Busy doing nothing...

...or that's how it seems, anyway!  I just can't find the time to craft at the moment - too many other things going on and yet nothing to show for it!  I had to cave in and prioritise some housework, or the children would have to wear their pyjamas after school, so yesterday was a day of washing and trying to dry clothes, when the weather outside was flipping from bright blue skies to torrential downpours with a good helping of hail chucked in!  Due to my washing frenzy, I have spent the morning ironing and filling up drawers again, so thought I would drop in and let you know that I'll be busy until after the weekend, but will try and post something as soon as!  Hopping round blogland, it seems that a lot of people have lost their Mojo at the minute - maybe there's a serial mojo thief on the loose?!...I hope they catch him soon because I'm starting to miss mine!

As there were only 2 comments on winning my Autumn frame : ( I decided that I would send both commenters a little something, so Jane, if you could email your postal address to contact@ellasdesign and I'll send the Autumn frame off to you, to hang in your garden studio! 

And don't worry Sue, I have made a little something for you, too, incorporating the box frame, but thinking of you and your charitable fund raising...Thank you so much ladies for taking the time to comment and appreciating my work!  See you soon...Lisa x

Date for the diary...

Hey, guys!  A happy, if somewhat frosty morning to you all!  Just thought I would spread the word about the Ross Papercraft Show at the Sports Arena (ex Bonus Arena), KC Stadium, Hull, HU3 6GA on Sunday 28th October.  The show is open from 10am - 3pm, tickets cost £3 (£2 prebooked) with accompanied under 16s free and there's free parking, too!  Visit the Ross Papercraft Show website for more details and if you're coming along, why not stop by and say 'Hi!'?  Lisa x

Some more Rustification!...

...Ooh, I do love this technique!  I had a couple of hours free last night, so decided to please myself and spend some time sat at my now very messy table and play!  I'm not normally a messy crafter, in the sense that I tend to just stick to paper and a bit of Distress Ink, but my crafty table is now covered in Mica Boss, embossing powders, ink pads, mica powders and glitter and I had so much fun!  I think I'm getting into this messy crafting and it's all thanks to the guys over at Simon Says Stamp and Show!

So, I found another of my frame cards already made up in my pile of 'stuff' that lives on my worktop - I have run out of places for a home for it all, so the pile keeps getting bigger!  The frame was printed with a pastel plaid paper, rather pretty, but not what I wanted...

...I suddenly remebered to take a 'before' picture part way through transformation, hence the inky bits!  Over at Raise the Bar this week, the challenge is 'Hey Pumpkin!', so I printed off the pumpkin png from my A Year in Cards disc and decided to make an Autumn frame card...

...this is how it looked when I had finished!  I truly rustified the frame starting by inking with Rusty Hinge, Peeled Paint and Tuxedo Black ink pads, then stamped with a My Mind's Eye texture stamp and embossed with copper EP and Mica Boss, rubbed with Autumn Rose gilding flakes...

...I found this lovely little verse online and thought it was so apt for the time of year.  The key is a Die-namics die called Attic key, which I inked with Versamark and dusted with Mica powders to give a metallic look...

...I printed off 3 of the pumkpins using Windows Picture Viewer, 9 to a page size and decoupaged to give more dimension.  I added a Marianne swirl die and some Marianne leaves cut in diffferent Autumn shades, I cut down some of the leaves and then added glitter and Stickles for a bit of bling...

...I finished with die cut letters to spell the word Autumn and attached them to acetate before cutting around and adhering to the frame so that they look like they're floating.  A lovely Moss green satin ribbon and bow made a hanging loop and a couple of pearl and diamante details finished it off.  I am really pleased with the finished result and hope you like it, too!  Enjoy your weekend whatever you are doing and if you get the time, why not do some messy crafting?!!  Lisa x

I am entering this card into the following challenges :

Raise the Bar (Friday)

Hey Pumpkin!

Simon Says Stamp and Show (Monday)

Rustification (2nd entry!)

Craft us Crazy (Thursday)

Fall into the Season

Crafts and Me Challenge (Wednesday)

Anything Goes

TO BE IN WITH A CHANCE OF WINNING THIS AUTUMN FRAME, LEAVE ME A COMMENT ON MY NEXT POST TITLED 'DATE FOR THE DIARY AND A CHANCE TO WIN' AND I'LL DRAW A WINNER LATER IN THE WEEK.

