Inky Meanderings

Quick Valentine's Day Card

2012-02-10T11:14:00.001Z

Good morning, peepsand I’m saying this from the edge of the Northumberland National Park where weare just coming to the end of a lovely week’s holiday! Time to go home tomorrow and it looks likethere’s snow in Yorkshire so it could be an interesting journey home!

This week the challenge over at Polka Doodles is to make aquick Valentine’s Day card. As you know,quick cards are not part of my vocabulary since I can spend many hours justcolouring an image so this was a challenging challenge for me. However, Polka Doodles CDs came to the rescueand this is what we produced together:

The main image was taken from the Double Sprinkles of Kraft CD and I just love the misty hear images that blend in with the clouds inthis. The words are taken from the Love and Cherish CD, as is the background paper. There are so many wonderful images and sentiments on both of these CDsthat I was almost spoiled for choice and if you’re looking for inspiration forany romantic occasion, especially wedding, then I would heartily recommend the Love and Cherish CD. The Double Sprinkles of Kraft CD has something for every occasion.

I do hope you’ll join us for this latest challenge and getmaking some of those Valentine cards. You can even collect a free digi image to use in enetering the challenge so that's an even more powerful reason to join us! Ijust have to come up with something for Valentine's Day for my lovely hubby not because he’s seenthis one!

Thank you for looking today and keep warm!

Hugs

Oh! Mr Postman what did you do...?

2012-02-02T10:31:00.001Z

Good morning, peeps and a happy Thursday morning to you!

What did the postman do? - you may well ask! This was in December now so the steam has stopped coming out of my ears but this is the tale. As you can imagine, I'm always working up to the last minute with my samples for the Stamping with Clarity Show on C & C TV. I then dash to the Post Office and despatch them via their guaranteed next day delivery service so that Barbara gets them in time to take to Peterborough. What happened? I had a phone call from the lovely Grace at 2.00 p.m. to say that no cards had arrived! To cut a long story short, the Post Office had no idea where they were, their records showed that I had posted the package and that was the end of their story. You can imagine how I felt after all that work and also feeling like I'd let Barbara down! Anyhoo, the cards finally did show up on the following Monday - after the show had aired...:-(( Well, if Barbara ever offers those kits again you may see these cards on the TV screen but I thought I would show them here anyway, whilst I'm currently hoping that the cards I posted yesterday are safely now at their destination!

I had been wanting to have a go at a recessed card for ages and this kit with the little boy fishing and the leaves was the perfect opportunity. The colours have come out badly in the photograph (those are always taken in a rush, as well!). IRL the background was lovely, warm shades of yellow, rust and red. You can find this stamp here.

This is another one of those words with a large 'O'! The animal remountable stamps are lovely!

One of those endlessly useful tree and flying bird kits has been used here to create a snowy scene for a New Year card.

Isn't it amazing what you can do with a Clarity Corner Stamp - this one is the Snowdrop Corner. I stamped it with Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler and cut out the blank areas of the design to show the Cherry Cobbler card underneath. The frame is made with a Martha Stewart PATP punch.

The colours aren't all that good here again but I embossed the Large Snowdrops on white card with Moonglow EP and cut them out with a Spellbinders die. I then mounted them on dark green card to emphasise the teardrop shaped cut-outs in the border.

Well, I think that's enough for one post and thank you if you've read this far. I should be making my next post from Northumberland because we're up there for a holiday next week woohoo!!

Hugs

Can my chum come out to play?

2012-01-27T10:33:00.000Z

Good morning, peeps and I hope you're all managing to keep warm!

I just love this little chap and I placed him in front of the doorway to make it look like he's calling for a little friend:

Everything on this card is from the wonderful Polka Doodles Pretty Tuff CD. I like to print the images in black and white to give me the opportunity to colour them with my Copics and Prismas but if you're not a colouring addict like me, you can print the images out already coloured. The great thing about these CDs is that they're so easy to use, which is perhaps as well for me since technology is not my strongest point!

You may have noticed before that I like to use stars on male cards and these Sizzix Primitive Stars are my favourites. The buttons are from my stash and are secured with twine. All the papers I've used are also printed from the CD, which has a fabukous selection that are all great for male cards, as are the selection of sentiments like the one I've used here. Like many crafters, I find male cards more of a challenge.

Thank you for visiting me today and I hope you like this card. It's one I made a while ago so I don't have any Copic colours for you but I'm posting it today because I couldn't join in the Polka Doodles Challenge this week with the rest of my Teamies because of the continuing chaos in my craft room caused by the painter (I'll blame him because he's not around to defend himself!) and which is only just getting sorted out. I hope you can join in the challenge this week, which is to use a template for your card or project.

Hugs

Shaped Cards

2012-01-25T12:18:00.000Z

Good morning, peeps! It's nice to see a little sunshine today after all the gloom and rain yesterday so I hope you're enjoying some dry weather too. I certainly need it here because I have a painter working on the apartment this week and the fact that all the windows are open and my craft room in total disarray are not combining to make Diane a happy bunny! How much chaos can one painter cause? The answer is LOTS! but it'll look great when he's finished.

I hope that my cards today will make you smile - yes, I did say CARDS, in the plural - my blog is like buses again!

I'm taking a workshop on Saturday at Samuel Taylor, Brighouse and we're going to be making Shaped Cards and here's the first one:

As you can see, they're shaped easel cards to be strictly accurate and they're made using the House of Zandra templates. They are both available from Samuel Taylor although they're not visible on the website but you can always just give them a call. The template I used for this card is called Matting and Layering 3 and I used Kraft Card and DPs from My Mind's Eye and Melissa Frances all distressed with Walnut Ink DI. The image is from Nellie Snellen and she's called Dawn with Flowers and you can buy her here. She is of course coloured with Copics and Prisma pencils, the numbers of which are lost in the chaos that is my craft room! The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the ribbon is from my stash. The ladies attending my workshop will get the template for this card as part of the package and they may have time to make only this one but the fast workers can have a go at this one as well:

This template is called Matting and Layering 2 and I decided to line the blue card with the Melissa Frances DP, which is always a fiddle when you're creating a folded shape but I'm pleased with the result. This time the image is a Gorjuss Girl (not sure if they still call them that!) from Personal Impressions and it's called I love you Little Rabbit, again coloured with Copics and Prisma pencils. The heart shape is cut with a really old Sizzix Original die and the flowers are again from Wild Orchid Crafts. The distressing is done with Faded Jeans DI.

Thank you for looking today and I'll see you again soon when I can make sense of my craft room.

Hugs

Vintage Babsie

2012-01-13T10:00:00.000Z

Well, good morning again! I'm back with my card for the Polka Doodles Challenge, which this week is 'Vintage /Retro'. A good challenge for me because I've never particularly worked with the vintage style but always admire it when I see others' work. I always think of it as a particularly feminine style so I decided to use one of the Fairy Flutterfly stamps and this one is called 'Babsie'.

Not being very experienced with this style of card, I took my inspiration from a card that appeared in an old Magnolia Ink magazine that was made by the uber talented Hanna. This young lady makes the most amazing cards so do take a peek at her blog and leave her some love.

Anyhoo, back to the challenge! Babsie is coloured with Copics, Promarkers, Flexmarkers and Prisma pencils and all the distressing is done with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. The papers are all printed from the Pretty Sweet CD, which has a wonderful selection of gorgeous, feminine papers. As you can see, there was plenty much the punching with my Martha Stewart Doily Lace punch and I heated the ribbon to make it shrivel and look a bit more vintage-y. The pearls are from Stampin' Up, the pearl brads are from The Hobby House and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I will certainly be having another crack at this vintage style because it was great fun to do. Why don't you join in the fun and enter this challenge? Hop on over to the Challenge Blog now and see what inspiration my talented teamies have produced for you.

Well, I'm off now to a meeting then I have packing to do for our holiday in The Lakes but my lappy will be travelling with me so I'll hopefully be back again soon with more waffle and a card for you. In the meantime, have a fantastic weekend!

Hugs

Molly in the snow

2012-01-13T08:27:00.001Z

Good morning, peeps! I hope you're all bright and bushy tailed today, thank Crunchie it's Friday and I'm off on hols tomorrow - woohoo!

Anyhoo, the challenge over at Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge this week is 'Let it Snow' and I tried not to make this card look like a Christmas card but I'm not sure I succeeded, see what you think:

I love these Molly Blooms images and I have so many that I don't have time to use and they sit there uninked :-( ... but this cute little Molly has been coloured with Copics and Prisma pencils (of course!) and cut out with a Nestie Wonky Rectangle shape, which is such a useful set of dies. The DPs are oldies from my stash - I think the red one came from an old Kars pad and the ribbon is somewhat anonymous too. The sentiment is a Clarity Stamp that I overstamped with snowflakes from an old Papermania set I found in the Christmas drawer. The flowers and berries are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the snowflake border is from Dies to Die For and is a Memory Box one. Sad to say that I don't actually own this die, the cut-out I've used here is a sample the lovely Tracy sent me with another order but, as you can imagine, I intend to own it before I have to make another snowy card! The leaves under the flowers are cut from a new Cheery Lyn die that I think will prove endlessly useful.

It's hard to see in the photo (click to make it larger) but I added Stardust Stickles to the snowflakes.

Colouring

Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21, R20, R11
Hat/sweater/boots: E30, E31, E33, E35 and 70% French Grey pencil
Trousers and scarf: G24, G28, G29 and Olive pencil
Reds: R22, R24, R27 and Tuscan Red pencil
Snow: C0, C1, C2, C3

Thank you for looking today and I do hope you'll join us for this challenge. We have a new format for the New Year and you could be a Guest Designer - click on the link to read all about it.

I'll be back again later because it's Polka Doodles Challenge day too - but don't feint with shock at the thought of my posting twice in one day!

Hugs

Mardigras!

2012-01-10T08:13:00.001Z

Good morning, peeps!

Are you feeling in a party mood this morning? It's hard to feel much like a party when all the Christmas and New Year celebrations are over and it's gloomy and cold outside, so I thought I'd show you something bright and cheery to help the day along a little.

These cards were produced for the Stamping with Clarity show on Create and Craft TV last Sunday. When the stamps arrived, I was delighted with them and I think they hold many possibilities.

This is another of my not very good photographs but I hope you can see the effect. It gave me a good opportunity to play with my Twinkling H2Os to create the background. They haven't been out to play since I can't remember when and I've promised myself that I won't leave it so long before I bring them out again! To get this effect, I first painted a sheet of A4 card with pale pink and then stamped all over it in random fashion with the small mask and the harlequin stamps using Versamark. I then applied clear embossing powder and heated it. Then out came a large-ish flat paint brush and I splodged several colours all over the top (red, pink, green, yellow, blue, purple). At this stage, it wasn't looking so clever but then I spayed it with Pearl Glimmer Mist and the magic happened when all the colours ran and blended into one another so I finally had the effect I'd been aiming for. Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?! With all this colour going on I decided to keep the large mask image to just black and white and it's stamped on to Centura Pearl Card, coloured with a black ProMarker then cut out and glued on to the background.

I wanted to create the impression of fireworks, which is how the gold ribbon came on to the scene. Having found the ribbon, the problem then was how to make it curl. The answer was to wind it round a wooden chop stick, secure the ends with little metal bulldog clips and apply the heat gun. However, I have a tip for you with this technique - wait for the bulldog clips to cool before removing them otherwise you're stuck holding an ice cube for some time until your fingers stop throbbing, ask me how I know!!

I then used the large mask stamp with one of the Clarity Alium stamps to produce the firework effect for this card:

The alium image was embossed with several different shades of Moonglow Embossing Powder. The main image has been stamped and enbossed in gold and then painted with the H2Os.

When it came to creating a card with the Dippy Toe Lady set, I knew I wanted to have the effect of the lady in a leafy glade at sunset then, having created the sunset, I was trying out all the colours of card to mount the image when I suddenly realised that I'd used all the colours of the Mardigras background -I am slow sometimes! Good thing that I'd created a whole A4 sheet wasn't it? Here's the result:

Well, if you've stayed with me through this marathon post, thank you and well done! I hope you enjoyed seeing the cards and thank you for looking. I'll be back later in the week with some challenge cards but, in the meantime, if you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours!

Hugs

Mrs Claus

2012-01-05T07:35:00.001Z

Good morning, peeps and a very Happy New Year to you all!

Well, I bet you thought Christmas was over for another year but I thought I'd just show you the card I made for my lovely husband, Brian:

This is one of those fabulous digi images from Kenny K and I chose it because Brian is often teased about looking like Santa because of his white hair and beard although both are close cropped and not flowing like Santa at all. So I suppose this is my alter ego and it might have been 35 years ago but now I have to say that the only similarity is the red hair! Anyway, a girl can dream.....

The image is coloured with Copics and Prisma pencils and I added Ultra Fine Flowersoft to the fur trim of her outfit.

The DP is from the wonderful Bo Bunny Father Christmas Collection - fabulous papers these in lovely traditional colours. The ribbon is from Stampin' Up and the charm was from The Works a couple of years ago. I'm pretty sure I bought the huge poinsettia from The Hobby House and they come in a pack of mixed red and white flowers.

Well, considering that today is the 5th, I haven't exactly made a good start in my resolution to be a better blogger, but I am working on it - 'onest, guv! so I shall be back soon with something else to show you. I really need to do some work throughout the year on Christmas cards so you may see some unseasonal posts from time to time.

Are you busy taking your Christmas decorations down today? Whatever your doing, have a great one and thanks for looking!

Hugs

Monochrome Christmas

2011-12-16T08:47:00.001Z

Good morning, peeps! Did you think I'd left Blogland? I confess that it must have seemed like it but my absence has simply been due to a holiday and a badly sprained ankle - the latter has meant that I left the apartment yesterday (with the aid of crutches) only for the second timein in two weeks. Anyhoo, I'm back with a cutie card for the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge. This week we are challenged to make a card that is monochromatic with sparkle and here is my effort:

Apologies for the rather dull photo but the weather here has been so gloomy lately that it's hard to get something decent.

As you can see, I chose blues and white for my monochromatic scheme, mainly because I found this little cutie already coloured in the box and thought that I shouldn't leave her lying there feeling neglected any longer. It also reminds me how my colouring style has changed over the months. She was coloured with Copics of unknown numbers and I did deepen the shading somewhat with Prisma Cool Gray 90%. I think that the image is one of the older Elizabeth Bell ones but I didn't label her so I can't be sure. The DPs are from a Dovecraft pack that I've had for at least 2 years and the shapes are cut with Nesties, the snowflakes with a Martha Stewart punch and blinged with Glamour Dust. The lace is from The Ribbon Girl.

Thank you for looking today and I do hope you like it. I won't be absent so long this time!

Hugs

Molly and George on a date......

2011-11-10T11:38:00.003Z

...... noooo, not that kind of date, this kind of date:

Good morning, peeps! Did I fool you? It's another one of those Perpetual Calendars like I showed you here except this one is larger and decorated with this cute duo. They are of course coloured with my Copics and Prisma pencils (sorry I don't have the numbers) and everything else is from my stash.

Right, this is just a brief post because I'm off to work on some Polka Doodles samples now (and Clarity ones for December and coming workshops). I don't think I'll ever be stuck for something to do!

Have a great weekend y'all!

Hugs

Christmas a la Tim

2011-11-07T11:30:00.000Z

Good morning, peeps and a chilly one it is too! The frost was so thick this morning it looked almost like snow! Still, it's appropriate waether for a post about Christmas cards and I have four of them to show you this morning!

All of these cards are for a workshop that I'm teaching at Samuel Taylor's, Brighouse tomorrow. The objective being not just to loosely follow the style of Tim Holtz but to make quick Christmas cards as well. There is plenty of Distress Inking in evidence as well as embellishments made fom Grunge Paper.

The stamps featured in the above card are from Indigo Blu, Hero Arts and Viva.

This one has stamps from the same sources and I've added Distress Stickles holly berries to the Grunge Paper holly sprigs.

There's not quite so much of Tim in this one because I've used some wonderful DP from Kaisercraft. The die cuts are Marianne Christmas Tree 1, the white one being distressed with Forest Moss DI and on the green one I tried all sorts of things to get the snowy effect. Adirondack Dabber in Snow Cap went really cream when it dried so I went over it with a white wax crayon. When that wasn't white enough, a white gel pen finally got the result I wanted!

All the little snow flakes were produced using a Martha Stewart edge punch - these are the bits you normally throw away when punching a snowflake border!

Finally, this is a card that has the wishes for the season from another Indigo Blu stamp, as are the trees at the bottom. The Christmas wishes I've used for the background are from the Viva plate and are stamped in Antique Linen DI. The ribbon is from my stash.

