AALL & Create: My Happy Place Mini Book

Hello!

I hope everyone is keeping fit and well as we come towards the end of January.

Today I am sharing my project as GDT for AALL & Create.

I made a mini book and used bright, citrus colours and Janet Klein's cuties stamps to cheer myself up.

Here is the front and back cover. I decided to feature characters at home, as that is where most of us are spending our time these days. Home, for me, is my happy place. I love being at home and in the garden.  I am ready for a bit of a change though now....

My front cover features Coffee Time and Felines ... hey - this could be me and our Casey! The back cover is a cutie called Moonlight sitting on the floor - looking at her pose, maybe she is doing Pilates or Yoga, or maybe she is just reading a good novel.

The first four accordion pages are next:

We have The Gardener who looks so happy, resplendent in her wellies, pottering around, planting seeds and shrubs and digging out the weeds. She is followed by Wing It who is feeding the birds and enjoying the nature in the garden.

Pages 5 to 8 also form an accordion:

Warm and Cosy has her coat on while she plays outdoors with her dog. And finally Sugar Cookies is cooking up a storm in the kitchen, learning new skills and baking delicious cakes and pies.

Here are close ups of the pages:

(I apologise for the lighting - today was very dull and rainy and I needed extra lights to take semi-decent photos - the glare is causing the washi tape and pencils to blur a little)

Here is how I worked on the book:

1. Smooshed, dipped and dabbed Distress Oxides for colour on the card.

2. Heat embossing in white of the Newsprint Numbers stamp.

***

3. Background stamping with oxides and some Background Noise stamps. 

4. Card edges inked in black with some black Background Noise stamping.

***

5. Janet Klein's cuties were stamped in Memento ink onto smooth card.

6. Coloured with Copic markers and Polychromo pencils.

7. Images were fussy cut and adhered to the backgrounds along with sentiments.

***

 8. The backgrounds were adhered to the mini book base.

I'm not sure what this type of book is called - I'm settling for a double accordion.

Stamps Used:

#338 Background Noise

#354 Bunny and Bunnies

#361 Oh Boy

#409 Home

#410 Nana's Kitchen

#415 Good Book

#416 Be Beautiful

#417 Coffee Time

#419 Moonlight

#421 Sugar Cookies

#424 The Gardener

#426 Warm and Cosy

#427 Wing It

(all above stamps are by Janet Klein)

#434 Newsprint Numbers by Olga Heldwein

Washi Tape #6 by Autour de Mwa

To see the stamps, stencils, dies and washi tapes used, please visit

AALL & Create Boutique. 

A list of stockists can be found here.

You'll find lots of inspiration on the 

AALL & Create Facebook Page, the AALL & Create Fanatics Facebook Page and on Instagram

That's all for now.

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

Vera Lane Studio: Parrot Love

 Hello!

Firstly, let me welcome my newest follower, Sylvie. I am really thrilled and humbled that you like my style enough to follow my blog! :)

Here comes another Monday and along with it my DT day at Vera Lane Studio.

Fans of Vera Lane Studio digis hang out in a private Facebook Group, run by the artist, Janet Klein, which you are invited to join.

Today I am using a set that was released a couple of months ago called Parrot Love. This quirky little girl has a hairstyle based on her pet parrot. I love the sentiment that goes with this super 6 digi bundle.

I coloured the images with Copic markers and finished them with a touch of Polychromo pencils and Posca pen highlights. The background is one of Janets AALL & Create stencils called #117 Petals and Pods. I inked the back of it with Distress Oxides, spritzed with water and stamped it onto white card. I then spritzed the card with a little more water to make the colour spread out. I did this a couple of times until I was happy. I added some stamping using Janet's AALL & Create stamps, #338 Background Noise and #404 Visual Ingredients. I finished by adding the sentiment, inking the edges of the background and adding a hand drawn border.

Parrot Love

That's all for now.

I hope you'll come along and play on Vera Lane. It's such a friendly, fun place to be!

