Kenny K's Krafty Girlz DT Call

They're having a DT call over at Kenny K's so if you'd like to apply to join this talented team then please click on the title above to link to the post at Bearly Mine Krafts.
Kenny K produces the most amazing digi images that are totally unique so visit his shop here.
To apply for the DT you have to show what you believe to be at least two of your best cards, so here goes! I think that my best two projects are here and here and maybe I can be cheeky and add a third one here but I hope the coordinators take a general peek around the blog!
I wish all of you the best of luck if you decide to apply because I think Kenny's images would be fabulous to work with on your projects!
Good luck everyone and have a great day.

A tissue Box Cover

Bless you!!! (sorry - bit of a pun.....groan!)
Good afternoon, peeps and I hope your day is going well so far. You might want to get a cup of tea and settle down because this looks like being a long post with quite a few photographs!

I've seen a few pictures lately in blogland (if only I could remember where!) for tissue box covers and I thought it might be interesting to have a go at making one for myself, so I got the method from Split Coast Stampers - what an amazing resource for us it is! Then I had the challenge of re-doing all the measurements because I think our Kleenex boxes must be a different size from the ones in the U.S. Well, we got through that one and these two piccies above show the overall result.
Then I thought I'd be adventurous and make some of the lovely flowers that the lovely Sassy has a tutorial for on Stampartic here and she's given instructions in English as well. They were pretty fiddly to make but worth it, I thought. I created the centres using a Viva Pearl Pen but that technique needs a little practise methinks!
The outer surface of the box is white card embossed with a Cuttlebug Floral Screen folder but you could use any one that has a multi directional design. I then distressed the edges and sponged over the embossing with Spun Sugar Distress Ink.

This is the first portrait of Tilda I chose to use and she's called 'Tilda with Bow Knot'. I had to choose images that were not too tall because of the limited space below the lid that you can't really see because it's disguised by the pink gingham ribbon (from my stash) and the paper lace punched with my MS Doily Lace punch and distressed with the Spun Sugar Ink again.

This one is called 'Jam Tilda' obviously for reasons best known to Magnolia! I'm sorry if she looks a little blurry but I had three separate attempts to photograph this one and it still doesn't look quite right to me!

This is a nice Summery portrait which I think is called 'Tilda with bunch of lilacs'...

....and this one is called 'Dinner Tilda' - she looks quite sophisticated don't you think?
The leaves in the corners were punched with my McGill Pine Punch and my Leonie Em Maidenhair punch but I cut these latter ones down a bit because the punch produces quite a large leaf.
All of the colouring was done with my Copics with the addition of Prismacolor pencils and Derwent Inktense pencils. I'd tell you which Copics I used but I seemed to have most of the ones I own spread over my desk by the time I'd finished so, think of a number and I probably used it!
Phew! I think that's it. I hope you like this project and I think I might try and make a few more of these for gifts - if I get time!
Thank you for staying with me until the end of this post and I'd love to read your comments!
Bye for now!

Join in the fun with a great blog hop

There's an amazing blog hop in progress to celebrate the release of some wonderful stamps and dies at Whimsy Stamps. There are wonderful prozes to be won too at various stops along the way and you'll get to see some fabulous work so start here and follow it through to the end - you won't be disappointed!
Diane x

Digi Doodle Shop Challenge #33

Good morning, peeps and I hope it's not as wet where you are as it is here - I just got soaked doing a little food shopping - yuk!
Anyhoo, it's that time of the week again when we have another challenge down at Digi Doodle Shop's Best and this week it's 'Don't forget our men' - a manly project. I thought I'd bring in a touch of nostalgia with this delightful image of two boys playing 'marlies' as we used to call them. Yes, I confess I could play a mean game of 'marlies' myself and it didn't seem tomboy-ish! You can buy this image here and it was great fun to colour with my Copics and one or two Prismacolor pencils in which I've recently invested. However, the Sansodor to blend the Prismas hadn't arrived when I made this card so, hopefully, the technique will improve.
I used the Whimsy Stamps ticket sentiment because the look of concentration on the older boy's face made me feel he would certainly be making a wish as he rolled the marble! You can get the whole set of these from Bunny Zoe's Crafts. They're on pre-order at the moment but they will be back in stock week commencing 29th November.

If you've read any of my other recent posts, you'll know that I'm into carrying elements of the design on the front of the card into the inside at the moment and this picture shows what I did with this one.....

