Papercrafting leads the way

Well Guys, I'm impressed! Well done to all those who realised that we papercrafters lead the way. If you didnt catch Top Gear tonight, then you might want to pop over to the Pagani website and have a look at the interior of the replacement for the Zonda!
Quote from the show tonight was that the interior is a "victorians vision of the 23rd century". In other words ...........Steam Punk!
I'm sorry but I do find this very funny!
But now to more interesting stuff.
A post or so ago, I related my tale of my first craft, and how I started. And that my New Years Resolution was to return to doing it after, and I had a good count: 31 yrs!
so I made one and posted it. so I made more:

Jasper on a suede cord, with chainmaille.

Peridot on suede cord with Chainmaille

Swarovski. AB crystal Pendant Suede coed, Chainmaille

Purple Glass bead earings

Swarovski. Crystals, Contemporary Christmas Selection

Swarovski. Crystals, Contemporary Christmas Selection, as a floating choker, with Amethyst Clasp

Swarovski. Crystals, Contemporary Christmas Selection

So thats what I did yesterday having a bit of a gap in dt work for once, lol
Sources for Beads used are listed here:
http://www.beadsandmore.co.uk/
http://www.beadsdirect.co.uk/
http://www.mailorder-beads.co.uk
http://www.qvcuk.com

me time

Oh how good that sounds! Dont get me wrong, I love making samples, and find it an incredibly challenging experience, but sometimes there isnt actually enough time to go around!
Well as I paid for it I decided that by jove I was going to do it!
At the end of last week I had a phone call from Aly's Inky Fingers. Back at the GNPE Harrogate show I had signed up for Aly's email stamp thingy, well I said to send me the stamps, for a small charge  and they arrived mid last week.
So mid sample making, I had these stamps sitting there staring at me, (actually nothing new there, there's normally stamps sitting there staring at me, but in the end they get put away unused, one day I promise I will stop buying, and start using, just not right now lol.). So, and as its an area that I still havent mastered, I decided to get to grips with Aly's Stamps, She of the appearing Fairies, and Pan Pastels.
So I pushed aside the samples I was making, and started following the worksheets Aly had sent with the stamps.
Oh Blast not using Pan Pastles! Drat! Oh well, use the distress inks then, as instructed:

Okay, done! lol, but as with all crafters, you always add your own touches, so turn the base card, add some ribbon, a Staple, 3 gems and some of the Holtzers Crackle Glaze (slight problem with this glaze is that it always distorts my base card, ggrr!).
Okay done. Now what bits have I got left?............... Hmn, some of the base card I used for 3d'ing the flowers with, so what can I do with that?

A Tag, using Spectrum Noirs to colour the flowers, and a freebie stamp from Card Making and Papercraft magazine.

Now to get the Pan Pastles out to play.....................

This one I really like. Pan Pastels on the base card, stamped with Versamark, and dusted with Pan pastels. Freebie backing paper from my stash in a lilac Damask, Purple satin ribbon, colour the flower heads in with Spectrum Noirs, add a peel off glittered butterfly in the same shade of green, and Hubby was VERY insistent that this was an Easter card, so again freebie stamp from Cardmaking and papercraft magazine.

This is basically the same, but this time making a feature of the other Stamps Aly sent, the Frame and sentiment. Again coloured the flowers and inside of the frame with Speccies, added glitter, some card and ribbon from my stash. a very Vibrant card.

Now one of my private new years resolutions this year was to return to my first form of Craft. This was back in my mid teenage years, when I had some spends, and we made a visit to London, probably for School uniform, I know I ended up with a skirt from Jaeger as a result of that trip, but I clearly recall standing in the old mid floor of Liberty's, the bit that bridged the buildings, the really old and ancient bit, looking at beads!

I know I came away with lots of lovely little packets, and spent many a happy hour creating earings for myself, and yes I did get a bit extreeme, but I was a teenager!

So I got myself a bead spinner, and some beads, and here is my first attempt in over 25yrs at jewelry making:

I can see a few strands I missed, and will get them with a magnifying glass later. For some reason the clear strand of beads isnt as vibrant as it is in real life, its more of an Opal than it appears in the photos!

