Inspiration by Gwyneth - January 2017 - Digital But Different!

I Know! - Long Time No Blog!

On top of my usual health, and disabling conditions issues, I managed to catch a nasty virus around Christmas Time and spent a while around the New Year with no voice and no energy whatsoever.  It's taken me this long to improve a little bit and get enough energy to get on my laptop to work on my Design Team inspiration pieces for Dragons Lair Designs.

I should have posted my inspiration piece for the Dragons Lair Designs Inspiration Blog at the begining of the month some time, and posted my inspiration piece for the Dragons Lair Designs Challenge Blog - January Challenge the 1st Friday of the month.  But here I am at the 20th without doing either.  So I've decided to make a combined, "digital", creation for this month, and hope I've improved quite a bit more by next month to make up for my lack of crafting inspiration lately.

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Here's a bit about the challenge blog, with links -

Each ”Dragons Lair Designs Challenge” goes live the first Friday of the month with a new theme each time. The winner will get picked by “Random” so that it is fair for all levels of crafters. The winner gets a prize, as well as a badge for their blog, and the winning entry will also be highlighted on the challenge blog the following month. Although we’d love to see Dragons Lair Designs items on your creation, you may ENTER the challenge using ANY MATERIAL you wish as long as you clearly follow the set theme. You may enter the challenge with ONE entry per month. So why not consider joining in with us this month – go to the challenge blog and have a look at the rules and the inspiration created by my fellow Design Team members.

The theme for January 2017 is "New Beginnings"

This can be ANY ONE project interpreting the theme NEW BEGINNINGS in whatever way you are inspired! While the image gives the impression of a baby card the theme is more open and can be any new beginning.

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As I said earlier that I was going digital this month I'm guessing that most of you are thinking I've gone for digital scrapbooking - but no, I've gone down a new route this time.

As well as new babies, "New Beginnings" can also bring to mind New Year's Resolutions.  But I'm not big on them.  So my inspiration project isn't strictly about New Year's Resolutions either.

What I decided to do was use the skills and software I usually use to create digital scrapbooking pages to create a new background for my laptop desktop to remind myself to rest often while on the laptop.  I don't know about you but when I am feeling reasonable I tend to keep going for far longer than I should and then pay for it with worse health for days afterwords, so by making a layout to replace the choice of half a dozen generic backgrounds that come with Windows I hope to remind myself as the laptop goes on that I need to take breaks.

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CREATION:

I started by finding the resolution of my laptop desktop area (right click, graphics properties, then display gave me what I wanted on my laptop).

I then opened my software and drew out an area in the same proportions on my working area.

Dragons Lair Designs Item:

    Artistic Expressions

Equipment:

    My Craft Studio Elite software

Method:

I like to have my program icons placed in separate areas on my screen for different types of software and software I use most often, so as well as making a panel with my reminder using items from the Artistic Expressions collection I also used other items from the collection to make zones on my working area.

Having played around for a bit I was happy with my layout and saved it as a .jpg file.

I then went into the "Personalise" area in windows (Right click on an empty bit of the desktop and select "Personalize" on my laptop).  Then I "Browsed" to the location I'd saved my file and selected it.

And this is the result.

I think I need to change the position of a few things a little bit, but as a 1st attempt I'm quite pleased with my new desktop layout.

I know that any image on a laptop or computer can be set as a desktop background, but I think that having a play with creating a new digital layout, that could of course be a "digital scrapbook" style layout with photos and captions if you want, can make the experience of looking at a computer when it is turned on a bit different.  And of course you could have a "new begining" however often you wanted by creating a new layout with a new photo or caption.

Please do pop over to the Challenge Blog to have a look at what my fellow Design Team Members have created to inspire you, and then have a go at entering the challenge.  Remember, "New Beginnings" could be beginning a new craft, moving to a new home, starting a new job, having a new baby, ....  The possibilities are endless for the challenge this month.

Till next time - Have Fun Crafting!

Gwyneth

Dragons Lair Designs Inspiration Blog Design Team Leader

(And if you are wondering "who's Gwyneth?" - then you'll find an "About Me and My Blog!" piece on my blog.)

