Salt: hope

It was my turn to choose the theme this time and this is what I've said on the Salt faith challenge blog:

Our theme this time is

Hope

We are living in uncertain times, so it's understandable if folk feel that there is no hope. As Christians, we have hope because of what Jesus did for us at Calvary. This hope isn't an airy-fairy 'maybe' for the future, but it is a certainty that we can claim now.

In our church we have recently been privileged to hear a series of sermons on hope, which is what prompted me to choose this topic now. On Sunday we sang the song which is on my LO, which I feel sums up our Christian hope:

Our confidence is in the Lord
The source of our salvation
Rest is found in Him alone
The Author of creation
We will not fear the evil day
Because we have a refuge
In every circumstance we say
Our hope is built on Jesus

The verse from Hebrews 6:19 says it much better than I could: 'We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.'

We pray that you may have the joy of experiencing this hope for yourself.

We would love you to show us your interpretations of this theme.

For my LO I used an All My Memories background paper called Carefree. The stripy backgrounds of the anchor and our photo are AMM serenity stripe and the song and the verse from Hebrews were printed on the plain sides of Chatterbox Scrapbook walls varsity stripem and denim urban stripe. The green letters of HOPE are thickers vinyl.





Please pop over to Salt to see the beautiful creations of the rest of the team.

CBC ATCs under the sea

The topic this for the October ATC swap on CBC was 'under the sea' (we've been going through the alphabet and it was hard to come up with a topic for 'u').

I had some coral reef background paper that I scanned and reduced in size. I then printed on to acetate and threw some clear detail embossing powder and a bit of holographic over it as soon as it came out of the printer, which gave a sprinkled effect. I ran the acetate through my xyron with the embossed side down, so that the surface of the ATCs are smooth. The acetates were then stuck on to a light greeny blue card, and the other bits and pieces added:





In the end, I enjoyed doing this. ATCs are a good way of trying out different things (not so much wasted if things go wrong - and they did at first - I tried embossing with other powder but it wasn't effective).

The word on HS:MS:HS today is shimmer: 'To shine with a soft glistening light. Find a 'shimmer' in your space today', so I think my ATC photos qualify that that too.

A nostalgic afternoon

I know this is a crafting blog, but so far today I haven't got any crafting to show, because I've been sorting through old photos. Ages and ages ago (and here I feel guilty), I brought all mum's old photos home with the intention of sorting them (oh, what a mammoth job that has proved to be) and scanning so she can see them on her digi frame that we bought her last year, or scrap some. I also have boxes of my own photos from way back, as well as all those that we've accumulated since we married.

What a task!! I originally went through a lot of mum's with her and made a note of who was who, but there are still some that I'm not sure about, so we're going to have to have a get-together to sort these out - I know that mum will enjoy doing that.

John's vision is so poor that the average sized photo is hopeless for him, so we've bought two 10" digi frames and the idea is that I'll put photos on memory cards to use with these - and from time to time we can also show these on the television, which, if he sits near enough, he can see.

So I've resolved this afternoon that once the Christmas fair at church and at mum's sheltered accommodation is over and I've made enough Christmas cards for our own needs, I'll stop cardmaking for a while and concentrate on sorting out the photos.

As I'm declaring this here, I might stick to it!

We also have quite a lot of the little video tapes from the camcorder that have never been put on to video - and now, anyway, they need to go on to DVD, so that's another vast job to be done. Here again, this needs to be done so that John can have a chance of seeing something on the TV screen.

Joanna Sheen challeng 26 October: all that glitters

The theme on JS's forum this week is 'all that glitters'.

This is a Christmas card using supplies from the DCWV winter collection:



It really does look more glittery irl than it does here.

LO with my bridesmaid photo

Lisa left a comment to say that the bridesmaid picture was crying out to be scrapped. I did this a while ago (think I've shown it before):



but perhaps I could do much better than this now. I still don't have confidence with scrapping and have to admit that I haven't done much for a while now - perhaps it's about time I did.

Lots to do: 32 nature

A piece of blue card was run through the cuttlebug embossing folder and then inked with brown, mustard and red - the saying was computer generated. This is for the challenge on Lots to do: Nature. The flower was a cream one that I inked.

JB Friday night challenge 24 October

The Friday night challenge on 24 October on JB was 'fun with felt'.

I don't know how I've got the cheek to show these really, because they are only ready-made felt toppers from Poundland mounted on some magazine freebie papers.

I will be adding a sentiment, but am waiting to see whether I want to put 'grandson' or whatever or a name (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

So here are my two very elaborate cards!





My excuse is that I'm trying to use up bits and pieces that have been in my Christmas stash for far too long (and I'm not sure why they were ever there in the first place).

Ink on my fingers: Sunday Stamper 32

I made a totally blue card for the challenge on Ink on my fingers: Mr Sky Blue.

I used a couple of paisley stamps from Tanda randomly, using Stazon ultramarine on the blue base card and also stamped a panel and mounted on silver mirror card, which is raised up with foam (but you can't tell that from the photo). The sentiment is also raised to give the card a bit more dimension.



So there's no patterned paper in sight (which makes a nice change).

HS:MS:HS SPS with a twist

On HS:MS:HS today: 'This Saturday I’d like to try and make our SPS shots just a little bit more interesting - so who's going to play? What I would like you to do is post a favourite childhood photo of yourself, but one that has a little story behind it. Not looking for an essay, just a few lines about the memories that the photo brings. Can you do that?'

