Monday, 1 March 2021

Lulu Bee

 


Well if I thought January flew by then that was nothing on February. The short month always throws me for some reason even though I know it will happen every year. 

In the UK we are still on lockdown and I have now been added to the shielding list so my life has been curtailed. I have stepped up my exercise big time in a bid to get fitter and healthier so it has given me the kick up the derriere I needed.  I have been booked in for my 1st Covid jab today and we are so lucky in the UK that over 20 million jabs have already been done. 

*** Update Had my 1st Jab - it was the Oxford one and have had reaction to it with fever, headaches, extreme tiredness, hopefully it should only last a few days ***

Anyhoo, 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 February freebie you will automatically get the March 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 Paper Nest Dolls


We have been given this super cute image Lulu Bee to play with this month. It is absolutely perfect for a birthday card for a little girl over the road who will be 2 later this month. 

I have coloured the image with Promarkers and added a glitter gel pen for pink accents. I coloured the wings with a grey marker and then went over the top with a clear Sakura glitter pen.

I used the current Wednesday Sketch from the Outlawz as inspiration for the layout.


I took some papers from my stash (which are all offcuts... yay!) I distressed the edges by running a pink marker around them.

The sentiment is a die Happy Birthday with Numbers from Spellbinders. It is a decent size and you get the numbers to go inside so you can diecut as required. You also get the heart but I used a couple of red stickers instead.

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 - 5” x 7”

Image - Lulu Bee (Paper Nest Dolls)

Dies - Happy Birthday With Numbers (Spellbinders)

Colouring Medium - Promarkers, Glitter gel pens, Sakura Clear glitter pen

Embellishments - Heart Stickers



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




at 44 comments:
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Sunday, 28 February 2021

Blingtastic Nadia

 


This birthday card has been made using an image called Nadia which is from M Medel Illustrations.




It was given to us as a Progressive Freebie image at The Outlawz challenge in June 2019 and I coloured it but was never happy with it as it seemed really pale and not vibrant enough.  I couldn't get on with the eyes either as you can see from the image they are blank. It got put to one side in a chest at the side of my desk and completely forgotten about.

I have rescued the image by recolouring in Promarkers and added shimmery highlights with Spectrum Noir Glitter Markers. They are water based so fabulous for bold colour but you can also use a water brush to make it a bit more subtle. They really helped to add shimmer to the eyes and I am much happier with them now. The image has been fussy cut and popped up on foam squares.

The backing card is from a Hunky Dory pad called Midnight Dots to Diamonds. It has load of grey dots in specific patterns which are intended to be covered with gems, pearls and glittery bits in general, definitely blingtastic. There are several designs in the pad, all with the black background. I am embarrassed to admit this once 'must have' purchase has never previously been used....




All the card then needed was a birthday sentiment and I am now much happier with this overall card.

Imagine That Digistamp has had a month long 8th Birthday Celebration and the last challenge is to make a birthday card with bling. I have completed this card in honour of that. Kris has been very generous with giving us specially created packs for completing each challenge and I really didn't want to miss this last one.

Card Details -


Size - 6” Square

Image - Nadia (M Medel Illustrations)

Paper - Midnight Dots to Diamonds (Hunkydory)

Colouring Medium - Promarkers, Glitter Markers (Spectrum Noir)

Embellishments - Self adhesive pearls and gems



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


at 7 comments:
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Friday, 26 February 2021

Happy Elf

 


I love taking part in the progressive freebie challenges that Stamper's Delights have over on Facebook. You play one month with any Stamper's Delights image and then you can request the following months set to play with. I have a lot of Janice's images and especially like the Kawaii and Chibi style ones.

This little Xmas Happy Elf was the freebie for November.  I have had it printed from before Christmas but didn't get the opportunity to use it so decided to colour it for this month's challenge. I am loving making Christmas cards all through the year so this helps to get me prepared in advance too ☺

I knew I wanted to use red and green and coloured with Promarkers adding Stickles glitter glue to the fur trim. The image has been fussy cut and popped up on some thin foam squares for dimension.



I used the current Stella Says Sketch for the layout. I don't have very much elf themed paper but this 'Express Your Elf' paper is from a 6"x6" pad I picked up from Poundland early last year before all hell broke loose so this dictated the main card colour scheme. I used an A4 sheet of kraft card for the base and added a rectangle of red card. The green and red circles are from one of those Papermania shapes boxes that were all the rage years ago. I have 3 boxes and have so rarely used them but they were perfect for this.

