New Release @ The Crafty Pad

Mornings beautiful peoples :)

I am sailing in this morning to showcase to you ...
Crafty Pad Designs ... 
October New Releases! 
And your chance to win these!

Christmas is right around the corner and our lovely boss lady has been busy on the drawing board to help us all cater for the season with THREE gorgeous new images!

First up is Christmas Pine Cones & Holly {here}
Oh la la ! I {love} this image!
And instantly am thinking about Christmas just looking at it!

Next up we have the Christmas Tree Trio! {here}

Loving this fun and hip image too! 

This would be a great image to paper pierce!

And last but not least,

We have the Christmas Baubles! - In 3 color sets!

Gold & Silver Baubles {here}

Green and Red Baubles {here}

And Teal & Purple Baubles {here}

All gorgeous don't you agree?

So which one captured my heart for the release ?
I fell in love with all of them! but the Gold & Silver Christmas Baubles really took my breath away and inspired me to try my hand at altering / decorating a candle so here we go!

 I have tried this in the past and it was an epic fail!  My printer seemed to be too heavy handed and would constantly rip my tissue paper.  I recently brought some crepe paper for another project and a little light bulb went off in my head to try using this instead as it seemed 'less delicate' so ... I did and it worked!  Dear hubby looked at me like I was a looney jumping all over my craft room all ecstatic but hey ho :)

I bling-ed the design up a little by adding some tiny pearls around the snowflake / star border and down the bauble chain.  A touch of gold ribbon wrapped around the base and wella!  I now have a gorgeous candle ready for the Christmas table that is just going to look delightful!

Now ... I know I have taken your breaths away with my little candle lol
But !
You have just got to stop by
The Crafty Pad Challenge Blog
and see the amazing creations all the girls have put together!
Wowzers is all I can say!
(they are stunning and you don't want to miss out on seeing them!)

By dropping by the challenge blog you can also go into the draw to win these images!
All you have to do is leave a comment on the Crafty Pad Challenge New Release post and your name will go into the draw!
For a 2nd chance in the draw,
become a follower of
The Crafty Pad Challenge Blog
and leave us another comment telling us you are a follower :)
It is that super duper easy!

Commenting will close 12pm GBT on Monday the 15th of October
and the winner will be announced on Thursday the 18th of October.

Sunday was the start of a new challenge for the week too!
And we would love to see your VINTAGE creations so please do drop by, play along with us and link up your creations!

Thanks for calling in to see me today and I shall be dropping by a little later with another crafty creation to share with you :) 

Recipe -

Stamp(s) - The Crafty Pad - October New Release - Gold & Silver Christmas baubles

Embellishment(s) - Candle, stash - pearls & ribbon

Challenges this creation is entering with the help of the Feline Playful Girls:
Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes Tues E1/1
Deep Ocean Challenge - Anything Goes Tues 
Party Time Tuesday - Anything but a card Tues E1/3
Sweet Stamps - Altered Item Tues C10 E1/1
Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes Tues  E1/3
Anything But A Card - Shiny sparkle blingy Mon 
- - - - -

A new Challenge - Something New with The Crafty Pad

It's Sunday again folks!

Where does the weekend go?

And just why does it go by tens times faster than the week days!

Anyway ... Being Sunday means a new challenge at 

The Crafty Pad!

This week we would like you to show us 

Something New 

- So new baby, new house, new job ect ect

There is a few expected babies due to arrive around me soon so I took the opportunity to get a head start on some baby cards.  I have not made a tag and envelope in forever so I went in that direction today!

Above - Envelope Front

Above - Envelope front & tag 

Above - Envelope and tag back

I am soo in love with this paper (I brought like 10 sheets of this!) and you might recall it from a card only a few days ago that I blogged, but it is so gorgeous and easy to play with! Love those papers when you find them, don't you? 

My image today is the beautiful Rocking Horse from The Crafty Pad Designs (It is also on sale atm for only £0.42) and I have colored it with my copics, blinged it up with some little sparkling blue gems and I off centered it on the diagonal for something different for a change, and I have to admit I really like the slight change and the different feel it gives the card.  The little baby foot brad is from my stash that I brought over a year ago and have not even used and I added some punched butterflies from blue cardstock that I distressed and the large fluttering butterfly is one from my swap that the too cute Ms Ali sent me!

