A little big rant

Ok, I'm gonna jump right in here and go for the heart of the matter.

I have been in a few DT's

I enter challenges with the work I take time to post

I am aware I am not absolutely fantastic in what I create.

Everything I create takes time and effort

Everything anybody creates takes time and effort

Entering challenges, premoting YOUR challenge blog on mine. That takes effort too

DO NOT come here as a DT member because I happen to be your assigned number to comment on and say Somethig WORTHLESS!!

Being a DT member is a chance for you to be inspired by others. It's about inspiring others and opening your world to new designs and people and art and effort. Embracing what you see.

Or maybe it's so you can get free stuff from the sponsors of your DT.. Well that SHOWS

I've left this for months now. Because every now and then, a DT member wil come along and say absolutely NOTHING about my work, other than copy and pasting a general 'thanks for playing along' and that's the better comment, commenting to say what a great card I have created, for example. When it's not even a bloody card. I made picture frames once... 'Nice card' 

Are you even looking at my work? 

We'll just DONT! I'd sooner you go take another number and comment on someone else. Saying nothing is actually BETTER

Slate me for this post all you like. But I will drop a challenge blog who has its DT members come and say things like this, I won't enter, I won't visit, and I won't encourage anyone else to.

Yeah, so maybe one person like me not visiting your blog is like a drop in the ocean, but I cannot be the only one who HATES this.

It's insulting

SO, as a DT member, read and understand now, don't comment here because I'm your assigned number if you can't show you've actually looked at my work. Even 'nice colour choice' 'cute bow' or 'like the way your colouring looks' it's not difficult to find something good in everything...

On that note, if you have read this and feel the same, if you place time and effort into making something and want some sort of recognition for this then visit DreamTime Designs Craft Challenge... (Link in my sidebar) this DT is full of ladies who DO take the time to look at your work, tell you what they love about it and make you feel glad you entered the challenge, all because they WANT to.

And if anyone wants to 'have a go' back at me for this post. Go ahead, I have held my tongue for quite some time about comments like this now. No more.

DDCC challenge 3 - My technique + Christmas

Hey guys, SO excited for this post, go head on over to Dreamtime Designs Craft Challenge to see our new challenge... if you have visited from there, you may have already seen my sneak peek which looks a little something like this:

So ill jump right in and show you the finished project:

Technique? well, our challenge was to create a project revolving around Christmas and expanding our skills, with a technique we haven't tried before but have always wanted to try...

well, me personally, there's always something i want to try! that's for sure!! so in this little project alone there is three, but my main one, and the reason i have kept the card pretty simple is not to detract from my main technique.... the background paper! Made it myself i did!

So HOW?? i hear you cry... with a glue gun of course!
So, i dont own any stencils, nor do i own the plastic type stencil materials to make my own... but i do own a portrait and i know i can cut just about anything i wanted to... but i found the only materials i had to hand, was card, and eventually, after using it over and over with inks and paints... it got soggy and messy, smudged at the edges, broke onto my work, just a mess....

So i looked around and spotted my trusty glue gun... and my heatproof mat.... and a lightbulb moment! So i drew pretty shapes with my glue gun, onto the mat, this was quite fun itself! I waited for them to cool and go hard, and lifted the shapes off... and there, i have my very own, re-useable, wipe-clean... stencils!

Then I followed my DT sisters tip to use my Distress Stains Inks, into a spray bottle... (cheaper than buying all those mists they sell!) and i sprayed the heck out of some card with my stencils... waited for it to dry, lifted the glue stencils off and i was in love with the results, such a funky design... and each design will be different.. depending on the card, the colours, the design of the glue... endless options!

On a side note, I also had a very quick play with some Shrink plastic, i used the one rubber stamp i owned, a christmas tree, added a spot of colour with my Promarkers, and then set my heat gun onto it until it shrunk... this can be seen in the lower right corner of my project.... i didnt play long with the shrink plastic, but i will be having another go in the future!

Another side note was inspired by a DT sisters first every project for the challenge blog - GILDING FLAKES... can i firstly just say, however amazing these little things are... they do get EVERYWHERE... see my 'Oooops' section below for more details ;)

I didnt have any stamps, from the tutorials i saw, you basically are meant to use special glue on a stamp, (like you would use ink) stamp it... throw the flakes on it... smush it down... and use a special pad to brush it all away, and your left with what the glue holds

Well having a shortage of stamps i felt REALLY restricted on what i could design... then i had another brainwave (thats me done for the year, by the way!!) i used my portrait to cut a snowflake and some letters, basically like a stencil on some card... placed the card onto more card... used a sponge to sponge on the glue (which is quite thick)... careful... removed the card, and dumped my flakes on... smush it down and wipe away... oh, you also really dont need to buy the special pad they suggest to wipe the flakes away.. i lightly used a normal sponge kitchen scourer (the rough side) it was perfect

here are my examples:

then i just cut out the snowflake and stuck it on - its real fun and shiny, the pic doesnt show this very well though...

