My very first Graphic 45 Altered Object!

Right, this might need some explanation why this is such a huge deal for me...

Ever since I discovered Jim the Gentleman Crafter's blog I knew that he was my muse, my inspiration!

No kidding, his style is my style with the 1 big difference that I lack a lot of technique and have trouble gathering the right supplies for projects I have in mind.
The creativity is there, so are the ideas but the finished projects lack the perfect finish he has mastered and shows us with every single project he has shown us.

This time I was able to get my hands on the right supplies for a project I had in mind.
It's not as extensive as his projects tend to be and I didn't make the box myself, but it's a start.

The reason why this has been such a big deal for me is that, for the first time, I felt it all really came together when I finished the piece. It stands on my desk and every time I look at it I realize there is nothing I want to change about it and that is HUGE to me! Before this I always felt that I could have done better if I would just.. add, take of, have other supplies, better embellishments...

So, this is a milestone in my crafting journey and I have to thank Jim the Gentleman Crafter for giving me the inspiration to keep going and keep improving myself. So, thank you Jim for sharing your world with us all!

Here are some picture's :

The supplies I gathered included 2 sheets of Graphic 45 paper, Tim Holtz Ideaology Foundations, some basic paper that matches the colour of the Graphic 45 paper and later on I added some Bo Bunny paper from a 6x6 paper pad I used on a earlier project.

First I painted the box in a dark brown colour and then I started crafting and was so busy with it I forgot to make picture's!

So here is the end-result ;

Front

Front open

Right Side

Back

Left Side

Top

Front

 Some close-ups :

The Lock
The colour is a perfect match with the foundations but in the picture it shows up a lot lighter. 

The Foundations
I LOVE these, they are so beautifull!

Some distressing on all the paper edges

Some more distressing

A key I'm still working on.
It's a wooden Kaiser Crafts key which I don't want to attach to the box but keep is separate like you would any key.
I want to use some ribbons but I just haven't figured out how to attach them yet.
Work in progress!

July 2012 : Ultimate Goodies Month!

Hi all,

Before I share my latest crafting project I have to share my newest goodies with you all!
July really turned out to be an ultimate goodies month for me.
Offcours it all started with my early birthday present from my husband, a Big Shot.
But soon after other goodies started to arrive as well...


There was the package from Paper Crafters Library with the Spellbinders labels 4 Nestabilities that I've won in the Spellbinders give-away week they had.

On the right in the picture is a Joy Crafts Die of Flags that I've bought in a local store.

The first arrival of my ordered goodies that I've shown earlier on my blog. Followed by the Bigs Gears that my sister ordered at amazon.co.uk for me. I forgot to make a picture of the gears die but I'm guessing you'll know what that one looks like!

Then there was the early birthday present my sister send me the from the uk. She was curious whether she had bought the right supplies and so I had permission to open the package early. And boy, I was stunned by all the awesome goodies she had bought me! AND I LOVE IT ALL!! This has been such an amazing gift I can't put it in words.

1) A package of 3 medium sizzlits which include keys and banners. They are so cute! I love them!

2) A set of 2 mini sizzlits with buttons and a star and 1 sizzix punch.

3) A set of 21 die cuts from the Tim Holtz Alterations collection in 3 different colours.

4) 2 embossing folders, 1 with a sample pack of core'dinations cardstock.

5) Some cute self adhensive borders with a Angry Birds theme on them.

Isn't this amazing? She has been so generous and she definitely knows what I like! :-) Thnx Sis!


This was followed by the arrival of Bazzil Goodies I won in a give-away at May Flaum's Camp Scrap 2012.

The suprise package contained 1 spool of black & white ribbon, 1 pack of cotters and 1 set of alpha sewing stencils.

And to top it all of my husband came accros a scrapbooking store during his work and suprised me with some more goodies...

Watching the Big Shot being used opened up his eyes about all the possibilities it has and made him understand why I really wanted that machine. And now he is comming with ideas for crafting projects!
I just love how understanding and supportive he is about my crafting addiction.

1 embossing folder, 1 cutting die border and 1 set of Spellbinders Shapeabilities that I just LOVE!!

WOW!! I have been so spoiled and pampered this last month!!
I love my new goodies and I already started using them and have so much ideas for projects I want to make that I just don't know where to start.
Thank you to all the people who were so generous to me!

My Paper Art Studio

Ingvild Bolme from My Paper Art Studio Blog is giving away a mountain of Prima Products!

She is having this amazing give-away to celebrate her new blog design.
Check out her blog : www.ingvildbolme.com

To give you an idea about what a "mountain of Prima products" look like, here is the picture and the information given on Ingvild's blog :

This huge lot of Prima products contains :

*Ingvild Bolme Comfort-Craft Tools Distressing Tool * Ingvild Bolme Comfort-Craft Tools Craft Knife * Ingvild Bolme Comfort-Craft Tools knife blade refills * Ingvild Bolme Comfort Craft Tools Chalk Edgers - 6 colors! * Ingvild Bolme Shabby Chic Resin Treasures "Roman Pillars" * Ingvild Bolme Shabby Chic Resin Treasures "Window Closers" * Ingvild Bolme Shabby Chic Resin Treasures "Mushrooms" * two Prima trim/laces * Prima Pebbles * two Prima flower vines * 4 packs of Prima alphabets * two packs of Prima butterflies * three packs of Prima "Say it in Pearls" centers * two packs of Prima canvas buttons * two packs of Prima "Say it in Pearls" swirls * three packs of Prima "Say it in Crystals" swirls * two Prima felt sticker trims * three Prima clear tapes * Donna Downey trim * Ruby-Violet cuff * Prima decorate border * Prima felt DeVines * Prima Fancy Felt Matties * Prima Vines Jewelry * pack of Prima journaling notecards * lot of Prima notecards * lot of 21 Prima flowers and mulberry flower * huge lot of 21 packs of Prima flowers! * 12x12 Prima Embossed Chipboard * two Prima 12x12 paintables * Prima 12x12 overlay * huge lot of 39 Prima 12x12 two sided pattern papers!

