Crafty Emblies DT Projects for April

Hi all

Just back from a lovely week in Norway visiting Vikkie and Pete. Spent time just chillin out, doing a bit of shopping and some crafting. Got very into a series on Netflix while I was there called White Collar, but I will get ,more into the holiday news on my next blog post.

Main point of todays blog is to share my design team projects for Crafty Emblies for this month. There have been changes to the DT and now there are no themes for each month which is good as it doesnt limit to you what to make.

I made 2 projects this month again,  the first being for the papercrafting DT. I decided to make a journal and decorate the cover with some emblies.

 

 

 



I used the emblies birdcage, which I painted with white gesso and then embossed and also a couple of wooden emblies heart which I also painted inked and embossed.

The 2nd project was an altered canvas ...

 

 

 

I covered the canvas with paper. I stamped onto a paper napkin and layered that on top, with pieces of corrugated cardboard and some clock faces cut from a paper pack. I added cardboard trees, a clock face and a clock with wings all from Crafty Emblies. Then finished off the whole thing with paper flowers and a piece of chain.

 

Hope you will all stop by the Crafty Emblies blog and enter a project of your own, as I said "anything goes" and you may very well win a lovely prize of emblies goodies.

Here is a link to the blog page ....... http://crafty-emblies.blogspot.co.uk/p/challenge.html

 

Happy Crafting

x

 



9.15 and chillin in bed ........ Ahhhhhh

Morning all, thought I would write up my blog post from the coziness of my bed today. Yesterday was a lovely sunny day and I spent a good portion of it pottering in the garden which was nice to get some sun. Not sure if today is going to be such a springlike day unfortunately :(

Last post I shared my altered chest of drawers for the Crafty Assembly challenge and I was delighted to be picked as the winner. I got to choose the theme for the next challenge and chose "anything with lace" so this is the canvas I came up with.

 



I stamped a background onto material using a stamp set by 7gypsies then stuck down an image from a paper napkin which is back onto paper and distressed with ink. I used lace and doilies, some bling and IAMRoses flowers and one of the lovely birdcages produced by Crafty Emblies http://www.crafty-emblies.org/

The challenge today is "Masculine" so that will def be a challenge for me but I will give it a go. Iona is home for Easter break so I am having to share my time in her bedroom with her lol so not so much time devoted to crafting unfortunately :(

Anyway I supposed I should scrape myself out of bed and get organised.
Hope you all have a great day
x

Woo Hoo the start of the hols :)

Hiya everyone I am a happy bunny today .......... school is officially on hols for 2 weeks AND I woke to the sun shining this morning and it feels a lot like Spring AT LAST!!!! (hope i aint cursed it now :S )
I aint done a huge amount of crafting lately but I shall post the pics of the projects I have done. I am slightly addicted to the masquerade masks and have made another 2

 

Still another 6 left to alter so stay tuned lol

 

 

Today I did a bit of a rushed crafty project for the ning site CRAFTY ASSEMBLY which runs a challenge every two day. I had kinda forgotten about the challenge so did an altered chest of drawer today to fit in with the challenge theme of METALLIC. I covered the chest with tinfoil, painted it with black acrylic and dabbed most of the paint off with a tissue to give a metallic look. I emblished it with a few crafty emblies bits (the treble clef and music notes) and some bits and bobs from my stash.

 



I hope everyone is having a good week and if you have easter hols to look forward to hope the weather is kind and you have a fabby time

x

Start of a new week

Hi everyone,

A new week and over the weekend some changes were made to the Crafty Emblies blog (. Now any entries to the blog challenge will be on an "Anything Goes" basis, so any entry of any type of project with any theme goes into the draw to win some Emblies goodies. So please all subscribed to the blog and take part, nothing ventured nothing gained as they say :)
There was a re-jig of DT members and I was very kindly asked if I would like to float between the Altered Art and the Papercrafting as I enjoy both and of course I agreed. I can choose to do one or the other or both projects in a month. This month I decided on doing both so I made a banner with the word CREATE incorporating scraps of paper packs I had and of course some emblies AND and altered CD which I really enjoyed making.

 

Remember to stop by the emblies blog and enter a project for the monthly challenge.

