It's Swap Time!!

I had another crafty swap at UK Ireland Craft Swaps Group over on FB and this time I participated in the Note Card & Tag Folio Swap. We were to create the folio from a tutorial on YouTube by papercrafter45 and you can find part 1 HERE. This is the one I made for my swap partner, Anita:

Here is how it looks closed up:

And here is what it looks like opened up as well as the cards:

I also sent her a few other craft goodies which I won't give away in case she reads my blog LOL. I started with white card but it was too stark so I toned it down with Old Paper Distress Ink. I also left the tags blank so that Anita cold do with them whatever she wanted such as journaling, stamping, staining, etc. The paper live I used was the gorgeous Tilda Tiny Treasures 12" x 12" paper pad. It came with a 3 sheets of thick card die cut toppers which I used on the front and insides of the folio and also on the cards. On the cards I wanted to give the die cuts some dimension so I curved them a bit with my bone folder and used Pinflair Glue Gel to pop them up just a little bit. I went searching through my glue stash (I have a glue foR EVERYTHING) and found some envelope glue. I made the envelopes with my WRMK envie punch board and add this glue to the flaps, let it dry, now you can lick it and seal the envies...cool huh? Here is a full supplies list:

SUPPLIES USED:
Tilda Tiny Treasures 12" x 12" paper pad
Distress Ink in Old Paper
Spellbinders Die - Sue Wilson Designs Lattice Accents
Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page Modern Garland (old one, used corner only) 
Viva Decor Pearl Pens (on front cover of folio & on cards)
Flowers from Mulberry Crafts (on front cover of folio)
Prima Flowers (on front cover of folio)
Prima Say It In Crystals (for tea steam on front of folio, mine were beige and crystal ones)
Tags - Fundamentals Australia
Jute piece in beige - Poundland (on front cover of folio) 
My Craft Studio Envelope Glue(no longer available but just google evelope glue and you should find some)

Now here is the folio and extras that my swap partner, Anita, sent to me:

I snet her a big THANK YOU as I really love what she sent me, including the flat backed pearls, xcut embossing folder and stamp. If you are in the UK, Ireland or anywhee really, why not join us at UK IReland Craft Swaps Group and join in the swapping fun! Thank so having alook and my crafty swap and I hope you have a most blessed day!

Happy Crafting!

hugs, Dorothy

A Swap and a Haul

I have a busy week ahead wth lots of DT projects crafty work due (YEAH) and lots of real bookeeping work due (BOO.) Thought I would start of the week showing off my latest swap over at UK Ireland Craft Swap FB group and show off a mini Hobbycraft haul from yesterday.

First the swap! This swap had us sharing our stash of washi tape with a partner. My partner was Tina and here is what we swapped. Tina sent me an old gift card wrapped with four diffferent washi tapes. they were all so pretty. A couple of them vintage looking which I really liked. She also sent me lots of black and white feathers, lace, ribbons, chipboard bits and some lovely purple flowers.

Here are the things I sent to Tina. I took some thick plastic packaging and cut out two rectangles the same width as a gift card but made it almost double the length. Then on one of the plaastic pieces I stamps some swirls with Stazon ink, I used Glossy Accents to glue the pieces together to make it thicker like a card. I rounded the corners and punched a hole to run some ribbon through. I wrapped lots of washi around it. When the washi is gone, it could make a nice bookmark for her trusty Filofax...hee hee hee. I also sent her a Christmas ornament, some hook and loop (Velcro) circles, stickers and burlap butterflies.

Well after church on Sunday, hubby took me over to the local Hobbycraft because I was wanting some styrofoam eggs to make these cool Christmas ornaments I plan to do so while I wandered around Hobbycraft, hubby went to run another errand. Letting me loose by myself ya just KNOW I bought more than just eggs. Yup I did. I had to control myself because 1. Hobbycraft is expensive and 2. I'm trying to budget my crafty spends per month. So here is what I came out with totalling under £25.

As you can see I got myself 6 styrofoam eggs. But the shop really started as I entered the door. My Hobbycraft has lots of bins right inside the door with goodies in them. So I picked up a roll of double sided tape and those 2 wooden spoons (£1 each.) I also grabbed some clear large bauble ornaments that are fillable. Then I hit the bead section. Oh my it's so much bigger now with really gorgeous beads. I restrained myself and only bought some bead caps and a set of charms. Then I found the Tim Holtz section, which thankfully was mostly empty but I picked up some garment clips as I've never used them before but the look useful. Last area I looked was at the paper. This 12" x 12" Grace Taylor pad called "Parisian Chic" was on sale for £5 so picked that up as well as some matching cardboard pieces for £2.50. I know it's all a little haphazard but I'm a relatively new crafter and I don't have much stash. I lack embellishments really. But I do have some things to work on now (not that I didn't before lol) but I'l have a think on those spoons (shall I do Christmas or simply Vintage style?) and clear baubles. I'm planning a mini album with the paper and matching pieces. Whew...better get myself in that craft room of mine and get to work!

Thanks for reading and Happy Crafting!
Dorothy

Dominoes & Art Tile Swap

OOPS...I forgot to post about this earlier in the week. I guess I was still in birthday mode with getting absolutely nothing done for a week...lol. I particiapted in a crafty swap over at UK and Ireland Craft Swaps. I was paired up woth Donna, which was cool as she lives in the same town I do.

The swap rules were to make a set of 3 inchie art tiles, any theme we wanted and a set of 3 altered dominoes.

First let em show off what Donna sent me. I got this weeks ago, she was so fast! Me, I'm slooooowww.

