leslierahye's steampunk blog hop | Steampunk Halloween Tag

Welcome to MY Steampunk Blog Hop!! I can't tell you how honored and humbled I am to be a part of this hop with such wonderful talented crafters!! By now you've learned a little about Steampunk, seen some amazing projects by both experienced and novice steampunk crafters. I think all projects were amazing and I'm inspired by each crafter! 

I have two give-aways today. One is these amazing digital images and paper that my friend Vince created! He is a talented digital artist and I just love his work. You can see his amazing cards and beautiful F R E E digital images on his blog, Crafty Moments! Please go by and show him some love! Amazing work and such a generous heart! Thank you Vince for providing this awesome giveaway to EVERYONE who stops by! 

To download the image simply click on the image. It will open in another window. Right click on the image in that window and select save as. This will allow you to save the image in your download folder or other folder of your choosing.  Below enjoy the fun Steampunk Halloween card I made using Vince colored ghost and ghostly background!

For this card I printed a 3×4" rectangle of the striped paper and a colored ghosty. I also printed a steampunk font in small caps to say Happy Hauting. I matted my striped paper with some Bazzill Basics brown card stock. I embellished my card with fun brads and findings that I had in my stash from Stampin Up and Karen Foster. Plaid Gleams and Ranger Perfect pearls was added to the tags edges and cane to tone then items to a more cohesive look. Finally I ran black velvet ribbon and black lace through the hanger. I hope you enjoy my ghostly greeting and Vince's amazing digital images!

I will have one more post later in the day along with an announcement of another give away! Be sure to leave comments at each post listed below to be entered in the drawing later today!

Thank you for stopping by!

Read More

On Steampunk | An Introduction to leslierahye's crafty steampunk blog hop

steam●punk n. [after CYBERPUNK n.; cf. steam age n. at Compounds 17] Science Fiction a writer of science fiction which has a historical setting (esp. based on industrialized, nineteenth-century society) and characteristically features steam-powered, mechanized machinery rather than electronic technology; (also) such writing as a subgenre of science fiction.

Its origins
In 1987 K. W. Jeter in Locus Apr. 57/2 states: I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like ‘steam-punks’, perhaps." In 1990 CU Amiga Apr. 66/3 references steampunk in saying, "Anyone acquainted with CU should be familiar with the concept of cyberspace by now but steampunk is the next progression." Finally in 1999 Entertainent Weekly (Electronic ed.) 8 Oct., writes, "The imaginative ‘steampunk’ concept eventually bubbled up to movies like Wild Wild West."

Elements that Define Steampunk
Cogs, gears, wheels and levers are often times integral elements of steampunk crafts as the focus is on steam-powered and mechanized machinery. Time and especially the wound clock and its parts are also and element in the steampunk craft.
Copper, brass and iron in both the physical sense and in the coloration are incorporated into steampunk crafts. Crafts are heavy, bulky, large and textural--lots of pistons, valves, tubes and wheels and other elements in these metallic colors. Wood, leather and glass are present in steampunk crafting as well being an excellent element for allowing the metallics to shine. Steampunk designs often use muted neutrals such as bronze, rust, cream and chocolate brown.
“Traditional” steampunk takes its cue from the Victorian age – particularly its fashion, scientific developments and science fiction. The Victorian obsession with labelling and cataloguing nature is also reflected in steampunk. Wunderkabinets ["cabinet of wonders"], old world maps and globes, framed insect collections scientific drawings are often featured in steampunk housewares.

Resources for Steampunk in crafting
Many items you may already have on hand for crafting in steampunk. For instance, without touching my Ranger products and items designed by Tim Holtz, I already had brads and eyelets in copper, brass, and steel colors. I had paper and inks in muted neutrals as well. I too am fascinated with clocks and maps  naturally and had stamps with those themes before I knew it was steampunk. For that matter, a trip through my crafty scraps would find lace and dragonfly details and slides and leather!! Who knew I was a closet steampunk! You might be too!

leslierahye's crafty steampunk blog hop
That brings us forward in time to today where I invited several of my crafty friends to join me in exploring their inner steampunk. You will see crafts from a variety of artists exploring steampunk either for the very first time or as a long-time veteran of the craft! I hope you enjoy the stops along the way. Several have blog candy to offer. Please comment on each post and on my own [posting a little later] and follow  our blogs or become fans on our facebook pages. You will be entered into a drawing to win a special Steampunk-inspired prize from me!
Thank you for stopping by, be sure and check out each talented crafter below.

