Merry Creepmas

The challenge this time over at Ikes world challenges is creepmas AKA the dark side of Christmas.  This was a little tricky for me because to me Christmas is all about the sparkle and the colour for me.  I did however have an idea when I saw the nativity set in Ikes store.

I printed the stable multiple times and coloured each one as I wasn't sure how much of each or where I was going to cut the decoupage lines to begin with.  I also printed, the star, stable doors, nativity, Holly fairy, Kings, herod, hay bales, angel and a large holly leaf.  I coloured it all using a combination of promarkers, inktense pencils, h2O's and colour soft pencils, oh and some weird glitter pens that I'm not sure I like, before I started fixing it together. 

I started by sticking the flap of the door behind the nativity and gluing it all in. Then decoupaged the whole walls and roof of the stable.  The last level was just the walls and floor rock/bricks.  I added the Holly fairy to the top brick of the last level of the decoupage and the holly leaf speech bubble.

I didn't like something about it though and ended up leaving it over night.  Over night I decided I didn't like the size of the speech bubble and therefore also had to change my quote because it wouldn't fit.

So I reprinted the holly leaves and added them again, with the Holly Fairy saying King Herod I am ready to do thy work...

After this I added the three kings behind the angel, the star above the stable and my attempt at CREEPmas...Herod is peeking out from behind a haybale, having found Baby Jesus.  I admit it's a pretty feeble attempt at the darker side of Christmas but I guess I tried.

I hope to see you all joining us on this challenge.

Raining cats and dogs {Warning lots of photos}

The theme at Ikes World Challenges this time is "It's raining cats and dogs"...I admit it's raining men would have been more fun...a little risque but fun all the same!  Anyway back to the point....using the theme raining cats and dogs I wasn't really sure what I was going to do...have dogs and cats sat under umbrellas?  Maybe not. In the mean time a card swap challenge came up and in my drugged {antibiotics; second set for long term chest infection} up state I chose the following for the swap:

Theme Au Natural, Dry embossing, heat embossing,  white ink stamping or ink resist, no bought embellishments everything must be made by you, must contain an animal, two different colouring mediums, die cutting and the card must not be rectangle, square or circular.  You can see why my swap partner hates me can't you?

 It was the different shaped card that 'inspired' me with Ikes theme.  I drew around my paisley die and labourisly cut it out to become a paisley shaped concertina card.  I then used eight different dog and cat images {sorry Ike} all available at Ike's art store.  I coloured those with promarkers.  My die cutting and dry embossing was on one side of the concertina in the form of another paisley shape, with the embossed bits being highlighted with gilding wax {I'm still not convinced about this product}.  The other side of the concertina had a paisley shape with ink resist stamping.  My white ink pad had dried up totally so I used perfect medium instead...it sort of worked.  I used a free stamp from a craft stamper mag in the shape of a dog although it's difficult to see.

I used the fish from Ikes zombie pet collection for embellishments for the cats, and drew my own bones for the dogs...note for future reference beg Ike to draw some bones they'd look far better than mine.  The fish and bones are coloured with colour soft pencils.  To complete the card I die cut a label and added text to each paisley shape.  I hope this meets the requirements of both challenges, although I'm not overly confident the paisley shape is very rain drop like but hey I'll blame the antibiotics for my 'take' on rain.

For those of you who have fallen asleep during my ramblings WAKE UP NOW IT'S ALL OVER!

Inspired by

This week over at Ikes World Challenges we are being inspired by the photo and or colours.  I usually like a challenge like this as it's very much open to interpretation; which for me is what craft and creativity is all about.

This is the photo to inspire you:

I took the colours and tried to stick to them but occasionally I couldn't I just had to let my brain run away with itself.  I choose to take the inspiration of the dream catcher literally and made one...well Ike made it and I 'decorated' it.

For this project I used:  Colour soft pencils, promarkers and liquid pearls.