 

Off to do a bit more crafting today as the weather is so horrible

 

 

Tracy x

Mid week blog

Hiya everyone,

Nothing much to tell so far this week to be honest. Went back to work on Monday after being off ill las week but to be honest I am absolutely shattered. Slept for a while this afternoon so got no crafting done :(

The only crafty things I have done the past few days have been for the Craftymess Daily Challenge on FB. Yesterday was a black and white theme so I did a 12 x 12 scrapbook page of my younger daughter and her piano. I was quite hard I thought to do this monochromatic page, I think I instintively want to put another colour in the mix to make things pop when scrapbooking so although I got it done quite quickly I cant say I am that pleased with it :S but I guess everyone is more critical of their own work.

 

 

Another day the challenge theme was handmade flowers so I drew a Tim Holtz type tattered florals kinda flower and cut a few out of G45 paper that I had. Then I wet the flower shapes, scrunched them then dried them out so they go textured. I made a wire and lace leaf for a change too.

 



I am waiting to find out if tomorrows challenge will inspire me to get crafty as I aint been in the mood today at all :(

Anyway I will sign off tonight, have a great evening all.
Tracy x

Crafty Emblies Papercraft Challenge - WINGS theme

Hey everyone,

Hope you are all having a fabby day. I survived the dress shopping, Isla was ok as she had spotted a dress one day she was in the city with her mates, so that was quite easy as we just went and picked one up. Me on the other had found it a bit trickier. Anything that was cheap and something I would wear again and again seemed awfully casual for a wedding. I did try on one nice dress in Monsoon but it was something I couldnt see myself wearing very often as it was really dressy and no way would I justify buying something over a hundred quid. Did finally get a nice dress that was more expensive than I would usually buy but it is one I could wear to work eventually and could def wear with long boots to make it more casual, so I am happy.

Anyway getting back to the Design Team Project. I aint a big card maker but as it is a Papercrafting Team I decided to go with a 12 x 12 Scrapbook Layout.

The background paper has been in my stash for some time so I am afraid I dont know which paper collection it came from and other than that I just used scraps I had. The chipboard letters are from Stampin Up which I painted, the other font is cut using my cricut. I had a little chipboard name plate which I painted too and tied a piece of ribbon round. The Crafty Emblies items on the layout are the wooden wings which I merely covered in glitter glue, easy peasy. A few bits of braid across the layout to finish and a tag and hey presto all done.
This a quick easy layout which I think allows the photograph to be centre stage.

Anyway I hope you are all gonna hop on over to the crafty emblies challenge blog and leave a project there for everyone to have a look at and you might even win some goodies.

Happy crafting
xx

Crafty Emblies news

Hi folks,

Well today is the day that the Papercraft Design Team will be going live ........... ITS SO EXCITING !!!!

To explain for you any of you who arent familiar with Crafty Emblies - they are a family run business, with the husband and wife team of Judie and Pete producing their products. http://www.crafty-emblies.org/ please stop by and have a look at the lovely versatile wooden embellishments and items for altering they supply.

Every month on the Crafty Emblies blog - http://crafty-emblies.blogspot.co.uk/p/altered-art-challenge.html they have a monthly challenge. There are two sections the first being the ALTERED ART team which runs from the second week of each month till the next, and the PAPERCRAFTING team (which I am lucky enough to be a part of) which runs from the first week of the month, so that both challenges run alongside each other and are on the same theme. Please follow the link above as it will be much clearer there.

The blog also has blog candy on offer regularly and the prizes for the blog challenge up for grabs too, so it is def. worth showing off your creations for the chance to win a prize.

The theme running for this month is WINGS and I will be back later to update and post my Design Team project I made for this months challenge.

In the Crafty Emblies shop you can purchase a slot together dressform, which I actually used for the daily challenge on the FB group Craftymess yesterday. I painted it, then slotted it together (which doesnt need any glue btw as each section seems to click into place) then deorated it with material, netting, pearls and IamRoses flowers. Here is pic of the finished product :-



Right folks I have to shoot, going through to Aberdeen with Isla today, dress shopping - wish me luck lol
Have a crafty happy day
xx

Graphic 45 Design Team 2013 Audition

Hey everyone, just a very quick post today. I have decided to try out for the Graphic 45 Design Team 2013 call. I had to choose 6 projects to showcase so here they are :S

This was one of the hardest choices I have had to make lol but I am just leaving it in the hands of the gods and only hope the judges at G45 like what they see. I will keep you all posted if I hear anymore from them.

