A journaling we will go

I'm taking part in a journal page tip in swap- my first ever. It is entitled 'A Day in the Life' so I have been working hard at coming up with some ideas that actually make daily life in rural Scotland sound interesting. This is my first page but I noticed that I put my name too close to the spine where it will be bound - doh! I will try to unstick it but if all else fails I will have to reproduce it. I used some small drawings that I made, charms, bead, ribbon, acrylic paints, masks, die cuts, gems and my own photos on it and really went to town.

Corners!

How many times do you read your art/craft/any other book or magazine and want to mark multiple pages with bookmarks? Do you, like me, reach for some scrap paper and tear it into small pieces to act as markers? Well, Lisa Vollrath has a fantastic project on Go Make Something - recycled envelope bookmarks. If you take a look at the project all you have to do is cut the corners off used envelopes and decorate them. I had to give them a go. But what about all those little bits of paper you have leftover, the offcuts from bigger projects or even projects gone bad? Sure, you could collage the envelope corners but if you wanted something a little smarter? So I thought that I would make a template from one of the envelope corners. Then it could be used to form multiple corner bookmarks with a couple of simple folds. I've added the template here. Print the template onto some card and you're all set. All you do is draw round the template, cut it out, fold along the lines, glue the tab and stick down. Then decorate... or not. You just slip the bookmark over the corner of the page and it stays in place. Considering they only take minutes to make you can make hundreds of them for the many inspiring pages you need to mark and they are really handy for students too. Simple. I made mine to be 2 inches along the long edge but you can enlarge or make smaller if you like.

One more winner

The winner today is comment no. 3 - Barb: Oh, what a wonderful array of goodies. Please enter my name in your give-away. Thanks, Barb

Congratulations Barb and thank you to everyone who took part in my giveaways. I hope to host more in the future but for now I shall call it a day. Don't want to bore you all :o) I'll make it more random next time. I'll be in touch with the winner once I have posted this (or alternatively you can e-mail me, Barb, at gsmcmurray[at]ukonline.co.uk). As I said for the last two weeks, if the prize is not claimed I will do another drawing for a new winner. 'Til next time.

Spring clean pt 3

This week I have some goodies on the theme of Autumn/Fall and Winter. There are lots of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas stickers, rub-ons, 8x8 inch papers and die cuts. I have also included some spooky images that I photographed myself and made into collage sheets. The images are ATC sized with a few that are small enough to make into inchies. Once again, leave a comment along with your e-mail if you want to be in with a chance of winning this parcel. Or if you don't want to put your e-mail online, leave a comment then e-mail me at gsmcmurray[at]ukonline.co.uk and let me know which comment is yours. I will use a random number generator to pick a winner on Sunday 29th March. Good luck.

The Winner is:

Comment no. 29 from Daisy: Gillian I would love your stash ! Asian theme is so cool I hope i get it.By the way after looking in your blog the other day i was inspired to sketch my doxie dog which i haven't done in a long while. thanks daisy

As an extra surprise I made two runners up draws too as I had so many lovely comments. I will put together little packages of papers and things and pop them in the mail for them.

So the runners up are comment nos. 10 from Dee: Hi Gillian, I would love to be entered for this prize.You know it would be put to good use. Happy Spring!

and

11 from Trixie (AKA Sandra G): How sweet of you Gillian. . .you certainly have a wonderful collection and I would love to be included in your spring clean giveaway. . .thank you so much!!

I'll be in touch with the winners once I have posted this. As I said last week, if any of the prizes are not claimed I will do another drawing for a new winner. Thank you all so much for helping me out by taking part. I'll post another themed giveaway later so, please, if you were unlucky this time try again later.

Inspired by Spring

Just a few pictures to break the monotony until Sunday. I have been making lots of cards recently, a few of which are here. Lots of Spring colours - greens and pinks. There are a few inchies too similarly clothed in Spring inspiration.

