Passion for Markers - Something beginning with B...

 Good morning, crafty friends! It's a beautiful sunny Tuesday here in North Wales and I'm making the most of it by changing all the bed linen and filling the washing line...such an exciting life I lead?!...

But as it's Tuesday, we have a brand new challenge starting over at Passion for Markers and it's my turn to host! I decided to have a game of eye spy with you and I would like to spy 'Something beginning with B'...easy right?!

We're being sponsored by Bugaboo who are offering one lucky winner a $12.00 voucher to their online store...

We were lucky enough to get an image to play with and I picked out the super cute Kidz Lily Ladybug Flower...

I kept my card really clean and simple, making that sweet image the star of the show. For my B's I went with Bunting, Buttons, Bugs and Birthday (but there is also Blue and Black which would qualify too...a whole host of B's). I coloured the cute Lily Ladybug with my alcohol markers and added some extra detail with Prismacolor pencils afterwards. I created a mask from copy paper and inked the background with Broken China Distress Oxide before matting the image onto black and adding a simple sentiment...

I hope you can play along with my fun challenge this week and look forward to visiting all of your blogs and seeing your wonderful creations! Enjoy the sunshine, if you have it and I'll be back with some more craftiness soon...

Hugs,

Paper pieced Duckling...

Hello again, Blogger buddies! I'm back to share my next card for Ruth Hamilton Design - this time, I have used the super cute Duckling image and thought I would show you how to colour an image without having to be an expert colourist...

Despite being a seasoned colourist, there are times when even I get a bit daunted by an image - usually when there is a large expanse to fill and so I thought I would share how I use paper piecing to tackle images with large areas that can otherwise look a little flat, if your not an expert at colouring in and creating shade and texture...

I printed off the Duckling image using 4 x 6 Paper Size and Image size 6 x 8cm (if you'd like to learn more about using your printer to change the size of images, check out my Printing Tutorials page HERE) I placed one of the printed images back into my printer and printed a yellow polka dot pattern over the top...

I coloured the duckling's beak, feet and flower on the main image and added some grass using different shades of green. I then added a bit of shading on the yellow image (even one pen colour could do this and then blend the edges out with a blender pen) and fussy cut the body - don't worry about trying to follow the furry lines of the image, cut a smooth line as they will be on the image underneath. I decided I wanted to add some inked clouds to the background so printed the image off with the same settings onto copy paper and cut out the duckling to create a mask. I placed this over the main duckling image and used a die cut cloud border to ink lightly with Broken China Distress Oxide, to create the sky effect. (You could probably do this without a mask as long as you are careful not to get ink on the flower or beak as the body will be covered up) I then adhered the yellow body of the duckling over the main image...

I mat the image onto cream paper and then onto blue gingham, using a 5 x 7 inch card blank. I die cut some clouds and printed off the word Easter using Autumn in November font. I roughly positioned the word and stamped 'wishes' underneath before attaching 'Easter' with foam pads...

I was really happy with how this cute card turned out and hope it helps to give you the inspiration to have a go at paper piecing...

Crafty hugs,

Two for one Tulips...

 Good afternoon, crafty friends! I have a couple of cards to share with you today using the pretty Tulips digistamp from Ruth Hamilton Design...Ruth's brand new digital stamp store is now LIVE, where you can purchase her pretty images and she'll be doing tutorials and videos in the near future!...

I thoroughly enjoyed colouring up this pretty Spring inspired image, using a combination of markers and Prismacolor pencils and then decided to chop it in half?!...

I wanted to try a technique that I have often seen in the Share Handmade Kindness Facebook group where you cut an image in half and use it to create two cards...so I made two mini slimline cards...

The first used Speckled Egg Distress Oxide as a blended background, with a simple sentiment, fine pink border and small pearl accents and for the second, I fussy cut the image leaving a white border and attached with foam pads over a pretty floral paper, ink blended with Abandoned Coral Distress Oxide. I used a strip of torn vellum for a bit of texture, some butterflies cut from leftover 12x12 papers and a stamped sentiment from Altenew Beautiful Day stamp set.

I love the simplicity of the finished cards, giving focus to the pretty Tulip image and great for sending out to people, just because...

I do hope you can pop over to have a look at Ruth's new website and support her crafty business...I know how hard it can be to make a name for yourself in this industry!