....and it carries over to the back! Nikki at Bunny Zoe's does a good range of these personalised stamps but mine came direct from Whimsy Stamps in the US and I'm delighted with it.
I'm entering this for the Sweet Stop Challenge SSS81 this week.
Here are the Copic numbers:
Skin: E000, E00, E21, R11, R20
Hair: E53, E57, E25, E47
E35, YR23, E51, Y21
Floor: W3, W1, 0
Marble ring: E40, E42, E44
Trousers and shoes: C7, C5, C3, C1
Sky: B000
Yellow shirt: YR31, Y21, Y28
Green shirt: YG03, YG11 YG25
The distressing around the edge of the image and on the tag inside is done with Weathered Wood Distress Ink. The DPs and buttons are from my stash and the Natural Raffia Lace is from Bunny Zoe's as well.
I do hope you'll join us for the challenge this week. I do find it quite challenging to make cards for the boys but I'm reasonably happy with this one and I hope you like it too.
Bye for now
Diane x

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness...

...so speaks Keats Ode to Autumn and that is what this card represents.

The challenge at Digi Doodle Shop's Best this week is 'Fall for Me' and we'd like you to show us your Autumn/Fall projects, so I do hope you'll come and join us for the challenge.
I chose this wonderful image 'Autumn Scene', which is available here, because it says it all and it gave me the opportunity to use all the Autumn colours in the wonderful leafy border. In fact all the colours I can see now from my craft room window!

I thought I'd make a tent card for a change and I can't believe I've never made one before! The scene itself takes up most of the front of the card but I used the Cuttlebug 'Victoria' folder to emboss the brown card and the DP is from the Basic Grey 'Indian Summer' collection - I just love all the colours in this paper! The maple leaves are from my stash and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts (link in my sidebar). The only problem with a tent card is that the greeting panel has to go on the back, which you can see in the piccie below. I think it looks a bit stark so I may be brave and try and add some distressing now that it's actually glued to the card - or I may not be that brave.....!

I'm sorry that I haven't got a note of all the Copic colours I used but I hope you like it, peeps and that you'll join us at Digi Doodle Shop's Best. Now I really must tidy my craft room....yuk!!
Bye for now
Diane x

More like Summer than Autumn!

Good afternoon, peeps! I hope you're all feeling good today and thank you for taking a peek at my blog!
Well it doesn't matter that this card looks a little out of season because the challenge at Digi Doodle Shop's Best this week is 'Anything Goes' and I do hope you'll be able to come along and join us.
I love the image I've used on this card - the look of concentration on this little blonde haired beauty's face as she tries to put on her shoe is so typical of young children as they try to do these things for themselves.
I've coloured her with Copics and the colours are listed below. The distressing around the image and on the tag inside is with Adirondack Aqua, just applied with a make up sponge. You can see the tag in this piccie:

I've noticed that a number of you out there in the blogosphere are creating this kind of finish inside your cards and I really like it and I've decided it's for me - it makes the card look more complete, I think!
The DPs are Basic Grey Kioshi, which I think are yummy - wonderful colours and designs! The butterflies on the inside and on the front of the card were punched with my Martha Stewart punches and the small ones on the front are glitzed with Stardust Stickles. The flowers are all from Wild Orchid Crafts and the leaves are from another punch that I don't have access to at the mo so I'll come back and edit this post when I find it! The sentiment is another from the Pink Petticoat Girly Curly Sentiments and there's just about something for everything in this collection.
Copic colours:
Skin: E000, E00, E21, R11, R20
Hair: E50, E51, E53, YR21
Dress: R20, R21, R22
Shoes: E31 E33, E35
Chair: G000, G00, BG11, BG72, 0
Shadow: W5 W3, W1, 0
I also used a grey Faber Castell watercolour pencil (without the water!) to deepen the shading.
I do hope you like this one and I'll 'see' you all again soon!
Bye for now
Diane x

The Holly Fairy

Good morning, peeps and it certainly was a cold one here this morning but it's clear blue sky and sunshine now - wonderful!
Good light meant I could take some photographs this morning, yippee! The light was dreadful yesterday. So, here is the result, Mo Manning's wonderful drawing of the Christmas Fairy Holly. Isn't she gorgeous?
I've used the sketch from the Papertake Weekly Challenge Blog and will be entering this one there.
The DPs are from a collection I picked up at my local craft shop and all it says on the back is 'Carol Wilson Fine Arts Inc.' and each piece is mounted on Bazill card. I really like these papers from the colours in them to the wonderful sparkles on the paper with the snowflake pattern! The holly leaves are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the berries are from Craftwork Cards.
The sentment is from a wonderful collection of digital sentiments available from Pink Petticoat called Girly Curly Sentiments. It's a really good buy and I heartily recommend them.
The fairy is coloured with my Copics (of course!) and the colours are:
Skin: E000, E00, E21, R11, R20
Hair: E50, E51, E53, E57, YR21
Skirt: V12, V15, V17
Sash/Shoes: B000, B00, B02
Holly: YG23, YG67, G28, G29
Shadow (surrounding her): Y000, Y00, Y02, 0
Shadow(at her feet): W1, W3, W5, 0
I'm also going to enter this card in the Totally Gorjuss Challenge 53 which is 'Sparkle'.
I can now tick another Christmas card off my list and I hope you like it.
Bye for now!
Diane x