SOOOO DISTRESSED!!!!! I ♥ PROMARKER #22

Ha, ha. Not me - my card. :o)
This weeks challenge over at I ♥ PROMARKERS is distressing. A technique close to my heart. I love it. We are sponsored again this week by the lovely JOANNA SHEEN and she is giving a £10 gift voucher to the winner.

For my card I used one of my fave stamps from Lost Coast Designs and the ruler stamp is also LCD. The papers are Basic Grey 'Recess', other stamps from Paperartsy and the gorgeous leather look lace was a RAK from my mate, Karelyn. There's also lots of inking with my Walnut Stain Distress ink pads.


I'm also entering this into a few challenges.
ONE STOP CRAFT who want distressing.
CRAFT CATZ WEEKLY who also want distressing.
CRAFTY CARD MAKERS who have Inky Fingers so need inks used on your card.
FLUTTERBY WEDNESDAY who have an open week but it still must have wings of some sort on.
PRAIRIE FAIRY DESIGNS anything goes.

TUMMY TIME

It's been a while since I did any scrapbooking. I've mostly been making cards and now doing my paper designing too. Anyway, today I thought I'd get back in the craft room and do a LO. I took these pictures yesterday of my 5 month old grandson, Aidan. He recently had an operation for a cleft lip and he's healing so well, bless him. He's such a happy baby. Papers are from the My Minds Eye Little Robot range and I don't think it needs anything else. It's busy enough as it is, lol.


This is one I did the day he came home from the hospital. He had his op on the Tuesday and came home on the Friday.

WATCH YOUR NOSE.....

Challenge #21 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week is to use stripes on your project. Our sponsor this week is the fabulous LETRASET and the prize is a pack of 5 Promarkers.

I looked through all my striped paper and then decided to make my own. Using my metal edged ruler and both ends of my PM's I just drew random stripes in the colours I'd used for my image and then ran that bit through the Cuttlebug. The red block is 'self striped' just using the same colour pen. The terrific Pinocchio is from Mo at DIGITAL PENCIL TOO.

Ooooh, a little update....there will be a surprise prize, courtesy of Karen (our esteemed leader) added to the set of Promarkers.

A NEW HOBBY.

Well, I've found myself yet another side of crafting. Something I never thought I'd do or be able to do. The beauty of it is that I can spend hours on my computer and have something at the end of it. :D

I've started designing papers and decoupage, although I don't do decoupage myself. Take a look HERE and see what you think. There's some lovely stuff on this site if you like downloads.

I watched the crappy football match today. Now I know why football doesn't float my boat, lol. Disgraceful performance and that goal decision was a joke. Oh well, better luck next time, lads.

I ♥ PROMARKERS # 20

Another week, and another super challenge over at I ♥ PROMARKERS. This week there is a super sketch for you. Our fabulous sponsor this time is DIGI DOODLE SHOP and she has a $10 prize for you to spend in her online shop. Digi Doodle Shop has some of the most gorgeous images, so you really should go and take a look.

The Design Team were asked to use one of her images and I chose 'Spring Gathering'. My papers are Basic Grey 'Periphery' and the flowers are from the ever popular Wild Orchid Crafts.

I ♥ PROMARKERS # 19

This weeks challenge over at I ♥ PROMARKERS is to use bears on your project. Our fabulous sponsor this week is SIMON SAYS STAMP and he is offering a $15 spend and will even pay your postage for you. So what are you waiting for? Get out your bears and start colouring. :o)
My papers are from Dovecraft Funky Vintage.
Sentiment from Pollycrafts.
Bear from Firecracker Designs and
the ribbon from my stash.



I'm also going to enter this into another challenge this week.
JUST CUTE BEARS have a theme of summer, and my colours, I think, are really bright and summery.