Well, I hope this has given you some ideas for some quick Christmas cards for your own needs. I think everyone's beginning to think that time is getting short for making cards - including me! Although I only send handmade cards to close family and friends who appreciate the effort that goes into them.

Keep warm!

Hugs

Featuring a sentiment

2011-11-04T08:47:00.000Z

Good morning, peeps and thank Crunchie it's Friday! You got anything special planned for the weekend? - I'm gonna take it a little bit easy and that's special!!

Well, the challenge over at Fussy and Fancy this week is to Be Thankful and Feature a Sentiment. I must admit that I slightly misunderstood this challenge because I thought it was to be thankful Or Feature a Sentiment and this is what I did:

The sentiment I've featured is more of a blessing than a verse expressing thanks but I hope you all like it nevertheless.

The blessing comes from Claritystamp and I've centred it in a Nestie shape which I've coloured with Antique Linen Distress Ink before removing the die. I love this effect because it looks as though the verse is double mounted, which it isn't - it's just mounted once on to the dark brown card.

The wonderful DP is from a K & Co pad I've had for ages and it has no name on it. Add one of the large gardenias from Wild Orchid Crafts, some stamens from the same source, flourishes cut from a Magnolia Doohickey die and, finally, butterflies cut with Martha Stewart punches and you have a card!

I must thank a teamie from a former DT I was on, the uber talented Dana for this idea, which I saw on her blog some time ago. Her work is fabulous so do pop over and pay her a visit. She's not too well at the moment so Get Well Soon, Dana!

Do come and join in this challenge, which is sponsored by Sweet and Sassy Stamps.

Thank you for looking today, please leave me a comment to let me know I'm not talking to myself here! Whatever you're doing this weekend, have a great one!

Hugs

Fairy Fantasy

2011-10-28T09:49:00.002+01:00

Good morning, peeps and it's time for anew challenge over at Polka Doodles! The title of the challenge this week is Magical and Mystical so of course it had to include a fairy for me and this little beauty has been waiting in my stash to make an appearance for 9 months - here's what happened when she finally saw ink!

She's called Garden of Wishes and she's from Lili of the Valley. I just love the way her blue eyes are gazing at that star she's caught and the movement in her dress. She coloured with Copics, Flexmarkers and Promarkers (of course) and Prisma pencils and I added Glamour Dust to her rainbow wings and Star Dust Stickles to the star (what else?).

The gorge papers are from the Polka Doodles Pretty Sweet CD, so delicate and girlie. Those of my lovely followers who've been around for a while will know that I've never really been a CD crafter but I'm sold now that I've discovered Polka Doodles. I just print the designs on Ultimate Graphic card and I have superb quality DP at a click! No more wondering if I should use a piece of DP because it's nearly gone, stroking it and putting it back in the box. If I like a paper I can have as much of it as I want and not worry about whether or not it's gone from the shelves - yay!!

The swirly leaves are cut from a Cheery Lynn die called 'Fanciful Flourish' and it's available from Tracy at Dies to Die For and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. It's been a while since it's felt right to add half a florist's shop to a card and I love it!

The scallops at the bottom of the card were produced with my EK Success Diamond Lace punch and it's available here at The Hobby House. Ribbon and rhinestones were from the same shop.

I didn't keep a note of all the pens I used in the colouring but I can tell you that I went through a range of RV Copics to get the colour I wanted and ended up using mainly Promarker in Blossom and Rose Pink and Pale Blossom Flexmarker. The dress colouring was all enhanced with a Raspberry Prisma Pencil. For the rainbow wings, I used the palest Copics (0000) in the RV, YR, Y, G, B colour families and a Pale Lavender Flexmarker. Her skin and blonde hair were my usual ones, which you'll find in previous posts.

The frame for the fairy portrait is a Spellbinders Nestie Fleur de Lis die.

Do come and join us for this challenge - you have until next Thursday to join in and thank you for looking today. Have a great weekend!

Hugs

Christmas Place Setting

2011-10-26T10:13:00.001+01:00

Good morning, peeps and a wonderful sunny one it is too! Don't you just love these sunny Autumn days full of glorious colour?

Guess what I was doing yesterday - teaching a small group of ladies to make these items for glamming up their Christmas tables.

I just love Molly Blooms stamps and this image of Rudolph is so cute and I thought he was perfect for the job not looking either too feminine or too masculine.

This is a really simple set to make, it just requires some concentration to measure and cut the shape for the cracker shaped box from 12" x 12" cardstock.

If you're around Brighouse on Saturday morning, I shall be teaching the same class again at Samuel Taylors and there are still places left.

Well, it looks as though my place at the table for Christmas lunch is secured! Better get on with some more.

I'm sorry I didn't keep a note of the Copics I used but the pine branch is a Marianne die and the DP is a gorge one from Kaisercraft.

Thanks for looking today and I'll see you again soon.

Hugs

Starlight Tilda

2011-10-21T08:00:00.000+01:00

Good morning, peeps!

Well, I'm finally back with a new challenge for Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge and the challenge this week is three Bs - Black, Border punch and Bling! As you can see, my card has all three:

The colours don't seem to have shown up particularly well in this photograph but you can at least clearly see the bling - plenty of that on view!

As well as being my challenge card, this is one of the card designs I'm teaching at a workshop at Samuel Taylor's in Roseville Street, Leeds tomorrow and I'll show you the other one another time.

I realised as I put the card together that the colours are quite halloween-y, which was quite unintentional since I don't 'do' halloween. They were inspired by the gorge papers from Bo Bunny.

Recipe:

Stamps: Magnolia
Snowflakes & lace: Martha Stewart punches
DPs: Bo Bunny (one of last year's Christmas designs)
Ribbon & diamante: from my stash
Copics:

Skin: E000, E00, E21, E01, R20, R11, R30
Hair: Just about all the cool greys!
Dress: V12, V15, V17 + black Prisma Pencil
Wings and star: BG70, BG72 + Muted Turquoise Prisma Pencil
Wand stick: E71, E74, E77

I do hope you'll joi n in with this challenge, it's a reallt easy one!

Thanks for looking today and I hope to have something else for you to see soon.

Hugs

Handmade flower challenge

2011-10-07T08:11:00.000+01:00

Good morning, peeps and it's Polka Doodles Challenge day today!

The challenge this week is 'Handmade flowers'- well that sent me into a bit of a panic I can tell you because I usually rely on Wild Orchid Crafts for flowers but I resorted to my tried and tested ones and you can see them here on my card:

I decided to place these two gorgeous friends from the Pretty Sweet CD in a lovely summery scene with the flowery fence from the Summer section of the Sundae of Seasons CD. The girlies are coloured with my Copics but the flowery fence came ready coloured. I have kept a note of the Copic colours and I'll be back later to edit this post and give you the colours but I have a hair appointment this morning - got to look glam for the big demo day tomorrow at Samuel Taylors, Roseville Street, Leeds! Actually, I had the appointment anyway and the dates just coincide but it sounds good.

Can you believe that amidst distractions and interruptions (some people would call it work) it finally took me two and a half days to make this card - unbelievable! The lovely DPs came from the Pretty Sweet CD as well. I'm absolutely in love with them and there's something for everything when you're making unashamedly girle cards like this one.

I've got some photos to show you how to make the fowers as well so, see ya later! In the meantime, do get making some lovely flowers and join us for the challenge.

Edit

Right, I finally have chance to tell you about how I made the flowers for this card.

First, you punch out the basic flowers from a small Retro Flower punch. Then you take some scalloped edge scissors and cut a notch out of the end of each petal.

Then you take a cotton bud and add Distress Ink in whatever colour you need to the centre area of the flower and fade it out up into the petals. Now add tiny dots to the petals nearest the centre of the flower- I used a Marvy Le Plume pen for this.

Finally, use a ball tool to shape the flowers - turn them over so that the coloured side is facing a foam mat and, using a circular motion, rotate the ball tool out from the cente so that the flowers become cup shaped, then do the same with each individual petal.

Finally, flip the flower over again so the coloured side is facing up and press down in the centre and, presto!! you have quite a realistic looking little primrose-like flower!

I used a Viva Pearl Pen to create the centres once I'd glued the flowers in place but you could use anything you choose.

OK, now for the Copics and Prisma pencils I used - loads here, I'm afraid!

Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21, R20, R11, R30
Blonde hair: E50, E51, E53, E55
Auburn hair: E31, E33, E35, E37, E39 + Dark Brown Prisma pencil
Pink clothing: RV00, RV10, Promarker, Pink Carnation, RV34 + Raspberry Prisma pencil
Green stripes: G12, G20, G24, G82 , G94
Blue trousers: B000, B00, B02 + Muted Turqoise Prisma pencil
Khaki trousers: BG93, BG96, BG99
Roses: Promarker Antique Pink, R46, R59 + Tuscan Red Prisma pencil

Phew! That was a marathon edit - I hope you managed to stay with me!

Hugs

Polka Doodles DT Call

2011-10-03T15:58:00.001+01:00

Good lovely sunny afternoon, peeps!

Okkkaaayyyy! We're looking for some new teamies to join us over at Polkadoodles!

Yep, we need some new blood to join our lovely talented team on the challenge blog and also to make samples for shows and TV! So, if you LOVE colouring and you're great with your Promarkers, Copics, Prisma's and Watercolours (or any other colouring medium) and it's your speciality then please email Nikky with a link to your blog and NO MORE than 50 words about yourself and why you want to be on the Polkadoodles team. If you don't like colouring then don't worry - Polkadoodles caters for everyone, but you do need to be able to use digital products and rubber stamp.

It doesn't matter if you're a cardmaker, scrapbooker, a stamper or a CD crafter, we need someone who can be versatile and fit within the other talents on our fabulous, happy team. We look for all kinds of abilities and styles so you've gotta be in it, to win it, as the saying goes! You MUST have a blog where you post regularly. You MUST be able to commit to participating in the challenge blog 3 times per month, making TV samples when required AND commenting on challenge entries each week, so please ensure you can do all this before you apply - this is a permanent position and you must be able to offer the commitment we need.

Entries from around the world will be considered but, as we need people who can also make samples, because of time constraints entries from the UK may have an advantage - if you're not in the UK please don't let that put you off, really we just need someone awesome, and we're looking for more than one person!! We will be choosing someone over the next two weeks and results will be posted here.

Please do not leave comments etc on the challenge blog, all bloglinks must be sent by email by 13th OCTOBER. Please ensure your links are correct and link to the homepage so we can see your blog properly. email Nikky with a link to your blog and NO MORE than 50 words about yourself and why you want to be on the Polkadoodles team. (please note: Final decision will be announced on the challenge blog after 13th October) ----

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!

Hugs

Perpetual Calendar

2011-09-28T08:21:00.002+01:00

Good morning, peeps! Are you enjoying the sunshine then if you're in the UK? We ceratinly waited a long time for it, a whole Summer in fact!

I thought I woud just make a quick post to show you a liitle project I taught yesterday to a lovely group of ladies at a workshop at Samuel Taylor in Brighouse.

This was inspired by a project on the talented Jane Johnson's Blog some time back, so thanks go to her for doing all the complicated work with measurements and stating which numbers go on each block to make the calendar work.

The blocks are distressed with Milled Lavender DI and over stamped with a Penny Black stamp 'Scrolling Along'. I cut the numbers from a Spellbinders Presto Punch alphabet die called 'Plain Jane'. This is designed for their punching device but also cuts in the Big Shot. The months were printed on the computer and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The other decorations come from a Sizzlits die and Martha Stewart punches.

The surprise for me came when I discovered that the published detail of the workshop said that the calendar was decorated with Molly Blooms images.....whoops! Better make more comprehensive notes when I'm booking workshops in future and thanks go to the good natured ladies who didn't seem to mind at all that their calendars didn't have characters on them!

Have a wonderful day and I hope you all manage to get out into the lovely sunshine. Thank you for looking today and think of me here in my craft room running to catch up!

Hugs

A distressed card

2011-09-23T08:36:00.001+01:00

Good morning, peeps! Thank Crunchie it's Friday again - don't they roll around fast? I'm trying not to think about it frankly and at least this week's challenge at Polka Doodles isn't to make a Christmas card! (we're going to be needing those far too soon!) It's 'Distress it', which is really good because I don't seem to have done any distressing for a while and, when that happens, we can often forget these techniques so it's good to revisit.

This little cutie pie is Bella and she appears on the new Simply Sweet CD. Here she is on her garden swing under a lovely blue sky with just some light fluffy clouds - she clearly doesn't live in Yorkshire, that's all I can say!

Anyhoo, I distressed the edges of the main image with a distressing tool and Pumice Stone DI and the put some Stardust Stickles over the top, which almost obscures the distressing! Well I did say that I hadn't used this technique in a while! I also applied the same DI to the sentiment and the lovely DP, both of which were printed from the same CD. The leaves were cut from a Marianne die and the flowers are Sweetheart blossoms from Wild Orchid Crafts. The ribbon is from my stash. Speaking of which, have you ever noticed that however many spools/lengths of ribbon you have, you've never got quite the right one? Who wrote that rule then?

Of course, Bella is coloured with Copics and Flexmarkers and the shading is enhanced with Prisma pencils blended with Sansodor but I'm sorry that, in the chaos that is my craft room, I didn't keep a note of the numbers for you.

I do hope that you'll join us for this challenge and hop over to the Challenge blog to see all the wonderful work that my teamies have put in.

Whatever you're doing this weekend, have a good un. I'm teaching a colouring class at Samuel Taylor in Roseville Street, Leeds tomorrow and there's great excitement about the place there at the moment because a new store opens in Harrogate tomorrow - let's all wish them every success because it's great to see a new craft shop opening it's doors.

Hugs

Snow and ice already!

2011-09-22T09:19:00.000+01:00

Good morning, peeps and a bit of a chilly one it is too!

Well it's been really busy around here lately and I've hardly emerged from my craft room! However, I shall be heading over to Craftrange.com at Burnley later for their big demonstration evening that starts at 5 o'clock. I'm demonstrating the wonderful Polka Doodles range and my fantastic DT teamies have made some stunning samples for me to take along so I thought that today I'd show you one of the samples that I've made myself and here it is:

I've used stamps from the Christmas Neighbours set, which I love - there's just everything you need in this set to make a Christmas card with a difference. I've coloured it in the style perfected by Nikky herself using Copic pens from the Cool Grey range. The 'light' in the windows is created using Y11 and then enhanced with a Wink of Stella clear pen although it's not really showing in the photo, probably because the light was virtually gone by the time I took the picture! Glamour dust provides the snow effect and the snowflake die is a Whimsy one called Winter's Jewel, which I think is the perfect description for it.

The background papers are from the Paper Boutique Vol 2 CD, which is called 'Creative Christmas' and has loads of wonderful papers you can print as well as 21 templates for Christmas crafting.

This is one of those cards that definitely looks better in real life because the cool greys look a little odd on blue background papers in the photograph but not on the card that's beside me as I type.

If you're planning to be at the demonstration evening later, do come and say hello - it would be great to meet you but, whatever you're doing today, have a good one. I'll be back tomorrow with another Polka Doodles Challenge card.

Thank you for looking today and I hope my icy card didn't make you shiver too much!

Hugs

Reminder of Summer

2011-09-20T10:35:00.002+01:00

Good morning, peeps and how are you all today? Isn't it getting autumnal? The hillside I look out on from my craft room is changing daily it seems and I watch the lovely greens change to the wonderful Autumnal colours. Wouldn't it be great if we could have the rich colours of Autum without the cooler weather? I know it's not possible but I can dream!Anyhoo, speaking of losing the lovely greens of Summer, I thought I'd share this card with you today:

If you've been watching Barbara Gray on the Pick of the Week Show on Create and Craft TV, you'll have seen this card already because Barbara asked me to make some staged samples for her to help out with the massive task of preparing so many demonstrations for all the shows being aired this week. Please follow the link if you want to buy Barbara's DVD 5 at a real bargain price!

If you didn't see the show, this card was made by stamping the Birch Tree stamp twice across an A6 Clarity Card using a dye based ink pad, then covering the trunks with Versamark pen and embossing with clear embossing powder. The clouds were produced over a cloud shaped template using a make-up brush and Adirondack Stonewashed ink. The Birch Tree Leaves were then stamped with Kaleidacolor Fresh Greens ink. I used the same stamps and inks to make the backing paper on the base of this card but blotted the stamps twice before planting them on the paper. The pale blue card mount is cut from a Go Kreate die because I was trying to echo the shape of the clouds and make the whole design fit with the lovely verse that forms the stop for the easel card.

I'm making every effort to be a better blogger and post more regularly although I can't promise every day. I really don't know how you peeps that post every day manage it but perhaps I just need to be more organised.

