Vixykins

Why do you craft?

2012-01-27T21:12:00.001Z

Evening all! Im on a mission tonight! *Pulls up soapbox*

Im not a person who makes a card every day, I usually colour most days though even if it is just practice or trying out colour blends.

I know some of you are of a similar mind in that sometimes you just want to play or colour and not necessarily make a full blown card. I know over the years styles have changed and there is a swing towards a huge amount of embellishments on cards which I suspect makes some crafters feel a bit isolated as they can't 'compete'
Well let me say this, remember the reasons why you started crafting, was it to relax, join in with new groups and friends, to pass the time? Go back to these principals.

I saw someone say on a group the other day that they simply couldn't afford to compete or take part. You know that's fine too, you don't have to. Remember why you started...
It doesn't matter what you have or haven't got so long as it gives you pleasure. That's all that counts :)

Im quite happy colouring in and just practicing. Im not the best but im not bad but its what gives me personally a little pleasure.
Neither did I instantly go out and buy a full set of promarkers, 80% of them were gifts from OH for birthday, xmas, mothers day etc and took me 18 months. Im not fussed on getting flowers and the like, I will get way more pleasure from my pens or stamps so that's what I ask for. I don't drink and haven't had a night out in 2 years so what money i do get goes on kids, if I have any left I can get craft stuff. If I need clothes I often hit ebay, I dress unbelievably well from there lol!

So what im saying is don't feel isolated or left out if you don't have the latest and greatest. What YOU get out of it is far more important than perceived expectations. I don't have all these fancy nick nacks either. My cuttlebug (xmas gift from OH in 2008) well its C plate has snapped in half but hey I only need half a plate anyhow lol! I think that's the biggest piece of kit I've got but my love is colouring, that's what gives me pleasure the most so im actually more than happy to just colour for no reason.

So do join in groups and things even if its just chatting to like minded folk. Don't feel pressured into feeling you have to have the latest or fancy things. Take a look at the clean and simple type challenges, they look amazing and are hugely popular :)

So this is how I often spend an evening. Im just colouring and practicing pleats which sometimes I get right sometimes epic fail but seriously I practice these at least 15 times a week (they get binned!)
Thsee are actually a good ones but it has taken a while to learn and get a natural flow going.
The red one I practiced about 10 on before being happy with them and the purple one is tonights scribblings.
Well im off back to me scribbling :)

Wot no Promarkers?!

2012-01-26T21:26:00.001Z

Nope no promarkers here today! A temporary glitch Im sure! Instead I've been messing again with my Derwent pencils. I have coloursoft and Inktense which only get used now and then and less so when Letraset brought out the ultra fine nibs. I used to use the coloursoft a bit for adding shadows but haven't had a need since the new nibs so other day I came across my stash and decided to put them to use :)

I wanted to play around on kraft as the reason I bought a pack of kraft was to use pencil and I did play a bit but it went on the back boiler. I had a little play but it wasn't looking right so had a look at tutorials online and my techniques were right but I was making 2 fundamental mistakes. The first was the side I was using. One side is rough one smooth. I used the smooth side but pencils need a bit of tooth and second was I wasn't sharpening them much so being shamed into it I sat for 20 minutes sharpening them and retried on the toothy side and much better!
I also played with the Inktense pencils and love these! I don't have any skin colours though so made do for now.
So here's my playings to share :)

Pic of Tilda with cozy heart is coloured with Inktense. Its a pencil that turns into a permanent ink when wet. Love the effect on kraft.

Pic of 2 Tildas show coloursoft on left and Inktense on right

Pic of ladybug Tilda is complete and my 4th version until I was happy with it. I do love these on kraft :)

Pink & Sparkly at Crafts and Me

2012-01-25T22:53:00.000Z

Well we're over to Karen to host her first challenge at Crafts and Me this week and she has chosen the favourite theme of lots of us - Pink & Sparkly :D :D :D

For this I used the digi stamp by Hannah Lynn called Moonglow which I think will become a firm favourite with me as she has lovely lines to colour. I went for just a few strands of a darker pink using mulberry and lighter pinks using baby pink and the pink lavender flexmarker on her hair. Her skin is coloured with ivory, blush, coral, cinnamon, soft peach and cocoa and I think I used some rose pink on her cheeks!
All the white bits (on her top, flower and spine of wings) are glittered with glamour dust and the flowers are all glittered with stickles crystal. The boingy things in the flowers already came glittered :)
Thats not green card on there BTW its holographic silver. Isnt it funy how your tastes change, 3 years ago I used to despise holographic card now I love it!

Flowers are from wild orchid, the cute butterfly is by papermania and I've used a butterfly embossing folder which brand escapes me!

Hope you can come and join in Karens first pink and sparkly challenge over at Crafts & Me this week :)

I'd like to also enter my card into...

Deep Ocean Challenge - Sparkling

Flutterby Wednesday - Embossing

Birthday Sundaes - Birthday sentiment on front

2 sisters - embossing

Hotshot crafts - flowers

Passion for Promarkers - Recycle something

2012-01-24T23:11:00.000Z

Evening All! The new challenge this week over at Passion for Promarkers is to recycle something. I was a bit stumped for this one having had a clearout before xmas until I remembered the belt my DD was getting rid of. Its a chain belt filled with charms, get rid???? I don't think so lol! I pilfered one of the metal hearts off it, cleaned it with blending solution then added wild plum distress ink to colour it to match the papers. I then intended to paint a small amount of 3d gloss on it and add glamour dust but the nozzle was blocked so a bit of prodding with my poky tool and it started to flow so aimed over the heart and splodge!! A massive blob came out and drowned it! Not to be deterred I spread some glamour dust on a piece of card, picked the soaked heart up with my poky tool and gave it an all over dusting :)

The image I used is one of the new Tildas (cozy heart) from the 2012 sweet crazy love collection coloured with promarkers and I added 3d gloss (this time with a paintbrush!) and sprinkled with glamour dust, I've added random crystal hearts and a little butterfly.

The inside is also decorated with lovely pink hearts papers and the card is cut with a go kreate dye.

Hope you can recycle something and come join us this week! There is a prize of 4 digi's from Pink Gem Designs up for grabs!

I'd like to enter into...

Tuesday Throwdown - So charming
Cupcake Craft - All you need is love
Card Cupids - Valentines
Stampin sisters in christ - Make a heart stand out

2012 Promarker Tutorials - Teddy Bears (Teddy Bo)

2012-01-23T23:58:00.000Z

Evening all! I'm back with another tutorial to share with you tonight and we're going to be looking at colouring teddy bears or more specifically Teddy Bo/Bea bears. For this tutorial I have used Teddy Bea_075 (Daisy Chain) I cant link direct to the image but if you want her then go to the TEDDY BO SHOP and click Teddy Bea store on the left hand menu and she's on page 5 and costs £1.65 with 25% off until 6th Feb if you use the code on the front page.

For colours there's no real right and wrong, simply select a light, mid and dark of combos that work well so for this I chose a yellowy brown as it gave her a golden glow :)

Promarkers I'm using today are...

PRIMROSE
PASTEL YELLOW
CINNAMON
SOFT PEACH FOR THE CHEEKS
SANDSTONE (INTERMEDIATE PART)
COCOA (INTERMEDIATE PART)

STEP 1 - Colouring most things including animals uses pretty much the same process, identifying your highlights and shadows. From the hair tutorial I showed you how I do this by colouring with my lightest colour first to bring the image more to life so I can see the points easier.
Here I have used the lightest PRIMROSE and coloured in a large part leaving some points white at this stage.

Next take your PASTEL YELLOW and go over most of your PRIMROSE just as you do for hair and leave a bit of the primrose and white showing where you want your hightlights.
On this image I have picked out above the eyes and on the muzzle, part of the left arm and chest.

In colouring fur and the like I colour in a slightly different way, I don't want smooth glossy features like you get with skin tones and hair I want it a bit rough looking so I scribble when I colour in fur. Start from the outer edges and push the pen in towards your highlight points in a scribbly fashion, not unlike a kid colours if you're with me lol!

On this first pic I've used the primrose and pastel yellow.

STEP 2 - Take your CINNAMON and again starting from the outer edges of each section colour inwards over part of the pastel yellow you just coloured.

STEP 3 - Add some SOFT PEACH for cheeks on either side of the nose in the bit you left white. You can be quite bold with this as it will blend in.
Next use your PRIMROSE to blend in all the colours. Literally just scribble it on as we're not looking for glossy here.

STEP 4 - Add in more PASTEL YELLOW over your first layer to build up some depth. Re-add some SOFT PEACH on the cheeks too. You can see the pastel yellow clearer on where the mouth should be and how its scribbled on :)

STEP 5 - Again use your CINNAMON and add this to your darkest shadows. Bring a line from the eye outwards and around the frame of the face, under the chin will be quite dark and the inside and ouside of the arms and around the paws.

STEP 6 - Add a little more PASTEL YELLOW over the CINNAMON then use your PRIMROSE to blend it all in. This is perfectly fine as it is, add a dot of white gel pen on the top of the cheeks if required but thats job done...

INTERMEDIATE

Now you've got the hang of that one and are identifying the shadows and highlights a little better we can add in another couple of colours

STEP 7 - If you're feeling confident you can add in an extra couple of colours so here I've added on some SANDSTONE. That shade sits between the cinnamon and pastel yellow so add this on going over and past the parts you previously coloured with cinnamon.

STEP 8 - Now re-add some CINNAMON where you previously coloured.

STEP 9 - Here's the brave bit, add some COCOA around the very darkest parts so here it is the line on the eyes, down the edge of the face, under the chin, under the paws, inside and outside of the arms. You dont have to do solid lines, just scribbles remember and if you miss a bit out thats good as it will give it a more natural look

STEP 10 - Add more PASTEL YELLOW and PRIMROSE in as you did in step 6 to blend them all in again.

STEP 11 - Give a final touch up with the COCOA whilst the ink is still wet and you're done!

Please do experiment around with colours as everyone has their preferences. This one below uses SATIN, SANDSTONE and CINNAMON. I think that would work better for Lily of the valley ones but thats my personal opinion so do experiment as you might like another combo more :)

All the best laid plans...

2012-01-22T20:45:00.001Z

Evening all! I had so many plans today that completely went to pot! Id planned to do the step by step for teddy bo's at craft club today but forgot the camera then thought never mind can do that this evening but DDs has nicked my room to watch a dvd. Pffffft! So Im consigned to my bedroom with my fone and promarkers. So instead I'll show you the process I use for a tutorial!
I have my favoured combos like everyone else but I like to experiment too and see what looks good so here's a pic of 3 teddy bea in progress with my colour notes. I prefer the top one which is my usual combo however when I do the tut id probably go a bit darker round the edges.

The bottom left is a tri colour so useful for beginners and top one uses same but adds a couple more colours and one on right has a different base colour, satin as opposed to pastel yellow on other two which I think gives a better glow :)

So we'll go through this tommoz with the step by step x

Sunglasses warning - Here's Vicky!

2012-01-21T22:35:00.000Z

Evening all! I have to give you a sunglasses warning for this one as its so LOUD and bright!! This is one of the new range of digi stamps designed by the very talented designer and cardmaker Teresa over at My Crafty Heart and this one is Fairy Vicky named after my old mucker Vicky on the DT. The description says "Fairy Vicky likes to sing and dance and entertain the other fairies across the land." She certainly does!So as an Ode to Vicky who brightens up everyones day I had to do this loud, like her haha!

The papers are also digi by Bearly Mine, I have a folder of papers I printed off when I was on the DT and saw these and thought YES! Totally in the mood for orange today and I love the boldness of the designs too. I know some people worry about the cost of printing but I can assure you its not that bad. I got a £15 cartridge from Tesco which lasted me 12 months and I have printed stacks and stacks of the papers off so considering how much you pay for a printed paper stack and these can be adjusted in size and you wont get the eeek moment when you need 3 pieces the same size to do inside and out as you just print another off :)

I've coloured with promarkers and coloursoft pencils adding distress ink in yellow and orange around the edge (sorry mustard seed and spiced marmalade tsk!) The sentiment I got off ebay yonks ago, flowers are Wild orchid and swirly thing is sizzix.

Oooh sparkly wings!

Hope this has brightened your day as much as it did mine!

I'd like to enter this into...

Craft your days away - Distressing
Papercrafting Journey - Floral
Flutterby Wednesday - Open week
I love Promarkers - Anything goes

2012 Promarker Tutorials - Skin tones

2012-01-20T23:44:00.000Z

Here I am again with another tutorial still using Izzy, if you're follwoing these then please do leave a comment with a link to you blog so I can come over and have a looksie!
I have another skin tone tutorial in the Tutorials tab at top of the page and this first part is using the same colours which I find nice for newbies wanting to get a bit more adventurous than just using blush all over!

The colours I've used here are

IVORY
BLUSH
VANILLA
SANDSTONE
BABY PINK or PALE PINK for cheeks

STEP 1 - Here I've added the IVORY leaving just a bit of white in the centre.

STEP 2 - Add the BLUSH going over most of your ivory (I always use the palest colour as a guide so I can see the image better)

STEP 3 - Add VANILLA leaving part of the BLUSH showing.

STEP 4 - Add PALE PINK or BABY PINK for the cheeks then colour over all the skin with your IVORY. Next use SANDSTONE around the edges of the image as a shadow and then repeat STEP 1 - 4 to give a greater depth.

Your finished result should look something like this! This is a good basic combo for getting to grips with using more than 2 skin tones as you cant go much wrong on it. I used this combo for a long time until getting more adventurous!

INTERMEDIATE

This one is getting more adventourous with the tones, you might panic and think eeeek at first especially when you put the coral on but it all comes together in the end!

The colours I've used are...

IVORY

BLUSH

CORAL

CINNAMON

BABY PINK

ROSE PINK

STEP 1 - Colour in your face as above (Step 1 & 2) using IVORY and BLUSH then add some bold shadows using CORAL.

STEP 2 - Add BABY PINK cheeks and use CINNAMON around the hairline and down the darkest part of the face.

STEP 3 - Use BLUSH to partly blend in towards the white part in the centre then add a small amount of IVORY over the entire skin area.

STEP 4 - Repeat all the above steps to get some depth to your image then add a line of CORAL and smaller line of CINNAMON over the nose then blend them all in again.

STEP 5 - Whilst the ink is still wet add in more BABY PINK then a smaller dot of ROSE PINK in the centre of the cheek and use your IVORY to blend it all in.

This combo works really really well with Magnolias too which I'll show you in a couple of days :)

Paradise

2012-01-19T15:56:00.001Z

Afternoon all! Doing a quick post as I have a meeting later and won't get home till late. Kids are home from school so won't get a minute to myself now, I've lost count how many times Ethan has asked Can I go on the wii already. I told him the batteries are flat which is true but Im not showing him where the spares are ;)

Anyway I have a great video to share today, the song is constantly in my head today. Im no fan of Coldplay but have to concede they gave a cracking performance on x factor. I love lights and gimmicks and they issued everyone (10,000) with remote controlled wrist bands. Watch out for this starting around 1minute 40. Awesome!

Coldplay - Paradise

Enjoy!

2012 Promarker tutorials - Grounding

2012-01-18T11:46:00.000Z

Morning again lol! Had a request for this one and its something you can do so easily that really ties an image together so it doesnt like its floating in the middle of the page! This one is GROUNDING so basically adding a shadow underneath the image. I'm going to show you a grey shadow and a green one which you can add more texture in to make grass.
Again I'm using IZZY from Di's Digi Downloads

The colours I've used here are....