It's kind of hard to see them as I rushed to get the photo done. I should have taken them out of the plastic first. Ah well, lesson learned there. The art tiles are really hard to see but they are pretty, trust me! The middle items are the dominoes. She didn't use real dominoes but thick MDF ones from Fernli Designs methinks. Each is mounted on its own pretty cardstock base. She also put dangles on them all too. All of them are simply gorgeous! The top items are some extra goodies she made me. She made me 2 handmade lace flowers in adorable packaging and a set of homemade jewelled stick pins. I love them all! I don't do much beading or dangly bits so I always appreciate things like that.

Here are the altered dominoes and art tiles I made for Donna. She did receive mine and has seen them. I'm glad she liked them too.

 

I didn't photo the extra bits I gave her. Mine weren't as nice as hers...lol. I sent her some laser cut wood bits, lace and stickers. For mine I used real dominoes. These are not the big ones but are a pack of smaller size donimoes that are perfect for necklaces. I measured the domino and printed out 3 digital images that I resized to correct size in Photoshop. Then I looked for colours to colourise the sides and backs of the dominoes. One coloured with my black Copic marker. For the roses image I used Ranger Alcohol Ink in Cappucino and using that and blendng solution to get a marbled look to it. On the pale image one I painted it with Mother of Pearl acylic paint. I cut the images and glued them onto the dominoes with Glossy Accents. I sealed the whole dominoes front and back with Mod Podge so the ink jet prints wouldn't blur. Then to seal the top and image I used Ultra Thick Embossing Powder and my heat gun. These gave the top a slightly rippley shiny look which I liked. Then I added the embellishment to each: a little metal key, a black gem and a flower. 

I wanted these to be used as a necklace or something your could hang onto something else so I added bales to them with E6000 glue. Then I made my very first necklace! I took black waxed cord, a lobster clasp, jump rings and bar ends and put them all together myself. I had to make sure it all fit through the bales so it could be interchanged between the dominos.

For the art tiles I started with 2 mm greyboard that I cut into 1 inch squares. I glued the 3 images I printed out on them. Then I had a think about what else to do to them. I've made a few art tiles before that turned out nice but I wanted an Autumnal theme to match the vintage images. Then I saw it...my Indigo Blu jar of guilding flakes in Lancashire Rose. These guilding flakes are a mixture of gold, copper, silver and fushia metal flakes. GORG! SO I had a dig through my stamps to see what I could stamp over top and I wanted lots of shine so I chose a Penny Black stamp with lots of solid background. I stamped on the tiles with the Indigo Blu glue, added the guilding flakes, scooched off the excess, used Black Soot Distress ink to colour the sides and back of tiles, sealed with Mod Podge then again used Ultra Thick Embossing Powder on the top. I love how they turned out!

I used my X-Cut Doorplate dies to make the display backings out of cardstock then added a little bow and flowers.

Images Used:

Black & Cream image of label words and 2 children domino - Astrid's Artistic Efforts

Dark Roses with Key image domino - Lilac - n - Lavender

Pale birdie image domino - I forgot and can't find it now. :(

Art Tile Images all from Lilac- n - Lavender

Other Supplies Used:

Stamps Used - Penny Black Cling Stampset called Every Happiness

Xcut 5-Piece Large Nesting Dies Doorplate
Ultra Thick Embossing Powder (generic brand)
Indigo Blu Lancashire Rose Guilding Flakes
Indigo Blu Flitter Glue

Thanks so much for reading! Hope you enjoyed and...

Happy Crafting,
Dorothy

Swap Received: Criss Cross Box & Cards

I received another swap and this time it's from Shirley! I'll be making mine to send to her this week but Shirley was fast so sent mine early. The swap for UK Ireland Craft Swaps was to make a criss cross box with a set of 6 cards inside. Here is how to make the criss cross box: Tutorial.

Here is what Shirley made for me plus a little gift as well:

Here's a look at the cards inside the box and the earrings she sent as a gift:

Aren't these wonderful! Thanks so much Shirley for the lovely swap. I do hope you enjoy what I send you as much as I love mine from you!

Happy Crafting!
Dorothy

My Rosette Creations

I participated in a crafty swap over at UK Ireland Craft Swaps Facebook group and were challenged to create 6 rosettes with packaging. My swap partner was Jacqui and I showied you what she made me in my video HERE.

Here is what I sent her:

I made 2 sets of matching rosettes and set them on extra long tags. Here is a clser look at all 6, click on image for larger view:

 I do hope you check out our wonderful swap group at UK Iremand Craft Swaps if you like to craft and swap with others. It's so much fun and the different challenges really push my creativity!

Happy Crafting Everyone!

SUPPLIES USED:
Spellbinders Dies - Scalloped Circle & Fancy Circle
Martha Stewart Scoreboard to make rosettes
Old butterfly punch
Lace, feathers, black tassles, flowers, jewelled flower, pink lace butterfly, chipboard mask & corset, pearl strands all from my stash
Black & white papers from- Colorbok Paper Plus+ Fruit Punch 12" x 12" paper pad
Pastel Floral & Polka Dot papers from - First Edition by Tanya Whelan Floral Pavilion 12" x 12" paper pad

TWO Crafty Swap Received!

In today's post I dodn't get one, but TWO craft swap! I love getting these goodies in my post...lol. I belong to a Facebook group called UK Ireland Craft Swaps. There are so many talented, creative ladies over there and we have different craft projects swaps. We are mostly UK and Ireland based but we also have International members so why not join us.

I made a little video of the goodies I received today. Thanks for having a peek!