I ♥ PROMARKERS # 18

Before I give you the challenge details, I just want to have a little brag. My plate card made the top 5 passionista at Passion for Promarkers challenge blog. :o)

This week over on the I ♥ PROMARKERS challenge blog, there's a super sketch to follow. Our lovely sponsor this week is LILAC LEMON DESIGNS and she has some gorgeous stamps, including the one I used on my card which is from the Art Deco set. The prize this week is two rubber stamps - a floral one and an aeroplane. Click on the I ♥ Promarker link to see them.
The Paper I used is K & Co from the pad 'Tapestry'. It is one of the foiled sheets from the pad, as shown in the second photo.

IS IT A PLATE....?

Editing: It's 11th May 2011 today but I'm linking this post to MAKE IT MONDAY. I really like this card so am showing it again.

I had a go at something a little different this afternoon and made a plate card. I think I'll be making more of these as I love the way it sits on its stand and you can pop your written greeting on the back. I raided my scrap box for my papers again as there is so much in there. The pink paper is Basic Grey but where the brown came from is anybody's guess, lol. I wanted it to look a bit distressed so the BG paper was perfect and I inked all the edges with Black Soot distress ink. The image is by Elizabeth Dulemba who is a children's book author and illustrator and the flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I'm entering this card for 4 challenges this week.

PASSION FOR PROMARKERS whose theme is books.
MY TIME TO CRAFT are asking for Wild Things - something that lives in the wild and I figure an Owl fits the bill.
PEAR TREE DESIGNS who want flowers on your card/project.
CRAFTS AND ME who want distressing.

I ♥ PROMARKERS # 17

This week the I ♥ PROMARKERS challenge is a recipe. We ask you to use 3 buttons, 2 papers and 1 ribbon. Our sponsor this week again is the lovely JOANNA SHEEN and she is offering the winner a £10 voucher to spend in her online store.

My card uses papers from K & Co. 'Blue Awning' and the image is from Lilac Lemon designs.

TAGS 'N SCRAPS

I recently hosted a tag swap and as one of my tags was a collage of scraps of paper I thought it was about time I went through my scrap box and made a few things with them. I'm still beavering away with them, but this is a couple I've done so far.

The tag on the left was collaged, inked with distress inks and overstamped with 5 different Paperartsy stamps. The centre tag was on Basic Grey 'Periphery' paper and Lottie from Impression Obsession Inc. was stamped and then I used my Promarkers to colour her dress to match the papers. The tag on the right was stamped with 'Maiden with Long Hair' from Hero Arts on some 7gypsies 'Morroco Journey' script paper and then her dress was shaded with grey Promarkers.


The image on this card is 'Charley' from Cuddly Buddly and she was painted with my distress ink pads. I have no idea whose the papers are but I remember buying them to do an October page in a CJ. I hardly remember where anything in my scrap box comes from anymore, lol. The leaf, bottom right, was cut out and raised on foam pads. Flowers from stash and I got the sewing machine out for this one too.


Ah, now this one is more scrap than anything else as what I've used is plain old brown wrapping paper. I thought a bit of distressing would work with this so that's what I've tried to achieve. All the inking was with T.H. Distress Ink Pads 'Walnut Stain'. The Owl is a stamp from Stamps Away and the tree on the background is from Kanban. Pearls from Kaisercraft Basics.
To make the background, I inked the edges, randomly stamped the tree and then screwed the paper up. I ran an inkpad over the creases and then ironed it flat and tore the edges a little. The owl was painted in a bit using the same colour ink plus Brushed Corduroy. The ribbon is Smirk and a bugged bit of white card swiped with Walnut Stain ink finished it off.

I ♥ PROMARKERS # 16

Well, another week, another challenge. Nothing much different from me this time though as you saw Rooster a week or so ago, only this time I followed the sketch. So, this is my DT card for I LOVE PROMARKERS challenge #16. As already mentioned there is a sketch to follow. We are sponsored this week by the lovely DIGI DOODLE SHOP and the prize is a $10 gift voucher to use at the online store. All the design team used one of her images and you really should visit her store. She has some absolutely brilliant digi stamps.

So, here is Rooster again. :o) Coloured, of course, with Promarkers and made into a tent card again.

ART DECO LADY..

