Gothic Arches challenge - Risque

It seems like forever since I have taken part in any of the challenges... what with the move and decorating etc. So as I love the Gothic Arches I decided to go for this weeks challenge of Risque. I didn't think you were going to get to see it though!! Just when I'd got my Internet back and thought I was up for some fun bloghopping...huh my computer had other ideas :( I timed my other posts so I could just concentrate on catching up and then everything went tits up. I couldn't get on me blog...waahhhh ... I tried everything I knew but not being THAT computer geeky I was almost giving up the will to live... just ask me pal Chriss...lol Well it seems I needed an update (never thought of that one...lol) to Internet Explorer 8. What the devil is that about!!! Anyway so I'm back again with fingers, knees, toes AND eyes all crossed that I can stay this time :D I got this cheeky lady from Art-e-zine and tarted her up a bit (oooh did I say 'tart' ed...rofl)
I gave her a tattoo but she earned her wings too cos she's a good girl really. She would have been very 'Risque' in her day though eh :D
Thanks for looking
hugs
Chris xx

Ok now I am in shock!!! I'm typing away and without noticing the return key on my keyboard has decided to work again.... oooeeeer there are gremlins in my house....honest!!

Gothic Arch challenge- Garden sprite and award

This is my contribution for this weeks Gothic Arch Challenge which is 'Garden Sprite' now I'm not quite sure if it fits the mould but I had the best fun doing it. All of the images including the ones that make up the background are from Lisa's altered art. Butterflies and fairies are just two of my most favourite things ever and with the colourful flowers and the cute moon man this is gonna be one of the my most treasured arches...I love it...not that I'm trying to blow my own trumpet you understand. It's just that it's not often that I am completely satisfied with something I've created... I'm my own worst critic and normally have to slap my own wrist to stop myself spoiling something by adding and adding and adding...lol Now I am honoured to have received this gorgeous award (see the butterfly...whoohooo) from one very talented male crafter. Calv has a fabulous blog and inky fingers which turn out many a masterpiece... go visit and see what I mean. He's the only man I know who can turn a piece of fruit or a vegetable into a work of art!! Thanks Calv :)
I don't quite know how many crafters I am meant to pass this on to so I am going to just bring your attention to a couple of special ladies who's blogs give me heaps of pleasure.

Nancy began the Gothic Arch Challenges and is a lady who truly leaves me in awe with her talent for vintage creations and scrapbook pages with stories of her ancestors and her nearest and dearest. One awesome lady.

Beate who is multi talented in many ways with her love of photography and her amazing mixed media/felt creations. Absolutely fantastic

Kath with her endless talent for beautiful cards and wonderful ideas. She always inspires me and along with Budster has brightened up many a day for me with her colourful imaginative creations and has been a great blogging pal to have for myself and many others. Way to go Kath :)

Ok so three's not a couple but well I just can't stop my adding and adding whatever I'm doing... no wonder I always have lots of food on my plate....lol

I could go on and on with this award cos every blog I visit... to me is the best... but I would be here for ever so don't just check out the ladies I have passed this award to... there are lots of blogs in my blogroll and each and every one of them are a pleasure in so many ways to pop by and visit...so do so if you get time and thank you all for each visit you make to mine too... you rock :)

See you soon

hugs

Chris xx

Gothic Arch challenge- Open theme

Well as it's April and in the words of the song " I'ts rainin' again" my arch for this weeks Gothic Arch challenge says it all....
Splish splash splosh... little April showers...lol Ok maybe it's not that wet but I had such fun turning this little fella from Lisa's altered art into a welly wearing, brolly carrying... puddle stamper :D

Don't ya just lurve his snazzy wellies :D

hugs

Chris xx

Gothic Arch Challenge-Gypsies

Just in the nick of time... I managed to create an arch for this weeks Gothic Arch Challenge where the theme is gypsies. I haven't done one for ages so really enjoyed this. I must admit though that this gorgeous image from Art-e-zine had a little help in giving my mojo a boost...isn't she lovely.
The papers are BasicGrey Archaic, stamps are Crafty Individuals and the wording is from Lisa's altered art.
I wonder where my Wandering Gypsies' travels have taken her... through fields of flowers chasing butterflies or maybe she likes to look for fairies to dance with :D
Have a great Sunday
hugs
Chris xx

Gothic arch challenge (trees)

I had the opportunity to play with my new distress inks while doing this weeks Gothic Arch Challenge and oooh they is gawgus!! Didn't buy the tool to use them with so used a makeup sponge to apply them and I love the effect they give. I wanted to have a bit of fun with this one and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The trees and bird are Crafty Individuals stamps, Mona is from Lost coast designs, nests are from Lisa's altered art and Little Mona from Artchix. I even used some of the sticky ribbon I've had in my ribbon box for about 4yrs...lol How good am I? ;-0
hugs
Chris xx

Gothic arch challenge - sillhouettes (and some altered bits)

