Metal Bug Robot Card

Greetings! Hope you are all having a wonderful week and staying safe and well.

I recently made this card for my nephew M who was turning 13. 13!!! Where did those years go? I do not know. One minute he’s a cute, tiny little bundle in a teddy bear onesie, the next he’s a (still-cute) teenager in Nirvana tee-shirts and Converse boots. But he is a lovely, lovely kiddo – a total ray of sunshine most of the time and sweet to the core.

Anyway, I always make a birthday card for my many nephews and nieces. They always make ME one, so it’s only fair! This year I went with a bit of a steampunk vibe for M’s card. I had a box of old watch parts that I was going to throw out and, being the hoarder that I am, ended up keeping them. They came in very handy for this project.

I started with the head as it looked so much like a insect’s face and then build the rest of the bug around that. The body was the glass case from a man’s large wristwatch; I filled it with Dimensional Magic and embedded the smaller ladies’ watch into it, adding more Dimensional Magic as it dried and shrunk away from the sides. Little bits and bobs from my “what do I do with these?” stash completed his legs, hands and arms. His little antennae were spindles from a wristband. An “M” and “13” were added to signify the special birthday boy’s big day.

I painted / dabbed on some copper and gold paint here and there to make it all a cohesive / vintage colour and glued it all to a black card. Et voila! Metal Bug Robot finished.

M was very pleased with it and I was pleased that it didn’t immediately fall to pieces on opening.

Do you like to make birthday cards for the special little (and not so little!) people in your life? What bits and pieces do you use? Do you have a stash of odds and ends that might just one day come in handy for something like this? I’d love to know what other people hoard….just so I know I’m not the only one with boxes of old watch parts, rusty springs, broken jewellery and all sorts 🙂

Thanks for stopping by x

Adventure Eagle Card

Hello everyone and welcome to my very sporadic and hardly-ever-updated-these-days blog. I have no excuses – just busy with life and whatnot. Lots of whatnot. Unwanted whatnot, to be honest, but I guess that is just what being an adult is all about. Sigh… So, apologies for the irregular posting. I will try to get back on track, but I am not making any promises!

I thought I would get back into things by posting this card I made recently for my boss. She had a birthday this week and was also heading overseas for a holiday in Europe (lucky thing!) so it was an birthday / bon voyage kind of card that was required. I had had a couple of weeks to make it but had completely forgotten about it, so I found myself getting it done at midnight the night before her birthday morning tea at work. Not very smart. But, I was very pleased with how it turned out, so maybe I should do all my crafting in bad light when I am half asleep 🙂

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I had a book on “Birds from the Bible” that I had picked up at a second hand book sale, so I cut out a nice vintage eagle image from it and added some butterfly wings over the top of the original wings, just to give it a bit of added interest and colour. The crown I had bought only a few days prior – I hadn’t really known what I was going to use it for but it was perfect for this project and I think it looks pretty awesome .

Then I just needed to stamp “Adventure” on to the backing paper and, voila, all done! I was quite chuffed with it because it really didn’t take me long, in comparison to the usual RIDICULOUS amount of time it takes me to finish one card. I got everyone in our team to sign it and then it was ready for our boss. She really liked it 🙂

So, that is my first post after how many months? Like, seven or something? So bad! But one is better than none, right? Hopefully, I will lift my game from now on and post more regularly. Hope you are all well and happy in your little corner of the world. x

Feline Pretty

Hello hello!  A quickie post today…

One of my collaging efforts from the weekend, this pretty little kitty in her fabulous blue dress.  I must admit I have been hammering that brick stencil quite a lot lately – it just gets me out of a fix when I can’t decide on a suitable background.  It always works and always looks good.  I should have positioned “Maddie” a little better, because she looks like she’s floating in mid-air.  But then, in that lovely dress, who wouldn’t be?  I also love her ruby t-bar shoes.  She’s so caught up in how fetching she looks, she isn’t even bothered by that wee mousey by her feet.  I added the little heart brooch to give the outfit some more colour and detail – can’t have a girl looking unaccessorised! 🙂

Thanks for stopping by x