I have just received this beautiful new stamp from Lilac Lemon Designs and couldn't wait to use her, so I thought I might enter a few challenges with her. I've never entered multiple challenges before, so in for a penny, in for a pound, lol.

I coloured the lady with my Promarkers, stamped the flourish with my Lost Coast Designs stamp and made the flower up from 3 different sorts. Two I don't know whose they are, but the rose in the centre is from Wild Orchid Crafts. They have the most terrific selection of paper flowers and roses.


The challenges I'm entering this card for are:
PEAR TREE DESIGNS - Sketch. This is their first challenge and I wish them well.
PASSION FOR PROMARKERS - Anything goes. PFP are one year old so a happy birthday to them.
THE SECRET CRAFTER whose rule was no patterned paper, and
MY TIME TO CRAFT who were asking for Vivid. I don't think there's much more vivid a colour than red, so I hope this qualifies.

I ♥ PROMARKERS # 15

The challenge this week at I ♥ PROMARKERS is to make your own flowers. There are so many ways to do this, you shouldn't have any trouble with this weeks challenge. The prize is a $15 spend over at SIMON SAYS STAMP and he has thousands of products to choose from.

Here's my DT card. Image by Sarah Kay and papers from K & Co 'McKenna'. The flower she's watering was cut 3 times from the actual paper and layered. The other smaller ones were using my punches and the large flower was hand cut with a punched one in the middle. The centres of the flowers are spacers from my jewellery stash.

NOTHING TO CROW ABOUT...

....because this is a screw up, lol. Not the actual card, but the reason I made it. I was trying to get ahead with some DT challenge cards but I didn't check the rules properly and should have used a sketch - which of course, I didn't. Grrrrrr!!!! Still, I thought I'd show you anyway. The Rooster, from DIGI DOODLE SHOP was coloured twice and cut out, stuck back to back and is hanging in the aperture. I used Promarkers to colour him and the papers are some old Daisy D's I had in my scrap box.
The little chuck in the corner is one of those lazer cut things I found in the bottom of my drawer and I thought it was a good chance to use one.





You'll be seeing Rooster again soon. :o)

I ♥ PROMARKERS # 14

The challenge this week over at I LOVE PROMARKERS is to follow a sketch. The DT had to use images from POLLYCRAFT DESIGNS as she is our lovely sponsor this week. The prize on offer is an adorable set of Cuthbert Bear digi images.
The papers I have used are the yummy g.c.d studios 'Ella Blue' and my image is 'Cherry Kisses - Summer'. I used a Nellie Snellen die for the frame and a Nestie for the sentiment tag. A bit of machine stitching, some lace coloured with Promarkers and a few pearls and this was my DT example card completed.

FAIRY FIRST

So, here's the cards I've been making. I have never used a fairy image as I'm just not that into them and I absolutely loathe glitter and glitter glue (ooops! sorry - posh name of Stickles now isn't it, lol) but.........when I saw these images over at COWGIRL-UP RANCH I just couldn't resist them. She has some beauties. I also got another fairy, Jessica but I screwed it up so you can't see it, lol. All 3 of these images are from there. You really should pay her a visit. :o)

This one is Check Faery. I coloured her with Promarkers and then used Marianne Designs border and flower dies. Rock Candy clear stickles was used on her wings. I actually combined Fairy with a freebie foliage image from Dewdropcraftz (after asking permission from CJ at Cowgirl-up). The foliage was a jpeg and I overlayed Check Fairy as a .png so that the wings would be transparent and show the foliage behind them. The stickles actually enhanced this effect. Papers are goodness knows what. I think they were a magazine freebie ages ago.


This one shows the stickles on the wings.


This adorable little fella is Casey. Isn't he just so cute? Again coloured with Promarkers and the papers are Basic Grey 'Recess'. I also used Sizzix and Nestie dies. The tree trunk that Casey is leaning against was from In Style Stamps. If you go look for Casey, you'll find Jack and Jill. Jack looks like Casey but they are such a sweet couple and I can't wait to do a card with them on.


