Taking a blogging break for a few months or so

Hi there Creative Friends,
As many of you know my health has been a real pain in the arse over the last 2 years and it has resulted in the lack of creative action here on my blog.
I've just about managed to keep up with my DT efforts for the Opus Gluei challenge but I haven't kept up with even that lately.
So I am taking a break for a bit.
I have had lots of changes in meds to try and improve my health without much success but maybe in a few months I may be doing better and be able to get back into crafting and blogging.

I have loved interacting with you all creatively and have loved blogging and making up silly stories and funny stuff so I don't want this part of my life to end.

This is a card I made for an OG challenge but didn't blog here.
Click on it to make it bigger.

It uses Penny Black butterflies from a clear set that came out last year.

The good news is whilst I can't manage crafting, I can sit in my comfy chair and pin like a demon on my ipad.

I love Pinterest, it's been a real life saver!

You can find me as Gini Owen on Pinterest

http://pinterest.com/giniowen/

Why yes, I do love the Birdies and Red Squirrels. 

I have put some of my creations on there to. 

If you are also a pinner please let me know and I can visit your boards and share the pin love with you, blink blink.

As Arnie said "I'll be back" 

Only I don't have his muscles or his austrian accent or any man parts although I probably have more hair on my chest...

Just joking, now c'mon, I'm a proper lady, I only have hairs on my chinny chin chin - mwah!

I wish you all a very creative and happy spring!

Gini

xx

Opus Gluei Challenge #148. The colour Pink.

Spanky says pink is the new black and she styles the whole universe. I think she has plans to feature herself on this blog again in 2013 but she is a Diva, so...


This fortnight I thought we could run away from Christmas and immerse ourselves in PINK, yes make anything so long as it is PINK.
You can use black, white and kraft as neutrals. Seeing as just one colour is very restricting you can add one other colour as a highlight if this makes it easier.

Also as it is a new year how about trying something new? Pink in a new technique???
I haven't explored photo editing apart from very general exposure improvements on my photos in iphoto. 
I tried Photoshop Elements about 10 years ago but couldn't do it, it was too complicated, and I could never turn any feature back off again once I'd selected it, so I would end up with one of those stringing selecting lines going everywhere as I fought with it all, (boo-hoo). Or at least that is my prevailing memory of the weeks trying to learn and getting stuck with out of control stringy lines!!

But since Santa brought me an ipad, I have a finger and I know how to use it!
So with the help of Phototoaster and MobileMonet HD apps I can easily make some adjustments. Hooray!

This is an edited version of a boring photo I took of what is left of Bower’s Yard Lime Kiln, Ironbridge, Telford, England that made quick lime. It was a very grey overcast winter's day when I took it so it was dull, dull, dull colourwise but I thought it had potential if it was altered.
This is the photo PINKified and paintified and fiddledified.
Click on the picture to make it bigger.

This is the original photo.

I am enchanted by the whole process.
These programmes make so easy (I don't do hard anymore that takes weeks to learn).
 I was creating wonders within 5 minutes of downloading the apps.
Hope you feel inspired to try something new and join in.

Happy creating!
Gini
xx

Opus Gluei Challenge #147. Free for all.

Happy New Year to you all, I hope it will be a very joyful, healthy and creative year for you :-)

The lovely Rosemary has set an Anything Goes challenge for this fortnight.

I have Steampunk Fever at the moment so I made a triple twisted easel card for one of my sons.

This is my most ambitious easel card to date. 

They are so easy to construct but look stunning, do give them a try if you haven't already. 

Beate at Split Coast Stampers has done some wonderful video tutorials on YouTube.com regarding their construction.

Click on any picture to make it bigger.

 

I've used Chocolate Baroque Steampunkery stamp set heat embossed in black and coloured with Cosmic Shimmer watercolour paints (same as Twinkling H20's) .

Stamped the blue cogs on the background blue card using the cogs from the Chocolate Baroque Steampunk Christmas set. Oh be still my heart they are such wonderful sets of stamps.

I also used Tim Holtz dies; cogs on the edge and the clock face one.

I used blue alcohol ink on some bottle tops and cut some spellbinders cogs out of silver mirror card and glued them on the top of the bottle top with glossy accents.

The metal letter tags I've had for years and have no idea who made them, possibly some Santa's Elves that retired long ago...

I've been greasing my axles and I feel all geared up for some piston powered creativity, I know you'll be riveted to hear this - mwah!

Happy steamy creating all through 2013.
Gini
xx

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful, joyful and creative 2013!

These are my Christmas designs for friends and family. Every year I say I'm going to simplify my cards so they are quicker to make and I never do.
The stamps are from Chocolate Baroque and Inkylicious. The sentiment is Woodware clear magic.
The inks are Distress Inks in Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean and Peacock Feathers all embossed with clear crystal embossing powder and a big dollop of Glamour dust but it doesn't show up in the photos - boo hoo.
I wore all the fallout shiny proudly all week on my clothes, in my hair...