I'm working hard on samples for the Polka Doodles dem on Thursday evening that I told you about in yesterday's post. Some wonderful sample cards have just arrived in the post from my lovely Teamies Dee, Emma and Lis. Do hop over and look at their work, it's just fabulous!

I do hope you like this memory of Summer and thank you for looking today - I'll see you again soon.

Hugs

Hello from an absentee blogger!

2011-09-19T19:05:00.002+01:00

Good afternoon, peeps!Well, did you think I'd fallen off the face of the Blogosphere? If you did I'm not surprised - I'd rather not think about how long it is since I last posted, but I thought I'd check in and show you a little of what I've been working on craftwise and the first thing is a memory of Summer with these poppies:

I so much enjoyed making this card for two main reasons; firstly, poppies are one of my favourite flowers and secondly, I love the medium of watercolour, which is what I used to colour the large poppies. Sadly, this card did not pass its screen test (or something) so didn't make it on to the screen during the Stamping with Clarity at the beginning of the month so it's making its debut here. Its mount is very plain, as many of my Clarity cards are because I think the images speak for themselves. I simply brayered some sky and some grass and added the small poppies in Memento London Fog to add some depth and that wonderful little verse to complete the picture.
If you live in the North, I'll demoing Polka Doodles stamps and CDs at Craftrange.com in Preston on Thursday evening from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. Do click on the link and check it out because there are lots of demos happening on that evening so it will be well worth a visit. Then, on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4p.m., I'll be teaching a Copic/Promarker colouring class at Samuel Taylors in Roseville Street, Leeds.
Have a wonderful evening, y'all and I promise I'll be back sooner with something else.

Hugs

This one doesn't scare the birds!

2011-09-02T08:26:00.001+01:00

Good morning, peeps! Well, thank crunchie it's Friday and it's time for another Polka Doodles Challenge and, this week, the tiitle of the challenge is 'Autumn Leaves', which means that we have to create something that shows the colours or subjects related to Autumn so here's my contribution:

I'm sorry about the poor photograph but the bulb died in one of my daylight lamps and I'm having difficulty getting another daylight bulb but there's one on order now. This cute scarecrow has now been named Cedric, in consultation with Nikky, and he's from the Sundae of Seasons CD. There is so much wonderful material on this CD as there is on all the Polka Doodles ones. I used one of the papers from this CD on the first layer of matting that covers almost the whole front of the card. Cedric and his feathered friends was great to colour with my Copics and Prismas and I hope you like my Autumnal offering.

I live right on the Pennines and all I can see as I look out of my craft room window is a hillside covered in trees and I have to confess that many of them are starting to show colours other than green! Of course, it's wonderful to watch the changing seasons and especially to see the wonderful colours of Autumn but I can't help but feel that we've missed out on Summer - again! Maybe we'll get an Indian one this year.Thank you for looking today and I do hope you'll be able to join in the challenge. Here's the card recipe:

Recipe:
DPs: Polka Doodles (see above), Fancy Pants Like Father Like Son
Ribbon and buttons: from stash
Button Twine: The Ribbon Girl
Copics:
Face, hands and feet: E41, E43, E44
Hat and tunic: B91, B93, B95, B97
Coat: E11, E13, E15
Tunic trim and grass: YG91, YG93, YG95, YG97, Y28
Birds: BG70, BG72, BG75
Bows Y21, Y26
Hearts: YR12, YR18

Whatever you're doing over the weekend, have a great one. I'm teaching a colouring class tomorrow at Samuel Taylor in Brighouse and aiming to have a day off and watch Barbara Gray on Create and Craft TV on Sunday.

Hugs

Have you seen this man before?

2011-08-29T08:00:00.000+01:00

Good morning, peeps!

I hope you're all bright eyed and bushy tailed this Bank Holiday morning and generally having some down time doing what you love best!

The answer to the question in the title will depend on how long you've been looking at my blog because this chap, Aubrey Bumblethorpe, made an appearance in his faded Black Sabbath T shirt and denims exactly one year ago when it was my gorgeous hubby Brian's birthday last year. Go here to see that post and his look alike in the form of my DH!

Anyhoo, he's making a reappearance this year complete with his birthday cake.

As you can see,this year he has a hangover! However, I don't think that Brian will be in this state because, as I type this post on Sunday 28 August, he is in bed with a horrible chesty cold! I do hope he's better for Tuesday which is his actual birthday. I know he doesn't like birthdays too much these days but catching this is really extreme!

You may be thinking that it's risky posting this before the birthday boy has seen it but there's really no problem since he never looks at my blog. I do hope that Aubrey makes you and him smile. I've made an insert on the computer for the inside that says 'Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the hell happened!' which I've borrowed from a card that the lovely and talented Mina showed on the card she posted this morning so thanks, hun and I do hope you don't mind my borrowing from you. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and if any of you haven't seen Mina's work yet, please follow the link I've posted and leave her some love - her work is wonderful.

Please send some positive thoughts for Brian to get better in time to celebrate his birthday and here is the recipe - not for the cake, but for the card!

Recipe

Image: Digi image from Just Inklined
DPs: K & Co 'Hopscotch'
Star die: Sizzix Primitive Stars
Buttons: from my stash
Button twine: The Ribbon Girl (and it only arrived yesterday - wonderful efficient service!)
Copics:
Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21, R11, R20, R30
T shirt: W1, W3, W5, W7, R22, R24, R27, R29
Beard: C0 C1, C3
Denim: B91, B93, B95
Icing/Plate/Doily: E50, E51,E53, BG11, BG13
Table: E53, E55, E57
Ice pack/candles: YR14, YR16, YR17
I used Prisma pencils and Sansodor to create the shadow and enhance the picture a little.

Hugs

Apple Harvest

2011-08-25T15:07:00.009+01:00

Good morning, peeps!

Apple Harvest - is it that time already? Well it is on my card for the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge this week, where we are challenged to use a sketch inspired by Korin Sutherland and here it is:

and this is what I produced for it:

I'm ashamed to say that I've had this lovely image of Mimosa with Apple Basket for the better part of a year and this is the first time she's seen ink! If you like her, she's available here at Bunny Zoe's Crafts with an amazing 25% off the normal price! She still looks as pretty as when I bought her and I really enjoyed the colouring, on which I spent hours - literally! Everyone says how therapeutic colouring is and I certainly find it so and I never get bored when I'm colouring or try to find an excuse to do something else (I'm sure you all know what I mean!). You may have noticed that I still stamped the image in Memento London Fog after I said in a previous post that I thought I might go over to using black for the outline. Immediately after I posted that, I noticed a trend amongst many artists to work with a light outline so I'm still persevering with that but I think I need to get more definition into the lighter areas like the skin and blonde hair so that these areas don't fade into the background - more practise is required.

Our sponsor this week is Sweet and Sassy Stamps so do come and join in this wonderful challenge. The sketch is a great one to work with and I can see myself using it again sometime.

If you're wondering what happened about the wallet damaging trip to find a new car for me, I'm now the proud owner of a 3 year old Smart car, whose name is Black Bess so no prizes for guessing what colour it is then! I'm still getting used to driving her and it's weird not having a clutch but it gets better with every trip.

Anyhoo, here's the recipe for the card:

Recipe

Stamp: Bildmalarna 'Mimosa with Apple Basket'
Sentiment: Pink Petticoat Curly Girly Sentiments
DPs: Basic Grey 'Sweet Threads' (one of my current faves!)and the dotty one is from Polka Doodles CD 'Sundae of Seasons'
Flowers & Stamens: Wild Orchid Crafts
Lace: from my stash
Leaves: Magnolia Doo Hickey Die
Copics:
Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21, R20, R11, R30
Hair: E50, E51, E53, E55
Dress & wellies: R21, R22, R35, R37, R59. The wellies have Glossy Accents added.
Petticoat: R81, R83, R85, RV0000
Grass & apples: G20, G40, YG11, YG93. The apples have Glossy Accents added.
Basket: E40, E41, E42, E43
The 'sky' effect behind Mimosa was added with Prisma Pencils blended with Sansodor.

Have a great weekend, whatever you have planned!

Hugs

Single layer card

2011-08-19T07:39:00.004+01:00

Good morning, peeps!

A single layer card is the challenge at Polka Doodles this week, which is definitely a challenge to me! Well, you've probably seen my cards before and it's usually more a question of what else can I ladle on to them in the form of embellies! Anyhoo, here's what I came up with:

Now, if you've seen Nikky's work before (for those that aren't familiar, Nikky is Mrs Polka Doodles), like here, you'll see that I've completely CASEd her. (By the way, if you're not familiar with the expression, CASE stands for Copy And Share Everything.) I confess that I've been completely fascinated with Nikky's method of creating these scenes for several weeks and have seen her demonstrate it three times now. Anyhoo, I finally plucked up courage to have a go at it myself - it's not as accomplished as those Nikky produces but I'll keep practicing! The shading is produced with Promarkers and the sentiment was printed from the All Around and Everywhere CD, which has a fabulous selection of papers, sentiments and images just like all the Polka Doodles CDs.

If you live anywhere within reach, I'm teaching this technique at Samuel Taylor, Brighouse on Tuesday 13 September and at the Roseville Street, Leeds store on Thursday 15 September, so maybe I'll see you there?

Whatever is your style, I hope you'll join us for this challenge, put away all your embellies and just see what happens when you have only one paper surface.

Well, it's back to other DT work for me but we'll be taking a break later to look at cars because that painfull time for the bank balance is starting to look imminent. Whatever you're doing today and over the weekend, have a good one and I'll see you again soon.

Thanks for looking today and please leave me a comment to let me know you've been around, I do so appreciate them.

Hugs

A little more Clarity

2011-08-18T07:27:00.007+01:00

Good morning, peeps!

Well are you surprised to see a post from me when it isn't Friday? I just thought I'd break a habit and post on a Thursday instead! I actually spend a good deal of my time crafting but a fair proportion of what I'm making can't be shown here on my blog until it's been shown (or not!) on the monthly Clarity Stamps TV show on Create and Craft. Then, very often when the show is over, I forget to post pictures here. So this post is a little catch up.

This card was the largest card I've ever made since it's A4 but I wanted to get all the Calligraphy Christmas Tree sizes on to one card and also include the Holly and Ivy Swirls since they embody the words of the carol.

Another Christmassy one - I hope you can pick up the sparkle in this picture. I wanted to really convey the feeling of snow falling in moonlight but the only problem is that sparkly embossing powder can be the very devil to work with because, if you're not careful, you end up with the sparkle everywhere and you can't see te images properly! (You're probably thinking 'Yes, I've been there!!') There was plenty of dabbing with the anti-static bag before the embossing happened, I can assure you! Anyhoo, I think it worked and hopefully the images embodied the words of the verse.

This is one that I really enjoyed making because it gave me the chance to watercolour something that I love but hardly ever do these days. I wanted to create the misty impression of the background in the original Alphonse Mucha painting as well as setting off the image to it's best advantage and watercolour was the most effective medium to allow this effect. Then I mounted it to look like a painting hangingon a wall. I can't remember what the DP is but I think it's Anna Griffin.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little meander back through a few of my past creations and thanks for staying with me through all the waffle and the piccies. I'll be back again tomorrow (well it's Friday isn't it?!!) with another Polka Doodle Challenge so see you there hopefully!

Hugs

Polka Doodles Challenge 32 - Good Luck

2011-08-12T09:17:00.005+01:00

Well, hello again!

I almost can't believe I'm making my second post in one day - it's certainly something I've never done before but I feel really pleased with myself for doing it! This is also a special card because it's my first sample as part of Team Doodle and I'm one lucky lady to have the opportunity to use all the wonderful products from Polka Doodles and there are so many of them that it was hard to know where to start!

This week, we're challenged to produce a Good Luck card and, since I love the Neighbours stampies so much, I decided to make mine a Good Luck in your New Home card, since the designs are perfect for that and here it is:

I really love the creative possibilities with these stamps since you could go on making cards with them for such a long time and never create the same scene twice! In fact it's quite hard to stop adding detail and ending up with the biggest card in the world!!

The paper and greeting are also from a Polka Doodles CD and I used 'Sundae of Seasons'. Crafting with CDs is totally new to me and it was quite a revelation to find that I could choose a sentiment outline and type whatever words I chose over it! Yay! what possibilities - I need never worry about having the right stamp again! Those of you who have been using CDs for a long time are probably wondering what planet I'm from but I openly admit that I have a lot to learn in this area.

I don't really have a recipe to leave you with for this card since I've already told you most of what I used. The colours are mostly the same as on the previous post (am I in a rut here?) and the flowers are from WOC, as usual. The leaves are from a Magnolia Doo Hickey die.

Anyhoo, who are you going to wish 'Good luck' to and enter your card into our challenge? You could win a wonderful prize from the lovely and generous Nikky as well as a blinkie for your blog.

After creating two posts in one day, I think I'd better go and lie down in a darkened room but whatever you're doing today, enjoy yourselves to the full and have a great weekend. I've still got some cleaning up to do from the kitchen re-fit so I think I'll just have to make myself a badge from one of these CDs that says 'I'd rather be crafting' and get on with it.

I wonder what I'll make next???

Hugs

My fave embellies!

2011-08-12T08:30:00.004+01:00

Good morning, peeps!

Well, it's Friday aagain and time for another Fussy and Fancy Challenge, which is to use a lot (meaning 3 or more) of your favourite embellies. Well I don't think there'll be any prizes for guessing that mine are flowers and this card is something of a flower fest, as you can see!

I think it's not just the flowers, although I do love them for themselves, but it's the process of putting the arrangement together and seeing how they absolutely transform a card whether there are lots or just a few.

Having said that, pearls are another fave of mine so they're on here as a sort of supporting act!

The image I've used here is from Lili of the Valley and it's called 'Summer Days' (the sentiment is from them too). It was my out and out favourite from the June release of their new designs and this is thefirst time it's seen ink. I've stamped it with Memento London Fog ink, which I've long preferred because it gives the impression of a pencil drawn image but the card is sitting on my desk beside me to next to another card that I'll be posting shortly which has the images stamped in black and I think I'm starting to prefer the greater definition that the black outline gives. Looks like there's a change coming in my cards, peeps!

Do come and join us over at Fussy and Fancy Challenge this time, there are two prizes from our wonderful sponsors Digis with Attitude and Inspired Stamps so get out your fave embellies and see what you can create!

I used so many pens to colour this image that I didn't keep a note of them all but I'll put what I can remember below:

Recipe:

DPs: Prima 'Sweet Fairy'
Pearls: The Hobby House
Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
Leaves: Woodware punch
Sky: Tumbled Glass DI
Copics:
Skin: E000, E00, E21, R11, R20
Hair: E50, E51, E53, E55 (blonde) E21, E23, E25, E27 (brown)
Pinks: R81, R83, R85
Purples: V12, V15
Greens: YG01, YG03, YG17, YG25, YG95, G20
Blues: Promarker Cool Aqua

Well, that's all for this post, peeps - can you believe that I have another one to make today so is this a record or what?!!

See you later!

Hugs

They used to be a secret!

2011-08-10T15:51:00.006+01:00

Good afternoon, peeps!

Well it seems strange doing a post to my blog when it's not Friday! LOL

I thought I'd show you some of the cards I made for the Stamping with Clarity TV show last Sunday since I don't seem to have shown you many of my efforts with Clarity Stamps for a while.

Firstly, here's the one that Nigel May said was his favourite:

If you're reading this, Nigel, I'm very flattered that it was your favourite Treescape card!

I think that this one was my favourite this month:

but it didn't make an appearance on the show.

One more for today:

This was probably my second favourite - just a soft and gentle Christmas card.

See you again soon, peeps - be good and stay safe!

Hugs

An announcement!

2011-08-01T15:43:00.002+01:00

Good afternoon, peeps!

This is just a very brief post to let you all know that I'm really excited to announce that I've been invited to join the Polka Doodles DT! As you can imagine, I said 'No!' (yeah right!!) :-).

I really love the wonderful designs that Nikki comes up with and I shall have so much fun colouring them! Hopefully I shall have something to show you from the Polka Doodles range in the not too distant future!

Thanks for reading my exciting announement today!

Hugs

Monochrome Christmas

2011-07-29T11:30:00.003+01:00

Good morning, peeps!

Well it's Friday again and as much as I'm trying to get out of this habit, a week seems to pass by before I manage another posting - scary really, especially when this post is another Christmas card!

Anyhoo, here is my card for the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge this week, which is 'Christmas in July', a great opportunity for you to make a start on your Christmas cards and enter our challenge! Here's my sample card:

I'm in a bit of a black and white phase at the moment and rather enjoying it and I think it's quite striking for a Christmas theme, as here. All the stamps used in this card are from Clarity Stamps and the design is just stamped on to white card with Adirondack Pitch Black ink. I sponged the sky over a Post-it Note mask to create the moon and Embossed the 'Peace on Earth' words with gold detail embossing powder. The black layer that's behing the gold mat is cut from a Go Kreate die.

