Merry Christmas

 good morning to all

no cards to share today as this will be my last post for 2024, but i would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Peaceful New Year.

every year on the 1st of December our Christmas tree is decorated and for many years when my children were young i'd convinced them that a christmas fairy always visited and decorated the tree for them especially when they'd been good.

a special bauble from new york

every year i have the intention of decoratating the outside of our home but i never get around to it and the only room i have left to bing into christmas is my kitchen.

i have a rather long garland to add and thankfully my festive lights are already on the units.

 again i'd like to thank everyone for visiting my blog and i wish you all a very merry christmas and i'll be back in the new year with new projects to share.

thanks for stopping by enjoy your christmas and

craft happy, Ann

merry Christmas - using Maddie

good morning to one and all.

well we are now in december (gasp) and preparations are in full swing for christmas, my home is looking very festive this year, photos of this year's tree will be shared at a later date. 

back to today's festive share and i've used Maddie and i've gone for none traditional colours on this christmas card.

i have also used another new stamp that has been sat in my stash for a while waiting for it's first outing. a big and bold set from colorado craft company.

my papers are first edition (i can not remeber the name of the pad)

and i've kept the design and colour pallet very simple.

onto what i have used

inks:

fade resistant dye ink: memento - expresso truffle

Tim Holtz:  distress ink

vintage photo, tattered rose, walnut stain, antique linen, worn lipstick, broken china, tumbled glass, tea dye, aged mahogany

papers:

watercolour paper: langton hp - smooth

deigner papers: first edition 6"x 6"

glitter card

silver miri card

7" x 7" base card

stamp:

pergamano poppet: Maddie

colorado craft company big & bold

dies:

sentiment - my stash

mft - stiched ovals, jumbo fishtail banner

miscellaneous:

distress ink pads: tumbled glass

sakura glitter pen

foam pads

double sided tape

where you can buy:

stamps: clarity crafts, dies to die for

papers: the mad scrapper

dies: on line stores and craft fairs

all it leaves me now to say is:

thanks for stopping by enjoy your day and

craft happy, Ann

 

Merry Christmas - using Melody

good morning crafters

back to share my second festive card today using Melody.

my image has been painted with distress ink using some newer colours that i've added to my distress ink pallet. 

 i do enjoy using distress ink and i also use the valuable lessons and technics i have gained from kit and clowder. Alyce is an excellent teacher, everything you learn is transferable to using other mediums.

 

various views

designer papers used for this card

for this design i have dug out a few of my dies and a new sentiment stamp to complete my project. 

taking snaps shots:

i have tried various layouts when taking photos of my projects but at the minute i am in the middle of rearranging my craft room and once i'm happy with how it's laid out hopefully i will have a proper area to take my snaps until then my living room mantle will do but then again i will be in a teather as my christmas tree and christmas displays are on the agenda this weekend. lol

onto what goodies i have used:

inks:

fade resistant dye ink: memento - expresso truffle

Tim Holtz:  distress ink

vintage photo, tattered rose, walnut stain, antique linen, worn lipstick, rustic wilderness, kitsch flamingo, frayed burlap, speckled egg, lumberjack plaid

papers:

watercolour paper: langton hp - smooth

deigner papers: maja - christmas nostalgia

glitter card

white card

7" x 7" base card

stamp:

pergamano poppet: Melody

lavinia - winter sentiments

dies:

creative expressions - merry christmas

my stash: stars

joycrafts

miscellaneous:

distress ink pads: frayed burlap

sakura glitter pen

foam pads

double sided tape

where you can buy:

stamps: clarity crafts, lavinia stamps

papers: the mad scrapper

dies: on line stores and craft fairs

all it leaves me now to say is:

thanks for stopping by enjoy your day and

craft happy, Ann

Merry Christmas - using Monique

good morning all.

with christmas just around the corner and a couple of male cards i needed to make out of the way i've managed to do some festive card making so i thought i'd share some new makes from the images i have coloured recently.

stamps used are pergamano poppets which i picked up from Clarity crafts.

