Wednesday, 7 April 2021

Lulu With Daffodil

 


It is time for another challenge over at The Paper Funday.
Our challenges are always Anything Goes with an optional twist. 
The twist this time is the theme 'Spring Has Sprung'



We are very fortunate to have 2 sponsors for each challenge this year which means we get to choose which artist we would like to work with. This really is great as it gives us double the choice. We are very lucky with the amazing sponsors that are lined up this year, many of which are old favourites and some are new to me.





I chose to work with this cute image Lulu With Daffodil from Paper Nest Dolls. I have been lucky to work with a number of Christine's images recently and I adore the sweet expressions on their faces.


I used this image to make a centrepiece in a card I was making for my Mother in Law's birthday. I have seen some wreath cards on my blog travels and thought it might make a colourful and different card for my Mother in Law. This year her birthday was the day before Mother's Day so the pressure was on to make not one but 2 spectacular cards for her.... the pressure is real people.

The base of the card is a sheet of green adorable scorable card from Hunkydory. It is a 350gsm good weight of card which was perfect for this as I wasn't sure if the flowers would make it top heavy. I experimented with the size of circle and made them 6.5 circumference in the centre and 8cm on the outside. I knew that compass I had kept in my stash would come in handy one day! I cut this from heavy weight card to provide a good solid base for the flowers. Once I had my circle I could then use this to cut the green card to match the shape and size. I then added some floral patterned paper and a matching white border.

The flowers are a mixture of pre-bought paper ones and then ones cut from flower forming foam using dies. There are some paper daffodils that I bought from Ebay a million years ago along with some fabric ones. I embellished with some gems and flower stamens. I can't lie, this took ages to put them together.

The Happy Birthday sentiment is a really ornate die from Crafter's Companion. I also used a butterfly die from Sizzix. I drew around the outside to create a solid mat in green and cut this with scissors. I added a flower stamen for the antenna and some small gems for the body. The 2 smaller butterflies are 3d stickers that came in a kit from QVC many years ago.


At this point the initial card was done and then I had the idea to use the image and make it into a spinner card. I wasn't completely happy with one of the flowers as it seemed too bright an orange compared to the other so I swapped this out and I am now much happier with the result.

I coloured Lulu with Promarkers and added some metallic highlights with a glitter marker from Spectrum Noir. I added some shading to the hair with Arteza pencils. The image has been coloured the same twice so I could use them back to back. I die cut them using a pretty scallop edge frame. I then added some clear thread in between and then fixed this to the top and bottom of the circle.

This is like nothing I have ever made before and was a real labour of love. My MIL loves my cards though so it is worth the effort for her.

I hope you will join myself and our fabulous team over at The Paper Funday

Card Details -


Size - 8” x 9.5”

Image - Lulu With Daffodil (Paper Nest Dolls)

Dies - Floral Wreath (Sizzix Thinlits), Box Large Die (Crafter’s Companion), Petite Posies (Crafter’s Companion) Clover (Crafter’s Companion) Happy Birthday Sentiment (Crafter’s Companion), Just a Note Butterflies (Sizzix). Crea-Nest-Lies XXL69 Dies (Crea-lies) Colouring Medium - Promarkers & Spectrum Noir Glitter Markers

Embellishments - Autumn Hues & Floral Bouquet Flower Forming Foam, Stamens, Paper Flowers, Paper Daffodils, fabric, self adhesive gems, Butterfly 3D Stickers, Clear thread



I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order)



