Another Rainbow!

Another of my new stamps - this one is a Molly Harrison from Crafts and Me.

I went a bit mad with the colouring - Promarkers, of course! I thought I'd go for a sunset-type sky, and blended like mad. I've got to say I like how it turned out, although, I'm just a tad biassed - I mean, I don't call this blog Josephine's Rainbow for nothing! And given the rainbow theme, I had to use that gorgeous paper from Panda Bear at Stitchy Stamps. I finished the card with some flowers made with a Marianne Creatable die set and coloured with Promarkers.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Crafts and Me where anything goes,
Passion for Promarkers where anything goes and
I Love Promarkers where anything goes.

Long Time ... No Blog

It's been a while! Well, to be honest, I've made a couple of cards and things, but I can't show you those yet ...

We had a good Christmas. Both boys got home despite the weather and then it was just the five of us.

I made a card today just to show off some of my new crafty bits!

I've used one of my new Ching Chou Kuik stamps and coloured the image with Promarkers. The paper is part of a pad from Papermania's Capsule collection  which I got from my Secret Santa at work. I used a Martha Stewart border punch, and added a butterfly. I've had that stamp for a very long time, and I used Versamark ink and then brushed it with Perfect Pearls in Bronze and Copper and finally sprayed it with Crafters Companion Spray and Sparkle.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Crafty Catz whose theme is 'Your Choice'
Sweet Pea Stamper whose theme is 'Anything Goes'
All Sorts whose theme is 'Anything Goes'
Passion for Promarkers whose theme is 'Anything Goes'

I Love Promarkers whose theme is 'Anything Goes'.

I know I've already shown you this card - it's one I made for an OSAAT challenge earlier this year - but I wanted something seasonal on the page! It's one of my favourites of the Christmas cards I've made this year - I like the colours and the fairly clean and simple layout.

I haven't been around these last few weeks. I picked up one of the many lurgies that're going around, and while it didn't stop me completely, it slow me down a lot! Between work and Christmas preparations, all I've done lately craft-wise are the various DT commitments I've had. A week into the school holiday, I'm feeling a lot better, and finally think we might be ready for Christmas.

It's been an interesting year for me in terms of cardmaking. This summer, I joined two design teams which has definitely proved  both challenging and enjoyable and I'm looking forward to further challenges in the New Year.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who visits my blog - either regularly or occasionally - and to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas (or Festive Season) and the very best for 2011 when it comes.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 36

For this challenge, we are very proud to have a number of prizes up for grabs.

£10 voucher from Joanna Sheen

£10 voucher from The Stampman

$10 voucher for Stitchy Bear Stamps

Pack of 5 promarkers from Letraset

£10 voucher for Crafts & Me

£10 worth of stamps of your choice from Stamping all day

How's that for a line up? Not surprisingly, we want you to do something a little bit different this time. Not only are we challenging you to show us what you're doing now, but we also want you to show us one of your first efforts!

For this challenge, I got to work with one of Stitchy's images - called Flutterby. I teamed it with some paper which also came from the Stitchy Bear shop, but which was designed by Panda Bear Designs.

I coloured three copies of the humming bird with Promarkers, shading between a blue/green shade through to magenta. I made the flowers using layers of tissue paper coloured with Promarkers to the same shades as the bird, and cut with a Marianne Creatables die in my Wizard, layering them with a brad.

(A close up so you can see the layering)

I finished the card with some layered flowers and a label from my collection.

And now I've shown you something recent, I'm supposed to show you something older.

I started making cards back when I did a lot of cross stitch and Hardanger, so an obvious way into 'paper' cards was stitching, and I did quite a few. Like a lot of cards I did then, this is a 'single technique' card - apart from adding a peel off greeting and dragonfly, it's just the stitched image. There's no layering - something I rarely do without these days. The other big difference is the size and shape. A6 used to be my preferred card size, but these days I prefer a square format, and I love the (almost) six inch square cards that are available.