Read More

Festive Friday #20 | A Gift for You

Welcome to Festive Friday #20!!! ONLY 2 MORE after today! WOW...November already?!? This has been an amazing year and I'm so honored to be in this bi-monthly hop with these amazing crafters!
The Festive Friday Blog Hop is hosted by Terri Sproul. This bi-monthly blog hop features Holiday cards from many talented card crafters as we get our Christmas cards ready early this year.
If you reached this stop from Becky's blog BC Designs , then you are in the right spot! If you would like to start from the beginning, you can return to Terri's blog

For this quick and easy card all you need is some festive card stock, ribbon and a simple tag! I have tons of cards I like to send out and I always pick a design that is time-consuming and end up not finishing as many cards as i would like. I always have "in-town" cards that I create and this would make an amazing in-town card that could be hand-delivered so as not to squish the bow.
I folded my ½ sheet of card stock cut longways at 2¾" from both sides folding the card in to the center--a gate fold. I matted a piece of white card stock for the interior stamped sentiment [you could print out sentiments on your computer or pen one yourself. I placed a hand-tied bow around the card like a present. It's able to be slipped off so it does not have to be untied.

Thank you so much for stopping by!! I hope you enjoyed my card! Now back to our regularly scheduled hop! The next stop on the hop is Laura Fisher's blog. If you get lost on the way, the entire list is below!

Read More

Heroes come in all sizes

As I've stated earlier this is Red Ribbon Week in the states and our school district celebrates with silly dress up days to help get the kids motivated about the Drug Free campaign. Today's theme for the intermediate school was Super Heroes.
I asked my son last week, in preparation for the individual days and he said he really wasn't sure. I began looking around the house for options...a mask, a cape, shiny shorts...such as that. So on Monday, I ask him again, and this is the response I get : the dragon warrior. [Now those of you not in the know are asking yourselves...the dragon warrior? Well who is that? Some of you may even come up with Dragon--as in Bruce Lee. The Dragon Warrior is none other than Po-THE big fat panda!]
I did not bat an eyelash. I have lived with this child for 11½ years. This is the child that desired to be a helicopter, a Renaissance man, a dinosaur, and a hot rod tractor for consecutive Halloweens. Having been on board with all of the aforementioned disguises, I could be on board with this one. After all I am a woman with a green clown wig and a clown makeup chest in my closet.
I asked him WHY The Dragon Warrior. He said, "He save all of China from Tai Lung." I smiled and nodded. He continued that he could be either that or a janitor--and every day hero. Did I mention I love this kid? So I look around for things that could help us be The Dragon Warrior--this is what we had to work with:

Within reason we had to keep to school code: shoes, no change of hair color, stuff like that. So to create a homemade Po costume for yourself you will need:

Black T-shirt or sweatshirt

Black pants or sweat pants

White undershirt that you can cut up

White Duck Brand Tape

small piece of black material [felt or fleece]

head band

larger Khaki shorts

Red belt [rope and red material]

material strips for the rags at Po's feet

face paint

pillow

I cut the white undershirt just below the armpits. The pillow was taped to the black shirt so that it rested just under his underarms. It was taped at the top and in the middle. The white undershirt was placed over the pillow and taped into place. The tails of the shirts and the pillow were tucked into the over-sized shorts and a simple belt from rope wrapped in red fabric was fashioned and strung through the loops. Rags were wrapped at his feet to simulate those on Po's. Ears were constructed by gluing black felt together with Duck Tape as a base to stiffen them. They were hot-glued to a headband. [Will's ears are in a relaxed Panda position, not the agitated panda position indicated in the photo below.] We painted his face to look Po-ish. 

I tried to get him to pose in the above kung-fu stance but Will said no. He would however do the skadoosh pose for you all. He is very pleased with his super hero costume and that makes me a happy mom. 