Rustification!

I have to say, I love the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show, and every now and then, I try to join in with one of their challenges to make myself have a go at something different.  Their theme this week is Rustification! and you should see the DT work...OMW, there are some fabulous pieces!  The last time I played along, I was inspired by the work of the lovely Candy C and she went and did it again with her amazing book of spells...I was in love with it when I saw the front on the Simon Says blog, but after visiting her blog and seeing the inside, I HAD to go and play!  What I have created is nowhere near as expert as Candy's, but the main thing is, I LOVED making it!  I turned a piece of plain leather embossed grey cardstock from this...

...to this...

...oh, I had such fun with this!  I was quite limited to the products I could use, as I don't have paints, alcohol inks, or the likes, so had to rely on my old faithful Distress Inks and some embossing powders!

 ...To start with, I sponged the gravestones with Tuxedo Black Memento then inked the edges with Walnut Stain DI and overstamped with a My Mind's Eye texture stamp and Walnut Stain DI.  I found this cute Halloween poem online and printed off in Chiller font then mounted onto slate coloured cardstock...

...I used the bat digistamp from my A Year in Cards disc and printed it onto cream parchment card then inked a misty sky with Weathered Wood and Walnut Stain DI - I highlighted the moon and details with a white gel pen (not sure if this shows very well!) and wrote the RIP by hand.  And then for the rustification!  ( I just love that word!) I printed off a large bat and cut 4 MFT photo corners in black and stamped with a My Mind's Eye texture stamp, then embossed with copper EP, I restamped with Versamark, embossed with Mica Boss then rubbed over some dark green chalk to give an aged look.  I used the same technique on the hinges on the opposite page...

...The spider started off life as a wooden ladybug but got attacked by a Black Promarker and some copper wire!  The pumkpin is one from the Scarecrow set of A Year in Cards and I just cut out a face and attached some bright orange card behind. (You can see a close up of my rustification on the photo corner and hinge)  I did so enjoy making this (despite the fact that I have 3 card orders to make!) and hope that I've inspired you to join in with a challenge that you wouldn't normally do!  Thanks for dropping by and have a great day!  Lisa x

I'm entering this card into the following challenges :

Simon Says Stamp & Show

Rustification

Totally Papercrafts

Let's see those shapes!

The Paper Shelter

Distressing

Silver Bells...

...That was quick, wasn't it?!  I did colour and assemble the image for this card last night, so was ahead of myself!

I am in love with the Spellbinders Parisian Accents border die at the moment, after using it on the Halloween frame card a few posts ago and decided to create a card using it as a border frame for the card base...

...I started with a 14.5cm square piece of white card and attached 4 border die cuts, cut down so that they were 5 designs in length, then used the corner die with a bit removed (see below) to join the corner pieces...

...I used the snapshot tool to highlight the sentiment on the May wedding sheet from A Year in Cards and printed it on A5 cardstock with the Page Scaling set to None, so that it wasn't resized.  This printed the sentiment in the middle of the card, allowing me to position my Go Kreate Frilly Frame #2 die over the top  so that the text was on the left hand side.  I embossed the top and bottom of the die cut with my Lovely Flourish Texturz plate and inked the edges with Antique Linen DI...

...I printed the wedding bells digistamp from the jpeg and png folder using Windows Picture Viewer, 4 to a page and printed using the Draft settings to get a light outline.  I used 3 images, coloured with my Promarkers and paper piece decoupaged them to give a bit more dimension, then highlighted with glitter and diamantes.  The Promarker colours I used were :

Bells : Blender, Cool Grey 1, 3, 4 & 5 (I've lost my no.2!)

Ribbon : Pale Blossom, Pale Pink, Cocktal Pink, Dusky Rose

Leaves : Lime Zest. Lime, Pear & Olive Green

Flowers : Blue Pearl

I punched out the small blue flowers and attached over the top of the image ones, then added a Marianne swirl to the top left and bottom of the bells...

...I finished off with some wide lace (which has been in my stash for donkeys ages!), cream satin ribbon and bow, and of course, a few pearls.  I love the elegance of this card and am really happy with the way it turned out!  As always, thanks for dropping by, Lisa X

 I'm entering this card into the following challenges :

Oldie but a Goodie

Inspired by a Song

Silver Bells by Bing Crosby

(Oldie is my lace which I must have had in my stash for 3 years at least, scandalous I know!)

