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.

I ♥ PROMARKERS # 8

Well, this week is my first official week on the DT at the I LOVE PROMARKERS challenge blog. We had a sketch to follow, had to use swirls/flourishes and had to use an image by this week's sponsor WILLOW DESIGNS.



This is Alfie and the Birdhouse. My papers are from Graphicus, the blossom and ribbon were from my stash and the pearls are e line.
Promarker colours used are, Amber, Canary, Sunflower, Moss Green, Pear Green, Pumpkin, Apricot, Bright Orange, Lime Green, Cool Greys 3 and 5 and Cocoa.

And, for all you Promarker users out there, keep your eyes peeled. I have another tutorial going up on MAKE SOMETHING NICE very, very soon. :o)

I LOVE PROMARKERS.

Well, I'm chuffed to little peanuts. I have been chosen to be on the design team for the I ♥ PROMARKERS challenge blog. I'm very pleased to be joining them. :o)

Why don't you all come over and have a look. There is a weekly challenge, sometimes sketches, sometimes themes and sometimes both. There are prizes to be won too. Links to all the DT members are in my sidebar so there's plenty of inspiration for you all.

If you haven't got your Promarkers yet or are struggling to use them, then just scroll down a few posts. It wasn't so long ago I was going to bin all mine, lol, so you're not on your own. Now though, I love them.

So, I won't be entering any more challenges here, but I will be posting an example of the challenge every week.

Anyway, I'm off to raid my piggy bank to buy the colours I've not got yet.

ART IS THE PARADISE.....

This weeks challenge over at I LOVE PROMARKERS was a sketch and it had to have spots and dots on. I chose to do something a little different and used my fave stamp of the moment, Ribbon Hat Lady by Zettiology. The phrase is also a Zettiology stamp (well, half of it, lol) Papers are Basic Grey 'Indian Summer' and the flowers were die cut with Marianne Florals 1 and 2. I also flipped the sketch.

THINGS TO DO.

Well, I've got a couple of little projects finally finished, other than cards. I have so many crafting things to do that I'm struggling to remember them all each month. There's CJ's, ATC's, LO's, b/day cards, sketches, challenges etc, etc, so I made myself a little 4 x 4 inch book to write them all down in each month, then I can tick them off when I've done.



The papers are 7Gypsies 'Morroco Journey'. I stamped the 'Ribboned Hat Lady' by Zettiology and then masked her and used Old Paper and Tea Dye distress inks to ink round her. Rubon swirls by Kaiser and letters by K & Co.
The Art phrase on the first page is by Rivercity Rubberworks, the cameo is from the Cameo Set by Lost Coast designs and the tiny corner motif is Basic Grey.
The mountboard I used to make my covers was too thick for my Bind it All, so I used my Beary Patch Punch tool to make the holes and then bound it with the BIA.
So, as long as I remember to actually write in it what I have to do, I shouldn't forget anything or anybody. Here's hoping, lol. :o)

I also completed another page in my Art Journal. The other day, my future son-in-law asked my permission to marry my daughter. How great is that, eh? Tradition and chivalry aren't dead after all. Anyway, I thought I'd do a page to remember it.


I used distress inks for the colour and sequin waste to make the dots. The stamps are Lost Coast designs 'King' and 'Queen'. I coloured the faces and other parts of the images with my Promarkers and then used Diamond Glaze over them. I then cut a bit of a mask of the Queen and masked off the bottom of her and stamped a small portion of 'Pipes Head' by Zettiology too. The title was stamped with a See D's alphabet (Large Swirls) I got in a sale for £1.25. Bargain or what? There's a bit of journalling up the dotty side. To finish, I stuck a charm on, which is actually a connector for jewellery making. I left the loops on as I thought it looked better than one without the loops.

SOME BIRTHDAY PRESENT!!!!!

This weeks challenge on the I LOVE PROMARKERS blog was to follow a sketch and not use any background papers. We had to make our own. Instead of stamping, I decided to use my Cuttlebug (2 of) and an Impressabilities. It was difficult to photograph all the white, so the background doesn't show up too well, but it's there. :o)

EXTRA, EXTRA...

Read all about it!!!

So, over at PASSION FOR PROMARKERS challenge blog this week, we had to follow a sketch. I really liked this one, and this is my entry.

SECRET CRAFTER has an 'Anything Goes' challenge this week, so I'm entering this there too. It's the first time I've entered a card for more than one challenge - I'm getting lazy in my old age, lol.