I've also added some silky brown ribbon with a blue flourish print, some twine to help close the envelope and I could not resist adding the swirl with the pearls from the flower to really give it that 'antique' feel.  There is also a button on the back of the envelope to wrap the twine around for the envelope to close.  And the sentiment is another from Gingers House.

This week The Crafty Pad has another awesome random prize up for grabs! 

Joanna Sheen is offering one lucky winner a £10 voucher.

And who really can honestly say they don't love Joanna Sheen!

So come along and join in the fun with us this week!

We would love to see you and stop by your creation(s) and share some love!

Need a recap on the rules ? 

You are welcome to enter the challenge using any image 

(though a TCP image we would love to see)

You are welcome to enter the challenge as many times as you like - 

- provided you follow the theme.

You must leave a link back to The Crafty Pad Challenge Blog.

We do not allow back links prior to the date of posting the challenge.

And the challenge closes Saturday at 8pm GMT - 

So heaps of time to play along!

There is also no limit on challenges you can enter!

So now ... I hope to see you there this week!

Thank you for dropping in on me,

and I hope you will join us this week and take up the challenge!

Challenges this creation is entering with the help of the Feline Playful Girls:
Card Making Mamas -  With a child / For a child (1/2)
Crafts 4 Eternity - Embellishments starting with 'R' - Ribbon, roses, rocking horse (image)  (1/3)
Crafty Catz - Fancy Folds - envelope (1/1)
Delicious Doodles - Things that flutter (2/3)
Stamp Something - Pretty Papers (-)
Totally PaperCrafts - Dies and Punches - The image and swirl is are die cuts and the envelope has punched butterflies (-)
Wags 'n' Whiskers - One for the boys (-)
Crafty Purple Frog - Favourite Things - The paper! and flowers and bling!
Dutch Dare - For the boys (1/2)
Shelly's Images - Boys/ Men (-)
Diva's by Design - Anything but a card (1/2)
Papercraft Star - S.T.A.R. = Special little person, Tag, Antique Animal, Ribbon Roses (-)
The Paper Shelter - Punches and Die Cuts (1/3)
Simon Says Stamp - Flowers, Brad(s), Sentiment (-)
Try It On Tuesday - Include a tag and a butterfly (-)
- - - - - - - - - - -

It's Mother Day! @ The Crafty Pad

Yahoo! It's another week gone and time for a new Challenge with .... 

The Crafty Pad! 

This week the girls have all done an amazing job to inspire you all to play along with us. 

And this week .... we wanna see ...

Mothers Day!

This can be in a gift, card, tag or whatever you can think of that relates to Mothers Day!

Here is my interpretation on this weeks challenge - 

I made an adorable tea light holder box with a tag insert for my mum.

 

 

 Today I have also used a digital image from The Crafty Pad  colored with the usual watercolor pencils and it is called Gift For Mum and you can purchase it from HERE.  And again I have been playing with the Basic Grey Papers (So in love with them!) and I really love this ribbon, it is one of my favs!

So ... Wanna know what you could win if you play along with us this week?

3 Digital Images of your choice from Crafty Sentiments!

This site has some stunning images so worth having a peak at!

 Lucky for you the DT can not enter or I would be crafting aplenty this week to be in the draw :P

A quick recap on the rules for you all ... 

You have till Saturday 8pm GMT to get your entries in and you can play along as many times as you like so long as it fits with the challenge theme! 

And don't forget to check back at The Crafty Pad this Wednesday - I heard there is going to be a tutorial on handmade flowers.

(hint hint *just like the ones I use on my cards*)

 

Challenges I am entering with huge thanks to the girls at Feline Playful for making it all so easy!

