Wednesday 29 March 2017

Teabag Dispenser at Club KennyK

There's still a couple of days to enter our March challenge over at Club KennyK on Facebook. 
Be sure to properly watermark your creations as per TOU and follow the rules to be eligible to enter and request the challenge freebie, which is 'Texting Friends' this month.


The DT theme this time is 'Anything But A Card' so I have made a teabag dispenser for my friend's birthday.  I pinned one ages ago but hadn't had an excuse to make it until now.  I have used the retro image 'What If?' as I pictured her daydreaming about some tea!
Products I have used to create my gift:
  • Papermania cardstock and DP (Love Jesse Edwards Boutique pack)
  • Thick cardboard from the back of my Canson card (for the base)
  • Collall glue
  • 3D foam pads and ribbon from my stash
  • ProMarkers - Cinnamon, Tan, Dusky Pink, Satin, Caramel, Sandstone, Pastel Beige, Cocoa, Raw Sienna & Burnt Sienna



I am entering my creation into the following challenges:
  1. Crafty Creations - #338 AG
  2. Crafty Gals Corner - #116 AG
  3. Creative Fingers - #126 AG
  4. Glitter 'n' Sparkle - #232 Mother's Day/For A Female
  5. Simon Says Wednesday - AG
  6. The Ribbon Girl - March Use Any Image
  7. Crafty Catz - #363 AG
  8. Colour Crazy - WK12 AG
  9. Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - #54 AG
  10. World Wide Open Design Team - #20 AG






Monday 27 March 2017

Rockin' 50's

I had my eye on this image from Faery Ink for a while and finally got it after winning a challenge. 'Gabbie 50's Girl' just reminded me of Grease and the Pink Ladies and TV shows set in the 50's that I used to watch. 
I've been a bit naughty, after wanting to make all my DT cards for specific people this year, and not made this for anyone in particular. I just couldn't resist colouring up and making a card though, so I'm sure I'll find somebody to give it to eventually!
This is such a great scene, so I've made a very CAS square card and luckily had the same font Amanda used for the diner to create my sentiment. 

Products I have used to create my card:

  • Papermania Cardstock
  • White Sakura Gelly Roll
  • ProMarkers - Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Oatmeal, Saffron, Rose Pink, Raw Sienna, Mustard, Tulip, Duck Egg, Cool Aqua, Carmine, Baby Pink, Cocoa, Cinnamon, Caramel, Cool Grey 1-5, Black, Arctic Blue, Powder Blue, Mulberry, Cerise, Pink Carnation, Warm Grey 2-5, Aegean & Cyan



I am entering my card into the following challenges:
  1. Brown Sugar - #243 AG
  2. CCC Digi Creations - #69 For The Girls
  3. Colour Crazy Craft Challenge - WK12 AG
  4. Crafty Creations - #337 AG
  5. Creative Fingers - #126 AG
  6. Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - #54 AG
  7. Passion for ProMarkers - WK387 Girl Power
  8. Polkadoodles - WK12 AG
  9. The Corrosive Challenge - #3 AG
  10. The Ribbon Girl - March Use Any Image




Wednesday 22 March 2017

A Big 4-0 at Club KennyK

Happy Wednesday! And an extra special Happy Birthday at Club KennyK to our very own DT member Nick, who is 40 today. 



I've made her a square CAS card using 'Frieda Flapper' and a different colour combination than I usually use - orange and pink. 
Products I have used to create my card:

  • Papermania cardstock
  • Walmart sequins
  • Dovecraft twine
  • Elizabeth Craft Designs Banner Die
  • Black gel pen
  • ProMarkers - Cinnamon, Coral, Blush, Satin, Black, Cool Grey 3, 4 & 5, Warm Grey 1, Aegean, Sky Blue, Arctic Blue, Magenta, Carmine, Cerise, Raw Sienna, Gold & Tulip


I am entering my card into the following challenges:
  1. World Wide Open Design Team - #20 AG
  2. The Cutie Pie Challenge - #109 Dies & Digis
  3. Brown Sugar - #242 AG
  4. CCC Digi Creations - #69 For The Girls
  5. Classic Design Team Open - #12 AG
  6. Come and Get It - AG
  7. Crafty Catz - #162 AG/twist Touch of Pink
  8. Crafty Creations - #337 AG
  9. Passion for ProMarkers - #387 Girl Power
  10. The Crafty Addicts - #34 AG/twist CAS





Monday 13 March 2017

Friends Frame at Club KennyK

Our March challenge at Club KennyK is underway and this time the DT theme is 'Anything But A Card'. This really is a fun theme as you can get so creative with different ideas.  
To join in please hop over to Facebook and make sure you fully read and follow the rules. This is very important if you wish to be eligible for a prize and claim the challenge freebie. 

