A peek into my Craft Room

 

 

 

Recently Hilde asked the Design Team if we could take some before and after shots

of our crafting space and mine is the first off the block.

Also a little insight to what our likes are in our craft.

Don't be surprised to see the good bad and ugly

but all good crafter know that

YOU CAN'T BE CREATIVE WITHOUT MESS?

 

I will start with - take a seat and a big cup of coffee.
 

I didn't take up card making seriously till I retired around 5 years ago.

I dabbled in digital scrapbooking and card making as I thought of all the mess

(oops there's that word again)

but then a friend got me hooked on paper stamps etc and ....

the rest is history.

So here I am now retired and moved 3000km back to my home town

which is great because I get to spend time with family on a regular basis.

 

It is then that my craft passion took off.

After all I had all the time in the world to craft didn't I?

My craft room is a 3rd bedroom and I have to share it with a double bed

 but then I am luckier than some that do there crafting on the dining room table

oh! that would never do. I am one that at the end of the day

 if I haven't finished a project I can shut the door and continue on the next day.

Here is your tour of my Craft Room.

 

 

This photo shows a multitude of items. On the left I have craft papers with the small blue container holding my small amount of pens (not one to colour in) and underneath inside the cabinet are some cards I have made + spare tape etc.

 Underneath is card and scrapbook leftovers.

My bench at the top has embellishments in containers then some stamp sets.

Also glues and container with some of my buttons.

 On the bench is my heat gun my trusty cuttlebug and one of my cutters.

 On the peg board are pearls etc.

Under the bench I keep more card stock spellbinders/dies and ink pads. 

On the floor are things I don't use too often. Quilling products templates/cottons etc to sew on cards and some MS punches which get used regularly and easy to reach.

 

A few of my favourite things when I craft are

my trusty Cuttlebug stamps and various dies. I love getting inky

 

 

A close up of the peg board.

 

Above are craft magazines at the back with hand made bag.

 Inside my London bag I have small flowers lace etc. More stamps underneath.

Below that is where I keep my cuttlebug dies and plates.

There are 4 drawers underneath that I keep embossing powder/kindy glitz

stamp blocks cuttlebug folders other dies and punches. 

 

 

My now tidy little working table if you can call it that.

My trusty CM cutter a little container my grand daughter made -

can you see Nan on it.

 I treasure this and keep glue pens pencils for quick access.

Other bits and bobs in the white container at the end. To the right of that is my craft tool box that hold everything I usually take to class and holds a multitude of needs.

Underneath is the empty bin (usually overflowing) stamps in a binder more hand made cards in boxes that badly need sorting -

couldn't find the card I made for our latest challenge.

Luckily I remembered what I had used.

Paint brushes and a box of bits and bobs again to sort out

and printouts of card/project ideas.

 

But wait there's more! only a little bit...

Told you a cup of coffee was needed.

 

 

Now I really love this ribbon stand hubby made for me.

 Unfortunately my collection outgrew it and have more ribbons to the left a bit.

 I have hooks at the bottom to hold all my loose bits and don't we get a lot of them.

At the top there is more of my button collection.

 

This is an easy one - Scrapbook papers. Patterned paper to the left.

The 3 drawers hold plain paper and above are more patterned papers and lace etc.

Underneath needs sorting with more magazines etc

that I don't get to look at much since Pinterest came into my life.

 

 

This is full of embellishments and spare parts (for a better word)

On the top are a few things I have made (since changed it)

 and to the side is just a scrapbook I am working on.

Inside a wardrobe I have hanging laces and balls of cotton.

 

Now that you have seen it tidy - this is what it looks like at present.

I had been working on my project for the next fortnights challenge

and may I tell you -  you are going to love it!!!

 

 

Now these photos aren't too bad as there is a bit more on the bed beside my table.

Just one last thing to show you.

 

 

I mentioned further up that I had rearranged this to show off

the most beautiful birthday card I received recently from my girlfriend

(the one that got me hooked on this craft)

I was gobsmacked when I opened it up (in a box) and had to assemble it.

I have never seen anything more beautiful and it is now

 Pride of Place in my craft room.

 

Whew!!! now that is it

I need coffee. 

 

Till next time

Thanks for hanging in there for our 1st Craft Room Reveal at

Crafting with Dragonflies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



WHW Technique - Challenge #120

 

I popped over to Inspired by Stamping to see what the latest challenge

Joanne and her crew of talented designers had come up with for us to try

and it is the WHW #120

WHW Multi colour heat embossing technique. by Irit

 

Hop on over and check what it is all about.

Certainly something I had never thought of doing

and you know how it is - always interesting to try something new.

 

The photo isn't a true colour as the base sentiment cut out

tag and main image are cream card stock.

