Passion for Markers - Christmas Critters...

 Good morning, crafty friends! It's the last day of November and we have a new challenge starting over at Passion for Markers with the lovely Julie choosing a topical theme of 'Christmas Critters'...so think robins, reindeer, penguins and polar bears!

We're being sponsored by Clearly Besotted Stamps, who are offering one lucky winner a £15 voucher to their online store...how fab!

There's a bit of a story behind this week's card... Storm Arwen goosed my monitor power supply, so although my PC is working I couldn't see anything! All my images are on my PC and because I have only recently got into 'proper' stamping, I discovered that I don't have many Christmas stamps, let alone animal ones...so it was time to improvise! I found these bird stamps that came with an embossing folder in the bottom of my stamp basket and turned them into Christmas robins...

I used a couple of different sentiment stamps, mistletoe embossing folder and some die cut holly leaves as the main embellishments, keeping the design clean and simple...

I have to admit that it was nice to create something from start to finish without touching my PC but think I am still going to be a hybrid crafter in the future, although my stamping stash needs some attention...maybe in the New Year?!

I hope that you can find the time to play along with us at Passion for Markers this week and look forward to seeing all of your wonderful creations...

Crafty hugs,

Lisa x

More Christmas cards...

Good afternoon, crafty friends! After yesterday's Altenew inspired Christmas card (HERE), it occurred to me that not everyone likes colouring like I do?!...so with this in mind, I decided to make a couple of simple CAS style cards using some of the precoloured images from my 12 Cards of Christmas CD...

I created them both using the png images in my graphics program and added some Glossy Accents to the wax of the candle and a couple of decoupage layers to the postbox...some glitter and pearls finished them off too.
I hope you all have a fabulous Friday and that you find some time for crafting over the weekend...we have a workshop on tomorrow, so I'll be spending the morning crafting...I'll try to remember to take photographs and share them when I get home...
Hugs,

Christmas Roses...

Good afternoon, crafty friends!...I have been having a play at my crafty table, just for the fun of it (it's been a while since that's happened!) and it amazes me how much my crafting style has changed over the years.  I have definitely developed a love of clean and simple and one of my favourite brands for inspiration of this, is Altenew… I have never been a stamper, but just love the simple, floral cards that I see all over Pinterest and wanted to have a go at something similar, without having to fork out for stamps, etc (funding for craftiness is tight at the moment!)…
So I turned to my own designs, to try and refresh something that I may not consider my current style and used the Christmas Rose digistamp from my 12 Cards of Christmas CD-Rom…

...When I created this disc, I didn't have my alcohol markers, or a fraction of the dies that I have now, so it was nice to look at the image with fresh eyes and create something completely different to when they were produced. I used the png images from the disc and positioned them at opposite corners of a 13.5 x 9.5cm rectangle in my graphics program, printed off, then coloured and highlighted with glitter, plus some die cut holly leaves for a bit of dimension. I used the 'happy' die from a Memory Box Birthday set and stamped (I know!) the Christmas sentiment from a stamp set that I picked up for a couple of pounds...
I might get into stamping one day (maybe when funds allow?!) But for now, I will continue to try and repurpose the things that I already have and give them new life and a new style!
Crafty hugs,

More Christmas samples...

Good evening, everyone!  I'm back again to share some more of the Christmas samples that I've been making - my craft room is now getting to the point where there is a six inch wide pathway around the table and that's it, so I am going to have to tackle it before too long...but maybe not tonight?!  For now, I have these 3 cards to share...

First uses the postbox image and papers plus one of the Church sentiments from 12 Cards of Christmas.  The clouds are a My Favourite Things die...

...Next was the Church image with the Postbox flower and plaid papers and the lantern music paper.  The holly is from the pudding set and was printed onto adhesive film and adhered to silver mirror card...

...Finally, I made a card using the gingerbread man from the pudding sentiments sheet.  Again he was printed onto adhesve film and adhered to gold mirror card.  The green gingham is from the Rudolph set and the plaid is from the Birdhouse design.
I have to keep it short and sweet as I have a million and one things to do and not enough time to do it in!  It's my little man's sports day in the morning, so there's another half a day gone...at this rate, I'll be up until midnight all week! Hope you're all having a fabulous week and I'll be back tomorrow with my DT card for a new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers. Until then,
Happy crafting!