So, if you find you've got some time over the festive season, show us your 'first' and 'last'!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: Creative Card Crew where 'anything goes',
Passion for Promarkers where anything goes (providing you use Promarkers/Aquamarkers)
Cute Card Thursday where the theme is 'floral frenzy'
Digi Doodles where the theme is 'animals/insects'
Southern Girls where the theme is 'heating up' the picture definitely depicts something warmer than the UK at the moment!
Little Red Wagon where they want die cuts (Mariane Creatables die used to cut flower layers)

Stamp Something where it's 'December Digi Day'
Digis with Attitude where anything goes provided there's a digi stamp
Sew Many Cards where they're looking for flowers and a digi stamp.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 43

It's time for the last One Stitch at a Time challenge of 2010, and what we want you to do this time is to surprise us - it's an 'anything goes'! And you've got until 9th January to show us what you can do. And to make it even sweeter, there's a chance to win a £10 token from One Stop Card Crafts.

This week, I got to work with some fabulous papers by Panda Bear Designs. I've used two papers from her Rainbow Paper pack (and if you pop into my blog tomorrow, you'll see a third one which I've used for a different challenge.)

These papers are just so vibrant that the photo doesn't do them justice.

I printed them on my usual Ryman Matte coated photo paper which gives brilliant colour while appearing like a 'normal' document paper. The paler background, like others in the pack, is a perfect base for all sorts of images with a mixture of sky and rainbow colours, and for this, I chose a Ching Chou Kuik fairy stamped in Memento ink, coloured with Promarkers with added glitter and cut with an oval nestibility die. To finish the card, I cut some flowers from the papers using a Marianne Creatable die set, and finished them with some flower gems.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:


Creative Card Crew where 'anything goes',
Flutterby Wednesday where the challenge this time is open
Passion for Promarkers where 'anything goes' providing you use Promarkers
Cute Card Thursday where the theme is 'Floral Frenzy'
Little Red Wagon where the theme is 'die cuts' (Mariane Creatables dies used to cut flowers.)
Craft you Passion where 'anything goes'
Stamp Something where it's 'December Digi Day'
Anything Goes Challenges where they're looking for 'All the Colours of the Rainbow' (various colours in the dark backing paper)

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 42

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we're sponsored by http://www.michellesscrap.com/ who are offering a $10 voucher to the lucky winner. And the theme is Old Stash/New Stash, so that's easy, isn't it? Just let us know what's new or old that you've used, and otherwise, anything goes!

This week I was able to work with an image from Card Mad Fairy called 'Stylised Flower' (available at the Stitchy Bear shop)and this is what I came up with.

It's such a pretty, bold image, I decided to print it a bit larger than I usually would. I added the line detail in the petals and leaves by backstitching with holographic silver 'thread' after colouring the image with Promarkers in a range of pinks and reds and greens. I finished the image with a couple of large sticky gems. The background paper is from MME, as is the sentiment, and I cut the floral border with a Martha Stewart edge punch.

In terms of what's old/new, the image is new, the thread I  used is old - had it for years!

I hope you can join us this week!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: A Crafty Little Place where 'Anything Goes',
Partytime Tuesday where 'Anything Goes' provided it's a birthday card,
Top Tip Tuesday where 'Anything Goes'

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 35

This week on Crafty Cardmakers, the theme is 'White and a Splash'. To make it even better, we're sponsored by Joanna Sheen who will give the lucky winner a voucher for £10 to spend in her shop.

For me, this challenge means lots of texture and sparkle. I cut the edge of some white card using my Craft Tonic Border system using an edge punch and a snowflake one,  embossed it with a Papermania embossing folder, and matted the result with my 'splash' colour. Then I cut the largest part of the Spellbinder Lattice medallion and I added one of the Labels 3 set for the hand-written sentiment, and cut a mat for it by hand using the same label die as a template. I cut several Spellbinders snowflakes and some smaller Cuttlebug ones and added some irridescent Glamour Dust before layering the larger snowflakes with sparkly brads.

 

So, put away your Promarkers and join us for our 'White and a Splash' challenge. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with. 

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: Stampin' for the Weekend whose theme is 'Winter'. 

Crafty Catz whose theme is 'Christmas'

Fussy and Fancy Friday whose theme is 'Christmas, no red or green',

Crafty Calendar Challenge whose theme is 'Winter/snowflakes'

and If the Shoe Fits whose theme is like ours, 'White and a Splash'!

