Crafting with Dragonflies One year Anniversary

Hi Folks, it's time for another challenge over at the Crafting with Dragonflies challenge blog. It's our one year Anniversary, and so we have chosen the theme of 'Celebration' for this challenge. You can make a project for this theme celebrating anything you like, Wedding, Anniversary, Engagement, Birthday, anything that falls under the umbrella of a celebration.

I have chosen to make a card using an image from one of our sponsors Handmade Harbour. I thought that this image was so versatile with the bunting, and was really pleased to see that the words 'Good Luck' would fit onto the number of triangles in the image. So I went with a generic idea of a Good Luck card initially, and my card just developed from there.

I created a wrinkle free Distress baclground, using Antique Linen and Shaded Lilac Distress Ink, building up the layers, until I was happy with the colour. I then added some Biscotti Perfect Pearls spray for a bit of shimmer. I only covered half of my watercolour paper, and once the paper was completely dry, and ironed flat, I printed the image twice, once on the patterned area, and once on the plain area. I die cit the image from the patterned area, using a large circle die cut, and edged the shape with more Shaded Lilac Distress Ink. I coloured the second image with Coloursoft pencils. I decoupaged the image onto the circle background.

I used some of the waste background which was left over from my watercolour sheet to die cut some little banners from a Joanna Sheen die cut. The waste hearts from the die cuts were used to decorate the bottom of the card. Waste not, want not! I added some cream lace to continue the cream highlights throughout the card. Finally, I chose some Magenta card as my mat layer for the circle and background card, which is a Prima Firefly paper.

Our very generous sponsors this week are Handmade Harbour, who are offering the winner six digis as a prize:

Make it Crafty, who are offering the winner $10 to spend in their store:

and Flourish with a Bling who are offering the Winner $15 to spend in their store:

There is also a DT call on the Crafting with Dragonflies challenge Blog, so be sure to pop over and check out all of the information.

Sadly this is my last post for Crafting with Dragonflies, I am hanging up my wings. Life has taken over somewhat and I am saying goodbye to my fellow dragonflies. I will miss them after a year of working on the team with them. I would like to wish them well as they head into another year of challenges.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Crafting with Dragonflies: Mother's Day/Special Lady Card

Here in the UK, Mother's Day has been and gone, but Internationally it has yet to be celebrated. The challenge over at Crafting with Dragonflies is to create a card for Mother's Day or a Special Lady.

I have chosen to use an image from one of our new sponsors this year, Heather Ellis. I thought that this image was so appropriate, as I get to have a day off on Mother's Day, a chance to relax. I have paper pieced the sofa and footstool, tying it in with the paper in the back circle. The paper has cute little hearts on it, which match the little hair accessory in the female character's hair. I have used some oddments from my stash to complete the card, some stickers, and some lovely fabric flowers. The sentiment is from Chocolate Baroque

Our generous sponsors this week are Heather Ellis, who is offering a prize of three digis from her website or Etsy shop:

and Meljens, who are offering a prize of four digis to the Winner:

Please hop over to the challenge blog to see what my team mates have made for your inspiration, and have a go at entering the challenge. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Baby Blog Hop Winner

Hi Folks, a quick post just to let you know that the Winner of my little part of the Crafting with Dragonflies Baby Blog Hop is......Linda Simpson! Congratulations Linda, please contact me with your email address and I will get your prize, from Sami Stamps sorted out for you.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to visit the blog hop and support the event.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Crafting with Dragonflies Baby Blog Hop

Hi Folks, it's time for another challenge over at the Crafting with Dragonflies challenge blog.

WE are having a BLOG HOP as well as a Challenge this fortnight!

This year our theme is - BABIES!

We have some wonderful sponsors who have generously donated lots of goodies for you and our wonderful Hilde also has a freebie to give to you to use for the challenge if you want to - go to the main blog for this.