I literally just cut and coloured this before attaching 'scary' nightmare images of Ikes {sorry hunni they aren't that scary really I promise} and 'nice' images that had climbed through the dream catcher to become pleasant dreams.

Anything goes/use three of the same thing

I was in two minds about playing with the Clear it out challenge this week.  I haven't felt like doing much at all but today I felt the need to do some art journaling.  Due to unfortunate circumstances I have missed my balcony adventures in Brixham with a special friend so I dug out a Micheal Powell stamp and decided to have a little play on a nautical themed art journal page.

The challenge requires I use three of the same thing and my three things are:

• three stickle buoys/porthole shapes
• Three sailing boats {hand made using promarkers and liquid pearls}
• Three pieces of ribbon
• Three waves using liquid pearl

I have stamped and coloured the harbour image in inktense pencils, matted it on gold mirri card.  The paper is a christmas paper from DoCrafts but I like the nauticalish strips. 

My Journaling reads:

Why can't all towns and villages have bright coloured houses like coastal towns?

Gearing up for winter

I decided that as I am VERY bored with resting but having a long standing chest infection {almost two months} and Pleurisy perhaps crafting would help keep me seated and therefore resting.  It has kind of worked.  I came across this challenge blog through an entrant into Ike's world Challenges and liked the look of it.  So today I popped over and saw that the Clear it out challenge appeared simple enough. 

As soon as I knew it was called gearing up for winter I had an idea in my head and set about collecting all I would need in a basket {must stay seated as long as possible it helps the breathing} then after settling in the arm chair had a nap. 

A few hours later I stamped and coloured some Tilly Day Dream stamps using inktense pencils.  I used a promarker for the skin.   The background paper is also Tilly Day Dream and the embossed winter/snowflake strip is coloured with peacock feathers distress ink.  I have added clear glitter for a sparkle on the embossed snowflakes but it doesn't show up very well.  Maybe I should have used a blue?

Well that's the gearing up for Winter part sorted, well sort of, some of the stamping is Autumnal but I figured we get ready for Winter in Autumn so it might scrape through.  The metal part is a metal charm snowflake which conveniently covers the stamped snowflake the girl is holding in her hand. 

This is my first time participating in the Clear it out challenge and I want to say thank you for making your blog so welcoming and for making the challenges feel achievable.

Here's a pic {a bad one} of my card.

Halloween over at Ikes

This time it's Halloween over at Ike's world challenges.  I had this crazy yet in my head wonderful idea for this project but I didn't quite pull it off.  I wanted to have a pumpkin fairy lifting the flap of a coffin to find Poe dead in bed...what I actually discovered was the practicalities of getting something to lift the flap did not match with the way in which my brain works.  However we all have the odd mishap/failure when crafting and perhaps my inability can inspire others to find a way around it so I have decided to share the project anyway.

All images are Ike's and have been coloured with promarkers.  I've tried to use either 'realistic' or Halloween colours.

I do hope to see you participating in the challenge.

Think pink

The theme over at Ikes world challenges this week is "think pink".  This is mostly associated with the awareness of breast cancer so for my piece I have used the Ohhh la la image from Ikes Art .  

To make this you will need:

• Pro markers
• Ohh la la image
• Paper {of your choice I used docrafts}
• Ribbon
• Either a very clever brain or the we r memory keepers bag punch board
• Glitter
• Gems
• Scissors
• Double sided tape
• Fabric {this is optional}  
• Glossy Accents
• Really tiny beads
• Liquid pearls

I made the bag following the we r memory keepers bag punch board destructions {instructions for those of you intelligent enough to follow them}!  I punched holes in to the top using the cropodile and set them with eyelets before threading the ribbon through and tying it for handles.

I printed and cut around the oohhh la la image.  I then coloured it and because I wanted to give the chair a luxurious feel I reprinted the image and cut the cushion bits out for a template.  I cut the shapes from pink material and glued them on with glossy accents.  I used tiny gems for the center of the basque, really tiny beads for the garter and liquid pearl for the buttony bits in the chair.  I adhered the image to the die cut shape and edged the shape with glitter. 

