Wednesday, 6 January 2021

Beat Those Winter Blues


It is our first challenge of the year over at The Paper Funday.
Our challenges are always Anything Goes with an optional twist. 
The twist this time is to use blue in your project.


We have 2 sponsors for each challenge this year. I opted to use images from a new to me designer Karamfila. I was truly stunned at how many digital papers, clip art and outline stamps there are in her Etsy store. They are so elegant just like the lady herself.


For this project I chose to use Articland Doodles. It has a fabulous selection of winter themed images which will be perfect for Christmas cards. I have already got my eye on a few other images from the set but particularly wanted to use the penguins.


I had seen a little video of how to make a hat for a pom pom snowman garland using a toilet paper roll and wanted to have a go at making a hat to adorn the penguins heads. I tried and better tried to get some blue wool. I managed to get some aqua but it was far too green to use for this project. 

Plan B - I did have was some blue stranded cotton skeins which I use for cross stitch. I cut some lengths and started looping them round the cardboard. I however totally underestimated how much thread I would need. I used 2 full skeins of the light blue but still needed more to fill it. No more thread the same colour so I used a darker blue and created a striped effect which looks better anyway. It took nearly 4 full skeins of thread to make this so I will definitely use wool next time!

The hat is really easy to make. You loop the threads and secure with a slipknot. Then group all the threads together and tie another piece around them. The loose ends can then be fanned out like a pompom and trimmed as required to neaten. I then used some wadding to stuff into the hat so it would keep it's shape.

Once I had the hat made I could then print the image out to fit. It is coloured with Promarkers and I then cut it out with my small pointed trusty Fiskars scissors. I used some grey card for the body and rolled it up into a tube. I then added it to the inside of the hat and stuck the penguin on with red line double sided tape.  

The first image from the set at the top of this post has the ear muffs on. I have put this on one side of the tube so it is double sided.

On the other side is the plain penguin. I posed him with some little snowmen my Mother in Law knitted for me. They are having a snowball fight with some glittery Docrafts snowballs.

 


I am really pleased with how this has turned out. I just love it when I see an image and a little idea pops up of how to use it. It's nice to create something different from a card every now and again too.

We have so many fabulous sponsors this year and I am looking forward to working with their images.

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

Project Details - 

Size - 13cm high
Digital Images - Penguin Outlines 1 & 3 from Articland Doodles (Karamfila)
Colouring Medium - Promarkers
Embellishments - almost 4 skeins of embroidery thread!


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








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Sunday, 3 January 2021

2020 A Year to Remember

 


First of all I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Over at Beccy's Place we are being encouraged to post our favourite cards of 2020.

Now I know it was a pretty strange year. We have lost so much, people we loved, freedom to do many 'normal' things that we took for granted. It was a nothing year in many respects but it was also a year which gave us the opportunity to slow down, connect with people in a different way, change some bad habits and enjoy new ones.

For me in January I started the 2nd part of a meditation course with a local company Mindspace. This 6 week course was about Peace. I can honestly say I truly believe it prepared me for what was to come. The course was about not overthinking things and situations, living in the now, not stressing about past present and future and to slow down. I know without that my stress and anxiety would have been through the roof. I meditated every day, listened to the teachings at every opportunity. Did a lot of soul searching and felt truly calm and free of burden. I actually felt completely content for the first time I cane ever remember. Best £56 I have ever spent I can tell you. The guy that runs it (Adam Dacey) has done so many meditations each day during lockdown, completely free and still available on his YouTube channel. I have never been able to meditate until I went to his beginners course in September 2019. He has a really calm voice and his style of meditation is different to any others I had previously tried.

Many people see 2020 as being a bad year and I know it was for a lot of people. I personally know 3 people who have passed away from Covid, one as recent as the 30th December :( . I have a very good friend who is a nurse who has been on the frontline, my sister and niece work at a care home, again on the frontline and putting themselves at risk.

Fortunately my Husband has been working from home. He would have travelled on the bus so I am happy that he has been safe at home. I have not been working, my plant to take a break and then start looking for a new role after Easter hasn't quite panned out but we are okay on hubby's wage. I have been decorating, gardening and running the house. This has given him so much more free time and made his health better. He has even started a new job in a more fulfilling, employee orientated company and I am very proud of him for that.

