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Sunday 27 June 2010

Hottest Day ... Part 2

This is another of Lily Boo's Christmas baubles, again, coloured with Promarkers (and a little Sakura Stardust clear pen). I embossed some silver mirri board with a Cuttlebug folder in my Wizard, and used a Craft Tonic border system and punches for the edging.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: Allsorts which requires embossing, Crafty Catz where they're 'going digital', Daring Cardmakers who are looking for 'ice and snow', and Digital Tuesday whose theme this week is 'Christmas in June'.

What Do You do on the Hottest Day of the Year (so far)?

In my case, the answer is 'make Christmas cards'. Just two, but it's been so hot my brain really hasn't been up to the exercise.



This card uses a fabulous image from Lilyboo. Until recently, it and a number of others were on sale on her site, but she's recently joined the crew at Cuddly Buddly and a lot of her images are currently available free!

I've downloaded several of these Christmas bauble images - I do like them. I coloured this one with my Promarkers. I made the backing paper with some bauble stamps and dragged out my fiskars textured brayer that I bought years ago and didn't get on with. Well, now I have some Distress ink, I decided to give it another go. It definitely worked better than I remember from before.

I Wizarded some gold mirri-board with a Cuttlebug folder and used nesties to cut the image and layers. The small snowflake is from a Cuttlebug die - one I regret buying because it's too thick for the Wizard. Every time I use it I regret trying it. Since no one else I know seems to have problems with Cuttlebug dies in the Wizard, I assume it's out of spec in some way, but I bought it when I hadn't had the Wizard for long and assumed it was me. I finished the card with a spray of pearls.

I followed the sketch at I Love Promarkers.

I'd also like to enter the following challenges: Allsorts which requires embossing and Digital Tuesday which requires 'Christmas in June'

Thursday 24 June 2010

A Retirement Card

A colleague at school is retiring at the end of term, and given the number of tantrums and sullen children she's dealt with over the years, one of Mo's Terrible Twos seemed like the perfect image.


I coloured her with Promarkers, and used paper from Papermania and used a new (to me) Martha Stewart border punch and my nesties. I finished the card with a flower and some sticky gems from the local pound shop. 

I'm entering it for the following challenges:  Sketch and Stash, and Mo's challenge No. 37, which is an 'anything goes' this week.

Wednesday 23 June 2010

This Month's Swap Cards

I belong to a Yahoo group, and I sent of a couple of swaps for that earlier this month. Now I've heard that they've been received, I can show them here!


This first one was for a swap called 'Flaming June'. I used another image from Trees A Ward in Digistamps.  I was keen to try blending several colours in this, shading between red and gold with a couple of stops along the way. I used Promarkers, of course.

The 'splotchy' paper is from my collection and the butterfly one is one I made for another card, but the colours were perfect to use here. I also used a Martha Stewart punch, some ribbon and a sticky gem.




This second card was for the new alphabet swap, and the letter was 'A'. I struggled a bit with that - I couldn't think of any 'A' images I had, until I remembered my Dover flowers CD. In there, I found an outline image of some Avens. I coloured them, again with Promarkers, and cut and layered the centre circle, adding a sentiment I found online. The backing paper is from a magazine.

Sunday 20 June 2010

Anniversary Card

The second of the two images I won is perfect for an anniversary card, and a friend is celebrating her first anniversary this summer, so it was ideal.



Again, it's an image by Lauretta at I Did it Creations and it's coloured with Promarkers. I've used my nesties and paper from my stash. Those gorgeous flowers were something I fell in love with. I popped into my local Hobbycraft yesterday to buy some lace, and spotted a roll of those. The colours are so gorgeous and despite the price (it was a lot more expensive than the other lace) I had to have some. And of course, it can be snipped apart into individual flowers.

I'm entering it for the following challenges.

I Did it Creations which requires that we're 'creative',
Create 4 Fun which is a sketch challenge,
Colour Create, and
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge which requires a wedding/ anniversary card.

Bring on the Snow?

I was lucky enough to win a recent challenge on I Did it Creations challenge and won a couple of images by Lauretta. I finally got the chance to use them.



I added a sentiment and coloured the image with Promarkers, then followed the sketch on Allsorts Challenge. I finished it with a snowflake cut using a Spellbinders die and my Wizard. The background papers were stamped in white and heliotrope ink and cut with my nesties.

I'm also entering it into this week's I Did It Challenge which requires that we 'get creative'.

Wednesday 16 June 2010

A New Layout, Some News, and Even a Card!

So, the layout. Everyone seems to be taking advantage of the new design option on Blogger, so of course, I had to too. Especially when I saw this gorgeous shade. (In case you hadn't noticed, I love some colours to a ridiculous extent.) I quite fancied the three column option too, so we'll see how it works out in practice.

And the news. I'm now a proud member of the One Stitch at a Time design team. The rest of the team seem very friendly and I'm looking forward to a new challenge.

And finally, a card.