Right back to samples, 

hugs,,

Lou

Postage Issues

Okay, as anyone who has to send samples in is very aware, Postage in the UK has become extortionate!!
However, there is no need to panic, or withdraw from Design Teams, as I know some are, as there is a solution.
I dont get paid by any company I recommend. So bearing that in mind, I recommend the Happy Cut, the City Ink Express company, and I dont get paid for it, I'm now going to recommend an alternative to the usual suspect for postage here in the uk.
Hermes, that service we love to love and hate deliver parcels from private individuals. I know! You could have knocked me down with a feather when I found out! I send in my "order" via the internet, they turn up at my house on the arranged day, collect and deliver the said parcel to its destination. And the last parcel I sent, as it was under 1kilo, and under 1.2 meters in length, width and height, it cost me the grand total of wait for it wait for it, £2.75.

Just before Christmas I sent out 3 parcels, all with Hermes, a Craft Robo, a large collection of Pro-markers, and 12 packs of Spectrum Noir pens, all to different addresses, now come on you lot, you know how much things weigh, and how much the Post Office charge to deliver items. So guesses please as to how much you think Hermes charged me for signed for delivery to the 3 address's in total?

go on guess.



£27.00 for 3 parcels, all signed for by the recipients, and collected from my house! Now as far as I am concerned thats a result! As the Post Office wanted £27 for the lightest parcel!

Now I have recently sent 15 card samples, and one note card book to Krafty Towers, it weighed under a kilo, coz I measured it on my kitchen scales, it didnt cost anything in petrol to get it to the Post Office, it didnt cost me anything in phone calls as I did it all online, it was collected from my house by my usual Hermes delivery lady, on the day they said they would collect it, it arrived within 3 days, and wasnt even signed for! all for £2.75.
If I dont want them to come to my house, then they also collect from the corner shop about a mile away from my house, for 25p less than it costs to collect from my house. So if your struggling with costs, and think it is going to be an issue for you to send samples in then I would recommend Hermes. www.myhermes.co.uk

Hope this helps someone out there, xxx

another one from the shows

right last individual post I think, this one I am particularly proud of.

I think this is my favourite of all the samples I did, and a true mix of mediums and techniques.
The base card has been covered with some photo card reproduction of one of the green stripes Paper. Then there is some parchment on top of that that has been "Parched". Next up is a ribbon from my stash, and a small topper from one of the card sets. finished with a Blue greeting to match the dress of Miranda, and a couple of tiny blue gems, highlighting the "parching", and tying it all together, and finishing it off,
right the last show is on after the school run, and Louis sent a card in too so I have to watch to see if its shown!

Hugs, xxx

heheh, Well Deano liked it, lol

Heheh , well I had a good old chuckle this morning with Deano and Mike and Ian over on Create and Craft, did you?
this time I'm going to post 2 cards  one which Deano was Playing with in this mornings show, and the other is from an older CD which is selling really well apparently, so here we go:

This is my very large never ending card, using 8 toppers, two pages of papers which I printed off onto A3 pearlised card stock, and embellishments.

here are a couple of my samples from the  Vintage Chic CDs:

 Dont forget to tune in at 4pm, for more ideas from the boys, xxx

the eleven plus

Well for those of you who are UK based, yes the Eleven + still exists! And Youngest has just completed his today, so fingers crossed he gets a place!
For those of you from abroad, its an entry exam to one of the forms of schooling here in the UK, this is for a version of Secondary school, the Grammar School, and you have to sit a test to get in, and if you dont do well enough, well simply put you dont get in! Harsh? Maybe, but they are allowed to pick the best, as they arent exactly a government sponsored school. So fingers firmly crossed that he showed enough potential.......
Anyway this is a reminder for you to watch Create and Craft at 9 am, and 4 pm! Krafty Hands has 2 shows with Miranda and Mo tomorrow, or rather today by the time I finish writing this post, oops, so keep your eyes and ears open, and you may spot youngests contribution to the show as well!!
Here's another offering from me from the samples I sent in:

A Mel Heaton style of card, using scraps left over from one of the card making kits, and a small slice of backing paper.
So ears open at 9am, and eyes too and see how many samples of Mine, and Youngests you can spot...........................

hugs

Lou

Miranda and Mo.