Spring clean pt 2

This time I have some Asian themed goodies to give away. I have 9 sheets of 6x6 inch and 6 sheets of 4x4 inch origami paper, 4 papercuts, smaller pieces of pearlized papers and images (ideal for ATCs or cards), beads, charms and stickers. Just like last time, leave a comment along with your e-mail if you want to be in with a chance of winning this parcel of yummy Asian items. Or if you don't want to put your e-mail online, leave a comment then e-mail me at gsmcmurray[at]ukonline.co.uk and let me know which comment is yours. Once again I will use a random number generator to pick a winner on Sunday 22nd March (Mother's Day in the UK). Good luck!

The Winners - pt 1

Thank you to everyone who took part in my giveaway. So many lovely comments so thank you one and all. Now, onto the important bit - the winners. I used Random.org to pick to winners :

Winner no. 1 - LuniLadi (otherwise known as Doreen): Gillian, thanks for a chance to win! The papers are very nice and I really like that white trim! Could made some real cute Easter cards!

Winner no. 2 - Linda: What an excellent giveaway! Sign me up!

Congratulations to you both. I will e-mail you once I have posted this so if either of you don't get the e-mail drop me a line at the e-mail on my original giveaway post and we can sort out delivery details. If, by some chance, either of the prizes are not claimed I will do another drawing from the remaining comments. For those who didn't win this time I will be posting an Asian themed giveaway later today. Why not give it another shot.

Spring clean pt 1

A fortnight ago my art/craft drawers collapsed - again. That was the second time in a matter of months. I had to face it - it was time for a clear out. I have hosts of paper and stuff that I don't use very often and it just sits in my drawers collecting dust. So I thought I would start to do a giveaway as I worked through the drawers. I have already donated some of the stuff to worthy causes but I have so much that I figured there were a few people out in blogland who might be able to use them too. Over the coming weeks I will put up a few things according to theme. I have some Asian theme items, festive themed ones (Christmas/Halloween/Thanksgiving all in one bundle) and possibly a general theme. However, the first one is Spring theme. Take a look at the pictures to see what's on offer. I have 17 sheets of 6x6 inch patterned papers by K & Co., some stamped floral images by Crafty Individuals, paper flowers, cute die cut animals, floral paper lace, peel offs (which I forgot to photograph) and some jewelled embellishments. If you want to be in with a chance of winning one of two packages then leave a comment for me along with your e-mail address (or if you don't want to put your e-mail online, leave a comment then e-mail me at gsmcmurray[at]ukonline.co.uk and let me know which comment is yours). I will use a random number generator to pick two winners on Sunday 15th March.

Heavenly rottweiler and co.

My recent purchase of Inkadinkado's Dog's Life stamps brought a wonderful surprise with it. One of the stamps is a Rottweiler with angel wings. Those who have been reading my blog for a little while will remember that my sister had a Rottie called Stanley. He is wonderful. Like many people I was wary of Rottweilers. I never thought they were the demons they were portrayed by the media but, still, I felt they might be short tempered. As a pup Stanley was nuts. He paid no attention to anyone and bounced around like a rubber ball. However, he had his first birthday last week and has mellowed beautifully. So I was very happy to find a rubber stamp of a Rottie in a packet of rubber stamps that were mainstream. I had to make something so fridge magnets were the order of the day. A scrap of matt board, hand painted paper and black ink made the base. I added detail of the ginger fur with coloured pencil then used copper tape around the edge. A coat or three of Diamond Glaze added gloss and durability. The final step was a bit of magnetic strip and some Pebeo Metallic Touch dots.

As it happened there was also a stamp in the set like my sister's other dog, Oz. Being a silhouette stamp and Oz being black I didn't have to do much. A little flick of a paintbrush with white acrylic gave the dog Oz's trademark white chest flash and some aluminium tape toned in with the blue background.

I wrapped them up in a little handmade white card box, stamped with another Dog's Life stamp and gave them to my sister.