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed our super hero idea.

Read More

Weekly Challenge | Purple, Orange, Green and Black

If you are looking for my Crafty Ribbons Challenge Post, you can find it here.

It's time again for the next Delightful Challenges Weekly Challenge!  We have one last Halloween-themed challenge as we come to the end of October. I hope you enjoy my place cards! Thank you for looking!

Digital Stamps :  Count Batula, Halloween Sentiment 1,Halloween Toppers

Card Stock: Bazzill Basics and K&Company

Markers: BIC Mark-its
Accessories: Foam dots, White Pen and Glitter Pen

Join us on our challenge

Purple, Orange, Green and Black!

You do not have to use a Digital Delights image to play but if you do you will receive two entries. Just add your card twice to inlinkz to enter twice you need to when you use a Digital Delights image 1st entry use your card link, 2nd entry use your blog address and add 2nd entry after your name.

This week our sponsor is the wonderful Crafty Ribbons !!!

Read More

Crafty Ribbons Challenge #5 | B I N G O

It's time again for the Crafty Ribbons Challenge!!  This week the Challenge Blog is having a challenge with a twist--it's new to me but I see that several companies are doing this. It's called BINGO. Go to the challenge blog and select the categories you are going to use to create your card! I chose 3 down--handmade embellies, ribbon and gems [aka BLING]. I also chose to use flowers, one other square on our bingo card--since we're teaming up with Mulberry Flowers as a sponsor! I hope you like my card!

The challenge this week is:

BINGO

For my handmade embellies, I made deco squares with bling and rub-ons and I made Ribbon Corners using yummy grosgrain Crafty Ribbons ribbon! I love these non-traditional colors of winter. 

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you like my project! All the details for joining the challenge are on the Crafty Ribbons Challenge blog. To see other awesome projects from the Crafty Ribbons Challenge Team hop over to the blogs below.

Read More

Rock Star Accessories!

UPDATED: These projects are currently in a blog link-up contest with Fave Crafts. Please go vote for my projects here. I would really appreciate the support. I could win a $50 gift card that would help me continue to share with you fun crafts!

This week is Red Ribbon Week at my children's school. If you are unfamiliar with Red Ribbon Week, you can read more about its history and presence in the school systems across America here. This year the kids in addition to wearing Wednesday's traditional RED, get to wear pajamas, come as their favorite super here [a special post to come on this too], come dressed in their favorite team jersey, and for my daughter's school, come to school as a ROCK STAR! 

My little Rock Star did not wish to have her photo made in her Rocker Attire so you simply get the photos of the items I crafted to go with her flashy jeans--they have stars stitched into them as well as a few appliques of stars on them-- and rock star shirt. 

Upcycled 3D Movie Glasses with bling and Pink punchies

Pinked up Homecoming Bow with added mulberry flowers

Upcycled water bottle bracelets with ribbon and eyelash/pom fibers 

 Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed my projects!

Read More

Coming Saturday!!!

Read More

Nicolette's Fall & Halloween Blog Hop | Day 2 MORE Mummies!!

Welcome to Day 2 of Nicolette's Fall & Halloween Blog Hop! I am so excited to be a part of this fun blog hop with these amazing ladies. As I am the second stop on the hop, you should have come from Nicollete's Blog Beyond Scrappin. If you just happened upon my blog, you may start at the beginning at Nicolette's blog here. 

Remember yesterday when I said, "This year I can't seem to get enough of mummies." It's true...I think every rectangle in my house is going to be turned into a mummy! Today's project is another that I'm finishing up for my daughter's class. This year they are not having a party at school but rather are collecting items for a Halloween goodie bag. I always like to make something non-edible for these. This year, since drawing is probably my daughter's favorite thing to do I made little drawing notepads.

For this project you will need:
all supplies available through http://www.cutnpastememories.com

small black rectangle of card stock

Google eyes and glue

2 pieces of Bazzill Book Board 2½×4"

4 pieces of 8½×½" white Bazzill card stock

Old Paper Distress Ink by Ranger

distressing tool

Bind-it-All and wire

Cut Bazzill card stock into ½" strips and distress.