Hi guys,
well here's one reason I have been quiet. Mother has been cracking the whip, and I had my nose to the grindstone, producing samples for tomorrows shows....................

This is one of my entries, lol
Its actually one of the Shaped Cards, printed on A3 size, then split down the join, and used to encase a box of shaped cards printed normal A4 size as a gift.
Each of the cards actually has a different greeting on it, as the pre-pared sheets incorporate all sorts of sentiments.

So tomorrow at 9 am, and 4 pm, and yes I have it set to record, and fingers crossed I will remember to watch as well, lol, tune into Create and Craft, and see what I and my fellow Team Samplers have been up to, xxx

Challenge for the New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!!
Well it doesnt seem as though I have done a lot since my last post does it? Mainly because I dont photo and post a card if I have made it specifically for someone, so most of my Christmas cards are not photographable. And then there been some private commissions, so I dont photo those either, but I will post one soon, of one commission, as I have permission from the Bride to post this one, just not the rest of the stuff, lol, so watch this space for a glimmer of what I have been up to.
Anyway, you're not here for that load of gossip, you're here because its a new challenge over at Krafty Hands this weekend!
New year, New Challenge, and a New beginning! And thats the Challenge over at KH HQ! A new Beginning!
So make a project, and it doesnt just have to be a card, using some of the products they sell, for a new beginning! Here's the rules:

"Anyone can enter our monthly challenges, the only criteria we have is that you must be a follower of our challenge blog, we know that taking part is 99.9% of the fun!

To be the monthly winner of the £20 Kraftyhands voucher, you must use at least one Kraftyhands or Crafter's Companion product in the creation of your challenge project.

That's as complicated as it gets!

Each month we choose 3 winners, the No1 winner will receive a £20 voucher to spend on the Kraftyhands webshop and the No1 winner's "blinkie", the other two winners will get a winner's "blinkie" for their blogs!"

Also there's currently a DT call going on for the two teams KH run, the TV sample group and the Blog challenge group, so do pop over to the blog and see whats going on..............
Right down to business, my inspiration entry for the New Beginnings Challenge:

 

This all came from the  Bouncing Babies CD, and is an entire project on the CD, a lovely Baby Book.


I simply printed it all out, mounted some pages onto card for added sturdiness, especially where I was putting pockets in the pages, to allow room for extra photo's and keepsakes. My project has 13 interior pages, all that were available, and double sided. There are additional elements you can use for Twins, they havent been forgotten!


I decoupaged the front of the book, by simply printing  the pages I needed several times. The blocks on the front were cut out and glazed with Crystal Accents before using sticky pads to mount them over the top of the blocks on the page. the flower was again decoupaged, on top of the original. The edges were sealed using Washi tape.

The tag was taken from another page on the CD, in the decoupage section, and backed with an additional tag. 

The Baby's First Christmas Page was embellished using stickers, and the pockets were highlighted using Washi Tape.

 

I created a see through pocket on the page for Baby's hair, by using that old teachers favourite Fablon, you recall having to back your books using the clear plastic sticky stuff? Well I managed to pick some up from my local Pound shop, and created a see through pocket by sicking it to itself, leaving a margin on 3 sides, then folding the sides back to sick them to the page. Anyone who remembers using it, knows its not going to come off short of destroying the page! I will say its too elastic to cut on a manual die cutting machine! and I havent tried it through my electronic machines yet!

Right off to see what you have been upto, and hope you will join in the Challenge with us at Krafty Hands?

Hugs and wishing you a happy new Year, xxx

Lou

Aww Bless!

