OCTOBER GIVEAWAY WINNER IS......

Lisa!! I have your addy hun so it will be wending it's way to you on Monday morning.

Thanks to all who played, pop back next week for the November giveaway and some giveaway news.

I think it will be something Christmassy!

March Art Draw - Fly the flag!!

I did say I would upload this Thursday but I think I may just as well do it now and turn off  the pc - I'll only end up in a rush if I start playing on here in the morning!!

This month we have a piece I made last year but I think we still need to  be a bit patriotic every now and then!! It's a slide mailer made using stamps from the Indigo Blu 'Pomp and Circumstance' (I think that's what it's called anyway) stamp set. The stamping on this front section is a resist technique using brilliance ink on glossy card which was showcased in Craft Stamper Magazine September 2012. It gives a very nice finish.

For the inside I put a little bit of poetry and decorated with roses - well, she is an English rose after all!!

I was trying to see what I could with the stamp set so the back is more of the same and I masked the various images to get them all grouped together.

 This one won't take up a lot of space on your desk or shelf so if you would like a chance to win it then leave a comment here on this post to be included in the Draw. International players are welcome, please feel free to link from your own blogs (if you tell me you have done so I will put you in the draw twice).

Closing date will be 9.00 pm on Sunday 31st March.  Thanks for playing, see you soon!!
(Please don't worry if your comment doesn't show straight away, moderation is on and I may not be around to deal with it for a couple of days)
 

Steampunk Dreams - October Art Draw

As promised, this month I am giving away this collection of 4 x 4 pages.

Therev are 6 pages in total and to see the whole selection go here. But for now here are just a couple more...

As usual, the Art Draw is open to all, and international players are welcome. All you have to do to be included is leave a comment on this post before Sunday 28th October 2012 and your name will go 'in the hat'. Feel free to link from your own blogs if you have the time and  inclination to do so - let me know and I will put you in the draw twice.

Thanks for playing!!

September Art Draw - Vecchi inspired Tag

I was browsing yesterday when I came across this tutorial that Wendy has done for the Simon Says Stamptember challenge. (Do have a look, if nothing else the start will make you smile!). I thought it looked rather cool but of course I didn't have all the right bits. I used Paper Artsy Fresco Finish paint (Honeydew) for the main stamping and then coloured with distress inks. Watch the tutorial,the rest is pretty much the same.
 
SO.......... as I am struggling with finishing what I originally had planned and the days are marching on, I have decided to offer my attempt up as this month's giveaway.

Also quite pleased with the photo which I took with my ipad and managed to upload. (Just to be clear, I'm not saying it's a great photo, I'm just pleased I  managed to a) take it b) upload it to my pc. You know what a technophobe I am).

So if you want to enter the draw you just need to add a comment on this post before 9.00 pm on Sunday 30th September.

International players welcome, feel free to link from your own blogs if technically able to do so.

Thanks for playing!!

Cindy

21 at last.

Boy am I tired. So will keep this short. Soooo busy at work, stupidly put my hand up for extra hours, am running two kids activities every week plus bounce and rhyme and story times......craft room full of half finished commissions....a million birthdays looming....BBQ Saturday...  holiday next weekend..........don't even mention the ironing.... ................

and my darling Chelsey was 21 yesterday.

 

 Here she is with her bessie mate when we out for dinner last night. Aren't they beautiful? She still looked this beautiful when she got in at 3 in the morning after celebrating a little harder than planned. (Was supposed to be a quiet night then a big blow out on Saturday). Not quite so good at 5am when she had to get up for work with just an hour's sleep but still pretty gorgeous. How do I know? Well I was there both times, which probably isn't helping with the general level of tiredness!!

But of course there was a card -

and another one I had to rustle up for her brother (who, by the way, is perfectly capable of making a pretty neat card himself) because men are absolutely hopeless even when tasked with one simple job - buy a card for your sister's 21st. Still at least he took the time to to write something suitably annoyingly younger brotherish inside.

Thannk goodness for those Octopode digis is all I can say!!

Finally, a quick reminder that you have three more days to join in with the giveaway which will be drawn on Sunday so that I have time to get it in the post before my hols as I am working most of next week. Not many entries, so  the chances of winning are pretty good......

Still got loads to do, including preparing for a crazy kids event tomorrow. Right, off to find out how to make a paper plane.....

Cindy x

May Art Draw - 'May I' share this project.....

I am sharing the May Art Draw with this month's challenge at Scrap our Stash. This project has been made with items that have been languishing in my stash for quite a while. Even the Clearly for Art which I have been using lately (it's all gone now!!) had been stuck in a file for over 6 months and I thought I had better use it up before it got mistaken for a sheet of acetate!

