Crazicards Crafty Blog

I have been a member of the Graphicus Guild for a while now but due to circumstance I never seemed to be able to find the time to join in with the monthly swaps that are ongoing.

So one of my New Year Resolutions was to make sure I join in swaps more often this year. So when January's swap was announced I put my name down straight away. The subject was New Beginnings and you could either make an ATC or a Tag.

I racked my brains for ages to see what I could possibly do an this is the Tag that I made:

 I made a large tag and then set about stamping with versamark ink and embossing with Clear WOW powder, several flowers from the Creative Expressions stamp plates - British Wild Flowers and Meadow Flora.

I then used Tim Holtz distress Inks with cut'n'dry to colour the background. The stamped and embossed areas done previously created a resist to the ink and once I had finished with the ink the flowers really stood out.

I then created the flowers and coloured them using Brilliance inks which have a lovely shine to them. As these tend to be a little wet for a while I set them aside to dry whilst I stamped onto acetate the sentiment "Let the Adventure Begin" from the Elusive Images stamp plate - Artistic Affirmations.

I then stamped the beautiful butterfly from another Elusive Images stamp plate - Flora and Fauna  and embossed it using a pepper Wow embossing powder. The Wow powders are brilliant for this as you don't leave as much powder on the acetate as you do with other types of embossing powders.

I must admit though that I still use my antistatic bag on acetate as no matter how good a powder is it will still get caught in the static on the acetate, the bag helps to prevent that.

I then had to create the pupa, (I think that's the right word for it), for the butterfly to emerge from, and for this I tried several thing like Angelina Fibres and wool but neither gave he right effect. Whilst I was rummaging through my scrap box I came a cross a small scrap of hand made paper that had been stitched and when I pulled apart the two sheets the threads split giving quite a fluffy stranded effect, just perfect for what I wanted.

I then stamped and glazed a branch from the Sheena stamp plate - Faith for the pupa to hang from. The finished tag is almost A5 in size which I think is probably a little bit large, but I think it turned out OK for my first tag swap.

Here is the fantastic tag that I received from this swap. The detail is just fantastic and I am afraid this photograph doesn't really do the tag any justice as you can't see the superb Copper embossing of the lady tree or the deep Gold embossing of the swirly Sun. The lovely bead trim at the bottom is simply gorgeous.

I am now thinking of my next tag for the February swap which has a title of Romance. I am quite looking forward to taking part over the coming months and I shall be sure to share my tags and the ones that I receive with you all.

If they are all as beautiful as this one it will be wonderful.

I have been thinking of changing my blog template for a while and today I found one that I think is more in keeping with my style.

Hope you like it :O)

Well I have been busy during the last couple of weeks getting the new Crazicards Website Newsletter revamped ready for it's re-launch at the beginning of February.

This newsletter is aimed at being a much shorter and to the point newsletter. I aim to add new projects and tips in each issue as I never have been one to like those news letters that just sell you products and give you nothing else in return for your loyalty to their webstore.
 
I have also decided that instead of being a weekly news letter it will now be sent out fortnightly which will give me more time to hopefully bring you some interesting projects.

I thought you might like a sneaky peak of what the first project might be so here are a couple of images to tease :O)

This is another ATC I created called Woodland with a twist. The theme was to be Woodland and had to include something real from a woodland.

To make this ATC I started by creating my own background coloured card using perfect pearl pigment powders mixed with water and a Tim Holtz Shabby Shutters and a Broken China distressed Ink pad. I started by adding the shabby shutters and a light swipe of the broken china ink to the white card using Ranger cut 'n' dry foam. I then made up my mix of perfect pearl pigment powder and sprayed the coloured card.

Once dry I stamped the naked tree stamp from Elusive Images and embossed it.  For my real woodland item I chose pine cones which I cut up using garden sheers and stuck them together in the shape of flowers using 3D Glue Gel I added a couple of peel off glittery butterflies and then I finished off with a few rhinestones and some fabulous swirls  from my Tim Holtz Grungeboard plain elements pack painted Copper.

Here we have my ATC for the letter Q to keeping in line with the letter theme from one of my ATC swap clubs.

For the Q swap I chose Queen of Hearts as my title. Here's the finished ATC.

At some time in our lives we all come into contact with Cancer. Whether it is through our own personal experience or the experience of others.

In my case Cancer has been a factor in my life for quite a long time in one way or another.

My first close up experience of Cancer was with my Grandma, she was diagnosed with Kidney Cancer and sadly passed away in November 2005.

Since then I have had quite a number of friends and family who have been diagnosed with Cancer and some have survived  and sadly some have not been so lucky. The most recent encounter being that of my partners mum who sadly passed away in December 2010 from Stomach Cancer.

I myself am one of the lucky ones...


In 2008 I was told that I had cancer of my right side Parotid Gland which sits just below your ear. Nothing can prepare you for that kind of a shock, I only went to the doctors for treatment with dizzy spells....

Lucky for me though my consultant is at the top of his profession and I was in and out of hospital before I knew what had hit me. After the surgery in July came 5 weeks of intensive radiotherapy in November this helps to kill any remaining traces of cancer, Chemotherapy isn't an option with this type of cancer. And then once all that was over and done the long road to recovery began.

Thankfully I am now well on my way to surviving Cancer, there have been a few hiccups along the way and I am sure there will be a few more smaller ones a long the way but the chances of surviving Cancer in today's society are far better than they ever have been thanks to Cancer Research.

Without donations from the public Cancer Research wouldn't be as far along as they already are - EVERY SINGLE PENNY COUNTS - and could save the life of someone you know.

I wanted to do my bit and came up with the idea of fundraising by donating 100% of the profit made from the sale of my website shopping trolley tokens as well as a selected monthly craft item/s from my website http://www.Crazicards.co.uk

The Shopping Trolley Tokens will be a permanent item and the selected craft item/s will change each month. And I will also be donating handmade craft items that I have personally made. 100% of the sale price for my hand crafted items will be donated to my scheme.

Thank you for your support - it's people like you that helped to save my life....

If you would like to donate directly to my Cancer Research fundraising scheme at Just Giving please visit http://www.justgiving.com/Crazicards

Sadly 2010 ended on a very sad note as my partners mum passed away on 13 th December and the funeral was held on the 21st December. Thankfully Irene's passing was quiet and she is now at rest after a courageous battle with stomach cancer.

I made these two cards for John, Jan and Stuart.

This was the first time I had used the iridescent WOW powders and I must say they are brilliant and easy to use with minimal mess. The WOW powders change colour when you move them in the light and they look stunning. The stamps are from the Elusive Images range.

Now that 2011 is here I am hoping to be more active in the blogging arena, it's always been on my to do list but has never managed to get to the top spot, this year it is up there so hopefully you will join me on my journey of crafty things to come :O)

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year and i wish you all Happiness and Health.