Aww how sweet of the Boys to let Mummy Linda stop chortling her little, (and if you have met her you know what I mean), toes off and put my mind at ease!
Ta boys, love you both!
Right if you missed my late night post yesterday, then here's the link  to the whole sorry story, which had Mummy Linda curled up on her craft room floor with tears coming out her little tootsies, How do I know this?
Coz when Mummy Linda phoned me tonight to commiserate, and yes she was still laughing, and crying and chortling away to herself, she was only an hour or so after Mikes email, (and I know he had a giggle over last nights post too, yes you young man, and Poor Ian how he puts up with you two I will never know!) letting me know that I could watch again at 10pm tomorrow, YES! you cant order yet, but as it all sold out, they have agreed to restock Create and Craft with it again! So go read the post, and tune in like me tomorrow night and grab your copy!
Right I'm off to sulk, as Mummies shouldn't really laugh at their children like that! Humpf!

Lou

Well Today went straight by me

And I didnt realise what today was until it was too late, so I dashed upstairs, looked at the schedule and sighed a big sigh of relief!
Then I came upstairs, got everything sorted and then howled in despair!
They had changed the schedule!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooo!
I managed to catch a glimpse on product video but thats not the same!!! They had obviously done well enough that stocks are too low for a repeat show! Well done boys, but if anyone did record it can they please send me a copy? Pretty Please?

What am I on about? What do you mean you don't know? Cor Blimey Missus! I thought everyone knew!!! The Boys.......you know the boys, , no honestly if you have been to any craft fair in the past 4 or maybe even 5 years you will have seen the boys, you've probably bought from them in the past too!
The Boys, well actually they are gents but Mummy Linda calls them the Boys and its contagious! The Krafty Hands Boys! Yes them! Cor that was hard work!!
They had a show on Create and Craft today, at 11am, doing their new Motor Mania Double CD. I am one of the DT, and it was really important that I watched and recorded it, but I missed it! Our Louis (10) sent in a card for the boys to show, and it was shown and I missed it!!
So here's the samples I sent in:

 A slider card,

A money Wallet, or gift card wallet

Kinetic Card

Plain Simple, with some Red 1" ribbon down the centre

 Tag Card

The vinyl was cut on the Cameo

Money Wallet Pearlised card

3 Toppers to make the Hanger

A4 Sized, coz I could, ner!

Last But NOT Least, Our Louis' Card!

So if you did catch the show, let me know what you thought would you? What did I miss?

Lou

Eleanor and Pickles Magical Christmas Flight.

T'was the Night before Christmas, and Santa had a problem!!

 So this is the tale of Eleanor and Pickles Magical Christmas Flight.
Now this has taken a few days to do! Remember I am the one who is working with A4 images, which is the beauty of Digi's you can make them whatever size you want. But it does mean that there's a lot to do, and mistakes are more visible!

So firstly it's quite a daunting image to work with in A4! There's a LOT of night sky to be done. My first issue was considering how to do it!
Okay so good think later, had an idea, so now to tackle the colouring of Eleanor!
I'm something of a traditionalist! I happen to like the Green and Purple versions of Christmas colours, as opposed to the soft drinks company version! So that was the colour scheme I went with. This time I have done a better Job on the hair colouring, dark for me as Grand daughter is dark haired, getting there slowly, and trying to convey a sense of dimension to the Sleigh was the  challenge!
In the end I used the whole of the spectrum of True Blues my choice of pens offered in order to do the sky, working with the lightest out to the darkest, and then trying to blend the colours.
So a finished coloured image.............okay NOW what do I do with it? Stickles out, and do the holly, Cosmic Shimmer red berries dimensional glue for the berries, and nose. Gems on her glasses, which is going to be a continuing theme for me, and then decide..............glitter or fluffy stuff for the snow on the rooves. (And before everyone goes nuts, Rooves was the accepted version of the plural of roof, when I was at school,  and if you check in the oxford dictionary, British and world English, Rooves is an accepted plural!)
So Fluffy Stuff! Unfortunately Fluffy Stuff isnt glittery! but very dimensional and tactile once heated and expanded. So now I needed to get some glimmer into the base image.........Rangers pearlescent paint! tiny dots daubed all over the background, and in real life they seem to fade into the background, and suddenly catch the light bringing them to the fore, last step was to use some Crystal Accents for the windows glasses and Pickles eyes, bless him!
So now to mount the image, now I was going down the route of Shadow boxes, but I changed my mind at the last minute, and decided on a hanging card.
So Matted and layered onto some silver mirri, then onto the base of untrimmed A4 navy Pearlescent cardstock, some Crushed silk ribbon for the handle,  now theres some space round the sides........................Okay, hmmn..................so some rub on shapes that are still sticky when you peel back, hah! so now some careful glittering! and I like it,
Dont forget the only Official Place to get hold of these images is directly from the lovely Heather, anywhere else isnt licensed to sell them!

