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 #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

Opus Gluei Challenge #130. Beyond the garden gate.

The lovely Rosemary has set this fortnight's challenge at Opus Gluei.

And what a fabulous challenge from Rosemary, I could make hundreds of things with this theme as I'm sure you could too. 
I made an Easel Card of a posh house and garden scene which is a Docraft stamp by the artist Michael Powell, and er I went a bit mad with the lace, which unlike shiny stuff,  it would appear you can have too much of -hrumph.
I used part of a silk scarf (a bargain charity shop find) to make the curtains.

I am staggered by the two hours it took me to colour the picture with Derwent inktense pencils. I wasn't messing about honestly, but colouring solidly. The curtains mask some of the picture so the stamp is a bit wider than shown on this card.
His latest range of stamps, just out, are even better and are seaside, beach huts and lighthouse themed.
No wonder I don't do much colouring....
It would have been quicker to get my watercolour paints out and do it with them, but Inktense pencils are just fabulously vibrant and bright.
Once you get a taste of them there is no going back...

Hope you are inspired by this theme and join in.
Happy creating!
Gini
xx

Opus Gluei Challenge #128 What else do you know?

The lovely Kristen has chosen this fortnight's Opus Gluei challenge and it is to use a technique in your project that you haven't used for a while.

I haven't paper pieced a stamped image with designer's papers for ages so that is what I have done with this Mollie Bloom beach hut stamp in this easel card.
The chicken is hand drawn on designer papers and the sky is tumbled glass distress ink with a turquoise mica powder mixed with water sprayed on the top.

Now can you guess what the chicken is supposed to be sitting on?
No?
Now it may look like a box but that is where you would be wrong see, as it is in fact a raft -  allegedly. *cough*
If you are wondering why I have put a chicken on a raft in the sea, well why not, I like chickens and they lay lots of eggs and it's Easter... so I think they deserve a holiday by the seaside.
So as I'm sure you can do better than a box masquerading as a raft for this challenge please join in as I'd love to see it!

Happy Creating!
Gini
xx

Opus Gluei Challenge #124. Warm Fuzzies.

The lovely Rosemary has set this fortnight's Opus Gluei challenge which is Warm Fuzzies.
Now it could be a project made with felt or other similar texture or you could focus on something that gives you warm fuzzy feelings.

I chose to feel the LOVE and settled on the lovey dovey donuts of a Valentine's card for Himself who likes the colour purple. 
I prefer the colour red and seeing as I was making it, it's mainly red!

Click on it to make it bigger.

The top heart pulls up for the message which I haven't written yet OR maybe it's written in invisible distress ink that you have to lick for the writing to appear.
Oh come on, surely you're not surprised?!!
You know full well that Tim Holtz can do anything with Distress Inks. 

 

My card was inspired by Joanne Wardle's Tent Fold Card project on page 29 of February 2012 Craft Stamper magazine. All you need is a piece of A4 white card.

I used Distress inks in Festive Berries and Seedless Preserves. 

Chocolate Baroque stamp sets Daisy and Butterfly, and Seed pod and Butterflies. 

The background flourish stamp is Personal Impressions.

I also used Tim Holtz movers and shapers heart cutters and a blue Woodware 2 inch heart punch.

Happy Valentine's Day 

Gini

xx

Modified Easel Desk Calendars.

I have been making these desk calendar Christmas presents over the last several months.
This is my version of the fantastic punched screen card tutorial Jane Johnson made for Whiff of Joy Inspirations here.
However I did use my easel aperture card method instead, that I describe here.

I fell in love with this Kanban stamp set Moulin Divas- Tres Chic when I saw it featured in Craft Stamper earlier in the year.
The papers are from GCD studios 8" Paris Nights collection that is just superb.
Click on any picture to make it bigger.
Oh la la.

Calendar 1

Calendar 2

Calendar 3

Calendar 4

Calendar 5

I ran out of steam after the 5th one although I had ideas for more variations, as they do take quite a while to make but some desk calendars I've made in the past are going into their 3rd year with a new set of calendar pages so they can last year after year.

