Our Silver Wedding

Good morning all.... well, I am always going on about how the time is flying by this year but today I am moaning about the years flying by- just for a change.

On 29th October it will be our (Geoff and mine) Silver Wedding... yes 25 years have gone by in a flash... we have done so much, travelled the world and lived in three countries... and we have not stopped yet.
We got married on Wednesday, half term at the college where we both taught, went to London till Friday and had to be back in York for Saturday as Geoff was playing rugby.
See pictures above.... one thinner lady and a much darker haired man lol

So my challenge this week over on my challenge blog is to create something SILVER .. with anniversary in the theme as well.....

Instead of making a card I made this little plaque....I painted the frame with silver Eco Green paints which turned out lovely and glittery.  I made the rose using one of Sarah Lawrence, Crafty Notions,  moulds and clay and painted it with the same paints and attached to the frame. I die cut some little leaves using silver glitter paper and attached them to the frame in the corners.
C and G black peel off letters and 1986 the year we were married and of course I had to add some purple gems... I wore a purple dress (not the done thing in those days but can you imagine me in white.... ugh never) and grey/silver shoes, glasses and bag and had pink and purple flowers in my hair and for my bouquet.
So there we have it 25 years later and still going strong, thank our Lord.
Have fun doing the challenge.. you could win a surprise blog candy this week.

If you leave me now...

The new challenge from Hels this week is 'If you leave me now' again another of my all time favourite songs sung by Chicago (takes me back a long time ago to Leeds Cinderella
Rockafellas) the brief to show leaves on our creation. Hels you are very good at choosing songs I love... we have the same taste in music I think. Thanks.
So here is my clock.....I painted the base with turquoise Eco Green paint then did the crackle effect using glue and lilac paints.  I over stamped the stamps using purple Stazon... all the stamps are from La Blanche and distressed the edges using Dusty Concorde.
I was lucky enough to be asked to demonstrate these fab stamps at the Craft Trade Fair in Perth earlier this year.... and yes I love the stamps and now have lots.
I added the four numbers for the clock and embossed with purple embossing powder - in real life they are really sparkly.
I added the clock mechanism and hey ho my finished clock in my favourite colour of course.
I hope you will like it and hope that you won't leave me now......or ever....

Birdcage swap

My dear friend Frankie or Dragon as you may know her, organised a fabulous birdcage swap and here is mine. The idea was to use the Tim Holtz birdcage die to cut out our cage, mine was cut using chipboard then covered with Eco Green acrylic paint with Inka Gold rubbed over the whole cage.  The background tag was coloured using Distress inks for the base then over stencilled using the brick wall and a darker ink.  I tore some pages from an old book and distressed them and added to the tag. I added the birdcage and attached some gold glittery sticky ribbon at the bottom.  The bird was also coloured using Distress inks and attached to the outside of the cage - he escaped hence being outside the cage... bad boy!!!
After searching high and low for some dangly bits I finally found this at a local dressmakers shop... woo hoo I had fun in there.  So I added the ribbon with the beads attached over the right hand top corner.  I heated the acetate flower and moulded into shape and attached with Pinflair together with the leaves adding a pearl gem in the centre to match the pearls on the ribbon ... I love these mouldable flowers.
This is totally outwith my usual colour choice ... as you know purple is my colour of choice but I thought I would have a change for this swap and I was pleased with the result.
My partner has received it together with a mini birdcage I enclosed but did not photograph, and says she loves it... I am so pleased.
Great swap Frankie am looking forward to the next one...even though my swap has not arrived yet.....

Bed of Roses

Here is my challenge tag for Dragon's Dream .... this week the challenge being 'Bed of Roses'... to incorporate roses and metal....
The background paper is from a Crafty Individuals set which I love.  I created the image background using acrylic paints from Eco Green, turquoise under mauve with a stippled matt effect. I stamped the lovely stamp from La Blanche, which shows the girl sleeping (appropriate for the challenge I thought) in purple Stazon then ripped the edges and distressed with my Tim Holtz wonderful distressing tool and coloured with Distress Inks.  I also curled the corners before I added a metal and gem brad in the corner and attached some purple and silver ribbon.  I cut the rose out of purple metal using Tim's Distressed flower die and centred with a tiny brad after moulding into a different shape than it is meant to be.  I added some extra off cuts of the metal to add to the size.  The imagine sentiment is a rub on... found in my stash.
I hope you like my entry this week...... this tag is now on a card sample made for a Trade Show Demo next week in Perth where I am demonstrating La Blanche stamps. Aahhh panic only a week to go..... will I be ready????

Paint it

My dear musician friend John has a birthday next week so here is the card I created for him and for my challenge this week - the topic being 'Paint it'.
I created the background on white Eco Art board using Eco Green paints, green with butternut over the top. I dragged a plastic tool over the two colours to get the textured background then mounted it onto a die cut shape from Tim Holtz run through the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder. I stamped the guitars and coloured them in slightly with big and juicy inks not covering totally so as to see the grained texture underneath. I added a couple of die cut shapes from a QVC kit and stamped the message from Banana Frog. I finally edged the art board with the same green paint to cover the white edges.
If you like messing with paints do pop over and give my challenge a go this week and have some fun.

Ice Cream and Ice Cream Colours

Here are the cards I created for my challenge this week which is to use Ice Cream or Ice Cream Colours - I chose to use both.
The background card is from a Hunkydory kit over which is layered the main image. This was created on a piece of chipboard using the new Eco Green paints, Clamshell, Waterfall and Peony.  I painted them on the board then dabbed them over with a plastic bag to get the texture and to mix the paints.  I then stamped with Archival inks the sundaes and messages, both bought in New York at The Ink Pad stamp shop - they are from A Muse  Artstamps Seattle.  I then polished the boards and yes they do look shiny in real life just as Julia said they would.  I love them and am afraid I need more lol. Hope you enjoy your icy treats today.