2013 - failures and successes

Just a small end of year review of crafty events on my blog. I am pleased to have completed the Craft Barn dictionary challenge and will complete the Katzelkraft challenge as soon as I get my head around making a waterfall card. Challenges that have fallen by the wayside include the Tim Holtz tags which I just couldn't summon up the enthusiasm for half-way through the year. Much as I love my distress and alcohol inks, the subsequent stains, paints, markers and glitters were just way too much for me. Less Is More is another challenge that I would like to take part in more often than I did in 2013. I do feel that while they used to be quite strict about telling people when their cards were not CAS enough they have relaxed their rules and accepted cards that I don't feel are clean and simple under the guidelines they have given. However that is not why I haven't taken part, the cards whether CAS or not are always beautiful, I just haven't had the time.
Thanks to everyone who asked about my dog Cassie. She seems almost back to her normal noisy self, she just needs to get back into her routine.
I leave you all with a simple but bright card looking forward to a happy and healthy 2014.

Craft Barn Alpha Challenge - the Final Two

 

The remaining 2 letters for the Craft Barn Alpha Challenge are X and I. I am just scraping in before the deadline as we have had quite a hectic holiday season. The first letter is X and I only had half a page of definitions. I looked at the usual X options such as x-ray and xylophone and x-ray would have been appropriate at the moment as my dog has been unwell and has spent a couple of days at the vets. We have seen a few of her x-rays but TBH her intestines are not something I want to inflict on all of you. I did toy with xenophobia but it's not a word I could depict very well through the medium of rubber. Finally I opted for xerophyte - a plant that is adapted for growth under extremely dry conditions. Amongst the cacti and yuccas I spotted a Californian Poppy also known as eschscholzia californica,  the seeds of which can lie dormant for a long time but with a little rain they will spring to life, germinate, flower and set seed in a matter of weeks (who knew?). With the help of my Memory Box poppy die I cut several poppies and coloured them with my coloursoft pencils. I did debate going over 2 pages onto the Y's but I thought I'd leave this as the only single page entry as that's all there was.

Next comes I with many more options. I have had this Artemio London stamp set for a while and have used it quite a lot. I wanted to use it somewhere in my dictionary but thought about it after doing C for Christmas early on in the year. I had no L for London definition so couldn't use it. However it occurred to me that all these images of London (my home town) are iconic - you don't have to be a Londoner or even British to recognise them. The text is cut with Sizzix petite petals strip die which I just bought in the Craft Barn sale (I brayered red & blue inks over some card and outlined the letters for more definition). BTW this stamp set is also in the sale (in store) and I like the fact that the union flag is in 2 parts so you can do the red and blue bits separately.
So that's it... I've really enjoyed this challenge I only have to decorate the outside now and I will post that later. Thanks to Isabelle and everyone at the Craft Barn for coming up with this. I'm looking forward to a new challenge next year. Thank you also to everyone who has followed and commented on all the dictionary posts - we have become quite a community.
Have a Happy New Year!

Katzelkraft S10 C1

Although the base card for this looks rather grey in the pic it is actually white IRL. This is my penultimate card for the Katzelkraft challenge this year - a card with 3D elements. The stamp is by Katzelkraft and I have raised various parts with foam pads and mounted the whole piece on foam pads as well.

Katzelkraft S9/DT

This card was chosen by forum moderator Christou. She asked for a wish list of items to appear on her card (she's a very demanding lady LOL!). Her list comprised:

spots/dots

ticket/label

string

3 stamps

stripes

tape

red

round

gesso/paint

metal

 

The stamps are by Paula Pascual, Sam Poole, Hampton Arts and Katzelkraft. I think with a bit more time I might have made a better job of incorporating all the different elements.

Katzelkraft S10/C2

This card had to be collage style with Santa somewhere on it. I've used a brick stencil, an old Santa stamp, a KTZ stamp and some decorative tape. The text is from a Papermania set.
Merry Christmas to everyone.

Katzelkraft S7/DT

The challenge was to make a mini-book. I decided to make a small journal to jot down trips we make next year. The covers are cut from waste cardboard from the back of a notepad covered with a piece of embossed wallpaper. The label is cut from Crate Paper's pink plum set and the text is cut with my new TH stencil die.

Each of the pages has been stamped with a Katzelkraft ruled lines stamp and the month from a Studio G set. The inside front cover uses 2  Katzelkraft stamps.

 

The inside back cover also uses 2 Katzelkraft stamps, the capital cities one being one of my new acquisitions. I punched holes through the centre of all the layers and tied with a length of sari ribbon which made a quick and easy binding for the book.
I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and an enjoyable time over the next few days. Don't work too hard to make everything perfect - in my experience it's the years that fell short of perfect that everyone looks back on and remembers fondly. Just think that the disasters of this year will be the funny stories for years to come. Have a great time whoever you are and whatever you believe in.

Katzelkraft S10/C3

We had to make a card drawing inspiration from the pic below:

 

I decided to go with the neutral colour scheme and the tree. The stamped tree is by Katzelkraft and the birds are from a Crafty Individuals set. I sponged through a punched circle with Brilliance pearlescent beige. The sentiment is from a CeeD's set.