It's magic!

Hello everyone, time for a new challenge over at Left of Center.  This time our theme is Cute vs Creepy, and we are sponsored by Meljens.

I'm using Nibbles the Zombie cat.  I think he's rather cute, myself...

If you've been here before you might have noticed that I like making kinetic cards and this one is fun.  It's a Magic slider card.  First poor Nibbles is looking a bit washed out in his colourful frame...

Then  as he comes out of his frame, he gets some colour...

until he appears in full colour!

Gasp!  Surely this is sorcery?  How can it happen?  Well, if you want to know, check the Secret Slider How-to instructions here.  Nibbles has been coloured in with Promarkers and the frame was coloured with Distress inks.  The spider's web punch is from EK Success (I trimmed off the little spiders that were on the ends of the webs.)

Hope you like him!  And if you'd like to see what the rest of the DT have been up to at LOC, why don't you pop over and take a look?  We'd love you see your work as well - and there's a chance to win a prize as well!

Crafty Hugs,

Keren

Blog hoppin' @ Ikesworld Challenges

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog.

 I’m very excited to be part of the very first Ikesworld Challenge blog hop. If you’re working through the hop in order you should have arrived here from I don't do Straight's  blog. If not, you can start the hop with Blackdragon and work your way through in order.

I’ve chosen to use Bite Me for my project. This is one of the new releases from Ike – isn’t it lovely?

Here's what I did with it!



I watched a video of Wendy Vecchi at the CHA and was inspired to follow her example – although, not having most of the materials she used I had to improvise a bit. I used a small (10 cm) MDF heart shape and gave it a rough coat of copper-coloured texture paste, not worrying too much about covering the whole of the surface. Once that was dry I spread a coat of Kroma crackle medium roughly on top. And then I left it to dry. Kroma takes a long time to dry (it goes on clear and dries white)– up to three days. (Hint – do not leave the project where someone can carelessly throw a shirt onto it, to the detriment of both the project and the shirt.) Once dry, it keeps on cracking and if you don’t seal it, the crackle can fall off the substrate, so once it was dry  I blended Distress inks over the surface and then covered the whole thing with Mod Podge and some printed tissue (this was a scrap left over from something else).

While it was drying, I started work on the digi. I’m still on my printing-onto-tissue- paper kick (stick the tissue to a piece of ordinary paper along the edge that feeds into the printer before you print). I coloured the image with Promarkers. Because I wanted the features of the face to stand out I painted white acrylic paint over the reverse, then I cut it out close to the outline of the face. I brushed more Mod Podge (matte) over the whole thing, stuck the digi down and sealed it with – guess what – more Mod Podge. Once it was dry I gave it a coat of Klear (now known as Pledge Multi-surface wax polish); I like the satiny sheen it adds.

What else? I made the flower by sticking three layers of paper flower shapes together (I’ve had them for ages – I think they may be from Prima but I’m not sure).  The metal leaves are by Creative Expressions and I dipped them into some UTEE, coloured with red and green UTEE dye in my Melt Pot.

And that's it!  Now to continue the hop, please continue to back to Ikesworld to check in- but don't forget to leave a comment first!  Thanks for calling!

Ike'sWorld Challenge Blog

Black Dragon

Ginny

Lisa

Crafting Vicky

Samara

Jane

Shelley

Ike

Kristy

Melanie

Shoni

I don't do Straight

Keren

Scary Stories

Hi everyone, thanks for visiting!  The latest challenge over at Left of Center is Scary Stories, and we are sponsored by the magnificent Ike.  I've chosen to use Telltale Heart, which is a story by Edgar Allen Poe (and it's a very scary story so if you've of a nervous disposition you might want to look away now)

 I'm still on my faux book kick.  This time I recycled a cover I'd made for another project - I brayered dimensional paint (Tulip paint) in black and silver over card to make the leather-look for the binding

I printed out the digi five times and after I'd coloured all the copies (with Spectrum Noir pens) I did a bit of decoupage, using the folds of the "pages" to separate the layers.

I'm entering this in the 

Quoth the Raven  challenge "Anything Poes", and

Haunted Design House challenge - "Fresh Blood".

Anything Goes at Ikesworld

It's Team B's turn to bat at Ikesworld Challenges and it's Anything Goes this time.

I really love the Mother and Baby digi I used in my last DT piece so, since it's Anything Goes I decided to use it again, but in a different way.

I'm still playing with Cold Porcelain (why have I only just discovered this stuff?) and for this piece I filled an oval Pendant tray (from a well-known internet auction site!) with the Cold Porcelain.  Once it was hardened (it shrinks slightly so I glued it into the setting once I'd finished) I printed the digi on tissue paper (I'm still playing with that technique as well!) and coloured it with Promarkers.  I was worried about the printer ink running when I glued the tissue to the surface with gel medium- and then I remembered my pot of Judikins Micro Glaze! It's not that easy to get hold of but it is magic stuff.  See, no runny colours!

Thanks for visiting!

Crafty Hugs,

Keren

Tim's Twelve Tags ...January

Flushed with success after managing to keep up with Tim Holtz's Twelve Tags of 2013,  here I am again, making a start on 2014. I'm not making any predictions about how well I'll keep up, though!  As it happened, I had quite a lot of the material Tim used in his January tag, so this is quite faithful to the original.

By the way...has everyone been looking at the sneak peeks Tim's been sharing of the stuff coming out in 2014?  Some seriously yummy things there...wishlist is getting longer and longer by the minute!

Crafty Hugs,

Keren

New Year - New beginnings

Hello blog friends!  Time for a  new challenge at Left of Center, and as we've just arrived in 2014 the theme is New Year - New Beginnings.  This challenge is brought to you by Delicious Doodles, and I've combined two of Teri's digis in this project.

I used Gothic Bride & Groom and Romantic Clock Frame  and made a faux book - 

The cover is black card with gel medium brayered over the surface - it does a great job of imitating leather and is very, very easy to do!  The heart embellishment is moulded out of cold porcelain which is my latest favourite thing -  you can buy it ready made or, the best bit, make it at home from PVA,Cornflour, baby oil and vinegar or lemon juice.

I've made a how-to for the insert - you can find it here.  

I do hope you enjoyed your visit and will join in the fun at Left of Center.  Your project can meet the criteria of the challenge OR be "Left of Center" or both - and there's a prize from our sponsor up for grabs as well.  See you there?

Crafty Hugs

Keren