Well I was going to do all sorts of things... including some tutorials for you to check out this week... but the best laid plans often go out of the window for me...lol I developed a cold on Friday and it has blown my socks off... I have sneezed, coughed and spluttered my way through the last few days so as you can imagine it's not the best way to attempt any crafting. I gave up on the tissues and adopted a pack of quilted loo roll which has been my best buddy and never been far from my side and oh if that loo roll could speak what a good tale he would tell because believe me I am NOT a good patient and even whinge at myself...rofl.
I have had a little smooth with the rough though, through watching this years "I'm a celebrity get me out of here" I don't usually get really involved a lot with these tv programmes... choosing to watch them only now and again... but hey I am going to be tuning in to this series and waiting every evening for the next episode!! I caught the first episode by chance because I had forgotten it was starting and I am sooooooo glad I did because I haven't LAUGHED so hard and for so long in many a long month. I laughed so much that I almost wet my pants... WHY ANY sane person would put themselves through the ordeals of putting their hands on huge creepy crawlies or eating such unappealing morsels as eyeballs and kangaroo testicles is totally beyond me... urgghhhhhh with a capital U.... rofl Mind you as daft as THEY are... I guess I'm dafter for watching and most of it is seen from behind a pillow as I cringe and squirm ;-)
Anyway on to nicer things.... I finally managed to create my arch for this weeks Gothic arch challenge and as I have been in the mood to experiment lately I decided to watercolour the background and the paper for the edging and flowers. The black base card has a slight marble effect on it but unfortunately doesn't show up well on the photo. The silhouette is a printable from Cen's crafty bits.


Now then last week when I spent some crafty time with my pal Chriss I was itching to do some altered dominoes... 'specially since the prize I won last week from Karen's Christmas card challenge was stamps that fit so beautifully onto them. I had no alcohol inks... but I hate to be beaten so tried all sorts of inks ...drawing inks, printer inks, etc to try and get a similar effect :D ... nope it wasn't going to happen... BUT I had another electric light moment (need one of those symbols for my blog..lol) and decided to try my Sharpie pens because they are permanent to see what would happen.

Well after hours (and I mean hours!!) of colouring the dominoes and attempting to smudge the ink with the pads of my fingers... it worked a little :D Almost had no skin left on my fingers ... so I wouldn't recommend trying it..lol but I was happy enough with what I managed to do and went on to decorate this tin...

so I have now got something to put my tiny stamps in AND something pretty to look at too.

I will however NOT be attempting to recreate any of these project until I get some alcohol inks ( which by the way... I ordered today..rofl...naughty girl!!) Well a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do ;-D

Sorry it was such a l-o-n-g post... congrats if you are still awake :)

hugs

Chris xx

Boo bag - Gothic Arch challenge and Papergirls sneak peak

Ooooooh a long post tonight because the best laid plans this week have gone astray. I had intended to get round to visit everyone's blogs but well luck hasn't been on my side since my last post. I spent the day with my crafty friend Chriss on Thursday crafting through her birthday and having lots of laughs along the way, most of Friday was spent getting ready to go visit my sister for a couple of days but then hey ho I got a bug!! It must have been a super big bug cos it totally knocked me for six..... I think this one had pit boots on the amount of thudding it did with my tummy :-0 So no visiting or blogging for me as I have spent the last couple of days either in the little girls room or in bed!! (ooooh maybe a little too much information ok but you get my drift...lol) Thankfully I am now starting to feel much better so I will be visiting you all very soon but in the meantime here is a bit of eye candy for you to peek at :)

Halloween won't be long in coming now and while I don't really bother with it myself my DG loves it as most kids do... so I have a few things that I have made for him, to share with you over the next couple of weeks.

Once again I have been playing at making flowers albeit different ones this time, was gonna use ribbon b u t I just couldn't bend my arm up my back for this one... maybe soon I will overcome my horror of cutting it into tiny pieces.. I'm working on it ;-)

All of the cutie images I used to create my little Boo Bag are from Cens Loft I love them lots and you can get them as a free download in either digital form or as printables for those of you who like to be hands on. I indulged in a little bit of doodling too on my gift bag and filled it with sweeties... quickly before I was tempted to stuff my face with them...lol

My next piece was for last weeks Gothic Arch challenge (Haute Couture) which I didn't get posted in time but since it was finished I wanted to share it with you anyway. I love girly things and Black and White and I think the two go so well together... classy and elegant. I love the glamour of old films and the beautiful way the filmstars used to dress, I could soooo see myself in the era of those movies... glammed up and partying with a glass of bubbly in my hand, diamonds dripping from my earlobes with a figure to die for.... shame I have to come back down to earth and deal with reality ain't it ...lol

I used to wear killer heels... through summer, rain and snowstorms... nothing less than 4" heals would do... and pencil skirts ooooooh I had them in every colour imaginable BUT that was before my toes began to throb at the sight of a pair of pointy toes and my hips began to gain a wobble all of their own ;-) aaaaaw the distress that causes me...lol