Finally, this is Christy. Cowgirl-Up has loads of stamps like this. I think they're fabulous. The papers are Basic Grey 'Koishi' - yummiest papers I've seen for ages.



I shall definitely be getting more images from Cowgirl and I will also try again with the fairy I messed up, and ones I haven't coloured yet, and I will soon be showing you weird elf type lady 'Jadyn', unless of course you've been to see her and bought her yourself.

Oooooh, not blogged since last week so I thought I better put something up. First off - a little brag. I have two projects posted on the net this week. The first is a little wall hanging project I made using my nesties and it's in the CRAFT STAMPER MAGAZINE gallery.
The second, which I'm thrilled about, is a guest designer spot over at IT'S A CREATIVE WORLD and I show you how to make a domino necklace. Now, I just have to decide whether to put the necklace in my shop, L.R. Designs and sell it.

I've also been making some more cards the last couple of days using images of a type that I never, ever use,(and a product I loathe, lol) so a bit of an experiment really. I hope to be able to show you in the next day or so.

Anyway, coffee and surf time now, so see you soon. :o)

WINGS TO FLY

It's that time again and challenge #13 over at the I ♥ PROMARKERS challenge blog this week is Wings. Your project has to have wings of some sort on. Lots of options there for you, and our sponsor this week with a £10 gift voucher prize to spend in her online shop is the lovely JOANNA SHEEN.

This is my DT example and there's plenty of wings on this one, lol and yes, plenty of Promarkers too.







I had to make the box myself by trial and error. As I wanted it deep enough to take the moth but not too large, none of the grooves on my scoring boards fitted. When I'd got the box the right size (after numerous attempts) I used my red Promarker to colour all the edges and corners, inside and out. The papers are from the divine K & Co stack 'Tapestry'.

I stamped the 'wings to fly' stamp (another from PAPERARTSY), coloured a few parts of the girl with Promarkers, masked her off and used distress inks to colour her background. I then took a pair of chipboard wings and stamped them using a stamp that came free with a recent Craft Stamper magazine and coloured them in using Red, Marsh Green and Mandarin Promarkers, I gently swiped them with a Black Soot distress ink pad to dull them down and then inked the edges a bit deeper. Next, I applied a 7Gypsies postal rub on to the centre of each wing and covered the whole lot in clear crackle glaze.

For the flower, I stamped the same stamp I'd used for the wings 3 times on plain paper, cut them out and then did exactly what I did with the wings. When everything was dry, I layered the flower up and stuck that, the stamped image and the wings on the top of the box. (Apologies for the photo not showing detail of the flower, but the camera really liked the shine).

The final thing I did was to cut a single moth out of the paper and stick it to some card to strengthen it before cutting it out properly. I made some antennae with black craft wire and attached them to the back of the moth. Finally, he was stuck to the lid of the box at an angle.

So there you are ~ Bob's your Uncle. I hope you like it and it's inspired you to make your own boxes.

A NEW WATCH?

I got a new watch today, unfortunately though, it keeps lousy time, lol.

I have lots of watch parts that I use on various projects and the other day, I found an old watch of mine at the bottom of a drawer and I took it apart.
This morning, inspired by Tim Holtz again, I made myself this.




It was a doddle to make. Just cut a circle of card to fit the bottom, ink it and stick things to it using Diamond Glaze or equivalent. Then put the top back on and it's done. :o)

DONE A DIGI

I've done my first LO for absolutely ages. Unfortunately, not a paper one though. My mate, Kim sets regular challenges and this time, she wanted lots of white space. Not something I normally do, but something that I do like.

Anyway, I've had this plan for quite a long time now (can't remember where I first got the template) and was going to do it in paper, which I still will at some stage, but for now I've done a digi and actually, that's something I thought I'd never do, lol.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX..

Another weeks challenge over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and this week (#12) it's a sketch and one I really liked. Our sponsor this week is Susie at DIE CUT DREAMS and the prize is some lovely door hangers for you to decorate.