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 41

This week on One Stitch at a time, we're sponsored by Digis with Attitude who are offering the lucky winner of this challenge a voucher for $10 (Canadian) to spend in their shop. To be in with a chance, you need to 'Celebrate in Style' - bring out bling, shine, glitz!

 

My card this week features 'Grumpy Gretchen' from Digis with Attitude. I thought she would look at home in a sixties style background, so I found a lovely, colourful background from a CD Rom from Crafty Computer Paper. In photoshop elements, I added a lilac layer on top of the inner part, and then placed Gretchen and her cake on top of that. I added the two sentiments - the first is also from 'Digis with Attitude' and the second was done in PSE.

I coloured Gretchen with Promarkers, then added some layering, and some background paper from MME. To finish, and to add some bling, I added some flower gems with round gems at their centre, some flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, and a butterfly.

Hope you can join us this week, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: Pear Tree Designs whose theme is 'Colourful',

Karber Weekly who want us to use two or more papers and a digi,

Charisma Cardz who want 'For a Girl',

A Spoonful of Sugar where 'Anything Goes',

For Fun Challenges where 'Anything Goes'.

An Anniversary Card

I had to make an anniversary card for a friend's parents tonight - at fairly short notice. Fortunately, I had an ideal image, and today I got a CD in the post from Crafty Emma called Flower Power which provided some ideal backing paper.

The image is by Stitchy at Stitchy Bear Stamps and it's coloured with Promarkers. The embossed card is from my stash, as are the multi-layered flowers while the single flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Sketch and Stash,
Crafty Purple Frog  whose theme is 'flowers'
Top Tip Tuesday whose theme is 'Layer upon layer' (hope I've used enough)
A Spoonful of Sugar whose theme is 'Anything Goes'.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 40

This week at One Stitch at a Time the theme is 'Pick a season  or event'. So, nice and easy, isn't it?

Not surprisingly at this time of year, I chose Christmas, and was delighted to work with two images this week. The first is from Card Mad Fairy - Tina's 1st Nativity . In fact, I liked Tina so much, I made a choir of little angels ...

I put together a 'starry night' background in Photoshop Elements then added a choir of Tinas (uncoloured). I printed on my usual Ryman ink jet card and coloured the choir with Promarkers then added some sparkle with white glitter. I printed a separate sheet of the background for the front and cut an aperture with Spellbinders Labels 3, and framed it with the same set.  I added a larger Tina on the front, and finished the card with some Wild Orchid Crafts flowers and letters which were a magazine freebie ages ago.



As an experiment, I printed the same files again, but this time used some cream pearlescent paper I've had for a while. The colours appear much less saturated, but you do get a slight shimmer. This card was put together like the one above, except that here, I decorated the front of the card with punched stars, die-cut swirls and a verse from a Christmas carol.

I was also able to work with one of Stitchy's images - this one's called Lite Brite. I've had a hankering to do this one for a while.

I added a background to the image before I printed it. I wanted to give the effect of the tree lighting a darkened space, so I used a grey gradient from pale to fairly dark. The tree itself, I coloured with Promarkers. The background paper and border strips are from Papermania, and the snowflakes were cut in my Wizard with a Cuttlebug die (which I've finally worked out how to use in my machine. It's only taken a couple of years ...) I added a little gold Glamour Dust to the snowflakes, and coloured a few sticky gems with Promarker.


Since I'd printed off several of the trees, I decided to do another card in completely different colours.

This time, the backing papers are from Craft Creations and the snowflakes one was a magazine freebie. The embossed card is from PayPer Box from a visit to Olympia a couple of years ago. I finished the card with a little white ribbon and three clear sticky gems.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 34

At Crafty Cardmakers this time, we're challenging you to make a card and matching gift. And this week, we're sponsored by The Stampman who're offering a £10 voucher to the lucky winner.

I don't often do gifts, preferring to stick to cards, but I'd had an idea for my sister who's got a big birthday coming up, so I went with that. Because she doesn't know about this and therefore can't give her permission for photos of her to appear, I've blanked out any that might be recognised. (And no, I don't think she knows my blog address.)

I printed out copies of various photos of my sister. (One includes our dad, but he's been gone for twelve years, so I don't think he'd mind featuring here!) I cut them with my circle nesties, and framed them in gold with my new set of eyelet circle nesties. The background paper is a dark brown flecked with gold that I've had for a long time - can't even remember where it came from.