Thanks for popping by and I'll be back later with another design from Ruth to share, just in time for Easter!...

Crafty hugs,

Passion for Markers - Happy...

 Good afternoon, dear crafty friends! I am back as promised to let you know about this week's brand new challenge, which started today over at Passion for Markers...

The lovely Julie is in the hostess chair and she's given us an easy challenge theme of 'Happy', so we'd like you to use the word Happy somewhere on your project - happy birthday, happy anniversary or even just wishing a happy day!..

We are being sponsored by The Paper Shelter who are offering one lucky winner a choice of 3 digital images from their online store! We were lucky enough to get an image to play with and as it's Julie's week, she picked out the super sweet Trekking Girl...

I really enjoyed colouring this fun image and here's the colour list of Pro/Flexmarkers that I used :

Skin - Blush, Putty, Tan

Hair - Cinnamon, Shale, Umber

Hat and Shorts - Denim, Cornflower, Cadet Blue

T-Shirt - Champagne, Honeycomb, Spice

Backpack and Boots - Khaki, Olive Green, Moss

Sleeping Bag - Pastel Green, Soft Green, Marine

Glasses - Honeycomb, Sunset, Cool Grey 5, Black

Grass - SN Willow, Bamboo, Camo Green

I added a little extra definition with Prismacolor pencils

I used a fab page from the Make & Create World Travels 12 x 12 paper pad from The Works, as it did most of the background work for me and then added some die cut clouds (of course!) in a small, blue, grid pattern paper. I used the sentiments from the Sail Away stamp set that came with Simply Cards & Papercraft and the Happy day was originally a Happy Birthday stamp that I only partially stamped. I drew and cut out the orange arrow shape before matting onto white card.

I was really pleased with how this card turned out and as I love walking, thought that it represented me a little...only a little since I've put half a stone on over the Winter lockdown - roll on Spring!

I hope you can play along with our fun challenge this week and look forward to seeing all of your wonderful creations!

Ssssh! Don't tell anyone, but I have the house to myself for an hour - you don't know how lovely this is after the last year, so I'm off to get a cup of tea and read my latest issue of SC&P which has not long dropped through my letterbox!

Crafty hugs,

 

Mini Slimline Cards...

 Forgot to share my latest makes here on Blogger - these are my first ever mini slimline cards! I don't know why I don't make smaller cards and it seems to be a trend with fellow crafters here in the UK, so when the latest craze from the US for slimline and then mini slimline cards came, I just had to jump on the bandwagon!...

I have to admit that I think that the card size is really cute and is great for sending cards 'just because', which is something I am going to try and do more often!

The floral cards use a layering stamp set from Papercraft Essentials magazine, which I picked up off the lovely Marianne and I coloured the outline stamps with my alcohol markers. I created a stencil for each of the flower base stamps from the floral set, as I was struggling to get a good finish with the layering stamps and thought that the finished background on the blue card looked a lot like succulents, so used the herb stamp set from Simply Cards and Papercraft magazine for the image topper.

I am sending these mini cards out to family just to let them know that I am thinking of them and wishing them well...I hope they like them!

Right, off to work and then I'll be back to share this week's brand new Passion for Promarkers challenge...catch you later!

Crafty hugs,

Passion for Markers - Use a Circle...

Good afternoon, crafty buddies! Another Tuesday rolls around again, which means a brand new challenge over at Passion for Markers!...

 The lovely Sue is in the hostess chair and she's given us a nice easy theme of, 'Use a Circle'...We're being sponsored by the fabulous Dr Digi's House of Stamps who are offering one lucky winner a choice of 2 digital images from their online store...

For our challenge this week we were lucky enough to choose an image to play with and having a bunch of computer fans in our house, I picked out the fun Solitaire Saul...

 

I decided to go with a circular card base...they're much harder to design than my usual favourite square cards and I faffed about rather a lot with this card, but am overall quite pleased with how it turned out! I coloured Saul with my Pro/Flexmarkers and used patterned papers with a white strip to try and make it look like a skirting board. I kept the embellishments quite minimal with just a couple of fishtail flags, some stars and a birthday sentiment...

I hope you can play along with our fun challenge this week and as long as you have a marker coloured element and have added a circle somewhere on your project, then you'll be eligible to win the prize...good luck and I look forward to seeing all of your wonderful creations!

Hugs,