Passion for Promarkers - Mega Christmas Challenge 2014...

 This card was chosen in the Top 3 at Inky Impressions, thanks a lot, ladies!

Well, it's that time of year again and this week sees the launch of our very special Mega Christmas challenge over at Passion for Promarkers, which runs for a whole month and ends on 6th January 2015!
Both design teams have thoroughly enjoyed creating for your inspiration and also visiting all your blogs to see the wonderful projects that you made, however it's time for us to take a little break to catch up on last minute gifts and cards.  To make up for the lack of challenges for this month, we have some fantastic prizes up for grabs!

Our theme for the Mega Christmas challenge is “bingo”.  You are welcome to make Christmas cards but as the challenge will still be running after the ‘BIG’ day you can of course make any type of creation as long as you use the bingo board.  As time is precious for our DT at this time of year we are limiting the number of entries you can make to just 3 for this month long challenge.  Please remember to be eligible for our prizes you must use your promarkers, flex markers, tria markers, metallic or aqua markers.
Here is the bingo board you must use for your creations (you can use any line horizontal, vertical or diagonal).  Please tell us which line you have used in your post:

So now for the exciting bit – the prizes!

Letraset are generously offering 4 lucky winners a 6 pack of promarkers (blending set)!

DigiStamp Boutique are generously offering one lucky winner a prize of a £10.00 voucher to spend in her store.

Bugaboo stamps are generously offering one lucky winner a $30.00 voucher to spend in their store.

Polkadoodles is offering one lucky winner 2 gorgeous digis called ‘Dollie Sleepyhead’ and ‘Dollie Trendsetter’.

Michele R Designs are offering one lucky winner a €10.00 voucher to spend in her store.

Little Claire Designs are offering one lucky winner a gorgeous stamp set called ‘changing birdhouse’.

A Day for Daisies is offering one lucky winner a $12.00 gift certificate to spend in their online store.

Crafty Sentiments Designs is offering one lucky winner 3 digis of their choice from their online store.

Both design teams will be sharing some inspiration with you but as it such a long challenge we will be posting the inspiration from Team 1 today and then in two week’s time we will be posting inspiration from Team 2. 

So here's my creation for the challenge...

...I decided to make a stepper card as I have not made one in AGES!  I used the snowman digi and papers from 12 Cards of Christmas and an embossed snowflake background, inking the edges with Distress Inks and matting onto coordinating cardstock...

...I added some silver spider's web, picot edge borders and Marianne snowflake die cuts with WOC mini roses in the centre.  The image was coloured with my Pro/Flexmarkers and cut using Spellbinders Labels Eleven (my fave die shape of the moment!)...

...I managed to fill 3 lines of the bingo board with my card Ribbon-Die Cut-Buttons, Ribbon-Free-Blooms and Die Cut-Free-Glitter, so it's nice and easy to play along!
I loook forward to seeing all your wonderful creations and hope that you all have a very Happy Christmas and fabulous New Year!

Just to re-cap the challenge will run until 6th January 2015 and you can enter a maximum of 3 times.  Unfortunately during the Mega Christmas challenge we will not be choosing a top 5 passionista but this will re-commence for the first challenge in 2015. Team 2 will be back on 23rd December to share their gorgeous selection of cards, so don’t forget to hop on over to the Passion for Promarkers blog for more wonderful inspiration.
I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges :

Natalie and Amy

Cute and Cuddly Christmasuntil 29th

Crafts4Eternity

Winter until 11th

Brown Sugar Challenge

Winter until 11th

A Gem of a Challenge

Anything Christmas until Jan 3rd

Inky Impressions

Snow ends today

Passion for Promarkers - Add some Sparkle...

Good morning, lovely Bloggers!  My these shorter days seem to fly by - I feel like I'm only just getting up and it's time for bed again!  Had a busy weekend - workshop on Saturday, followed by a wonderful evening out with friends, only getting home at 1am! Then on Sunday, hubby and I had a bit of retail therapy at Dunelm (man, could I buy that whole shop!) and a Christmas factory outlet shop, which I managed to be very restrained at and only came home with some baubles that matched the cushions I'd bought! We had lunch out and it was nice to spend some time together, just the two of us (as we'd been abandoned by both children!).
Well, anyhow, it's Tuesday (again!) which means it's time for a fab new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers.  This week, it's the lovely Eileen in the hostess seat and she would like us to 'Add some sparkle'...a nice easy one for this time of year!  We are sponsored by the wonderful Polkadoodles who are offering a digi stamp called 'Miss Charlotte' to one lucky winner....

