It's a Creative World

Card Sketch Challenge

Hi from Caz!

Todays post is twofold. Firstly we have a sketch challenge!! And we have a prize ;) Well it's a RAK for all comments left on todays post! But for a chance to be entered twice (!) simply use the sketch to create a card and leave us a link :) I will select the winner on Sunday the 5th of April at 5pm.

So you have 5 and a bit days to leave a comment on THIS post (just a hi will do), and a link to your card will get you entered in twice!

And secondly we are welcoming a new member to our creative family...Eleanor! You will have met Eleanor already from her fantastic pages created for her A-Z Project, the snazzy fleece guest design post and her awesome Project 2009 which is just amazing!!
Eleanor is an admired artist who's agreed to come and share her lovely work with IACW!

So back to day :) Here is your sketch!

 

And here is my card.

and we put our new designers to work straight away ;)

Eleanor used the sketch to make a thank you card, with a doily, some pleated trim and paper flowers for the scalloped part, and the cricut cut underlay as a nod to the circular embellishment. The sentiment is a Hero Arts one, versamark stamped and heat embossed in seafoam white.

Thanks for visiting!!
Caz
xx

More scrapping therapy ...

Hi again from Di in sunny johannesburg South Africa.

Perhaps you remember the mini books I was making with my dear friend Wild Roze?

Well mine is now finished! As I said my "Today" album has few photographs and is a sort of "Inspirational album". It is a gift for a friend who is very special to me.

 

 

 

   

   

 

 

It was such good therapy that I decided to make a 'LIFE album' for Roz and myself. Here is my mine - covered only just waiting to have lots of fun selecting embellishments and photographs.

We would love to see the mini themed albums you make so leave us a comment and a link.

Thanks for visiting IACW and love from Di X

Victorian Decorative Cone

 

Spring has sprung!  Okay, so I know it's still freezing and snowing now and then, but Spring is on the way, and here's a little project to make you feel a bit more Springy!

 

First, take a pulpboard cone and cover it in your chosen patterned paper.  I used 7 Gypsies Notting Hill for mine. It was quite difficult finding the cones, but I eventually found them at Panduro.

 

Fill it almost to the top with any old paper.  I used scrap brown paper I had from packaging. Then, using a Cropadile, punch a hole at either side of your cone.  Thread through and twist some gold wire as shown for your hanging loop.

   

It's then just a case of decorating and letting your imagination run riot! I decorated the front using an image from a sheet I got from Artchix Studio and trimmed this with Distress Stickles in Antique Linen for a bit of sparkle. I tea dyed a piece of lace for around the top and a piece of leaf ribbon to weave around my hanging loop. Dried moss was glued to the top of the cone, and I then added two mulberry roses which I again trimmed with my Distress Stickles, some little wired gems and pearls and a plastic quail's egg.  Everything was bought from the florist department at Hobbycraft, apart from the egg which, like the cone is from Panduro.

 

These would look great decorating the house for Easter. You could even let the kids have a go at their own versions over the Easter holidays!

Hope you enjoy having a go at this project. TFL! Joanne x

Envelope in a hurry!

Hi from Caz

It's happened to me loads of times! I go to make a card and i've run out of blanks. So cutting a sheet of cardstock to make a card is easy peasy but what about an envelope??

Simply make one!

Make a template you can keep for such occasions!

 

Draw around your template. Double sided paper would give you a nice inside too :)

 

Cut out and score along the 'dotted' lines, then using stong double sided tape, tape the short 'flaps' down.  

I usually cut off the pointy edges so the don't catch and tear.

 

Decorate as required.

And there you have it, an envelope in minutes.

Thanks for visiting!!
Caz
xx

Embellishment card

Hello

Happy Friday everyone, hope you're all ready for the weekend with fabulous plans!

Here i've made a very simple card using some embellishments from the same collection as this always makes things a little easier.

The embellishments i used were the Chatterbox together stitched felt range which i think is gorgeous. The paper is also Chatterbox Together multi-floral so it matches well.

I simply used a piece of green bazzill and attached a small piece of the pattered paper on the bottom half of the card. I used a strip of the felt across the top of this paper and a different trim along the bottom. The flower i just attached to the top right.

For the title i just used the Thanks stamp on some slightly lighter green card stock and attached it on foam pad, inking around the edge in red to make it stand out.

The finish off i inked around the outside edge of the card in red.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cath x  

Happy hooker!

I'm on a crochet mission!

Two years ago I had an idea to crochet blankets for my neices for Christmas, and now i'm hooked on hooking! I love that crochet grows quickly and you can picture your finished product from so early on.

I'm using a square pattern from Jan Eatons 200 crochet blocks for blankets, throws and afgans. It's called Willow and very easy to remember after doing it a handfull of times.