So thats me and my few weeks - i LOVED playing, and theres more i want to do with the techniques i just touched on... along with i know my other DT sisters will be doing something i'll wanna try too!.... so i have a busy few weeks ahead and probably a massive christmas list for santa!



I coloured the image from REDONKADOODLES with my promarkers, I love the image and really pleased with my colouring here

I added some bling in the form of stickles to my letters, once again keeping things quite simple

Head over to my DT sisters, check out their work, and play along! no matter what the technique - try one, and enter! the prize is too good to miss! come on, we want YOU to try something new.... how can you not go play along?

PRIZE DETAILS

Sponsor: Through The Craft Room Door Magazine

The prize will be a one year subscription to the magazine. In order to receive the gift you need to join TTCRD web site first. http://craftrmdoor.ning.com/

Through The Craft Room Magazine is offering a one years subscription to the next winner of DreamTimes Designs challenge. TTCRD is an online paper craft magazine which can be downloaded to your personal computer and is filled with tutorials, inspirations and articles for the subscribers to read and you have access to over 80 free digial images to create cards, scrapbook and projects with.

Would you love to be publish and have a chance to win a $25.00 gift certificate to the store of your choice. You can do this by submitting a paper craft creation to the magazine - details for submissions is located on the web site which you can join for free.

OOOPPPS LIST
Im known in the DT group for being a bit

silly... i making horrid typing errors that make me say things i dont even mean... and then i just say the wrong things totally... i thought my sisters would love to read how silly ive been during this challenge so here I go...
     TIP for Gilding flakes... DONT you dare sneeze, yawn or fan yourself with paper when they are out - absolute CHAOS... they fly everywhere!  
Also, dont get the glue on your finger and then rub your eye... gilding flakes will stick to the glue, and your eyes do not look pretty with the flakes
     When your using glue gun stencils... and your wanting the spray mist to dry quicker... dont use your HEAT gun to quicken the drying time... turns out, glue melts... lol!

CHALLENGES:

Gem Challenges = winter wonderland
Allsorts challenge blog = inspired by a christmas song - i just love the digi image here and the way shes hugging santa makes me think of 'Oh i wish it could be christmas... everdaaaayyy' lol
As You Like It = Fave digi - this one! my first christmas digi ever, my first chriatmas make, and she reminds me of me and how i would act if i met little santa lol
Challenges for everybody = Anything Goes
I Love Promarkers = Anything goes

Update after dissappearence .. DDCC + KennyK

Hey blog-fan's!

Must apologise for my lack of 'here-ness' I have had many a holiday over the past few weeks. However im back in action now and despite some holidays, ive been frantically working in my crafty room and have many a project in the pipeline

Firstly tho, I'd like to tell you theres still time to enter our challenge over at Dream Time Designs Craft Challenge... but while you are there, hang around a little as we will be announcing the new challenge in just a few days, this one, you wont want to miss! and im so excited to see the rest of my DT sisters projects but also finally reveal mine! i do believe its one of my best works with regards to colouring and also the challenge itself...  you wont want to miss it!

Ive also been delayed in wearing my badge with pride as, by looking at the DDCC blog, you'll notice i won DT sister in the spotlight! absolutly over the moon for my sisters to pick me for this, so thanks again to all of you!



On another note.... KennyK has always been a place close to my heart, my first blogged card was made using one of their images, and i just love them, i nearly fell over when I saw they were having a DT call... then i nearly fell over again when I realised i had absolutly no time to play along! but I couldnt let the opportunity go to waste, so instead, im taking a risk and entering my first ever blogged card into the call...  ok, so its pretty obviously it was my first ever card... id like to think the DT girls and guys will check out my more recent works too, id like to think i have improved slightly!! lol

Anyway, it won over at KennyK's spotlight when it was enrered (check my sidebar - still very proud!) So im entering it, just because I cant miss the call.... i just cant!! lol
 

Dreamtime Designs Craft Challenge #2: My Craft Room - Construct A Lightbox

hey guys - me again (who else?)

im here today with another unique challenge from DDCC

Heres a little info on the challenge:

This challenge revolves around creating a lightbox to enable you to take better photo's of your designs & / or projects.  It will enable you to eliminate items in the background & provide better lighting during your photo shoot.

