Getting there

Hi, hope you are well.

I'm getting there, that is my shoulder is getting back to something like normal after breaking the top of my humerus in a fall, but I still have to be careful and not over do things. So slow and steady wins the race as they say. I'm still very frustrated about my inability to do things but I have been trying out a little bit of crafting, just to see how it fares.

My Big Shot has been out of bounds as I couldn't turn the handle and keep the plates level with one hand but I tried this week after the consultant said that there were no bits sticking out where there shouldn't be! 

I decided to use it to cut some foam flowers with my Altenew Rose Flurries dies, not much force needed to cut these out, just a bit of stabilising with my left hand. The cut outs could then be turned into stamps, adding them to acrylic blocks with a Pritt stick!

Here's the end result, albeit that it took me all week to finish!

Over at CAS Mix up, they are focusing on layered embossing so as the die cuts are meant to be layered, why not stamp with them too. 

On a panel of blue card I stamped the base layer with Versamark and embossed with clear semi dull WOW EP. The top layer was added over the top, this time using WOW sparkly platinum EP. The Sugar Pea sentiment was stamped over a strip of matching embossed blue card in the same platinum EP.

The idea for the card was sparked by this super card, here, using single die cut elements.

The physio gave me some more advanced exercises yesterday to help build up the muscles and gently stretch those tendons. My range of movement has improved, some directions better than others, but still a way to to go until I'm back to full mobility.
So as it says at the top I'm slowly getting there and hopefully I will be back with some more makes soon.
Joining in over at:-

 

   

A Spring Fling at STAMPlorations

Evening peeps.

Still on the injured list but popping by to share this card that I made soooo long ago for this month's Spring Fling at STAMPlorations.

This stamped and embossed panel was the second pull from this original inking. (please use link for explanation of the technique) 

Instead of using the bold black embossing powder, I over stamped with the Blossom Sprays #2 with a silver pearl EP to match the softer stamped image. The layout is the same but a pale pink strip replaces the bold orange and the large stacked Magical die cut sits atop a matching strip of silver glitter paper. The stamped birthday wishes is from Layered Water Melon.

If you are only just finding out about our Spring Fling, the details are as follows. 

From April 1 to 12, one lucky crafter who leaves comments on the STAMPlorations blog and fellow designers' blogs will win a prize. You'll want to stop by there every day to see the spring-themed projects by the STAMPlorations girls, as well as the prize that's up for grabs for the day. 

Commenting closes on Friday, April 19, and we'll announce the winners in a special post on Monday, April 22.

Comments for today's posts have the chance to win one of Shirley's Bee's Knees stamp sets.

So to join in for the chance to win some fab prizes, just leave a comment here before heading off to visit the rest of the STAMP gals.

Stop by the store anytime this month to check out the Spring Fling April Sale! 
All throughout April, products in the SPRING FLING section of the store are 25% off instantly! No code needed -- the discount is automatically applied to qualifying products on checkout.

DO SOME SPRING FLING SHOPPING NOW!

Joining in over at:-




April showers bring May Flowers

A little one handed crafting

What do you do when you've been told to rest your left arm because of a hairline fracture to the greater tuberosity? In my case climb the walls, well only figuratively!

No housework, OK, not too bothered about that.

No driving until I've seen physio later this week.

No gardening, not that I could do much as the weather has been awful.

No solo dog walking, as I can't hold the lead in my left hand. 

No browsing the shops, need OH to drive me there.

There's only so much TV you can watch and holding a book for too long is a strain on my arm. 

So, the other day, after 3 weeks of no crafting and my boredom threshold long passed, I attempted some of the one handed craft variety, with a little bit of help from my MISTI. I've managed to catch a few YouTube videos whilst resting and thought a little bit of imprecise colouring covered by die cuts might be the way to go.

Here's the result.

Jennifer McGuire calls this  technique 'faux stained glass' and made it look easy, but it is a little fiddly to layer the 5 die cuts with one hand but all I've got at the mo is time, glue on mat then smoosh was the only way. I had a hunt through the stash for a suitable die to use for the technique and although I love this group of roses by MB, perhaps it wasn't the easiest to use for this. The cells are a little on the small side but then I'd got no real deadline and lots of time to fiddle!

The colouring was a bit messier and took longer than usual but it was only a small area. The MISTI allowed me to keep the background and die cut steady while I coloured. 

So listening to the footy on the radio on Saturday, I added some glossy accents to the petal cut outs and left it to dry before adding the top 'neat' die cut. Staring at it for awhile, I decided that I would add colour to the leaves, then added the MFT cut down frame. My one handed attempt at die cutting was a bit off, so the original had to be trimmed.

Not wishing to push my luck, I left it another day we before I completed the card, by adding a simple banner sentiment from LOTV, white EP on black and attached the finished panel to a base card, MISTI  to the rescue again.

