>For this tag I decided to go with some warmer colours. I used mustard seed, barn door, wild honey and vintage photo. I inked the tag starting with the lightest colour and then surrounded it with the darker ones. I stamped the background with some script stamps and postal stamps very lightly with Walnut stain and then threw a few droplets of gold shimmer water onto the tag which I then blotted off. I have a small obsession with tim holtz products so again I used one of his dies to cut my hexagon strip out of the same beautiful graphic 45 paper from last week. I did not do any inking on this, though in hindsight I might have brought some darkness around the edges. <br />
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I chose several stamps from the Indigo Blu stamp set 'Take the Time'. I have a small obsession with keys, locks and of course CLOCKS and watches, and I loved the sentiment that came with this set. <br />
First I chose the cogs, the sentiment, the advertisement and the watch and laid them onto my tag to get an idea of placement. I always try to do this if I can as it gives me a starting point to go by. I decided that I wanted to use the watch as a focal point so I stamped that onto some white card twice for colouring and layering. I blended in the same colours from the tag into the centre of the watch, adhered it to the other stamped image with some thin foam adhesive which I then covered with rock candy crackle paint. You can use any crackle medium for this and I probably should have used crackle accents myself as the crackle on this meant that I lost a lot of the detail in the watch.<br />
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<a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-J7v1sF9qNMI/U3vAq6NmgsI/AAAAAAAABSA/xF_nf1eddAc/s640/blogger-image-2059532286.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-J7v1sF9qNMI/U3vAq6NmgsI/AAAAAAAABSA/xF_nf1eddAc/s320/blogger-image-2059532286.jpg" width="320" /></a>I stamped the advertisement stamp directly onto the tag with embossing ink and then blended over top of it with gold pan pastel. I also used the embossing ink and gold to line the edges of the tag.<br />
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I stamped my cogs directly onto the tag as well and then stuck my die cut and watch on top. I added a small ball chain to look like the watch was attached to it. This I glued with glossy accents for extra strong hold. I used glossy accents one more time to stick down a cogs charm behind the watch to add some more interest to the tag.<br />
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I wanted the sentiment to show up but I also didn't want to cover all the beautiful background work on the tag. So I stamped and embossed with black embossing powder onto heat resistant acetate. I stuck small bits of foam adhesive to the back hidden behind the letters and stuck this to my tag. I finished the whole thing off with a bit of cream lace.<br />
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I hope you like the finished result. I wish I had played around with placement a little more but over all I am happy with it. <br />
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Happy Crafting to you!<br />
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-14353018480560082522014-05-17T14:09:00.001+01:002014-05-17T14:09:30.161+01:00Galaxy background and digi offer! (video tut)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Hello All!</div>
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Its a lovely warm day today and Im sitting here inside creating just for you! I was playing around a couple of evenings ago trying to find my mojo, and completely by accident I created this awesome background! Im always really happy to find a new technique and I just have to say its even better when I manage to come up with it myself. My mojo must have been lonely on its own because it certainly reappeared just at the right moment! </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nYG5OoXtDKU/U3aAv8Oz-zI/AAAAAAAABRA/ounqsNnaZew/s1600/10369711_10152460240144628_5294606718640499428_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nYG5OoXtDKU/U3aAv8Oz-zI/AAAAAAAABRA/ounqsNnaZew/s1600/10369711_10152460240144628_5294606718640499428_n.jpg" height="320" width="186" /></a></div>
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I spent several hours creating a video tutorial for you and just as I was about to edit (around midnight) the video vanished! So I spent another several hours yesterday refilming and editing this! Lo and behold, once I have done it all again, the original file resurfaces. Isnt that just my luck! </div>
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So have a watch of the video below if you want to find out how to do this background! </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/qlCW9IoxcHA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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As a little bonus for all of you who have visited my blog, I have a special digi set that I have created called <strong><u><span style="color: blue;">To The Moon</span></u></strong> that you can use with this background!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tLDZovd3SLI/U3dbkwfKbjI/AAAAAAAABRY/0-ohFYMbl8g/s1600/To+the+moon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tLDZovd3SLI/U3dbkwfKbjI/AAAAAAAABRY/0-ohFYMbl8g/s1600/To+the+moon.jpg" height="320" width="313" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To The Moon - full set - £4</td></tr>
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If you would like to purchase this set, please send me a request to <a href="mailto:Samantha@autumnmoondesigns.co.uk">Samantha@autumnmoondesigns.co.uk</a> and quote GALAXY25 to receive £1 off! </div>
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ALSO, if you share with 2 or more friends who purchase, you can get this set for free! Just make sure they give me your name and email at the time of purchase.</div>
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If you like this video, and/or digi, I would appreciate any feedback so that I know whether to continue making them and creating my digis! Also I love reading comments!</div>
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See you all again soon :)</div>
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Sam.</div>
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-36899598355797609732014-05-15T12:28:00.000+01:002014-05-15T12:31:26.895+01:00Quick tips - DIY pearlescent water spray<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6pHTLls4CIs/U3SMeUPat4I/AAAAAAAABPc/CB3Sfk0znTU/s1600/blogger-image-58794254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6pHTLls4CIs/U3SMeUPat4I/AAAAAAAABPc/CB3Sfk0znTU/s1600/blogger-image-58794254.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Start with an empty spray bottle. Here I am using a 100mL spray bottle which I bought at Boots. You also need perfect pearls in your chosen colour (Im using Perfect Pearl), a scoop, and some water.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aKGc2nR68AM/U3SMfhkC73I/AAAAAAAABPk/I3BXoH9oH-0/s1600/blogger-image-615551713.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aKGc2nR68AM/U3SMfhkC73I/AAAAAAAABPk/I3BXoH9oH-0/s1600/blogger-image-615551713.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scoop out a small amount of the perfect pearl powder. I used 3 small scoops because Im using a larger bottle and you can top it up as well. However, you really don't need a lot at all. I only used one scoop for my 50mL bottle and that lasted me several refills.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zQj7jJMyGRo/U3SLqtYuB-I/AAAAAAAABPU/r-DZiyYm3Yg/s1600/blogger-image--1319693612.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zQj7jJMyGRo/U3SLqtYuB-I/AAAAAAAABPU/r-DZiyYm3Yg/s1600/blogger-image--1319693612.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Add the water. I am only using plain water but if you want to make different colours of spray you can also use food colouring, dylusions, distress reinkers etc.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8lGQTXc6JAY/U3SMhbPt_FI/AAAAAAAABPs/1bz88OMCrvo/s1600/blogger-image-1228585429.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8lGQTXc6JAY/U3SMhbPt_FI/AAAAAAAABPs/1bz88OMCrvo/s1600/blogger-image-1228585429.jpg" height="320" width="196" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Replace the lid and shake the bottle. Voila! Pearlescent water spray. Be sure to shake this before each use as the powder will settle at the bottom of the bottle. So far I have no problems with clogging but I expect that if you use too much powder you may have some issues. If this happens run the nozzle under running water and spray clean water through it a couple of times until it works again. If this doesn't work then get a new bottle and don't put so much in! lol.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here I have used Perfect gold in a 50mL bottle. I only used half a scoop for this one but that's all that was needed. Please make sure you are using the perfect pearls powder that is very smooth. I have done this with a friend using hers and they were not the same consistency and definitely did clog up the spray bottle. The name of them escapes me at the moment but when I find out I will definitely update this post.<br />
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Click <a href="http://abitofcraftygenius.blogspot.co.uk/p/quick-tips.html">here</a> to return to the QUICK TIPS page.</div>
Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-31383824787696170082014-05-15T07:00:00.000+01:002014-05-15T07:00:03.920+01:00Midway Flower Power! - A little bit crafty DtEarlier in the month I coloured in a lovely hummingbird image for the flower power challenge over at A little bit crafty. I used my distress pens and watercoloured it which I have really taken to lately. I love the soft look of watercolours and the detail with lack of detail if you know what I mean.<br />
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Since we are still in the flower power month over at A little Bit Crafty, here is another for you! <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vYlex9UF978/U29rIjx90TI/AAAAAAAABNI/wQSnToDGb-A/s1600/blogger-image--1793551201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vYlex9UF978/U29rIjx90TI/AAAAAAAABNI/wQSnToDGb-A/s1600/blogger-image--1793551201.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a>I was playing around with a gorgeous floral background stamp I have in my collection of beautiful wooden stamps that I rarely use. I really wanted the design to be the main focus in this card but always had a hard time using it as it was a bit busy. Browsing on pinterest and youtube really helps the inspiration though. I know Im not the only one! <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JlGVVFKfy4M/U2GFA1L3T6I/AAAAAAAABKo/73aw3N7Vaxc/s1600/blogger-image-595290631.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JlGVVFKfy4M/U2GFA1L3T6I/AAAAAAAABKo/73aw3N7Vaxc/s1600/blogger-image-595290631.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a>So I stamped with embossing ink and clear embossed on watercolour paper, then used my distress pens to colour in the image. I was very messy colouring in and didn't really stay inside the lines. Its also not necessary to colour all the way to the line either. Once I had finished colouring it, I spritzed the whole thing with pearlescent water and just let it sit to dry. Spray generously to get all the colours to blend together. However if some of the colours start to mix and look a bit muddy, just take a bit of paper towel and very lightly just lift some of the puddles. Since this is distress ink you can also rewet it once it has dried which I did as I thought I needed to add a bit more blue because some of the other colours had mixed with it and it wasn't quite as clear as I wanted it to be. The beauty of distress inks! <br />
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This was a really quick process from start to finish so I had a bit of fun making a collection of cards using the same technique. It sure does bulk up my finished card stash! Now I just need to start passing them out!<br />
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I hope you give this a try as it really is very easy. And again, don't forget to head over to A little Bit Crafty for the challenge as there is still time left!<br />
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Thanks for stopping by!</div>