  

Here's all the info you need:

Vera Lane Studio Blog

***Vera Lane Studio Facebook Group***

Vera Lane Studio You Tube Channel

Vera Lane Studio Etsy Shop

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

A Perfect Time to Craft #1 AG 27/01 

Crafty Calendar Jan Make It Cute 28/01

Corrosive Challenges Jan AG 31/01

A Place to Start #1 AG (7) 31/01 

613 Avenue Create Jan AG 31/01 

Lets Create and Craft #167 AG 31/01

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #149 (1) AG 31/01

Classic Design Challenge #1 AG 30/01

AALL & Create: Vintage Birthday

 Hello,

First, please let me welcome my newest followers, Katrina and Carolyn. Thank you so much for showing an interest in my little part of blog-land! 

Today is my GDT day at AALL and Create and I am sharing a birthday card made with the #396 Sewing Forever stamp set designed by Tracy Evans. It was one of my samples for Hochanda.

I decided to make a pretty, feminine card and used lace and flowers as embellishments. The flowers are from Tracy's #322 Birthday Blooms stamp set. The foliage is die cut.

The background is card smooshed, dipped and dabbed in Distress Oxides with stencilling over the top using #78 Cloister Grille.

Process:

1. The card background was made from dipping card into Oxides and water.

2. Flowers from #322 Birthday Blooms were stamped and fussy cut.

3. Oxide ink was stencilled through stencil #78 onto the background.

4. One of the stamps from #396 was stamped directly onto the background.

5. The lady was stamped again twice. On one her dress was coloured with Oxides through the #39 Totally Dotty stencil, then the top and skirt were fussy cut. The other was fussy cut and the skin coloured as the base for the decoupaged dress.

6. Lace was adhered.

7. The Flowers were shaped and layered.

8. Die cut foliage was added.

9. White paint lines were applied with an old store card and white paint splatters added.

Stamps Used:

#322 Birthday Blooms by Tracy Evans

#396 Sewing Forever by Tracy Evans

Stencil Used:

#39 Lotza Dots by Autour de Mwa

# 78 Cloister Grille by Olga Heldwein

To see the stamps, stencils and dies used, please visit

AALL & Create Boutique. 

A list of stockists can be found here.

You'll find lots of inspiration on the 

AALL & Create Facebook Page, the AALL & Create Fanatics Facebook Page and on Instagram

That's all for now.

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Make Your Own Background 27/01

Creative Knockouts 385 AG 27/01 

Cute Card Thursday #67- Birthdays 27/01

A Perfect TIme to Craft #1 AG 27/01

A Place to Start #1 AG 31/01

613 Avenue Create Jan AG (2) 31/01

Dare 2b Artzy Jan AG (3) 31/01

The House That Stamps Built #J621 AG 31/01

Crafty Creations #417 AG 31/01

Frilly and Funkie So Delicate 02/02

Gecko Galz: Far East Beauty 2

 

Hello!

Today is my DT Day at Gecko Galz and I am sharing another Far East Beauty project. Far East Beauty is the theme for our Customer Challenge this month, so head over to the blog for lots more inspiration and, if you like, join the challenge here.

Here is what I made:

I used a beautiful image from the new Dreams Found collage set. I made it slightly larger and matted it onto gold card. The three papers I used are from the Far East Fun Kit and Asian Words ATC set. Again these were matted onto gold card and the main background was double matted with red and then gold.

I arranged the images and adhered them in place, then for embellishment, I die cut a flower branch from gold card and placed rich red gems in the centre of each flower.

The whole project was backed onto thick black card, so that it could be a wall hanging.

My other Far East Beauty project was a joyful card and this can be seen below. There is more information in this post here.

That's all for now!
I hope you'll join our Far East Beauty Challenge where the Winner will get a $25 shopping spree at the Gecko Galz shop.

