Just for Fun Black White Silver Plus 1 other and I have a screw loose !

You may have read last week on my blog that I had a  " loose connection " not me personally my modem did !  which meant that I had no phone or internet for ten whole days !!!!!!! After much crying wailing and gnashing of teeth  I was reconnected , it seems that the problem was just a loose connection  ! I was finally re-united with the outside world ..........which lasted two whole days and then..........my Mac decided that I hadn't suffered enough and went  on strike ! I do believe there is a conspiracy afoot
Apple Macs do not break down ! Maybe I have an Apple lemon or maybe it was just jealous of the attention my modem was getting , I don't know.  off it went to the PC hospital for a little examination of its innards only to be returned to me yesterday all glowing and gorgeous with new programs installed .none of which I have a clue how to use.

I sat before it unsure of what to do next , should I catch up on my commenting, do I try to upload my desperately late DT pieces should I post something, anything. I have to say my creative juices have dried up lately I am in a quandary ( whatever that is but I'm in it all the same ) but no I am thwarted ( yes Donna thwarted ) once again I have no internet  and I know my connection is not loose, so what is it this time ? .......... It seems that this time according to the "experts" I have a  " screw loose " no don't laugh I really do , well did. The screw has now been tightened and I can now post, blog, comment and do all manner of computer related things that is until my next drama !
This is all just a big build up for my excuse of an entry for the Just for Fun challenge which is black, white, silver plus 1 other colour. Please forgive me this is all I could manage and I did so much want to take part , I will perfectly understand if I see the little disqualified caption under my entry.

Black white, silver and pink ! Black base, white Gesso, white crackle paint, silver ink over the crackle paint and around the edges black pearls on the bids eye and black embossed bird image and rubbish photo . I usually like to post three pieces for each challenge and I do in fact have several other pieces that I did but I just don't like them !

Please do pop over to Just for Fun  to see some  " real talent " from the DT and the rest of it's faithful and very talented followers, I do apologise for this poor post but hope that normal service will be resumed shortly.  will be around to visit all of you lovelies shortly

Until then..........

goodnight !
Marie

Sassy Lil Sketches August 25th Reveal

I'm back !!!!!!!! I hope you missed me as much as I missed you all !!! Since returning from my holidays ten days ago I have been without telephone or internet !!!! . I left the homestead in good hands or so I thought my oldest chick in charge only to find that upon my return I had no means of communication with the outside world .You know how it is , had a great mini break but was looking forward to getting back in the groove and seeing what you had all been up to, but no I was thwarted ! Anyway today after ten days of technicians visiting my home, new routers, modems , modems combined with routers each team blaming the other, numerous phone calls, begging , pleading and near to tears and that was just the technicians I finally am back to normal. What was the problem ...... my phone cable had a loose connection!!!!!!!!! It seems there was a party and a little re arranging of furniture and well those of you who have children can guess the rest, of course this was divulged to me today  after ten days !!

Taking a deep breath and calming my nerves am back just in time for my DT piece for Sassy Lil Sketches August 25th reveal .

What a great sketch and so much fun to work with this is my interpretation....

Used my Silhouette to cut out the branch and the bird image, then embossed it and both birds with Tim Holtz embossing folders and used a little distress ink to give it a little colour and depth. Made a little nest for my birdie with leaves and twigs and stamped on some seam binding for the sentiment. Added a few little seed pearls to give the impression of eggs in the nest and used glossy accents to weld it all together.

Do pop over to  Sassy Lil Sketches to see what the other talented DT members have come up with to inspire us who knows you could be one of our lucky winners this month.


Our August Card Sponsor is

My Favorite Things
Just Delightful Clear Stampshttp://www.mftstamps.com/
Cards must be uploaded  by September 5th, 11:59 P.M. EST to be eligible for the August random prize drawing*.

Specific rules for both Sassy Lil' Sketches site can be found on our Sassy Lil' Sketches "Rules" page.


The week was not all gloom and doom I was lucky enough to win Crystal Clears Hands Across the World blog give away a little while ago and yesterday I received my prize all the way from America

I have to say this photo does not do this beautiful piece of art justice it is absolutely gorgeous and I am so happy to have been lucky enough to win such an inspiring piece of art . Thank you so much Crystal for this and you can rest assured that it will be treasured always. For those of you who are not familiar with Crystal blog then I assure you you are missing out , not only is she one talented artist but she has a fabulous sense of humour do pop over you wont be dissapointed.