Happy creating!
Gini
xx

Opus Gluei Challenge #116. Something wicked this way comes.

The lovely Kirsten at Opus Gluei has challenged us this time to make a project to celebrate Halloween so I have followed the Split Coast Stampers Shadow Box card instructions here for this 3D card. But I made the card centre a lot bigger and I punched a Martha Stewart border using Layered Arches and sandwiched that between the side panels for a bit of additional interest.

Mwah-ha-ha.............. Your carriage awaits you and it's ready to whisk you away; past the howling wolf and up, up, up to the creepy castle where your destiny awaits you...

OR if that doesn't tickle your fancy then a huge bar of your favourite chocolate, a foot massage, a large glass of wine, a roaring open fire and the person(s) of your choice :-)
(Feel free to change or tweak any of the above aspects to make your perfect evening entertainment - 'cos I'm helpful like that.)
Click on it to make it bigger.

The stamps are from Chocolate Baroque and are the new Halloween stamp set called Howling Moon. They are gorgeous aren't they?

The spider border and the sentiment is from the Inkadinkado set called Creepy Crawly.
The black ink is Versafine heat embossed with clear fine detail embossing powder.
I sponged Distress Inks in Stormy sky and Chipped Sapphire to colour the card.
I used a white Derwent colour soft pencil to colour the moon and I lightly shaded dark green Colour soft pencil over the foreground of the centre card to give some definition to the ground area. Derwent colour soft pencils work beautifully over distress inks.
The sentiment tag is from the Spellbinders Fancy Tags set.
The fence is Martha Stewart's Iron Fence border punch.

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

Seaside Box Card

I am still in a sea themed crafting mood.
I have made a box card following Debbie Dolphin's  wonderful tutorial on page 46 of the August 2011 edition of Craft Stamper.

I am entering this card into the Crafty Individuals Challenge - Bright and beautiful. 
I think I've made by the skin of my teeth timewise and I've used papers from the Seaside book of Background papers Book 6, which is my favourite by far of the 6 books of background papers they've brought out. They are so pretty I really couldn't bare to add to them on most of the panels of the card, I'll be braver with them next time.

Also the new monthly challenge by Tando Creative Go wild.
They have a wonderful prize and you have until the end of the month to enter.
I'm just starting to use chipboard shapes in projects so it's a perfect challenge for me.
I think sea creatures are wild enough and they certainly are weird enough, who would ever dream up seahorses, such weird, sad and lost looking little creatures whenever I've seen them in Aquariums.
My gorgeous sea stamps are from Chocolate Baroque that you can find here.
They are inside the box.

I'm also entering the Sir Stampalot Challenge which is Whatever You Fancy this month. They also have a prize and you have until the end of the month to join in.

 

Happy creating!
Gini
xx

Opus Gluei Challenge #109 Beat the Heat.

This fortnight's Opus Gluei Challenge is to Beat the Heat.
You have until 30 July 2011 to dazzle us with your scorching project.

I'd also like to enter this card in the Sir Stampalot Anything goes Challenge.

I was so lucky because Spanky knew the answer to this straight away.
Her advice is to stay in the fridge during the day and come out to play at night when you can comfortably rush about with the wind in your fur being all windswept and dangerous.

So that's what I did, I created a night scene.
I've provided the scene but you've got to provide the windswept and dangerousness 'cos I'm too shy. *cough*

This is an aperture easel card that I came up with.
Now whilst I love aperture cards, I don't like the way you can't control the position of the card flaps on a standard card to display the scene through the aperture correctly.

Click on any picture to make it bigger.

The stamps are all Stampotique Originals. I've used Daniel Torrente's Tree and some of Jo Capper-Sandon's wonderful stamps, Wee Owl (he's sitting on the tree), Owl with wings (he's peeping out around the aperture, and he has separate wings so he can be coy like this or in full flight etc whatever takes your fancy) and Small moon.
This is a tribute to Jo as she did a similar layout on her triptych card here.
I used basic grey papers and lots of Nesties; Circles, Lacy circles, Fancy Tags and Fancy Tags 2 and a Martha Stewart butterfly punch.
I coloured with Derwent Inktense pencils.

