Happy Valentines - I am def feeling the love :)

Thanks to all you lovelies for sharing the love over Becca`s Featured Friday post :)  It has meant so much to me I cant even begin to say,  much better than roses and chocolates for a valentines treat... actually it is def better than roses but maybe not chocolate....

I have seen lots of you crafties have been busy with valentines, will whisper that it is not really a hol I enjoy so I have been working on a scrapbook page,  something I have never done before.  I am so inspired by the work the Lizzy Hill does I really wanted to have a try. Lizzy did an awesome piece for Kraft+ and the culurs they have picked for their challenge are just luscious!!!  I have just treated myself to the new rager dye inks,  they come in the yummiest colours and were perfect for this challenge.

I also used paper from  Happy days design stack by papermania, a chipboard piece by dusty attic and lots of buttons from... my button pot!

 My babies are now much bigger, the youngest is 13 and my eldest 18.  Thankfully they pay little attention to what I waffle about on my blog as I am not sure they would apprectiate me sharing this photo... ah well, a little payback for all the times they looked and behaved far less angelic than they look in this pic ;)

I havent done journalling before either but the Blessed piece inspired me to write words that evoke this time in our lives and the friends we shared this time with :)

I loved making this and am working on another page already,  I think I may have a new favourite thing to do... for now ;)

Cased sera sera...

I am so stoked to be writing this post, the beautiful and talented Becca Cruger asked me to be her Featured Friday girl and case one of my first pieces... am feeling so totally honoured... and a little bit terrified ;)

The piece Becca selected to case is this one,

And my new project...

I cant wait to see what Becca, Damsel of  Disressinkyness has created when she cased this!!!
I really enjoyed reading Beccas other Featured Fridays and in particular the one letting us get to know Darnell, she of all things NBUS, better.

I loved the fact they asked questions of each other and that we got to know them both better through this post.  I consider Becca a true bloggy friend, we met when we made the DT over at Eclectic Ellapu together, although she hasn't been blogging for long she has been creating since a little and is happy to share that knowledge with warmth, kindness... and always her special kind of humour.  I wanted to get to know her better, I am nosy, and thought you would too and the lovely lady was kind enough to let us into her inky mind a little further ;)

What part of the world am I from and what's it like here? 

I am from that frigid, mystical land called North Dakota (USA). It is flat, barren, and all things brrrrrrr. Trees have long since fled and the local tourist attraction is "the hill" because there is exactly one. Why do I live here? Some would say because I like pain, but mostly it's because I'm crazy. I moved here 3 years ago for a job I adore. 

How do you decorate your home, does it reflect your crafting in any way?

I'd say so. My crafting is messy with lots of layers - much like my house! :) I haven't made any art for my house, although I did pick up my first canvases 2 months back and am trying to amp up the bravery to try my hand and mixed media collage. 

What hobbies do you enjoy outside of crafting?

From the time I was 16, I've worked two jobs on purpose. It's only been recently that I quit the second and have started to do volunteering for my local battered women's shelter. Domestic violence awareness is something I'm very passionate about. I also love to read and am a very amateur poet/writer. 

What is my favourite film and book?

I'm a big kid at heart and I'd have to say my favorite film is Wall-E. If you haven't watched it we can't be friends. Beyond the adorableness of the title character, it is an homage to true cinematography. There are few words spoken, but so much genuine inflection. My favorite book is "Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Austen (I love her stuff!) I'm also currently reading an amazing science fiction book by Patrick Rothfuss called "Name of the Wind". 

What did you want to be when you were younger?

A princess, duh! Actually, I wanted to be a famous writer. I do write quite a lot, mostly poetry as aforementioned. I have an English degree (because nobody talked me out of it - come on parents!) and worked as a magazine editor before moving to the frigid wasteland. 

What is my favourite dinner?

We have a local restaurant called Blue Moose that makes this amazing baked mac and cheese. In general I hate mac and cheese, but that gets me every time. It is divine. 

Do I snack when I craft?

Never. My hands are so full of ink that I would have all sorts of colors in my mouth. I do drink... ahem... water of course. It sometimes leads to great ideas and other times leads to me cursing the day I decided to put a glass of... ahem... water... next to a pile of designer papers.

Lol, Becca always makes me laugh and I am grateful to her for sharing.... now on with the show ;)

I  made the original for my Dad, it is quite a personal piece for me as I wanted to embellish it with things that mean stuff to my Dad and I.  When it came to casing this myself I again wanted to keep it personal, my children were the inspiration for me and I used clarity stamps "Wee Folks" to symbolise them.

This is the first Canvas I have made and I wish I had started with one that I gessoed and then added colour too rather than trying to add colour from the beginning... I did find it quite tricky to get the blending that I achieved on the original card.

That said I will most definitely try canvas again and am hugely grateful to Becca to making me feel so good about my creations :)  If you haven't been to Becca's yet..get on over there and big thanks for hanging on in there with me til the very end x

Take Care

Tracey :)

PS: I am scheduling this to try and post at the same time as Becca, now this meant I had to try work out the time difference across the pond (I am going with 2am saturday morning here is 8om there)... even with google I often mess this up, and then I have to use the schedule function properly Th first time I tried this I forgot to press publish and just saved it... Oh dear... fingers crossed that I wake up to a gold star!!!

