Inspiration Post for Imagination Crafts

Morning all! Its my second post of the day! And its only 8 o clock! Can't be bad! This post is to remind you about this months challenge over at Imagination Crafts. Our theme is anything goes and if you use an imagination crafts product - and tell us about it in your post - you will go into the draw to win the prize of £40 to spend at Imagination Crafts. Lovely prize - I wish I could enter! Here's what I did:

I bought this wooden box from Asda before Christmas and since then I've painted it with acrylic paint then used a mask from Imagination Crafts and red berries and lapis blue sparkle medium. The sides and back of the desk tidy are so pretty - the front is more practical! The draw is now the home of my wow powders and the top spaces house my distress stains and paints plus my dylusions sprays.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

Pan Pastelpanpasteluk: Anything goes
PTWpapertakeweekly: New year New stash - my lapis blue was a christmas present
sunday stamperpinkleart - wings
come and get it:cagichallenge Butterflies or dragonflies

Check out what my teamies did here - and enter the challenge here!

Big hugs to you from me - and thanks for your comments on yesterdays card - making my own valentines card has certainly divided opinion! Didn't think I was being controversial!!

Have a great Day!

Rachel x

CCAYR Challenge: Winter Wonderland

Hello there! Another scheduled post! My second today! Its time for a new challenge over at Christmas Cards all year around and this time the theme is Winter wonderland. We're looking for cards with a snowy influence! Here's my card:

I've had my brayer and sparkle medium out again - this time I've brayered die cut Christmas trees ( die'sire brand).  The image is LOTV and I coloured it with promarkers. The papers are also LOTV as is the sentiment.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

simonsaysstampblog: AG
craftyribbonschallenge: G with ribbon
paulaholifieldcrafts-albc-sparkle-and-shine
Crafters Companioncrafterscompanion-christmaswinter Christmas
Polkadoodles:polkadoodle AG Christmas
CHNCcraftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge2. 2: AG
cute card Thursday:cutecardthursday Sparkles

Thanks for visiting! Hope to see you again soon!

Big Hugs Rachel

New release at Crafty sentiments: Christmas rush

Hello lovelies - its time for me to show you the new release at Crafty Sentiments called Christmas Rush and you can get it here. It was in the shop on the 22nd but the day to show you this little beauty is today. Three of us from the DT (the mulled wine drinkers) were charged with coming up with a a common theme each and adding it to our projects. See if you can work out our common elements on the inspirational blog here. Here's my make:

This is a money box for helping me save for Christmas - woo hoo - I definitely need it! Anyway - so what have I done? The box was from the MDF man and was painted with gesso then pebeo acrylic paint. I stamped some script then used an imagination craft stencil called 'the clearing' with sparkle medium. The roof was tiled with sequins and the brass star on the front was covered with versamark and lilac wow powders were added. and heat set. The stamp was coloured with promarkers and fussy cut and added to the moneybox.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

WOWwowembossingpowder: Stars and stripes- I have one star and a striped roof)
Crafty Catz: craftycatzweeklychallengeSpots and stripes ( my spots are in stripes)
Crafty Ribbonscraftyribbonschallenge: ABAC
aud sentimentsaudsentimentschallengeblog: Christmas
Allsorts CBallsortschallenge: Treemendous
Sweet Stampinsweetstampinchallengeblog: wood, trees and leaves
craft-roomchallenge: stencil or mask

Thanks for joining me today and hope to see you again soon!

Big Hugs

Rachel xx

Halloween at Imagination Crafts

Pinch punch its the first of the month!!!!! Good morning to you! I do hope you are well and happy -not sure where September went but its definitely October here!!!! The wind has been quite strong and I ran in swirling leaves yesterday - a big change from the weekend!!!

I've got three posts today - my first is for Imagination Crafts - they have a new challenge starting over at the imagination-craftschallenges where the theme for this month is Halloween!!!!! Here's what I did:

I had lots of inky fun creating the background with colorwash sprays and radiant rain sprays applied in a number of ways - mostly spritzing or applying with a sponge. Then I added a white circle and used my imaginationcrafts Stencil and sparkle medium to create the witch and bats. Looking at it I ought to have filled the stencil gap in on the witches body - but you get the idea!!!!
To enter the challenge you can produce anything to do with Halloween - however, you will only be eligible to win the £40 of Imagination craft goodies if you use some imagination craft goodies to enter the challenge.
Have a look here to see what the rest of the DT did!

