Something Old...

This is not a craft item but I wanted to share it. I went to a local recycling centre this week. If you are not familiar with these places they are where people take their unwanted goods and those that are in reasonable enough condition are sold to the public. I found this lovely old piece in a box of rubbish. It is a holder for a fob watch and would have been placed on a desk. The part with the little girl on it pulled out, up and back to reveal the velvet-lined area for the watch. It is Edwardian, judging by the little girl's outfit. I was rather perplexed by her cross expression at first, then I realised she is giving her dolly a stern ticking off!

This cost £1 (about $2). The watch didn't come with it - I borrowed it for the photo.

Sketch Saturday

I picked up a DoCrafts goody bag this week and decided to use some of the things within to create this card. I really enjoyed working with this new character and look foward to making some more cards using this new stash!

Penny Black Challenge - Sketch

What a cute hedgehog! I used some Brenda Pinnock papers on this card and Cuttlebug border embossing folders for the scalloped edge. The flowers are Primas.

Baby Wipes

Don't worry this is not a used wipe! I rubbed some Distress Inks over my craft mat then cleaned them off with the wipe, and left it to dry. Then I stuck one section to an ATC blank and stamped some Bo Bunny swirls on it in Brilliance Pearlescent Crimson. The image is a Crafty Individuals transparency attached to white paper. I added a Prima flower and a Papermania pearl brad. The word is a Tim Holtz 'Doo-dad'.

Sketch and Stash Challenge #5

I've not been doing much crafting recently and have let my contributions to blog challenges slide very badly. But I had a good day today and got some done at last!

I have used some new papers by Brenda Pinnock on this card, and also an iris-folding shape I have had for ages. In fact it's a long time since I did any iris-folding at all. I was pleased to find a chipboard frame that suited the cat and was the right size!

My Time To Craft - Woman

This ATC came out as a complete surprise to me when I finished it! I used a piece of Coredinations card for the base, embossed on the Cuttlebug with the D'vine Swirl folder, then given a good roughing up with the Chizzel-It. The lady is from a Craft Individuals book, and I framed her using a card slide mount. This was coloured with chalk ink pads and then stamped with a Paper Artsy swirl. The butterfly is a new 3-d one from Papermania, and I used one of Tim's Doo-dads to finish.

Forever Friends Challenge - A Sketch

I used Brenda Pinnock papers on this card, and matted the bear on the new Coredinations pearlescent cardstock - it's very smart indeed! I coloured the bear with coloured pencils. The purple flower is a Prima one and the white ones are new from Papermania.

Notes From A Small Papercrafter

I hadn't used my Bind-It-All for a while and I needed a new notebook, so here it is. I used pink mountboard for the covers, and stamped some Bo Bunny swirls in metallic inks. The girl is by Innovative Stamp Creations. The flowers were given to me so I don't know who made them. I used a brown spiral to join it all together.

Magnolia Cat

I am not keen on Tildas as a rule, but I like this cat. I had to have the fence as well for him to sit on. The first ATC has a fence made from polymer clay and bronzed with some mica powders. The cat was stamped on card and cut out. He is fixed with foam pads to make him reach the fence. I cut the daisies on the Cuttlebug.

The second ATC is made using a masking technique. I stamped the cat first, then masked him off and stamped the fence. I masked the fence and left the cat masked so I could stipple the background with Distress Inks to create a sort of garden.

Polymer Clay Embellishments

I acquired a book early this year showing how to make small decorative tiles with polymer clay. I bought some clay and made a few pieces. They are decorated by stamping with a rubber stamp and then gently rubbing some mica powders (Cosmic Shimmer in this case) over the surface to bring out the detail. I found if I used tiny clay cutters (as you would use for biscuits) the edges were neater. I found a great deal of satisfaction from using some embellishments I had created myself. They are not too heavy to go on ATCs or cards, either.

Forever Friends Challenge - General Birthday

This is my first time at this Challenge. I was quite shocked today when I noticed my last post was 29th January. Without sounding pathetic (I hope) I haven't been 100% since the first week of 2009 and haven't felt like doing much lately.

That's enough of that! I used a decoupage set from the Easter kit, some yellow textured paper, and some floral paper sent by a forum friend. I hope this is up to standard for the challenge.

Sketch Saturday

For this card I used a Crafty Inidviduals stamp and backing paper. Their images are very beautiful and I very much enjoy using them. The scalloped piece did not present such a problem as usual as I recently bought a pack of border embossing folders for the Cuttlebug, so I embossed both edges of the paper and cut round the shapes. I used some jewel flowers for the circles and added some gems to the fairy image.

Tag You're It - Numbers

I used a piece of dark maroon mountboard for my tag and sprayed it with some Cosmic Shimmer. I stamped on a large paper flower with a Paper Artsy stamp, and used another stamp from the same plate on a piece of cardboard. I took two grunge board numbers and inked and embossed them.

House Mouse Colour Challenge

I hope these colours are correct as I am not familiar with Stampin' Up colours. I embossed a navy ATC blank with the Cuttlebug Spots and Dots folder, and matted the image using pearlescent paper and white paper. I put two eyelets on the right and tied some olive ribbon through them.