For the technique I used 3 different embossing powders

  Brown Sugar Green Pearl and Terracotta.

Embossed the fern image from GinaK Vogue Vases

I topped that with a torn piece of irridescent designer paper.

From IBS I added the lace

 the sentiment and tag from Fancy Sentiments & Every Day Tags

cut out with Spellbinder Labels 18

The main flower is from Elegant Flowers

I didn't waste the unwanted mixture of embossing powders

as there wasn't enough to put back in the containers so

I mixed them all together and used it on the sentiment, tag and flower.

It is a shame that you can't see the different colours properly

as it really is quite effective.

Also added a touch of ink to the lace.

Finished off with 4 rhinestones around the rose.

 

That is my first attempt at this technique and for sure will want to try it again.

Thanks Irit for your fabulous tutorial.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chalkboard Birthday Challenge at IBS

Time is running out for one of the many challenges over at Inspired by Stamping

and was keen to add my take to the Chalkboard Birthdays challenge.

 

Had so much fun embossing inking and adding some bling

and here is how my card finished.

 

 

I started with white card stock. then started stacking.

The black card stock has been heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

Next the red with white embossing powder and sponged with black ink.

Framed the main image with white card stock.

The Main Focal Image was again heat embossed with white embossing powder

and I added some diamond dust and black pearls to the flowers.

Finished by adding red ribbon rhinestones and a

Happy Birthday Sentiment cut out with

a JustRite Antique Banner Die.

The stamps are from Inspired by Stamping and are

Elegant Flowers & All Year Wishes 2

 

Here is a close up of the flowers.

Shame the rhinestones are sparkling as I chose them

 to co-ordinate with the diamond dust.

 

That's it for me on this one.

Thanks for coming over to my blog today.

 

 





Challenge #13 at Crafting with Dragonflies.

 

 

Again this last fortnight seems to have flown by and it is again

 

Time for ANOTHER CHALLENGE.

 

This time Hilde has made it so easy by asking us to make a card with

 

NATURE/TREES/LEAVES.

 

A bonus for the design team with this challenge we got to do our own thing and

Hilde is so generously awarding a prize for the WINNER.

 

As it is getting into fall over the pond and Spring has sprung here

it is a perfect time to get into the colourful time it is.

Let our imagination run wild.

 

Here is my inspiration for this challenge.

 

I made this card some time ago as I was playing around

 with stamps and various inks to see what effect they would have.

 

I started with a cream card stock as my base.

Added green backing to K&Company Fall/Harvest dp

Various colours of Distress Inks were stamped with

GinaK Fall Foliage Stamps & Sentiment .

Spellbinders Flourish

Added a little sparkle with a gold gel pen.

Finished with Kaisercraft Pearls

and variegated cotton bow. 

 

 Here is a close up look at my leaves.

 

Before I close I would like to welcome 2 New Members to

The Dragonflies Team.

They are Sammy and Wynn.

 

As usual you can check out all the DT's projects on the right hand side bar.

 

 

Thanks for popping in and hope to see what you create over at

  

http://crafting-with-dragonflies.blogspot.com.au/ 

 

 

 

 

 



A colourful time at IBS

 

Here is another entry in the current colour challenges over at

Inspired by Stamping

 

This time I chose this colour scheme.

 

 

 

 

Hope you have enjoyed looking at my card for the Colour Challenges.

I certainly enjoyed making them

 



Birthday Challenge at IBS

 

My previous post told you of the Birthday Celebrations going on over at

IBS

 

Again my card is for the Colour Challenge

 

 

and here is another card I made at the same time.

 

I enjoyed double stamping this card inking the edges

and cutting the square background for the embossing to show.

 Happy Birthday sentiment is popped as is the inked floral top.

 

That's it for this one.

 





It's IBS Birthday Challenges



October is a busy month over at IBS 

as they are celebrating their 2nd birthday with their

October Challenges

 

For this particular posting I will start with my first card for

the Colour Challenge.

 

 

They are gorgeous colours to work with.

I made this card a little while ago with a bunch of friends.

Most of the items used were Stampin' Up Products.

Thanks Tania.

 

Time is running out to upload my cards for the various challenges

over at IBS so I will keep this post brief.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

More postings to follow.

 

 

 



WHW Challenge 119 - Using Markers on your Stamps.

 

 

There is always so much going on over at Inspired by Stamping.

 

 If it is not the current WHW Tutorial Challenge below

Challenge 119 - using markers on your stamps.

there are Sketch & Colour Challenges and so on.

Never a dull moment in my craft room.

 

For this posting however it is the Tutorial from Kendra

 showing her finished card HERE 

 

As Kendra says we don't always think of inking our stamps with pens

so this was a perfect time to do it again. Thanks Kendra.

 

This is what I came up with.