I'd like to enter this card for the following challenges:

Pan pastelpanpasteluk: AG
ATSaddicted-to-stamps-challenge.: Create a scene
2 sisters CB2sisterschallengeblog: AG
AGOAC:pinkgemchallengeblog Use some black
CRAFT challengestrimmiescraftchallenge - inspired by a book -' the witches by roald dahl.

Thanks for looking - I'll be back in an hour with the latest challenge from Crafty Sentiments.
Big Hugs

Rachel xx

for a friend

Morning lovelies - I hope you are well and if not here's a hug xx

It was strange with the girls being at school yesterday but I managed to fill the day up - lol!!!! I had a 71/2 mile run that took far too long. I guess I'll manage the great north this year but I won't be going for any personal bests.

I've got a plaque to show you today that I made for my friend Megan's birthday - its not until the 13th but she doesn't look at my blog so I know I'm safe.

The plaque came from a win over at 'a heck of a challenge' who are sponsored by everycraftsapound - well I found all sorts of goodies to alter in their shop and would recommend you having a look a it. 

I've worked on lots of layers with this plaque. I made the background in a number of steps - first I used distress paints smooshed onto my craft mat and then onto my plaque. This formed the background. After drying I added patches of distress ink - seedless preserves and broken china. Then I used a script stamp from papermania and stamped it around the edges in seedless preserves DI. Next came the layer of sparkle medium - I used the colour amethyst that you can get here from imaginationcrafts. The stencil I used is one from 'That special touch'. I tried to mirror both sides because of the sentiment  so used the stencil first one way and then flipped it over (after cleaning) ad used it the other way. Whilst this was drying  I made the sentiment. I used distress ink on Neenah card - seedless preserves and broken china again smooshed it around until blended. Then I stamped the LOTV sentiment on top in versafine ink. I die cut the circle and then added the gems and added it to the piece. I'm really pleased with this one and I hope Megan likes it! The butterfly stamp is one of my faves from an old craft stamper magazine that went missing on my desk for a few months and turned up just when needed!

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

SFTW:stampinfortheweekend Summer colours

Delicious doodlesdeliciousdoodleschallenge: Anything floral

allsortsallsortschallenge: all in the sentiment

sunday stamperpinkleart: friends

countryviewcraftscountryviewchallenges: layers

ourcreativecorner - forgotten things ( my craft stamper butterfly stamp has been lost in action on my desk for quite a few months - I was able to use it when it miraculously reappeared just in thime to be addd to this piece)

CBNcraftybloggersnetwork: Things with wings

Lexi'slexiscreations: ABAC

Simon says stamp Monday challengesimonsaysstampblog-stamping-all-stars - fave things - Distress inks

Before I go I've got a couple of photos to show you from our holidays:

these were all taken near St Michael's mount at Marazion near Penzance. Such a lovely day was had by all!!!

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you have a wonderful day. Thanks in advance for any comments you choose to leave - I love to read them and they really do make my day!

Big Crafty Hugs

Rachel x

September Challenge for Imagination Crafts: Butterflies

Good morning Lovelies! How are you today? I am well and happy and back home - we had a wonderful holiday - but more of that in later posts - this is the first of three posts for me today so hold on tight!!!!

Over at imagination-craftschallenges there is a new challenge starting - this month its Butterflies! I suspect there will be a lot of entries this time but remember if you want to be in with a chance of the £40 of Imagination Crafts products which is the prize you must enter using something from imaginationcrafts - and remember not to link up to more than 7 challenges in total!

Here's my piece - its a brush/penpot  for my craft table.

The pot is made from MDF - I bought it for £1.60 from the MDF man at the Doncaster show. I painted it with Pebeo Acrylic Paint then used a mask from Imagination crafts to add the swirls and small butterflies to the pot. The sparkle medium used was Jade and Amethyst. I also used the Imagination Crafts decoupage butterfly stamp and used it with angelina film and fibres and then cut them out and added them to the pot.