Allsorts - #617/618 Anything Goes

Alphabet Challenge - Z is for Zoology

Butterfly Challenge - #155 Butterfly/Lace/Laser lemon

Cardz TV - #137 Anything Goes

Catch The Bug - Anything Goes

CD Sunday Plus - #57 - Anything Goes with a Digital

Colour Crazy Challenge - #12 Anything Goes with Colouring

Color Throwdown - #637 Brown(in hair), green, yellow & orange

Crafty Catz - #545 Anything Goes

Crafty Sentiments Designs - Anything Goes

Creative Fingers - #205 Anything Goes

Cute Card Thursday - #680 Anything Goes

Digi Choosday - #14 Anything Goes

Gem of A Challenge - #7 Anything Goes

Incy Wincy Designs - Borders and/or bright colours

International Art & Soul - #105 Shaped Card

Krafty Chicks - #553 Stamp Act

Lemon Shortbread - #143 Anything Goes

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - #155 Anything Goes

Make My Monday - #145 Easter or Spring

Paper Shelter - #464 With a Sentiment

Paperminutes - #686 Flowers

Passion For Markers - #585 Animal Antics

Penny’s Challenge - #492 Anything Goes

Polkadoodles - #14 Anything Goes

Scrapping4fun Challenges - #189 Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Happy Birthday

Sisterhood of Crafters - Easter / Spring

Stamps & Fun = Creativity - #386 Spring or Easter

Sweet Stampin’ - For A Special Woman (My Mother in Law)

Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Try It On Tuesday - Hello Spring

Try Stamping on Tuesdays or Not - #501 Optional theme Birthdays

Word Art Wednesday - #485-486 Anything Goes

World Wide Open Design Team Challenge - #3 Anything Goes

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Sunday, 4 April 2021

Signs of Spring

 





I love to take part in many challenges and have been very fortunate to have been included in a list over at 613 Avenue Create of some amazing crafters who have had so many featured projects last year that we are 2020 Master Rockers. I am truly honoured to have been included in such a talented bunch and we have been invited to be Guest Designer during the course of this year.


The challenge theme is always Anything Goes and the 
Optional Twist for April is: In The Garden, Create A Card for Spring

I have used some fabulous digital stamps from Kate Hadfield Designs to make a scene as the main focus of this card.


In this digital pack Signs of Spring there are lots of images that can be used on their own or combined to make a scene like this. I started off with the welly boot and puddle. I added daffodils, snowdrops, birds bees and a cute little smily worm. Finally as the weather constantly changes there is sunshine, clouds and rain as we never know what to wear for the best this time of year!

The image panel has been coloured with Twinkling H20's for the sky, Promarkers, metallic gel pens and clear glitter pen accents on the snowdrops and raindrops. This panel was then added to some plain yellow cardstock.



The paper are from the Spring Drop First Edition pad from Dovecraft. I used the patterned green on the cream cardstock base. A strip of the pastel stripe/dotty paper has been trimmed with some lilac and I added faux stitching with a gel pen. The pink is also from this paper and that was why I coloured the welly boot in pink (and added spots because all the best wellies have spots)

The flower trim is a pre-cut vinyl border that came on a roll from a poundshop long ago. I added some pearls and gems to the centres.

The glittery bees are stickers from the paper pad. The butterfly is a die from a set of 4 small ones from Marianne Creatables. It is such a pretty shape and you get a nice crisp cut. Finally the digital sentiment is from Daisy Doodles who used to make some lovely images and sentiments but are now retired.

In the last month or so in the UK we have had so many signs of Spring and on my walks I have really enjoyed seeing so many pretty flowers popping up and hearing the birds tweeting. We have even seen rabbits in the local park. I have always loved nature but this year it seems especially poignant to see this new life and re-birth to get rid of the sadness and anxiety that the last year has entailed. I hope the signs of Spring everywhere herald happier times for all.

I am truly honoured to be a Guest Designer this month at 613 Avenue Create. 
Thank you so much for asking me. 

Card Details -


Size - A5

Digital Images - Signs of Spring (Kate Hadfield Designs)

Digital Sentiment - Spring Has Sprung (Daisy Doodles Now Retired)

Die - 4 Butterfly set LR0158 (Marianne Creatables)

Papers - Spring Drop (Dovecraft First Edition)

Colouring Medium - Promarkers, Twinkling H20’s

Embellishments - Gems, pearls, Vinyl Die Cut Border, bee stickers from paper pad



I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order)




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Thursday, 1 April 2021

Bug Brats Easter 01

 


It is the start of a new month and I am back with my DT hat on for 
The Freebie/Progressive Challenge at The Outlawz.



As long as you made a card with the March freebie you will automatically get the April image free. It is a fabulous way to use images from artists you many not have used before. Also sometimes the image is completely different to something you would normally use. It has been a good way for me to stretch my creativity and take me out of my comfort zone. 