 

i do have a few poppets in my stamp stash and have yet to use some of them. i do how ever have a lot of stamps in polymer and rubber of various brands but like most crafters i do like doing other things and i'm guilty of buying more craft things and leaving them for later and at this rate i'm not going to manage to fit every crafty thing in, tongue in cheek comment....of course they'll be used. 

a little floral addition to give it a chrismassy feel

i do love maja design papers and when funds allow i stock up on them including the latest releases wich i managed to pick up from the mad scrapper.

the choosen papers for todays card project: holiday in the alps.

and here is my list of goodies:

inks:

fade resistant dye ink: memento - expresso truffle

Tim Holtz:  distress ink

vintage photo, tattered rose, walnut stain, antique linen, worn lipstick, rustic wilderness, candied apple, festive berries, lumberjack plaid

papers:

watercolour paper: langton hp - smooth

deigner papers: maja: holiday in the alps

glitter card

white card

7" x 7" base card

stamp:

pergamano poppet: Monique

dies:

sizzix thinlets by Tim Holtz - holiday greens

mft - stitch oval

joycraft - snowflake boarder

miscellaneous:

distress ink pads: antique linen

sakura glitter pen

wild orchid flowers

foam pads

double sided tape

where you can buy:

stamp: clarity crafts

papers: the mad scrapper

dies: on line stores and craft fairs

all it leaves me now to say is:

thanks for stopping by enjoy your day and

craft happy, Ann

 

happy birthday grandson, image: LOTV

hi and welcome to my share for today.

as mentioned in my last post i'd made two quickish male cards inbetween some christmas colouring i'd done and today i'd like to share 

a birthday card for our grandson who happends to be called Oliver. 

the image is Oliver kickabout by Lili of the valley and he has been painted with distress ink.

i have used a variety of stamps, a little masking and one die to create a cas styled card. the teen boy stamps that LOTV have created are a great addition to a stampers stash for the awkward teenage boy in all our lives. 

here is a photo of the coloured image before i masked and added my extras.

well Oliver turn 14 recently and liked his card especially when his birthday pennies dropped out. lol

here is my list of goodies:

inks:

fade resistant dye ink: memento - expresso truffle

Tim Holtz:  distress ink

vintage photo, tattered rose, walnut stain, antique linen, faded jeans, worn lipstick, festive berries, candied apple, frayed burlap, black soot, lost in shadow, lumberjack plaid

papers:

watercolour paper: langton hp - smooth

deigner papers: maja: sea side

7" x 7" base card

stamps: 

LOTV: Oliver kickabout

sentiment stamps: 

lotv teenage boy polymer stamps , digi stamp set statements fabulous

kaiser craft strip stamp

die:

spellbinder - enclosed sentiments

miscellaneous:

distress ink pads: faded jeans, walnut stain

foam pads

double sided tape

thanks for stopping by enjoy your day and

craft happy, Ann

 

birthday boy - lotv image

 

good morning crafters, back to share a male card today.

i do enjoy creating male cards and today i've used one of my trusty images from Lili of the Valley: Oliver - game boy. 

Oliver has been painted with distress ink (colours will be listed below) and my completed card has been created using new papers: sea side from maja desgin which i picked up from the lovely Janine over at the mad scrapper

Painted with distress ink

on my image i have masked oliver and used another of my large LOTV. sentiment stamps: birthday not too sure if the large stamps are still available as digi's i think the polymer stamps have been discontinued, i do like the effect the large stamp gives to the fininshed card.

Oliver Game boy: LOTV

my card has been sneeked in between the christmas images i have coloured that are now waiting to be completed as i had no male cards and i needed to create something quick as it was my grandsons birthday yesterday (his card will be posted next week sometime). phew

and here is my list of goodies:

inks:

fade resistant dye ink: memento - expresso truffle

Tim Holtz:  distress ink

vintage photo, tattered rose, walnut stain, antique linen, faded jeans, worn lipstick, mowed lawn, weathered wood, speckled egg, rustic wilderness

papers:

watercolour paper: langton hp - smooth

deigner papers: maja: sea side

7" x 7" base card

stamps: 

LOTV: Oliver game boy

sentiment stamps: lotv teenage boy polymer stamps , digi stamp set statements fabulous

miscellaneous:

distress ink pads: faded jeans, walnut stain

foam pads

double sided tape

thanks for stopping by enjoy your day and

craft happy, Ann

a little distress ink colouring

 Good morning crafters.

popping in with quick post i thought i'd share a little colouring i have done recently, it has been four weeks since i dusted my paint brushes off and also with christmas around the corner i couldn't resist purchasing these adorable stamps from Carity Crafts.

i'd like to welcome to my stamp stash:

Maisie, Monique, Maddie and Melody.

i do have two more images waiting to be painted:

Mel & Mia.

and as soon as they are complete they will be shared.

the images above have all painted with distress ink and have been matched to papers i've wanted to use for a little while, three cards i will be using papers from Maja Designs and one using first edition papers and in the next few days or so i will have some Christmas cards to share, yay.

so for now,

thanks for stopping by, enjoy your day and

craft happy, Ann.