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-31459402806156631632014-05-14T11:18:00.001+01:002014-05-14T11:18:27.578+01:00Another Flower power tag (and video tut!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Hi Guys! Here again partway through the month to share another creation for<a href="http://paulaholifieldcrafts.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank"> A little Bit Crafty</a> Challenge blog. If you haven't yet checked it out, this months challenge is <a href="http://paulaholifieldcrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/albc-flower-power.html" target="_blank">Flower Power</a>, and there is still time left to enter!</div>
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I recently made this watercoloured tag and posted it on Facebook. I've had a few requests on how to do it and I thought I would do something a little different and make a video!</div>
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Please bear with me on this video as its only my second one and editing is still very new to me! If you like it please let me know and I will hopefully make more and improve on my skills!</div>
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I hope you enjoyed the video and please do let me know if you want me to make more. </div>
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Here is the tags side by side again:</div>
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Have a crafty day!! And don't forget to enter the challenge!</div>
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<br />Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-17977923553136452362014-05-14T09:40:00.001+01:002014-05-15T13:01:56.334+01:00Using patterned papers (DT post)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Hey there again!</div>
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We are into our second week for the month of lovely crafting with supplies provided by the lovely Julie at <a href="http://jb-craftingsupplies.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">JB Crafting Supplies.</a></div>
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For this card I decided to just go crazy with the beautiful papers provided (Graphic 45) and the sentiment from the lovely Indigoblu 'Take the time' set. I did some layering and inking and ripping and embossing and got this beautiful result!</div>
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Supplies Used:</div>
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Graphic45 - 12x12 Olde Curiosity Shoppe Collection</div>
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Tim Holtz Weathered Clock</div>
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IndigoBlu - Take the Time stamp set</div>
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TH Distress ink - Vintage Photo</div>
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Uni-ball Signo Broad white gel pen</div>
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Archival Ink - Jet Black</div>
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X-Cut embossing folder - Chronology Clocks</div>
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brass brad</div>
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We R Memory Keepers hole punch</div>
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<span itemprop="name">I started with this beautiful graphic45 paper which was cut down into quarters. I die cut a clock with one sheet and embossed the other with my clocks embossing folder. Since the paper was larger than my embossing folder, I had to run this through twice. I wanted to ink over the embossed sheet to bring out some of the details of the embossing but because the design on the folder didn't quite line up when embossed twice, I had to be careful not to ink too much. Before I did this I tore around the paper so as not to have any crisp cut lines and then I inked vintage photo around the edges. I stayed mainly on the outside of the paper but I did bring in the ink slightly just to bring out the texture of the paper. I adhered this to my card.</span></div>
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<span itemprop="name">I then took my die cut clock and inked around the edges there to make sure that stood out a bit against the business of the background. I mounted the clock with a full die cut piece of foam adhesive just so that it would lay flat and not curl up in areas. I recommend die cutting the piece already attached to the foam as it wasn't easy lining it up afterwards!</span></div>
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<span itemprop="name">With the clock hands, some people arrange them at a significant time or some at the usual 12, 9, or 6 etc... I decided to line mine up visually and just filled the space after placing my sentiment.</span></div>
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<span itemprop="name">The sentiment was stamped with the IndigoBlu stamp in archival ink onto white card. I did a mixture of inking and soaking of the paper to give it some age. Unfortunately this made me lose a lot in the sentiment visually so, after I dried the paper with my heat tool, I decided to take my white gel pen and fill in the main words to pop it out a bit. I inked around the edges a bit more and stuck it down to my card.</span></div>
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<span itemprop="name">Lastly I added a few metal embellishments to the top corners and my card is done! Personally to me it has the feel of wood chip art. I am not one for using patterned papers but these are beautiful and Im very pleased with the final result. I hope you are as well!</span></div>
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<br />Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-57587047755033516932014-05-14T09:02:00.000+01:002014-05-14T09:02:18.186+01:00Tagging again! DT post for JB crafting supplies<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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Its May! What a lovely time of year. Its when all the flowers are supposed to come out! Last week I was particularly excited to receive my lovely dt pack! It took me all of 2 seconds to get some ideas in my head of what I wanted to do. Of course, as usual, nothing went the way I planned it but I still love how this weeks make came out!</div>
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I started off with my tim holtz tag die which I covered with some modelling paste that I had coloured up using some gold and green paint. I received some lovely patterned papers from Julie and I knew that I wanted to use them with this fun frameworks die by tim holtz. Among the papers was some graphic 45, some core-denations cardstock and some kraft card that was lined like notebook paper. I cut these several times along with some mirror board by tim, so as to have a mix of hexagons to work with. Before the modelling paste had dried I pressed a few of these paper shapes into it and pushed down slightly to get a bit more texture.</div>
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I put my tag to the side and while the modelling paste was drying, I took some liquid pearls in corresponding colours and created a few different size pearls and shapes on my non stick craft sheet. </div>
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Then I took some plain paper flowers that I had and coloured them with matching ink and gold paint watered down with gold shimmer spray. </div>
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I left my tag, my flowers and my embellishments overnight to dry before moving on. I rarely do this as I get too excited about wanting to see the finished product but when you are working with so many things that can easily be smudged or altered with inky fingers or pressure, its best to leave them to dry as long as you can. A heat gun works at times, like for example my flower, but using the heatgun on modelling paste can cause it to bubble and that was not my desired effect for this tag. On occasion I do use the heat gun and purposefully cause the bubbling for texture. This also works with paint. However today I was sensible and left it alone!</div>
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Once my tag had dried along with all the extra bits I created, I moved on using some lovely pan pastels I had been provided with. I used a mixture of light gold and bronze which I sponged over the entire tag. This really gave the bumps and ridges of the modelling paste some emphasis. Sadly, it was not easy to capture by camera but it was gorgeous! I think I sat staring at it for a little while afterwards!</div>
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To finished it off, I added a bit more mirrored tiles, a rub on (which tbh I could have done without) and I created my own sentiment using Tim Holtz chit chat stickers which I edged with distress ink. I also added the flower which I had inked up the night before and my liquid pearl embellishments.</div>
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To finish the tag off I threaded a bit of ivory lace through the hole at the top. When I first did this, I pulled the lace a bit too tight and ripped it right out of the tag! As frustrating as it was, I wasn't prepared to redo the tag so for a quick fix I stuck some thick cardstock to the back of the tag along with the tiny bit of tag that got pulled off. I then punched a hole where it was previously and CAREFULLY rethreaded! </div>
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I hope you give modelling paste with pan pastels a try as I think it was my favourite thing about this tag! Don't forget to stop by JB Crafting supplies and have a gander at my make next week as well!</div>
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See you all then, and happy crafting!</div>
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-132427416980065992014-05-01T07:00:00.000+01:002014-05-01T07:00:02.000+01:00Flower Power! Dt post for A little bit craftyThis month my head has been all over the place in one of those hectic, I-don't-know-what-im-doing, anxious moments. My crafty mojo did a runner and has only recently come back (thank goodness!)<br />
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I am running extremely late as usual getting myself together for all the commitments I have made but here I am, following through! I know a lot of you can relate, especially when you have 3 little munchkins who have unfortunately been off sick from school after a 2 week holiday. Very stressful.<br />
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Flowers are one of my favourite things. They are all so different and I love almost every one. One of my favourite scents is rose as well so flowers everywhere for me! So this months challenge for <a href="http://paulaholifieldcrafts.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">A little Bit Crafty</a> was definitely up my alley! <br />