I would highly recommend anyone who is not already taking part to jump in and have a go. We are a really friendly bunch at The Outlawz.



This month we are sponsored by Bugaboo Stamps



We have been given this image Bug Brats Easter 01 to play with. Easter cards are not something I tend to make very often but this is such a cute image. I am sure we all know a little girl who loves to dress up.

I coloured the image using a combination of Promarkers and pencils and then fussy cut with my favourite Fiskars embroidery scissors. They have short blades and are perfect for precision cutting. I popped the image up on thin foam pads.

The card base is a sheet of A4 card and I covered this with the green spotty paper. The glittery Easter egg paper is from the Spring Drop First Editions paper pad. I added a layer of pink gingham underneath. The image has been layered onto a stripy paper in pastel shades and I added the pale pink mat underneath.

The sentiment is from Scrap N Fonts. They don't seem to be around anymore which is a shame as they did loads of printables and sentiments which I have used over the years.

The 2 little fat chicks are from Birdie Brown. I was gutted when she stopped making digis as she had so many cute ones. She did however go on to design rubber stamps for some big companies so happy to see she is still designing.

Finally the banner is an old pre-printed banner from Let's Make Cards magazine. I used to subscribe to it many years ago and there are so many elements I still have that are used in cards to this day. Some bits were really good, some not so much. I was never into the cut and paste style of cardmaking that this seemed to do, always more interested in doing my own thing and not copying other cards. The banner was too big for the card so I did some careful trimming and used some small brads to join the sections together.

I hope we will see you enter our challenge at The Outlawz and look forward to seeing the entries using this image.

Card Details -


Size - A5

Digital Images - Bug Brats Easter 01 (Bugaboo Stamps) Chubby Chick 01 & 03 (Birdie Brown RETIRED)

Digital Sentiment - Scrap N Fonts (RETIRED)

Colouring Medium - Promarkers & Arteza Pencils

Paper - Spring Drop First Edition Pad (Dovecraft)

Embellishments - Brads



I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order)




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Tuesday, 30 March 2021

Contact Me

 If you are interested in any cards that are on my blog or need to get in touch at all for commissions or Design Team enquires

please email :-

enquiries@madebymandy.com


Many Thanks

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Wednesday, 24 March 2021

I'll Be There For You

 


Over at Kate Hadfield Designs there is lots going on. Kate is really generous with her freebies which are readily available. If you sign up to the newsletter you get access to an extra subscriber area the Doodle Den where there are loads more freebies.




A new freebie has been released called I'll Be There For You which has 2 papers, 3 flower ensembles and 2 leaves. It's a lovely little pack which can be used on it's own or easily incorporated with any other digital elements.



I'd seen there were a load of free scrapbook page templates in the Doodle Den and this Blocked and Squared really jumped out at me as I love geometric shapes and it inspired me to make a digital layout using this kit.


I use a program called Affinity Designer on the Mac. I find it easy to use when creating multi layer projects like this. In this 'card' there are 34 layers

 I started out with the teal paper as the background and added a layer of white as a border. I then used the layout and added the squares in the 2 papers.

I added the flowers and leaves, sizing up or down as required for each square.

As a final touch I added a text sentiment using an already installed font Zapfino.

There are oodles of freebies. Simply sign up to the Newsletter in the Doodle Den and you will be given access to so many resources. There is a gallery full of projects by the Creative Team and customers and so much inspiration for crafter and teachers. I would highly recommend you pop over there and join in the fun.


Digital Card Details -


Size - 6” x 6”

Digital Images - I’ll Be There For You Freebie (Kate Hadfield Designs)

Digital Papers - I’ll Be There For You Freebie (Kate Hadfield Designs)

Font - Zapfino


I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order)


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Thursday, 18 March 2021

Honey Bear Thank You

 


Imagine That Digistamp have a Progressive Challenge each month. 
If you completed a card using the Digi of the Month you automatically get the following month emailed to you. If not you can purchase that stamp for a reduced price.

The set we have been given to play with for March is Honey Bear. You get papers, images and sentiments which can be easily mixed and matched with other projects.