Today I am sharing a frame made using the fabulous freebie 'Texting Friends' and the following products:

  • Wooden frame & paper flowers from Michaels  
  • Ribbon & brads from my stash
  • Cell phone brad from Eyelet Outlet
  • Kaisercraft acrylic paint in Wisteria
  • ProMarkers - Apricot, Saffron, Blush, Satin, Baby Pink, Raw Sienna, Mustard, Tulip, Umber, Burnt Sienna, Tan, Antique Pink, Sunkissed Pink, Pale Pink, Midnight, Denim, Powder Blue, Cool Grey 1, 3, 4, & 5, Magenta, Carmine, Cerise, Aegean, Cyan & Duck Egg
I actually had printed and coloured the image before I bought a frame, so I was lucky to find this one as it fits perfectly! I painted it with two coats of acrylic before attaching the image and embellishments.  The little cell brads I bought on a shopping trip not for any specific project, but I knew I had to have them and it goes so well with this image.



I am entering my frame into the following challenges:
  1. Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - #53 AG
  2. Pearly Sparkles - #14 Flowers
  3. Polkadoodles - WK10 AG
  4. The Corrosive Challenge - #3 AG
  5. A Perfect Time to Craft - #3 AG
  6. Classic Design Team - #12 AG
  7. Crafty Awesomeness - March AG





Sunday 12 March 2017

Pansy Sprite Tag

Ooh did you see the gorgeous freebie over at Aurora Wings?  I missed out on entering the challenge with my last sprite as it came out a day after I posted. Oh well.... Mitzi is offering her newest addition 'Pansy Sprite' for the duration of the new challenge, so what a great excuse to make something else. 
I rarely make tags, but I loved making my CCK tag so much I decided it was about time to make another one. 
Products I have used to create my tag:
  • Core'dinations Tim Holtz & Ranger Distress Collection 
  • Metal embellishment and Brad from my stash
  • Michaels braided twine
  • Sizzix Flourish 10 die
  • Cuttlebug embossing folder 
  • Platinum Stickles
  • Little Claire Designs outline stickers 
  • ProMarkers - Canary, Lemon, Soft Lime, Aubergine, Plum, Purple, Lavender, Warm Grey 1, Pine, Forest, Bright Green, Tan, Dusky Pink & Satin

Sunday 5 March 2017

A Sweet Sundae

Do you have a favourite ice-cream? Mine is mint chocolate chip. When I saw this cute Ice Cream Sundae Sprite from Aurora Wings I knew that's the flavour it had to be. I'm not really fancying ice-cream at the moment though as after most of the snow had gone, we woke up to a white-out this morning. 

I'm not really much of a lover of green,  but as there are a few green themed challenges out there at the moment, I thought I would make my card green too!
Products I have used to create my card:
  • Papermania cardstock
  • English Tea Party DP
  • Dollarama gems
  • Ribbon from my stash
  • Little Darlings Rubber Stamps Friendship Sentiment 
  • Anita's 3D Gloss
  • Distress Ink Walnut Stain
  • Sakura White Gelly Roll
  • Promarkers - Burnt Orange, Coral, Dusky Pink, Blush, Pine, Forest, Moss, Pear, Walnut, Burgundy, Cardinal, Ruby, Mustard, Crimson, Pastel Pink, Tulip, Magenta, Carmine, Cerise, Saffron, Vanilla, Antique Pink, Sunkissed Pink, Pale Pink, Mint, Tea Green, Satin, Cool Aqua & Powder Blue




I am entering my card into the following challenges:
  1. CCC Digi Creations - #68 Ribbon and/or Lace
  2. Crafty Cardmakers - #183 Go Green
  3. Crafty Girls Corner - #112 Add Ribbon
  4. Cute Card Thursday - #467 Anything Goes
  5. House of Cards - March Make a Scene and/or Colours
  6. Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - #53 AG
  7. Not Just Cards - #41 Spring
  8. Pink & Main - #19 Spring
  9. Power Poppy - March Let's Go Green
  10. TTCRD - Feb 28- Mar 6 AG
  11. Aurora Wings FB Group - March 'Green'
  12. Work It Wednesday - Green


Saturday 4 March 2017

March Challenge at Crafting With An Attitude

It's time for a brand new challenge over at Crafting With An Attitude.  As always we are Anything Goes. Our sponsor this month is

The prize will be the winner's choice of three images. Have fun playing along.