 Ink distressed strips by lightly running Old Paper Distress Ink over the top of one side of strip.

Glue a piece of black card stock to one piece of Bazzill Board. Glue on Google Eyes.

 Add strips building up around eyes first to get that area to look like the eyes are behind the "gauze."

 Add strips until the whole surface is covered. Trim the edges and rub Old Paper Distress Ink over edges.

 With the Bind-it-All, cut holes in the cover and in the back board. Cut holes in the filler paper--I used 35 pieces of white paper as filler for these little notepads.

 Add the wire top to the notebook. To add this correctly, stack your notebook as it should appear correctly. Then flip the back cover over to the front cover and add wire so that the side with the in-between wires is along the back cover. Crimp the wire closed with the Bind-it-all and flip the back cover back to the back!

As a reminder you can catch my LIVE bi-monthly show leslierahye's crafty gig on the 2nd and 4th Friday's of the month! Hope to see you in my crowd!

Now for the next stop on the hop, stop by Michelle's blog Peanut Butter and Jelly Designs and see what fun ideas she has to share!

Read More

Nicolette's Fall & Halloween Blog Hop | Day 1 MUMMIES!

Welcome to Day 1 of Nicolette's Fall & Halloween Blog Hop! I am so excited to be a part of this fun blog hop with these amazing ladies. As I am the second stop on the hop, you should have come from Nicollete's Blog Beyond Scrappin. If you just happened upon my blog, you may start at the beginning at Nicolette's blog here. 

Fall and in particular Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. I love making all sorts of projects with the Halloween theme. This year I can't seem to get enough of mummies. Last Friday I did my bi-monthly live stream over Halloween Treats and constructed several fun ways to package Halloween candies. The replay of my show is below with the TicTac Mummy container. One of the projects that I had wanted to share and did not get to was a juice box container made over into a mummy. I decided this blog hop would be the perfect place to share this fun project!

For this project you will need:

Black marker

Google eyes and glue

White Duck Brand Tape

Juice Box with straw removed

Place a piece of white tape on the front of the juice box and color a portion of it black. Glue on Google eyes.

Tear of a length of white tape--tearing gives the tape the appearance of mummy gauze. then tear the length of tape LONG-ways so have skinnier strips of tap to begin wrapping your mummy box.

I began around the eyes, catching the edge of the eyes with the tape so that they google eyes appeared to be IN the mummy gauze.

continue wrapping having some of the "ends" show on the front. Continue wrapping until the whole surface of the box is covered except for the top [your receiver will still need to be able to stick a straw in], and the bottom. I though these would be a cute addition to my daughter's snack day next week and will be sharing the 22 I made with them! 

I know you can see the similarity of design to the mummy I created below...

He was the last project I did on the show below. There are several ideas here for Halloween treats! I hope you enjoy the replay of my bi-monthly show leslierahye's crafty gig shown on the 2nd and 4th Friday's of the month.

Now for the next stop on the hop, stop by Michelle's blog Peanut Butter and Jelly Designs and see what fun ideas she has to share!

Read More

Weekly Challenge | Halloween

It's time again for the next Delightful Challenges Weekly Challenge!  This week's challenge is H A L L O W E E N!!! I think I might send this card to my best "witches" and hope they have time to come over and sit a "spell", maybe have a "bite"--you know, just hang out with my "ghoul" friends! 

I hope you enjoy my card! Thank you for looking!

Digital Stamps: Broomstick Bella, Haunted House Accessories Set, Coral the Witch, Sasha the Witch, Halloween Sentiments Set #2
Card Stock : Bazzill Basics
Markers: Stampin' Up
Accessories: Sakura 3D Crystal Lacquer & colored lacquers, foam squares, GIMP software

Join us on our challenge

You do not have to use a Digital Delights image to play but if you do you will receive two entries. Just add your card twice to inlinkz to enter twice you need to when you use a Digital Delights image 1st entry use your card link, 2nd entry use your blog address and add 2nd entry after your name.

This week's challenge is sponsored by our very own Digital Delights!!

