Nanette's Blog:A little Bit of thisand a lot of that

Get Ready Folks!! Rosey Hearts Challenge Goes Live in 2 Days!!

3/14/2015

I am beyond excited about my new news!! Rosey Hearts has given me the honor of being on the design team! Melissa's images are so wonderful and the design team is soooo talented I am almost about to burst with joy! Our first challenge goes live in 2 days and you won't want to miss it! Team A is going to inspire you as they have me and the theme..no, I can't tell you yet! sorry! but it is soooo fun! So get your markers ready and be ready to go to the shop and pick up an image and join in the fun! So much excitement going on! Thank you so much, Sandie and Melissa, for this wonderful opportunity! Here are the links to the store and our Facebook group where some lovely freebies are!

Etsy shop link:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/RoseyHearts?ref=shop_

The rosey Hearts official blog http://rosey-hearts.blogspot.ca/
The Rosey Hearts FB Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/715465521904917/

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Left of Center Challenge #68 Dilly Beans "Big Eyes"

3/8/2015

6 Comments

This week's challenge at Left of Center is sponsored by Dilly Beans and you can either play the Left of Center way which includes: dark, goth, steampunk, punk, etc. or follow the theme "Big Eyes". I decided to go both ways and use my awesome Hypno Eyed Girl the Left of Center way! The wonder of this is shopping 5 days after Valentine's Day at Walmart. I walk in the store with my son and what do I see but 75% off all Valentine's Day items; I saw boxes that made me swoon! Of course, my son could not comprehend why I would want to buy these odd purchases as the candy would be too old next year.....so after a not so brief conversation on the lovely boxes he relented and walked away! Score one for MOM! So this project was so easy to make because I knew when I saw this alligator's big eyes that this was the one for "Big Eyes"! The background scales and texture were there. I only had to remove some detailing on the front and my canvas as it were, was ready. I colored Hypno Eyed Girl with Chameleon pens and some Promarkers, fussy cut her, and glued her down...perfect fit! I added Glossy Accents to her eyes and mouth and the skull on her bow. I also used my label maker (my son could understand why I needed that and had bought it for me) and made my sentiments. The I got out the big bag of big google eyes and went crazy! Some leftover Halloween stickers gave me some lovely bats to stick here and there. I took a picture of the box with some gold fabric inside just to show the unique shape and detailing on the sides. I go over my scheduled projects before I go shopping not for paint, glue, or embellishments but for a "canvas" for my images. I knew I had "Big Eyes" coming up so this box that ended up costing 58 cents was perfect. I bought another so it will be appearing at the right moment!:) I also wanted to show how easy it is to make something from something already with a good background. You don't have to create backgrounds, or canvases, or even a card base every single time. Look around and you may find something that with very little work will make your image look right at home! So go grab a box, be it cereal, candy, whatever and color your image and make your project! We are waiting for it at Left of Center and you would love to have some Dilly Beans images! Come play!
Happy Crafting!

6 Comments

Quoth the Raven Challenge #42 "Dream On"

3/8/2015

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Welcome to Quoth the Raven's Challenge #42 "Dream On". I had quiet a time with this one but in the end the Master's words gave me the answer. In the poem "The Raven" the line "And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming..." there is was! I took a humble pizza box bottom and lined with some papers from the "Once Upon a Time" stack that had fairies floating in the top edge. I used the image of Poe and the raven bust from Ike's Art with half of Poe's face being slightly zombiefied. Perfect for a bad dream, which I think the poor man had many. I colored the image with Chameleon pens, fussy cut, and glued to a business card folded to make a stand. I made four little books each with a title hand written of one of his works and placed a feather into a piece of polymer clay for a quill pen and stand. The other corner has a spool covered with paper with a lovely skull placed on top. The box has some nice texture features to it. I melted a brown crayon with my heat gun and went along the corners and where the papers joined. It splattered and ran some but I really liked the effect. I stamped some ravens on the background and then colored them with a black crayon after heating the stamped image...the color just glides on.. a little hard to control but again a nice effect. Red acrylic paint for eyes of course referencing the line from the poem. I took foil tape and ran it through my embossing folder then cut in to two pieces and after pulling the backing paper off I put on the edges of the pizza box. Then some brown acrylic paint rubbed on the embossed foil edge with my finger. And so my Poe dream box is made!
You have all month to enter this challenge and we want to see your vision of this theme!
Happy Crafting and Dream On/Poe!!

