Crafting with An Attitude August Blog Challenge

Helen Here: Here's my DT project using the lovely Daisy Floral from Lemon Shortbread.
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/lemonshortbread
Lemon Shortbread is  one of the sponsors over at the August challenge at Crafting with An Attitude.
They have lots of lovely images to colour over at Lemon Shortbread and they can be won if you enter the challenge.





Went a bit retro with her. Used copic to colour:
Skin E000, E00, E11, E21, E04 R20
Hair RV00, RV23, R20, G14, G12. G00
Dress YR16, YR18, Y38, YR14 YR01
Daisies Y08 Y06.
Backing papers, flowers and pearls from craft stash and die cut border.




Have a go at the challenge lovely prizes to be won.

.http://craftingwithanattitude.blogspot.co.uk/co.uk/

The Crafty Addicts August Challenge Blog

Helen Here:  Here's my DT project using Merry Kiss-Mass Penquins  from Inky Impressions.
Inky Impression is  one of the sponsors over at the August challenge at Crafty Addicts.
They have lots of lovely images to colour over at Inky Impressions
http://www.inkyimpressionsrubberstamps.com/

Have a go at the challenge lovely prizes to be won.

http://craftingwithanattitude.blogspot.co.uk/

Coloured with copics:
Penguins C7, C5, C3, C1 YR14 YR18 Y11
Pink outfit R85, R83, R81
Blue outfit BG05 B02 B00 B000
Hat Y17 Y15, Y08.

Igloo, snowballs and snowflake from crafty stash of Hunkydory Christmas kit

Moonflower DT Sleeping Rose

Helen Here:
This months colouring for Moonflower Digi Stamps is the beautiful Sleeping Rose.
http://my.digitalgoodsstore.com/moonflowerdigistamps
moonflowerdigisstamps.blogspot.pt/

Coloured with copics:
Skin E000, E00, E11, E21. E04
Hair E50, E53, E43
Dress R85, R83, R81
Cushion B02, B00, B000
Leaves G07, G14, G00
Roses Y17, Y15, Y08

I made the background using a rose stamp embossed in detail white and coloured with twinkling H20's.
Frame die cut from gold mirri card and flowers from crafty stash.

Sounds like an answering machine message....

Hi all :)

Just F.Y.I. we are currently away from this blog working on our own blogs at the moment. If you would like to follow us on our separate blogs please follow the links below -

Helen is at Helen's Crafty Shed
Annabel is at Cartway Cards Blog

This blog won't be completely abandoned but it might be a little bit quieter :)

You can always mail us if you want some attention!

Dandelion Frame

Annabel again :) I've had this stamp since Christmas waiting to be used and finally I've got round to it! Hero Arts stamps are my favourite physical stamps (as opposed to digital.) I'm even still using wooden backed ones from my crafty past! Still trying for a One Layer design which I almost managed on the one and failed on the other. (Managed to stamp the frame upside-down, don't laugh)

So stamps used -
Dandelion Frame CG153 Hero Arts.
Greeting is by Hot Off The Press (rather old stamp, but I like it.)
Butterflies are, I think, a recent docrafts set.

The wood paper is from a brilliant pad by Joy Crafts called Wood Texture Paper Block. Thought it would be super useful for boy cards too.

Anthera Lady of the Woods - DT Moonflower Digi Stamps

Helen here: Love Anthera Lady of the Woods. Coloured with polychromos pencils and X Cut dye cuts used to create the foreground and background.
my.digitalgoodsstore.com/moonflowerdigistamps
moonflowerdigistamps.blogspot.pt/

Marvel Age of Ultron Nail Card

It's Annabel again. When my friends bf asked for a "nails themed" card I was somewhat challenged! But never say I won't tackle anything, because I will. :) (Please see earlier card involving Helicopter and Orang-u-tan lol.)

This is an Age of Ultron themed set of finger nails card. The nails were painted onto card "nails" and then shaped to try and recreate a fingernail effect. The are supposed to be ( I tried my best!) Hawkeye, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America and The Hulk - green version.


I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did making it. :)

I suppose you could use this as template to do any kind of nails, but I suspect it might be a bit of a niche market? What do you think?