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I know its expected that I load up a card with 3d handmade flowers and I would LOVE to be able to do that. But I am so picky when it comes to flower arrangement that I am still working on my skills there. It needs to look random whilst not actually being random. Not an easy task! So this month I am actually using a digi stamp from our sponsor <a href="http://www.bugaboostamps.com/" target="_blank">Bugaboo Digi Stamps</a>. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ywX-TSnEAcM/U2GBoOYkTjI/AAAAAAAABJY/sKtMBDTeb6Y/s1600/blogger-image-1341539111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ywX-TSnEAcM/U2GBoOYkTjI/AAAAAAAABJY/sKtMBDTeb6Y/s1600/blogger-image-1341539111.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>When I went to print out my image, I discovered that I had actually run out of my white card. So I decided to have a play around and print it directly only my pearlescent square card. Unfortunately for me my printer wasn't playing nice and did not want to take the thickness of that particular card. So I had to do a little rethink and print onto a thinner 5x7 inch card instead. Of course I really had to think this through as 1. there isn't a setting for these measurements on my printer and 2. the card was rectangular. The image was square. So placement is important to make it work. Of course I could have printed it and then just cut it down but what fun is that? So I went into my graphics program (photoshop) and created a layout with the image, a sentiment and a divider. It was simple yet effective. Since birthday cards are always in high demand, I made this one just that.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MUchUlzosGk/U2GBqI7p8NI/AAAAAAAABJo/FxeF_AHc1YI/s1600/blogger-image-1749933017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MUchUlzosGk/U2GBqI7p8NI/AAAAAAAABJo/FxeF_AHc1YI/s1600/blogger-image-1749933017.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DGpehB0F4Jo/U2GBmzXyYMI/AAAAAAAABJQ/hEBnJywrcXI/s1600/blogger-image--143572098.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DGpehB0F4Jo/U2GBmzXyYMI/AAAAAAAABJQ/hEBnJywrcXI/s1600/blogger-image--143572098.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a>Once I finally got over all the printing hurdles, I left it to dry for a little while and broke out my distress pens in my selected colours. For the most part I used my waterbrush and some pearlescent water to do the main part of the painting. For the sky I used a wider flat brush so as not to get too many streaks. I wont go into the details of the actual painting as it was quite a simple thing but if for any reason you want me to add them please feel free to leave me a comment saying so. Just remember as this paper was not watercolour paper be a bit lighter with the water and the blending than you normally would have. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6NfdGnTCwFg/U2GBlNwBasI/AAAAAAAABJI/rgpa61iSDOg/s1600/blogger-image-1948025597.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6NfdGnTCwFg/U2GBlNwBasI/AAAAAAAABJI/rgpa61iSDOg/s1600/blogger-image-1948025597.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mXHSahci-OQ/U2GBsMxDRsI/AAAAAAAABJ4/uRYhQcVjyKg/s1600/blogger-image--452798137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mXHSahci-OQ/U2GBsMxDRsI/AAAAAAAABJ4/uRYhQcVjyKg/s1600/blogger-image--452798137.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a>Once I had added the colour to my image, I just heat dried with my heat tool to speed things up a bit and then, while it was still warm I laid a heavy object on top (in my case a Bigz die) to flatten it a little as all the water and the heat had warped it a bit. This wont flatten it completely but if the warping bothers you, you can always take an iron to it. (without steam of course!) Please be sensible though when ironing paper!<br />
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I had found this lovely decorative frame in poundland of all places and it was perfect to display some of my smaller bits of art. So I stuck my card in the frame just for photographing purposes. Loving it!<br />
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Happy Crafting! And don't forget to head on over to <a href="http://paulaholifieldcrafts.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">A little bit crafty</a> for your crafty challenge and to the sponsors page as well!</div>
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-48505158382305072432014-04-30T11:31:00.003+01:002014-04-30T11:31:49.908+01:00Guest Blog post over at Chocolate Baroque!!<br />
A while back I answered a Design Team call for <a href="http://www.chocolatebaroque.com/" target="_blank">Chocolate Baroque</a>. Although I did not get it, I was asked to create something using their stamps for a guest post. I was so excited! <br />
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At the time, though I had been a constant admirer of their lovely designs, I had yet to make any purchases. So I felt that this was a definite good time to finally add some Chocolate Baroque to my growing stamp collection, and I was not disappointed! Here are a few pictures of my final product, but I hope you will head over to their blog <a href="http://chocolatebaroque.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/guest-post-under-sea-by-sam_30.html" target="_blank">here</a> to see my post which has come out today!<br />
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Thanks for checking it out and don't forget to head over to their page with the link below to have a look and some of their amazing goodies!</div>
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<br />Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-52899860017038600862014-04-04T12:00:00.002+01:002014-04-04T12:00:59.422+01:00Xbox controller cardSo today my eldest daughter has been invited to a birthday party. Now, I have a stack of cards piled up in a box from when my crafty mojo gets going but unfortunately, I rarely have inspiration to make a mans card or a little boys for that matter. Luckily this time around I had called his mum and asked her what he liked so I could buy an appropriate present for him. In the end money is tight this month so we have had to cut back in certain areas of our spending so I felt I really needed to go all out on this little mans card, and seeing as he liked Xbox so much, why not a controller?<br />
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I know you have probably seen these types of cards all over the place but I really wanted to give it a little more than just 'cut out circles. stick down. done.'. So for this card I used the following:<br />
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<li>Dylusions sprays from Ranger</li>
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<li>Lemon zest</li>
<li>London Blue</li>
<li>Postbox Red</li>
<li>Fresh Lime</li>
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<li>Distress Inks and markers<br />
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<li>Black Soot</li>
<li>Pumice stone</li>
<li>Crushed Olive</li>
<li>Mustard Seed</li>
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<li>Water brush</li>
<li>White gel pen -my favourite is Uniball signo Broad white gel pen</li>
<li>Black cardstock for the base</li>
<li>white cardstock for the buttons</li>
<li>Glossy accents</li>
<li>white embossing powder - stampendous white</li>
<li>Heat gun</li>
<li>foam adhesive</li>
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First off, I did a search for an Xbox controller template and found the perfect one from <a href="http://www.birdscards.com/game-controller-card-cut-file-digi-versions/" target="_blank">here.</a> On the plus side, if you have a cutting machine, it also has a cut file as well as a digi stamp! Lucky us huh? I wanted a card around a 5x7 size so I printed my controller on regular copy paper to use for my template. I do have a cutting machine but sadly its been a while since I properly tidied my craft area and they need to be dug out before I can use them. So I did it the old fashioned way and traced and cut around all of the pieces, however if you have a cutting machine, feel free to use it here!<br />
<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lt_-wt02dPI/Uz6AgW9nOvI/AAAAAAAABDo/WSBlCRK-l1k/s640/blogger-image-249966558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lt_-wt02dPI/Uz6AgW9nOvI/AAAAAAAABDo/WSBlCRK-l1k/s320/blogger-image-249966558.jpg" width="320" /></a>I folded my black card in half (a scoreboard comes in handy here if you have one) laid my template against the score line with the card folded in half and marked the bottom of the controller. I used my ruler to draw a straight line across so that when I lined up my template, it would be even and sit properly on a table. I stuck it down temporarily and cut around it to finish off the base of my card.<br />
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Instead of cutting out all the circles and tracing them onto my white cardstock I printed the whole thing out again and just cut them directly from the card. <br />
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_rfsqO6D1sg/Uz6AiuySSXI/AAAAAAAABD4/mxEVDBVQorE/s640/blogger-image-1078331744.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_rfsqO6D1sg/Uz6AiuySSXI/AAAAAAAABD4/mxEVDBVQorE/s200/blogger-image-1078331744.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-FiiEwUeBFng/Uz6AfS_c7JI/AAAAAAAABDg/qZiXH0qwhVg/s640/blogger-image--842065479.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-FiiEwUeBFng/Uz6AfS_c7JI/AAAAAAAABDg/qZiXH0qwhVg/s320/blogger-image--842065479.jpg" width="240" /></a>Once I had all of my pieces ready, I pulled up a picture of an Xbox controller on Google and went to work copying the buttons. I knew I wanted my colours to be bright because if you have ever seen one of these controllers, the buttons glow. I really wanted to retain that quality when I coloured them so I started by spraying each of the letter buttons with my dylusions sprays. I let these soak in a little before hitting them with the heat gun to speed up drying time. To draw the letters I used my white gel pen which I knew would mix with the ink and lighten it up in areas. To darken other areas I used mustard seed for yellow, and crushed olive for green. The red and blue were dark enough so I just 'pulled' the colour out of them in areas with water. To do this you just paint plain water on where you want it and dab it off with a towel. I used this technique on the logo button as well. <br />
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<a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6Y8gvoGkVPg/Uz6AkpeBxBI/AAAAAAAABEI/3trYvtvKSOY/s640/blogger-image--1725312642.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6Y8gvoGkVPg/Uz6AkpeBxBI/AAAAAAAABEI/3trYvtvKSOY/s200/blogger-image--1725312642.jpg" width="150" /></a>For the grey buttons I did the same basic concept, except that I used a blending tool with pumice stone, white gel pen for the highlights and pumice stone marker and a dry water brush (this gives a more concentrated colour) for the shading. I also used the blending tool and black soot for the small black buttons but concentrated the colour on one side to give it a highlight. I stuck all of these buttons down with either foam adhesive or glossy accents. <br />
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<a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-FOTBFUhD3f4/Uz6Ajgmz7pI/AAAAAAAABEA/5-edRPd8LdE/s640/blogger-image-676699897.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-FOTBFUhD3f4/Uz6Ajgmz7pI/AAAAAAAABEA/5-edRPd8LdE/s200/blogger-image-676699897.jpg" width="150" /></a>So far it was looking great but still a bit flat for my taste. To give the controller itself a little bit more dimension, I used my white gel pen around the joysticks as highlights and added glossy accents to some of the buttons. Beware though. I made the mistake of going over my coloured buttons with the glossy accents and unfortunately for me, it blended all of my shading and colours so they no longer had the detail that I wanted for them. Oh well. Live and Learn!<br />
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Once my glues were dry enough to handle, I began work on the inside of the card. We decided instead of buying a present, to just give him a little cash. You know how it is, though, when kids are riping through cards and money is flying and sometimes gets lost? No? Is that just me? Anyway, I thought it would be nice for the card to have a little pocket specifically for holding a folded up bill. I used leftover black card to make the pocket which I glued the edges with glossy accents. I kept this in place with wooden clothes pins until it was set. I then stamped a happy birthday sentiment and embossed it with white embossing powder.<br />
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wKpaelwpBX8/Uz6Algzu7PI/AAAAAAAABEQ/LA7D-JoqYkY/s640/blogger-image-1997003555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wKpaelwpBX8/Uz6Algzu7PI/AAAAAAAABEQ/LA7D-JoqYkY/s320/blogger-image-1997003555.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-m0hXL429qAc/Uz6AhZy6UpI/AAAAAAAABDw/IXe581YdZtY/s640/blogger-image-765400700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-m0hXL429qAc/Uz6AhZy6UpI/AAAAAAAABDw/IXe581YdZtY/s320/blogger-image-765400700.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
So here is the finished card. Not my usual thing but I really liked it. Besides all of the intricate shading work I did, it was a fairly quick and easy card to make. I may just have to do a few of these just to have on hand!<br />
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I hope my little girl has a great time at this party and that the birthday boy loves the card! I know he wont appreciate the work that has gone into it but that's not really what its about is it? I had fun making it and I hope you will all give it a go!<br />
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<br />Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-48436577655480530102014-04-02T21:18:00.001+01:002014-04-02T21:23:17.597+01:00Better late than never Film Elements Box cardDo you ever find that life gets in the way of... well, life? That's how things have been feeling like for the moment for me. Except my mental library is one big jumbled mess and I just cant get all of my books in the right section. I wrote this blog post for last weeks design team post for JB Crafting Supplies but failed to share it with anyone who follows me. I am quite proud of my work this time and I had fun with it so its only fair that I share it with you.<br />