How to make this card so it'll fold down properly to fit in the envelop.
Take two square card blanks.
Stick one flap of each card blank to each other so you have a 3 flap card.
In the picture I have used a white card blank and a red card blank to make it clearer. Click on the pictures to make them bigger.

If needed cut 1 to 2 millimeters off the front edge of the aperture panel so that the card will fold down on itself to fit in it's envelop.

Stick dimensional embelishments on the horizontal card flap to hold the easel in place. Now the aperture sits exactly where you want it so your view through the aperture is in the correct place.

To fold the card up, allow the aperture flap to fold down inside the card like this.

 

I was so pleased with how well this card works.

But if you know of any other way of creating this type of card I'd love to hear about it so please leave me a link in the comments.

Happy creating!
Gini
xx

Opus Gluei Challenges #107 Let's tag along with the Jingle Belles!

Long time no see, my apologies as I have continued to be unwell but am finally starting to slowly get better, thank goodness for that and I hope to get back into challenge participation and blogging from now on.

Lots of changes this week over at the Opus Gluei Challenge blog.

Firstly, it is changing to a fortnightly challenge so we all get more time to create our projects.
It's staying with Sunday as the day the challenge is set, the first of the new fortnightly schedule challenges will start 3 July.

Secondly, those lovely funny ladies Grand Poobahs Rosemary and Jana have set up a design team and promoted some Greenhorns into Poobahs of which I am one!
I'm very excited about it I can tell you.
Full details over on the Opus Gluei blog.
So now there will be 6 Poobahs kicking off each challenge :-)

This week's challenge #107 is a combined Challenge with the Jingle Belles who are making a Christmas card each week of the year to avoid the last minute December panic of making cards when there is already to much to do and a nervous breakdown is looming large.

There are prizes on both blogs so all you have to do to be in for two chances to win is make a Christmas card and a tag(s) inspired by that card and post a link to your card and tag on both blogs.

I thought I would try something a bit different, and oh criminy was it UGLY, so I did what every self respecting crafter does when faced with a hopeless crafting failure, I got my Basic Grey paper pads out, and as we all know, "you can't go wrong with Basic Grey papers", so I made a centre stepper card from a standard white A6 card and made a matching tag.
I used the loverly 6 inch Eskimo Kisses papers and a 12inch paper from the same range for the background.
I used the Stampotique Originals Quails cube and dressed them up in Eskimo Kisses papers.
The tree die cutter is a Marianne Design Creatables LR0174, which cuts beautifully. You may need some extra card shims in your Big Shot. I used Tab 1 and 7 shims to get a perfect cut.
(I need a similar sandwich when cutting Nestibles but each machine is calibrated slightly differently.)

Click any picture to make them bigger.

So for prizes do you fancy a bit of Christmas crafting?
You have until 2 July to participate on the Opus Gluei blog and until Weds 29 June on the Jingle Belles blog (their's is a weekly challenge.)

Happy creating!
Gini
xx

Spanky does Welcome and Float On Stampotique!

The Stampotique Designer Challenge is to make a welcome card for the new Stampotique Designers.

So we're wishing all the new Stampotique designers a warm welcome.
You can find them here.

If you are unfamiliar with Spanky, she is a time traveling stylist, she is bold, daring, windswept and dangerous and she knows everything about Romance, she lives here in The Land of Shiny with me, I'm her sidekick and gofer.
Well, I'm just her pale shadow really.

Firstly I must apologise to Alberto who is the only male stampotique designer, unfortunately we are catering for the majority in this post and that is the Wimen.
Fortunately for you, this is The Land of Shiny and regardless of what job title you may hold now or in the future, we shall never expect you to pour the coffee or distribute the biscuits...unless it is actually your turn :-)

Now then.
Come in and welcome.
Come in and share a little LOVE with the Torrente Boys.

