Tuesday 30 July 2013

Passion for Promarkers - Summertime Blues

Good morning, my lovelies!  My, where are these weeks going to?  It's time for another Challenge over at Passion for Promarkers and this week, I am playing host, setting the theme 'Summertime Blues' - so I would like to see your creations with Blue and one other colour (not including skin and hair)  Our sponsors this week are the fabulous Whiff of Joy who are offering a prize of 1 stamp of choice to the lucky winner!  


Don’t forget you must use your Letraset products (i.e. promarkers, flex markers, aqua markers, tria markers, metallic markers or neon markers) and of course follow the theme.

...I decided to go with the colour theme Blue & Green as I haven't used this colour combo for ages - probably because my First Edition Up, Up and Away paper pad is almost finished, I just had a couple of pages left to use on this card and I teamed it with greens from Love Letters and Boho Chic...

...I love this card shape as you can use a larger image than normal, which allowed me to do a bit of paper piecing on this sweet Pink Gem Designs image, Chloe in the Rain...
...I coloured Chloe with my Pro/Flexmarkers and paper pieced her coat using the green flower paper from Love Letters and her umbrella with the blue cloud paper from Up, Up & Away.  I added some shading to the patterned pieces to give them more depth and here's the colours I used :
Skin : Blush, Dusky, Sunkissed Pink, Coral
Hair : Sandstone, Caramel, Cocoa, Henna, Umber
Coat and bow : Meadow, Birght, Forest Greens
Umbrella and collar and cuff : Glacier, Dolphin, Cloud Blue
Boots : Glacier, Dolhpin, Cloud, Cobalt Blues, Sapphire
Handle : Cool Grey 3 & 4
...I freehand drew and cut out some small cloud shapes and added a spotted satin ribbon and bow.  Then finished the inside with a panel to write on, with the black and white line image in the bottom right corner.
...The sentiment was cut with a SB circle die and matted onto a Marianne sunburst circle die from my doily die set.
I'm hoping by now that the only Summertime Blues we will be having is that of beautiful, blue skies and not of rain!?!  I'd love it if you could join in with my challenge theme this week and look forward to visiting you all and seeing your fabulous creations!  Don't forget to hop on over to the Passion for Promarkers blog to see what my wonderful teamies have been up to aswell!  Thanks for dropping by, crafty hugs,
Lisa x

Tuesday 16 July 2013

Passion for Promarkers - Create a Scene

Good morning, dear Blogger friends and welcome to another fabulous Challenge for Passion for Promarkers!  Our theme this week has been set by the lovely Lou and she would like us to 'Create a Scene', i.e. cloud background, etc.  For this challenge, we are sponsored by the wonderful Digi Stamp Boutique who are offering one lucky winner the chance to choose 6 digi images from their shop (thanks, Sally-Ann!), such a great prize!
Don’t forget you must use your Letraset products (i.e. promarkers, flex markers, aqua markers, tria markers, metallic markers or neon markers) and of course follow the theme.
...So, without further ado, here's what I made...
...I kept the card quite CAS, making a feature of the image and background scene.  I am enjoying playing around with my images at the moment, so this one is Saturated Canary's Jules, but with a bit missing!
...I coloured Jules with my Pro/Flexmarkers, but left out some of the image, then cut around to get this...
Here's the colours I used for all you Letraset fans :
Skin : Blush, Dusky, Sunkissed Pink
Hair : Ivory, Vanilla, Mustard, Gold, Sandstone, Caramel
Dress : Red, Crimson, Berry, Burgundy
Tights : Soft Aqua, Duck Egg, Surf Blue
Shoes : Satin, Tan, Cinnamon
Cat : Blue Grey 1, Cool Grey 3, Pastel Pink, Cocktail Pink
...I created the sky background using Glacier Blue, Dolphin Blue and Cloud Blue and added grass near the base using a selection of greens (I just kept adding strokes until I was happy with it).  I created the fence using my SB Parisian Accents border die, some thin strips of white card and the border waste.  Finally, I embellished with a touch of glitter, some small punched flowers and a satin bow for her hair.
I haven't had a go at background scenes very much, so I was quite pleased with how this turned out and am starting to gain a bit more confidence to have a go - I think creating the scene separately and adding a cut out image makes it easier to have a go as you won't ruin your coloured image if you bodge it up! (As I did the first time around!)  So go on, get your pens out and have a play around at making background scenes, you might just surprise yourself and don't forget to link it up to play along with our fab challenge this week!  Remember to hop over to the Passion for Promarkers blog to see what my wonderful teamies have been up to and grab some inspiration!
Thanks for looking and enjoy your week!  Hugs,
Lisa x

Friday 12 July 2013

Spring Swing easel...