I didn't want to do cute this time, so I started thinking 'outside the box' and then remembered I had the perfect stamps from PAPERARTSY, one of my fave stamp sites, and here's what I came up with.


I stamped the lady (which includes the diamonds) and then masked her off and used a Prima stamp for the background. The background paper is, I think (had it so long I can't remember), an SEI one and it had clock faces all round it. I cut a piece out and then cut the four required squares out, inked them with Black Soot distress ink and attached them to the background card that I'd coloured with my Cinnamon Promarker. The mats and circles were also coloured with this. The dress was coloured with cinnamon, cocoa and burnt sienna. I finished by stamping the sentiment, stamping clock faces and attaching a real watch face to one of the circles. Oh yeah, there's also a real watch part over her mouth.

I'm not sure what occasion this card could be sent for or who would even want it, lol but hey! it's a card and I like it. :o)

TIME TO PLAN

Do you like to plan your Layouts or work on the fly? I've always worked on the fly. The problem I have though is remembering a title. I see a photo, think of the perfect title and then promptly forget it or scribble it down on a bit of paper that gets lost. When I come to scrap the photo...I'm stuck.

So, I thought I'd make myself a planner. I downloaded some very handy pages from ORGANIZED SCRAPBOOKS, resized them to A5 and made myself a book to keep them in.






The papers are from the K & Co's 'Life's Journey' pad. To make the flowers, I stamped with HERO ARTS LARGE FLOWERS 9 times on some of the cover paper. Cut out three different areas, inked with Distress Ink Tea Dye and then curled and layered them up to make 3 flowers. The centre is a dew drop. I made myself a template for the tabbed pages and stamped them randomly with the same stamp, colouring just a few dots on a flower on each page. A couple of pieces of mountboard made my covers.

I'm going to print out little inchie photo's to stick in the swatch boxes and write the title as soon as I think of it. Then, all I have to do is come up with the actual LO design itself. :-) I think this is going to come in very handy.

TIME FOR A CHANGE

Well, as much as I liked my previous background, I thought it was time for a change, so I've been playing with my blog today. I've gone to 3 column which I really like and a lighter, nicer background. It's still not finished as I need to alter text colours and stuff, but so far ~ so good. :o)

Don't you just love Maukie the cat, lol. Play with him with your cursor. Listen to him purr, but watch out that he doesn't grab your cursor when you go past.

Elsewhere, I'm getting on well with my crafting amd I'm enjoying being a member of the I ♥ Promarkers design team.
I've been asked to do a guest spot on IT'S A CREATIVE WORLD. This is a fabulous website. They post every single day of the year and there's always something to inspire you. For my guest spot, I made a domino necklace and it will go live on 10th May.

I also sent off pictures and a link to Letraset for my PROMARKER STORAGE TOWER that I made and I'm very proud to say that they loved it and that it is now on the design production table at Letraset HQ. So hopefully, Letraset themselves are going to produce something very similar for us.

I ♥ PROMARKERS # 11

Well, good morning everybody and happy Wednesday. I've got a very busy week ahead of me so doubt I'll have much time for blogging (nowt new there then, lol) but here's my DT card for I ♥ PROMARKERSs challenge eleven. This weeks theme was black and white with one other colour. My 'flower' is made up of two stamps cut into three layers from Elusive Images. The centre was coloured with green PM, and then each dot of colour had Diamond Glaze applied and a clear bead stuck in the middle. The swirl stamp is by Lost Coast Designs and the green card is coredinations.
We are sponsored this week by SIMON SAYS STAMP and he has a $15 gift voucher up for grabs, so come on over and have a go.


I've just come back from a fabulous weekend crafting retreat in Coventry with all my lovely friends from our forum. We had a super time and got lots of crafting and challenges done. It was a pretty sober weekend too, surprisingly, lol.
My car has gone in for its MOT this morning, so keep your fingers crossed as I've no money left, ha ha.
My niece and family are here visiting and I've got my 2 little grandchildren until late tomorrow while my DD and partner go off to London to see 'Phantom'.
Anyway, must go and run the hoover round before everything kicks off.