Papers are Basic Grey 'Indian Summer'. The flowers are from WILD ORCHID CRAFTS and I used Tattered Rose and Aged Mahogany distress ink pads.

'Love News' Tilda's clothes were done with Cardinal Red, Burgundy and Rose Pink. Her hair with Cool Grey shades 1-5, her skin with Blush and Saffron with a touch of chalk for her cheeks. Her shoes were done with Walnut, Cocoa and Cinnamon and the newspapers with Shale, Caramel and Satin.
The ribbon is from Lil Davis 'Merlot' card and the lace was from my stash.
I also used Nestabilities labels 1 and 8, Prima 'e' line pearls and Archival Ink in Maroon to do the stamping.
I'd just got back into my 'normal' style of crafting, but couldn't resist this sketch. I hope you like it. :o)

A CARD FOR MUM

I rarely make Mothers Day cards, but I LOVE DIGI challenge blog this fortnight was a sketch to follow, but it had to have something to do with Mum. So this is my entry. The image is 'End of Summer' from Mo at DIGITAL PENCIL TOO. The papers are HOTP and I stamped the greeting using my Justrite stamper and alphabets. When I thought I'd finished, it still didn't look right, so I added the frame, but I'm still not sure it's right. Oh well, can't get it right all the time, eh?


While I was at it, I decided to make one for my daughter too. She has a two year old and a new baby so I wanted to thank her for giving me two beautiful grandchildren. I don't think Mothers day cards should go exclusively to your own mother. Why not send one to your daughter, or your friend if you want to. :o) The image is 'Sorry Shanna' by Mo again. I chose this image particularly because my two year old granddaughter loves her wellies, lol. On this one though, I cut out the image and mounted her on foam pads.

MORE BOXES

I've been covering boxes again. The first one is the smaller book box of the set of 3. The medium sized one was posted earlier. This one was gessoed first then acrylic painted and the papers are from the Papermania 'Sunshine' range. The image is 'Prairie Girl' from Mo's digital pencil, the frame was cut with nestabilities and the flowers are cut with Marianne dies.





The second box is to keep my cards in. I never have a big pile of ready made cards, and they were kept in a tatty old box under the table, so I decided to make something a bit prettier for them. I had to cut a box to the size I wanted but it's perfect for my needs. All papers are from MME 'Wild Asparagus' range.

MOTHER NATURE

This weeks challenge over at THE SECRET CRAFTER was to use stitching on a card, so I put mine around the edges. Still trying to do some cards that aren't too cute, I tried for an oldish look.

Mother Nature stamp is from Paperartsy and the papers are HOTP.

TEA TIME

Another challenge from the I LOVE PROMARKERS blog. We had to follow a sketch and also add stitching. I found using two images and two flowers quite difficult, but I also didn't want to do 'cute' again, I wanted something a little vintage so I came up with this.

The teapot images were from THE GRAPHICS FAIRY. They didn't really require much colour, but I did colour them a little with my Promarkers and I also coloured the flowers and brads with Promarkers. Scattered Straw distress ink was used to ink the edges. The paper is from the Sunshine range of the Papermania Capsule collection. The grey card is from Basic Grey's 'Scarlet Letter' and a strip of lace finished it off.

BOOK BOX

My friend, Kim, gave me a set of boxes a while ago that look like books. They're made of cardboard and have a few rough patches, but I really liked them. Today's project was to decorate the middle sized one to keep my pearls and crystals in.
I used Basic Grey 'Blush' papers, Aged Mahogany Distress Ink and acrylic paint in Wine and Dusky Rose.

I used the floral papers from the set for the exterior and cut the embellies from a sheet and 3D'd them. The striped paper for the interior is a much better match in real life. It doesn't look like it matches the floral sides at all, but it does. Oh, well. It's only a piccie, eh?

THINK PINK

A new challenge blog has started, called I LOVE DIGI challenge blog. It is just for digi images and this week they started with their first challenge 'Think Pink'. I used an image called Sophie by Mo over at DIGITAL PENCIL TOO. The papers are Pink Parfait from the Forever Friends range and Sophie was coloured with Promarkers.

I wish I Love Digi every success with their new blog.



Meanwhile, back at the homestead, I'm playing with a few new toys. I've found another lovely card that works perfectly with Promarkers. It's Personal Impressions premium quality smooth white and it's lovely to work on. I also got myself a new edge punch as I was a bit heavy handed the other day and broke one in half. Oooops!