The box came from Hobbycraft. I stained it with Moonglow ink in Ethereal Emerald, added the photos, and then varnished it in clear. The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, and I dipped them into the same Moonglow ink, and when they were dry, sprayed them with Crafters Companion Spray and Shine.

I aim to get something to put into the box, but haven't found anything suitable yet!

Hope you can join us at Crafty Cardmakers - and remember, although we have a new theme every week, they're all open for two weeks! So you've got plenty of time.

I'd like to enter these for the following challenges:
Fab'n'Funky challenges who want us to use circles and
Paper Playtime whose theme is P.S. I love you ... (made for my sister, using my nesties and Wizard which I love!)
Fairytale Challenge where 'Anything Goes',
AI Factory who want die cuts or punches (nesties and eyelet nesties)

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 39

This week on One Stitch at a Time, we're challenging you to use your favourite colours! This week, we're sponsored by Robyn who's offering a $10 voucher.

I've got a lot of favourite colours, but shades that I love, especially together, are peachy/coral colours with pale turquoise. And this week, I got to work with a gorgeous image from Beary Dust whose images are available at the Stichy Bear shop. It's called 'Precious'.

I coloured the image three times with Promarkers, and layered it - that hat just cried out to be layered! The background papers are from Papermania. The rest of the card shows off some of my birthday presents! The border is a Spellbinders border die which I cut in both colours. (The lower layer was cut through the middle so I could offset it.) And the flowers were made with a new Marianne die, which to my relief, cut really well in my Wizard. (I'd heard comments that they weren't compatible, but they worked fine for me.) I coloured the flowers with Promarkers to match the image, and finished them off with some brads.

So what're you waiting for? Make something in your favourite colours!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: Fairy Fun Friday who want us to make our own flowers,
Stamp Challenges who're having a 'Digi Day'
If the Shoe Fits who're looking for DIY embellishments (the flowers)
AI Factory weekly who're looking for die cuts/punches (the flowers and the border)

Something with Wings ...

I made a card for a colleague this evening.

The image, of course, is from Ching Chou Kuik, and it's coloured with Promarkers. I used my nesties to cut an aperture in the front of a brown card and then framed the opening. The paper is from MME (on the front) and, Papermania (inside, I think). I finished it off with some flowers.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
The Crazy Challenge who want 'Things with Wings'
Daring Cardmakers whose theme is 'Topaz'.

Crafty Cardmakers Spotlight on Dry Embossing

Trust me to take things literally! When I read 'spotlight on dry embossing', i thought I'd try pretty much all embossing.

Having said that, I have used a couple of different dry embossing techniques. The background is embossed (and debossed) in my Wizard using both the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and one of their border folders. I used some lovely low-sheen metallic blue card I've had for ages for that.

The main flower and the white layer behind it were embossed using one of the Glitter Girls Keepsake board - can't remember the name of it, but it's teal in colour! It's one of the few they do that's great for square cards, but even so, it's been a while since I used it.


I added glitter to the space between embossed lines in the white layer, and to accentuate embossed lines in the flower layers. One of the things - especially about the Glitter Girls boards, but also true of embossing in general, is that you get a much bigger effect if you use expensive, pearlescent or mirror type card. The white and the dark blue have a gold sheen to them, and the pale blue is ordinary pearlescent. I cut the layers out with scissors. I'd love to get good enough with a craft knife to use one instead, because the scissors tend to stretch the card a bit so that you lose some of the depth of the embossing when you cut. (Although I did go back around the embossing after I cut the shapes out.)

To finish, I added a couple of silk flowers (can't remember where I got those - Mad About Cards, perhaps?) and a brad with a gem centre.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
The Creative Cottage whose theme is embossing,
C.R.A.F.T whose theme is dry embossing
The Crafty Purple Frog whose theme is 'sparkle'

Silent Night?