So, I decided to create a little Christmas wall hanging as my DT make, using the postbox and Christmas roses from 12 Cards of Christmas...

...It was a nightmare trying to photograph this as the light was just awful yesterday and trying to get the sparkle to show too...my photography skills are not the greatest at the best of times, so this was a real challenge!
I used my Go Kreate Large Frilly Frame #2 dies to make the base for the hanging and covered it with the multi-lingual Christmas words paper from the Postbox design set, inking the edges with Walnut Stain DI.  I cut the Marianne doily circle from gold linen and added an embossed circle inked with Weathered Wood...

...I coloured the flowers and postbox with my Pro/Flexmarkers and added lots of glitter to the flower centres and leaves, then added some extra foliage with All Occasions holly die cuts and Cheery Lynn leaf border and some red Liquid Pearls for the berries.  The small larch cones are real and were given to me by the lovely Carole who attends our workshop...thanks hunny!  I made the hanging sentiment in PS and attached to the base with sparkly, gold ribbon, which was also used for the hanging loop.
So there we have it!  I hope you can find the time to join in with our easy challenge this week and don't forget to hop on over to the Passion for Promarkers blog to see what my wonderful teamies have been making for your inspiration!
Thanks for dropping by today,

I'd like to enter my hanging into the following challenges :

Allsorts Challenge

Christmas until 31st

Colouring on Weetabix!...

My card came in the Top 7 over at Aud Sentiments Challenge! Thanks ladies!

Good morning, lovely peeps from a sunny (at the moment) North Wales!...Bet that title got you curious!...Of course, I haven't actually coloured onto Weetabix - that would just be wrong! - but I have coloured onto the card from a Weetabix box!...

It's quite similar to Kraft card, I suppose, a bit more fibrous, but actually quite easy to colour on!...

...I did wonder if it might bleed a lot, but was pleasantly surprised to find that it doesn't and blends quite well, too!  I have never coloured on anything other than white card, so this was a nice change and turned out okay, even if I do say so myself!  The papers and image are all from 12 Cards of Christmas CD-Rom and the sentiment was made in PS using Serif's Holiday Springs font...

...I had allsorts of stuff on this card at one time or another and ended up discarding it all and keeping to a clean style with just a bit of ribbon and some wooden snowflakes.  I haven't done anything to the inside yet, but will probably end up decorating it with some coordinating papers and a sentiment panel...when I can be bothered!  I really don't do Christmas until the first week in December, but feel that I should at least be trying to get a head start!?!
Well, that's it - short and sweet from me today!  I hope you like my Krafty creation and next time you empty that cereal box, think twice before you put it in the recycle bin!
Have a wonderful Thursday,

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges :

Oldie but a Goddie Challenge

Christmas until 28th

(my image and papers are 2 years old and my snowflakes have been in my stash forever!)

Fab n Funky Challenge

Christmas until 21st

Deep Ocean Challenge

Christmas in October until 19th

I Love Promarkers

Snowflakes until 21st
Aud Sentiments Challenge
Anything Goes until 21st

Another Christmas creation...

Good morning, lovely peeps!  Half way through the week already!  Hope that you're all well and that the sun is shining wherever you are!
I'm back again today (boy am I on a roll!) to share a Christmas card that was inspired by Jen's brilliant Deconstructed Sketch #167.  I love a good sketch and often turn to Jen's blog to find inspiration for a layout and to see her amazing inspiration too!...

...For the papers I have used the Postbox plaid and flower paper, Lantern dots and Church snowflake, stripe and sentiment from my disc 12 Cards of Christmas.  I have inked all the edges and matted using various colour cardstocks.  The sentiment was cut using Spellbinders Labels Eleven (they're Mum's, but ssssh, don't say anything!) and I decorated with Spellbinders Pointsettia dies (they're Mum's too!), Cheery Lyn leaf border and All Occasions Dies Holly...