 

 

 

 

Sometimes they like to pretend they are The Floaters.
Oh yes they do.

Aquarius and my name is Heart Throb,
I love a woman who can hold her own,
a woman who can grab hold of my ears and hold on tight.
Take my hand, come with me baby, to Love Land.

Libra and my name is Hunk,
Now I like a woman who carries herself like Miss Universe,
a woman who can balance a crown on her enormous head,
a woman who will take me to Love Land.

Leo and my name is Weasel,
I love all the women of the world,
I paint a new name on my sign every night,
because I love everybody and everything,
and you know what, ladies, if you feel this is you,
Then this is what you do -
Take my hand,
come with me baby, to Love Land.
Float, float on.

Spanky says welcome and float on...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvAmTkJmT5c

Come on you know you want to watch the video, I still can't believe that song was taken seriously or that it was even written and performed, I can imagine it was written whilst they were very very drunk but it didn't get laughed at and thrown in the bin the next day did it, we are soooo doomed.
Private Frazer was right.

I am practicing that shaking finger step in the mirror.
I think Himself might like it.

Happy creating!
Gini
xx

Easel Card. Autumn colours Art Journey's Dancing Lady

The last couple of projects I've made have included autumn leaves so I've had enough of leaf making for the moment but I adore the autumn colour scheme of reds, browns, golds and greens.

So I've used one of my prize loot stamps, the gorgeous Art Journey stamp plate Silhouette.

I am very disappointed in my photography of this card, I completely forgot to put my flash on to get a shiny shot of the gold mica that covers the inked paper I made for it.
But in real life it is lovely shimmery shiny golden-ness on the reds, oranges and yellows which tones them right down so they are not quite as bright in real life as in the photo.

 (It was late, I was rushing, and I nearly forgot to photograph it at all blah blah blah.)

 Unsurprisingly it was going to Alison the next day, for her Birthday.

 It would have been surprising if it had been for John's Birthday though wouldn't it? 

Unless of course he was in love with Alison, in which case it might have been quite sweet,
 unless his love was a secret unrequited love in which case I WOULD BE REACHING FOR MY COAT. 

Thankfully whomever John is in love with is a complete mystery to me, or if he is a John Doe with a toe tag that would be who he was in love with.
What is a mystery though, is why I started this train of thought because now I'm thinking, Spade. Hole. Digging. Stop.

Moving swiftly on.
I'm entering this card in:-

Sir Stampalot Challenge for October. Autumn breezes, buttons and a bow(s)
and
Daring Cardmakers Challenge. Welcome to the dance.

Here it is. Click on it to make it bigger.

I always think that if a project comes together really easily it's because the idea of it has been wafting around in your brain for a long time.
I've just realised from where my inspiration for this card came.
This is the silhouette of the dancing woman in the flames of the opening credits for Tales of the Unexpected isn't it?
If you're not old enough to remember Roald Dahl's televised series of stories then you won't know what I'm talking about. Never mind, you have fewer wronkles than me.

"Some say wrinkles and some say wronkles.
Let's call the whole thing off."

Wait! I've lost my place in the conversation, what were we talking about anyway?
Oh yes, John Doe and his magic toe...

Happy creating everyone with or without wronkles!
Gini
xx

Opus Gluei challenge #72 Ease(l) into fall. Autumn Leaves scalloped circle Easel Card.

Well talk about serendipity at work here.
Love the pun on the title ladies at Opus Gluei.
I have recently finished this card for my MIL who asked for something in Autumn colours.
Nothing too wacky although bless her she wouldn't have minded if it was, 'cos miracle of miracles in the wonderful world of families, she thinks I'm good enough for her son so she puts up with good grace the strange things I make!
She was lucky my Stampotique stamps hadn't arrived yet otherwise she would have got Poor Pearl.
Click on it to make it bigger.