What do you have to do to get a ticket to this "lottery"?
1. Post the picture above in your blog. Where, how, how large and so on is up to you!
2. Link back to my blog - www.ingvildbolme.com
3. Write some words about this giveaway. All I ask for to be mentioned in the text is that the giveaway is a celebration of the new blog design. The rest is up to you! ;O)
4. Post a comment with a link (directly to where your post is!) below in this post.
5. Then you have to cross your fingers! ;O)

Who can join? - everyone! ;O)
I ship international. But please note that I do not have any responsibility for any extra charges from customs etc. It will be shipped as a gift as it is. All products on the picture will be included.

The giveaway ends 31st of August 2012. I will accept comments in this post to the 31st of August 12.00 p.m. GMT-time. The winner will be picked and announced within September 5th.

Please note that you can also follow updates, news and works @
Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest
Scrapbook.com
Two Peas in a Bucket

I also recommend you to visit Primas blog here to see all their amazing new products, wonderful DT works and lots of great news and updates to follow.

I hope you will join this giveaway, appreciate all shares, and wish you all Good Luck! 

*hugs and smiles*

Ingvild

Hard Core Crop Challenge #3 : Char - Antiquing 

Here is my take on the Antiquing Challenge :

I made a simple card with a weathered clock using the Tim Holtz bigz die.
Everything is made out of core-cardstock.
I distressed the edgeg with Tim's paper distresser and some pumice stone ink.

I feel like there is something missing in this card but I'm not sure what it is.
I might finish later or use it as an embellishment on a bigger project.

This is also my last Hard Core Crop Challenge of this weekend.
I'm almost out of time, almost out of supplies and out of ideas that are worth crafting.
I could make some more cards for the Ad, scoring, stripes and trendy challenges but it would be rushing it and without any inspiration and therefore I wouldn't like the endresult anyways! :-)

I had lots of fun and I came to realize that even with a small amount of supplies, in this case core cardstock, you can go a long way! I have some cardstock left-overs and 2 sheets 12x12 that are untouched but I still managed to make 3 LO's, 1 card and 1 embellishment.

Here are the 2 smaller projects together and somewhere in the deepest corners of my mind an idea is taking shape that may one day turn into a lovely project..

Hard Core Crop Challenge #6 : Melissa - Handmade Embellishments Challenge

Here is my take on Melissa's Challenge :

Some close-ups :

And from an angle so you can see the depth in the flowers :

I decided to go with some advice May Flaum gave on her blog ;

When you have an idea but don't know what the finished project will look like, just make it and save it. There will be a moment in time where it will be exactly what your looking for.**

So I did. I made a brickwall covered with flowers which I'm sure I'll use someday on an altered object or a lay-out.


(** for the record; this isn't a qoute and therefore not her exact words but it is the advice she gave.)

Hard Core Crop Challenge #14 : Kristine - Sketch

Here is the Sketch :

And here is my take on Kristine's Sketch :

Some close-ups :

As I mentioned in the #4 : Cardstock Only! Challenge, there 2 LO's are a matching set of schoolpicture's.
I love the colours for this theme since they match up perfectly with my daughter's age, she's 3 years old now.
I did a lot of embossing and a bit more sanding then I did on the #4. I did keep it simple on purpose.
The only thing that isn't made out of core cardstock are the cardboard sticker alpha's I used for the name of the school. I used a Spellbinders Label Die Cut for the journalling spot.

And here is a picture of the matching set :

Hard Core Crop Challenge # 4 : Debbie : Cardstock Only!

Here is my take on the Cardstock Only Challenge that Debbie gave us:

Here are some close-ups :

I used a lot of embossing and a little sanding on the stripes and banners.
Other then that I left it simple because I didn't know what I might want to add later like some journalling and probably the dates.
This is a schoolpicture of my 3 year old daughter and I plan om making an album with just those picture's. That would mean 2 picture's each year : 1 portrait picture and 1 group picture of her classmates.
This is her first year in school and I thought those colours would be perfect for her age and what they learn at school right now.
This LO is a matching set with the LO I made for the #14 Kristine - Sketch Challenge.

Hard Core Crop Challenge # 9 : Ellen - Pinterest Challenge

The Core'dinations sheets I used for these challenges :
(It was a bit dark but the 12x12 sheets are purple, red, yellow, blue and green. The 6x6 where a collection of lighter colours.)

And to proof that it's really Core'dinations! : (lol!)

In case I needed some pattern paper I selected this sweet collection I picked up at a local store :

And here is my take on the Pinterest Challenge that Ellen gave us.
I loved the sketch Ellen selected and the colours she used were just perfect for the picture's I had in mind so I decided to use the same one.

And offcours some close-up picture's to show a bit more of the details :

For some reason the embossing shows better on the darker picture's.
I embossed, scored, sanded, distressed and a die cut (flower) on the core cardstock and I used 3 square's of pattern paper, 1 button and some cardstock alpha stickers.