Just thought I would leave you with a few bits and pieces that I played about with while I was disconnected !!!

 

Will try to catch up in the next few days and visit you all , I have missed my lovely blogging friends so much and would like to thank those of you who sent me emails asking if  I was OK ,  I truly appreciate your concern and it is so nice to be missed , but have to say you must all be gluttons for punishment !!

Marie

Just for Fun " Black and White "

What a week this has been and it's not over yet !!! What with new DT work, winning blog candy receiving fabulous mail art  and making 250 thank you cards and envelopes all in the space of three days and trying to keep up with you all ! I was under the gun as I am about to leave or at least trying to for a little holiday , Something had to give , hence the return of bloggers bum, knee and shoulder !

Because of all this I have been a little remiss as for as commenting is concerned and had to miss the recent Just for Fun challenges which I love .I did pop by and saw all of your wonderful contributions ladies even if I didn't manage to say hi ! Today I am trying to put that to rights as I have made a few cards for this weeks challenge chosen by the lovely Sam . The theme this week is black and white which I adore and after days of making 250  of the same thing well 500 if you count the envelopes I wanted to try something new. Not that you can tell but if you look really really closely , like with a magnifying glass and close one eye you will see crackle paint and shrink plastic elements !

Big deal you may think well for me if is,  have never used them before and the shrink plastic especially was an eye opener I came over all giddy when it started to shrink , hubby was not impressed when I showed him at 2.30 this morning, he was however slightly more receptive when I showed him again at a more respectable hour !

Anyway that's enough gabbing from me I'm supposed to be packing !

 

I know this is really simple although it took ages to do.  I printed the blind image onto acetate and then behind it in the frame I have stamped one of little Timmy's eye stamps onto white card and then mounted it, it real life it looks really effective.

Hero arts flower stamp embossed with SU white embossing powder , glossy accents in the centre and glitter , time for magnifying glasses me thinks ! the hounds-tooth stamp also embossed, black ribbon and a couple of pearls and white card base.

 Hero Arts swirly image, Silhouette doily , stampin up flower with crackle paint and a little heart from shrink plastic.

  

Blogger seems to know that I am in a hurry today and has taken matters into his own hands ( He's definitely a male ) Uploading what he sees fit and where he wants it !!!!!!

The black and white swirly engraving is Hero Arts and the little heart is made from shrink plastic stamped with SU swirl in black Stazon.


Last but not least none of my posts are complete without a flower ( the above does not count ) so here is one I made for a friend it's on a box that I decorated for her.

Do pop over to Just for Fun and see what the gorgeously talented girls have come up with and check out the other loyal and fabulously created followers creations some beauties there !



Marie

Sassy Lil Sketches August 11th Card reveal

What an exciting day ! Lot's to share so pull up a pew grab a brew and join me !


Today is my first official post as a DT member for Sassy Lil Sketches and I'm so excited. This is the sketch that we had to work with great fun and endless possibilities.

I made my card using Webster pages and used my big Shot to make some flowers yes I admit it I should have been a florist in a former life ! Lovely pink lace for the border and just peeping out from underneath a scalloped border made with paper. The sentiment is embossed using SU embossing powder and stamps.

Please drop by Sassy Lil Sketches and see what the rest of the design team came up with I'm sure you wont be dissapointed ! There is a different sketch each  Tuesday  for layouts and  Thursdays for card makers  and always plenty of inspiration to be found. You can also join in the Sassy Lil Sketches forum a great community where help and advise is always on hand plus lot's of interesting topics , tips and discussions whatever  your interest.



Our August Card Sponsor is

My Favorite Things
Just Delightful Clear Stampshttp://www.mftstamps.com/
Cards must be uploaded  by September 5th, 11:59 P.M. EST to be eligible for the August random prize drawing*.

Specific rules for both Sassy Lil' Sketches site can be found on our Sassy Lil' Sketches "Rules" page.



Now more amazing news ! I won Crystal Clears shaking Hands Across the World Blog giveaway away a fabulous signed print by Crystal how about that ! As soon as I take possession I will share it with you all ! Do pop over and see her blog it's amazing and has something for everyone .

I'm not finished yet ! There's more ! I received fabulous mail art from a swap I did with Valerie at Bastelmania . I off course got the better part of the swap as I'm sure you will all agree !