-oOo-

Now that you have had a look at this inspiration blog post why don't you visit some of the other areas in the Dragons Lair Designs family of sites:

• Dragons Lair Designs Store - A fantastic range of digital downloads
• Dragons Lair Designs Inspiration Blog - Bookmark us and come back regularly for inspiration
• Dragons Lair Designs Challenge Blog - Challenges starting the 1st Friday of every month with different themes, please come along and take part
• Dragons Lair Designs Fan Group - Even more inspiration, challenges, freebies and fun activities
• Dragons Lair Designs Facebook Page - Please do pop over and "Like" our page
• Dragons Lair Designs Etsy Store  - Another location to get hold of our range of digital downloads
• Janette Padley's Creations on craftsUprint - Yet another location to get hold of our digital downloads
• Dragons Lair Designs Crafts Group - selling buttons and bits and bobs

We'd love to have you join us in our Fan Group and post up some pictures of any creations you make using any DLD items.

-oOo- 

DLD Inspiration blog December 16 using Citrus Celebrations

Hi folks I've popped in with my Christmas post for DLD Inspiration blog.  For this one I've used the Citrus Celebrations kit (and a couple of other bits) to create a scrapbook page of our time in skiing in Andorra. 

Jacqui

oOo-

Dragons Lair Designs supply an eclectic assortment of digital downloads.  These include whole collections of items that work well together, digital stamps, etc.

Buy, download, then either work with the items digitally, start digitally then print out and complete your crafting as a hybrid project, or print straight out and do your usual papercrafting.

Buy your Dragons Lair Designs digital downloads here -

Dragons Lair Designs Store
Dragons Lair Designs Etsy Store
Dragons Lair Designs at Faith Sisters

 Other Dragons Lair Designs sites you might like to

Dragons Lair Designs Inspiration Blog
Dragons Lair Designs Challenge Blog
Dragons Lair Designs Fan Group
Dragons Lair Designs Facebook Page
Dragons Lair Designs Crafts Group

-oOo- 

Inspiration by Gwyneth - August 2016 - Summer Sunset

Good Morning Everybody!

Hi everybody.

The new collection, launched in the Dragons Lair Designs online store on the 1st August, is called "Summer Sunset", and all the DLD Inspiration Blog DT members have been given the collection to work with for their Inspiration posts this month - with many choosing to volunteer to make extra creations - which does show that we really like working with it.

For the launch I made a digital scrapbook layout showing a photo I'd taken of a flower some years ago.  Having gone digital that time I decided to go into mixed media for this inspiration and decorate a box.

This is what I started with -

These are what I used:

Stamping Dragon Designs Item:

Items from the "Summer Sunset" collection available - here - in the store.

Consumables:
250gsm Super Smooth A4 white cardstock; Tonic Funky Glue; Pinflair Glue Gel; Three colours of Cosmic Shimmer Paint

Equipment:

Scissors; My Craft Studio Elite Software; Baby Blue Die Cutting Machine; Tonic Butterfly Die
Tattered Lace Flower Die; Non-stick Craft Sheet; Paint Brush; Pallette; Sponge; Pokey Tool

Method:

I printed out one of the background sheets from the collection, that had a circular centre panel, a couple of times.  I then took a leaf into My Craft Studio, re-sized it and copied it several times over the working area.  I also added a heart from the digital collection.  I then printed this sheet of elements out as well.

 

As I was using paint I had to de-camp from bed to work on the kitchen table, so tidied a corner and laid down my Craft Sheet to work on.

 

This is what it looked like after I'd finished and was ready to put everything away (I had put the die-cutting machine away before painting as knowing me I'd have got the paint over that as well!)

The first thing I did was cut out the circular panel from one of the backgrounds I'd printed, leaving a border around the circle to frame it.

 

I then took some of the background, cutting panels to the same size as the plate of the die-cutting machine, and cut out three spiral flowers.  I decided to have a splash of contrast so cut the butterfly out of white cardstock.

 

I turned over the outside edge of each of the flower spirals before strating to turn them into flowers so that the "petals" would turn outwards and not show so much white edge in the finished flowers.  After twisting into the flowers I glued the backs in place with Funky Glue and put to one side to dry.

 

I cut out some leaves and the heart from the element sheet.

 

I painted the inside of the box and lid using the gold coloured paint, and when dry stuck the heart in the bottom.

