A surprise win, a design team application and an old favourite!!

This next card was created because of a share and like to win post from Polkadoodles.

A few days ago I did what all crafters do and like and share to be in with a chance of winning crafty stuff!! It was a gorgeous CD rom from Polkadoodles called the Rose Budd Collection. Well I thought no more of it and went on to watch the launch shows of it on Create and Craft, fell in love with it even more, then became really disappointed that I couldn't buy it.  Well that evening I got a lovely surprise when Nikky Hall messaged me to say I was one of 3 lucky winners of a copy. 

Now as it happened a couple of days before Polkadoodles had been posting about design team places and the deadline had been extended until midnight on Friday 13th. So suddenly feeling more lucky and inspired I decided with only 3 hrs to go I would apply. Not only that I wanted to ensure one of my examples was using Polkadoodles products so it was at this point I remembered an old favourite The Polkadoodles Sundae of Seasons CD rom. 

First of all I created an 8" x 8" Ivory card blank. I cut a piece of Kraft card measuring 7.5" x 7.5" and wrapped a piece of inch wide cream crochet ribbon to the left hand side.

 I then layered it on top of the card blank using extra strong double sided tape. 

Next I took a piece of ivory card measuring 6.75" x 6.75" and trimmed into three equal sized panels ( 2.25" x 6.75" ) then a floral patterned paper from the Lillibet-A Tale of Friendship paper pad measuring 6" x 6" and again trimmed into three equal panels (2" x 6")

Using double sided tape I matted these together. 

I then glued these to the Kraft card using Pinflair glue gel.

Next I attached a green text printed decorative label shape across the centre of the three panels, again using Pinflair glue gel.

Then I took a circle doilie and cut it in half to create two semi circle pieces.

Using Cosmic Shimmer PVA I glued these to the left and right sides of a large die cut oval, which I then attached to the centre of the card using Pinflair glue gel.

I chose the main image and florals I wanted from the Sundae of Seasons CD rom and printed onto super smooth card.

Once cut out I glued the girl to the centre of the oval using Cosmic Shimmer PVA.

I then cut, curled and shaped the flowers and leaves, then arranged them until I was happy with the layout. Once happy I attached using Pinflair glue gel. I then added a bow to the top left of the card, made from the same cream crochet ribbon.

I further embellished the card by adding buttons to the flower centres, Craftwork Cards butterfly sentiments, a red flower cabachon to the bow and Cosmic Shimmer decorative glue in Vintage Pink.

At this point I was happy with the result and tired so emailed this off with my design team application at 11.28pm (deadline was midnight!)

However like every crafter in the morning I took another look and decided that I had some more pretty flowers that would look perfect.  I had made these using punches and Cosmic Shimmer decorative glues (vanilla and vintage plum) so I added these too. The final finishing touch was to add faux stitching around the edge of the kraft card layer using a white Gelly Roll pen.

Finally it was perfect! 

Seaside Canvas

The thought of creating a 20" x 8" canvas had scared me for a long time. But finally I realised that even though I couldn't paint I could incorporate my dies and make it more about mixed media than paint.

So knowing I wanted to use my new Days Out Dies from Tattered Lace I gathered all the essentials I thought I wanted to use.

Then using the white and blue acrylic paints I created varying shades of blue and painted the entire canvas. I then lightened one using lots more white to create cloud shapes. 

Next I took a sand effect paper and tore into wavy strips.

 Using cosmic shimmer I glued to the bottom third of the canvas. Once dry I distressed using Adirondack Latte and Tim Holtz old paper to give the sand further colour. 

I then took a gauze bandage and using cosmic shimmer PVA I ruffled and glued along the edge of the sand to create the the edge of the tide.

The next thing I did was to use Tim Holtz Broken China and Adirondack Stonewashed distress ink pads to define the edge of the seascape and start of the skyline.

Next I took shell themed paper clear embossing ink and clear embossing powder. I then heat embossed the whole sheet before cutting out a selection of the images.  

Then using shades of red and white card I ran the bucket and spade die and the beach hut die through the Grand Calibur and layered up to create the desired effect.

I then began assembling my beach scene attaching the die cuts with Pinflair glue gel as well as further seaweed die cuts and my earlier cut shells etc. I also added some dew drops to represent coloured stones, random pieces of flower soft to give the sand texture and tiny pieces if bandage to create the ripples around the boats in the sea.

The finishing touch was adding some flower soft into the top of the bucket to give the effect of it being full of sand too.

All in all for a 1st attempt I like how it turned out and might even be brave enough to attempt an even bigger canvas next time.