How I made it.
Background paper made using inkadinks in Cherry Pie, Mango and yummy Yellow from the brights range. Oversprayed with gold mica powder. Instructions here

Largest scallop nestie used from the classic scalloped circle large set.
All stamping using Versafine in Vintage Sepia.
The leaves are from Habico, Autumn Leaves 2 set. I stamped them onto thin card. Coloured with watercolour pencils.
Silhouette birds on bottom of easel card are Crafty Individuals.
Heat embossed using Versamark and Stampendous in Detail Gold.
Quickie glue pen and Decor Art Glamour Dust in gold used on veins of the leaves.
Happy Birthday sentiment free with Papercraft Inspirations magazine.

I'm rushing now because OMG I think I might actually be first on the linky thingy on Opus Gluei.
See; miracles do happen everyday.

Happy creating everyone!

Gini xx

Opus Gluei Challenge #67 Dog days of Summer

I know its more birds BUT I don't care.
Aren't these stamps just the most fun you've seen in ages???
This is a tri fold card and I got the instructions for making one here  Thank you Jayni.
I know it is the rose tinted spectacles view of Summer that I've represented in this card.

I can't see that even if I did a shiny version of mossie bites on a leg that it would be greeted with much joy nor would a shiny sweaty armpit, but the truth of keeping hens is that unless they have a VERY large grassy area to strut their stuff in, it will end up a brown patch of dirt very quickly and no flowers would survive either.
So this is the shiny version of keeping hens.
I used pencil crayons to colour it and edged it with cut and dry foam using Adirondack dye ink in clover. The black ink used is my favouriteVersafine black.
Click on it to make it bigger.

Shiny shot that shows the glitter.

These are the fabulous stamps.

Did you know that hens from Belgium  make a different noise? Kot kot kot.
Is that a silent "t" then? And do you pronounce the "ko" bock?
Because that's the noise they make?
It's a shame I can't do you a sound bite of my hen impersonation.
Maybe as a special Christmas treat I could do one, because I am lead to believe by my loved ones, to hear it is life changing.

Hmm, thinking about it they don't go cluck either, they really do go BOCK.


Happy creating this weekend!
Gini
xx

Three 3D cards.

I made a side step card to celebrate Craft Stamper magazine's 10 Birthday.
As always, click on the images to make them bigger.

This is a story that reads left to right and front to back.

We start with all the eager Craft Stamper readers waiting in a tree patiently or not so patiently for their local newsagents to open on the morning of the issue of the latest magazine.
Can you spot me?
I'm the one too fidgety with excitement to sit still.

 Up goes the shout by the scout. The lights are on, come on!

An orderly line all the way to the door. I think they've done this before.

Whoohoo we've got it, let's make a celebratory tottering tower of beautiful birdiness.
Can we run away to the circus?

A good trick is to make a "W" shape piece of card to glue to both inside edges to help the card stay upright and in place. Nobody likes to do the splits that they didn't intend.

One last shot, the centerfold shiny shot.

What I used.
I used distress inks for the background and versa fine black stamp ink.
I coloured in using Cosmic shimmer watercolour paints.
The birds are Elusive images. The house stamp is by October Afternoon.
I cut out the bottom window of the newsagents and replaced it with acetate and put the teeniest tiniest copy of craft Stamper in the window.
Did you spot it?


 I also made an Easel card and I hope to make a lot more of as they are so easy yet glamorous to make.

I used Elusive Images stamps. My minds Eye designer paper. Papermania butterflies with the holographic silver cut off. Some brads. The image is coloured with water colour pencils.
It's never too late for a desk calender!

Then I made a pop up card.
The card mechanism is disappointing because it has no means of supporting itself, so you have to prop it up against something and you have to decorate the front that won't be seen.
It would have made a much better Easel Card. So a big raspberry to pop up cards.
This is a Jo Kill design.
She designs for PaperCraft Inspirations magazine (among others) and all of her cards in this style are made as much as possible from punches. I adore all the animals that she makes, she's so clever!
You don't get templates, but this squirrel is just circles and ovals with a little bit of drawing needed for the tail and the ears. I used my nesties for the cutting.

Happy creating!
Gini
xx