Well, things are going to be a bit chaotic here at Whitehouse Towers this week because the kitchen is being partially refitted and you can imagine how much I'm looking forward to that process!! However, I'm really looking forward to the finished result and all the improved facilites it's going to provide.

Do join in with our challenge this time- there are some great prizes on offer from Bugaboo Stamps and Inspired Stamps our joint, generous sponsors.

Thank you for visiting today and I'll see you again soon I hope whenever I surface from the kitchen!

Hugs

A prototype

2011-07-22T16:56:00.006+01:00

Good afternoon, peeps!

Well it's Friday again and blogging seems to be developing into a Friday habit recently. I do try to blog more frequently but I often don't have anything new I can show to you because the Clarity work is secret until after it's aired on Create and Craft TV.

Anyhoo, who'd like a tasty cupcake to have with their cup of tea? Me please, me please!! The good thing about this one is that it's totally calorie free - the only snag is that it probably doesn't taste too good the main ingredients being polystyrene, ribbon, cardboard and glue! I hope it looks better than it would taste!

You've probably seen a few of these around Blogland and I've been wanting to make one for some time. They're designed to hold one of those gift cards that looks like a plastic credit card so you lift up the chocolate flake and there it is, attached by means of a paper clip that's glued into the folds of the cardboard chocolate flake. I bought some instructions at the last show at Harrogate and they were from The Hobby House. There's also a video on You Tube here, which is very good.

As my heading says, this is my prototype and I'm certainly glad I had a trial run because I leaned a lot from it and the next one will definitely be better and it will also have a box to live in. I think that will make it a much nicer or perhaps a more complete gift.

Well my cup of tea is now finished - without a tasty, sugar topped cupcake (makes sad face!) but I guess it's better for my figure.

Enjoy your weekend be it with or without cupcakes!

Hugs

Here comes Summer!

2011-07-15T08:13:00.006+01:00

Good morning, peeps! Well it's Friday again and I said I'd be back with another card and here I am, cup of tea at the ready, to tell you all about the new challenge over at Fussy and Fancy and the topic for this one is 'Summer'. By the way, it is rumoured that we're having one but there haven't been too many signs so far!! Anyhoo, here's me card:

My main image is the delightfully cute Molly Blooms (my new favourite!) but the background is 'Beach Umbrella' kindly donated by Meljens Designs who are one of our sponsors for this challenge. The second sponsor is Love to Stamp and both are offering wonderful prizes so I do hope you'll join in this lovely challenge! Do hop over to the challenge blog and see what my talented teamies have created.

I did find this card great fun to make and I just love all the bright summery colours. I also used a different embellishment for the very first time - that's the twig supporting the 'Fun in the Sun' message. There I was yesterday, hunting around the gardens outside our apartment looking for just the right twig! If any of my neighbours was looking out of the window, they'll now be convinced that I've totally lost it!

Well, it's the Summer Crafting show at Doncaster Racecourse this weekend and I'll be there tomorrow adding to my small stash. (yeah, right!) If my friend, Barbara Gray from Clarity Stamps is swamped with customers (not an unusual situation for Barbara!) I will be helping out on her stand so if you see me, please stop and say hello.

I'm also going to enter this card into The Paperlane Challenge, which this month is 'Anything but square'.

Recipe:

Stamps: Molly Blooms and Meljens Designs (digi)
DPs: Bo Bunny (words) and Echo Park 'Sweet Summertime'
Embellishments: Twig from my garden and starfish from my stash
Copics:
Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21, R11, R20, R30
Hair: E25, E27, E29
Molly's playsuit & hat: BG11, BG13, BG15, BG18, YG01, YG03, YG05
Rubber ring: R01, R02, R05, E19, YR12, YR14, YR16, YR18 finished with Glassy Accents
Umbrella: all the colours used in the above 2 items + E42, E43, E44
Glass: C00, C1
Lemon slice: Y02, Y06, Y08
Orange Juice: YR12, YR14, YR16

Well, that's all from me for now but, whatever you're doing for the weekend, have a great one!

Hugs

A fold with no name?

2011-07-12T15:01:00.007+01:00

Good afternoon, peeps!

OK, who locked up the sun, then? Is anyone going to 'fess up? I just wish that someone would set him free so that he could put his hat on and come out to play!

Anyhoo, here is a card that's another class sample and I've been having fun with Molly Blooms this time:

I just think these images from Clare are wonderful and here I've teamed Sitting Molly with some Magnolia images, all of which are coloured with Copics and a touch of Prisma pencil.

In the photograph above, you can see how the card stands and I'm wondering if this fold has a name so, if you know it, please leave me a comment and tell me. I don't feel I can call it a gate fold card although it does start off a little like that but then you stick a 6" square front and back on the left-hand 'gate'.

You can see here that the inside 'extension' has a collection of Christmas trees on it and the short right-hand fold has a journaling space.

Now you can see that on the outside of that same flap, there are some poinsettias to finish it off.

I messed for ages with this card but I'm quite pleased with it. The only bad spot is that, on the photographs, the white edges of the images where they've been cut out look far more obvious than they do in real life. A little touching up with a black pencil may be about to happen!

Well, if you're local and you fancy making a replica of this card, I shall be teaching a class at Samuel Taylor in Roseville Street, Leeds next Tuesday morning and I'd love to see you there! You can also buy all the Molly Blooms stamps from their mail order department here.

Recipe

Stamps: Molly Blooms, Magnolia and Rubber Stampede (the stocking)
DPs: An assortment from Craft Creations, Bo Bunny and a couple of anonymous ones from my stash
Dies: Marianne (Christmas trees, poinsettias & leaves), Nesties and I think the corner is a Quikcutz die.
Ribbon: From my stash as is the hemp string
Distressing: Antique Linen DI
Copics:
Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21, R11, R20, R30
Hair & wooden bench: E55, E57, E59 and Dark Brown Prisma pencil
Dress, socks, shoes & holly berries: R22, R24, R27, R29, E19 & Tuscan red Prisma pencil
Sash,bow & holly leaves: YG93, YG95, YG97, YG99
Bloomers & lace: E50, E51, E53 & Burnt Ochre Prisma pencil
Stocking: A combination of the above colours + BG72, BG75, BG78

Right that's all from me for today. I hope your fingers aren't aching from all the scrolling through the photos but if you've stayed with me this far, thank you for looking! I'm on to some more DT work now so I'll see you with that on Friday.

Hugs

Sketch Challenge

2011-07-08T11:19:00.005+01:00

Good morning, peeps and happy Friday to you! The start of the weekend, yay!!!
I'm a little late with this morning's post so I'm sorry if you've visited before wondering what happened to my card for the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge but here it is!

This time we have a wonderful sketch from Cheri AKA Graphicat and a great sketch it was to follow:

I love adding tickets to cards by way of a greeting and the tickets that are partly covered by the bow say 'Love' and 'Hugs'. I may be just an old romantic but I like the idea of having a ticket for some love or some hugs!

Do come and join us for this challenge. Our sponsor this time is Simply Betty Stamps, and she is offering our random winner 6 digi's from the new Jude and the Rockers line and some of my talented new teamies have used these images in their sample cards, which are just bound to inspire you! While you're visiting the challenge blog, you'll be impressed by our brand new look - it's fabulous and you can collect a brand new blinkie to display in your sidebar!

Whatever you have planned for the weekend, I hope the sun shines on you, which it isn't doing here at the moment but tomorrow's a brand new day!

Recipe

Stamps: Magnolia 'Sweetie Tilda' & Magnolia Branch, LOTV Additions Grunge Tickets & Words for Tickets
Pearls: The Hobby House
Rafia ribbon: Wild Orchis Crafts
DPs: Basic Grey 'Sweet Threads'
Punch: Fiskars 'Threading Water'
Copics:
Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21, R11, R30, R30
Hair: E50, E51, E53, E55, E33 & Sandbar Brown Prisma pencil
Dress & hair bows: R81, R83, R85 & Raspberry Prisma pencil
Grass & leaves: YG61, YG63, YG67, G70
Tree brach: E70, E71, E77
Flowers: RV0000, RV000, RV00
Sky: Tumbled Glass Distress Ink
Distressing: Pumice Stone Distress Ink

Thank you for looking today and please leave me a comment so I can come and visit you!

Hugs

It's a steal!

2011-07-01T08:34:00.004+01:00

Good morning, peeps!

Well I finally made it back to my blog to show you the promised second card, the techniques for which I'll be teaching at Samuel Taylor's in Leeds tomorrow. It seems rather appropriate to post this to my blog today because it was only on Wednesday that I posted off my Design Team cards to Barbara at Clarity Stamps ready for the TV show on Sunday, so now it's a deep breath and on with the next task!

I really love this 'Joy to the World' stamp and I've used it here to create a card that is basically a copy of something that Barbara created last year. I don't normally copy other artists' work but I find, when I'm teaching Barbara's techniques, that people just want to make cards like Barbara herself makes so that's what I've done here and, hopefully, I can pass on the method to the ladies in my class tomorrow. So, forgive me, Barbara but copying you is all in a good cause!

I hope you all have something really good planned for the weekend. According to the weather man, Sunday is set to be a gorgeous day but I'll be in a seminar all day. Well, I have to work to fund this habit of mine! We'll also be mainly living at my son's house for two days to look after his gorgeous dog and the chickens that provide us with tasty eggs! Whatver you're doing, have a great weekend, peeps and I'll be back soon with something completely different!

The Recipe for this card is really simple, Clarity Stamps - Joy to the World, Small Larch Tree and Small grasses, a Versamark pad, silver detail embossing powder and an Adirondack Denim ink pad - oh, and don't forget the brayer!

Hugs

My earliest one ever!

2011-06-20T16:49:00.005+01:00

Good afternoon, peeps!

Yes, it's true - I've never made a Christmas card this early in the year before although I know that some folks are super organised and make them all through the year, I'm not one of them I'm afraid! So why, I hear you ask amd I starting now? Well, it's a class project and forms a half of the day's projects on 2nd July at Samuel Taylor's in Roseville Street, Leeds. The other half shall be revealed soon! I think that the colours look a bit 'bleached out' on this photo but it was the best I could do.

Maybe many of you have made Tri-fold Shutter cards before, but I do think it's an attractive fold and a great way to use your fabulous DPs. It's even possible now to buy the cards ready cut and folded but this one started out its life as a flat piece of card.

Tilda with Fir is still one of my fave Magnolia Christmas stamps - I wonder what they'll delight us with this year, peeps? All I can say is that I hope they issue them earlier than they did last year!

This is how the card looks when it's open:

Well, I hope the class members like it, it's not a difficult card to make but there's a fair amount of measuring and cutting to keep them busy and, by way of a departure, I decided to use a poinsettia cut from a Marianne die rather than use purchased flowers, even though I like them so much! However, this poinsettia is also very appealing and I can see it getting quite a few airings as Christmas draws ever closer. I expect that, like me, you can't believe that virtually half the year has gone already - scary! Please someone tell the sun to shine before we go into Autumn!

The image is coloured with the usual Copics, Promarkers and Prisma pencils and I was a good girl and kept a note of the colours for you!

OK, this is me leaving you with the card recipe whilst I go back to some more projects but I'll see you again soon.

Recipe

Stamps: Magnolia 'Tilda with Fir' & Jolly Holly, Merry Christmas - Printworks, With love - Artifacts
DPs: Memory Box Mistletoe Collection
Dies: Nesties and Marianne die #LR0122
Distressing: Old Paper DI
Ribbon: from my stash
Copics:
Skin: E000, E00, E01 E21, R11, R20, R30
Hair: E23, E27, E50
Coat & hat: RV32, Promarkers Antique Pink and Burgundy + Tuscan Red Prisma pencil
Fur on coat & hat: E40, E41, E42
Fir Tree: G40, G82, G85, G94 : Marine Green Prisma pencil
Tights/Mittens: BG70, BG72, Promarker Tea Green + Muted Turquoise Prisma pencil

Hugs

Triangle Joyfold Card

2011-06-17T07:57:00.005+01:00

Good morning, peeps and have you got that Friday feeling? It's the start of the weekend and it also means it's time for another challenge over at Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge. The challenge this week is for you to 'case' a DT member which, if you're not familiar with the expression means that you need to make a card after the style of one of the members of the Design Team - quite an interesting challenge!
Here's my offering for this one:

I was keen to make one of these triangle joyfold cards as soon as I saw it on the talented Marlena's blog. It's basically an opening criss-cross card with an extra little card inserted in the centre but it's a fun design to follow and if you follow the link to Marlena's blog, it'll take you straight to her instructions on how to make it.
I decided to use this really cute Tilda with balloon - she looks a little wistful don't you think? I've coloured her with the usual Copics and Prisma pencils and used a Martha Stewart punch around the page as a background for her.

The same punch has been used to create a jotting panel for the inside of the small card. I'm sorry that this photo is a bit dark, I must have got the lighting wrong.

I do hope you'll take up the challenge, peeps - there's a super prize up for grabs from Digi's with Attitude and I'm sure that whole of the DT will be intrigued to see what you produce!

I hope you've got something nice planned for the weekend although, looking at the weather forecast, it had better be something you can do indoors! Is it really Summer? Maybe Summer's coming to the party a little late and she'll be along soon -let's hope so anyway!

Recipe

Stamps: Magnolia 'Tilda with balloon' stamped with Memento 'London Fog'. Slice of cake from a Kelly Panacci plate and the 'Happy Birthday' greeting is from an anonymous clear plate in my stash!
DPs: Prima 'Sweet Fairy' pad
Dies: Magnolia Doohickey swirl and leaves
Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts (of course!)
Pearls: The Hobby House
Punch: Martha Stewart Cherry Blossom PATP
Ribbon: from my stash
Copics:
Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21, R11, R20, R30
Hair: E23, E25, E27, E53 + Dark Brown Prisma pencil
Dress: R81, R83, R85 + Raspberry Prisma pencil
Socks, hairbans, dress trim: V000, V91, V12, V15 + Dark purple Prisma pencil
Shoes: BV20, BV23, BV25 + Cool Grey 90% Prisma pencil
Balloon: YG03, YG11, YG25 + Marine Green Prisma pencil

Well, that's all from me for today. I'll be working on loads of class samples and there's a box full of Clarity Stamps awaiting my attention - I need to complete those samples well in advance of the next TV show. I don't think I'll be getting bored, do you?

Hugs

One for the boys - take it easy!

2011-06-10T07:53:00.006+01:00

Good morning to you, peeps and happy Friday!
It being Friday, it's time for another challenge over at Fussy and Fancy and my card is a week later than usual - that is, I've transferred into Team B for a week because I was so busy that I couldn't manage to get my card finished in time last week. Anyhoo, here it is at last:

As you may have guessed, the challenge this week is to make a card for a man or boy, not one of my major strengths,I feel! However, K & Co's 'Hopscotch' pad and Lily of the Valley to the rescue and this is what came out. I love these DPs for male cards, the colours are so bright and sunny!
There are great prizes on offer for this challenge from Meljen's Designs and Love to Stamp, so do come and join us. There's also a DT call out at the moment so why not give that a try as well? Just follow the link above to go directly to the challenge site.
Well that's all from me for today but I will definitely be seeing you again soon! The card recipe is below and have a great weekend whatever you have planned!

Recipe

Stamps: The little boy and the sentiments are both from Lili of the Valley
DPs: K & Co 'Hopscotch'
Dies: Spellbinder Nestie, Magnolia leaves, Sizzix Primitive Stars
Buttons: from my stash
Distressing: Pumice Stone DI
Copics:
Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21, R11, R30
Hair: E31, E35, E37
Shirt & socks: E50, E51, E53, YR12, YR14, YR15, YR16
Shorts, cap & shoes: B32, B34, B37
Paper: E40, E41
Branch: E25, E27
Grass & leaves: G20, YG93, YG95
Ground: W5, W3, W2, W1, W0
The colouring was enhanced with Prisma pencils and Sansodor but I didn't keep a note of which ones - sorry!
I'm also entering this in the Lili of the Valley Challenge, which is Anything Goes.

Hugs

The secrets are revealed!

2011-06-08T11:18:00.007+01:00

Good morning, my poor neglected blogging friends! Did you think I'd got lost? I think that the absence of blog posts arises because I get deeply engrossed in the Clarity Stamp DT work and, because it has to be kept secret until after the TV show, I forget to post anything. Hmmmm, I'll have to give some thought to what I can do about that.