 

 

Products used -

Cream & White Card Stock

SU Honeycomb Embossing Folder

Patterned Designer Paper

Spellbinders Labels 20

Stampin' Up Just Believe Stamp

JustRite Vintage Labels & Banner Die

Sentiment - IBS Masculine Tags

Memento Inks - Olive Grove & Peanut Brittle

Kaisercraft Pearls & own ribbon.

 

This is a really nice technique and must remember to do this more often.

 

Thanks for stopping by and hope you like my take on this challenge.

 

 



Card Crafter's Circle Sketch Challenge #95

Over at Card Crafter's Circle

http://cardcrafterscircle.blogspot.com.au/

 they have their current challenge

 which is a sketch which can be found HERE

 

 

I like sketches as sometimes it is totally different to what you normally would

think of doing and a great chance to try something new.

 

 

I used various coloured card stock for this card

Aqua Brown and Yellow. Also a small piece of patterned card stock.

I inked the edges of the patterned paper then started building.

The embossing folder is Geometric Circles from Lifestyle Crafts

I lightly sanded it to bring out the white core.

The vase(hand cut) and leaves are from Gina K Vogue Vases.

I embossed the vase with Ranger Sticky Embossing Powder

then sprinkled Diamond Dust on top to give the effect of crystal.

The leaves I touched up with Liquid Pearls.

 Added 3 little butterflies from SU Beautiful Wings

3 different ribbons were placed behind the vase.

Finished off with 3 yellow Kaisercraft pearls.

 

Hope you enjoyed looking at my take on this Sketch.

Thanks for popping in.

 

 

 

 

 



Perfect Sentiments Challenge - PSC94: Autumn Birthdays

 

 

I love the season when all the trees start changing colours.

Unfortunately it doesn't happen where I live so it is always lovely to

get some stamps and ink out and try and create your own changes.

 

That is what I have done with my card for the Perfect Sentiments Challenge HERE

and their Blog Page for you to check their site out.

 

The challenge is to make a birthday card with Autumn colours.

 

The card I made was really quite simple.

 Didn't want to go overboard with the beautiful fall colours so this is what I made.

 

 

 

I used cream brown and orange card stock and topped with

Tim Holtz Embossed Brick Wall after inking the edge

 with various colours of Distressed Inks.

I finished that off by spritzing it with 

Pearl Ex Super Bronze and SU Champagne Mist.

The leaves were stamped from Gina K Fall Foliage

and Sentiment from Stippled Nature.

The leaves were also inked with various distress inks cut out and popped.

Added variegated twine and Kaisercraft copper pearls.

Sentiment is cut from Spellbinders Fancy Tags.

 

Thank you for popping in and I appreciate it when comments are left.

 

 



Sketch Challenge #0213 over at THE HOUSE THAT STAMPS BUILT.

 

I was really excited when I saw the latest

Sketch Challenge from Wendy over at the House that Stamps Built

and you can find the details HERE

 

This is the sketch

 

 

How awesome is that?

 

I had fun inking up and selectively cutting various

Repeat Impressions Stamps for this one.

 

Here is what I came up with

 

 

I started with basic white card stock and added pink shimmer paper

then white which was stamped randomly with Memento Angel Pink.

I cut the 5 stamped images and backed them in

 black with Spellbinders Lacey Circles.

Behind the circle images I added a small piece of the shimmery pink paper

and added a border with a MS punch. Topped this in white with sentiment from

Stampin' Up - Heard from the Heart stamp set.

All 5 circles are popped and the centre one is backed in pink with a die

from Spellbinders Moroccan Motifs.

Repeat Impressions Stamps used were

Flowering Vine 4314

Daisies & Butterfly - 9203-P

Hydrangea - 9205-O

 

 

I am also entering this card in the following challenges -

 

http://kittybeedesigns.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/aloha-friday-challenge-9-mid-inspiration_4.html

Flowers

and

http://cutitupchallenges.blogspot.com.au/

Challenge 29 - Think Pink

 

As always Thank You for taking the time to stop by.

 I love reading your comments.

 

 

 



October Blog Hop at IBS



 

 

 

Inspired by Stamping has been holding an October Blog Hop HERE

 and I have had fun getting in early with my Christmas card making.

Thanks Joanna.

 

I won't have time to upload them all so I will just add

1 last card for this current challenge.

 

so I decided on this one.

 

I am not sure where the stamp is from as it has been in my stash for a little while.

I inked the image with SU Rich Razzleberry

 and coloured the small uncoloured parts with a gold gel pen.

The sentiment is also from SU - Heard from the Heart.

Added some Starform Stickers to finish.

 

 



Challenge 12 at Crafting with Dragonflies.

 

Good Morning Bloggers

 

How the last fortnight has flown by.