...I finished the inside with a printed insert from the Pointsettia design set and added my signature pearls to the front!  I really like the way this one turned out and I think this is another sketch that will be used regularly...thanks Jen!
I'll be back again with another creation tomorrow and have you noticed, even my photos are looking better thanks to the September sunshine!
Happy crafting! Hugs,

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges :

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge Extra

Anything Goes until the end of the month

Crafty Hazelnuts Patterned paper Challenge

Anything Goes until the end of the month

Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge

R,E or D (until 14th)

I have used R- Red and D- diecuts

ABC Christmas Challenge

Red for Pointsettias (until 16th)

Sentimental Sundays

A Touch of Vintage (until 13th)

On to Christmas!...

Hello, my lovelies!  Hope you're all having a fabulous start to the week and enjoying this spell of fair weather that we're having here in the UK - there's definitely an Autumnal feel in the air, especially in a morning but it's nice to see the sun still shining!  I have now switched over to my Christmas CD, 12 Cards of Christmas and begun to create some new samples for the Edinburgh show on 27th September (it'll be here before I know it!)...So today's project is created from a piece of heavy board (slightly smaller than A4) that came as packaging in a delivery of something or another - I am terrible for stashing bits of packaging, tins and boxes in the thought of altering them at some time!...

...I decided to make a sign to hang in my kitchen at Christmas - I used the Pudding plaid paper to cover the board, gluing it in place then trimming the excess with a craft knife before sanding the edges and inking with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  I printed the Pudding dots paper and mounted a panel onto hot pink cardstock.  I then printed the Christmas Cheer Recipe .png file using Windows Photo Viewer and printed it to 13 x 18cm, cut out and mounted onto a dark brown cardstock.  I also printed the pudding, gingerbread man and holly leaf .png files, sized to Wallet (9 to an A4 page)...

...I printed one of the gingerbread man, glittered the icing and added Glossy Accents to his buttons...

...I printed 2 of the pudding images so that I could decoupage the icing layer and heat embossed the base layer with Clear embossing powder to give it shine and printed 2 of the holy leaf sprigs.  I also embossed the holly leaves in the same way, inking with Versamark ink, then sprinkling over Clear embossing powder and heating.
I added some rich satin ribbon over gold cardstock, a few pearls and finished with a pretty lime green hanging loop and bow. 
Well, that's it again from me, I'm off to cut the grass and tidy the garden a bit more before the cold weather appears!  Hope you like my little Christmassy creation and I'll be back soon with some more new samples to share.
Crafty hugs,

I'd like to enter my project into the following challenges :

Creative Fingers Challenge

Anything Goes

Fan-tatic Tuesday

Anything Goes optional Add a Button

613 Avenue Create

Anything Goes optional Colour Challenge

Sugar and Spice...

Hi, back again!  As promised, here's a picture of the A Boy is.. card that I made for the show...

...I also made up a girl version using the sugar and spice verse...

...If you've got the 12 Cards of Christmas disc, here's how I made it...
If you run Windows Vista or 7, when the autorun menubox appears after inserting your disc, click on the folder icon that says 'Open folder to view files'.  If you run Windows XP, close the pdf browser when it opens, then goto Start > My Computer and RIGHT CLICK on the cd/dvd drive (where the lantern icon is), then click Open.

Double click the jpeg and png folder, then browse to find the patterned papers that you want to use.  Double click to open one in Windows Photo Viewer/Picture Gallery, click Print.  In the print window, set the paper size to A4 and choose the print size 4 to a page (9 x 13cm) (Number of times to use picture = 1)  Print your first paper.  Turn your paper 180 degrees and place back in your printer (so that it will be printing on the same side)  Choose a second paper and print as above (I used the xmas girl stars and argyle papers for the clothes).  Your paper should now be printed like this...

In the jpeg and png folder, xmas boy or girl folder, open the black and white digi image.  Place your paper back in your printer and overprint the image with the settings Paper size A4, 4 to a page (9 x 13cm), set the number of times to use the picture as 4 and uncheck the Fit to Page box.  You should now have this...