This is one of her amazing mini books lot's and lots of gorgeous pages jam packed with fabulous elements, these photo's do not do them  justice !

I also received these unique tags which are a joy to behold so much detail and texture, mini works of art.. Thank you so much for these beauties Valerie you can rest assured they will be treasured.  There where in fact two little mini canvasses in the package but my artist son has purloined them before I managed to take a photo and am awaiting their return will share them with you once they are returned to their rightful home !

Have just been commissioned to make 250 thank you cards and envelopes for a friends daughters wedding so if I haven't passed by of late it's because  I am crossed eyed and dizzy from all of the stamping, gluing and sticking !

That's all my news, must dash Bailey and Rosy are whimpering at my feet and hubby is about to do the same ( it's lunch time )

Marie

The Cheerful Stamp Pad " Petals "

One of the blogs that I go to for inspiration and to be honest a good old laugh is that of the wonderfully talented and very very funny Valerie of Bastelmania. Not only is her work outstanding but she also has a very wicked sense of humour and her followers are all a little nutty  too ( but in a nice way ) . Valerie I noticed recently ( to my shame ) is on the DT for The Cheerful Stamp Pad and I have been checking out their blog of late.  Their followers are one talented bunch of ladies and I have been waiting for the right challenge to take part. Well this weeks challenge just so happens to be petals, well how could I resist that !

As you know may or may not know I am a little bit addicted to flower making, I'm not much cop at it as we Scousers say but I do try. Most of my posts will feature them in some shape or form, so I thought it would be fairly easy as I always have a flower or two or five on the go at any given time. Once again when I think something will be easy it turns out to be exactly the opposite ! Too many flowers too much choice chaos ! wont bore you with the amount of hours I have spent trying to put them to good use , it's a bit like a florists in here at the moment so looks like I will be blogging bouquets for some time to come !

Here I have used my Paper Artsy die cut which I coloured with DI inks, SU French script stamp with black Stazon then Multi Medium Gloss to protect and give suppleness to the flower, which is also a broach and can be removed from the card and worn. Again DI inks on the green background same stamps and treatment as before. The base of the Card Don't know the name of the stamp or who's it is as always throw the packaging away !!! but it gives a lovely vintage distressed effect again Di inks , I got really inky and messy on this one !

This is a notebook I made again Paper Artsy flower same procedure as before, designer dititals paper with a couple of eylets for the centre of the flowers , embossing , ribbon and my Zutter machine for the binding.

Here I used a crackle effect stamp with various DI inks, embossing, my Silhouette machine for the flowers and borders and some little green pearls to give it a bit of extra texture.

Couldn't really get a good photo of this as the flower is very shiny ! This is a large broach, lots of , perfect pearls, gel medium, glitter a huge in yer face piece which can be worn , just wanted to mount it on simple embossed card as I don't think it could stand anything else !

I would also like to enter these into the Creavil challenge this week who's theme is  " Flower Power " another very talented blogging friend Silvia of Barnies-Baustelle is on the DT here ! Check out her blog it's amazing she has a wonderful way with tags !

Well that's me all done in it's cocktail time at Casa Papadopoulou and am off for a bit of a relax and then will be back to visit you all, have been away for a few day's so have a lot of catching up to do.

Marie

The Stampsmith Challenge " Blue and Teal "

Today is a good day ! I'm finally feeling on top of the weather as opposed to under it ! My craft room is tidy and I don't just mean my desk ! I got top three in the Craft Room Challenge my first top three , all is well in my little corner of paradise. I was so excited to get my Craft room top three blinkie I know most of you have your side bars jam packed with them but it's like your first kiss you will always remember it or so they say I personally don't remember mine , it must have been so awful that my little brain has blocked it out......but I digress.


I have been following the wonderful Lynne Moncrieffs blog Adorn for quite some time and have been in awe of her amazing talents from day one when we where both featured by the lovely Cindy Adkins in Her Whimsical Musings on line magazine. One of the design teams  that Lynne collaborates with is The Stampsmith , they have such beautiful stamps and Lynne's creations and their stamps as well as the rest of the design teams work are a match made in heaven. As it is the first of the month we are allowed to use stamps from any manufacturer we like and to my shame `I  do not own one Stampsmith stamp but I will soon !

Their theme this week is to  use the colours teal and yellow and as fate would have it I was making a cushion with those exact same colours ! I have abandoned the cushion in favour of the following using the same image for the cushion which I  printed the image onto silk and for the cards I have printed onto transparency film.