For this card, I used a new (to me) Sarah Kay stamp. Look at those choir boys. You can almost believe they're angelic ... It's stamped on Ryman ink jet card and coloured with Promarkers. The edging is Cardinal Versamark ink applied with crumpled climg film. The backing is the same card, but embossed in a Cuttlebug folder in my Wizard with the same Cardinal ink applied to the background. The ribbon and sentiment are from my stash, and the poinsettia was made using a Marianne die set. I cut and embossed four layers in my Wizard, then applied Glimmer Mist to the layers and edged with stickles.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 38

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we're challenging you to do some Christmas crafting, and giving you the chance to win some fabulous images from Di's Digi Downloads! The theme is 'Anything Goes/Winter Wonderland'.

I was lucky enough to get one of Di's images to work with this week, and this is what I came up with.

This was a lovely image to colour. And I don't know about you, but I think he's pretty much a perfect Father Christmas!

The image is mainly coloured with Promarkers, although I've added some Sakura Stardust pen in silver for the aeroplane and Santa's buckle, and in clear for his beard. I glittered the fur trim on his suit. The background is silver mirri-board embossed in my Wizard with a Papermania embossing folder, and I finished it with some ribbon, a couple of flowers and a sticky gem. The silver metal flower came from a local bookshop and the green one from Craft Creations. It orignally had a gold glittered centre, so I covered that up with the sticky gem to keep from introducing yet another colour.

I hope you can join us at One Stitch at a Time this week.

I'd like to enter the following challenges.
Charisma Card Challenges - whose theme is Christmas,
Creative Cottage Challenges whose theme is embossing
Lexi's Creations whose theme is 'Anything Goes'
Craft Your Passion whose theme is 'Anything Goes'
Critter Challenge whose theme is 'Christmas'
Top Tip Tuesday whose theme is 'Christmas'.

All White!

There're a couple of challenges around at the moment which call for a card that's all white except for the image - Simon Says Stamp and Crafting Your Days Away. I had a birthday recently, and since my OH won't buy me craft things (in case he gets the wrong thing, he says), I ordered myself a few bits and pieces - among them a gorgeous stamp from Gillian Roberts and Stampavie.

I stamped the image on Ryman ink jet card in Memento black and coloured it with Promarkers. I mounted the image, and cut the border in a lovely white sparkly card I've had for a long time and almost run out of! The background is the same Ryman card, embossed using a range of Cuttlebug and Papermania embossing folders. I finished it off with some ribbon threaded through the border.

I'd also like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Charisma Cards which is looking for Christmas,
Sir Stampalot who are looking for Christmas Traditions (and what could be more traditional than the school Nativity play?)
I Love Promarkers who are looking for snowflakes (embossed in the background)

And, since I mentioned Sir Stampalot just there, I'd like to compliment them on the fastest order delivery I've ever had. I ordered a new trimmer from them after work on Tuesday and it was waiting for me when I got home on Wednesday! That's pretty amazing, I think.

An Anniversary Card

This week, Creative Craft Challenges is being sponsored by Stitchy Stamps. It's their first anniversary, and as a result, the theme this time is anniversaries. Now my oh and I are due to celebrate a 'big' anniversary next year. Unfortunately, the date's at the end of a really busy cardmaking period, and I often end up leaving it to the last minute and struggling to do something I like. So, seeing this challenge, I decided to get ahead of the game!

The image is from Stitchy Stamps and it's called 'The Raggedies'. Very appropriate, really, since both my oh and I could be considered to be 'past our best'! It's a lovely image to colour, which I've done with promarkers, and mounted it on mirri-silk type card. The background paper was designed in Photoshop Elements, as was the sentiment, and the hearts were punched.

I'd also like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Creative Card Crew who are looking for punches,
Sketchy Colors whose sketch I followed,
Incy Wincy where 'Anything Goes',
One Stop Craft Challenge where 'Anything Goes'
The Stamp Man who want 'Cards for Men' (It's for my husband.)
Crafty Purple Frog where 'Anything Goes'

And if you've started your Christmas crafting, don't forget that this week's One Stitch at a Time challenge is ... Christmas!

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 37 - Traditional or Modern Christmas

This week on One Stitch at a Time, the theme is Tradional or Modern Christmas, and we've got three sponsors.

Easycraft who are offering a £10 token,
I Am Roses who are offerning this beautiful selection of flowers,

And Michelle's Scraps who are offering a $10 voucher.
And the challenge this time is easy - something for Christmas, either traditional or modern. And if you're stuck for ideas, check out the Stitchy Bear and I Did It Creations Boutique where the artists have been producing some gorgeous stamps and papers for the festive season.