The patterned paper is from the Christmas Glitter Stack by DCWV. The wavy background I thought would be perfect with this cheeky elf, so colourful and fun. It has lots of glitter in it too so matches well with the image.

A strip of the elf paper has been matted onto a scrap of the red card to follow the card sketch. I then added some self adhesive gems and some tiny buttons and this is complete.

Card Details -


Size - A5

Image - Xmas Happy Elf (Stamper’s Delights)

Paper - Christmas Glitter Stack (DCWV) Krafty Christmas (Poundland)

Colouring Medium - Promarkers

Embellishments - Stickles Glitter Glue, self adhesive gems, Papermania Buttons 



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



at 35 comments:
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Tuesday, 23 February 2021

Birthday Bunny

 


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 February is Birthday Bunny. You get this cute image in colour and black and white, a great coloured circle sentiment and lots of sentiments which are so useful.


I chose the paper first which is an old K & Company one from one of those huge pads of patterned papers. 3 years ago I split all my pads up and sorted by colour and pattern. I have all my multicolour striped papers together and it was a case of finding one I wanted to use and this then dictated the colours to use on the image.  I used Promarkers and Spectrum Noir Glitter markers to add accents to the balloon and cupcake. They add a bit of sparkle without being OTT. 


The layout of the card is from sketch 494 at Try Stamping on Tuesday. I rotated it to fit the orientation of the image.


I used a sheet of green A4 card for the base to compliment the paper. Added a pink trim as per the sketch and a self adhesive ribbon to anchor the birthday tag to. It is an embellished cardstock sticker which has always been too pretty to use.... it was obviously waiting for the perfect image to go with it. As a finishing touch I added a brad and called this done. Quite a simple layout but the image and tag are the shining stars.

If you visit my blog and are not already taking part in the Digi of the Month challenge I would urge you to pop over there. Kris' images are really lovely and you get so much in each pack. You can buy this one at the reduced price and away you go then.

Card Details -


Size - A5

Digital Image - Birthday Bunny (Imagine That Digistamp)

Paper - Studio K Super K ( K and Company)

Colouring Medium - Promarkers, Spectrum Noir Glitter Markers

Embellishments - Self Adhesive Ribbon, Birthday Tag Sticker, Metal Brad


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

at 37 comments:
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Sunday, 21 February 2021

Christmas Sweater

 


As soon as I saw this pack of Christmas Sweater Stamps at Kate Hadfield Designs I was inspired to make a shaped card. The only thing was...... which design to choose? As you can see from the preview image below there are so many fabulous designs. You can choose to buy the stamps to colour, pre coloured ones or there is a specially priced bundle with both sets together.



For this card I chose the Christmas pudding stamp as I wanted to embellish it with glitter and beads. In the set you get each image and there is one with a more bold outline which is particularly good for printing out as a larger size. I sized it to around 6" square. I also did a second one the same and covered the pudding with a white rectangle. Inside this I added the text for the sentiment inside the card. After I printed it out I thought I could also have flipped this so it could be the outside back of the card. That is an idea for next time as I am sure I will be using more of these stamps.


I have coloured the bulk of the image using Promarkers. Even working on a very large area they give a really smooth finish. The green would have looked awful if it was streaky.

I used a Spectrum Noir glitter marker to add spots of 'fruit' to the Christmas pudding and coloured the holly, berries and sauce. I knew I would be covering them with glitter glue but also like to colour underneath so it gives better coverage.

Both the layers of the stamp were then added to a thicker card for the base to make a stronger card. Alcohol pens soak through the card so this covers the back of your colouring. Neat cutting around the bold outlines with my small blade Fiskars scissors produced neat images. I used a black marker to run around the outside of the shapes. To stick the layers together I scored around the curve on the jumper to allow it to bend and used some very strong red line double sided tape to hinge at the top.


Now it came to adding the bling! I could only add one full gem 'berry' so used red stickles glitter glue for the other two. The green one was used for the holly and I used a frosted lace one for the sauce on the pudding. It is sparkly but subtle so it looks more like a silky sauce.... almost good enough to eat. I used glossy accents to add the black beads. You can see in the photo below how it opens and stands and just how much dimension the beads add.

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.




Card Details -


Size - 6” high

Digital Image - Christmas Sweaters Stamps (Kate Hadfield Designs)

Colouring Medium - Promarkers, Spectrum Noir Glitter Markers

Embellishments - Stickles Glitter glue, gem, beads



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


at 37 comments:
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Thursday, 18 February 2021

Happy Birthday Tag

 


One thing that I very rarely make is tags. I have all the wonderful ideas about making matching tag to go with a card but very rarely do I do it.