COOL GREY 1
COOL GREY 3
COOL GREY 5

STEP 1 - Underneath your image use the COOL GREY 1 to colour in quite a large area, try to imiagine how the shadow would look in real life so make it wider where the image is stood gradually going up to a narrow bit at the top. Cool Grey 1 is very very light so it won't matter a jot if you make a mistake here plus you'd usually be trimming it down to add to your card so go wild!

*NB I've editted the photo a little darker so you can see it better

STEP 2 - Add some COOL GREY 3 now leaving a larger shadow

STEP 3 - Add a smaller bit of COOL GREY 5 directly under the points that are touching the floor

STEP 4 - Use your COOL GREY 1 and colour over the entire greys to blend them all together.

STEP 5 - This bit is optional but whilst your ink is still wet from blending all the greys in from step 4 use your COOL GREY 5 again and with a light hand re-add it. As the ink is still wet it wont be as harsh a line as you see on step 3.

ADDING SOME GRASS GROUNDING

You can use lots of combos for grass depending if you want it looking green and lush or more summery, its the same principal of using a light, a mid and a dark so here I chose my favourite grass combo of LIME ZEST, PEAR GREEN AND OLIVE GREEN

STEP 1 - Same as for the grey, add a shadow underneath using LIME ZEST

STEP 2 - Add in your PEAR GREEN as Step 2 above

STEP 3 - And again like step 3 above add in your OLIVE GREEN

STEP 4 - As above blend in your greens using the LIME ZEST

STEP 5 - As above, whislt the ink is still wet use a light hand to add in more OLIVE GREEN underneath the points that touch the floor. You can leave it as is or continue and add some flicks of PEAR GREEN to make some grass blades

STEP 6 - Add a few blades of OLIVE GREEN here and there then give it all a once over with the LIME ZEST and repeat step 5 and 6

You can take your time more with this and use the Letraset Fine Nibs to add more pronounced blades and greater shadows :)

Some humour at Passion for Promarkers

2012-01-18T10:21:00.001Z

Morning all! I'm a day late posting this, couldnt get on PC last night but this card is very apt for that too lol! I'm always late unless its something really important then I won't sleep for fear of being late! This text stamp is me all over isnt it! We want to see some humour at Passion for Promarkers this week with the winner receiving 4 digis from Pink Gem Designs

I sent this to Dot so I hope it raised a smile :) Its Tilda waiting coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers :) The text stamp is by Inky Antics in case you *really* need it like I do!

A spooky pic!

2012-01-17T23:36:00.001Z

Can't get on pc tonight so will catch up with posts tommoz but tonight I've got a really spooky pic to show that I took this evening. Was sat in garage with my OH and looked at the floor and saw someone looking back at me eeek! OH couldn't see it so I took a pic and he can now too.
Posted it on Facebook and there's actually 2 of them!
How creepy is that lol!

See u in the morning :)

Its all black & white (and a hint of pink)

2012-01-16T23:04:00.000Z

Evening all! Gosh I'm struggling tonight! My mouse has broke and I'm having to use the touchpad aaargh hate hate hate it! So not used to using it, driving me dilly lol!

Anyway have a new one to share tonight, will try and post up another tutorial tomorrow and start on some Teddy Bo and Magnolias in the week :)

This one is a new image I *had* to have because its got my name (kinda!) all over it! This one is called FAIRY VIXX haha seriously! OK not me, t'is the other Vixx! Its a new company just started called My Crafty Heart and they've named their first set of digis after their design team, sweet!

I wasn't sure what colours to use for this one, I think we all have those days where you rummage through papers and nothing seems to gel until I found the new paper pad I bought over xmas which is just black and white so I went with that theme and decided to keep the colouring light and airy, it also shows you how the tutorial on light clothes transfers, I just added a light pink and rose pink for the shadow bits and used the blender to keep it light.

I know a lot of people struggle with blonde hair, as I've recommended its a case of try it and write down the ones you like. I can say use this and that or you could go elsewhere and get different colours so write them all down, try them out and tick the ones you like the best :)

This blonde hair combo was satin, pastel yellow and cinnamon so there's another one for your books!

I'd like to enter this into...

Digi makeover challenge - A Fairy nice day
Lexi's - Anything goes
Pan Pastel UK - ANything goes
Sentimental sundays - Ribbon

Wii dance

2012-01-15T23:52:00.003Z

Evening all! Quick post from me tonight as I've been scribbling and dancing all day! Been colouring in some lovely new images from a new shop called My Crafty Heart who have some fairy digis named after the DT :).
I also picked up the new wii dance mat i got off ebay the other day, I'm completely hopeless haha! Had a go with our Stace and Ethan, the kids are funny on it but they have fun.
My elbow really really hurts, I think its the swordplay on wii sports resort does it, ouchy!
Will be back tommoz with some new scribblings so night all x

2012 Promarker Tutorials - Light coloured clothes

2012-01-14T23:34:00.000Z

Evening all! Back again with the 3rd part of this tutorial using IZZY from Di's Digi Downloads. Today we're looking at a tricky one which is colouring light coloured clothes. Its so tempting to put on more colour, I do it all the time :)

By now you should be more comfortable in identifying light and shadows or if you've landed straight here check out my tutorial page for the 2012 ones using this image.

Okies off we go!

I've used the same promarkers I used for the jeans (to keep colours to a min!) so you will need...

BLENDER PEN
POWDER BLUE
DENIM BLUE

STEP 1 - Again study the image, are there any helpful lines that would indicate a high point or a shadow? Before I start like to colour over the area with the BLENDER pen to make the paper wet so do this now. This image has some helpful little lines at the bottom of her top so add a couple of streaks coming up alongside them with the POWDER BLUE. Continue this along the left arm and from the right side of her top under her face.

STEP 2 - Add a small amount of DENIM BLUE over the POWDER BLUE, keep it towards a consistent side so in this case I've put it on the left as the light point for the image is coming in from the right.

STEP 3 - Go over your area again with the BLENDER, the colours will merge and lighten slightly. Add more POWDER BLUE over the areas you coloured in step 1 then add a couple more flicks coming down from the hemline at the top.

STEP 4 - Again add a small amount of DENIM BLUE to give you a 2nd layer but not over your new flicks of powder blue

STEP 5 - Colour over again with the blender. The blender will only remove so much colour so you can let it dry and colour over again and it will get lighter. Just try to keep your colour choices light and use the blender lots!

This is a photo of the reverse of your image held up to light. Wet ink will shine transparent like the top does here, that shows you what areas are wet and will let you blend a lot easier. If you look you will see the alcohol has seeped past the line. If you were to put a colour on next to the line the dye will follow where the alcohol is and spread out so more likely to bleed beyond your lines, which most of us do but I'll show you some clever tricks for that soon ;)

Next lesson will be on grounding

Pssssssst..... Look whats coming up next week...

Seeing Red at The Stampman

2012-01-13T23:46:00.001Z

Evening all! Finally made it online lol! I'm cutting it close aren't I! I've nodded off a couple of times as the bed is soooo warm and my lad has got in making it even more attractive to cuddle up and zone out. Had to stay awake as I was bidding on something on ebay and wanted to make sure I got it lol! I don't use fancy bid thingies I like the thrill of the chase :) Got one of the dance mats for the wii the other day but no game so I was looking at the game for it with an extra mat as Ethan loves playing with me so finally got it yay!

Anyhow over to my challenge for you at The Stampman this fortnight and I have set you a task of using RED, either a little or preferably a lot..

I had a little play around with techniques the other day and used sponges to put fired brick and black soot distress ink onto card then dipped an old toothbrush into bleach then flcked the bristles which is the piece I used at the back. I used parazone which is a tad harsh lol!

The embossed piece I swiped the inkpads direct to the card, they came out much darker then dried t with a heat gun and used the divine swirls cuttlebug folder and the image is from my new set of stamps which was part of my birthday treat off OH and thats Aspects of Design 60 - Classical Instruments. I've stamped and embossed with moonglow midnight ruby then using the blending tool added distress ink from the outside inwards and any bits I went over I bleached out. Its mounted on silver holographic card with some black organza ribbon and sticky gems to finish.

Hope you can come over to the challenge and show me some red!

Here's the backing one I showed other day, ink up your card then dip an old toothbrush in some bleach and pull the bristles back over the card. You may want to tap off excess bleach first or you get big blobs like this (or you may like that!) WATCH YOUR CLOTHES!

I'd also like to enter into the following challenges...

Crafty Catz - SOmething new (Stamps)
Gingersnap - Spicy supply challenge - Ribbon
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything goes

2012 Promarker Tutorials - Jeans

2012-01-12T23:36:00.000Z

Evening all! We're looking at Jeans tonight! If you missed the tutorial on RED HAIR then check it out here! When colouring images you just need to be able to identify light and shade then as you get more experienced you'll become bolder and more fluent. You'll still make mistakes, we ALL do but it a case of just understanding the foundations of how light moves. Look at objects, clothes, peoples hair, look how the light catches it, identify the direction of the light source and try to transfer this to your design. There are however different styles such as manga which had a much more pronounced shadow with light and dark points meeting in a straight severe line whereas in the kind of images we tend to favour its much more blended.

By the way did you notice there's going to be some NEW PROMARKER COLOURS? *Grabs card, sells kidney....* hehe cant wait!

Onto the jeans now. I'm again using IZZY by Di's Digi Downloads and again I've done 2 versions as as recomended the other night in my promarker tips post HERE have a play around and keep a note of specific colour combos you favour. Like red hair, jeans has such a huge range of shades so I favoured this particular combo.

PROMARKERS USED

1. POWDER BLUE
2. DENIM BLUE
3. COOL GREY 4

STEP 1 - Looking at Izzy's jeans, identify the highlight points, her left leg is in front of the right, there is a bump on the bottom of the jeans on the right leg, her bum, zip and around the pockets are all going to be a little more raised. Colour in with POWDER BLUE leaving some white coming up from the raised point on the right leg, the bumps on the back of the left leg and the front of the left leg, pockets and zip as shown.

STEP 2 - Same as the hair tutorial, add in your mid colour in this case DENIM BLUE and colour over most of your powder blue

STEP 3 - Add in your darkest colour, COOL GREY 4 - If you dont have greys you could use a darker shade of blue such as China Blue, make sure they're of a similar shade, e.g. denim is in the blue/greys

Add this in the shadow points so you'll see her top overhangs so that will be a shadow, inside of the pockets, down the stiching of the leg, inside the right leg and bottom of the turn ups.

STEP 4 - Go back to your POWDER BLUE and colour over all of the image leaving a small amount of white to blend in your colours.

STEP 5 - Repeat Step 2 and 3 going a little further into the lighter shade this time

STEP 6 - Blend over it with your POWDER BLUE covering over your white this time (Remember when you get to the bits you left white to just do 1 or 2 strokes over it. If you feel you put too much colour over you can give it a swipe with a blender pen to take some colour off.

INTERMEDIATE

Right guys and gals you happy with that? This one will show you how to add a little bit more depth and an extra fold. You'll start very similar to the previous image but be a bit braver leaving some white space. Using your POWDER BLUE, leave a lot more white this time and a little extra bit on the bottom of the right leg, more on the back of the jeans, more on the left leg extending up to the top and below the pockets.

STEP 2 - As before adding in your DENIM BLUE covering most of the POWDER BLUE

STEP 3 - Compare the pics of Step 3 from 1st tutorial and you'll see theres lots more lines of shadow, using your COOL GREY 4, go underneath those folds on the back of the leg, inbetween the 2 white patches on the right leg and add a bit more shape to the turn ups.

STEP 4 - As before use your POWDER BLUE to blend the colours and go over most of the white leaving part of the highest points untouched (back of jeans, front of left leg and the 2 on right leg)

STEP 5 - Add in more of your DENIM as before pushing in over the previous layer leaving some of the powder blue showing.

STEP 6 - Give a 2nd layer of your COOL GREY 4 but a little narrower than the 1st layer in some parts.

STEP 7 - Go over the lot with your POWDER BLUE leaving the whitest points until last then youre done!

Have fun and remember to play around with colours, make a note of ones you like or ones that didnt blend well together. This one below uses turquoise, marine and petrol (coloured in about 3 minutes lol!)

Headache

2012-01-11T23:22:00.000Z

Uuurgh had terrible head ache today, I think its a low pressure one as it started just before the rain. I'm just editting the photies for the jeans tutorial which will be posted tomorrow and we'll cover pale colours too as they can be difficult (unless you know how!) so toodlie pip for tonight and I'll post again tommoz...

Oooh little pic to share of a project for friday, this one is red and black distress inks then a toothbrush (an old one!) dipped in bleach and flicked, kinda reminds me of the milky way so will have to do a blue version! I'm playing around with techniques to do the postcard swap as we're getting our partners soon, ooh exciting!

Nighty Night!

Girls just wanna have fun

2012-01-10T23:36:00.001Z

Evening all! Theres a new challenge this week over at Passion for Promarkers chosen by Gro and it is to Be inspired by a song. For this I had a rummage through my images to see which one 'spoke' to me and this is the one that came out - she's SO Cyndi Lauper!
We have a fab prize up for grabs from Letraset too - one of their stamping kits!

The image is a rubber stamp by Hannah Lynn called Birthday Girl coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers with lots of added clear sakura stardust pen so its very sparkly.
I've used y new papermania papers, silver holographic card and blue paper from Bearly Mine with organza ribbon, a puffed heart charm and some sticky gems.

I'd lke to enter this into...

Crafty Emma - ANything goes
Card Crafters Circle - Make it colourful
Simply Create Too - More than 2 layers

2012 Promarker Tutorials - 1 - Red Hair

2012-01-09T22:27:00.001Z

Here we are with the first of the new batch of promarker tutorials by request! This one is going to look at red hair. There is a basics tutorial followed by a more intermediate one below it.
Please note that to get a clear picture for you the colours appear slightly different than they do in real life ie the red pen looks brown!

For the purpose of this tutorial I have chosen the image IZZY by Di's digi downloads which is $2 (approx £1.28) should you wish to get it yourself but you can practice on any image you like.
*I am not affiliated with Di's digi downloads nor on the design team, Izzy used with permission*

You should be able to get a larger view by clickng directly on the pic.

Red hair is like asking how long is a piece of string, there are so many shades and combinations! For this I've gone with a mid range red and will give you some extra combinations to try.

Promarkers used

1. GOLD
2. ORANGE
3. CRIMSON
4. HENNA (optional)

NOTE: Picture may display differently on your screen resolution, on mine it appears a bit browner than it actually is!

STEP 1 - Start with the GOLD pen and colour in as below. Notice how the hair rises up where I've left the whte bits and you can see this by the lines on many stamped images. This is your highlight point and something to practice looking out for.
Some people start with the darkest colour first but I don't do this for 2 reasons, firstly blending in a dark shade onto dry card takes work and is more likely to put too much ink down and bleed over the lines, this is something for when you feel you've got a better grasp of colouring techniques to switch to should you wish and secondly if you make a mistake its much harder to colour over dark colours. I use the lightest first so I can see my highlights and how the hair falls.

Leave quite large bits of white as you can always colour further into them later.

STEP 2 - Taking your ORANGE pen colour over most of the yellow leaving a small amount of the gold showing. Youl should now be able to identify the shadow areas much easier now, look at the parting, its a dip so will be a shadow, around the ends of the plait knots etc.

STEP 3 - Now you've identified the shadow areas colour in a smaller amount of the CRIMSON leaving part of the orange showing. Don't be neat with this and flick in the direction the hair is running so you dont have perfect straight lines.

STEP 4 - Take your GOLD again and colour over all of the hair going further again into the white you left leaving just a small bit showing. There's no specific way you should do this, I just scribble in the direction of the hair from the shadow bit towards the light bit.