Hope you do too, have fun,

Lou

hybrid Crafters heaven!

Hi guys, well this post is for those of us Hybrid Crafters in the UK, and isnt a craft post more a review. So while it maybe interesting for those over water, in which ever direction, its of more importance to those of us in the uk!

Now as I have previously stated I am a Hybrid Crafter. That means I find a digital image, print it out, then craft a physical product with it. Now I use a LOT of cds, digital papers and images, so that means I use a printer a LOT, at this point those in the UK are perking up their ears!
In the UK the laws arent the same as those in the USA, we invalidate our warranty if we install a CISS system! In America, they dont, as their government turned round and told the producers that it did NOT invalidate their warranty, as they werent doing anything harmful or permanent to the printers, just removing the extortionate cost of ink, and being kinder to the enviroment, by not having to recycle ink cartridges constantly!
So onto my new Baby!
I have had this for 10 days. As a hybrid crafter this has been through some work. By this time I would have been through a full set and a half of my normal cartridges, on my old, ancient, distorts the colours so I have to have special settings for it, and doesnt take what I want it to take printer!
So here's some pics, which I will go through and explain to you!

 The Printer itself is an HP Officejet 7500A. It has a Ciss installed which means that instead of cartridges which you have to replace every few pages, it has cartridges with a continuous supply of ink flowing into them. I have managed to find a small embossing powder jar to help support the lid, as the lid itself cant close as the gap is needed for the tubes carrying the ink to go into the machine.

It takes A3+. Anything from 4x6 inch photo paper to 13x 19 inch cardstock. From Tracing paper to 300gsm Pearlised Card stock! Get in there!!!!

It has an automated sheet feed scanner on top, and it still works even though the lid is open. It also has a flatbed A4 scanner

And now to the important part........the Ciss!!!
This is a printer that uses 4 cartridges, so 4 inks. Now I think you can see my issue here, this was full when I started! 3 A4 Colour Calendars, 14 A4 digi's, and 20 TV samples in 10 days later, and the ink is just over half way down. A LOT of ink!
So I have put this through its paces!