Oh well guess we can't have it all... I'm happy and loved and relatively healthy (now I've kicked that big bug into touch... I hope) so I think my cup runneth over... what say you :)
Now for a sneak peek of something else I have made.... to see the whole thing you have to pop over to The Papergirls blog where you will find a pic of the whole thing :)

Okay before I hit the sheets running I have to ask you this.... Does anyone else adore Dawn Porter? She is just the most adventurous funniest gal on the box right now... she is up for anything and I just finished watching her do a programme on Seriously Dirty Dancing... oh boy what a treat. Not only cos I love the film Dirty Dancing (though not nearly as much as DD who has seen it in excess of 200 times since it was first released) but because Dawn Porter had me howling with her antics and sheer enthusiasm all the way through. She recreated the last dance of the movie with a dance instructor and did brilliantly, I must add that the highlight for me was seeing her do one of the "dirty dances" in a pink ballerina fat suit... I don't think I have gut bustingly laughed like I just did in many a month.... absolutely out of this world...fantabulous it was!!

That's my lot for tonight... I will be back tomorrow with some more creative goodies and doing some blog hopping too... I'm off to bury my head in a soft squishy pillow and wrap myself snugly in my winter weight quilt hopefully to dream nice dreams and wake up feeling on top of the world...lol

See you soon :D

hugs

Chris xx

Gothic arch challenge... Turqoise

This is my entry for this weeks Gothic arch challenge which was Turquoise... didn't think it was going to work for me because after spending almost all day with my friend Chriss... with the intentions of doing some full on crafting yesterday... we spent more time chatting and eating chocolate than actually getting anything creative done. Our mojo just didn't seem to be working but in the middle of the night, not being able to sleep I got back up to find my mojo in full swing again.... so not only did I complete my arch... I also started on 5 other projects too...lol I tend to swing from one thing to another without completing any of them and then somehow they all seem to come together at once. Anyone else do that or am I just peculiar (or unique...whichever way you look at it..lol)
For this arch I stamped the background paper with a music stamp from Crafty Individuals and added images from Cen's Loft freebie decades papers. A bit of fun with this one for a change... seriousness isn't in my vocabulary just now. Wonder why it is that some days the slightest thing tickles your fancy and has you gut wrenchingly laughing to the point of hysteria...lol Probably has something to do with going to see all the pics of the girls who went over and Yearbooked themselves ( see the link on my yearbook photos below if you want to do it yourself) I have had soooooooooo much fun and laughter looking at what everyone else looked like in their different guises that if you are up for a bit of fun you just HAVE to do your own!!
Okay that's all from me today... off to spend the night at DD's looking after my gorgeous DG so more fun for me later on with him :)
I won't have time to blog hop till I come back so thanks for popping by...will catch up with you all later :)
hugs
Chris xx

Gothic Arch Challenge

The Gothic Arch challenge this week has an open theme so I decided to enter this arch that I have experimented on. The image is from Crafty individuals and I added Papermania fabric flowers. I have been itching to do some writing on something and though it's not the neatest writing I've ever done (I will learn to pencil it in first next time to make sure it fits...lol) I really enjoyed playing as usual.
I used tiny seed beeds and Anita's clear gloss for the centre of the flowers...

because although I didn't have any bling on my arch I had to have some sparkle :) I used some ribbon too... big deal for me...lol

Thanks for looking

hugs

Chris xx

Gothic Arch challenge-favourite movie

Audrey Hepburn has always been one of my favourite actresses so it stands to reason that she would have to be featured on my Gothic Arch for this weeks challenge which is 'Favourite movie'...I chose The Nun's Story as my theme. I can't count how many times I have seen this film, my first time as a child and it continues to be one of my all time favourites along with Breakfast at Tiffany's and My Fair Lady. I started out thinking of doing my Arch in a totally different way... but as I have a tendency to do... I ended up going in a totally different direction and ended up with an 3d image that took over the space on my arch, but as Audrey wears a Crucifix in the film I wanted to add it somewhere so I chose to add it behind my image.
I had so much fun playing with paper for this Arch... using white printer paper (yes I did say printer paper..lol) for most of my creation. Audrey's' image came from Scrapz and the bling strips from Habico. I just have to have my bling in there somewhere.

It took me quite a while to mold the paper to make my 3d image but I think it was worth it in the end :)

I don't suppose I could do it as well again and couldn't even begin to explain how I did it... but sometimes you can even surprise yourself when you start to experiment :) It's what I call... another happy accident...lol

Thanks for popping by

hugs

Chris xx

Gothic Arch "Time" challenge

I had great fun creating my "Time" arch for the challenge, playing with clock face stamps from the Artistic Stamper along with a collage clock image from Crafty Individuals. The background paper is another from the Papermania range and the main image is from Cen's loft digital 1920's decades papers.
I'm really pleased with the finished thing...hope you like it and if you fancy joining in with future challenges why not join the group here :)

A late post for me tonight so I'm off to the land of dreams now....

see you soon

hugs

Chris xx