Anyhoo, I thought I'd show you the ones I made for the last show. Here's number 1:

I created this one by stamping with Versamark on to Triple Silk paper. It's something I've had for years and bought from a supplier that has since closed down but basically it's a semi-gloss paper and I could probably get the same or similar effect from Claritycard. When the Versamark had dried a little, I sponged on Adirondack Pool, Stream, Denim and Eggplant. I then stamped with Versamark again but this time applied Moonglow embossing powders in various colours. I do love the effect of layering stamp designs in this way and it's some time since I used the technique. The double frame was inspired by a blog post I saw but I'm blowed if I can remember where so, apologies to whoever originated this type of design.

Here's number 2:

I felt very much at home creating this one because it allowed me to use my lovely Copics. I had great fun with them on this design but the colouring took me well over 5 hours in total! The ribbon and beads are from my stash.
Well, I'll leave it there for today, otherwise this post could become like War and Peace but I hope you enjoyed looking at these two and I'll see you again soon.

Hugs

More simplicity

2011-05-27T14:23:00.004+01:00

Good afternoon, peeps! TGIF - it's the start of a long Bank Holiday weekend and I hope you're all looking forward to it!

Here I am still trying to solve the problem of what to create for the Make and Take session I'm involved in and this is my second effort. I think it's more viable that the last one I posted because the card is easier to assemble. The main problem is that I'm not really a 'less is more' person, I'm more of a 'pile as much on as you can' person - especially flowers! Now that I've made two cards without a bouquet on them, I'm definitely getting withdrawal symptoms! but at least this card has one flower on it! Apart from that, everything else can just be punched/die-cut and stuck on - the ribbon is not a necessary embellie.
I think I quite like it but I'm not sure - what do you think?

Card recipe:

Image: Magnolia- sorry but I don't know what colour Copics I used because she's been coloured for too long!
Sentiment: Whiff of Joy (I think!)
DPs: Craft Creations
Punches: Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly large and medium
Pearls: The Hobby House
Flower: Cardology (2 of them glued together)
Ribbon: from my stash

Back to the Clarity stuff now - have a great weekend!
Hugs

A Criss Cross card

2011-05-25T13:08:00.006+01:00

Good afternoon, peeps! I hope you are all well and seeing some sunshine!

Well, this card was something of a challenge to myself, the reason being that I've been asked to teach (if that's the word) a Make and Take project at Samuel Taylor at Roseville Street in Leeds on 4th June and I needed to create a project that could be easily constructed. This is the first of two options. The only problem is, I find it very hard to imagine the timing for creating the card when you have all the bits ready cut out and you're only concerned with the assembly. I seem to spend ages going through the thought process of what to put where, which papers, punches and embellies to use and so on. I think the only answer is to recreate this when I have the correct images, which will be from the Magnolia 'Sweet Rainbow' collection, and set the clock when I've prepared all the elements. There could then be a quick redesign - watch this space! You could be seeing a very similar card again!

Here you can see both elements of the card with the jotting panel on the inside, pull out part of the card.

and here is a close up of the star of the show:

I did keep a note of the Copics I used to colour her but you'll be amazed at the number of colours I used for her dress but I just kept layering them on until I was satisfied with the colour!
I hope you like it, peeps. I must say I was itching to pretty it up a lot more but then it wouldn't have been suitable for the Make and Take!
Hopefully, I'll see you again soon with another option for the occasion. Enjoy the slightly warmer weather despite the winds!

Card recipe:

Image: Magnolia
Sentiment: An old one from my stash - sorry but I don't know who makes it.
DPs: Craft Creations
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities Mega Ovals large (plain and scalloped) Go Kreate Concentric Tags #1, Sizzix 'Primitive Hearts', Sizzix 'Decorative Flourishes set'
Punches: Martha Stewart 'Swirling Lace', McGill 'Leaves', EK Success 'Retro Flower'
Pearls and Pearl Brad: The Hobby House
Ribbon & button: from my stash
Copics:
Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21, R30, R20
Hair: E50, E51, E53, E55, E33 + Prisma Sandbar brown pencil
Dress & socks: R11, R20, R21, R22, R30, R81, R83, R85, RV000, RV00, RV11 + Prisma Cool Grey 50%
Tilda's wings: C00, C1, C3 + Prisma Cool Grey 50%
Shoes: BV25, BV29, C00
Roses: Y13, Y15, Y17
Leaves: G20, G40, G82 + Prisma Marine Green
The shadows around Tilda were created with Prisma Warm Grey 70% & 50%
All the distressing was done with Pumice Stone DI.
Hugs

A little Clarity

2011-05-23T18:13:00.005+01:00

Good evening,peeps! I hope you all had a good weekend.
I've been working on Clarity cards today for the next Create and Craft TV show in June and it occurs to me that I've never shown you the ones I made for the last show at the beginning of May.

You may have caught a glimpse of this one if you watched the show. It's a combination of three of the kits with the Postcard Kit stamped in the middle of a sky backgound (created with cotton wool soaked in Versamark and Adirondack Cloudy Blue and Stonewashed brayered over) surrounded by the Famous Places kit and a couple of the Stamp stamps added for good measure. I paper pieced the Taj Mahal and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The images in the stamps were coloured with Promarkers - I find that Promarkers give a better result on the Claritycard than Copics.

This was my personal favourite of the cards I made from the last bunch of kits. I used the Big and Juicy 'Foliage' pad to brayer the backgound in two parts - sky first then masked that and did the earth. I just love that image of the Massai warrior and I bought him as a lineart image before I got this silhouette in my DT kit. All of the silhouetted images are stamped with Jet Black Archival ink and I thought that rafia was the perfect finishing touch.
Well it's just a brief post for this evening - lots more work to do!
Have a pleasant and peaceful evening!
Hugs

Cake card

2011-05-20T09:07:00.006+01:00

Good morning, peeps and TGIF! Nearly the weekend - do you have something exciting planned? DT work for me! Speaking of which, here is my card for the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge which, this week, is a recipe:

3 papers
2 embellishments
1 ribbon

I love this type of challenge and here's what I did with it:

When I first saw this cake card on the talented Cabio's Blog it was another 'Wow, I must make one of those' moments and it was perfect for this recipe challenge!

Of course, being basically another easel card it was the usual challenge in the photography department - not one of my major talents at the best of times! The little box that is tied on with my 1 ribbon holds six birthday candles and, just to illustrate how they would be used, I've placed three spares in the holes of the 'cake', which is simply made with card covered with DPs.

This is a really fun project so do have try with it if you have need of a birthday card soon. I shall certainly be using the design again and stocking up on candles in readiness! I've also seen it produced with just one larger candle for the centre of the cake and four candles for Advent - both look great! The other good news for me in producing this card is that I've found a Red Violet (pink) Copic combination that I actually like - some of the colours in this colour family are so harsh that I hesitate to use them but this one could be used a lot!

Card recipe
Stamped image: Magnolia 'Tilda with Wedding Presents'
Copics: Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21, R11, R20. Hair: E50, E51, E53, E55, E33. Apron/socks: RV11, RV13, RV14 + Raspberry Prisma. Dress/shoes: BG70, BG72, Cool Aqua Promarker + Muted Turquoise Prisma. Parcels: Y32, Y35, Y38, Y13, Y15, Y17 + Golden Rod Prisma. YG01, YG03, YG25 + Moss Green Prisma. V12, V15, V17. BG70, BG72, Cool Aqua Promarker. Shadow: French Grey 50% & 70% Prismas.
DPs: Echo Park 'Summer Days'
Flowers: Wild Orhis Crafts
Dies: Magnolia Swirl and Sizzix Primitive Stars
Sentiments: Pink Petticoat (Happy Birthday) and Lili of the Valley (on cake)
Ribbon: from my stash

Whatever you're doing this weekend, have a great one and do try and join us for this challenge.
Hugs

Circle Step Card

2011-05-15T13:08:00.001+01:00

Good afternoon, peeps!
You know how sometimes you see a card and you think 'Oh, yes- I've GOT to make one of those!'? Well this was one such card. I first saw it here on the lovely Jacquie Dennis's blog who in turn had found it on the talented Marlene Ashby's blog here. So now it's come full circle (groan, groan!) and now you're looking at my effort!

I must say that with 20/20 hindsight (a wonderful thing) I wish that I'd used stronger colours than peach and white but maybe it'll be a good excuse to make another and try again.
Well, I'm glad that Mr Blogger seems to be back to health and behaving himself - it definitely is not good when he goes AWOL! I'll also be glad when I get back to full health because I'm still croaking like a warbling chipmunk but at least I've found the energy to make a card and a blog post. Who knows, I may soon get around to visiting all you lovely people again soon.
Anyhoo, I'll be teaching peeps how to make this little flowery concoction at Samuel Taylor, Brighouse on the 31st of this month but, in the meantime there's another Clarity Stamp show on Create and Craft TV on 5th June for which to prepare cards - lots of work to do with that!
Card recipe
Image: Nellie Snellen 'Dawn with flowers'
Sentiment: Penny Black
Colouring: Copics and Prisma pencils (sorry no numbers!)
Flowers: EK Success Retro flower punches medium and small
Butterflies: Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly punch
Flourishes: Sizzix Decorative Flourishes Set
Pearls: The Hobby House
Ribbon from stash
Hugs

EDIT A friend has emailed me to say that she cannot leave comments on this post. The problem may be Internet Explorer 9 which is apparently incompatible with Blogger. I've changed my web browser to Firefox in the hope of a cure but I'm sorry if anyone else out there is having the same problem.

A new challenge and an apology

2011-05-06T07:48:00.006+01:00

Good morning, peeps!
Well, I can't believe that it's 2 weeks since I last posted anything to my blog so I'd like to apologise to all my lovely followers that there's been nothing new to see here. Excuses? Well I've had a really heavy, flu-y cold that's totally wiped a week from my life when I've been unable to do anything much and I don't 'do' ill so that's been a bit of a shock to the system! I'm still not good but better than I was. Then there was the Clarity DT work, which I must confess tends to absorb me totally so I need to be more organised about that and not neglect my blog - watch this space!
OK, moan over and let's get on to the challenge:

The challenge over at Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge this week is a sketch from my talented teamie Mindy. Here it is:

As always with Mindy's sketches it was great fun and easy to work with and I've echoed the design on the inside of my card, as you can see here:

I do like the insides of my cards to be properly finished but I must confess that too often lately I've just completed the outside to meet a deadline and I now have a whole box full of cards that are waiting for the insides to be prettied up and have a box to live in. Hey ho! That sounds like a little occupational therapy for when there's nothing else pressing!
Anyhoo, on to the card - the recipe is at the end of this post although it doesn't have the Copic numbers with it I'm afraid. The image was coloured some time ago (if it hadn't been I don't think there would have been a card this week!) and there was no note of the numbers with it.
Thank you so much lovely followers and visitors for looking today. I do hope that you'll join us at Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge this week where there's a great prize up for grabs from our generous sponsor Simply Betty Stamps.
I'm teaching a Copic/Promarker/Prisma Pencils colouring class tomorrow at Samuel Taylor in Brighouse and I've still got lots of prep to do. My lovely son tells me I sound like a warbling chipmunk so I hope all the students manage to hear me OK! At least I'm no longer infectious!
Supplies:
Images: Magnolia on the front and Penny Black 'Scrolling Along' on the jotting panel inside
Sentiment: Hero Arts
Colouring: Copics and Prisma pencils
DPs: Basic Grey 'Kioshi' and a Freebie from Making Cards magazine ages ago!
Dies: Spellbinder Nesties and Magnolia Doohickey Swirls and leaves
Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
Ribbon: from my stash
Pearls: The Hobby House
See you again soon!
Hugs

Wonderful Springtime!

2011-04-22T07:49:00.006+01:00

Good morning, peeps on this wonderful Good Friday morning!
Well, it's time for a new challenge over at Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge and for the next two weeks we'd like you to create a project with Springtime colours, images or both. Our wonderful sponsor is Digis with Attitude and the winner will receive a generous $10 voucher to spend in the store so we'd love to see your entries!
Here is my DT sample:

So is this flower overkill or what?!! Having said that, I do like the effect but it took me ages to get it right for me. I have five plastic drawers full (and I don't mean half full!) of flowers and I had every one out and stacked up around me. Anyhoo, I achieved what I wanted, which was to make it look like Tilda is walking in a leafy, flowery dell - having picked some flowers on the way, as you can see! I've recently bought the Stone Path image that forms the background and was itching to use it. To create the Springtime fluffy, cloudy sky behind Tilda I used the technique shown by the uber talented Annika Ryan and if you click the link you'll be taken to the video tutorial on her blog. When you see it, you'll know that I definitely need to practice more! I also need to buy the B0000 and C00 Copic markers to make the effect better so those are on the (never ending) shopping list now.
To help with the colouring generally, I also used Promarkers and Prismas and I remembered to make a note of the colours - wooo hooo! (In the recipe below.)
Whatever you have planned for the Easter break, I hope you have a wonderful, happy time of celebration. I shall have to spend part of it on Clarity DT work, but that's OK because it's crafting, right?! If you're a fan of all things Clarity, Barbara's on TV on Sunday morning from 9 - 10 a.m. UK time or you can watch the show online on the Create and Craft TV site.

Recipe:
Copic colours:
Skin: E000, E00, E01, E02, E11, R11, R20
Hair: E50, E51, E53, E55, E33
Dress and socks: RV00, RV10, Promarkers Pink Carnation and Blossom + Raspberry and 50% Cool Grey Prismas
Shoes: BV31, BV23, 0 (blender) + 50% Cool Grey Prisma
Tilda's flowers: Y000, Y02, Y06, Y08
Basket: E40, E41, E42, E43
Stone path: E40, E41, W1, W3 and Promarker Umber
Flowers: V000, V01, V12, V15
Leaves and grass: YG01, YG05, G20, YG93 and Promarkers Olive Green and Pear Green + Marine Green Prisma
Sky: B000, B91, C0, 0 (blender)
Shapes: Spellbinder Nestabilites Classic Circle and Classic Scalloped Circle
Doily: from my stash
Sentiment: Whimsy ticket stamp and die but the 'happy' word is from LOTV
Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
DP: Crafty Individuals 'Springtime' pad
Tall leaves: Marianne D Die
Small leaves: Leonie Em punch
Butterfly: Martha Stewart punch decorated with Star Dust Stickles
Phew! Lots of ingredients in this one!
See you after the holidays, peeps - have a good one!
Hugs

A bookmark card

2011-04-21T10:25:00.010+01:00

Good morning, peeps!
Just a quick post this morning to show you a bookmark card I taught in a class last Tuesday.

This is the card when it's closed and you can see that the bookmark itself forms the right-hand part of the front. The beautiful geisha and the wonderful sentiment are from Clarity Stamps and I thought that the geisha teamed beautifully with these gorgeous Basic Grey Kioshi papers. They've been around for a while now but I still love the colours and designs in them. The geisha's kimono is paper pieced with DP from the Prima 'Sparkling Spring' collection. I thought it would be rather nice to give her a patterned kimono rather than a plain one just cooured with Copics, my usual medium.
Here is the inside of the card:

More Clarity Stamps in the cherry blossom and the verse. I just added a little colour with water colour pencils to add interest and a butterfly punched, like the one on the front, with a Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly punch. The bling was added with Glamour Dust.
One final peek at the bookmark itself:

This card is really easy to make, it's basically a gate fold card with the fold off centre and then the bookmark is held in place with bands of ribbon (from my stash). Having said that, it did take me a while to work out how it was going to be put together. It's one thing organising a bookmark card class and another actually designing the card itself, methinks!!
Thank you so much for your visit and your comments if you leave one - I really do love to read them.
I'll be back tomorrow with the next challenge card.
Hugs

A card for a child

2011-04-15T09:51:00.005+01:00

Good morning, peeps! Yep, that's the title of the current challenge over at Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge at the moment. I couldn't get my card ready in time for the first DT group so one of my kind teamies stepped in for me and I'm part of the second week's team for this challenge. Anyhoo, it got me thinking about what appealed to me as a small child and it was definitely a fantasy word of fairies and fairytales - so what's changed I hear you say!! Here she is surrounded by her fairytale land(provided via a bit of masking):

I think this could be a Fairy Godmother Tilda .... in my imagination anyway. She's coloured with Copics and Prismas and the rest of the 'recipe' is below. I hope you have a wonderful day whatever you decide to do with it. I have a sample card for next week's class to finish then, later on, I'm assisting in the moving of (some of) my hubby's office from the dining room table to a proper office. Whoop, whoop - I may even see it's (sometimes) polished surface again and not have to move piles of paper every evening to eat supper! I live in hope!

