Heartfelt Thoughts for Christchurch!

OMG! What utter devastation! I have both friends and family in the Canterbury Region and the 6.3 earthquake today has has caused total havoc there today!

Selfishly – I’m so relieved that my girl has not yet returned to Christchurch for her final year at Uni. I am also relieved to hear that her flatmates are together – at home – and are all ok.

As I write, there are 65 confirmed deaths from today’s earthquake! I am glued to the TV news in a way I have not been since Princess Dianna’s death. Unbelievable, yet compelling viewing.

My love, thoughts and prayers are with all those affected and also with those who have loved ones in the area and are anxious about their well-being.

http://www.stuff.co.nz

My Steampunk Mini

 

As promised – here is a look and my second ever mini-book.

I have used the Graphic45 8x8 pad, Steampunk Debutante.

 

I found it harder to do than I expected but I am still reasonably pleased. Some pages strike me as a little unfinished but never mind.

My First Mini-Book

Over the Christmas break I got to to spend some precious one-on-one time with my close friend and greatest crafting inspiration, Shell.

She offered to help me to get started on my first mini.  Quite a daunting prospect, as it turned out.  Initially I had though “How hard can it be?”  Ha!!  Dumb question!

It was more the starting of, rather than the completion of and I was grateful for Shell’s guidance.  She is an amazing crafter and I love her dearly.

So . . .   what marvellous creation did I manage to come with then?

Using the the Graphic 45 8x8 pad “Once Upon A Springtime”, along with various stamps, embellishments and loads of liquid dimension, I am proud to present ……..

   

It was so much fun to create that I came home from holiday and promptly made another mini …..

Watch this space.

Enough Tags Already!

Last ones – for 2010 anyway.

Day 11

Pretty happy with this one too.  I created another mask for the snowflake border and cut the tree on the silhouette.

I smothered the tree in pva glue and green embossing powder.  When heated, the glue bubbles and this creates an amazing texture, setting like enamel.  Rock Hard!  The snow was added using some textural “stuff” I got from goodness know where.

The frame is made from a stamp, clear embossed on grunge paper and inked.

Day 12

For the background, I used a digital paper that I have had for ages. The calendar page is a digital graphic.  I don’t have any of the Movers and Shapers die so I cut my ornament on the silhouette.  The Joy Charm is actually one of those silly earrings that people feel compelled to wear at Christmas but put to much better use here, lol.  The pinecones are from a spray of artificial flowers bought at a dollar store about 2 years ago.

So – there you have it.  All 12 tags for 2010.  Roll on December 2011!

But Wait! There’s More!

Day 9

One of my favourite tags.  The rosette and the lettering cut on the silhouette. The rosette was inked and stamped before folding. The buttons and the baubles are from my stash. (Gotta love cheap jewellery that you would much rather take apart than wear)

Day 10

Once again I was faced with the challenge of not having the Tim Holtz die for the snowman.  Yes – you guessed it – back to the silhouette!  I embossed some acetate in the cuttlebug and secured it with brads from my stash. (Hmm – must fix that hand up)

Moving Right Along

Day 7

My Word! Was this a challenge or what? A woodgrain embossing folder – do I have one of those? Nah-Uh!

The silhouette came to the rescue yet again! (how did I live without one of these amazing machines?)  I used a purchased woodgrain background file and sized it to fit the tag.  I then attacked said tag with the embossing stylus once again.  Inking on the raised side showed up the pattern and I was pretty stocked with myself.

The flourish, the poinsettia and the wording were all cut on the silhouette – of course, lol.  I didn’t have a type charm (but I do now, haha) so I used and epoxy sticker from my stash.

Day 8

OK – not so thrilled with this one but had fun creating the houses on the silhouette as well as the Santa/Sleigh that I cut from acetate to use as a stencil/mask.  The clock face is a digital graphic and I added a Ideology spinner.  The key is silver-inked chipboard.

Now . . . Where was I ?

Oh, yes – Christmas Tags days 5 and 6

Day 5

 

I printed the Santa on the tag, used peel-craft type stickers for the holly leaves (I went over gold with a black permanent marker) and used the Silhouette to cut the label shape and the numbers.

I managed to make the numbers look like enamelled metal by using an embossing stylus on the reverse, painting them with white and topping off with clear dimensional.

I added the clear dimensional to a paper flower which soaked right in and gave it an almost glass-like look.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with this one.

Day 6

I used the silhouette to sketch and cut the Season Greetings tag and coloured it with metallic gel pens, edging it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

I also cut several “layers” of trees that I glued together in order to do the embossing on the left hand side (not that you can really see it.

The swirls were stamped in gold and the “splatters” in bronze paint.  The reindeer is a clear sticker on brown cardstock.  The wreath was made with white flowersoft that I coloured with re-inker and  topped with clear dimensional.

I don’t have Tim’s tissue tape so I made my own by stamping on white tissue paper and backing it with double sided tape.  Works for me! LOL