I ♥ PROMARKERS # 10

This weeks challenge at I ♥ PROMARKERS is a fabulous sketch, I think it works so well. Our sponsor this week is WHIMSY STAMPS and the prize is a $15 voucher to spend in store. She has some gorgeous images and some digi images too. I used a rubber stamp for my card as I just loved this duck. Take a look at the rest of the DT's cards to see some of the newest digi images.


Nearly everything on this was coloured with my Promarkers. The scalloped mat, the quack 'ribbon' card, the sentiment backing and the 'eyelets' which in fact, aren't eyelets. They're coloured circles of card with a black gem in the middle.

ON CLOUD NINE

18 of my crafty friends and I are going to Coventry this weekend for a get together and do a bit of crafting. We've got challenges and a couple of other things set up although it's far from a formal 'retreat'. We're all just going so we can meet up, have a good old natter and maybe a or two too, lol.

Anyway, I popped into my local craft shop today ~ CLOUD NINE CRAFTS ~ in Horncastle, Lincs and asked the lovely CLAIRE (Distressed Miss) if she would donate a prize for us and she did so some lovely papers and a rubber stamp will be finding a new home very soon. Thank you, so much, Claire. I'm very grateful for your generosity.

Claire's craft shop, Cloud Nine Crafts will be going online soon, so don't forget to pay her a visit but meanwhile, click on her name and visit her blog. She makes the most stunning cards.

SCSC #78

THE SECRET CRAFTER challenge this week is 'Get Well'. I thought, seeing as they seem to be all the rage at the moment, I'd make an easel card. It's the first one I've done, but you've got to start somewhere, eh?
The image is from MY GRAFICO and I coloured it with my Promarkers. The papers are Daisy and Dandelion 'Some bunny loves you' and the rose is from WILD ORCHID CRAFTS. I used my Nestie label set with a computer generated greeting and e line pearls, the ribbon and lace were from my stash.
I'm not sure if I'll be making any more of these though, I'm not 100% keen. :o) Anyway, I hope you like it.

I ♥ PROMARKERS # 9

This week's challenge over at I LOVE PROMARKERS is a theme. No sketch, but you must use an animal. This can be any animal, including birds, dragons and butterflies. The prize this week is a £10 gift voucher from JOANNA SHEEN. Come on over and have a go. :o)

Dragon Luck is a Lisa Victoria stamp and I used the Crafts Too butterfly embossing folder, Nestie label die, Cordinations cardstock and purple velvet paper. Other elements from my stash.

A RIGHT ROYAL.....

I'm really into masking at the moment. I mask all sorts of images so the other night I thought I'd get out my T.H. Distress ink pads, some stamps, (Tattered Angels Screen Prints) wipe the dust off my glimmer mists and have a go. I also used a Tim Holtz mask of a crown, but I was disappointed. I couldn't get on with it at all and I've never done well with the glimmer mists. They promptly went back on the shelf to gather dust for another year. The crown looked appalling and just didn't blend well enough with the owl so I tossed it. Tonight I got it out again and tried to figure out how to salvage it, so I ended up using the mask as a template, drawing round it and cutting it out. It's still not good. Anyhow, this is what it ended up like...one of my less than perfect pieces, the crown is too dark now.


I thought I'd have another go and do a better one. The tags are lovely thick chipboard tags and the distress inks work well on them. This time, I stamped a crown, masked the owl and crown and stamped the text. His eyes are watch parts covered with diamond glaze. This isn't what I wanted when I started out, but it's where my stamps took me, lol. A Right Royal Hoot was born. :o)

PROMARKER STORAGE

What have I been doing for 3 days? I've been making myself a storage tower for my Promarkers. I was fed up of rooting in a box for the colour I needed and every other storage idea I'd seen was either too expensive, didn't hold enough pens or both. So I came up with my own idea and it's NOT made with an Ikea DVD unit. :o) It works a treat too.


If you want to see how I made it, pop over to MAKE SOMETHING NICE and take a look.