My card this week features a new digi-stamp from Trees Award in Digital Stamps.

This was a lovely image to work with, and so lovely, I didn't feel the need to add much in the way of background.

I did layer the image - to give the outside of the house some height compared to the inside, and I added some polyester film for the 'glass'. The image is primarily coloured with Promarkers, although I added some detail with Sakura Stardust pen (black) for the light casing and Sakura white Souffle pen for the snowy bits. I dusted those same bits with silver glitter before the pen had quite dried for added sparkle.

I used a red card blank, and some lovely Papermania silver printed vellum in the background, backing most of the vellum with white card, attached with some silver brads. I then finished it with a bow on the plant pot, and some flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I added a computer generated sentiment that has been coloured with Sakura Stardust pens for a litle glitter.

Hope you can join us at OSAAT this week - there are some fabulous prizes, and you know you need to get stuck into that Christmas crafting, don't you? (I know I do!)

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Papertake Weekly who want us to use glitter (added to snow, and glitter pen used for lamp casing)
The ABC Challenge who have reached G for Glitter (added to snow, and glitter pen used for lamp casing)
Southern Girls who also want glitter (added to snow, and glitter pen used for lamp casing)
Digi Doodles Best where 'Anything Goes'
Crafty Purple Frog Challenges where 'Anything Goes'

Something A Little Different

I'm not at all confident when it comes to complicated card folds or shapes. But I spotted something in Craft Stamper yesterday and had to have a go.

The magazine article calls it a 'Tri-Shutter' card, but I'm not altogether sure why. But no matter!

I used some Christmas paper left over from last year in a lovely golden brown/turquoise colourscheme, and added some Craft Stamper freebie stamps. The stars are from (I think) an issue about a year ago, and the 'Celebrate' and bauble stamps are more recent and they were all stamped with Versamark and embossed in Champagne Gold. I added colour with bronze and turquoise Perfect Pearls used as a watercolour since they were handy and provide a bit of lustre. The images are all matted on gold satin card.

The result is different enough to look a bit special, I think, but it's still fairly understated. I might be doing more of these! But, I might do myself some templates first to make the folding and cutting easier.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
The Creative Cottage who are looking for embossing (stamped images),
A Spoonful of Sugar who are looking for punching and/or diecutting. (Stamped images and their mats were cut with nestibilities.)
Delightful Challenges who are looking for circles
Stampavie whose theme is Christmas.

Crafty Cardmakers Spotlight - Digi Plus

Digital images are great, aren't they? So versatile, and pretty much anything you can do with a stamped image, you can do with a digi. So, this week on Crafty Cardmakers we're challenging you to spotlight your digital manipulation skills - use a digi, but do more than just print and colour! Think of all the things you can do with digis - resize, mirror, combining more than one image, adding text ... and so much more besides.

We're sponsored on this Spotlight challenge by Stitchy Bear Stamps, and Ei whose stamps are available here. The DT  were allowed to choose from an extensive selection of images. Now, I'm a big fan of Stitchy's silhouettes, so I chose Rainbow Magic - a set of six silhouette fairies with a touch of magic!

And to show that touch of magic a bit more clearly ...

Isn't that touch of colour in the wings just gorgeous?

So, in Photoshop Elements, I first put together a background. I masked areas and filled them with gradients of various shades of grey. I did the same for the moon - a circular mask and a gradient from pale grey to white. Then, I used the cookie-cutter tool and some of the supplied shapes to add some trees, flowers and a bird.

At this point, I added the fairies - they're supplied as both JPGs and PNGs, and the latter retain some transparency, so you can see through the wings to what's behind. I thought I've have one lazy fairy - she's hitched a ride on the poor bird! I think it's pretty clear they're gathering for some purpose or other, but I wouldn't like to speculate on why.

I finished the image with some brush strokes to give some shadow under the tree, and to give the ground a bit of texture, and added a gradient frame, then printed it onto glossy photo paper. Then, I matted it onto silver mirriboard and black, and added some Krenik Blending Filament around the edges to give a rainbow-toned border. I added that to a white card blank, and finished it off with some die cuts and sticky gems.