Hope you'll be able to join us this time.

I'd like to enter my little pot into the following challenges:

AGCBanythingchallenge: In the garden/add butterflies
Simon says:simonsaysstampblog AG



Thanks for dropping by and I'll return at 3pm with my Craft a scene post and 9pm with my CCAYR post.

Big Hugs

Rachel xx

fairies at Creative Inspirations

Good morning - this is a scheduled post so I hope blogger is behaving itself!

 Over at Creative Inspirations this week's challenge is Fairies!
We would like to see only Fairies as the main images on your creations!

This week's prize is from our monthly sponsor J&C CREATIONS who are giving 1 lucky Winner a
 £10 GIFT CERTIFICATE!

Here's my card:

 This is one of those cards I'm not happy with - there are parts of it I love but I just don't feel it gels well. But I'm afraid time ran out - lol! I've used a Lavinia script stamp in the background and then used an imagination craft stencil and added DI though the wholes to create the poppies and sparkle medium at the top to produce the dragonflies. Finally I used the lavinia fairy stamp in black archival on top. I cut the topper into three panels and mounted them on black card. The sentiment is from a dylusions stamp set stamped and cut out. 

Thanks for dropping by today and  I hope to see you again soon!

Hugs

Rachel xx

2nd day of new releases and colourful challenge at crafty sentiments

Good morning all! I hope you are well and happy and ready for day two of the new releases at Crafty Sentiments? Todays new image is so cute - she's called Lily Fairy and here's what I did with her:

I made the background using DI - chipped sapphire and dusty concorde and milled lavendar. I added the Crafty sentiments diecut and then added the image coloured with promarkers and cut with one of my bargain Go Kreate dies from the doncaster show. Then I added the LOTV sentiment and some spellbinders diecuts. Check out what some of the Guest Designers made of her on the craftysentimentsinspirationsInspirational blog.

There's also a new challenge starting over on the Crafty Sentiments Blog. Its all about being colourful. Here's what I did:

I used a stencil and some sparkle medium from Imagination Crafts - the sparkle medium colour is amethyst. The mermaids were stamped and coloured with promarkers then fussy cut. The rock is one of the accessories stamps from Crafty Sentiments too. The sentiment is from Sheena Douglass. Finally I added some sea shells.

I'd like to enter these cards into the following challenges:

OLLCB: ooh-la-la-creationschallengesInspired by a song: Under the Sea (from the little mermaid)
Lexi'slexiscreations: Sparkle and shine
Cutie piescutiepiechallenge: AG
Glitter n sparkleglitternsparklechallengeblog: Not square
PIO:pileitonchallenge No designer paper
sweet stampinsweetstampinchallengeblog: Bold and beautiful

Thanks for dropping by today - just wanted to let you know about my coffee morning - I thought it was going to be a disaster as two very supportive friends texted me an hour before to say they had dodgey tummies - but luckily the local Hornby ladies rallied round and we had a lovely morning and I managed to raise £67 towards my total - plus another £13 on a game I have going where you have to try and guess my race position to the nearest 500! The nearest gets a bottle of champagne. Here's a quick picture of the cakes and my girls before kick off!

Thanks for dropping by today and for your wonderful comments! I do enjoy reading them!

Big Hugs

Rachel xx

Midway reminder for Imagination Crafts: Flowers

Good morning all! I hope your day is going well so far! I had a lazy day yesterday - recovering from the stresses of the party! But today I need to be back to normal - so by the look of the weather thats going to mean a very wet 10km run - still - its all flat where I'm going so thats not so bad!!! Lol xxx

Just a reminder today of the challenge at Imagination Crafts. This month the challenge is flowers. You must use Imagination crafts products somewhere on your design in order to be in with a chance to win the £40 worth of Imagination crafts goodies. The other rule that people seem to be forgetting about is the number of challenges you can enter - for this one you shouldn't combine with more than 6 additional challenges - making 7 in total.