Recipe:

DP: First Edition 'Spring Feast' Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts Die cut leaves: Marianne Creatables Forest Branch Punches: EK Success small Retro Flower punch and Leonie Em Maidenhair Fern Pearls and other bling: The Hobby House Sentiment: LOTV Hugs

Gift pocket card

2011-04-13T12:18:00.014+01:00

Good afternoon, peeps! Well, did you think I'd got lost again? No, this bad blogger is back again with a new project. This card was inspired by an tutorial by Mary in the 'Midsummer Night's Dream' issue. I've changed the measurements slightly but it's still recognisable as the same project. I do love cards like this becasue you can send a gift and a card in one package. This is how the card looks closed with Tilda looking adorably cute as usual! I've decided to place the card 'recipe' at the end of my posts so, for those who prefer not to read my ramblings, they can cut to the chase and find the ingredients in one place. Here is how the card looks when it's open: You'll see that the ubiquitous mini Easter eggs are in evidence again - they keep travelling from one card with a container to another! I must confess though that this is the second bag - the first one disappeared on a bad afternoon (hangs head in shame)!! I forgot to take a photo of the back but the same shape is repeated for a jotting panel. I hope you like this one, peeps - I shall be teaching a class how to make it at Samuel Taylor, Brighouse in June, so many thanks go to Mary for the inspiration.

Recipe:

Stamps: 'Be my valentine' Tilda from the 'You're So Sweet' collection. Penny Black 'Scrolling Along'. Hero Arts 'Smile Moments'. 'Just for You' from LOTV.

Colouring: Copics and Prisma pencils (sorry but I didn't keep anote of the numbers!)

DPs: Magniolia and Prima 'Fairy Flora'.

Embellishments: Magnolia Doo Hickey die 'Doily flowers'. McGill punch 'Leaves'. Pearl brads from The Hobby House.

Ribbons: from my stash.

Shapes: Nesties Labels Six and Fancy Tags

Hugs

.... and those that didn't

2011-04-06T12:51:00.007+01:00

Good morning, peeps! and a fine sunny one it is too here in Yorkshire so I'm torn between getting some fresh air and working on a DT project. My guess is that the DT project will win hands down! I thought I'd show you some more of the cards that I made for the Clarity Stamps show on Create and Craft TV last Sunday. These are the Cinderellas - the ones that didn't appear on TV: This is a really simple card, I just eliminated the crook part of the stamp and placed the two images at 90 degrees to one another to make the corner image. It was stamped with Adirondack Latte and coloured with Copics. I then simply distressed the edges of the card with Bundled Sage Distress Ink. I must say that I was fairly surprised that this was the image that sold out first on the show. If I'd been making a prediction on sell outs, it would have been for the Dandelion Fairy below: This was a set of 3 stamps, the fairy herself, a leaf and the verse. I stamped and embossed the fairy and the verse in detail silver and coloured the fairy with Copics. With 20/20 hindsight, I should have used watercolour because the alcohol markers didn't do the silver embossing any favours - duh! Sometimes it's hard to think straight when the pressure is on! I then used Adirondack Juniper to place partial images of the leaves in two of the corners of the shape, which was cut with a Go Kreate frilly die. I then stamped the leaf with Versamark and used clear embossing on the basic card for background. The pearls are from The Hobby House and the fibres, which I thought gave the feeling of dandelion seeds, were from my stash. Last one! This is a montage of the Stampstamps all with images that have a Scottish theme image placed within them. I always think that this type of work looks very complicated but, of course, it's simply an exercise in masking. Having made it sound simple like that, can you believe that this was my 11th attempt to get it right! The other 10 had smudges, unclear images or some fault or other - I was getting ready to tear my hair out I can tell you! Anyway, it came right in the end and I gave a great sigh of relief. To assemble the card, I simply cut around the edges of the stamp collection with some Fiskars Paper Edgers to give the look of stamp perforations and mounted it on black card. The french script DP was from my stash, the Clarity 'with love' stamp was used on shrink plastic and I used blue ribbon in an effort to make it look like love letters tied in a bundle. However, I thought I would refrain from calling it 'French Letters' because, if it had been picked out by Dean on the show it would have been before the watershed! I hope you enjoyed looking at a few more Clarity cards and I'll see you all again soon. In the meantime, enjoy the sunshine if you have it! Hugs

The ones that made it....

2011-04-04T15:23:00.007+01:00

Good afternoon, peeps! Are you all sitting comfortably.....? Well, I'll tell you a story about some little cards that got a TV debut yesterday and some that didn't.... of course I'm no different from the rest of the Clarity Stamp Design Team. If you were watching Barbara Gray's show on Create and Craft TV yesterday, you will have seen some amazing cards from my teamies but I just thought that today I would show you the cards of mine that got an airing. This was the first one that Dean (the presenter) picked up. The background is a great technique that I've used before with mica sprays but not with just dye inks. I wanted a delicate, misty effect for the background that would tie in with the little verse. This is produced by using a brayer to apply first one colour- my choice was Adirondack Terra Cotta, then another - Adirondack espresso for me, on to the Clarity Card, which is a coated semi-glossy cardstock. After the second colour application, you mist evenly with water all over the surface then layer cling film on top, pulling this into creases all over the surface and leave it to dry. When it's dry, peel off the cling film and you get this misty effect - I love it and you're bound to see it again on my cards. The rest of the card is just straight forward stamping of the images in the Espresso ink. The ribbon and dragonfly charm are from my stash. This was my offering for the Scotland stamp collection. I just used the reflection technique to create the reflected images in the water - all done with the brayer, then added the Nestie shape and the white heather from Wild Orchid Crafts - lucky it was in my stash already (sorry about the pun!). This was my take on the Morning Glory corner. I used the stamp to create a pattern that looks like one frame behind the other and then stamped the verse in the centre. I coloured the flowers and leaves with Copics and then mounted it on the Go Kreate frilly die cut shape. My final offering is this cottage scene. It takes a fair while to do this kind of picture building but it's worth it, I think. The main part of the colouring is done with the brayer and the rest by applying inks with a make-up sponge or using them as a water colour paint(on the cottage). Making the sky is interesting - you pull a cotton wool ball into a cloud shape and press it down, using the heel of your hand, on to a Versamark pad. Next you press the now oily cotton wool onto the card, again using the heel of your hand. Let the Versamark ink dry for a while then brayer across the sky area with Adirondack Cloudy Blue ink. This hardly shows up but it's still an essential part of the process. Next, brayer again with Adirondack Stonewashed ink and lastly, when this is dry, polish the sky with a piece of clean kitchen paper and watch the clouds really pop out. Barbara has demonstrated this technique on an earlier show, which, of course, is where I learned it!
Well, I said I was going to tell you a story....if you were sitting comfortably, you've probably got a numb bum by now!! Thanks for staying with me and I'll show you some more cards that you haven't seen soon.
Hugs

Digi Doodle Shop's Birthday!

2011-03-31T14:24:00.005+01:00

Good afternoon, peeps and I hope it is a truly good one for you! This week is Digi Doodle Shop's first birthday so, naturally, the challenge for this week is 'Birthdays' and here is my offer:

The image I've chosen is called 'Happy Birthday Cupcakes' and you can buy it from the store here. As you can see, I've coloured it on to a banner that's been hoisted on to the tree by the two cuties who appear courtesy of the Prima 'Jack and Jill' DP! It's coloured with Copics and Promarkers with a little help from their friends the Prisma pencils but I'm sorry I don't have the colours for you because things have been really hectic here for the past week but more of that in another post. I was so short of time to get this card completed in time for the challenge that I just pushed the pens away as soon as the colouring was done. Anyhoo, I can tell you that the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the butterflies were punched with a Martha Stewart punch. It's rather a sad challenge for me because it's my last one for the DDSB Design Team since I've decided to step down because of pressure of other work. My teamies have been fantastic and I'm sorry to be leaving them and Judy and Joy, the owners of DDS but at least I know that I'll see them around Blogland. Thank you for looking today and I hope I'll see you all around Blogland, too. Enjoy the rest of your day!

From the birds

2011-03-25T07:50:00.004Z

Good morning, peeps! The sun is shining, the birds are singing and I hope it's a wonderful morning wherever you are as well!

Speaking of birds, as you can see, they're involved in my sample card for this week's challenge over at Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge this week. The challenge is actually to include either a feather or a zipper in your project and it's sponsored by Robyn's Fetish Digi Stamps who have provided the lovely bird house and flower image that's part of the little scene I've created. By entering the challenge, you could win 5 of Robyn's wonderful digi images or 4 images and 1 digi design paper so let's see your projects with feathers or zippers!
The DP on my card is from the Memory Box 'Gossamer' pad and the swirls are cut from a scrap of anonymous DP with my new Tim Holtz 'Elegant Flourishes' die that I got at the Harrogate Show. The images are coloured with Copics and Promarkers and I actually made a note of which ones, yay! so they're at the bottom of this post. The sky and clouds were created with Prismas and I also used the pencils to deepen the shadows. The tag and sentiment is another new purchase from Harrogate, this time from Lili of the Valley and it's from their new Additions range. The pearl brad that's holding the tag in place is from the Hobby House. The feather that the birds have dropped down for Tilda is from my stash and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The chubby birds are a Magnolia image and they may be a little optimistic if they think they're going to squeeze their way into that bird house!
Well I think that's all from me this morning and I'm off to get my hair cut shortly then food shopping and back to work on Clarity design team cards for the show on Create and Craft TV on 3 April. Got lots to do on that front!
I'm doing a demo day at Samuel Taylor in Brighouse tomorrow so maybe I'll see you there.
Thanks for visiting me today and enjoy the sunshine if you have it!

Copics and Promarkers used:

Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21, R11, R20
Hair: E25, E33, E47, E49
Dress: Promarker Pale Pink, Dusky Rose, Antique Pink
Basket & shoes: E40, E41, E42
Birds: Promarker Tea Green, Grey Green, Copics Y00, Y02, Y21, R00
Birdhouse: E44, E47, E49, Y00, Y02
Flowers: V91, V93, V95, YG03, YG25 the same Promarkers as Tilda's dress and also Pear Green

Ribbons and bows

2011-03-24T13:45:00.004Z

Good afternoon, peeps! Yes, that's the name of the challenge this week over at Digi Doodle Shop's Best so we're hoping to see lots of you joining in with the challenge to put lovely ribbons and bows on your cards. Here is my sample for the challenge and it's made using the the image 'Mouse Nap', which you can buy here in the store. Cecil is cuch a cute mouse and he looks very comfy here under his quilt. He's cut out with a Nestie shape and the DP's are from Crafty Individuals 'Springtime' pad - so useful for Spring projects. The distressing was done with Milled Lavender Distress Ink and the very appropriate sentiment is from Lili of the Valley. The lovely yellow satin ribbon is from my stash. I coloured Cecil with my Copics but I'm afraid I didn't keep a note of the numbers - sorry! I'll be back again tomorrow with another challenge but, in the meantime, thank you for looking today. I do hope you like Cecil and have a wonderful rest of the day!

....and here's some they didn't show!

2011-03-21T19:26:00.006Z

Good evening, peeps! I hope you had a good weekend with lots of crafting time. I spent both Saturday and Sunday at the Harrogate Show. On Saturday I'd arranged to help Barbara Gray with her Clarity Stamps breakfast workshop and the plan was that afterwards I'd be free to shop. Firstly, I hadn't accounted for the crowds on Saturday - it was almost impossible to get on to the stands and secondly, the Clarity Stamps stand was almost overwhelmed so, Diane to the rescue and I stayed there helping for the rest of the day. WOW! can crafters shop!
Anyhoo, I thought I'd show you some of the other cards I made for the TV show this month but this time it's the ones that didn't make an appearance:

This was one with which I was quite pleased. It was made with just the Pear Tree stamp from the Village Kit and it was intended to show the four seasons in trees - I hope that's what it says to you as well. I was delighted to find that I had a charm (from The Hobby House) that was extremely similar to the tree. The ribbons were from my stash.

This was my treatment of the four Flower Boxes used together with one of the corner stamps to make a central feature. The ribbon and flower were from my stash.

For this card, I used the Honeysuckle Corner and stamped around in a circle to create a wreath, then I added flower buttons from my stash as decoration. Some butterflies punched with my Martha Stewart punch completed the card. I think the paper was from a K & Co pad I've had for ages.

For this one, I gave my Alcohol Inks an airing and boy, I really had to blow the dust off them....I can't remember when they were last used. Anyhoo, a simple card with just the Calligraphy Corner and sentiment embossed in silver. A few flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts and some loops of ribbon complete it.
OK, peeps - if you've stayed with me this far, well done!
I've got a really busy week this week - teaching a workshop tomorrow, proper work to do (I need the money after Harrogate!) and I have to make more Clarity cards for the next show on 3 April - those clever schedulers on Create and Crfat TV have bought Barbara's show forward a week - aren't they kind?! I feel like Corporal Jones on Dad's Army hopping around saying 'Don't Panic!!' repeatedly - I hope I'm listening to myself.
Thank you so much for visiting today and I'll see you all again soon. There's a fresh Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge this week and I'm so pleased that my card for that is already made (polishes halo!).

As seen on TV

2011-03-18T17:27:00.011Z

Good afternoon, peeps! I've been absent far too long again but at least this time it wasn't my own doing because I've been without Internet access for a while. I have to say that it felt dreadful, how we've all grown used to this cyber community!
Anyhoo, I thought I'd share with you some piccies of my cards that actually made an appearance of the Create and Craft TV channel last Sunday on Barbara Gray's Clarity Stamp Show. Martyn Parker, the show presenter didn't seem to show that many of the DT cards at all but the studio was full of amazing cards that the viewers had sent in for Barbara's birthday. I think the whole thing was quite overwhelming for Barbara.

This one was a fairly simple use of the Celtic Corners and the Flower Boxes. The DP is from Crafty Individuals and the leaves are a Marianne D die.

This was the one Martyn liked best. I created the sea with a brayer and a Kaleidacolor 'Caribbean Sea' pad then used a Versamark pen and white embossing powder to create the 'white horses'. The buttons were from my stash and tied on with hemp string to maintain the nautical look.
This was another card made with the Harbour Kit + the 'Oats' stamp from the Beatrice Kit. Much use of the brayer again!

The Harbour Kit again but using the houses and the small boat this time. It's hard to see the fish by the seagull's feet but it's embossed with silver.

Well I hope you enjoyed seeing them in close up although I'm sorry for the crooked photos - all taken in too much of a hurry I'm afraid. I'll return soon to show you some that didn't make their TV debut. I'm off to the Harrogate Show tomorrow - heling Barbara with her workshop first thing then getting in some retail therapy! I'll be returning to the show on Sunday as well but with friend and family this timeto help them with their retail therapy.

Fussy and Fancy Challenge #32

2011-03-11T07:31:00.008Z

Good morning, peeps! Well after a week of no blog posts, it'll be a surprise to you that I'm here with another post two days on the trot but it's new challenge day over at Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge and this week there's a wonderful sketch from my talented teamie Mindy. Thanks, hun, it's a great sketch to work with and here it is:

and this is the card I made following it:

Tilda looks a little bemused after reading all those great tomes she's sitting on but no doubt she's now full of knowledge! I'm afraid I can't tell you what Copic colours I used on her because she's been coloured a good while but the Copics were helped along by the addition of Prismas. The DP is from the Prima 'Fairy Flora' pad again (love those papers!), the ribbon and lace were from my stash and I've also used another of those wonderful circular sentiments from Lili of the Valley. The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and I must stop buying those things because the drawers they live in are nearly at capacity! No surprise there then! It's nearly time for the Harrogate show too and I can hear my wallet screaming in agony from here!
I'm entering this in the Paper Pretties Challenge, which is to use ribbon on your project and The Crafty Pad Challenge, which is also to use ribbon.
Well I'm working on a workshop project today and then working towards samples for the post-Easter workshop programme but, whatever you've got planned, I hope it's a great day for you - don't forget to join us in the challenge, it really is a great sketch to follow!