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If you have been following the blog (or me in general) you might remember that last month I received a lovely stamp by Stampendous called Film Elements which I had a rather difficult time working with. Again, I say this was because I am much better at taking multiple stamps and putting them together rather than have a stamp that is already a collage. So what did I do? I cut them apart! <br />
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<a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-foFMnM48Iu0/UzH2c365HhI/AAAAAAAABCM/X9InXUcr9Kc/s640/blogger-image--789874391.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-foFMnM48Iu0/UzH2c365HhI/AAAAAAAABCM/X9InXUcr9Kc/s320/blogger-image--789874391.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-DZJ1llrzt4c/UzH2axlNeiI/AAAAAAAABB8/9iBEWTtL1cI/s640/blogger-image-789105212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-DZJ1llrzt4c/UzH2axlNeiI/AAAAAAAABB8/9iBEWTtL1cI/s200/blogger-image-789105212.jpg" width="150" /></a>While they were very small stamps images individually, the lines were not too fussy and it was easy enough to do. These pop up box cards have been making the rounds lately and I thought now would be a great time to try one! I wont add instructions on how to make one here because I winged it but if you do a google search for '<a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=pop+up+box+card&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GUEA_enGB569GB569&q=pop+up+box+card&gs_l=hp...0l5j41l2.0.0.0.5086...........0.z9AK-EmL8PQ" target="_blank">Pop up box card' </a>you will find many tutorials. <br />
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<a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-HsNHFBNyNIY/UzH2dg8F4YI/AAAAAAAABCU/IWdmqotk_3U/s640/blogger-image--1000784161.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-HsNHFBNyNIY/UzH2dg8F4YI/AAAAAAAABCU/IWdmqotk_3U/s200/blogger-image--1000784161.jpg" width="150" /></a>I used black card stock for my base, and white card stock for the panels. I used my dylusions to spray the top panels randomly, and then stamped and heat embossed with white a harlequin stamp from the <a href="http://www.chocolatebaroque.com/Decorative-Edges-Unmounted-Rubber-stamp-sheet--A5_p_5179.html" target="_blank">Decorative Edges stamp set from Chocolate Baroque</a>. I stamped the same pattern on the bottom white panels in black and white to tie them together. When making these boxes you want to separate and pop out your elements so instead of just using a plain piece of acetate, I stamped and embossed with my Hero arts flourish stamp which I then cut out and glued into place. This gave me a space to place certain elements in the background while still looking like it all belonged together. From there I just stuck all the rest of my elements down fairly similar to the way they originally came on the stamp. A few of the pieces I stuck to acetate and a few I stuck straight into the card. As you can see on the left, the card just folds flat, ready for an envelope. When flat I do feel that it is missing something such as a sentiment but I have yet to figure out what I will place there. Suggestions always welcome!!<br />
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Im very happy with the final result and I hope you agree. I do think I will be making a few more of these fun box cards in the future!<br />
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Happy crafting to you all!</div>
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<br />Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-77485916291778593702014-03-19T10:25:00.002+00:002014-03-19T10:26:07.737+00:00Back from holiday and crafting already!!<br />
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Hello all of you lovely crafters!</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cg4r17b1Zx4/UyjOE0Jo-yI/AAAAAAAABBc/7bzukPdQQkE/s1600/73448d183b7949bf94445164521d3842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cg4r17b1Zx4/UyjOE0Jo-yI/AAAAAAAABBc/7bzukPdQQkE/s1600/73448d183b7949bf94445164521d3842.jpg" height="320" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a>I am very sorry that I have been slacking in my team duties as far as crafting goes but I swear, I have a good excuse! You see, I have been away on a long 3 week holiday to visit my family. It was a great trip and I am really missing it right now after being back for almost a week now but the feeling was lessened when I came home to find my dt stamp for this month from Julie at <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.jb-craftingsupplies.com/" target="_blank">JB Crafting Supplies</a></span> amongst all the bills and junk mail. You can guess which out of the stack I opened first!</div>
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The stamp I received was this fun little collage stamp by Stampendous called Film Elements. Truthfully, I had a bit of a struggle with this one, but then again I always struggle a little bit with collage stamps as I am one who likes to create a collage from scratch. I like having individual elements to a stamp from which I can pick and choose and decide the order in which I would like them placed on the card in front of me. Regardless, I had fun colouring this in and I hope you enjoy what I have done with it in the end.</div>
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<a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VatSwUaKQlY/UyjGUkM6TZI/AAAAAAAABBE/gzo7MLaA-vo/s640/blogger-image-1749818317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VatSwUaKQlY/UyjGUkM6TZI/AAAAAAAABBE/gzo7MLaA-vo/s200/blogger-image-1749818317.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a>Starting out I stamped my image with black archival ink onto white card as I knew I wanted to use a watercolour technique. I had played around in my head with doing it completely vintage but this time I decided to bring in some colour. I used Barn Door, ripe persimmon, squeezed lemonade, crushed olive, forest moss and peacock feathers for the film strip. I sprayed a bit of perfect pearls gold shimmer water on my craft mat and used that blend the colours out so it gives some gold shimmer to the finish. I used the same colours on the lights and watered them down to paint over the whole thing, to give the illusion that they are actually shinning down on the set. I used pumice stone for the directors chair, the cone and the clapper thing (you know what I mean!) and ran my archival ink around the edges in a rough manner so as to give it a slightly grungy border.</div>
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P5rf0rjiYrs/UyjGTWUl22I/AAAAAAAABA0/eeuded7CxPA/s640/blogger-image-1800817776.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P5rf0rjiYrs/UyjGTWUl22I/AAAAAAAABA0/eeuded7CxPA/s200/blogger-image-1800817776.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a>Here is where I struggled a bit. I wasnt sure which direction I wanted to take with this image and even went a little splatter crazy on a card with my distress paints. I liked the overall effect of it but in the end I felt it was a little too busy and was taking away from the image. I finally chose to go for a black and white look which I thought would accentuate the colour in the image itself. I chose a piece of plain black card and used the clapper part of the stamp only to create a sort of subtle background with clear embossing. I placed this piece in the background and got to work on another bit of embossing with this 'Inspire' definition stamp from <a href="http://www.visibleimage.co.uk/stamps/versesandsentiments/imaginedreaminspire.htm" target="_blank">Visible Image</a> that I felt was really appropriate for making a movie. I stamped this onto black card and embossed with white stampendous embossing powder (this is one of my favourite whites so far) and backed it with some leftover shimmer card from my splattered mess from earlier. I arranged all of these pieces on my square card, staggered with some foam adhesive.</div>
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At this point I was pretty happy with how it was turning out but I had wanted to add some fim strip ribbon that I had purchased a while ago that I rarely got to use. Of course when I have no use for it, I am always coming across it. As things usually go, though, when I wanted to use it, it was nowhere to be found! So I had to come up with a different solution. I had been given some card candy a long time ago when it was really popular (it may still be, Im not sure) and I had these black and white ones with some writing on them. I decided to use 3 of the black ones down the side to fill in the black space there and I am pleased to say I think it worked out well. So here is the finished product, I do hope you like it.</div>
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-38684096813436063882014-03-01T09:00:00.000+00:002014-03-01T09:00:00.716+00:00Stamp arranging and are we there yet challenge<br />
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Do you ever get really excited about a stamp set, some inks or even some new tools and rush out to buy them? Or you find an awesome deal on something and you grab it without really thinking of what you will do with it? While I only do it rarely, I have a whole list of friends who I could probably name that do this on a regular basis.<br />
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So I was having a rummage around all of my crafty stash recently, trying to minimise the mountain of unused goodies I have just waiting to make their appearance and I came across this stamp set by Tim Holtz (surprised?). It fit perfectly with this months challenge over at <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://paulaholifieldcrafts.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">'A Little Bit Crafty'</a></span> so what better time to pull it out?? I love red rubber cling stamps, especially the ones that have the image on the back. I took advantage of those images with this card by choosing a few that seemed to fit and arranging them. It gave me a visual to go from when I finally started actually making it. I struggled with the colour choice a bit after I had finally arranged it the way I liked, mainly because I really liked how it looked in the black and grey of the stamps. In the end I took to google. Google and Pinterest are the best places to go for some colour inspiration! There was just so much that of course I couldn't help myself and went with the more colourful choice.<br />
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So lets get started:<br />
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Supplies Used:<br />
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<li>Tim Holtz Stamp set - The Journey</li>
<li>Tim holtz Stamp set - Papillon</li>
<li>TH Distress ink pads-</li>
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<li>Picked Raspberry</li>
<li>Spiced Marmalade</li>
<li>Salty Ocean</li>
<li>Peacock Feathers</li>
<li>Barn Door</li>
<li>Squeezed Lemonade</li>
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<li>Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black</li>
<li>TH Remnant Rubs - Numbers</li>
<li>Fine silver embossing powder</li>
<li>clear embossing powder</li>
<li>Waterbrush</li>
<li>Craft mat</li>
<li>heat tool</li>
<li>TH Distress crackle paint - Rock candy</li>
<li>Perfect Pearls perfect gold and water in a spritzer bottle.</li>
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<a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-vRxLBcmYU7o/Uu1ioid4TDI/AAAAAAAAA-U/QD770aZOvkk/s640/blogger-image--1993607314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-vRxLBcmYU7o/Uu1ioid4TDI/AAAAAAAAA-U/QD770aZOvkk/s1600/blogger-image--1993607314.jpg" /></a>First I took my distress inks and pressed them onto my craft mat. I spritzed it with my gold shimmer water to blend the colours and applied my paper to it. I spritzed the paper again just to make sure it all blended nicely and dried it with the heat tool. Then I applied the corresponding inks to my background stamp in a gradient and stamped onto my now dried paper. <br />
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I put the background paper aside and I stamped my plane and embossed with silver embossing powder and stamped the compass with black archival ink because I wasn't sure what waterwork I would be doing just yet. I fussy cut them all out leaving a tiny bit of white to frame it and added a little bit of weathered wood to the plane with my waterbrush just to pop it out from the white. I arranged these on the background just to have a look at the placement and realised my compass needed a bit more. I didn't want to overload it with colour so I used the same colours from the background and did a little painting in some areas just to tie it all in.<br />