STEP 5 - Repeat step 2 and use your ORANGE leaving the GOLD showing a bit again.

STEP 6 - Repeat Step 3 and use your CRIMSON again as before

STEP 7 - Lastly colour over the entire hair again with your GOLD leaving the white until the very last then just swipe over that once or twice. As an added option you can add a little bit of HENNA to the very darkest areas ie the parting and ends of plaits and give this literally a lick with the GOLD!

INTERMEDIATE

Now you're a dab hand at adding a lovely shine to hair you can play around a bit more and look at the various highlights and shadows there are. If you have a good look at the image you can see there are parts of the hair that are clearly behind others so will appear darker and some much higher so will be lighter highlights.

STEP 1 - Use your GOLD to colour in the areas that are going to be darker, this helps identify where your shadows will lie and are easier to hide if you make a mistake! Leave your highlights white at this point.

STEP 2 - Add your ORANGE over most of your gold as building up layers of colour help give depth to an image.

STEP 3 - You should be able to see clearly now where your darkest parts are going to be so colour these in CRIMSON.

STEP 4 - Go back to your GOLD and colour over most of the hair leaving just the very highest points white as your highlights.

STEP 5 - Add in more ORANGE covering most of your GOLD and leave the white bits again.

STEP 6 - Using your CRIMSON add this to your darkest points again leaving larger parts of the orange showing so here its is again in the parting, the fringe and along the edges of most of the strands.

STEP 7 - Blend in (colour over the entire hair) with the GOLD. Remember as the basic lesson leave the white tll the very end and just go over that briefly.

Again you can add just a touch of HENNA if you wish and give a brief flick over with the GOLD again. Here's the 2 sde by side, they both have a different look but the intermediate one you can see the layers of the hair a lot more.

So remember experiment and play!

Try different combinations and make a note of what you like or keep a book or ndex file with samples in to refer back to. Have a try with these combos below or make up your own! Simply replace 1 (gold) 2 (orange) 3 (crimson) 4 (Henna) with combos below

1. Gold, 2. Ginger, 3. Spice (light ginger)

1. Amber, 2. Orange, 3. Burnt Orange (very ginger!)

1. Amber, 2. Orange, 3. Burnt Orange, 4. Henna (very ginger again but more evenly toned)

1. Ginger, 2. Cardinal Red, 3. Walnut, 4. Henna (a deep red brown)

1. Baby pink, 2. Crimson, 3. Henna (A plum red)

Some Promarker tips

2012-01-08T22:47:00.001Z

Before we get started I had a think about what advice I could give you that would be useful lol! Here's some things I do recommend particularly if you're quite new to using the pens or want to become a bit more skilled along the way...

Tha main thing with promarkers of any colouring medium is to practice and experiment, I cant recommend this more, it really does help to play :)

Select an image that YOU personally like to practice on and print out (or stamp) several copies of it to play around with. Look for nice lines, do they have lines to help guide you so you can clearly identify highlights and areas that will be darker shadows?

If using a new image use colours you're familiar with for the first time, so if you always do brown hair and always use vanilla, tan and cinnamon (1, 2, 3) then colour your image in so you get a feel for it in familiar territory then swap to a new colour combo so if you'd like to try pink hair you'd swap your vanilla, tan and cinnamon for a light, medium and darker pink such as baby pink, rose pink and fuschia (1, 2, 3)

Experiment on your copies and make a note of the colour combos you've used and keep them, punch a hole in them and secure with a ring or stick them in a book, they will be invaluable to you! This is an example below trying various combos of red hair (do you know how many shades of red hair there are lol!)

Imagine you have to make a little girls birthday card and she has red hair like Annie, you can flick through quickly and find the right combo to match :)

One of the things I hear a lot is "I wish I could colour like you....." ".....but I dont have the patience!"
What makes me chuckle is often the people saying this are the ones who think nothing of spending 6 hours on pergamano, cross stitching or other time consuming crafts but wont put an hour into colouring an image lol!
PRACTICE yes really, is there a desparate need to make a completed card? SOme challenge blogs like Make it colourful also accept entries that are just coloured images and not completed projects because its all about just having a go and practicing.
Pick an image or two you are comfortable with and LIKE and just play. Make a note of favourite combos or happy accidents such as a pink and yellow make an absolutely gorgeous orange (handy for things like fairy wings)

Paper quality - it should be smooth and give a small amount of bleed. Hold the nib straight down on the surface gently for 10 seconds and see how much it spreads, if it soaks the ink like a piece of kitchen towel or leaves just the dot off the nib with zero bleed reject it. Its very much down to personal preference, I like stampin up whisper white or a better value xerox card personally and others like Rymans smooth which I cant stand so experiment and ask friends for a sample of what they use till you find your one.

Will be back tommoz with Promarker - Red Hair

Some Gorjuss Girls

2012-01-07T22:45:00.000Z

Evening all! I thought I'd show you a couple of images I coloured a couple of weeks back. Debbi left a comment on here about seeing them at High Legh craft shop so thought I'd show you :)
I've used this image a few times, I also like colouring her with coloursoft pencils too. Its the sitting gorjuss girl, now re-released in a set with cupcakes and stuff but this is the original sugar nellie one.
The image quality isnt great sorry as I just took a quick pic on my fone.

Going to scoot as I'm scribbling to sort out the tutorials for next week :)

End of the week news

2012-01-06T22:52:00.000Z

Good evening all! Its Friday hooray!!! I can have a bit of a lie in tomorrow, not much but better than getting up in the dark! Been a good week, have bought some new stash :D Got some birthday pennies so got the classical instruments stamp sheet from The Stampman as its the only one of the collection I dont have and Ive always oohed and ahhhed over the samples I've seen and want to catch up on some birthday cards as I was really lax last year so making more of an effort this year! BTW if you sent me a card recently I'll be mailling you personally in the next day or two.
I'm also waiting on some new Tildas, havent had any for ages so thought I'd go for them, waiting for Sir Stampalot to re-open after xmas so should come next week sometime.

Also got Queen Annes lace squares as I'm thinking alcohol inks :) Got the flowers at the back from a LCS (Caroles craft) loved the look of the spirals, they would be easy to make with wire, tape and glamour dust.

Onto my shout out for tutorials - Yes Sheila we can do Teddy Bo's lol! I have a few of them I havent used yet either *blush*

For jeans and grounding I'm going to use an image by Di's digi downloads called Izzy because she's cute. wears jeans, has a little dog, I can ground her and we'll cover red hair, I'd like to cover blonde through to black too over next couple of weeks. She's only $2 (approx £1.29) so if you did want her to practice on she's easily available and wont break the bank though you can use any image you like. We'll start these on Monday.

Well going to skidaddle, got to clean the fish tank again tomorrow uuurgh, if you ever think of getting a goldfish dont bother lol! We won one at a fair and got it friends and they've cost a fortune getting bigger tanks and they constantly need cleaning as they produce a lot of waste so the nitrogen levels get high quick and the filter sponges and carbons don't last long. Just had to move my 2 red capped orandas into their own tank in Staci's room as the original goldfish is nipping them and bullying them so they needed separating as orandas are very gentle. Staci wanted red and black gravel so their tank looks quite funky now! Next week will be a LED bubble curtain as it needs more lighting and the orandas love bubbles, see what I mean kerching!!

Oh before I go just interested if any of my followers are in the international mixed media postcard swap on Musings on realities? I think there's over 100 playing so this could be interesting! Dont panic you only make 10 lol but check it out!

Promarker Tutorials?

2012-01-05T10:00:00.006Z

Morning all! I had a quick look through my stats last night and note how popular my promarker tutorial posts still are particularly after xmas so what I was wondering is what would you like to see tutorials on? Would you like to see them on bears/fur, on adding depth, grounding, grass, more hair and skin ones?

Let me know here and we'll do that :)

Midway reminder Crafts & Me anything goes

2012-01-04T22:58:00.000Z

Evening all! Bet you thought I'd forgot my resolution hehe! Fear not I'm here lol! Not here for much longer mind as I've had some Ovaltine so I'll be hitting the sack soon enough.

Kids went back to school today, they were NOT impressed being woken up at 7.30 am after all the long lie ins we've had over christmas break. Ethan was particularly miffed saying But its still dark!!
After school I took them to the local dog shelter as we're considering getting a puppy but I wanted to see how they reacted around dogs first. Ethan took it in his stride, Mols was a tad scared particularly of a huge rottie, so was I lol! It just didnt seem to like people in general :/
No rush yet and we're still considering breeds, having some good suggestions on facebook, border terrier is my fav but I think Mols would love a spaniel with floppy ears.

Right-O onto my creation today and its a mid-way reminder for Crafts & Me Challenge which is running for 4 weeks and is an ANYTHING GOES. For this I wanted to make a "Sound & Light Thingy" :D

Its a windchime but also has hanging stars with AB coating that really sparkle in the light. I used the Crafts & Me digi MAY and coloured with promarkers and added versacolor ink in pale purple and a darker purple around the edge. I did play around with some flowers and whatnot but decided to leave it as is. The wires are secured on a strip of mounting board in the middle so its very secure although they do get tangled up and took me about 15 minutes to untangle them and hang it up lol! The hanger is made of AB coated crystals too.

I'd like to enter this into...

Anything goes challenge - blue+1 other
Partytime Tuesday - Anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything goes
Magical Mondays - Anything goes
Ooh la la - Anything but a card
Truly Madly Crafty - Anything goes
Flutterby Wednesday - Open

Thanks at Passion for Promarkers

2012-01-03T10:31:00.000Z

Morning all! We're kicking off the New Year challenges at Passion for Promarkers with the theme 'Thanks'

The prize on offer is from Letraset who are offering one of their stamping kits so get your thinking caps on! As always you will need to use promarkers, aquamarkers, flexmarkers or tria to be eligible.

For this I used an image by Teddy Bo coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers. The DP is by bearly mine designs. and I used a Martha stewart punch for the centre panel adding a length of holographic silver ribbon and a white organza bow.

I'd like to enter this into...

Teddy Bo challenges - Birthstone (December)
Incy Wincy - Anything goes
The Pink elephant - anything goes

Beaded earrings

2012-01-02T13:31:00.000Z

Afternoon all! Been having a bit of a tidy up today, cant wait to get the house back to normal on wednesday when kids go back to school and I can take the decs down. I'll miss the christmas tree although its a real one that can be planted. Must say I'm very pleased with it, I got a blue/green one from B&Q last year because it said low drop but it was anything but! If you brushed past it then it shed loads of needles on the floor, was a constant battle with it. It was my first time having a real tree and I found it really off putting but on a whim this year I bought one in ASDA for £15 and its hardly had any drop at all, stayed upright, not required much maintenance for water or drop so been really pleased with it.

Got a couple of pics to show you today of one of my other loves - beads! Been starting to make earrings as I've been having a bit of a self makeover with some new clothes and stuff, amazing what you can get off ebay and I can be dressed very very smartly for less than £3 lol! Thought I'd make some earrings to match so what you think? The silver ear hooks make my ears itch like crazy so I use gold :)

I got the black beads with flowers in from Pwllheli, the flowers look like they're floating. I'm wearing a lot of turquoise at the mo so these are to go with those outfits. Have to take the longs ones off if I'm driving as they catch on my coat.

These are absolutely gorgeous deep purple beads from Tiddly Beads on ebay, they're tanzanite fire polished and look delicious!

Well back to my housework, hope nobody visits today coz I'd be dead embarrassed lol! x

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T11:33:00.000Z

Morning all! Hope you all had a great new year! I went to bed with a headache and hadn't even touched a drop of alcohol lol! Had a nice NYE playing on the Wii with my lad, we were doing Just Dance and he was slaughtering me until I held the remote properly and got some points for my efforts! Should have got one of these ages ago as its really nice for the family to play each other instead of going off and doing individual things, the kids are playing cycling racing against each other at the moment :) We all registered on the wii fit yesterday and it thinks I'm fat and old haha! Need to lose a bit of weight me thinks, I'm not massive but a few pounds off wouldnt hurt.

Well this is my first post of the year with many more to come! I've chosen a lovely little image by Di's Digi Downloads called Fairy & Bear, I do like this character range, very sweet. I got some new papers the other day and chose a papermania stack which is pink so you'll be seeing lots of pink on here lol! The large flower is also papermana from a co-ordinating range which I cut in half and added a die cut of vellum swirl. I've coloured the image with promarkers and used a muted pink flexmarker to blend. The pink promarkers I used for the dress were rose pink and antique pink with chestnut, umber, tan and pastel yellow for the hair, ivory, blush, soft peach and coral for the face and cinnamon, buttercup and ivory for the bear.

Would like to enter into...

Fairy Fun Friday - Sparkly wings

Fussy & Fancy Friday - Happy Birthday

Glitter Geeks - Brand spanking new

Secret Crafter - Anything goes

The Stampman 3rd Annual Awards

2011-12-31T01:01:00.000Z

Good Evening!! Well in around 24 hours time we'll be seeing in the New Year so whatever you're doing enjoy! As for me I'll be sat in with OH watching it on the TV and popping outside to watch the fireworks. I've only been out 3 times for new year - 1990, 1991 and 2005! I really dislike the massive queues for the bar and pubs charging silly prices to get in, not my scene! I also strongly want to be with my kids on New Year too, I don't think my parents ever left us so its just something I've always done :)

Right-o onto my post which is The 3rd Annual Stampman Awards yay! Each year The Stampman ask you to proudly display your favourite creation from the past year. There is a £30 Stampman gift voucher up for grabs and 4 runner up prizes!
For this I'm showing my favourite Stampman project and my favourite overall of the year although you just show your own personal favourite.

This one is a Stampendous stamp called Crowscape which I was demonstrating at Port Sunny. I was trying various colour ways and inks and this one was a christmassy version using red and gree distress inks and embossed with moonglow.

As it was near Halloween I did a yellow/orange/red version which seemed to go down well as customers kept asking if they could have it so I made this one so many times lol! Its a lovely stamp which you can find here.

My favourite overall, gosh thats a toughy!! I think this one by Teddy Bo was a definate favourite, I sent it to an old friend called Lyn who's birthday is Christmas Eve. We may not speak all year *but* I always send her a card and it is always one of my best of the year ones. I mean imagine having your birthday on christmas eve or christmas day!! I met Lyn on one of the cardmaking forums years ago and as I said we may not be in touch all the time but I never forget :)

So please do pop over and join in and have a look back at your work this past year!

Done and Dusted

2011-12-30T01:17:00.002Z

Phew Christmas is all done and dusted and I've got a little time to chillax, hope you all had a great one!
It was my birthday a couple of days ago and i got spoilt! My dd bought me a wii and my arm is wrecking lol! Got over exuberant on the fencing game on sports resort! With fibro you have to be careful and know your limits so i think I've pushed it ooops!
Anyway gotta tell you my new years resolution is to blog every day during 2012 (unless for some reason i have no internet connection!) so it will be this n that, works in progress, kids, life through my weird viewpoint so you never know what I'll write ;)
So to get in practice here's latest pics from past few days...Well actually i can't work out how to post more than 1 pic from the blogger app for android so I'll try lol!
My nan aged 91 having her 1st ever skype with her sister Joan in Perth, Australia, she's not been over since 2006 (nan travels quite a bit!) so that was lovely for them :)
Miss Moo dressed as snow white ahhh and Ethan sparko with dads phone after angry birds session!
Toodlepip!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T01:34:00.000Z

The big day is finally here yayyyyyy!!!! This year is the first year both my little ones have been entirely aware what's going on and taking it all in with the lights and tinsel so they're so excited bless. I let them open a present this evening that 'silly santa had left at nannas by accident' and Mols gets so excited with everything, it was a floor jigsaw but she was totally over the moon ahhhhh!

