Eclectic Ellapu Challenge #49 - Sketch

Hello Crafters!

Well, I have missed a couple of challenges at Eclectic Ellapu this last month as I took some time off to do some sorting in my work room. Although I am not done, I have made a lot of progress and managed to have a garage sale as well. It's funny how we hang on to things. It has been an interesting experience making myself get rid of things that I once loved but, still haven't used for some time. The sale went well thanks to my friend Judy who joined me. Judy is a Stampin' Up demonstrator and as most demonstrators know you have to circulate your stamps in order to keep up with the new stuff. I am not a demonstrator but love Stampin' Up products and therefore had my share of "hoards" to sell. So all in all the sale went pretty well for both of us. We manage one about every two years.

Ok, on with my challenge post. Jacki is our hostess this time 'round for the purples. She has created this beautiful sketch for us to follow.

I am still working in Fall and Halloween mode (but not for long) and made this card:

I rather enjoyed this sketch. I used Green Galore card stock (SU - retired) as my card base and backed it with black card stock for depth. The purple paper is from The Angel Company and I used Only Orange card stock (SU - retired) for layering. The image is a current SU set. I stamped it in black then added color with my SU markers and added a bit of colored glitter glue to jazz it up. The ghost tag is from Michaels to which I added some glitter glue as well and popped up on foam tape (3M). I added little dots of orange glitter glue in the corners of the small black piece then added a tulle bow for a little more dimension.

Don't forget the TREASURE HUNT starts tomorrow for the Eclectics. Lots of prizes - 29 to be exact - and a grand draw at the end. Stop over to Eclectic Ellapu tomorrow and get all the details. And hey, why not join us for the challenge as well. Fun for all in every direction!

Have a great day and of course -

Happy Crafting!

Fat-Tastic Tuesday Challenge #

Hello Crafters!

Well FTT is in it's second week of new beginnings! The new challenge theme is Anything Goes with a charm. I thought this was a nice theme and it gave me a chance to use a charm I have been wanting to use for quite a while. Here's my fat page:

 Remember the old paper pack from last week? Well, I used it again, keeping the promise I made to myself. This time I have a yellow card stock base (SU retired color) that I layered my patterned paper on. I found the blue starred paper in my scrap bucket. The lace I acquired from a sale around 2 years ago. Using score tape, I folded and attached the lace to back side of the blue patterned paper then centered on the yellow patterned paper. I cut a 1-1/4" square from white card stock and a 1" square from yellow card stock. They are layered with 3M foam tape. I threaded white organdy ribbon (retired SU) through the jump ring on the charm and tied a bow. The bow and charm are attached with a glue dot (Zots). I stamped the sentiment (SU) in black Momento ink and punched out with a SU label punch. I added blue brads to both ends and foam tape to the back and popped up near the bottom of the page. Another pretty simple card. I like it.

But, as I said last week, I plan on making bigger cards with my fat pages and here's what I did with this one:

I have a bunch of small background stamps that I have collected over the years from SU that I love using. This one is actually from a Halloween set I think. I'm not totally sure as I keep them all in one big box. It was the perfect background stamp for this card, don't you think? The white card is trimmed to 5" square and backed with Blue Bayou card stock (retired SU) cut at 5-1/4". I wish I could have done this one in pink as I have a new grand niece on the way in October. I'll be doing a post on the gift I'm making for her soon. Anyway, I do like the way this card turned out and I am happy to be making cards with my fat pages.

So, get over to Fat-Tastic Tuesday and check out the DT inspirations. Don't forget to leave them a little love when  you visit their blogs. And won't you go back and join in the challenge? Fun to be had by all.

Happy Crafting!

Fat-Tastic Tuesday's New Beginnings

Hello Crafters!

So much has been going on behind the scenes with FTT that I can't even begin to tell you all of it. But, today we have a new owner, a new look and some new weekly challenges on the horizon. However, we still have the 4x4 theme going on. Check out the sidebar at FTT for some great project ideas. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sue Bridesmith for taking over FTT for Abbie and I as we move on to other pastures. I will hang out for a short time as a GDT for Sue while some of her team is on vacation. I know that Sue will do a smashing job and I hope ya'll will give her your continued support. Break a leg Sue (supposed to be good luck to say that)!

Sue has chosen the first challenge as anything goes with buttons. Whats not to like about that? Pretty easy. So here's my project.