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I cut out a few of the remnant rubs and applied them to the background and stuck down my compass. I still wasn't satisfied with it and felt it still needed something so I added some distress crackle in a circular motion, hoping it will crack radiating a bit from the centre. <br />
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It didn't quite work out the way I was hoping as I applied it quite thinly but I still like the effect. It looks more like glitter from a distance though so next time I will be more generous with my paint.<br />
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Once the paint had dried on my compass I adhered the plane overlapping it slightly with dimensional adhesive.<br />
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I wanted my sentiment to be embossed with a lot of colours but because my colour selection in my embossing powders is minimal, I ended up stamping with several colours and then embossing over it with clear embossing powder. If I had done it again I might have tried double stamping over it with versamark to give a better coating but it still was fine. I put a black mat on it and stuck it down with some dimensional adhesive.</div>
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I matted the whole thing on black card and then mat that onto my card and voila! </div>
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I do hope you like it and that, again, you were able to follow my babble. This card particularly applies to me because as this post makes its appearance, I will hopefully be enjoying myself on a beach in Mexico with my family!</div>
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-16938322877392530462014-02-12T09:00:00.000+00:002014-02-12T21:27:59.073+00:00Hello Sailor! Im on a new Design team!!<a href="http://jb-craftingsupplies.blogspot.co.uk/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank" title="JB Crafting "><img alt="JB Crafting " src="http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss98/srmakeup/4b2d8b96-1ed7-4a7f-a182-d6c23b55a894.jpg" style="border: currentColor;" /></a>Some good news on my part.... I was asked to join <span style="font-size: large;">JB Crafting supplies</span> as a new Design team member! Im very excited to be a part of another great group and I hope you as a follower will get some benefit from hearing me babble on about all the crafty goodness that is to come! I hope those of you who follow me will head on over to check out both the <span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong><a href="http://jb-craftingsupplies.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">BLOG</a></strong></span> and <span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong><a href="http://www.jb-craftingsupplies.com/index.htm" target="_blank">SHOP</a></strong></span> and have a little looksy below of my very first project with them! I hope you like it! Feedback is always appreciated remember ;).<br />
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**Since a lot of you don't know me yet I will let you in on a secret...... I am a complete newbie when it comes to digis. Its not my favourite because I like the feel of an actual stamp. However, as a digital designer myself, I regret not being into it more because every once in a while you come across a really amazing little character like this beauty from <strong>Adele Bradwell</strong>. I am a fan of pin up art and the sailor theme was just too perfect. Of course you cant stray much from the red white and blue of a typical sailors outfit so I stuck with that. It helped that the paper matched ;). <br />
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g2W3Z3GuYOw/UvWTaq6rcwI/AAAAAAAAA_I/F_sIfjNNV6Y/s640/blogger-image--671112441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g2W3Z3GuYOw/UvWTaq6rcwI/AAAAAAAAA_I/F_sIfjNNV6Y/s320/blogger-image--671112441.jpg" width="320" /></a>So I printed out my background onto some white cardstock and overlaid the sentiment on top of the sailor girl with my photo editing software before printing 2 of her as well. Always print more than one, just in case! For me its a good thing I did as I prefer to work with watercolours and it takes some skill to use watercolour on non-watercolour paper without it warping too much. So obviously I practiced on one and in the end used a mixture of water painting and straight colouring with my distress markers. <br />
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I wanted to give the anchor a little more than just colour. I really wanted it to pop out and give it some texture. So after I had finished all of my colouring I used an embossing pen in sections and embossed my anchor with Stampendous fran-tage <span style="font-size: x-small;">AGED SILVER</span> embossing enamel. Unfortunately at this point my heat tool overheated on my and with my impatience I filled in the unembossed sections with brushed pewter distress stain. This worked out fairly well because it allowed the lines of the anchor to show through even after painted.<br />
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For the background of the card I distressed the edges with chipped sapphire distress ink and stamped a large medallion stamp and embossed with white to simulate a doily. We all love a little bit of frills don't we? This is where I adhered my pin up girl. I felt it needed just a little bit more so I stapled on a white satin ribbon and added a few little hearts that I handcut and glittered with xmas red stickles. Honestly I thought the hearts would make it feel very valentinesy... not really a word but work with me here!<br />
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So there you have it. My first DT project with <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://jb-craftingsupplies.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/hello-sailor-from-newbie.html" target="_blank">JB Crafting Supplies</a></span> and one of the few I have done with digital images! I do hope you like it. <br />
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<br />Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-13720878382511506652014-02-11T17:04:00.002+00:002014-02-11T17:04:36.091+00:00Looking back (pizza bites!)There are all forms of being crafty. Of course, my blog is mostly about being inky and gluey and papery, but every once in a while I get the chance to try a recipe which I think you can call crafty as well! So while the post below is an old one and from my other blog (yes I have another, no I don't really use it anymore), I really enjoyed these little pizza bites and they were so easy to make, I thought I would share with you fellow crafty people.<br />
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As an added note before you start reading, this was good for me because 2 of 3 of my kids are allergic or intolerant to dairy. So making these ourselves is a good way to be sure that you can use dairy substitutes and they can still have their pizza fix. We use lacto free cheese grated up and even my eldest who has no problem likes it. <br />
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<em>**My son is squeeling away at 'Jake and the Neverland Pirates' at the moment and I just love hearing it. He has discovered that those things called 'hands' have the ability to grab everything within reach and stick it in his mouth. My eldest daughter is watching the same show and eating a lunch that she and I prepared together. A very poor version of pizza (in my mind) but she created it and therefore its delicious. Basically, toast topped with pizza sauce, pepperoni and orange cheese squares. Dont rush to write down the recipe. Speaking of recipes, however, I recently found this </em><a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/230035493437567912/" target="_blank"><em>recipe</em></a><em> on pinterest:</em><br />
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<em>And I decided to give it a go. Let me tell you, its one of the good ones! I made it for my brother in law who loved them and requested them any chance he got. These are mine:</em></div>
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<em>If you decide to give this a try, I would definitely leave out the salt. It says optional on the recipe but I put some in the first batch and it definitely doesnt need it. The pepperoni and cheese give it enough. You could probably try different flavours in it too though I havent tried that yet.***</em></div>
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I do hope you give this a try, especially if you have little ones. I haven't actually made it for quite a while and I think I might just make a few soon! They may be a good little snack to bring on the plane for our upcoming trip!</div>
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Leave me a comment if you have tried these or are planning to, and you are also welcome to ask any questions! If you want to follow my <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/samantha1316/foody-stuff/" target="_blank">foody board</a> on <span style="font-size: x-small;">PINTEREST</span> to see what other things catch my eye the click the link!</div>
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-4883314115577029002014-02-01T09:00:00.000+00:002014-02-01T09:00:02.484+00:00Man Up! Challenge and some gloating!<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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We are just entering February and I have only had a very small amount of crafting time this year so far. My family and I are heading on a 3 week holiday in a few weeks to visit my family in the wonderful Cancun, Mexico where my dad is manager at a lovely 'get away from it all' type of resort. Unfortunately this also means that you wont be hearing from me until I get back but FORTUNATELY, it also means you wont be hearing from me until I get back!! Ha ha. It means a lot of family time for me. Basically we are going to visit a lot of family and friends so that my kids and husband can meet them all for the first time. We are all very excited about it. Check it if you want to have a look!</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mahekalbeachresort.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.mahekalbeachresort.com/" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z3PLz4vu7sQ/UuPQf-eIUyI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/v2Zb493g374/s1600/pic2.jpg" height="336" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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Right, back to the crafty goodness. If you are a serious crafter/buyer/hoarder then you probably know that there are some major awesome sales at the beginning of the year. I did not plan very well for this but believe me, I will be much more prepared next year! Sizzix had their mega sale going on and wowwie!! The savings were spectacular! It did take a while to receive my items but its expected when you have such good deals. I received a big box of goodies (not all mine) but I couldn't wait to get started. <br />
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<a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-I-DZY5rmvhs/UuPOPPW9C1I/AAAAAAAAA5I/Rtzq8SR7GYQ/s1600/blogger-image-395362908.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-I-DZY5rmvhs/UuPOPPW9C1I/AAAAAAAAA5I/Rtzq8SR7GYQ/s320/blogger-image-395362908.jpg" width="240" /></a>I had 2 birthdays to celebrate last month which both happened to be for men in my family. I am only showing this card because I love it, but I basically copied a gorgeous card from Pinterest as I was in a rush. You can check out that card <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/230035493441138850/" target="_blank">here</a>. The colours were perfect and caught my eye instantly. While I didn't have a clock quite like the one in the picture, I did have this wooden clock piece which I coated with metallic distress stains and stampendous frantage embossing powder. I also covered the back with vellum just so it wouldn't get lost with all the texture in the background. I would probably have done a lot more if I had had the time but I was up quite late trying to finish it in time.<br />