 A Gem Of A Challenge - #17 Anything but Square

 Allsorts Challenge - #96 For a special lady

Basic Grey - Something Recycled - the tea-light candles are recycled from a glass gift set I received that Miss Chloe broke :(

Craft Your Days Away - #16 For Mum or a special lady

Crafty Emma - CES Challenge - #29 Die Cut Crazy 

Easy Craft Projects - #34 For mum 

Wee Memories - #49 Anything Goes

Card Makin Mamas - #17 Animals

Crafts 4 Eternity - R#12 Add something Hidden to your creation (1 of 3)

Frosted Designs - Reuse or re-purpose things around the house - The tea light candles

Fairy Tale - #11 Pink & Green

Phindy's Place - #49 All about animals

Simply Create - #40 Do it yourself

Art Impressions Stamps - #9 Water coloring (*)

Digi Doodle Shops Best - #52 Ribbon & bows

Dutch Dare - #105 Celebrations & a HOP

Sassy Studio - #65 Bloomin' Beautiful

Craft and Me - #27 Anything Goes
Freshly Brewed - #4o 2 or more embellishments
Scrapbook Sisters - #28 Anything goes
Simon Says Stamp - Mothers Day/Girlie
Bearly Mine - #6 Mothers Day (1 of 1)
Karen Doodles - #55 More than 1 fold
Papertake Weekly - It's a mom thing
Tuesday Throwdown - #41 Anything but a card***EDIT*** Made TOP 3!
My Grafico - March Anything goes

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Mother may you always have a light to guide you.

It is amazing the roll on effect that one persons actions can have on so many others around.  How one simple choice can change the lives of so many, not always for the better, not always for the worst.   Those actions often leave wounds, and those wounds can take many years before they heal.  And once that action has been made, they, and you can never go back, you can never go back, and no one can ever go back to that moment in time when the whole world crashed around you into pieces.

You can pick up the shatters and tape and glue them back together, but they will never fit as perfectly as they once did.  A trust, a bridge is broken and the only person that can heal you; is time and yourself.

I have watched my mother go on an emotional rollercoaster for the past two weeks.  Her life changed in the matter of seconds when her husband of 24 years walked in the door on a Sunday afternoon and told her ‘I’m leaving you and there is nothing left to discuss’.   This was unexpected, there were no problems as far as she knew or anyone else in the family knew, I included.  Things were normal, as they ordinarily always were, and had / has been for as long as I can remember.

I see courage, strength and beauty in my mother; that she is yet to discover in herself.  I can and I will stand by her and continue to hold the shatters of her once life for her until she is ready to find and begin placing each one back into her new life.  And I believe and have faith that a better person will emerge from this.  A stronger woman, a woman who will have a voice and an opinion, a thought, an idea that will be counted, and she will have courage to speak not only her mind but her heart. 

I believe in her, and to me, unlike her, I believe that being a wife is not what defined her.  She is beautiful, inside and out, she has strength, courage and dreams, she is the best mother, sister, daughter, grandmother and best friend that anyone could ask for, she is a success in her career and still has many more achievements in her and her future, she is wise and full of wisdom, she is loving, caring and generous, she is unique and she is one of kind and irreplaceable. And while she is lost now and doesn’t believe these qualities are inside her or capable of her, with the help of me and the ones who love her around her, she will see what I, what we see in her, and that is, that she is truly beautiful.

I started making this inspirational candle plaque for her the night she rang and told me. Since then I actually feel that she needs it more now and am thinking about giving it to her early.  I hope that each night as she lights the candle and reads the poem, that she too will start believing, and start seeing the beauty that I and everyone else sees in her.

The glass tea light candle holder is permantly

glued into place. And my camera does no justice for the fuchsia pink bow :(

The poem is by Bonnie Lynn Morris and has been computer generated.

And has been silver heat embossed around the edges.

Image is a Desiree Markus free image and you can find it here.

I have colored the image with water colour pencils and on the flowers to make them stand out I enhanced them with dimensional magic.  There is also baby pink jewels as the spots on the hat ribbon band and clear ones on the spots on the patch on the pants.

Side view, laying flat.

Top view laying flat.