So- being the clever girl that i am, i just hit this one head on, although a google search on 'how to create a lightbox' will bring up many many results, i had an idea how, so just went ahead a tried! heres what i did:

What do i want from a lightbox? well i want something i can keep indoors to take pics, especially with this rubbish weather, so it really had to be effective with indoor light and not just outside

here are my supplies

Cardboard box
sturdy white card
white tissue paper
scissors
Knife
light
tape

 Take your desired box

Close up the back end so there is only one open end

Dont worry if your box is marked inside in any way - this wont matter later - turn the box the way you want it to suit your project needs

Using your knife and ruler, edge the box on both left and right side, your bascially making a frame on either side of the box 

Punch out the frame so you have two holes on either side of the box

now take your tissue paper and place it over each hole - secure with tape

You are nearly done!

Lastly - take some white card, this should be the width of your box but ideally needs to be about double the length, as your going to slide it inside so it covers the whole of the inside

Taadaaahh! a lightbox!

You can really play around with different lights, even colourd ones, flashing ones - light on both sides or just one - so many different effects!

here are some before and afters:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Before:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

So, having never used a lightbox before, and although this really was just an experiment, i cant believe how different the photos have come out - im so impressed with how much the focal point lays on the images now and your eye is not at all drawn away from what you want your viewers to see, im using just basic house lamps, but im excited to see what other effects can be created

Questions:

1 Has your lightbox helped you, how?

certainly has!! i think the pictures speak for themselves dont they? and such a simple set up, something we all have laying around, a box!

2 Are you using your lightbox inside or out

Due to bad weather, ill mainly be using my box inside, but it could sure go outside too to create different effects!

3 Are you using lights, if so which kind

Just bog standard lamps... nothing special, but imagine using coloured lights or flashing ones! wow!

4 tell us two tips about creating or using your lightbox

the first one is, dont think it has to be fancy! it doesnt look like much but it does the job

 

If youd like the chance to see what our fab prize is and win - visit DDCC NOW!! :)

Sassy Studio and CCC say read and relax!

hey blogland wonderers!

Im here today to share my DT post for Creative Creations Challenges

This week our theme is BOOKS and we are sponsored by the  lovely Sassy Studios! Giving away 4 digi stamps to our winner!

I was excited to pick out Martini Pinup as my image for this challenge... maybe because i love a bit of a relax with a drink and a book - and of course, for a BOOK theme, with a little help from my friends ;) I settled on a bookmark, and here it is, propped up against some of my personal faves (twilight!)

I LOVED playing with this because i got to play around with some of my new Tim Holtz inks and paints - I came up with some fantastic effects as shown below - i also thought while i was messy, i may as well get more messy and used some cosmic shimmer too - on the flowers which were originally pink
I used my trusty portrait to cut my bookmark and the lettering, which i baked with some Mirror card for some shine. Promerkers for the image and i added some clear stickles to the glass for some shine and to create a drink effect

I hope you enjoy, and i hope you pop on over to CCC to play along!

thanks for looking, see you again real soon ;)

The-Butterfly, AKA Emmey


Challenges:
Challenges4Everybody - Anything Goes
Creative Corner Challenges - Femme Fetale
Scrubble and Scrap - anything goes

Movie star in the making.... maybe?

Happy Saturday Evening blogland

Just a quick pop on here, firstly I just wanted to remind everyone our unique challenge over at DDCC is still ongoing - check it out and enter, cash prize!

Also, feeling spooky? check out CCC blog - theres still time to play along for a fab prize there too!

Then i just wanted to toot toot a little and point at my sidebar for my two recent wins! im so excited to have been chosen by two fab DT's to win!

and finally, something I never thought would happen - i now have my own YouTube channel and MY FIRST VIDEO is up and ready for views - if you fancy taking a dip into my world and tour my craft room - please do! while you are there please comment and subscribe, hopefully i'll have more videos in the future!

Thanks for stopping by - see you again soon with some projects!

Happy Halloween with CCC + The Stamping Chef

Hey bloggers - im here with the new challenge over at Creative Creations Challenges

This week, I was a very happy bunny because we were sponsored for our HALOWEEN themed challenge by The Stamping Chef

I picked out a perfect image called Broomstick Bella

I didnt want to go down the traditional halloween card route - as usual i wanted to do something different, and when I visited Julie's blog and saw THIS - well i knew i was going to make a cute little gift bag!

and here it is:

How adorable is she? rocking her halloween groove on the gift bag!

So i used my portrait to cut some awsome spider web style card, and built the bag, added some (of course) skeleton leaves and a few co-ordinating flowers, the chocolate smartie candy was an added bonus for the photo - but the one thing i love about this bag is the spiders web - which hopefully the pictures show! I enjoyed making the spiders web out of my hot glue gun - who knew glue when melted and left to dry turns into the perfect spiders web!