For the "MAY I?" Challenge you have to complete your project by getting inspiration from someone elses blog and that is what I did   for this month's draw. The item on offer is this altered wooden box which has been made over using some great techniques demo'd on one of my favourite altered art blogs 'Zuzu's Petals'. To create her wonderfully textured boxes and canvases Louise uses fusible/fantasy film and in response to requests from followers she generously posted a tutorial here.

I found this great fun, although I had some problems getting the film to 'stick' initially. Also although Louise did suggest that we "heat the holy crap out of it".... I may have taken this a little too literally - some of the film looked decidedly singed when I was done (nothing a touch of gold paint or metallic rub on couldn't fix LOL).

It was totally coincidental that I had also been making some rather yummy metallic looking flowers and this one really seemed to go with the box so I decided to stick it on the top rather than add lots of small embellishments like Louise has. However I have another larger box to do that may well get a lot of extra layers!! To finish off I put one of my Tim Holtz tags of 2012 inspired butterflies inside. It's wired in but the recipient could easily take it out and use it on a project.

The box is quite small, no more than 2.5" x 2.5", but if you like blingy texture and would like the chance 'win' this box then leave a message on this post before 9.00 pm on Sunday 27th MAYand I'll put you in the draw. Overseas players welcome. Please feel free to link from your own blogs if you have the technology (as per last month, if I see you have I will put you in the draw twice but no pressure!!). Alternatively maybe you will be inspired to follow the tutorial and have a go, I'd love to see what you do!!

That's it for now, hope  you like what I have made. I have a little more information to impart re making the flowers so will probably do a post about them when I have a minute but, unfortunately, decorating calls!!

See you later,

Cindy x

April Art Draw - steampunk pocket watch

Here at last, a bit later than planned. This month's offering is this Wendy Vecchi Art Parts pocket watch. As usual the photography probably doesn't do it justice.

Had great fun grunging this up with paints and powders. The large cogs are chipboard pieces from eco green while the smaller pieces embedded in crackle glaze are old watch parts. Had great fun texturing the cogs (no I don't have a texturising tool just a hammer - noisy but fun). Used Clearly for Art to make the flowers following a Wendy Vecchi tutorial (I should emphasise hers don't look like this - I must have lost my way somewhere - but they are still kinda neat). It has a little chain so it can be hung or you could just leave it in the box.

So the April Art Draw will remain open until 9.00 pm on Saturday 28th April. All you  need to do is leave a comment on this post and I will include you in the draw (well I don't actually draw it so much as feed the numbers in to Mr Random Generator!).

International players are most welcome and I'd love it if you have the time (and ability) to link from your own blogs. In fact, although I hate sounding like I'm making people jump through hoops, if you do I will put you in  the 'draw' twice, so more chances to win.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll try to return the favour - I am getting better, honest!!

Happy Easter everyone!

Cindyxx

February Art Draw - it's Luvverly!!

If I do say so myself. Not often I'm tempted to keep my giveaways and fob you off with something else but am quite pleased with the way this turned out ...... but I'll stick to the original plan, especially as I already gave you a sneak preview before I went away.

My original inspiration came from two projects in February's Craft Stamper Magazine - 'Their Hearts Connected' by Louise Crosbie (AKA Zuzu) and 'A Splash of Paint' by Trish Latimer. The minute I saw them I knew I wanted to make something similar and get very painty and inky!! I had already decided to do something romantic with hearts using my canvases - it is February after all - and originally tried a red, and then a red and purple colourway (you may remember the red canvases from waaaaaay back).


Somehow it ended up too harsh looking so I softened it with gesso, some pink and added a touch of turquoise and I like it much better.

I really like using canvases 'backwards' for the possibilities they give as a kind of shadow box and I had two hanging about waiting for a project. The only trouble was they are quite small - about 7 x 10 cms - so finding teeny tiny things to go inside was a bit of a challenge. For the main message on the front which I wanted to be clear I stamped on to tissue first and then adhered with gel medium - I always find this works really well.

I did wonder at one point if I
had over mixed my metaphors so to speak as I seemed to have some funky paint effects going on and then went all vintage with a cherub and some tiny paper roses - but I decided  the colours held it all together.






And at last a use for one of those little corked bottles!! Bought them a year ago and they have been languishing in my stash ever since. Filled it with tiny silver stars as I couldn't find any tiny hearts in my stash.





Anyhow, enough of my waffling. If you would like to enter the Art Draw then leave a comment on this post before 9.00 pm on Saturday 25th February.

International players are very welcome. It always seems a bit cheeky to say this as I am not very good at any of this technical linking stuff but I would be very happy for you to link from your own blogs  - the more the merrier.