For the outside of the box base and lid I used a sponge, rather than a brush, to add the paint, as I wanted a bit of a textured look. I "pounced" the sponge rather than wiping the paint on.

 

I started with the bronze colour paint all over.  I then used a small amount of gold on my sponge - dabbing it off so that it was practically dry before dabbing the gold at random over the box base and top of the lid.  I finished off by doing the same with the dark brown colour.  This gives the box a bit of a vintage look.

 

 

 Once the paint was dry I used the Pinflair Glue Gel to attach firstly the circular panel and then the flowers.  I used a bit of the funky glue under the centre to attach the butterfly.

 

 And this is what the box looks like from the top.

 

- o O o -

And that is it from me for today.
Please keep coming back regularly to look at new posts as, over the next few weeks, you'll find various "Inspiration by ..." posts appear on this "Dragons Lair Designs Inspiration Blog", as well as other posts by different Design Team members.  I'll be back with more posts over the coming months as well, so keep an eye out for those.

Till next time - Have Fun Crafting!

Dragons Lair Designs Inspiration Blog Design Team Leader

(And if you are wondering "who's Gwyneth?" - then you'll find an "About Me and My Blog!" piece on my blog.)

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Stamping Dragon Designs Links

• If you fancy trying out some of Dragons Lair Designs, please do visit the Store to find all sorts of digital goodies (you'll find great digi-stamps and lots more).
• We are also on Etsy, so you can pop along - here - to find some Dragons Lair Designs digital downloads.
• And why not join the "Dragons Lair Designs Fan Group" Facebook group. It's a small, fun, group where we have lots of different activities which include exclusive challenges, daily inspiration and giveaways - and there's a loyalty club for those who take part as well.
• "Like" Us on Facebook
• Dragons Lair Designs Challenge Blog : new challenge 1st Friday every month
• Follow designer Janette Padley on Pinterest!
• See us on CraftsUPrint
• And on Etsy

Summer Sunset - New Digital Download Collection Launch At Dragons Lair Designs

Some naughty DT members from both of the Dragons Lair Designs Design Teams have already been teasing you with a few creations they've made using the latest new collection from Dragons Lair Designs - even before it was available in the online store -

Well - you can now get your hands on the new collection as the launch day has arrived!
You Can Get The

"Summer Sunset" Collection

DRAGONS LAIR DESIGNS STORE 

and

FAITH SISTERS STORE 

Whether you are into scrapbooking, cardmaking, or other forms of papercrafting, this new collection has lots to offer.  And because it comes in a digital format, that you download as soon as you've bought it, you can print and start crafting immediately, or you could do some digital or hybrid crafting with it.

There's even a

on everything from the collection for a limited period from the 1st to 14th August.

And if you choose to buy the two packs that form the main collection together, as one item, you will get an extra paper pack completely free (ones that are not available any other way.)

AVAILABLE AT

DRAGONS LAIR DESIGNS STORE 

and

FAITH SISTERS STORE 

And if you read to the end of this post you will find a link to get another part of the collection completely Free!

---

If you've missed seeing any of the "Sneaky Peaks" around the online crafting world over the last week or so then have a look at them now - I'm sure that they will inspire you to get crafting with the new collection.  There are also a few items you won't have seen, so something new to inspire you even if you have seen all the "sneaky peaks" and "teasers".

Susan

Jacqui

Nan

Carolyn

Janette

Gwyneth

As you can see, this is a wonderful digital collection that works well for all sorts of crafting, not just digital crafting.

I think that the stunning items made by the Design Team members show the versatility of this collection, so don't miss out on getting it at the launch discounted price and go to the store now to make your choices and get what you'd like.

Freebie!

 As I said near the beginning of this post - we have a freebie exclusively for readers of this blog -

- which you can download by clicking - Here! - it comes as a zipped up file with ToUs etc.

Fan Group

Are you a member of our Dragons Lair Designs Fan Group? If not you might like to join as there's another freebie in there for group members only.

Enjoy Crafting!

-oOo-

Dragons Lair Designs Links:

• Store
• Inspiration Blog
• Challenge Blog
• Facebook Fan Group - Hush!  Don't tell anybody I told you, but there's another freebie available to members of the Dragons Lair Designs Fan Group on FB
• Facebook Page
• Etsy Store

We'd love to have you join us in our Fan Group and post up some pictures of any creations you make using this collection, or any other DLD items.