Midsummer Nights Dream - Anthera of the Woods DT Helen

Anthera Lady of the Woods by Moonflower Digi Stamps just conjured up that Midsummer Nights Dream feeling. Coloured with Copic and background created using glitter texture paste with a few little faeries flying around.
mydigitalgoodsstore.com/moonflowerdigistamps
moonflowerdigistamps.blogspot.pt/

Merry Christmas

It's getting closer, those Christmas cards are calling!! Here's a little Christmas Angel from My Besties coloured with copic and digi papers from Craft Artist. Die cuts are snowflakes from Spellbinders and a Holly corner from Cottage Cutz.

Loved colouring up. Colours used;
Skin E000, E00. E11, E21 R20
Hair E50, E53, E43
Dress R85, R83, R81, G07, G14, G12
Wings G12, G00, G000
Heans B99, B95, B91

Mirabelle

Annabel again. It's pretty obvious from the sale sections of crafty shops and stands at the NEC that the Santoro range called "Mirabelle" wasn't as successful as the Gorjuss range. My own thought is that the images were just too inflexible. If you don't colour the stamps in exactly the same way as the original image they look awkward, it's sombre pastels or nothing! We picked a lot of Mirabelle stamps, cards, toppers for £1 each at the NEC earlier this year and I hadn't felt very inspired to use them. After a good hunt on Pinterest and Google images, it seems hardly anyone has posted any cards using the range, well cards that I like ;)

Here are the two I made using the decoupaged ready coloured kits. I still haven't tackled the stamps, apart from using them to customise the envelopes for these cards.

Please note that none of my Mirabelle Cards are available on-line and can only be purchased from me personally at Fairs, for example. This is due to the Santoro Angel Policy which I think will be the same for Mirabelle cards as for Gorjuss Girl cards. I ain't risking it! ;)

Crafting with An Attitude July Challenge Blog

Helen Here:Here's my DT project using the lovely Fairy Lili with Snow Globe from Inky Impressions. Just a little Christmas taster.



















Inky Impression is  one of the sponsors over at the July challenge at Crafting with An Attitude.
They have lots of lovely images to colour over at Inky Impressions including more of little Lili
http://www.inkyimpressionsrubberstamps.com/proddetail.php?prod=DS-FLWS&cat=9

Have a go at the challenge lovely prizes to be won.

http://craftingwithanattitude.blogspot.co.uk/

Coloured her with copics using the following colours:

Face E04, E00, E000, E11, E21

Hair and leggings: C5, C3, C, RV02

Wings RV02, BG53, B000

Dress: RV04, RV02, RV000

Used a Dutch Doobadoo stencil for the mushroom background and a Cottage Cutz die for the Mushroom house and Joy crafts mushroom border, snowflakes with Spellbinders. And of course a little bit of frantage.

I have also entered this little cutie in the following challenges:
http://www.inkyimpressionschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/
http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/
Wonderful Wednesdays
http://cardsgalorechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/

Faery Inks Mermaid Challenge

Helen here:
Just sharing my colouring of the Faery Inks Mermaid for their June Challenge over on Facebook.
Coloured with copic and used a undersea paper I had in my stash and added bubbles using a stencil, texture paste and glass beads. Die cuts are a tree make great seaweed though!!
Won Amanda's pick, very thrilled!!

The Otter.

Annabel here! This year an Otter and family have decided to inhabit the River Severn in Bridgnorth and everyone has seen it but me!

My friend's partner has seen it numerous times when crossing the bridge so she ordered an otter themed card for his 50th birthday!

Allegedly the otter seems to wave as he drifts passed you..(He is rather tame.)...so this Otter waves with his left paw when you move his tail.

I painted the otter pieces using acrylic paints as it seemed the fastest option to get what I wanted. The background is a scanned marbled background that Helen and I made on one of our "mess and make background" days. And I wish I could remember where I got the bubble embellishments from... they were the last ones I had and they are perfect for watery images!

One layer black silhouette cards!

Annabel again :) I've been really inspired by the "Keep-it-simple" and "One Layer Only" trends in card making at the moment. It's been very evident on Pinterest in the last few months. I wanted to have a go at a masked distress ink background directly onto the card and then black silhouette stamping on top of it. This is my first effort using distress inks blended in the background square (using a 12cm x 12cm mask) and then stamping on top with Versafine Onyx Black.

Stamps: Woodware JGS300 Going to Seed and Crafty Individuals Cl - 231 (Butterflies)

So as I was finishing off this set I remembered I had a rather nice unused set of Sheena Douglass " A Little Bit Scenic - Underwater Angels" I could use, and wouldn't this be ace with some water droplets or splashes on the distress ink background?? So... I carried on to this set.