Our Sponsors for this Blog Hop are listed below but the twist is that they are associated with each individual member of the Design Team's blogs, so you need to go to their blog and follow the instructions to be in a chance to win. There is a prize for the Challenge winner as well and our normal TOP THREE awards. You do not have to go in the BLOG HOP as well as the Challenge, but what else have you to do with your time? Of course you will enter both!! However, you do have to be a member of the Crafting with Dragonflies blog to be eligible for the Challenge and Blog Hop prizes. 

OUR WONDERFUL SPONSORS

Sponsors: Digistamps4Joy Prize: 

$10 to spend in the store  - on Tania's blog

Sami Stamps Prize:

 

$12 to spend in the store  - Judith has this one

Flourish with a Bling Prize:

 

$15 dollar to spend in the store - you will find this one on Ina's blog

Handmade Harbour prize: 

six digis for the winner  - hiding away on CG's blog

Pickled Potpourri prize: 

 $7 to spend in the store  -  Hilde has charge of this

Meljens prize: four digis for the winner  

 

Sammy, Susan and Wynn are being sponsored by Meljen

Wynn and Sammy will be donating a small gift as their blog prize.

The way you can hop is by thinking of numbers! Go to each Design Team's blog, read the clues and THINK OF NUMBERS while you do this! Remember - our theme is BABIES, so what do Babies have related to NUMBERS?

There may be a small amount of poetry in there........but I am sure you will be able to work that all out! You collect a word or maybe a whole phrase from each blog along the hop and you need to make sure that

1. You leave a comment on a blog to be eligible for that blog's prize
2. You DON'T mention the word/phrase in your comment on that blog!

Leave a comment on the main blog as well as entering your own Baby themed project into the Challenge on the Crafting with Dragonflies blog. Also follow the instructions on the main blog to finish off the hop from there. 

Happy Hopping Folks

Order of the HOP

Crafting with Dragonflies

Tania

Hilde

Wynn

Sammy

CG

Judith

Ina
Susan

Crafting with Dragonflies 

So, you should have arrived at my blog from CG's blog. I hope that you are enjoying your trip around our blogs!

I have created a card to share with you using an image from Sami Stamps, don't you just LOVE this cute image? I have paper pieced the bundle holding the baby, adding shading with Coloursoft pencils to the paper. I have also used a fabulous blingy leaf spray from Flourish with a Bling, another one of our sponsors supporting the baby blog hop. I LOVE the rich green of these leaves. I have added die cut flowers to the leaf spray, and some gorgeous Firefly background paper.

I have a photo of myself at a very tender age that I am posting alongside my card. Those of you that know me will know how many years ago this was taken! Don't you just LOVE the knitted bootees?

Some might say that I still suffer from the chubby cheeks, and we won't mention those legs, lol! I always had lots of dark hair, and I was knicknamed 'The Beatle' because of my hair by the nurses in the hospital. The Beatles were at the height of their popularity when I was born in the sixties.

 Well, I hope you have guessed my key word, and you need to hop over to see Ina next.

Sami is offering a prize of $12 to spend in her store to one of the lucky commenters on my blog over this fortnight. So good luck to you all, and happy hopping! Thanks for stopping by, xx

Make a shaped card

Hi Folks, it's time for another challenge over at the Crafting with Dragonflies challenge blog. This week the challenge is to make a shaped card. I have chosen to make a shaped easel card, using an image from one of our sponsors MilkCoffe, called 'Swirly Bird'. I have paper pieced the image using patterned papers from my stash. The flowers are also some golden oldies that have been lurking in my embellishment cupboard for ages.

Our sponsors this week are All Dressed Up who are offering a prize of two digis to the Winner

MilkCoffee who are offering a prize of five digis to the Winner

So have a go at entering our challenge and make a shaped card! Thanks for stopping by, xx

Crafting with Dragonflies- Use a Freebie Image

Hi Folks, it's time for another challenge over on the Crafting with Dragonflies challenge blog. This week, the challenge is to make a card using a free digital image, and show the link where you got the freebie from. I have used a Cuddlebug Cutie digital image to make a Birthday card. This image is called Ty, and seemed just right for the recipient, who has now received her card.