Hence the review.
I have had a CISS before. I have had an HP before. So why did I go for this?
Okay My Old HP took everything I threw at it and more! But the inks were very and I do mean VERY expensive. So I switched to compatibles, but my old machine wouldnt work with the yellow inks. So I invested in a Ciss. Not from the company I got this from, but over the internet, and as an add on to my old machine, and Boy did I have trouble! Ink all over the place, It had air blocks, leaked, all sorts of issues, no support and in the end I threw it away. And ended up giving my old HP away as it was too expensive to run.
I then ended up with an Epson, and it wouldnt take the card weights, printed out too dark, even using their inks, all sorts of issues, Epson even replaced the printer at one point, so boy was I fed up! I did manage to find a company that did a decent replacement/compatible cartridge, but even so I still couldnt get the colours right!
So after all that trouble why on earth did I go for another HP and with a Ciss?
Basically to me a Ciss makes more sense, environmentally as well as financially. No cartridges to replace day after day, no half pages printed then have to re-do as it wont print the page again until you tell it to, so half a page of ink wasted! No frantic trips to the shops, as you have discovered that you have run out of ink to complete your project. How many of you are nodding in agreement?
The printer companies make their money from the ink, that's how they can churn out printers under £30, but only when you get it home, and have used up the 1/2 tank of ink they provided you with, do you realise that in most cases the ink costs the same as the printer was in the first place! There generally isnt anything wrong with the printer, but its now getting close to the point where its actually going to work out cheaper to buy a new printer every time instead of new Cartridges!
And Why did I want another HP, when the inks are so expensive? Because unlike most machines, it can and will take 300gsm Card stock! It takes Vellum, tracing paper, envelopes, tissue paper, photo paper and card, and most importantly has a full range of settings to enable it to take Greeting Card stock and Acetate!
Okay last point here, why did I go for an A3+ machine? Because so much is produced as 12 x 12 inch! Docrafts, Serif, etc all produce 12 x 12 inch. Digitally as well as Physically!
So the problem for me was finding someone that did an HP, on A3, with a Ciss, and support! All in one!
So I did some searching. Ideally I wanted the Ciss Set up for me, and as part of the package, so many hours of research later, I discovered that there was only one company that met with all my requirements.
So now to the test, I phoned them first and had a conversation with the guy who deals with sales, turns out he's the owner, lol! Okay full support promised, he wont sell it until he is sure it works properly, the printer is guaranteed for one year, standard guarantee, the Ciss for a life time. What did he recommend bearing in mind I'm a cardmaker...........He came up with the same answer as me, the HP, Ah I said but will it take 300gsm? Hmmn he said, I have some here, so I'll put it through the machine and email you back.
So he emailed me back the answer was yes, a couple of emails later I was ready to drive down to his office, and see it in operation before buying it. But he wasnt ready for me to go get it. I havent tested it fully yet, or done the videos, he said.
So I waited, impatiently!
12 days a go, I got the go ahead, and due to family commitments, had to wait til Friday! Gggrrrrr!
So I drove down to see it, watched it be put through its paces, talked to the guy, watched him box it up and put it in my car, paid the man and drove home!
Now I'm not saying it's cheap, it isnt, BUT it IS cheaper than buying proper ink cartridges again and again! Over a year even with compatible ink cartridges I am saving money, Time, and projects!
I have a printer that FINALLY prints as I see it on the screen! I have a printer that WILL take my heavier card stocks! And its an HP which means its a work Horse, and keeps going!
So If this has piqued your interest, and do sit down and think about how much YOU spend on ink per year, then pop over to this guy: City Ink Express and have a look, also check out his You Tube support videos, so you have an idea of what to expect! I wouldnt recommend it if I wasnt happy with it, and I do also post comments that disagree with my own views, see my Happy Cut reviews for example, okay its only one lady's bad experience, but I still did post it.

Hugs

Lou

Card for a child.

That's the challenge over at Kraftyhands HQ this month, now wether you are late doing your Christmas cards, or getting ahead, is up to you, as this challenge could well be a childs Christmas card, or Birthday card, the choice is yours!

Luckily I actually have MOST of the CD's by the Boys, Mike and Ian, and I am slowly building up a collection of their Stampography Stamps as well, they're yummy! So finding something to use for this challenge was Easy Peasy! And its actually a Child themed set, full of useful bits that I wish I'd had when the kids were younger, lets put it this way, parties would have been a breeze!

This is quite an old collection Pirate Island. But the oldies are the goodies, so here's what I came up with, and by the way, by the time you read this my 3 yr old Grandson will have had his Birthday card by a few weeks, so I was really pleased to see this challenge, as it killed 2 birds with one stone!