The starting point for me was the hexagon shape. I have a set of Torn Edge Hexagon dies that I have never used before from a mystery bag at Crafter's Companion which I thought would work well with this set.

I printed the coloured bear image on glossy photo paper. Kris' images are really colourful and I find the photo paper really brings out the vibrancy. I enlarged one of the bees in the image to use as an embellishment and also printed out a strip of the hexagon paper.

I used the largest of the dies to cut the image out and then made a slightly larger one from brown card which was trimmed with deckle edge scissors (remember using them all the time in the old days?) I added some sparkle around the edge with the clear glitter overlay pen from Spectrum Noir.

I used an A4 sheet of kraft card for the base and added the image panel to it. The stripe of yellow paper was matted onto a strip of the brown card. I then used a small die to cut the bee, matted onto more brown card and popped up using foam pads. The foiled sentiment (which was awful to photograph!) is from Kanban.

As a final touch I used some gold glitter glue on the flower centre and some REALLY old Stickopotamus bee stickers.

This is the perfect card to thank someone for being so sweet. 
We always need thank you cards in our stash ☺

Card Details -


Size - A5

Digital Image - Honey Bear (Imagine That Digistamp)

Digital Paper - Honey Bear set (Imagine That Digistamp)

Dies - Torn Edge Hexagon (Crafter’s Companion)

Embellishments - Stickopotamus bee stickers, Stickles glitter glue, Spectrum Noir clear glitter overlay


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Wednesday, 17 March 2021

Leah's Picture

 


You know how every now and again you have an idea and when you have made it it comes out better than you could have ever dreamed? Well this is one of those projects. I actually cannot believe I made this!

At Kate Hadfield Designs the Creative Team are given free reign on what we can create. Sometimes we have a prompt. This month Kate wants to highlight the overlays.


I have played with making digital cards before so I know the basics of how to layer but this has taken it to a whole new scale. 

A little neighbour over the road was 2 on the 15th. She is moving into her 'big girl bedroom' and her parents have been decorating her room. I know she is having greys and pinks and wanted to make a picture for her room. 

I use a digital program called Affinity Designer. I started with the background which is the blue and green paper from the Painted Pretties set.


I then added the cloudy sky overlay from the Springtime Overlays set. I wasn't sure if you could use just some of it but it is really easy to move it around on your page to cover only the section you want. I would imagine you can cut sections from it as well if you only wanted specific parts of the overlay. I will experiment with that in future projects. There are some lovely overlays in the store.


The main image I wanted to use was the castle from Happily Ever After. I made this quite a large size and then added the Fairy Godmother. The little Frog Prince looked cute and I really wanted to include the rainbow. Leah has been such a happy little soul over this year of strangeness and it has been lovely to see her blossom. She has been the colourful rainbow in even the dullest days.


Using Springity Spring I have I of course added the smiley sunshine. The cloud is the same shape as the over lay so it is easy to resize and 'colour' in some of the clouds in the sky. By only colouring some in this has added layers and dimension to the picture.


I have also added some of the grass tufts, daisies and some of the little creatures ladybird, snail, bee and a cheeky little worm peeking out of the doorway. 

The whole design was then printed out onto photo paper and the colours are really vibrant. I then framed it using a silver frame from my collection.

I hope it gives as much joy to Leah as it did to me to make it for her.

I really loved making this. Kate's designs are so much fun to work with and there are so many fabulous items in the store. I love making cards and colouring so the stamps are my faves. There are coloured images, papers, doodles and you are only limited by your creativity. 

There are oodles of freebies in the store too. Simply sign up to the Newsletter in the Doodle Den and your will be given access to so many resources. There is a gallery full of projects by the Creative Team and customers and so much inspiration for crafter and teachers. I would highly recommend you pop over there and join in the fun.

Project Details -


Size - 8” x 10”

Digital Paper - Painted Pretties (Kate Hadfield Designs)

Digital Overlay - Springtime Overlays (Kate Hadfield Designs)

Digital Images - Happily Ever After set & Springity Spring (Kate Hadfield Designs)

Embellishments - Silver Frame



I would like to enter this into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order)


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