Sun Fun

Hi and welcome. Today's layout is showing photos of  2 of my nieces and self (aged 4 years). These 2 are the closest to me in age, being 11 months and about 2 years younger (yes I was an aunty at 11months). I didn't know these photos existed until the day of my sister's funeral, when I was given 2 small photos (blown up for this layout). There was no information about where these were taken, but the when was probably after Christmas in 1955 or early 1956, because the doll I'm carrying was a Christmas present that year.
I'm glad the photos came into my possession although in sad circumstances, as they brought back many fond memories I had of spending time with my sister and her family. I know I often spent time with them especially after they moved to the tiny seaside village of Hastings Point on the far north coast of NSW. I knew that my foot was bandaged and it wasn't until tonight, that I remembered having trodden on a nail, and having to have my foot wrapped.... no such things as stretchy bandages then. It would have been made from cut / torn old sheet, and boiled in the copper to sterilise it. I really enjoyed my visits, as my nieces were more like younger sisters, my own siblings having all grown up and working, at this time.

I've gone with the bright colours of summer, with the backgroud papers and flowers. Some of these were commercial,  the rest were handmade, diecut from experiments using the gelli pad and gesso, acrylics and sprays.

 

Acrylics were used on the chipboard flourish and butterfly. These were then finished with glossy accents. The same product was also used on the lettering for the title.  The butterfly was also glued onto organza ribbon, trimmed and   completed with bits of bling. I found a tiny doll in the stash and dressed her in a folded flower.  

 

I am entering this layout into the ABAC Challenge, Summer  Fun inspired at:
http://anythingbutacard.blogspot.ca/

Thank you for visiting. i  hope  you come again.
Cheers, Di
             

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head!

Hi and welcome. The challenge at Lets Get Shabby :  http://letsgetshabby.blogspot.com.au/
is about green and foliage.
For some years now, during the summer months, we are visited by Tawny Frogmouths, which spend a good part of their daylight hours sleeping. When they are awake through the day, they can be seen stretching and sometimes changing branches to get more comfortable. On wet days, they can be seen snuggling up to each other trying to keep warm. We have a Giant Strelitzia in the garden, and when it rains, the tawnies are usually under the shelter of its large leaves and fairly dry... very clever of them!

With this layout, I have used several green-toned papers, torn them. distressed the edges and inked. I've added hand-painted leaves (gessoed cardstock, sprayed, added acrylics and distress stains) and a chipboard tree. Hidden journalling has been held in place with a brad.
Thank you for visiting and for your encouraging comments.
Cheers, Di

A Sweet Challenge

Hi and welcome. I've been popping around different challenge sites and came across this interesting one, where inspiration comes from lollies / sweets! Pop over to: http://thelollipopladies.blogspot.com.au/ to have a look.

 I couldn't resist the temptation and put a card together using white cardstock misted with Perfect Pearls 'Kiwi" Mist (just love this colour). 

The colours and shape of the lollies in the inspiration image are reflected in my Iris Folding. Thickers painted with 3D Stamping Paint, star-shaped buttons and bling have completed the card.
Thank you for visiting,
Cheers Di

Crafty Colleagues and a Blogging Anniversary!

Hi and welcome. Today is the anniversary of my first year of blogging, and what a journey it has been! It's been a marvellous opportunity for me to discover so many wonderfully talented artists who share similar interests and passions. Blogging has opened up a whole new world of exploration and the chance to extend myself in directions I never thought I would.
Thank you to all who have visited my blog and left comments this past year. This has let me glimpse your world, something I truly enjoy doing.
Today I'd like to share with you the inspiration image and my DT piece for Pixels and Paper Challenge blog.

 

Inspiration image of our second challenge.

 

 

 

My take on the challenge

 

The background is second generation stencilling. This I do by using gesso and spraying with Dylusion inks and while wet, lifting off and flipping the stencil over onto a new piece of card stock. Sometimes I add a further layer of gesso and sprays. I love this method of stencilling, because you never know what you'll end up with.I'm building up quite a store of my 'what if' experiments.