I have used 'Twinkles Boo' to make a little girl's birthday card. Products used:
  • Papermania card blank, cardstock, DP and buttons
  • X-Cut scalloped circle die
  • Darice embossing folder
  • Kraftin' Kimmie clear stamps 'Let Your Light Shine'
  • Whispers inks
  • Sakura Gelly Roll in white
  • ProMarkers - Apricot, Saffron, Blush, Satin, Magenta, Carmine, Cerise, Arctic Blue, Powder Blue, Rose Pink, Baby Pink, Aegean, Cyan & Duck Egg



I am entering my card into the following challenges:
  1. Crafty Catz - #360 AG
  2. Crafty Creations - #336 AG
  3. Cute Card Thursday - #467 AG
  4. Glitter 'N' Sparkle - #228 AG
  5. Passion for ProMarkers - #384 In The Pink
  6. Brown Sugar - #240 AG
  7. Crafting By Designs - March AG



Friday 3 March 2017

My Digital Stamp and Colouring Journey

Warning - lots of reading to do in this post, but I will have some photos at the end!

When I started blogging in 2013, I  hadn't even heard of Digital Stamps.  I was making cards with my toppers and the stash I had. I got a couple of Polkadoodles images free with a magazine, but I still didn't discover the online world of DigiStamps until I found Bugaboo in August 2013.  I was colouring with the Caran D'Ache pencils I'd received as a child as this was the only thing I had apart from some dried-up felt pens that I'd had forever.

I continued using Bugaboo stamps and my pencils until I was chosen as a DT member of The Crafter's Cafe in February 2014. That is when I really discovered DigiStamps properly. I was seeing many different companies through the challenge entries and realised so many people were using alcohol markers. What were these magical things?  I had to investigate.  Of course, many were using Copics, but these were way out of my price range so I opted for ProMarkers. I bought a couple of sets on Amazon and had a play. 

Oh boy - if I'd known then what I know now! The 12 pen sets didn't really have colours that blended well together, so it wasn't long before I was looking up blends and buying single markers to complete them. (I'm well on my way to owning the complete collection now, lol). A word of advice to those just buying markers for the first time... buy blending sets in the colours you think you'll use most first rather than just going for the biggest set you can afford. 

So I was happy trying to blend in my own way and copying other people who's colouring I really liked. I was probably improving a bit the more I used the pens, but I wasn't really paying attention to the little details like folds and shadows. Then I had my daughter in July 2014 (I already had a 4 year old son). I was GDT for MelJen's Designs at the time and didn't want to let them down! I continued to colour, make cards and blog until February 2015 when we were granted work permits to Canada and I had to put my entire life into boxes. You can read that story on my return blog post here

I didn't really colour or make any cards for the next year, so my colouring had gone downhill a bit when I started again in May 2016.  I carried on as usual then somehow discovered Kit & Clowder through the free wedding rose image and class that Alyce was offering.  I admit I was naughty and didn't watch the video completely before I started using the step-by-steps to colour the rose.  It was so different from how I would've coloured it on my own though and I thought it looked pretty good. 
I was so loving the technique that I did a few different colours. You can see them all on my Instagram (Link in Social Media page). 
So that was that... I joined the Kit & Clowder Facebook group and got involved with the challenges there, then I eventually bought a class. You may wonder why people pay for colouring classes when there are oodles just sitting there for free on YouTube.  Well... here is why:

Alyce, the owner of Kit & Clowder spends an awful lot of time creating all the classes.  She has recently been showing us (The 'Clowdies') her behind the scenes and it's such a lot of work that I'm sure most people on YouTube just wouldn't want to go to the effort for.  
The classes always feature great artists and there is always a discount code to use, or you can use any image you already own. Sometimes there is even a freebie image, background or an extra technique class. 
You can choose to subscribe to monthly classes (no obligation to continue), buy a year of classes in one go, or go for a technique class.  I chose Elements of Nature as there are so many flowers in digital stamps, plus there are scenes in the class where you learn different sky and ground techniques.  Also, with this class you get all the digital images included. 
I'm now also enrolled in the Monthly Classes as I just couldn't resist the November scene! I haven't been disappointed believe me.  Alyce goes through everything in a video for each image/scene and there is a step-by-step booklet to follow. 
The best thing about learning with Alyce is the one-to-one feedback, which you are never going to get with freebie YouTube videos.  If you're feeling a bit stuck on anything, you can message her for some advice.  Once your image is complete, just upload it to the classroom album and Alyce will give constructive criticism as needed, or mega praise if you have done really well.. lol!  Being in the Facebook group is also great for feedback and support. It really is a wonderful crafting community which I'm so grateful to be a part of. 

OK, enough blurb, let's get onto some photos. 

This photo is from a blog post way back in August 2014 (See it here). I was using ProMarkers and tried to get a bit of depth by using a darker colour in the centre of the flowers, but you can see it really lacks detail

This was my very first class from Elements of Nature. I jumped straight in with the Lilies as they are my favourite flowers.  There is still room for improvement here, especially as I wasn't using bleedproof card at the time, but I was so pleased with the results. I never would've thought to colour flowers like this. Watching Alyce colour first then using the step-by-step booklet makes it so easy to learn. It's also really good to refer back to when colouring up other images with flowers in. 

This is a gorgeous image from Ching-Chou Kuik called 'Lily'.  For this one I Googled lily photos and copied one I liked.  Doing the classes has given me the confidence to try techniques that previously looked too difficult. 

So that is my journey. I am still constantly learning, as all artists and crafters do, but I am having fun and not being afraid to try new things.  
I hope you found this helpful and will consider joining the Clowdies with your own journey.



Wednesday 1 March 2017

March Challenge GDT at Ching-Chou Kuik

I was lucky enough to win a GDT spot over at Ching-Chou Kuik's Challenge Blog. I love her images, they're always so beautifully detailed.  The theme this month is 'Easter/Spring' so I chose 'Garden Daisy Fairy'. 
I finally bought a heat tool after having to leave mine in the UK when I moved to Canada. It was such fun to do some heat embossing again. I've also coloured a background using techniques learnt at Kit & Clowder
Products I have used to create my card:
  • Card blank and pearls from my stash
  • Heat It Up! gold embossing powder
  • Whispers embossing pen
  • StazOn black ink
  • Indigo Blu clear stamps
  • Ranger Stickles
  • ProMarkers - Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Oatmeal, Saffron, Rose Pink, Cocoa, Cinnamon, Tan, Walnut, Raw Sienna, Gold, Mustard, Warm Grey 1 & 2, Forest, Moss, Pear, Caramel, Sandstone, Vanilla, Apricot, Plum, Purple, Tulip Orchid, French Navy, Aegean, Cyan, Olive, Powder Blue, Soft Peach, Lilac, Sky Blue, Arctic Blue, Blossom, Buttercup & Bright Orange.



I am entering my card into the following challenges:
  1. Love to Scrap - #95 AG
  2. Open-Minded Crafting Fun - #14 Flowering in February
  3. Pearly Sparkles - #14 Flowers
  4. The Crafter's Cafe - #168 CAS
  5. Crafty Catz - #359 AG/twist Thoughts of Spring
  6. Creative Fingers - #125 AG
  7. Cute Card Thursday - #466 Florals
  8. Glitter 'N' Sparkle - #228 AG
  9. House of Cards - Make a Scene
  10. Classic Design Team Open - #12 AG
  11. Crafty Awesomeness - March AG
  12. A Perfect Time to Craft - #3 AG







March Challenge at Crafts Galore Encore

A new month and a new challenge at Crafts Galore Encore.  This month we are sponsored by Fabrika Fantasy

I chose the rather hot Fire Fairy and have added a suitable sentiment to go with her. 

Products used to make my card:
  • Card blank and Mulberry paper from my stash
  • Cardstock from Papermania
  • Ranger Stickles in Yellow
  • ProMarkers - Cinnamon, Tan, Satin, Almond, Cardinal, Ruby, Lipstick, Burnt Orange, Raw Sienna, Gold, Bright Orange, Pumpkin, Gold, Canary, Warm Grey 1, Soft Lime & Lemon




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