I coloured the image with Polychromos, and sat her in a circle which I filled with patterned vellum.  The main background of the card is a wrinkle free distress background using Wild Honey and Seedless Preserves Distress Inks.

You can find the image that I used here the website is full of great designs by the artist Anna Stillwell.

I have added a sentiment by Chocolate Baroque to finish my card.

There are some great digital sites where you can get digital freebies, this site offers a daily selection and is worth checking out. Pop over to the Crafting with Dragonflies challenge blog, there are some great freebies on offer from our blog owner Hilde, just look for the freebie tab at the top of the page. Why not have a go at entering our challenge, and don't forget to tell us where you got your freebie from in your blog post. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Alter a Tin or Jar

Hi Folks it's time for another chaleenge over on the Crafting with Dragonflies challenge blog. This fortnight, we are challenging you to alter a tin or a jar, and it would be great to see your before and after photos.

I have chosen to alter a jar that contained some scrumptious marshmallows that we treated ourselves to before Christmas. In the name of crafting, they had to be finished off so that I could use the jar of course!

I started by painting the jar with a stone coloured paint, and then added some background papers which had some lovely vintage adverts on them. I clipped the top of the paper, which enabled me to mould the paper to the contours of the jar more easily. I added a coat of crackle glaze, followed by dark brown paint to the top and bottom of the jar, creating a worn edge above and below the papers. I kept the screw area of the jar clear.
I painted the lid in a toffee colour, and once it was dry, I added various colours of metallic gilding wax in tones of brown and gold to make it look more aged. I printed my image onto kraft card and coloured it with pencils. I cut it out using a ticket die from Tim Holtz. I used a smaller die from the same set and a stamp from Paper Artsy on another scrap piece of kraft card. Some brown lace and ribbon were all that were needed to finish my jar.

Our sponsor this week is Digistamps4joy and Margy is offering a prize of $10 to spend in the store to the winner.

Why not hop over to the challenge blog to see what my creative team mates have been up to, and have a go at entering the challenge?

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Anything Goes new challenge at CWD

Hi Folks, I am posting my blog post for Crafting with Dragonflies slightly late this week, as I have phone line and Internet connection issues at home. Apparently, our phone cables around the village have been stolen, and we could be without phones for some time. You have to wonder at what some people will do to make some money. So, I have managed to get online by hook or by crook, and here is my post.

The theme for this fortnight's challenge is Anything Goes, and it is a card related challenge. I have chosen to use a couple of stamp images from Inkylicious, which are previously unused in my stash, shameful I know, but I have so many stamps! I stamped both stamps onto pieces of mount board cut using Nestability shapes. I used Distress Markers, so that I could get a variegated effect with the colours. I then covered the pieces of mount board with three layers of UTEE, to create a tile effect.

I covered my card with a lovely piece of DP from my stash, I have had it for so long, I don't even know where it came from, but the design is just gorgeous. I added some lace, and two metal butterflies, which I painted to tone in with the overall colour scheme.

 

 

Hop over to the challenge blog to see what my team mates have made for your inspiration, and have a go at entering the challenge. All you need to do is make a card with the theme of 'Anything Goes'. Thanks for stopping by, xx

 

Christmas Tags

Hi Folks, it's time for another challenge over at the Crafting with Dragonflies challenge blog. This time the theme is Christmas tags, so useful at this time of year. I always like to make my own gift tags to add that personal touch to my presents, so these tags will come in really useful.

I have chosen to use an image from one of our sponsors this week, QKR, called 'Santa's List', which I have coloured with pencils in vintage colours. I have embossed my tags with a music embossing folder, and then coloured the raised areas with Distress Inks. The finishing touch is some fab gingham ribbon.