A stepper Easel Card, dont ask, made from one of the pre designed stepper card kits, and a backing paper.
Simply cut out, assemble, and embellish to your hearts content!
So using the base stepper card from the boys Template, if you dont know how to do one, its on the CD roms, I simply assembled the card using bits I had cut from the 2 sheets, then I decided to get creative.....................
Sometimes when cards are left on display for sometime, as I know my Grandson will NOT allow his Mum to put the card away when he gets it, the card starts to slide southwards. So my issue became how to make sure the card stays upright as long as possible? Putting supports inside the card is a no-no, as Grandson would pull it open. So how to get it to stay upright?
Aha! An Easel card! Erm but I have already made the stepper card!! Okay get creative!! I printed off one of the Backing sheets from the cd onto some base card. trimmed it to the width of the card, but added a centimeter to the depth. The I scored and glued the base card to the back of the stepper using Collall All Purpose Glue. This glue has become a firm favourite with me, as it seems to physically change the composition of the card! It makes it weld to each other, and really stiffens up any project, with the advantage of being able to wipe the glue away if it leaks out the sides.
Oh and I have just realised that I should have straightened the stepper before photographing it! It is actually straight, but the left side has not come forward enough, blast!!
To finish I used glittery Letters and his age, but I photo'd this before adding his name, as its not the sort of thing I want publicised.
So what can you come up with? You have until the first Friday of the Month to create a Card for a Child. Ideally we want you to use something from the Kraftyhands webshop, which includes the Boys stuff, and loads of products sold by Crafters Companion, so it doesnt matter where in the world you are, there's bound to be something that you can use!! You can also enter by email, pop here, to find out more, for those of you that dont blog but fancy a go!
If you use Kraftyhands or Crafters Companion products from the Boys webshop, and follow the Challenge blog then you stand the chance of a voucher towards some goodies. If you dont then you can win a Blinky for your blog!
So go create Guys and Girls! And dont forget to keep an eye on Create and Craft for more inspiration from the boys when they are on next, which is very soon, so I had better get creating!

Have fun

Lou

first of a couple of posts!

Okay this is the first of a couple of posts, and this and the next are crafty, the third one is for crafters in the UK!

I got given some new digi's to play with by the lovely Heather Valentin, an American Fantasy/Gothic artist, who I actually knew nothing about at first. The name and style didnt mean anything to me, but by gum does it mean something to the kids round here...........seems she is one of the subjects in Art Class at the local Secondary School! So she has a lot of fans in this area, and it's not just confined to my local area, but the North West in general it seems, according to Middlests ex-girlfriend, as she was a big fan as well!

So lets get to the reason you are here!
I am a hybrid crafter. Basically it means that I mix the digital with the physical product. I dont just design via a program and then save the image and post it as a finished product. It means that I might start with a digital image, but I ALWAYS have a finished crafted paper or card product at the end of it.
This time is no exception! And its a bit of a tale, so grab a cup of tea or coffee, a couple of biccies, and get comfy, you could be here a while, while I lead you down the road I traveled to come up with this!

Now this is actually a first for me, and if the lovely Hels reads this, yes you did inspire me to make one, Thank You, its perfect!