 

 

Eveyone have a happy, crafty Thursday :) xx

OOOH OOOH blog candy

Hey everyone
Just a very quick post today

Check out this fabby blog candy giveaway by Crafty Emblies. Their items are brilliant value and so versatile, can be used on cards and altered projects.
Stop by and have a look :)   http://crafty-emblies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/blog-candy.html

And on the subject of altering this has been my crafting effort today = an altered jar - covered in lace and material and decorated with a paper napkin, IAMROSES and of course a CRAFTY EMBLIE treble clef .

Hope you all like and are having a crafty day

Late night ramble

Hey folks,
Well it is 20 mins to midnight and this is late for me. My hubby has managed to waken me with his coughing so I have escaped to Iona's room. I am a light sleeper anyway but it is impossible to sleep with him making that racket lol
Hmm what have I been up to lately, well plenty crafting and I cant wait for the Crafty Emblies Papercraft Design Team Challenge to go live in a few days, it is so exciting. The Altered Art Team have already gone live with their Challenge and it was wonderful to see what everyone had come up with. Check out http://crafty-emblies.blogspot.co.uk
I have been pretty busy crafting and I have enjoyed making a couple of 12 x 12 pages which has been lovely as I guess I had been working more on altered art projects of late

I was out in the garden for a little while today but I was very sensible and only worked for an hour. I cant wait to be able to start sharing the garden with you but as yet it is still at the messy, and not very green winter stage the only thing that has started appear are my snowdrops and few daffodil stems.

 

Anyway that is enough for tonight I really should try to get some sleep. Mal is off to Dubai in the morning for a couple of weeks, so no doubt he will waken my at 3.30 am when he leaves.
xx Tracy xx

Personal Journal

Hi everyone
I have seen 2 blog posts today from different people showing journal pages that they have made and it reminded me that last year I started a personal art journal myself.
My best friend Vikkie suggested doing one but I wasnt really sure how to go about it. I dont know if I have mentioned before but I suffer from MS which leaves me exhausted at times and I also suffer from depression. I kinda think I am on the side of being bi-polar as I can feel great at times then can feel like I am in the depths at others. Anyway Vikkie suggest a journal might be a good way of getting my feelings out as I do tend to bottle things up and put a brave face on things for the sake of my family.
She gave me a book all about journalling and a couple of the pages I did were kinda loosely based on some of the pages folk had done in the book. It was very helpful and it was very interesting to see how some of the people came up with the pages and the stories behind them.
Anyway I decided to use a 12 x 12 scrapbook album to hold my pages and use papers that had been lying in my stash for literally years (but being a tight fisted scot I just didnt want to throw them out lol) so I could paint or whatever I fancied on top of them to cover them up.
These are the pages that I came up with ;-

 

Anyway after seeing the pages today that others have done I am thinking it is maybe time to get a few more pages done in my own journal.

 

Cya all soon x

I {heart} my body art

I got my first tattoo when I was 31 ......... I had always said even from being a teen I wanted to get ink done and for my 30th birthday I decided to get a tattoo but chickened out. One trip through to Aberdeen with my hubby when i was 31 I convinced him to come with me to one of the tattooists in the city. I pondered over the racks and racks of pictures available and decided upon an eye and to get it on my lower back. I remember being really excited but very nervous about getting it and unfortunately I think I worked myself up far too much and the whole experience was a bit of a nightmare - I felt faint and the tattooist found me a very difficult customer lol.  Anyway I survived and decided that that was probably going to be my one and only tattoo as I wouldnt put myself through that again.
Anyway a few years back a friend and I decided to get matching tattoos. We decided on elvish writing which means "friendship". Since that fateful October I have been hooked and at 43 I now have 5 tattoos, 3 of which are a pretty decent size lol. I think some folk think I am having a midlife crisis and my hubby doesnt wholly approve but the way I see it is as a form of art and expression. I put a lot of thought and consideration into the art work I get and I will never regret getting the ink that I have.

I would love to get some more and have a couple of ideas drawn up but it isnt cheap to get a decent tattooist so other things get priority. I once did a journal page which sums up the way I feel about my tattoos the title being LOVE ME ..... LOVE MY INK :)

 

Here is my newest tattoo :)

 

Hiya everyone,

Good grief it is only Tuesday and I am shattered already AND I had a short week last week with there being inservice days at school.

I said in a previous post I am now on the Crafty Emblies Design Team and I am very excited as the first DT item will be going live in a couple of weeks. I am waiting for a package with an order in it to arrive but I am getting impatient lol I just want it to get here so I can get my hands on the things I ordered.