Our Sponsors this week are QKR, who are offering the Winner 5 digis of their choice:

Sassy Studio Designs who are offering 4 digis of the Winner's choice:

So, why not head over to the challenge blog, and take a look at the inspiration offered by my Design Team mates, and enter into the competition yourself? It is the last challenge for this year, but we will be back next year with lots more challenges for you. So have a lovely Christmas from all of the Dragonflies, and keep crafting. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Card with Stickpins: Things with Wings

Hi Folks, it's time for another challenge over at the Crafting with Dragonflies challenge blog. This week the theme is to add stickpins to a card using the theme 'Things with Wings'. You can make your own stickpins, or use some that you have purchased.

I have chosen to raid my neglected stash again, and use some beautiful stamps from Chapel Road, a large background stamp called 'Flower words', and a lovely flower stamp called ''Queen Anne's Lace'. I embossed both images using copper embossing powder, and then coloured the card using Dried Marigold and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink. I spritzed the card with water afterwards for a speckled finish. I used a piece of Basic Grey paper as my back ground, and matted everything with deep red card. I added some wide hessian behind the words.

I die cut two butterflies using some X-cut butterfly dies and gold foil. I coloured the butterflies with red alcohol ink, then embossed them through my die cutting machine. I then coloured the raised embossed areas with green alcohol ink, to create the two tone effect. I added some beads from my jewellery making stash to some stick pins, before placing them through some olive green ribbon on the front of my design. I particularly like these stick pins, as they have a cap on the bottom, covering the point at the end.

 

Our sponsor this week is Crafts and me, who are offering the winner three digis as a prize.

Please hop over to the challenge blog for some inspiration from my team mates. They have made some lovely cards.

I am entering my card into the following challenges:

Cheerful stamp pad Wings

craft-Dee BowZ Anything goes with a Handmade Bow

Lady Anne's Challenge More than one layer

Make it Monday Anything Goes

Glitter and Sparkle Autumn Colours

Jo's Scrap Shack Things with Wings

Stampin for the weekend Autumn/Fall Colours

Thanks for stopping by, xx

My work space

Hi Folks, we were asked recently by Hilde our blog leader over at Crafting with Dragonflies to do a reveal of our craft spaces. This idea filled me with horror, as I am a messy crafter. I decided that I did need to tidy my craft room up at least a bit before I could photograph it in all of its glory to let anyone see it. It has taken two trips away from my Husband to achieve this, but it is now very tidy. I am including a before picture as well, just so you can see how untidy I usually am!

I am ashamed to show this picture, but in my defence, I always know where everything is! My craft room is in what should be the dining room of our house, but it is quite small, and we have had a lovely extension built to house our dining table now.

My nice tidy desk, which houses my PC and the Big Shot Pro. There are pieces of my artwork on the wall, and the collection keeps growing.

Lots of baskets and useful storage to keep things organised. This side of the room contains boxes housing my jewellery supplies, acrylic paints, dies, embossing folders, and all sorts of other useful materials for the different crafts that I enjoy. I also have various sets of pens and pencils including Copics, Polychromos and several sets of Derwent pencils, a well known British make of pencils for those of you who are reading this outside the UK.

My precious unmounted stamp collection is housed in those Really Useful boxes, and I have more stored elsewhere. I love to collect books on the various crafts that I enjoy, cardmaking, mixed media, jewellery making, etc.

The filing cabinets, including the little red one on the left house my wood mounted stamps, more unmounted stamps and card. I hope you have enjoyed the tour of my craft room. I quite often end up working on the dining table because my desk is so untidy, plus the lighting is better there:

As you can see, I can mess the table up quite quickly as well! Thanks for stopping by, xx

Handmade Flowers

Hi Folks, it's time for another challenge over at the Crafting with Dragonflies challenge blog. This fortnight, we are sponsored by A & T Digital designs, and they will be giving the winner a prize of two digital designs. The theme is to make a project incorporating handmade flowers.