This particlar background went perfectly with the colours the lovely ladies were wearing. I decided, that since I had absolutely no photos of bathing belles, that I would concentrate on the eyes. This inspired my layout, with the photograph forming the 'pupil'. To tie in further with the sea theme and colours, I outlined the eye shape with buttons, braid and fibre (eyelashes) and used the same fibre for a seaweed effect.

The photo is of  a group of my former workmates and self, at a craft weekend, Lennox Head; a beautiful beachside spot near Ballina, NSW.

Thank you for visiting and if you are interested pop over to the Pixels and Paper blog page at:

http://pixelsandpaperchallengeblog.blogspot.com.au/ and see what the rest of the DT have done for this challenge. Maybe you'd like to join us. We'd love to see your work.

Catch you later. Cheers, Di

 

Christmas in July

Hi! Oops! I almost forgot about this one! Well.. it has been one of those weeks! However, son is recovering quite well from his knee op. and is now navigating without crutches.
Christmas in July is something I don't normally do, but I have been very interested in seeing what the DT and other crafters have been up to for this challenge at:http://anythingbutacard.blogspot.ca/

I started with some heavily textured cream paper cut into a tag and painted 3D stamping paint over it (red and copper). This was put onto a red card stock background. I added some pieces of leftover papers from previous Christmas projects, and started layering. Stars were die cut from card stock, vellum and mirror board which had been alcohol inked. Metal stars, sequins, snowflakes and washi tape were added. Affirmations and image have come from Darkroom Door Filmstrips and Wordstrips.  
This is a very short post. Will catch up with you again soon.
Thanks for stopping by, and thank you for your positive comments and words of encouragement.
Cheers, Di

Tawny Antics

Hi again. Well, what a topsy-turvey day! Son had to have knee surgery today, but all looks promising for a speedy recovery as he's home again and without the pain he had been experiencing. With him sorted, there'll be time for other plans to go ahead at last... including a major make-over of a craft room in the near future.
In the meantime, I'm still experimenting with different mediums and how these can be used on layouts. I love using fibres, and fabrics to create texture and give additional layers. The layout I am showing today, has been created using fabric over a strongly marked background paper.
The colours in the paper and material overlay, reflect the earthy warm tones on the palette of colours for this month's inspiration at Scrapping Outback: http://scrapping-outback.blogspot.com.au
This is the first time I've visited this site and I'm getting this entry in by the skin of my teeth!

 

 

 

The dark brown, tan and cream striped background paper has been overlaid with a leaf-patterned organza. Some of the leaves on the pattern had been cut, using a heat tool which can also be used for pyrography. This cut the edges cleanly and sealed them at the same time to prevent fraying.
Additional leaves for the embellishment were cut from another darker organza. On these, I melted the edges more, to make the leaves curl and to give them more shape. Some caught a little more than intended, and now have a crispier look..... not quite to flame stage!
The photos are of some tawny frogmouths which reside in our garden during the summer  months.  The newest addition to this small family, was definitely AD/HD.... very, very fidgety and often  kept its parents awake during the day. It provided heaps of interesting photos with its antics.
The colours on the layout in this photo are actually darker than they appear. The artificial light was all I could use this late in the evening.
Thank you for visiting. I love reading your comments. Cheers, Di

Winter Antics

Hi and welcome. I've been bouncing around different Blogs this last week, discovering amazing artists and their gorgeous work. While doing this, I also found some great challenge sites I hadn't known about. The result of all of this was for me to try some new challenges. Now that I've bookmarked the sites, I hope to visit them more often.
A wintry layout was the requirement at: http://showusyourstuff.blogspot.com.au/. Winters where I live are fairly mild compared to other parts of the country. The photos chosen for this layout were taken on top of Mt Wellington, Hobart while on a trip there in 2010. It was our first experience of ice and snow (even though it was a light covering) and we found it truly amazing. We couldn't get over the plants which had been transformed into crystalline structures, or the huge sheets of ice which had formed on the towers. It really was quite magical in appearance.

 

The  background card stock was stamped, smooshed with Distress Inks and lightly sprayed with Glimmer mists. Die cut and punched crystals made from pearlescent card and mirror board were added and finished with  Crystalina Kindyglitz.
We had a fabulous holiday and Tasmania has become a favourite destination and we're looking forward to going back again.
Thank you for visiting and for your lovely comments.
Cheers, Di