As you can see, I'm still in Fall mode. It won't be long and you'll start seeing snowflakes and holly around here. Anyway, my friend Leslie gave me an ATC card pack (3 actually) and I found this cute little fellow on one of them. He was surrounded by pumpkins which I did not need this time so I made him into a small tag and added some orange bakers twine. I used chocolate chip card stock (SU) for my page base then layered the patterned paper from a paper pack I got over a year ago. I promised myself no more hoarding! I laid a doily down on the corners and inked a bit to add a little more dimension. Then I inked up the paper doily with chocolate chip ink (SU), cut in half, and added my twill ribbon which I also inked up with chocolate chip ink. The ribbon was wrapped up between the layers. I had to stick it down with score tape so it wouldn't tear the paper. I stapled (Tim Holtz's Tiny Attacher) a small piece of the twill ribbon over the long strip then added a leaf embellishment to finish it off. The "Boo" sentiment is a trimmed sticker. I used powder on the back to eliminate the sticky then inked the edges and popped up on foam tape (3M). Of course, everything is inked around the edges. Lastly, I added my buttons below the tag and on my "Boo" sticker. I like how the buttons are different sizes on the sticker. Cute. All in all, I was happy with my fat page. But, look what I did with it:

I popped it up on foam tape and added it to a 5-1/4" square card base. I stamped leaves in the background with the chocolate chip ink (stamped off once or twice first) then added the photo corners (punch from SU) using chocolate chip card stock and the patterned paper from the fat page. Love it! I have decided I will be doing this more often with my fat pages. I love the look.

Well, that's it for me today. Get on over to Fat-Tastic Tuesday and check out the Fat-Tastic team inspiration. And hey, why not join in the challenge? There's a great prize to be won!

Happy Crafting!

Eclectic Ellapu 1 Year Blogaversary

 

IT'S A CELEBRATION!

Yep, it's party time in the month of October over at Eclectic Ellapu! We are having a HUGE treasure hunt for our birthday celebration starting October 1st and we hope you will want to join us. There will be a prize every day for 29 days, and other activities on the 30th & 31st!

Wow!

I can't disclose all of the details now so you will want to visit Eclectic Ellapu on the 1st for all the rules. Go ahead and visit her now though and grab the blog candy badge and to become a follower just to get you started. Then be sure to stop back on the first to join in the fun.

Let's Party!

Happy Crafting!

 

Eclectic Ellapu Challenge #45, Altered Eclectics #3

Hello Crafters!

Here we are again with another lovely challenge from Eclectic Ellapu. The Purples are providing inspiration for you and Andria has chosen the theme "Sentiment". Now that means that the sentiment on your project must be the main focus. I think I can do that. Well, it turns out that the Altered Eclectics also have a new challenge starting today. So, I sort of combined them but I do have two projects.

First Eclectic Ellapu.

Of the two projects I did, I chose to do the card for EE. I needed to make a few Fall cards for the shop to fill in my seasonal display anyway and added a little extra "stuff" to make it a worthwhile post. So, here it is:

I so wanted to ad "YA'LL" to the bottom right of the card but it just didn't fit with all the "pretty" stuff I had going on. The card is pretty self explanatory so I won't go into a lot of detail. However, I did add each of those little green bling dots individually which explains why they are a little crooked. lol. The flowers are from a pick which I took apart and removed the centers to add the brads. The center were quite large and would never have mailed well.

My second project was for Altered Eclectics. There is a lot more info and a few more pictures on this one. Here's picture number one.

The project started with a pumpkin pick I got on sale at Hobby Lobby. It's about 5" across which is a bit large as far as floral pics go. It had a shiny surface that I didn't like so I put clear Gesso on it to get started. After that was dry I added torn tan tissue paper (say that 3 times!) with Mod Podge glue. When it was dry, I used some brown ink to distress it a bit and add depth between the bumps and highlight the texture. Then I used my Millennium pen to trace the words onto the tissue paper and used the Mod Podge again to adhere to the pumpkin. I used 3 different sentiments in all.

"Learn to pause...or nothing worthwhile will catch up to you."

So, do you see why I had trouble choosing which blog got what project this time? They both work for both blogs. Interestingly enough, they both post new challenges today. So, you have twice the viewing pleasure today (I hope it's your pleasure anyway).

Lastly I made the topper for the pumpkin. After I cut out the center of a doily I added 3 different colors of glimmer mist to it (mostly purple). I had to heat set it as I am an impatient crafter (didn't know that about me did you?).  I gathered it up as you would to make a cloth yoyo. I actually used button thread to do that. I readied my flowers by removing from the pic (centers stayed attached this time) and arranged with a leaf from another pick and added the ribbons. I did ink the flowers up a tiny bit to soften the colors a little. Here's a close up:

You may have noticed a little texture going on.

To do this I added black refill ink to a little stencil paste.  I found an old piece of plastic I had saved with diamond shapes in it and used it as a stencil. Due to the curved surface of the pumpkin, this was by far the hardest thing to do on this project. I also used a checkerboard stencil in another area. All in all I'm ok with it even if it isn't perfect. After all it is altered art, right? You may also have noticed a bit of texture on the "enjoy the journey" pic above. I used drywall tape and brown ink to create that stenciled look. I guess nothing is safe in my craft room. I will use anything that I can get my hands on to create my projects.

I enjoyed making these projects and hope to make more in the days to come. In the meantime, please visit Electic Ellapu and Altered Eclectics blogs and check out the awesome inspiration from the rest of the Design Teams. Lots of eye candy there! We would love to see you join our challenges as well.

Happy Crafting!