New baby congratulations LOTV images

good morning crafty friends

welcome to my shares for today. 

i have two personel celebrational cards to share for one of my close friends to celebrate the birth of their first grandson and the other for their son & daughter in law to celebrate the birth of their first baby, Harry John.

my images have been painted with distress ink and sadly my photos don't do the images much justice as i was in a rush to finish and post them off to their respective addresses.

on my first image i've gone a little grungy, my original idea was to create a shabby chic card and i was going to add frantage embossing powders but i'd added my designer paper to the card and heat embossing the frantage powder was a no go after sticking down papers to the card... so i added some distress mica spray as an alternative and i let it dry naturally, sadly you can't see the shimmer of the mica.

my second card, again i've gone for a grungy image with simple lay out and to complete the look i have masked the image with a cicle and coloured the outer edges with one of my distress ink pads and added a little ribbon to complete. 

a short post today.

and here is my list of goodies:

inks:

fade resistant dye ink: memento - expresso truffle

Tim Holtz:  distress ink

vintage photo, tattered rose, broken china, walnut stain, black soot, antique linen, old paper, faded jeans, stormy sky, pumice stone, aged mahogany

papers:

watercolour paper: langton hp - smooth

deigner papers: mintay, graphic 45

7" x 7" base card

stamps: 

LOTV: rocking horse

sentiment stamps: stampingallday, mft, lotv

miscellaneous:

distress mica stain: decayed

foam pads

double sided tape

satin ribbon

blue peg

sakura gel roll glitter pens

thanks for stopping by enjoy your day and

craft happy, Ann

Twinkle a natural fibre art doll

 

hi and good morning crafters.

popping in and happy to share a new natural fibre art doll whom i've named twinkle. 

from start to finish the doll took around three/four weeks on a part time basis. needle felting a dolls heads and parts of the body is so time consuming but it does make for beautiful dolls with cute features, still plenty to work on with future dolls. 

the inspiration for the doll and her name came from the colour of weft i'd choosen and a pre-made pixie hat that was made a while ago which was in conjunction with that i'd recently started watching dinner ladies by Victoria Wood a program i really enjoyed and one of the characters in the program was called Twinkle played by Maxine Peake who's hair was coloured pink also the hat and scarf have gold threads entwined which twinkle.

for Twinkles' clothes her dress and the hat were knitted a while ago and the scarf i knitted last week.

there will possibly be tweaks made to the outfit, i may make a different dress, she also needs underwear, tights or socks are needed and a coat or cardigan to complete her outfit.

they are all in the pipe line, i just can't decide what just yet.

Twinkle is approx 12"/29cms tall

Twink's hair/weft has been sewn directly onto the fabric which gets a little tricky when you get to the finishing point, i have used two colours from my stash of curly wefts.

here is a few doll in progress photos

with the knowledge i have gained from north coast dolls for the articulated head i have adapted one of my body patterns to create this doll.

i do still have more things to improve on in my doll making process and i need to evolve my body patterns but for the moment i'm a happy little crafter. 

things i need to learn/do better: crocheting with a weft.

i still struggle to crochet and how on earth i managed to do it back in may is beyond me.. i did have a little help from Meglena.

inspiration as always comes from: 

north coast dolls

fig & me

little oke dolls

craft cottage

maryjanes tearooms

plus a few others.

well that's it for today, thanks for stopping by

enjoy your day and craft happy, Ann

Amelia a 13" natural fibre doll

good morning crafters.

sharing a new hot off the needles so to speak a natural fibre art doll whom i've named Amelia.

it seems like ages ago when i spent the weekend in clacton for the spring bank holiday to learn the skills of making a doll with an articulated head and how to firmly stuff the body with Meglena of North Coast Dolls and my fellow students, thankfully most of it sunk in, my doll is stunning if i do say so myself. there are still somethings i need work on but it amazes me how a piece fabric, a pattern, roving wool, various threads and a weft turns into something so beautiful.  i also have to say a hands on workshop is a must to all prospective doll makers. 

Amelia is now waiting for a new outfit which will be made hopefully over the next few weeks, hopefully i won't be side tracked.

Amelia is approx 13"/30cms tall

some of the items needed at the begining of a new doll

early stages of the doll making process. the wrong way around lol.

i decided as soon as i'd added the head to her torso i would add her locks..

below Amelia's articulated head in different positions

 Amelia is complete with a beautiful black curly weft which has been sewn on direct as i still can't master crocheting a wig and she has beautiful blue eyes complete with very rosy cheeks..

when Amelia is finally finished i will share photo's 

inspiration as always comes from: 

north coast dolls

fig & me

little oke dolls

maryjanes tearooms

plus a few others.

well that's it for today, thanks for stopping by

enjoy your day and craft happy, Ann