So what am I making? Well it's a throw for my bed, and it's made using Rowan, Cotton Glace, in the most gorgeous colours.

My names for them are, light blue, dark blue, navy, silver, gold, cream, light brown and dark brown. They are actually, chalk, skye, nightshade, dawn grey, persimmon, ecru, oyster and umber!

They really work so well together and will add a calming fresh look to my new 'decluttered', 'simple' bedroom.

So far I have completed 42 squares and only have about 150 to go. I did want them all to be unique but having to use 3 colours per square, I think that may be a bit tough!

Be sure to check back on the 26th of May when I give a status report and more YUMMY photos :)

Thanks for visiting!
Caz
xx

A little bit vintage...

Hi from Di in Johannesburg South Africa

vin·tage  (vntj)

n.

1. The yield of wine or grapes from a vineyard or district during one season.

2. Wine, usually of high quality, identified as to year and vineyard or district of origin.

3. The year or place in which a wine is bottled.

a. The harvesting of a grape crop.

b. The initial stages of winemaking.

 

Informal

a. A group or collection of people or things sharing certain characteristics.

b. A year or period of origin: a car of 1942 vintage.

c. Length of existence; age.

 

adj.

1. Of or relating to a vintage.

2. Characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic.

3. Old or outmoded.

4.

a. Of the best: played songs that were vintage Cole Porter.

b. Of the most distinctive

 

Wow - I had no idea that vintage had so much  to do with wine and I was always a wine drinker!!! But it does seem that it does not have to be old to be "Vintage"

 

 

Thought I would share with you today my take on vintage so here are a few layouts:

 

These are old photographs taken before I remember:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is a layout of me - yes my mother did dress me like this!!!

 

  :

 

 

And here are some vintage syles - I must admit I still like to tear and curl paper:

 

 

 

 

 

I really do not like to scrap with beige and brown and doing the last 2 layouts, I realised that I could introduce colour.

 

I love this last vintagey style layout although the photograph is only a few years old:

 

 

 

So what is VINTAGE??? Well for me it's simply from a previous era or point in time.

 

Thanks for visiting  IACW and love from Di X

 

Door hangers

I recently bought some plain birch plywood door hangers from Calico Crafts with a view to decorating each one for my kid's bedrooms.

I started by painting the blank using cream acrylic paint on both sides and along all edges. I then decorated it by using some patterned paper, die-cut letters,ribbon, Prima flowers and other embellishments.

 

It's now ready to hang on my daughter's door and I have to make a start on one for my sons' room.

There are loads of other plywood blanks available out there so why don't you have fun decorating!

Jo xx

Theme Day - Going Green

Hi from Caz

Going green screams recycling and I am making a huge effort to recycle everything that is convenient and fits into my life. We have 3 bins. One for household and garden waste, the brown bin, and everything from peelings, to cardboard to plate scrappings goes into it. One for tins and glass and we recyle ALL tins and glass. And lastly the black bin. And everything else goes in this bin. I haven't started recycling plastic yet as I can't justify the trip to the tip. Does the recycling cancel out the CO2 I chug out on the way to the tip each week??

As part of my 'Going Green' drive, I am making use of tins in the garden. Instead of using plastic pots which I now take back to the garden centre, I am using tins for growing on my seedlings. At the end of their usefulness, they go into the recycling bin!

 

Be sure to make a couple of holes in the bottom for drainage!

But Going Green at this time of year also means the green that is sprouting up around me in the garden. Last year I went in search of perenials. Plants that would come back again the next year. And boy is my garden sprouting green-ness, lol. I've recorded spring 2009 in this 12"x6" layout. (but just realised i've put 2008!)

 

If you're going green and have good tips to share please share in the comments and a link to your blog would be good too. We love to nosey :)

Thanks for visiting!
xx

Paper Dolls

Burlesque Dolls

Working with elderly people can be great fun, and we have a lot of laughs in our crafting sessions. The week we made the paper dolls, burlesque style, was hilarious. Far from being prudish, my oldies love a bit of saucy banter, and they thoroughly enjoyed dressing their paper dolls in a racy fashion!

I think most young girls would like this activity too and while ours were put together quickly, spending a bit more time would probably produce a more sophisticated dancer – and think of the scraps that could be used up!

Sequins, feathers, doilies, wool, pretty buttons, scraps of lace – it’s all you need, plus a bit of cream/brown cardstock.

The template came from Mirkwood -  here:

And they have loads of other templates on offer too!

I did ask and was granted permission to use this template on IACW  :-) and I would say it’s only polite to ask first if you intend to use this for a class in afterschool club or brownies/guides.

Have fun!

xx Jakey xx