Admittedly I was away for the best part of it so that is why I think it flew past me.

 

So today we head on to CHALLENGE #12.

For this fortnight we have another challenge for you and this time it is to make a

Gift Box/Holder and add at least 3 cards.

 

I saw this tutorial HERE after Kelli showed the Design Team.

 I saved it for future reference and it wasn't till Kelli posted her photos

that I realized it was the one I had kept for a rainy day

(didn't rain while I was making it lol)

 

I pretty well kept to the same theme as the tutorial because

the digi I had picked from our generous sponsor

 

 

was perfect for a CHRISTMAS GIFT.

I chose their CHRISTMAS POINSETTIA

 

I love using this flower at Christmas time

 but also any time during the year as it doesn't have to be red.

 

Here is what I made.

 

 

Pretty simple really.

 I used green scrapbook paper for my folder.

Red card stock as a backing for my Christmas Designer Paper

and cut the bottom edge with a MS Punch.

Added a few embellishments and tied a Christmas ribbon to the top.

Finished with a Christmas Peg.

 

The inside I added 2 embellishments.

 

This is a close up view of the Poinsettia on my cards.

 

My Folder & Hand Made cards

that fit in the slots at either end.

 

A close up view of one of my cards.

 

The snowflakes were heat embossed with glittered embossing powder

and sentiments are from various stamp sets.

I popped the poinsettia flowers on the cards for dimension.

 

It was nice to get an early start on some Christmas projects

 thanks to our Leader HILDE.

 

We will have a few more Christmas type challenges a little later in the year.

 

Thanks again for stopping by to see my latest Dragonfly Creation

and hope to see yours over there soon.

 

 

 



October Blog Hop - Holiday Theme

 

 

Another challenge over at Inspired by Stamping is the

October-blog-hop-holiday-theme

 

and I had fun making another card for this one.

 

It is nice to get an early start to those Christmas Cards

as it always comes around so quickly.

 

So here is what I came up with this time round.

 

 

I used white card base and topped with blue snowflake designer paper.

Image from IBS December 25 Labels was inked with Silver

and cut out with Spellbinder Circle Die.

 I edged the label with sprigs from MS punch

which were lightly touched with Startdust Stickles.

 I hand made the bow and also added glitter to the centre piece

which is made from speckled white card stock.

Sentiment is IBS All Year Wishes 2.

 

I have found both these stamps sets so versatile

and will be well used by Christmas.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by

 

 



 

 



Tutorial Time at IBS

I have had a lovely time in my craft room today

 and have made 2 cards for current challenges over at Inspired by Stamping

 

The first one I am uploading today is for the fabulous tutorial

  whw-118double-embossing by Leah

 

I must admit I had never thought of doing this

and thought this was something I needed to try.

 

Here is what I made.

 

 

and how

 

Green and red card stock.

Topped with white and embossed Christmas folder by Cuttlebug.

The double embossing was heat embossed with Whispers Green Glitter

 and then the opposite way with Colours of Australia Candy Red

 from a Kaisercraft stamp - Woodgrain..

I embossed the IBS December 25 Labels in a darker green

and cut it from Spellbinders Labels 18 inked the outline and popped it.

Added a small strip of green to the left

and several green rhinestones randomly to finish.

 

Thanks for stopping by

 



IBS October Blog Hop - Holiday Theme

I am back in the swing of things and again been playing in my craft room.

This time I have made a really simple Christmas card for the 

IBS Blog Hop HERE

This is what I made

As I said it was really CAS

using navy blue card stock as my base topped with white -  

embossed background lightly glittered 

My main focal image stamp is from

Inspired by Stamping - December 25th Labels 

which I heat embossed added a little glitter for the snow and popped.

Sentiment is also from 

Inspired by Stamping - All Year Wishes 2

and there you have it...

Hope you like it. 

WHW117 Tutorial - Autumn/Fall

I have been MIA recently with my daughter coming down from Cairns

 recently to celebrate our birthdays and then went to visit my sister for the next week.

We went to Brisbane to see a Quilt Exhibition from Great Britain

and were from 1700 to 1945.

SO VERY IMPRESSED with the amazing workmanship.

 

Home again now and nice to be back in my craft room.

 

Over at Inspired by Stamping Joanna has a tutorial

and we have been invited to participate.

It is

 

WHW117 THEME - autumn/fall

 

and here is what I made.

 

 

I cased her card as I really like the layout.

 

I used the following products -

 

K&Company Fall/Harvest Mat Pad

Cuttlebug Leaves Dies

MS Punch

Distress Inks

Variegated Cotton

IBS Lace Trim (inked with distress ink)

IBS All Year Wishes 2 Stamp for Sentiment

Kaisercraft Pearls

 

Thanks for stopping by