I was also inspired by an article in Craft Stamper magazine on a Nestability storage book, so I got out my Basic Grey Infuse papers and made myself one. Much more my usual style of crafting. I do prefer the grungy, muted colour stuff. I must admit though, I love it. It's so much quicker and easy to find the nestie I want.





See you again soon. :o)

JUST BECAUSE....

I can now!! Woohoo!!! Finally, I've cracked my Promarkers, so I've done my very first challenge over at I LOVE PROMARKERS. We had to follow a sketch AND use pink and brown. The image is a digi image from Mo at DIGITAL PENCIL TOO. It's called Prairie Girl and I think she's just lovely. Mo also provides her with a plain dress and hat if you want to do your own thing. The papers are from 7 Gypsies and HOTP and the ribbon is American Crafts. I used my nesties to cut the sentiment card and Kaiser rubon words.



Now, I have to say two more things. After weeks and weeks of trying to use these Promarkers and nearly throwing them in the bin, I have at last found the perfect paper. No bleeding and easy to blend. I would not have found it if not for the help of the lovely Dawn over at ALL PINK GIRL, who answered all my emails for help and sent me some paper samples to try before I buy. I was so impressed with her work, that I contacted her, so thank you, Dawn. I will be forever grateful and you've saved me a fortune in wasted pens, lol.

Secondly, I just want to send my friend who is going through a tough time, lots of hugs. You know who you are, hun. Hang on in there. xxxx

So, that's it for today. I'm sure I'll be back soon though. :o)

GRRRRRR!!!!!!

Spammers are really getting on my nerves now so I've enabled word verification for a while. Sorry, I know it's a pain and I find it a pain on other sites, but now realise why it's done.
Oh well...the nature of boring, sick people without a life eh?

FRIDAY SKETCH

It's been a while since I made any cards, so thought I'd have a go at a couple. The first one is for Challenge 88 over at FRIDAY SKETCHERS. I struggled to find papers to match so ended up resorting to some HOTP ones I got ages ago. It's a bit TOO purple for me, lol but it follows the rules. :o)


This one is something I was playing around with yesterday. I downloaded Mitzi the duck from PC Crafters as I thought she was just so cute, lol.

LOST YOUR KEYS?

My daughter and her partner are forever losing their keys, so she asked me if I would make her a key holder. Hmmmm, well yes, probably, but paper and card wouldn't be very strong.
So, I bought a piece of wood and six hooks from the hardware shop for the grand price of £1.00. I put two coats of gesso on the wood and then painted it with Wedgewood Blue acrylic paint. I cut the letters and shapes with my bug, added a bit of card, ribbon and brads and it was done. There are two small hangers attached to the back.
I might even make something similar for myself now. :o)

IN THE POST..

Well, this years Circle Journal went in the post today. I didn't want to send it, lol. I find it really hard to spend days or weeks on a project only to send it off in the post. I was really pleased with my pages and hate the thought of it being a year before it comes home. Still, there's no doubting the fact that when it does come home it's going to be fabulous. My crafting friends are brilliant.

Last year, my theme was 'Renaissance Art in Italy' and some of the girls were pulling their hair out at the thought of it. This year I thought I better go a bit easier on them, so my theme is OPERA! Well, my trying to be kind failed miserably, some of them still have the shakes, lol. Nah, I think they're looking forward to it really. They each have to choose one composer and one of his operas and include info and pics. It will be a great read for me when it comes back. As my favourite opera is Rigoletto by Verdi, obviously that is what my pages were about, but of course, I can't show you any pics yet. I must keep the surprise element...at least for a while.

Here's a peek at a couple of pages from last years 'Renaissance Art'.


















It looks beautiful doesn't it? If this years is as bright, colourful and interesting I shall be a very happy bunny indeed.

SPAMMERS...

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! what is it with these darned spammers? I'm constantly having to come and delete nonsense comments. GET A LIFE YOU LOT!!!!

Gripe over and I do have some good news.

I HAVE A NEW GRANDSON... and he's adorable. Aidan came to join our family on 16th and we are all so pleased to have him.

Well, despite my promise to be a better blogger, I've already failed miserably, lol. Still, I am at least back in crafting mode. I'm working on a CJ at the moment and am quite excited to be a part of another one. I swore I'd not do any more after the last 3 years, but can't resist. :o)

Anyway, more soon. Bye for now.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I would just like to wish any of my readers a happy and healthy 2010.

I've made no resolutions as I never stick to them, lol BUT I am going to try and be a better blogger. I've been really off my crafting for some time now, but hoping to get back in the swing of things very soon and get some more stuff up. :o)