Something a little different and a toot!

Good evening, peeps and I hope your weekend has been a good one! There's still a little bit of it left to enjoy so why not kick back and relax!
I thought I'd show you some cards that show techniques that are not normally displayed here on my blog, or haven't been thus far. They are techniques that are most frequently demonstrated by my good friend Barbara Gray of Clarity Stamps and I recently taught a class using these techniques at my local craft shop, Samuel Taylor's in Brighouse - I say 'local' well, it's only 10 miles away! The cards you see pictured here are pretty much a direct copy of what Barbara has produced on Create and Craft TV but my experience of working with Barbara at craft shows is that people who buy her stamps want to produce artwork just like hers so that was the thought behind the class.

This one is a simple reflection but spot the not so deliberate mistake....guess who forgot to repeat the water effect in the reflected moon!!

On the subject of moons, this is the lovely Moonfairy image and I loved the celestial background effect when Barbara produced it on TV.

This little foggy scene uses no brayering at all, which is probably a relief to many but I think it shows the versatility of Clarity Stamps since the faded effect of the buildings across the river is produced using the same corner stamp that produced the steps. Add a little paper piecing and it's done!

The Silver Birch is one of my favourite trees so, naturally, I love this image and the effect of looking into a leafy glade.

I'm sorry that the photos are all rather crooked - I'm obviously having a bad photo day! I can also see the lamp light reflecting on the semi-gloss card in this last photo - thankfully Spring is on it's way and bringing better light conditions for taking card piccies!

.....and the toot? Well I'm feeling very honoured because Barbara has asked me to join her design team so some of the cards I produce with Clarity Stamps will be seen on TV.....yay! All I have to do now is think of card designs for the box of stamps beside me as I type and this month, it's a fair challenge!
I'll see you again soon with something that's a little more like what you're used to seeing here.
Bye for now.

Fussy and Fancy Challenge #31

Good morning, peeps and TGIF! I hope you all have something good planned for the weekend - for me it'll be dog sitting the gorgeous black lab, Dylan for my son and working on DT projects! I'm joining a new DT but more of that another time.
Firstly, here is my project for the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge, which this week is to use embossing or paper piecing on your project:


As you can see, I elected to use dry embossing, which is a technique I often feel I don't use enough - here I've used a Crafts Too embossing folder called 'Butterfies'. The sponsor for this challenge is Paper Pretties, who have some wonderful digi and conventional stamp images. I've used the digi image 'Sunny Bumbles' here, which makes a wonderful backdrop for Honey Tilda don't you think? Do go and visit my teamies as well to see what amazing work they've produced and join us in the challenge - there's a fabulous prize up for grabs!
The DP I used is MME 'Bloom and Grow' (very appropriate name!) and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. I've also used a Marianne D Doily die and distressed it with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and the leaves are punched with a McGill punch I bought from The Hobby House.
The images were coloured with Copics and on the Tilda image I deepened the shadows with Prisma pencils.
Copics used:
Flowers: R12, R14, R17, YR12, YR15, YR16, YR18, G00, G02, YG63, YG45, YG67
Sky: B000
Tilda's clothing: R12, R14, R17, YR12, YR15, YR16
Tilda's wings: C0, C1, C2
Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21, R11, R20
Hair: E25, E27, E29, E31
I do hope you like this one, peeps and thank you so much for visiting me today!

Digi Doodle Shop Challenge #48 - Spots and stripes

Good morning, peeps and I hope today is being kind to you!
How about this for an easy challenge? The team at Digi Doodle Shop's Best would like you to show spots and stripes on your project and here's my offering:


I think you can just about see the stripes on the horizontal stip of the design! This week I'm following the sketch on Papertake Weekly Challenge, which is a great one from Dawny P so this card will be entered in that challenge.
The image is a new one in the store at Digi Doodle Shop and it's called 'Fascination' and this cute little bear is totally fascinated by his new friend. There's still 25% off selected images in the store until the end of the month.
I used spotty and stripey paper from Fancy Pants and it's called 'Father and Son' then the plainer paper is from my stash like the buttons and ribbon. The sentiment is from Whimsy, as is the die to cut out the ticket shape.
Copics:
Sky: BG10, BG000 + blender and Muted Turquoise Prisma Pencil
Bear: E40, E41, E42, E43, E44, R11
Grass/leaves: G20, G24, G40, G82, YG67
Daisies: YR20, YR21, YR23, YR24
Butterfly: B32, B34, B37
and various other Prisma pencils were used.
When you read this, I'll be doing some proper work to earn some pennies to feed my habit but, whatever you're doing today, enjoy it!