If you have colouring mediums (Promarkers, Copics, etc) you can colour the face, hair, bear/boat and present on one of the blank images and add shading to the jumper and trousers.  If not, print off one of the coloured images from the xmas boy or girl folder, ensuring that you use the same print settings - Paper size A4, 4 to a page, uncheck the Fit to Page and use the picture once.

I cut the heart from the first layer and added a touch of shading to the clothes using water colour pencils (be sure not to over wet the paper, as inkjet printer ink is usually water based and can bleed if you wet it too much)  Glue the clothes over the printed image, then the heart over the top...

I cut the verse using a Go Kreate die as a template and drawing around the inside with pencil, before cutting out and inking the edges if desired (I used Antique Linen)...

I used the pudding dot paper as a background for my card and inked the edges with Dusty Concord, layered onto  yellow matt, and some hot pink card, cut using the same Go Kreate die to matt the verse.  Pink organza ribbon and bow, lilac feather, silk flowers and a Memory Box swirl die (Madera corner) as embellishments...

  I finished with a co-ordinating insert which you can download here, or if you want the boy version here.

I made the boy card in the same way, but used the xmas boy stars and plaid paper for the clothes and postbox plaid as the background.  I also used a larger Go Kreate die to cut the verse in the same way, drawing around the inside for the verse and cutting out in gold for the matt.   Hope this gives you inspiration to have a go, thanks for looking and Happy Crafting!  Lisa x

A boy is...

Hi guys!  I'm back in Wales after a fantastic weekend up at Sincerely Yours papercraft Show at Leigh, in Lancashire.  It was a fabulous 2 day event and it was lovely to meet so many of you that follow my work and little blog!  I had some really wonderful feedback about my designs and hope that I managed to answer any questions that any of you may have had?!  I would like to say a special 'hello' to Gaye, who brought in 2 beautiful creations made using the little boy and girl from my 12 Cards of Christmas disc...we all know how diffiuclt it can be to take praise for our work, but I have to say they were fabulous!  So, well done Gaye and thank you for sharing your creations!

Speaking of the little boy and girl from the Xmas disc, as promised, I have uploaded the verse that I used on the little boy card that was so admired and created a little girl one on the same page, and you can download it from 4shared here.  (I will be posting pictures of the new samples and a quick tutorial of how I paper pieced them over the next few days)

Another 'hello' goes out to Vicky and Jan, who I always have a good chat and a laugh with - it was great to see you again girls..and Jan, Wales isn't that far, despite being a different country!! ;)

Well, that's it for now, I'll be back again later with a pic of the little boy card and a quick description of how I made it.  Until later, thanks for dropping by, Lisa x

Distressed Christmas...(stressed Christmas might be more apt!)

Hi guys, back again!  Been having a bit of a swap around between mine and MIL's house - we went to Ikea in Warrington for the first time, on Friday and OMW I could have bought the entire shop!  Saw so much beautiful furniture...if only...anyhow, MIL bought herself a new dining table, so I relocated hers to my craft room (it was actually my Nan's table originally, so has seen some history!)  What a difference a bit of space makes!?!  Don't suppose it'll have that much space on it by the end of the week - heck tomorrow even, but as it is, the wonderfully empty workspace made my creativity flow and I sat and made a card to share...

...the digi is one of my own and is coloured with Promarkers - I went for a vintage theme, so printed off the red vine paper from the stocking design set on the 12 Cards of Christmas and found a piece of the lantern music paper in my scrap drawer.  I added a paper doily for a touch of delicacy and a lovely organza ribbon and bow, with berries that have been in my box for at least 5 years and wire twirls.  Everything was inked with either Vintage Photo or Walnut Stain Distress Ink (my 2 favourite colours!) and a touch of Glamourdust and Glossy Accents highlighted the image...

...I felt it needed a couple more elements, so cut the Nellie Sellen fancy corner and nestie 'hinges' to add some interest.  The little stamp sentiment is from the postbox sentiment sheet from the 12 Cards of Christmas and I finished the stocking with adhesive pearls.  The finished card has a lovely aged, vintage feel, which I really like - hope you like it too!  Thanks so much for taking the time to visit...Lisa X

I'm entering this card into the following challenges :

Winter Wonderland

Vintage Christmas

Totally Papercrafts

#89 Layer upon layer

Colour Create #82

Burgundy, Gold, Green & Cream