Pls.... I only went and got it wtong... Thanks Monica for your lovely comment and making me realize I messed up on the time difference ;)

Shhhhh I should be sleeping!!!

Just a quick share I like to do in support of Retrosketches,  I love the fun sketches they come up  with for their challenges and am glad I have just met the deadline.  I sat down at 10pm thinking I would just make a little something and oh dear that crafting daze jst took me away.  I was playing with some new mca powders and have another 6 bits of.... well they are pretty but just bits... for now.

I versamarked my little diamond stamp and matched it up to create a cute background.  I then mixed some mica ino clear embossing and created 2 new colours.  They are so soft and shimmery it was difficult to catch on camera

Im so glad I made that photoboothy thingumy, you would not believe the mess it is hiding!!!!    Oh your all crafters.... of course you do ;)

Well goodnight, dont tell the kids on me and get on over to Retrosketches there is only about 5 hours left as I post but there is always the next one and loads of inspiration to be gained from their previous posts and the DT blogs.

Tracey :)

Tracey

Eclectic Teamie Giveaway!!!!!

No we are not giving away one of our teamies, The lovely Elaine of Cakecoffeecraft, my friend and DT  teamie at Eclectic Ellapu is nearly at 75 followers!! ..She is sorting through her crafty stash, including her favourites (how very brave) and is going to have a giveaway.

Elaine is a super talented and so lovely and downtoearth,  get your skates on and hit the follow button before you miss out, or she comes to her senses and keeps those papers ;)

Elaine, Cakecoffeecraft

Tracey :)

Flash, bang... what about a picture!!!

I have seen many craftrooms whilst surfing bloggy land and am envious of many,  I can spend many a happy hour daydreaming about my perfect crafy place... However, the reality is that I have a desk and two Ikea bookcases in my Bedroom lol.  Before this   I crafted on the kitchen table, the living room table and floor, the kids were moaning at ME to tidy up so all in all I love my little space ;)

One of the biggest problems I come across is taking pretty pics.  Now most of this is down to the fact that I am no photographer lol but I have to clear my desk, try to balance paper as a back drop... a bit of a headache all around.  So I fired up my crafty cranium and came up with this :)

I hope you think it is pretty but you are probably wondering how on earth does this make photos snapping better...... well I flip

 revealing this... open the doors

 and voila... my own mini.. hmmm I dont know what to call it... card catwalk, craftabooth... answers on a postcard..

Anyhoo, I can peg different colour card and paper as backdrops and get the light to kinda bounce off the white sides.  I am ridiculously chuffed with myself lol

Now I can snap my cards and stuff and not show all the gubbins hiding behind ;)

i added some ribbon to the back so I can also pin or droop bits over this if I wanted... gee I just liked the ribbon and couldn't stop decorating lol

I used almost the last of my fav ever pad, it is by Colorbok and is called Homespun,  I have tried so hard to get hold of some more but it is proving UK elusive... if any of you lovely peeps know where I could find it I would be soooo grateful.

I am sharing this with Altered Eclectics sister site for My lovely Eclectic Ellapu and also run by the awesome Elaine.  It is a site for mixed Media only, so so much wonderful art thataway so get on over for a treat.

Thanks for popping by

Tracey

OCSCC - with Tasnim Ahmed you make one and get one free!!!

Still fibro funny so another quickly... was that a relieved sigh...

I'm still playing with the online clean and simple class demos, http://cardsandbookmarks.com/ Tansim Ahmed shared this fab technique for inking over an edge.  The best things; one inky session made two cards, and you only need five supplies!!! What's not to love :)

Thanks for popping by

Tracey :)

OCSCC - more Yana Smakula inspired faux embossing

Please continue to excuse my short posts, I am trying to hold off a big fibro flare following catching a bug.

I love Yana Smakula's faux embossing technique so much I had another go :)

The sentiment is from a Dina R set and the die used is a Tonic one

Tracey

OCSCC - Faux embossing

Another great technique taught is to use directs to simulate embossing folders.  I loved this process and found it really therapeutic.  It also means I can get so much more use out of some of my favourite dies :)

Tracey :)

OCSCC - die cutting

I decided to use the same materials wherever possible to save me time crafting about design and get on with learning techniques but also to give a good comparison.

I loved this technique taught by Kristina.

Simple and effective... I may finally be getting the hang of clean and simple cards....

Tracey

Eclectic ellapu goes burgandy

First let me say WOW, there were so many awesome projects entered into the January challenge over at Eclectic Ellapu that it was a real privilege to look through them all.  I do hope you will be joining in again with our challenge for February.  We are going burgundy/red and cream, aren't we thoughtful with "that" day just around the corner ;)

I love iris folding so thought I would play with this idea, I also just saw a technique where you ink your embossing folder and had to have a play!

  I used a cogs embossing folder that had been sitting around for a little while feeling lonely, I totally loved the effect.

 I die cut a large heart in the centre and go into my iris folding groove, I find using my paper trimmer to score the paper at intervals and then go back and chop them off saves me a lot of time and gets lovely crisp folds.

 I layered and layered embossing powder in this little heart and then bent it so it cracked in places... in hind sight perhaps not a totally good idea for a "that day" card ;)

I thought these little hearts created some good dimension.

Now, my kids all laughed and said "Mum you cant have your card say that"  but I likes it as it made me laugh, so there ;)

Well thanks for looking, please do come and join in over at Eclectic Ellapu's

Tracey