Finally, as I have been catching up in Blogland I have noticed there are a lot of challenges out there to do with Valentine's, hearts, romance..... there's definitely something in the air. So I'm linking this project to Snazzy's Design Team Blog Challenge # 1, Love/Romance. There are prizes!!! I've also linked in to the Link Party at Cindy Adkins' blog if you would like to join in as well. It also fits the theme for a new9ish) challenge blog  that I have come across - 'art with no boundaries'

I'm still waiting......

to crash through that 150 followers mark :0(.  Obviously my 'goodies' aren't enough to tempt you, we shall have to do better!! I also haven't heard from my two new followers - I have tried to contact you but sorry ladies, if you don't get your addies to me somehow I won't be able to send you anything!!

I shall  be offline for several days, but the January giveaway will continue through to the 4th Feb as advertised - you just won't see your comments until I can get back on to approve them. So do join in, leave a comment on this post, or on the original here, and I'll put you in the draw.

We are also waiting with great anticipation for a final date for the new  creative blog celebration being organised by Lisa Swifka of A Whimsical Bohemian. I know Lisa has had a few teething problems with this new venture but it is sure to be awesome. The event will be called 'Our World Our Art' and will be 'an International Blogwide Celebration of the Arts and its Artisans' to quote the lady herself.

To find out more click on the picture or pop over to A Whimsical Bohemian. The likely date for the event is March, which will of course be upon us in next to no time. If  you have an artistic passion you might even want to sign up yourself!!

I won't personally be taking part this year but I shall definitely be taking a look round once it starts. I'll keep you posted when I know more.

January Art Draw - and Happy New Year to you too!!

Right. First giveaway of the year and I'm late. And I have an idea that is going to make you happy or fall asleep before you get to the end of this post. Still, read on!!

First, two altered slide mailers, one of these will constitute the main prize for this month's art draw. As you can see I've gone a bit oriental in honour of Chinese New Year which this year signifies the beginning of the Year of the Dragon, one of the most auspicious of the chinese zodiac.

The one on the right has an acetate front which may/may not be hard to see from the photo. Lots of gold embossing powder and a bit of gilding flakes. On the reverse there is a chinese proverb/quote (allegedly anyway according to Mr Google).

I am not quite sure what it means but it sounds like pretty good advice, should you happen to know a local dragon.

For the one on the left I got out some sadly neglected embossing paste and a bamboo stencil to decorate the back and front. Came out pretty well (but oh what a mess you can get into!!!)

I used some of my inca gold to highlight and was quite pleased with the result. Finished off the front with the large coin that just happens to have a dragon on. (I don't just throw this stuff together you know).  Inside I have used the slide 'niches' to add some pictures and another inscrutable chinese quote. More good advice to start the year!!

I did get rather carried away with my general paintiness and inkiness - feels like an age since I've had a chance to be messy - and I was doing a bit of 'resist' work because that is the challenge over at TIOT this week. So I also made a CNY tag which will be part of the giveaway and which is my entry to the challenge. I hope the DT at TIOT won't be cross with me for burying it in the middle of this post but I can't be bothered to do it all separately.  The dragon is the resist bit in case it's not obvious!!

Right usual rules apply. If you would like to be entered in to the art draw please make a comment on this post before 9.00 pm on Saturday 4th February. (I am extending it a bit because it is already the 15th, and also I know I won't be able to get to the pc to do the draw before then). International players welcome. please feel free to link from your own blogs.

Now I am going to make it a bit more complicated. The draw will be for 1 slide mailer, unless we get over 30 entries, when there will be two winners. I will also make another tag and box to be fair (it'll never happen!). First drawn will get first choice. Simples?

Oh what the heck, it's New Year and I'm feeling generous. As I say I got carried away and I also have three tags and three ATCs (most but not all are resist technique as well). So the next six new people to 'follow' me will get one of them as a RAK. (We are currently at 147 and, yes, it's really bugging me that that follower tag has not gone over 150 yet!!).
So there are potentially 8 prizes on offer this month and I hope they will tempt you to join in. Don't forget that although you do not need to have a blog of your own I must be able to contact you if you enter. Good Luck, and
Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Watch the Birdie!! November giveaway is here

Was trying for a Christmassy feel for the November giveaway , not sure I pulled it off!!

As usual, my mediocre photography skills let down a rather cute little bird house. It is very small, about 3" high and is basically an altered chipboard house. I just used some paints and metallic rub on (also used the PVA technique on the roof to get the distressed look) and finally found a use for the littleshrink plastic leaves I made a month or so ago - there were just enough!! The tiny seed beads which were once in a glue like medium that has long since dried out were the perfect size to use as berries to add a bit of colour and my little robin (you may need to use your imagination as his red breast kinda disappeared) was made using shrink plastic and a Tim Holtz die.