I will put up pics of my latest crafty projects. I am enjoying taking part in the daily challenges being held on the Craftymess group on Facebook and have tried to join in on a daily basis. I actually won a challenge last week and got to choose the next days theme so that was nice. It is a lovely group and everyone is very supportive of everyones work. It is all taken as a bit of fun and a good way to encourage everyone to be crafty on daily basis. I chose Butterflies as my theme as I LOVE butterflies hence I have 5 tattooed on me incorporated into various personal art work I have.

I dont have much else to talk about today so I will leave you with the pictures of my craftyness this week.

Hugs Tracy x

Crafting Crazy :)

Hiya all,

Well I have had a busy month so far. First off my blooming computer crashed on me. Hubby tried to fix it and did to an extent but it still wasnt the best but he took it into his work for the IT guys there to have a play with and low and behold I seem to be back in the land of computerisation again - thank heavens.
My lovely friend Vikkie came over from Norway for a long weekend and we had lots of fun shopping and chatting and just generally having a laugh. It was so nice to have her here and I just wish we lived closer so we could do the "pop round for a coffee" thing, I do miss not having that with her and although we chat most days face to face on skype it still aint quite the same.
I am really enjoying my crafting at the moment, I think being asked to be on the Crafty Emblies design team has definately given me a boost. I have also joined Craftymess on FB and I am having great fun doing the daily challenges on there. It is so nice to have a catalyst to force you into a project instead of humming and heying over what you want to do.
Anyway I am gonna get pictures for this post sorted out later of some of my crafting efforts of late but just now I am going to go out to the garden for a while as it looks really mild this morning.
I need to start with doing an hour every day out there to keep on top of things as it is quite a big space and needs a fair bit of sorting out and I really want to get stuck into my vegetable garden again this year as last year it was a bit of a disaster. I have to be careful about how much I actually so tho as the MS is suffer from doesnt like me doing too much at a time and will make me suffer if I tire myself out too much lol
Anyway I will be back with pics later today - have a lovely weekend all

Hugs Tracy x

So excited .... and honoured

Hi everyone

 I have exciting news ....... I have been asked by the lovely ladies at Crafty Emblies http://www.crafty-emblies.org/ to be on their paper crafting design team - wooohooo. This is new team and will cover ATC's, Scrapbooking (which is great as I need the push to get back into this) and cardmaking (which I must admit will be a bit of a challenge for me as this aint a big thing of mine .... but who doesnt enjoy a challenge???) I am so honoured to have been offered this chance and cant wait to get started.  The other challenge I will have to overcome is my terrible technophobia :S which might be harder to do lol. I might be able to suss out the problem with putting photos on my blog posts eventually but in the meantime I have put some pics in the tab under home on the left of my page which says Crafty Photos so please have a browse at some of my latest creations :)

Anyway that was just a quick post today

cya all soon x

Brrrrr - its freezing :S

Hiya folks, Lordy where has the week gone, Tuesday again lol.

I have been crafting mad this week, made a couple of altered canvases, altered a couple of mini chest of drawers and I have even found a jar big enough for a fairy scene I made a couple of years ago lol
I made it for my friend Vikkie but made the mistake of making it before having a jar to actually putting it in lol. She might be across next month (all being well) so she might have to fit it in her suitcase, lol I think she might faint tho as it is a standing joke that she aint got her captured fairy yet :S

I was away at the weekend with hubby and the neighbours and had a really nice time. The hotel was gorgeous, very oldie worldy and the food was top notch, really enjoyable. Just a pity it was only for one night as the neghbours couldnt get a baby sitter for 2 nights. Now that is one really great thing about having teenagers now, you dont have to worry about babysitters :D

The weather here is "baltic" - so cold. We have been lucky I guess in that we havent had much snow compared to parts of the UK. I quite enjoy the snow tho,I love how it makes everything so picture perfect and when it is a nice sunny day I love going walking in it. The north east of scotland seems to avoid heavy snow fall tho which is a shame even tho it is cold enough for it.

I am still trying to work out the situation with uploading pics on here and might master it yet lol. I really need to remember to ask Vikkie the next time I am talking to her on skype as she is my computer ghuru.

Anyway hopefully there will be crafty pic soon. I am off to the supermarket for a couple of things before I sit down to craft this afternoon.

Bye for now
Tracy x

43 ugh!!!

Howdy ho,

Well the crafting has been going resonably well over the past few days. I am having a bit of a problem with putting photos on here, ie I cant seem to find an easy way to do it (told you I am a total technophobe) I am sure you didnt have to put a photograph up using an url when I first started blogging :S  ANY HELP WITH THIS WOULD BE APPRECIATED XX  I will try again after I have finished typing to see if I can work it out for myself but I aint holding out much hope :P
I made a couple of 12 x 12 layouts and altered a wooden birdhouse, which I hope to show you.