Broomstick Bella was coloured with my Promarkers, and I added some yellow tissue paper inside the bag to give a 'glow'

Here are some more pictures

So get on over to CCC and play along with the chance to win 3 Digi's from their store!!!

Challenges:
+Di's Digi challenges - colours of Halloween
+Sweet Stamping Challenge
+Addicted To Stamps And More - anything goes
+Anything But A Card - Black and Orange
+As You Like It challenges - not a card project and why: well - who cant love a gift bag instead of a card - their so easy to make unique and for any occasion - i love this bag for the detailing of the bag itself :)
+Creative Corner Challenges - Anything But A Card
+Artistic inspirations - anything goes
+C Is For Challenge - halloween

Dreamtime Designs - challenge 1!

Hey Gang!

SO, where on earth do I start!! Firstly let me get this out of the way 'EEeeeeEEeE!!!'

Thats my excited voice!

Ok now to work, I am a super proud member of DDCC blog - and we have officially gone LIVE! hit the button below to go check it out, we promise to be a challenge blog with a difference, with a real caring nature around how we view, and comment on your work, and we sure hope you do the same with ours :)

SO... you may have come here because curiosity  got the better of you, and over on DDCC my fellow DT sisters and I have a sneaky glance at the projects for our first challenge, you will have seen this already:

So what could this be? what is the challenge? Anything Goes, about ME

Part of the first challenge was to answer some questions, heres mine:

<Where do you live:

I live in my own imagination, in my own little world, a huge castle in the sky…That’s the dream…  In reality, I live in a little mushroom, its not grand, its not expensive, but its my little mushroom….

<What do you love most about where you live?

The thing I love most about where I live is that its mine, its my first house outside of living with my parents, it’s a sign that I became an adult, just me and my family  in our little mushroom.

<Who do you share this special place with?

I live here with my gorgeous Fiance and our equally gorgeous chocolate Labrador

<What is your favourite season there and why?

My favourite season here is Summer, my little mushroom has a huge garden and we get some of the most beautiful butterflies that visit, I love sitting and reading in my garden in the summer

<What is your most loved thing to do or place to visit and why?

When im not sitting in my garden, ill be out walking with my boy’s, we love long walks to beautiful places, woodlands, fields, anywhere I can see my little man (the dog, not the fiancé) bounding around with his ball, as happy as can be!

My Project reflects my dream, my reality, but also a compromise between the two, I have always dreamed big, and sometimes im not happy with my little mushroom, sometimes I want the huge fairy treehouse, and  then I remember, one of my favourite quotes about where we live, which I have included in my project. Its not about the house, but about the home!

So without further chatter - i guess you'd like to see my finished project... reflecting the theme and the questions below - Heres goes:

I really hope you like - details of my project can be found below, along with some (ok, a lot) of close up pictures!

When i saw these images from Make It Crafty I knew they were perfect! In fact, I have had my eye on the Fairy Treehouse for a while, i love it - but i felt i needed something not quite as 'grand' to reflect myself in this project

I used my promarkers to colour up my images, one of my most adventurous colouring sessions to date! im really pleased with how it came out, and really was a long, yet enjoyable process

I cut the frames the images are on, along with the butterflys, and the fence, using my Portrait. I used some real funky wood style paper/ribbon to back everything on, i wanted to frame itself to be fairy simple as to not distract from the images themselves, but I also wanted a 3D element, just something different for a photo frame - the quote was cut on printed using my Portrait and backed onto some 'frosted' style PP. The Metal charm Key was a must and I just happened to have it laying around from The Ribbon Girl

I also had a real good play with my Melt Pot, to create the flowers, most are just paper flowers dipped into some gold and yellow UTEE, but i did add a rose and dipped that too - seriously, when my pot is on, dont stand still or ill dip you too!! lol
All of the edges of all images were distressed using Tim Holtz distress ink pads - more of Mr Holtz products will be coming from me in future projects

So, thats me - i cant stay long, i just have to go and dash over to my DT sisters blogs to see what they have created - as a rule our DT facebook group we only ever share a little glimpse at our projects, it isnt untill YOU guys see our work that we actually see eachothers! so if you enjoyed this - check out my sidebar and go visit my sisters - but remember to stop by and play along!

We as a DT can guarentee comments on your projects to be very genuine and very focused on YOU as a designer - so what are you waiting for - play along with us - were so excited to see what you create!

To finish, id like to share two of my own photos that reflect the answers to the questions a little more - i hope you enjoy 

Please shar our excitment and go visit DDCC and play along with us!!

Id like to enter this into the following challenges:
+Tuesday Throwdown
+As You Like It
+challenges4everybody
+Creative Corner
+Jellypark challenges
+Pile It On