Arches

 Hi everyone I created this a few months ago and just now getting around to sharing it. This was done for a inspiration piece. 

This is a 4 x 5  inch card. My biggest challenge was to get the arch frame the correct sizes. I have a couple of ones which were the wrong size which I am sure will find their way into other works. I used a Craftwell embossing folder for the background on white card stock. Then took a cotton ball and my kaleidoscope ink pad to color the embossed piece. I didn't have gold card stock but Deco Art Metallic Gold worked perfectly. It is a thick paint not runny and dries quickly so the card stock did not curl. My image is a freebie from Graphic Fairy.

Do come back as on the 4th I have another creation to post for Marvellous Mini Masterpieces.

Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again! 

 

Thinking Of The Ocean

 Hi everyone. The current Marvelous Mini Masterpieces had me thinking of the ocean. I miss not being close to the ocean anymore but sometimes sacrifices have to be made if you want to be close to family.

 I would love to have you join in the challenge. Or to at least join the group for inspiration. There are awesome works of art and not just paper. Marvelous Mini Masterpieces

Using the color palette this is what I came up with. I took a seashell stencil and used it to emboss on a piece of cardstock. If you emboss with stencils you may have to play around with your sandwich but it can be done. I rubbed chalk over to pop the shells. 

The seahorse is a Just For Fun stamp. I stamped on a scrap piece of plastic with Stazon ink. As far as I know Stazon ink is the only ink which will not smear. I turned it over and glued tissue paper. When the glue was dry I colored with markers. It is actually more translucent than it appears in the picture.

I embossed with a dot border folder for bubbles a scrap of page protector. Alas I forgot that my tape glider shows the adhesive through the plastic. I ended up having to double frame and lost some of the dots. I took a frame which was the wrong size for a previous project. I sprinkled two colors of Brusho on my mat and spritzed with water. Then dragged the frame through the colors. It is fun to see what you get as it is never the same. 

Off to organize my new craft room more and to start work on April's design project. I have two projects done for later this month. So if I don't post before I will be posting sometime after the 15th so stay tuned. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting!

Another Mini Masterpiece And Experiment

 Hi everyone. I have had so much fun playing with Marvelous Mini Masterpiece mood boards that I did the other team's challenge. Since it was an extra my day to post was today the last day of the challenge. Do check Mini Marvelous Masterpieces out as there will soon be a new challenge up. Mini Marvelous Masterpieces

Enough of my yapping. I know you can't wait to see my masterpiece. A card topper. I am pleased the way it turned out. Especially since I wasn't sure my handmade paper would work with torn pieces of tissue paper and white glue instead of acrylic floor wax.

I love the color palette which was chosen for this challenge. As well as all the leaves and ferns on the mood board. There were hatches on the lower right hand corner of the mood board which reminded me of dragon flies. Being the frugal crafter I am everything was made using scraps. Including my hand made paper where I used tissue paper which had been used in a gift bag. Did I mention I am a hoarder.

Thank you for stopping by. Do come back as sometime before the 15th of March I will have another Masterpiece to share. In the meantime I have April's challenge inspiration piece to work on.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Simple Bookmark

 Hi everyone I  just realized I did not post my simple bookmark for the last challenge. I was having computer problems and it slipped my mind. Although this challenge is over there is another one going on which I will posting on the 28th. Check Marvelous Mini Masterpieces out. There are fabulous inspiration pieces. Marvelous Mini Masterpieces

This bookmark was done with scraps and watercolor paints. The die cut I used was an old foam one with blades embedded and all one piece. I used a scrap of 110 white card stock since I was using my water color paints. The inexpensive Georgie Pacific 110 doesn't seem to curl as bad like other card stock when wet.  The base was a scrap of texture green which I used water color paints on to get closer to the color palette. My corner punch had been gathering dust so I decided to punch two corners. The right hand one allows the bookmark to be clipped on the page. I sent this to my sister for Valentine's day and she loves it.

Hope to be back soon with some more projects. Unfortunately right now I am cleaning the utility room so a new water heater can be installed this week. For now I am camping boiling water.

Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Slim Valentine Card

 Hi everyone I hope you are staying warm if it is cold where you are. Right now I am in bed with covers wrapped around me waiting for the house to warm up. Thank goodness for laptops and cellphones.