However Imagine That Digistamp is currently celebrating their 8th birthday and Kris is having some extra weekly birthday themed challenges to celebrate. If you take part you get a specially created set so it is definitely worth participating.

The prompt this week is to create a tag with a birthday theme. It was a so and so to photograph as it was either too bright and the light shone one the gold card, or not bright enough and you couldn't see the twinkle in the paint. I hate not being able to take photos in natural light but the days are very dull here at the moment.

This tag has been made using lots of offcuts that have been recycled from shop bought cards. The centre image is a very old rubber stamp from Penny Black called Spring Air. It has been stamped onto some scrap white card and coloured with Promarkers and H20's were added to the top for shimmer. This was coloured many years ago. I have a folder with lots of images that I coloured but they have not been made into anything so it is nice to get this little cutie out. The hedgehog is sniffing the air above his head. When I fussy cut around it it looked weird so I cut the air off and decided it would look cute with little butterflies instead.

The pink circles have been cut with some generic stitched circle dies from scraps of card that have been recycled from the inside of shop bought cards. Quite often there is an insert and the card has got some good quality coloured or even patterned cards that can be used for crafting. I sandwiched a scrap of gold ribbon between the pink and a circle of white card on the back of the tag.

The Happy Birthday die is from Spellbinders. I had already cut it out of some gold textured card in the past but not used it so added the red heart stickers, the stamped image and a couple of little butterfly stickers that are some of the most used stickers I have had in my collection. They are so small and in many colours so compliment a lot of colour schemes and projects.



Tag Details -


Size - 4”

Rubber Stamp Image - Spring Air 3346F (Penny Black)

Dies - Happy Birthday with numbers (Spellbinders) Circle Nesting Dies (unbranded from Ebay)

Colouring Medium - Promarkers & H20’s

Embellishments - Glittery butterfly stickers, heart peel off stickers, gold lurex ribbon



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

at 27 comments:
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Monday, 15 February 2021

A Christmas Wish

 


Over at The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up it is the Merry Maidens turn to showcase some fabulous Christmas cards.


This paper pack Christmas Fun designed by Decosse's Dynamite Doodles 
is up for grabs to the lucky winner who follows the Optional Twist to make the card suitable for a Child under 12 Years old.




If you want the chance to win this month's featured paper pack, be sure to create a card that features the twist.


The Sponsor for this challenge is Ike's Art who is offering a $10 certificate from their store.


I used to be on a Design team for a store that sold Ike's Art images and chose to use an image I already had which is A Christmas Wish. It is a really sweet image and reminds me of many Christmas outings to sit on Santa's knee at John Lewis in Leeds when I was a little girl.


The image has been coloured with Promarkers and I added lots of Stickles glitter glue to the fur. I decided that there was a Christmas tree missing from the image. Having already decided to use the Decorating Tree paper from the Christmas Fun pack I also isolated a tree and printed it out on photo paper so it is about 10cm tall, thus suiting the dimensions of the image I had already printed. This also shows how versatile the papers can be as you can choose only an element from it and not the whole paper.


I chose to use sketch 201 from Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2 for the layout.


The base card is a 6" square and I cut the patterned paper to suit. I have added a wide metallic ribbon to highlight the gold elements. A square of gold glittery paper has been used for the background to my tableau and matted onto dark green card.

The tree has been added to the background and a gold star shaped gem to emulate the one in the paper. The stamped image has been raised up on thin foam squares to add depth. I added some green gems in the corners to match the sketch layout and a gold foiled sentiment.

Printing in colour has been an issue for us for a while as we cannot get a printer driver for our machine anymore. We have found a work around which is a bit awkward but said we will run the inks down and buy a new printer. They seem exceptionally hard to get at the moment though, every model hubby is after there is no stock and to timeframe for availability. Not sure if that is a Brexit think, a Covid thing or just shipping to UK being messed up in general so watch this space.......

I do hope you will take part in our challenge and look forward to seeing your creations.

Card Details -

Size - 6" Square
Digital Image - A Christmas Wish (Ike's Art)
Digital Paper - Christmas Fun (Decosse's Dynamite Doodles)
Colouring Medium - Promarkers
Embellishments - Stickles Glitter Glue, gems


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

at 29 comments:
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