Ho ho ho - Merry Christmas!

Gini xx

 

Opus Gluei Challenge #141. Colour challenge Turquoise and Red.

It's my challenge this fortnight and it's one of my favourite colour schemes Turquoise and Red with black, white and Kraft as neutral colours.
Hopefully I can illustrate what a versatile colour combination this is.

Firstly just by changing the focus of main colour gives such different moods to cards using this colour scheme.
Here are 4 of the same design all with different main colours.

Click on any picture to make it bigger.

 

I have used a Penny Black stamp set called Petal Party and the decorative border is in a Stampendous set called Elegant Borders.

I think this colour scheme works wonders for Halloween.

 

I've used a howling wolf from a Chocolate Baroque stamp set called Howling Moon and the spiders are from an Inkadinkado set called Creepy Crawly. I've also used Distress Inks in Festive Berries and Peacock Feathers.

It's also great for Christmas.

I've used the same distress Inks and a Chocolate Baroque stamp set called Snowflake Flourish and Spellbinders Reverse Wonky Rectangles.

To make a masculine teenage card I used a Kraft Card blank and muted shades of turquoise and red and an Inkadinkado stamp set called circles and dots.

Well I couldn't not include my favourite fella now could I?
Wolf whistles please for Stampotique's Heart Throb.

What? You want more Heart Throb?
Oh go on then, seeing as it's you, he'll meet you under the mistletoe...

I used Spellbinders Create-a-Flake Three for the Snowflakes.

I hope I've managed to inspire you to use this colour combination.

Happy creating with turquoise and red or anything else crafty you've got on your desk!
Gini
xx

Opus Gluei Challenge #140 A little Sketchy

This fortnight Kristen has challenged us all to use a sketch, which is not something I do very often and my interpretations are usually very literal but not this time.
No, this time I paid the price of not thinking this through.
Hmm.

Sooo once I realised just how difficult it is to get 3 separate square nestie die cuts to line up accurately; lots of maths and measuring....and  I thought WTF crafting is my hobby it's supposed to be fun. I had a rethink and decided that Wonky is fun and hip and cool and wicked and... but to make it look properly wonky I started again and used my Wonky Rectangles nesties.

I also went back to the Retro Sketches challenge site and had a look again and there is a PTI die that is three squares in a row, so that makes it easier, but there is no way I'm paying PTI prices and P&P, are you having a laugh mate?! I think not.
But 100 hundred intrepid card makers have done the calculations for the 3 in a row.
Kudos to them :-)

I spent ages cutting the apertures and then I forgot to mount the frame using dimension foam so you can't tell the wonky rectangles are apertures AND I also forgot the Butterfly element as I was FAR too busy fussing about the 3 in a row thing.
Grr so let that be a lesson for us all to not sweat the small stuff or it'll all go pear shaped!

To make up for the missing butterfly element I added card candy in the bottom left corner as I couldn't think of anything that would work with the rest of the card, without it looking like a botch job, which is exactly what this card is but hey I can hide that if I put some more card candy in the top left corner to balance it maybe a bit better- but now I think it is illegal because I've deviated from the sketch too much!
Who knew card making could be this exciting?

But aren't the Octopode flowers cute?
It's the smallest flower in the rubber stamp range stamped onto some Basic Grey Sweet Threads designer paper.

Happy creating with sketches!
Gini
xx

Opus Gluei Challenge # 139 See you in September

This fortnight the lovely Deena is asking for a school themed project.

Both my sons cycle to school and one of them cycles past a wood with ponds in it, and this is what he sees when he looks around.
Click on it to make it bigger.

It's a 12 x 16 inch canvas and the stamps are Octopode rubber stamps, aren't they great characters?
I like to paper piece so I prefer to buy rubber stamps but Octopode have a huge range of digi stamps that are all fabulous.
Here's a link to the digi stamps Octopode Factory.
I bought the rubber stamps direct from the owner Lily through her blog FrillyUnderwear.

The owl on the right is in an unusual pose. Then I realised it's because something is poking him in the ear.

 Don't these little birds look dapper in hats?

I had to draw this little bird a worm to hold as she has that look of frenzied excitement mixed with obsession that only finding a juicy worm gives you (if you are a bird that is, not me personally..or you).
She's thinking "Mine, mine, MINE!"

What better than a swim on a hot day.

Now these flamingo's have a very smug look about them and are thinking "Aren't I just the dog's bollocks?"
(Which is slang for exceeding handsome and lucky or the best over here in England.)

I got mirror images of the flamingo and the duck by stamping onto a sheet of plain rubber and pressing a piece of card onto the plain rubber. I think the technique is called reverse stamping.

I'm also entering this canvas in the Octopode Challenge "How does your garden grow?"

Happy creating!
Gini
xx