Hope everyone has a lovely day and you get everything you wish for! I know I got one thing I really really wanted, a pair of trainers that are black and turquoise and they have a swirl on them that looks like the Hero Arts swirl stamp, I sooooo wanted them lol! Mind you knowing my OH he'll give them to me for my birthday and make me wait the 3 extra days lol!

Onto my recent makes, I've been sooooo busy making stuff lately including earrings that I've not had nuch time to blog nor photograph them all so these are the ones I have. My DD gave me a last minute order for card wallets so made 3 of them, well actually thats a bit unfair, she didnt give me a last minute order, I left it till last minute lol! Anyway have done them and they've gone off to new homes :)

This first one is an image by Hannah Lynn from Crafts & Me, I actually saw pics of Hannah drawing this in various stages so I was thrilled it was a digi. Its a Christmas stamp but can easily be used for easter and general birthdays/greetings too. Its so pretty so really enjoyed making this, have made a couple of the candle boxes using them but didn't photograph them as I think you guys would get boredz of seeing them lol!

I coloured with promarkers and the new letraset metallics, the background is moonshadow ink (yum!!) and I used a martha stewart punch around the page punch on it. The chipboard snowflake is from Home bargains :)

I'd like to enter this into...

2 sisters - Snowflakes
Secret Crafter - Anything goes
Sweet Stampin - Sparkle and Bling
Divas by design - christmas
Charisma - Anything goes
Crafty Purple Frog - Christmas
Crimbo Crackers - Snowflakes
Stamps r us - Angels
Whoopsie Daisy - Sparkle & Shine

Next up is one I made a couple of weeks ago for the Crafts and Me challenge but just didnt get time to blog and whatnot but I'll share it on here. The image is by Sara Burrier and is called Poinsettia. She actually is quite long with a flowing dress (Look at bottom pic) but I zoomed and cropped her.

This is the first of the image wallets I've made that open up and have flaps inside and I put the present onto a label which was a show and the date it is and popped that inside. The image is by Teddy Bo and is coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers.

I'd like to enter this into...

Raise the bar - Christmas
Joanna Sheen - Christmas Wishes
I love promarkers - Anything goes
My mums craft shop - Anything goes
Papercraft Star - Tags/Gift card holder
The Crazy Challenge - Christmas
One stitch at a time - Anything goes

Inside of the wallet

Another image wallet using a Teddy Bo image, the inside is similar to the one above. Snowflakes are from Home Bargains
Would like to enter this into...

Crafty Catz - Santa Hat
Addicted to stamps - Snowflakes

And finally the last wallet using the Poinsettia stamp again in a different colour scheme, I mugh prefer the wings on this version! I coloured them in pastels and glittered with glamour dust.

The 2 tags on the inside of this use the image again, the first one is Poinsettia in her full glory and the 2nd I did a mirror image of just the face area.

I'd like to enter this into....

Cardmadfairy challenge - Tags
Stampin for the weekend - Anything goes
Cooking it up with Katie - Anything goes
Crafting for all seasons - Christmas
Digistamps 4 joy - Christmas
Flutterby Wednesday - Open
Simon says stamp - BINGO (Gems, glitter, ribbon)
Sarah HUrley - Colouring
Truly Madly Crafty - Christmas images & Colours

Right I'm offski, long day tomorrow! BTW you'll be seeing a lot more of me in the new year as my resolution or challenge to self is to blog EVERY day! I have the blogger App so that will help but it may just be a couple of lines, bits about the kids, what I'm messing with or a big post like this, we'll have to wait and see!

Its a Celebration at Passion for Promarkers!

2011-12-21T20:49:00.000Z

Evening all! Here at last! Tried to get online last night but blogger wasn't playing ball so finally here!

Its a HUGE celebration over at Passion for Promarkers with a gazillon prizes to be won! For this I used an image by one of the sponsors - Saturated Canary coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers and the odd dot of white gel pen.

So now for the exciting bit – the prizes!

Letraset are offering 1 amazing prize of 3 new packs of promarkers (metallics set, contemporary xmas set, modern xmas set)

Whiff of Joy Stamps are generously offering 1 stamp from their sentiment collection

Pink Gem Designs are generously offering 4 digi images of winner’s choice

Joanna Sheen are generously offering 6 packs of promarker fine liner sets

DigiStamp Boutique are generously offering 6 digi images of winner's choice

Saturated Canary digis are generously offering 2 digis of winner’s choice

bugaboo stamps are generously offering 7 digis (which we are going to split into 2 prizes)

Tickled Pink stamps are generously offering 2 digis of winner’s choice (from Lil Lolita, Lil Lad and Lil Pinkette ranges)

Crafts & Me are generously offering 6 digis of winner's choice

So I hope you can join in with your celebration creation!

Letraset metallics winner

2011-12-19T21:19:00.001Z

Good evening all! Im trying out the new blogger app for my phone so hope this works ok! Might be able to write a bit more too if its good!

Miss Moo has drawn the winner of a pack of the new Letraset metallics as Lorraine so well done hunny - please contact me to claim your prize!

I've got Ethan hovering to nick my phone again to play angry birds so catch up tommoz :-)

Vix

Last minute panic cards? Thank You Stampman!

2011-12-13T21:06:00.001Z

OK so here I am breezing xmas coming so far, stress levels are normal and I'm feeling pretty confident. I don't make xmas cards anymore except the odd one or two or if they're for charities so here's me happily resting on my laurels then Miss Moo brings home a handful of christmas cards from nursery then I start to get that sinking feeling.... So I may not make xmas cards for me anymore but its not right that my kids don't send them should they wish so overcome with a sense of guilt and rising panic I set to work on making Miss Moo's christmas cards!

The design had to be fairly simple and something that would be repeated 26 times over. Considered a couple of images then realistically thought I'd still be here at new year if I were to colour knowing how fussy I am with colouring so I turned to an old friend - The Stampman. I have tons and tons of Stampman stock including 90% of my inks and embossing powders so I chose them and found some snowflake cling stamps and made some backgrounds by randomly stamping and embossing in sparkly jewelled gold, kalidoscope and moonglow embossing powders. I ummed and ahhed over the image, I didnt want to use my cuttlebug for 2 reasons - I have to cut 26 times and my c plate has snapped so is only 2/3rds size now so not going to push it! Another rummage and I found a 2" circle scallop punch which was perfect but finding an image that suited the size was proving tricky. I was just about giving up hope then the penny dropped that on ths month's Craft Stamper there is a circle xmas stamp designed by yep The Stampman free on the cover which fits PERFECT! There job done! Knocked out 26 of these in ONE EVENING!

So if you're also in a last minute panic looking for ideas here's my little cards (made mostly from scraps off my tealight boxes too!) Thank You Stampman!!

I'll give you a quick step by step below with materials list :) Not easy to get a good pic but they're VERY sparkly!

Girls cards were blue and silver

Boys cards were red and green

Card bases measure 3" square
Mounting layer 2 and 3/4" square
Embossed layer 2 1/2" square

Step 1 - Cut required strips of card 6" x 3" and fold in half. Edge with a metallic pen (I used Letraset metallic markers)

Step 2 - Take a sheet of A4 card and randomly stamp snowflakes using versamark then emboss. I used 3 sheets and chose a jewelled gold, kaleidoscope (holographic) and Moonglow Golden angel wings

Step 3 - trim some backing card to 2 and 3/4" square and mount this in a diamond shape on the front of the card. Trim your embossed sheets to 2 and 1/2" square and use distress ink around the edges. I used pine needles for the boys ones and broken china with stormy sky for the girls. Adhere to the front of your card.

Step 4 - Use a 2" scallop punch and punch however many you need out then stamp and emboss the reindeer design which is free on craft stamper this month. I used versamark and a jewelled gold and kaleidoscope embossng powder. Again edge with distress ink then mount with 3d foam pads on the front. Add a couple of gems to finish.

*I find it easier to stamp several out and emboss one after the other - Use a poky tool to keep them from blowing away!

Hope you've had a bit of inspiraton and if you're in a mad panic - Good Luck!!

I'd like to enter into...

Cheeful stamp pad - Xmas greeting as focal point
Bunny Zoes - Shaped cards
Crafty Boots - Xmas
Cupcake craft - sparkles shines
Heart song inspiratons - snowflakes
Hooked on crafts - xmas
House of Gilli - Red and gold
Make it monday - anything goes
Lexis - untraditional xmas
The pink elephant - sparkle and snowflakes
Papertake weekly - Im dreaming of a (blue) christmas

Afternoon :)

2011-12-12T14:30:00.000Z

Got a couple to share with you today :) Been extra busy with poorly kids, prepping for xmas and the lymm dickensian so I think I'm pretty much done so can do some blogging for a change!

First up is a card I made for Ruby Choobz using a Teddy Bo digi coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers. The gems are from The Stampman and come in strips which is really very handy if you want to use a lot! White flowers are papermania and embossed lilac DP I've had literally forever, I got it for subscribing to CM&P around 2004 and put it away for 'best' as you do!

Entering into...

Pile it on - Bling it up
Corrosive - Anything but christmas
Crafty Catz - Anything goes
Hotshot craft - Promarkers :)

This little cutie is by Mo Manning called Holly Fairy and is one of the candle box cards I've made again coloured with promarkers and I've added glitter around the edge. My tutorial on how to make these boxes is here

Entering into...

Paper sundaes - ANything christmas
Kenny K - Xmas hues of blue
2 sisters - Christmas
Challenge up your life - box or packaging
Make it colourful - Recolour an image - First attempt at this stamp here girls!

Another candle box card using a silhouette by Stitchy Bear Stamps. Cant see it very well but I coloured in the fireworks with a clear sakura stardust pen so its all sparkly, used distress ink around the image then stamped flowers along the edge in distress ink (flowers are from a sheet from The Stampman and I use them that much its stuck permanently to its own block!)

Entering into...

One stitch at a time - Use a digi

And finally another box card cutie by Di's digi downloads. Saw this image whilst perusing and someone had entered one on a linky so I went off for a nose as you do and bought some - I'm sure I'll be getting more! I coloured this one when I was sat in a kids play area and had a couple ooohing and ahhing over it :)

Entering into

Gingerloft - winter or xmas
Quirky crafts - snow
The squirrel and the fox -Christmas

Toodle pip for now, will be back tomorrow and wednesday woo hoo!

Embossing at Crafty Cardmakers

2011-12-05T14:29:00.000Z

Goodness me what a fortnight I've had! Both kids got a bad cold and were off school then OH and myself were both poorly with it then when I think we're on a clear run till christmas both kids got a tummy bug 48 hours apart so spent last week nursing poorly ick kids again! Had to laugh though as Miss Molly threw up all over her dad haha! He was horrified and couldnt get in the shower fast enough lol! Well to say I was tired out was an understatement so apologies if I'm way behind schedule as I've not had time or energy to go on PC.

Anyway I'm here now and got a quick christmas card to show you using my favourite starburst stains from The Stampman - These are ***ON OFFER*** at the moment so grab them whilst theyre at this price which is £12 a set so they're HALF PRICE wooo hoooo!!! The set I have used is Holiday Wreath and they are nice and dark perfect for christmas *but* you can also add some in a pot and add extra water to get a really beautiful pink and green for spring cards too, it really is a cracking set so don't miss out! You can win a set from The Stampman as that is the prize over at Crafty Cardmakers and you still have a whole week to enter - we'd just like to see some heat embossing!

For this challenge I used the Holiday Wreath starburst stains set which is our prize from The Stampman this fortnight. Its a gorgeous set and you can also make lovely spring pinks and greens with it too. I've stamped the NOEL stamp and embossed with Moonglow embossing powders (from a christmas set) over the holiday wreath starburst stains then mounted on white and more Starburst Stains with 3d pads so it really sticks out. The swirl in the corner is also embossed and I added sticky gems (That come in 4 sizes on one sheet - fab!)

Do hope you can join in the challenge and you still have a week to enter to win a fab set of Holiday Wreath Starburst Stains!

Letraset Metallic Markers Giveaway!

2011-11-22T11:00:00.001Z

Morning all! I have a lovely giveaway for you courtesy of Letraset and that is a pack of their brand new Metallic Markers!

The new Metallic Marker 6 sets from Letraset combine Silver and Gold with 4 brand new metallic colours; Violet, Blue, Green and Red-Gold.

Metallic Markers are water based and twin-tipped and are ideal for producing decorative artwork and lettering in a range of metallic colours.
They’re great for scrap booking, card making, illustration and design and can be used alongside ProMarker and AquaMarker for a wide variety of effects.
Featuring both a medium and fine nib, Metallic Markers enable you to easily create a variety of line widths. They can be blended with water, even when dried and their pigment based inks are acid free and lightfast for long-lasting results.

I had a good play around with these pens, they're great for adding accents over your regular promarkers, flexmarkers and aquamarkers, colouring in areas that you want metallic so at this time of year great for christmas designs and I also wanted to play a bit more so I made this card using another technique which is so easy peasy! Pop over to Letraset's Blog to see the tutorial :)

So what do you have to do to be in with a chance to win these? Pop over to Letraset's Blog and have a look at my project there and then leave me a comment here answering the following question...

I used 4 colours on this card, what were they?

For more chances to win visit, Letraset's Giveaway Here

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous CMS 064 Mini Ornates
Pens: Letraset Metallic Markers

Few more Xmas makes

2011-11-22T10:55:00.002Z

Morning all! Just popping on with some of the candle box cards I've been making for sale at Lymm Dickensian Day for Statham Little Foxes stall. Theres a tutorial here how to do them!
First one I used a gorgeous image by Stitchy Stamps called Lil Angel coloured with promarkers and the fine nibs.

And here's the inside of the box with christmassy scented candles! Papers are papermania and box coloured with starburst stains from The Stampman

This cute little guy is by Teddy Bo and is also a digi and called 'Scratchy Bo Baby Santa Hat (TEDDYBO_122)

And this little lady is Nora by The Greetings Farm and is lovely to colour. I've added little gems for her buttons and earrings.

I shall be back in a few mins with a great new Letraset giveaway so please do pop by!

I'd like to enter these into...

Lil Angel Box
One stitch at a time - Anything goes
Lollipop Crafts - Anything goes
Bah humbug - Gift bag or box
Fussy & Fancy - Anything but a card
Crafty Ribbons - Anything but a card
Emerald Faeries - Christmas green

Teddy Bo Box
Daisy Doodles creative challenge - Christmas
The Crafty Pad - Festive Cheer
Simply Create - Bears
Stempelsonnen challenge - Red/Green/Gold

The Greetings Farm Box

Kaboodle Doodles - Baby its cold outside
Pan Pastel UK - Frosty & Bright
Winter Wonderland - Cute
Crimbo Crackers - Make it Sparkle
Cupcake Craftroom- Sweet Christmas

Simples at Crafts & Me

2011-11-18T11:44:00.000Z

This week it was my turn to choose a theme at Crafts and Me and I've chosen Simples - That is with little or no embellishment. I dont go for Clean and Simple much, I like my papers and colours too much but you can do a CAS if you like so long as your card is pretty simple with few embellishments. For this I used one of the new digis called Autumn by Sara Burrier. She's coloured in with a variety of Letraset items - promarkers, flexmarkers, metallic markers and ultra fine nibs, I was just enjoying experimenting lol! I used distress ink around the edge and on the papers to distress it and simply added some metallic gems to finish. The sentiment I used the green metallic marker and coloured in the stamp. (I have some of these to give away shortly too!)

Hope you enjoy my simples challenge and join in!

I'd like to enter into...