Now I'd completed my card it was only a matter of one finger typing to write this post, yeah, that took ages too! Hurry up physio!!!!!!!!

Joining in over at:-


Favourite stamp/image or die


My choice - Copic colouring 

One for the ladies

Guesting over at Twofer

Good morning peeps.

It gives me great pleasure to be guesting over at the TWOFER challenge this month. Darnell asked if I would GD after my win in January with my cheeky chicks twofer!

So here I am with my TWOFER for this month's challenge.

Can you guess the theme? Well this month it is -

I decided that I would use my balloon STAX dies from MFT for my cards.

I chose to concentrate on the second smallest, using first one on its own followed by a balloon fest of rainbow one's.

Here is my first also using LOTV's Balloon Baby.

I replaced the stamped balloon with a die cut one and chose a circular format for a change. 

The card base was made by cutting into a 5 x 5 square card with a large Spellbinders scalloped circle die, leaving the left side of the die over hanging the fold to keep the hinge element. You could of course cut two separate circles and glue them together to make the base card.

The DP, cut with Tonic stacked circle dies, is from NitWits and the image was coloured with Copics before fussing cutting and adding to my base with pads. The sentiment from Mama Elephant was stamped on a die cut banner and slipped under the image. 

The die cut balloon was cut from white and coloured with Copic markers.

This second card uses the same balloon die cut but this time in rainbow colours.

I cut some balloons from scraps of card which I then shaded with matching DI ink and added some hi-lights and strings with a white gel pen on a black base card.

The sentiment is part of a CUTplorations Birthday Wishes die cut from silver glitter paper and black fun foam, the wishes from Uniko was stamped and heat embossed with white EP.

Quite a simple card but it certainly has impact I think.

That's it then from me. It may well be for quite awhile too as I mentioned in my, last post I chipped the head of my humerus in a fall a week ago and am now out of action until I get the all clear from the orthopaedic bods at the hospital! I'm typing these last few sentences with one finger so please forgive me for not leaving comments, even if I do visit! Good job I was on top of some of my GD commitments.

Joining in over at:-

     

going round in circles

Last of the Rudolphs

Hi peeps.

Just popping by to share this cute Rudolph Christmas card. He's the final image from a trio of stamped images, the other two were shared ages ago here and here, I was just waiting for the right opportunity to share him. That time has come with this month's CAS Christmas challenge, where its also their 1st birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

He was coloured with Copics and fussy cut before securing him into the corner of  a die cut frame from my stash with a bit of tape, I added a touch of Glossy Accents to his nose and popped it all up on pads over a scrap of DP. The sentiment is from LOTV stamped in black on a linen effect card base, simples.

This had to be one I'd made but not shared before as I chipped the top of my humerus last week after a fall and have it in a sling with just my hand free, no heavy lifting or strenuous work for me for quite awhile. So no housework or cooking but little or no crafting either! :( 

It has shown the OH what it is I do every day that he didn't realise I did for the efficient running of the house. Still I would be lost without him.

Joining in over at:-

die cut, colouring pens, stamped or digi image

Celebrate with Cake

Good evenings peeps.
Its the first Monday of the month so it must be time for a new challenge at Cutplorations.
Here is my inspiration based on this months piccie.

I went with the cake, flowers and the colours, but left the polka dots out! My layout is loosely based on the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.
I stamped and masked the arrangement using a couple of stamp sets, Sweet Cravings and Cup of Blooms #2, before colouring the design with Copics. I toyed with using the matching dies for Sweet Treats but instead cut the panel out with the largest die from the Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies, then added a die cut sentiment. The celebrate word die, was cut twice, first from white, then again in black and glued together so that the black in the background cast a slight shadow for more dimension. The finished panel was then added to a top fold white base card.

OK, that's all from me but please check out the rest of the team here. You'll also find all the Ts and Cs there as well.

Joining in over at:-

Stamping Sensations GD

Morning folks.

Today I'm guesting at Stamping Sensations for their latest challenge. Here's my card.

The theme for March is -

So for my card, I went down the rainbow colour route and a messy watercolour stamping technique I'd seen on You Tube. 

I made a few panels using this STAMPlorations spray, so you may see a few more cards in the next few weeks.

Using my Ziggies to ink up the stamp in rainbow colours, I spritzed both watercolour paper and stamp with a light mist of water, and stamped, its one time when you really do need the real w/c paper so that the colour has a chance to do its stuff!. 

When dry, I stamped the image again over the inky 'mess' to sharpen it up and heat embossed with a sparkly black EP. The embossed outline is meant to sharpen the soft watery image, I tried some other EP options but more of that later.

To complete the design, the 'painted' panel was trimmed then added to an orange base card. A die cut and stamped sentiment strip added, along with a thin strip of black card to complete. 

OK, that's all from me but please check out the SS DT for more inspiration.

Joining in over at:-

       


Inspired by the rainbow on the cupcake.