The only rule is that you must use at least one Gecko Galz product 
(this can be one of the freebies or, of course, you can buy at the Etsy store!) 
Also if you sign up for the Gecko Galz newsletter, you'll be able to claim a free collage sheet each month and get first claim on the monthly $1 deals!

Please pop over to the Gecko Galz blog to see the fabulous designs by the very talented DT.

We also have a friendly Facebook Group where there are 4 monthly challenges, each with a collage sheet prize. 

Do come and join us!

I'll be back on the 1st February with more Gecko Galz projects.

Here's all the info you need:

Gecko Galz blog

Current Gecko Galz Challenge : "Far East Beauty"

Gecko Galz Etsy Shop

Gecko Galz Facebook group

***

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in the following challenges:

A Perfect TIme to Craft #1 AG 27/01

Love to Scrap #141 AG 30/01

Classic Design Challenge #1 AG 30/01

Penny's Challenges #488 AG 03/02

I'd really love some feedback :)      

I read and appreciate all your comments. 

***

Path of Positivity: Togetherness

 Hello!

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a wonderful Holiday and are staying safe and well.

Today is the midpoint in January's Path of Positivity challenge.

The challenge lasts for the month of January.

This month the theme is Anything Goes with the optional twist of 

Look for the Positive.

Prizes this month include:

• 3 digital images from SheepSki Designs our guest sponsor for this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all qualifying entrants. 
• ONE image (value of $5 or less) from Scribbles Designs, for the post or project that the team deems most inspiring of the bunch based on all qualifying entrants.
• One digital image from Creative Bug Digital SnapShots for each person chosen as a DT Delight.

Our optional theme this month is Look for the Positive. 

 For many 2020 was a hard year and it was very difficult to stay positive all the time. When things are at their worst, though, that is the time when we need to be more positive. We are starting this year by asking you to create a project where you look for the positive. This could include goals, strategies, motivational posters/cards/wall hangings, journals, calendars, cards to inspire others to stay positive ... in fact, anything about how we might look forward to a positive future in 2021.

Please remember in order to be eligible for the prizes your project must be positive, inspirational, motivational or encouraging in some way. 

We have now had over ten months of COVID 19 dominating our existence and restricting our social lives and movements.

My card today shows how I am embracing the 'togetherness' of my hubby and I. No matter what horrors the pandemic has thrown at the world, I am grateful that we have both stayed healthy throughout it.  We have looked after one another and, yes, at times drove one another mad, but we have survived.  I truly believe that having a positive outlook can relieve mental health conditions and reduce anxiety and depression.

My lovely gnome couple image is from our sponsor, SheepSki Designs and is called Giant Daisies No 207.  I coloured them with Copic markers and cut them out. The background is an AALL & Create stamp (#385 Scripted Squares) which I heat embossed in white and ink blended with Oxides. It contains lots of positive saying, so I thought it perfect for this card. The sentiment is also a stamp and this is something that my mum always used to say, and I have to say, she was usually right!

Here is a close up:

Many thanks to SheepSki Designs this month's guest sponsor,

and to Scribbles Designs as the ongoing sponsor of the challenge


We would love to see your creations! 
Just make sure that your entry is positive, inspirational, motivational or encouraging in some way!
The link up is here: Challenge #87 Path of Positivity.

 

That's all for today! 

I'll be back with a another Path of Positivity project in  a couple of weeks time.

Thanks for stopping by today!

xoxo

                                                                                                                                            

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

Always Fun #197 Favourite Products 24/01

(Copics, Embossing Powder, Distress Oxides)

Pammies Inky Pinkies #2013 AG 25/01

We Love 2 Create #1 AG MM 26/01

A Perfect TIme to Craft #1 AG 27/01

Dare 2b Artzy Jan AG (3) 31/01

SheepSki Designs Challenges #46 AG 31/01

Stamps + Fun = Creativity #381 AG 31/01

Get Creative #97 AG 31/01

I'd really love some feedback :)      

I read and appreciate all your comments. 

xoxo

Vera Lane Studio: New Dress

 

Hello!