Digi Doodle Shop Challenge #47 - Anything Goes

Good morning, peeps! I hope the day is going well with you! This week's challenge over at Digi Doodle Shop is 'Anything Goes' and it doesn't get any easier that that so I hope you'll all be joining in with us! My offering is created with the image 'Daisy Girl', which you can buy in the store here and during February there's 25% off. I must admit, I've been wanting to use this image for some time, she looks so dreamy lying amongst the flowers and the long grass and that's why I chose the LOTV sentiment. She's coloured with Copics and Promarkers and the shadow is added with a Prisma pencil blended with Sansodor. The DPs are Prima Jack and Jill, the ribbon is from my stash and the pearls are from The Hobby House. The butterfly is cut with an MS punch. Well that's about it - quite a simple card from me this week but I shall be entering it in The Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge. All that remains is to tell you the Copic colours: Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21, R11, R20 Hair: E50, E51, E53, E55 'White' daisies: E40 and the centres Y00, Y06, Y08 Leaves/grass: YG01, YG03 and Promarker Pear Green Hat and pink flowers: R30, R21 and Promarker Dusky Rose I hope the day continues well for you and thanks for taking a peek at my offering today! T shirt and hat band: B000, B91 and Promarker Pastel Blue

Wonderful new digi stamps store

Good morning, peeps and I hope you all have some sunshine today like we have here in Yorkshire!
This post is to bring you a little sunshine in a different form - it's to let you know about a new digi stamp store called Wee Stamps and it's the outlet for the wonderful work of Sylvia Zet, who has created some amazingly cute images for you to buy and download. Do click on the link to visit her blog and store - I'm sure you won't be able to resist! There's also a link in my sidebar.

Bye for now

Step card with a difference

Good afternoon, peeps and happy St Valentine's day! I hope you're all enjoying the start to the week. This card is the product of my weekend and I give full credit for it's construction to Jacqui of Cat's Whiskers who gives instructions for this card here so thank you very much Jacqui for sharing this with us bloggers! Jacqui's instructions are for 12" x 12" card but I just altered the dimensions slightly so that I could cut it from A4 card.

For the centre part of the card, I've used Dawny P's wonderful sketch for the Lili of the Valley Challenge this week and I shall be entering this card into the challenge so I do hope it counts with the 'extra bits' around three sides! The image is, of course from LOTV and I love all of them, especially from the latest release and I coloured her with Copics and Prismas but I'm afraid that my desk was in such chaos that I put the pens away without noting down the colours - sorry! The lovely DPs are from The Memory Box 'Gossamer' collection, the pearls are from The Hobby House and ribbon is from my stash... ...including the ribbon underneath the card that you can see in this side shot. I do this because I find that whenever you make a top fold card and the recipient stands it on a polished surface, it just falls flat so a bit of pretty ribbon attached with bows just prevents that happening. I don't know whether this is an original - probably not but I hope you like the idea! The doily lace trim was cut with an MS punch, the leaves with a McGill punch and the flowers are, of course, from Wild Orchid Crafts. Guess who's just ordered some more!! The sentiment is from Pink Petticoat. I hope you like this style of card and maybe you'll try out Jacqui's instructions as well. Thanks so much for visiting today and please leave a comment before you go then I can come and visit you too!

Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge #30 - Sweet Treats

Good morning, peeps! Here I am, back again with another challenge and this one got my little grey cells working because the team over at the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge want us to use something edible on our project or to go with our project. Anyhoo, this is what I came up with:

Yes, it's the familiar, impossible to photograph successfully, easel card! I decided to make this one separately from the shaped box that holds the Cadbury's Mini Eggs (I love these things - wasn't I strong not to eat them?) for reasons that escape me now and I'm thinking that maybe the card should have been the top of the box. Oh well, it's made now and I can always make something similar another time and for a different occasion. Tilda is writing her diary sitting on top of a lovely heart shaped cushion, which is an image from our generous sponsor, Lauretta's Digital Stamps. This one is called 'Heart' and it's perfect for any of your sitting characters. Why not pay Lauretta a visit and see the other lovely images?