By the Cute & Girly - Christmas Girls
Sparkles Christmas Challenge - Angels
Flutterby Wednesday - Open
Creative craft - minimalistic
Crafty Boots - Fantasy

Treat box/Tealight candle card tutorial

2011-11-09T20:48:00.000Z

Evening! I have a little tutorial for you today for a really easy make especially if you're looking to make a lot in a short time. With Christmas fast approaching these are a lovely little gift you can make plenty of in a short time. There are further ideas at the bottom to customise it for your taste but as I'm making a lot of these for charity I simplified it :)

You will need:

1 piece of card 9" by 4" (approx 228mm by 101mm)
1 piece of card 5 1/2" by 5 1/2" (Approx 140mm by 140mm)
1 piece decorated card just under 3" by 3" (approx 73mm by 73mm)
4 glue dots
Glue Stick
Papers to decorate

STEP 1 - Take your piece of 9"x4" card and score it at 4" and 5" on the inside then score your 5 1/2" x 5 1/2 card and score it on the back around each edge at 1/2" and 1 1/4"

STEP 2 - After you've scored your square card you will see little squares formed, trim these as shown (NB see pic for red cut line)

STEP 3 - Fold in your box as shown below and secure the flaps with a glue dot - I have tried numerous glues and they dont work very well so a simple glue dot will hold it nicely.
Trim the opening of the box by snipping the corners.

STEP 4 - Decorate as desired then on the bottom of the box use a glue stick along the flaps and glue this onto your card base. Take the small piece of decorated card (Slightly smaller than 3"x3") and glue the back, slide this into the bottom of the box and secure.

STEP 5 - Fill your box with goodies! I have used scented ikea candles which fit nicely.

And this is the front using part of the new ANGEL RAYS digi. Papers are from Bearly Mine and I used Moonshadow Ethereal Emerald for the box.

FURTHER IDEAS!

You can make your card base larger if you wish, simply readjust the measurements. I make them 4 x 4" as you can get 2 card bases out of 1 sheet of A4 at that size

Add a layer of acetate on the inside of the box if you wish to fill with items that might fall out

Don't cut a hole in the top and decorate the top of the box so that it has a nice surprise inside

I also use ready decorated card, here I've used one I made with moonshadow ink as the boxes are quite fiddly to decorate with patterned paper and if you use patterned paper on the top before die cutting make sure your glue is completely dry or it may tear or slip!

You can use plain card for the box and simply spray with GLIMMER MIST for some sparkles.

I use 3" x 3" images on the fronts, this is very easy to do with digi stamps and you dont have to use the entire stamp (also saves time if you've lots to do!)

If you have lots to make do them together in stages so cut all your bases then score them all as it saves looking back repeatedly for measurements if youve the memory of a goldfish like I have!

Hope you like this and if you have lots to make for an event for example then I highly recommend them. I think the Elizabeth Shaw mints fit as well (8)

**************************

I'd like to enter into...

Digital Tuesday - Anything goes

Top Tip Tuesday - Anything Goes Christmas

Craft your passion - ANything goes plus brown

Make it Monday - Anything goes

Dream Valley - Anything goes

I did it creations - Christmas/winter

Crafty Catz - Anything goes

Winter wonderland - sparkle

Let the music move you

2011-11-03T15:55:00.000Z

Rose has set a challenge this fortnight at Crafts & Me and she has chosen "Let the music move you" and would like to see song words, musical instruments, notes or simply be inspred by music. For this one I used one of the brand new digis by Hannah Lynn called Moonglow, now you KNOW I just had to have that one given my addiction to moonglow products!

This was inspired by a track you might remember called Blue Monday but not the Depeche Mode version, the version I like is a by a band with a rude name and is a synth rock version - Link to video here if you're interested lol!

I've coloured with promarkers and used distress ink and stains around the edge in stormy skies and dusty concord. The flourish is by sizzix

Would like to enter into....

Papercraft Star - Flourish
Papertake Weekly - Anything goes
Pretty little ribbon shop - anything goes

Ultra Fine Promarkers and Flexmarkers Winners!

2011-11-02T22:41:00.000Z

Evening all! I have a couple of winners tonight :-) Unfortunately the flexmarker prize wasn't claimed so I've redrawn it and the new winner picked by random.org is Number 20 which is Grenouille Greetings! Well Done Lesley, please email me your address and I'll pop them in post x

Onto the winner of the Ultra Fine nib promarkers which have been kindly provided by the lovely peeps at Letraset and yes indeed I did use the Nature set! I think I'm addicted to these lol!
The winner of a set of the nature ultra fine nibs picked by random.org is Number 1 - Clare Little Bear Pop us an email with your details on and I'll pass it onto Letraset x

Well Done Ladies and thank you all for entering!

A colour challenge at Crafty Cardmakers

2011-11-01T14:43:00.002Z

Afternoon all! We're having a colour challenge over at Crafty Cardmakers this fortnight and we'd like to see you use the combo PINK/BROWN/CREAM on your designs - Yummmmy! Theres a great prize from One Stop Card Crafts up for grabs so pop over and have a looksie at the team designs, a couple of gorgeous christmas ones there too!

For this I went with one of the ultra cute Teddy Bo digis, I'm loving these bears! This one is called Daisy Chain. I coloured it in one of the new promarker ultra fine sets, this one uses the Hair set which is Buttercup, Pastel Yellow, Ginger, Chestnut and Walnut. I also used it on the card below and wanted to see how the colours would look on a bear too so yes they work very well so are a good buy.
The dress and flowers I coloured with flexmarkers and promarkers.

Would like to enter into...

The Pink Elephant - Distressing
Corrosive Challenge - Flourish
Pan Pastel UK - Distress it
The Squirrel & The Fox - Hats or Flowers
Simon says Stamp - Anything goes

This one I played with the hair set again and I know you all lke the close ups so have put one on for you lol! Must admit the colours aren't one I would have put together but they work really really well and of course you can just use the buttercup and pastel yellow for a blonde, add in the ginger and a touch of chestnut for a more reddy tone or go for the brunette, lots of scope. I used all of the colours on the hair here to give her nice shiny toned locks. I again used flexmarkers and promarkers for the dress. Again wanted to keep it simples with lots of white though not quite CAS its nearly there (just cant resist adding things!) I simply scored the white card with my scoring blade and used a textured purple card (coredinatons) adding some silver bling and white flowers.

Image is Lady of Opal by Crafts and Me that I put into a square frame with rounded corners and cut out letting the hair flow outside the lines.

Would like to enter into...

Craft your passion - BINGO (Flowers, bling CYP Free)
Pollycraft - ANything goes
Paper Playtime - Anything Goes (Present)
Dream Valley - Anything goes
Kenny K - Glitter & Bling
Crafts 4 Eternity - Mystical Magical (2nd entry)
Hannah & Friends - Glitter

Thanks for stopping by!

More from new artist at Crafts & Me - Janna Prosvirina

2011-10-29T12:38:00.001+01:00

Wowzers I LOVE this new artist! The girls on the Crafts & Me team have been showing off some of the new stamps over at Crafts & Me challenges this week, do go have a look as they are jaw droppingly awesome!

I'm clearly in a green mood this week as I have been playing with the new Letraset ultra fine nibs again, got loads more to show I haven't finished yet too so keep a look out over the next few days! There is a chance to win a pack of the new ultra fine nibs which come in themed sets on the post below this!

Now those of you who know me will know I'm very critical of my own work, always striving to do better than the one before, spend time on the little details and there's not many I can say you know I'm really proud of that but this is one I can! I think the new nibs have certainly helped appeased my critical eye as I've put shadows in I normally wouldn't dare such as on the berries and around the end bit on the berry to make them really pop. I keep looking at this card everytime I walk past, I'm pretty chuffed how its turned out :D

Its a new stamp by Janna Prosvirina and will be released for sale in Crafts and Me this Sunday (10% discount for registered newsletter readers) and this beauty is called Belladona. I used promarkers, flexmarkers and the ultra fine promarker nibs for this using burgundy and maroon for the flowers and adding the shadow with a fine nib using cool grey 5. The dress is grass, emerald and pine with the Honeydew flexmarker to blend and coloured the white around the image. Thge leaves are coloured in the ultra fine nibs using marsh, olive and leaf greens.

Have kept it quite simples as its a large image and didnt need too much by way of embellishment :)
Hope you like her and check out the new range!

Would like to enter into....

Crafts for Eternity - Magical Mystical
Polkadoodles - Magical and Mystical
Charisma - Anything goes
Corrosive - Flying things
Stamps r us - Natures gifts

Thanks for stopping by!

Letraset Fineliners Giveaway!

2011-10-26T09:00:00.005+01:00

Good Morning all! I've got a little treat for you today courtesy of LETRASET woo hoo!! Letraset have brought out a new range of promarkers which is ideal if you're just starting out or still building your set and these are the ULTRA FINE EDITION PROMARKERS. They come in packs of 5 and contain 5 of your regular promarkers with 5 of the ultra fine nibs. These click on and off easily so you can switch between the regular nib and the ultra fine with ease. The ink runs through immediately so you dont have to sit and scribble to get the ink flow going. If you already have your full set of promarkers you can also buy the nibs separately.

So what is the treat? Well how would you like to get your mitts on your own pack of Ultra Fine Promarkers? Yes? Simply pop on over to Letraset's Blog HERE and come back here leaving a comment with which set I used! (Moderation is on!)

Wanna see them in action? Here I have 2 projects to show you using the set. The first one is a new stamp called Clematis by Janna Prosvirina and I've used the set on the leaves, wings and dress addng depth to the veins of the leaves and shadows. I added more detail I wouldn't normally tackle with a wider nib to give a lot of detail to the image. They are so easy to use and take just a little touch or flick here and there to create details. I did the fairy wings in green as I was imagining her tucking in and wrapping them around herself to disguise as her bodice is made of leaves :)

Details on the leaves, wings, flowers, hair and dress.

And another project using Leaf Angel Bea by Teddy Bo Stamps where I started by colouring over the leaves in one solid colour from the set then added details with the fine nib, just a quick line or two and dots of an orange to make it more autumny leaves. The bear was coloured in regular promarkers adding details with the fine nibs on the hat, shadows around the flowers and on the coat and bears face. I think they make such a huge difference, I wouldn't normally have attempted to add a shadow round those flowers but the new nibs make it easy!

Used the nibs on the leaves, stripes on the hat, shadows round the flowers and under the hat.

Hope you like them! Have more to share with you in the week using them, I'm hooked now lol!

Don't forget to pop over to Letraset to see what set I used and leave me a comment here with your answer - Good Luck x

Like a bus!

2011-10-24T01:42:00.003+01:00

I'm going to be like a bus the next few day or so I think! Got so many things I want to colour and make between the study, kids, housework de dah de dah.... Been doing so much studying and applying for jobs I havent done a formal job application since 2000 so I stared at it for quite some time before overcoming the fear and putting down on paper. Anyway I'm back this week with lots and lots to show you over the next few days!

Make sure you pop back on Wednesday as I've got another giveaway in conjunction with LETRASET to win a fabulous prize from one of their new ranges which I've had so much fun playing with these past few days!

Also before I move on just a huge thank you for entering my Fistful of Flexmarkers giveaway. The winner picked by random.org is 11 so that is you CINDY! Please email me your address and I'll pop these in the post for you :)

So what have I got for you tonight? Lots! Lots and lots but as Jimmy Cricket would say Come here theres more so dont forget to check back Wednesday for some more!

First up is one for THE STAMPMAN. I was demong for them at Port Sunny a couple of weeks back using this absolutely gorgeous stamp by Stampendous called Crowscape. I used a variety of colours of distress inks and had to remake the orange one 4 times as peeps kept asking for them lol!

This one uses a red and green distress ink which I swiped the pads down on a craft mat, sprayed with water then lifted the colour onto a card and stamped and embossed the image.

The theme this fortnight is NIGHT TIME so this fits really well. Time to get all the spooky stamps out! The Stampman also have a brand new website which is a lot smoother to use and plenty more products added with more being added daily so please do pop over and if you cant find something just ask :)

Would like to enter into

One stitch at a time - Emboss it
Stampin for the weekend - spooky

Next up is a Magnolia and I went a bit mad with the embellishments. Seems I'm in an all or nothing mood! I used a heart shaped doily thats dyed with distress ink (victorian velvet) Theres some ribbon lace (the lace is hiding across the blue DP at the bottom)

I'd like to enter into....

Bunny Zoes - Lace
Just Magnolia - Pink
Magnolia down under - Punches & Dies

And my first crimbly card of the year! This one uses same method I used with the crowscape card above and I used the Stampendous Key Note stamp.
I'd like to enter into..

Crafting when we can - Christmas
Little Claires - Christmas

And last but not least this is the gorgeous stamp by Lemon Shortbread called Daisy Chain Melody which reminds me of Miss Mookins so much! Mina has set the challenge over at Crafts and Me this fortnight and she'd like to see Blue, green and pink on your creations.

Thats all from me tonight, see you wednesday!

A Fistful of Flexmarkers Blog Candy

2011-10-23T00:49:00.000+01:00

Evening all! Wanted to share this with you tonight and thats a new Blog Candy on offer from me to win a

Fistful of Flexmarkers!

I ordered my new Flexmarkers from Letraset and I think whoever picked my order must have eaten a packet of randoms that day as I received some of what I ordered and what appeared to be a fistful of randoms! The lovely Paul at Letraset is of course sorting my missing ones out and the fistful of randoms are spare which Letraset have kindly said I can keep so I thought I'd offer them to you instead to share these awesome pens!

There are 7 colours here which are:

Lemon Chiffon

Light Fawn

Watermelon

Pale Blossom

Blue Grey 1

Celestaial Blue

Honeydew

If you want some further info on Flexmarkers, including a colour chart, check out their website HERE

So what do you have to do? Simply pop a link to your blog in the linky below (use any pic you like) and become a follower if you're not already. Linky will close on 23rd Oct and winner drawn soon after. Good Luck x

Relaunch at Crafty Cardmakers

2011-10-04T11:33:00.000+01:00

Morning all! Taking a quick break from revision and job applications to put me post up for the relaunch of Crafty Cardmakers! We have lots of new team members and a sad farewell to some favourite oldies who are going on to pastures new!

Our newest teamies are:

Beth

Carole

Doreen

Feebs

Jackie

Jennifer

Kim yes THE KIM REYGATE!

Sally

Susan

Susie

Please go check them out and give them a warm welcome!

For this challenge we are having an ANYTHING GOES which we all love to do! I was in an inky autumn mood having found my non stick sheet to play on so first I started with distress stains in wild honey and forest moss adding them to the sheet and spraying with a little bot of iridescent pink cosmic shimmer to mix them up a bit more then plonked a piece of card down, gave it a swoosh and lifted up and dried. I then stamped the harlequin stamp (hero arts) down the side and embossed with moonglow fiddlehead fern blue green and added black ink around the edges.
I stamped the ain image twice, once on a background made with distress inks in spiced marmalade, mustard seed and vintage photo then again on one made with the iridescent pink cosmic shimmer, cut the pink one out and placed it over the distress one. The image is by lost coast designs. Added a couple of flowers from wild orchid and punched leaves out of starburst stains gumbo gator olive and stamped Spirit sentiment (from ebay) All inks and powders are from The Stampman (who are currently building a new shop site)

Would like to enter into...

The Artistic Stamper - Autumn colours
Card & Scrap - Embossing/distressing
Bling it on - No patterned papers
Creatalicious - ANything goes
Crafty Catz - Things with wings
Totally papercrafts - Autumn

DT Call at Crafty Cardmakers

2011-09-23T22:50:00.000+01:00

Calling all crafters!! Crafty Cardmakers is having a DT call for new members to join their dynamic team! We have been established over 2 years and are aimed at newer crafters or those who just like to have a go at new styles and techniques. You can be any level of skill or experience to apply, there is a linky over on the site or you can email me direct if you're a bit shy!