For me, crafting has been a really important part of my year. I have been on several design teams which has kept me focussed, expanded my creativity and I have made things completely different to other things in the past. I have entered lots of challenges and had lots of wins and top 3's. I am not a bragger, I find it very difficult to 'big myself up' but I am proud of what I have achieved this year. Beccy's suggestions

So to start off we have a card I made for our friend's Daughter in January. Original Blogpost is here


February my favourite card was the little robin. Original Blogpost is here


March my favourite was this card I made for Mother's Day. Original Blogpost is here


April saw me making a series of cards to cheer people up. I never make 2 cards the same so they all featured the same sentiment and butterfly but in different colours, papers and layouts. This is one I made for my MIL. Original Blogpost is here


May we had a socially distanced street party for the 75th Anniversary of VE Day. It was a marvellous day and a great way to get the neighbours together. This is a card I made for a neighbour who had organised it. Original Blogpost is here.


June I made this fab card for my Father in Law. I am so proud of the tools I made on this. 
Original Blogpost is here.


July is actually really hard as there are 4 I really liked a lot and am proud of for different reasons. I have picked this one as my fave as it features my new favourite embossing folder.
Original Blogpost is here.


Gosh August is another month where there were 3 I really liked. This one in particular really stretched me so far out of my comfort zone. Original Blogpost is here.


September's favourite is this pretty butterfly card. 
Original Blogpost is here.


October had me choosing the smiley sunflower card. 
Original Blogpost is here


November had me making loads of Christmas cards for the 
Month long challenge at Beccy's Place. 
I have 2 favourite cards, 1 Christmas and the other for a little girl.
Original Blog post


Original Blog post


December has got to be the card I made for my husband's birthday.
Original Blog Post


It was so hard to choose only 1 for each month as I have made so many cards last year. 
Hopefully this crafty spate will continue into 2021.

Currently the majority of the UK is in a very high state of lockdown restrictions and it is being rumoured it will get worse as the numbers are rising. My panic level is still low. I have realised I am mostly an introvert and as long as my hubby is safe and we are still so happy together then we will ride whatever storm is to come. I am lucky to have a craft room full of supplies, Netflix, a good coffee maker and I will be decorating the Hall Stairs and landing when the weather gets warmer. I am sure I will be able to keep myself occupied.

Beccy, thank you for the opportunity to do this. It's weird how until I reviewed my cards I hadn't realised how many I had made and also how many I really liked for different reasons.


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Friday, 1 January 2021

Fall PEAR-fection


Happy New Year! I know 2020 was not the year we would have wished for. 
My deepest condolences to all who have lost loved ones and suffered illness from the virus. 
I hope you have gained some positives from 2020 and we can be hopeful that better days are ahead of us. We may just have to be patient for a while longer.....

I am very proud to announce that I am now on the Design Team at The Freebie/Progressive Challenge at The Outlawz. This is something I have taken part in for a long time and to have been asked to join the DT is a great compliment.



As it is a New Year anyone can can request the free image for this month. As long as you make a card with it by the end of January you will automatically get the February 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 Jan's Digi Stamps.


We have been given an outline stamp and sentiment which are from the Fall PEAR-fection stamp set.  Jan's sets are always such good value as you get the images in both outline and colour and lots of sentiments which can be used for many occasions. They always print out so crisp and clean and are a pleasure to work with.
 

I started out colouring the image in Promarkers and added shading with coloured pencils. I am new to pencils and find they add a different level of shading which compliments my pens very well. I used an ultra fine green sharpie for the veins in the leaves. A blender pen was used to create the mottled effect on the vase to make it look weathered like real terracotta is.

The image has been cut with a Nestabilities die. I used some chalk in green and orange to distress the edges. My hubby got me some of those cosmetic brushes from Amazon and they have made a huge difference to my blending. I am far less heavy handed now.

I had used the largest die for the image so drew around it to create a brown mat to go underneath. This has been popped up on foam squares to create dimension.

The base of the card is a an A4 sheet of dark green card folded in half. The top paper is a bronze swirly card from Kanban. The bottom is a flocked paper with leaves on it, it feels lovely and very dimensional. I added some brown flocked ribbon to cover the join and some green flower shaped gems. Finally the sentiment has been cut into a banner shape.

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
Dies – Labels 17 Nestabilities (Spellbinders)
Colouring Medium – Promarkers, Arteza pencils, Sharpie Ultrafine
Embellishments – ribbon, flower gems


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

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Tuesday, 22 December 2020

Out of This World

 


I have made a space themed double Z fold card for my Brother in law's birthday just before Christmas. He loves space and has been to Nasa when on holiday to the USA.

I have used the Out of This World Block image from Bugaboo Stamps. This is coloured with Promarkers and Flexmarkers. The sky is coloured with a technique from Beccy's Place. This is achieved with blending blue together to create a glow around the stars. I have used my new Spectrum Noir glitter pens to add a glittery space suit, shimmering stars and dots to the planet. White gel pen has been added to create smaller stars.