Digi Doodle Shop's Best Challenge #50

2011-03-10T08:33:00.006Z

Good morning, peeps! It's a bit of a chilly one here in Yorkshire so let's hope for brighter weather later! Well, am I a bad blogger or what? It seems forever since I last posted but I have been making cards and teaching a workshop and it's kept me fully occupied so I'll have lots of cards to show you after the weekend. Here's today's card for the challenge over at Digi Doodle Shop's Best this week, where we have to use pearls on our project. I don't know whether or not they show up well on this photograph (if you click on the piccie to make it bigger you can see them) but I used pearl stamens in the centres of the hydrangeas in the top left corner of the card, so I hope they qualify! This hydrangea image is so gorgeous and you can buy it here in the store. It was a breeze to colour and the Copic and Promarker colours are at the end of this post. The DP is from my Prima 'Fairy Flora' pad and the flowers and leaves are Prima also. The pearl stamens are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the circular sentiment is from Lili of the Valley and distressed with Bundled Sage Distress Ink. Whilst mentioning the colouring, this is really the first time that I've used only Promarkers to colour a large area of an image (I used them for the flower heads). The main reason I selected them is that the blue pinks seem much gentler colours in the Promarkers, the Copic blue pinks are very harsh in some instances. Anyhoo, I used three colours on each petal but I found that the ink tended to bleed outside the lines a fair bit and I had to do some cleaning up with the Copic Blender Pen. It's not the card I used because I used only Copics for the leaves, laying down many more layers of ink and no bleeding at all. Do any of you bloggers notice this and if you do, how to you cope with it? Please leave me a comment and tell me your secrets! I'll be back tomorrow with another challenge but, in the meantime, I do hope you'll join us at DDSB, it's a really easy challenge this week and you might win a lovely voucher to spend in the store! Colours used: Flower heads: Promarkers Blossom, Pink Carnation, Rose Pink - centres Copic YG00 Leaves & stems: G40, G82, G24, YG63, YG67

It's all down in black and white!

2011-03-03T13:10:00.005Z

Good morning, peeps! The Digi Doodle Shop's Best Challenge this week is Black and White. Although you're allowed to use a small amount of one other colour if you need to and I did think about it, the lady on my card is wearing a white gardenia in her hair rather than a red rose - really, decisions, decisions!! Anyhoo, I followed the current Friday Sketchers sketch for this project and I'll also be entering it in that challenge. The central shape is cut from a Nestie and the image is coloured with Copics - warm greys for her dress and cool greys for her hair and the white bits of her gown and fan. I didn't feel the dress really looked black though until I deepened the shadows with a black Prisma pencil. The distressing around the image is done with Weathered Wood Distress Ink. The DPs are from a Papermania Capsule Collection pad and the ribbon was from my stash. The pearls and pearl brad were from The Hobby House. It was really a simple card to put together but I do think that monochrome is always so effective, don't you? Have a great rest of the day and until I 'see' you again.

Class sample

2011-03-02T10:05:00.008Z

Good morning, peeps! I hope today is going to be a bright one for you in more ways than one!

Next Tuesday I'm teaching a workshop how to make a shaped easel card and use the technique of masking. I must admit that I rarely use masking on my Tilda cards, usually preferring to cut out the Tilda image and mount her on silicone glue over the background but I do quite like the flat picture effect that the technique produces so I now resolve to use it more often!

There is a long list of Copic and Promarker colours for this one which I'll put at the end of this post and I also used some Prisma pencils in the shadows. The pretty corners are a Cuttlebug die, the DPs are from the Crafty Individuals 'Springtime' pad and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts (more should be arriving today - yippee!).

The shape of the card was cut with a Go Kreate die and two sizes come together, 5" and 6". The great thing about these sizes is that they fit my Big Shot so I can create curvy cards without investing in an A4 die cutter - yet!! The tag that also forms the 'stop'for the easel is cut with a Magnolia Doo Hickey die and blinged with Stickles Cotton Candy. The whole card is distressed with Spun Sugar Distress Ink so, as you can see, Spring has a kind of pink haze over it for me!!
I'm a little overwhelmed with DT work at the mo so I'm sorry if I haven't visited your blog recently but I'll be around as soon as I can. In the meantime, have a great day and I'll be back tomorrow with the Digi Doodle Challenge.
Copics used:
Skin: E000, E00, E01, E21, R11, R20
Hair: E50, E51, E53, E55, E33
Shirt: RV10 and Promarkers Pink Carnation, Rose Pink
Dungarees: BV01, BV02, BV13
Tree trunk: E25, E27, E29
Pat: W0, W1, W2, W3
Lamb: E40, E41, E42, E43
Eggshell: E11, E13, E15, E00
Sky: BG10, BG000
Grass/leaves: YG03, YG11, G20, G82
Clouds/glass: C0, C1
Chicken: Y11, Y131, Y15

Something a little different and a toot!

2011-02-27T17:42:00.007Z

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

2011-02-25T07:55:00.005Z

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

2011-02-24T12:00:00.003Z

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

2011-02-17T12:27:00.004Z

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

2011-02-16T10:40:00.003Z

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

2011-02-14T17:22:00.005Z

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

2011-02-11T08:16:00.007Z

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

2011-02-10T13:03:00.002Z

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

2011-02-09T12:03:00.004Z

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

2011-02-04T08:40:00.006Z

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....

2011-02-03T13:11:00.006Z

...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'.

The Mad Hatter's Tea Party

2011-01-29T16:44:00.009Z

Good afternoon, peeps!
That's what happened yesterday at my son's house - the tea party, I mean! Number two granddaughter is 11 years old tomorrow and yesterday she had a few friends home for an Alice in Wonderland themed party - hence the reason I chose this fantastic Mo Manning image for her card. The image is called 'Hatter' and you can buy him here. There are other Alice in Wonderlad character images as well, all with Mo's unique touch!

Isn't he a picture of sartorial elegance in his multi-coloured outfit? I'm sorry I don't have the Copic colours for you because this is another image that I coloured whilst on hols recently. The DP is Basic Grey Kioshi, the pearls are from The Hobby House and the sentiment is another from Pink Petticoat Girly Curly Sentiments Collection, which was one of my better investments, I feel. The flowers are, of course, from Wild Orchid Crafts and the leaves were punched with a McGill punch. The ribbon is from my stash and here is the inside of the card:

The tags were punched with a Sizzix punch, edged with Adirondack Dabbers in Cool Peri and Purple Twilight and I think you can see that the one on the left is just for the greeting (a Clarity Stamp) but the one on the right is my homemade attempt at a voucher providing funds for the birthday girl to spend at the craft show at Harrogate in March. She's following Granny and Mummy and becoming a crafter - way to go, Lucy!
Well I'm just about to follow the Mad Hatter and have a cup of tea that my darling hubby is presntly making for me.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll see you again soon!
Thank you for looking at my blog today and I hope you enjoy what you see!

Digi Doodle Shop Challenge #44 Swirls

2011-01-27T11:46:00.001Z

Good morning, peeps! Here I am again but this time with the latest challenge from Digi Doodle Shop's Best and, this week, we'd like to see swirls on your project! Here is my DT card, which I really enjoyed making:

The image is called 'Fairy 1' and you can buy her here in the store. Isn't she gorgeous? I think that the artist must have used me as a model (I wish)!!
She's coloured with Copics and I may even be able to remember some of them but I coloured her whilst I was on holiday last week. The DPs are Papermania 'Rose Garden' and the swirly stem and vines are cut in pearlised card from 2 different Marianne D dies. The roses and stamens are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the sentiment is again from Pink Petticoat - it's from the Girly Curly Sentiments collection.
I think she looks lovely perched there on her rose with the her rainbow wings glittered with Glamour Dust. I hope you like her and that you come and join us with your very own swirly project!

Bye for now

Another tissue box cover

2011-01-26T14:30:00.008Z

Good afternoon, peeps!
I was teaching a workshop yesterday at my local craft shop (Samuel Taylor in Brighouse) on how to make a tissue box and the original sample is here further back on my blog. I made this sample because I wanted to show that you don't have to have the flowers to make the box look pretty. The images are, of course, from Lili of the Valley and I really do love their images.
Here's the first close up of one of the little poppets:

The little butterfies are all punched from a multi-colur DP with a Martha Stewart punch and the pearls on their bodies are from The Hobby House:

This one is everyone's favourite, I think:

All of these images are coloured with Copics and Prismas:

Well, that's it for today, peeps. I'll be back tomorrow with this week's Digi Doodle Shop Challenge. Have a great afternoon!

Anything goes at Digi Doodle Shop's Best

2011-01-20T11:45:00.003Z

Good morning, peeps from the edge of the Northumberland National Park! Yes, I'm here on a week long holiday and enjoying the beautiful scenery and I'd better get on with this post because I'm dependent upon mobile broadband and it has been known to drop the connection!! So, before that happens I'd better get on with telling you about the challenge this week at Digi Doodle Shop's Best, which is 'Anything Goes' so it's a really easy one - why not come and join us?
This card is my contribution this week. I've used the image 'Tug of War', which is available here in the store. That pooch is certainly trying to keep that sock!
The image is coloured with Copics and the flourish is a Marianne D die. The DPs are from the wonderful Mr Tim Holtz and buttons are from my stash.
Thank you for looking today and I'll 'see' you all when I get back!

Fussy & Fancy Challenge 28 - Mindy's Sketch

2011-01-14T08:00:00.001Z

Good morning, peeps!
This is my first post as DT member for the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge Blog so how exciting is that?! Our lovely sponsor this week is Digi Doodle Shop and I have used their fabulous image Basket Full of Love, which you can find here because, now that Christmas is well and truly over, that love season is upon us again!

and here is Mindy's sketch, which was wonderful to work with:

This is another fairly clean and simple design for me with no flowers - how did I manage that? Have I found a new style? I suspect that there will be the return of the flowers some time soon since I have drawers full of them and more on the way!!
The DPs are some oldies but goodies from my stash and the ribbon is from the boys at Fantastic Ribbons. The group of hearts in the bottom right-hand corner is a Magnolia stamp, the sentiment is from an old Hero Arts set (I think!) and the heart charm is from the Hobby House.
The image was coloured with Copics, Promarkers and Prismas and here are the Copic/Promarker colours:
Basket: E31/33/35/37/51
Hearts: R20/22/24/29
Flowers: Promarkers Blossom, Pink Carnation, Rose Pink
Flower centres: Y00/02
Bow and basket lining: B21/23/24
Leaves: YG11/13/25
I really enjoyed my first Fussy and Fancy Challenge project and I hope you'll join in with us.
Until the next time.

Pink and Green - Clean and Simple!

2011-01-13T11:15:00.000Z

Good morning, peeps!
Yes, that's the title of the challenge this week at Digi Doodle Shop's Best and, as you can see, I most certainly stayed with that theme!

I've used the lovely 'Spring Gathering' image,which you can find in the store here. I really had great fun colouring all the folds in her lovely dress!
The whole card design is very much a change for me in that it doesn't look like a florist's shop window! It's simply finished with ribbon and DP from my stash (I think the DP may be Anna Griffin but really not sure) and pearls from the Hobby House. I distressed all the edges with Frayed Burlap Distress ink. Of course my DH asked me if it was meant to be ripped! The corners are cut with a Cuttlebug die.
Copics used:
Skin: E000/00/21, R11/20
Hair: E50/51/53/33
Dress: R11/20/21/22, C1
Flowers: YG11, Y00/13, BG11/13
Grass/leaves: G20/24, YG67, G82
I hope you ike this one, peeps and that you'll join us for this week's challenge because pink and green are such a wonderful colour combo.
See you again soon with another challenge but, in the meantime, take care of yourselves!

Help for Katie

2011-01-11T07:07:00.004Z

Many of you will already have read about this but I have only just become aware of this heart rending situation.

Katie Emmerson Renz married to Kevin with 3 beautiful boys, the twins Nate & Will aged 5 and Hunter aged 10, had some news just before Christmas that has rocked their world as they know it.

Katie has been diagnosed with stage 4 Stomach Cancer and is currently undergoing her only option which is Chemotherapy.

The crafting community is a wonderful and generous group and I would appeal to you all to go to Jak's blog to read more of Katie's story and to please consider making a donation to help with Katie's treatment.
A group of talented artists has gathered together to create wonderful digital images and sentiments and in return for a donation of £15 you will receive an amazing package of goodies as well as an entry into a prize draw. I know that at this time of year, we have all overspent and are feeling the pinch but, if you possibly can, please go to Jak's blog and help Katie and her family.

I've been given an award!

2011-01-07T18:14:00.003Z

Good evening, peeps!
My good friend, the lovely Alison has passed on an award to me - apparently my blog has attitude! So that's what the problem is!! Seriously though, mwah, mwah hun and thanks for the award. This is no ordinary award either because it brings with it a $5 gift certificate to spend in the shop on their fabulous digis. To find out all about it go here.
In order to qualify for the $5.00 Digi’s With Attitude! Gift Certificate you must state 3 things that make you different from everyone else and you must nominate 5 blogs to also receive the award. Lastly, you must display the Blog Award Badge in your sidebar and link it back to the Digi’s With Attitude! Challenge Blog.
OK, first things first, what makes me different from everyone else? I asked my wonderful hubby for help with this and I think he's wearing his rose tinted specs so we'll skip what he said and think again!
1. I believe honesty is definitely the best policy but not to the degree of cruelty
2. I'm something of a perfectionist - not always easy for me or anyone else to live with!
3. I think that laughter is the best medicine and try to put laughter into every day
Now to choose 5 blogs. I get lots of inspiration from so many wonderful blogs and I really appreciate those who leave comments on my blog and it's these two areas that have affected my choice. Not everyone is into Digital Images but I'm passing this award on to:
Mina of Pinkpuds
Dana of Dana's Inspirations
Mindy of Stampin' Mindy
Annika of Another Messy Crafter
Donna of Bearly Mine Crafts
If you haven't seen these ladies' work already, do pay them a visit because they all do wonderful work and you'll find their blogs very inspirational. Also, don't forget to enter the Digis with Attitude Challenge each Friday.
See you soon!

Birds' nest tea?

2011-01-06T11:07:00.006Z

Good morning,peeps!
Well, you've heard of birds' nest soup I expect, but on my card today the birds are making a nest in a teapot!!

I made it for the new challenge on Digi Doodle Shop's Best, which is to use buttons on your project - a nice easy one so I hope you'll all come and join us!
I think this is a great image that can be used for anything from birthday to anniversary and new home, a truly versatile one that can be used over and over again and you can find it here and while you're in the store, have a look around because the 50% off offer has been extended for another 2 weeks!
I coloured this image with Copics and Prismas and I'll leave the Copic numbers at the bottom of this post. The DP's can hardly be seen on the outside of the card but I have used the lovely Basic Grey Kioshi collection again. You can see them better on the inside of the card:

The ribbon and button are from my stash and the lace is cut from a Magnolia Doo Hickey die. The leaves are from a Marianne D die that I bought just before Christmas and was very glad for the opportunity to use because I just love the shape of these leaves! The flowers are from Prima and the pearl brad and spacer bead that form the centre are from The Hobby House. On the left side of the inside of the card, I used a MS Around the Page punch that I think is called 'Cherish' that I got from Oyster Stamps. The butterflies are also MS punches and the circular sentiment is from LOTV.
The 'purple haze' around the image and on the greeting tag inside was created with VersaMagic 'Spring Pansy' and a make-up sponge.
I'm also entering this card in the Papertake Weekly Challenge, which is Anything Goes with the option of adding lace to your work.
Copics used:
Main part of teapot: E40/41/42/43
Base and front of teapot: YR21/23/24
Flowers: V01/12/15/17
Leaves: YG93/95/97
Roof: R11/21/22
Birds: B12/21/23/24
Flower centres and birds' beaks: Y13/15
Well, that's all from me for today....loads of stuff to get on with and might also have to do some work in between - bummer!

The very last Christmas card for 2010 and an announcement

2010-12-31T05:42:00.007Z

Good morning, peeps! Well, it's New Year's Eve and tomorrow we'll all be starting a brand New Year, which is an exciting thought - I wonder what it will hold for us all? One thing I know that it holds for me is the opportunity to work with the fantastic DT over at the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge Blog so how good is that? I've been so excited about it and have been bursting to tell you all for ages! We've got some really great challenges coming up over the next few months so I do hope you'll join us. The first project you'll see from me as a member of the DT will be on Friday 14 January but I have a project on my desk at the moment that I shall enter in the challenge starting today, which is to make a celebration card and a 3D item to go with it so I'd best get busy and get it finished! Before I go, I thought I'd show you this card that I made for my wonderful hubby for Christmas - the picture looks a bit blurry so I'm sorry for that: It's the Christmas Hottie image from the wonderful Kenny K. I know her hair is longer but don't you think she looks just like me (not!)? Anyway, I don't think he's been taking much notice of the card because he went down with 'flu' on Christmas Eve - not just man 'flu' but the real aching, burning proper 'flu'! What good timing is that and my wonderful hubby turned into a bear with a sore head! As you can guess, it's been a very quiet Christmas but, thankfully, he's better now and I can stick my head out of my craft room without getting it bitten off! Here's the inside of the card: The wonderful sentiment on the front of the card is from the talented Lynne at Sentiments 4 You and it was a freebie so, thanks Lynne, it was perfect for this card. The grey DP is from Papermania and the red is an anonymous sheet from my stash. The rest of the ingredients are fairly standard and came from my stash and the colouring was done with Copics. All in all, a really simple card to make. This post seems to have become much longer than I intended so thank you for staying with me this far and a wonderfully happy and fulfilling New Year to all of you and to those you love and I'll see you next year!