The design for this was taken from an easel card, but I did not want to give her a card that would be eventually placed in the cupboard and out of site.  I wanted it and her to have a candle with an uplifting inspirational poem and I wanted this piece to find a place in her home that it will always sit and be at, that she can go to at any time and re-read, look at and for it to be a constant reminder to her that she is ...

Beautiful!

Challenges -

Craft Your Passion - #35 Anything goes (Mondays)

The Shabby Tea Room - #39 Tis The Season - It is a gift (Monday)

There She Goes - TSG84  Bring on the Bling - It has baby pink jewels on the hat for spots in the image along with clear jewels as the spots on the patch on the pants.  There is pearls as centres on the flowers on the flower ribbon along the right top and side, and also continued around the candle holder and it has glitter die cut flowers. (Mondays)

* Creative Card Crew - Anything goes (Tuesdays)

Flourishes Timeless Tuesdays - FTTC96 3d Holiday gifts - It's a inspirational plaque and candle holder (home deco item) (Tuesdays)

Papertake Weekly - Red and green must not be seen - This was intentionally a gift for Christmas and its focus colors are pink / fuchsia. (Tuesday)

Scrap Creations - Make a gift or warp - This is a gift. (Tuesdays)

Top Tip Tuesday - #13 Use ribbon - I have the fuchsia ribbon bow and the hot pink flower ribbon with the added pearls as flower centers. (Tuesday)

* Digistamps 4 Joy - #8 Anything but a card - It's a inspirational plaque and candle holder (home deco item). (Wednesday)

 Freshly Brewed Designs - #26 Sparkle and shine - I have the glitter die cut flowers and the pearls in the flower centres on the flower ribbon, the jewels in the image hat and patch on pants. (Tuesdays)

Little Red Wagon - #58 Use a die cut - The glitter flowers are die cuts.(Wednesdays)

The Pixie Cottage - #48  Sparkle and shine - I have the glitter die cut flowers and the pearls in the flower centres on the flower ribbon, the jewels in the image hat and patch on pants. (Wednesdays)

 The Crafty Purple Frog - #4 Easel Card - This is taken from an easel card design and then I have added the glass candle holder.  I have also made it more so an inspiration plaque than a card. (Thursdays)

Cute Card Thursday - #142 Floral Frenzy - I have flowers in the image and also as embellies on the piece. (Thursdays)

Delightful Challenges - Embossing - I have silver heat embossing around the poem edges. (Wednesdays)

Some Odd Girl - Make it UBER-GIRLIE - Telling a woman she is beautiful and needing her to beleive that she is so is GIRLIE! (Thursdays)

Character Cafe - Glitter glitter glitter - I have the glitter paper die cut flowers. (Fridays)

 The Crafty Pad - #100 Anything goes (Sundays)

Fair winds and following seas.

The Navy Wife

Light a candle for me

I so love this little candle vase and besides waiting for the glitter paint to dry she is sooo easy to make.  The gorgeous swirl pattern is from my digi stamps that I printed out to the size I wanted, then taped it to the inside of the vase and then selected the colour glitter and glitter painted the swirl onto the glass. 

The vase was a bargain $2 from the local cheap shop and I used glitter fabric paint (it won’t wash off without being scrubbed) but I would still recommend a gentle dusting when cleaning it.  I added some of my little glitter sticker flowers and butterflies to the top of the swirl and I also added some of my jewels on the swirl design.  I also found it best to work with one colour at a time (left to right) and allowing it to fully dry in-between coats.

Add a candle (another $2) some decorative rocks ($2) and you have a elegant, stunning and CHEAP Christmas /Birthday gift.  I am thinking there is going to be quite a few of these under my tree this year :) 

*Being glass it was not the easiest piece to get a photo of but I gave it my best, I also added a piece of black card stock behind the swirl to make it easier to see :$

What do I love about this light.

The simplicity of it, yet the look of elegance.

The versatility; being able to do this with a image stamp or smaller or larger vase.

Challenges for this little baby –             

* Quixotic Inspiration – Christmas is Coming (Ends 9^th November)

Fair winds and following seas.

~♥~The Navy Wife ~♥~