Good morning, dear Bloggers!  Well, it's another day of sunshine and it looks like the summer weather is set to stay over the weekend too!  The children are spending most of their time in the little river in our village, splashing around and trying to catch fish and the BBQ has been lit more times in the last fortnight than it ever has been!  School breaks up at the end of next week and I'm just hoping that the weather doesn't turn sour on us and confine us to indoors!
I've been lucky enough to get a couple of top 3s with some of my projects recently and thought I would share them with you - I got a Top 3 with Natalie and Amy for their Fantasy  Challenge...
...Top 3 with Crafting When We Can Challenge #47 with my Wee Florist card...
...and a Daily Talent Spot over at Joanna Sheen with my Time is Precious wall hanging!

Anyhow, today, I have a card to share with you using another one of my digi choices from my win at The Paper Shelter a couple of weeks ago...
...this is Spring Swing - I decided to make an easel card and use some of the pretty First Edition Dreamcatcher paper pad...
...I coloured this little sweetie with my Promarkers and here's the colours I used for all you Letraset fans :
Skin : Blush, Dusky, Sunkissed Pink
Hair : Sandstone, Caramel, Cocoa, Walnut, Umber
Dress : Soft Mauve, Lavender, Orchid, Amethyst, Purple
Sash and Bow : Muted Pink, Rose Peach, Watermelon, Antique Pink
Bird : Glacier, Cloud, Dolphin Blues
Swing : Vanilla, Sunflower, Soft Khaki, Khaki
Flowers : Cerise, Vermillion, Meadow, Birght Green
Shoes : Dove Grey, Cool Grey 1, Cool Grey 4
...The theme over at The Paper Shelter this week is 'Swirly Girly', so I added a couple of glittered Marianne swirl die cuts and some punched flowers with pearl centres.  I decided to add the sentiment on little tabs to create some more interest on the card and finished (of course) with some little pearls...
...Lastly, I added a panel for a hand written sentiment - all of my coloured layers are white cardstock with the edges coloured with Promarkers, so that I don't have to keep bringing in too much stuff from the shed!  The structural engineer came on Wednesday to see about knocking through the pantry, but there's still no news as to when work is supposed to start and with Summer holidays around the corner, I hope we find out soon!  Thanks for dropping by to see me and I hope to be able to keep cardmaking, if only occasionally, until the work starts!  Enjoy your weekend, whatever you're doing...crafty hugs,

Lisa x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges :
Swirly Girly
No Spoolin'
Lots of Layers
Make your own flowers/embellishments

Wednesday 3 July 2013

Christmas in July!...