Here's what I did with my daisy stamp:

The box was one that my good friend Debbie had lying around in her attic and I managed to pinch this one from her. It was wooden but not a nice wood - so I decided to alter it. I started by adding TH Musical score paper over the entire surface and then painting with acrylic paints from Pebeo. Once dry I added Crackle medium to the topand allowed it to dry and crack. I stamped the daisy stamp onto paper and then stamped many daisies onto angelina film with a fibre sandwich behind which I heat set and then cut the daisies out. I added sparkle medium to the box using the diamond mask with copper sparkle medium and blue sparkle medium with the leaf swirl mask. Everything was added to the box and it became my flower store - a very useful addition to my craft room!

Hope you like my box - thanks for visiting and hope to see you again soon! Big Hugs

Rachel xx

Mid month reminder for CCAYR: All things santa

Afternoon all - this is my final post for the day so I will keep it short! Its midway through the month for the Santa challenge at CCAYR(christmascardsallyearround) today - here's my midmonth inspiration for you - another Imagination Crafts project - what do you think?

This was an incredibly simple card to make - first I used pan pastels to create the background - then stamped the indigo blu santa and reindeer in the sky and then added the two different colours of sparkle medium through the Imagination Crafts Stencil called 'In the Clearing'. The majority of it was done in antique bronze and the moon in Diamond sparkle. A really quick and effective card!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

ABC Christmasabcchristmaschallenge: No embellishments
PCJpaper-craftingjourney: Christmas in July
Delicious Doodlesdeliciousdoodleschallenge: Scenery
Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas extracraftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge2: Anything goes
CHNCcraftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge: Trees please

I've had a lovely morning with my crafty ladies group too - this is an assortment of what was made using distress ink as a watercolour medium:






Hope you have a good Monday and thanks again for dropping by!

Big Hugs

Rachel x

Ist Challenge at Imagination Crafts Challenge Blog: Anything goes.

Good morning lovelies - hope you had a fab weekend! Well I've been waiting for today for nearly a month - I'm so excited to be part of the Imagination Crafts Challenge Blog Design team - and want to thank the wonderful Linda Simpson (lindasimpsoncraftypieceofheaven) for giving me the opportunity! You can find the Challenge Blog here and all the wonderful inspiration given by all members of the design team - the first challenge is Anything goes and it will last a month. If you check out the rules of the challenge the prize will be a whopping £40 to spend in the Imagination Crafts Store - the winner will be chosen randomly and the DT will chose the top 3. You can make anything at all - a card, an altered project whatever - but you must use an Imagination Craft product in the making of your piece - feel free to use other stuff too! We will be back on the 15th of the month to give you some further inspiration.

The DT were all given masks and sparkle medium to work with and this is what I did:

I used the butterfly stamp shown and the mask and the antique bronze and amethyst sparkle medium all from Imagination crafts that you can get here. I also used TH tattered leaves dies, Sam Poole flower stamps, papers from crafty individuals and some letter stamps from Claritystamps.
I started out with a plain papier mache hankie box cover from hobby craft and painted it with pebeo acrylic paint. Once dry I set to work with my sparkle medium and mask - I managed to use the mask easily along the full length of the box without causing too much mess whilst the medium was still wet. Once I had covered all of the surfaces necessary and everything was dry I set about decorating the box. The butterflies were stamped onto crafty individuals papers stuck onto Studio 45 mouldable film. Then I cut them out and heated, moulded and allowed to cool in their 3d shape. The flowers were stamped onto the crafty individuals papers and cut out and assembled according to the Hels Sheridan tutorial here. Finally being a hankie box I added the lettering 'Bless you'.

I would like to enter my hankie box into the following challenges:
Totally Gorjuss:totallygorjuss Wings
Sweet stampinsweetstampinchallengeblog: Not cute
As you like it challengesasyoulikeitchallenge: 3 fave embellies and why: Sparkle medium - its just so pretty, handmade flowers (they're always different!) and butterflies - in any form!
ABACanythingbutacard.: Get messy.
simonsaysstampandshow: AG
Sunday Stamperpinkleart: HOME.

Pop along to the challenge blog and check out what my teamies have made - you won't be disappointed - then come along and join us! Thanks for popping by today - I've got two more posts coming up later - hope to see you there!

Big Hugs

Rachel xx