Stripes at Crafts & Me

2011-09-21T23:11:00.003+01:00

Evening all, howz your day been? I've got one of the little uns off today with a cold which she's kindly shared with me, back to school woes! My eldest had some reverse out of their driveway into her 2 weeks ago and she's got the insurance cheque in full today - thats gotta be the quickest ever settlement in history surely lol! So at the weekend we're car shopping again. She's seen a car she likes, its yellow! Irrelevant to a teenage girl what make/model/engine size it is, its yellow!

Went to Padgate Crafters over the weekend and just did some colouring so coloured up this new digi by Crafts & Me called Miss Mirabelle which is of course by Hannah Lynn. Isn't she just gorgeous, I just love this one so will be experimenting with colour schemes.

The challenge this week over at Crafts & Me, with yours truly as your hostess, is Stripes. I can be quite chaotic so I like to bring a little order in somewhere :) The prize is a splendid choice of 6 digi stamps from Crafts & Me, how can you resist Miss Mirabelle! We also have a new facebook chat group where you can post your creations using the stamp range and we offer a prize here or there too - find it here!

Okies onto me card like! I coloured with promarkers using browns, tans, pink and grey with the odd touches of blue. The papers are by Bearly Mine (the stripy ones) and background one is DCWV (either once upon a time or olde worlde stack) I inked a paper doily for the corner with a brown brilliance ink and the charm is recycled from something of DD's from primark. The butterfly in the corner has been coloured with metallic gold ferro paint (from The Stampman) to keep in with the steampunk/metallic theme. Gold gems are from The Robins Nest. Had real fun making this one as I seemed to have left my mojo on holiday lol! Now next mission is how to pack it to post as its for somebodys birthday next week ssssh!

I'd like to enter into...

Passion for Promarkers (and Flexmarkers!) - Sketch
Flutterby Wednesday - Anything goes
Digital Tuesday - People Images
Pixie Dust - Recycle
CCEE Stampers - Pretty in Pink and a doily
Crafty Emma's - Embellish me more

Buttons N Bows N this N that!

2011-09-12T14:05:00.001+01:00

Aternoon all!! How was your weekend? I've had a busy week with Ethan's first week at proper school, well he only did 2 hours a day last week, he's doing 3 this week then next week he's in full time yippeeee! I miss him of course *ahem* lol! Little Miss Moo also goes to pre-school, shes been going 2 sessions a week privately since January but now we can get vouchers she's in a lot more! So next week you might actually see me a bit more (inbetween the studying/applying for jobs!)
Here's my handsome lad going into school - ahhhhh!

Over the weekend I went out with OH on the bikes, have not ridden wth him before as I only passed my CBT end of July then just did a couple of short trips, my bike, Stanley, needed a repair then it was holiday so this was our first chance really! We did 90 miles around Cheshire yesterday, had great fun! I do prefer the country lanes though as several cars were just completely ignorant, I'm not on a pushbike ya know! This is Stanley posing next to The Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank :)

And my card of course! I'm a bit late (as usual!) posting this, I'll get more organised once the routine is set next week!
The challenge until wednesday at Crafts & Me is Buttons & Bows. For this I used one of the newer digis called Porcini, isnt she so pretty! I think this one is a team favourite :) I've coloured with promarkers feather blending the pink and the yellow together and added sparkle on the wings with glamour dust. The ribbon has hearts on and I used teeny buttons

Would like to enter into...

Flutterby Wednesday - Anything goes
Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes
Digital Tuesday - Fairy wishes
Papertake weekly - Anything goes
Ribbon Carousel - Anything goes (ribbon)

Crafty Cardmakers & holiday at Rhosydd Bach

2011-09-10T15:32:00.002+01:00

Good Evening all! Now back from a great holiday on the Lleyn Peninsula in Wales. We decided on a last minute holiday as Molly had never had one except the odd camping weekend here and there and I was very lucky to get one as at place called Rhosydd Bach. I've never been the peninsula before so thought it would be a nice change of scenery and Rhosydd Bach is a few miles away from Pwllheli in the countryside. Me & OH are not the type to enjoy big caravan parks with the inbuilt entertainment and watching your neighbours have breakfast, in fact its something we both loathe and we looked at some farm sites but they were just that, farms so when I came across Rhosydd Bach which is a farm site with chickens and ducks *but* it is fully equipt for kids with its own playground, trampoline and toys and it was perfect for us as we wanted somewhere peaceful for us but also somewhere the kids wouldnt be ored stiff and we found just that, its also a short hop to get to anywhere around the peninsula where its based so we did a lot of exploring, went to 5 beaches, my favourite was Morfa Nefyn, the sea is sooooo blue, the kids seemed to enjoy Llanbedrog and Black Rock sands the most, Llanbedrog is a little bit more intimate and Black Rock Sands is perfect for a whole day at the beach as you can drive onto the beach so can go fully laden. Some piccies - I highly recommend this area and particularly Rhosydd Bach to stay, its stunning, not too touristy (unless you go into Pwllheli or Porthmadog at a weekend!)

Morfa Nefyn - On North side on Peninsula, clean and sandy with facilities (toilets/ice cream/cafe) close by

The kids mugged a lady for a ride in her boat, they're so cheeky! This was at Black Rock Sands near Porthmadog which gets very busy at weekends and only has one narrow road down to it and is home to loads of camp sites so I would imagine its rammed on saturdays! Has ice cream van and burger van on beach plus toilets nearby. Drive straight onto the beach (£4 a day parking)

We'd had the day at Llanbedrog beach which is a few miles down the peninsula from Pwllheli then decided to go for fish & chips - in Cricceth! Was intending to stay there for tea but Ethan fell over and Mols needed a wee so we came back!

Mols and Ethan saying hello to Matilda the Duck. She wags her tail when you say hello to her and she apparently steals the farm dogs' food by pecking them lol!

Beautiful sunset I saw from the decking on the caravan and indeed it was a gorgeous day the day after.

I'd bought a £1.99 kite and attempted to fly it that morning - unsuccessfully! One of the gentleman in the cottages who came past for a stroll must have been amused to see me at 9am in my PJ's trying repeatedly to launch this thing. Bit later on we went into Pwllheli and I bought a better version and met up with OH who'd been away on training and we finally got it into the air after restringing so this is Mols first flight of a kite!

We did so much that week, trains, fair, beaches, even found a play area when it was wet (Thats at the end of the prom in Cricceth in the cafe) Loads more to go back for which we will, definately the perfect spot for us :)

Anyway you'd like to see a card? Heres one I made for Crafty Cardmakers who's challenge this fortnight is "Summer Holiday Memories" so I've used a beach scene using the gorgeous Faye WHittaker stamp from Joanna Sheen. I've coloured it with my new FLEXMARKERS - Oh yeah I'm loving these! I used the antique white to blend and its given a really olde worlde look, love those pens!

I've used real shells I collected on holiday in South Africa in 2006 and some raffia ribbon I've had probably just as long!

Would like to enter into...

Crafty Boots - ANything goes
Kaboodle Doodles - Rik Rak, fabrc or lace
Paper Pretties - Primary colours
Squigglefly - Blue
Victorine Originals - Primary colours
Woodware USA - Anything goes
Aly's sunday challenge - Bows
Sentimental sundays - thinking of you

Have you met the new Letraset Flexmarkers yet?

2011-08-23T00:42:00.000+01:00

Well well well what do we have here? A brand new product from Letraset called Flexmarkers! They differ from the promarkers in that they have a brush nib so can give really and I mean really fine detail and great ease of use. They also contain the familiar chisel nib!

Paul from Letraset kindly gave the Passion for Promarkers team a sample pack each to try and boy were we blown away! I think the whole team not just wants but NEEDS them ALL!

In my sample pack I received these new colours;

Antique White
Light Fawn
Pale Blossom
Watermelon
Celestial Blue
Cadet Blue

(NB: This is not one of the packs, this is a sample pack using half of set 1 and 3)

If you didn't manage to get hold of the sets from the recent C&C show then these will be available in sets of 6 and 12 from September and come in 72 colours with 12 brand new exclusive colours and 51 colours not available in promarkers. I really REALLY want these!! If you do too then Letraset are also offering a giveaway of the full set woo hoo! Log into their facebook page and follow the instructions to take part. If you really can't wait then they will be available very soon!

So what have I created? Well I have just messed around just to try them out so ths is my first complete piece. I'm loving the antique white to blend as its less harsh than the blender pen so gives a really good tone. I used the celestial blue and cadet blue on the blouse with some french navy (promarker) and blended with the antique white. The jeans I used the celestal blue and antique white again and the watermelon on the tiny flowers. I've used the fawn as part of the hair to blend and add highlights, it also makes a nice skin tone too. Image is by Make it Crafty called Zoe celebrates - quite apt as she looks how I felt when trying out the new lush pens lol!
Can't wait to start collecting these, they really are A+++++

Would like to enter into...

Make it colourful - Ground your subject
Corrosive - girlie
Stampin Sisters in Christ - Try something new
Stamps R Us - Anything goes
Sketchy Colours - Shades of blue
Designed to delight - Anything goes
One stop craft - Bold & Bright
Craft us crazy - anything goes
Papercrafting Journey - anything goes

Popping back!

2011-08-20T00:36:00.001+01:00

Helloooooo! Been taking a break with the kids over summer, are yours driving you nuts yet lol! Mine aren't too bad, the first week was terrible as it was a change of routine Ethan didnt like but he's settled down now. I still get the "Am I going to mrs parry's class today" every single morning though! Have booked some holidays so will be going bank holiday week yay!
Also taken up face painting this week which keeps them amused for a while but I think they're getting a bit fed up of me wanting to practice haha! Normal service shall resume in September when I get a minute to myself hooray!

Heres a little one I made which also fits the theme for Crafts & Me this week which is Blues or Blues and Greens. Still playing around with the simple designs so this one is only one DP with a panel from a martha stewart around the page punch. Image is coloured with promarkers and the letrajet (*Letrajet is the airbrush to use with promarkers & aqua markers) with loads of gems around the edge. Also on the tail I used 3d gloss and a sprinkle of glamour dust. Image is Columbine which is a digi.

Whilst I'm here just to let you know that Crafts & Me now have a new group on Facebook where you can pop in and chat with members of the DT and other friends, upload your work, ask us if you get stuck on anything. You'll find us HERE!

Would like to enter my ickle card into...

Craft us Crazy - Anything goes
Scrapbook sisters - Blue
Bearly Mine - Bring on the bling
Paper Playtime - Anything goes

Shall be back soon as I have more!

Teachers Notebooks

2011-07-23T23:38:00.000+01:00

Evening all! What a busy week! My lad had graduated from nursery this week and is off to Big School in September, wow! I remember having him and working out what year he'd start school and 2011 seemed so far away then but its come in no time. He's well prepared for it and knows exactly whats what and is ready, several times a day I'm getting "Am I going to Mrs Parry's class today?" Its kinda like Are we there yet?? Only another 6 weeks to go lol!

For his leaving prezzies I made all the staff little notebooks and he made a card. Here they are below with some destructions! All were coloured with promarkers and have added lots of glitter and bling to them. Most of the papers are by Bearly Mine

Gina did a tutorial for these previously but heres a quick and easy one.

Use the notepads from asda and remove the front cover so the top lined sheet shows. Cut a piece of card 19cm x 13cm and score at 2", 2.25", 5.5", & 5.75". Decorate then glue the pad inside.
To decorate I just minus 4mm so for the front panel which is 2" by 13cm I cut that size and take of 4mm and thats it! The pieces are 13cm x 2" (2 of these), 13cm x 0.5" (4 of these) 13cm x 1.75" (2 of these) and 13cm x 3.25"

Image was a printable colouring page.

Image is by Wee Stamps

Image is by Victoria Case

Image is by Wee Stamps

Image is Forever Rose by Crafts & Me

And one for Claire his favourite teacher. Ethan thought this image by The Greetings Farm looked like her, does a bit too!

And Ethans lovely card which is 2 of Mo Mannings digis merged and I added the extra writing on the wall. These two remind me of Ethan and Molly so much lol! I cant believe I let him loose with my promarkers eeeek! Ahhh well he did great :D

Encaustic Fairies

2011-07-18T16:50:00.002+01:00

Theres a new challenge this fortnight over on The Spotlight Challenge and we're looking at Artist Trading Cards or ATC's for short.
For this I went a bit mad and made 14 of them lol! They're in 2 series, one using the larger set of 3 fairies from The Stampmans Aspects of Desgn 59 Starburst Fairies stamp set and the other series uses the smaller 3 fairies from the set.
The backgrounds are done with Encaustic wax using the iron and stylus tool on some.

Here's a couple of the set..

Number 8

Number 10

These are AVAILABLE TO TRADE, leave me a message or email me to arrange a swap, they are numbered below the card.

Would lke to enter into...

Take a word - Flight

ATC Challenges - Anything goes

In the Summertime...

2011-07-14T00:45:00.001+01:00

Evening All! Gosh we've got a mix bag of weather lately haven't we?! Woss goin' onnnnnn?? I never know whether to wear a jumper or a t-shirt and usually get it wrong and overheat or freeze lol!

I've been having one of those paper shuffling weeks this week, you know where there's so much you want to do but you cant decide what to do first then before you know it its bedtime?! I think its coz my desk was messy so I've sorted that out now and much happier :)

Got one to show you today and its for the new challenge I'm hosting over at Crafts & Me and the theme this week is Summertime. For this I went completely away from my usual style as I'm practicing with CAS cards lately only I usually do them with a digi background and flat so this was my brave step into WHITE SPACE eeeek! For someone like me who loves colour and papers and sparkly fings this was actually a difficult thing for me! I printed the image which is May by Sara Burrier central onto card with the sentiment and trimmed it down square leaving white space then coloured with promarkers and sakura stardust pens, adding glamour dust to the wings. I felt something was missing and I remembered seeing someone using multi coloured dots instead of a solid outline around the image - I *think* it was Chelsea I saw it first so I added that with promarkers and sakura stardust pens then added stickles around the edge dusted with more glamour dust then simply mounted it on plain orange and yellow card.

I think normal service shall resume shortly lol! I like it but its not really my style, I prefer them busier even if its plain and simple with a digi background I dont think I *do* white space!

Would also like to enter into...

One Stitch at a Time - Anything goes
Clear it Out - Wings
Papertake Weekly - Hot colours
Bunny Zoes - Fun in the sun
Crazy Challenge - Summer
Creative stamp friends - Summer
DDH - Summer
House of Gilli - Sparkle
Paper playtime - Summer
Stamping Scrapping Central - Simple
Dream Valley - Summer
Lollipop - Anything goes
2 sisters - Summer fun
Allsorts - Anything goes
Catch the bug - CAS
Crazy for challenges - Summer
One stop craft - summer
Totally gorjuss - Summertime
Gingerloft - Make it sparkle
Crafty Purple frog - Summer fun
Dutch Dare - Summer fun
Meljens - No more than 2 layers
Stamp Insanity - Anything goes

Originally I'd planned to use Poppy by Sara Burrier and left it out to start along with my box of promarkers which Molly has learnt how to open and decided she was going to do some colouring in whilst I wasn't looking! You know you can't get mad as she was so proud of herself and even put the pens back, even if they were upside down she put them back! Little monkey!

Windchime

2011-07-09T23:12:00.000+01:00

Evening all! Back from camping, kids had a great time and I caught up wth my old mucker Loopy over on Barry Island, lovely hot day wth nice sea breeze too, fabulous! Here's Miss Mookins with every kids favourite beach accessory!