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On to the main event.... The love of my life (and I say that without a hint of sarcasm ;) ) has a birthday coming up. Unfortunately for him its right before everyone gets paid on one of the longest, moneyless months ever. We are rarely able to do anything and this year he had a need for his birthday gift several weeks before so now he has nothing to open. I attempted to get a sitter for our three kids but unfortunately I was only able to get someone for one, so the kid free plan was out. So even though we had agreed to celebrate our birthdays when we were in Mexico, I still wanted to make him a card. With the Man Up! Challenge over at A little Bit Crafty, it was perfect timing!<br />
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Men's cards are hard. You know why? Its not because its easier to create girly things. No. Its because men are difficult. My husband in particular doesn't actually appreciate receiving a card on his birthday so its mostly an excuse for me to craft. Taking advantage of my Sizzix goodies I created this card:<br />
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The sentiment fits him perfectly, as he can be.... well, lets just say he fits in well with the kids! Not that I'm complaining. I love him this way!</div>
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Tim Holtz Distress inks in Antique Linen and Vintage Photo</div>
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Tim Holtz Vintage Camera Die</div>
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Tim Holtz Styled Labels Die</div>
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Tim Holtz Alterations Stripes embossing folder</div>
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Tim Holtz Film strip ribbon</div>
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Tim Holtz Kraft-Core Card stock</div>
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Fiskars Quotes Clear stamp set - Make a Wish</div>
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Tim Holtz sanding block</div>
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First, I used antique linen distress ink on white card stock. I ran it through my Big shot machine with the stripes embossing folder and then distressed again with Vintage Photo. Cut down to size and mounted on a 5x7 inch card base.</div>
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I then used my crop-o-dile hole punch to punch holes and attach some gold brads to the corners.</div>
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I cut out my label, and 2 cameras out of white card stock, black Kraft-core card and black card covered with metallic tape. I cut a rectangle of plain computer paper and covered it generously with adhesive which I then used to attach all the pieces to the camera. </div>
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I distressed my label with Vintage photo distress ink, stamped my Fiskars sentiment and drew an outline in black pen to tie it all together. I attached 2 bronze brads to the label and adhered it to the card with foam adhesive.</div>
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I then stapled my film strip to the card and attached the camera with foam adhesive. </div>
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*Not in the picture* - I stamped 'Happy Birthday' from the same fiskars set in the bottom right hand corner of the inside of the card and wrote a little note from me and the kids.</div>
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I do hope you like it, and be sure to check out the challenge over at 'A Little Bit Crafty'. There are some amazing prizes up for grabs that I wouldn't mind getting my hands on myself! Also don't forget to check out the sponsors!</div>
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-62362221408535200592014-01-27T21:00:00.003+00:002014-01-27T21:00:50.539+00:00Breaking out the alcohol... Inks that is!<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
When you were growing up did you have a favourite teacher? Someone who really got under your skin so to speak. In a good way. I did. A few in fact. Some were my favourite because of the way they made me feel in the classroom and some because they gave me that 'AHA!' moment. The moment you finally get something that you have been trying to understand for a while. Well, I will remember these teachers for the rest of my life and I think that knowing that you made that kind of impact on a kid is what they all strive for. </div>
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I believe my daughter has one of those teachers now. A teacher who makes the kids enjoy learning and going to school. So I wanted to show my appreciation by giving her a Christmas gift. Unfortunately with my lack of timing skills, I didn't get around to it until near the new year but this is what I came up with.</div>
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<strong> Gold mixative</strong></div>
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<strong>Tim Holtz Blending tool and felt</strong></div>
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I first cleaned the bowls really well. You don't want any sort of residue left on them especially sticky residue from price stickers. Then I turned them over and just started dripping colours down the sides. I tried starting with the reds first and then moving on to the gold but I also did the other way around where I started with the gold first. I think I prefer starting with the reds. </div>
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I dripped a few streaks of Red Pepper and Currant down the sides to give it a bit of depth. I also dabbed on some green in a few placed though it didn't show up very much. I used the blending tool with the reds to make sure I got into all the spaces and that the whole apple was covered. Then I added some gold and green and just kept adding and blending until I got the look I wanted. I left the gold fairly streaky. Make sure you mix the gold well, otherwise it wont run down the sides the way we want it to and will get a bit clogged.</div>
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I made one stem all gold and another I used a blend of espresso and lettuce.</div>
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Here you can see the before and after side by side. Such a difference!!</div>
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Two more apples done for a friend. The one on the right is where I used the gold for the stem.</div>
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All wrapped and ready to go! I added in a little 'adult' chocolate in the form of baileys chocolate truffles. I figured everyone could use a break from all the kiddie candy!</div>
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I also made her this, which was supposed to be a pendant but of course I had no luck finding any bails to make it one. In the end I stuck a magnet on the back of it. </div>
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I embossed a bit of tin from a red bull can and then coloured with alcohol inks. I coated it with UTEE in the melt pot which unfortunately smeared a lot of the inks but its ok. This was a first time thing for me so I was bound to run into some issues. I used Tim Holtz chit chat stickers and a teddy bear charm which I then covered again with the UTEE and finished. This isn't the best picture of it as I hadn't sanded anything down yet but you get the idea. Funny enough she liked this one best. </div>
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I hope this inspired you to get creative for the teachers in your life as well. We would be nowhere without them after all. </div>
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-21273961688159401512014-01-01T09:00:00.000+00:002014-01-07T09:45:45.083+00:00New year, New projects!<div style="text-align: justify;">
First of all, (and I know I repeat the same thing on numerous occasions) sorry again for it being so long without any activities on here. The blog was going strong and then sort of tapered off somewhere along the way. Most likely due to the many commitments that myself and my group have already had. However I will try to be better. I wont make it a new years resolution though! We all know how those never work out. On that note, I will also NOT have losing weight, spending more time with family and follow through with commitments in a more timely manner as my new years resolutions either! ;)</div>
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So some news on my end. I was approached by a lovely friend of mine, who is an amazing crafter herself, to join her very successful challenge blog, <a href="http://paulaholifieldcrafts.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">'A Little Bit Crafty'</a> ! Thank you Paula for your confidence in me. I hope that I live up to expectations. </div>
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My first challenge theme as DT is <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: yellow;"><u>Celebrate</u>!</span></span> Should be easy right? There is so much to celebrate this time of the year. New beginnings, new starts, and for some of us, just making it to the new year is a celebration in itself isn't it?? This time though I decided to go for a birthday card for my husbands cousin. It was her 40th birthday and we were invited to her big bash of a party. I have only met her once before so trying to find a theme to go with for her card wasn't easy. </div>
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As a lot of you who know me know, I am not a digi user. I think its mostly due to the fact I love the feel and control of a proper stamp and being able to play around with inks and positioning. So with this challenge I have definitely stepped out of my comfort zone. However I love the feel of <a href="http://www.scribbleandscrap.co.uk/digi-shop.html#!/~/product/category=6514819&id=27413012" target="_blank">this</a> image from our sponsor <a href="http://www.scribbleandscrap.co.uk/index.html" target="_blank">'Scribble and Scrap'</a>. I immediately felt the 20's vibe to it and I thought that very appropriate for a 40th birthday. Don't ask me why, my mind works in mysterious ways!</div>
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First of all, I printed her off on regular, thick, white card stock. I like to work with my distress pens mostly but unfortunately my printer wouldn't take the water colour paper so I had to make due. </div>
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I used a mixture of promarkers, distress stains in tarnished brass and brushed pewter and a bit of distress pens here and there. I wanted the card to be mostly white black and silver with a hint of gold and a pop of colour with the red. </div>
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As you can see below, my colouring needs refinement but I'm hoping I can start working on a collection of copics and prismacolours in the new year and practise a little more. I covered the dress with glossy accents and dry rock candy glitter. I wish glitter was easier to capture but it definitely made the final product. I also added stickles in various places as well.</div>
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I think my favourite was using distress stickles in antique linen in her hair. It unfortunately covered any shading I might have done there but it gave it a little extra texture that I love. I coloured in the mirror with tumbled glass distress pen and water with perfect pearls to give it a bit of subtle shimmer. Its not my favourite as the paper I used wasn't ideal so the ink didn't blend out as much as I would have liked but in person it looks much better. <br />
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I did a bit of fussy cutting of the image and stuck her down onto a stamped and distressed background (stampin ups en francais large stamp with pumice stone distress ink) and mounted that onto back card stock. I finished it off with a few silver peel offs to make the whole thing a bit more.. art deco I think you would call it. </div>
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Anyway please check out the blog and our sponsors for this challenge below. I hope you enjoy the card and that it gives you a little push to try something out of your comfort zone!</div>
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Happy New Year!</div>