The Rocket is an image from Angie's Digital Stamps. This is coloured with Promarkers and SN glitter pens.

The card base measures 6" x 12" when fully flat. I used some starry blue paper to cover the panels. The offcut has been edged with a border punch that embosses as well. I have used some holographic silver card to cover this. The main image has been matted onto glittery silver card that has been cut with a corner rounding punch to match the digi stamp.

I really like making this shape of card and by mounting the central panel this way it has a completely different look to the ones I have made before.

Card Details -

Size - 6" Square when closed
Digital Images – Out of This World Block (Bugaboo Stamps) & Rocket (Angie’s Digital Stamps)
Punch – Embossed Zig Zag Border (Martha Stewart) & Corner rounder
Colouring Medium – Promarkers & Spectrum Noir glitter markers (Crafter's Companion)

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









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Monday, 21 December 2020

Emma With Snowflake Banner



I recently won a challenge at The Outlawz Monday Greetings challenge and have been invited to be a Guest Designer for the 2 December challenges.


The sponsor for December is Paper Nest Dolls. 
They have some really sweet images in their store and they are lovely to work with.



The challenge for the next 2 weeks is to make a Clean card

The image I chose to work with was Emma With Snowflake Banner. I am still in Christmas card mode and really love this image.

I have used Promarkers to colour the image adding a red glitter gel pen to the hearts and a Sakura clear glitter pen to the snowflakes and hat trims. I love the fine tip on this pen and it is pretty sparkly. The image has been trimmed and matted onto holographic card.

The card base is a sheet of shimmery card. I have added an offcut of a patterned paper with a lovely swirly snowflake pattern. To this I have added the sentiment.

This for me is extremely Clean and Simple. The paper with the pattern on it really helps to stop it being too plain.

There are lots of challenges The Outlawz with many prizes up for grabs every month. If you are not already a member I would highly recommend you take a look. It is a great community to be a part of and there is a fabulous gallery full of inspiration from the Design Teams as well as the members.

Card Details -

Size – A5 

Digital Image – Emma With Snowflake Banner (Paper Nest Dolls)

Colouring Medium - Promarkers, red sparkle gel pen, Sakura clear glitter pen


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









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Sunday, 13 December 2020

Christmas Light Snowman

 


I was a recent winner of the challenge at The Outlawz Sunday Songs & Rhymes challenge and was invited to be a Guest Designer on the new challenge starting today.


The sponsor for this challenge is KLM Digital Designs




With the Songs & Rhymes Challenge you are given a particular song and you can use the title and/or lyrics to use as inspiration for your project.

The poem this fortnight is Christmas Carol by Sara Teasdale

I was given a number of images to choose from and opted to use the Christmas Light Snowman  set. You get the image and 3 sentiments in the set for only $3.75 which is great value.



 I coloured the image with Promarkers and used a silver gel pen for the lights and a blue Sakura glitter pen for the blue light bulbs. I added some Spectrum Noir clear glitter overlay to the snowman but it hasn't shown up in the photo. The image has been matted onto some blue card to match the waistcoat and I edge this with a silver paint pen.

The card base is a large 8x8" and I added some patterned vellum from the Glittering Snowflakes pad from Crafter's Companion. It has lots of shades of blue and white in it.  I used the recipe of Glitter, Ribbon, Blue & White from C.R.A.F.T.  Challenge to make my card.

The ribbon is so glittery and some does shed when you work with it. I don't mind a bit of glitter so all's good ☺

As the snowman is looking to the sky I thought it would be nice to position him so he is looking at a fabulous snowflake. The main snowflake is  Flurry 4 which is a Sizzlits Thinlit. I saw it a few years ago on someone's blog and had to have it as I love snowflakes,  especially really intricate ones like this. 

The blue snowflake is part of a really old set of Die'Sire dies. The smaller white one, and the 2 pale blue are from the Frosted Window set by Crafter's Companion. I used glitter card to cut the white ones.

The sentiment is from Craftwork Cards and I matted it onto a scrap of the same blue cardstock. Finally I added gems to the snowflake centres.

If you are not a member of The Outlawz I would strongly suggest you join the forum. There are challenges for every day of the week and 2 monthly challenges including a progressive freebie.


Card Details -

Size - 8" x 8"

Image - Christmas Light Snowman - KLM Digital Designs
Dies - Flurry 4 (Sizzix Thinlits 663115), Snowflakes (Die'sire), Frosted Window (Crafter's Companion)
Paper - Glittering Snowflakes Vellum (Crafter's Companion)
Colouring Medium - Promarkers, Silver gel pen, Sakura glitter pen, Silver paint pen
Embellishments - self adhesive gems, ribbon


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

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