I had real fun with this - I even surprised myself by using five out of the six fairies. (Nothing wrong with the remaining one - the image just felt 'finished' without her.)

Hope you're able to join us in the Spotlight this time!

I'd like to enter this card for the following challenges:

Flutter By Wednesdays whose challenge this week is open except for needing a butterfly, angel or fairy on it.
Creative Card Crew who are looking for Fairy Tales.
Meljen's Designs (whose theme is 'Anything Goes')
The Three Muses who want 'Things with Wings', and
Karber Monthly whose theme is 'Fantasy'.

Pretty in Pink

Scroll down for OSAAT DT project.

You can tell I'm on holiday, can't you? Third post of the day. And another Christmas Card.

The image is a freebie from Inger Harding and she's been coloured with Promarkers, with some snow detail added with a Sakura Stardust pen, and the clothes detail added in glitter. To go with it, I designed a pink and white snowflake paper in Photoshop Elements and printed it on vellum, and a gingham paper printed on matte coated photo paper.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Passion for Promarkers who want a Christmas Card in either pink and white or purple and white,
Fussy and Fancy Friday whose theme is 'Winter Wonderland', and
Delightful Challenges whose theme is 'It's Beginning to look a Lot Like Christmas'.

Pastel Christmas!

Scroll down for this week's OSAAT challenge project.

Seems like a while since I did a card just because I wanted to, although that's largely because I've spent the last week fighting a nasty chest cold and not getting enough sleep as a result. It's still around, but as it's now half term, getting caught up on sleep shouldn't be a problem!

Yesterday, I snagged the cutest free digi from Pollycraft, and I was inspired to do this!

It's called 'Penguin Love' and it's available for a short time. I coloured the image with Promarkers and added detail with Sakura Stardust pen, then added some glitter to their hats.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 36

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we're inviting you to celebrate with us! That's right, we want to see you make something for a celebration - doesn't matter what - birthday, Christmas, wedding ... your choice. And the prize this week is five digis from the Stitchy Bear shop.

This time, I've been working with some papers from Floppy Latte Designs whose work is available here. I chose a couple of sets from the selection - the Fun'n'Funky papers and the matching Alphabet.

Firstly, I did a purely digital card. I had fun with this, playing with the various elements in Photoshop Elements and this was the result.

But then, just to prove I could do a 'real' card with those 'bits', I printed the elements and came up with this.

It's a non-specific celebration card, that I think might be useful to have in my box. I added some extra matting over the digital version, but otherwise, they're about the same.

And, because I've decided to have some calendars as Christmas gifts this year, I did one of those too!

Those papers are just so bright and cheerful, they're ideal for something that's going to be around for a whole year!

This time, I added some 'cookie cutter' shapes from Photoshop Elements, and the phrase which I've loved since I saw in a stitching pattern years ago - 'Life is a Patch-work of Love'. I've used all six of the papers here, and while I used the alphabet set for the card, I didn't for this one because I wanted more structure to the pattern, and that meant I needed certain letters to use specific papers. I did those in some very elderly software I've got called Namo Web Canvas, which allows any vector shape (including text) to be filled with a pattern. Once I'd done that, I imported the letters into PSE and did the rest! To add to the interest, I raised every alternate letter on foam pads. The calendar is an easel-style construction, using some extra-thick card to support it's A4 width size. The flowers used more of the papers, cut with the Blossom 2 die in my Wizard and with the edges inked in Pine Needles Distress Ink, and finished with sticky gems.

Hope you can join the celebration at OSAAT this week!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: Stamp Something where the challenge is to use something digital - well, it's all digital!

Pear Tree Designs whose theme is 'Anything Goes',
Meljens Designs whose theme is 'Anything Goes'
A Crafty Little Place who want easel cards. (I've got an easel calendar card, hope that's ok!)
Challenge Up Your Life  who're looking for easels (Again, an easel calendar card, hope that's ok),
Gingersnap Creations who're looking for something inspired by a quilt pattern. (My calendar may not be a traditional quilt pattern, but I think it's in the same style.)

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 35

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we're asking you to 'Embellish' with your favourite things. And, even better, we're sponsored by Joanna Sheen who's offering the lucky winner a £10 voucher for her shop - and don't forget, most of her stock has free postage worldwide!