For those who noticed that the bag paper is upside down with little quotes/sayings/sentiments on...it is indeed upside down and I still have NOT managed to get the paper to work so both sides are the right way up so my top tip is don't use paper with words on!

This particular bag was then used to place a thank you gift of these chocolate fruit shards in.

Around the world

This week at Ike's world challenges we are off around the world.  There's a fabulous freebie over at the blog to help you along with your entry so please do join us.  

For my piece I have decided I wanted to travel and subsequently went to Spain and Greece...okay I admit it I just couldn't choose between the images they are all stunning.

I had a wooden tool box that I hated the colour was very hot pink and I am NOT a pink kind of girl.  So I started by covering it with several layers of Gesso...nope that didn't cover it so I took to using tissue paper as decoupatch papers...nope that wasn't going to cover it either so in the end I used eight layers of tissue paper to cover it but in the right light you can STILL see the darn pink base.  

I covered the edge with washi tape/ribbon stuff and hoped it would stick, it does sometimes.  The handle is also covered in the same stuff.  I printed, cut and coloured the greek men and women before gluing them on one side and the spanish dancer was coloured and stuck on with double sided tape.  I then filled the toolbox with jam jars and a kilner jar for all my craft tools, tapes and glues oh and the cropodile.

I hope you have all enjoyed noising at my strange creation this week and pop over to join us at Ike's world challenges.

 

Pet Shop

Firstly I'd like to point out that no Jam, Quiche or Bread burnt during the making of these projects...should evidence be required there will be a pic of the Jam and bread gift set on my facebook page The Crafty Baker. 

Secondly I want to thank Ike for the amazing images, I have a minor oh okay a MAJOR addiction to these...THANK YOU!

Anyway I have created three projects {all of them quick} with some of these wonderful images.

My first project is a tag....okay an oversize tag.  I've used distress ink for the background and written with promarker {note for next time find a different pen the nibs too thick for my handwriting} "If I look dead will she leave me alone?".  My plan is to send this to a very good friend of mine who has to 'control' me when around fish.  The first time I went to her place I went and sat on the floor by her fish tank and tapped the glass talking to them.  Anyway I printed and coloured the fish bowl and the fish using promarkers, and added ribbon to the top of the tag.

 My second piece is an art journal page, some of you know I'm being challenged {well it's one way of phrasing it} at the moment and I'm trying to use art journaling as a way of relaxing so I can craft.  Well these images were just perfect for getting me to relax but also because this fitted today's mood oh so well.  The sign in the pet shop is 'failure' and the pet shop owner has an order for a replacement brain...a brain that doesn't fail!  

My third and final piece is a quick little card, I've wanted to fill a nice cauldron with 'ingredients' for a very long time and this is my opportunity.  I couldn't resist using a Macbeth quote for the witch as she created her potion.

So now that I've inundated you with some of my favourite images here is the rest of the design team with their take on the images.  Don't forget to follow the blog hop through, leaving comments of love and then return to Ikes world challenges leave your name in the comments for a chance to win the new images.

BLACK DRAGON

SHELL

MAUREEN

SAMARA

TERESA

MIMI JANE

GINNY

SHONI

CHRISTINE

SALL

JANE O

Blog Hop

Today im taking part in the creative blog hop.

"Monday again! Okay I'm a day early but whilst I have the time I thought I'd get this done! The day where all kinds of  artists from many different genres, join in The Creative Blog Hop (TCBH) after being tagged by someone the previous Monday. The Creative Blog Hop is the brain child of a blogger, whose identity has been lost along the way. The intention is for us all, as bloggers, to get to know each other better and share ideas and inspiration. It is most commonly explained as similar to the playground game 'Tag' (you're it) but over a huge expanse of space (conceivably the whole world - or at least the parts of the world that have access to the internet). Each Blogger introduces their tagger and themselves, answers four questions about themselves and then they 'tag' three more Bloggers and it goes on and on (or at least that is the aim of the game)."