I have just realised I took the photo befor I put back his little hangy bit. This little house does come with a hanging loop so it could go on the tree - or wherever you want really!!        Anyhow, usual rules apply, you need to leave a comment on this post before 9 pm on Sunday 27th November to be included in the draw. International players welcome, feel free to link from your own blogs. Thanks for looking, and hopefully for playing along.                     Cindy x              

July Giveaway - 'Solitude', an altered CD

Well that just about sums it up. Lots going on at the moment so I have kept it simple this month with a wall hanging made from an altered CD. I wanted to use this image of a thoughtful vintage lady and one of these 'enchanted doors' from itkupilly and came across this quote which seemed to with these images...



Although I treasure my friends, both in the 'real' and in the 'virtual' world I am also very happy to be on my own - solitude is definitely a 'haven' for me. I was still playing with my layering when doing this and I have also been making wire wrapped charms for a swap over on GAS MAMMA (great fun, even if they do look a bit like caterpillers) and used one for the 'dangly' bit. So I hope you like the finished piece.



OK, if you have an empty space on your wall somewhere and would like a chance to win this altered cd, you need to leave a comment on this post before 8.00 pm on Friday 31st July. I will be away at the end of July, so the draw will be made on Saturday morning.

Please feel free to link to this post on your blogs, the more the merrier.

Cindy xx

Pay It Forward - Round 2

Back at the beginning of April, I asked if anyone wanted to take part in the PIF challenge. I had two takers and just thought I would share with you the items that I sent off.



First, for Belinda, I made a little pennant banner, similar to one I made as a giveaway. At the time I had been playing with some coloured UTEE and had various bits and pieces that I had coated or made with it so that kind of set the initial colour scheme, and because those things included a dragonfly and a flower, the theme as well.







I also used some shrink plastic to make the little birds and flowers, and made some jigsaw charms to dangle - do like a good dangly bit lol.

The second person to take part was Trudy, and for her I recycled (or maybe re-vamped is a better expression) an earlier piece to make a wall hanging. Anyhow this is how it turned out.



Now, the idea of the Pay It Forward challenge is this, I promised to send a little crafty surprise sometime before the end of 2009, to the first 3 people who left a comment on my blog.

BUT, to takepart ... they must continue the chain and offer to send a little something to the first 3 people who make a comment on a similar post on their own blogs..

My original post only got two participants, one of whom doesn't have a blog and who will be continuing with the challenge in a different way .... so technically two people can still take part. So, if you want to spread a little happiness around, leave a comment here to that effect and I will be in touch. Soon.

MAY GIVE - AWAY!! Enter here....

A day later than advertised as our main pc crashed yesterday - shouldn't really affect me as I have my own, but it's the master one which drives the network and most importantly the link with the printer which is how I get photos from my camera these days.... confused? well never mind it's pretty much sorted now, OH spent most of his Sunday rebuilding the d***** thing again .... he's getting quite good at it now.

So here we are...



I'm sure it is not obvious what this little objet d'art is so I'll explain. It's a little trinket box made from dominoes, covered with paper, painted, stamped and embossed. I do like to ring the changes lol. And because it didn't look that inspiring I made a teeny weeny concertina book to go inside as a little extra. I didn't say these giveaways would be anything useful!!



OK, you surely know the form by now, if you want to be included in the draw leave a comment on this post before 8.00 pm on Sunday 24th May. Please feel free to link to this giveaway on your own blogs and thanks again for visiting, ALL your comments are much appreciated even if I don't always get time to reciprocate.

Hugs Cindyxx

HAPPY EASTER and APRIL GIVEAWAY

Well, the long Easter weekend has finally arrived and if you are anything like me you have spent a lot of time this week out in the garden - it has been glorious!! This is a favourite time of year, as the garden starts to unfurl and everything is so full of promise - usually all goes to pot for this weekend but you never know!!



For the April giveaway I decided on a change of pace and this month's item should (hopefully) appeal to those among you who like a touch of vintage. As regular readers will know, I have been making a daily art card for a year and to vary things a bit I have occasionally made some 4 x 4 journal pages. I have put together 8 of these pages to make a little book (well I really did have to try out that bind it all I got for Christmas!!). They are all of vintage children and if you would like to see what you are getting you can look at the complete set on my flickr album here.
So if you would like to own 8 little pieces of art (lol) all you have to do is leave a comment on this post between now and 8.00 pm on Monday 20th April. The winner will be announced on the 21st.



I do hope a few new people will join in, so please feel free to advertise on your own blogs. Meanwhile, I would like to wish everyone a very happy Easter.

Cindy xx