Dawn on a gift bag

Good afternoon, peeps and what glorious weather we're having at the moment!  I really do think that all our seasons are beautiful but there is certainly something rather special about Spring.

Well I've been absent for far too long (again!) but I just thought I'd make a quick post and show you a project I taught to a class at the beginning of the month.  The inspiration for this came from the very talented Jane's Blog and she shows a simple way of making a gift bag by folding a piece of DP around a book - here's the result:

 The cute little image is a Nelie Snellen stamp called Dawn with Birthday Cake, which I just thought was appropriate for a gift bag.  The handles and the trim are punched with a Martha Stewart punch, as are the butterflies and the flowers are made with a Tonic Petal Pairs punch.  The ribbon is from Stampin' Up and the pearls are from The Hobby House.  The tag is cut from a Go Kreate die and the sentiment is a very ancient anonymous one that's been in my stash forever!

Copics

Skin - E000, E00, E21, R20, R11
Hair - E23, E25, E27, E31
Skirt - R20, R32, R35
Top - BG70, BG72
Shoes - Tea Green, Grey Green (Promarkers), W1, W3, W5
Cake - Y000, Y11, Y21, E21, E23, E50, E51

Hey!  Are you impressed or what?  I kept a note of the colours I used!

Well it's onwards and upwards with Design Team work.  My cards for Barbara Gray's show on Sunday on Create and Craft TV have just gone postal.  She's on at 9.00 a.m.and 3.00 p.m. so don't forget to watch if you're a fan - watch closely and you may just see some of my cards as well as my talented teamies' creations.  If you miss the shows, the cards just may appear here afterwards!

Whatever you have planned, have a great weekend if I don't 'see' you before and I'll see you again soon!

Hugs

A moment of Clarity

Good afternoon, peeps!  Well it's just about afternoon isn't it and I'm posting this from wonderful Aberfeldy in Scotland where we're having a great and relaxing time at the moment.  Home on Saturday though and the holiday has passed by all too quickly.

I thought I'd just catch up by posting a few of the cards I've created for Barbara Gray's shows on Create and Craft TV - I think I'm at least two shows behind showing you some of samples, so here goes:

This picture looks a bit lopsided but I really enjoyed colouring all these pansies and leaves with my Copics.  The letter 'O' is embossed in green because I wanted it to stand out and the rest of the word 'flower' is stamped in Memento London Fog in the hope that it facded into the background a little.  The gold filigree corners are from Wild Orchid Crafts.  I don't recall this card being shown during the broadcast.

This was one of my favourite designs from the February show and it would appear that the audience agreed because the stamp sold out in a flash!  I watercoloured the images on 300 gsm hot pressed, watercolour paper, tore the edges of the paper and finished with the corners cut from a Spellbinders die and some ribbon from my stash.

This was another favourite, the Mandarin Duck and Bullrushes.  It reminds me of when I used to see one of these ducks regularly when I used to travel the Staffs and Worcs Canal and they are just so cute and colourful!  This image was coloured with Copics and I created the clouds using a cardboard template I cut out with Stampin' Up Bashful Blue ink and an old make-up brush.  I love creating skies this way.  The vines are a Marianne die and the flowers are Sweetheart Blossoms from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I loved the simplicity of this card and I simply embossed the image with Moonglow Embossing Powder and it's a shame that you can't see from the picture how it shines different colours asyou move the image in the light.  I recall that the presenter commented on the fact that I hadn't coloured the image but you can't please everyone!  The DP is a really old one from my stash but I couldn't resist using it because it has the Lily of the valley on it.

Well before this post turns into a real marathon, I'll sign off and see you again soon.

Thanks for looking today and I'd love to read your comments!

Hugs

I'm back and an announcement

Good morning, peeps!  Did you think I'd left the country then or maybe given up blogging?  I'd like to say thank you to all those loyal followers who are still here reading this on my poor, neglected blog - I promise I'll try and do better.

Where have I been?  Well I went to the trade show at the NEC and picked up some weird bug that wiped me out for a week and then life just continued at it's usual hectic pace here at Whitehouse Towers and I don't seem to have had time to do anything but work and I'm still behind!  Hey Ho - got a holiday coming up from tomorrow so maybe I'll get some time to post some of the work I've been doing that you haven't yet seen!

Today, I thought I'd show you a couple of cards that I'll be teaching at workshops at Samuel Taylor, Roseville Street on 20th March and Samuel Taylor, Brighouse on 31st March, the topic is 'Watercolour Techniques using stamps'.

This card is made with one of the stamps from the uber talented Sheena and is part of her Little Bit Sketchy collection.  I have tried to make the scene look like a tinted photograph, which I think it does and I created the effect with Distress Ink Pads.  I would have preferred to put a reflection of the hillside in the water but I don't have a great deal of success with the acetate method that Sheena uses and, whilst I could have done it with my 6" brayer, I didn't think it was fair to the ladies on the workshop to make them think that they have to have a new piece of equipment to reproduce the card, so it is as it is.

The 'frame' is created with a Go Kreate Die and the ivy is cut from a Marianne die.

This card was made from an Indigo Blu stamp called 'Poppy Meadow' and the effect was created by using water based markers.....

.....and the announcement I hear you ask.  Well, I'm absolutely delighted to tell you that I've been asked to join the lovely Sheena's Design Team and what do you think I said?  I can tell you that I'm still doing the happy dance and really looking forward to working with all the wonderful designs, many of which I already own because I think she is such a talented lady.  If you think that all she does is Paint Fusion then follow the link above and find out just how diverse the range is.

Well, tomorrow we'll be taking the High Road (or the Low Road - not sure which yet) up to Bonny Scotland for a week's relaxation, walking and eating (not necessarily in that order) but I may well be posting some more card samples from the far North.  At least the midges won't have hatched yet!

Thank you for looking today.

Hugs