I'm really happy with these, especially the two guppies on the left. ( The other fish on white are the envelopes for the cards.)

You might have spotted that the one fish card is not on one layer, but two. I found it super hard to keep the card clean! No blodges, marks, scuffs or... mess! To save a couple of the cards I remounted them onto a new card blank. And since they were no longer "One Layer" it meant I could justify adding some sequins -  I find it really hard to not use any embellishments. Although the seed head cards were more successful (at being one layer) I added some sequins to them too. I know... I think I have an addiction. lol!

Whoopsi Daisy Challenge

Helen Here:
Just love this little cutie from Whoopsi Daisy Stamps. http://cutedaisymay.blogspot.co.uk/
Coloured her with copics:
Hair E43, E53, E50  Dress E15, Y17, Y15, Y11 then cut her out using a Spellbinder die.
Created the summery feel using x Cut dies for the grass and flowers and a lovely little die from
Joy Crafts for the little bugs at the top.
Flowers from my crafty stash with a little leafy die again from Joy Crafts.
Papers from my stash.

Every stamp has a silver lining...

Annabel again! :) I came across the following image on the Paper Parrot Blog (Via Pinterest) and was really impressed with it! (Click the picture to view the relevant blog post.)

It seemed a really simple way of tackling flower stamps and making something with a completely different feel to it. I didn't have this set of stamps so I used a set of Joanna Sheen stamps from the Little Bit Sketchy collection called "Flower Power." As I  haven't got many pale inks, I stamped them using second generation stamping and Weathered Wood distress ink. It's not as beautifully coloured as my initial inspiration but I tried to do something similar using distress inks as watercolours - blobbing them onto an acrylic block, adding some water and then using them with a paintbrush onto the card. Once coloured I went over the stamped edges with a silver pen. A bit later it occurred to me that I could have just stamped them in silver to begin with??!??  But you live and learn! :)

Distress Inks - Weathered Wood, Peeled Paint, Fired Brick. Font - East Coast Stationery.

Time for a little Christmas Fairy Twinkles

Helen Here: Just love this cute little Christmas Fairy Twinkles from Make it Crafty.
Coloured with copics and a mask from That special touch used with Imagination teal glitter paste to create the background and of course a few silvery snowflakes using Spellbinders die to finish it off. Cardstock from Hunkydory.

Entered in challenge
http://abcchristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

Gorjuss Tszujing?

Annabel blogging again! Did anyone else sucumb to the offer at The Range for three new Gorjuss Girl stamps for ten pounds?

I couldn't resist! Plus my friend Grace bought me the "The Hatter" for my birthday and it just made me want more! This stamp is called "Sweet Tea" and was very simple to colour, so-much-so that I think I might do something completely different with it next time and perhaps some paper piecing might tszuj it up! ( No, I'm not sure how you spell it, but I'm not letting that stop me!)

This is a 5 inch square Easel Card. Image coloured with Copics. Santoro Gorjuss Stamp and Santoro Mirabelle Papers. Flowers from Hobby Crafts and Wild Orchid Crafts. Font is "Little Lord Fontleroy".

Please note that none of my Gorjuss Girl Cards are available online and can only be purchased from me personally at Fairs, for example. This is due to the Gorjuss Angel Policy.

Sarah Kay and Holly Hobbie.

It's Annabel here! :) It's been a while since I posted so I thought I had better get in an entry before Helen posts again :)

I had in an order for a 65th birthday card featuring Holly Hobbie. I then set off to look for digistamps to download and use for the card but stumbled across a problem. I'd always thought that Sarah Kay illustrated a girl in a bonnet and patchwork skirt called "Holly Hobbie". Did you think that too? Turns out they are separate illustrators! Holly Hobbie (born Denise Holly Ulinskas) is an American writer and illustrator, and the name of a fictional character she created. Sarah Kay is a character designed by the Australian artist Vivien Kubbos. Not the same! I chose some on line digital images that were freely available and attributed to Sarah Kay but the girls in bonnets could easily be Holly Hobbie.

I printed out the images and used Copics to colour them. I tried to restrict the colour palette and the images were quite small and detailed, so also opted for less is more. (Even though it seems like a lot of pens, this is a lot less than normal!)