Good morning, dear Bloggers!  I don't normally 'do' Christmas this early, but having thought that the house would now be in turmoil and that all I would be able to do is colour, I printed off a load of digi stamps ready and this little cutie was one of them!
..This is Mo Manning's Kai in the Snow and I thought he would be just perfect for a First Christmas card...
...I decided to make an aperture card and then half way through remembered why I don't do aperture cards very much - because they're a pain in the tush!!  I used 2 Marianne doily die cuts to create the lace edge around the aperture and my Martha Stewart Snowflake border punch along the edges of the card...
...The paper is one that has been in my drawer for EVER and I think was an old Dovecraft pad?!...
...I created a faux nestie behind the image by drawing around my largest circle die and cutting out.  To save me having to bring in loads of different papers from the shed, I used white card which I coloured the edge of with my Promarkers - this also means that you can have perfectly coordinated cardstock to your image!...
...I embellished with some Marianne snowflake die cuts, holographic snowflake and crystal stars which Mam gave me some of about 5 years ago! (I only have 1 left now!)  The image and snowflakes were glittered with Crystal glitter, pearls added and a couple of blue pearl stars to finish.  I created the sentiment in PS using Papyrus font and will probably add a name somewhere before sending it out in a few months! (Can't quite believe we're in July already!)
My little man had his school trip yesterday to Drayton Manor - they left school  at 8.15am and didn't get back until about 6.30pm, but he was so on a high!  He loved every minute of it and went on quite a few rides, despite the fact that he's only ever been on the little dragon coaster at Rhyl!  I had the full explanation of all the rides, complete with hand gestures to show the ups and downs and how wet everyone had got on the log flume!  It'll be summer holidays before we turn around and then the dreaded 6 weeks of trying to keep occupied - let's hope that the weather plays it's part and that we can get out in the sunshine, especially as it looks like work might start just in time for then!?!  Oh, joy!
Thanks for dropping by to see me today and I hope you like my little card, despite being a Christmas one!  Enjoy the rest of your week and have a great weekend- it's workshop for me and our village Carnival, so I'll have to make a costume for little man before Friday!  At least the forecast is good!  Hugs,

Lisa xx

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges :
Anything Goes
Christmas in July
Quite a Few (layers)
Use a Digi stamp

Tuesday 2 July 2013

Passsion for Promarkers - Time...

Good morning, dear Bloggers!  If everything is going on course, this week will be demolition week!  (I am actually typing this post a fortnight ago!)  We are due to have our house modernised by the council and this week is scheduled for stripping out of the bathroom and kitchen and channeling the walls for a total rewire!  I dread the thought of all the dust and mess, but have packed up as much stuff as I can and asked friends and family for every inch of storage space that we can borrow!  UPDATE **  Work has now been delayed and we are back to square one, not knowing when the work is scheduled to start!  I am now sat in a half empty house (having been organised and packing all non essential stuff away) with all my crafty stuff in the shed!  I keep sneaking bits in to have a play and have managed to colour up a few images, so I might just have to go out to the shed again today to make a card!  One thing, it has made me be a (half) tidy crafter - I have been putting everything back away when I have finished my project!
Anyhow, it is is a new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers and the lovely Julie has chosen our theme this week which is 'Time', so we'd like you to use a watch/clock image or time related sentiment. We're sponsored this week by the fabulous Letraset, who are offering a Flexmarker Collectors set to one lucky winner.


Don’t forget you must use your Letraset products (i.e. promarkers, flex markers, aqua markers, tria markers, metallic markers or neon markers) and of course follow the theme.
 I decided to be a bit different this week and create a piece of home decor which I plan to hang on my hall wall after all the work is done.  I found this hanging wooden heart in my local B&M for a couple of quid and thought it would make a good piece for altering...
...After a lot of sticking, sanding, inking and embellishing, this is what I ended up with...
...It was so difficult to find somewhere in the house to photograph this as the weather today is not playing along - we have had TORRENTIAL rain on and off all day!  (The colours are a little more true in the next picture)  I started by drawing around and covering my heart with papers from First Edition's Dreamcatcher pad, then printed and coloured the clock digistamp and wings from A Year in Cards.  I coloured the image with my Promarkers and inked all the edges of the heart with Walnut Stain DI...
...I highlighted the patterned paper with diamantes and embellished with silk and paper flowers...whatever I found in my now limited stash, that worked with the colours.  I added Cheery Lynn leaves and used the Memory Box Corner Bow as tendrils.  The sentiment was created in PS and I added a few ribbon loops to finish.  I am really happy with how this little project turned out and can't wait until everywhere is finished and newly decorated and I can find a spot to hang it.  Thanks for dropping by to see me today and I hope that everything runs smoothly and I can get back to crafting and Blogging again soon!
Don't forget to hop on over to the Passion for Promarkers blog and see what my lovely teamies have been up to and link up your entries for this week's challenge....

Lisa x

I'd like to enter my project into the following challenges :
Don't Be Square
Anything but Square
Don't be Square
Anything but Square