I think you can see the image better in this front view but taking photos is quite a challenge at the moment with the dull and gloomy weather - hurry up Spring! Tilda is coloured with Copics and Prismas and the heart is coloured with Copics only. The papers are from the K & Co McKenna pad, pearl brad from The Hobby House and the ribbon is from my stash. The card shape and box are cut from Nesties Labels Eight and the tag for the sentiment is also a Nestie shape. The sentiment itself is from Pink Petticoat Girly Curly Sentiment Collection and it says 'you make life sweet' - perfect for this project, don't you think? The distressing was done with Victorian Velvet Distress Ink and the flowers are, of course, from Wild Orchid Crafts. Copics used: Skin: E000, E01, E21 R11, R20 and Promarker Satin Hair: E50, E51 E53, E55, E33 Dress, socks and ribbon on the cushion: R81, R83, R85 Lace on the dress, RV000, R000 Diary cover: YG93, YG95 Diary pages: E40, E41, E42 Heart cushion: E50, E51, E53 Well, I hope you like my little sweet treat and I'll be back again soon with another project. In the meantime, do come and join with us for this challenge and make your own sweet treat. I'm teaching a class at my local craft shop tomorrow morning and the project is a Tim Holtz style tag book so my work desk is currently covered in Distress Crackle paints, Adirondack Dabbers, Distress inks, etc., etc. Projects after the style of the talented Tim used to be all I produced - how times change and now all I really want to do is colour. Anyhoo, wish me luck with the workshop, peeps!

Digi Doodle Shop Challeng #46 - A Nature Themed card

Good afternoon peeps! I hope all is well with you - at least there's a little bit of weak sunshine here today and it does make our thoughts turn towards Spring.
I've tried to convey that thought of Spring in my challenge project this week and the title of the image is 'Springtime Bunnies' and you can buy it here in the store. You'll also receive 25% off the price on all your purchases during February - a real bargain!
This cute image was coloured only with Copics (the Prismas didn't get in on the act this time!) and I mounted it on the lacey square cut with a Nestie. The DPs are both from Magnolia and making a Spring-like card gave me the opportunity to use the lovely daffodils from Wild Orchid Crafts - Yay! I've been saving them since last year waiting for such an opportunity! Obviously all the flowers are from the same source. The ribbon is from my stash and the sentiment is a digital one from Whimsy Stamps and you can find it here. I thought it was perfect both for this card and for the time of year!
Copics used:
Sky: B000
Fence: E55, E57, E59
Rabbits: E40, E41, E42, E43, E44
Grass/leaves: G20, G21, G40, G82, YG67
Daffodils: Y00, Y11, Y13, Y15
I hope you'll join in with the challenge for a Nature Themed Project and I hope the sun is shining where you are, even if it's putting in a weak effort!
Have a great day and I'll see you again soon!

A young man's birthday card

Good morning, peeps! Well, number 2 grandson was 15 last week and this is the birthday card I made for him. It's a digi image that's part of the Mikey Collection from Charmed Cards and Crafts. This collection gives you a whole load of images that are great for teenagers. Mind you, as I was assembling the card, it occurred to me that young people don't really play CDs anymore but then I haven't really caught up with iPods! It just keeps me firmly in the granny category in my grandson's mind I'm sure! Anyhoo, back to the topic in hand - the image was cut out with Nesties and I drew around the outside of the die to create the red mount. The DPs are an assortment from my stash, as were the buttons and the ribbons, and the stars were created from the Sizzix Primitive Stars die and distressed with Pumice Stone DI. The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley and it's been punched out with the now retired Stampin' Up Word Window punch. I must say, it beats me why any company would retire such a fundamentally useful punch, I really don't understand their reasoning! Here are the Copics I used: Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21, R11, R20 Hair: E50, E51, E53, E55, E33 Shirt & shoe: R22, R24, R27, R29, E19 Jeans: W1, W2, W3, W5, W7 Earphones: C1, C3,C5 CDs: B23, B24, B26, BG11, BG13, BG16, Y21, Y23, Y26 The inside of the card had matching papers and a pocket for a voucher 'cos, what can you buy for a 15 year old? Thank you for looking today and lease leave me a comment so that I can come and visit you too.