The image is from The Crafty Pad at I Did It Creations, and it's currently available as a freebie for this week's challenge at I Did it Creations challenge blog. It's coloured with Promarkers, and the snow and and snowflake embellishment were made sparkly with Crystal Ice Stickles. The snowflake itself was sent to me along with an order from Dies to Die For, along with several others, which is definitely a nice touch.

The patterned paper is from a magazine CD and is by Debbi Moore while the creped paper is from my stash. I kept the design fairly simple because I kept the image size fairly big to show it off.

I'm also entering it for this weeks I Love Promarkers challenge which this week, is 'Bears'.

Monday 14 June 2010

Christmas in June

Well, to be honest, I made my first cards back in April, but I haven't photographed the others. Must get around to that some time.

Two cards - the same sketch and image - even the same colourscheme - but different backing papers other minor differences.





The image is from Polycraft - lovely, isn't it? It's been coloured with Promarkers, and the backing papers are from Papercraft Essentials. The embossed card was done in my Wizard with a Cuttlebug folder, and I used a white stamp pad on the raised image to make it stand out more. The sentiment is computer generated.

I'd like to enter them/the first one for the following challenges:


Crafty Catz which called for embossing,
Create 4 fun which had a sketch, and
the Pollycraft Monday Chalenge which wanted a sentiment from a song.

Saturday 12 June 2010

Into the Wide, Blue Yonder



I spent some time clearing out my craft supplies this morning. It's not an easy thing to do as I store my things in three different locations, and I always try to start with the things I use most often being the most accessible, and over time, either that changes or other things find their way to the front, and the result is that I can't find things. Anyway, one thing that was obvious is that I've got loads of five by seven cards that I just don't use very often. I'm out of practice at doing anything other than square cards!

I coloured the image - one of the lovely images from Trees aWard in Digi-Stamps early in the week, but didn't get a chance to do anything with it until this afternoon. It's coloured, of course, with Promarkers, although the sky is sponged with Versacolor ink. I've used some leftover scrunched paper coloured with Radiant Rain, and bordered it with a punch from Craft Tonic using their border system, and done the same with some pearlescent card. I quite like the effect - it's a little bit wave-like. The backing paper is some hand-made paper I came across during my clear-out so I honestly don't know where it came from, and the sentiment is stamped and cut with one of my nestibility labels.

The result is fairly plain, but then the men in my life tend to prefer things that way!

I'd like to enter the card for the One Stitch at a Time challenge which this week calls for a male-themed card.

Monday 7 June 2010

A Fairy with a Difference!



Now there's a fairy I'd definitely want on my side! She's full of character and seems to me to have a 'don't mess with me' attitude! Her name is Sparkles and she's from Stitchy Bear Stamps and she's really interesting to colour. I went to town with those flower petal/wings, mixing four colours - salmon pink, carmine, honeycomb and burnt orange - to get a gradation I liked. I've framed her with a nestibility frame cut from some Coredinations Whitewash card. I embossed it with one of the Spellbinders Impressabilities and then sanded it to reveal the stronger green. The background pink is also Coredinations, but the standard variety this time, embossed with the same pattern and, again, sanded. I cut the shape with a Craft Tonic punch and border system. The papers are from a My Mind's Eye pad that I love. I've finished it off with a tissue paper flower. I cut layers with my peony nestibility die and coloured them with the shades from the wings, then assembled them with a brad and scrunched. It does give a nicely mulit-tonal flower.

I gave serious thought as to whether or not to embellish further but decided that I love that sanded Coredinations so much, I really didn't want to hide any more of it!

Sunday 6 June 2010

Make a Wish



I felt like doing a slightly simpler fairy than the Ching Chou Kuik ones I've done of late, and the Pollycraft Lillybean fairies are lovely. This one's called Fearn, and she's been coloured with Promarkers with addition of a little Sakura Stardust pen for her necklace and wings. I coloured her to match the conditions of a challenge, and then realised I didn't have any backing paper in those colours. I was heading for the computer when I spotted one of my most recent purchases - a background stamp from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection. I created two varieties of paper - stamping with Distress Ink in Chipped Sapphire and Fired Brick, and then coloured areas with red and blue Stardust pens as a contrast. I edged both pieces with more Distress ink, and did the main image too. The image and sentiment were cut with my nesties, and I added some ribbon and sticky gems.

I'd like to enter the card for the following challenges: Sketch Satruday,
Rosie D's Challenge which requires a Fairytale theme, and
Dare U 2 Digistamp which requires a red, white and blue colourscheme.

Books

Well, it's the last day of half term, so it's back to school tomorrow. This will cut back on my crafting time (and energy) so I expect the posts will go back to a more manageable level!



This is a card made with one of my newer Sarah Kay stamps. I've had it a while, definitely stamped it just after I got it, and in the case of this image, coloured it too. But then it sat, waiting for further inspiration. That inspiration came from two sources - first a magazine - the Summer edition of Creative Cardmaking which came with some gorgeous papers and embellishments, and the Passion for Promarkers challenge which this week has a 'books' theme.