Papertake Weekly GDT spot

2010-12-28T12:00:00.002Z

Well, hello again! I said I'd be back and I don't think I've ever posted twice in one day before but how lucky am I to have two GDT spots this week? Woo hoo!! Anyhoo, this card is for the Papertake Weekly Challenge, which this week is 'Be thankful' and, at this time of year, we all have thank you cards to send. Here is my offering that uses an image from Lili of the Valley. I'm afraid that I don't have the Copic colours for you on this one because it's been coloured for a while. I just finished it off with some Prismas to create depth and hand wrote the thank you message on the tag on the flowers. I cut the image out with Nesties and distressed the shape with Antique Linen Distress Ink. The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the DPs are fro the Prima 'Annalee' paper pad. The little sentiment is another from the Pink Petticoat Girly Curly Sentiment Collection of endlessly useful digital sentiments. The pink pearls are from The Hobby House. I'm also entering this card in Phindy's Place Challenge. I should be back before the New Year is with us so I'll see you then and thank you for visiting with me today!

An Oldie but a Goodie Sketch Challenge

2010-12-28T07:03:00.005Z

Good morning, peeps! and how are you all after the rush and bustle of Christmas? Where did those days go? Every year we spend so much time in the build up to this celebration and it's gone in a flash!
This will be the first of two posts from me today. The first being this card for An Oldie but a Goodie Challenge, which this week is to use this lovely sketch:

Of course, since the idea of the challenge is to use an image you've owned for more than 6 months, that sets the little grey cells working that bit harder! and here is what I decided to go with:

I think Tilda looks a little blurry in this photograph but I spent ages trying to get a decent piccie - I do hope my camera isn't on the blink!
Anyhoo, this little cutie was part of the Hoppy Easter Collection at the beginning of this year and I believe she's called 'Tilda with three flowers'. I do find the images of Tilda with a scarf tied around her head in this way so appealing and I don't know why! She's coloured with Copics and the shadows are deepened with various coloured pencils. The DPs are all from the Basic Grey 'Kioshi' collection (love those papers!) and the CS is Bazzill. I cut the circles with Nesties and then stamped with Penny Black 'Scrolling Along' in Aloe Vera Versamagic on the central one, which I embossed with detail clear EP. The flowers are all from Wild Orchid crafts, the leaves are punched with the Leonie-Em Maidenhair Fern punch and the sentiment is from Whimsy Stamps.
Copics used:
Skin: E000/00/21, R11/20
Hair: E50/51/53/55
Tilda's lilac outfit: V000/01/12/15/17
Flowers: R11/20/32, Y13
Leaves: YG93/97
This is my final card as GDT for this challenge site and I do hope you like this over-the-top flower bower of a card - I think I went a bit berserk after all the snowflakes of recent efforts!
I'll be back later with another GDT contribution.

Digi Doodle Shop Challenge #39 - Anything Goes

2010-12-23T13:24:00.006Z

Good afternoon, peeps!
Well, it hasn't got any warmer here in the North of England and my card for this challenge is looking pretty frosty, too!

This is the fabulous 'Christmas Door' image and you can download it here from the Digi Doodle Shop Store. In fact, why not get yourself some more Christmas images ready for next year while they're on at half price. You can get some inspiration from my teamies at DDS Challenge site. This challenge is an 'Anything Goes' one so not all the images are Christmas ones but that's OK because all the images are half price at the moment!
Anyhoo, back to the card. It's coloured with Copics and Prismas and here are the colours:
Blue bows and glass: BG18/72/75
Wood: E15/25/27/29
Leaves: G24/29/99 & YG67
Door & bows: R22/24/27/29
Bells & baubles: YR21/23/24
Glass: C1/3
Shadows: W1/3/5
The DP I downloaded from Websters Pages and the small sentiment is a Stampington one. The snow/frost is created with Glamour Dust and the brads are from my stash.
I'm entering this card in the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge, which is to show some snow and in the Papertake Weekly Challenge, whcih is another 'Anything Goes'.
I'd like to thank you all for visiting me and for your wonderful comments over the past year - please come back again soon. I wish you and those you love a very peaceful and joyous Christmas and a New Year full of happiness!

The Penultimate

2010-12-19T17:48:00.007Z

Good afternoon, peeps! Well the snow is lying frozen outside and I'm in the warm colouring away....feels good to me! I'm just sorry for the poor people who have to go out in this freezing weather. Still, it's definitely seasonal - especially for this card, the last but one of my Christmas renderings! I'm sorry about the lighting on this one, which isn't quite right - I didn't use flash but it rather looks as though I did. This dull and gloomy weather isn't kind to our card photography is it, peeps? It's fairly unusual for me to buy a stamp soon after it's released but I quickly decided that this Tilda was my favourite from the latest Magnolia Christmas collection. I coloured her with Copics and Prismas and cut her out to mount over the Magnolia Silent Night music image, which I stamped with Versafine Vintage Sepia and distressed with Old Paper Distress Ink. When that was dry, I added Stardust Stickles to the edges for a bit of bling. I've been itching to use some of this paper from the Memory Box 'Mistletoe' paper pad and this card seemed like the perfect occasion. I kept the design simple because I think the paper does the work. I added some corners die cut from gold card with a Quikcutz (I think!) die. Well, this card is in the post now, winging its way to an old friend from my patchwork and quilting days. There's only one more Christmas card to show you now and the image is still on my desk being coloured. Needless to say, that won't be going out this year! I'm sorry I don't have the Copic numbers for this one but I'll do better next time....promise! Keep warm!

New beginnings

2010-12-16T12:30:00.001Z

Good morning, peeps! Yes, that's the title of our challenge this week over at Digi Doodle Shop's Best and this is my card for the challenge:

This wonderful image is called 'Sleeping Infant' and can be bought here at the Digi Doodle Shop store and don't forget that all images are reduced by 50% for December, so grab a bargain while you can!
I have three young friends who are all pregnant at the moment so I think the odds are in favour that at least one will be a cute little baby girl just like this one!
I followed the sketch over on Sketch Saturday this week, so I'll be entering this card for that challenge too.
The DPs are from the Prima 'Jack and Jill' pad, which was given to me as a birthday prezzie by my good friend, Alison, mwah, mwah, hun! I must say that I think that Prima have come up with some fabulous papers recently and you may have noticed that they're making fairly regular appearances lately on my cards!
I coloured the image with Copics (numbers later) and the cute greeting is from Pink Petticoat and this set has been a fabulous investment!
The flowers are, of course, from Wild Orchid Crafts and the leaves were punched with a McGill punch.
I do hope you'll join us for the challenge this week and do stay warm and safe - we have such cold, horrible weather here in the UK at the mo .
Copics:
Pillow: B000, B00, B12
Sleeping suit and hat: R00, R11, R20, R22
Leaves and ribbon: YG11, YG03
Skin: E000, E00, E21, R11, R20
and I used Prismas for the shadow.

GDT on An Oldie but a Goodie Challenge

2010-12-14T08:00:00.003Z

Good morning, peeps! I hope you're all full of festive spirit and storming into the Christmas season. Please do me a favour, if you find any - festive spirit that is, please send some my way because I'm struggling to find some this year for some unknown reason!
Anyhoo, let's get on to a card that's not Christmassy at all. For the month of December, I'm GDT member over at An Oldie but a Goodie Challenge Blog....woo hoo! How good is that?!!...and here's my first card in that role.

The title of the challenge is 'You're a star' and we have to have a star on our project so, just to be on the safe side, I've got 3 on mine!
Tilda is coloured with Copics (numbers at the end of this post) and Prismas and I think she's having something of a 'Harry Potter moment' because there's plenty of magic sparkle around in the form of diamonds from my jewelery box ...well...from my stash, anyway and Glamour Dust added to her star wand. Just for a bit of extra interest, I turned her purple shoes into patent ones with the addition of some Glossy Accents.
The Nestie shape is distressed with Antique Linen Distress Ink and the doily behind Tilda is cut with a Marianne D die and blinged up with some pearls from the Hobby House, which is where the star charm came from as well. The butterflies were punched with a Martha Stewart punch and the leaves were made with a McGill punch. The gorge paper is from the Prima 'Fairy Flora' pad and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The lace is cut with a Magnolia Doo Hickey die and the velvet ribbon is from my stash.
Copics:
Skin: E000, E00, E21, R11, R20
Hair: E50, E51, E53, E55
Dress: RV10, RV34, RV000 and Promarker Pink Carnation
Shoes: V17, V15, V12, V000
Star: YG03, YG11, YG25
I do hope you'll come and join us for this challenge and I'll see you again soon with a different one.

An unusual Christmas present

2010-12-09T12:00:00.001Z

Good morning, peeps!
I'm not sure whether this parcel is in the process of being wrapped or unwrapped but someone's certainly in for a surprise at Christmas! Anyway this gorgeous image is for sale here at Digi Doodle Shop and it was great fun to colour with my Copics and pencils. No doubt you'll all be surprised to hear that I kept a note of the colours I used on this project and they're at the foot of this post!
This card is for Challenge #37 at Digi Doodle Shop's Best, which this week is to put animals on your project. Hop over there now and see what my talented teamies have produced for this challenge and we all hope you'll join in the fun.
The papers are from K & Co and the 'Noel' embellishment at the bottom is one of the die cuts from the pad,which is a Brenda Walton design. I simply distressed the die cut with Antique Linen Distress Ink and doodled some faux stitching around it with a black pen. The Nestie shape that the image is on is also distressed with the same ink. The gorgeous wide red organza ribbon is from Wild Orchid Crafts and the jewel brad and bead spacer are from The Hobby House. The green jewelled star looks most peculiar in this photo but it's a trick of the light - IRL it's the perfect green for the papers.
Copics used:
Mouse: W1, W3, W5, R11, R20
Box: E31, E33, E35
Paper inside: Y000, Y00, Y11 then I put E50 over the top to make the colour creamier
Paper outside: E50, E51, E53, G24, YG67, G29, R24
Ribbon: YG11, YG03, YG25, R22, R24, R27
Pillow: BG000, BG11, BG34
In virtually all parts of the image I used various coloured pencils blended with Sansodor.
Keep warm, peeps and I'll see you again soon!

The Perfect Tree

2010-12-02T06:23:00.011Z

Good morning, peeps!
The challenge over at Digi Doodle Shop's Best this week is 'Let it Snow' and we have to show snow somewhere on our project. Well I think I went a bit overboard, don't you?!! But it's entirely appropriate to the weather outside because we certainly have plenty of this white stuff!
The title of this post is also the name of the image and you can buy it from the Digi Doodle Shop here. I think this image is just lovely with the little boy looking very adult carrying his axe and almost dragging his rather reluctant looking sister off to complete the task of finding the perfect Christmas tree. I really enjoyed the colouring, which I did with Copics and various coloured pencils blended with Sansodor. I added Polar White Flower Soft to the fur trim on their clothes and Glossy Accents to the little girl's wellies and the boy's axe blade. The 'snow' is twinkling with DecoArt Glamour Dust - I love the subtle shimmer this stuff gives!
The large snowflake (top left) is created from acetate cut with a Cuttlebug die, then Glossy Accents applied around the edges and the whole thing dipped in Twinklets Diamond Dust that I got from The Hobby House. It's out of stock at the moment but I'm sure that Gill will be getting more in soon. I do love this effect but I always find it difficult to cut the shape from the acetate and end up doing fine surgery with my scalpel to extract the full shape! On top of the acetate snowflake is a second one cut from vellum with a Marianne D die and I applied Quickie Glue to it and used the Glamour Dust again. I gave the same treatment to the small snowflakes and the pine branches. The gem brad and the buttons are from my stash. The doily behind that large snowflake is cut from a Docrafts 'Penelope and Percy' DP with a Marianne D die. The other papers are from a K & Co pad. All the distressing was done with an Adirondack Aqua ink pad.

I finished the inside with more of the K & Co paper and I used the scrap paper that was left over from cutting out the doily to create a frame on some card for a jotting panel - it seemed a shame to waste it! The photograph here looks very 'blue'...the light created from all the snow outside is really distorting the colours of the pictures and it looks much better IRL!
I do hope you'll be able to join us for the challenge this week and I'll see you again soon.
Bye for now!

Mo's Dream Team entry

2010-12-01T15:09:00.008Z

Good afternoon, peeps! Well with all the snow outside, I thought I'd make something Spring-like. This image from Mo Manning is called 'Savannah on Easter' and, considering we haven't even celebrated Christmas yet, I think I'm a bit early, don't you? Anyhoo, you can buy her in Mo's shop here. I just think she's gorgeous bending down to see the little chicks and showing all her bloomers!
Of course the first problem was that I chose to make an easel card (or at least a bit of a variation on one!) and that gave me the probelm of how to get a decent photograph! As if the snow storm outside wasn't making it dark enough in the first place! So I'm sorry for the quality of the pictures but they're likely to remain poor until we get some decent sunshine again (she writes as even MORE snow falls!).
Back to the card, I've used some wonderful Websters Pages DPs and I just love that gorgeous guipure lace from Wild Orchid Crafts, which is where all the flowers came from, too. The sentiment panel was cut with Nestabilites Fancy Tags and the tag inside for the sender's greeting was shaped with my EK Success Diamond Lace punch.

The distressing on this tag and on the main image was done with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink. The ribbon was from my stash. Here's another piccie to see if that enables you to see the card any better - by the way, I got the inspiration for this shape of card from a post on the Lili of the Valley Blog a while back:

and here's one of just the little cutie herself.

She was coloured with my Copics and various coloured pencils, mainly Prismas, blended with Sansodor.
I do hope she makes you all forget the snow - I'll see you tomorrow with a snowy one!
Bye for now!

Tea Light Card

2010-11-29T04:48:00.011Z

Good morning, peeps and a very chilly one it is too!
I've been wanting to make one of these cards for some time and I've also wanted to use this image for some time so it feels like two accomplishments in one! I think this is a lovely way to send a card combined with a little gift and it doesn't have to contain tea lights, a similar construction could hold sweets or any number of different small gifts. Hmmm....I'll work on that one - watch this space!
The photgraphs here don't seem to do it justice, which is very disappointing because it looks so much better IRL.
I got the instructions for this card from the StampARTic site and it's a really easy card to make. The trick is to use a Nestabilitie shape for the box window that will hold in all the candles and that allows you to extract them all easily. The ribbon bow stops them falling out - ideally, it would have been a wider ribbon but I simply didn't have anything suitable and if you could see the amount of ribbon I'm looking at here, that's hard to believe!
The Mo Manning image is called 'Prince Edward Island' and she's coloured with Copics and various coloured pencils blended with Sansodor. I'm sorry I haven't been giving you colour numbers lately but I get so absorbed with the colouring, just grabbing what I need that eventually my desk becomes covered with pens and pencils and I have to have a clear up to be able to carry on working - noting down colour numbers just gets lost in the general chaos! The image is framed with my Nestabilities Classic Frame and I stencilled through the die with Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue, which has also been used around all the edges. The pearls are from The Hobby House here and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. I punched the leaves with my Leonie Em Maidenhair Fern punch. The papers are digital ones downloaded from Nitwits and I think I shall be using more of these. You can see some of the coordinating ones inside the card:

I think I may add a sentiment to the pocket that holds the tag (cut with a Sizzix die) but it's really a question of finding the right one.
I hope you like this one peeps and that you decide to have a go yourself - it really is an easy project - promise!
Keep warm!

She's all dressed up again!

2010-11-22T14:34:00.010Z

Good morning, peeps and I hope you're not all frozen in this wintery weather! This little girl certainly ought to be judging by the way she's (not) dressed!
The challenge over at Digi Doodle Shop's Best this week is 'Red and Green.....any kind of project as long as it has these colours' - well I certainly took that literally, didn't I!?
As soon as I saw the title of this challenge my mind went to a card I made some time back (you can see it here) where I had used those colours on the image. Well, since then her twin sister has been drawn so I knew I had to use her for my card! You can buy her and her sister here.
She is coloured with my Copics and various coloured pencils blended with Sansodor and I put glossy accents on the shoes and bag. The DPs are from Papermania, Kars, Nitwit, Dream Street Papers and Kaiser - yes really, that many different brands! The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, of course and the leaves were punched with my McGill punch. This is how I've finished the inside:

The edge of the pocket and the tag are finished with my Fiskars 'Threading Water' punch.
The sentiment is from the Pink Petticoat Curly Girly Sentiments and they can be bought here. I must say that I'm finding this set so useful, there really is something for every occasion.
Well, I seem to have wittered on interminably about this - if you're still with me, thank you and thank you for looking today. I do hope you'll join us for this challenge. I'm also entering this card for:
The Crafty Pad Challenge 98 'Red and Green'
Friday Sketchers Sketch 129