Lovely warm water that day too :)

And yes Carol I made Boerewors lol!

I've got a windchime to share with you today :) Saw one over on Elana's blog and had to have a try! I got a long windchime off ebay with about 20 chimes on so I can make several out of it. I contructed it with tiger wire and beads running through the centre of the doiley (2 stuck back to back) The image I used is Petal Melody coloured with promarkers, added flowers to frame her and 5 chimes and punched some butterflies out of various sparkly card and stuck them onto the wires.

Hope you like and thanks for looking!

Would like to enter into...

Bearly Mine - Anything goes
Charisma - All about flowers
Stamps r us - There was a little girl
Gingerloft - beads
Bling it on - anything goes (flowers are glittered, beads are ab coated and some super bling swarovski)
Creative craft - blossoms

Happy Birthday at Crafts & Me

2011-06-30T23:41:00.002+01:00

Its a birthday theme over at Crafts & Me this week and turn of the dynamite digi team to host and for this I've used one of the brand new digis called Deevonne which of course is by Hannah Lynn and will be released on 1st July.

I was in a colourful mood making this as one of my orange lilies just flowered so I went with really bright colours of orange, yellow and pinks. I also found a freebie from Bearly mine which was the colours I had in mind and went with a stars and stripes theme.

Image is coloured with promarkers and derwent coloursoft pencil. I've also added a pic of her in progress further down so you can see how the end result turns out from the seemingly messy start!

I'd like to enter this into...

Ellephantastic - Sketch
Craft Room Challenge - Summer Birthdays
Crazy Challenge - Beautiful Women
Daisy Doodles -Stars & Stripes
Ooh la la - Summer flowers
Birthday Sundaes = Stars & Stripes
Crafty Pad - Bold & Bright
Dream Valley - Ribbon

In progress! I started with some blush and coral on the skin and my lightest yellow (buttercup) orange (amber) and pink (baby pink) I then blend the skin with ivory and repeat adding in more colours like soft peach and sandstone and add darker shades to the yellow, orange and pink and use the lightest to blend.

I'm off down to a bike rally for the weekend tommoz and OH has just gone down to pick my bike up then he'll be riding it back, going back down in car so he can pick his bike back up! He's bought me a Suzuki GSX750F his mate was selling so I just need to pass my test now lol! It'll give us time to do any work needed but here she is! They're known as The Teapot, you can see it lol! What shall I call her?

Spots & Stripes at Crafty Cardmakers

2011-06-27T20:23:00.000+01:00

Evening all! There is a fab new challenge this fortnight over at Crafty Cardmakers set by Donna who has chosen Spots & Stripes yay! There is a £10 prize from One Stop Card Crafts up for grabs too!

For this I used an image by SUREYA from her open colouring book on Deviant Art, this one is Keicea and coloured with promarkers using my normal skin tones (ivory, blush, coral, soft peach) hair was vanilla, cocoa and umber and dress I used buttercup, primrose, mustard, gold and amber I think with some caramel in the shadows to tone the amber down.
Papers are Bearly Mine digital and the sentiment I've had forever and I think was a freebie saved for best as you do lol!

Would lke to enter into...

Totally Papercrafts - Spots & Stripes
Rainbow lady - digi
I love promarkers - anything goes
Southern girls - anything goes
Deep ocean challenge - flowers
Inspirational card sketches - sketch
Cooking it up with Katie - Sketch, yellow, birthday

Thought I'd also show this one I made for one of Ethan's friends. Ethan chose the design and I coloured it! Was from one of the disney free colouring pages somewhere. I'm more used to colouring people so was a challenge for me! For the coloured bits on mater I used denim and china blue with tea, mint and soft green, that seemed to be the closest match. The rust-eze sign is back to front hey ho! I also added glaze to parts of it to make them stand out more :)

Bee Crafty - Birthdays for little ones

Alys Sunday challege - Kids

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

2011-06-24T00:11:00.001+01:00

HEHE Its the mean old challenge again called FLASHBACK FRIDAY! If you've not taken part its where you post up your first blogged card of a given theme. I think all us oldies should take part to encourage the newbies!

The theme this time is "Summer Colours"
Now I've already shown my first ones that would be summer colours for the stitching challenge (Here if you want a laugh again) so I shall go to next in line.

I'll show a few from FEBRUARY 2008 :)

This one is from 1st Feb HERE and probably my first round card and I made a matching keyring too - go me!

They aren't so bad for a flashback so I've dug around in February some more to bring you these corkers!

This one is from 23rd February 2008 and interestingly I just did this stamp yesterday so look on post below - I think I'm a bit better at colouring now ;)

BWHAHAHA!!

Come here there's more! My 1st Sugar Nellies!

And another Tilda - Oh dear!

All these are February 2008 - HERE if you want to see the write ups too coz theyre just as bad lol!

Also in that month I had my sexing scan with Molly Moo - She's 3 today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY PRINCESS POOKUM PIES XXX

Couple of challenges

2011-06-23T00:13:00.000+01:00

Helloooo! Got a couple to share today, been run off my feet the last week as both kids were sick and I've got well I dont know but my ears are ringing and I feel dizzy all the time so hopefully we'll all be right as rain soon as its the Mookins 3rd birthday on Friday so hoping for a nice weekend so she can play in the new house we got her. She absolutely loves houses so I'm sure it will be well loved!

Having problems with pics so finding a way round it so addng them via photobucket!

First up its a new challenge over at Bearly Mine and this fortnight the theme is "Summertime" For this I've been itching to use the bold print with the flowers on from the spring blossoms set coupled with the spots one from the spring mix set and the very summery gingham.
I've used an old Tilda stamp for this coloured with promarkers with glitter glue on the stars.

I'd like to enter into...

TOMIC - Summertime
ASFOS - Ribbons & Bows
Anything goes challenge - Here comes the summer
House of gilli - Ribbons & Bows
Ribbon carousel - colouring & ribbon
Emerald Faeries - Petals

Skin - Ivory, blush, coral, caramel, rose pink
Hair - Vanilla, cocoa, umber
Pinks - Pastel pink, antique rose, salmon
Turquoise - Pastel green, tea green, turquoise
Shadows - Cool grey 2 & 4
Punch - Martha stewart french scroll
Papers - Bearly Mine
Ribbon - ebay
Flowers - Papermania
Text - PC Printed

Also sharing this one which is for Crafty Cardmakers - The Spotlight Challenge and is or the theme "Sentimental"
For this I stamped and embossed a hero arts sentiment then cut out an oval shape (I dont have oval nesties so its a stencil) I've framed it with tapestry stamps, I do love those, took me a while to get them to look as nice as the samples in the shops mind but persevere lol! Kept this quite simple with some crystal sticky gems :)

Bling it on

2011-06-17T01:30:00.000+01:00

Evening all! Not been around much since Tuesday, too much stuff going on at the ranch with school meetings, meltdowns and the usual stuff!

Got one to show today for Crafts & Me Challenge this week which I chose as Bling it On, we want to see sparkles and bling bling. I'm trying out a new style at the mo which is basically flat cards with few embellishment, not quite CAS or PAS but the focus is on the image like this one here. I used a digi by Sara Burrier called Twilight Lily Fae, coloured with promarkers. I placed the jpg version onto the digital background scene by Bearly Mine then erased the white off the wings to make it transparent (Note! If you add a PNG version over the digi background your image will be transparent so use the jpg version which is white so you can colour it!)
I've added glitter and gems to the wing and headband and glitter glue all around the edge of the card then layered onto gold holographic paper then black magic coredinations (yellow core) Quite a simple make as I wanted to try out this style and I like how the digi background does all the work and ties in great with the image.

Would like to enter into...

Make it colourful - Blue (yay!)
Simon says stamp - distress/torn (Distressed coredinations)
Lexis - No sentiment
Bunny Zoes - Fairies
Top Tip Tuesday - Open challenge
Paper Pretties - One layer (Not sure if it qualifies as its matted?)

A forest friend

2011-06-10T16:45:00.000+01:00

Afternoon all! Been really busy this week so just catching a few minutes whilst I have superman and the tooth fairy running round the garden!
Have this one to show you today and its a new gorgeous digi by Sara Burrier called Forest Fairy from Crafts & Me and she's gorgeous! I've got some different effects to show you on this next week so keep an eye out :)

I coloured with promarkers and hand drew the background also with promarkers then stamped a couple of pine trees on the edges. Papers are from Bearly Mine (simply dots and summer stripes)

Well I'm off to watch superman 4 with the kids, my lad is obsessed lol!

Would like to enter into...

Flutterby Wednesday - Dots
Creative Belli - Branches
Digital Tuesday - Outdoors/in the garden
Make it colourful - Cast your shadows
Digistamps for Joy -Wings
Crafty Pad - Stripes
Creations by Gill M - Pink & Green plus flowers

On own before I added the background

Promarkers used:

Skin tones - Ivory, blush, caramel, coral

Hair - Vanilla, caramel, cocoa, umber

Dress - Meadow, grass, pine, holly, cool grey 5

Wings - Baby pink, buttercup, rose pink, sakura stardust (clear)

Blender pen

Anything Goes at Bearly Mine

2011-06-08T15:35:00.000+01:00

Afternoon all! Its your favourite challenge this week over at Bearly Mine and the theme is an Anything Goes!
For this I used an image by Wee Stamps called Wee Suzi and she's coloured with promarkers and sakura stardust pens. Papers are Simply Dots and Spring Blossoms by Bearly Mine Designs. As usual there are some fab prizes up for grabs - a $15 voucher from Whimsey Stamps, 2 digi sets from Bearly Mine and 4 rolls of ribbon from Fantastic Ribbons!

I'd like to enter into...

Craft Room Challenge - Anything Goes
Digital Tuesdays - In the garden/Outdoors
Papertake weekly - Anything goes
Craft your passion - Anything Goes
Card Cupids - More than 3 layers

Thanks for looking!

Punch it Out!

2011-06-01T23:57:00.000+01:00

My old mucker Sheilakins has chosen the theme of 'Punch it out' over at Crafts & Me this week! She's also leaving us for a little while but will be coming back yay!
For this I used a digi by Sara Burrier called Natalie and she's available at Crafts & Me here.

I kept this one very plain with no DP's and just used my martha punch on the edge and used a lot of tiny details to make up for the lack of dp's and fussy stuff! If you look closely there are the teeniest gems as an earring, these are nail art gems you can get in a set at poundland and they are absolutely tiny! There are gems on the mask, flowers and butterflies and a gem brad. The punched butterflies are 3 punches with a dark blue one at the bottom then 3d' with one punched from a DP with a tiny one on top so 3 layers.

The actual digi comes with a plain dress below the loops so I added in some pleats with promarkers and jazzed the loops up with a sparkly sakura stardust pen. Had a lot of fun colouring this one as I love doing skin tone and she's plenty of that! (Promarker list at foot of page)

The big ribbon flower is easy to make; Cut a circle of card, add glue dots then cut 8 strips of ribbon long enough to be folded over. Stick one end of the robbon down, make a loop then secure other end. Repeat to make a cross shape and add more glue dots then do the x shape to get all 8 strips on. Add something interesting to the centre and thats it! If you use a button as the centre you'll hit several challenges as buttons and bows comes up quite a lot ;)

Would like to enter into...

I love promarkers - Sparkly bling
Top Tip Tuesday - Ribbon
Sparkles forum - something metal (bead cap & brad)
Emerald Faeries - Lots of bling
Flutterby Wednesday - Open week

Promarkers used:

Skin - Ivory, blush, coral, peach, tan
Dress & Mask - French navy, pastel blue, sky blue, true blue, black
Hair - Ice grey 1, 4 & 5, cool grey 5, black
Leaves - Lush
Lips & flowers - baby pink, fuschia, mulberry

Another Emerald Faerie

2011-05-29T23:40:00.000+01:00

Evening! Quick post before I hit the sack! Been out today trying out mottie-bikes. Have decided to go for full bike licence funds allowing so was getting a feel of what's available. Have not had much interest mainly as I always thought they'd be way to big for me at just under 5ft 2 but all that changed a couple of weeks ago when I saw a suzuki which was really low I thought I could ride that! My OH has a Tiger and its enormous so thats all I've seen really so was an eye opener to find that there were bikes around I could fit on! Sat on a Kawasaki ER6F and they demonstrated what it would be lke lowered, seat changed and whatnot and to be honest it felt a bit heavy then I tried a kawasaki ninja (which I love!) but it was a little 250 and I felt very comfortable. Now we have the issue of whether to do the direct access or not as a 250 I wouldn't need to, I'd only need CBT and test and ride for 2 years which I'm happy with or go for the direct access course and ride anything. OH reckons I'll want something bigger/better very soon and doesnt think I'd want the 250 for very long so hmmm, would love to hear your thoughts if you ride. I really did like that ninja though....

Anyway I made this and wanted to share, have remebered to do my promarker list which is below. Its a digi and is Emerald Faerie gardens and its called Ally & Beeble which is here. I wanted to do a bold hot pink with green for this so chose some papers by Bearly Mine (always hand having digi papers as you never run out!) I made a lollipop flower out of Starburst Stains using Bougainvillea fuschia and Fern Green and also used on the die cut Tim swirl which is here (and very useful!)

Hope you like and thanks for looking :)

Would like to enter into....

Emerald Faeries - Anything goes (3rd entry)

Allsorts - Things with wings

Stamp Something - Use a sentiment

2 sisters - Anything goes

Creations by Gill M - Green & Pink & Flowers

Crafty Catz - Green & pink

Fun with shapes & more - Die cut & sparkle

A spoonful of sugar - Wings

Claudia & Co - Girls birthday

Stamps r us - use a digi

Scrappy Frogs - Birthdays

Promarkers used
Skin - Ivory, blush, sandstone, soft peach
Hair - Vanilla, cocoa, umber
Stalk & Shorts - Meadow, olive
Flower & Clothes - Baby pink, mulberry, fuschia, maroon
Ladybird - Red, burgundy, cool grey 2, 4 & 5
Blender

Evening all!

2011-05-26T23:03:00.001+01:00

Evening all! Been having a little play today so I'm showing these 2 makes. First one is the new stamps by The Stampman which fit perfectly into certain nestabilities, this one is from the scalloped framies sheet here that fits inside Petite Scalloped Circles Large nestabilities here. Its embossed with detail white embossing powder and I added a simple peel off sentiment and a couple of tiny punched butterflies and added some paper flowers to frame it. These stamps are really versatile and can be used in a complex design or a more clean and simple one for most occasions.

Would like to enter this into...

ABC Challenge - V for Violet
Creative craft challenges - restful colours
Anything goes challenge - Bingo (Ribbon, flowers, die cut)
I did it creations - anything goes

This one is another stamp from The Stampman and is from the Aspects of Design 01 Floral sheet which is featured in this months Craft Stamper. I coloured with promarkers and then added 3d gloss and a sprinkle of glamour dust. I'm playing with my doilys again lol! I coloured that with victorian velvet distress ink and also added some sparkle with glamour dust.

Would like to enter this into...

I love promarkers - Pearls
Creative Card Crew - anything goes
Crafting for all seasons - anything goes
Truly Scruptious - anything goes
Papertake weekly - Pastels
Woodware USA - Anything goes

Nearly the weekend so hope everyone has fun! Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate it x

Die cuts and Lace at Bearly Mine

2011-05-25T22:29:00.000+01:00

The challenge this fortnight over at Bearly Mine Challenges is Die cuts & Lace. There are fab prizes from Teddy Bo, Crafts & Me, Fred She Said and of course Bearly Mine up for grabs!