The image was coloured with Promarkers, and the additions are just some ribbon, three papers and an embellishment from the magazine, a little card from my collection, some cut with my Spellbinders tag die and stamped with a Papermania stamp, and a sticky gem which was also coloured with Promarkers. The only other thing I did was to give the flower embellishment a coat of 3D glaze to make it stand out a little more.

Saturday 5 June 2010

Summer Sunshine



It's a hot day here today, although thankfully not as hot as predicted. The sky's a little overcast which has definitely made a huge difference.

The card uses an image from I Did It Creations by Lauretta. It's coloured with Promarkers, and I've used the sketch provided on the I Did It Creations Challenge Blog. The papers are both from magazines.

The sketch seems not to need further adornment, so I kept it fairly simple.

Thursday 3 June 2010

Pale Blue and Pink

You can tell it's half term, can't you? How many posts is that this week?




It's a Sarah Kay image, and it's coloured with Promarkers. I've added some papers from Personal Impressions and some pearlescent card punched with a Martha Stewart border punch. The lacy pink textile is something I've had for a while - it was used to tie up a bouquet I got a few years ago! And the flowers are a mixture of ones from the local pound shop and others I made myself. The leaves are punched and coloured with Promarkers.

I'm entering it for three challenges: Sketch Saturday, Papertake Weekly which had a theme of 'Fun in the Sun' and Colour Create which required a baby pink and pastel blue colourscheme.

Wednesday 2 June 2010

A Couple of Challenges

The Sir Stampalot challenge for June is to use punches. And the Craft Cardmakers challenge is to use your least and most favourite colours.

Punching takes me back to some of my earliest papercraft (as opposed to cross stitched and hardanger) cards. I love the precision of punches, and the results often fulfil my love of symmetry and regularity. (A bit like counted cross stitch and hardanger, really.)

The colours thing is harder. I've got lots of favourite colours, although turquoise shades and corally ones are pretty much up there. For the sake of this challenge, I went for a strong cyan/turquoise. My least favourite is harder. There are combinations I hate, but that's not the same as individual colours, so in the end I went for the colours I find it hardest to cope with - black and white. (I know, two colours. But I have this obsession with black being somehow morbid and I hate having too much white on a card. I couldn't decide, so I went for both.



The stamp punches and the central pattern are all McGill punches that I've had for a while. The stamp shapes are punches I thought I'd use a lot, but even the bigger one isn't big enough for a lot of purposes, and of course, now I've got my Wizard and nesties, so they've been relegated to the cupboard. The border punch is from Fiskars.

The effect is simpler than I've been making of late, but I think it works, and it'd definitely make a good masculine card for someone.

The Sincerest Form of Flattery

When I saw Vixykins' card for the latest Crafty Cardmakers challenge, three things were obvious. First, it was gorgeous. Second, I had to go and buy the image. And third, that I had to do something similar.

Now, I don't have Vix's talent with a brayer and stamps, but I do enjoy electronic manipulation and, since the image is a digi, that's the route I took.



The image is from Stitchy Bear Stamps and it's called 'Watching'. It's supplied as both a JPG and a PNG, the latter allowing it to have transparency in the wings. The background is a selection of gradients, using what are probably my favourite colours - peachy/corally shades and pale turquoise - the sort of thing you sometimes see in a sunset. I added some silver die cuts done with my In Spades medallion set, and backed it with some sparkly black paper I've had for a couple of years. The flower uses some scraps of silver and holographic paper and some silver printed netting. I cut out the shapes with my Nestibilites Blossom die, and finished it off with a black brad.

I've got to say, I love the result, but then that's hardly surprising given that I loved the original. And if you haven't already seen the original, it's here.

I'm going to enter it for the One Stitch challenge which calls for the use of something new. The digi definitely qualifies!

Tuesday 1 June 2010

Notelets

I had to think of a little addition for my sister's birthday, and, after a day of frustration dealing with a bank that doesn't know its own procedures, I really needed some distraction. Well, my new subscription to Craft Stamper came to the rescue as the magazine dropped onto the doormat this morning. There was a feature on doing a Masterboard and it looked like an ideal starting point for some notelets. I checked my stash of A6 cards - I rarely use that size these days for greetings cards - and found six bright yellow cards. With that and the knowledge that my sister loves pink, I set to work.



I used a variety of stamps from various sources, Promarkers and Sakura Stardust pens for colouring and Memento black and Versacolor inks in olive, raspbery and marigold. I then cut sections of the masterboard and mounted them in a variety of ways - using my nesties, borderabilities, edge punches and Cuttlebug embossing folders. I then made a box and topped it off with a large section of similar pattern. As you can see, while there's an overall theme, they're all quite different. I kept them all pretty flat - seems more practical for notelets really! Now, all I've got to do is work out how to get it to her without the box getting too bashed!

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