Green Green Grass Launch Save 30%

We are pleased to present this new collection

Green Green Grass 

a pretty neutral colored kit, to suit so many projects, and you

save 30% until the 11th August ;)

PLUS if you buy the full page kit you get the quick pages FREE

they come packed in both 12 x 12 & 8 x 11 sizes to suit all users.

-oOo-

Dragons Lair Designs supply an eclectic assortment of digital downloads.  

Buy, download, then either work with the items digitally, start digitally then print out and complete your crafting as a hybrid project, or print straight out and do your usual paper crafting.

Buy your Dragons Lair Designs digital downloads here -

Dragons Lair Designs Store

Dragons Lair Designs Etsy Store
Dragons Lair Designs @ Faith Sisiters

More "Seaside Retreat" Collection Creations

Have you been to the Dragons Lair Designs Online Store and got your copy of the new

"Seaside Retreat"
collection yet?

Remember That There's A
40% Discount
On Everything From The Collection For A Limited Period
It Ends On The 14th


And buying two Parts together gets you the extras for free

Our Design Team members have had lots of fun making different creations using items from the "A Taste of Summer" Collection since it launched in the Dragons Lair Designs store on the 1st June.

With several items shown online by various Design Team members since our post on the launch day, we thought that we'd collect some of them together to show you today.  We hope they show you some of the versatility of the collection and let you see some creations you might have missed seeing.  There will be lots more on this blog made using this collection between now and the last day of the month so please do remember to visit us often.

Gwyneth
On the 4th I showed you a framed scene for home decor that I'd made.  How I made it can be read - here!

Janette

On the 7th Janette showed you this lovely layout.

Carolyn
On the 5th July Carolyn showed everybody this lovely layout.

Diane
Diane has been showing another of her creations online since the launch, another lovely card.

Keep an eye out for even more creations from the "Seaside Retreat" Collection made by our very creative Design Team members, over the next few weeks.

-oOo-

Dragons Lair Designs Links:

• Store
• Inspiration Blog
• Challenge Blog
• Facebook Fan Group
• Facebook Page
• Etsy Shop

Inspiration by Gwyneth - July 2016 - Seaside Retreat

Good Morning Everybody!

Hi everybody.

For our July posts every Dragons Lair Designs Inspiration Blog Design Team member will be working with the wonderful new collection "Seaside Retreat" that was launched in the Dragons Lair Designs Store on the 1st.  This collection is certainly apt for this time of year and perfect, not only for scrapbooking and digi-scrapping all the photos taken on seaside trips and holidays, but also ideal for summer birthday cards and for home decor items as well.

I've already shown everybody a shaker card I made using items from the collection, but today I'd like to show you a framed bit of home decor.

These are what I used:

Stamping Dragon Designs Item:

Items from the "Seaside Retreat" collection available - here - in the store.

Consumables:
250gsm Super Smooth A4 white cardstock; Tonic Funky Glue; Pinflair Glue Gel; Ultra tacky red back sticky tape; Foam Pads; Hunkydory Shadowbox Frames; Blue ProMarker

Equipment:
Scissors; Craft Knife; My Craft Studio Elite Software

Method:

I printed out one of the blue backgrounds from the collection. I also took the sailing boat, anchor and seagull into the My Craft Studio software and resized them to the size I required before also printing them out.  These elements were then cut out.

I tore the blue background into random, white tipped, waves.  

 

Having stuck a white background to the inside back of the shadowbox frame I coloured in a blue clowdy sky with my ProMarker.

I then stuck the sea waves using funky glue along the bottom edges of each.  

 

I folded the frame into shape and used tape to attach the foiled frame on top.

 

I used foam pads and glue gel to attach the elements in place, giving shape to the sails and boat before sticking down. 

Here's an angled shot of my creation to try and show the dimension.

 And here's a closeup of the sailing boat.

- o O o -

And that is it from me for today.
Please keep coming back regularly to look at new posts as, over the next few weeks, you'll find various "Inspiration by ..." posts appear on this "Dragons Lair Designs Inspiration Blog", as well as other posts by different Design Team members.  I'll be back with more posts over the coming months as well, so keep an eye out for those.