I have chosen to use a piece of Prima 'Firefly' paper as my background, and stamped a large flourish using white embossing powder in one corner. I made a flower using handmade paper, and cut six layers using my Spellbinders Blossom 5 dies. I coloured the shapes with Distress Ink, and then attached them together with a brad. I scrunched the shaped up around the brad, spritzing them with a bit of water. I then heat set the flower with a heat gun. Once the flower was dry, I stuck the flower to the background, and added a metal ring into the centre. I filled the ring with Glossy Accents, and dropped seed beads into the middle. I love making these flowers, using various die shapes and colours.

I stamped a large butterfly using white embossing powder onto white card, and then coloured the image with Distress Inks. I chose a suitable sentiment and stamped this onto a tag which I had also inked with Distress Inks, leaving a white border around the outside. My stamps are all from Stamp Camp, and have been very neglected. This project was a great opportunity to dig them out.

Why don't you pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at the fabulous projects that my Team Mates have made? Thanks for stopping by, xx

Card with Nature/Trees/Leaves

Hi Folks, it's time for another challenge over at the Crafting with Dragonflies challenge blog. The theme this week is 'Nature/Trees/Leaves' which is perfect for any time of year, but particularly in the Autumn, when the leaves are changing colour, and we are treated to such a spectacular riot of different shades.

I have chosen to make a leafy background using leaves from my garden, which I have inked around. My very good friend Elaine taught me this technique, and you can see many fine examples on her blog. I then stamped several trees onto the main piece of card using Autumnal toned inks, and coloured the trees using pencils. I created some paper masks by stamping the trees onto paper, and cutting the base line away. I then inked some hills underneath the trees. I added some flourishes around the edge of the design and some foliage along the bottom using more Autumn colours.

I chose a deep plum, one of my favourite colours to mat the pieces of card, and then stamped the word 'Autumn' onto the leafy background.

This week, we are sponsor free, and so I have chosen to use rubber stamps from Chocolate Baroque for my design. The winner's prize will be from our blog organiser Hilde. Please pop over to the blog to see what my Design Team mates have been making, and why not have a go at entering the challenge with a leafy/tree/nature inspired card?

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Make a box and cards

Hi Folks, it's time for another challenge over at the Crafting with Dragonflies challenge blog. This week, the challenge is to make a box containing at least three cards.

I have chosen to make a box following a design that I saw on the Internet that I really liked. There wasn't a template, so I made the pieces up myself based around the size of my cards. I cut two pieces of chipboard 14 cms x 14 cms and another piece 14 cms x 3 cms, and covered these in one long piece of patterned paper on both sides, leaving a small gap in between each piece, so that they could fold up into a basic book shape. I then cut four pieces of chipboard 13.5cms x 3cms, which I also covered in paper on both sides, wrapping them around into a frame. I glued these inside the book with a wet glue for added strength. I stuck a piece of ribbon underneath the frame before I glued it into the book shape. Finally, I cut two more pieces of chipboard 13.4cms x 13.4cms which I covered on just one side with paper. I stuck one inside the frame to trap the ribbon. The other piece, I stuck inside the top of the inside of the box, trapping another piece of ribbon underneath. I inked all of the edges of the paper with Distress Ink to add some shading.

I printed my images and coloured them with pencils before cutting them out with Nestability shapes, and matting them onto green card. I have used two images from our sponsor A Day for Daisies. The first is 'Hoppity' and the second is 'Fuzzy Bunny Thoughts'. I added some punched butterflies to the second image to tie in with the first.

My box could actually hold a couple more cards with their envelopes, as it is quite deep:

Here you can see it tied up with the ribbon. I really like this design, and will probably make it again.

These little rabbits are so cute, and as my cards are blank, they could be used as Birth announcements, little Birthday cards, or just general any occasion cards.

Please hop over to the challenge blog to see the really inspirational projects that my Team Mates have made and have a go at entering the challenge yourself. There is also a Design Team call out at the moment for our blog, so if you are interested, please apply on the relevant post. We would love some new members.

Our sponsors this week are A Day for Daisies who are offering a $12 Gift Certificate to spend in their shop, and Di's Digi Designs.

Thanks for stopping by, xx