Tando Creative September Challenge, Rustic Charm. Crafty Individuals September Challenge Hanging about.

Second Post today.
The Tando Creative challenge this month is a project based on the theme Rustic Charm.

And the Crafty Individuals challenge this month is Hanging about. A project made for hanging up.

 I was the lucky winner of last month's challenge and I am now able to make things with Tando Creative chipboard hooray!
Thank you so much to the lovely Di at Tando Creative.
Just as I received my winning goody pack I saw on the Crafty Individuals website that they are now stocking Tando Creative Printer's Tray's - swoon - I have been wanting to alter a printer's tray for ages so I ordered some of the different styles they have in stock at the Crafty Individuals webshop here.

First I'll show you what I made for each challenge then I'll tell you how I used the printer's trays if you are still reading by then.

For the Tando Creative challenge I made two printer tray wall hangings because I just couldn't decide on which style of Rustic I wanted to make.

Firstly I made one up as what I would describe as an Old English Rustic Charm Hen House.
Click on any image to make it bigger.

I used K & Co designer papers (sorry I don't know which range but it is an old one), Artemio hens stamps and a little chipboard house covered in designer papers from the Tando Creative Mini Houses and Fences pack. The frame was first given a coat of white gesso then a coat of Juniper Adirondack acrylic paint dabber.

My second is a Dainty Floral English Rose Rustic Charm Hen House.

 This hen house includes step 2 of the 12 step programme for finding your inner grunge.
Step 2: Splodge different colours of acrylics RANDOMLY on your project.
I don't know if I will ever be able to do Step 12 which is colouring outside of the lines, (are you shuddering too?) but baby steps, just baby steps.

Do you have a favourite? Mine is which ever one I am looking at...
But they are both up on my kitchen walls so thankfully I don't have to choose.

My Crafty Individuals Challenge make is another project based on the seashore.
I used the C.I. seaside background papers book 6 (which I have mooned over enough in previous posts) and their seahorse stamp from one of their plates beginning with a C (hmm) and then some numbers *cough*.
The other stamps used are made by Inkylicious, Hero Arts and Chocolate Baroque.
 

Are you wondering how it hangs up?
Well I'm not going to tell you.





Just kidding Mrs.
When I first starting making hanging things I used to make a beaded wire hanger for my projects but they need a nail or a hook in the wall to hold them up.
If you are anything like me, you make lots of new things to hang up and frankly some of my early stuff has needed retiring to the attic but I don't want a wall full of holes as projects come and go, so my cunning plan which has worked well for over 2 years now is to use Scotch Magic Tape.
Do I hear you cry "oooooh do tell!" or was that just wind.

WARNING this only works with Scotch Magic Tape and on emulsion painted plaster walls, there is no substitute tape out there.
You tear off a piece about 2 inches long and then use your fingers to curl it around to make a circle of it with the sticky side facing outwards like this, make sure you stick the two ends together by overlapping them. Thereby making double sided tape.

You then stick this to the back of your project or card, use as many evenly spaced circles as you think you need to hold it on the wall.
For my printer's tray I used 5 circles of tape. One on each corner and one in the point at the top. I usually use 4 to hold a card unless it is particularly heavy for a card.
I have had projects stuck on my emulsion painted walls for nearly 3 years without any bother and when you take them off they do not pull off the paint.

Do NOT use this method to stick onto wallpaper or emulsion painted lining wallpaper, that will only end in tears (in your wallpaper) and tears (in your eyes).

Now onto the Printers tray itself.
It looks like this when it is out of the packaging. I have used the universal size guide dew drop ink to give you an idea of size.

Now the wonderful part of this product is that the tray part comes in 3 pieces that you can either glue all together and make a 6mm deep printers tray OR you can make 3 separate  printers trays that has 2mm deep printers trays.
Seeing as I have no deep items I wanted to display in it I was able to make all 3 trays out of one pack. The pack cost £7.25 so with the help of my trusty calculator each tray cost me only £2.42 to make plus I have a display holder left over that I can use to hold projects for photographing or another project. Happy dancing here.
All I had to do was cut an extra 2 back panels out of thick card for each additional tray.