Till next time - Have Fun Crafting!

Dragons Lair Designs Inspiration Blog Design Team Leader

(And if you are wondering "who's Gwyneth?" - then you'll find an "About Me and My Blog!" piece on my blog.)

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

Stamping Dragon Designs Links

• If you fancy trying out some of Dragons Lair Designs, please do visit the Store to find all sorts of digital goodies (you'll find great digi-stamps and lots more).
• We are also on Etsy, so you can pop along - here - to find some Dragons Lair Designs digital downloads.
• And why not join the "Dragons Lair Designs Fan Group" Facebook group. It's a small, fun, group where we have lots of different activities which include exclusive challenges, daily inspiration and giveaways - and there's a loyalty club for those who take part as well.
• "Like" Us on Facebook
• Dragons Lair Designs Challenge Blog : new challenge 1st Friday every month
• Follow designer Janette Padley on Pinterest!
• See us on CraftsUPrint
• And on Etsy

Seaside Retreat - New Digital Download Collection Launch At Dragons Lair Designs

Some of the design team members from this "Dragons Lair Designs Inspiration Blog", and our sister blog "Dragons Lair Designs Challenge Blog", have already been teasing you with a few creations they've made using the latest new collection from Dragons Lair Designs - even before it was available in the online store!

Aren't we a naughty lot of DT members? LOL!

Well - the launch day has arrived!-

And everybody can now get their hands on the new -

"Seaside Retreat" Collection
Here!

All the DT members who've had a chance to play with it before the launch agree that it's a fab collection, and that it can be used for all sorts of crafting. Whether you are into scrapbooking, cardmaking, or other forms of papercrafting, it has lots to offer.  And because it comes in a digital format, that you download as soon as you've bought it, you can print and start crafting immediately, or you could do some digital or hybrid crafting with it.

There's even a

on everything from the collection for a limited period from the 1st to 14th July.

And if you choose to buy the two packs that form the main collection together, as one item, you will get an extra few items completely free (ones that are not available any other way.)

And if you read to the end of this post you will find a link to get another part of the collection completely Free!

---

If you've missed seeing any of the "Sneaky Peaks" around the online crafting world over the last week or so then have a look at them now - I'm sure that they will inspire you to get crafting with the new collection.  There are also a few items you won't have seen, so something new to inspire you even if you have seen all the "sneaky peaks" and "teasers".

Gwyneth
A couple of days ago I teased you with a snippet from one of the creations I've made using this new collection.

Well, today I'd like to show you the whole creation.

You can read about it - here.  I'll have another creation to show you in a few days time as well.

Susan

A few days ago Susan showed us this creation

And for today's launch she's created another page for her calander

Jacqui
Jacqui must really like this collection, A Lot!  Because she's already given you three different digi-scrapbook layouts as sneeky peaks before the launch.  If you've missed them here they are.
The 1st

The 2nd

The 3rd

Diane
Diane teased you with one card she'd made using this collection a few days ago.

But she'd actually made three cards prior to the launch, and here are the other two.

Nan
Nan gave everybody this sneaky peak of a canvas she worked on using this collection.

This is the canvas this came from.

Carolyn
Here's the first of Carolyn's sneaky peaks.

And another of Carolyn's creations

As you can see, this is a wonderful digital collection that works well for all sorts of crafting, not just digital crafting.

I think that the stunning items made by the Design Team members show the versatility of this collection, so don't miss out on getting it at the launch discounted price and go to the store now to make your choices and get what you'd like.

Freebie!

 As I said near the begining of this post - we have a freebie exclusively for readers of this blog - a quick page layout -

- which you can download by clicking - Here! - it comes as a zipped up file with ToUs etc.

Enjoy Crafting!

-oOo-

Dragons Lair Designs Links:

• Store
• Inspiration Blog
• Challenge Blog
• Facebook Fan Group - Hush!  Don't tell anybody I told you, but there's another freebie available to members of the Dragons Lair Designs Fan Group on FB
• Facebook Page
• Etsy Store

We'd love to have you join us in our Fan Group and post up some pictures of any creations you make using this collection, or any other DLD items.