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Dragons Lair Designs Guest Designer Project for March "Two or More Folds"

3/4/2015

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So happy to be part of the Dragons Lair Designs Design Team! My first project with these amazing products was born from a little box I saw made from a match box. I did not have a match box but I did have a soap box! So I covered the soap box (removing the end tabs on one end) with a paper from the Sarah's Collection pack of digital papers. I then made the drawer...this took several tries...and I made it out of a striped piece of the collection. I wanted to make this a memory box for a dear friend who left us last year due to breast cancer. As always I take this time to urge you to check yourself to protect yourself and always be alert to exams and screenings you might need. So in order to have some sections to put some items of hers I needed to make them. I took cardboard and doubled up and glued one strip down off center in the drawer bottom. Then a smaller one was glued to make a smaller section towards the bottom. Before gluing down I inked with brushed corduroy the cardboard and the insides of the drawer and all edges of the top and drawer. The challenge called for "Two or More Folds" so I wanted a little scrapbook/notebook to put some words of friendship in so I pleated a piece of paper and then scored it along the bottom to fold up and make a pocket for each page. I inked it, edges and all, and then folded it in and tied it with a piece of twine. I put in a button and a gem for photo purposes. I placed some token items inside for the purpose of this challenge but will be putting in personal ones to keep. The top of the box was easy with the gorgeous papers from this collection. I cut one from each of the 4 papers and vellum and distressed the edges with my scissors and inked and then adhered them staggering them. Then I tied the bundle of papers together with a piece of twine and added a feather and key made from Mod Podge Melts. I glued a glass bauble around an awareness ribbon with love printed on it and glued to the corner. Then I glued the bundle on top of the match box and it was time to use one of my favorite images from the Dragons Lair Designs shop "Wings"! I colored with Chameleon pens and fussy cut 2 copies and layered them and attached to the top. I stamped my friend's name on a piece of the match box paper and layered on to vellum again distressing and inking and adhered to the top corner. These papers were so inspiring in making this project! Our challenge runs for the month and the theme is "Two or More Folds" and you can follow the links below to find us!
Happy Crafting!

http://dragonslairdesigns.com/shop/ Dragons Lair Designs Store

http://stampingwithdragon.blogspot.ie/ Dragons Lair Designs Challenge Blog

https://www.facebook.com/groups/636646656454888/ Dragons Lair Designs Fan Group

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dragons-Lair-Designs/443643142441261 Dragons Lair Designs Page

http://www.craftsuprint.com/janette-padley/ Janette Padley’s Creations on craftsUprint

Entered:
http://scrappers-delights-challenge-blog.blogspot.co.uk/ Scrapper's Delights Challenge Anything Goes #42

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My Very First Design Team Project for Rhedd's Creative Spirit

3/2/2015

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Hi, I am so excited to be making this post for Rhedd's Creative Spirit Challenge Blog. We are an altered art group. My first jump into the water was the kiddie pool I must admit! I chose to alter a birdhouse that has been sitting around unpainted crying for attention. I loved the shape of it and just never did anything with it. So I had a pack of DP of wood grains given to me by my lovely parents and the process began! I painted the piece with a pink acrylic wash. Then I glued pink wood grain paper on the sides and back. For the roof and floor of the porch I used a white birch piece of paper from the stack. I painted the porch columns and railing as well as the edges with white also the top which has a little knob and I painted that pink. Then to the fun part! I made a rag rug from lace scraps for the front door/bird entrance. I used polymer clay to make a nice yummy summer fruit platter containing watermelon, grapes, an apple with a bite out of it (someone couldn't wait!) , orange, and sliced lemon. I glued this to the porch railing for any guests who visit. Of course what porch doesn't have a plant hanger so to the wire bucket to construct a wire hanging basket filled with moss and a lovely purple flower. At the time I had just completed a light catcher out of an aluminum can (spoiler alert..one of these will make an appearance) so I decided to make a mini me of it. Attaching it was harder than I anticipated and I didn't get the swinging motion I wanted but overall I like it. I dry brushed some white acrylic paint on the decorative carving at the top and from the paper stack added the "sign" Fly. For the top I added a very light green ribbon with some dark green ribbon for a bow and a large pink flower from my stash as well as two smaller flowers around the knob. And I feared my feathered friends might not be prepared for colder times so I added a wood stack to the side of the building. This was done by fussy cutting some individual wood pieces from a piece of the paper stack and gluing trying to give some dimension to it. And to ward off any hunger I added some milk and honey containers I had made from dowels and a jar of gum drops by the fruit. It was then ready for the birdies to move in .....however, it got added to the collection on top of my book cases! I know, selfish of me!! Thanks for reading and thanks to the RCS team and Sandie for including me in on the fun!

Our challenges run monthly and the link is:
http://rheddscreativespirit.blogspot.co.uk/ Rhedd's Creative Spirit

Happy Crafting!