Happy creating!
Gini
xx

Opus Gluei Challenge #114. Owl always love you. 3D floating front card.

The lovely Electra over at Opus Gluei has challenged us this time to create something using Owls as the theme.
I'm late this week as I've only just got my computer back from the menders with it having been gone a whole week!
Fortunately the sky did not fall down nor did I suffer separation anxiety, both of which comes as a bit of a surprise to me. Who knew you could live without a computer...

I am going through a phase of making projects out of my 3 years worth of Craft Stamper magazines.
I love 3 dimensional cards and this triangle style is just fabulous.
It is a Joanne Wardle designed template from page 53 of the April 2011 edition of Craft Stamper.

I have used Owl with Wings from Stampotique Originals coloured with Derwent Inktense pencils. The background is sponged with Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks. The trees are Creative Expressions stamps, create a scene - trees. The seagulls are Chocolate Baroque stamp set Seaside Ted. All stamped with Versafine black and smokey grey inks and the trees are glittered.

Happy Creating!
Gini
xx

Opus Gluei Challenge #113. Dancing with the Poobahs.

Jana has set this fortnight's Opus Gluei challenge as any project inspired by dancing.
Loads of possibilities in this one aren't there?
Good, go get yer gear out and create something then, I am looking forward to coming and looking at what you make.

After I'd done multiple pirouettes in the very tight space that is my craft room (that didn't end too well), I settled down with Twinkie and David Bowie and danced the night away...
Click on it to make it bigger.

In the spirit of finding my inner grunge, did you notice the torn paper?
That was me, I TORE IT.
It's a twelve step plan; Finding your Inner Grunge.
In baby steps, just baby steps.
Although from observation, it seems to be a natural state of being in teenage boys. Alas I am not a teenage boy so I'm having to work very hard at it.

Stamps used Crafty Secrets Twinkle stars which a great little set of clear stamps with lots of different stars including shooting stars, perfect for creating a night scene.
Stampotique Originals; Twinkie; Wee Owl; Small Moon; and Puss Puss.
David Bowie is not a stamp but a singer songwriter. Just saying...in case you are a youngster.

Happy creating!
Gini
xx

Stampotique Designer's Challenge #37 Bookmark and #36 Altering a book page.

This fortnight's Stampotique Designer's Challenge is to make a bookmark.
Not easy if you like dimension, as you can't use it on bookmarks which is what generally puts me off making them.

Hands up who has got the Tim Holtz Filmstrip Frames Sizzix die?
Keep your hand up if you've found a good layout for using it on a card.
No, me neither.
I haven't even seen one out in my travels around blogsville.
The best I can think of is making two, filling them with pictures and putting them mostly vertically but crossing over one another and having some designer paper somewhere.
Or stamping some sort of scene or collage arrangement on a card base and laying an empty filmstrip over it or making snapshots from the scene to go in the filmstrip.
But none of these ideas has inspired me to actually want to make them.

Oooh but I don't need to care about sticking it on a card anymore because I can make bookmarks with it instead and so can you- yay - no more guilt about a white elephant purchase.

Stampotique characters from the top are; Sheer, Heart Throb, Three in a round, Mort has a Pin Curl, and Clover.

I didn't use the whole filmstrip because it is too long for paperbacks and I backed it onto textured red card and coloured with Derwent coloursoft pencils for a change.
I didn't put any ribbon or fibres on it because I don't like using bookmarks that have them, they might look nice and dangly but they are annoying to read with them.  I find it's always better to use my eyes.

I did the SDC#36 Alter a page too but forgot to blog it (I'm still not fit and well and I think my brain is somewhere south of Spain. My body has never been to South of Spain or even Spain for that matter.)

I can't remember where I read the quote that "Real men have duct tape in their trucks". I didn't know what Duct Tape was and had to google it.
(It's that wide grey, cloth backed tape that I know as Electrical Tape, you might know it as John.)
Anyhoo it gave me the idea for this picture in my watercolour book.
Click on it to make it bigger.

It reads: Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.
Heart throb is saying "Real men always have duct tape in their vans."
Girl with heart Purse is saying "What is duct tape?"
Ha!

Happy Creating!
Gini
xx