Read More

Amazing Mold Putty DT | Breast Cancer Awareness Resin Pin

Hi! My name is Leslie-Rahye and I'm a new member on the Amazing Mold Putty Design Team! I am so honored to be among such talented artists and to be working with such a fun and exciting product! There are literally endless possibilities with this product line and I can wait to share more ideas with you soon!
The inception of this project came a few weeks ago while talking with my Best Friend Holly over what I could cast with the putty...we had named off a number of items and were just becoming silly. Finally the thought popped into the conversation to cast a dolls torso and make a pin. Since October is breast cancer awareness month, it only seemed reasonable to make the pin's theme be that. So I present to you...the Breast Cancer Awareness Resin Pin.

For this project you will need:

Amazing Mold Putty

Amazing Casting Resin

Fashion Doll Torso

acrylic paint

ribbon and pearls

chipboard

flowers

Take out equal amounts of the yellow and white putty. [note: Initially when taking photos I was going to do a full torso cast...however I soon realized that a full torso resin pin would be TOO heavy!] You mix the two colors of putty until you have an even color--no streaks of white showing. Gently roll the putty over the torso to insure the details are captured in the putty.

The putty will set up quickly providing you with a sturdy flexible mold for casting. I chose to cast my pin in resin because it sets up very quickly and it takes acrylic paint beautifully.

I poured the resin components together into a paper cup and quickly stirred with a craft stick until it is a clear liquid. I then poured into the mold. It's fun to watch this next process because all of a sudden the resin starts bursting into white! In about 3-10 minutes your resin is ready to un-mold.

As my project is for Breast Cancer Awareness, I chose to paint my torso in shades of pink...I painted my chipboard base and chipboard vines pink as well, accenting with dots! To assemble my pin, I used red tape and Beacon 3-in-1 glue. I dry-brushed hot-pink on the tips of the paper flowers, added a velvet pink ribbon and hot-pink pearls for accent. A pin-back was added to make the piece able to be worn. Thank you for looking! I hope you enjoyed my project!

Read More

Festive Friday #19 | Santa Claus Lane

Welcome to Festive Friday #19!!! ONLY 3 MORE after today! I can't believe the year is approaching end at warp speed! Thankfully, by participating in this blog hop all year long, I have a collection of Christmas cards to send out!!!

The Festive Friday Blog Hop is hosted by Terri Sproul. This bi-monthly blog hop features Holiday cards from many talented card crafters as we get our Christmas cards ready early this year.

If you reached this stop from Becky's blog BC Designs , then you are in the right spot! If you would like to start from the beginning, you can return to Terri's blog

Today I am using some digital stamps that I came across early in my discovery of digital stamping. These [the super cute reindeer and the sentiment] come from Nell of Melon Headz Illustrations. I love the images that Nell creates and especially her word art. As many of you know reindeer ARE my favorite!! I had to have this cute Rudolph and Santa Claus Lane sentiment. 

I colored the sign on the sentiment and Rudolph entirely with the colored lacquers from Sakura Hobby Crafts. The ribbon embellishments are Crafty Ribbons. The green ink is Wild Wasabi from Stampin' Up!

Thank you so much for stopping by!! I hope you enjoyed my card! Now back to our regularly scheduled hop! The next stop on the hop is Laura Fisher's blog. If you get lost on the way, the entire list is below!

Read More

Weekly Challenge | Fall Colors

If you are looking for my Crafty Ribbons Challenge Post, you can find it here.

It's time again for the next Delightful Challenges Weekly Challenge!  This week we are inspired by the colors of fall--see the glorious photo provide below of the changing of the leaves. I hope you enjoy my card! Thank you for looking!

Digital Stamps :  Coral the Witch, Halloween House Accessories, and Halloween Sentiments Set #2

Papers:  Bazzill Basics & Basic Grey

Accessories: Watercolors, Crafty Ribbons Ribbon, foam squares & Sakura Hobby Crafts 3D Crystal Lacquer

color inspiration:

Join us on our challenge

You do not have to use a Digital Delights image to play but if you do you will receive two entries. Just add your card twice to inlinkz to enter twice you need to when you use a Digital Delights image 1st entry use your card link, 2nd entry use your blog address and add 2nd entry after your name.