Valentines without red or pink

Good morning, peeps! Well, that's the title of the challenge over at Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge and, because I blooped with my first card and used the forbidden colours, here is my second attempt! Our wonderful sponsor for this challenge is Di's Digi Downloads and the image I've used is called 'Together Forever' and you'll find it on this page here. I thought it had so many possibilities, not just for Valentine's Day but for weddings, engagements or just for a general card. I coloured the image with Copics (no surprise there then!) and enhanced the shading with Prismas. The main DP is from a maker unknown and was given to me by my good friend, Alison so thanks for that, hun! It provided the colour scheme for the card. The central panel, that you can hardly see is a paper from Nitwits and the ribbon is from my stash. The flowers are, of course, from Wild Orchid Crafts. I do hope you'll join us at Fussy and Fancy for this challenge. If you're anything like me, you'll find it pretty challenging - I didn't realise how many of my DPs have red or pink in them! (Sounds like a good reason to shop to me!!) I'll show you the other card I made with this image another time since I don't want to confuse anyone with their challenge entry. I'm entering this card also into the Bunny Zoe's Challenge, 'Love is in the Air'. I'll be back again soon because we're well into the birthday season in this family. Take care and stay dry - it's raining cats and dogs here in Yorkshire! Copics used: Girl's skirt, hat & roses: Y00, Y11, Y13, Y15, Y17 Girl's blouse: YR12, YR15, YR18, E19 Boy's shirt: YG01, YG03, YG13, YG25, YG17 Boy's trousers and hat: B21, B23, B24, B26 Boy's hair: E50,E51, E53, E55, E33 Bench and girl's hair: E33, E35, E21, E25, E27, E29 Basket & tops of girl's shoes: E40, E42, E43, E44 Bottoms of girl's shoes: W1, W2, W3, W5

A frog he would a-wooing go....

...leastways, that's how it looks to me!


Good afternoon peeps! and how is your Thursday going? I hope it's a good one for all of you!
This card is for the new challenge over at Digi Doodle Shop's Best this week, which is to make a project suitabe for Valentine's Day and I do hope you'll come and join us - there's a wonderful $10 gift certificate up for grabs that you can spend in the shop here, where you will also find the image I've used on my card - it's called 'Love Frogs' and it was quite a popular choice with the DT, as you'll see from the Challenge Blog and who can blame them? What a fun image it is and really easy to colour!
After I'd finished the colouring (Copic colours below) and drawn in the pond and the reeds behind, I realised that I'd basically created a red and green colour scheme. (My work doesn't often have a careful plan like some of you talented peeps out there - it just 'develops'!) So, the obvioous place to go looking for DP's was my Christmas box and this is just a random selection taken from my stash there, likewise the ribbon. The lace was cut with my Magnolia Doo Hickey Die and the heart shape was cut with a Sizzix Original die. The sentiment is computer generated and then cut out using the Sizzix shape as a template. The distressing on the heart is Barn Door Distress Ink. The leaves are cut with a McGill punch and the flowers are all from Wild Orchid Crafts.
Copics used:
Frogs: YG01, YG03, YG25, YG17
Lily pads & reeds: YG91, YG93, YG95, YG97
Pond: BG10, BG72, BG75, BG78
Sky: B000
Frog's lips and bow: R20, R22
Hearts: R29
Well, that's all from me today. I'll be back tomorrow with another challenge but, in the meantime, I'm also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Challenge which is 'Love is in the Air' and the Papertake Weekly Challenge, which is 'Anything Goes' with an optional extra of flowers. Also, Cute Card Thursday Challenge 150, which is to 'Banish the Blues' - they're looking for humour and Bunny Zoe's Challenge, which is also 'Love is in the Air'.