Its lying down as its still drying! So dont get picky on me, I cant fast forward time, actually would much prefer to stop time for a few blissful hours of uninterupted craft, but hey-ho, no chance there!
But I digress! This, for those of you who havent come across one before, is a Shadow Box. Basically its a recessed box for displaying anything, and comes in all sorts of sizes and styles. I have a wooden one the kids got me from Chester Zoo years ago, so the concept wasnt totally alien to me, but I didnt "get it" at the time! Now these versions I get, but the others that you fill up, with loads of little areas, sorry I dont "get" those ones!
However, unfortunately for me Darling Daughter was in my craft room when I got sent the image to play with, and she immediately seized upon it and demanded that I do it for my Grand-daughter for Christmas  Hmmn more like do it for her she means!
So how to do it as something that will last and be a treasured item that comes out on display every year? As basically that's what she was after! And you cant really bring out the same cards year after year now can you? And a batch of 7 cards just for her, erm I dont think so!!
So it had to be large, as in A4, Okay so I printed it out on some A4 card stock. So I sat looking at it, wondering what to do, where to start, where to finish...........................and it has to be something I can replicate in a series, which is what this image is, one of a series of the cute Eleanor and Pickles by the lovely Heather Valentin. If you check out a couple of other blogs providing we havent all started on the same one, then you will get to see more of them, so pop over to Lexies Blog, and also Linda's blog.
Right back to my story, now where was I? Oh yes, just starting, sorry! So first step was to colour it..........now I seem to have done a swap with Lexie, her complete collection of Spectrum Noirs, for my incomplete collection of Promarkers! So as they were new to me firstly I had to play on one that printed out waaaaay too big, which took a couple of hours to do, they are different to Promarkers, but the principle is the same, and actually I find them easier to use, as the naming system makes more sense to me. And Youngest agrees, at first he was disappointed that I had given my Promarkers to Lexie, then he turned round after 20 minutes of playing with the Speccies, and asked for them for himself!
So practice over, so come on Lou pick and image and get to work girl!!
Speccies to the fore, I sat and lost myself in the colouring for several hours. When I had finished I sat and looked at it.................not bad, some area's I need to practice on and I will work through the accreditation work, when I get a few hours. Hubby came up to ask me about when I was going shopping, chores, honestly, men just dont get it do they? Now Craft shopping isnt a chore, but having to dash out when I wanted to play? Er sorry Work? So I indicated what was lying on my work surface, now normally he doesnt get craft, and its a general "yes, very nice dear, now.................". This one prompted a comment........Boy is that in my album of moments he was interested! "Is that the one you were colouring?" so I handed it to him,
"(Snort of Laughter)Is that a Frog? Hahaha! Like it! Oh yes you did colour it! Shame it went through to the back though!" Sigh, he just DOESNT UNDERSTAND!
And what does he mean, "Oh yes you did colour it?" Does that mean he thought I was incapable of colouring it? Mr "I have an Art CSE and make sure you remember that!" Or "Wow that's good, looks very professional."?
Anyways, (oh and while I remember for those of you that caught my diatribe on last years wedding anniversary, well this year , and it's not long now till said anniversary, he is constantly going on about the date, and getting it right! Which is a miracle, but we'll see! Keep an eye on here!) now I had an image coloured, what was I going to do with it? I mean I had the first part done, so a step in the right direction, but now I had to make it into some thing that could be displayed every year.......................................
Now a few weeks ago the lovely Hels was on Create and Craft making Shadow boxes, now I didnt particularly pay attention, as it was on in the background, as is normally the case for me, but it must have sunk in, so Thank you Hels, as I now "get it"! So up popped the idea into my brain, and I did have some Shadow Box designs I had downloaded from the Silhouette online store. So off I trot, and would you Adam and Eve it, I dont have one big enough! So off to the online store I trot, and would you Adam and Eve it again, they dont have one in the size I want!
Not to be thwarted, I decided to adjust one of the pre-designed shadow boxes, so I could do one that would cover 11x8 inch, roughly the size I wanted, a few mistakes later, and I had it!
So next step assemble and decorate.........Collal Glue first, as its a strange glue, that seems to change the physical make-up of the card or paper you are working on, and I need this to be tough enough to withstand years of use! So a nice stiff shadow box was completed and the picture incorporated into it.
So now to finish decorating the image and box. So gems on her Glasses, and red pearls on the berries in the picture, some snow flakes by Papermania, and some Glossy Accents on glasses lenses, and Pickles Eye's.
On the outside, I used some Twisted Christmas Rope, from the Pound shop, for the handle, and trimming around the front, then I got some of the plastic Mouldable boughs, holly and pinecones, by MCS, snd trimmed and heated them to shape. I added a Poinsettia, leaves, and bits again by MCS in the bottom corner. all in all I like it! I like the colouring, and composition, and hope that you do too, and well done by the way on getting all the way down to the bottom!
Just in case you forgot what you came here for:

Right what you need:
Eleanor and Pickles. The only Official place you can get them from is the Lovely Heather. Anywhere else is NOT official.

Your choice of Colouring mediums, now I'm not going to tell you what colours to use, as its YOUR choice!

A Shadow Box, to suit the size you choose. You can cut them with an electronic cutter like me, or purchase them un assembled in card and wood.

Embellishments to suit your design. My project is to inspire you to go off and create your own version of this, so I have told you what I used, what you use is up to you!

Right off to sleep for a few hours, well it is 1am, lol, have fun, and take care, oh and if you do pop by Linda's blog, well she has some fab candy up for grabs!

Hugs

Lou