 

So this is where you need to know about me I guess...so well here goes.

 

Hi my name is Sall and I’m the crafty baker.  I have crafted since I was a child and became more serious about it when I was 15.  I didn’t really know what it meant then but I did enjoy putting different things together and seeing the pleasure when that card was given to someone…especially someone who appreciated the effort as well as the fact it contained part of my heart and soul.  

I have tried and enjoyed card making, scrapbooking, Cut and Craft 3d templates , bag making, sewing, box making, altering/decorating things, decoupatch and am loving becoming more familiar with the darker side of crafting.  I have dabbled in jewellery too.

I don’t feel I am just a crafter though because creativity takes over every part of my life.  I love moving the furniture around in my home and giving it an entirely new look for very little cost.  I’m a kitchen girl and spend a lot of time baking.  Baking is just another part of my creativity, whether it’s sweet or savoury I love combing flavours and textures to create something that looks and hopefully tastes as good.  I’ve been designing and baking birthday and Christmas cakes for several years now and hope one day to make it in the big bad world of proper cake making…just as soon as I’ve grown up enough to find the courage and confidence in my abilities.  Because of this baking addiction the kitchen is the heart and soul of my home and it is full to the brim with colourful crockery and hand crafted décor.  Okay I admit some are bought too!  

Another part of my creative streak would be writing.  Since I was a child I’ve written stories and even the odd pantomime. I’ve created the whole thing from my imagination, used a tv show for characters and created my own scenario or in the case of pantomime used a well-known story…snow white and the seven dwarfs to give my own spin to pantomime.  As the years progressed I wrote adult erotic stories as well as those suitable for children.

Even my clothes are influenced by my creative streak, I rarely like what is currently in fashion.  I’m a vintage chick at heart well no more age old than vintage if I am honest and adore the clothes from the early 1900’s and late 1800’s up until the 1950’s.  I’ve recently got a sewing machine and I’m practising hard so I can eventually make my own clothes.  I combine everything with a scarf in winter or some sort of shrug in summer and it goes without saying I’ll be wearing a pair of leggings under the dress. 

I find inspiration for craft from everywhere, looking out the window, the tv, a book, blogs, the supermarket, yes you read that correctly I did say the supermarket haha, the seasons.  I love the bright colours of early autumn, the umber, gold’s, and reds it’s all about that last splash of colour before the icey hues hit in late autumn and run through to winter solstice.  The icey whites, greys and blues with the odd splash of pale icey cold pink in the sky take over the world lowering the temperatures encouraging lots of layers, a roaring fire and those glassy colours on wintery cards before Thanksgiving and Christmas is upon us with the deep decadent reds and greens of the holly and ivy.  The crushed velvet textures and wooly comforting’s of thick warm clothes and the rich Gold’s decorating the ever green tree that’s been brought in from the cold to smell of pine and the forest casting a low glow from tree lights and handmade beaded decorations as well as the modern baubles and beads.  

 As the tree gets replanted to continue it’s life in the earth for another year so the weather remains bleak if we are lucky we have some crisp white snow to play in but generally in the Westcountry it’s wet, muddy and miserable.  This makes me want to use muddy green colours in my crafting but it doesn’t last long by early February I’m longing for the first flowers of spring.  My camera is loaded with batteries and my memory cards are empty after the Christmas festivities ready for the first snaps of the last nod to winter with the snow drops and to welcome the very first hint of spring when the grass turns greener and the daffs poke their sun like heads out of the earth they have spent the winter hiding in.  As Spring progresses the vivid hues of the tulips send out a warming glow and the sun begins to climb high in the sky…mornings are light and bright a golden yellow glow casts it’s spell across the world and trees start to sprout leaves.  With time the Spring equinox progresses into Summer Solstice and the bright blue skies break out and the sea calms into a gentle fluid motion my crafting is influenced by tropical colours, the crystal clear waters with an aquamarine tint and the almost white sand {think Bora Bora or the Caribbean}.  I adore the beach and this theme finds itself on a lot of my summer cards.  I also love the solar glow of a sunset in reds, oranges and yellows, as the sky lights up for those last few minutes before the inky blackness descends lit up with millions of stars. 