 

Now I know what you are going to say . The felt is teal not turquoise it  just looks turquoise in the photo I couldn't believe it when I saw the pictures but believe  you me it" definitely teal  !i!! The image is a freebie  by the fabulous Abigail Mooney one very talented and generous lady and  this is one of my favourite images by her.  I printed the image onto acetate this was an A4 collage which I cut down .The larger image will appear on the cushion at some stage . I stamped some text underneath and used DI inks to make ......well a bit of a mess  ! I used TEAL FELT to make the border and the flower leaves ,which I dry embossed with a cuttlebug script folder ( I didn't know you could emboss felt ) in the flesh it's quite impressive. A yellow flower made with felt and my big shot and there you have it !

Another part of the collage wont bore you with the deets its fairly obvious. More felt more script more DI !

Do you have a few more minutes to spare me ? just Want to show you a few more things I have been up to !

  

The shoe image is another freebie from the lovely Miss Mooney I just love shoes ! lots of distressing , perfect pearls DI inks my Silhouettte a bit of everything on this one .

Last but not least a few flower broaches that I made, I just love flowers.  These are quite large and very wearable and can stand all night dancing and cavorting despite their delicate appearance ( I have tried it ) .


Think that is enough for one post  so will leave you now as I have to make a Pavlova ( or a palaver ) for a dinner party Friday and they are tricky little so and so's .

Take care
Marie

Get Creative and Lonnnnnnnnng Post !

Thank you for all of your warm wishes for a lovely holiday and to have a glass of wine on you all hic ! Unfortunately my health decided it wanted to keep me here in the city and so have had to postpone it for a few days ! All"s well that ends well as the weather took a turn for the worse as of yesterday with lots and lots of rain ! So am not too dissapointed.

August is a big holiday month here in Greece with most people leaving the town in favour of their villages to escape the heat . Over at Get Creative with this in mind our Leader Irni ( so glad to have you back ) has just two challenges for us this month. The  first and being  the eighth month she wants to see a card or layout using eight of the same embellishments . Here is my effort for the DT !

 

A simple card using one of my favourite papers by Websters Pages. I cut out lots of hearts  using my spellbinders dies embossed the white hearts  and then placed smaller red hearts on top . I printed the images onto photo paper as it gives it a lovely shine but don't quite think you can see it in the photo!

 Not feeling up to snuff I decided not to take part in any challenges over the last few days and just to play around with my new Zuttter Bind it All and my Cropadile and use up some of my scraps

I made a couple of tags using Greek newspaper cuttings which I first photocopied the first one I embossed half of it and then coloured with a little DI ink . Off cuts of design paper by Basic Grey  from their Out of Print series and a flower also from newsprint and a little blue bead in the centre. the flowers also have little pearls in the middle but you can't see them either !!The second one I have added a rosette also made from newspaper . The eyelets have been dyed using alcohol inks.  The mini is a little folder for post it notes with a larger rosette and mini pearls in the centre of the flowers. Now if there is any one out there that would for some strange reason like to be their new owners just leave me a comment and if more than one person wants them I will put the names in a hat or a handbag or some other vestibule and get the OH to pick a winner. If no one wants them then I will be terribly embarrassed !!!

Would also like to share this lovely card and flowers that I received from Team mate Alex at Get  Creative I happened to mention that I loved her gorgeous flowers on one of her projects and she kindly sent them to me ! Thank you so much Alex they are gorgeous please visit her blog  at My Serendipity  as she does some amazing and very varied work.

 

Some time ago Alex won one of Valerie's of the famed Bastlemania blog giveaways and Alex knowing how much I love Valerie's work and with the approval of the very sweet Valerie she sent me two of the tags that she won ! So as you can image It was such a lovely surprise to find in my package two beautiful tags and here they are !

To say that I am happy is an understatement ! Thank you so much for these beautiful gifts I will treasure the. 

Last but not least ( told you it was going to be a long post ) My great blogging friend Xenia from Blue Birdie is giving away one of her incredible creations see the side bar. She is such a talented artist and I for one would love to own this art journal pop over and check it out .

Well I think that's more than enough for a Monday morning don't you ? Do pop over to Get Creative to see what the other talented members of the Design Team have come up with and why not take part in our challenge there's a great prize up for grabs and I think you will agree quite an easy theme !

Hope you all have a wonderful week.

Marie