I decided to try my hand at making a slim card to go in a regular business size envelope. Since Valentine's will soon be here I made this Valentine for my sister. Hopefully the mail will get to her in time. If not at least she and her husband will know they are loved and thought about.

The image is from Fairy Graphics. It was originally black and white but I colorized it in Silhouette Studio. Sometimes I like something quick and easy. So I let my machine cut out the hearts. 

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Valentine's Day. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again. s

First Marvelous MIni Masterpiece

 

Hi everyone I am excited to share today my first project for the Marvelous Mini Masterpiece design team.

This is a Facebook group with fun challenges. You can go strictly with the color palette or also use a mood board. The only rule is your project can be no larger than 4 x 5. I went for the colors and the stones in the mood board for my card topper.

The lady is cut out of a printed image that I downloaded from Dover years ago. Alas I don't think they are offering their free samples anymore. I collect feathers on my walks so snipped a section of one for on her hat. She is pop dotted on the card stock.

 The dragonfly and foliage were cut from scraps. Both were cut using dies I bought at a thrift store and I don't think they are available anymore. The pathway was another scrap from a project a few years back. Yes, I am a hoarder of bits and pieces. I rubbed chalk over the embossing to mimic the stones in the mood board. The fence a scrap embossed with a wood grain folder. Then gel stain rubbed over it and carefully wiped off  so as not to rip the paper.

The sky was chalked for like a sunset. Unfortunately my camera washed the color out a little bit.

I hope you will join the group and craft a masterpiece. Here is the link :Marvelous Mini Masterpieces

Thank you for stopping by. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Celebrating The New Year In Style

 Hi everyone,

I spent a fun weekend putting together this card for the New Year. I love this image which showed up in my inbox from Graphic Fairy Friday. It is a black and which image so I didn't have to convert it. 

I decided to make a Dutch Door card but didn't take into account that the image printed on photo paper would be too flimsy. I ended up having to cut out a piece of card stock the same size and round the corners to adhere to the back of my image.

It was fun coloring the image with color pencils and chalk. Then using Dimensional Magic with gold glitter for the champagne bubbles. She is celebrating the New Year in style but perhaps had a little too much of the bubbly.

For a Dutch Door card you will need one panel the size of the card you are making. For my card I cut my card stock to 4 1/4 " by 5 1/2". I thought it looked too plain so went ahead and embossed  a piece and after swiping ink over it glued it on top. I cut a scrap of glitter card stock to 3 1/2" by 8 1/5. Scored it at 4 1/4" and glued it to the embossed panel. You will want your image to be larger than the folded card stock. I printed mine out as a 3 x 5.

Happy Frugal Crafting until we meet again!

Never More Than A Loving Thought Away

 HI Everyone I am back to crafting again. I am slowly turning the spare bedroom into a craft room now that my friend has moved out. The converted garage was too cold and I want to convert it back to a garage so that my car is out of the weather.

Here is a card I created for my friend for Christmas. I used photos from out favorite hiking place. Of course the dogs had to be included. I actually think he misses the dogs more than me.

Ignore the crappy counter the card is sitting one. I haven't set up a spot yet to take pictures. I also have not found where my good camera went. It is in the house somewhere.

The photo doesn't do this card justice as it is really sparkly. I used plastic coated glittered card stock for the card base and a scrap of a different color for the frame. It has been so long since I have used my cutting machine it took me a minute to remember how.

The photo the dogs are on was taken one winter in black and white mode. I always liked Ansel Adam's black and white photography so was playing around one day. 

With a stiff brush I pounced on heavy matt gel where the snow is in the picture. Then while still wet I sprinkled white coarse glitter over it. I gave the tree trunks definition using a brown marker. I loved how it turned out coloring on photo paper with a marker. The boys were sitting on a wall and the photo was in color. Alas my color printers have all died so I had to convert the photo to black and white. Which is alright as the boys are black and Buddy has a lot of white fur. I cut them out and then adhered to the back side of the frame before adhering the frame to the background. 

My friend loved his Christmas card and I purposely did not do a holiday sentiment on the outside so he could display it all year long if he wished.

I am busy working on New Year's card. Right now waiting for Dimensional Magic to dry so I can finish one.  Stay tuned as I will probably be posting it this week. 

Wishing you a Happy New Year as well as Happy Frugal Crafting!