I suppose this brings me full circle to paper crafting.  Well cards have never been my thing.  I’ve never been good at the traditional layers and conventional images.  However this didn’t put me off I took up scrapbooking instead.  Over the years my love of this grew and I began to follow a set pattern and my pages all began to look the same until I ran out of photos.  I returned to the cards and struggled so I bought myself a cheap digital camera {until this point I couldn’t get one photo out a single film} and found I was getting better.  Several years past and with the encouragement of a friend I bought a digital bridge camera and have never looked back, photography is now a huge part of my creative side too.  This has only got worse with the aid of camera phones!  Now instead of a lack of photos I had a lack of space to store the albums so went back to the cards.  By this time I had the aid of facebook and craft groups.  I made lots of friends who helped me to realise card making needn’t be restrictive.  I started using anything and everything and putting it on my cards…I now love making cards but you rarely find a traditional one coming from me!  My style is somewhat detailed, it's not so much what but the fine tuning that I enjoy.  I will sit for hours gluing on individual beads or gems and colouring things in very small sizes just because everything to me is in the detail.

Over the years I’ve dabbled in altered art and once in to the ‘darker’ area of craft.  I was surprised to learn about this darker side of craft and although I’m not a ‘zombie’ type person there are gothic and other elements that I can and do really appreciate.  Ever since I was a child of oh 8 or 9 years old I wanted to be an undertaker…the older I got the more I REALLY wanted to do this.  When it came to high school work experience I had had mine lined up for years I wanted to go to an undertakers and had found one who would take me…the school said NO…I wasn’t clever enough so it was off to the local primary school for me!  I’ve kept the love of all things dead and over the years watched many shows that involve dead bodies and so forth, I love Bones, CSI, grave trade and many others and I cannot wait for this to start showing in my craft too.  I hope over the coming years to lose my fear of producing something ‘different’ aka ‘dark’ crafting wise and just embrace all of my passions.  Animals and animal conservation is a big part of my personality and I hope to continue working towards incorporating this into my craft too.  I have some animal stamps but as with the ‘dark’ side of crafting this needs a little work and I hope in the coming years I find a way of expressing my love of all things animal throughout all areas of my craft not just scrapbooking.

My other passion is reading and as you may have guessed I like a good old gruesome murder in my books too but I also like a romance just not too often.  I’ve read ever since I was a child, Enid Blyton mysteries and then as a teen books that were more hard hitting such as the “A child called It” series.  Now I try and read a variety of books from all genre's.  I appreciate and love history too so a good historic novel can be found when you peruse my many many bookcases as well as unusual books such as complimentary therapy and spiritual healing, the meaning of dreams etc. 

All that sums up my personality and my creative side I think but is there anything I’ve left out?  Ah yes I’m a skilled lip reader so I can read peoples conversations from a distance…okay so that’s not a polite thing to do but it’s a nifty skill especially when your hearing impaired as I am.  I’m also clumsy I injure myself very easily due to a lack of balance {damaged balance bones in my ears}.  

So that should have been enough to send you to sleep reading about me, which means I should get on with the important bit and start nominating someone else.  This time I think I shall nominate Samara of Penumbrahallows blog.

 

Samara is a very talented crafter and always produces something unique. We met recently when with some encouragement I found the nerve to participate in some blog challenges.  I think I shall always be in awe of her work.  Please hop over and see her magical creatioins.