This is me as a bridesmaid in November 1954 (I was seven). Mum decided that I should have my hair cut and home permed especially for the occasion, but she was never much good at doing hair, particularly anything to do with perming! - hence the fuzzy look (after lots of brushing).

There were six bridesmaids altogether - three adult and three children.

My dress was white with a silvery pattern on it. I remember thinking that the gloves were so posh and the horseshoe of anenome flowers was beautiful (doesn't show in the old black and white photo).

Saturday's Workout: bandana technique

I saw a challenge on Saturday's workout which involved the 'bandana technique', a tutorial for which can be seen here.

I thought I'd give it a try, but I think it was stupid trying to do it quickly at this time. I chose what I thought was a simple stamp, but, on reflection, I'm not sure it was a wise choice because it has straight lines and my white lines aren't straight (mainly because I rushed them). Anyway, I've had a try and now I know what to expect I think I could make a better effort with a bit more time and concentration.

For the blending of colours I used Stazon blazing red, cactus green, mustard and saddle brown.

Tracey's CJ Tag

The theme of TraceyR's CJ on BF is 'tags' - each person in the group is invited to decorate a chipboard tag in whatever way they choose.the light is bad, but I need to get this into the post in the morning.

The papers are BG sultry and the rub ons are Kelly Panacci. Edges inked with chalk inks, with the addition of a Brenda Pinnick chipboard square frame and some ribbon originally bought from CBC.





The scans show both sides of the tag, which obviously are the same size, although they don't look like it here!

DLO on Melissa's CJ

It's my turn to do a DLO in Melissa's fab CJ for the group on CBC.

Melissa chose 'My dream' as her subject and said, 'I would love to hear from you all what your dreams are. Big or small! Whether you have fulfilled any yet. It could be your childhood dream or most recent one! The possibilities are endless really.'

My DLO is all about a dream come true when I went to Bermuda. I've simply used some DCWV backgrounds and produced the journalling and photos on computer, adding a few buttons and doodling.

You can get a better view of the journalling by clicking on the pictures.





I enjoyed doing this, as it brought back many memories.

Dottie's world Sunday challenge: spotty dotty

This is a spotty card for the challenge this week on Dottie's World: 'spotty dotty'.

'I want to see SPOTS. It doesn't have to be Dottie, you can of course use any of the downloads. BUT I don't just want to see a circle or two.'

So I used a piece of dotty paper from English Paper Company Airy Fairy and a stripey piece run through the cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder and the lovely image of Dottie in bed. I thought it would make a bit of a different get well card:

One Stop Craft Challenge 1

I came across a new challenge blog called One stop craft challenge, so I thought I'd join in the first sketch designed by Sharon:



My card is made from English Paper Company Airy Fairy papers. The stamped image is one that I received from Carole in a swap on CBC and is called 'fantasy emblem'. The gems are from Poundland.

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge 4

This is the sketch this week on Secret Crafter Saturday challenge:



and this is the card I've made, using background paper from an old 'Making Cards' magazine, a piece of Brenda Pinnick paper and an unknown image that I've had for ages, which is mounted on to purple mirror card, which, unfortunately, looks black on the scan. You can't really see it here, but there is a scalloped edge on the right hand side of the image.

Sketch Saturday 22 25 October

Another opportunity to make a Christmas card with sketch 22 on Sketch Saturday:



I've used a base card from PDA mounted with some Brenda Pinnick card and the circular image was from a QVC pack. I just added holly die cuts with Poundland bling:

Tag you're it! Oh Christmas tree

The theme on Tag you're it! this week is 'Oh Christmas tree':

So here is mine, using a rubbadubbadoo stamp, to make a simple tag. I stamped with Brilliance pearlescent ivy and embossed with clear detail.

I apologise for the poor background of the image (had to scan because a photo wouldn't come out properly) and the embossing doesn't really show up (might replace tomorrow):



I've actually made ten of these and am going to incorporate some on to cards.

Stamp something: something for the birds

The theme on Stamp something this week is 'something for the birds' - 'Make a project using bird images; any types, sizes, shapes, and colors.'

I got this Jemima Puddleduck stamp free with a magazine. I've used my copics for the first time to colour in Jemima (not very well, but I need to start somewhere with copics) - I stamped with a Brilliance ink pad because I read that was a good one to use with copics and I embossed with clear detail just to be sure. The other day I tried colouring an image that had been stamped with Stazon and the results were disastrous.

The torn papers are K & Co Hopscotch and Roam and the backgrounds of the image and computer generated sentiment are BG (can't remember which pad though - a few scraps).

Theme Thursday: vintage

On Theme Thursday the topic this week is 'vintage'.

I've used some vintage-look pyramage sheets that I picked up recently at a local craft shop.

HS:MS:HS structure

'Structure' is the word today on HS:MS:HS: 'A complex construction or entity. Find 'Structure' in your space.'

These are cheats really because they are not in my space today, but the shots were taken a couple of weeks ago when we went on the London Eye.

DCM forever autumn + Friday Sketchers 25

This week on DCM is 'forever autumn' and for this I've used a sketch on Friday Sketchers. It all stemmed from wanting to use the trees stamp (Friday Sketchers asked us to find a stamp that was more horizontal than vertical). The papers are all Basic Grey arhcaic with a strip of boxer behind the stamped image.