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-47749305909072073972013-08-25T16:55:00.000+01:002013-08-25T16:55:15.156+01:00Inking and masking and stencils and playing.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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I've been creating and designing masks and stencils again. I have to say I have rekindled my love of photoshop. Unfortunately it's been sort of a hate relationship as well, though not with the program but with my computer. It is the. Slowest. Thing. In the world. I would love love love to be able to afford a new Mac, because of all the lovely graphics capabilities. My only problem is... I can't stop buying my crafting goodies long enough to save up properly for one!! How anyone can go so long without new inky stamps goodness to play with is beyond me.<br />
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Anyway, I have managed to combine my photoshop abilities with my crafting abilities to make some exciting (for me) new things to play with. You already know about the stencils and the masks. But recently I was asked to cut out a sloth... Can I find a sloth cut file anywhere?? No. Can I find a sloth image to cut? Not. So what do I do? I drew it. Yeah, go me! Not only did I draw it. I scanned it, altered it, cut it, painted it and glued it together!<br />
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Eee! He is so cute! I really like how he turned out.</div>
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I have also created a few new masks/stencils to play with. I made this pumpkin set and I love it! Here is what I managed to create with it so far:</div>
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Yup, back at my typical fall colours! I can't get enough of them. You will probably be seeing both the colours and the pumpkin a bit more.</div>
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One last make to share with you. I recently bought this lovely indigo blue stamp and I received it today, so of course I have to try it out. So I stamp it with stazon onto my tag, break out the distress inks and start water colouring it using my new water brush my mother in law gave me. It had a bit of empty space in the edges so I used one of my stencils, distress inked over and sprayed it with a gold shimmer water to make it blend in as a watercolour effect with the test of the image. Stamped on a sentiment and there you go! I'm very happy with it. </div>
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And there you have it! Hopefully I will bring you some more makes soon! Have a great weekend!</div>
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Sam. </div>
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-78340505018655596612013-08-18T13:35:00.000+01:002013-08-18T13:35:09.965+01:00Visitors and a new business venture for Moi!First of all, congratulations to the royals on the birth of the new baby boy! I am not ashamed to admit that I was watching the news feeds that day, waiting to hear about little baby monarch. <br />
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Ok so back to the blog! First of all, Im sorry Ive been gone so long! I had friends visiting and let me tell you, it wasn't easy. Its really never easy to share your house with someone. I should know, Im married lol. But its especially hard when you have certain expectations and excitement leading up to their arrival and after 2 days it just goes pfffft. I wont go into too much detail but suffice to say it was a stressful time. I couldn't wait to get back to my crafting.<br />
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ahQjIO-J1UQ/UgncxV7ErWI/AAAAAAAAAxM/MAtsW6gMKPY/s640/blogger-image--1073714507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ahQjIO-J1UQ/UgncxV7ErWI/AAAAAAAAAxM/MAtsW6gMKPY/s320/blogger-image--1073714507.jpg" width="240" /></a>I started on a new 'business' venture recently. I found out that my crafty idol is coming to the UK to teach a workshop in Coventry. I hit a couple of hurdles but I really really wanted to attend this workshop. Hurdle one- Coventry isn't exactly close but its definitely doable compared to, say, trying to get to Scotland. Even so it was a lot of money. Luckily a friend suggested a company that would get me there and back for under £20. Awesome! Hurdle jumped. Hurdle two- Babysitters... I have three kids. The class is on a Thursday. Hubby works. That's ok, I managed to get a friend to watch the kiddings until hubby gets home PLUS! she was willing to give me a ride to the bus station in Winchester! Technically that should count for 2 or three hurdles really but JUMPED! Hurdle three- The class is EXPENSIVE. About £70 per person. Yikes. That on top of having to pay to get there and of course the fact that I would have to be there all day so food and shopping even more. So I started making masks and stencils. I would design and cut them on my cameo and due to the knowledge of one and encouragement of another, I was able to actually find something worth selling! Something that made a little money! And in about a weeks time I was near the amount of money for the class. Hurdle jumped right? Wrong. Right as I was planning on making that all important phone call to book my spot, my hubby comes home with bad news. Our bank screwed up big time and paid a direct debit that it was told to cancel. We had ended up paying 2 lots of rent for the month and were now completely broke until payday. So what does that mean for me? All the money I had saved went towards getting us through the month. Major Sad face on my end.<br />
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Anyway, the good thing that came out of all of this was that I was still making masks and still creating new designs and still making good sales! So its now nearly a month later and I took it to the next level by creating a business page on facebook. Im excited and I really hope it continues to do well! If you feel like it please stop by and like the page? You know you wanna!! ;)<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sams-Masks-and-stencils/165167530337116?ref=hl">https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sams-Masks-and-stencils/165167530337116?ref=hl</a><br />
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Check out below for a few more makes with my stencils :). As always if you want to comment please do so, I love hearing from you!!<br />
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Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-31035637652627718422013-08-02T10:11:00.000+01:002013-08-02T10:11:07.743+01:00Digi Galore's Birthday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Happy Birthday to You,</div>
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Happy Birthday to You,</div>
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Happy Birthday Dear <a href="http://notrealstamps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/hop.html" target="_blank">Digi Galore!</a></div>
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Happy Birthday to You!</div>
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I'm on the DT at Digi Galore and as we're having a birthday blog hop at <a href="http://notrealstamps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/hop.html" target="_blank">Digi Galore Challenges</a> I thought I'd invite you all along :D I've been luckily enough to be on the Design Team right from the start and can honestly say its been a pleasure to be part of such a great team :D It's hard to believe a year has gone past already!</div>
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To celebrate our birthday we've arranged an amazing Blog Hop with the whole of the DT involved. </div>
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Pop by to <a href="http://notrealstamps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/hop.html" target="_blank">Digi Galore</a> to start the Hop. We've got amazing sponsors and some incredible prizes so come along & join in. </div>
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This is the list for the Blog Hop </div>
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<a href="http://notrealstamps.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Digi Galore</a></div>
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<a href="http://elfiessparkleanddust.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Erin</a></div>
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<a href="http://kelsmakes.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Kelly</a></div>
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<a href="http://scrappintillthecowscomehome.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Trish</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.kamscraftyplace.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Kelly M</a></div>
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<a href="http://loopylass2010.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Lucy </a> - that's me! </div>
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<a href="http://distinctivelmnts.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Lisa</a></div>
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<a href="http://louisescraftycards.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Louise</a></div>
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<a href="http://laurajtaylordesign.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Laura</a></div>
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So now onto the cards I made. Unfortunately 2 of the DT members are ill at the moment (Get Well Trudie & Sandra) So I had 4 digis to play with!!! All from amazing artists. So here they are:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_5-3m-yJTZo/UfgkSrHcrII/AAAAAAAABTc/YcHIxADAnp8/s1600/13.07.27+-+Howdy+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_5-3m-yJTZo/UfgkSrHcrII/AAAAAAAABTc/YcHIxADAnp8/s400/13.07.27+-+Howdy+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Sponsor: <a href="http://thestampingchef.oo.gd/index.php?route=common/home" target="_blank">The Stamping Chef</a><br />
Digi: <a href="http://thestampingchef.oo.gd/index.php?route=product/product&path=92&product_id=215" target="_blank">Howdy Baby</a></div>
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I love The Stamping Chef's Cheeky Saucy Ladies</div>
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The Sentiment is from <a href="http://gingershouse.blogspot.co.uk/2012_07_01_archive.html" target="_blank">Ginger's House</a> I use her free sentiments regularly - they add so much to a card.</div>
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Sponsor: <a href="http://www.bugaboostamps.com/" target="_blank">Bugaboo</a></div>
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Digi: <a href="http://www.bugaboostamps.com/Topper--happy-birthday-to-ewe-trio_p_3320.html" target="_blank">Happy Birthday to Ewe Trio</a></div>
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The fun easel card was cut on my Cougar using the <a href="http://www.birdscards.com/free-digital-cut-files/shaped-cards/" target="_blank">Doily Easel Cut File from Birds Cards</a></div>
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I made the sentiment myself by adapting the Happy Birthday to Ewe one that came with the digi.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iFozzRziXVg/UfgkUbXH7-I/AAAAAAAABTw/g97iMSarofU/s1600/13.07.30+-+Delicious+Doodles+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iFozzRziXVg/UfgkUbXH7-I/AAAAAAAABTw/g97iMSarofU/s400/13.07.30+-+Delicious+Doodles+4.jpg" width="392" /></a></div>
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Sponsor: <a href="http://www.digitaldelightsbyloubyloo.com/" target="_blank">Digital Delights</a></div>
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Digi - <a href="http://digitaldelightsbyloubyloo.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7_83&products_id=1560" target="_blank">Singing Sally</a> and <a href="http://digitaldelightsbyloubyloo.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7_76&products_id=1210" target="_blank">Tiered Cake</a></div>
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Sentiment - from <a href="http://createwithtlc-createwithtlc.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Create with TLC</a></div>
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Promarkers used:</div>
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Skin - Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Blush, Pastel Pink Cheeks</div>
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Hair - Tulip Yellow, Sunflower, Gold</div>
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Dress, Shoes, Roses & Sentiment - Cerise, Shocking Pink*, Vermillion*</div>
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Underskirt - Rose Pink</div>
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Cake - Tan, Caramel</div>
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Lush Green, Pine</div>