Papertake Weekly

Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Crafts and Me Challenge

My Sentiments Exactly (2nd entry)

Simon Says Stamp

Glimmer and Sparkle

(Diamantes and glitter on the bells)

Paperplay Challenges

Shine On

(Glitter, diamantes & pearls)

P.S. I'm going to be at Ross Papercrafts show at KC Stadium, Hull on the 28th October - check out their website for more details.

Card shop....

Hi, guys!  Just thought I'd let you all know that I've got my design shop up and running again where you can purchase some of my cards...

CLICK HERE TO GO TO ELLA'S DESIGN SHOP

..Ill be back later with a card to share, Lisa x

Oh no, it's a Christmas card!...

Good morning, Bloggers!  Well, as you may know, I would not call myself a stamper, but I love to have a play now and again and try new things.  So I set myself a challenge to create a card using only plain cardstock and without the use of my computer!  I do admire the many cards created, by the likes of Sue Wilson, that use their Spellbinder dies to full effect and decided to have a go myself...

...Amazingly, I created every patterned element myself...

...the base card I stamped with Stormy Sky DI and Versamark embossed with Psychedelic glitter powder, the white Swiss dot embossed layer has a Parisian Accents border frame, the lilac scalloped square is inked with Dusty Concord DI and stamped with Versamark embossed with Psychedelic glitter powder and the blue scalloped square is inked with Stormy Sky DI and stamped and embossed with MicaBoss powder, then brushed with Mica Powder...

...As I don't have a snowflake die (scandalous, I know!)  I created my own using the accent die from the Parisian Accents set (with a bit cut away) and an accent die from the Renaissance Hearts Pendant set.  I added a stamped sentiment cut with a Beaded Oval and some white satin ribbon with MFT Buckle die in silver...

 Although a very different style of card to my usual, I was amazed at what you can make from nothing, well, blank card anyway!  Sometimes it's good to challenge yourself and try new things, you never know what you might create...and you might even like it!  Why not challenge yourself to something new today?!  I hope I've inspired you and thanks for taking the time to drop by, Lisa X

I'm entering this card into the following challenges :

Papertake Weekly

Anything Goes

(Happy 5th Birthday Guys!)

CRAFT Challenge 174

Make your own embellishments

Totally Papercrafts

Pretty Pastels

Fab n Funky

No patterned papers
Crafts and Me Challenge
My Sentiments Exactly!

Halloween frame card...

Hi, guys!  I decided to have a play and create something for the Craft Us Crazy Challenge blog - the theme this fortnight being Halloween and/or anything goes and this is what I came up with...

...I decided to make a Halloween wall hanging using one of the box frames that you can find on my tutorials page and the October digistamp sheet from A Year in Cards CD-Rom.  I coloured the front of the frame with Dusty Concord DI and Black Tuxedo Memento, then rubbed on some Versamark around the edges and brushed with black Mica powder...

...I used the October dotty paper as a backing for the frame and then added 4 Parisian Accents border strips around the edges - I used the waste from the border strips to create the points on the wrought iron fence!  I used Stromy Sky and Dusty Concord Distress inks to ink the moon scene and added a large black glittered bat to the frame...

...I coloured Frankie with my Promarkers and gave him a few glitter highlights, the colours used were :

Skin : Moss, Khaki, Pastel Beige,

Top : Slate, Purple, Amethyst, Orchid, Lavender, Olive, Pear and Lime Green

Trousers : Walnut, Cinnamon, Spice, Honeycomb

Shoes and Hair : Black, Cool Grey 5, 4, 3, 1 (because I've lost my number 2!)

I mounted the image onto Black card using foam pads and cut around, leaving a border, to make the image pop more.   I added a purple polka dot ribbon hanging loop and 4 MFT corner die cuts to finish.
I can't believe that it is October already, time really is flying by! Thanks for droppping by to see me and I hope you like my little project!  Lisa x
I'm entering this project into the following challenges :

Craft Us Crazy

Halloween and/or Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp (2nd entry)

Anything Goes

The Paper Shelter

Anything Goes

Fab n Funky

Starts with F

(Frame card, Frankenstein, Fence)

Charisma Cards

Something for the guys