It's my DT day at Vera Lane Studio and today there is a new digi set in the shop. It is called New Dress and consists of a delightful, quirky girl dressed in 7 different patterned and coloured dresses. There is also one left plain for you to colour or paper piece and a sentiment as well. Check it out here.

Here is what I made:

Oh my goodness! There are so many lovely girls in this set, that I couldn't decide which to use. I coloured them all, the ones with the pre-coloured dresses and two that had their dresses left plain. In the end I made a card with the plain dressed girls. I coloured their dresses, one in plain blue and the other in green then I heat embossed it in white. There is so much you can do with this set. The girl has a whole wardrobe of dresses and more besides if you take the time to colour and customise the dresses.

My background is Distress Oxides stamped with one of Janet's lovely stencils (#116 Tre Fiori) from AALL & Create. I used Speckled Egg and Bundled Sage and love the soft colours together. Some Ephemera Digits (Tracy Evans #438) were stamped in the background and some #404 Visual Ingredients in black around the edges.

New Dress

That's all for now.

I hope you'll come along and play on Vera Lane. It's such a friendly, fun place to be!

  

Here's all the info you need:

Vera Lane Studio Blog

***Vera Lane Studio Facebook Group***

Vera Lane Studio You Tube Channel

Vera Lane Studio Etsy Shop

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

Creative Moments #206 AG 20/01

A Perfect Time to Craft #1 AG 27/01 

Crafty Calendar Jan Make It Cute 28/01

Corrosive Challenges Jan AG 31/01

A Place to Start #1 AG 31/01 

613 Avenue Create Jan AG 31/01 

Lets Create and Craft #167 AG 31/01

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #149 (1) AG 31/01

Classic Design Challenge #1 AG 30/01

AALL & Create: Ocean Wonders

Hello!

I hope you are keeping safe and well.

Today for my Guest DT project for AALL & Create I have made a journal page using the beautiful stamp set called Ocean Wonders for my focal images.

Here is my page:

 

And here are some close ups:

The background was made by stamping with a stencil. 

Distress Oxides in various shades of blue and green were swiped directly onto the stencil, spritzed with water and stamped . I did this twice, then spritzed the paper with water to get some puddles and drips.

The stamps were stamped onto tissue paper and onto white card. In order to reverse one of the fish heads to match up with the body of the fish, I applied the tissue reverse side up. The flowers from both stamps were intertwined.

Background stamping with Versafine Clair coloured inks.

The stamped tissue was adhered with Matte Medium onto the background. Colour from Distress Oxides was sponged to disguise the tissue edges. 

The card stamped images were coloured with Inktense Watercolour pencils and adhered on top. The reverse fish head and flowers were more difficult to colour as the tissue was glued to the card. Next time I will use a gel plate to reverse the stamp. A quick fix for this will be to add more flowers on top.

The edges of the page were inked with darker blues and more stamping in black was added. A word from washi tape #6 was torn and applied along with a sentiment chip.

Stamps Used:

#262 Mesh by Tracy Evans

#362 Splodges by Autour de Mwa

#366Roundly by Autour de Mwa

#286 Ocean Wonders by Bipasha BK

#443 Scripted Circles by Bipasha BK

#444 Crashing Waves by Bipasha BK

Stencil #87 Totally Dotty by Autour de Mwa

Washi #6 by Autour de Mwa

To see the stamps, stencils and dies used, please visit

AALL & Create Boutique. 

A list of stockists can be found here.

You'll find lots of inspiration on the 

AALL & Create Facebook Page, the AALL & Create Fanatics Facebook Page and on Instagram

That's all for now.

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

A Perfect TIme to Craft #1 AG 27/01

A Place to Start #1 AG 31/01

613 Avenue Create Jan AG (2) 31/01

The House That Stamps Built #J621 AG 31/01

Crafty Creations #417 AG 31/01