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Sponsor -<a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeansieDoodle" target="_blank"> Beansie Doodles</a></div>
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Digi -<a href="http://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/118851410/musical-amanda?ref=shop_home_active" target="_blank"> Musical Amanda</a></div>
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I'm pleased with this as I managed to master a few things I can't normally manage - Lace, Embellishments & Patterned Paper :D</div>
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I made the sentiment myself</div>
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The Paper is from the Fancy Pant's Beach Babe 6x6 stack</div>
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I used these Promarkers:</div>
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Skin - Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Blush, Pastel Pink Cheeks</div>
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Hair - Cocoa, Henna, Chestnut, Walnut</div>
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Dress, Shoes & Earphones - Salmon Pink, </div>
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Well there you go - that's the end of my contribution. I've had loads of fun playing & hope you enjoyed it too.</div>
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I'd love to hear what you think so please leave me a message before you hope in to <a href="http://distinctivelmnts.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Lisa</a> </div>
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Don't forget to pop back to <a href="http://notrealstamps.blogspot.co.uk/" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Digi Galore</a> to enter - the theme is Anything Goes and the prizes are AMAZING!!!!</div>
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Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01282419212661854429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-81648588486295384722013-07-02T14:37:00.000+01:002013-07-02T14:37:58.843+01:00Tagging along........<div style="text-align: center;">
Sams fault that we all have a TAG obsession lol so here is what I have been messing with for the past couple of days I am trying to prepare some stamping classes for the summer and I may go with prepping some tags and doing some spray backgrounds........<br /><br />With this first one I spray misted some card, cut my own size tag and set to with a swirly background stamp using Stayzon Ink, I then used an Andy Skinner Sentiment Stamp and then added a dragonfly that was given to me by Dawn Watson from Dawn till Dusk Crafts then I finished with an organza ribbon.<br /> </div>
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My second tag is made in the same way as my first with the misty background and using Stayzon Ink, I used a flower and leaf stamp from Outlines Rubber Stamp Co, kindly given to me by Tracey Evans, I stamped and cut out and decoupaged the flower and leaf after over stamping the background, then added a silk ribbon to finish.<br /><br /> </div>
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Thank you for reading!</div>
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Hugs Aly xxx</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4779210370911463121.post-49058807807446763452013-06-28T21:53:00.001+01:002013-06-28T21:53:02.538+01:00Looking back and a trip to Paris<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Every once in a while I get into one of those lulls where I either don't feel like crafting or the inspiration isn't there. Unfortunately I'm sort of semi in one right now. I feel like crafting but I'm so tired and the brain just doesn't want to go into creative mode lately. However, I have so many past projects that I am quite proud of, I will just share one (or a few) of those oldies with you when the lulls happen.</div>
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Some of you who know me personally know that my parents come to visit us every year. This year, back in April, my husband and I got to go to Paris with my parents for a mini trip. It was only one night and unfortunately just wasn't long enough but even so I loved it!</div>
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We only had 2 days there so I tried to make my plans to get in as many things as possible. I thought it wouldn't be that difficult because I am quite used to the underground in London but it is sooo different! Next time I will be renting a bike or something. The trains took hours to arrive and didn't go that often so when they did people stuffed themselves into each car as closely as possible to the next person. There was no such thing as personal space. I'm amazed anyone can get anywhere because if your stop is the very next one and you are shoved into the middle of a crowded compartment then you are out of luck! I saw a man literally taking a running start to shove his friend into an overstuffed space. For a claustrophobic person like me, its a nightmare.</div>
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We started with Notre Dame. It was as beautiful as I thought it would be. Unfortunately it was a little marred by the huge blue bleachers right in the front of it but I guess I shouldn't expect it to look exactly as it was in the Disney movie. The line was so long and we were so short on time that we decided to pass on going in but its definitely on the list for next trip. See you next time Quasi!</div>
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Because of the ridiculous wait at the metro we decided to wander around the area for a bit. There are some lovely sights to see. Every building was dripping with history mixed with modern life. Wandering down a random ally I found this beauty! Don't you just love its charm ? </div>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FFh4BQcsGeI/Uc3Z9_kcTFI/AAAAAAAAAtU/25g1s9Uuyqg/s1600/IMG_3636.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FFh4BQcsGeI/Uc3Z9_kcTFI/AAAAAAAAAtU/25g1s9Uuyqg/s320/IMG_3636.JPG" width="320" /></a>I have a thing for grunge as you know and the branches climbing the walls of this place just gave it so much character. I could've done without the fake birds but everything else was amazing. Take inspiration from everything. I have definitely used this image in my art (trees and branches) whether intentionally or unintentionally. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MTHriTuxSTQ/Uc3aAqh-HvI/AAAAAAAAAtg/uJkNmPKMXdE/s1280/IMG_3663.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MTHriTuxSTQ/Uc3aAqh-HvI/AAAAAAAAAtg/uJkNmPKMXdE/s200/IMG_3663.JPG" width="150" /></a>Besides all of the beautiful buildings and the history, France is well known for their food. Frogs legs and Escargot comes to mind. My husband and I are very picky eaters unfortunately so the thought of the food was a little scary for me. I'm often embarrassed by my picky eating and go to great lengths to make it so I will not put myself (or my company) in awkward situations by refusing to eat something. Unfortunately for the both of us we were quite right to be a little nervous. Not only did we rarely find anything that we would eat but everything was crazy expensive! We even tried McDonald's thinking it was safe but those chicken sandwiches you can get for £1??? Nearly £7 there! Needless to say we did not eat much on the trip. My thoughts on the food can be seen by my facial expression in this picture to your right! I have a cousin who I met there for the first time. He is about my age and his family situation is very similar to mine. He took us to a nice little Italian restaurant that is apparently very good and very famous. Don't ask me what it was called! <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4vTe0JFKKkk/Uc3Z9Im02QI/AAAAAAAAAtM/zOCQyNvY024/s1600/IMG_3657.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4vTe0JFKKkk/Uc3Z9Im02QI/AAAAAAAAAtM/zOCQyNvY024/s200/IMG_3657.JPG" width="150" /></a>The owner was very friendly though, and he made each salad himself taking great time and had lots of pride doing them. It was almost an art form, his salad making. Talk about creative! I have to say though the highlight for me was when we had a look in their display case and found a picture of him with Leonardo Dicaprio! Yes, this was very exciting for me. Remember I was a teen during the time of Titanic. (The movie, I'm not quite THAT old hehe) So I had a small teen moment of ' Oh my god, I'm standing in the same place Leo Dicaprio ate! EEEEEEk!!'. Yes, I was that girl.</div>
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Even though we didn't have much luck with the food, we still managed to find some that weren't bad. Delicious in fact. We went to a market near the Eiffel tower and I had some yummy ice cream. I would seriously go back to Paris just for this ice cream. I had a cone with 3 scoops, one coffee, one chocolate and one vanilla. Soooo good! We also found several food stalls with loads of food that looked great! One had a huge brioche and another stall had a great big pan full of sausages! <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3KewtqrDRuc/Uc3aE3t9q3I/AAAAAAAAAt4/mXh_CvaqgjQ/s1600/IMG_3732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3KewtqrDRuc/Uc3aE3t9q3I/AAAAAAAAAt4/mXh_CvaqgjQ/s200/IMG_3732.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lm9bb-NcwKo/Uc3aIdTyNVI/AAAAAAAAAuM/dzvKYvVa9tU/s1600/IMG_3734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lm9bb-NcwKo/Uc3aIdTyNVI/AAAAAAAAAuM/dzvKYvVa9tU/s200/IMG_3734.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pUIsF8NrQQY/Uc3aHFqsRkI/AAAAAAAAAuE/duvcs3YD0AU/s612/IMG_3736.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pUIsF8NrQQY/Uc3aHFqsRkI/AAAAAAAAAuE/duvcs3YD0AU/s200/IMG_3736.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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And I cant leave off talking about a trip to Paris without the mandatory pictures of the Eiffel tower! I would have loved to have seen it at night but it was not in the cards for this trip unfortunately.</div>
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That brings me to this. I came back with loads of inspiration. Paris is also known for its fashion among other things. So I made this tag with those things in mind. For the background I stamped the paris stamp from Tim Holtz Papillion stamp set in vintage photo and edged the tag with tumbled glass. I love the look of brown and light blue together so I kept with that through out the tag. I used again Tim Holtz mannequin from his sewing room die and covered it with brown crochet lace to form a dress and Stampin Up ribbon to form a belt. I also embellished the tag with metal accents and vintage buttons. I had to cut off the shanks from the back of the buttons to get them to sit flat but even having done that it was very tricky to get them to stay down, and I had to hold it for quite a while before the glossy accents set enough that I could leave it to dry on its own. Word of warning for any of you wanting to try this :).</div>
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One last thing before I go. These last few days I was helping out a friend of mine with her page. She had a few problems with her brand new laptop and the company that sold it to her and was waiting (more patiently than I would have been) for them to pick it up and replace it. While this was going on I have been helping out sharing her page and it was a pleasure to do so. She has helped me out in the past and to be honest, she deserves the recognition. In these days of convenience, even in crafting, machines often take up the slack and do the work for us. But there is something to be said for those who still take the time to do things by hand and meticulously make things perfect. That's what handmade is all about right? Well check this out:</div>
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This piece was all cut by hand and I have to say I am well impressed! Arent you? So, at the risk of sounding like a tv advert, if you are looking for something special to give to some lucky couple as a wedding gift, or perhaps a new baby in the family, check out <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LFMoments" target="_blank">LFMoments</a> on facebook. Its worth the look! </div>
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Happy crafting to you all!</div>
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Sam.</div>
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<br />Samanthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01358947984624354723noreply@blogger.com1