This week our sponsor is the wonderful CutNPaste Memories !!!

Read More

Crafty RIbbons Challenge #4 | Ribbons & Lace

It's time again for the Crafty Ribbons Challenge!!  This week the Challenge Blog teamed up with Saturated Canary , digital stamp designer, to create some super cute projects!  Crafty Ribbons ribbons are perfect for these cute digital images! I loved working with my Rag Doll Witch.

The challenge this week is:

Ribbons & Lace

For this card I used a lace remnant from a previous sewing project and of course some yummy polka dotted ribbons from Crafty Ribbons--in both satin and organza--and then a super thin green grosgrain ribbon! I colored my Rag Doll Witch digi with watercolor pencils and blending pens, accenting the shoes, eyes and dress buttons with Sakura Hobby Crafts 3D Crystal Lacquer

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you like my project! To see other awesome projects from the Crafty Ribbons Challenge Team hop over to the blogs below.

Read More

AJ's Digi Shoppe Posting | Monster Hair Bow Clip

Sam picked out this cute Candy Corn Monster from AJ's Digi Shoppe for me to create her a Monster Hair Bow Clip for my Design Team Post over at AJ's Digi Shoppe Blog. Hop on over to the blog to check out how I made this super easy project! Sam loves it! I hope you do too! Thank you for looking

Read More

Sakura DT Post | Halloween Fancy Glass Pendant

This week for my Sakura Design Team Post, I created the fun and easy Halloween Pendant using Sakura's Fancy Glass, Gem Particles and 3D Crystal Lacquer. I love the sparkle the particles give when mixed with the lacquer. The Fancy Glass is a THICK Heavy piece of glass--it gives a sophisticated feel to the pendants and charms that you create. Hop on over to the Sakura Blog and check out how I made this fun Pendant! Be sure to become a fan of Sakura Hobby Crafts to never miss a great project from our entire Design Team!

Thank you for looking!

Read More

Weekly Challenge | Make it Dimensional & New Release

It's time again for our weekly challenge at Delightful Challenges! This week's challenge is to Make it Dimensional! It is ALSO time for a NEW RELEASE! This month's release is so cute! I have so many plans for projects with these!!

 This week I'm using the New Release Caroling Petey and Polly, The Caroling Accessories and the Snowflake Digi Paper Pack. Also I'm doing my second card with the "Wiper" Technique that I discovered this weekend. I will be posting on Sunday the replay to the how to I did for this on World Card Making Day and a downloadable template/instruction sheet.  Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoy my dimensional card!

To make this card:

Digital Stamps: Caroling Petey and Polly, Caroling Accessories Set, and Snowflake Digital Paper Set

Card Stock: Coordiations Distress and Bazzill Basics

Accessories: Prismacolor pencils and blending stump, Sakura Hobby Crafts 3D Crystal Lacquer, Tim Holtz Texture Fade, Foam Squares, Quickie Glue and prismaglitter

detail of the dimension

card pulled open to reveal the pop-up message

Join us on our challenge

You do not have to use a Digital Delights image to play but if you do you will receive two entries. Just add your card twice to inlinkz to enter twice you need to when you use a Digital Delights image 1st entry use your card link, 2nd entry use your blog address and add 2nd entry after your name.

This week our sponsor is the wonderful Simon Says Stamp.

Read More

OWH Blog Hop | World Card Making Day

Welcome to World Card Making Day!!! Operation Write Home is celebrating with one of their super Blog Hops and I am honored to be a part of it!! OWH sends blank cards to US servicemen and women that they can use to send back to their loved ones. This is important to me as I have friends and family members who serve in the military. Having a service like this has directly impacted them and I know they do appreciate our time making these cards.

Today I am creating  two super quick and easy cards using Crafty Ribbons Ribbons. For information on how to win a BUNCH of beautiful ribbon from Crafty Ribbons, click here.

Wish Card

Cardstock

wish definition stamp

Crafty Ribbons Ribbon

star punch--painted gold

Happy Christmas Gifts

Card Stock

Crafty Ribbons Ribbons

Thank you for stopping by! Hop on back to find your next stop!

Read More