For this I used a digi image by Crafts and Me designed by Hannah Lynn called Aliah coloured with promarkers and I used my new martha punch around the page, my die cut bits are the image and the swirls which are classic scalloped rectangles large and Tim Holtz Bigz Elegant Flourishes. Little text stamp is here. Papers are from Bearly Mine and are from the spring blossoms and spring flights set. By the way they are having a design team call on so pop over if you're interested, Donna's papers are fantastic to work with and have lots of variety so you never tire of them :)

I'd like to enter this into...

2 Sisters - Use a digi
Crafty Emmas - Embellish it
Stamps r us - Use a digi
Crafty Catz - Anything goes
Sew many cards - flowers & lace

Passion for #Promarkers Mega Challenge

2011-05-24T15:49:00.002+01:00

Well its been 6 months and now time to hand back over to team 1 at Passion for Promarkers so this is my last week until the end of the year. Its also their 2nd Anniversary so to celebrate we are having the 2 teams posting and are creating 2's - 2 images, embellishments, flowers etc you get the gist! There are some awesome prizes up for grabs for this one - more to win so better the chance! Prizes are listed below...

** Letraset are offering 2 x stamping kits **

** Whiff of joy stamps are offering a Nora & Ben “forever friends” stamp **

** Some Odd Girl stamps are offering 3 digis of winner’s choice **

** Crafty Emma’s store is offering a £15.00 voucher for her online store **

** Bearly Mine Designs are offering 4 digis of winner’s choice **

** The Emerald Faerie Garden are offering 4 digi images of winner’s choice **

** Joanna Sheen are offering a £10.00 voucher to their online store **

** Pink Gem Designs are offering 2 digis of winner’s choice **

Wowzers hey! How fab are they?!

For this I used items from some of the sponsors - Promarkers of course by Letraset! I have also used a new digi by The Emerald Faerie Garden called Willy & Mia, I went for this as its 2 faeries and I did a reflection for another '2' along with 2 flowers and pearls. The paper I used is by Bearly Mine Designs from the designer extremes 3 cd.

Would like to enter into...

Make it colorful - Water scene
Totally Gorjuss - Water
One stop craft - Fairytales
Emerald Faeries - Anything goes

For those that asked how to do the reflection, basically if you're famliar with picture editting software like paint shop pro then do this adding new layers each time...

1. Make a copy and flip

2. Reduce the visibility of the flipped image to about 70% so it prints grey not black

3. New layer and add either a straight or draw a curved waterline

4. Print then colour same as main image using a lighter hand

5. Take blender pen and colour right over it to reduce colour

6. optional - colour over with a white coloursoft/prisma pencil

voila!

The Stampman and a Toddle Waddle

2011-05-24T13:27:00.000+01:00

Late again! I'm being plagued by headaches lately, not full blown ones, just the dull ones that refuse to budge and the PC makes them worse so not been on much. Perhaps I should have an eye test?
Anyway I should have posted this on Friday but my head has been sooooo sore my blogging mojo disappeared so sorry for the delay!

The challenge this fortnight at The Stampman is a really fun one and is a bingo card - you have a box of options and can choose any straight or diagonal line so there's lots of options to choose from! I went for the top straight line using Blue, embossing powder and stitches.
For this I used one of the new Scalloped Circle framie stamps by The Stampman. These fit perfectly into the corresponding nestability dies. Its stamped and embossed with moonglow midnight teal and coloured with my 2 favourite colours broken china and spun sugar distress stains. I added some punched butterflies and mounted on coredinations black magic card.

Do pop over this fortnight to The Stampman and have a go at this fab challenge!

I'd like to enter into...

Creative stamp friends - Favourite colours
Pennys - Anything goes
Flutterby wednesday - open
Craft us crazy - New and/or fav embellishment (new stamp, fav gems)

Kids did a sponsored toddle waddle on friday with a teddy bears picnic, the weather was looking dodgy but rain stayed off all morning yay! They really enjoyed it and got a medal at the end so I had Molly shouting "I'm a winner" all weekend lol!

Anything Goes with optional Kraft

2011-05-19T22:02:00.002+01:00

This week over at Crafts & Me Challenges it is an Anything Goes with an optional of using Kraft - thats that lovely browny coloured card!
For this I used a sneak peek of a new stamp coming soon to Crafts & Me and is Day Dreamer by Sara Burrier. I;ve coloured with promarkers and derwent coloursoft pencils and lookie lookie my first ever doily haha! You wont believe how excited I was to have doilys! Butterfly is new punch coloured with pink distress inks which I also coloured th doily with (spun sugar and worn lipstick) DP is by bearly mine and I used kraft card embossed with dvine swirls and punched with martha stewart punch french scroll.

Would like to enter into...

One stitch at a time - Anything goes
Scrappy frogs - anything goes
Flutterby Wednesday - open week
A spoonful of sugar - anything goes
Papertake - floral
Emerald faeries - anything goes

I have been asked to list the colours so I shall do my best to remember lol!

SKIN TONES - Ivory, Blush, Soft Peach, Sandstone

HAIR - Buttercup, Vanilla, Tan

Flower - Baby Pink, Carnation, Fuschia, (dark grey pencil)

DRESS - Vanilla, Caramel, Cocoa, (dark brown pencil)

WINGS - Baby Pink, Primrose, Pastel Yellow

STEM/LEAVES - Apple, Grass

Red, White & Blue plus a Charm at Passion for #Promarkers

2011-05-18T14:53:00.000+01:00

Over at Passion for Promarkers this week the theme is Red, White & Blue with a Charm with a prize of 6 images from Digistamp Boutique up for grabs. For this I used a stamp I won over at Lexi's by Whiff of Joy coloured with promarkers. To get the shine on the umbrella like that leave a white gap when you colour in then use the blender pen to smudge it over, add a bit more colour and repeat then add dark grey or a darker red and blue on the edges. I had a play with my new round the page punch (french scroll) and butterfly punch, umbrella charm from stash.

Would like to enter into...

Incy Wincy - Clean & Simple

Top Tip Tuesday - Card for a child

Card Cupids - No DP

Karens Doodles - Bold & Bright

Embossing at Crafty Cardmakers & Port Sunny

2011-05-18T10:58:00.001+01:00

Goooood Morning! I'm catching up again lol! Had a great time at Port Sunny on Saturday and caught up with lots of peeps, thanks for popping over and saying hello :) As usual I was a menace with my camera so here's some snaps from the day!

Mrs Stampman hiding behind some filigree shapes!

Mr Stampman himself who hates having his pic taken!

Was delighted to find this pair of lovely ladies demoing at Port Sunny - Jo Capper-Sandon and Joanne Wardle who I've known online for many many years so first time in the flesh :)

Jozarty hard at work

Some of the Katys Corner Crew

Cath and Chris (Katy's Corner Crew)

Some of Padgate Crafters Group

Some stash from The Stampman! Can't wait to get stuck into the Princess Carriage at the back there and I thought I'd give the Ferro paints a whirl as Sarah Anderson uses them and I've always been a bit nervous! And I got some luvvy distress stains I've been playing with all week

Looking forward to the October show!

And here's my creation for this fortnights challenge over at Crafty Cardmakers the theme being Embossing. I found a really old huge jigsaw piece and triple embossed with moonglow embossing powders using the hero arts fabulous flourish stamp (all from The Stampman) I just bought the butterfly punch at port sunny which was half the price of the MS one and I bought from Here at the show, not sure where it is on the site to link to it but just ask them, I also got the MS French Scroll punch around the page from there. I panted the butterflies with gold ferro paint and added a pearl to the centres.

Not sure about the card as its a bit different for me, maybe a bit plain BUT I had a whale of a time making all the bits so I'm happy enough :D

I'd like to enter into...

Creative Inspirations Paint - Butterflies

Dream Valley - Old & New (Old Jigsaw/New Punches)

Jac-Inks Papercraft Challenge - Heat Embossing

A couple of weddings

2011-05-14T00:22:00.003+01:00

Yay we're finally back on blogger - gosh how traumatising was that lol! Doing a quicksh post before beddy byes, I'm off to Port Sunny in the morning doing some demos for The Stampman. I'm demoing "Winging It" so if you haven't seen winging it demoed before please do pop along hehe!

Got a couple of cards to show today, the first one is a brand spanky new rubbah from Crafts & Me and is Melody Bride, or similar, I actually don't know as she's that hot off the press but she's by one of my fav designers Lemon Shortbread aka Vera. You'll find Vera's stamps here at Crafts & Me and she will be available soon!
I've used papers by Bearly Mine, added ribbon, lace, pearls and flowers and on the image which is coloured with promarkers I used some flowersoft (sweet pea) and scribbled some clear sakura stardust on and quickly spread out to avoid streaks and the dress is super sparkly, I think you can see it better in 2nd pic :) The flowers are also glittered with stickles.

Hope you like her, I've been after a bridal stamp I like for ages and she will do nicely! I'd like to enter into...

Top Tip Tuesday - Flower frenzy

Dream Valley - Flowers

Sketchy Colours - Pink, blue & green

Clear it Out - Ribbons/Trim

Bunny Zoes - Lace

Everybody Art - Flowers

Woodware USA - Weddings

Crafty Creations - Anything goes

Creative Card Crew - May flowers

Crazy 4 challenges - Lots of flowers

Crazy Challenge - Anything Goes

Simon says Stamp - Anything goes

Divas by Design - Anything goes

Papertake - Punches or die cuts (Has both)

Use it tuesdays - bling

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

Oooh dear Amy over at Flashback Friday is wanting to see the first wedding cards we blogged *gulp* I thought I'd post it along with the new Melody above to show I've got a bit better haha! These were both blogged on same post here and are from 25th Sept 2008. First one is a Magnolia couple which I actually quite liked but nobody else seemed to like that stamp much, coloured with versamagic (watercoloured) Second one I think is Anitas and I've probably still got it.

Come on join in, yours cant be any worse!

Baaaaad week & a couple of cards

2011-05-11T23:51:00.000+01:00

Been having a helluva week! Started with DD2 being a complete nightmare at weekend culminating in her throwing up so that kinda explained the vile mood she'd been in! Then I have DS having a complete meltdown, he's not had one that bad for quite a while since I banned aspartame in his diet but he was TERRIBLE, hitting and kicking me, attacking Molly who screams the place down if he comes withn 2 foot of her then that also culminated in him being sick several times and off school today. Wednesday morning is my only time I don't have either of them and I had so much planned for today too aaargh! He's better now so back to school he goes!

I've also had a long awaited psychiatrist appointment, I don't normally talk about personal stuff like that as you know but I think people going through it would fnd it helpful. Basically I saw a clinical psychologist for about 6 years a while ago who diagnosed me with Aspergers which at the time I refused to accept. However the past couple of years it got to the point where it couldn't really be ignored so I looked into it and I could really relate to adults wth AS, I don't really relate to 'normal' people (unless theyre crafters as thats my special interest) Anyway turns out that the clinical psychologist hardly made any notes in 6 years and as far as the current professionals are concerned his word means diddly squat so I asked for reassessment to either confirm or dispute the diagnosis.

Saw another psychologist in January who felt I was too complex for her so she referred me onto a psychiatrist knowing full well I wanted the AS assessed. Finally after waiting since January I saw her this week and it started so bad they sent me to the wrong clinic then called me by my married nae from yeeeeeears ago then the Dr just mumbled and you have to go through the whole thing again and again and again which winds me up no end.

Anyway for those of you familiar with Aspergers she claimed that I "Couldn't be AS as people with AS dont get married or have babies" LMAO!!!
Everyone I know with AS is MARRIED, many of them have children and its also hereditory (Look at my Dad and tell me he's not!) so if AS people dont reproduce then surely it would have died out yes?
I challenged her on that one then she admitted she knew little about AS so NOW I'm being referred to a specialist which I asked for IN THE FIRST PLACE!!
She also said yes I have AS traits but she didn't see the point in a diagnosis as there are no services anyway!! Unbelieveable!
A lad I know local said he had to travel to sheffield to get his diagnosis as local would not give him a label so ain't looking good. The other thing is if they DO officially label then they have to provide service to meet my needs and although I've muddled through life, someone younger may have a greater level of need therefore they need resources and services - money. There's the answer, money!

So anyway if you're looking to get a diagnosis anytime soon don't hold your breath :/ As for me I'm a bit eccentric, I may not speak to you but that is not because I'm shy or rude its because I don't have a clue how to start a conversation and if by some miracle I do I won't be able to hold it so I don't bother. Ask me questions and I will answer, talk about crafting and I'll chew your ear off, step outside that zone and theres only a rare few I do speak to on other subjects. This is in real life, on tinternet I'm fine as I have time to think of responses. Sometimes I may not respond as a long mail takes me ages to read, re-read and understand then think of appropriate response. Its funny that actually in a work environment I wear a mask, a different persona, I do the job (and very well) then go home, you wont find me at after work functions, I attended the occasional large christmas party but just hookng up outside work was a no no, probably thought I was a right anti-social git lol!

Right had me mini-rant! I just hate it when I get pushed from pillar to post and end up at the first pillar I asked for!

Sharing a couple with you I made this week before I sign off. This first one is for the new challenge at Bearly Mine Designs who have a vintage easel theme. I used a stamp called Ophelia by The Stampsmith available from Crafts & Me here. I stamped with one of the adirondack multicolour inkpads then stipled some lavender distress inks. I've used Bearly Mine's Vintage papers here I also punched the butterflies out of the vintage papers and added distress stickles as the body bit.
Would like to enter into..

Sketch N Stash - Challenge 61

This one is for Passion for Promarkers theme of Teenagers this week, I thought I'd go along the manga line as I know teens love them. Image is another one by the talented *Sureya over on Deviant Art and she's called Emerald. She's coloured in a variety of greens with a yellow halo and added bling bling :)

Would like to enter her into..

Critter Sketch - Green and Yellow

A Stampbord Box

2011-05-11T23:22:00.000+01:00

Cazro has chosen INCHIES for the theme this fortnight at The Spotlight Challenge. I absolutely love inchies particularly using a few at a time but I would also like to have a try of individual ones too sometime :)

As I'm really short on time and energy I did have a play with a few different types but time ticking on I thought I'd show this one which I did make a while ago but not published. Have had kids being a tad unwell and my mind has been god knows where this week lol!

So anyway hope you like the little tutorial and please do have a go, you just need to use 3 or more inchies on your design :)

STAMPBORD BOX

Materials list:

Wooden Box
Stamp - Stamp Oasis "Starry Eyed" from The Stampman
Moonshadow Ink - Tawny Turquoise
Promarkers - Sky blue, French Navy, Orchid, purple, leaf green, blush
Stampbord 1" pieces
Glitter gel pens
Scratching tool
Step 1 - Lay your pieces of stampbord face down and sellotape them firmly together on the back. Stamp your image onto the front (It helps to have a solid surface to stamp on)

Step 2 - Colour your image in with promarkers. As the surface is a smooth clay the promarkers don't dry instantly so I have used the chisel nib to add some blue to the edge then used my finger to streak it across to make the sky effect. Use the sparkly gel pens to add accents.

Step 3 - Use a scratching or poky tool to gently scratch highlights onto the image as seen on the finished piece below. Dye your wooden box with the moonshadow ink giving it a couple of coats and drying with a heatgun or hairdryer. Adhere your stampbord tiles to the lid.

(Optional extras - Stamp a swirly pattern using gold acrylic paint on the stamp and press the box down onto it (I used Hero Arts Fabulous Flourish and a Gold dabber). You can glaze your tiles using a clear dimensional glaze or for quickness use a clear ink pad and clear embossing powder. Use the chisel end of a black or gold promarker or gold acrylic paint to edge around the tiles)