As you can see from the title of my post I have had a birthday. I got a lovely surprise phone call from my bestie in Norway wishing me a happy birthday first thing in the morning which cheered me up no end. I didnt do anything, I aint really that big on birthdays to be honest it is another year older which depending on how I am feeling mentally or health wise will depend on how I take it lol
I aint growing old very gracefully (which I kinda thought I would be able to do) I keep getting tattoos (more about them later) cut my hair pretty short and have dyed it red. This has been a gradual process like, I didnt do all this on Monday for my birthday lol. I am pretty sure most people think I am having a mid life crisis (some have actually voiced that opinion)

I havent been looking after myself particularly well since Christmas. I suffer from depression. I have done for A LONG time but I have only been taking medication to help for a couple of years, when eventually I got to the point I couldnt pull myself up. I have had spates of "the blues" since my eldest was born (19 years ago this year) but I never liked to admit how down I often felt. I felt I couldnt confide in anyone as I have always tried to act like I am a super being that can manage it all (which I still do :S just me I guess) My mum (unknowing how I felt) used to always tut tut about people with "depression" saying that they just needed to get a grip, so of course because of this I was reluctant to admit I was feeling as bad as I was. For the most point over the years I had always been able to pick myself up relatively easily, but a couple of years back I just got to the point I couldnt do it and with encouragement of my best friend I went to see the doctor. I think if I didnt have other health problems which make me feel tired and unwell I would be pretty good but as I have MS too, sometimes the fatique I feel makes the depression feel worse, a vicious circle really.

Anyway on a cheerier note, I am going out with hubby and our neighbours at the weekend for a meal (neighbours birthday is tomorrow so him and Mal cooked up a plan to have a joint celebration at the weekend.

Right I will go try to upload some pics, if that fails I will just put in link to my YouTube where you can watch the videos I did of my crafting efforts over the weekend.

Thank you for stopping by and feel free to comment at anytime, I would love to hear from you all

x

PHOTO FAIL lol - here is the link to my Youtube instead http://www.youtube.com/user/faeriecrafts/videos?view=0

My crafty items this weekend

Here are my 2 crafty items I have made this weekend so far, hopefully by the end of the day there may be more to add.
They are both altered canvasses, the first (music themed) I did for my youngest daughter she is mad on music. She plays piano and is soon to be sitting her Grade 4 exam and in the past year she has self taught herself to play guitar just by watching youtube for tips. She sings also, so you can imagine when she is around the house is never quiet lol. I had a very large canvas board in my stash but it was a bit large so I cut a piece off it (very carefully) using a craft knife, and decorated it with a music based quote as the inspiration.
The second is made using the offcut piece of canvas board.
They are both embellished using crafty emblies wooden embellishments  http://www.crafty-emblies.org/index.aspx?pageid=1809241

If you would like to see the projects in more detail stop by my youtube channel and watch the videos :) http://www.youtube.com/user/faeriecrafts?feature=mhee

Anyway here are the pics

Note to self - MUST GET BETTER AT BLOGGING

Happy New Year all, I am disgusted with myself at how much I have neglected my blog in the past months, should I make the New Year resolution to attend to it more or will that be a wasted effort like many resolutions of the past??? lol we shall see :S

I had a quiet Christmas which was nice. I felt like I was turning into a sloth by the end of 2 weeks tho and have to say it is nice to get into a routine again.

Craft wise I have suffered a bit of a dry spell, will only a few altered projects completed. I hate it when your mojo runs off and leaves you. I have done better this weekend so far, so hopefully the drought is over lol. I have moved my craft stuff into Iona's bedroom since she is at university and not at home all the time, I didnt see much point in the room being totally unused, much to her disgust. I have tried to do it subtly tho, one of her bookcases still has her favourite novels in, the other has my craft stuff. I have comandeered half the built-in wardrobe space :S and I have a corner of the wall space round about my bookcase which has crafty wall art. I wonder how many of you think I am a mean mother lol

I have another tattoo being drawn up and hope to get it shortly.

Anyway this is a late nighter for me and must get my head down, kinda wish I could hibernate as I hate winter with a passion. I wonder if I could fatten myself up enough for next winter for that to be successful. Hedgehogs def have the right idea

cya all soon
Tracy