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Something Red with Wings for Mixed Media Mojo

2/28/2015

1 Comment

Last minute slide to the plate! I sooo wanted to enter Mixed Media Mojo's February Challenge with the theme of "Red with Wings"! So here it is...an altered Valentine's candy heart box upside down with some gems, foil stickers, a lovely freebie image from Fairy Ink Stamps colored with Chameleon pens with Dragon Lairs Designs "Wings" digi. I added some Dimensional Magic and stickles. Short deets but gotta get posted NOW..lol, due to bad planning!
Happy Crafting!
Entered:
Mixed Media Mojo Feb. Challenge/Red with Wings

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Left of Center Challenge #67 Theme Spiders Sponsored by Sami Stamps Theme Spiders..Eeek!

2/27/2015

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First off let me thank each of you who participated at the Left of Center Challenge last week with The East Wind sponsored theme "Enchantress"! So many wonderful projects..wow! This week we are sponsored by Sami Stamps and I used the awesome Goth Girl as the focal piece of my canvas...yes, you heard right I used a real canvas this time...no cereal box (I still love you cereal boxes!) ! I found a fabulous piece of fabric bought years ago to make a purse and with the help of my unpaid art adviser (wink, wink! you genius, you!) turned it into a spider filled nightmare!
First, I sprayed adhesive to the canvas including the sides, and then stretched my fabric square (pre-cut for easier placement) on to the canvas. Then I adhered my colored image (Chameleon pens) that I had fussy cut where I wanted her to be placed. Then the fun/craziness began!! I added some super cool gem crusted fake eyelash pieces on her black eye shadowed eyes. Long, long lashes from a Halloween gig. I took deco mesh in dark navy and did my best to cut it to fit her top, very dicey bit of work! and glued it down with a clear glue. I also cut the hole for her shirt in the deco mesh after laying it on. Her hair has crackled accents on it for the grunge effect and dimensional magic on her eye shadow and lips. When that was dried I took a paint pen that the name had worn off of in black and went over every spider web line on the fabric. I doesn't show in the photos but textured it up very well. Then red paint for the black widow spiders eyes and or bottoms. I added a broken earring..sob! to the left corner by her hair and added red dots to those spiders...in one photo the long chain spider is hanging across her top and I love that. My son gave me a Dymo label maker that I have wanted for months last week so of course out came spiders with spiders on them labels! I tried to add some elements to the spiders on the labels and some doodle lines but the ink smeared; I will try a different method next time. I also found a 2 pack of faux washi tape at the dollar store with the caution tape and a roll of black for $2! I only used the caution and ran it across the ends of the spider labels. Of course the one full skeleton had to have some google eyes, you know me and google eyes! The right bottom embellishment was my attempt at a can top bracelet with black and gold ribbon (yes, Saints colors!) that went wrong but when flattened I liked the silver imperfect look to it. And of course real spiders or rather plastic spiders. I debated on painting them black and in retrospect I think I should have but to add some color to go with her lovely green skin I used them green. Popping one on the "flower" and then in the centers of the webs covering up the red paint but that was ok. I like it. I had a spider sticker and some half moons that I added and some eyelash ribbon kept peeking out of a box stuffed in my living room as we put a new floor in my craft room...ugh! so I added that to a corner and a broken plastic bracelet from a dreaded rival..don't guess it! went in the opposite corner. And of course her response to the impending danger? Whatever!! I had the most fun with this passing the stopping point several times but I kept finding things that I had to add!
You know the drill...go get a friend and start working on spiders or go the Left of Center way,...do it and win that badge and lovely digis from Sami Stamps! A note about badges: we have added a Design Team Member's Spotlight pick where each Design Team member picks a technique, feature, etc. that they like and that entrant gets a special new badge! Awesome, right! And now more chances to be recognized for your amazing work!!
Happy Crafing and get your spiders on!
Entered:
http://www.samistamp.blogspot.com/2015/02/new-release-valentine-feathers-and-sami.html Sami Stamps Challenge #22 Anything Goes

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Left of Center Challenge #66 The East Wind Use Dies or Punches Scroll Down Please....Posted Wrong:) Thanks

2/24/2015

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2nd Post for Ike's World Challenge #31

2/20/2015

4 Comments

Technical difficulties again/user error! I need to post one of the photos separately to enter the challenge. So without any fan fare here she is again!
Entered:
http://www.ikesworldchallengeblog.blogspot.com/

4 Comments

Ike's World Challenge #31 Make Us Laugh with Freebie Image

2/20/2015

5 Comments

I have worked on 2 projects for this challenge one because I won a fab digi from Ike's Art last challenge and had to use it and the freebie image for this challenge just had to be used! Here they are (deets) are basically colored with Chameleon pens and sentiments from Photo Shop and some scrapbook paper and glue!