Here is a list of the Copics I used for future reference - I am still not settled with my "go to" sets of pens for various effects....

Green - YG63, YG03
Yellow - Y38, YR31, Y11
Pink - R85, RV34, RV23, RV21, R20
Flesh - YR61, E00
Shadow outline - B60
Beige/Brown - W5, W3, W1, E31, E35
Blue/Denim - B95, B32, BV04

I made two cards in the end, mainly because they were such good fun to colour and they have now been safely delivered to the customer!

Callas Lilly Faerie- Moonflower Digi Stamps

Helen Here: My first project as a design team member. Hope you like her. Callas Lilly Faerie is a beautiful image to colour. Coloured with polychromos pencils and papers distressed and inked.
my.digitalgoodsstore.com/moonflowerdigistamps
moonflowerdigisstamps.blogspot.pt/

Challenge entered at Kraftin Kimmie Stamps
wonderful wednesdays Anything goes

Beach time hotties from Karleigh Sue

Helen here with a little beach hottie from Karleigh Sue and her wonderful digi stamps.
Coloured with copics and papers used from crafty stash and at
long last an excuse to use some embellies I've had for
ages.

http://karleighsue.blogspot.com

Moonflower Digi Stamps Oriental Flowers Challenge

 Helen Here: I just love this beautiful Oriental Maiden from Moonflower Digi stamps. My entry for the oriental flowers challenge. Background stamps by Sheena Douglass. Stamped flowers onto acetate and coloured with alcohol markers and then applied white acrylic paint so they stand out.
Maiden coloured with copic.
https://my.digitalgoodsstore.com/moonflowerdigistamps
http://moonflowerdigistamps.blogspot.pt/

Besties Ribbons Challenge

Helen here with my entry for the Besties Challenge 'Ribbons'.
Used a little spiral bound notebook and the lovely Owl Besties and lots of ribbon!!

Crazteeze Workshop- Fairy Mushroom Easel Card

Helen here: Made this Fairy Mushroom Easel card at Tracy Payne's workshop
having complete her distress ink class over
at Kit and Clowder.
Created the card using a mushroom stencil and covered them with pretty papers and lace on the top. Coloured the little fairies in distress ink and used them on the mushroom easel card.

Great workshop learning lots of new techniques.

Entered into the Lace challenge
http://abc-challenge.blogspot.com.ar/2015/06/l-is-for-lace.html

Was in top 5 winners at abc challenge blog for these little cuties.

Kit and Clowder Clearwater Challenge

Helen Here: Kit and Clowder held a challenge and fundraiser for the Clearwater Aquarium . This is not just any aquarium; with a philosophy of rescue, rehab, and release, they are also pioneers in the research and education in the field of marine mammal and environment. Their research not only helps animals, but they have made advancements in prosthetic research for both animals and humans after rescuing Winter the Dolphin. Winter is also a sign of strength and hope for those who are suffering illness or disability. 
Won the Best overall composition with this mermaid digi purchased to help raise funds for the aquarium together with lots of other fundraising that weekend with over $3000.00 raised by Clowdies.

Moonflower Challenge

Helen her with my entry for the Moonflower digi stamps challenge Fairies.  Messed up the sky a little bit but managed to win the Design Team award.

Crafty Birthday

Helen here with this card I made for my great Crafty Friend Annabel. We both love Alice so made a box card using Make it Crafty stamp that I coloured with Copic and decorated the front to look like a pressie!

Lacy Sunshine Buttons Challenge

Helen here with this cute little stamp Izzybella Boo Cute as a Button,  was the challenge over at Lacy Sunshine to colour and to incorporate buttons.
Won best colouring for this cutie.

Kit and Clowder Wings Challenge

Helen here with the challenge on Kit and Clowder was to use any image with wings.
I decided to make my wings out of some feathers I had that had not been used,
found a use at last!! Won the competition with her to.

Challenge :)

One of my card customers enjoys setting me a challenge! This time it was a baby orangutan flying a chinook! I don't know why, so it'll have to remain a mystery. :) Posted it off today.

I drew the image using pencil and Pilot drawing pens, then coloured it in with Copics. Scanned this into the computer and printed it back out in decoupage format. Loving my new Canon Pixma printer! So nice to be able to scan things in colour again* and know they will print out :)

Do you think it looks a bit like he has boobs? >_< Once you see it...... doh!

*Epson Stylus Printer RIP.