I got to use an image by Beary Dust which is available at the Stitchy Bear shop. This one is called 'Alice' and, although it needn't be used this way, it immediately made me think of Alice in Wonderland, and this was the result.

I had a play with the image in Photoshop Elements first - adding a background of an old door and a caption 'Curiuoser and curiouser'. That door image came from a CDRom I bought a while ago from Crafty Computer Paper - Crafty Image Emporioum. I printed the result onto Ryman Ink Jet card and coloured Alice with Promarkers then added some detail in Sakura Stardust Pen to add sparkle. I used some Papermania backing paper, and finished the card with some Prima flowers edged with Promarker and finished with sticky gems.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: Alice in Wonderland who want a door, lock or key. (I've only got a bit of a door, hope that's ok.)
Digi-Doodle who want a digi-image of a person,
Polycraft Monday Challenge (If you don't think Alice in Wonderland is a Fairytale, feel free to remove the entry.)
Papercutz  where 'Anything Goes'.

I also used the image in a more 'traditional' way - printing without a background, and this was the result.

Again, I coloured Alice with Promarkers, and touched up the background with Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass. The background papaer is also Distress Inked - in Tumbled Glass, Faded Denim and Worn Lipstick, and then with stamped some flower and leaf images from a Tapestry Stamp set.

The embellishments were some swirls, and punched flowers which were coloured with Promarkers and finished with sticky gems.

I'd like to enter this card to the following challenges:
Digi-Doodle who want a digital image with a person,
Polycraft Monday Challenge where the theme is 'Fairytales'. I don't know if you consider Alice in Wonderland to be a fairytale or not - feel free to remove the entry if you don't think it is.
Crafty Ann's Challenge where they want you to use a digi and your favourite colouring medium (Promarkers).

I hope you can join us this week at OSAAT, and share your favourite embellishments with us.

Aquamarkers

Anyone who ever visits this blog will know that I'm a Promarker fan. I've tried watercolouring using various options - paint, twinkling H2Os and markers, but I generaly prefer the result I get with Promarkers.

However, I was lucky enough to win some Aquamarkers by way of the Passion for Promarkers challenge blog, and I've given them a try. The pack I got included a blender pen, so my first attempt tried to use them as I would Promarkers. I stamped an image onto watercolour paper, put some colour directly onto the paper and used the blender pen to move the colour and combine shades. This didn't work very well - mainly because with almost no blending, I was picking up surface paper on the pen nib. The result was that the inked image got worn away in places, and the blending didn't work that well.

So, I switched to applying colour with a paintbrush. Once I'd done that, I added some shadows directly and blended them with the brush. This worked a lot better than the previous method, but it'll take some practice before I'm as comfortable with it as I am with Promarkers, if that ever happens. But, in the meantime, I have a result.

The image, of course, is one of Ching Chou Kuik's, and it's stamped on watercolour paper in Versafine ink. I added some detail with Sakura Stardust pens. The papers are by My Mind's Eye and Personal Impressions. I added some flowers - the large ones are Prima and the little ones from Wild Orchid Crafts. I finished them off with a couple of ribbon rosebuds I've had for so long, I've forgotten where they came from.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: Colour Create who are looking for pink, cream and green,
Magical Monday Challenge where they're 'Going back to Nature' with some sort of magical creature - mermaid with bamboo and flowers.

Another Christmas Card

I've used the Polycraft image (Cherry Kisses Snowball) several times this year, but always as a 'stand alone' image. This time, I combined it with another Polycraft freebie - (trees background) and added a Merry Christmas in an outline font. I printed it on Ryman Ink Jet card and coloured the image with Promarkers.

Because of the combination of images, the result was fairly big, so instead of using a backing paper, I decided to use some ribbon to frame the image. I mitred some red/cream ribbon I've had for a few years, and added some detail with some green gingham, and finished with a couple of bows and a stick on snowflake with a sticky gem.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: Digital Tuesday where the requirement is to use a digi image (I used two), ribbon, buttons and bling. (Two out of three.)
Anything Goes where Christmas has come early,
Fab'n'Funky where they want a digital image,
Create4Fun who also want a digital image, and
Craftilicious where Anything Goes.